50 + Creative Side Hustle Ideas to Make Money by islam ahmed

by islam ahmed:

Finding a side hustle to help bring in some extra cash was huge when we paid off $52,000 in debt in 18 months. Eventually, my side hustle of blogging exceeded that of my traditional 9 to 5 job.

The great thing about doing something on the side is that there are options for almost anyone. There are virtually no barriers for those serious about using side hustles to bring in some cash, no matter what your physical or financial state is.

Popular Side Hustles

Making money online is one of my favorite ways to make extra cash because I can do so without leaving the comfort of my own home. However, there are countless ways to make money regardless of your location or time limitations.

Here are some things you can do to make some extra money each month.

1. Get paid for your opinion

Many companies will pay people to fill out surveys and/or surf the web. However, there are good survey companies and not-so-good survey companies.

My favorite is Survey Junkie as they will pay you cash instantly via Paypal. They have over 6,000,000 members and an A+ rating with BBB.

Keep in mind that while taking surveys won’t make you rich, it can be a decent way to get income on the side.

2. Searching the Internet

Did you know that there are companies out there that will pay you for searching the web? Check out Swagbucks which is one of the most reputable companies when it comes to making money searching the internet. Get a $10 bonus just for signing up!

3. List a Room in Your House

Do you have a spare bedroom or another unused area, such as a basement, that you can list for guests? If so, this might be a great way to bring in a few hundred dollars each month.

My friend Steve makes over $1,000 per month by listing his spare bedrooms with Airbnb.

You can easily list a room in your home by using Airbnb. Tenants are already screened for you, and if you have problems, you can turn to Airbnb for help.

4. Create an eCommerce Store

If you have a product to sell, an eCommerce store is a great way to get it out there. Make sure to do your research first as this market is very saturated, so the more niche you can be, the better.

To make the process of opening your online store even easier, check out Shopify which is an eCommerce platform that has good looking templates, so you don’t have to do any programming.

5. Invest in Crowdfunded Real Estate

Real estate can be a great way to make money while you sleep. However, because it costs so much to purchase a home, using a crowdfunding platform to buy real estate can be a more affordable option. If you want an easy, low-cost way to invest in real estate, consider using a company like Fundrise.

You only need $500 to get started, and they have three main eREIT’s to choose from.

6. Get Paid Using Your Car

If you’ve got a car and like driving, signing up to drive for a company like Lyft may be the perfect side hustle for you. You can set your own hours and choose which jobs you will and won’t take, meaning you are in control of your income when you choose this side hustle.

Right now Lyft is offering a $250 bonus for new drivers.

Want to make money delivering food to people? Check out DoorDash which will pay you to deliver food while listening to your favorite tunes. Depending on the rules in your city, you may be able to deliver with your car, bike or scooter.

7. Get Paid to Watch Videos & Play Games

I know this sounds too good to be true, but InboxDollarswill actually pay you to watch videos. Not only that, they will pay you to download and play games as well.

I downloaded Final Fantasy XV and got paid $3.75 for just playing the game. Right now they offer a $5 cash bonus for just signing up.

8. Teach English from Home

Do you have at least one year of teaching experience? Then you might want to check out VIP Kid which can pay up to $2,000 per month for you to teach English from the comfort of your own home.

Requirements:

• Eligibility to work in the US or Canada.
• Bachelor’s degree in any field.
• One school year of traditional teaching experience or the equivalent in mentoring, tutoring, or alternative education.

The way it works is that you are assigned a student in China who wants to learn English. VIP Kid provides the curriculum and you do everything from a computer. Not too shabby, right?

9. Get Paid for Shopping in General

Wouldn’t be great to make money for everything else that you buy? There are actually many websites out there that will give you money back for things that you buy every day.

One of the best sites is called Ebates which will give you cash back for buying things at retailers like Walmart, Amazon and more.

Click here to get a $10 cash for signing up, and you make your first purchase through Ebates.

10. Make Money While Shopping for Groceries

Chances are you go grocery shopping at least once a month. Did you know that you can earn money when you buy groceries?

I use an app called Ibotta which will actually pay me to buy certain types of groceries. The key is to only buy items you would normally buy. Then using this app is a no-brainer.

Another way to make money while shopping is to be a personal shopper.

11. Start a Blog

This is one of my favorite side hustles as I make over $10,000 per month from blogging. Starting a blog is actually very easy, even for those who don’t consider themselves technologically savvy.

You can start a blog for less than $3/month. Click here to get special pricing of $2.95/month with Bluehost.

12. Sell Your Pictures

Did you know that you can sell your pictures? If you have an eye for a good shot and have a smartphone with a good camera built in, why not start making some money with it?

