Freelancing

Hands down, freelancing is the one of the fastest ways to begin making extra money on the side.

You don’t need to build a website, create a product, or even come up with some killer business idea. All you need is to dig into your inventory of current skills, and find ONE client you can solve a problem for.

What kind of problems could you solve? In the archives here, you’ll find people freelancing their skills in:

For more, here are some of the most in-demand freelance skills.

No, it’s not as sexy as “passive income,” but it’s not as speculative either. You can start getting paid right away, and if your goal is to replace your day job income, there’s probably no faster way.

The Best Freelancing Podcast

I compiled a binge-worthy selection of freelancing and service business podcast episodes from The Side Hustle Show into this playlist. I think you’ll like it!

Dive into the archives here to figure out what you can sell as a freelancer and how to get it done.

312: 6 Rules to Scale any Side Hustle: Get Out Of Your Own Way and Free Up Your Time

January 9, 2024December 6, 2018

This is an episode about getting out of your own way, about the transformation from technician to business owner.

To help me work through what we’re going to call 6 Rules of Scale, I invited Sean Marshall from FamilyRocketship.com back to the program.

We last heard from Sean way back in episode 92 in early 2015, and I think he’s someone worth paying attention to because he’s set up his business (an online marketing agency) in such a way that the day-to-day operations don’t require much of his direct involvement at all.

311: How to Create Your Own Niche—and Your Own Income

March 31, 2025November 29, 2018

April Whitney was staring at a future of pharmaceutical copywriting, which has cubical farm written all over it, and wanted out.

Today, April’s view is quite a bit different. She’s a personal trainer, she sells a fitness program online at smalletics.com, but more interestingly, she’s become the leading voice in the niche of petite fitness.

295: A Local Service Business that Scales – From Zero to $60k a Month in Revenue

August 29, 2025August 9, 2018

Chris is the founder of ThinkMaids.com, a residential house cleaning service in the Washington DC area he started on the side while still a university student.

Less than two years later, the business is doing $60k a month worth of cleaning work, all without Chris ever lifting a mop or dusting a shelf himself.

How to Become a Tutor: $8000 a Month, One Algebra Problem at a Time

November 23, 2020August 6, 2018

This contribution on how to become a tutor comes from Trevor Klee.

Trevor’s a test-prep tutor in the Boston area, and his 20 hour per week tutoring business earns $8000 a month.

The business has given him the time freedom to pursue all sorts of new side hustles, including his blog for current and aspiring tutors, JustAddTutor.com.

289: After School Programs: How to Make $200 an Hour Playing with Kids

November 5, 2021June 28, 2018

May Najafabadi of CreativeKidzCrafts.com went from paying for her son to attend afterschool enrichment classes, to holding her own classes and making $12k working 1 hour a day for 8 weeks.

May has an interesting entrepreneurial background that is mostly in e-commerce selling items on eBay and Amazon.

285: The Passive Income Service Business: Recurring Revenue for Freelancers

March 31, 2025May 31, 2018

“I set up a big business just selling somebody else’s stuff,” Wes said.

Wes runs TheSalesWhisperer.com and is the host of The Sales Podcast which started around the same time as The Side Hustle Show back in 2013.

284: From Active to Passive Income: From $25 an Hour to 6-Figure Launches

October 25, 2023May 24, 2018

When Abbey made $8000 from her 1000-person email list, she knew she was on to something.

Over the last several years, Abbey Ashley has gone from earning $25 as a virtual assistant, to coordinating monster 6-figure launches of her own product.

Eight months pregnant with her first daughter, she couldn’t imagine putting her child in day care just to go back to work at a job she hated.

Music Licensing: How to Earn Passive Income with Stock Music

December 10, 2019May 21, 2018

I’m a moderately talented musician with a simple home studio and I’ve been earning thousands of dollars a year in passive income through music licensing.

My songs have been on NPR, the Outdoor channel and Verizon’s On Demand channel, among others. Tens of thousands of people have heard my music — they just haven’t realized it.

281: How to Start a $1000/Month Freelance Writing Business in 60 Minutes a Day

November 5, 2021May 3, 2018

“I’ve never been very good at working with people, so I wanted something that was flexible,” James said.

Sound familiar?

These are the words of someone who was not happy being a shoe salesman and wanted an out.

280: How to Start a Bounce House Rental Business (Investing in “Inflatable” Real Estate)

August 28, 2023April 26, 2018

Corey Jeffreys turned an $800 investment into $3k in the first year and has been growing his business and adding more automated processes each year.

His entrepreneurial adventure began by exploring the world of real estate investing, when he happened upon a slightly different rental business model: inflatable bounce houses.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social