8 Online Side Hustle Ideas To Kickstart Your 2021

Here are some ideas on how to start a side hustle and increase your income in 2021.

Gone are the days where the majority of the world have one income source — the 9-to-5.

In 2021, there are so many opportunities out there for us to diversify our income streams — it’s very much the dawn of the side hustle! The age of the internet and social media has arrived and in the wake up of such an uncertain year in 2020, I think that it is now the perfect time to have a serious look at what is out there beyond our day jobs.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you should resign from what you are doing tomorrow — but what I am saying is, you should not be afraid to take strides to reduce your reliance on your primary salary.

Your typical day job has a fixed income, no matter how many hours you put in — a side hustle, on the other hand, is limitless.

I must confess — I myself have only begun to explore these opportunities relatively recently, but I can definitively say that it has changed my life! It has given me the chance to learn skills that I never thought I’d be able to and, in some cases, never even knew existed.

Essentially, I’ve been investing more time on myself. For so many of us, the hardest thing about pursuing a side hustle can be deciding what you’d actually like to dedicate your time to. I have therefore decided to highlight 8 ideas that might be able to help you get started.

1. Writing Articles On Medium

I thought that I would start with the obvious one, because this is exactly what I am doing right now! Not only can writing articles on Medium be a fantastic way to express yourself creatively, but yes, you can also make a pretty good side income out of it too. I myself have been fortunate enough to see some great improvements in my earnings since my first article back in July 2020.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you will start earning thousands overnight. But if you remain consistent in how much content you are putting out and the quality is of a high standard, posting articles on Medium can definitely be a great way of earning some money to supplement your primary salary. Once I found my voice and was able to expand my reach through writing for publications, not only did I start earning some extra money, but I also saw a great deal of growth in my happiness and confidence.

2. Starting a Blog

After a few months of writing on Medium, I took a leap of faith and decided to launch my own website, Maths with Lily. I kid you not, there are people out there making anything from £1,000 to £150,000 each month from their websites!

Monetary gain was not my sole goal when I launched my website — for me, the biggest incentive was the chance to write about a subject that I am extremely passionate about and try and help as many people as I can, not just across the UK, but also across the world.

Whilst I am still in the early stages of this journey, I have learnt so much, from building a website to marketing that site across social media platforms. I have written about my experiences so far on several other Medium articles, so make sure you check those out if this is something you are serious about embarking on.

One of the things that intrigues me the most about this side hustle is that it can be the catalyst for several different sources of income. Not only is there the potential to make some extra money from adverts that appear on my site, but I can also explore opportunities of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is the promotion of third party products or services on my platform — put simply, if someone from my audience goes ahead and purchases a product or service I have recommended, at a discounted rate, I will have the opportunity to earn a commission on this sale.

These are both great examples of passive income, because other than putting the content out there to the world, I would not actively be doing anything to receive these incomes. Running your own website will also provide opportunities to sell your own products or subscription based services. As you can see, the income potential in doing this is massive!

3. Buying & Selling Trainers Online

This is another side hustle I gained some experience with towards the end of 2020 and as we have entered 2021, does not look like it will be any less of solid means of making people some extra money.

As I said earlier on, we live in the age of the internet. It is now easier than ever before to source exclusive items for a discounted price and sell them for a profit. I use the app StockX, which is essentially the stock market for trainers. I enter raffles for the chance to purchase newly released trainers, which can then be re-sold on StockX or other similar platforms like Restocks for what can in some cases be a huge profit.

I recently made a £50 profit on some trainers I purchased back in October — this shows that you will sometimes need to be patient when it comes to selling products on, but if you invest in the right trainers, you can definitely make some good additional cash. One of my friends has even managed to supplement their entire salary and now does this as their full time job!

If you are someone who has an eye for the latest fashion trends and enjoys shopping, this could be the ideal side hustle to start off with. This can of course extend to buying and selling vintage clothes, or even regularly clearing out your own wardrobe — apps such as Depop and Facebook Marketplace make this very accessible.

