Everyone could always make do with more money or extra cash on the side. Besides working your regular 9-5, a side job affords you the opportunity of extra income. It’s not news that some 9-5 jobs pay meager salaries and even exploit employees. Not to forget that when you’re just starting out in your career, you might have to go through so much BS in order to climb up the corporate ladder.
Even more daunting is the probability that you might have little to nothing left from your salary after calculating the cost of your rent, feeding, bills, and transportation. We don’t need a fortune teller to reveal that this sort of income cannot guarantee you the kind of life you have always dreamed about.
This is why it is advisable to start a side job that can bring in a couple of extra bucks every month; something from which you can earn even while you sleep. Something that will cushion the effect should you ever get laid off unexpectedly from your regular 9-5. Here are five brilliant side job ideas you can take up today to increase your income.
1. Start freelancing
Freelance work is a very good way to stabilize an unpredictable 9-5 income. Also termed “the gig economy,” freelancing helps people determine their work hours and how much they want to be paid for their services. Upwork and Fiverr are great platforms for landing your first gig. You could offer services like creating T-shirt mockups, social media management, copywriting, etc. You could earn anywhere from $50 to $2,000 alone on freelancing. This however depends on your service offering and the platform you’re using.
2. Sell information products
The major requirements for this selling information products include research work, invested time, and marketing skills. Selling information products require you to niche down on a particular topic. This could be a niche where people have a lot of problems they need answers to or a niche that there isn’t enough information about.
You can monetize this niche by creating content around it in form of ebooks, courses, mentoring, etc. Then, create a sales funnel that leads people down to making payments for your content. This way, you can keep earning at any time of the day. Depending on your niche, marketing strategy, and some other factors, you could make a few thousand dollars each month from this side job.
3. Become an influencer
By becoming an influencer on social media, you become an authority in a particular niche. Even better, people trust you well enough to pay you to promote their products or services. Becoming an influencer on social media starts with building your personal brand. This could be a brand based on your business skills, your love for books, your fashion sense, etc.
Becoming an influencer does not just happen overnight. You have to put in the work and be consistent in posting relevant content. After you’ve paid your dues, you can monetize your influencer status via sponsored posts, Instagram takeovers, or selling a product on your website. The average influencer charges as low as $100 and as high as $500 for a single post.
4. Become a virtual assistant
A virtual assistant works remotely on tasks such as social media management, schedule management, administration, customer services, etc. Entrepreneurs and businesses around the world rely on virtual assistants to ensure optimum productivity and sales.
As a virtual assistant, you get paid based on the number of hours you work each week. You can choose to earn hourly or opt for a total monthly earning. Upwork is also a great platform for virtual assistants looking to land their first client. Facebook Groups for businesses is also a good place to scout for clients. People earn between $20 to $40 hourly for their services as virtual assistants.
5. Start a Print-On-Demand business
A print-on-demand business is a great fit for you if you already love making custom graphics and artwork. You can print out these artworks on products like T-shirts, journals, phone cases, mugs, bags, etc. If your designs are stunning and you put in the work with marketing, you could be making an extra couple thousand dollars each month.