25 Best Side Hustles for Teachers to Make Extra Money
Teachers are massively important to a well-functioning society. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our educators aren’t paid as well as they should be. Because of that, I know plenty of teachers that are constantly on the lookout to make extra money with a side hustle. I have a soft spot for teachers. In fact, I’m pretty much the only person in my family who has never been in the teaching profession. My grandmother, mom, dad, sister, brother, and wife have all taught or are currently teaching. It’s a profession that runs deep in my family. Because I know so many family and friends who teach, I thought I’d share some of the best side hustles teachers can do using their specialized skills as educators. Many of these side hustles have been used by teachers I personally know, so I know they work well.
Side Hustles for Teachers to Boost Income
Some of these side jobs you can do from home, some online, and others require work outside the home. But all of them are money makers that can boost your income significantly! Even better, some of these side income opportunities are lucrative enough to build into a full-time income if you decide to go all in! So, here’s the complete list of 25 side hustles for teachers to earn extra money!
#1- Teach English as a Second Language
There is a huge demand throughout the world for learning to speak English. Consequently, experienced teachers are in an excellent position to earn extra money teaching English as a second language online. It’s an easy to do side hustle you can do from home. You’ll tutor students mostly from Asian countries such as China and South Korea. The sessions may be one on one, or groups of students, depending on the platform you choose. Some of the more popular platforms are:
- MagicEars
- VIPKid
- Education First, aka EF
- QKids
Magic Ears
Magic Ears is another platform teachers can use to teach English to foreign students. Here’s a short description from the Magic Ears homepage: “Magic Ears is an innovative online English learning platform for students ages 4-12. With a relentless focus on the long-term, our mission is to bring a global classroom experience to every child and to provide the best online career opportunity for teachers.” They provide a 1 on 4 learning experience that is fun and interactive, and the entire curriculum is provided for you. You can expect to earn up to $26 per hour with Magic Ears. There is an easy but detailed 5 step process to get approved. My wife’s teacher friend Beth has been making extra money with Magic Ears for several months now, and she really loves it! She told me she tried several other platforms before she settled on this one as the best one for her. Beth says it’s extremely easy, and she’s been averaging over $2,000 per month with it! You don’t even need a teaching degree for this one! Check out Magic Ears here, and sign up to get started
VIPKid
VIPKid has over 100,000 teachers and 800,000 active students using their platform, so obviously, this one is extremely popular. It’s rated as one of the world’s most innovative companies. And It’s also rated by Glassdoor as one of the best places to work! After an easy 5-step interview process, you can start teaching. You will need to make a 6-month commitment to teaching on the platform, but you can work as much or as little as you want during that time. No knowledge of the Chinese language is needed to tutor on VipKid. You can expect to earn $15-$22 per hour.
QKids
Qkids is a platform for teaching Chinese kids ages 5-12. Tutoring is typically done in a group setting of up to 4 students. Each lesson lasts 30 minutes, and the lesson is preset in the app. No lesson plans necessary! Every lesson contains interactions with cute characters and funny stories to help reinforce the material. They also have interactive games to make learning fun. You can check out QKids here.
#2- Write Articles for We Are Teachers
If you haven’t heard about it, We Are Teachers is a popular website for teachers where you’ll find classroom ideas, free printables, articles on teacher life, leadership, shopping deals, and free giveaways. We Are Teachers is always looking for more content. That’s where you come in! You can make money writing articles for We Are Teachers. Here’s a short blurb from the website with the details: “Do you have an inspirational, funny or practical teacher story to tell? We’d love to hear it. WeAreTeachers welcomes submissions on a wide range of topics pertaining to education and teacher life. We also accept submissions for our sister site, School Leaders Now. If we publish your submission, you will receive a $100 honorarium. Plus, if you’re a blogger, we’ll include a link to your blog or website.”
#3- Teachers Pay Teachers
Got a lot of lesson plans and creative supplies you use on a daily basis? Did you know you can put them to work making some extra money for you? Teachers Pay Teachers is the best place to do it. You can sell lesson plans, printables, activities, assessments, creative materials, and more on Teachers Pay Teachers. You can sell resources for any subject at any grade level, including higher education and adult learning. It’s easy and free to join Teachers Pay Teachers and start selling your resources immediately. You can start making money this time tomorrow! Some teachers make a nice side income here, and some even make more than with their teaching job!
