With technology today there are literally thousands of ways to make side income. But what actually has worked for people?
To be clear, it’s not always necessary to have experienced something to write about it. There are likely many bloggers and journalists covering the NFL who never played football, for example. With that being said, it can be helpful to hear the perspective of someone who has actually tried something.
That’s what I hope to accomplish today when I talk about side income. We have a ton of content on the site about side hustle ideas, and I think they are all valuable, but I want to share what I have personally done to make side income.
Ways I’ve Made Side Income
Over seven years ago I started Young Adult Money and since then have published anywhere from 2-5 posts a week, every week. I’ve also had a considerable amount of help from writers, designers, and others who have contributed to the success of the site.
Considering what a big part of my life the site has been, it should be no surprise that quite a few of the ways I’ve made side income have been directly attributed to starting a blog. If I hadn’t started the site years ago, my life – and how I’ve made side income – would look a lot different.
So I’ll start by mentioning affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is the process of getting paid for referring someone to a product or service. For example, if you apply for a credit card after clicking my referral link I will get a payout. In the same way, if you sign up for a high-yield bank account with CIT Bank after clicking my referral link I will get a payout.
Affiliate marketing is an income source for many bloggers, but it isn’t the only way to make money by blogging. As I said, I’ve been able to make side income a variety of ways through my blog. Let’s talk about brand campaigns and sponsored content next.
Brand Campaigns and Sponsored Content
While many bloggers make money through affiliate marketing, another way many bloggers make money is through brand campaigns and sponsored content. This has been a big source of income for me, and I’ve been fortunate to partner with brands such as TD Bank, Citizens Bank, PayPal, and more.
How do I get these deals? While some bloggers go out and proactively network and try to land deals, most bloggers, myself included, get many of these deals simply through their website. Even just having an active website that gets updated with content will open you up to these opportunities.
Writing Books
I’ve been fortunate to publish two books, both of which came out of my blog. My most recent book is Student Loan Solution: 5 Steps to Take Control of Your Student Loans and Financial Life. This book came out in March and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Having it be my second book was a huge benefit as I learned a lot from writing the first one.
Will I write a third book? While it’s always good to look to the future, I am currently very focused on getting Student Loan Solution into as many hands as I can. I’ve also given some student loan workshops, and I would love to do more of them.
Do you want to be a published author? My advice has been consistent for years: start a blog. Not only do you get a ton of experience writing, but it will help you flesh out what you want your first book to be focused on. The blog also can make you an authority on a topic, and ff you have even a small following you have a chance of getting picked up by a publisher (or you can always self-publish).
Freelance Writing
While I have much more experience hiring freelance writers for Young Adult Money, I also have been a freelance writer myself. I contributed a piece to The Washington Post that made it into print (which is one of the coolest moments for a blogger imo), and my biggest client in the past was PBS. I’ve contributed on a few other websites but have never aggressively pursued freelance writing. I think freelance writing can be a great side income or even full-time income. I know many bloggers who have built up their client list and moved into freelance writing as their full-time job.
Content Marketing Consulting
I haven’t done a ton of content marketing consulting, but I did get a pretty awesome gig with Wells Fargo a few years ago. They were rolling out a new area of their website that was focused on millennials, and I enjoyed giving them feedback on both the content and presentation.
Like freelance writing, I wasn’t able to pursue this side income because of time limitations. As anyone else who has a side hustle can attest to, time is limited! You really have to pick and choose what you want to focus on.
Speaking
Over the past few years I’ve started to do more public speaking. This has primarily been workshops and webinars, though I have mixed up the content from time-to-time. One of my favorite speeches I gave was at blogging conference where I spoke about leveraging freelancers to grow and improve your blog.
Spreadsheet Consulting
Spreadsheet consulting was one of my favorite ways I’ve made side income. This consisted of helping a small business (staff of less than twenty) create spreadsheets to track time, projects, ROI, and more. Anyone who knows me is well aware I am a HUGE spreadsheet nerd, so working on this consulting side gig was a lot of fun.
In my day job in corporate finance I spend a ton of time in spreadsheets, so it was a natural skill to try to make a side income from. One tip I give people who are trying to find a side income stream is to think about the skills you already have. How can you leverage that skill to charge others for a service? Don’t be afraid to think of a skill you’d like to improve as well. If you have a solid base knowledge and are able to charge others while you continue to learn and refine that skill, that’s a huge win.
Renting a Part of Our House
We were drawn to the house that we ultimately bought because it had a rental unit built into the basement. The rental unit is essentially a studio apartment with their own kitchen, bathroom, and separate entrance. As a young couple with a lot of student loan debt, we were drawn to the idea of having rental income help cover the cost of our mortgage.
