Side hustle is work you might have heard a lot of in recent years. It is quite the trend.
Generating an additional source of income is one of the best ways to reach your financial goals faster. Income from a side hustle can help you clear credit card debt quicker, add more to your wealth generator or even save for a dream holiday.
If things really take off, your gig on the side might even grow into your full-time job. Or maybe you’re just happy to make a few extra bucks here and there each month. Either way, here are a few ideas on how to get the ball rolling on your side hustle venture.
Do odd jobs with Airtasker
Possess the elusive skill of correctly assembling flat pack furniture – without a breakdown?
Airtasker is an Australian peer-to-peer online marketplace where people can outsource everyday tasks and find people to get them done. The most common requests are for help with odd jobs, assembling IKEA furniture, cleaning or moving home. A great way to earn a little extra cash on the weekend.
Sell your graphic design services on Fiverr
If you’re already skilled in graphic design, check out Fiverr. The platform is the world’s largest marketplace for digital services and graphic design and one of the highest paid side hustles on the site. Services can sell for $100 to $3,000 per project.
Create a profile offering lucrative services like web and mobile design through to smaller jobs like designing assets for social media channels. All of these skills are a great way to make an additional income on your timeline.
Set up a store on Etsy
Turning an Etsy store into a profitable business is definitely doable if you’re a crafty and business-minded type willing to invest time into building a side income.
Etsy is a virtual marketplace where you can take your creative hobby next level. You can quickly and affordably set up your own virtual shop on the Etsy platform and sell anything from handmade clothing and jewellery to digital downloads.
Check out The Secret Sauce Behind 11 Of Etsy’s Top Sellers for tips and inspiration to get your crafty income started.
Earn money from your photography hobby
Whether you’re a photography pro or hobbyist, check out sites like iStockphoto and Shutterstock (and this article for more ideas) . You can upload your images into their online marketplace and each time your image is sold, you earn a commission. BigStock and Fotolia are also worth checking out.
Freelance writing and social media management on Upwork
Keen to use your writing or social media skills to build a side income? Joining Upwork is one way to get started. It’s a freelance platform advertising jobs in categories like writing, social media management, graphic design, video editing and more.
A big plus for Upwork is everything happens within the platform – job posting, quotes, client communication, time tracking and payment. If you’re not used to managing the administrative side of a business, this is a great help.
Rent your room or host an experience on Airbnb
The explosion of the sharing economy and Airbnb has given anyone with a spare room to rent an opportunity to create an extra income stream. Accommodation in highly sought after holiday destinations or suburbs can bring in hundreds of dollars per night for a single room.
Becoming an Airbnb host is best suited for those who enjoy meeting people and are pretty hospitable by nature. Airbnb has also added Airbnb Experiences to the platform. It’s your chance get paid to design and lead local activities you’re passionate about for guests.
Share your camper
If your caravan, camper trailer, campervan or motorhome is spending most of its time parked in the driveway, hire it out. Camplify is Australia’s largest caravan hire and RV peer-to-peer sharing community, owners can rent their campers out, long or short term, while they’re not using them. It’s like Airbnb on wheels.
Camplify has a rental calculator on the site so you can crunch the numbers and see your camper’s earning potential.
Pet sit with Pawshake
Love animals? Check out Pawshake. It’s one of Australia’s leading sites for animal minding and by registering your services as a pet sitter you can get paid for doing something you love.
You arrange your own availability and prices, giving you full flexibility to work around other commitments.
Utilise your administrative skills as a virtual assistant
Put your 9-5 admin skills to use as a virtual assistant outside office hours. A virtual assistant is an independent professional who provides administrative, technical and/or creative business support services remotely. Virtual Assistants work with clients to provide a range of services from bookkeeping to design, copywriting, diary management, admin and social media.
To get started you can either advertise your services on an established platform like Freelancer.com or set up your own website and use tools like LinkedIn to market yourself.
With enough patience and dedication, this is definitely the kind of side hustle that could turn into a full-time business.
Cover letter and resume service
If you work in HR this could be the perfect side gig for you. Use your experience to help the consistent market of job seekers write cover letters and CVs that will score them an interview.
Writing great LinkedIn profiles is another lucrative market.
Start by offering your services to any friends or family members on the job hunt and grow your side hustle through word of mouth recommendations.
Committing to a side hustle works best when you have a specific goal in mind, whether it be contributing extra to your wealth generator each month or building an emergency fund.
Whatever your goal is for the income earned from your side hustle, write it down. Be consistent, patient and watch your hustling pay off.
Side Hustle Prep School
A great friend of mine, Susie Moore, has a FREE Side Hustle prep school that you should check out as a starting point to work out what you want to do. Susie is a star and will give you all the guidance you need if a side hustle is something that interests you.
You also might want to check out this side hustle podcast episode where the team at pocket money spoke with Jake from The Freedom Chaser about how you can make money from a side hustle.
What ways are you earning a little extra cash on the side?