In a world of mediocre stock photography, your pictures could be exactly what people need to make their website or print materials stand out.

To sell your photos online, check out a site called SmugMug. They will give you unlimited cloud storage and even have a feature to display your work via Apple TV.

Right now you can even get 15% off when you sign up with them.

13. Publish a Book

Real people are indeed making money by publishing books online. If you’ve got valuable information to share, consider gathering it into book form and selling books online at little or no cost to you.

I actually wrote a book called You Can Retire Early and get a 10% royalty for every book that I sell.

14. Sell Your Hand Crafted Items on Etsy

If you’ve got a gift for making handcrafted items, consider selling them on Etsy. From baby clothing to woodworking products and more, Etsy store owners can make hundreds of dollars per month or more if they sell a valuable product.

Selling on Etsy is a great way to use your creativity to make money and give people unique products that they love at the same time.

15. Peer to Peer Lending

Nowadays it is easy to help out others who need money and get a return on your money at the same time. Lending Club is a platform where they boast 5-7% returns historically.  This percentage obviously varies based on the investments you choose and the risk involved with those investments.

99.9% of their investors have seen positive returns, so it may be a good place to start if you are interested in peer to peer lending.

Work and Burn Calories

If you like working with your hands or just have the physical capability to do manual labor, there are a ton of side hustles that will help you burn calories at the same time. Check out these ideas.

16. Deliver Pizzas

When my wife Kim and I were working hard at paying off $52,000 of consumer debt in just eighteen months, I delivered pizzas to help bring extra cash into our home. Not only do pizza delivery people get an hourly wage, they can also earn some serious tips as well.

I earned somewhere around $15 per hour doing this on the side while I had a full-time job.

Check out the local pizza places in your area and talk with them about hiring on if this might be a side hustle you would like.

Or, you could deliver for multiple restaurants with DoorDash.

17. Watch kids

Many families are eager for quality child care services for their family. If you enjoy children and are responsible and timely, this could be a great way for you to rake in some extra cash. Advertise at schools, activity centers such as gymnastics clubs and other places where parents and kids frequent. Putting up a profile on Care.com is a good idea to help you get more gigs too.

18. Watch pets

If you’re good with animals and enjoy working with them, this could be the perfect side hustle for you. People with busy schedules or people going on vacation need responsible animal lovers to walk their dogs and care for their animals when they are out of town.

Advertise via neighborhood flyers or on sites such Care.comwhich has a directory of pet sitters, too.

19. Deliver the Newspaper

Yes, believe it or not, the newspaper is still delivered to people’s homes every day. I would imagine a lot less these days. However, that is beside the point. If you are looking for a side hustle that you can do in the early mornings before work, then this is a great option.

20. Mow Lawns

Many working families have little time or desire to maintain their lawns and landscaping. If you like mowing lawns, have flyers printed out and advertise to neighbors that you offer lawn mowing and/or landscaping services.

The beauty of mowing lawns is that involves very little start-up money. Just buy a lawnmower, and you are good to go.

21. Paint Gates and Fences

This is another one of those small tasks that people often don’t take the time to do. If you live in an area where many yards have gates and fences, print out flyers and offer to paint them for cash. I interviewed Chris Peach on my podcast who told me about a neighbor kid who took a picture of a gate that needed to be painted and put out a flyer asking people if they needed their gate to be painted.

He had some tear offs on the bottom with his phone number on it. Chris looked at the picture of the gate and wondered if it was his gate.

This kid was brilliant because I bet all the neighbors thought the same thing. If they wanted to do something about their gate, who do you think they would call? Probably the kid who was out there hustling trying to make the neighborhood look better.

22. Small Handyman Jobs

Leaky faucets, squeaky doors, and other small repair jobs are readily available in most homes. Advertise your handyman services and make a business out of helping others get small tasks done. Many communities and apartment complexes have a bulletin board where you could post your fliers for free.

Be sure to schedule repair jobs in such a way so there you’re working all the houses in a certain area at one time to avoid wasting time and gas driving from job to job.

23. Wash Cars

Offer a door-to-door car washing service to local residents. You bring the cleaning supplies; they provide the water and the electricity for vacuuming out the inside of vehicles. Similar to mowing lawns, this takes very little money to get started. Get a vacuum, a bucket, some sponges, a few cleaning products and you are good to go.

Remember to offer inside and outside cleaning together for a full-service wash.

24. Clean and/or Organize Homes or Businesses

If you’ve got a knack for cleaning and organization, there’s some serious money to be made by offering your skills to local residents and business owners. People often simply don’t have the time to clean their homes, and organization is one of those skills that everyone wants, but not everyone has.

