A side hustle is a way to make money outside of your 9 to 5 job. It allows you to make more money that’ll give you the freedom to pursue your passions, buy things you need or want, produce additional income streams and lower any financial worries.
Here are the Seven Low Cost Side Hustle ideas you can start that let you make money without costing a lot upfront
1. Web Reselling
The typical web reseller might be a web design firm, web developer or systems integrator who offers web hosting as an add-on service. Reseller hosting is also an inexpensive way for web hosting entrepreneurs to start a company. Most reseller hosting plans allow resellers to create their own service plans and choose their own pricing structure. In many cases, resellers are able to establish their own branding via customized control panels and servers
Entrepreneurs and business owners are leveraging on this growth opportunity by starting their own reseller hosting company to either supplement or create a full-income flow to their brand. It is becoming well-adopted because of its low initial costs and overall simplicity in getting started.
Reseller hosting does not require extensive knowledge of the technical aspects of web hosting. Usually, the data center operator is responsible for maintaining network infrastructure and hardware, and the dedicated owner configures, secures, and updates the server. A reseller is responsible for interfacing with his or her own customer base, but any hardware, software and connectivity problems are typically forwarded to the server provider from whom the reseller plan was purchased. Being a profitable reseller firm usually involves extensive advertising to get customers. While the fees with major hosts are only a few dollars a month, it is a low-margin business, and resellers must devote large advertising budgets to compete with established competitors. However, web hosting is one of the biggest online businesses, because every website needs hosting.
Resellers can set up and manage customer accounts via a web interface, usually a point-and-click “control panel”
For a complete Web Reseller solutions, I highly recommend CyFocus Reseller. It provides you with everything you need to sell domains, hosting, email, website builder, WordPress, SSL certificates, and more. It includes a professional looking site with an easy to design storefront. Complete with Technical Telephone Support so you don’t have to worry about Technical issues, customer calls, Security and maintenance.
2. Blogging
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject
How do you make money from the blog
- Google Adsense – is a program that allows bloggers and website owners to make money by displaying Google ads. You’ve probably seen the ads all over the place, including in Google search results. Basically, Google gets the largest cut and you get a small percentage
- Sell Private Ads – Selling private ads can come in the form of banners, buttons, or links. You can even make money writing sponsored posts where you write about or give a review of an advertiser’s product or service. Another option is to write an underwritten post or series, which is where you can write about any topic, but the advertiser pays for a “Brought to you by” mention in the content.
- Affiliate Links – Affiliate link is one of the most popular ways people make money online. It is a strategy where an individual partners with a business in order to make a commission by referring readers or visitors to a business’s particular product or service.
- Sell Digital Products – If you would rather not advertise other people’s products on your site, or if you are looking for another stream of income, consider selling digital products. This can include items like; eBooks, Online courses/workshop, Images, video, music, apps, plugins or themes.
- Sell Memberships – Another option to make money is to sell memberships to exclusive corners of your website. For instance, a career blog might charge $10 per month for users to gain access to their job board. A startup business blog might sell memberships to their forums where people can get personalized advice about their business.
- Dropshipping – Dropshipping is a great option for starting a business with limited money. You’re able to test a product in a specific market to see if people want it.
- Sell service – Writers, designers, developers, photographers, house cleaners, fitness trainers, and more can build a business around their skill set.
Steps on how to start the blog
- Get a Domain – You can get Domain at CyFocus.net but I highly recommend to create your own Web company through CyFocus Reseller. That way you can make money having your own Web company and through your blog. This is the way I model my own business and optimizing my income Stream.
- Choose your blogging platform – I personally like WordPress but you can use
Website builder or Tumblr, Google. - Configure your blog – Press here on how to configure WordPress Blog through CyFocus
- Design your blog – Click here on how to install a Theme on your WordPress
- Add Content – A blog is not a blog without content so once you’ve set your blog up you need to focus your attention upon creating useful content. The key with creating content is to make it as useful as possible.
3. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a business model where orders are fulfilled by the product manufacturer and sent directly to the customer. The store owner finds a product supplier, markets and sells the product, and then sends the order to the manufacturer. This model cuts down on retail costs and allows the merchant to sell products without having to purchase them in bulk upfront or handle inventory.
