Are you a teacher who wants to make some extra money on the side? If you want to keep your day job while starting a side-hustle to earn some extra income, here are 9 creative side hustle ideas that are perfect for teachers who want make extra money.

What is a side hustle?

Last year, I was working part-time as a piano teacher. Unhappy with the menial income and the lack of freedom as I was working for somebody else, I thought my solution was to get another part-time job to supplement my income.

While it did somewhat solve my money problems, I was utterly miserable inside.

It was only around March this year that I came across the term “side hustle”.

So , what exactly is a side hustle?

A side hustle is an asset or side business you do to make extra money, generate passive income AND achieve financial independence. Unlike a job in which you have to be physically and mentally present to make your dough, a side hustle is essentially a business that you can start while keeping your full-time or part-time job.

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Creative side hustles for teacherpreneurs

The first time I heard the term “teacherpreneur” was on Pinterest while I was browsing for work-at-home ideas. While browsing for side hustle ideas, I started yearning for a work-at-home job as I was getting tired of my hectic commutes. As a freelance musician, I often have to travel to my client's houses across different suburbs. After doing this for more than five years, my body started breaking down. I suffered chronic back pain and needed regular massages.

Ever since I moved abroad, I have always dreamt of having my own business. Originally, I wanted to start my own piano teaching studio from home. However, as the crazy-high living costs in Sydney has destroyed my hopes and dreams that I began to despair. I did not want to create a physical business anymore. My attention then turned towards online businesses.

So right now, I define myself as a teacherpreneur, a teacher who still loves teaching and wants more financial freedom. I create online teaching resources for classroom and private music teachers who do not have enough time to create their own. Since reading about a post from The work at home woman about work-at-home careers for women, I stumbled upon a case study of a teacher who achieved success on Teachers Pay Teachers.

If you are still here, chances are you are really serious about making some real and extra dough through a side hustle you will love!

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9 Online Side Hustles You Can Start Today

#1 Start a profitable blog today

If you're a passionate educator who also loves to write, then blogging is perfect for you! You can create articles about your teaching, connect with educators around the world and create resources such as lesson plans, games and printable that you can sell through your blog.

Starting a blog is very affordable and fun! I'm not going to lie to you and say that blogging is a get rich quick scheme because it is not. To make money from it, it takes a lot of investment in terms of your time, money and effort. However, you can get your own domain via Bluehost starting at just $3.95 a month!

Do you want to start a blog but do not know how? You might also like this post that tells you exactly how. For those of you who learn better through video, here's a comprehensive guide on how you can start a blog today.

If you are a serious beginner who's not really tech-y, Matthew Loomis's How to Start a Blog in 2018 ( A Step-By-Step Guide ) will be perfect for you.

#2 Sell on Etsy

If you are a particularly craftsy teacher, you should definitely consider starting a craft store online!

With the advent of technology and companies like Etsy and Shopify that makes selling online super easy, becoming a profitable seller part-time while keeping your full-time job is more than possible.

One of the great things about starting an online business is the low overhead costs. Setting up an Etsy seller's account is free! You do not need to pay any additional monthly fees, but you do need to pay a small amount of listing fee when you list your product for sale. Etsy's website itself has a lot of resources for beginner sellers to help you achieve success from the get-go.

#3 Become a Teacher-Author on Teachers Pay Teachers

What is Teachers Pay Teachers? This awesome online platform for educators around the world has become the go-to place for educators to look for reliable and affordable teaching resources. For teachers who have an entrepreneurial spirit, becoming a teacher-author and seller on TpT is one of the best ways to earn an extra income, gain recognition and achieve a better financial freedom.

I have only been selling on TpT for a couple of months, and so far I have made 10 sales. Although I only made $15 so far, it is a really promising beginning. The feeling of creating awesome teaching resources that goes around the world is beyond amazing. On the Teachers Pay Teachers seller's forum, the support from other teacher-sellers who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences is wonderful.

Becoming a premium seller only costs $29 per year! I know teachers on the TpT platform who make a decent $2000 to $5000 income by selling their original products.

If you are interested in becoming a seller on TpT, you can start with a free membership. This TpT “Seller Questions” page will answer all your questions about how to sell on TpT. As a TpT seller myself, I switched to a premium account after just three weeks of using the TpT selling platform. I made my very first sale a week into my premium membership.

