The ultimate guide to side hustle ideas and making money from home.
If you haven’t found that perfect side hustle idea yet, I guarantee you’ll find something in this video.
I’m not only listing out the 101 most popular work from home businesses, I’ll show you how to pick the best one for your goals and reveal three questions to help you find it.
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Three Problems to Side Hustle Success
I did a survey of the community here about making money from home, what was holding you back and what challenges you were facing. Three hurdles were brought up almost unanimously; finding the perfect side hustle idea, making the most of limited time and growing your work from home business.
So that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about in this three-part video series. I’ll start off with this video, showing you how to find that one side hustle that fits your goals. I’ll walk you through the process then show you a list of 101 work from home ideas ready to replace your nine-to-five.
In our next video, I’ll reveal five productivity hacks to get the most out of your limited time, how to turn just five hours a week into a legit side hustle and make money. Finally in our third video, I’m going to uncover the biggest hurdles to growing your home business and how to beat them so make sure you subscribe to the channel and tap that bell icon so you don’t miss those other two videos.
How to Find the Perfect Side Hustle Idea for You
I’m going to show you that list of 101 side hustles, each one a legit work from home business but just looking at the list is overwhelming. Picking your perfect side hustle means first thinking through what you want to do then asking yourself three questions that will narrow the list to that one perfect idea.
Let’s start with a few ideas on what you want to do and then I’ll reveal those three critical questions after we look through the list of side hustles.
Narrowing Your List of Side Hustle Jobs
First I want you to sit down and list out all your hobbies, talents and skills. One way to do this is to first write out everything you do on a daily or weekly basis, I mean everything. You might have a good idea of what you can do or what you’d like to do but physically listing out your routine is going to give you a few more ideas you didn’t think of. It’s also going to make everything top-of-mind when we look at that list of different side hustles later.
Some other ideas can come from your academic subject areas and classes you enjoyed in school. Any DIY skills you have like crafts, carpentry or cleaning. Also include soft skills like public speaking, working with people or organizing. Be sure to list out all the tasks you do at work as well.
You can also add to the list things you always wanted to do but haven’t got a chance. These ideas make for a great side hustle, learning how to do something. You won’t be at the professional level at first but can spend a few weeks learning and then start charging for the services. That passion and drive for the activity though is going to make the hustle fun so you don’t get burned out.
Next you’re going to narrow this list of activities to ones you can see yourself spending a lot of time on. A lot of the side hustles we’ll look at can be done in as little as five hours a week but even that is still a lot of time to be doing something you don’t enjoy.
Remember, you’re probably going to be doing this on top of your regular nine-to-five job, at least at first, so your hustle needs to be something you don’t mind spending a few extra hours doing. It HAS to start from that passion and that motivation.
Ultimate List of Side Hustle Ideas
Now you’re ready to look at our list of 101 side hustle ideas to see which ones match your skills or maybe give you new ideas. So let’s look at those work from home ideas, we’ll break them into 11 categories. It’s a long list but stick around because afterwards, I’ll reveal those three questions to ask yourself that will guarantee you pick the perfect side hustle.
Best Freelancing Side Hustles
Our first group here, and I’m breaking this up into two slides is some of the different freelancing jobs. This is quick project-type work you can do either through your own website getting clients or through freelancer sites like Upwork.
This first group of freelance jobs can be started with no equipment, very little setup. These are things that come directly from your experience and skills and you can charge from $30 an hour up into the hundreds. So here we see jobs like copywriter, editor, graphic design and transcription.
This next group of jobs might require some equipment or setup but you can generally get more money. Even these that require some equipment though, you can get started quickly and you’ve got maximum flexibility in the hours you work.
Coaching and Consulting on the Side
This next group, side hustles in coaching or consulting, is the best for low startup costs but a little less flexibility in your scheduling. You can start these up quickly but you’ll always have to schedule around your clients’ availability.
Another two slides here because the list of coaching jobs is basically endless. There is a coaching demand for just about any skill. All you need to do is get your message in front of the right people. So some of the traditional coaching businesses are as a life coach, marketing or social media consultant, you can coach people in general health or more specifically in fitness, public speaking is another popular one.
Some more ideas here including some that aren’t as typical like leadership coaching, family, online dating and a writing coach. The benefit to coaching is that it’s more scalable than you might think. This is something we’ll talk about in the third video of the series, growing your side hustle business, but you can play around with the business model here from coaching one-on-one to doing group calls for the opportunity to grow sales.
Online Side Hustle Ideas
This next group of side hustles is probably the most popular and what most think about when they think online business. With selling online, you’ve probably got more startup costs because you need to buy that initial inventory or supplies but I feel like you have more upside than freelancing or consulting. With selling online, you’re creating that business that makes money even when you’re not working.
Here you’ve got two distinct groups, two different business models for selling online. This first group involves selling other people’s products or reselling. It’s a little easier because you don’t have to go through the work of creating your own products but of course the profits are lower because you have to buy something to resell. So here you have selling on eBay or being an Amazon reseller, selling antiques or other finds. You can buy and sell websites and old electronics, pretty much anything.
The alternative is to create your own products. This means a little more time setting up but higher profits and the potential to create a brand around your products. Here we have ideas like selling crafts on Etsy, opening a store on Amazon FBA and as a private label. You can also do informational products like selling courses.
I’ve got a three-video series on the channel about creating your own online courses. I made over $9,000 in the first four months selling my first course and the video series is going to walk you through everything from creating your course to marketing.
Craft and Hobby Side Hustle Ideas
The next group is a really broad category that I’ll just call creative. It’s going to include some of the side hustles in design as well as some of the online creative ideas. I love these because it’s really where you can charge a lot more for your services because the rate is more dependent on your skill.
