Side Hustle Ideas for 2021

You might find yourself at home more often than before due to this whole pandemic. Today, we are going to share with you side hustles as well as full-time jobs you can do from home right on your computer.

1. Start a BLOG

This is one is simple and it does take a little bit of work in the beginning but in the long run you could potentially make a lot of money. With blogging, the more work you put in, the more money you could make. 

Not sure how to start a blog? Here is how:

1. You can start for free by going to blogger.com, sign up for an account. Then follow these steps:

1. Sign in to Blogger.
2. On the left, click the Down arrow.
3. Click New blog.
4. Enter a name for your blog.
5. Click Next.
6. Choose a blog address or URL.
7. Click Save.

Now comes the fun part! Write your little heart out! Choose a niche (a topic you are passionate about) then start to create blog posts about topics such as finance, gaming, social media, travel, recipes, deals, and etc.

When you have created your posts in order to make money you can sign up for affiliate programs through either Amazon or your favorite companies. Most companies nowadays have an affiliate program that you make a percentage off of a sale that comes from your special link. One of my favorite companies to work with is prosource fit. You will also have to create a disclosure policy.

After you have enough blog posts on your blog then you can apply for Google Adsense and chose where you want to put your ads. They pay per click/views and even though it might be a little low at first, once you start getting more visitors that number will go up!

You can also work with specific companies and have them as a sponsor on your blog. They will either pay you in product or you can have a set price they will pay you after the campaign is over. Usually, they will ask you for a Media Kit.

There are other blogging platforms out there but if you are short on cash and want to start right away, the blogger is the best option because it is free!

Blogging words to be aware of:

Affiliate Marketing: a marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays a commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referrals. Aka a blog.

Sponsors: Such sponsorship can mean one of two things: Sponsors might pay you to put their ads on your website. Sponsors might simply provide you with free goods or services in return for advertising on your website.

Adsense: AdSense is a free, simple way to earn money by displaying ads next to your online content. The AdSense program differs in that it delivers ads served by Google Ads to your site.

Disclosure Policy: The main purpose of the Disclosure Policy is to ensure that required information, other than confidential business information, is disclosed to the public, investors, employees, customers, and blog readers.

Affiliate Link: An affiliate link is a specific URL that contains the affiliate's ID or username. In affiliate programs, advertisers use affiliate links to record the traffic that is sent to the advertiser's website.

Media Kit: A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization, or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for promotional purposes.

2. Become a Virtual Assistant

I have a page specifically set up for my portfolio. This page and my Media Kit is what I will usually send to my potential client and brands.

In order to become a successful Virtual Assistant there a few things, you should be good at; for example, time management. Then, you want to pick a niche that you are passionate about and know how to work with it. whether it be Pinterest management, social media marketing, product photography, and so on. Learn everything there about it so that you don't disappoint your clients. We are lucky to have the internet at our fingertips. All you have to do is google: “how to create ads on Pinterest” or “how to add affiliate links to a blogpost” you get the idea.

Here are a couple of website for “freelancers” aka virtual assistants that you should start with: Upwork, Fiverr (although the pay here is little)

I recommend fixing your LinkedIn profile with your credentials. Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of experience, you can create a blog and practice on there and add it to your LinkedIn profile as your job.

Lastly, search on social media platforms for the job posting. Facebook has a lot of groups that you can find by searching for “VA for hire”.

3. Start a business from your own home

If 2020 taught us anything at all is that you need to have plan B, plan C, and so on. Starting a business can cost you a little upfront, but you could have the potential to earn a lot of money in the long run.

My first suggestion would be to go through your closet, electronics, and storage. Look for things you aren’t using anymore. Things that are just taking up space in your home. There are plenty of places where you can sell your stuff:

Poshmark: perfect for clothing, shoes, and beauty products. If you own clothes that are currently “in style” you will make great money here!

eBay: perfect for old electronics, vintage clothes, books, crafting materials, and anything that’s kind of random in your home.

Facebook Marketplace: perfect for furniture, baby items, electronics, toys, tickets, gift cards.

This varies by location but you can also check your local classifieds as they should have a section for you to sell at for Free.

If you’ve done all of the things above then my suggestion is to start an actual registered business. You could make different food and either deliver it around town or sell it online. Your own clothing line, jewelry line, stationery, or your own beauty line.

When it comes to low start-up costs, a baking business is a way to go! Baking is science (meaning anyone can be a great baker if they wanted to), and most of the ingredients are in your kitchen right now. You can start by posting it on your Facebook page and sharing it with friends and family that you are now selling goods. If they are awesome, they will support you!