#4- Start a Money Making Blog
Speaking of writing, starting a blog is also a great way for teachers to make extra money. The cool thing is, you can literally start a blog and go live in as little as 20 minutes! There are several ways to make money with blogging:
- Earn affiliate income
- Writing guest posts
- Host sponsored content
- Creating courses and ebooks related to your blog content
- Display ads
Of course, it can take time to build traffic and start earning income with a new blog. But once you get it going, you can make a significant amount of money to supplement your income. Heck, I know several people who built up their blog enough to quit their job and started blogging full-time! To start a blog quickly, you can go straight to my tutorial, which takes you through every step to start a blog in just a few minutes. You can also sign up for my “How to Start a Blog” free email course. If you’re interested in blogging and would like to take the free course you can sign up here or use the form below. It will teach you everything you need to start your blog, get traffic, generate income, and decide what to blog about.
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#5- Start an Amazon Business
Building a business on Amazon is a job you can start doing part time, and develop into a full-time business later if you like. It’s a great way for teachers to make extra money because it doesn’t take a lot of up-front investment. Also, it’s a side job you can do at home in your spare time. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people that make a living with Amazon, and believe it or not, there’s room for more! There are a number of ways you can make money on Amazon. Here are some of the most popular:
- Become an Amazon FBA Seller- Amazon FBA is especially good for teachers. It’s a business you can do from home, and you don’t have to physically handle the products you sell. You have unlimited income potential with Amazon FBA.
- Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)- If you like writing, this one is good for you. Self-publishing books on KDP is easy, and provides a stream of relatively passive income.
- Work for Amazon Remotely- work directly for Amazon in project development, IT, corporate training, HR, or tons of other jobs.
- Affiliate Marketing- Use affiliate links to sell products directly from your website.
- Amazon Flex- Deliver Packages for Amazon. It’s pretty easy, but you need a vehicle to make the deliveries.
Here’s a link to the #1 course for how to start making money with Amazon. It’s incredibly affordable and teaches you everything you need to build a highly successful Amazon business.
#6- Freelance Editing and Proofreading
One of the main skills you use as a teacher is detecting and correcting mistakes. This is a really handy skill to have, and companies will pay you well to proofread and edit copy on a contract basis. There is plenty of work out there to go around, and you’ll get paid more and more as you establish a reputation of quality work. There are some awesome advantages to being an editor/proofreader:
- You can work from home, or anywhere else with an internet connection.
- Choose your own hours.
- Take on as much (or as little) work as you like.
- As you build a reputation, you can eventually earn a full-time income.
- Create your own destiny- You don’t have to worry about a mean boss breathing down your neck, crazy school politics, or nutty parents.
This lucrative side hustle for teachers is relatively easy, and pays up to $50 an hour. To find out more about how to get started, I wrote a detailed post that shows you how. It covers where to find jobs, tools you can use, any training you will need, pros and cons of proofreading, and different proofreading editing niches you can explore. How to Become a Proofreader and Earn Money From Home- Money Making Idea #24
#7- Freelance Writing Side Hustle for Teachers
Most teachers can write well, even if they don’t teach writing to their students. Freelance writing is an especially good side gig for teachers because it’s easy to get started, and you can set your own hours. Even with little or no experience, you can start making $1,000 or more every month as a freelance writer. The jobs are relatively easy to find. Even if you feel like you’re not a strong writer, you can still do well with this side gig. Writing opportunities are available at many different levels. As you build a list of happy clients, you’ll be able to charge higher fees and take on more lucrative projects. You can learn more about how to become a freelance writer by reading my article at the link below. I’ll tell you about my friend, Holly Porter Johnson, who makes over $200k a year as a full-time freelance writer. Plus, you’ll learn how to get started, the different types of writing gigs, where to find work, and much more. 9 Ways to Make $1,000 (or More!) a Month as a Freelance Writer- Money Making Idea #22
#8- Adjunct Professor
Teaching a class or two at a local university is a good part time job for an experienced teacher, especially if you have an advanced degree. You can do it one or two nights a week and make a few thousand extra dollars a semester. My dad was a school principal, and he taught a couple of education classes to the undergrads at a local college to help put me through dental school back in the day. It was a great gig for him, he really enjoyed it! Just check the Jobs page at your local community college or university and you will likely find a position or two that suits you.
#9- Airbnb experiences host
When people travel to your city, they can book a course, tour, or educational experience through AirBnb experiences to enjoy while there. This is a profitable side hustle for teachers because they know how to speak to groups of people and teach a focused subject. If you think leading tours would be fun, or have a special skill you enjoy teaching, this is right up your alley. Here’s a short list of ideas you can use:
- Lead a photographic tour of your city
- Teach a cooking class featuring local fare
- Lead a hike on your favorite trail
- Host a local restaurant/bar crawl
- Lead a class about the history of your city
There is no end to the experiences you can host! My daughter-in-law Abbey leads photo tours of downtown Nashville through AirBnb experiences. Depending on the size of the group, she can make several hundred dollars per tour for just 2-3 hours of work.
