3 Types of Side Hustles To Start Now (Some Pay Big Bucks)
Time is money, everything is expensive, and now you need a side hustle. The gig economy can be a maze, though, and it's hard to know which moves actually pay off and which just waste your energy.
So before you burn hours on surveys that pay pennies, let's narrow the field. Here are three side hustles worth starting now -- if supplemental income sounds like your thing.
Side Hustles That Reward Experience
If you’re good at something, never do it for free. Patrick McAndrew, a certified financial planner at American Wealth Planner, thinks credentials and professional experience go a long way to monetizing your skill set.
“One of the top side hustles that rewards experience or a professional background is tutoring via Preply (preply.com). Nearly 1 million learners join the platform each year, looking for a personal touch in their learning journey," he said. "Whatever your expertise, from AI to psychics to music, art, or language, you can connect with eager students and have the added advantage of setting your own hours and rates.”
Using a set of money-making skills is the next type of side hustle. Freelance writing, graphic design and programming also fall into this category.
Good Old-Fashioned Gig Work
Everyone wants to know how to make more money, but short of begging for a raise at your 9-to-5, what else is there? Well, Paula Pant, founder of the "Afford Anything" podcast, has other ideas. For example, gig work is trading time for money, and typically that work involves driving for Uber or delivering meals for DoorDash.
"I think it's great if you're a college student," Pant said. "Or if it's the holidays and you need some extra cash."
This way you can cover unexpected car breakdowns or medical issues. For those who have short bursts of time within their day they can dedicate, gig work could be the best option.
Selling Stuff You’ve Created
The type of side hustle you choose depends on your skills, available time and ability to create a product or service. For Pant, it was moving from freelance writing to running a content management agency. "I set about designing content calendars, building out the editorial calendar, helping mostly small businesses," she said.
In terms of building a physical or digital product, there should be a need for it. "It can be a windshield wiper repair kit," Pant said. "I mean, it can be literally anything if there's a need for it and if you have some unique contribution to that need."
Targeting specific niches may make the product or service more profitable, whether it's helping people with a given specialty or in a geographic area. "The more you can tailor that particular product to a very specific audience sub-segment, the better," Pant said.
This side hustle requires more time and dedication to get off the ground; the product or service needs testing and marketing to audiences. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make some extra cash.
Lieza Klemm contributed to the reporting for this article.
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