Baking ideas: your own cookie shop (where you come up with different flavors each week), brownie business, an ethnic business where you sell foreign candies, cakes, and cupcakes (which would be perfect for birthday parties), and you can even niche down to a specific diet, for example, Keto treats, gluten-free treats.

Next, you can create an Etsy shop for your business and start selling online. There are other online platforms for selling but I think that Etsy is the cheapest to start with.

Soon I will go more in-depth on starting a business because there is so much to talk about. Right now I just want to give you some ideas!

4. Babysitting - Dog Walker

Remember when you were young and babysitting your neighbor's kids was one of your first jobs? Well, it’s still a job that you can do to this day! There are websites online like care.com where you create a profile and get matched with different families in your area.

The same goes for dog walking, the website Rover is just for that! You create your profile and get matched with local pet owners. Some will have you take them on walks while others might need an overnight stay. It really depends on what you are looking for!

5. Online Jobs

There are a lot of companies looking for employees that are willing to work from home right now. It’s the perfect time for you to find a side hustle that could potentially turn into a full-time job. One of my favorite sites to check for online jobs is Rat Race Rebellion. One quick google searches and you will find a lot of websites with work from home opportunities. The possibilities are endless here!

There you have it, did we give you plenty of ideas to get you started on your money-making journey?

*Disclaimer: Nina Talks earns a small commission from affiliate links on the blog. We also receive compensation or product in exchange for reviews. All opinions are my own. We only recommend products that we love. Thank you for your support. 

My love-hate relationship with Social Media

so·cial me·di·a

/ˌsōSHəl ˈmēdēə/

noun

1. websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. (via google.com)

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   There was a time where waking up and checking all my social media channels was my first priority in the morning. I distinctly remember waking up this one morning and getting the worse migraine after mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram. At the time I didn’t think there such a correlation between the two. 

   
   

   In 2020 I gave up most of my social media channels. It all started with Instagram. It was due to my mental health. I was catching myself comparing my looks, my life, and just being jealous of all the “picture perfect accounts”. The stay-at-home moms that were sharing how perfect their days were with their 4 plus kids. Or the fashion accounts with their perfect outfits (made me think of how much they must spend to have a new outfit for each picture). Lastly, the fiftfam community, which has been a huge part of my Instagram journey and who I used to be. I couldn’t bear looking at all those perfect bodies and muscles (while I was miserable and pregnant). So yes, you could say that my mental health played a big reason I deleted my Instagram from my phone.

   
   

   At this point Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were still part of my life. The difference is that my usage was very moderate compared to Instagram. 

   
   

   It wasn’t until the pandemic hit hard that I decided to quit all the other social networks. There was something about reading the same stuff over and over and just me getting tired of the bad news on the daily.

   
   

   My pregnant-self just couldn’t handle it. I’m pretty sure I told my family members not to talk to me about pandemic related news until after baby was here. 

   
   

   So as we reach the end of 2020, here a few things I’ve learned about my social media cleanse:

   
   

   I’ve been posting on the Internet for almost 11 years (blogging being the main platform) so with this in mind it is okay to take a break.

   
   

   It’s okay to be different than others and not try to follow every single trend out there. I never created a TIKTOK account and probably only ever will if it is for my baking business.

   
   

   Instagram was once a huge part of my life, but it’s not my passion. And if I don’t want to focus on that platform I don’t have to. I never was an Instagram influencer but more of a blogger anyways so I’m not missing out there.

   
   

   When you work on social media, you most definitely can pick your favorite platform and post on there only. Mine being my blog/Pinterest/YouTube.

   
   

   I learned this from a blogger that I interviewed once. We were talking about being creators and what platform made more sense for our craft. I told her that Instagram just wasn’t the same anymore and my blog at the moment was the only thing that was bringing me joy. She then told me that I should do that! I should just focus on my blog if that’s what made me happy. It’s was a great conversation and I’m glad it helped validate my feelings.

   
   

   YouTube was also another platform I turned to this year. The reason was all to better myself and my business. I spent hours watching cooking channels. Perfecting my craft. Learning from the pros. It also helped me create 3 business plans for all my businesses. 

   
   

   So, here we are, almost a year later and I don’t regret my decisions. My love-hate relationship with social media has gotten better. I’m loving the creativity I’ve had all year. I’m loving the fact that I’m doing me. 

   
   

   If I ever decide to get back on Instagram it won’t be for the likes and competition. It will for the content that I truly want to share. There won’t be a schedule or me refreshing my account every 5 seconds to see if got new followers. 

   
   

   PS: Thank goodness for blogging. If I wasn’t able to put my emotions out there, my mental health would not be the same.

   
   

   There you have it, 

   
   

   Have you ever done something extreme like this before? Did you regret it? What were the results?