AFFILIATE MARKETING
Side hustles you can do with no experience
Side hustles remain a popular way to earn extra cash. Nearly two fifths of Americans, 39% have a side hustle, according to an April 2023 Bankrate survey of 2,505 U.S. adults. On average, they bring in $810 per month from their gigs.
If you yourself are looking for another source of income but aren’t sure where to start or what skills you have to offer, there are likely plenty of hustles you can still dive into immediately. Some may simply call for a computer and an internet connection.
Here are four side hustles you can do with no experience.
House sitting
House sitters “will stay at someone’s house to house sit for them, getting their mail, watering their plants,” cleaning and so on while they’re away, says Latasha Peterson, author of side hustle blog Arts and Budgets. She adds that that might also include taking care of their pets.
House sitters can make as much as $39 per hour, according to Care.com, depending on location and their duties.
Find house sitting gigs on sites like Rover, TrusterHousesitters and Care.com or offer your services in local groups on sites like Facebook and Nextdoor.
Online focus groups
Another easy option to try is focus groups and surveys, in which companies do market research relevant to their products to see what potential customers are interested in. These can be done online or in person, alone or in a group.
Peterson gives the example of a survey she took about sandals through a survey platform called Mindswarms. “They wanted me to do a video survey,” she says. “They basically asked me questions about different shoes and sandals and my opinions of them,” she recorded herself answering the questions and submitted the video of her response. Altogether, the survey took about 20 minutes. Once it was approved, they sent her “$50 via PayPal,” she says.
Try signing up to take surveys and do focus groups on sites like Mindswarms, Find Focus Groups, Respondent or Fieldwork.
Affiliate marketing
If you’re adept at using social media, affiliate marketing could be an option for you, too. You “just record yourself using popular products that you have” for social media and include links to the products where people can buy them, says side hustle expert Julie Berninger.
Consider items that you use on a regular basis and genuinely like then make Instagram, TikTok or YouTube videos explaining why you use them. To monetize, look for affiliate opportunities on the products’ websites, on major seller sites like Amazon and Target or on sites like ShareASale. These will provide links you can put in your video descriptions or in your profiles. When someone clicks on a link and buys the product, you can earn a commission.
Peterson made nearly $100 from ShareASale in July.
Selling printables on Etsy
Finally, Berninger recommends trying to sell printables on Etsy.
Printables are lists, spreadsheets, e-cards and so on that people buy on Etsy then print at home or send electronically. Consider a holiday or big event coming up, look around on sites like Pinterest to see what kinds of digital products people use for it, then come up with some similar product ideas of your own.
Berninger recommends creating your products on a site like Canva.com, which is free, then posting your product on Etsy using relevant keywords in the title, description and tags. You can look for keywords to insert using Chrome plugins like Ubersuggest.
“Selling on Etsy is my favorite because of low cost,” she says. Berninger makes about $1,000 per month in passive income from it.
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