Over the course of 13 years, I went from being a broke musician to becoming a self-made millionaire. One of the key ways I was able to grow my wealth was through side hustles.
My side hustles, which ranged from affiliate marketing to selling goods online to product testing, not only helped me pay off nearly $495,000 in debt, but they earned me enough money to kickstart my multimillion-dollar financial education company.
I've helped hundreds of clients jump on highly lucrative opportunities. Here are my favorite in-demand side hustles — some can earn you up to $3,000 a month — and where to find them:
1. Selling stock photos
If you love photography or have great photos, you can get paid to post them on stock photo platforms. They could be scenic travel pictures or just everyday shots that you already have stored in your phone.
Bloggers and online marketers are always searching for photos for their websites that obey copyright regulations. As a result, sites like Shutterstock and Depositphotos are constantly looking to expand their portfolios of copyright-free images.
Depending on the quantity, quality and uniqueness of your photos, you can make up anywhere from $200 to $500 a month.
2. Transcribing audio
Are you an excellent typist? If so, you can earn at least $20 per hour transcribing audio — and possibly more if you have legal or medical experience.
Sites like TranscribeMe allow you to cash in on that skill, and you can do as much or as little transcription work as you want. Transcriptionists for Speakwrite get paid between $0.005 to $0.006 per post, with top earners making an average of $3,000 a month.
3. Renting out your car
If you don't want to drive others around as a Lyft or Uber driver, you can rent out your car on sites like Turo and Getaround, just like you would your house or apartment on Airbnb.
You become the competition for the car rental company. There are obvious risks, but depending on. your situation, it can become quite lucrative. A client I worked with rented his car out two to three days a week and generated more than $3,500 a month.
4. House-sitting, babysitting or pet-sitting
This area has a lot of competition, but it's possible to post your services, grow a client base and a build a reputation with reviews on the platforms you use or through referrals and word of mouth.
The goal is to maintain a solid list of loyal and reliable clients. Depending on where you live, house-sitters can make up to $100 a day; babysitters up to $20 an hour; and pet-sitters up to $18 an hour.
5. Product testing and research studies
Yes, you can get paid for giving your opinions. There are many market research companies looking for people to test their products, take surveys and provide thoughts on a wide variety of consumer goods.
One mom's product testing side hustle earns her between $3 to $500. I also recommend checking out Survey Junkie; the site offers paid focus groups where participants can earn up to $150 an hour.
6. Mystery shopping
Some people consider this a dream side hustle, which is one reason why it's in such high demand. You're shopping anyway, so why not get paid for it?
Mystery shoppers are hired by market research companies to rate the quality of service in various restaurants and stores. Check out sites like Elite CXS and Market Force to find opportunities.
According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for a mystery shoppingside hustleis $23 per hour.
7. Selling unwanted stuff
If you have a storage locker with lots of old furniture, appliances or collectibles, you can get rid of them on apps like OfferUp and eBay. You can even do it professionally for others and make a commission.
One medical student in Rochester, Michigan made between $5,000 to $6,000 a month selling used clothes on Poshmark.
8. Junk hauling
Just about every city or town seems to have multiple services offering to haul away junk. This is one side hustle that can grow into a sizable business too.
Most people know of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, but that's not the only example. College Hunks Hauling Junk started as a summer project in Washington, D.C. and is now in over 100 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Estimated average earnings are $35 an hour.
9. Resume writing
If you are the person that your friends come to for resume and cover letter help, consider starting a resume writing service. I recommend posting your services on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
This is one of those side hustles where you can start to build a track record and increase your rates over time. One woman's resume writing company, The Writing Guru, started out as a side hustle. She initially charged $150 per hour, and later increased her prices to $500 per client.
10. Creating playlists
Every party needs a feel-good playlist. The money-making process is simple: People will pay for access to well-curated playlists, and musicians who want to get their work out there will pay to get their songs on playlists.
Sites like PlaylistPush are designed to help independent acts get their music heard by Spotify playlists curators and YouTube content creators. Curators can make anywhere from $1 to $6 for each track review.
11. User testing
Sites like UserTesting and UserZoom allow you to download their testing software and record yourself with a webcam during the test.
Clients want to see and hear you interact with their website.If you are thorough in your testing and provide feedback that client finds useful,opportunities may arise to do live tests where you can interact with clients in real-time.
Estimated earnings are $10 per 20 minutes of testing, or up to $60 for longer, live tests.
Jeff Lerner is a self-made millionaire and founder and Chief Vision Officer ofENTRE Institute, an education platform which enrolled over 200,000 users in its first three years.He is also the author of "Unlock Your Potential: The Ultimate Guide for Creating Your Dream Life in the Modern World." Follow Jeff on Twitter @thejefflerner.
Don't miss:
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I quit my $35K job to grow my side hustle — now it brings in $141 million a year
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