35+ Best Side Hustles Ideas You Can Start Now

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A side job next to your regular work, in which you can experiment to your heart’s content with business ideas, and with which you can convert your hobby into extra income with a little extra effort.

A side hustler is someone with an eye for trade who is open to experimentation and sees limitations as a challenge rather than a reason to give up. Side hustlers come from all walks of life and sell a wide variety of products and services. But they have one thing in common: the drive to make the most of their time.

More and more people are discovering the side hustle – who wouldn’t want to earn extra money (from home)? But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In this blog, we look at ways to start a side hustle and turn it into a thriving business?

THIS IS A SIDE HUSTLE

In the broadest sense of the word, a side hustle is an activity next to a regular job that earns you money. That could be a part-time job, or work you do through “side gig” apps like Airbnb, Uber, or Fiverr.

But not all side hustles are created equal. A part-time job often has a high season, so you don’t have the same income all year round. “Gig apps” like Uber can be useful if you’re really short on cash but are ultimately aimed at paying their service providers the least possible amount.

If you want a really good side hustle, forget the part-time jobs and gig apps, and go for side hustles that are flexible, where you can grow and with which you can earn good money in your spare time.

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THINGS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN CONSIDERING AN ONLINE SIDE HUSTLE

Side hustles are a great way to earn extra income, but like all new ventures, they need a lot of work, in the beginning, to get started. If your idea doesn’t really fit with your current lifestyle, there’s a big risk that it will soon end up at the bottom of your to-do list, only to be completely forgotten. That’s why you know you’ve got a good side hustle if it doesn’t feel like a tedious job but as a nice hobby with which you can also earn some extra money.

While side hustles don’t always “degenerate” into a full-time jobs, it often happens that when the side hustle becomes more profitable, the hustler quits his other job. If you’re looking for a side hustle that could eventually become your full-time job, the following are important:

1. DOES THE IDEA FIT INTO YOUR CURRENT LIFE?

A side hustle takes quite a lot of time, especially in the beginning, so it is useful if it fits into your agenda. A side hustle is something you do next to your 9-5 job, not an activity that should get in the way of your regular job.

Last-minute things can happen at your regular job. Maybe you suddenly have to work overtime to finish a project, or there are obligations such as meetings and team outings. If you want to make sure you can spend enough time on your side hustle, it’s a good idea to choose a hustle that is very flexible. Side gigs like babysitting seem ideal, but in practice, you can easily get into trouble when unexpected things happen at work.

2. DOES IT FIT YOUR INTERESTS?

After working eight hours a day five days a week, most people have run out of creative energy by the end of the day. And if you also have a family or other obligations, there is often very little room in your head for your side project. But it is precisely the “lost” hours of the week that are the best times to focus on setting up your business; the workday is over, the weekend is nowhere in sight, and Netflix is ​​already finished – time to get started (and earn some extra money ).

The lost hours of your week are often the best time to focus on your side hustle.

But sometimes you just don’t feel like working. That’s why it’s perfect if your side hustle is something you enjoy doing, whether it’s the final product, or side hustles things like marketing or learning new things. You know you’ve found a real interest when you find that your hustle activities and the things you do when you’re putting off something else are the same.

3. DOES THE IDEA ALSO PAY OFF?

Not every hobby has to be profitable, but you really want to earn extra money from a side hustle. Therefore, it must be profitable, both in the short and long term. Most side hustles are not immediately profitable, simply because you have yet to find optimal products, services, and ways to bring in your first customers. In this first phase, keep costs low, and focus on selling your first product, so you can see how it is in the market.

But what exactly does that mean? Since any project takes a lot more work than it pays in the beginning, it makes sense that you’d have a ridiculously low “hourly wage” at that stage. But once you’re up and running and more money is coming in, it’s a good time to start looking at how much time and money it will cost you to bring in customers and make and sell your product. If it turns out that your margins or hourly wages are very meager, or even negative, this side hustle probably won’t last long.

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10 SIDE HUSTLES FROM HOME ( EARN EXTRA MONEY )

1. MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

Throughout this whole website, whenever there is any mention of “making money”, I have always put “Blogging” within the first five listed ways to do so.

Why? Because this is what I do and I absolutely love it!

But before anything else, let us have a chat about what is a blog and who is a blogger.

Well, a blog is a website that contains a number of articles or posts that revolve around a certain topic or a number of topics.

And a blogger is someone who manages the blog, creates content, and update existing ones.

