50 Ideas for a Lucrative Side Hustle
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In these harsh economic times, almost everyone is looking for ideas for a lucrative side hustle that can help them supplement the income they get from their regular job.
The good thing is that there are lots of great ideas that can help you make some good money on the side. To make matters easier for you, we have compiled a list of 50 awesome ideas for a lucrative side hustle.
Most of the ideas listed in this article are easy to implement, do not need a huge initial investment or any specialized skillset, and most importantly, they can be implemented without interfering with your regular job.
Of course, not every idea will be right for you, but several will work perfectly for you, based on your skills, your dedication and what you are willing to do.
Let’s get started.
1. BLOGGING
Blogging is a great way to earn some money on the side without interfering with your regular job. In addition, you can make money blogging from anywhere in the world. All you need is a computer and access to the internet.
So, how do you make money?
Simply build an audience for your blog and then find stuff to sell them, stuff that is related to your blog’s niche.
However, it is good to note that you will need to invest a lot of time upfront.
2. ONLINE FREELANCING
The internet gave birth to the gig economy, and with it came the opportunity to make money as a freelancer.
If you have any skills that allow you to do work that can be delivered remotely –writing services, transcription, graphic design, web design, translation and so on – you have everything you need to become an online freelancer.
Simply join a freelancing marketplace like Upwork or Freelancer.com and pitch your services to clients.
3. SEO CONSULTING
Today, virtually every business has an online presence, and business owners are willing to pay a lot of money if you can help their business websites rank well on search engines.
If you have some SEO skills, you can earn good money helping businesses optimize their websites for search engines.
According to Credo, SEO consultants earn an average of $136.25 per hour. Just like blogging and online freelancing, this side hustle idea can be done from anywhere in the world provided you have an internet connection.
4. BECOME A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
There are several businesses looking for people to help them with things like book keeping, research, data entry, editing, scheduling tasks and so on. If these are services you can provide, it is a great idea for a side hustle.
These services don’t take much of your time and can be done remotely, which means that you can provide virtual assistance services while still working your 9-5. You can either become a freelance virtual assistant or join an online virtual assistant agency.
5. DOMAIN FLIPPING
This is a great side hustle idea that can make you good amounts of money in very little time without a lot of work. Domain flipping basically involves buying a good domain name at a low price and then selling it at a significantly higher price to make some profit. S
imply find a new domain name that can be easily branded or a premium domain that has just expired, buy it and then list it on domain auctioning websites like flippa.com. Sit back and wait for people to place their bids.
6. LIST YOUR PROPERTY ON AIRBNB
Do you have a spare room or even a house that you are not using? Why not rent it out to tourists and visitors on AirBnB? Listing your property on AirBnB is a simple process that involves providing the location of your property, setting your desired price, listing the amenities available and posting some pictures of the property.
Once your property is listed, simply sit back and make money as visitors spend their holidays in your unoccupied home or spare room.
7. CREATE AN E-COMMERCE STORE
Online shopping is all the rage today. If you have a great product to sell, simply create an online store and start selling your products. Even if you do not have any programming skills, you can easily create an e-commerce store using platforms such as Shopify.
If you do not have any product to sell, you can still make money by dropshipping. With dropshipping, you find a dropshipping supplier and list their products on your ecommerce store, with a small mark up.
Once a customer makes an order, you forward the order to the supplier, who then ships the product to the customer while you pocket the difference.
8. SELL ONLINE COURSES
Do you have any skills that other people are trying to learn? Create a course to teach people these skills and sell it on websites such as udemy.com or teachable.
There are a lot of things people are willing to pay to learn, from Ms Excel and PowerPoint skills to things such as how to become better at communication and so on.
Just find something you are good at and create an online course teaching people how to become good at it.
9. EBOOK PUBLISHING
Today, you don’t need to go through a publisher in order to become an author. With platforms such as Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace, you can write your book and get published within a matter of days.
Wondering what to write about?
You can come up with an interesting fiction story that will get readers hooked. If that’s not your forte, you can package your skills as an eBook and sell it to those trying to learn what you already know.
10. INSTAGRAM MARKETING
Do you spend a lot of time on Instagram? Do you have a huge following on the photo sharing platform? You can easily turn this hobby into a side income by promoting the products and services of businesses to your followers.
To be effective, ensure that the products and services you promote are related to the kind of content you share on your Instagram account.
