5 Must-Try Side Hustles for Designers in 2024
As we dive into 2024, designers, it’s time to explore some exciting side hustles!
These are not just about earning extra cash. They’re about expanding your skills, creativity, and professional network.
And who knows? One of these might just spark your next big career move.
1. Paid Mentorships
I started my paid mentorship journey on Topmate last year, and I believe there is a lot of potential here.
The reason behind believing that is more and more people are seeking the right mentors that will help them grow in their journey. ADPlist last year reached 100 million minutes of mentorship. That’s a clear indication of the potential here.
Here’s how you can share your unique design skills and experiences with those eager to learn:
- First, make a list of your unique skills and experiences.
- Identify who would benefit most from your knowledge.
- Then, set up an account on platforms like topmate.io or Superpeer to start offering your mentorship sessions. The best part they are FREE* to start with
*These platforms charge a very small percentage of your earnings. SuperPeer charges 0% on 1:1 calls + Credit card processing fee. Topmate charges 5% commission fees + transaction fee. Just to make it clear these are all on your earnings from these platforms.
2. Digital Products
This side hustle earned me $700+ last year, not a lot but a decent start. It’s my goal this year to earn more than $1500 from it.
This is a great side hustle to start, simply because it’s scalable, free to start, and has lots of potential to grow. Creators earned $41.2M in earnings last year on Gumroad
Turn your common challenges into opportunities:
- Think about a problem you often face.
- Create a solution, maybe an eBook or a Notion Template.
- Launch it on Gumroad and promote it on social media. Your problem-solving product could be a game-changer for many!
A simple strategy to get your first sale is
- Launch a free product on Gumroad to create an email list in your niche
- Promote the product in the right FB groups, Pinterest, and subreddits
- Launch your paid product and market it to the email list you build
3. Indie Products
I am planning to launch my first indie product this year UiPedia (a future go-to library for web design inspiration, showcasing real-life examples)
Indie products have so much potential because you can build the product, and if you don’t get a product market fit, try another indie project. You have nothing to lose and lots to gain from experience.
Here is how you can build your indie product:
- Find a problem that’s getting attention.
- Use No-code tools to build an Indie Product as a solution(or find a developer friend)
- Launch it on platforms like Product Hunt, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Remember, the key is to keep iterating until you find the perfect market fit or start a new project.
4. Productize Design Agency
A very trendy and interesting way of running design agencies.
So what is a Productize Design Agency?
Unlike traditional agencies which operate on a project-by-project basis with customized services for each client, productized design agencies offer a set of predefined services or packages at fixed prices.
In very simple terms, starting a niche design agency where you have to build a system for all your deliverables.
This side hustle has a great potential. Last year Designjoy, a subscription-based design agency made $1.5M in revenue.
Create a niche design agency:
- Identify a trending niche and service that you’re passionate about.
- Figure out where potential clients for your niche might gather, like Facebook groups.
- Begin reaching out to these prospects and tailor your profile to become a go-to expert in that niche.
5. Write on Medium
If you are reading this article you know I am trying this side hustle out ;)
It’s a great side hustle and I believe it’s still very underrated.
Here is how to write on Medium:
- Find a niche that resonates with you.
- Research and write about interesting topics within this niche.
- Leverage AI tools to refine and enhance your writing. Your insights could be the next big hit on Medium!
These side hustles are not just simple to start; they are gateways to new skills and additional income.
I’ve personally experimented with many of these as you have read above and plan to explore the rest soon.
Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
So, pick a hustle and start your journey today!
👋Hey there, If you are interested in more UI/UX-related design topics or building side hustles do follow me on LinkedIn and Medium. If you want some guidance check out my Topmate.
Also here are some great free UI/UX resources on Gumroad & Figma Community. Do check them out :)
