There has never been an easier time to make money outside of a regular job, than in 2024. The opportunities and AI-powered tools that are available to freelancers and others seeking to make money online are endless—and you can do it, even with inflation and the rising costs of living.
Regardless of one’s skill set, there is literally something to suit every professional. From the comfort of your laptop, you can do work that is highly flexible and can be performed on the go, or in between your regular job. And if you work remotely in your main job, you have even more time which you can dedicate to making money online.
However it’s important to remember that there is no such thing as “get rich quick.” Any scheme or website that promises you the ability to make money fast as an absolute guarantee, is most likely a scam. To make a considerable amount of money, you need to ensure you put your research and expertise to work, just like with any other job.
When looking for ways to make money online, be cautious and watch out for scammers. Never concede to sharing sensitive or personal financial information, unless of course you are using a legitimate freelance site such as Upwork, for example. And remember, if it sounds too good to be true, trust your gut—it most likely is.
With that caveat in mind, below is a list of 10 of the best side hustle opportunities that enable you to make money from home, according to research and analysis of sites including Upwork and Shopify.
1. Start Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to create a passive income stream, and it works best when you have a solid content marketing strategy. To get started, write or record video content on something you’re passionate about, and build a strong audience and following first.
The ideal number of followers and repeat content viewers you need will depend on the platform you’re using, and the requirements of the brands you will be acting as an affiliate for. You can incorporate affiliate links across your website, and/or social media accounts.
But you’ll need to ensure that the products you are promoting are ones that actually resonate with your audience. Otherwise, you are spamming them and delivering low value, and people will easily be able to read through it, which reduces your credibility because you’re wasting their time.
2. Launch A Dropshipping Store
Dropshipping is an excellent way to make money in your free time while working from home, mostly due to its convenience in selling products without ever needing to store inventory. You can set up a store on a platform such as Shopify, for example, and you would merely be responsible for developing the business model so that you can attract and engage customers, and of course, make sales.
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Your suppliers would ship the product directly to your customers, so this takes away the need for purchasing storage space or piling up your garage with items. This model is also highly flexible as you can quickly adapt to market changes with minimal loss.
3. Make Money As A Social Media Influencer
The global influencer marketing market size has more than tripled since 2019, hitting a record estimate of $24 billion in 2024. This can be attributed to the rise of online and social media usage during and after the pandemic.
With more than half of the global population having social media accounts, it only makes sense for avid marketers to collaborate and establish partnerships with social media influencers as part of their brand and product awareness campaigns. This is where you would come in.
To begin with, you need is a strong passion or interest, and your personality. Create a unique personal brand on a platform such as YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, and as your follower count grows, your social media presence and social capital will become more valuable to brands looking to partner with you. You can eventually join influencer platforms where brands are looking for partnerships, such as Aspire.io, or Open Influence.
4. Become An Online Tutor
The online tutoring market is projected to reach $21.8 billion by 2030, so it’s clear to see that demand for online tutors is on the incline. As an online tutor, you can teach any in-demand subject using video-conferencing tools, and even join freelance teaching platforms to create a profile and advertize your services.
5. Edit And Proofread AI Content
Not too long ago, content writing, editing, and proofreading was touted as an excellent way to make money online. However, the state of things has changed considerably because of AI, and now there are AI tools which can generate content easily and within seconds, such as Jasper AI or ChatGPT, which means anyone relying on this as a side hustle is at risk of being replaced. However, even these tools do have their limitations and, used on their own, can be factually inaccurate, have grammatical errors, or appear to be unnatural and robotic.
As an AI content proof-reader or editor, you can fact-check content that has been generated by AI, for business clients, and soften the tone so it reflects their brand voice and is free from error.
Below is another five ideas you can explore to make money online:
Write and self-publish e-books
Launch a podcast and get sponsorships/sell advertizing space
Become a virtual assistant
Sell crafts and handmade items on Etsy
Deliver consulting services
Selling handmade items and crafts on Etsy can rake
Ultimately, boosting your income online isn’t at all difficult to achieve. Find a section of your market that is underserved, and make your mark. With your internet and laptop, you can develop new skills, share them with the world, and make more money in the process.
qualifying for the low rates, it’s about as bad as one of those BDCs. But the GlobalX U.S. Preferred ETF, with 72% of dividends last year qualifying, is perhaps tolerable in a taxable account.
4. High-grade bonds
Same tax treatment as junk bonds, but the default losses are smaller and the coupon less painful at tax time. That is, the whipsaw of highly-taxed income offset by not very useful losses is not nearly as severe as in #2 junk. Still, most people will want these in a tax-sheltered account.
5. CD ladders
A series of bank certificates of deposit with staggered maturities is similar, and inferior, to a collection of Treasury notes. At tax time, CDs display their inferiority by getting hit with state income tax. They probably should be in your IRA.
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6. U.S. Treasuries
You’ll usually want to keep these in the IRA. But outside they don’t fare too badly. Interest is exempt from state tax.
7. Growth REITs
Digital Realty Trust has delivered most of its terrific return over the past decade in the form of share appreciation, which doesn’t get taxed outside an IRA if you’re a buy and hold investor. Its dividend last year consisted almost entirely of low-taxed capital gains and so-called “pass through” income. On the other hand you can’t count on future appreciation and the pass-through dodge is going away in 2026.
8. Actively managed mutual fund
This costly object will disgorge taxable gains. It’s a foolish thing to own, but if you must have it, put it in your retirement account.
9. K-1 commodity fund
This older style of futures pool (example: Invesco DB Commodity Tracking) is taxed as a partnership, with most profits getting 60/40 treatment (meaning, they are presumed to consist of 60% long-term gains taxed at the favorable rates).
10. High-dividend stocks
We’re talking about the ones that (unlike those in #3 above) pay dividends qualifying for the low cap gain rates. Examples: Verizon, Altria.
11. Foreign stocks
Inside an IRA the dividend yield on these things, higher on average than on the U.S. market, incurs foreign income tax, typically at a 15% rate. Outside, the dividends incur U.S. income tax, most of the time at favorable cap-gain rates. Outside you owe the same 15% foreign withholding tax but you get back some (in rare cases, all) of this as a credit against your U.S. tax bill. There’s no way to get a credit for foreign tax collected from the IRA.
12. Stock index fund
The annual tax damage from the dividends on a total U.S. market ETF will be something like 0.3%. You have a capital gain problem only if you sell the thing.
13. Low-dividend stocks
Here is the sweet spot for taxable investors. The dividends incur federal income tax at low rates (usually between 15% and 23.8%). The appreciation is never taxed if you behave yourself. Capture capital losses on the stocks that go down and let the winners ride. If you have stocked up on loss carryforwards then you can cash in a few winners without paying tax. As for the rest of the stocks that went up: Duck capital gain tax by giving shares to charity, giving them to zero-bracket relatives or holding them until you’re gone.
If most of your money is in a retirement account (not uncommon for youngsters), you’ll have some stock market exposure there. For that account, disregard the instructions about loss harvesting. Don’t own individual stocks. Own a cheap exchange-traded fund.
14. Master limited partnerships
These collections of oil pipelines (example: Enterprise Products Partners LP) deliver fat dividends that go largely untaxed in the early years of your holding period. They don’t work inside an IRA because there they create “unrelated business taxable income” headaches.
