Gig Economy Side Hustles: 18+Best Work from Home Jobs to Make Extra Income

The gig economy is an employment setup where freelance individuals will complete tasks or ‘gigs’ for individuals or companies on a short-term basis.

It is not uncommon for these gigs to be one-off tasks, but there are also instances where an individual will be hired multiple times to complete various different tasks.

There has been an upward trend towards a gig economy in recent years. This has been caused by various aspects. Primarily, the workforce is becoming more mobile and flexible. Therefore, work can be completed remotely via digital platforms. As a result, the location of an individual’s job is being detached from the work itself.

The gig economy has become a part of a shift in cultural and business environments. The key cultural change is the increase of a public ideology of an entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Never in history has there been a time where so many individuals wish to work for themselves, and freelancing via a gig economy can be the optimal way to achieve this.

Who is classified as a gig worker?

A gig worker is defined as an independent contractor or freelancer who typically completes short-term work for multiple clients. The work that they complete is often project-based, paid hourly, or part-time work.

In order to bring in a good income, a gig worker will typically require multiple jobs or ‘gigs’ at any given time. It is quite common in this day and age for gig workers to do work on the side of their traditional jobs in order to make some extra money on the side.

For one in ten workers, gig work is their primary source of income.

Pros of gig economy

1. Flexibility-You can work from anywhere.
There are people travelling all over the world while maintaining their gig-type work lifestyle. Then there are parents who wish to spend more time with their children, and being a freelancer allows them to work less conventional hours so that they can spend the majority of the day with their kids.

2. Greater independence

Many people do not handle the traditional role of having a boss and working alongside many individuals. The workplace politics and stress may not suit you either. But the benefit of being a gig worker is that you make the rules.

You have far more independence and you’re in control of your destiny when it comes to when you work and how to work.

3. Variety of jobs
While conventionally in our roles we will fulfill a single job, the roles are potentially endless as a gig worker. For example, if you have the ability to write code, but you’re also good at editing videos, you could be a gig worker in both industries.

There are no limitations to the variety of work which you could be completing. This can keep gig workers on their toes and is one of the main reasons people may be attracted to gig work, and no two days are the same.

Cons of gig economy

1. No benefits.
Do you want a pension? Health insurance? Some of the more typical benefits that you may get with a traditional job are not included as a gig worker. Sure, you may make enough money to be able to set yourself up with some health insurance, however, it certainly doesn’t come as an included benefit.

2. Personal expenses
You are in control of all of the expenses when it comes to being a gig worker. Unlike a conventional job where you can be refunded for certain work-related expenses, you will have to bear all of these expenses yourself if you choose to be a freelance gig worker.

3. Isolation
Surprisingly, it is quite common for those who work for themselves to become lonely. Often people will miss the companionship and comradery of working together in an office environment with other people.

Often as a solo gig worker, you will be working alone. However, it is possible to work together with other individuals in a gig environment.

Perhaps you and your partner could end up travelling the world while delivering graphic design services to people as you travel. Regardless, the isolation that could potentially be involved with being a freelance gig worker should always be considered prior to commit to it as a full-time job.

4. More stress
There can be significantly more stress as a gig worker. Due to the decrease in stability of income, there can be times where you need work to bring in some income, yet there is no work surfacing.

This can lead to significant times of stress as a gig worker. Furthermore, the success of your business

19 Gig Economy Side Jobs to Make Some Extra Income

Gig Economy Side Hustles – Writing Jobs.

1. Freelancing
Freelance writing can cover many areas and genres. The most common and lucrative option here is to act as a ghostwriter for individuals/companies. This means that you write content, blogs, eBooks, etc for someone else and allow them to take the credit for your writing.

In other words, you are a ghost, and not associated with the final product once it has been delivered and the client can do with the content as they please.

2. Pinterest Virtual assistant
There are many repetitive and boring tasks associated with Pinterest that people are not willing to do themselves. Whether it be curating content, creating pins, or setting up Pinterest pages, you can act as a virtual assistant for individuals on Pinterest.

This requires very little experience or qualifications, so it is a good one for those who don’t feel confident that they have a major skill to deliver.

This is one of the top gig economy side hustles if you have great time management skills, excellent communication abilities, and great graphics on Pinterest.

3. Legal Transcription business
This is the process of taking audio or spoken words within legal proceedings and converting them into a written document in the source language which can then be utilized by the client. To add extra value, sometimes it can be beneficial for the client if you can also translate the audio into a different language.

4. Resume writing services
Do you think you know how to write an effective resume? Hiring an effective resume writer can be life-changing for your clients. You’re providing value to the future careers of individuals and giving them the opportunity to land interviews for people’s dream jobs.

5. Personal concierge
Working as a personal concierge is very similar to working as a personal assistant. The main difference being is that normally a personal assistant would work for a single individual or company, while as a personal concierge, you can complete work for many different individuals which opens up your possibilities for increased revenue.

