A side hustle ensures that you have an additional stream of income. This means higher savings, an emergency fund, and an overall better quality of life. But a side hustle doesn’t have to mean you earn just a few hundred dollars in revenue a month. You can actually pursue a six-figure side hustle and make it significantly bigger than your main income.Â
Even if you don’t have any problems right now, it’s better to shore up your finances because, as we all know, things can get uncertain. But beyond the monetary benefit, a side hustle also gives you freedom. You don’t have to worry about losing your job or primary income. And if it’s a six-figure side hustle, you can be more relaxed, knowing that a more secure and better future awaits you.
In this article, we share 10 six-figure side hustle ideas that you can start without any major investment and which can reshape your life.
1. Write an e-book
Why worry about being rejected by traditional publishers when you can directly publish your e-book through any of the online marketplaces like Amazon or Gumroad? Pick a niche that you’re interested in, do in-depth research on it, and start writing.
The key to a successful e-book is finding a category that’s not crowded. Once you publish it, you’ll have to market it through social media platforms. There’s no additional cost for copies, and you can sit back and earn up to thousands of dollars a month.
2. Teach an online course
The internet has decentralized and democratized education, and you can make top dollars in it. All you need is interest in a subject, a pair of headsets and a mic, a screen-sharing software, and a platform like Udemy.
Remember that you don’t have to be an expert. You only have to distill a subject or skill in an interesting way. If you can add value, you can not only make this into a six-figure side hustle but also become a brand of your own.
3. Start dropshipping
The next in our six-figure side hustle ideas is dropshipping, which has exploded over the last few years. This is where you act as a middleman between a customer and supplier. The best part? You don’t need any investment to start the business.
Put up a website, list your supplier’s inventory, and wait for orders. Once you get an order, collect the money and direct the supplier to ship the order. You can start with a specific category and expand as you see customer interest.
4. Become a paid ad specialist
Hundreds of thousands of companies, especially small and medium-sized businesses, are looking at ways to connect with their customers through digital platforms. But they don’t have the necessary skills to manage their paid digital campaigns, and this is where you come in as a paid ad specialist.
This requires knowledge of internet marketing that you can learn in a few days by getting certified as a Google AdWords Specialist. Find a client through an online marketplace or by directly approaching them and start managing their paid ad campaigns.
5. Start a podcast
Murder mysteries? Gardening? Medieval warfare? Aliens? No matter what your interest is, there’s a successful podcast you can start on the topic. A podcast is one of the most practical six-figure side hustle ideas that you can roll out in a matter of days. There is an audience for every imaginable topic and once you start regularly rolling out content, you’ll find your community.
These self-published talk shows are also a great opportunity for networking and pushing your other side hustles. If your podcast is about East Asian culture, you can create an e-book and encourage your customers to buy it. This multiplies your revenue streams and helps you become an authority on the subject.
6. Create an email newsletter
Email newsletters have made a spectacular comeback over the last few years. Whether it’s Axios or Morning Brew, they have become businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So, what stops you from starting a newsletter on a topic that interests you?
An email newsletter gives you more control of not just the content but also the platform. You won’t be at the mercy of Facebook or Instagram. It’s your community, and you can monetize it in several ways. You can opt for a subscription-based newsletter through Substack or include advertisers to boost your income.
7. Start affiliate marketing
Another six-figure side hustle idea that’s easily scalable is affiliate marketing. Search online and you will find thousands of sellers with great products or services but who are unable to effectively market their business. Your role is to drive traffic to their website and get a commission out of every completed sale.
The key is to find a niche that interests you. That’s because your audience needs to be interested in the product or service you would recommend. If you have a podcast, email newsletter, e-book, or dropshipping store, this allows you to add another stream of income without any major effort.
8. Become an executive coach
Executives and managers are always looking for professional development guidance. As an executive coach, you will be providing them support and personalized leadership advice to advance in their careers and get a better work-life balance.
Start small by building your profile on LinkedIn or other social media platforms. Publish articles that would interest your potential clients. By clubbing it with an email newsletter or ebook, you will be significantly adding to your side hustle revenue.
9. Start consulting
Do you have professional experience in any particular sector? Have you been working with a specific kind of business? If so, you can offer consulting services. For example, if you’re an accountant, you can help small businesses manage their finances. If you’re into digital marketing, you can advise enterprises on how to manage their online campaigns.
This way, whatever knowledge you accrue as part of your day job can be used to start a six-figure side hustle. It doesn’t have to be big. All you need is a paying client to start your business. Importantly, it won’t take much time. Five to six hours a week can be good enough in the initial stages.
10. Become a ghostwriter
Most articles on how to start a side hustle would advise you to become a freelance copywriter. But we’re discussing six-figure side hustle ideas here. Ghostwriting is a viable way to make thousands of dollars if you can write well.
Approach C-Suite leaders in companies or public personalities and present your writing samples including a short ebook, if possible. Along with that, share an idea for a book that you’ll write but get published in their name. If they like your proposal, you can charge thousands of dollars for your efforts. And once you get going, by ghostwriting three to four books a year, you’ll have a six-figure side hustle.
In short
A six-figure side hustle will take time. That’s why you should start one as early as possible. If it doesn’t give the expected returns, you can always club it with others or start something new.