The 5 Most Lucrative & Legit Online Side Hustles

Online side hustles are a great way to earn extra income and supplement your regular income. With the rise of the digital economy, there are now more opportunities than ever to start your own business or offer your skills and services to others. 

However, it can be difficult to know where to start and which online side hustles are both lucrative and legitimate.

In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most profitable and trustworthy ways to make money online, so you can turn your skills and interests into a successful side hustle.

1. Online Coaching and Training

This is a very viable and very lucrative online business idea today in 2023.

It is very easy for anyone to become a coach or trainer. You just have to figure out the most profitable problem you can solve with either a skill you have or something you are really really passionate about. Also, something that you do very well.

This is actually what I do.

A few years ago I used to work in the investment field. I have a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance and I was employed as a financial analyst. So I’d be the girl behind the laptop tapping numbers.

Aside from that, I’ve always been gifted in being a great orator. I’m a natural at teaching and training.

When I lost my job, I started thinking of ways I could make a living and I realized that I can combine my personal finance skills (which most of it is from a personal experience and my professional background) and my gift of being a natural and confident speaker.

This is how I was able to come up with coaching as a career. This started out as a side hustle and now it’s my main hustle.

You also can start from where you are.

Coach people on weight loss, fitness, career, relationships, cooking, photography, TikTok, literally anything you’re good at, you can coach people on it.

You just have to be confident enough and not let imposter syndrome keep you from starting a coaching business.

As long as you know something and someone else doesn’t, and you have a proven track record of being successful at the thing, you can charge others for it.

If you’re a natural at something, you could start an online coaching business as a side hustle.

Take it from me who has done it, it is one of the most lucrative online side hustles that could even earn you six figures and above.

2. Virtual Assistant Jobs

Everyone is slowly transitioning to online businesses. There are coaches like me, consultants and so many entrepreneurs running their businesses online.

Most of these individuals are solopreneurs meaning they are doing everything on their own and you know this could easily lead to burnout. They definitely need some sort of help. From administrative support, social media support, research help and so many other different kinds of support in their business.

This is where you can come in and help as a virtual assistant running your own business where you serve different clients at once.

Virtual Assistant roles are very very very available.

Every busy CEO/business owner/creative/artist will definitely need someone to help them with the backend of their business as their business grows and expands.

If you have the desire to learn, you have a laptop and good internet and you have good organizational and follow-up skills, you can start your virtual assistant business.

Some of the sites you can get virtual assistant jobs are:

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Fancy Hands
• People per hour
• Indeed
• LinkedIn
• TimeETC

Learn everything you need to know on how to become a virtual assistant.

VA Masterclass Course For Beginners.

3. Language Tutoring

One of the other legit online side hustles that you can start is language tutoring.

The first time I heard of this was from a personal friend. I was really surprised that she was teaching English online.

For us who are in an English-speaking country, we wouldn’t realize that there are so many other people in other countries who need to be taught English or Kiswahili or any other language.

Language tutoring online is a very viable business and people are actually earning from it as a side hustle.

Some of the platforms where you can get language tutoring jobs are:

• Verbling
• Preply
• Combly
• Wyzant
• Tutoroo

You can start by learning how people are going about with this language tutoring, and the opportunities that are there then sign up on these platforms and start making some money.

4. Freelance Writing

Writing in general is a very lucrative online business that you can start either as a main hustle or as a side hustle.

Some of the online writing jobs you can do are:

• CV/resume writing. Gone are the days when we assumed that we know everything an interviewer wants to see on our CVs. You can offer to write CVs for people looking for their first job, or looking to transition into another job or industry. 
• Proposal and grant writing. In an age where startups are growing, I have personally found myself looking for someone to help me with proposal and grant writing. Some of these writers charge on a commission basis. For instance, if someone gets funding of a couple of millions and you wrote the grant or proposal for them, you get a commission of that, which is really good money.
• Freelance Writing on Upwork and Fiverr. These are two of the best platforms to grow your online writing portfolio and as you grow, you can then start working with direct clients and get other freelancers working under you. 

Get yourself a comprehensive Upwork guide to get you started.

Upwork Guide For Beginners.

•  Niche Writing/Authority Writing. This you can write on blogs. For instance, if you’re good with skin care, you can start a blog about skincare. Whatever topic you’re good at, you can start writing about it. Niche topics range from travel, personal finance, nutrition, tech, etc. Once you’ve established yourself as a thought leader and people are reading your work, you can start having Ads on your blog. Platforms like AdSense can earn you some good money if you have a lot of traffic on your site. You can also work with brands and work as a brand ambassador for their products on your blog.

Writing is a very very lucrative and legit online business.

5. Content creation on Instagram and YouTube.

The way we make money nowadays has changed so much.

You can literally make money by building a powerful online brand.

Start by identifying your niche. What exactly would you like to be known for? Now narrow down to your target market. Who would you like your content to appeal to? That’s how you build an online brand.

Susan Wanjiku today is a brand. I’ve made so much money just because of the brand that I have built. 

Building a brand establishes you as an authority in that particular niche that you’ve selected.

If you have a YouTube channel for instance, as long as you have enough people watching your videos and sharing your videos, you’re building a community and earning some money from AdSense.

Once you get brands that align with your message, that’s some more income just from your personal brand.

This is an actual and legit online business hustle.

Look at people like Gary Vee, Ramit Sethi, and Caroline Mutoko. These are people with great personal brands.

If you can pull masses either because of your personality, message, or how you communicate, you can build a personal brand online.

Another good thing about having an authentic personal brand is that once you’re well-known, you can literally monetize anything. From books, clothes, shoes, literally anything you want. Once people trust your brand, they can buy whatever product/service you sell.

That’s how I started too. I started doing free online videos on my Instagram and YouTube and now whenever I sell a digital product or a masterclass, people actually sign up because I have built an authentic online personal brand.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many legitimate and lucrative online side hustles that can help you supplement your income. 

From language tutoring to freelance writing to virtual assistant jobs the opportunities are endless. 

The key is to find something that aligns with your interests, skills, and schedule. It may take time and effort to build up your online side hustle, but the rewards are worth it. With discipline, determination, and a little bit of creativity, you can turn your passion into a profitable side hustle.