5 Creative Side Hustles that you can do from your phone

Side hustles are becoming increasingly popular as people look to fill in the gaps between their regular earnings and their household expenses. There are heaps of different side hustles you could master depending on what skills, education and expertise you have at your disposal.

One thing's for sure - you don't need any special equipment or a dedicated office these days. Here are 5 side-hustle ideas that you can do to make money, straight from your phone.

Sell your digital art or photos

Did you know that just about anyone can make money selling your original photography or digital artwork online? There are always people looking for original art, and you don't need to be a professional artist or photographer to get started.

If you have a decent eye for colour and composition and enjoy taking photos on your phone, you can turn these into prints and products to sell. Or if you love drawing digital images using something like Procreate, you can do the same.

Selling your work on sites like RedBubble or Society6 means that you don't even need to pay for printing upfront - once you set up an account all you have to do is upload your images, select what products you want to sell and you're good to go. You can promote your products on social media (also from your phone!) and you earn a commission every time someone buys one of your designs.

Become a stock photographer

A related side-hustle (especially if you have a good camera on your phone) is to start creating stock photos and selling them on sites like Shutterstock or Yellow Images. These sites let photographers upload their collections and pay a small commission anytime a customer downloads your photos as part of their subscription.

Stock photography is different from commercial photography in a number of ways, so it's worth doing some research into what is currently on offer and what is popular. But we know from the businesses we work with that there is a real demand for a more diverse range of business imagery, so there are ways to stand out.

Template Design

If you've ever done any type of graphic design, you've probably heard of Canva, an online design tool that's super easy to use and makes designing professional-looking graphics and images a breeze. There's even a mobile app so you can create and edit graphics on the go (hint hint).

If you're good with design, then trust us, your skills are in demand! With businesses of all sizes needing content for social media, there's a niche market for stylish Canva templates that businesses can then use for their own channels.

All you have to do is get creative and then get your designs in front of small business owners or marketing teams that don't have the time or the skills to do the design work themselves.

Photo by Will Paterson on Unsplash

Social Media Assistant

Ok, be honest. How often do you find yourself scrolling through social media on your phone? Now imagine if you could be paid to spend time on social media?

Lots of companies - especially small businesses and solo business owners - outsource their social media to freelance social media managers or virtual assistants. If you can write strong copy, have a good eye for visuals and understand what content is trending at any given moment, you could make money by managing other people's social media accounts for them.

Other than finding your first customer, you don't need much to get started. But if you want to prove your credentials, there are loads of free - respected - certifications you can do online. Check out companies like Hootsuite and Hubspot to get started.

Create an online course

The pandemic saw the online course industry boom, and that hasn't shown any sign of slowing over the last few months. If you are an expert at something, or you have a hobby that other people would like to learn, you can turn it into an online course with nothing but a mobile phone.

The hard part in creating an online course is working out what you need to teach, but once you've figured that out you can record yourself on your mobile. Even if your mobile isn't the latest and greatest, it's okay - just pick a quiet location with good light.

There are loads of mobile apps that will let you edit your videos and add text or graphics. Then you just need to figure out where you will sell your course. For creative courses, places like Skillshare can be a good option or check out Udemy for more business-focused courses. If you'd rather set up your own 'school', there are platforms like Teachable and Thinkific that let you upload your videos, manage your students and take payments in one place.

Main photo by Ghen Mar Cuaño on Unsplash