Side Hustle Ideas: 25 Ways to Make Money on the Side

With life getting more expensive by the day, you may be considering a side hustle to bring in some extra cash and help you deal with rising expenses. Maybe you want to pay off your debt or save up for the future, or maybe you’re considering quitting your day job one day and want to dip your toes into some side work first.

The best part of a side hustle is that it can cover a lot of ground. From online to offline, we want to help you find the perfect side hustle idea for your lifestyle. (And for the sake of this article, we’re going to avoid online surveys and chasing credit card rewards.)

But first, here are some things you should look for when searching different side hustle ideas:

• A clear path to profit. How will you make money? You don’t want to chase an income stream that never brings in money.
• Proof that it works. You want to find other folks making money with this same side hustle so that you’re not the only one pursuing this idea.
• A reputable company. You want to work with a trusted company and avoid sketchy MLM schemes that just end up costing you money.

So, with that out of the way, let’s dig into 25 side hustle ideas that will help you bring in more money!

Freelancing is just working outside of a W-2 job. And I bet you have a skill right now that you could sell as a freelancer.

Common freelance jobs are freelance writer, graphic designer, virtual assistant, social media management, marketing consultant, etc. But don’t limit your thinking to just what is common. Ask yourself who you want to help and how you can help them.

For ideas, check out an online marketplace such as:

• Upwork
• Freelancer.com
• Guru
• PeoplePerHour

Once you’ve found your niche you’ll want to build up a portfolio of your work so that you can have something to advertise to prospective clients who are looking to hire you. Once you have an established portfolio, you can increase your rates and try to land better clients.

Print on demand products are items like t-shirts, mugs, mousepads, etc that can be printed with your own custom designs. They are printed at a printing company only when an order is put in and then they ship it out directly to the customer.

Similarly, dropshipping is when you sell items online, and when orders are placed on your own website the item is shipped directly from the warehouse. The difference here is that you don’t design the items, you are selling other people’s products.

Are you a natural crafter? Is making beautiful or useful things your favorite pastime? Why not monetize your hobby?!

Etsy is an online store focused on handmade crafts and vintage items. It’s easy to set up an online Etsy shop and start selling your creations.

Or, if you’re not crafty, you can also sell digital printables and eBooks on Etsy.

What’s great about Etsy is that you can make extra money on your own schedule as you don’t have to deal directly with clients or customers.

TaskRabbit connects real-world workers with customers who need help with simple to-dos — think grocery shopping, weeding a yard, assembling IKEA furniture, moving stuff, housecleaning, you name it.

To become approved with TaskRabbit you must be 21 and pass a background check. Once approved, you can bid on jobs just like other freelance sites.

According to TaskRabbit, average payouts are $35 for grocery shopping, $60 for housecleaning, and $85 for handyperson tasks. You can even make money from standing in line (passport offices, waiting for a seat at a restaurant, and so on).

TaskRabbit competitors are popping up, too. Handy focuses on cleaning and other handyperson services. Gigwalk posts tasks related to local businesses, such as recruiting attendees for a concert or finding milk prices at a grocery store’s competitors.

This is a good side hustle idea for those who don’t necessarily want to make money online and prefer to work in the “real world”.

If you have a decent car and a clean driving record, you might consider becoming a driver for ridesharing services like Uber or Lyft.

Once approved, you can use the app to find customers in need of a ride. And since the app handles all the payment, you don’t need to worry about carrying cash for change, like taxi drivers do.

But be warned: you might make less than you think as a rideshare driver. You should test out different areas and driving times to ensure that you maximize your income from driving. Keep your costs in mind too. Not just gas, but also mileage on your car and extra insurance costs.

If you don’t want to deal with driving people around, you can make extra cash by delivering food or groceries for UberEats, DoorDash, or whatever company is popular where you live.

If you don’t drive, but live in a big city, you can get some exercise in by delivering food on your bike. Some deliverers will just log in during the lunchtime rush to make some extra money.

If you find there’s not enough money in delivering food or groceries, you can also deliver alcohol. A friend of mine got into alcohol delivery during the pandemic after he lost his job, and it’s turned into a real business.

Do you have a spare room you don’t use? You could make money by listing your space on Airbnb.

With the world opening up post-pandemic and all that pent-up wanderlust, people are looking to travel. This increased demand has led to higher rates for accommodations. You could cash in on this opportunity by renting out your entire place or any spare space that you have available.

Even if you don’t have any space available for rent, you can still make money from Airbnb. Consider one of the following options:

• Managing a property listing for a friend. You can help someone else with their listing by managing the Airbnb rental for them.
• Lease a space you’re going to list on Airbnb (assuming the landlord agrees to this). You don’t have to own a unit to rent it out. You could find a long-term rental that you rent out for a profit.
• Offer a related service to Airbnb property management — from cleaning rooms after guests to getting units organized to become Airbnb rentals.

