The Best Side Hustles to Replace Your Income — Kristiina Craven | Virtual Assistant Mentor and Life Coach (2024)

Stuck in a job you hate? Dreaming of becoming a digital nomad? Or are you simply looking to bring in another income stream to pay for vacations and/or your mortgage? Start a side hustle now and start making serious cash. You can replace your income this year.

Did you know that the skills you are using at your day job can be translated into a side hustle or even a full time remote/work from home job? The online business world is booming and those businesses need help running their business. And not simply admin support—they need marketing and business development experts, financial planners, bookkeepers, project managers, community managers, social media managers, and more.

Whatever you’re getting paid to do right now in your office/corporate job, you can get paid to do from home OR you can create a side hustle doing something completely different (like from your hobby)! I’m covering the best side hustles to build another income stream or replace your income below.

The 13 Best Side Hustles to Start Right Now

1. Freelancer.

   You have skills that people will pay you for right now: copywriting, graphic design, social media management, bookkeeping, project management, etc. Online businesses are no different than brick and mortar businesses—they need to market and run their business. And you can help them.

2. Etsy Shop.

   Selling homemade goods or digital products can be lucrative and fun. I’ve had multiple Etsy shops in the past and loved being my own shop owner. Plus: you learn a lot about online business which gives you more marketable experience.

3. Creative Market.

   Are you a graphic design pro or photographer? Creative Market is an easy platform where you can sell your products to other creatives and business owners easily and make a commision. Bonus: you don’t have to do the marketing. You create and upload and they do the marketing and product delivery. I’ve been selling templates and stock photography there for years.

4. Virtual Assistant.

   Similar to freelancing, you can create a solid side hustle or even replace your salary from your day job by becoming a virtual assistant. You decide your offer, hours, and pay rate. You decide who you work with. I make more now as a virtual assistant than I did as a Business Development Director in corporate. I have flexibility, great pay, and rewarding work. I love my clients and the way I get to support their clients. (Read more about how I turned my side hustle into my full-time career here.)

5. Direct Sales.

   The direct to consumer industry isn’t going anywhere soon. You can quickly build a solid side hustle, pay your mortgage, or replace your income with very little start-up costs. The direct sales model (AKA: Network Marketing) is perfect if you already are known for sharing about things you love with friends, family, or your online community.

6. Blogging.

   Have a hobby you love and could talk about for hours? Love doing research and writing? Blogging is a long-term strategy for either: building an email list OR making money from ads and affiliate marketing.

7. Affiliate Marketing.

   Affiliate income is where you share about a product and if someone purchases through your link you earn a commission. I’ve had success with being an Amazon affiliate, as well as an affiliate for the virtual assistant course I took back in 2018. To see an example of how to promote your affiliate link: I write all about my experience with that course here. I’ve seen other people have incredible success choosing a product (i.e. blenders) and write review posts only on blenders with affiliate links to Amazon who make multiple 6-figures. Affiliate links are great because you make money at no additional cost to the person making the purchase.

8. Dog Sitting/Pet Sitting.

   If you’ve been on your local Nextdoor app recently, you’d know that dog sitters are in-demand. People don’t want to kennel their dogs for a variety of reasons. They need someone they can trust to come and stay at their house while they travel and they’re willing to pay for it. Depending on how many dogs/pets you’ll be responsible for and where you live, you can make $200-$1000/week.

9. Real Estate/House Flipping/AirBNB/VRBO.

   Despite the real estate market uncertainty right now, it’s still a solid long-term business/wealth strategy. You can also help manage someone else’s properties if you don’t have the cash flow to invest right now. Many people like the financial reward of real estate investment, but don’t love the day-to-day management of it all (or they simply don’t have the time). Outsourcing to someone who can manage the details is worth it to them.

10. Book Reselling.

    Love thrift shopping or perusing used book stores? You can find textbooks for pennies on the dollar and resell them on Amazon. They handle the warehousing and fulfillment—all you have to do is get the books to them.

11. Ebook Writing.

    Similar to blogging, you can use an ebook to either help you grow your email list/business or simply make money from the book sales. If you have a hobby you love write about it! Teach a process or a skill. Or: ghost write for other writers and/or business owners. Ebooks/self-publishing is one of the fastest and simplest ways to get your message and your name out there.

12. Coaching.

    Coaching is one of the fastest growing industries right now. Everyone can use a coach! There are coaches for business, life, career, finances/wealth, fitness, organizing...you name it! Do you have a passion for helping people? Do you have a skill that you can coach other people on how to market? Have you gone through an epic transformation (weight loss, divorce, addiction/recovery) and want to show someone else how to do it, too? You could start a coaching business. You work on your schedule and create our own rates.

13. Social Media Influencer.

    Just how do social media influencers make their money? Affiliate links, sponsorships, ads, courses, and direct payment from social media platforms. You don’t need a large audience to make money as an influencer. Small audiences of engaged followers who trust you can yield large returns. The term ‘micro-influencer’ was coined for these smaller accounts.

    See Also

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This list only scratches the surface of side hustles you can create to replace your income, pay your mortgage, or cover the bills. However, after trying many on this list, these side hustles are the best bang for your buck and for your time. And almost all of them can replace your income allowing you the freedom to create the life of your dreams.

The best part is that these side hustles require low financial and time investment to get going. Some will take a longer time to see the return (I’m looking at you: Blogging.), but the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see that additional stream of income start growing.