Do you want to start a side gig? If so, you’re not alone. Believe it or not, but roughly one in three Americans have a side hustle. Furthermore, about 24% of Americans are looking to get in on the action and grab their slice of the pie in the coming year.
Before you start raking in cash with your new side hustle, you first need to have an idea. It’s best if it’s something that you’re passionate about. After all, you’ll be spending a lot of your free time working your side hustle. That leaves us with our first task – what sort of side gig do you want to start?
Here are a few ideas…
Potential Side Gig Ideas for 2022
There are countless side gigs that are ripe for picking in the coming year. Here are five side gigs that I believe will continue to dominate in 2022.
#1: Teach Online Courses
Reinventing the wheel takes a ton of time and effort, so why bother? Instead, start building your side gig around the skills you already possess and share them with other people!
The beautiful thing about teaching online courses is that once you create a course, it will earn you side income for months, possibly even years, to come.
Furthermore, it’s wicked easy to start a course-based side gig with sites like Udemy, which are designed specifically for this purpose.
#2: Base Your Side Gig on Freelance Work
Working as a freelancer is another great way to start a side gig. Like teaching online courses, freelancing lets you apply your current skills to make additional income without diving into a new business.
With freelance marketplaces, such as Fiverr, you can open an account and start selling your skills in a matter of minutes. Fiverr averages around one sale every four seconds and earns freelancers anywhere from $5 to $15,000+ per project. You can honestly make money on Fiverr with any skillset. It doesn’t matter if you are a graphic designer, a legal eagle, or a finance whiz – there’s a business out there that needs your expertise.
#3: Become an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is a time-tested and proven means to make a side income online. The concept is relatively simple, you promote other people’s offerings and earn a commission for any sales that you generate via referrals.
Developing a successful affiliate marketing network requires more time than selling courses or freelancing upfront since you first need to build an audience and gain their trust. Once you develop a strong audience and earn their trust, they will respect your recommendations and start clicking on your affiliate links.
The core of affiliate marketing consists of phenomenal content. Whether it be on social media, a blog, a YouTube channel, or some other targeted form of audience development.
Once you successfully develop an audience, you can partner with businesses to promote by using affiliate networks such as Impact.
#4: Sell Physical Products as Your Side Gig
If you have a serious itch to start something entrepreneurial, you may want to consider selling physical goods. Naturally, launching an eCommerce business requires more effort and grunt work than other side gigs. However, the rewards are usually worth it in most cases.
First off, you’ll likely need some initial capital to purchase stock, advertise your products, and build a customer base. Furthermore, you’ll also need to figure out where you will sell your products. You can rely solely on your own website. You can also opt for pre-existing eCommerce platforms such as eBay or Amazon. Regardless of the route you select, there will be an associated cost and a learning curve that varies from platform to platform.
On the flip side, you can opt for the dropshipping option, which has the lowest barrier to entry. With dropshipping, you sell products of other brands on your website. When a customer places an order, the brand handles the shipment for you. While dropshipping may sound awesome in theory, it comes with a range of complications. Some of the complications include quality control, shipping logistics, and customer returns.
If you’re interested in pursuing dropshipping as your side gig, I’d recommend that you check out Modalyst for potential products.
#5: Buy an Online Business
Affiliate marketing and eCommerce businesses make for awesome side gigs. However, they take time and most of us aren’t willing to invest the time needed to develop an affiliate network or eCommerce customer base. So, the best way to cut down the timeline and start earning some serious cash is to simply buy an established brand. The major barrier here is that you need some serious capital to purchase a brand that is already established. After all, time is money.
If you want to purchase an established brand as your side gig, then you should check out Flippa. This online marketplace is the place to go if you’re looking to sell or buy an online business. Flippa gives you a data-backed analysis of the business, which allows you to make an educated decision about which one is right for you.
Tips to Help Brand Your Side Gig the Right Way
Choosing a side gig is one thing, but preparing for launch is a whole different story. Countless new side hustlers underestimate the importance of branding…even if you’re just a freelancer. Your brand identity is what makes you memorable or easily forgotten – the choice is yours.
Here are a few important things to consider when it comes to branding your side gig:
- Choose a name and design a logo: Your brand name, colors, and logo all need to work together so that they leave an impression on prospective customers. You’ll want to keep things simple when selecting these elements of your business.
- Build a website: Even as a freelancer, you’ll need a website. Your website acts as a central place for people to discover you and your side gig. It can be a portfolio, a store, or even just a one-page bio.
- Get a branded domain: A short, albeit unique and memorable, domain adds value to your brand. I’m a big fan of the .ONLINE domain since it’s fresh and many of the best domain names are still available.
- Establish a rock-solid social media presence: In addition to a website, your side gig needs a social media presence. Social media is where people hang out online and by being present on social media, you add a layer of credibility to your brand. Another reason why .ONLINE is a great domain choice because it is also a URL shortener on social media. This greatly increases brand recall and builds trust.
- Reach out to your network: Once you’ve got a name, logo, website, and social media presence, jumpstart your side hustle by reaching out to your network and spreading the good word about your business. Whatever you do, don’t be shy! Your biggest advocates will be those closest to you at the start, so go ahead, take a deep breath, and take a leap of faith!
Closing Thoughts
The gig economy is all about playing up to your strengths. There have never been more opportunities to start a side gig than there are today. From freelance work to full-out eCommerce stores, people all over the world are looking for ways to supplement their income and achieve their goals in life.
I’ll leave you with two questions: 1.) When will you get started? and 2.) What’s holding you back?
