Do you hear about people turning their skills into side hustles and think to yourself, I wish I could do that! I don’t have any awesome skills, though.
I know I have. I kept hearing about all the different ways people would earn side income and came up empty-handed for myself.
I didn’t have any “special” marketable skills that I thought other people would pay for.
Well, it turns out I was wrong.
So if you’re in the same situation as I was and wondering what the heck you can do to earn more, here are 6 foundational skills that can be turned into a side hustle.
1) Any Sort of Support Skills
If you’ve been around online for a while, you’ve probably heard of virtual assistants (VAs). I want to touch on this first because I think there are a few misconceptions about it, and because it’s an option so many people can take advantage of.
Some people have the idea that VAs are simply online secretaries for busy business owners. Others think they’re customer support for small-scale companies. Still, others think VAs have specializations, such as blog management, newsletter management, social media management, and more.
If you believe any of the above, you’d be correct. VAs wear a number of different hats on any given day, and depending on who you work for, you’ll be given a lot of opportunities to learn new things.
With so many people building online businesses, it’s easier than ever to break into a support role within a company, even if you’re just working with one other person. All you need is “DIY” experience.
Here’s an example: I ran my own blog for two years before becoming a freelance writer and VA. Prospective clients needed help with all aspects of their blog so they could simply focus on writing. I was “skilled” enough in this from running my own blog that they hired me to help them.
My previous experience as an executive assistant also helped me because I was used to being in a support role. I was responsible for sending reminders to my old bosses. That doesn’t take a special skill, but it does require good organization and communication skills.
So if you’ve been in a support role before, or if you’re familiar enough with an industry (like blogging) to know exactly what someone needs help with, you can easily turn your skills into a VA gig! People are willing to outsource all sorts of things: writing, research, marketing, email, social media, newsletters, advertising, SEO, and the list goes on.
2) Artistic Skills
All it takes is one look at Etsy and you’ll see people earning money from all sorts of different crafts! There’s cross-stitching, knitting, candle-making, photography, jewelry, drawings/sketches, coloring pages, scrapbooking, woodworking, ceramics – the list is endless.
I have a friend who loves graphic design and created a small t-shirt line to sell to people. I know someone else who started making video game themed jewelry that huge fan bases love.
If you have any sort of artistic skills, there are plenty of ways you can earn side income from it. The important thing is figuring out a niche and becoming efficient at it. As another example, I’m sure people would pay money for drawings or paintings of their pets!
You can also include music in here. I knew a few people in college who moonlighted as DJs at weddings and other events. If you play an instrument, you could try joining or forming a band or a cover band that plays at various events and local venues.
Lastly, perhaps you’re amazing in the kitchen. I’ve seen some friends and relatives bake and cook things on a small scale and sell their goods. Note that this practice is typically regulated, so I wouldn’t recommend turning this into an actual business unless you want to get a license and permit for it, but it could be a great holiday side hustle if you’d be baking anyway.
3) Tech/Specialized Skills
All right, if you want to get technical, you can also turn “real” skills into side hustles as well.
Things like building PCs, creating websites, cleaning up hard drives, putting virus protection on computers, troubleshooting, and web development are good examples. You can also edit videos and audio, create programs and apps, or get involved in game development or modding.
While you might think some of these things sound basic, they might be – to you – but to others, it’s like a foreign language. For example, there are many technophobes out there who wouldn’t dream of touching the inner-workings of their computers. There are also a number of people starting a podcast who would rather just hit “record” and not have to worry about the setup or editing.
Or maybe you’re like DC and extremely skilled in one program (such as Excel) and can create tools and systems in that program that can be marketed and sold to a subset of people.
4) Construction Skills
Growing up, one of my uncles always did odd jobs for people. I didn’t realize this was a form of side hustling until much later, but if you’re handy in any way, you can certainly make money from it.
Here are a few ideas for those of you comfortable with home maintenance and repairs: running electric, plumbing, sheet rocking, spackling, painting, deconstruction, hanging lights, ripping up floors and laying down carpet, hardwood, or tile, roofing, siding, building a deck, framing windows, insulating, and hanging cabinets.
Or you can take the route of making furniture, or buying old furniture from garage sales, fixing it up, and selling it.
This isn’t really construction per se, but you could offer landscaping services if you like to work on the outside of homes. Shoveling, planting, weeding, leaf blowing, power washing – it’s all fair game if you have the tools and the time.
5) Tutoring Skills
Are you an expert in a certain subject area? It doesn’t even need to be an actual subject you study in school; maybe you’re really good at playing a sport, and would like to coach students one-on-one. Or maybe you’re good enough to get a job at a rec center teaching it.
You can also tutor students in music. Back when I was in middle school, I actually asked one of my friends (who was much more talented) to help me out with improving. Do you play the piano, guitar, or sing really well? Any of those is a viable option.
