13 of the Best Side Hustles in 2020

Gain financial freedom with these creative money-making side hustles. 

With COVID-19 unemployment stimulus benefits running out and jobless claims plateauing, people are hungry for new ways to make extra money. Whether you're unemployed or working part-time or full-time, it never hurts to explore the wide range of side hustles available out there. You can easily start a side hustle from the comfort of your home, and the best part is that side hustles can look good on your resume.

Even if you're a busy person, you can work to achieve your financial goals with a passive income and these simple side hustles! 

13 of the Best Side Hustles in 2020

Sell on Amazon 

We are big fans of making money on Amazon. When everyone was quarantining this year, it became apparent that E-commerce is a vital and necessary aspect of our lives. So why not capitalize on it and open your e-commerce storefront? Anyone with a computer and initiative can start their own Amazon marketplace.

The key to selling on Amazon is retail arbitrage. Buy items in retail stores at a lower price and then sell them online in your Amazon store. People who do this typically use large online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay to resell their items for a significant profit.

Run Facebook Ads for Small Businesses

Becoming a Facebook Ad Manager might seem like a daunting task, but it's easier than you think. Are you well connected in a small town? Does your best friend run their own small business? Do you frequent mom-and-pop shops that need a little marketing boost? Then you may already have the right leads.

Despite the controversial nature of Facebook, it continues to be one of the largest tools for small businesses to market themselves, and now is the time to capitalize on it and turn it into the best side hustle for you. Some of the key aspects of managing Facebook ads is understanding the market, knowing the right keywords, and being able to produce quality copy and graphics to engage in potential customers.

Become a Virtual Assistant

Becoming a virtual assistant can be a lucrative way to start making money from home. You can set your own hours, run your own business, and be your own boss. Work from the comfort of your own home and combine your skills as a freelance writer, transcriber, or bookkeeping knowledge to attract higher-paying virtual assistant jobs.

The key to becoming a virtual assistant is being good at managing your time. You'll be working either hourly or task-based roles, and your clients will expect the job to be handled in a timely fashion.

Start a Blog

Blogging can be a full-time job, but it can also be an incredibly flexible and fun job. The key is to have a solid strategy and theme for your blog and knowing your market. With a little effort, you can start reaching people and monetizing your blog within a few months.

Don't expect your blog to become a boon overnight, but do expect that you can start attracting ads and affiliate programs for your blog in a short period of time. 

Become a Freelance Writer

As a freelance writer, you can become your own boss and choose who you work for and when you work. Freelance writing is perfect for topic experts, resume writers, copywriters, proofreaders, and almost any written media creators. There are so many different apps that have been created to cater to freelancers, but you can also find listings on the typical job finding sites.

Being a freelance writer requires a lot of initiative. You need to be following every lead, following up with potential clients, and prowling social media for jobs to jump on. It's a highly competitive field, but there's also a place for everyone in the market.

Start a Graphic Design Business

Is graphic design your passion? (Bonus points if you get that reference) Then you may be able to monetize that passion and turn it into a marketable side hustle. Create yourself a website, showcase your portfolio, and start tracking down potential clients. You can search for businesses that are advertising the need for graphic designers or track down small businesses that look like they might need a little graphic design TLC.

If you're not in the market to start up a whole side business, 99design might be the best side hustle site for you.

Teach English Online

English language teachers are in high demand, and you can easily become a teacher from the comfort of your own home. There are dozens of websites that help match you up with kids from all around the world who are looking to learn English. If you're a native English speaker with a Bachelor's Degree, teaching experience, and can pass a background check, what's stopping you from becoming a teacher?

Last year, VIPKid was ranked as one of the Top 10 Places to Work by Glassdoor. New teachers in the program start out with a base pay of $7.50, but that amount increases as the number of classes you teach increase.

Take Surveys

Survey Junkie is one of the most popular survey-taking websites in the market. Survey taking is far from a get-rich-fast scheme, but it is a great way to rake in supplemental income when you have free time.