If you love cleaning and organizing, consider advertising to local homes and businesses for your services.

25. Clean Windows

This is another one of those tasks that people simply don’t take the time to do. Remember that most window cleaning clients will want you to be insured so that any on-the-job injury is covered. Advertise via flyer distribution or local neighborhood newspapers.

You can advertise by distributing flyers or by placing an ad in a local neighborhood newspaper.

Make Some Extra Cash by Taking Surveys

Taking surveys in your spare time can be a great way to earn some extra dough fast. Check out Survey Junkiewhich will pay you instantly with cash via Paypal. They have over 6,000,000 members and they have an 

8.9/10 rating on Trust Pilot.

Use Your Skills

If you have skills that you can make money with, then why not put them to work.

26. Graphic Design

Graphic designers are in high demand, both in brick and mortar companies and in online companies. If you’ve got a gift for graphic design, look for online jobs that you can do from the comfort of your home computer.

Check out 99 Designs to find people looking for a graphic designer.

27. Web Design

With new websites and blogs popping up every day, there is a serious amount of business available for those who are skilled in web design. If you’ve got the creative talent and the technical skills to build a great website, consider offering your services to online clients.

If you are looking for web design work, check out Outsourcely which has people looking for what you do.

28. Create Drawing Based Videos

Have you seen those videos that look hand-drawn explaining something? Well, did you know that there is software that you can buy in order to learn how to make these videos yourself?

You will have to invest in the software and spend time learning the program, but once you have it down, this could be a very lucrative side business.

A good way to get your first few jobs is on a website like Fiverr. Services on the site start at just $5, but you can list your services for more than $5 too.

29. Tutoring

People of all ages, from young children to high school students, to college students and even older utilize tutoring services for a variety of different subjects. Students often need tutors in specific subjects such as math, science or English, and adults of all ages will often seek out tutors for things like learning English or learning how to operate technical devices. Offer your services at local schools, coffee shops or on Craigslist.

This can be a great way to make cash as a college studentas the hours are flexible and you can work around your school schedule.

You can also tutor overseas kids online via a site like VIP Kid.

30. Proofreading

If you’ve got an eye for detail, an online proofreading job might be the perfect side hustle for you. Many companies are looking for people who will proofread their content before it’s published, and this is a job you can do from the comfort of your home office.

Believe it or not, proofreading is a very valuable skill set because quality content is what sets people and businesses apart from the rest of the crummy content that is out there.

To help you earn more as a proofreader, consider taking a course like Proofread Anywhere. There is a course for general proofreading and one for transcript proofreading. Completing transcript proofreading will usually pay more than general proofreading as it’s more difficult work.

31. Get paid to Tweet

There are legitimate companies that will pay you to tweet their info on your Twitter account. Recently I saw an opportunity from Proctor and Gamble who owns Bounty paper towels, Crest toothpaste, and Charmin toilet paper. Although they didn’t accept my bid, these opportunities show up almost daily.

Check out Sponsored Tweets by Izea for more info on how to sign up.

32. Virtual Assistant

Companies and self-employed business owners alike are searching for virtual assistants to help them with the small day-to-day tasks that help them run their businesses efficiently.

If you’re good at helping others and completing tasks in a timely manner, then becoming a virtual assistant might be the right move for you.

To find virtual assistant opportunities check out a site called Outsourcely, or pitch your services as a freelancer to online businesses.

My friend Kayla is a freelance virtual assistant, and she earns over $10,000 per month! She’s even started an online course to help others do the same.

33. Advertise on Your Car

If you want some seriously passive income, some companies will pay to put a wrap on your car, and then pay you to simply drive your regular daily routes as they advertise for different companies. You have the right to say “no” to a particular ad if you’re uncomfortable with the content of the ad.

Most companies pay between $100-$400 a month to advertise on your car.

34. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one way to monetize a blog and can lead to earning passive income up to six figures a month.

You can earn affiliate income from a blog, website, YouTube channel, podcast, and more. It only takes a minute or less to add an affiliate link into something you’d be producing anyway (like a blog post) and theoretically, you can earn money every time someone visits your post or clicks on a link.

For transparency’s sake, you probably won’t earn a lot of money right away unless you already have an established audience to market to.

To learn how to do affiliate marketing the right way, you should think about taking the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course created by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner who happens to earn over $1 million per year from her blog.

35. Start Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is a side hustle I started doing about three years ago, and it’s been a great source of income for my family and me.

As a freelance writer, you can work from home, set your own schedule and choose the workload that’s best for your life schedule.

Whether you write for a major publication or are hired by a local company to write the content for their website, this can be a great way to make money on the side while in your pajamas.

