50 Side Hustles You Can Start Today
Starting a side hustle is becoming extremely common these days. Even before the Corona Virus hit and everyone was looking for a way to make extra money because they had either lost their job or were furloughed with so much uncertainty of when they could return.
This post contains affiliate links.Myself, I have always had multiple streams of income. Today I can barely remember a time when I only had one job. Once I started making extra money, I couldn’t stop. It became second nature to me. I started with physical products, reselling on places like Craigslist. I then moved on to digital.
With this digital age, there is no reason why anyone can not start a side hustle other than a lack of knowledge. But even then, learning is just at our fingertips as well. If you have a cell phone and wifi, you can start a side hustle!
Don’t read this list and do a few just because it sounds interesting. Try to stick with what you are good at. Whatever you are good at, whatever it is that you can talk about for hours on end, and whatever it is that people go to you for, do that. If you know how to do something or you can show other people how to do something better than anyone else, you will have no issues with creating a side hustle and making money from it. There will always be people out there that want to know what you know. And even if there is already someone out there teaching, they can’t teach it like you.
This is a list of side hustles that I have either done myself and have personal experience in (that will be noted), know someone that is currently earning an income from, or I think is extremely interesting and have researched myself.
Affiliate Marketing - Do people tend to take your advice and listen to you when you make suggestions on what to buy and where to shop? You should definitely look into becoming an affiliate marketer. This is done 95% online. You share your special link that is generated for you, people click on that link, and if they make a purchase, you get a commission. There are so many businesses that have affiliate programs that you didn’t know about. Go to your favorite shop online, scroll to the bottom and see if they have a link that says “Affiliate Program” or “Refer A Friend”. You can also join platforms like Shareasale.
Backyard Renting - If you have an amazing backyard, or a rustic barn that everyone is always looking for, you can rent it out for events, weddings, and even to photographers to do sessions.
Baking- Dog treats are a great way to make a little extra money. There are simple 3 ingredient recipes out there that you can use. Go the extra step and decorate them with dog friendly icing. You can also pick one bakery item and master it. Maybe cupcakes for birthdays or just special occasions. Just make sure to research if you need a food license in your community to sell these.
Blogging - Blogging can be a great way to earn extra income. While it takes patience and work to monetize a blog, once you do, the income can be fairly passive. This is where affiliate marketing mainly comes in. As well as using ads on your blog and doing sponsored posts.
Build Resumes - Are you a master at building resumes? You can do this on the side for others as well as make templates and sell them as digital downloads
Build websites - Because I have been involved in so many different online ventures, I have made many websites over the years. I did this for a little while for others. I’m not a professional at it, and I told them this upfront, but I do know my stuff and was able to make at the very least, $500 for a simple website.
Car Detailing & Cleaning - I have a friend that started out doing this as a side hustle, and he did such a good job and his customers loved his work so much he ended up going full time. As of today he is fully booked with all kinds of cars, trucks, boats, and sometimes semi trucks!
Caregiver - Whether this is for pets or people, there are many that look for this service in their homes. The Rover app is a great place to start with pet sitting!
Customer Service Rep - Work this job at home and make your own schedule. One legit company you can consider is NexRep.
Delivery - Becoming a food delivery driver is one of the most common side hustle ideas. Try Doordash for grocery delivery or Postmates if you want to deliver groceries AND alcohol.
Digital Downloads - If you can make it into a digital download, it can be sold online. Canva is a great resource for making graphics because you can turn the download into a sellable template. I have sold photography marketing templates on Etsy for a couple years now. It took me a year to make and list over 400 products but it was well worth the time!
DJ - Know your music and are excellent with networking? A DJ side hustle might be right up your alley. One of my best friends and his wife do this. They typically only book with smaller bars and venues. He has a couple of high quality speakers, a laptop and his phone!
Dropshipping - A drop shipper is a person who sells products for another company. I’ll break this down a little further…A drop shipper usually has a website that customers can place an order through. Once the customer places an order with the drop shipper, the drop shipper orders the item through the original retailer and sends it to the customer. So technically, the drop shipper makes a commission off of an item that they never even had to touch. If you use a platform like AliExpress, you connect Oberlo and all of it is done automatically for you. Nothing manual. It’s your choice if you want to have a physical product or not.
Dry Herbs - Even if you don’t have a green thumb, growing herbs is relatively easy to do. You can dry them out, bottle them up, and then sell them. Few people will turn down locally grown, organic herbs!
Ebook - You can write an ebook about virtually anything and sell it online. Put the work in once, and make passive income over and over again for as long as that product exists. If you can write a blog post, you can write an ebook. No, it doesn’t have to be a 300 page ebook. They can be at the very least 10 pages. As long as you can provide quality, valuable content, you can write an ebook. Sell it on platforms like Etsy and Amazon KDP.
Event Planning - If you are amazing at planning events, you can definitely turn that into a side hustle.
Fitness Instructor - If you love working out and could sit and talk about working out for hours, you could definitely start a side hustle as an instructor. Even if you don’t have the space to teach a class, record and create videos for others. You could sell the videos online and even turn it into a monthly subscription class.
Flipper - There are so many things you can find to flip and resell. From cars, to furniture. Do some research on what other items are selling for that way you know what would be worth your time flipping.
Ghostwriting - Do you love writing, but you aren’t sure how to turn that into something you would make money at? If you are an expert in a specific niche, try doing a search for that niche + ghostwriter. There are a lot of bloggers out there that also hire writers to write their articles for them.
