Side Hustle Opportunities and Ideas

Industry Expert Uncovers Three Ways to Make Quick Cash This Holiday Season

Somewhere in Buffalo, there’s a photographer who runs a thriving weekend wedding business on the side. In Seattle, there’s a high-powered attorney who sells handmade quilts out of her basement. And in Dallas, an engineer spends his off-hours teaching middle school baseball players how to pitch and catch.

Doing what you love and making money at the same time is a dream come true for many. And thanks to continually evolving digital technologies, more and more people are diving in and enjoying their lives with income generated from something incredibly close to their hearts. 

Side hustle opportunities and ideas, especially during the hectic holiday season, are infinite. In my experience as a successful entrepreneur and business owner, I firmly believe that whatever your experience or education, it is always possible to transform a hobby, passion or talent into a profitable, location-flexible business.

Put Your Thinking Cap On

Before leaping in, you must think carefully consider the different ways you can make money doing something you love. Think about your knowledge base, talents, and unique qualities and characteristics. 

Ask yourself questions, such as:

• What am I the “go-to person” for? 
• What do people tend to ask me for advice about? 
• What tasks come easily to me that others often struggle with?

Once you come up with the answers, it’s time to figure out how you can translate these skills into earning money.  

Three Ways to Generate Money Based On Your Passion

• Travel guru. If you enjoy traveling and helping others explore new places, there’s a massive range of moneymaking options at your fingertips. You could create a blog or vlog that offers travel tips based on your experiences. Once your blog readership numbers get high enough, you could then monetize your blog with advertising, affiliate links or one-on-one travel advice calls. You could also create and sell e-book travel guides using websites like Canva, Lulu or Beacon. Or, you could sell trip-planning services, where you plan other people’s vacations. Another outside-the-box idea: Specialize in organizing an annual trip or retreat somewhere for a specific type of audience (i.e., women over 50, artists, families with teenage children, singles, etc.) and publicize and sell these packaged trips online.
• Coaching, teaching or tutoring. There are many ways to coach, teach or tutor, and in a wide range of scenarios. You can offer these services face-to-face, via phone and email, or even over apps like Facetime and Skype. The digital world has opened doors wide open in this area, and you can now mentor, train and educate people all around the world. And if your services are suited for local, in-person delivery, you can offer small-group sessions in neighborhood schools, stores or community spaces.
• Gardening. If you have a green thumb, you can housesit for homeowners and take care of their plants while they’re out of town. Another option: Perform specialist gardening services for neighbors, such as setting up vegetable gardens or helping them create a garden after they’ve moved into a new home. You could also blog about gardening to offer advice to a niche audience, such as people who have a specific soil type or issue, people without much space to have a garden, homeowners who want to grow edible plants and more. Then, you can start to monetize your blog via advertising and affiliate links. You could also teach gardening classes at a local community space, create plant arrangements for parties and weddings or even sell plant or gardening gift boxes.

The Sky’s the Limit

Side hustles are becoming increasingly popular as people today search for ways to enhance their earning potential. More and more people are supplementing their income by developing passion-inspired side hustles for extra money. 

The key is realizing that not all side gigs are created equal – some are easier to manage from the comfort of your own home than others. And others are ideal for earning as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time. 

The bottom line: Don’t feel like you have to stick to a pre-determined template – some of the most innovative side hustles are some of the most successful ones.

About Sandy Sandler

Sandy Sandler is the creator of the Bowdabra® bow making tool, which has been featured on QVC, HSN, and overtime has exceeded $10 million in retail sales. Now, the Bowdabra® can be found in craft retailers all over the country, with sales and customer loyalty continuing to rise. Her products are designed to help the “creatively-challenged” create beautiful crafts, accessories, and home decor. 

Sandy is no stranger to hard work. This talented entrepreneur has had the opportunity to establish several businesses in the craft world over the years. She started her career as a product marketer when she introduced the "Klika" to the U.S. market. She founded Crafters 4 Kids, with the mission of creating creativity by bringing arts and crafts to children and families.