Do you want to boost your income in 2020 but can’t do so at your current day job? Then you should consider taking on a side hustle this year.
A side hustle is a part-time job that you work during your free time to earn extra income. It might be doing freelance work within your employment industry in the evenings or simply monetizing a hobby that you enjoy.
If you didn’t know it was possible to earn a second income, here are several ideas to help you get started beyond flipping burgers or waiting tables on your nights and weekends like you might have done during college.
Find Local Clients Within Your Current Career Field
Depending on your profession, you might be able to do additional work after your full-time job ends for the day. These clients might not be willing to pay the regular corporate rates your employer charges but most side hustles won’t. This can also be a good option if you have ambitions of eventually beginning your own business that caters to local clients and businesses.
Join a Freelance Platform
While you might be able to find local side hustles, you can also find work from the comfort of your home by joining a freelance network like Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer.
With these platforms, you can advertise your talents and land clients that will pay you to do a number of activities such as graphic design, data collection, freelance writing, or even becoming a virtual assistant.
Platforms like Upwork allow you to bid on client proposals while the platform Fiverr requires a client to choose you to do a project. These sites will keep a certain percentage of each job as commission, but you might not have discovered these clients without joining a freelance platform.
Start a Blog
Beginning a blog can also be another way to earn income. Many people researching the web for information like to visit blogs to read about personal experiences instead of the technical jargon that is found on a manufacturer’s website. With a blog, a popular way to earn income is from affiliate marketing.
This is the digital equivalent of your mother’s old “Tupperware parties” where the party host would earn a small commission from each item purchased at the event. In the digital world, you place an affiliate link for a product you recommend and it will track if the person makes a purchase after clicking on it. If so, you get a small portion of the sale. Several successful bloggers thousands of dollars a month from affiliate marketing.
Another benefit of starting a blog is that it can also serve as a portfolio to secure future freelance clients as many full-time bloggers rely on freelance jobs to supplement their monthly income. If you want to earn income from freelance writing, your blog posts will give potential clients an idea of your writing style and ability. And, it also helps you establish an online presence until your work is published on other websites.
You can start a blog on just about any topic but make sure it is one that you are interested in and enjoying writing about as it can take over 6 months' time to start generating income. In fact, most bloggers give up before the 3-month mark, the time it usually takes to realize that blogging isn’t worth the time investment required.
Write as a Freelancer
If writing is one of your hobbies, you can make money writing about your interests and passions on the internet. The easiest way to land clients is by joining a freelance platform but expert websites also periodically hire staff writers. And, you can also submit guest articles or stories to magazines that pay you if your article is published. There are job boards like Indeed and ProBlogger that advertise freelance writing positions as well.
Do Graphic or Website Design
If you have the necessary digital editing software and a creative eye, websites and businesses are constantly looking for logo designers and somebody to update the appearance of their websites.
They also often look for custom images to include in their posts and if they are planning to publish a book, they might also be looking for ebook cover designs as well.
While brick-and-mortar design studios are still very popular, many graphic designers make a decent income by advertising their services on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Sell Something Online
Each year, more purchases occur online instead of in physical stores. This means you can make money by selling items on your own website or on digital marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, or Etsy. It depends on what you are trying to sell, but you can make money selling just about anything.
Personal finance blogger Marc Andre believes that selling or flipping items is one of the best ways to make extra money.
When interviewed for this article he said, “If you’re looking to make money quickly, one of the easiest and most practical approaches is to find some things around your house that you don’t use and sell them. There are a number of different selling apps that make it easy to get exposure for the things you want to sell. If you want to turn it into a regular side hustle, you can source products at yard sales, thrift shops, estate sales, flea markets, and auctions and resell them for a profit”.
Another strategy is to buy a shipping container full of a product like makeup or DVDs and sell them on Amazon and you can make a tidy sum of money because you were able to buy in volume at wholesale prices and sell at retail.
Clean Houses
An activity that might only require a few hours each week is cleaning houses and rental homes. As two-thirds of American households are dual-income families, they do not have the time to clean their house on a regular basis.
If you live in a touristy area, rental cabins and houses need to be cleaned each weekend before the next visitors arrive. Craigslist postings might be the easiest way to find prospective clients in need of your services.
Become a Petsitter
Many American households love their pets. That means plenty of money can be made by becoming a petsitter, some even make a six-figure income each year.
Demand will vary depending on where you live, but many pet owners are willing to leave their animal at home and pay somebody to take them for a walk and play with them instead of dropping them off at a doggie daycare.
Others that will be going on vacation, but need to leave their animals behind, are willing to pay a sitter instead of leaving their furry friends at a kennel for one or two weeks.
Manage Rental Property
In addition to cleaning houses, property management is a great side hustle as well. If you have the money to buy rental property this can be a great investment opportunity and you will be able to save money by being the Chief Maintenance Officer.
Otherwise, landlords and homeowners are always looking for a handyman to take care of the various indoor and outdoor maintenance projects that go along with homeownership.
This can be a great side hustle idea if you are a “Mr. Fix-It” or have experience with landscaping and mowing lawns.
Why Have a Side Hustle?
There are plenty of reasons to have a side hustle. It might be to earn some extra income for the holidays or to go on vacation. Another reason might be to make extra loan payments or start an emergency fund.
Whatever the reason, there are plenty of ways to earn extra money each month. Also, a side hustle can last as long or short as you desire.
Perhaps you are a teacher that needs to make some extra money during the summer break. For others, a side hustle can be an enjoyable way to monetize a hobby that you would otherwise be doing for free.
While these 9 side hustle ideas listed above are a great starting point, there are many other ways to diversify your income streams.
This article originally appeared on LendEDU.
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