Graphic Designer - Whether it’s logos, t-shirts, or trendy farmhouse signs, you can take your artwork pretty much anywhere. Creative Market, Etsy, Hungry Jpeg, are just a few places you can sell your designs.
HandyPerson - Jack or Jane, of all trades? Put your services out there and start bringing in some side hustle bucks.
House Staging/Decorating - If you have a knack for home decorating, you can offer your services on the side for yourself, as well as realtors. I know people like me that don’t have a clue how to decorate would definitely hire you! If this is you please contact me!! I need help!
Landscaping - Again, there are people out there like me that don’t have the first clue how to do any type of landscaping!
Logos - If you have a knack for designing logos, you can make a great profit selling them on places like Etsy and Creative Market.
Marketing Services - Can you look at a business and the thoughts of how they should be marketing just come to you naturally? There are many ways you can turn this into a side hustle. Blogging, selling digital downloads, teaching.
Music Lessons - Are you great at playing instruments? Teach people how on the side. I used to work at an insurance agency and one of the agents was a musician. He taught music lessons at night but eventually his side hustle became so busy he ended up leaving the insurance industry to do it full time!
Painter - Whether artistically or industrially. If you are great at painting houses, inside and out, there are people looking for you because they might not have the time to do this, or they just aren’t good at it. Or artistically, I know the Sip and Paint nights have become very popular in my area.
Party Supply Rental - This type of side hustle would take a little more upfront investment and time, however, rentals are a great way to make a one time investment, but continue to make money off of them over and over.
Pets - This could be anything from a groomer to a pet sitter, and even a poop scooper. Absolutely that is a thing. There is a small business in the town that I live called Pain In The Grass. It’s a husband and wife team and they do really well with this business.
Photography - This has actually been my side hustle for over 10 years. So I will not take this subject lightly like I have seen others do. You DO need to learn the craft and you do need to understand customer service. Photography is my first love and will always be my side hustle. From family and children photo sessions, to teaching beginners, this has been a very successful side hustle for me over the years. I still have my photography blog for beginners. I don’t add to it often but it still serves me well!
Professional Organizer - There are real people out there hiring professional organizers. Organizing is just too overwhelming for some people. If you would enjoy this side hustle, you could take this burden off of a lot of people’s shoulders. And again if this is you..call me!
Proofread - Give someone’s writing a second look. Create an account with Fiverr or Upwork to get started.
Real Estate - Become an agent, or invest in rental properties. You can also turn them into AirBnB rentals. I was in a position a few years ago when my family and I moved, to turn our old house into a rental. It was an easy $800 per month side hustle!
Reseller - This can be done on platforms like Ebay, Amazon, Mercari, and Poshmark. I spent a year selling mine and my daughters clothes that I cleaned out of our closet, on Poshmark. I made about $900 doing that. It can be time consuming.
Sewing - Do you love to sew? Turn that love into a side hustle! I have a sewing machine and I thought at one time I was going to start a business sewing and selling pillow covers. I made and sold quite a few, but I realized that just wasn’t what I wanted to continue doing.
Social Media Management - This was my side hustle for about 4 years until recently when I filed for my LLC and went full time with KE Media Agency! You do need to be able to make some graphics, as well as know how to get interaction on posts. But this is a great side hustle for anyone that knows a lot about all the different platforms.
Stock Photography - While I am a part time photographer, this is something that I never really dabbled in. However, I know there is a market for it because there are so many bloggers out there that use stock photos for their blogs.
T-Shirts - This is something I also did for about a year. I made an account with Printful, as well as with Etsy and Shopify. I picked one niche’ and ended up growing the business so much I had to sell it because I didn’t have time to keep up.
Teaching - If you are an expert at something, there will always be someone out there looking to learn. You can do this in the form of online classes, in person, or sell digital download tutorials.
Virtual Assistant - Now more than ever, businesses are looking for VA’s. This can be anything from answering emails, to calls, to bookings.
Mow lawns - I have a couple of friends that started out mowing lawns and then it actually turned into a full time lawn care business.
Drive for Uber or Lyft - From what I have heard, this is a great gig and you can even set your own hours.
Create worksheets/templates - Are you good at designing and creating worksheets and organizational spreadsheets? Trust me, there is a huge market for that.
Construction - Good with the building trade? Does it come easy for you to just throw up a simple shed in a backyard? I know tons of people that are looking for that type of service.
Subscription Boxes - These have been extremely popular lately. I’m sure you have heard of them: BarkBox, Fab fit Fun, even Amazon takes part in this. If you LOVE shopping, pick a niche’ and get out there and put your own subscription box together!
Become a Wedding Officiant - I know several people that have done this and make really good money officiating weddings.
Tutor - If you are an expert in any subject taught in school right now I’m sure there are parents that are searching for you!
Create a podcast - Are you not much on writing but you LOVE talking? Create a podcast. Anchor.com is a great place to get started.
Computer/Cell phone repair - If you are a computer wiz, tons of people are always looking for help with computer repairs. Also cracked cell phone screens.
Have Garage Sales - When my step- grandfather was alive, he did this all the time. He would go to garage sales or places like Goodwill, buy stuff and resell it. It’s basically the same as reselling online, you just have to deal with the products in your home all the time.
Please keep in mind, just because it is a side hustle, doesn't mean you get to skimp on customer service. Always make your clients and customers your number one priority no matter what job you do.
Let me know in the comments what you think of this list or if you have any questions about any of them!
