Who wouldn’t like some side income?
I’ve recently been obsessed with trying out side hustle ideas that I find on Reddit and YouTube.
It’s fascinating that it’s possible to earn money from the comfort of my home.
But the thing I noticed is that everyone seems to recommend unreachable and hard-to-start online businesses as side hustles.
And so I decided to compile the best online money-making methods that in comparison are not that hard to get started with.
I’ve looked into things like start-up cost, how beginner-friendly the side hustles are, pros and cons, how passive they are and how much side income could someone realistically make with them.
What are the best side hustle ideas?
The best real side hustles are those that can earn you money while you sleep.
They have low start-up costs but huge growth potential.
The best side hustles are easy to stick with even when someone lacks the motivation to pursue them.
Here are my pics for the best online side hustles to start this year:
What's The Notion Side Hustle:
This online side business focuses on Notion.
If you already use Notion or are familiar with it then you could consider pursuing this money-making method.
Maybe you’ve already got a few Notion pages set up for yourself.
Perhaps a database?
Your Notion pages could easily be tweaked a little and turned into sellable online templates.
You can then create a banner for the listing using Canva and list your Notion templates on websites like Payhip or Etsy for sale.
Pros:
- Takes only upfront time investment (no monetary cost).
- Once sales start happening it’s truly passive income. Make once, sell forever.
- No maintenance cost.
- Infinitely scalable.
- Can grow exponentially if the template is god-tier.
Cons:
- A lot of competition (but there’s still space).
- Hard to start if you’re not familiar with Notion.
Examples:
Here are some people successfully selling Notion templates from the comfort of their homes.
Take a look at how simple they actually are.
You should always aim to solve a problem with your product.
These sellers sell what they know.
They create a template that solves someone’s problem or a problem that they have solved themselves and in doing so they become the best in their niche.
Get started with Notion.
2. Sell Squarespace Templates on Etsy
What's The Squarespace Template Side Hustle:
With this side hustle you create a temporary website on Squarespace and then sell it as a template.
Once someone buys the template, you duplicate the website in the settings and then transfer the ownership of that website to the buyer.
(It’s done via entering the buyer’s email in the transfer ownership setting on Squarespace).
So with this side business, you only have to create the website once.
Every time that someone buys it (usually for at least $100) you just duplicate the website on Squarespace and transfer the ownership to the buyer.
You might think that creating an in-demand template is very hard.
But you can just copy a default Squarespace template (they have many free ones).
80% of the work will already be done and you just have to customize the aesthetics from there.
Then create a banner with Canva and list it for sale on Etsy!
Pros:
- Takes only upfront time investment.
- Very low maintenance cost.
- Infinitely scalable.
- No coding experience is needed.
- High earnings potential.
Cons:
- Although not necessary in the beginning, later you will probably need a Squarespace subscription ($16/month).
- Strong competition (at least on Etsy)
Examples:
Look at the price of these things!
This is the only website builder that has templates going for so much on Etsy.
It’s the perfect opportunity to jump in.
Get started with Squarespace.
3. Do YouTube Without Showing Your Face
What's The YouTube Side Hustle:
Although starting a YouTube channel is no easy task but as Ali Abdaal once said “If you manage to stick with uploading videos consistently for 2 years I guarantee your life will change”.
YouTube as a side hustle can bring much more than ad revenue and can be monetized a lot sooner than most people think.
For example merch sales, affiliate commissions, digital products, Patreon, newsletter, and more.
Here’s a more in-depth guide about how to grow your own YouTube channel.
There are many types of videos that you could be creating without showing your face:
- Tutorials
- Relaxation videos
- Motivational Videos
- Commentaries
- Gaming videos
- ASMR
- Product Reviews and Unboxings
- Timelapse
Pros:
- Pays well.
- Is dethatched from your time after you put in the initial time investment.
- You can earn money while you sleep.
- Easy to maintain later on.
- Can be done in the background of your life.
- If you stop uploading to YouTube your videos will still earn money for years to come.
Cons:
- No fast results. (It could be months or years before your channel explodes)
- Requires consistency and dedication to learn in the beginning.
- Hard to monetize with ad revenue (1000 subscribers and 4000 watch time hours needed).
Examples:
The example is well, any YouTuber who doesn’t show their face.
I fall into this category too.
Here’s my channel if you want to take a sneak peek.
Get started with YouTube.
What's The Skillshare Side Hustle:
On Skillshare you can create a course about what you know.
It can be something as simple as how to make a delicious meal or how to clean up your computer.
It doesn’t have to be something extraordinary.
The course creation process takes time (it took around a month to create my first course).
I recommend reading the Skillshare class guidelines carefully.
There are a lot of little things that I overlooked when creating my first course and had to re-record parts of it.
Here’s an in-depth guide on how much can you earn on Skillshare with one 30-minute course.
You can create a course as short as 10 minutes and it will continue bringing in passive income for you and you won’t have to lift a finger.
I also made a list of the best courses on Skillshare that you can take inspiration from when creating yours.
