This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
This essay relies on a conversation with Grace Ryu, a 23-year-old content creator from Houston. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I quit my tech job in March 2023 to explore other sources of income. My 9 to five work schedule was taking on an excessive amount of time and I desired to deal with ways to become profitable while I slept or traveled.
Finding different sources of income suits my personality – it satisfies my desire to explore and check out as much as possible. If I get uninterested in one area, I can deal with one other, and if one stream is not that profitable, I can fall back on others.
Here’s a breakdown of my eight Income streamswith earnings, difficulty level and time spent weekly:
1. Luxury picnic shop
Easy Rating: 9/10
Lucrative rating: 7/10
I run one Luxury picnic shop with my best friend and my boyfriend. We initially posted our products on Facebook Marketplace and faculty flyers and broke even in the primary week they were advertised.
We reinvested all the cash into expanding the business model, similar to purchasing more equipment for group picnics. Since then we’ve got worked with firms like Kendra Scottlocal hotels and Texas A&M University.
Since we’ve got a team of six, I now not tackle the physical set-up and dismantling, but only invest one hour per week. From March to May, October and November (peak months for picnics), I can take home as much as $3,000 monthly.
Getting began is straightforward and reasonably priced and doesn’t require much skill aside from an eye fixed for aesthetics. It can also be lucrative because profit margins are very high since there are little to no variable costs.
2. Offers for influencer brands
Easy Rating: 8/10
Lucrative Rating: 10/10
I’m a Micro-influencersand I actually have a TikTok account where I post about my life, sources of income, and product endorsements.
Brands reach out to me and ask me to release a dedicated or integrated TikTok video. I used to create content for brands at no cost, but now I charge not less than $1,000 per post.
I spend about an hour every week on brand offers. Creating and editing content was difficult at first as I needed to get used to the software and apps. After doing this for 2 years, I pick it up in a short time because I do know exactly which clips so as to add and do voiceovers.
It takes time to construct a following on a platform, but when you get to that time, it’s extremely easy to partner with brands for sponsorships. I earn between $1,000 and $2,000 per post for about an hour of labor.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Easy Rating: 7/10
Lucrative rating: 9/10
I began with that Affiliate marketing through Amazon’s influencer program and earn between $500 and $2,000 monthly.
In my TikToks I feature and link make money working from home essentials from Amazon. Then people go to my storefront and buy through the links, and I receives a commission a commission.
Applying to this system takes about five minutes, but you should have a social media profile that promotes content.
If you never post anything, you’ll likely get rejected. I actually have friends who only have a number of hundred followers but do unboxing videos, in order that they were accepted.
Anyone can do online marketing because it is easy to start, but the cash is not at all times guaranteed. On any social media platform, it takes loads of time and patience for a post to be published go viral, which is able to herald sales. Once that happens, money starts flowing in quickly inside a number of months, and it’s all passive income.
4. User Generated Content
Easy Rating: 4/10
Lucrative Rating: 8/10
User Generated Content (UGC) differs from sponsorship in that it involves content that brands can use directly. I used to work with a lash company that paid me to create TikToks, but I do not post that content to my account.
I actually have a number of retainer clients, which implies I receive an everyday monthly fee in exchange for a set amount of content.
I make around $6,000 to $8,000 a month from UGC. It takes about eight hours per week and will be more demanding than other sources of income. I would like to create videos that sell well, which requires additional intelligence.
5. Pet care
Easy rating: 10/10
Lucrative Rating: 10/10
While I used to be working in technology, I began caring for animals as a part-time job. I began rover, an app that connects pet owners with pet sitters. Setting up a profile and passing a background check is quick and you may start earning immediately after booking.
It’s ideal for distant staff like me – it’s great to receives a commission to hang around with cute animals, and I can still do other tasks like checking my picnic shops, answering emails, or creating content.
In January 2024 I used to be Pet care Almost every single day and I enjoyed it since it was such a calming job. The only downside is that I could not travel as much because I had to stick with the pets.
It is an especially easy side hustle if you happen to are knowledgeable about pet care and behavior. Pets are easy to work with so long as they don’t seem to be puppies – puppies are more work.
6. Airbnb arbitrage
Easy Rating: 2/10
Lucrative rating: 4/10
Airbnb arbitrage is my least favorite source of income – I’ll give it up soon since the Airbnb market is not as hot because it was a number of years ago.
Here’s how it really works: For example, I rent a property from a landlord for $1,700. Once my business partner and I get the green light for brief or medium term rental, we list the property on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. We are renters, but we behave more like one Property Managerand we then generate profits from these offers.
After splitting the income with my business partner, my net profit is about $600 monthly. Because we focus totally on medium-term stays that require less frequent changes, my partner and I spend about five to 6 hours a month on maintenance and cleansing, normally at the tip of every stay.
This part-time job is my least favorite since the financial risk is the very best – you’ve gotten to reply to the needs of the guests, and the work is not fun either. Based on the monthly expenses, I do not think the payout is sufficient to justify the expense.
7. Selling digital products
Easy rating: 10/10
Lucrative rating: 4/10
I created a content creation E-book because loads of people on social media asked me to educate them. Whenever people ask me about creating content, I point them to my link in order that they should purchase my eBook.
I sell it for $20 and make $60 to $80 every month. I do not market it that much as I just have it as a resource when people ask about it.
Anyone who has sufficient knowledge on a selected topic can create an e-book or digital product, so it is easy to do. However, it takes effort and time to make sales.
8. Nanny
Easy Rating: 8/10
Lucrative rating: 9/10
I Nanny for a family that flies me from Houston to New York three or 4 times a yr. I stay two to 3 weeks and receives a commission $1,200 every week.
My every day routine could be very easy: I take the women to highschool within the morning, and once I come back I can create content or go outside and explore the town. When the women get home, I eat dinner, play with them, after which put them to bed.
The families I babysit for in Houston and the family I work for as a nanny in New York are all great to me and pay me generously, which makes my job fun and straightforward. The hardest thing is when the youngsters are sick because I actually have to be more hands-on. Aside from that, it’s super relaxing when you get conversant in their processes.
I wish I had diversified my income sooner
Even though constructing my income stream took loads of work up front, I wish I had began sooner. From a labor-intensive job as a ranch hand that paid $8 an hour, I now make over $100,000 a yr by only working about 40 hours a month.
If you are interested by creating more sources of income, you should not be reckless or stingy together with your spending. Be brave and put money into yourself, a business idea or in others. If your dreams don’t scare you slightly, they might not be sufficiently big.
