Online side hustles are getting more common with each passing day, especially given the current pandemic.
More and more people seem to turn to the internet in the hopes of finding an additional source of income there. It’s not as stable as regular employment. However, these days, almost every job is at risk, so there’s no point in talking about stability.
Put bluntly, online gigs are an economic necessity right now. If you’re finding yourself struggling for money more and more with each passing month, it might be the time to look to the internet for help.
Before you get your new hustle underway, you’ll need to know where to start. With so many options, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s truly profitable. And profitable is what you need at the moment.
Ask yourself the following: What are you interested in? How much money can you invest in a new business? How much time are you willing to devote to the side hustle? Does the idea fit your current schedule? Will it be profitable?
That’s plenty of questions, but we’ll help you get sorted out.
Popular and Profitable Side Hustles
We’ve decided to compile a list of the seven most profitable business ideas for anyone looking to get a share of the online market. You could become:
- Virtual assistant
- Content writer
- Ecommerce store owner
- Freelance consultant
- Affiliate marketer
- Online course creator
- Video streaming website owner.
Each and every one of those is a profitable business idea. We’ll lay out the details about each side hustle and introduce you to the basics.
Become A Virtual Assistant
Business owners who need a lot of help with various projects or day-to-day tasks often enlist the help of a virtual assistant.
Just like the regular assistant, you’ll be handling a wide array of tasks, only you’ll do it online. Among other things, you’ll be managing social media, emails, events, appointments, etc.
While the job is extremely flexible as you can do it from the comfort of your own home, it’s not for everyone. You need to have exceptional time management skills, as well as be highly organized. And don’t forget impeccable communication skills.
There are a myriad of sources online to help virtual assistants get started, which makes the job quite approachable. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be earning anywhere from $400 to $5,600 per month.
Content Writing
Content writers are the backbone of the internet. Everything you’ve ever read online had to be written by someone — it might as well be you.
Writers need to have a lot of knowledge about the ins and outs of online marketing. Not to mention a serious amount of discipline and time management skills. Moreover, being a freelance writer requires a lot of initiative. It’s up to you to follow up on potential clients and advertise your services.
But the advantages are multifold. First of all, you get to learn something new every day and provide various services. Freelance writing encompasses all manner of writers — topic experts, resume writers, copywriters, proofreaders, and almost any written media creators.
Expect a pay range of $10.31 to $53.79 per hour as a freelance writer.
Start An Ecommerce Store
If, on the other hand, you want to provide people with certain goods, starting an eCommerce store is the way to go.
In 2017 alone, the eCommerce industry earned $2.3 trillion in sales. It will get closer to $4.5 trillion by 2021. That’s an enormous amount of money by anyone’s standards.
But selling the right goods can be tricky. It’ll take more than a small measure of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to find the right product to sell. You’ll need to do some research to find out what the hot items are right now.
Once you’ve done so, start planning. Running an eCommerce store is not something that you can just improvise. Luckily, there’s a ton of resources online that will help you get started.
Freelance Consulting
Consultants share their knowledge with others and make a living that way. It’s an excellent deal for people who have a great deal of experience in their field of expertise. They can then sell that knowledge to interested parties.
It doesn’t matter where your expertise lies. You can consult people on things ranging from marketing and business management, productivity, financials, online dating, life coaching, product design, and much more.
If you have enough experience and a natural talent for sharing it, freelance consulting can become a full-time occupation.
Most people start out at $60 per hour, but many consultants report making upwards of $300 per hour for their services.
Affiliate Marketing
You’ve probably already heard at least something about affiliate marketing. That’s how much the industry’s expanded in the last several years.
Affiliate marketing means driving traffic to someone else’s service or product. In return, you get a cut for having helped that business reach a new client.
In fact, for every sale that the business makes from the traffic an affiliate marketer sends to them, you earn a commission. Of course, that means affiliate marketing is highly profitable.
Naturally, the competition in such a business is extraordinarily fierce, and you’ll have to stay sharp. You need to constantly be on the lookout for emerging trends and content gaps, and then jump on them. You should grab each opportunity that comes your way, and be among the first to make use of it.
Now, you need to be aware that affiliate marketing can be quite a swing or a total miss. It’s highly profitable when you choose the right product. For example, an affiliate marketer for a tech company like Shopify can make thousands of dollars for every referral.
On the other hand, certain products might turn out to be complete duds. However, if you stick to evergreen industries such as web hosting, travel, fitness, CBD, music, or sports, you likely won’t be disappointed.
Create and Sell an Online Course
In-person courses tend to be quite expensive, especially one-on-one. It’s no wonder that online courses are more valuable than ever.
Similarly to a freelance consultant, if you possess a good deal of experience in a certain field, you could do well for yourself by creating an online course. Udemy is one of the biggest websites of the sort. It allows users to charge whatever pricing they think is right for their courses.
It will take some time for you to put together an entire course. As you might have guessed, creating and selling an online course is not the fastest way to online income. However, once the course is finished and made available on sites such as Udemy, you’ll basically have a passive source of income.
After that, it’s up to you whether you’ll be making any more courses or not. That could certainly help keep the income at a profitable level. There’s also the option of starting an entire course platform of your own to replace Udemy.
Start a Video Streaming Service
Estimates show that videos will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2022. By starting a video streaming service, you’re investing in the future. Of course, it goes without saying that it can be profitable even now.
First, you need to decide on a niche. Are you going to stream anime, cartoons, TV shows, movies, or even adult content? Pick something with a broad appeal to draw the visitors in. At the same time, you’ll need to offer something unique to get them to stay.
The process of setting up such a streaming service is simpler than it used to be. You still need web hosting and a domain name, but actually building a website is far easier nowadays. Just get WordPress and a theme to match your content, then customize it to your heart’s content. And that’s it, you’ve got a website.
Monetize it by either showing ads on the website or charging subscriptions. The pay-per-view model is also highly recommended.
Keep in mind that video streaming websites are constantly bombarded with DMCA claims. For that reason, hire an offshore hosting provider instead of a local one. Offshore hosting companies often simply ignore DMCA takedown attempts.
Conclusion
It goes without saying that you should try your hand at one of the online side hustles we mentioned. They can be an incredible source of income. Stick to our advice and you should be all good to go.
Not to mention, starting a side hustle is a great way to learn valuable skills and grow as a professional and an entrepreneur. And that’s worth more than a bit of side income.