This is a great way to start making money because here, you’ll be your own boss, you create content around the stuff that you personally like, and also, you get to set your own working hours.

When it comes to the money-making part, there are quite a few ways you can do so. You can monetize your blog by:

  • Display Ads (Like the ones you see floating around this page)
  • Affiliate marketing (Making money by promoting products and services of others)
  • Sponsored post (Creating posts about a brand or company that’ll pay you to do so)
  • Online courses (You can sell your own courses)
  • Other consulting services

How can you get started?

To get started, first, you will have to think of a name for your blog (domain name).

For example, the domain name of this blog is Prosmartrepreneur.com, similarly, you’ll have to come up with a blog name.

Try to think of a name that reflects the topic/niche of the blog.

If your blog will be about cooking and recipes, you can name it MariaKitchen.com.

Alternatively, you can name your blog after your full name, (First name)(Surname).com. 

If you already have something in mind, let us check it out if it is available or not –

Here you have no choice but to try out different names and word combinations until you get something that is relevant and available, sorry.

If the domain name you entered is available, TAKE IT! You have to register it as soon as possible because it might not be available tomorrow, or ever. Domain names are volatile like that.

One moment, AVAILABLE, in another moment, gone!

So if your domain name is available, check out this article where you can set up your blog with this step-by-step guide that’ll take you no more than 20 minutes.

And don’t worry, the process is quite beginner-friendly, and you don’t really need any technical skills to set up your blog. The process is so easy, even your grandma can do it!

How much money can you actually make with Blogging?

Oooo fun topic!

While money making is not as linear with the amount of traffic you get, the more traffic you have the more money you’ll be making.

100,000 pageviews monthly can get you anywhere from $3000 to $6000 or more every month if you monetize your blog with Mediavine ads, brand sponsorships, high-valued affiliate products, etc.

Many established bloggers make anywhere from $10,000 to an earth-shattering $100,000 a month. So, it is safe to say that income has no limit here!

Check out my income reports that which are published every month.

Pros:

  • Very easy to set up (takes less than 20 minutes)
  • Freedom to choose any niche (you can blog about anything that interests you)
  • Cheap as hell (at the cost of less than $4 per month)
  • Very high-income potential (established bloggers make anywhere from $10,000 to a whopping $100,000 per month)
  • Exponential growth (ability to grow very quickly)

Cons:

  • Steep learning curve (there is a lot to learn)
  • Slow growth in the beginning (which can be frustrating)

I am really thrilled to share with you the EXACT steps I took to start a blog from scratch with NO tech and NO writing experience. That’s why I created this FREE 7-day e-mail course to teach beginners like you how to start your blog the right way!  Sign up below to learn how! 

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2. MAKING AND SELLING HANDMADE PRODUCTS

Unsurprisingly, many successful Shopify businesses have sprung from the merchants’ hobbies. If you like what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. What do you like to do even if you don’t get paid for it? Hobbies such as woodworking, knitting, painting, or crafts provide the perfect basis for a fantastic side hustle.

Almost everyone has a hobby or creative activity that they really enjoy. And if that hobby is making something by hand, you’re in luck – yes, making these products takes a lot of time, but it’s the perfect way to stand out in a sea of ​​factory stuff.

Moreover, because you can determine which raw materials you use, you can ensure that your product matches your ideals and those of your brand. In fact, many companies make their ideals, such as recycling, their most important characteristic. For example, Dick Moby makes sunglasses from petroleum-free acetate, an environmentally friendly variant of plastic.

From bags made from old car seats to broken radios converted into Bluetooth speakers, recycled raw materials are a great way to make sustainable products, while also reducing costs. If you enjoy turning old things into something new (upcycling), this is the side hustle for you.

3. DESIGN YOUR OWN DESIGNS FOR A PRINT-ON-DEMAND WEBSHOP

If you would like to start your business and have a passion for design, a print-on-demand company is a fun way to set up something with low risk. With Shopify apps such as Printful and Printify you can easily upload your own designs to products such as T-shirts, mugs, linen bags, pillows, and much more, and then put them for sale directly in your Shopify store.

When customers place an order, the products are printed and immediately shipped to them. The big advantage of print-on-demand versus ordering a large stock is that you can constantly adapt your supply to the demand, without having to make a large investment in the beginning. And you can still give the products their own flair and identity with your own unique designs.

Plus, because the hard work of manufacturing and shipping is done by third parties, you have more time to work on new designs and marketing your products.

