Smart side hustles successful creatives body daily to get ahead
Nearly half of all Americans work side-hustles to make ends meet. Food delivery, ride shares, dog walking, pet, baby and house sitting are common and smart side hustles to make extra income.
Maybe you can’t make a dent in your student loans or just need a little extra money to make ends meet after an emergency. Most of us are in the same boat.
When looking for a smart side hustle, make sure you pursue something that’s both enjoyable and fulfilling. Therefore you won’t get burnt out too fast, and it can help add things to your portfolio or resume and may even give you networking opportunities.
Given the pandemic, lots of people are looking for remote ways to make money as well, such as offering services through apps.
Freelancing can get you bread
Seriously consider freelancing. A lot of people are freelancers as their full-time gig, but it’s a great way to make revenue regardless.
More than one-third of the American workforce freelanced amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, contributing $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy. Plus, of those who quit their full-time job in order to freelance, 75% said they earn the same or more than when they had a traditional employer.
Furthermore, according to Zip Recruiter, the average annual salary in 2019 for freelance writers in the United States was $63,488. And the average freelance writer made $31 an hour.
So while freelancing might not seem like the go-to smart side hustle, put quite simply, it really can be. If you’re mired in the muck of a job you don’t like, check out how much money freelance workers are getting in your industry.
There are thousands of apps you can use to offer your services, and then people always need help working on their resumes, cover letters, e-mail content for their small businesses, newsletters for local organizations and churches, you name it.
If you’re a writer, copyeditor, coder, or graphic designer, freelancing through Fiverr, Thumbtack, Upwork, Freelancer and Guru are major platforms meant for conducting business. Freelancing also flows nicely into most other services you can offer on online platforms.
Tutoring is the come up
Similar to freelancing, your skills and talents can also rake in some extra cash by offering lessons through a video platform. Teach a language, or have a lesson remotely and safely on music production, personal training, cooking, video editing, coding, music and/or art.
You can then upload lessons through a paywalled website like OnlyFans, Skillshare, or any of the previous classified-type websites and apps.
Tutors, on average, made an average salary of $32,360 in 2020 with an hourly wage of $16 per hour. While this salary does not break the bank, tutors who refine their skills and gain experience in the business make a lot more hourly and annually because of it.
Tutoring is not just a smart side hustle, but a great way to feel like you’re making a positive difference in someone else’s life.
Translating and transcribing is a wave
Like tutoring and freelancing, offering your knowledge of a second language and captioning video content can be pretty lucrative. Offer your services through the aforementioned apps and help connect different worlds through language. While not a crazy side hustle, translating and transcribing is doing a difficult task that should yield good money.
This is a smart side hustle that falls under the radar. People (often who have been doing it their whole lives) don’t tend to think about making a profit translating. That is because it’s what they’ve been doing their whole lives for free for their family.
But the game is the game, and we do live in a capitalist sphere in this country. Get a bag for your unique skill (which it is), and also feel proud for your helping someone else. Translators make on average, according to Zip Recruiter, $29 per hour right now in 2021.
Similarly, transcribing can be a lucrative side hustle. TranscribeMe averages a payout of $15-$22 per audio hour, and Scribie offers $5 to $25 per audio hour. As in many things, it depends on the amount of work you put in, so get to it.
Thrift and flip
Thrifting has become trendy in recent years with vintage fashion bloggers and YouTubers, and for good reason.
Fashion has a habit of moving in cycles, and grandparents’ clothes are likely to come back in style for teens who’ve devoted their persona to a certain aesthetic.
To add to this, thrifting isn’t just for clothes. There are collectors out there who are willing to pay big bucks for what you consider to be dust-collectors. Alexandra Marquez, a 23-year-old student, opened Poshmark one day, and now makes $5,000 a month selling vintage clothing.
Dig around in your attic or your grandparents’ creepy basement and you’ll then probably be surprised what price people are willing to pay for what you find.
What starts out as making a pretty penny can blossom into a full-fledged business. Just look at Reclaimed Womxn Vintage, started by Tahia Islam as a way to curb sweatshops around the world. Reclaimed was a way to reclaim vintage clothing for people of color, and femmes of color in particular.
Smart side hustles to get ahead
America is devolving into a gig economy and most everyone has several streams of income. Don’t be afraid to ask for your worth in your hourly rate.
You might even find that your smart side hustle ends up being more lucrative than whatever your full-time gig is. And what better feeling is there than feeling financially secure? Especially from side jobs that required you to be creative, innovative, and diligent.