BY marana
October 26, 2023
12 Plus Side Hustles That Can Make You Money Online Explained
If you're looking for a way to make some extra money on top of your job, here are some side businesses that actually work.
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| Side Hustles That Can Make You Money Online |
If you've spent a significant amount of time searching for your dream remote job in recent months or trying to find a way to supplement your income, don't worry—with the global economy still shrouded in uncertainty, plenty of people are.
Fortunately, from learning how to make money with ChatGPT or building an e-commerce store, there are plenty of side hustles that you can pick up and use to start making money online.
In this article, we're going to give you an inside look at a few online side hustles that actually work - but unlike some of the ads you see online, we're not going to mince words when it comes to how much time and effort you'll have to put in to get in. you return We'll also go over a few side hustles that you should definitely avoid.
What to look for in an online hustle
9 Best Side Scams to Make Money Online
4 Online Side Hustles for Students
Side scams to watch out for
What to look for in an online hustle
We'll be right with you - if you really want to start a side hustle that will generate a significant secondary income stream, it can take a while. You won't start making money right away, that's for sure - and it will take a lot of effort. if someone is trying to sell you an "easy" side hustle that requires "no effort," it's probably too good to be true.
Online survey websites are a perfect example of this. They are often portrayed as an easy job and say you will get paid quickly, but in reality most of these sites only pay a few cents to a few dollars per survey.
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In fact, most profitable side hustles take a bit more time - but that hasn't stopped people from picking them up.
In 2023, almost half of Generation Z now have side hustles, spending an average of 10.5 hours a week on them. So, with that in mind, you should look for secondary issues that:
They are offered by legitimate businesses
- Adapt to your current job
- They are sustainable and practical
- Adapt to your existing skills
- Really worth the time / ROI
If you'd like to try something completely different, more power to you—but if you can find a side hustle that requires a skill set you've already spent developing, it will take less time to start making money. We tried to focus on side problems that are available to almost everyone and are already being used as ways to generate income online.
9 Best Side Scams to Make Money Online
With the above in mind, here are some ideas on how you can actually make money online with a side hustle. As we said, some may take a little time to set up – but if it makes you a little extra money, it will be worth it.
- Become a virtual assistant
- Sell prints on Etsy
- Create and publish an Amazon e-book
- Build and monetize a website
- Start freelance writing or editing
- Become a retail arbitrage guru
- Become a Mystery Shopper with a Field Agent
- Sell your old clothes on markets
- Get involved in UX Research & Focus Groups
1. Become a virtual assistant
How much money can you earn? $1,000 - $10,000 per year
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 4.5/5
The term "virtual assistant" was relatively unheard of outside of certain industries before the pandemic, but when governments around the world imposed lockdowns, many PAs quickly converted to VAs, while many more began working full-time as virtual assistants.
"Virtual Assistant" is a job title that can include all kinds of duties, from event planning and diary organization to social media management. Some virtual assistant jobs will require you to be available during 9-5, while others may be less demanding. However, it's worth seeing if there's a job of this kind that fits your schedule.
If you desire a high-paying role and are ready to do the heavy lifting for some money, look for a VA job in a country that is in a different time zone than you. Be sure to also check out social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn that have groups containing captions for assistants with specific skills.
Belay, a virtual assistant hiring site, says that virtual assistants who use their platform to connect with clients earn $18-$21 an hour. Other job listing sites like Monster have roles listed for $30 an hour.
2. Sell printables on Etsy
How much money can you earn? $1,000 - $10,000 per year
Side Rush Rating: 4/5
A "printable" is a 2D digital asset—which can be anything from a worksheet to a poster—that you can design using tools like Canva or Photoshop. Once you've created it, you can sell it online.
It's possible to make quite a bit of money selling prints on Etsy — one seller who spoke to CNBC makes $10,000 a year — but others have made even more. Creating seasonal printables like Christmas coloring pages for kids – as well as general awareness of trends that could affect your sales – will help you increase your profits.
It's really easy to set up an Etsy Store - all you have to do is provide a little information about where you're based and what your business sells. You don't need a special business license to register with Etsy, as customers are protected by Etsy's payment protection system.
