I’ve been talking a lot about blogging here. A blog can lay a solid foundation for almost ANY side hustle. It’ll most likely play a key role in your self-promotion. And it might help you make extra money from home (or even allow you to live a location independent lifestyle!).
But there are many other ways you could earn a side income while working a 9 to 5 job.
An extra $300+ a month can make a huge difference in most people’s lives. Any of the below side hustles have the potential to make you that and more (yes, including answering surveys!).
A side hustle can help you pay the bills and become debt free. But it can go way beyond that.
Imagine if you could finally afford to go on that dream vacation you’ve been postponing for years. Buy your favorite designer bag. Help your elderly parents. Or simply improve your self-esteem and feel better about yourself and your life.
Whether you only have a couple of free hours or you are willing to work 20 to 40 hours a week on top of your full-time job, there are many options for you when it comes to earning extra cash.
If you’re wondering ‘How can I make extra money?‘ you’ll find some great suggestions below.
1 | Start a money making blog
This is my favorite side hustle idea by far. If you like writing, you can start a blog to make money on the side. Within a few months to a year, your blog’s earnings could even replace your day job income.
So how do you make money blogging? One popular way is by selling your own products or services. But you could also sell other people’s products in exchange for a commission — this is called affiliate marketing. And once you reach 10,000 monthly pageviews, you can join Ezoic and earn passive income through display advertising.
I covered all my startup expenses and how much I made in the first month after starting this blog in my first blog income report.
Also read:
- How I Made My First $1,000 Blogging
- Blog Launch Checklist: 12 Things To Do Before You Make Your Blog Public
- How to Move a Blog From WordPress.com to WordPress.org
2 | Get paid to take surveys
Yeap, earning money by answering surveys is a real thing. And anyone can do it! You don’t need any special skills. You just need a few spare minutes and internet access. Therefore you can do it on your lunch break or while watching Netflix.
Survey pages are free to join and free to use. Some of them will even give you a few bucks just for signing up. You’ll receive an email notification every time they have a survey for you. So it’s best to sign up for as many survey sites as you can to maximize the number of surveys you get and the amount of money you can make.
3 | Make money with Pinterest
Are you a self-proclaimed Pinterest addict? If pinning is your thing, you could be making money with affiliate marketing on your favorite platform. No blog required!
This ebook will teach you how to make your first affiliate sale in 24 hours using Pinterest. The book is an instant download, so you can start implementing Elise’s strategies right away. The book is a great investment and it covers everything you need to know about Pinterest marketing so you can start seeing results almost instantly.
4 | Become a virtual assistant
Virtual assistants are in crazy high demand right now. Anyone, from bloggers to small business owners, is looking for help with simple online tasks like editing, graphic design, emails, social media, etc.
The truth is that the online world is incredibly dynamic. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and difficult to keep up with everything when you are building an empire from your kitchen table. That’s why delegating some of the tasks to an experienced VA is becoming the norm.
You don’t need a wide array of skills, but there are certain things you should know in order to be successful and grow your client base. If you are serious about becoming a VA, I highly recommend you download The Bootstrap VA.
5 | Rent out that spare room
Have an extra room in your house? You could be making several hundred dollars extra per week. All you have to do is sign up to become an Airbnb host, create a listing, write a description, upload some photos, and name your price.
Not only that you could literally have your house pay your bills and cover your own vacation expenses, but you also get to meet cool people and forge new friendships.
A Spanish friend of mine greatly improved her English by simply talking to her guests. She also swears that one of the guests turned out to be the love of her life (right now they are in a long distance relationship so I wouldn’t read too much into it just yet).
6 | Leverage your social media presence
Influencers are all the rage right now. If you have a decent social media presence (no need to be one of those influencers with hundreds of thousands of fans!), you could be making good money by publishing sponsored updates on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and so on.
SocialPubli is one of the platforms I’ve personally used and I love how easy working with them is. They pay on time and you can connect several social networks. They will send you email notifications every time they have a campaign that fits your audience. All you have to do it create the content following the brand’s instructions (usually takes like 5 minutes!) and hit publish.
7 | Sell handmade goods
If you are the crafty type you could sell your creations on Etsy. Etsy has established itself as the go-to place for all kinds of needlework. But it expanded into this huge marketplace where you can buy anything from wall art and coloring books to jewelry and stock photos.
Setting up a shop is easy. Actually, the most challenging part might be taking photos of your products. I recommend you take your product photos on a bright day (your phone camera is probably all you need!) and showcase the product from different angles. You can sign up for an Etsy seller account here.
8 | Write an ebook
Do you know a great deal about a certain subject? Why not write an ebook to sell.
Then you can sign up for a SendOwl account (sign up and get a free month!). Adding the first product is super straightforward and you can be ready to sell your ebook in 10 minutes. I’m not kidding! Even better, SendOwl doesn’t take a cut of your sales.
Once everything is set up, you can share your SendOwl link on your own blog, social media channels, Pinterest, emails, and anywhere else you can think of.
You don’t need a blog or huge social media following to be successful (although they can definitely help). To promote your ebook, SendOwl lets you set up your own affiliate program. Affiliates can help you spread the word and sell your ebook for you in exchange for a percentage of the sale.
9 | Make extra money by selling digital stuff
CreativeMarket is a marketplace for all things pixel-made. All products sold here are digital downloads. This is great because you don’t have to bother with shipping and storage space. Plus the customers get your products instantly, as soon as the payment is cleared.
If you have an in-demand skill like lettering, photography or coding, you could start a side-hustle selling WordPress themes, hand-drawn fonts, illustrations or social media templates.
Not sure this is a viable way to make money? Nicky Laatz made over $1 million selling gorgeous fonts on Creative Market. All while being a stay-at-home mom!
10 | Offer your services
If you have a neck for writing resumes, proofreading, taking product photos or packaging design, or you can speak a second language, create short video ads, write online dating profiles, and even give tarot readings, you can start a side hustle on Fiverr.
Gigs start at $5, but of course, you can charge more than that, depending on your level of expertise and customer love.
You wouldn’t be the first to start your freelancing career on Fiverr. Need more inspiration? Here are 15 success stories.
About the author:
Hey there, dream chaser! I’m a writer and designer on a mission to inspire and empower you to create a highly profitable minimalist online business and show up for your dreams in a sustainable way.
xo, Laura