11. ONLINE COACHING AND CONSULTING
In addition to selling online courses, you can earn money from your skills by becoming an online coach or consultant.
Do you have some great online business skills? Are you a social media marketing guru?
Whatever your skills, there are people willing to pay if you can get on a Skype call and help them find solutions to their problems.
A good place to get started is to join sites like clarity.fm, which help link consultants to clients looking for advice.
12. START A PODCAST
If the idea of starting a blog does not sound so appealing to you, you can still build a regular audience by starting a podcast.
Once you have built a significant following, there are several ways you can use to make money from your podcast, such as finding businesses to sponsor your podcast in exchange for placing ads of their products and services on your podcast.
13. BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Today, business need to engage in some form of social media marketing. However, many business do not have the time or the skills to effectively position their brands on social media.
If you know your way around social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, many businesses will be willing to pay you to become their social media manager.
Your work will involve sending posts on the different social media platforms and responding to customers’ messages.
14. AFFILIATE MARKETING
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make passive income. It basically involves driving traffic to another business’s products and services. For every sale that the business makes from the traffic you have sent to them, you earn a commission.
You will be given your affiliate link which is used to track the traffic you have driven to the business’s sales page. You can easily get started with affiliate marketing by joining affiliate marketing networks such as Clickbank and ShareASale.
15. BECOME A GOOGLE AD SPECIALIST
Google Ad Campaigns are a great way for businesses to grow their businesses. Unfortunately (fortunately for you), many businesses do not understand the intricacies of how Google Ads work.
If you know how to set up, run and manage Google Ad Campaigns, you can make good money on the side helping businesses advertise their products and services on Google.
16. TRAVEL CONSULTING
There are many people who would love to travel, but they do not know how to make their dream trip a reality, either because of money, limited knowledge of great travel destinations, and so on.
If you love to travel and can help people find great travel destinations, top attractions in these destinations as well as cheap flights and accommodation options, people will readily pay you to help them plan their trip.
You can easily market your travel consulting business through social media or through a blog.
17. BECOME A LANDING PAGE SPECIALIST
Businesses are constantly looking for ways to convert website visitors into leads and leads into buyers.
If you know how to use words and design to convince people to take a certain action, you can grow a lucrative side hustle helping businesses design landing pages for their products and services.
Since your services translate directly into revenue for your clients, you can bet that businesses will be willing to pay top dollar for this service.
18. SELL STOCK PHOTOS
If you love taking photos or creating digital art, you can make money off your photos and art by selling them on stock photo websites, such as iStockPhoto or Shutterstock.
You simply need to create an account on these sites and upload your photos or digital art. You will then get paid every time someone purchases one of your photos. Keep in mind that one photo can be purchased severally.
19. BECOME AN ONLINE ENGLISH TUTOR
If teaching sounds like something you can do, and if you are already enrolled or have attained a bachelor’s degree from an American university, you can make money teaching English to people from non-English speaking countries.
Simple join platforms like VIPKid, set up your class time when you know you will be available and make $14-22 per hour teaching kids English.
20. WEBSITE USER TESTING
Before rolling out their websites to the public, many companies want to know that their websites work as envisioned for new visitors, and they are willing to pay people to test the websites and give their feedback.
To get started, you only need to sign up on a website testing platform like UserTesting.com, test the websites and apps posted on the platform and get paid. You can make up to $10 for every website or app you test.
21. MAKE MONEY AS AN UBER OR LYFT DRIVER
Do you have a car? Do you love driving? You can make money on your spare time by using your car as a taxi cab to drive people around your city. Simply sign up with a ride hailing service like Uber or Lyft and start earning.
22. SELL ON ETSY
If you have a creative gene and can create handmade goods such as cards, jewelry, furniture, custom smartphone and iPad cases and so on, you can make money selling these goods on Etsy, which is the world’s largest online marketplace for handmade products.
Most handmade goods do not require a lot of upfront investment, and selling them on Etsy lowers your overhead, allowing you to make some good money.
23. BECOME AN ONLINE DATING CONSULTANT
This might sound odd, but you can actually earn money helping people meet the loves of their lives. While there are dozens of online dating sites and apps today, many people do not know how to position their profiles on these platforms in such a way that they can attract matches.
If you know how to navigate to attract potential dates on sites such as Tinder, Coffee Meets Bagel or OK Cupid, you can make money advising people on how to create awesome profiles and how to message potential dates like a smooth talker.
