Smart Side Hustles for Regular People: No Experience Needed to Make Money Online

Make and Sell Candles

Candle making is a hugely popular craft that can become a lucrative side business. Buy supplies in bulk and experiment with unique scented candle designs. Sell customized aromatic candles via Etsy, at craft fairs, or to local shops.

Pros: Inexpensive startup costs, sell creations online or locally

Cons: Finding product-market fit, managing shipping/logistics

Service-Based Side Hustles

If you enjoy helping others, put your people skills to work with service-based side hustles. These allow you to set your own schedule and cash in on tasks you may already do for free.

Pet Sitting or Dog Walking

Are you crazy about animals? Turn your pet passion into profits by offering pet sitting, dog walking, or boarding services. Set your own rates and schedule via Rover or Wag, or market your services on neighborhood Facebook groups and Nextdoor.

With enough clients, you could easily make an extra $1000+ per month doing something you love! Say goodbye to a boring day job. Who wouldn’t want to get paid for playing with pets all day?

Pros: Fun way to earn money if you love animals, flexible schedule

Cons: Managing multiple pets takes organization, physically demanding

House Sitting

If you don’t mind staying in someone else’s home to care for their pets or plants, list your services on TrustedHouseSitters, HouseSitter and MindMyHouse. Homeowners provide free accommodation plus pay a fee for you to watch their home, allowing you to travel or live rent free!

Pros: Free accommodation, earn money while traveling

Cons: Homeowner expectations, sporadic gigs

Babysitting or Nannying

Caring for kids is hugely rewarding. Register as a babysitter, nanny or au pair on sites like Care.com, SitterCity or local Facebook groups. Set your own hours and rates. Experience with kids is preferred, but enthusiasm and creativity go a long way!

This is the perfect gig for earning solid money with a flexible schedule, even achieving full time income for the right clientele. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to play with kids all day?

Pros: Make good money doing enjoyable work, flexible hours

Cons: Juggling unpredictable kids, inconsistent demand

Senior Companion Care

The elderly often need extra assistance with errands, transportation, housekeeping, socializing and exercise. Offer your services through local senior centers, your church community or sites like CareLinx.

Experience caring for seniors is valued, but ultimately a caring, patient attitude shines through. Charging $12-$18 per hour for senior care services is common. Grow your clientele with a stellar reputation!

Pros: Make a difference for those in need, flexible hours

Cons: Demanding emotional work, background checks required

Resume Writing

With the rise of online job applications, polished resumes are crucial for getting noticed. Offer custom resume writing or revamp services through Fiverr, Flexjobs, or direct outreach to professionals. Pricing ranges from $100-$500+ for top-notch resume overhauls showcasing clients’ value.

Pros: Well paid for project-based work, help people’s careers

Cons: Finding consistent clients, extensive outreach required

Editing and Proofreading

Every website, book, article, or business document needs meticulous editing and proofreading before going live. Offer your eagle-eyed services to authors, businesses and bloggers as a freelance editor. Expect to earn $25-$50 per hour or more for quality work.

Pros: Well compensated, work remotely at flexible hours

Cons: Competition from experienced editors, feast/famine workload

Home Organization

Home organization is hugely sought after but time consuming for homeowners. Offer unpacking, decluttering, deep cleaning, and reorganization services at an hourly rate or per project. Advertise on community bulletins and build your clientele through word of mouth referrals.

Pros: Satisfying work transforming cluttered homes, flexible schedule

Cons: Physically demanding tasks, sparse demand without marketing

Errand Running

For busy professionals, running errands to the post office, pharmacy, bank, supply store, etc can be a headache. Take over their to-do list as an errand runner charging around $30/hour. Ideal for college students or anyone with spare time looking for quick cash.

Pros: Get paid to complete your own errands!

Cons: Lots of driving/waiting around, sporadic demand

Personal Shopping

If you love shopping and have an eye for style, offer personal shopping services to busy clients too overwhelmed to tackle the mall. Listen to their needs, find items they’ll love, and present curated options within budget. Charge by the hour or earn commission on purchased items.

Pros: Paid to shop! Help clients with a task they dislike

Cons: Finding consistent clients, unpaid research time

Home Cooking

Capitalize on your cooking expertise by making meals for busy professionals and families. List your services on apps like CookUnity and Josephine to be matched with local clients. You shop for ingredients and cook meals in your own kitchen, then deliver the finished dishes. This is a tasty way to earn $25-$35 per hour making food you love!

Pros: Get paid to cook and be creative in the kitchen

Cons: Lots of hands on cooking and delivery, managing orders

Rideshare Driver

Driving for Uber, Lyft or DoorDash are common ways to put your car to work. Offer rides or deliver food around your city on your own flexible schedule. While payments fluctuate, drivers can expect to earn $15-$25 per hour on average. Double check costs like insurance and gas to ensure adequate payout.

Pros: Choose your own hours, good money potential

Cons: Significant driving, managing ride requests

TaskRabbit

On TaskRabbit, locals post jobs like furniture assembly, yard work and handyman tasks that they need help with. Browse tasks in your area and select gigs matching your skills and schedule. No special expertise needed – just solid customer service skills. Expect to earn around $15-$40 per hour.