4. Online Tutoring

Do you have a large amount of knowledge in a particular subject? Do you enjoy teaching others how to do improve? If so, then becoming an online tutor in your spare time can be great way to earn some extra cash, and also receive the benefit of knowing that you are helping someone else!

This is something that I have done for a number of years. With websites such as First Tutors in the UK, it is easier than ever to find a topic you’d like to tutor others in and start making a good side income.

I tutor Maths on the platform, but you can essentially become a tutor in any area that you have a certain skill set in that others would like to learn about. This can range from photography to coding — if you have some expertise in an area, why not help someone else and get paid for it?

5. Website Testing

With so many individuals and businesses now focusing a great deal of time and resources on the online content it puts out to the world, website user testing has become a booming industry in its own right. Companies can pay you to use their websites and give honest feedback of your experience.

There are various platforms (for example UserTesting) that you can apply to sign up for, who will pay you anywhere from £5 to £20 for 15 minutes of website testing. If this is something that you are consistent with, this can definitely be an easy side hustle to add to your arsenal.

6. Amazon FBA

Have you ever used Amazon? It is 2021, so I am assuming that the answer to that questions is yes! Amazon have tapped into such a vast number of industries that it is easy to lose track of what services they offer. At the heart of their offering has always been their online marketplace. But did you know that a large amount of the products you see on the Amazon marketplace is being sold by regular people across the world?

That’s right — Amazon allows you to earn some extra money online, by setting up your own store on their website. You are responsible for sourcing your product, but Amazon fulfils the order by storing, packaging and delivering it for you. This will require some startup costs and relies on you sourcing the right type of product, but setting up a store through Amazon and not opening your own e-commerce store does take away a lot of the pressures of selling online.

Amazon has already built an enormous reputation across the world and has millions of shoppers every day — there is therefore no need to spend lots of money on advertising costs or hiring space to store your products. This is something that I will definitely be exploring more of in 2021.

7. Running Your Own Online Store

You may like the idea I spoke about above, where you set up an online store to sell products you have sourced. However, you might not like the idea about building this through a third party like Amazon. If so, then setting up your own e-commerce store may be the right move for you. Websites such a Shopify now make setting up your own store online easier than ever before.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this is easy — you will still have a lot of factors to consider when doing something like this. These include sourcing products (mostly from China, using websites such as Aliexpress), negotiating with suppliers, setting up your online store and advertising that store.

But the beauty about this type of business model — dropshipping — is the fact that you do not have to spend lots of money on storing products or paying for them up front. Much of the expense in this side hustle, will come from running ads across social media and paying for additional plug-ins on apps like Shopify.

If you would like to find out some more information about this side hustle, there are literally thousands of resources out there giving beginners guides — YouTube is a great place to start.

8. Online freelancing

Online freelancing can not only be a great way to earn some extra cash in your free time, but it can also be another way to improve on skills you may not necessarily use during your day job. Interestingly, the work you can secure on platforms such as Fiver, Upwork and People Per Hour is so varied and can range from general tasks, such as data entry or becoming a Virtual Assistant, right through to ghostwriting.

If you have a specialised skill, this could be a great way to earn an extra income. You might even be able to incorporate some of the skills you use in your job to helping others online — people are always looking for web designers or photographers, so if this is something you do anyway, why not do it as a side hustle in your spare time too?

By starting a side hustle, it is now easier than ever before to supplement your main income. I have shared eight ideas with you, but there are so many others out there that you can choose from to get started with. Why not try something that works to some of your existing strengths?

The great thing about online side hustles is that you can make massive additions to your primary income with minimal startup funds, compared to more traditional businesses. Who knows, this could lead to you discovering a new passion, or it could simply be a way of improving on skills you already have!

Making a success of things will take time and hard work — do not feel disheartened if you are putting in time initially without seeing a reward. Nothing worth having in life is easy, so if you are after a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme, you may be left disappointed.

Have fun with what you are doing and learn from any mistakes you make along the way. You may be pleasantly surprised by the effect trying these things has on your life as a whole, not just your bank balance!

I look forward to hearing in the comments how you get on giving some of these a go!