Related: Make money with Airbnb without owning property

Did you know that, in addition to offering spaces, you can also offer activities on the Airbnb platform?

Airbnb Experiences are the suggested activities that Airbnb shares with travelers. And Airbnb is always looking for local experts to offer new activities to tourists.

What are examples of Airbnb Experiences that you can start?

• A local walking tour
• A food tour
• A photography tour
• Anything totally unique you can think of (people are making money from goat yoga and sunset boat rides)

The best part of an Airbnb Experience is that there are no limits to what kind of activity you can create. You can offer a walking tour where you tell jokes or you can take guests biking along the lake as you take photos for them. This is one of those side hustle ideas that allows you to explore your creative side.

This can be a fun way to earn money and meet many new people.

Yes, you can get paid to go for walks and play with dogs.

Rover allows you to get paid for dog care services, ranging from walking dogs to petsitting. I’ve personally tried out this app, and I’ve made decent money from housesitting and pet sit — literally paid just to stay at someone’s home and watch their dog. You can also host animals in your own home if you wish. Pet sitting can be the perfect side hustle for those who have a full time job working from home.

If you’re just looking to get active, you can get paid to walk dogs in your community on your lunch break or when you’re free. If you live in a decent-sized city, you can easily pick up dog walking gigs to bring in a few hundred dollars per week.

Love a clean car? Detailing cars is something you could do on the weekends or after work and set your own hours.

You can get started with some good cleaning supplies, a vacuum, and some elbow grease. Advertise your services on social media to find clients.

You could get paid for your photos if you have a passion for photography. While being a professional photographer is an entirely different side hustle (like, say, the wedding photography industry), there’s still money to be made from taking photos as an amateur.

You can sell your photos to stock image websites like:

• 123rf
• 500px
• Alamy
• Crestock

I recently met a man by the lake who was taking photos of airplanes landing. Apparently, he makes decent money from selling these photos back to the airlines. Your camera could be the perfect tool for your next side hustle.

Just because you don’t have a use for something any more, doesn’t mean that someone else out there doesn’t. You can make money from selling your stuff on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, or eBay.

This is likely one of the easiest side hustles to tap into because we all have stuff that we want to get rid of. You just have to find something to sell, create your listing, and accept bids that come your way.

If you want to take this one step further, you can seek out items to flip for a profit. This means taking something old, worn, or broken, and giving it a facelift so that you can sell it for a higher price than you bought it. Or, just finding a better home for it, where it’s worth more as is.

There are many different directions that you can go with flipping stuff online as a side hustle:

1. Go yard sale hunting. You can seek out items at garage sales to flip online if you know what you’re looking for (you should know what you’re seeking so you don’t end up with a house filled with junk).
2. Furniture flipping. With the right tools and some paint, you can start a side business as a furniture flipper. Look for older, high-quality furniture that needs a little TLC, and then start selling your refurbished items on eBay, Craigslist, or even Etsy.
3. Anything that you have expertise in. Some people flip everything from baseball cards to old video games.

The key here is to find items on sale that you know could be worth much more if sold elsewhere.

A side hustle idea that is good for passive income is to rent your stuff. If you have a garage full of tools or camping equipment, why not make some extra money by renting it out?

There are many different apps and platforms for renting out your stuff. For example, I recently discovered there’s a pool rental app, called Swimply. People will rent out their backyard space to guests who want to have a pool day.

Then, there are apps for renting out everyday items or those things that you rarely use (that kayak or the ping pong table you haven’t gotten around to setting up yet).

Then, there are apps for renting out everyday items or those things that you rarely use, from your RV to your kayak or even your garage itself!

Blogging is one of the more popular ways to make extra money online. If you’re passionate about a topic and want to start creating content, then blogging can be the ideal side hustle.

You can find cheap hosting, get your own domain set up, and then start creating content within a few minutes.

However, you’re going to want to take some time to work on your writing and your SEO skills, to ensure your blog gets noticed and you can successfully monetize it.

So, just how do you make money blogging?

• Use your blog as your portfolio. Your blog can host your work that you want to advertise as a freelancer (from your writing skills to your video editing services).
• Sell advertising space. You can sell advertising space for other businesses on your website or in articles.
• Promote products for a commission. You can get into affiliate marketing and promote products that you believe in, for a set commission.
• Sell your own products. You can create your own eBooks, online course, and other products, that you then promote to your audience.

Selling your own products is a side hustle idea you can pursue even without blogging. Platforms like Gumroad allow you to open up your own online store where you can offer everything from digital products to online coaching.

