Back some years ago, one side hustle, absolutely changed my life and the trajectory of where I am today.
So, I am a huge advocate of starting them because it impacted my life a lot. But, not every side hustle, is for everyone. There are some that will compliment your current skills, and then those that just won’t work for your current lifestyle, or maybe conflicts with your work schedule.
So, I started thinking about what side hustle could be done from your phone. I think this is important because your phone is always with you, you can take it to work most of the time, and everyone has one.
I put together 16 ways where you can make $250 dollars on your phone EVERY DAY. Also, you don’t have to dedicate all your time to these side hustles.
They are called “side” hustles for that reason, so that you can continue to work your regular job while growing your side hustle, on the side.
This isn’t a free money hack or how to be lazy and make money, so even if you’re doing them from your phone, you still need to be dedicated and focused for these to turn into meaningful amount of money.
Practical ways to make money that can change the trajectory of your finances and future.
Keep in mind, as we go through these sixteen side hustles that can be done from your phone, that depending on your current skills, some of these side hustles are just easier to get into than others.
For example, if you already have some video editing skills, it would be easier for you to start a YouTube channel and make quality videos, versus someone who has no editing experience. So make sure to watch this video all the way through to see which ones speak to you the most. Also after the first few side hustle we touch on they start to get a bit more interesting.
If you’re going to pick any of these side hustles, try to pick one you already have a comparative advantage in.
That way, you’ll be able to grow quicker and start earning money fast.
Table of Contents (Click to expand)
What are the best side hustles you can start from your phone?
There are many side hustles that you can do from your phone that can make you extra income. Here is a list of side hustle ideas you can do from your phone that we will expand on more in this article. You could, sell your skills on freelance apps, start reselling, sell AI art on Etsy, upload notes to study pool, recharge charging scooters, perform work for field agent, sell images on EyeEm, become a virtual friend, manage social media for small businesses, dropship products, sell a course, YouTube, become a influencer, run ads for businesses, sell a digital product and affiliate marketing.
Sell Skills on Freelance Apps
One of the quickest ways to make steady money right now is through freelance apps like Upwork and Fiverr.
The great thing about these apps is that you can sell whatever skills you have. It could be social media related, it could be writing, it could even be voice-over. Anything you can do has a market on these apps and all you need to do is sign up, create a profile, send proposals, and start earning.
It’s by far one of the easiest side hustles to start on your phone. You just need a basic skill to sell yourself and services, complete the projects or gigs around your work schedule, get reviews and you can scale this up.
Depending on the skill or service being offered, this can be done completely from your phone. SO, check out Upwork and Fiverr.
Next, we have..
Reselling
One quick way to get some extra cash is to buy low and sell for more. This is the side hustle that changed my life some years ago. I made $420K my first year flipping things online. You can go source from pallets in bulk, garage sales, thrift stores, online or anywhere that you can haggle as good deal.
You can use your phone and the eBay app, to take pictures and list them for sale on eBay. This can be fully done from your phone, and you could make life changing money, because its literally what I did, and I was working a 9-5 when I did this. Very practical.
Ill quickly show you, Log into the mobile app, search the item you are looking to buy, see what its actively selling for, then select the upper right had icon, select sold listings and look at what the item that you are interested in buying is actually being sold for. Make sure negotiate a purchase offer well below that and factor in shipping.
Huge opportunity to make money from your phone, next we have..
Selling AI art on Etsy
You’ve probably heard of Etsy, right? It’s a big marketplace where people usually sell DIY crafts and stuff. You can use AI to make money on Etsy.
Here’s how it goes: You download the Etsy Sellers app on your phone. Then, you create listings where you use the AI generated images that you created, and turn them into digital downloads, or you can place those images on a canvas and sell paintings or t shirts and sell a physical product as well.
Now, you might wonder, how can I create AI generated art? Well, there are apps out there that use AI to do that. One of them is called “Mid Journey.”
Let’s say you created 50 AI generated images on mid journey of space images. You can then bundle them up and list them on your Esty store as a digital download and sell it for say $10 bucks.
Someone who may have say a blog in the space niche, might want to use them on their blog and buy it from you, so they don’t have to spend the time creating it themselves.
Also you can sell the same products you created over and over again.
Imagine selling 1000s of these a month and having a library of items available to purchase.
Next, we have.
Uploading notes on Studypool
If you’re one of those folks who’s always been great at taking notes and acing school, you’re gonna love this next side hustle. It could actually bring you in around five grand or maybe even more every single month.
So, there’s this website called StudyPool. You can think of it as a place where you can upload your notes and sell them to a bunch of students who need ’em. Getting started is easy– just head over to studypool, tap on this little icon up on the top right corner of your phone screen, hit “Sell Docs,” and then go for the “Start Selling Documents Now” button.
