The average U.S. worker with a side hustle makes $810 per month from their side hustle, according to a survey carried out by Bankrate in 2023. While this is certainly a promising figure, it still does not allow you to have total financial freedom and pivot careers, or leave your job altogether if you wanted to. Living on $810 each month is neither practical nor reasonable.
So the question is, is it possible to increase your earning potential and earn that amount—or nearly that figure—almost daily? Can you really make six-figures from your side hustle?
As we continue to embrace remote work this year, the possibilities for making extra money are endless. Flexible working models are convenient, because not only can you work from the comfort of your home, but you gain extra time back which you would have otherwise used to commute to work.
This surplus time, whether it be an extra hour here or two hours there, can then be invested into growing a small business or side hustle idea. This works perfectly for your busy schedule and gives you the opportunity to finally conquer that mountain of accumulated credit card debt, gain financial freedom, and establish the capital you need to launch your own successful venture full-time and quit your job.
The key to growing your income from this stage is to leverage your existing time to build out your business model, add additional sources of revenue, and become self-sustaining so you can leave your job and scale your business to making even as much as $200,000.
However, it is important to bear in mind that not because you have a high-paying side hustle does it mean that it automatically will magically become successful in itself.
You do need to put in significant effort to get it off the ground, upskill yourself, remain current and adaptable with industry and market changes, and continuously explore new ways of working and improving your service/product delivery. To accomplish this, you need to maximize every spare moment outside of your job, remembering that these are the moments that will truly count in the long run.
Below are three side hustle ideas worth exploring, which can generate earnings of up to $100k or more within a year.
1. Public Speaking
Carrying out public speaking engagements is an excellent way to establish thought leadership, monetize your years of expertise, and provide value and exposure to your career and any other existing businesses you might have. You will need to start out with building your personal brand and establishing your credibility and charisma as a speaker through landing free speaking engagements, which you can then use for your speaker reel to promote yourself as a speaker.
How To Find Speaking Engagements
Target organizations within your industry, who usually tend to run conferences or events for your desired audience. You can then find the key decision-makers by searching out their job title on LinkedIn, networking with them, and asking them about their upcoming events and if they are looking for any speakers.
In addition, sometimes organizations will publish a “call for speakers,” so look out for this and apply via the relevant form on their website. You can even Google the term “call for speakers” and type in your industry name.
If you’re an exceptionally good speaker, you can eventually scale to work at it full-time. Full-time professional speakers can earn several thousand dollars per hour, and the amazing thing about being a speaker is that you don’t necessarily need to be there in person—at least not all the time. You can speak at virtual events such as online conferences, online training events, and webinars.
2. Freelance Information Security Consultant
According to Comparably, a freelance consultant in the U.S. can earn on average $81,000, and this figure can go up as far as to $379,000, depending on your specialism and the level of problem that you solve for companies. One such specialist example is that of a freelance information security consultant, where your earnings can start from $100,000 per year, according to Glassdoor.
Information security consultants, also known as cybersecurity consultants, help organizations protect their networks and data from cyber threats, and this side hustle would be a perfect choice for you if you already have a strong background in information security through your job.
3. E-commerce Store
Statistical projections for the global e-commerce industry indicate that this market will be worth more than eight trillion dollars by 2027, with expectations that the U.S. e-commerce market will continue growing to over one trillion by the year 2029.
Running your own e-commerce store requires much upfront effort and research so that you can pick your niche and do extensive marketing, but once you’ve settled on the idea and can solve a unique problem for your customers, it can grow to be very lucrative. Some e-commerce platforms you can use to launch your own store include Shopify, Amazon
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There are numerous e-commerce side hustle ideas you can explore, such as:
- Clothing
- Electronics
- Art supplies
- Print-on-demand
- Subscription boxes
With dedication and creativity, reaching the $100k milestone is indeed achievable. Using your unique expertise and pouring it into your side hustle idea, you can generate income from anywhere in the world, and experience professional fulfilment. So seize the moment, and unleash your potential.
Source: 3 Remote Side Hustle Ideas To Make $100,000 Or More In 2024