Have you considered supplementing your regular income with a side hustle? You’re not alone. Last year, 59 million U.S. residents took on some kind of freelance work, many serving in the gig economy. These money-motivated hopefuls have tried nearly every gig opportunity under the sun – whether driving for Uber, delivering food for Seamless, running errands, dog walking, freelance remote work and other side hustles. These brave people put in the time and now you don’t have to, you can get right to flipping without the hassle of playing Russian Roulette with side gig opportunities.
Some of the best parts of these types of jobs are in the flexibility they offer. The gigs are temporary, freelance, and sometimes by contract. This means that if you occasionally have free time, you can pick up work only during those periods.
This still-emerging economy is allowing millennials opportunities they may not have had otherwise. They are generating side income, building wealth, and even becoming business owners using the power of gig work.
A step beyond taking on part-time gig economy work is making that gig your main source of income. Many people are choosing to leave their more-stable jobs to work solely as an independent contractor. While this option presents risks, the rewards are often seen as worth it. These individuals have independence and can live a more fulfilling life than that of their overworked corporate counterparts.
While joining the gig economy may seem great to you, you’ll find the most success if you don’t jump in blind. There are many online resources that will teach you how to find your niche and expand on it, creating a main income source.
Photo and Video Editing
Through sites like Fiverr and Upwork, photo and video editors are in high demand. Whether it’s subcontracting for wedding photographers, editing product photos to make them look perfect, helping out overworked journalists, or creating videos for a family’s special event, it’s a great gig you can do in your spare time at your home computer.
To learn the tricks of the trade, try PiXimperfect, a free, all-in-one resource for anyone looking to learn Photoshop and all the tips and tricks of photo editing.
Some other great resources you can find on YouTube are Film Booth and Jack Cole. Film Booth can teach you everything you need to know about being successful on the YouTube platform and Cole is one of the best online teachers for video editing. His YouTube channel lets you learn everything about Premiere Pro and much more.
His video tutorials make things easy, and never speak in overcomplicated ways — making him a perfect teacher for beginners. Viewers can learn everything from the basics of Adobe Premiere Pro, like how to use tools and shortcuts, to more advanced features, such as creating custom transitions and green screens.
Social Media Marketing
Another hot and in-demand gig is social media marketing. It’s perfect for people that are always online and hip to the internet’s trends and the latest developments.
LOCALiQ is a free digital resource that shows you how to use social media to get the right kind of reach and how to run campaigns that result in sustained business growth — not just likes and follows.
Short-Term Rentals
When it comes to renting out your space to travelers, businesspeople, and vacationers, Airbnb is still your best bet, though alternatives like Vrbo are becoming more popular every day.
Sean Rakidzich, the world’s top-rated short term rental YouTuber and influencer and Airbnb superhost, has made more than $10 million on the platform and went on to found Airbnb Automated to teach others how to automate their Airbnb business and free up more of their time.
Rakidzich and Airbnb Automated are widely considered the top educators in short-term rentals. His YouTube videos are a great place to start learning about how you can get involved in short-term rentals too.
The company has been featured in Financial Insider and The Financial Times, which noted that the rental expert rents over 150 arbitrage properties and teaches others his secrets.
A successful client of Rakidzich, Mike Stone, a former lawyer, quit his job at a law firm because he had grown tired of the long hours and meeting client demand. After COVID-19 hit, he was able to become a highly profitable short-term rental business owner.
“I built this business from the ground up during and immediately after the pandemic,” he said. “Sean and Cracking Superhost are the reasons I was able to find success on Airbnb quickly and avoid brutal mistakes up front. Very grateful to have met Sean.”
Copywriting
If you’ve got a way with words, copywriting for companies and individuals could be the gig for you. Udemy’s Copywriting Quick Start is an online course for beginners designed to boost your copywriting skills and help you become a better writer with the internet’s best free writing tools and hacks.
Another great resource designed to make copywriting easier is chat GBT. Chat GBT is A.I. technology that will answer any questions you ask it or help you complete certain tasks, like rewriting articles or helping you make something sound more professional.
We asked Rakidzich about his thoughts on Chat GPT. He said, “It’s an amazing tool. You could call it a more sophisticated google. If you know how to ask the right questions, you can get immense value from the A.I. I just used it to help build a framework for one of my YouTube videos. It allowed me to do the creative heavy lifting for a video without having to get into a creative mindset.”
With these resources relating to the growing gig economy, you’re sure to find your sweet spot for money-making in no time.
Ghost Kitchens
One of the newer gigs is a ghost kitchen. A ghost kitchen is essentially a physical space where food is made, but there are no hosts to seat you, no waiters to serve you, or even a space for you at all. These operations create their menu items for off-premises enjoyment only.
These gigs became increasingly popular during the pandemic, when many restaurants had to close their doors to customers. Companies, like Grubhub and Doordash, would be great resources to use to get your food out to the public. An additional perk is that your listing would look just like that of a restaurant, allowing anyone with a hold up to reserve their judgment.
What does 2023 have in store for you? Are you ready to jump into the gig economy and take back your finances? We aren’t betting journalists, but if we had to pick, Rakidzich has proven to be an amazing business coach and not just in the area of Airbnb and short-term rentals. Start there and see where the year takes you!