6. Proofreading

You can specialize in various different areas of proofreading. Whether it be being an academic proofreader, or helping people to proofread their eBooks, there is a market out there for individuals who are able to perfect pieces of writing

Work from Home Side Hustles – Tech Side Jobs

7. Video editing
Being a video editor can be a difficult gig economy to enter, as it requires a significant amount of experience and knowledge. However, this gig would be perfect for individuals who already work in the video editing industry, and just wish to make some extra money on the side, or perhaps begin a transition into a scenario where they’re solely self-employed.

Video editing can have a relatively high start-up cost compared to other gigs due to the fact that top video editing software, as well as a computer that can effectively render video, can be expensive.

Other gigs listed here have a start-up cost as low as nothing, while video editing could cost thousands, to begin with.

Related: 24 + Creative Ways To Make Money Online For Students Without Investment

8. Voiceover artist
As with video editing, this requires a little bit of a start-up cost as you can’t be a voiceover artist unless you have good recording software, and most importantly, a high-quality microphone.

The key to being successful as a voiceover artist is having a specific niche. Do you have an upbeat voice which would be good for adverts? Or do you have a soothing voice that would be good at recording audiobooks? Or perhaps you have a very deep and scary voice which would be good for TV Shows and Movies?

A good voiceover artist in a specific niche can make a serious amount of money in the long term.

9. Computer repair
If you are a bit of a whizz with the computers and think you can solve the majority of problems that people have with their computers, then this could be the gig for you.

In this day and age, it is also possible to remotely fix people’s computers too in some scenarios, so you could begin this gig and make money from it from people throughout the world (although it obviously comes with separate challenges when done globally).

Related: 26 + Profitable Home Based Business Ideas For Moms to Make Money

10. Web developer
There are many coding languages out there for web design, so you could specialize in something specific, or you could be a general web developer. Something which is growing recently is the Software as a Service niche.

If you specialize in being able to make website platforms that provide a service or resolve a problem for people, then you could be standing on a goldmine. For example, think Skyscanner, which searches far and wide for the best prices on flights.

These types of websites which perform tasks for individuals to help them can bring in large amounts of money if you make them yourselves, but there are also people out there looking to pay significant money to individuals willing to code these types of websites.

11. Assembling appliances or other household items
IKEA Furniture! Most people hate putting it together and are willing to pay people to do it for them. If you are quick and good at doing it, you can be paid a healthy sum of money to take this annoyance out of the hands of people.

Gig Economy Side Hustles -Food Related Businesses

It is worth keeping in mind that food-related businesses may have specific requirements when it comes to food safety standards. If you are considering opening a food-related business, you should make sure you are well versed in your local laws and requirements.

12. Catering

Are you a bit of a Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen? Catering for large events can pay huge amounts of money. Especially as soon as you add the word “Wedding” in front of anything. The difficulty here is having the supplies to cater to large numbers of people.

13. Food truck business
Food trucks and food stalls are becoming increasingly popular, especially in core trendy cities around people’s workplaces. If you can offer high-quality food quickly to people on their lunch breaks…you’re on to a winner!

14. Food restaurant delivery services
Whether it be Deliveroo, Uber Eats, or any of the many other food delivery services, they all offer reasonable incentives to deliver the food to people’s doors.

The benefit here is that the majority of work comes in the evening and therefore you can do this gig while also maintaining a normal 9-5 job as well.

15. Shop groceries for seniors
Elderly individuals may not be in a fit state to go down to the shops or carry bags of food to their homes. You can make shopping lists and do their shopping for you. Often elderly people will give large tips as well!

Gig Economy Side Hustles for Extra Money – Other Businesses

16. Delivering Gigs for amazon
Delivering for Amazon has become one of the most popular side-gigs in recent times, as it is so accessible. You choose your hours, and how often you want to work.

You are paid on how many deliveries you can take within a certain time. So, if you have a means of transport and have some free time, this gig can be perfect.

17. Take seniors shopping or for doctors’ appointments.
Being a carer is not only a good thing to do, but there is also significant money in this industry.

Elderly individuals have to pay large sums of money to go into homes or get carers to come in to help them with appointments or shopping.

You could utilize your lack of overheads to offer this service at a fraction of the cost of the large companies.

18. Rent out a room to Airbnb.

Got a spare room in your house you don’t need? This can be perfect for bringing in a little extra money or covering the majority of the monthly mortgage payment.

This gig can also be beneficial to overcome one of the key downsides of working in a gig economy when it comes to isolation…and you’ll now have a new roommate!

Related: 32 + Proven Ways to Make Money at Home As a Stay at Home Mom or Dad

19. Tour guide
Do you live in a location with a lot of tourism? You could learn the ins and outs of local history or specialize in a specific aspect of the local tourism environment and offer educational tours for visitors to the local area.

People are willing to pay good money when they visit somewhere on holiday and want to get some cultural experiences.

This is one of the cheapest gig economy side hustles to start especially if you live in heavy tourist cities try it out. You can prebook a few tours a day and a great way to exercise.

Gig Economy Side Hustles – Conclusion

As you can see, there are many different gigs you can partake in to join the gig economy. Some have a lower barrier of entry than others, but I’m sure there is at least one on this list that you could utilize in order to dip your toe into the world of the growing gig

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