Now, check this out: those top dogs on the site, the ones who’ve been doing this for for the longest, they’re raking in big bucks – we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars – just by sharing their notes.
There are millions of students active on the site, so there is a market looking for your notes and money to be made here.
Charging Scooters
If you live in even a somewhat populated area, it’s likely you’ve come across these electric scooters on the streets. Companies like Lime and Bird have rolled out these dock less scooters that are accessible on the streets.
Here’s the catch, you will need a car to do this, so although this is not fully from your phone, it will require that you have one.
These scooters can be rented via a smartphone app and dropped off almost anywhere when you’re done. So here’s where you come in, these scooters need recharging at some point.
You can use your smartphone to download apps such as Lime, then enroll as a scooter charger, also referred to as a “Lime Juicer.”
The process is fairly straightforward. You navigate through your town, collect scooters that require recharging – the app will pinpoint their locations. Once you’ve rounded them up, you take them back home to plug in and recharge.
On average, you’ll earn around 5 to 12 dollars for each scooter you recharge. So, let’s imagine you manage to recharge 20 scooters in one evening – that equates to potentially earning between 100 and 240 dollars, all for just a few hours of effort.
Field Agent
Field agent is a app that big companies worldwide use to hand out different tasks to their agents. I mean, imagine this – you can help brands and retailers by taking pics, sharing your thoughts, and doing other assignments, all through this app.
What’s cool is that a lot of these tasks can fit right into your everyday routine – like, you know, even stuff as simple as a grocery run.
So, getting into it is super easy: just get the Field Agent app, pick a task, get it done, and once you’ve wrapped it up, the Field Agent team checks out what you’ve submitted. If everything was completed, you get paid.
You’ll see a lot of success stories about agents earning between $100 and $300 dollars a day with this side hustle. I think there is a lot of potential here for you to make money on the side. May not be the best at scale, because you are leveraging your time to make money, but a great way to make extra money for sure.
Selling Images On EyeEm
EyeEm is a stock photography platform that prides itself on offering authentic images for sale. Why I think this serves you so well, is that a bunch of these photos can actually be taken with regular smartphones.
And after doing some research, some of these images are selling for a $350 each.
Just go to EyeEm and look for “For Contributors.” Click on “Sell Your Work” and you’re on your way. You set up an account and start putting up your pictures.
Now, there is an art to this. It all depends on how good your images look and how eye-catching they are. But considering most pictures on their sell for around $350, and EyeEm gives you 55% of that for every sale, you could be pocketing around $192 for each picture you sell. Not too bad, from a side hustle from your phone.
Next we have….
Become a Virtual Friend
There are platforms like Friend PC, Rent a Friend, and Papa that offer compensation for becoming a virtual companion to individuals experiencing loneliness.
Something I could have used in high school “Que the sad music” lol
And I know what you might be thinking, but these sites are totally legit. You can actually make money by simply chatting with someone online. Now, I was really debating if I should have listed this on here, because I like to choose side hustles and businesses that I think can best serve you in the long run.
But then, if there are those out there that need a friend and someone to talk to, that may be dealing with some issues and need a friend to talk to, I figured, because of this and the earning potential, this would be good to add this to the list.
And again, proceed with caution as there might be some weirdos on here as well.
For the Papa website, you just head on over to their website, papa.com. Look for that little icon at the top, give it a click, then choose “Be a Papa Pal,” and hit that “Apply Now” button. You can then actually sign up with the other two sites along with Papa.
With these sites you can potentially make up to three-ten thousand dollars a month, just by being a friend. But again, let me drop a quick reminder – safety first. Always use common sense and keep your interactions strictly friendly and chatty. No need to get too cozy, you know what I’m saying?
Next we have, some ideas that are less weird, slightly more scalable and may require a laptop at times and that’s…
Manage The social media Of a Small Business
The great thing about being a social media manager is that you can be a manager for multiple businesses. You could manage the accounts of three, four, five — or even ten businesses as long as you have the time for it.
The hard thing about it, though, is getting your first gig. Most small to medium-sized businesses will be content with managing their social media themselves, so you’ve got to find a particular kind of business to pitch your skills to.
You’ve got to find a business that could do a lot better with its social media strategy and then sell your capacity to improve that strategy and convert it into more views and more sales. Before you dive into this business you’ve got to be social media savvy yourself. You must know what you’re doing because if you don’t you won’t be able to sell your ideas to potential clients.
One way you could get new clients is to actively scout for small to medium-sized businesses online. Once you find one that isn’t doing quite great with their reach, draft a proposal and send a cold email, from your phone to them. If they like it, jump on a call, use your phone again and negotiate a deal.
If you do that over and over and draft a great proposal, you will be hired in no time. As you grow you can start using reviews from satisfied customers to get even more jobs and increase your income.
Next we have..
