2020 Complete Side Hustle Guide: Increase Your Extra Money

Today, more than 44 million Americans have a side hustle. That’s a lot of hustlin’!

86% of side hustlers make money from their side job; 36% make over $500 a month! That’s quite a lot for a supplemental job!

In fact, one study found the average side hustler earns an extra $12,609 a year, an average of $25/hour! That’s fantastic considering the average American makes less than $24/hour doing their regular full-time job.

Check out these statistics:

Only half of full-time workers enjoy their current full-time job
76% of workers LOVE their side hustle!

That’s impressive, and it’s a perfect reason to try out a side hustle today! After all, what do you have to lose?

Don’t know where to start? This article about working from home will put you on the right track!

What is a Side Hustle?

A side hustle is a gig or side job, usually an additional type of employment that you take to supplement the income from your full-time job. It’s generally a freelance or project; often, it’s something you are passionate about rather than a typical day job that helps make ends meet.

Who are the Side Hustlers?

Millennials (ages 23-38) seem to be the ones taking the most advantage of side gigs. A recent survey done by CNBC found that 31% of Millennials supplemented their income with a side hustle, while only 16% of Generation X is taking advantage of this opportunity. And, a mere 18% of baby boomers are side hustlers.

Why are People Taking on a Side Job?

According to CNBC, 3 out of 10 Americans are working a side hustle to make ends meet. 45% of those working a side hustle is doing so for extra spending money, and 22% are doing so to fund a big purchase.

Other workers are taking on a side hustle to grow their existing business or to replace their current job. Some are hoping to improve or expand upon their full-time job with their side hustle.

The Pros and Cons of a Side Hustle

The most apparent benefit is the extra money. However, for some side hustlers, it’s not about the money. Rather, there are more intrinsic rewards that come with a side hustle.

Here are a few of the pros of having a side hustle:

More opportunities to grow and meet new people.
The flexibility that comes with being your own boss.
The option of doing something you love, something you enjoy doing.
Having more personal growth, taking on a new adventure.
Increase your skillset and abilities.

Some of the cons of having a side hustle include:

Fear of failure – being afraid to take the risk involved in a side hustle.
Failure to have the right skill set to perform the side hustle.
Having a negative mindset, not believing in yourself.
Not having enough motivation to follow through with a side hustle.
Not having enough money to get started on a side hustle.
Not having enough energy or time to devote to a side hustle.

How to Overcome the Obstacles that Come with a Side Hustle

Here are a few websites that may help you overcome your fear of failure:

Having trouble managing your time as a side hustler? Check out these websites for help with time management:

Here are some more great resources that can help you increase your skillset:

How to Make More Money with Your Side Hustle

Spend more time working on your side hustle.

If you love your side hustle, and statistics show that more people love their side hustle than they do their regular 9 to 5 job, consider investing more time doing it and less time doing your full-time job. Take a vacation, call in sick, or use other PTO (paid time off) so that you can work harder on your side hustle.

Before you know it, you will have a sound small business, and you can quit the full-time job that you don’t care as much for. Instead, devote more time to that which you love, making it a bigger part of your life. You may find ways to make more money doing so, and you will be happier since you are doing something you love!

Increase your going rate with the gig you currently have.

You may have started out working for pennies, happy to have a secondary income, but now it’s time to analyze your value. Are you an intermediate or expert freelancer now? Research the going rate for someone with your skills and expertise, and make sure you are getting paid what you are worth.

Consider starting another side hustle.

As you previously read, there are literally hundreds to thousands of side hustle ideas out there. Who says you have to choose one? Do you have to pick only one? No! If you find the time, you can work on more than one side hustle. You could easily find two that complement each other well and not have to start a whole new gig. You can even start making money from home.

For example, if you know multiple languages, you could get paid to translate and write an article for a client. This is something you could charge more for since you are offering multiple services. Go through one of the lists of ideas presented in this article to find multiple things you can do.