Pros:
- Passive income once you make a course.
- No maintenance costs.
- No need to search for customers (it’s Skillshare’s job).
Cons:
- Creating a good course might be challenging and require scripting, voice-overs, and some video editing knowledge.
- Your first course might not be enough to earn you a substantial, life-changing income.
Examples:
There are countless people making Skillshare courses about what they know.
The key point here is that you don’t have to be an expert to create a course.
Your experience on a very specific problem that you’ve overcome already makes you an expert in that specific field.
Get started with Skillshare.
5. Create a Niche Print on Demand Store
What's The Print on Demand Side Hustle:
Print On Demand (POD) is a printing technology in which copies of a document are not printed until an order has been received.
This allows businesses to avoid the cost of storing large quantities of inventory.
The POD business model is often used for books, but it can also be used for other products such as t-shirts, mugs, and calendars.
The advantage of POD is that it eliminates the need for large upfront printing costs and the risk of excess inventory.
The good news is that there are websites like Printful or Redbubble where you can upload any design (it could be a photo, drawing, or an illustration that you created) and they take care of customers.
Then lay back, relax and let them take care of promoting and selling your design.
Of course, creating a design is hard.
But you can use photos that you took with your phone over the years or a free tool like Canva to make designs faster.
It’s also possible to do it with AI.
You can read more about how to start a print-on-demand business with AI here.
Sites like Redbubble rank on Google and when people search for something like “Green Father’s Day T-shirt” your design might pop up in the search results if it’s optimized for SEO well.
Pros:
- It’s completely passive once you upload your designs.
- You don’t need to deal with orders and shipping.
- You don’t need to deal with customers.
- Uploading a design and writing a brief description about it is all that’s necessary.
Cons:
- Competitive and saturated.
- Might require 100 designs until you see your first sale.
- You need to be creative and create your designs for t-shirts, mugs, etc.
Examples:
Here are some of the best-selling stickers on Redbubble.
As you can tell one is just a screenshot of a text message and the other one is a black cat.
They’re nothing special and this goes to show that you don’t need to be an experienced designer to succeed with the print-on-demand side hustle.
Get started with Printful.
What's The Fiverr Side Hustle:
On Fiverr, you can sell any service that you can think of.
The best way to stand out as a new seller is to copy what every top seller is doing in your niche.
If you type in a keyword in Fiverr search you’ll find that the top listings for that keyword have the most sales.
So if you’re going to be doing a similar service it’s a good idea to first study what others, at the top of your niche are offering.
This is what’s most important for a successful Fiverr gig:
- Filling out your profile completely.
- Writing a nice, detailed description of your Fiverr gig.
- Having an attractive cover image (can be created for free with Canva)
- Creating more than 1 gig around the same topic but a slightly different keyword.
- Writing in bullet points, not in long paragraphs.
- Telling the buyer something about yourself that makes you credible for this gig.
- Being patient. The first few Fiverr sales are really hard to get but once you step over that hurdle life on making money online on Fiverr becomes a lot easier.
Pros:
- Easy to start and pivot if a gig doesn’t work.
- A sellable skill is easy to learn on YouTube or Skillshare for free.
- You can raise prices after you start getting a lot of sales.
Cons:
- Hard to get the first few listings off the floor.
- Requires active work in order to earn money. Not passive income.
- Competitive.
- You have to have a marketable skill that you can sell.
Examples:
Get started with Fiverr.
7. Start a Niche Instagram Account
What's The Instagram Side Hustle:
This side hustle is what it sounds like.
You’re not growing your personal Instagram account but rather creating a niche page.
A niche page is a page that posts content only related to one specific subject.
For example fishing, memes, mountain biking, celebrity gossip, etc.
There are a lot of strategies involved in getting faster results and more followers on Instagram like asking or paying for shoutouts or doing follow for follow.
However, this side hustle is at the bottom of the list because it takes a while to start earning any substantial income.
(I would rather start a YouTube channel or make a Skillshare course than start an Instagram account).
Nevertheless, if the IG page succeeds and you gain a solid, loyal following then you can definitely make a lot of money from it.
Or when you’re bored of it, you can sell the page.
Pros:
- Requires little work after it’s successful.
- Massive scaling potential.
- The Instagram page can be sold once it has a decent following (20k+).
Cons:
- Hard to monetize.
- Hard to grow (usually takes more than a year to see any good results).
- Takes a lot of time and effort.
Examples:
Get started with Instagram.
Were these side hustle ideas useful?
There are many ways to make some extra money on the side, and it can be tough to decide which option is best for you.
I’ve listed a few lesser-known side hustle ideas to get you started.
I hope these side hustle ideas help you make your first dollar online this year!
And if you’ve scrolled all the way to the end I’m sure you’ll also enjoy these resources:
Best Online Business Ideas To Start With AI ($12,610 / Month)
Best Online Business Ideas For One-Person Business Model
9 Best AI Tools For YouTubers (Make Videos 67.1% Faster With AI)
Thanks for reading 👋!