One of the most popular side hustle ideas these days has got to be social media influencing. It feels like every day a new story emerges about how some teenager became a TikTok star or how aYouTube channel took off.

How can you make money from being a social media influencer?

• Promote your own products
• Seek out brand deals
• Do affiliate marketing
• Publish sponsored content
• Use your social media profiles as your portfolio

This side hustle pairs well with blogging, so if you are going to do one, look into doing the other as well.

If you’re a fan of social media but want to work behind the scenes, you can easily find work supporting social media influencers, rather than being one yourself.

Here are a few examples:

• Video editing. If you have a video editing background or it’s just something you’ve always enjoyed as a hobby, you could help influencers with their reels and videos.
• Content creation. Social media influencers have to push out a ridiculous amount of content to stay relevant, and it’s not always easy. If you’re decent at writing, you can help with writing captions.
• Sales manager/customer service. Many influencers run a real business online and need help with sales and handling customer inquiries and comments.

You can become an assistant without sitting outside someone’s office and taking coffee orders. Many online entrepreneurs are turning to virtual assistants to handle a variety of tasks, ranging from customer service work to data collection.

A few places to find virtual assistant jobs are:

• Flexjobs
• Fancy Hands
• Zirtual

Do you enjoy talking on the phone? Are you good at helping people work through their problems? A side hustle in remote communications might be right for you.

As a remote call agent, you’re responsible for assisting customers with their specific issues and ensuring they have a positive customer experience. To be successful in this role, you will need amazing listening and communication skills — and a boatload of patience!

You know when you’re browsing a website and a little chat box pops up in the corner, asking if you need help? Often, that chat box is run by a bot, however, many companies employ real people to work as chat support agents.

If you like customer service, but don’t love talking on the phone, this may be a better side hustle for you. It will still be your job to answer questions about the company and provide customer service, but all via chat.

If you love working out then being a personal trainer could be fun side hustle. You could get certified as a personal trainer and make some extra money helping others to work out more effectively.

You can work with people one on one but you may make more money hosting group classes. There is a boot camp that takes place at 6am each day at a park near my house.

You could also go online and offer virtual work out classes. Also consider starting a YouTube channel and other social media accounts to promote your classes and build an online following.

If being a personal trainer isn’t your speed, you can do Yoga — both online or in person.

During the pandemic, many fitness classes moved online — and some of them have chosen to stay that way. Now that people realize they can take the same classes they did before, but without leaving home, there’s increased demand for virtual instruction.

If you’re a trained fitness or yoga instructor, you can look for jobs as a virtual instructor, or start your own side hustle on YouTube or Instagram.

Plus, with so much uncertainty in the world, we could all use a little more relaxation in our lives, right?

Have people always told you that you have a great voice? Why not capitalize on this amazing natural talent?

As a voice actor, it is your job to act with your voice. That could mean voicing a character in a film or being the narrator on an audiobook.

There are websites like ACX and Voices where you can find voice-over gigs to get started.

The pandemic turned many of us into breadmakers and other kinds of bakers. And while passion does not always equal talent, if you are someone with serious baking skills then you could whip up baked goods in your spare time and sell them straight from your home.

Check out your local farmer’s markets or flea markets to sell your goods.

Even though some of us can’t remember the last time we wore real pants due to the work-from-home lifestyle, there is still a need for good tailors.

With online clothing sales presumably at an all-time high, the purchases that come in the mail don’t always come with the perfect fit. If you are a skilled tailor, start advertising your talents to your network and see if you can turn this into a side hustle.

We had to leave this last point open because the world’s constantly changing and you never know what kind of side hustles will become popular, and what new opportunities might crop up.

I’ve seen articles go viral about folks who get paid for naming babies or planning bachelor parties.

How do you create your own side hustle? Keep your eyes open for problems you can solve with your unique skillset.

You never know when a side hustle idea will hit you.

When choosing the best side hustle idea you should first consider your interests and passions. Consider what you enjoy doing in your free time or what you’re passionate about. Your side hustle should align with your interests so that you can stay motivated and engaged in the work.

Next, evaluate your skills and strengths. Consider what you’re good at and what you can offer to potential customers or clients. You’ll be able to earn money faster if you leverage something you already know how to do – rather than having to learn a brand new skill.

Lastly, consider your availability. Determine how much time you can realistically commit to a side hustle alongside your full time job, family, and other responsibilities. Some side hustles require more time and effort than others, so choose one that fits well with your availability.

If your plan is to eventually make this into a full time income you’ll want to consider the scalability of the side hustle. Not all side hustles can turn into your own business. For example, pet sitting is a great side hustle but how many dogs can you reasonably pet sit for at once? Probably not enough to make a full time income.

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose a side hustle idea that aligns with your interests, skills, availability, and goals, and increase your chances of success in your side hustle journey.