“Convert your creative interest into a side hustle!“

– Myvirtualtherapyblog

Sometimes you need to find an outlet to help you escape the craziness in your life. Working or studying full-time could be stressful. I find in my spare time, whether it be after work or on the weekend, my mind travels back to work — like it is repressed in the centre of my thought process, constantly playing on my mind. I craved an escape and having spent my childhood journalling, I found comfort in spending my spare time writing. I began to write for fun now I write to share my thoughts. It infused a calming presence in my life and whilst I found it enjoyable, it helped distract me from thinking about my full-time job during my free time.

Whether the reason for starting a side hustle is founded upon creativity, monetary gain, or experiment, below are my top 7 ideas on side hustles you could start in your spare time.

1. Baby-sitting:

Baby-sitting is a great side hustle to get involved in your spare time. As it consists of requiring little resources to possess to get started, it makes it an easy way to generate profit.

If you live in the United Kingdom, one of the best ways to advertise yourself as a babysitter would be through Gumtree. Gumtree allows you to sell products and/or services online to millions of users. It is also an easy way to connect you to clients that are proximate to you (which would mean you would spend less to nothing on travel).

Another reason why baby-sitting is a good side hustle to get started with is the possibility and potential it has to grow immediately through word of mouth and referrals.

This goes in hand with idea number 2.

2. Pet-sitting:

Whilst pet-sitting derives from the same practice as babysitting, the advantage it has is that you are instantly able to identify when there is a demand for this service, which then assists you in using your time effectively to market your service.

There are many opportunities throughout the year for people to take a holiday, for example; January (due to sales), Valentines, Easter, Spring Breaks, Summer, Halloween, Winter, and lastly Christmas Break.

With a large percentage of the population away from home to enjoy a relaxing holiday, naturally the demand for a pet-sitter increases. This equally creates a perfect opportunity for you to earn some extra cash and potentially start a new business!

Therefore, if you are looking to utilise their time in exploring a novel business, this side hustle would be a great start.

– Take care of multiple pets which you can fit around your working schedule (i.e dog walking on the weekend if you work full-time during the week).

– To start this niche, it would be best to do some research online/talk to those in the practice already to help you kick start things into formation.

3. Blogging:

Whether you have a passion for writing personal essays, short stories, or articles, starting a blog would be a fantastic way to translate this passion into side hustle — and eventually into a great business.

Blogging is very simple to get involved with, all you need to get started is an idea and access to the internet- the rest would fall into place, in good time.

Blogging gives you complete liberty to write about what you want. You could share fashion ideas, political and personal opinions, lifestyle and your daily inspiration — however, be mindful of committing defamatory statements. Have a look here

There are limitless platforms for blogging and websites to host your blog on the internet.

Blogging platforms

· WordPress

· Medium

· Google

· Wix

· Blogger.com

Hosting:

· BlueHost

· GatorHost.

Blogging is a great way to share your talent in something you love whilst making money too.

4. Freelance writing:

This in effect goes in hand with point 3. Freelance writing is a great side hustle you can get involved with as it offers a flexible approach in generating extra income. There are 1000s of online magazines and websites that allow you to submit work in which they can publish.

Many of them accept notification/personal essays, non-fiction, or pieces based on a theme they are looking for — in this case, subscribe to their magazine and they are likely to email you when they are looking for written submissions on topics.

Do not be disheartened if a magazine you would love to be published in pays nothing at all. Truthfully this will just help you strengthen your skills and help you create a writing portfolio that could reflect your work. The experience is healthy for your career and will help you land publications with a paying magazine.

Paying magazines could range between £50–500. Gaining voluntary experience by publishing for free could be a great way to get your foot in the door!

5. Tutoring:

If you are a student who is looking for something to do alongside studying, a graduate who is working full-time, or someone with a passion for teaching and is looking to gain experience in the field,

Tutoring is another good option to do as a side-hustle. This is because it is open to anyone who has a passion to teach and you can set it up from the comfort of your own home. The beauty of this is that word of mouth is a great way to gain clients which means it consists of little money to start up.

It would be easy to create a reputation that get you going by beginning to tutor people around you that need help. This could be friends or family. Once you are in the grasp of a method or strategy, it would become quite easy to get it started.

As stated in the website Prospects “Tutors have a wide variety of qualifications, skills, and experience. For example, some have previously taught in schools, colleges, or higher education institutions, while others may come from a broader education or a business background. You can also start tutoring during your undergraduate degree or when studying for a Master’s or PhD.”

Therefore, tutoring is not limited to a certain group of people, although having a degree in the core subject that you wish to tutor in may be useful.

This is convenient as you can tutor from home, from the tutee’s home, or in a library which would mean you wouldn’t have to bear the extra costs of renting a property to carry out your business.

6. Cleaning:

Cleaning is a great side-hustle to get involved with. It is simple with the help of the internet to brush up on your knowledge of cleaning strategies and products.

Like the other side-hustles beforementioned, relying on word of mouth means that you would not have to pay much to obtain clientele. The most effective thing about this is that it allows room for trial, error, and growth. You would be able to test your skills on friends or family’s homes, if you do a great job, they would be able to refer you to people they know.

Find your niche: domestic, industrial, garden, window…as there is a lot of breadth in this area it will give you room to grow your expertise and simultaneously your clientele- allowing you to make more money.

It costs very little to start this off by investing in the niche area you would like to focus on.

If you are trying to show off your skills it would be best to do this with the people you know- asking them if you can clean a room in their home. This would charge you nothing as you would be able to use their products and take before and after pics to showcase your work.

It is free to research tips that will give you a kickstart in starting this side-hustle. It will in effect teach you the basics and more on how to clean.

This side-hustle is perfect to fit this around your working schedule- after work and weekends.

7. Online influencer:

This option is limitless as you would be able to focus on many industries. Whether you are passionate about beauty, skincare, food, music or technology, being able to share your interest, opinion or reviews on a platform would open you to a lot of possibilities

Sharing your transparent and authentic views is beneficial as it creates consumer confidence in you. It will allow you to change a market that you are passionate about and to innovate using your ideas. It will give you a chance to provide insight in what you know and it could open you to the possibility of working with brands you admire. Being authentic will help separate you from others in the field and being transparent and honest will help your followers connect and trust you. All you really must do is be yourself.

Persistence is key and this is a good way to tie together two things you are excited to do- (working and your passion)

Platforms you can do this on:

· YouTube

· Instagram

· Tumblr

· Pinterest

How?

· Gaining brand deals

· Becoming an ambassador

· Collaborating with other influencers/YouTubers

· Through YouTube by earning money off this by adds, traffic, and views.

*Tip: focus on your brand, what is your selling point, and learn how to market it. Remember there is always room to learn!