The key is matching quickly with surveys that are looking for people like you to take them. This is a great way to make some extra money while watching TV, commuting, or over a cup of coffee.

Turn Your Hobby into a Business

There are so many ways to make money off your hobby if you have the patience to build your own mini-empire. Whether you create quirky stickers, knit geeky scarves, woodcraft, or embroidery, Etsy makes it easy for you to turn your hobby into a lucrative business, but did you know you can also easily teach your hobby online?

You can turn your hobby into online workshops and start drawing in a steady income from fellow hobbyists looking to refine their skills or learn something new. Check out Teachable and Udemy and find out which one fits your personality best.

Youtube is also a valuable asset if you're building a hobby-focused brand, and you have the time and skills to create and upload videos regularly. You wouldn't believe how much money YouTubers are making thanks to ad revenue, affiliate programs, and sponsorships.

Resell Domains

If you own a website, never forget to renew your domain! Some people make a living by buying up domains that people have forgotten to renew, and then they essentially ransom them at insanely high price tags (depending on the website, I've seen between $300 and $5000). But fear not, we are not advocating that you become a domain pirate — exactly.

Spend time looking for unpurchased domains that may have long-term returns. Focus on domains that might logically become a brand, socially-minded organization, or popular keywords that may one day entice someone into contacting you to buy it. Do your research, and don't start spending a ton of money on domains. Make strategic choices!

Create a Course Online

If teaching English wasn't the right match for you, but you have the passion and skills to teach other courses online, then this might be the best side hustle for you. Especially with so many people looking for ways to learn new marketable skills or looking for alternative education for their kids online, this has the potential to be a highly lucrative hustle.

Some people report making upwards of $90,000 a year teaching online.

It's pretty easy to find online teaching jobs, but you will need a few key skills to get into the market. First, you will need to be proficient in a desirable field — do research, check out what courses are available online, and see which ones are sold out and have a clear demand. You will also need to have a decent computer, video recording and editing abilities, and the discipline and time to teach at a distance.

We already mentioned Teachable and Udemy, Thinkific and Skillshare are two more user-friendly sources for teaching online. Be aware that there is an overhead cost associated with these sites, so check each out and see which is the best match for you.

Start Dropshipping

Dropshipping can make you upwards of $5000 a month, but it does require a little effort to get into. To get started, you will need to set-up an eCommerce store (we recommend Shopify or WordPress) and then start selling stock straight from the supplier. Instead of shipping the products yourself, yous imply purchase goods from a wholesale manufacturer, and then they package and ship directly to your customers. 

Each platform charges a different amount, so it is essential to do your research before trying to create a dropshipping business as a form of passive income.

Start an OnlyFans For Your Content

In 2020, OnlyFans has proven itself as a great form of income for its users. If you have an online following and want to post exclusive content under a paywall, then this is one of the best side hustles for you. There are a wide variety of creators on the website from fitness coaches to cosplayers, travel bloggers to adult models; and popular influencers to Do-It-Yourselfers, there's a niche for you.

This might be a great secondary resource if you've started building a successful brand for yourself on Youtube, as a blogger, or a successful Twitch streamer. One adult content creator on the website, Monica Huldt, makes over $100,000 a year on the site.

Your “fans” subscribe to your content at a monthly or yearly rate, so you must keep producing quality content to keep them happy with what they're paying for. You can set up Amazon wishlists for them to buy things for you and send you additional tips.

Check out the blog on OnlyFans and learn more about some of the website's most popular fitness gurus and how they've been managing home workout routines during the quarantine.

The Bottom Line

There are so many unique ways to make money online, and at home, the key is finding the best side hustles for your lifestyle and schedule. Hopefully, we have helped you find some new ways to bring in a passive income or a new way to showcase and profit from your passions.

What is your favorite side hustle? Be sure to comment on how you've been making money on the side.