This is an ideal side hustle for people who have an art background or some experience with graphic design tools – it will make a big difference in how quickly you can get off the ground and how much you can charge for the products you list. Plus, there's very little in the way of overhead, especially if you already have a subscription to a graphic design platform or tool like Canva.
3. Create and publish an Amazon e-book
How much money can you earn? $2.99 - $9.99 per book sold
Side Rush Rating: 3/5
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| Side Hustles That Can Make You Money Online |
Writing a book doesn't sound like a quick and easy way to make money online, but compared to some other side hustles, it really is - mainly because you can ask ChatGPT or Bard to help you do it.
First, ask ChatGPT to write you a short story for children. We recommend specifying the age group (eg 8-10 years) you want to target the book to, and making sure the prompt includes a story outline and information about the characters you want to include. You can dictate how long you want your book to be by asking ChatGPT to write it. If you request your book chapter by chapter, it creates a longer story.
Once ChatGPT has written your book, you should edit it to make sure it is accurate and makes sense. Then you can start selling it through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program, which allows anyone to sell and offer a book. You'll also need a cover image - some people pay a small fee for this, while others use Canva to create them.
4. Build and monetize a website
How Much Money Can You Make? N/A (dependent on site type)
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 3.5/5
Building a website and then using one of the various ways to monetize it is one way to make money online. Plus, once you’re finished setting it up and you’re making revenue, maintaining it is something you can fit around your main job/source of income.
There are various ways you can make a website from scratch, such as a website builder like Wix, which is what you should opt for if you want to build an online store. However, you will have to pay upfront for a premium subscription plan if you want ecommerce features.
You can ask ChatGPT to help you generate the code for a basic HTML website for free, and then you’ll have to monetize a different way if you’re not selling products. Along with selling products and services on an ecommerce store, there are several ways you can monetize your traffic:
Google AdSense: You can monetize your website traffic by running ads on your site, and the easiest way to do this is through Google AdSense. However, you’ll need quite a lot of traffic (50-100K+) to make any considerable monthly profit.
Affiliate partnerships: some products, like VPNs, can provide you with links that you can put in your content (such as a review of their product) that will tell them people are reaching their site via your site. They will then pay you for this.
Drop-shipping: drop-shipping involves building an online store, but the products you’re selling are manufactured, stocked, and shipped by a third-party company.
5. Become a mystery shopper with Field Agent
How Much Money Can You Make? $3-25 per hour, job dependent
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 2/5
Mystery shopping is one of those side hustles you often hear a lot about – although not that many people take advantage of what is relatively easy work, compared to some jobs.
In a nutshell, mystery shoppers are paid to enter a store and then report back on their experience while there. Companies will often pay for mystery shoppers to attend their stores so they can get honest feedback.
Field Agent is one of the best Mystery Shopping services around, and there’s an easy-to-use app you can download on your mobile device. Taylor Hayes, CEO of personal development company Imperfect Taylor, told Yahoo News in July of this year that he used Field Agent as “a side hustle to pay off [his] debt.”
6. Start freelance writing or editing
How Much Money Can You Make? $10-40 per hour, skill dependent
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 3.5/5
There are lots of sites online where you can start writing and editing for clients on a freelance basis. You can make yourself a free profile on websites like Upwork and Fiverr and apply for editing, writing, and proofreading jobs instantly.
If you have English as a first language and/or a university degree in an essay-writing subject, and don’t charge quite as much as the full-time freelancers, it can be quite a lucrative endeavor. Some clients on UpWork spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on freelance contracts. If you're fluent in another language, you'll also have the capacity to provide translation services.
Another option is writing product descriptions and smaller pieces of copy via sites like Crowd Content, which take new writer sign-ups all the time. You have to work up a bit of a reputation as someone who produces good work to get paid well, but if you’re already an accomplished enough writer, you might find this a good option.
7. Become a retail arbitrage guru
How much money can you earn? N/A (depends on effort)
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 3.5/5
If starting an online store and selling original products seems like too much effort, why not just buy things from someone else, sell them for more money, and then just keep the profit?