Dropshipping
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Dropshipping at this point. It’s probably the most popular online business you could get into right now.
If you’re a drop shipper, all you need is to advertise goods from your drop shipping supplier and get people to purchase the products on lets say your Shopify store.
Now at some point you may need a laptop or computer for some of these steps. But ultimately the business can be managed using your phone alone.
Once you sell a product on your site, the supplier will ship the product right to the customer without you having to lift a finger.
You get the profits on the sale without having to stock up on supplies and the products get delivered straight to the customer. Again, you’ll need an online store and to run ads, but this can all be managed from your phone.
You’ll need to identify a niche, I would stay away from a general store, and find products with healthy profit margins after you factor in your ad costs.
Next…
Sell A Course
Knowledge sells. If you’re knowledgeable or an expert in something and know how to communicate that knowledge or teach it, you could make some good money. Put your knowledge into an online video course platform like Kajabi and start selling on the internet.
You can use your phone to record you teaching the course and may need a computer to customize and upload the videos on Kajabi, but again this is mostly mobile based once its set up.
For example, if you’re great at building things you could create a course for people who don’t know about how to build something. As long as the information is helpful, and the end result are satisfied customers, your course will be profitable.
Let’s be honest though, you can’t just create a course and expect people to magically know of its existence. You must advertise it and tell people about it. Sales may start slow but with enough work, you’ll be earning hundreds of dollars per day.
You can also check out Udemy to see what current courses, in your space, are selling for and how many purchases have been made.
YouTube
YouTube is a great source of income if you don’t mind talking to a camera, or your phone. If you think you’ve got a great personality and want to make money off of it, you can start posting videos on YouTube.
The key to making money on YouTube is to be ready for lots of slow days and be consistent with posting. There are many YouTubers that posted multiple times a week, for years, before they got traction.
So if you think you’re not up to that, then you should probably do something else. But if that’s right up your alley, then you need to start making those videos and putting them out.
YouTube is NOT easy, it’s a grind. Trust me, I do this! But if you a natural at communicating, speak well and can show off your personality, then this may be for you.
Next, we have…
Become An Influencer
Influencers currently make an alot of money, and many of them don’t spend more than a few hours every day shooting content and posting.
If you already have an Instagram or Twitter account, and have a few thousand followers, that’s a great place to start.
To become an Influencer, all you need to do is find your style and start posting consistently. Again, it’s going to be hard work, but you must remember to be consistent and relatable.
Once you get tons of followers you can monetize the traffic from sponsors, ads, get brand deals, or even sell a product or service.
This can be done all from your phone.
Next we have…
Run Ads for Businesses
If becoming an influencer doesn’t work for you, you could start by running Ads for businesses.
You may not know this but a lot of businesses simply don’t know how to run ads effectively. If you’ve got the expertise or the skill to run ads, you should sell your skills to businesses that could use your help. It’s another great way to make a lot of money outside of regular work hours.
You could even find clients on Upwork and Fiverr, like in the earlier example.
Help businesses get traffic from ads, if the ads you created convert to more business for them, and more sales, they will be happy to keep you on and refer you to other businesses.
The skill here is mostly digital advertising and online marketing. Find the marketing channel that best compliments the type of business that you’re working for. So, if it’s a local food shop, you will definitely want to work on Instagram, google and Facebook ads.
Next, we have,
Sell A Digital Product
One of the fastest ways people make money through their phones is simply by creating a digital product and selling it.
A digital product is an intangible asset or piece of media that can be sold and distributed repeatedly online without the need to replenish inventory. So digital products could be books, art, courses, digital templates or tools.
Digital products are any digital content you think could be useful and can be sold. You could even sell them for as low as 5 dollars. The amazing thing about digital products is that they are very easy to scale. Imagine pricing one digital product at $5 and then selling a thousand of those products a month.
The only difficult thing is creating a product that sells. I know someone who sells email templates. And makes bank. This person writes great emails for businesses that sends newsletters, so she sells the templates to other people and makes a lot of money doing it.
Affiliate Marketing
You can go onto sites like digistore24 or clickbank by using your phone’s browser and have access to a marketplace filled with affiliate options. They’ve got a whole bunch of courses, eBooks, and more, just waiting for you to promote them.
Let’s break it down with an example – let’s say you find this fitness course on digistore24. When you’re an affiliate for it, you could make a fifty percent commission for every sale you bring in.
You can sign up through their user-friendly app. Then, you hit up the Affiliate Marketplace section and choose products that promise some decent returns that you know your audience would be interested in.
Tap on “Promote Now,” and they hand you this special link. Copy, paste, and share it wherever you want.
So you can list in on your social media accounts, YouTube, on your website, or run ads to them depending on the cost to acquire a sale.
It great for those who don’t want to create a product from scratch, and instead, you’re becoming a affiliate for top-quality products created by others.