Find ways to streamline your work so you can do more.

Discover ways to work smarter, not harder. How can you work faster? Consider learning keyboard shortcuts or take a typing class. Find your specialty and research how other people are streamlining their work. Find ways to work less while doing more. Sounds impossible, right? It’s really not.

Say it takes you 5 hours to research a project; then, it takes you another 4 hours to prepare the presentation; finally, it takes you an hour to actually do the presentation. If you have multiple projects to present, consider doing all the research at once, all the prep at once, and watch how much time you will save! By streamlining, you have saved yourself hours!

Advertise, find, or reach out to get more clients.

Promote yourself. Take out an ad or create your own website, showing what you can do. Post examples of your work so people can see what you can do; they will hopefully want you to do similar work for them, and before you know it, you have increased your client base.

The Top 2020 Side Hustle Ideas

Still, looking for the right side hustle? Well, here’s a massive list of places and ideas to check out, money-making opportunities you can take advantage of.

Ride Share (Lyft/Uber)
Social Media Consulting
Rent a Room/Home (Airbnb)
Tutoring
Party Planning
Create a Smartphone Application
Resume Writing/Editing (LinkedIn)
Affiliate Marketing
Become a Tour Guide (TourByLocals)
Local Tasks (TaskRabbit)
Sell Homemade Items (Etsy)
Mystery Shopping
Photography (Shutter Shock/iStock Photos)
Sell Digital Designs (Café Press)
Personal Shopper (ThumbTack)
Babysitting/House Sitting (Care)
Focus Groups
Dog Walking/Pet Grooming (Rover)
Personal Trainer (Fitness Trainer)
Translations (People Per Hour)
Clean Houses / Home Organizer / Home Decorator
Freelance Writing (Freelancer/Upwork)
Become a Virtual Assistant
Blogging
Write eBooks
Create Videos (YouTube)
Record Audiobooks
Online Teaching (Udemy/Teachable)
Delivery Driving (Postmates)
Freelance Services (Fiverr)
Micro-jobs (Mechanical Turk)
Answer Questions (Just Answer/Opinion Outpost/Pinecone Research)
Participate in Surveys (Swagbucks)
Surf the Internet/Website Testing (InboxDollars)
Virtual Call Center Agent
Review Music/Videos
Social Media Expert
Legal Consultant
Tax Preparer

Want some more ideas to get started with a side hustle? Check out these websites that are PACKED with side hustle ideas:

How to Start Your Own Successful Side Hustle

Brainstorm & Identify the best Side Hustle for You

Skills, Expertise, Background – What niche excites you?

Identify your Goals & Set Milestones for Yourself

What do you hope to accomplish? – Create Smart Goals

Determine if You are Willing to Put in the Effort & Invest

How much time, effort & resources do you have, and are you willing to invest?

Audience Analysis & Solve a Problem

Figure out who the target audience is and how you can meet their needs.

Stand Out From the Crowd

What can you do better or faster than the competition?

Deliver & Build Your Customer Base – Maintain Work/Life Balance

Deliver results to your customers. Build a strong customer base.

Profit & Grow

Start to generate a profit and continue to grow the business. Make sure you have a strong customer base and profit before you quit your full-time job. Have a contingency plan if the unexpected happens.

Top Work from Home Tips

- Set up a productive work environment.
- Find apps that will help you be more productive, like Toggl and Trello.
- Schedule breaks. Avoid burnout. Set a timer if you need to.
- Develop new skills by attending workshops or online classes.

Conclusion

Still, need more work-from-home information? Check out this article. It’s packed with great information such as how to set up your home office, work-from-home problems and solutions, ways to prepare yourself to return to the workforce (if you have been working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic), ways to prepare for work when unemployed, and a gigantic list of legitimate companies that offer remote work.

A side hustle should be something you love to do or something you can learn to love. It may start out rocky, but give it time, and you may eventually quit your full-time job to devote yourself entirely to your side hustle! Have fun with it!