You’ve got a few hustles here that require some equipment like stock photography and vlogging but for the most part, start-up costs are low on the service-type businesses. The t-shirt business is an interesting one and I’ve seen people make a lot of money with this, using sites like t-spring. Here it helps to stay right on top of the current trends to print shirts that can go viral on social media.
Of the group, maybe I’m a little biased to creating a YouTube channel because of what it’s meant for my business. Starting the channel here helped me grow my community to over 75,000 people within a year and a half.
I make $120 a day just on the ads and another two or three thousand a month on sponsorships. In fact, I’m doing a free webinar on getting started with a YouTube channel, how to create videos and the income sources I use if you want to get started. It’s totally free but you have to reserve a spot.
Reserve your spot at this FREE webinar and start making money on YouTube!
Professional Side Hustle Jobs
Our next group of side hustle ideas is a short one but I feel like there’s a lot more opportunities that aren’t on the list. Side hustles in the financial space probably require the most set up but take it from someone that worked as a freelance equity analyst, you can make a lot of money here.
Here you’ve got shorter-term projects like tax prep but also some side hustles you’ll do on a continual basis like financial planning and accounting. You can do these for individuals or other businesses so don’t neglect the opportunity to expand your customer base.
Technical Side Hustle Jobs
I’ll admit I know absolutely nothing about our next group of side hustle ideas. I’ve never been a techie kind of guy but it’s a skillset that sets you apart from the masses. These require no startup costs and you can make good money if you compete for the right projects.
One thing about these tech jobs like app developer, programmer or systems analyst is you need to price your services on quality and prove that you’re worth every penny. If you’re just applying for a project on Upwork or another freelancing platform, you’ll be competing against a world of freelancers, many of which with a much lower cost of living. So here you really need to seek out those higher price projects and sell the value of your skills.
Online Side Hustles Working with People
This next group is another broad one with service ideas for a side hustle. This is another one where startup costs are nil, you basically just need a quick website. What I like about these service hustles is they can work just as well on the local level as virtually online.
Some of these traditional face-to-face services like personal trainer and realtor are harder to set up virtually. Don’t overlook the opportunity though to offer two service levels, maybe one in that local market and another on a virtual basis that can help bring in more customers.
These other ideas are more typically online like resume builder, voice-over work and online travel agent. While a lot of these service jobs really borrow from more traditional jobs, I like them as side hustles too because you’ve got maximum flexibility here in when you work and the hours you commit each week.
Online Side Hustle Ideas for Teachers
This next group, teaching, is another catch-all and one you can do locally or virtually. As your watching the video, these groups, remember these are to give you ideas. These side hustles aren’t the only ideas but my hope is that you can find your own perfect work from home business in the categories or individual ideas.
We’ve got ten side hustle ideas here but this group is really any skill, right? I can think of ten more off the top of my head like cooking, sports and athletics, really it’s all up to your skills or the ones you want to develop.
Online Jobs in Marketing
These next jobs in marketing are some of my favorite side hustle ideas because it’s such an important but difficult role for most business owners. It’s hard enough to create good products and run a business but then it’s just as important to have that solid marketing plan to actually make money and that’s where you come in with your business.
These range from showing business owners how to set up their marketing plans to setting and managing product campaigns to even being a representative for the company.
Online Jobs Writing
This next group is where I started my own online career, with freelance writing. The pay potential is good with experience but most people will start off on the lower end. Still though, there are no startup costs and this is one where there’s constant demand for work.
What I love about these writing ideas is that it’s a mix of writing for others and writing your own books. I make around $2,000 a month on my 11 self-published books but they took time to write. Freelance writing for others brings in that immediate cash as you’re building out your own assets.
Blogging Side Hustle Income
Those of you in the community knew I couldn’t leave blogging off our list of side hustle ideas. I think blogging gets a bad rep though so I’m calling this working in digital real estate. Again, no startup costs here and there is always going to be demand from people like me that need help running my websites.
For just about every role in managing a website, there is a constant demand for help. From Vas to content creators and social media managers to a blog manager to tie it all together. The great thing about this group is that the skills you develop here can be used to start a website and create that passive income as well.
I’ve got a five-video series on creating and running a blog including the five income sources I use for six-figure income. Blogging has truly changed my life and I know it can do the same for you.
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3 Questions to Pick a Side Hustle Idea
OK, that was a long list and you’re probably thinking how do I choose. Well, after narrowing the list by things that look interesting and match your skills, there are three questions to ask yourself to find the perfect hustle.
First is, How excited are you about the idea? This is different than which side hustles interest you or match that list of hobbies. When you look over your shortened list of potential hustles, which ones make your eyes widen? Which ones make ideas and plans start immediately flooding into your imagination?
Your next question is how much time can you commit and how long does each particular side hustle take to get started? Some of these are really quick to set up and you can put in as many or as few hours as you like.
For example, selling on Etsy or eBay doesn’t require a website or really much preparation. You source your products and create a sales page. Put in as many hours a week as you like to grow your ecommerce business.
On the other hand, any of these coaching or consulting side hustles will take a lot more setup and less flexibility in the hours you work each week. You’ll need a website, marketing and a coaching procedure all before you get your first client. It can be some big money and I’ll show you how to turn it into even more in our second video on making use of limited time but there will always be that time commitment.
The third question to narrow your list to that perfect side hustle is do you want a side hustle that requires start-up costs or one you can start with no money? Most of the work from home businesses in the list, you can start with just a simple website. That’s all of $3 a month through Blue Host but some will mean buying supplies and equipment. I’m thinking here of the creative side hustles like photography, t-shirts and some of the online selling hustles where you’ll need to buy inventory first.
These three questions should help you narrow that list of 101 side hustles down to a few or even one perfect work from home business. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to join the community and watch for those next two videos in our side hustle series.