To help you earn more as a freelance writer, check out the course Earn More Writing. Holly Johnson is the creator of the course, and she earns well over $200,000 per year as a freelance writer.

36. Repair Computers

The technically savvy are in high demand in local homes and businesses. Even high school students who are great at computer knowledge can make money by offering computer set-up and repair services to those in their neighborhood.

You can start by telling your friends and family about the services that you offer. You can also consider advertising your services on Craigslist or distribute flyers to local homes and businesses.

37. Do SEO for Businesses

If you’ve got knowledge in the area of search engine optimization, jobs are waiting for you. Businesses want to be able to focus on delivering their products or services and often don’t have the time or knowledge to input search engine techniques that will help them maximize their reach.

If this is a skill you have, consider reaching out to local and online businesses about helping them maximize their Internet reach.

38. Bookkeeping

Both online and in brick-and-mortar stores, there are bookkeeping jobs readily available. If you love numbers and enjoy a quiet workspace, this might be the side hustle for you.

Check local want ads and online job sites such as Indeed for available bookkeeping jobs.

39. Financial Coaching

If you’re good at managing your personal finances and/or have paid off a large amount of debt, financial coaching might be the job for you. There’s still many, many individuals and families who are eager to learn how to manage their money well. Advertise your services via Twitter, Facebook or your own website.

40. Edit Videos

Video editing for businesses or individuals can be a lucrative business. If you’ve got creativity and technical skills, consider using them to make people’s videos and/or pictures into a cherished keepsake or a powerful marketing tool.

While there is software to edit videos, there are also free ones that you can use to get started like Lightworks.

41. Sell at Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets often offer a variety of items for sale. Besides fruits and vegetables, Farmers Markets often allow the sale of baked goods, handmade items and specialty foods such as flavored popcorn or homemade candy. My wife and I love to stroll through Farmers markets on occasion to pick up some fresh vegetables and even hummus from time to time.

Visit your state’s Farmers Market website for more information.

42. Become a Brand Ambassador

Grocery stores and shopping clubs are regularly seeking friendly and outgoing people to be brand ambassadors. A brand ambassador can mean many different things. Some will serve food samples to passing customers and encourage them to purchase the item if they like it; while others will hand out free red bull cans to attendees at a concert.

If you like interacting with new people, then this might be worth looking into.

43. Monetize Your YouTube Channel

It is crazy how much money you can make from having a YouTube channel. I interviewed a guy who used YouTube to pay off $70,000 in consumer debt. First, you need to have a channel. Then you need to make sure that your videos are marked in the settings so that they can make money from advertisers. Lastly, you need to get a bunch of subscribers.

This explanation is oversimplifying it a little, however, making money from YouTube is a real and viable way to earn side hustle cash.

Other Side Hustle Ideas

You may have the ability to make money with what you already own. Look through every cabinet, closet, and drawer to see what you can turn into some quick cash.

44. Sell Your Designs

One great way to make passive income is to create personalized designs for t-shirt, housewares, and more on a website like CafePress.

CafePress makes it easy for you. All you have to do is upload your design to the website, and you get paid when a customer buys one of your products. CafePress prints the item and ships it to the customer directly.

45. Rent Out Equipment that You Own

Many items in your home or garage can be rented out to others. Some ideas include campers, boats, equipment such as saws and ladders, and party tents or other party supplies.

To find people to rent your items you should consider advertising them on Craigslist or Facebook.

46. Make an Android and/or iPhone App

If you’re a techie person, creating an app for smartphones can be a real money-maker. I interviewed Steve Young (not the quarterback) who was able to make some serious cash developing apps.

Even if you don’t know how to program, you can hire people from overseas to turn your app idea into a reality.

47. Sell T-shirts

Not too long ago I interviewed Benny Hsu who makes six figures a year by selling t-shirts. With the right product and the right marketing techniques, you can make a serious business out of selling t-shirts.

Check out CafePress which will allow you to make money from designing t-shirts, clothing, and coffee mugs, as well as a host of other products.

48. Create an Online Course

If you have a gift for teaching and have something valuable to teach others, consider making money by making an online course. Nearly any skill can be marketed, and the course can be a short course or a long course.

After you’ve created the content for your course, you can use Teachable to host and market it.

49. Earn Money as a Copywriter

Advertisers and businesses are often looking for copywriters to help them advertise their clients’ or their own products and services. In today’s virtual world, many companies are happy to hire virtual copywriters to help market their businesses.

50. Test Websites

Companies love to see how their websites are performing and to see if it’s easy for everyday users to navigate. That’s where sites like Usertesting and Testbirds come in.

Usertesting and Testbirds will hire you to test websites for people and to share your feedback as you navigate to different places on the website.