Americans are diving into freelancing — 38% performed freelance work in 2023, according to Upwork’s December 2023 Freelance Forward survey. While some are freelancing full-time, many people are also doing so part-time as a side hustle.
If you yourself are considering a side gig, there are many ways to dive in. You can write people’s video game profiles, get paid to pretend to be someone on their dating profiles or even get paid to stand in line for people.
With so many options available, “the question is, what do you do?” says Kathy Kristof, founder and CEO of Sidehusl.com. Or, what qualities do you have “that are fairly unique?”
Here are three high-paying, in-demand side hustles to consider according to Kristof and Daniella Flores, founder of side hustle blog I Like to Dabble.
SEO consulting
“Marketing is giant,” Kristof says. Social media marketing, for instance, is a service she sees a lot of demand for. “There’s a huge need for people who know how to do SEO” as well, she says.
Search engine optimization helps websites gain more traffic by considering keywords people type in to look for like content. If you’re interested in learning how it works, there are all sorts of online courses on sites like Coursera and tutorials by Google itself.
SEO experts on Upwork are currently charging as much as $250 per hour.
Cybersecurity
With so much of people’s lives happening online, “cybersecurity is in extremely high demand and that will probably last forever,” says Kristof, adding that “the threats become more sophisticated and tougher to stop.”
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If you’re interested in diving in, “you don’t need a college degree, but Google, IBM, Apple, all of these big tech companies offer very inexpensive, sometimes free courses in cybersecurity,” she says. Various colleges and universities offer them as well, and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies lists a number of certifications to consider.
When you take the courses, “you’re often connected to the people who are going to hire you in the end,” says Kristof.
Cybersecurity experts on Fiverr are charging as much as $1,480 per project.
Coding
Finally, another high paying hustle in the tech world is coding. “The part-time demand for it is so high, especially with AI and the need to train all of these new AI platforms,” says Flores, who goes by they/them pronouns.
Many people in the field have degrees in computer science, but that’s not necessarily a prerequisite. There are coding boot camps available online through sites like Codeacademy and various universities, and they can be enough to get started.
Flores recommends offering your services through sites like Data Annotation Tech. “It’s kind of like a coding temp agency,” they say. To register, you’ll need to take an assessment test. But once you pass, “they do guarantee work for everybody,” they say. One user reported making about $23 per hour, though Flores says coders can make as much as $50 per hour through the site.
Flores also recommends using LinkedIn to look for jobs.
“A lot of people, when they’re hiring for freelancers, no matter the project, they will put up a post on their page” as opposed to creating a job listing on the site. Flores recommends doing a keyword search for posts including phrases like web development freelancer, freelance coder, etc. to find opportunities.
Coders on Upwork are charging as much as $200 per hour.
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