3 In-Demand, High-Paying Side Hustles For Freelancers In 2024

You are sitting on gold potential, but so often you don’t realize it. It’s easy to take your skills and hobbies for granted. After all, you work with and utilize them every day. But what if you considered that the very things that come so naturally to you are actually in high demand?

When you think of your skills in this way, it completely changes the game for your career, and it sets up your personal finances so you can beat inflation and the cost of living. For example, if you have a passion for design, why not consider turning your skills into profit with a side hustle in packaging design?

When analyzing the trends for recent searches on its global freelancing platform, Fiverr uncovered three search trends that have surged in popularity recently, and the results might surprise you, especially if they are already areas that you have a background or experience in.

The data was obtained by analyzing the most frequently searched-for services and solutions on Fiverr for a six-month period from the last quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024.

The findings, released in Fiverr’s Spring 2024 Business Trends Index, uncovered three critical, high-growth areas for full-time freelances and professionals freelancing as a side hustle, to leverage (the higher the demand and the more specialized your skill set, the higher your earnings):

1. Business Consulting And Services

The findings from the report revealed the solutions most needed by businesses seeking out the services of freelancers, and rated them according to their percentage increase in the number of searches. Freelancers such as freelance trademark attorneys saw an uptake in searches for their services by as much as 3,817%—a very significant figure—while demand for freelancers within business statistics and economics increased by 2,016% and 208% respectively.

What does this mean to you?

One likely reason for the uptake in trademark attorneys is that many more businesses and business ideas are popping up all over the world, especially since the pandemic and the subsequent AI boom. If you have experience and a strong background in helping businesses with their data, unpacking insights to help drive decision-making, or intellectual property law, you may well find yourself in the center of high demand, particularly on freelance websites such as Fiverr.

2. AI Services And Implementation

Artificial intelligence (AI) implementation is a must-have on the priorities of businesses worldwide. This explains why many organizations are turning to freelancers who can help them with streamlining and making their processes more efficient, such as in customer service, sales, and marketing.

Consequently, searches for “AI influencer”—where a freelancer creates an AI-generated influencer for a company’s influencer marketing—and searches for “AI SaaS” (software-as-a-service) and “AI chatbot” have jumped to 6,305%, 1,461%, and 84% respectively.

3. Packaging Solutions

If you have a knack (and the tools) for creative and innovative design solutions that are as beautiful as they are functional, turning to designing packaging for products that inspire you could be your next great side hustle idea. Companies want to deliver products that truly captivate potential customers and increase sales, and one of the best ways to achieve this is through a product’s packaging.

The data shows that organizations are searching for “mylar bag” design (search trends for this jumped to 2767% over the past six months), “packaging box design” (up by 1214%), and “coffee packaging” (up by 804%).

Fiverr’s report highlights three core areas of demand for freelance services at the present. By capitalizing on these trends, and most importantly, realizing how valuable are the skills you already have, you can not only boost your income, but you will position yourself as an indispensable asset to companies operating in or seeking to explore these industries.