If you’re looking to earn extra income, you might consider part-time opportunities. However, this usually requires you to invest lots of energy in something that doesn’t fulfill you. Meanwhile, extra work can mean long days out of the house (which isn’t always possible).
Instead, side hustle ideas offer an opportunity to supplement your income and do it all from home. This way, you can earn a passive income which requires less effort. Plus, you can re-engage with old hobbies, and build a community of like-minded people.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of starting a side hustle. Then, we’ll discuss several ways to make money from home. Let’s get started!
The Benefits of Starting a Side Hustle
A side hustle enables you to pursue a passion, hone your creative skills, and build an online audience. There are different opportunities to explore, so you’re bound to find an idea that suits your needs and availability.
For example, many bloggers sell memberships and premium content like courses to make money online:
Meanwhile, you might want to partner with companies and earn a commission promoting specific products or services. This is known as affiliate marketing (which we’ll take a closer look at shortly).
Here are some of the main benefits of starting a side hustle:
- Low startup costs. Often, you simply need to create a social media account or build a website (which only requires you to cover domain and hosting costs).
- A community of like-minded people. If you target a specific niche and engage regularly with visitors, it can be easy to establish loyalty and trust.
- Flexible working hours. Since many side hustles only require a laptop and a WiFi connection, you can work around your existing responsibilities.
- Recurring revenue. With some side hustles, you can set up a recurring revenue stream which can further stabilize your earnings.
You can even find opportunities that enable you to reconnect with an old hobby or passion of yours, and share this with others. For example, if you studied English at university, you can give online lessons or offer proofreading services.
5 Best Side Hustle Ideas to Make Money From Home
Now that you know the benefits of starting a side hustle, here are five opportunities you could explore to make money from home.
1. Become an Affiliate Marketer
One of the easiest side hustle ideas is to get into affiliate marketing. This involves promoting third-party products and services.
Typically, you’ll need to place affiliate links within your content (like blog posts). When someone makes a purchase through one of those links, you’ll earn a commission on the sale.
There are tons of affiliate programs or networks that you can join. Popular options include Awin and Amazon Associates:
Once you place affiliate links in your content, you’re all set. You can keep making money from the same piece of content for years.
Some companies will also provide banners and widgets that you can place on your website. These will contain your affiliate links. If you choose an affiliate marketing theme, it will be easier to incorporate these elements into your website.
Affiliate marketing can be a great option if you already have an established blog. In fact, many companies require you to have a certain amount of visitors before you can apply for their affiliate program.
2. Create a Membership Site
The next side hustle idea is to create a membership website where you can sell subscriptions to your audience. Again, this works well for existing blogs (or other content-heavy websites) and involves restricting access to premium content for paying subscribers.
Ideally, you’ll offer some of your content for free to showcase the value of your memberships. You can save your best pieces for paying members, and even provide extra perks like access to members-only forums, rewards points, or special resources.
For example, 40 Aprons provides members with an ad-free experience, members-only recipes, monthly meal plans, and in-depth eBooks:
Memberships are also a good option if you’re an expert in a particular topic or industry, and want to share this knowledge through online courses. For example, you might be able to help people learn a language or start a business.
You’ll want to use WordPress to create your membership site. This open-source software gives you a lot of flexibility, and you can choose from a variety of membership and e-learning plugins. Some of the most popular options include MemberPress and Tutor LMS.
To launch your membership website, you’ll need a domain name and a web hosting provider. HostDash automatically installs WordPress for you, so you’ll have less work to do:
With every plan, HostDash provides a free SSL certificate and malware protection. These features will help you keep your data secure, which is especially important for websites that store sensitive member details like passwords.
3. Sell Digital Products
If you want to earn some extra money, you might be tempted to sell products online. However, physical products come with extra considerations like inventory space and shipping costs.
Therefore, you might consider selling digital products instead. All you need to get started is a WordPress website and an ecommerce plugin like Easy Digital Downloads.
This side hustle idea is suited to a wide range of industries, but it works particularly well for creative people. For example, you can sell photographs, digital art, sheet music, or eBooks:
Personal trainers might sell workout guides or fitness programs. Meanwhile, developers can sell software and plugins in downloadable formats. If you’re a tourist guide, you could offer itineraries and audio guides.
4. Build (and Monetize) a Blog
Although there are plenty of new ways to make money online, blogging remains a viable side hustle. Over 64 percent of U.S. internet users regularly read blogs, which means there’s a sizeable market to target.
Generally, blogging is best suited to those who enjoy writing and can post new content at least once a week. To improve your chances of success, you’ll want to choose a specific niche.
For example, while you might want to blog about health and fitness, it can be a good idea to concentrate on a smaller niche like vegan cooking. Alternatively, you might cater to a more specific audience like students or parents:
There are different types of posts that you could work on. You might write product reviews or roundups, publish how-to tutorials, or share advice or opinion pieces.
However, you’ll need to explore ways to drive traffic to your blog. You can do this by implementing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, collaborating with other bloggers, and guest posting on different websites.
Blogs provide ample opportunities to maximize revenue. You can display ads from companies, place affiliate links within your posts, and publish gated content that requires readers to purchase a membership.
5. Start a Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping is another side hustle idea that you can fit around your full-time job. While you’ll need to set up an online store and price your products, the manufacturing and shipping will be handled by third parties.
For instance, Notebook Therapy sells its own journals and notebooks, but it also dropships other items like watercolor pens, sticky notes, and tote bags:
With a dropshipping business, you won’t have to worry about inventory management and packaging. Plus, it’s a low-risk side hustle idea because items are only shipped once they’ve been purchased, so you’re more likely to make a profit.
Again, you’ll want to set up your own website using a reliable hosting provider like HostDash. Then, all you have to do is promote your site to get visitors. You can even utilize marketplaces like eBay and Amazon to get more customers.
Conclusion
A side hustle provides an easy way to boost your income and share your interests with others. Better yet, it can be done from home, so you can work around your existing schedule and responsibilities.
To recap, here are five of the best side hustle ideas to make money from home:
- Become an affiliate marketer.
- Create a membership site.
- Sell digital products.
- Build (and monetize) a blog.
- Start a dropshipping business.
To get started, you’ll need to create your own WordPress website and find a quality web host. At HostDash, we offer dedicated WordPress plans that come with free domains, free SSL, and unlimited storage. Check out our plans today!
Image credit: Pexels.
