3 Side Hustles that Can Make You Money During Quarantine

Side hustles can be anything that makes you money aside from your regular full-time job. If you've been reading, you would know that the beginning of my quarantine was a little rough -- I had no motivation to do anything creative or productive with my time. My body needed a rest and a recharge. But, once I was rested and ultimately bored, I relaunched my brand Academe. Academe is technically my side hustle. I am currently working a full-time job as well as running my brand. I have had a few great side hustle ideas that I wanted to try out during quarantine, but running Academe has proven to be a full-time job on its own. So, why not share these ideas with my Academe sisters so y'all can come up!

These are a few side hustle ideas that I have either tried or wanted to try.

Sis, you and I both know your closet needs to be cleaned out. I know you want some new clothes. Some of those white shirts have sweat stains and I know you don't wear all those sweatshirts. While cleaning out your closet, I guarantee you will find something either brand new or gently worn that you may never put on again. Those are the items you can resell and get you a little extra coin. I have tried this side hustle, but I did not put a lot of effort into it. I have sold numerous items on Poshmark, but never found my niche there. I have also tried selling clothes on Instagram, but selling on apps are more convenient when it comes to shipping and commission (it's harder to detect scams on Instagram). 

I found Nicki (@glogirlglo on Instagram) during quarantine, and she is a boss when it comes to reselling! She always posts updates on her goals which makes you feel like you are accomplishing them with her. Nicki also talks about budgeting and paying off debt, so she's just a great person to follow to remind yourself to keep your money in check. She is super motivational and holds herself accountable when it comes to her goals -- super inspiring. She uses multiple reselling apps like Poshmark and Mercari. She has inspired me to continue to update and add new items on my Poshmark. The money received from PoshmarThere is a huge community out there for resellers, and your inventory will never run out because the inventory is your clothes. 

Have you ever wanted to advertise a product for a brand on Instagram and possibly make money doing it? Making a brand for yourself is a side hustle that can get you doing just that. From my experience, there are three steps to get brands to start looking at your content and possibly send you products and pay you to advertise them.

First, you need high-quality photos. Most brands use expensive technology and hire college graduates to create their content, and they want the influencers who are advertising their products to look like they are a part of their brand. Always look at the brand's content to get ideas and inspiration. If your feed is similar to the content they post, they will be more willing to accept your inquiry. If your feed does not resemble their content, you can always take some images that do and include them as examples when inquiring with the brand.

Second, consistency is key. Finding a good posting schedule that fits in with the times and days your followers are most active will help your reach and impressions. Stick to a posting schedule that gets you results (1 -2 posts a day almost every day seems to do the trick. Look at your insights to look active times.) Getting your reach and impression up is key to pricing your content (presenting your insights to a brand is great and shows transparency). Along with consistently posting, sticking to similar colors and tones creates an aesthetically looking feed that is very pleasing to the eye. Consistent colors help make your brand look unique.

The third step is finding the right brands to work with. I will have a whole blog post dedicated to how I manage and navigate working with brands on social media. You may see brands in your comments asking you to collaborate, and often those are the ones that want you to pay for products (a purchase and post collab). When picking an choosing what brands to work with, don't look for the most trendy brand and reach out. Though that could work, choosing a brand with a decent amount of followers, with a good mission statement you can stand behind, and products you would love even if you weren't getting paid.

Depending on how many followers you have, you may only get these offers. Other brands may offer a discounted purchase and post, free shipping, or a unique discount where you can earn a commission. Depending on your insights, you can charge a higher price than what they are offering. 

At some point in life, we have all tried to go viral. Whether it was the doing ice bucket challenge, making someone try the scary maze game, doing the cinnamon challenge, or a Tik Tok dance, we have been there. And we know it's the things you least expect to go viral that usually blows up. As a college student, I received comments on my YouTube video from middle school students asking for advice for going into their new school. I posted that video thinking only those few commenters would see it. That specific video has over 44 thousand views and hundreds of comments. So, I made another one, and another one -- I felt like DJ Khalid. Combined, all 3 middle school-related videos have more than 100 thousand views. Creating videos answering questions and giving advice was one of my favorite hobbies (still is), and those view videos went viral. I almost didn't make them because I didn't want to be a college student discussing middle school. But, look at what happened. My channel benefitted heavily from that decision, and it inspired me to keep creating. Think about it. Justin Bieber was just posting videos of him singing on the internet for his distant family, now he's a billionaire. He was just doing something he loved. Why not go viral doing something you love? It is possible to make a career out of almost anything in today's society. We are in a time where we are realizing anyone can be someone. If you love to draw, start an art account, and grow in that community. It doesn't hurt to start something, especially if it's something you love. It may take off. 

There are so many ways to make money at home, but finding something you love that generates a decent income is more fulfilling. Side hustles are great, but that is exactly what they should be. You will only get as much out of your side hustle as you put into it. Keep that in mind when you are brainstorming side hustle ideas.

Karisa Brown // @lifewithkarisa