4. START A DROPSHIPPING WEBSHOP

If the ‘done by third parties’ aspect of print-on-demand appeals to you, but you find marketing and business more interesting than design, dropshipping is for you. In this business model, third parties manufacture and ship the products for you.

Dropshipping is low-risk because, as with print-on-demand, products are only shipped once a purchase has been made. This keeps your profit margin high if you keep your marketing costs under control. And because third parties take care of production and shipping, dropshipping also saves you a lot of time.

And that time you can spend on finding a niche for your product, marketing your product, finding new customers, and providing excellent customer service. Because dropshipping is not about product development, dropshipping is the perfect side hustle for people with a passion for marketing, who want to earn extra money.

5. START A ZINE AND SELL DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

What is a zine? Is it some kind of magazine? Yes, it seems! A “zine” usually has a much smaller print run. Sometimes this term is used for magazines for a very specific audience, but the main difference with a magazine is that a zine is homemade and independent, and deals with topics and ideas that you hardly encounter in the mainstream media.

For artists and writers, a zine can be a way to showcase their work. Activists can use it to activate their supporters. Zines have a long tradition of giving space to alternative or undervalued art and literature. The internet is a platform for a new generation of zine writers to share new ideas with their digital subscribers.

With these kinds of apps, running your online store takes less time and effort, and you have more room to focus on writing, art, photography, or whatever else you want to put in your zine.

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6. BECOME A FREELANCER

With the advent of the internet, there are more and more opportunities to work freelance. It’s now easier than ever for experienced (or breakthrough) writers, programmers, designers, and other specialists to find clients online, and as long as there’s Wi-Fi somewhere, you can work and earn money.

If you’re looking for a side gig with a lot of growth opportunities that are relatively fast and profitable, then freelance work might be for you. Freelancing sells your time, which makes scaling more difficult, but at the same time means you don’t have to sit around and wait for your products to start selling.

Freelancing is especially ideal for people who have just graduated or are about to graduate, but who are often not hired by companies due to lack of experience. With freelance projects, you can earn money and build a nice portfolio and CV, full of references from satisfied customers.

Some young entrepreneurs even start freelancing while they are still in school. Tutoring, tutoring, and exam training are hugely popular side hustles for college students, and some students even sell their notes and other study materials. And since new pupils and students come every year, you are assured of a stable market.

7. TEACH AN ONLINE COURSE

Learning something new is not always easy. It takes time and effort to delve into a subject or skill, and without motivation, you often don’t get very far. But if you think about what things you are already very good at? Or which subjects do you actually know a lot about? Maybe it’s time to share that knowledge with the rest of the world.

Teaching is incredibly rewarding work, and online platforms like Udemy and Coursera have made it super easy for students from all over the world to find each other.

The great thing about giving an online course is that you can decide for yourself what you will teach, how often, and how much. Do you know everything about the Roman Empire? Are you an experienced beekeeper? Share that knowledge! As long as there are people who want to learn from you, and are willing to pay for a course with solid and accessible material, you can teach anything you can imagine.

8. START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL

YouTube has more than a billion users who watch videos for hours on end every day. The more popular the site became, the more opportunities opened up for creative types who wanted to create their own video content.

You can always start your own YouTube channel where you talk about current affairs, do little skits, make music, or whatever – but the real money is made with a channel that belongs to your business. It takes a long time to get enough YouTube views and subscribers to make a YouTube channel really profitable, so it’s better to find another source of income than to wait for your ads to make enough money. The clearer your videos are about your products, the better. Think, for example, of making special videos for the launch of a new product.

Take, for example, the mattress company Purple, which specializes in pillows and mattresses made from a patented material called “hyper-elastic polymer”. In the weeks leading up to the launch of their new mattress, Purple teamed up with content creators The Harmon Brothers to create a series of videos explaining and demonstrating exactly how the material and mattresses worked.

Their raw egg test went viral and was viewed 158 million times on YouTube and Facebook. After this ad, they made even more content with the same wacky humor and fun images. A YouTube channel associated with a product is a great way to get your brand known to a new audience.

But be careful not to over-promote your product. In this side hustle, creating content that people actually want to see is the most important thing, and the last thing people want to see is ads.

9. BECOME A CONTENT CREATOR

The famous statement of the artist Andy Warhol was that everyone would have his or her “15 minutes of fame” in the future. And if we look at models on Instagram or comedians on YouTube, it’s true that getting a huge audience is now possible for almost anyone. But not everyone benefits in the same way.

