Some side hustles are just random. They don’t fit into a category. They don’t require a skill. If you have a cell phone and a pulse, you can earn money with them. Where do you find these random side hustles anyone can do?
Take photos
WeGoLook is an online platform used by insurance agents and attorneys, who hire people with working cell phones to take photographs of accident scenes and cars that have been damaged. In addition to taking a bunch of photos, you will need to jot down details about the scene (or car) on a form provided by the client. The site estimates each job will take 15 to 20 minutes. You typically get paid $15 to $30 per “look.”
The only requirement besides a working smart phone is that you can pass a background check, and they’ll charge you $15 to pay for it. So make sure they pay you more than the cost of the background check for that first “look.”
Endorse products
Are you a girl with an Instagram following? Consider signing up for a site called Heartbeat. The site functions on the theory that you don’t have to be famous to have an influence on the things that your friends like and buy. Thus, companies will pay you to tout products — clothes, shoes, softdrinks, snacks — on Instagram. Pay amounts to $3 to $50 per post, depending on the client, how many followers you have, and how engaged they are.
A similar site, called Niche Vendor, will also pay you to recommend products. However, this site pays a percentage of sales. Will that prove to be more or less lucrative than Heartbeat? The best way to tell is to try them both.
Be nice
Perhaps the most random money-maker of all comes from a site called RentAFriend. You get paid to be a “platonic companion” for some lonely person who has enough money to pay you and take you both out somewhere. Although this may seem like a sad but easy way for an extrovert to make a few bucks, we would like to throw in some motherly cautions. Meet in public. Don’t go anywhere or do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Make sure that your real friends know where you are. (Enable tracking on your phone; tell someone to pay attention; and make sure you phone is well-charged.) It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to bring pepper spray, either.
Touch someone
RentAFriend isn’t the only site selling companionship. A number of sites pay women (occassionally men, too) to “cuddle.” Requirements? Be over the age of 18. The idea behind the whole “snuggling” industry is that people can get by without sex, but they need human touch. Thus, if you’re willing to cuddle with a stranger, they’ll pay you. The best of this bunch for side hustlers is CuddleComfort. The site allows cuddlers to set their own rate of pay, but instructs them to charge at least $40 per hour. (SideHusl has just rated two other companies in the same space, but we don’t recommend them.) But, again, take safety precautions.
Give advice…or cast spells
Of course, RentAFriend wins the random award simply because Fiverr doesn’t specialize. To be sure, this wide-ranging job site allows you to advertise your availability for all sorts of work that requires skill and experience, too. But when it comes to advertising your availability for really weird and random work, Fiverr is the Olympic gold medalist.
Just to give you an idea of the sort of things you might be able to do through Fiverr, here’s a sampling of recent listings under the site’s “lifestyle” category.
- Bind your lover with a potent psychic love spell: $15
- Get a Tarot love reading by instant chat: $10
- Advice from the heart: $20
- Have any wish presented to an ancient Djinn (a.k.a. spirit/genie…we had to look that up): $15
- Make your ex go crazy about you: $25
If you pop into the “marketing” section, you’ll find people willing to positively review your product; do a video endorsement in rhyme; sing a jingle. In other words, if you’ve got an idea (no matter how bad), you can try to sell it on Fiverr.
Opine
If you’ve got an opinion, chances are excellent that someone wants to hear it enough to pay you for it. In some cases, they’ll even pay you well.
Sites like JuryTest, eJury and Online Verdict pay between $5 and $60 for mock jurors to review a case, for example. Cases typicallly take 20 minutes to an hour to review, after which you’ll say how you might rule and why. Requirements for the job? Be over the age of 18 and a U.S. citizen. The sites also will eliminate you if you have a criminal record or happen to already be an attorney or insurance professional. Jobs are relatively rare, however. You might get a mock juror case about as often as you get called for real jury duty.
While you’re waiting, you can sign up to participate in focus groups. FieldWork, Consumer Opinion Services and FindFocusGroups pay up to $75 per hour to have you sit in a room with a dozen other people and opine. What about? It could be anything from the ideal number of cup holders in mini-vans to the thoughts that come to mind when you hear a particular brand name. Again, this is not something you can do every day. But it can be engaging and well-paid work when you get it.
Far more ubiquitous are survey sites that will ask you to share information about your shopping patterns, family size, the sorts of breakfast cereals you eat. These sites pay pennies per survey, but also require very little time and attention. The ideal way to make money with survey sites is to turn to them when you’re stuck in an airport or waiting for a bus and need an activity. A few that you might want to put on your phone for just those occasions: SurveyJunkie, SwagBucks and 20/20 Research, which also organizes some focus groups.
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