Pros: High hourly pay for flexible work, lots of task variety

Cons: Inconsistent demand, physically demanding jobs

Virtual Bookkeeper

If you’re a numbers whiz, offer professional bookkeeping services virtually to small businesses, bloggers, online stores and more. Provide services like reconciling expenses, accounts payable/receivable, invoicing, budgeting, payroll etc. No specific degree required, just bookkeeping experience and accounting software skills. Expect to earn $30-$50 per hour with steady clients.

Pros: Well paid for specialized remote work, flexible schedule

Cons: Stiff competition, feast or famine workload

Freelance Accountant

Take your financial background to the next level providing freelance accounting services. Help clients with tasks like managing taxes, audits, financial compliance and advisory. Though extensive credentials like a CPA are needed, this remote CFO-for-hire role pays extremely well at $50-$150+ per hour.

Pros: Lucrative for experienced accountants, remote work

Cons: Extensive qualifications and licensure required, irregular workload

Bookkeeping

While not as lucrative as specialized accounting, professional bookkeeping is a practical remote side hustle for anyone proficient in small business financial management. Offer services through Quickbooks or companies like Bookkeeper360 and Bench. Let your organizational skills pay off with this corporate paper-pusher gig paying around $25-$40 per hour.

Pros: In demand remote work for number crunching pros, flexible schedule

Cons: Can get repetitive, learning curve with accounting software

Social Media Manager

Nearly every business needs help managing their Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok accounts. Step in to create engaging social content, grow followers, run ads and track performance. Expect to earn $25-$50 per hour managing accounts part time with clients you attract.

Pros: Paid to be creative on social media! Flexible remote work

Cons: Finding reliable clients, learning nuances of each platform

Virtual Assistant

We already covered the core virtual assistant role, but as you gain experience you can expand your services to earn higher hourly rates managing complex business tasks virtually like customer service, graphic design, web development, HR, paralegal work and more!

Pros: Well paid for wide range of remote work, flexible schedule

Cons: Finding consistent clients, being self-directed

Web Designer

Every business needs a polished, functional website to attract customers. If you have web design chops, offer freelance website building, maintenance and optimization services. Provide packaged solutions including copywriting, graphics, SEO and security. Expect to earn $50-$150 per hour for robust websites that get results.

Pros: Well compensated, remote work, wide range of project types

Cons: Stiff competition from low cost providers, constant learning as technology evolves

Graphic Designer

Skilled graphic designers are in constant demand to create logos, ads, marketing materials, presentations, infographics, illustrations, packaging and more. Offer freelance graphic design services starting at $25 per hour up to $100+ per hour as you build your portfolio and clientele. This creative skill translates into a location flexible side hustle.

Pros: Paid to be creative! Grow your design portfolio

Cons: Finding reliable clients, constantly improving technical skills

Freelance Writer

We touched on freelance writing previously, but as your skills grow you can offer specialized writing services for higher pay. Expand into copywriting, technical writing, grant writing, speech writing and manuscript editing. Experienced freelance writers can easily earn $50-$200 per hour.

Pros: Well paid for specialized expertise, work from anywhere

Cons: Irregular assignments, stiff competition from low cost writers

Translator

If you’re fluent in multiple languages, provide professional document translation services to earn big. Sites like Translate.com and Gengo connect freelancers with translation jobs. Rates vary by language and specialization – expect to earn around $0.10-$0.20 per word for common language combinations.

Pros: Location flexible work, earn well leveraging language skills

Cons: Niche languages have sparse demand, takes practice translating professionally

Data Entry

Every business accumulates data that needs organized and input to operate efficiently. Offer administrative data entry or data processing services virtually to earn quick cash from this menial – but essential – task. Expect to earn around $15-$25 per hour, with speed boosting your rates. It’s mindless work, but puts money in your pocket and keeps things running behind the scenes.

Pros: Brainless remote work anyone can do, flexible schedule

Cons: Boring repetitive tasks, usually capped hourly rate

Transcription

We mentioned transcription previously, but expanding your skills can allow you to tackle more technical medical, research, or legal transcription for increased pay of $25-$50+ per audio hour. There’s high demand for accurate transcriptionists across industries. This boring but essential work provides stable income working from home.

Pros: Provides steady side income, gain specialized expertise

Cons: Need fast typing skills and attention to detail, mundane work

Call Center Representative

While customer service over the phone can be grueling, call center jobs are often available remotely on a part time flexible basis. Providing tech support, reservations, telemarketing services and other specialized roles pay $14-$25 per hour. It’s a quick way to earn extra money from home without substantial experience.

Pros: Available for remote part time work, trainable skills

Cons: Dealing with frustrated customers, tight metrics oversight

Final Thoughts

When it comes to side hustles tailored for regular people, you’re only limited by your imagination and motivation. Everyone has unique skills, resources and availability to leverage. Start small with online surveys and micro gigs requiring little effort. Reinvest your earnings and grow more lucrative location independent side hustles like freelancing, social media marketing and ecommerce over time.

The key is matching potential side hustles to your interests and lifestyle. Focus on quick wins that align with your strengths and availability to make extra money without overextending yourself. Over time, the right hustle can blossom into a thriving full-time small business doing work you love.

Don’t let a lack of fancy qualifications hold you back. With consistent effort maximizing existing assets, regular people can profit big on the right side hustle without technical skills or experience. Use this guide as inspiration to start generating real income tailored to your unique needs. The possibilities to prosper with a side gig are endless – get hustling!