Side Hustles

High Paying Side Hustles – 7 Gigs That Can Earn You $1,000+ Per Month

Lately, it seems like everybody’s got a side hustle. There are side hustles for nurses, side hustles for teachers, side hustles for college, online side hustles, and the list goes on and on. But not all of them are the same, and they definitely don’t all pay the same. While some people might be settling for earning pennies by taking online surveys, others are raking in some serious dough by focusing their time and energy on more lucrative opportunities.

If you’re feeling ambitious and would like to be one of those people, then here are seven high paying side hustles you should get to know that will have you earning as much as $1,000 or more per month.

high paying side hustles

1- Become A Landlord

Being a landlord is a classic side hustle.  People have been taking advantage of rental properties for as long as tenants have needed a place to stay.

While a typical single-family rental property might only earn you $400 or so of profit per month, it’s a business model that can easily be scaled by simply adding more properties (think like ten houses earning $400 x 10 = $4,000 per month).  

How You Can Get Started

Begin doing some research in your area.  Find out what properties are available and how much rent is typically being charged.  Create a business model and calculate your ROI (return on investment) to determine if there are any good opportunities in your area.

If they are, acquire the properties and start getting ready to take on tenants.  Make the process as hands-off as possible by doing things like hiring a property management company to take care of the day-to-day activities for you.  This is why people like real estate investor Zach Evanish on the Side Hustle Nation podcast claim that “single-family homes can still be an almost-passive investment”.  

2- Airbnb Host

You don’t always have to own extra properties to collect rent, that’s where Airbnb can come in.  Lots of people are finding that they can get paid using their primary home (or apartment) by becoming an Airbnb host.

According to the site Travel and Leisure, the median Airbnb host earns a median of $500 per month.  However, much like the landlord business model, if you can acquire multiple properties and make them available full time on Airbnb, then this could be a very profitable investment resulting in as much as $10,000 per month! 

How You Can Get Started

Think about what kinds of space you’d like to offer up as an Airbnb host.  Will it be a room from your primary house or a property that you acquire specifically for the business?

While single-family homes are okay, you might also want to go bigger by considering buildings with multiple units (like an apartment).  Popular areas like big cities, college towns, or vacation destinations could all be potential hot spots.

Calculate your ROI and determine if its viable financially to move forward.  If so, acquire the properties, create your listings, and start working on earning superb feedback ratings.

3- Amazon FBA Seller

Have you ever wondered where Amazon gets the majority of the things they sell online?  As it turns out, it comes from the inventory of regular people just like you who are taking advantage of a relatively new program called FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).  This is where you buy new products and then give them to Amazon to store, pack, and sell.  

Becoming an FBA has become something of a full-time gig for many side hustlers, and for good reason!  According to the Amazon seller service Jungle Scout, about half (50.7%) of Amazon sellers make from $1,000-$25,000/month, which would mean annual sales from $12,000-$300,000. 

best paying side hustles

How You Can Get Started

Create a seller account with Amazon and make sure you understand the requirements and fees of participating in FBA.  While you’re doing that, begin thinking about what kinds of products you’d like to sell and where you’ll look to find them.  

The secret to doing well with FBA is finding the products that people want and then buying them for as cheap as possible.  Start by keeping an eye on clearance or liquidation sales in your area.  For example, one time I noticed someone buying hundreds of pairs of shoes on clearance at an Adidas outlet store.  I asked and they said it was totally for FBA.

4- eBay Flipping

Selling new items on Amazon isn’t the only way to make a profit.  Lots of people have also discovered they can flip items both new and used by using good-ole eBay.

eBay is great because it’s a system that nearly everyone understands.  You can bid for items that are listed for auction, or you can set a “Buy It Now” price and sell it directly.  Especially for used items, this has been a very favorable way for people to take things they find at pawn shops and garage sales and sell them at a premium.

The site Side Hustle Nation had an interesting podcast of a couple that buying and flipping guitars with eBay.  They were making up to $3,000 per month in the process!  Not too shabby!

How You Can Get Started

Start frequenting places where you could buy things for cheap that would be valuable to other people.  These could be new or even used items.  It helps to stay within a niche that you are familiar with because you might recognize the items as having more selling potential or possibly even being collectible.

If you don’t have one already, create an account with eBay and start listing your products.  Remember to create honest, descriptive listings that adequately describe the items you have for sale.  Also, take lots of bright colorful photos showing the product from all angles so that the buyer knows exactly what they’ll receive.

5- Self Publish eBooks

best side hustles

The world of publishing has been turned upside down over the past two decades by the development of self-publishing.  Pioneers such as Amazon have made it possible for unknown authors to publish books of their own for little to no money at all.

For some writers, their creations have turned into a runaway success.  For example, Forbes reported one story of an author who’s earned as much $450,000 off of his crime-thriller fiction series.  You can also find even more earnings examples from this article on the self-publishing school.

How You Can Get Started

Think about what kind of book you’d like to write about.  It could be fiction, non-fiction, a series, etc.  At the same time, take a look around on Amazon and see what types of books are available and how well they are selling.

If you decide to go forward with your idea, just open your laptop and start writing!  Don’t worry about formatting or creating a fancy front cover; those tasks can be outsourced for a few bucks.  

Instead, spend the bulk of your time planning how you can effectively market your book once it’s complete.  Think about such acts as engaging social media, guest posting on blogs, and possibly even advertising on Amazon to gain as much visibility as possible. Self-publishing on Amazon is totally do-able.

6- Freelance Writing 

If you’d rather not create your own books but still have a talent for writing, then there’s definitely a market for your services.  Thousands of companies, websites, and even individuals need writers to produce content for them.  Some writers such as Holly Johnson have made a full-time job of this earning as much as $200,000 a year.

How You Can Get Started

The first step of being a freelance writer is to decide what kind of content you’d like to produce for people.  It could be sales promos, product literature, articles, websites, ebooks, cover letters and resumes, and so much more.  Go to a job posting service like FlexJobs and Upwork to find your first gig.

7- Creating Online Courses

With more and more people becoming comfortable learning new skills online, the market for creating online courses has been increasing year over year.  That’s great news for the people who know how to create them.

According to the online course site Podia, the average sales price of an online course is $182.59.  That means that if you had just six students sign-up per month, you’d make over $1,000 in passive income!

How You Can Get Started

Do some market research and determine what kind of an e-course you’d like to create.  Start making your outline of the lessons you’d teach while keeping in mind what problems you’d be solving for your students.

Decide what kind of platform you’d like to sell your online course on (Udemy, Skillshare, Teachable, Thinkific, etc).  Build your e-courses and start marketing them using social media, guest blogging, or even through affiliate relationships.

DJ Whiteside

DJ Whiteside is a financial enthusiast who believes in helping other people to achieve financial independence. He’s constantly looking for practical ways to optimize savings, reduce spending, and create a lifetime of passive income. DJ holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, which allows him to take an analytical approach to financial topics. He has been a financial writer since 2011 and has self-published 5 personal finance eBooks relating to saving, retirement, and financial independence.

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