24. PEER TO PEER LENDING
If you have some money to spare but aren’t sure where to invest it, you can earn some passive income by investing the money in a peer to peer lending club.
These are platforms where you lend your money to multiple borrowers and earn an interest on your loan. Since you money is spread to multiple borrowers, this lowers the risk of losing all your investment.
25. RENT OUT YOUR CAR
If your car spends most of the time sitting in the garage, why not make some money renting it out to someone who needs to use a car for the day?
There are services like Turo which allow connect you to people looking to rent a car. The amount of money you make will depend on how often your car gets hired.
26. RENT OUT YOUR DRIVEWAY
There are people who have trucks, boats and such other property and nowhere to park them. If you have some extra space in your garage or driveway, you can make money by renting it out to such people.
To get started, sign up on platforms such as ParkLee or JustPark.
27. SELL ON CRAIGSLIST OR EBAY
If you have some items at home that you no longer need, you can make money by selling them on EBay or Craigslist.
This can be anything, from collectibles to used household appliances, electronics, phones and furniture. Just take a photo of whatever you want to sell and post it on either of these sites.
28. MAKE DELIVERIES
If you have a car and some spare time, you can make some little income delivering for PostMates, a logistics company that allows people to order delivery from restaurants, groceries, shops and so on.
The pay is not much, but depending on your city, you can make good money from tips. Alternatively, you can also make deliveries for UberEats or DoorDash.
29. SELL WORDPRESS TEMPLATES
WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, powering millions of websites. If you have some design skills, you can make money by developing WordPress themes and selling them on sites such as ThemeForest.
30. TAKE PART IN ONLINE SURVEYS
Instead of spending your free time scrolling your Facebook feed and liking cat videos on YouTube, why not make money filling out online surveys?
Big brands are constantly conducting surveys to help them with their market research, and you can make some little money filling out such surveys.
To get started, register on online survey sites such as Swagbucks Surveys, Earnably or Opinion Outpost.
31. BECOME A TASK RABBIT
If you have some spare time and have no problem doing some manual tasks, you can make money helping others with small tasks.
Join TaskRabbit and get connected to people who are looking for help with small manual tasks, such as cleaning, assembling Ikea furniture, moving houses, and so on.
32. INTERIOR DÉCOR
Do you have an eye for great design? Do you understand what makes rooms feel warm and inviting? If your answer is yes, you can make money helping people decorate their houses.
You can advertise your services through word of mouth, social media, blogging, or through platforms such as Houzz.
33. APP DEVELOPMENT
This is another great way of earning a passive income. Today, most people rely on apps to help them with various things, from losing weight to learning new languages and finding directions.
If you have some coding skills, you can make good money by developing apps and selling them on various app stores. If you have a great application, the income from the app can even surpass that from your regular job.
34. CAR WASHING AND DETAILING
Majority of families have a car, and you can make a significant side income on weekends by washing and detailing cars for your neighbors.
Professional detailing centers can be quite expensive, and sometimes people do not have the time to take their vehicles to the car detailing centers.
If you can do a good job at a reasonable price, you can easily become the neighborhood car detailer. The best part about this side hustle is that you only need a water supply and a few items which can be bought cheaply.
35. HOME OR OFFICE CLEANING
If car detailing is not your thing, you can still make money helping people clean their homes and offices. Many people will pay handsomely to have their homes and offices thoroughly cleaned.
Most of your customers will require cleaning only on weekends, which means that this side hustle won’t interfere with your regular job. The best part is that, if you do a great job, many of them can become repeat clients.
36. BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER
Do you like taking photos? Do you have a professional camera? You can make money and have fun taking photos of people and their families.
If you position yourself as a professional wedding or event photographer, you can earn a serious money every weekend for just a few hours of work.
37. OFFER POOL CLEANING SERVICES
If you know how to clean pools, why not start a pool cleaning business on the side? Most pool owners won’t have trouble paying a decent amount to have their pools cleaned.
All you need to get started is a water testing kit, a pool schemer and the requisite chemicals. You might also need a vehicle to help you get to clients’ premises.
38. SET UP A VENDING MACHINE
This is another great way of earning a passive income on the side. While you might need some upfront investment for buying the vending machine and stocking it with items, once it is set up you can just leave it alone and come once a week to collect your money and restock the machine.
