7 Creative Side-Gigs That You Can Do From Home

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

While working a full time job, you may have considered picking up a creative side-gig to pursue your passion, earn some extra income or start to build your own business. Having a side-gig is a great way for you to expand your knowledge, flex your creative muscles and build something that is truly your own.

Considering that you may be pursuing your side-gig solely in the evenings or on the weekends, it’s good to know what types of work you can create from your computer. To help you get started, here are 7 creative side-gigs that you can do from home.

Start Your Own Blog

The first creative side-gig you can start from home is to create your own blog. Blogging is a reputable and popular source of sharing content via the Internet. Whether you focus on sharing your creative work, writing about topics such as fashion, lifestyle, fitness or even creating a platform where you review media such as films and music – there are plenty of ways that you can grow and build a successful blog.

In order to make money from your blogging, you will need to think of how you can create revenue. Some ideas include hosting advertisements on your website, utilizing affiliate partnerships or using your blog to sell a service.

With programs such as Google Adsense, you can easily start monetizing your blog from the minute you start creating content.

Sell a Product Online

Another creative side-gig that you can do from home is to sell a product online. In truth, selling something that aligns with your personal brand will often be the most successful.

For example, if you’re a photographer you can sell your images as large scale prints through your website or platforms such as Society6 and Darkroom. You could also produce physical photography books, perfect for any coffee table.

If you’re a graphic artist or illustrator, you could sell your artwork through Etsy or even distribute it as stock content through a third party platform. Making money through selling all comes down to your marketing plan.

If you choose to pursue this route, you will need to make sure you are sharing and posting your items for sale on your social media platforms, personal website and other areas where your community and followers are present.

Use Your Design Skills

A creative side-gig that will allow you to flex your design muscles is to create and craft graphic materials such as posters, business cards, flyers and more.

If you own a layout program such as Adobe InDesign, you can easily learn how to create graphic design materials either by using their templates or self-teaching yourself by watching quick and easy to follow tutorials.

Create a few mock examples of your work and reach out to friends, family and local businesses you may know to offer your services. Design work can be a lucrative pursuit as you grow your knowledge base and skill set. You can even continue to build upon what you already know with classes available on platforms such as Skillshare.

Editing and Proofreading

One of the most flexible creative side-gigs you can start is to offer the services of editing and proofreading. This can be done for projects such as resumes, cover letters, applications, books and even business plans. Landing these types of small jobs can be obtained through either friend recommendations, word of mouth or through freelancing platforms.

Freelancing platforms such as Upwork always have editing and proofreading positions available from employers around the world. While some of these tasks are low paying, stacking multiple jobs upon one another can allow you to earn some extra cash and grow your experience in the field.

Sell Your Images and Videos to Stock Websites

If you’re a photographer, selling your images to stock websites can be a great creative side-gig to earn some extra cash. There are several stock imagery websites available today and some require little to no information for you to sign up and start posting your images.

The best type of stock imagery is commercial focused content that contains people. The proper way to sell these images is to have your model or subject sign a model release form for the photos to be sold. You can even photograph more lifestyle, casual pictures that will be perfect for companies looking for authentic imagery.

While there is a large amount of travel content already available, be creative and consider selling travel related video clips to stock agencies. Video is becoming an increasingly powerful creative source and is in high demand by commercial brands. Sell your content on multiple websites for the ultimate payoff.

Freelance Video Editing

To build upon the power of video, consider a creative side-gig of freelance video editing. Many creatives understand how to take video, but are stunted by the complexities and learning curve that is required of creative editing.

Offer your services to businesses, brands or even local videographers who may be looking to outsource their video editing work to a third party contractor. Additionally, these types of gigs may also be posted on social media groups or freelance website, so join as many as you can and even post that you are open to receiving such editing opportunities.

Video editing can be a successful way to make money doing what you love. Depending on the content, length and complexity of the video, you could easily make hundreds to thousands of dollars for your work.

Become a Photo Editor or Retoucher

The final creative side-gig that you can do from home is to become a photo-editor or retoucher. Many professional photographers are often too busy to organize, retouch and edit their own images. With this, they outsource to trusted editors who have a strong visual eye and understanding of the editing process.

If you’re a photographer, this can be a great way for you to make extra income by doing something you are already knowledgable about. Photo editing and retouching can start at $5 per image and can range up to $20 or more depending on how complex the edits are.

The best way to land these types of projects is to create a portfolio of work and network with photographers in your area. Let them know you are open to working for them as an editor and/or retoucher, attach your body of work and establish your rates.

This may take some time to land a few connections, but once you start working with a busy photographer – you will have a steady flow of editing work.

As you can see, you can effectively start and build a creative side-gig from home today. Whether you start your own blog, offer outsourced services or sell your work online – there is a creative side-gig that is perfect for your skill set and schedule.