The Best Online Side Hustle Ideas for Creatives
Do you have that creative fire burning within you that you want to start fanning into a side hustle but don’t know how to start? Well, you have already taken a step in the right direction by reading this! Here are exciting ideas for side hustles out of the twenty that I have collated-from creating photobooks to starting an event planning business. Read through and choose what corresponds to your creative side, whether you are a photographer, designer, or writer or just love to create, these side hustles could earn a little extra for doing what you love.
What is a Side Hustle, Anyway?
In simple terms, a side hustle is a pursuit or a business that you embark on in addition to your regular work, or primary source of livelihood. It is a great source of bringing your passion into one good money-making scheme and, with a little dedication, might even turn into the main source of your income. But the amazing aspect of it is that you can get to chase your creative interests while building the flexible income source and mingling with normal work.
If you are willing to plunge into the water, here is a cross-section of digital products and services that you could hypothetically offer as a creative starting to earn extra bucks!
- Lightroom Presets
For a photographer, writing and selling Lightroom presets is one fantastic way to monetize your editing skills. Businesses, influencers, and social media marketers are always on the lookout to get their photos improved, and ready-made presets help achieve those without wasting countless hours in the editing suite. Even better is that it’s just an easy keeping side hustle with really low start-up costs.
Wanna get going? Here’s how you can create your own Lightroom presets in quick time! - Mock-Up for Photos
The next great choice to utilize your skills as a photographer is making photo mock-ups. Such images can insert a product into realistic and realistic-looking environments without photographing them and shoot them with your camera. With mock-ups, you have all the images you need to display work professionally whether you are producing a digital product or a physical thing. You can even sell such stuff for Etsy, where some million sellers are desperately searching for high-quality mock-ups for their listings. - High-Resolution Stock Photography
In fact, stock photos will always be in demand, and companies continue searching for new, impressive images to use for marketing purposes. If you have a knack for the camera, you’re able to create a stock image and upload that to sites such as Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or iStock. These images may after some time create a passive income as they begin to sell. Thus, one upload would literally earn passive income and be a side hustle for you later when you’ve uploaded your photos. - Social Media Graphics & Pinterest Templates
The demand for social media design is unquenchable, and small business owners often do not have the luxury of hiring a designer. If using a design tool such as Canva or Photoshop excites you, then creating social media templates or Pinterest pins can assist business owners in creating content that looks good without having any design experience. The beauty of this is that it could be a side hustle from your next social media workflow! - Graphics Templates – Magazine and Poster Layouts
If you enjoy doing graphic art, one good thing that you can do is create templates for magazines, posters, flyers, and other similar printed products. You may create some customizable templates and sell them on websites such as Etsy, Creative Market or even Canva’s template mart. This way, companies can have access to a professional design which they can modify for personal use. - Digital Wall Art
Digital art prints have become massively popular, and there are plenty of creative ways to cash in on their fame. From inspirational quotes to nature art to fabricating room décor for children, digital wall art is just fun and profitable in which to spend your artistic talents. These can be sold through Etsy, Gumroad, or your own site. - Digital Planners/Calendars/Trackers
For those of you who like creating and implementing useful tools, this will be for you because digital planners and trackers are highly sought-after by many persons. Be it a time management calendar or a personal fitness tracker, people prefer printable tools in organizing their lives. Create digital downloads that can be customized by users, and then sell on market places such as Etsy or Gumroad. - Digital E-Books
Did you know that you can monetize your knowledge through writing and selling ebooks digitally? With regard to making personal development or DIY projects, it could be packaged into an ebook and sold via Gumroad or Amazon or even your own website for others to learn on a particular creative process. - Teach Online and Offer E-Courses
If you have something that you can do, or a special talent, why not teach other people to learn such? You can create and sell your own online courses at places such as Udemy, Skillshare, and Teachable. You may do video lessons, downloadable resources, and interactive assignments so that someone can learn something. This is perfect for enriching your pocket while sharing your knowledge at the same time! - Party Invitation Samples
Well, creating party invitation templates is fun work and generates some good loot, especially if you’re someone who enjoys unusual design. People are always in search of party invitations for any occasion-from birthday to wedding, or even baby shower. The easily sellable, editable templates on sites such as Etsy or Corjl can be made possible for the customers to personalize. - Party Printables Props
Design and print out a range of props for birthday parties-could be anything from birthday decorations to bridal shower games. Simple designs with attention to detail can allow you to create a great range of great-printable-whatever-they-may-be-brings with your download options that people can print easily at home and use for their events. They are popular on sites like Etsy, where everyone from party planners to individuals is looking for fresh ideas. - CV and Resume templates
So, you are good at design and have a penchant for assisting people? You can design and sell resumes professionally. Lots of people find it very difficult to formulate the right CV, and so, pretty and easy templates help in making their job-hunt much easier. There is a huge market on sites like Etsy or Creative Market for selling such templates. - Logos and Brand Guidelines
Logos and brand guidelines are key to any business project that aims to build a professional image. If graphic design is your thing, you could create logos and branding packages, sell them out to businesses, and build them up as clients. You can then make money through sites like Fiverr and 99designs by selling your talents to clients. - Illustrations on Stock Sites
As an illustrator, you can also generate income from your work by putting it onto stocks such as Creative Market, Adobe Stock, and Etsy. Custom-to-ready-made assets are searched by businesses or content developers looking specifically for unique illustrations for their projects. Perfect route for earning passive income from your work. - Greeting Cards
Greeting cards are timeless, the market fills, and creating your designs is probably one of the coolest side-hustles ever. You can design e-cards for birthdays, holidays, and even other special life events and sell them on Thortful or Etsy. Once you design them, sales will be passive! - Patterns
Platforms like Spoonflower and Patternbank allow you to design and sell your own patterns if you are interested in designing your own patterns. These can be used for anything from fabric to wallpaper. If you are into crafting and have a passion for creating unique designs, then this could be a fun way to share creativity with the world.
Freelance Work with Clients
As a creative, you may choose to offer services to customers who want to pay for custom freelance work. The best examples of such websites include fiverr-behance-dribble. This side hustle would enable you to develop your portfolio while making some extra cash working on aspects that you enjoy.
Printable Coloring Books
Coloring books are the favorites of kids, and printable color pages would make the greatest profit while keeping your kids amused. Print and sell these on Etsy or via your own website. They are perfect products for parents, teachers, and daycare centers. - Sell Artwork via Print-on-Demand (POD) Sites
If you enjoy making stuff and want to sell your art on merchandise, but don’t want to have stock or ship items, use print-on-demand sites like Redbubble, Society6, or Zazzle. Post your designs there, and when people buy them, they will be printed, packaged, and sent out. - Website Templates
Yet another money-making venture for web designers and developers is to sell website templates. You love working with code and love design; therefore, Website templates are easily marketed using platforms such as ThemeForest and Creative Market. Do this part-time so that you can have a proper income stream and still use that technical brain of yours in helping people build professional websites.
Conclusion
Creating a profitable side business from your creative streak will not just be rewarding but fun, too. There could be more opportunities than the use of photography, graphic designing, writing, or teaching, into making money doing what one loves doing. Start today, and make the first step toward turning those creative talents into an income stream!