To maximize your earnings, make sure your machine is located in a high traffic area.
39. CAR FLIPPING
If you have a good knowledge of cars and solid negotiation skills, you can make serious money by buying cars for a low price and selling them for a profit. However, this side hustle will require a sizeable upfront investment for purchasing the cars.
40. COVER LETTER AND RESUME SERVICE
Job searching takes a lot of effort, and if you can help people improve the chances of job seekers getting hired, you have a clear money making opportunity on your hands.
If you have some experience with the recruitment process, you can start a lucrative side hustle helping job seekers optimize their cover letters and resumes.
41. BECOME A MYSTERY SHOPPER
If you enjoy shopping, why not get paid for recording your shopping experience and giving your feedback? You might be wondering who would pay you for something like that. Well, many businesses pay mystery shoppers to shop and test the quality of customer service. In addition, some other companies will pay mystery shoppers to spy on their competitors.
With online shopping having become mainstream, you can even become a mystery shopper without leaving the comfort of your home. In addition, becoming a mystery shopper does not require any upfront investment. To get started, sign up on mystery shopping platforms such as Secret Shopper or Field Agent.
42. BECOME A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
If you have some coding skills, you can start building software on the side. The good thing with software development is that one piece of software can be sold multiple times, which makes it a great source of passive income.
If you do not have coding skills, you can still hire someone to build the software for you, which you can then sell and build your own software empire.
43. DOG WALKING AND PET SITTING
Many people keep dogs, yet many do not have the time to walk their dogs. If there are lots of dog owners within your neighborhood, simply print some flyers and distribute them to people’s homes advertising your dog walking business.
Similarly, you can make money sitting pets for people while they travel.
44. MODELING
If you look good and feel confident in front of cameras and crowds, you can make some money on the side as a model. Most modeling gigs happen at night and on weekends, which means that this side hustle is unlikely to interfere with your day job.
A good way to get started is to join a modeling agency. Depending on your chosen agency and the kind of clients it attracts, modeling can be very lucrative.
45. JOIN A RESEARCH GROUP
As part of their market research, big companies are constantly looking for people who can provide their opinions about products and services. By joining these research groups and providing your opinion, you can make some easy money on the side.
This side hustle is best suited for college students, since opportunities for joining research groups are usually distributed in colleges and universities.
46. BECOME A VOICEOVER ARTIST
If you have a great voice, you can make money by making voice recordings for commercials, audio books, e-learning projects, website tours, and explainer videos.
To get started, sign up to voice talent websites such as voice.com, VoiceBunny and Backstage.
47. WASH WINDOWS
If you have no problem washing windows, you can make a sizeable side income washing people’s windows.
You can charge anywhere from $5 per window for people’s homes to $20 per window for business establishments and malls.
To get started, you need nothing more than a bucket and a squeegee.
48. HELP PEOPLE PREPARE THEIR TAXES
Filing taxes is compulsory, yet many people usually have a hard time filing their taxes. If you are a whiz when it comes to doing your taxes, you can start a lucrative side business as a tax preparer.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tax preparers earn $20.84 an hour on average, which is good money.
However, before you get started, you will need to get a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). You might also need to get some certification depending on your State’s laws.
49. BECOME A PERSONAL CHEF
If you have great culinary skills, you can make money by offering to go into someone’s home and cook them several meals a couple of times each week. Alternatively, you can cook the meals in your own kitchen and then deliver them to your clients.
To avoid finding yourself on the wrong side of the law, check whether your State has any laws requiring food to be made in a commercially-certified kitchen if it is meant for sale.
50. BECOME A PERSONAL TRAINER
If you are fitness freak, you can make money doing what you love by helping people achieve their own fitness. You can either help them work out at the gym or come up with a workout routine that can be done outdoors.
Becoming a fitness trainer does not require much investment, and most of your marketing can be done by word of mouth and through referrals. However, you might need to get some certification before you start working as a fitness trainer.
WRAPPING UP
We have provided you with 50 awesome ideas for a lucrative side hustle, and we hope that you have found one that is perfect for you. What you need to do now is to take action and get your side hustle started.
Keep in mind that many of these ideas will require you to work hard at the beginning if you want to earn a significant income.
However, many of these ideas are fun to try out and have a lot of potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if you decide to start working on your side hustle full time a year down the line.
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