Dropshipping is a great option for starting a business with limited money. You’re able to test a product in a specific market to see if people want it. Unlike other business models where you need to pay up front for inventory, dropshipping allows for flexibility during those early days.
Drop shipping is an extremely popular business model for new entrepreneurs, especially Gen Zers and Millennials, due to internet marketing skills far outweighing financial capacity. Since you don’t need to stock or handle the items you are selling, it’s possible to start a drop shipping business with limited funds.
An e-commerce website that operates a drop shipping model purchases the items it sells from a third-party supplier or manufacturer, who then fulfills the order. This not only cuts operational costs, but it also frees up your time to focus all of your efforts on customer acquisition.
For dropshipping business, I highly recommend Shopify
4. Design and sell print
Another dropshipping model, print-on-demand puts inventory, shipping, and fulfillment in the hands of a third-party supplier. But unlike the dropshipping idea above, the focus here is on customizing these products with your own designs to create something original.
T-shirts, hats, phone cases, hoodies, skirts, tote bags, and more become canvases for your creativity. You can think up witty slogans for developers or references that resonate with cat owners—if there’s passion and pride within a community, there’s a potential t-shirt business you can start.
Even if you’re not a designer, you can find a designer to work with using freelance sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Dribble, or 99Designs.
With many print-on-demand services, you’re paying per-product, so the base price per unit will be more expensive than if you were to order in bulk. But the advantage is that if a certain t-shirt design doesn’t sell, you haven’t actually paid for the item yet (only the design if you outsourced it).
You can even use t-shirt mockup templates so you don’t actually need to spend money on a full photoshoot for every new design
There are a variety of print-on-demand platforms you can work with, many of which can be integrated with your Shopify store for seamless order fulfillment. However, be sure to always order a sample of your product (often offered at a discount) to make sure your custom products look good.
5. Launch your own book
A book is just another product when you think about it. And as such, you can create one to serve a particular demand in the market.
Cookbooks, picture books, comic books, photo books, coffee table books, and novels—if you’ve got the knowledge or the creativity, there are a variety of original books you can bring to the market.
Once your book is written, you can design a cover using a tool like Canva and create a PDF of your ebook.
Print-on-demand publishing is a relatively safe way to test the waters and get started with self-publishing, while giving you control over the quality and look of your book.
Blurb is a popular platform for this purpose, letting you create, order, and distribute your own books as digital and physical products.
While you can order one book at a time, costs naturally go down when you buy in bulk. You can consider pre-selling your book idea through Kickstarter to ensure that there’s demand and guarantee a certain number of customers for a bulk order.
Launching your own book can be a great way to monetize a blog if you have one or are looking to start one.
6. Sell a service
With services-based businesses, “time” is your inventory and your biggest investment. You’ve only got a limited supply of hours in your day. However, that makes it easier to get up and running if you’ve got skills that are in demand.
Writers, designers, developers, photographers, house cleaners, fitness trainers, and more can build a business around their skill set.
They can also expand their business with any of the other ideas above to create additional revenue streams.
A photographer, for example, can service a local event while selling prints online through their Instagram account. Coupling your service-based business with physical products can give you another source of income that isn’t directly tied to your time.
You can use the BookThatApp or Book an Appointment app for Shopify to let customers easily schedule a session, consultation, or buy tickets to a class with you through your store.
You can also offer your services through a freelance marketplace like Upworkor Fiverr to increase your chances of getting discovered by the people who need your skills.
7. Sell Online Courses
Selling an online course is another great way to make money online.
Courses usually sell for a much higher price point than ebooks. You can charge a premium for your expertise.
You’ll need to create the lessons for your course, plus any supporting materials that you want to include such as downloads, slides, checklists, templates, etc.
You will also need to decide whether you want to offer personalized support for your course. Some sites offer two tiers of each course: a basic version without support, and a premium version with email support.
Once your course is ready, you can use a learning management system (LMS) plugin to deliver the course to your audience.
I recommend using LearnDash or MemberPress. Other LMS are Sensei, Learnpress, and WP Courseware
