Top 5 side hustle jobs to make extra money

Being sent home to work during the Coronavirus scare is one thing; finding out you won’t be able to work and won’t get paid leave is quite another!

Unfortunately, that’s the reality for many people who find themselves unable to conduct business as usual during these strange times. And that’s only one scenario that may leave you out of pocket as a result of the coronavirus scare. How about taking time off to look after kids? Or needing to pay for a Nanny because your usual childminder is closed? What if you get sick?

Whatever the case, you might be in a situation where you need to earn more money fast. Thankfully, we live in the digital era. There are plenty of ways to start generating cash online if you know how; many of which will start paying out immediately!

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the top side hustles for making money online quickly.

Also read: What is the gig economy? The future of work explained!

Sell your B2B services

The first way to make money online quickly is to sell services. If you take on smaller projects and have a PayPal account, you can get your first payment by the end of the day!

What skills can you sell online? Some of the most common options include:

• Copywriting (writing copy for websites, advertisements, etc.)
• Blog writing (getting paid to write for other blogs)
• Web design
• Graphic design
• Programming
• Search engine optimization

These are some of the top side hustles because they’re so straightforward and there’s always a demand for work.

Find a skill you can market, then think about how you’re going to price yourself (per hour, per unit of work, or per project?). Look at what the competition is charging, and think about how quickly you can work and how much you’re looking to earn.

If you don’t know how to price yourself, then take a look at this post on how much to charge for your services as a freelancer. This is from a site called “Savumin,” a new blog from the Android Authority team that’s designed specifically to help people make money online and prepare for the future of work. Check it out!

Also read: How to find online writing jobs as a copywriter

Once you have your skill and your price, it’s time to market your skills in any of the following places:

• Freelance websites – That includes the likes of UpWork, Fiverr, Freelancer, and TopTal. These sites let you apply to listings created by others.
• Webmaster forums – These are sites where website owners discuss things like search engine optimization and marketing strategies. They also typically have sections specifically for hiring/selling services. Post an advert here that sells your skills, and you might be surprised at the response. Examples include Digital Point and Warrior Forum. This has been a major source of income for me personally!
• Direct to potential clients – See a website that needs fixing up? Think you can do it for a decent rate? Why not write to the owner and see if you get a response.
• On your own website – If you have a little more time, then you can create your own website to use as a portfolio for your skills. You can then direct traffic there via a blog or even advertising!

Congratulations, you are now a member of the gig economy!

Or B2C!

It’s a slightly different strategy, but there is nothing to stop you from selling directly to members of the public if you have some kind of expertise. For example, why not work as an online personal trainer and sell your training through Skype or Zoom? Or how about career coaching? You can even teach things like elocution or instruments via Skype!

Also read: How to work online in health and fitness

Now just choose an hourly rate and start advertising. You can hang fliers in your local community hall (even though it might be abandoned now), create a profile on sites that list professionals in your niche, or even just shout about it to your own personal network on Facebook!

This is one of the top side hustles as you can choose your own hours and make money doing something you love. Plus, you’ll be helping people!

Sell a craft

If you have a talent for making jewelry, painting, or sculpting, then why not turn that into a side hustle? You can create products and sell them on sites like eBay and Etsy, or sell through a website, Instagram account, or personal Facebook profile. Friends and family are a great place to start, and if you’re good, then you may find that word spreads!

Another option is to sell bespoke creations. For example, you can make a lot of money painting pet portraits if you have the skills. You can once again promote your work through your personal network or sites like Fiverr.

Also read: How to make money on Fiverr as a creative professional

The key to making money quickly from this, is to create something that is easy to make, with an obvious appeal. An example I saw recently was selling jewelry made from Lego pieces! It must have taken them minutes to take each piece and attach it to a stud, but people ate it up!

Become a reseller

If you don’t have the skills to make something from scratch, why not sell something someone else made? As a reseller, you’ll buy items in bulk through a site like Alibaba.com, and then sell them individually through eBay for more. You can start off small (or 50 pairs of jeans for $500 and sell them for $1,000) and then reinvest your profits to scale the business over time.

You can also make money by creating gift bags. Simply bulk buy item package them nicely, then send them to their recipients! Of course this might take a bit more time than you currently have.

Sell stock photography

Website owners need images to go with their articles, blog posts, and pages, and there is only so much the average person can produce on their own. Thus, they will often turn to stock photography sites like Shutterstock and Envato Elements.

If you have the skills, why not pay the bills by submitting your own photography and then letting other people use it? Depending on the business model, you’ll either be paid a percentage share of the site’s overall profit, or separately each time someone purchases your work.

You might even have photos on your computer already that would be popular on these sites! That’s definitely one of the top side hustles in terms of sheer convenience. And keep in mind that you can make money from video graphics, music compositions, digital art, and more this way too.

And that’s just for starters! There are many more top side hustles you can use to start generating income online immediately. Heck, you could even take on a part-time job working from home!

You’ll find a list of more in-depth business ideas at Savumin (here) and be sure to share your ideas in the comments below.

You may just find that this was the push you needed to start your own successful online venture!