#4 Create an Online Course with Teachable

If you have a great amount of expertise in a subject, then you can create an online course using Teachable. As teachers, this is the best way to use our expertise in a way that brings us extra cash. Creating an online course is not an easy feat, however, it is a great source of passive income. Hard work upfront will become a passive income that you will definitely appreciate during tighter months.

Don't know where to start and what course to create? Don't worry. Here is an amazing resource of work from home teaching and tutoring jobs that is sure to get you all fired up!

#5 Teach English Online with VIPKid

Are you a native English speaker, English teacher or great at having conversations?

Teaching English online is a great way for teachers to make some extra money. There are many teach English online companies, but so far I have heard great things about VIPKid. Other companies such as Cambly and DaDaABC have the same premises.

There are some requirements to become a teacher for VIPKid that you need to consider. You may be eligible if you are:

• A current US/ Canada resident
• Experienced in “formal” or “informal” teaching such as tutoring, coaching or any alternative education
• A Bachelor's degree holder in any field or at minimum an Associate's degree in Early Childhood Education
• Owner of a working desktop or laptop with high-speed internet that can handle both video and audio

To read up more about how to get started as a teacher for VIPKid, you can find all the information you need from this post from Real Ways to Make Money Online: Become An Online ESL Teacher For Children With VIPKid.

#6 Become a freelance proofreader

In November 2017, I first came across Caitlyn Pyle's Proofread Anywhere course on Facebook.

As I was browsing for “work-at-home jobs” on Google and enabled cookies, Google knew what I wanted and targeted me with those ads on Facebook. It's a little creepy I know, but that is how online marketing works.

For somebody who has a good eye for punctuation errors and LOVE the English language, this will be a great side hustle idea.

As I was looking for a way out from my day job, I took the Proofread Anywhere course straight away when I landed on the course's sales page. Every day during my lunch break, I would whip out my laptop and do some practice on my proofreading practice essays. It's a great way to learn a skill using my spare time without quitting my job and panicking about how to pay the bills.

There will be a sale on Proofread Anywhere‘s courses very soon, so stay tuned for DISCOUNT coupons!

#8 Become a Virtual Assistant

If you are extremely organised and work well under pressure, then virtual assisting is perfect for you! As a teacher, YOU have an advantage as an entrepreneur. The myriad of skills you're already using everyday is largely untapped! One of the most important abilities a virtual assistant needs to have is excellent time management skills. I believe virtual assisting is a perfect fit for your skill sets!

Virtual assisting is becoming more and more popular as women in general want to work-at-home to enjoy a career they love as well as spend more time with their family. To find out more about how to become a virtual assistant, Michelle Schroeder-Gardner's How To Become a Virtual Assistant guide will give you lots of ideas and resources to get started!

If you're Pinterest obsessed and quite skilled at managing your own Pinterest account, you can also consider becoming a Pinterest virtual assistant.

#9 Freelance writing

One of my favourite past times since the beginning of 2017 was writing. I was writing answers to questions my followers on Quora had. It felt great as I was getting lots of practice as a writer AND helped to solve other people's problems. Essentially, I was doing freelance writing. The only difference between NOW and THEN was that I wasn't getting paid for anything that I wrote. Now, I want to make money from it.

Elna Cain's How to Make Money Freelance Writing is the first guide I read. Another great resource on how to become a freelance writer is Michelle Shroeder-Gardner's So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer.

As a blogger, there are more than a couple of ways to make money doing freelance writing. Bloggers usually get paid by doing affiliate marketing on their blogs, get some money from ads as well as guest posting on other people's blogs. Either way, if you are a teacher who's really good at writing, you should consider starting a blog, getting some freelance writing gigs on platforms like Fiverr OR just write articles for beginner bloggers.

Final thoughts

If you are a teacher looking to make a quick buck, the side hustle ideas above won't work. These are not get-rich-quick schemes, but businesses that you can start on the side. So, please be patient and diligent. You need to do the work yourself. Remember that anything worth fighting for takes time and effort.

Do you think there are any other GREAT side hustle ideas I have missed? Tell me what you think below this post!