10 Simple Online Side-Hustles You Can Start-Up Today!

Most of us are stuck in quarantine during this CoronaVirus pandemic which means a lot of time to ourselves. This also means it is the best time to be considering new side-hustles. Most start-up owners don’t just start up a business out of thin air. It takes planning, finances, the need to solve problems and consistency but most of all the ability to turn those ideas into reality.

Many successful Entrepreneurs start-up their side-hustles whilst doing something else whether it was studying, working full-time or even as they build a family.

There is never going to be the “perfect” time to start working on a side project to bring in that extra bit of money so starting today is your best bet. Side-hustles can help you explore new skills, build on existing ones and sometimes you meet some awesome people in the process. It also provides a way to explore untapped creativity or ideas you don’t necessarily get to explore in your daily life and then hopefully, with enough dedication it will turn into your full-time hustle.

A recent study found that over 66% of millennials want to start their own businesses but not many make that first step. Whether it’s the lack of having a detailed plan to launch whilst working, or just not knowing how to get started, we’ve formulated a quality list filled with easy to start ideas that require little or no finances to start up. You don’t need to explore a completely unique, innovative or crazy idea in order to make that extra money. All you need is yourself and a laptop and your learning caps to get you started. Let’s check them out!

1.Virtual Assistant

A Virtual Assistant (VA) provides online services to entrepreneurs or small businesses from a remote location.

There are many things that virtual assistants can do, including:

• Admin work like preparing reports, appointments, emails etc
• Social media management
• Event management
• Graphic Design
• Development
• Web Design
• General Marketing
• Personal assistant tasks like booking hotels, etc

You don’t need all the skills listed but it’s good to have some and to find out from the client what exactly do they require.

2. Consultant / Coach / Teacher

Are you good at what you do but don’t find it as rewarding as it used to be? Being a coach in your field can provide others with help progressing in their endeavours. You get to flex your experience and using your best asset = you to help others.

There is nothing wrong with monetising your help for others. These days you see many mentorship programs that are free but those enrolled usually find that the super busy schedules of the Mentor’s may not provide the consistent support and guidance wanted. A paid coach will allow you dedicated time to get to know one another so the advice is catered specifically for your personal needs

4. Etsy Shop

Creative people really love the creative side of selling on Etsy – you get to express yourself, concept ideas and bringing those visions to life. Selling your own products of creativity is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have as a creative entrepreneur.

But it isn’t the only part that you have to be good at.

If you are going to side hustle with an Etsy shop, running the business side of your shop is just as important, if not more so, than the creative part. Without that understanding of the business side – profits, revenue, and costs, you may end up with just a very time consuming hobby that isn’t actually bringing in any money.

There are often so many aspects of running the business, like fees, materials and running costs and not to mention the shipping costs. Your time in creating the products that people undervalue will mean you may end up working a lot without making any measurable profit to bring home as an income at the beginning but perseverance and a learning cap will help drive you towards your income goals. Consistency + Growth Mindset = Your Goals

If you really want to dive into the opportunity that Etsy provides a good choice to run a business from home providing you understand the basics of the business side of things. 

5. Copywriter

Writing for other blogs or businesses will help build up your side income. You will need a good portfolio, some knowledge of Marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in order to compete in this field. By writing for other platforms you are also able to build your reputation and brand and write about topics that you are knowledgable in and enjoy.

We’re looking for writers for Madhat girls tweet us to find out more!

6. Freelance Creative

If you have skills in web design or photoshop you’re in luck. As your skills are computer-based you can provide these services online and remotely. You just need a laptop! All you need is to brush up some skills choose 1-2 focuses on whether it be branding/logo design, social media design, email, web or print design. The avenues are endless as a designer and it’s also a very easy skill to pick up with a couple of courses you can be set, ready to go in a couple of weeks. You just need to find the right clients in your price/skill range!

7. Vlogging/Blogging

Popularised over 15 years ago this method is more of a long term plan. If you enjoy producing content, making videos or writing blogging can be your sure way to earn those extra $$$. You start earning when you get passed 1000 subscribers but be warned the monetary gain is very little until you hit the million viewers mark! This leads onto Affiliate marketing as a way to make money off your creative content.

8. Affiliate Marketing

There’s this thing called affiliate marketing where you promote products and provide a tracked URL link to those products. You can usually do this by creating a website dedicated to your topic of choice, adding link referrals to your social channels or even creating a landing page and driving traffic to it using paid advertising. Some businesses also provide affiliate referral programs so if you find you like an online product or service have a look if they do this and sign up – that way if you promote their business to friends and family you get the added bonus of getting a % of the sale. A bit like UBER and AIRBNB’s refer a friend program they adopted at the beginning, although that was more Marketing focused.

If people make a purchase through you you get a percentage of the proceeds. Seems too easy right? You have to bear in mind you need to offer good quality content and have a strong following in order to gain attraction.

This is why the best way to do is to narrow your audience down and provide content that you are passionate about so you don’t lose motivation.

9. Build your own course

Are you pretty knowledgable in your field? If so there are plenty of people out there waiting to learn from you. The e-learning market is booming and what greater way to tap into this market is by building your own course based around your skills. You already have what it takes so putting that into something that will provide, guide and teach others is valuable in this world. As they say knowledge is worth more than money especially in this climate.

You can build a course on platforms like Udemy, Thikific or even using Learning platform plugins with WordPress just like how we have built Madhat Academy.

10. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is when the manufacturer carries the inventory and ships it to the customer on your behalf. In dropshipping, you set your own product prices and are responsible for marketing. There are many, many different models for dropshipping. The term itself is pretty broad and it can range from fulfilling orders from China, selling on eBay or Amazon to reselling products marketed at your own price points on your own websites. The positives are you don’t need a huge warehouse and the start-up investments are super low. The negatives are you need to be very good at marketing in order to attract the right audience.

SO there you have it! A brief summary of ways you can make money on the side with little to medium-sized effort. This is just enough to build along with your main hustle. If you would like us to dive more into any of the above topics or provide in-depth guides then do tweet us your views or write in the comment box below.