More and more people are making the transition to being independent workers, taking advantage of freelance opportunities, contracting, and temporary employment to generate extra income—sometimes even enough to quit their full-time jobs.
If you have a dream of taking your supplemental income to the next step—whether you want to be an entrepreneur, a freelance artist, a blogger, a filmmaker, or anything else—you should first make sure you have a solid financial game plan laid out before you quit your day job. Make sure you have enough income, plus some savings should that income drop off at any point.
And if you don’t quite know yet how you want your work life to look, here are 5 ideas you could use to make side income your whole income.
1. Online Marketing
Any product or service can be sold from anywhere to anyone, thanks to the digital world, search engines, and social media. Sign yourself or your business up for a social media account and start attracting as many big brands and companies as you can. The more followers you have, the greater your chances of earning marketing dollars will be. Depending on your sponsoring brand, you could earn up to $500-5,000 per post.
2. Investing
The stock market is always a risky option, but it is a great way to maximize your returns. The stock exchange and bank stocks are relatively safe and price-to-book ratios usually low. Major banks can also be a smart choice, considering how important their functioning is to the government. Learn how to expertly move your positions and you could see your profits rise.
3. Taking on Gigs
The gig economy is on the rise. Whether you have a specialized talent that you can farm out on the internet or in the tech sector, or you’re less educated and tech-savvy but still have valuable skills to offer, such as art or craftsmanship or even driving for a ride-share company, your entire income could be made this way.
4. MLM and Franchises
If you have a little capital saved up, owning a franchise can be quite profitable. Pick something you’re passionate about and start researching! You’ll have the added peace of mind knowing the business model worked once already, and many of the kinks have been worked out. There’s also Multi-Level Marketing, which can be a great source of income, comes with business advice and a marketing plan, and doesn’t require you to launch a new business entirely, but comes with fewer guarantees.
5. Online Teaching
If you know another language, or are particularly good at standardized tests, you could be making $20-100 per hour tutoring people in languages or ACT/SAT/IELTS tests remotely via Skype or other platforms. Try online teaching job sites like Learn4Good or Indeed to start. Once you start reaching income goals in this field, you can easily convert into full-time work.
Whatever you do, be sure to pick something that you are passionate about. Also take your schedule into account. Can you only work weekends, or do you have more time to devote to building your business? If you need a chunk of capital to get you started, try to avoid sidling yourself with big loans so you don’t get bogged down with interest payments.