If you are a teacher and have room in your schedule, I definitely recommend trying to fit tutoring in. Depending on where you live, you might be able to make quite a bit of money doing this. You can also tutor people on specific tests, and not just school-related exams like the SATs, but on industry-specific exams as well.
6) Party Trick Skills
Okay, these might not be “party tricks,” but they fall under a wide umbrella and aren’t super-typical. I recently learned one of my friends actually had a “side hustle” playing in beer pong tournaments. The payout would sometimes be as high as $500, and there was no entry-fee.
DC has mentioned poker tournaments a few times, and while I’m a little hesitant to mention any sort of gambling in conjunction with side hustling, if it works…why not? Get your friends together and play a card game or two.
Speaking of tournaments, one of my other friends plays video games competitively, and often travels to different events all over the US. His team placed well in a few of them, and there’s cash to be won there as well.
If you’re a skilled player one way or another, it could be worth looking into local competitions to see if it’s worth developing into a side hustle for you.
Putting it All Together
Hopefully you have a few more ideas than you started with when it comes to what skills you possess that you can turn into a side hustle. It really comes down to knowing one or two things really well – enough to sell your services or knowledge to people.
Many side hustles lead to freelancing, like writing, event planning, web and graphic design, and videography. Others, like crafting, can turn into selling products. Then, depending on the market and industry, some skills lend themselves well to consulting.
The beauty of side hustling is that you can earn more money in a number of different ways. You can start blogging about it, or create videos and tutorials on YouTube. If people can make money from vlogging about their lives, why can’t you make money from a skill you surely have?
Do you have a special skill you use to side hustle? Or did you develop specific skills to start? Or did you have a difficult time figuring out what you could offer? What other skills make for good side hustles?
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
This is a great list. And yes, it is important to think “big picture”.
My side hustle skill is writing. I plan to make money online through freelance writing, monetizing my blog, and creating online products.
This is an inspiring post!! I think the key is to realize that you have something that you can already make money from. Whatever you know how to do, you can teach someone else how to do it.
Thanks for demystifying what VAs do. Great ideas. I have enjoyed photography as a side hustle in the past and it can be a good way to enjoy a hobby that you’re not interested in making your full time gig.
This is an great reminder that most people already have something that they can turn into a side hustle. Everybody has skills that are special enough to sell or teach. People just need to remember that they do not need to know everything or be the best at their skill, just that they need to be better than average, willing to learn as they go, and willing to share with other interested people.
One of the great things about the internet is that it provides so many new opportunities for people. Years ago, I never would have thought that you could make money being a VA or freelance writing. It’s also more flexible compared to taking on a side job with set hours. Not everyone will have artistic skills but most people should be able learn support skills and technical skills.
When I quit my 9-5am I knew that I needed to have multiple streams of income to make things work. Since I had built my own blog, I knew that I could do basic web design. So I started marketing that skillset and I got my first gig in no time. Great tips!
Great list Erin! This just goes to show you that most any kind of skill can be turned into a profitable side gig as long as there’s demand for it – which, from what I’ve seen, being proactive to find that demand will go a long way to help you in the long run. I think key in much of this is having a big picture mentality so you can find those opportunities and use them for your benefit.
It’s taken me a while to realize that things I do for people as favors are actually saleable skills: I help people manage their money and counsel people in their early careers, and edit a mean resume. This year I’ve started actually looking at ways to offer those skills on the market so that I can wean myself off the full time job down the road!
Aliyyah Sounds like a good way to diversify to me!
Financegirl Thanks, Natalie – you’re right. It’s almost like a cycle. Dedicate your time to learning something that interests you and pays the bills, become an expert, and then teach what you know!
Pretend to Be Poor Glad I could provide some clarification! VAs do a whole lot of different things; it can get a little crazy. Photography is a great example of a side hustle.
gettinrichyoung Yes! Definitely. It’s so easy to tell ourselves that we don’t have anything special to share, but I have been amazed at how things I thought were common knowledge confuse or frustrate other people. We don’t give ourselves enough credit.
Andrew LivingRichCheaply Totally agree, Andrew. I never would have thought my employment would look like this! The internet and subsequent growth of online businesses has spurred so many interesting and flexible jobs out there.
deaconhayes Nice! That’s something I’ve thought about as well. Setting up a basic blog design on WordPress is fairly simple, but some people just don’t want to be bothered with it.
FrugalRules Thanks, John! The great thing is there’s demand for so much these days. There are so many different types of opportunities out there thanks to online marketing and virtual teams. Finding demand and then figuring out how to fit into that niche makes things much easier.
RevAGSL Awesome! Yes, that’s a great way of looking at it. What do your friends and family look to you for? What do they think you’re good at? Sometimes we have to ask others rather than ourselves because we’re a little blind to it.