709: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money - Part 9
It's that time of year again — Thanksgiving!
This summer, we caught part of the Rubik's Cube World Championships in Seattle. The fastest solvers in the world can solve a 3x3 cube in under 5 seconds.
But what really caught my attention? There was $5,000 in prize money for first place. Another reminder that just about any skill is monetizable if you're committed enough.
And nothing gets me more excited than finding cool, creative ways to make extra money and sharing them with you.
This is our 9th annual Thanksgiving tradition — a roundup of 10 of the most interesting and inspiring side hustles that crossed my desk this year. We've got product businesses, service businesses, and content businesses. Something for everyone in what's always one of my favorite episodes to put together.
This is the 9th installment of the series, so check out the previous episodes if you like this format. Grab the full playlist here.
Here are the past editions if you want to see them individually:
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 1 – 2018
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 2 – 2019
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 3 – 2020
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 4 – 2021
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 5 – 2022
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 6 – 2023
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 7 – 2024
10 Creative Side Hustles Part 8 – 2025
Let’s talk about this year’s most innovative money-making ideas!
Full Show Notes: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money - Part 9
New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!
Sponsors:
Mint Mobile — Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month!
Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) — Get 20% off of your first 6 months!
Shopify — Sign up for a $1 per month trial!
About The Side Hustle Show
This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply!
The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and side hustle ideas. We share how to start a business and make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more.
Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle.
Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
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708: How I Turned Public Domain Radio into a 6-Figure Business
This is probably the most creative cleaning business I've ever seen, because for Cheyenne Bulloch, it's her customers that are doing the cleaning.
Today, more than 500 members pay $25 a month for her audio cleaning routines, set to free, public domain radio shows from the 1950s.
Tune in to learn how Domestic Daydreams became a 6-figure online business!
Full Show Notes: How I Turned Public Domain Radio into a 6-Figure Business
New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!
Sponsors:
Mint Mobile — Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month!
Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) — Get 20% off of your first 6 months!
Shopify — Sign up for a $1 per month trial!
About The Side Hustle Show
This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply!
The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and side hustle ideas. We share how to start a business and make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more.
Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle.
Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
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The Ladders of Wealth Creation: A Step-by-Step System to Up Your Earning Power (Greatest Hits)
Nathan Barry went from working at Wendy’s to running a software company doing $2.5M in revenue every month.
But there were several steps along the way — and those steps are the topic of today’s episode.
In 2019, Nathan penned The Ladders of Wealth Creation to explain why to level up your earning power, you usually need to level up your skills.
In this episode, we cover:
The 4 Ladders of Wealth Creation
How you may be able to add new income streams to an existing side hustle or business
A marketing strategy that’s working well for Nathan right now
Full Show Notes: The Ladders of Wealth Creation: A Step-by-Step System to Up Your Earning Power
New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!
Sponsors:
Mint Mobile — Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month!
Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) — Get 20% off of your first 6 months!
Shopify — Sign up for a $1 per month trial!
Policygenius — Compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save.
About The Side Hustle Show
This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply!
The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and side hustle ideas. We share how to start a business and make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more.
Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle.
Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
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707: $70k on the Side in 6 Months with Aura Photography
What if you could earn $5,000 in a single weekend taking rainbow-colored portraits that help people feel seen and valued?
This year, Summer Ray built an aura photography business. She creates portraits that visualize someone's energy field—and commands $44 per session.
From somalumin.com, Summer has earned $70,000 in just six months while keeping her full-time job.
If you've never heard of aura photography before, that's totally fine.
But whether you believe in energy fields or not, Summer's strategic approach to building this business offers valuable lessons for any event-based side hustle.
Tune in to Episode 707 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:
how strategic partnerships with local businesses created immediate customer flow
what makes customers willing to pay $44 for a 10-minute experience
creative ways to turn a weekend into $5,000 in revenue
(Learn more about Soma Lumin Guide program — use promo code HUSTLE for $100 off!)
Full Show Notes: $70k on the Side in 6 months with Aura Photography
New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!
Sponsors:
Mint Mobile — Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month!
Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) — Get 20% off of your first 6 months!
Shopify — Sign up for a $1 per month trial!
Policygenius — Compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save.
About The Side Hustle Show
This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply!
The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and side hustle ideas. We share how to start a business and make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more.
Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle.
Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
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706: $1,000 a Day Posting on Facebook
Let me tell you about the side hustle I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it myself.
Jeff Rose from Good Financial Sense is earning over $1,000 per day by posting content on Facebook. And a lot of it is just screenshots of other people's tweets.
He cracked the code of Facebook's content monetization program, where the platform pays creators to keep users engaged.
The more time you spend scrolling, the more advertising dollars Facebook makes — and they're sharing that revenue with content creators like Jeff.
In this episode, Jeff pulls back the curtain on exactly how he built this income stream in less than a year, working just a few hours per week.
Tune in to Episode 706 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:
How Jeff accidentally stumbled upon this opportunity and made $137 from his first viral post
Setting up Facebook monetization and getting invited to the program
Where to find content ideas and what performs best
The tools Jeff uses to schedule a week's worth of posts in just a few hours
Full Show Notes: $1,000 a Day Posting on Facebook
New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!
Sponsors:
Mint Mobile — Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month!
Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
Quo (formerly OpenPhone) — Get 20% off of your first 6 months!
Shopify — Sign up for a $1 per month trial!
Policygenius — Compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save.
About The Side Hustle Show
This is the entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply!
The award-winning small business show covers the best side hustles and side hustle ideas. We share how to start a business and make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more.
Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle.
Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
The entrepreneurship podcast you can actually apply! The award-winning small business show covers creative ways to make money online and offline, including online business, side gigs, freelancing, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and much more. Join 100,000+ listeners and get legit business ideas and passive income strategies straight to your earbuds. No BS, just actionable tips on how to start and grow your side hustle. Hosted by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
South Africa