Fast forward seven years and the unit has been rented almost the entire time, except for when we were making renovations in between renters. We’ve learned a lot and are still loving having the rental income stream.
Entering Giveaways (And Selling What I Won)
One of the most interesting ways I’ve made side income is entering giveaways. For about a year or so my wife and I entered a ton of giveaways. There are typically hundreds going on every week across the internet, especially on blogs. We won probably 100 giveaways. We won everything from a $300 kitchen faucet to a trip to Hawaii (which was obviously my favorite win).
Cash we would keep, gift cards we would use or resell, and most of the products we won we would sell. We’d win all sorts of random things from a kids bookshelf to tickets to the MLB All Star Game (it was here in Minneapolis but decided to take the cash).
This side income stream comes with risk as you could enter tons of giveaways for months and months and never win any. You could also enter 50 and win a handful of them. It’s an easy thing to do from the couch while watching TV, but I wouldn’t bank on making any sort of consistent side income by doing this.
“Save Money” Side Hustles
When we think about side hustles they typically have to do with putting money in the bank. Saving money that you otherwise would have spent, though, can be just as valuable as making money. For example, when someone spends time and energy on home projects and renovations, they are working a side hustle because that’s money they otherwise would have had to spend.
I don’t think these “save money” side hustles should be overlooked. Here’s a few ways I’ve done it.
Using Credit Card Rewards for Free Travel
If you haven’t caught on yet, my wife and I have done countless things to try to make more and save more money, mainly because of the student loan debt we graduated with. We wanted to travel throughout our 20s, but we also didn’t want to be irresponsible with our money.
Cue travel rewards credit cards.
I didn’t keep track of every dollar we saved by using credit card rewards, but over the past five years it could easily be $10,000+. We’ve been fortunate to travel to places like Aruba and St. Martin, as well as all over the United States for free or at least much less than we would have paid in cash.
If you are new to using credit card rewards, read this intro to credit card rewards as well as how credit card rewards can help you achieve your travel goals.
DIY Home Projects
I learned the value of sweat equity quickly after I paid $17k for a bathroom renovation. The renovation was incredible and it would not have turned out that good if I went the DIY route, but it could have been thousands of dollars saved.
My wife and I bought a fixer upper about seven years ago (here’s a recent post about lessons I learned from it). Literally everything with this house needed (and some of it, still needs) to be changed. It had hardly been changed since it was built in the 1970s, other than some bigger fixes like a new roof, new HVAC, etc. When we work on the house we think of it as a side hustle, because the things we are doing ourselves are things that we otherwise would be paying someone else to do.
While a fixer-upper isn’t for everyone, whenever you DIY a home project or renovation you should think of it as a side hustle. You aren’t directly putting dollars in your bank account, but you are potentially building equity that can be extracted later on when you sell.
Cash Back Rewards
Every time I shop online I make sure I’m getting cash back on my purchase. I share the simple process here but you can also just download the best cash back apps and use them before you finalize your purchase.
Sometimes this only results in a dollar of cash back, or even less. But other times you can get more (I got $150 cash back on a hotels.com purchase once). Regardless, if you are already making a purchase you might as well get something back. There’s so many apps nowadays that there are literally millions and millions of people who are leaving money on the table.
Couponing and Meal Planning
When we first got married and were looking for opportunities to cut our spending, my wife and I got pretty serious about couponing. The problem with coupons is that sometimes it can cause you to purchase things you otherwise wouldn’t purchase. To avoid that we make a meal plan for the next week or two, then make a grocery list from that, and finally we look for coupons that match our list.
You won’t get rich couponing or meal planning, but it can help you spend less money on groceries. If you don’t want to coupon I would at least encourage you to think through your meals for the next week. It’s a lot easier to not go out to eat when you already have a meal in mind versus when you have to think of it on the spot.
The Best Way to Make Side Income
I recently reflected back on 7 years of blogging and on the question of whether starting a blog is a good idea. I’m obviously a bit tainted by my experiences, but it’s tough to deny the upside that comes with starting a blog. I think the ideal setup is to have an online presence on social media and pair that with an active blog.
Is it for everyone? No. As I shared in tips for blogging while working full-time, blogging can be time-consuming. You need to be disciplined and take advantage of hacks to keep you organized and make the best use of your time. If you are driven, and you have capacity in your life to add a side hustle, it can be a great way to improve your financial life.
Ultimately I think that blogging is one of the best ways to pursue side income, but it’s not the only one, nor will it necessarily fit your unique lifestyle, skills, or schedule. I wrote a monster post a while back of 50+ online and at-home side hustle ideas, as well as wrote an entire book, Hustle Away Debt, that walks you through a process of finding the best side hustle for you.
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