The fact that today everyone has access to a potentially multimillion-dollar audience has created space for the so-called “micro-influencers”, especially on Instagram, where some accounts may not be world-famous, but do have access to “super niches”, something that brands and companies love it. And if the term “influencer” has negative associations with you, remember that reach and influence are two of the biggest goals of marketing, as well as getting the right message to the right people. In short: being an influencer is simply one of the ways to set up a side hustle or even a full-time business.

Although it can take a while to get enough audience with this side hustle, there are tons of creative ways to monetize that same audience. And even if you don’t know exactly how you’re going to earn that money, it’s never a bad idea to have a large audience. A lot of Instagram creators have had to work hard to get the amount of audience needed to make a channel profitable.

A good example is Doug the Pug. What once started as an ordinary account with funny pictures of a pug has grown into a webshop with all kinds of products. But something like that doesn’t happen in a few months. Week after week, the owners posted content that people wanted to see, creating a large base of loyal Doug fans.

There are many different types of influencers on Instagram, so in this side hustle, there is a lot of room for your own creativity. You can specialize in content for a small niche, offer your own freelance services, build your acting portfolio, or just post funny stories and great photos. But whatever you choose, make sure you can keep it up for a longer period of time and that you enjoy doing it.

Once you’ve built up a nice fan base, you can start affiliate marketing. That means ‘promoting’ products or services by sharing them on your social media channels. If a follower buys through your unique link, you earn a commission. If you do it right, this is a fruitful way of generating passive income.

10. START A PODCAST

The number of people listening to podcasts continues to grow every year. It started when comedians and comedians couldn’t be seen without a podcast. And then it was the turn of the writers and journalists. And these days, a podcast is a must for almost any brand that wants more online audience.

For a while, it was feared that too many podcasts would ruin the whole phenomenon, but data shows that the demand for podcasts is far from over. Podcasting, like social media and blogging, has become a staple in the online content world.

And podcasting is relatively cheap. A good USB microphone costs around $100 (they are often sold as “podcasting microphones”), and free recording platforms like Audacity are free and easy to use. If you want to make everything a little slicker, with an XLR microphone, mixer, and other accessories, you will not have lost more than a few hundred euros.

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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT — AND PROFIT

Side hustles have another advantage: They are the ideal wading pools in which you can practice running a business. Running a business is a profession in its own right, and if you’re used to getting your income from paid employment, some business ideas can feel very unnatural. With side hustles, you can safely test all of these ideas (and hopefully earn some quick cash).

But a side hustle isn’t just a way to make more money. You also learn valuable skills and grow as an entrepreneur. As a writer, actor, painter, musician, or other artists, a side hustle can give you the freedom to create what you want and help you grow professionally, ultimately being a profitable way to turn your passion into a profession.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CHOOSING SIDE HUSTLES (SIDE HUSTLES).

WHAT IS A SIDE HUSTLE?

A side hustle is a side hustle next to your regular work in which you can experiment with business ideas to your heart’s content. With a little extra effort, many people turn their hobby into extra income.

WHICH SIDE HUSTLES CAN YOU START FROM HOME?

We give you 10 ideas to earn extra. 1. Making and selling handmade products. 2. Design your own designs for a print-on-demand webshop. 3. Start a dropshipping store. 4. Start a zine and sell digital subscriptions. 5. Become a freelancer. 6. Teach an online course. 7. Start a blog. 8. Start a YouTube channel. 9. Become a content creator 10. Start a podcast.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A SIDE HUSTLE YOUR FULL-TIME JOB?

While side hustles don’t always “degenerate” into full-time jobs, it often happens when the side hustle becomes increasingly profitable. If you want to make your side hustle a full-time job, keep the following in mind: 1. Does the idea fit into your current life? 2. Does it fit your interests? 3. Does the idea also pay off?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SIDE HUSTLE, A PART-TIME JOB, AND A SIDE GIG?

In the broadest sense of the word, a side hustle is an activity next to a regular job that earns you money. That could be a part-time job, or work you do through “side gig” apps like Airbnb, Uber, or Fiverr. But not all side hustles are created equal. A part-time job often has a high season, so you don’t have the same income all year round. “Gig apps” like Uber can be useful if you’re really short on cash but are ultimately aimed at paying their service providers the least possible amount.

I am really thrilled to share with you the EXACT steps I took to start a blog from scratch with NO tech and NO writing experience. That’s why I created this FREE 7-day e-mail course to teach beginners like you how to start your blog the right way!  Sign up below to learn how! 

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