This is called “retail arbitrage” – which is basically just buying products during sales or periods when they are discounted and selling them when they go up again.
This requires you to put a lot of effort into understanding the e-commerce platforms you are working on, choosing the industry/product category you are ready to become familiar with, as well as finding the tools needed to track prices.
However, if you're always looking for a deal and spend most of your time comparing prices online anyway, you can put your skills to good use.
8. Sell your old clothes at flea markets
How much money can you earn? $1-$100 per item (but potentially more)
Side Rush Rating: 1/5
If you're one of those people who have piles and piles of clothes in their attic or an ever-expanding wardrobe, selling your clothes can be a way to make a lot of money. Depending on the size of your collection, you can end up making money pretty quickly – especially if you're prepared to sell cheap items you haven't worn in years.
In fact, it has never been easier to sell your clothes or vintage items online. Along with sites like eBay that have been around for years, platforms like Vinted make the selling and postage process easier, and it's easy to build a good reputation by being punctual and communicative.
9. Participate in focus groups
How much money can you earn? $50-$150 per target group
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 2.5/5
Companies need target audiences to get a good idea of how products or services might reach the public before they are launched. They are also used by governments to understand how policies may be received by the general public, and by digital content companies for user experience research.
In a focus group, you will simply be asked for your opinion on a website or product, or your opinion on specific job roles or policy issues.
Userinterviews.com is a good place to start if you were to explore this as a potential side hustle - you can start applying right away. Some of the leads listed on the site will pay over $100 for just 90 minutes of your time.
4 Best Online Side Activities for Students
Of course, if you're a student, you can try all of the side hustles above. But there are other opportunities you can take advantage of that non-students might not – partly because you're studying and partly because you might have a bit more time than the average 9-5 worker. These include:
- 1. Sell your revision notes
- 2. Exam preparation/Tutoring
- 3. Sell textbooks and resources
- 4. Become a brand ambassador
1. Sell your revision notes
How much money can you earn? About $17.50 for a set of bills
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 1.5/5
Yes, you read that right – if you're currently studying at a college or university, you can actually make money selling your revision notes.
While this used to be a somewhat shady practice organized by some pretty shady sites, there are now legitimate note selling sites like Nexus Notes and it's actually a pretty simple process to set up selling notes.
Website visitors will pay around $35 for a set of notes they like, and you'll earn a 50% commission as the original writer.
2. Exam preparation/tutoring
How much money can you earn? Approximately $15-$50 per hour
Side Hustle Effort Rating: 2.5/5
If you wanted to pass an exam, who would you most trust to help you? Maybe someone who just passed the exact same exam last year with flying colors. That's right - if you have an aptitude for a subject, you can earn money by teaching someone how to pass the exam you recently took.
Some students (or should we say their parents) will pay a lot of money for this kind of service, especially if the previous people you tutored have passed the exam.
3. Resell textbooks and resources
How much money can you earn? $30-$250
Side Rush Rating: 1/5
The average college student spends around $285 on course materials and resources like textbooks—so it makes sense to try to give some of that back.
The extortionate prices that students have to pay on top of their university fees just to access course content has led to many more people opting to buy second hand.
You can sell your old textbooks to places like Barnes & Noble, who will give you a quote upfront if you tell them exactly what you want to sell.
4. Become a brand ambassador
How much money can you earn? $10-$20 per hour
Side Rush Rating: 3/5
Big brands often hire students on a part-time or ad hoc basis as brand ambassadors – someone who is on-site, on campus, representing the brand.
Depending on the brand, this kind of work can be relatively well paid – especially for part-time student work. You can often apply for this kind of role online - although it's true that you'll need to close your laptop and go down to your premises to do most of your work.
Your role as a brand ambassador usually consists of attending events, manning booths at career fairs, and generally talking to other students about the brand or company.
If all that social interaction sounds like your worst nightmare, being a brand ambassador is not for you. If this sounds like easy money making, then it's time to start looking for a role.
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