#10- Rent Your Space on AirBnB
If you don’t mind hosting people in your home, AirBnb is a great way to make money renting out a bedroom, bonus room, or your entire house. It’s easy to make several hundred dollars a month in side income with AirBnb. There is a process to get approved and start renting your space. It’s not hard to do, but it ensures you know what to expect, and how to manage your bookings effectively.
#11- Become a Direct Sales Consultant
There are hundreds of companies you can choose to represent as a direct sales consultant. Direct sales is a perfect side hustle for teachers because it involves interacting with people and teaching them about your products. Teachers have a built in advantage because this is what they do at school all day long! Direct sales has a high earning potential. If you work hard at your business, you can even earn the same or more as you do teaching full time! In the past, home parties were the main way business was done with direct sales. However, these days, you don’t necessarily have to do a lot of home parties to be successful. Online direct sales are much more popular now than they used to be. The key is to choose a company and products you can believe in. Preferably, you would already be using their products in your daily life. The best products to promote are the ones they can order from you over and over, such as food products, cosmetics, and anything else that gets used up over time.
#12- Guided Tours
If you live in a city with plenty of history and/or fun sites to see, then leading guided tours is a great side hustle for educators. You can meet and educate people from all over the world about your city while getting a little exercise to boot! Opportunities are available with tour companies in your city, or you can start your own tours through AirBnb experiences mentioned above. The pay varies, but one of the benefits is that you can also earn tips. And the tips can be significant when you’re leading tours for people with plenty of vacation money to spend!
#13- Corporate Training
Companies are always looking for people with teaching experience. They need educators to onboard new team members, teach new corporate initiatives, and train employees in various ways. Corporate training can be done as a part time side hustle, or you can use it to make the leap into a whole new career in teaching.
#14- Freelance Bookkeeper
Lots of small businesses need help with bookkeeping. It’s an important part of running a business that most business owners hate to do. That’s where you come in! If you’re good with numbers and know the basics of balancing books and bank accounts, then you can make a significant side income after your teaching day is over. You don’t need to be a CPA or have any other professional designations to be a freelance bookkeeper, and you can earn $40-$60 per hour for your work!
#15- Sports Referee
If you love sports, then refereeing can help you earn a nice side hustle income after school or in the summertime. You can do it for your school district or for local recreational leagues. As a teacher, this is a natural side hustle as you’re already used to dealing with kids and their parents every day. You can earn anywhere from $30-$100 per game depending on the sport and the league. It’s a great way to earn some money and get a little exercise too!
#16- Create Online Courses
Online courses are a great online side hustle for teachers to make extra money. You can produce courses for your fellow teachers based on your own teaching specialty. Or you can make online courses for students teaching a particular subject. There are several good platforms available, such as Udemy, Teachable, and Thinkific, among many others.
#17- Become a Social Media Manager
Most small businesses can benefit from a good social media presence. The problem is, most business owners don’t know how to do it, or don’t have the time. That’s where you come in! If you understand social media better than most, you can make money managing social media for local businesses. You will be especially successful if you can convert those social media posts into sales for your clients. If social media management sounds like a good fit for you, start asking local businesses if they need help with their social media strategy. Find out what their goals are, and show them how you can build their social media presence to meet those goals. The better results you get, the more you can get paid. Get enough solid clients and you can do this one full time!
#18- Nanny or Sitter
If you love being around kids even after you’re done with the school day, sitting is an excellent side hustle for teachers to earn extra income. Parents are busy, and they need people like you to help fill the gaps. You can keep kids before or after school, or on the weekends. Sitting or being a nanny can be an especially good summer job for a teacher, as you have a lot more time for it. Heck, some parents might even take you on summer vacation with them just so you can keep the kids busy while they relax! Just ask around to some of the teachers and parents you know. You should be able to find sitting or nanny opportunities pretty easily.
#19- Open an Etsy Shop
Are you one of those teachers that always has the best bulletin boards and visual aids for your students? Then Etsy is a great place to make extra money selling supplies, templates, and printables for other teachers to use in their classrooms. It’s one of those great teacher side hustles that can turn into a full time job if you want. Alternatively, if you’re an artsy person and want to branch out, you can sell handmade jewelry, works of art, and any number of other creative works you can think of. The best moneymaking items are the most unique ones, so be creative. Read my article on earning money with Etsy. Check out my Etsy page here.
#20- Virtual Assistant Side Hustle for Teachers
Being a virtual assistant is an ideal teacher side gig because you can work on your own schedule, and it utilizes skills you use in your teaching job. There’s a long list of tasks you can do for small business owners and others that need your expertise. For example:
- Bookkeeping/Accounting
- Formatting spreadsheets
- Writing ads, technical documents, sales letters, etc.
- Organizing and answering emails on behalf of your client
- Taking appointments
- Social media management
- Managing a business owner’s schedule
- And plenty more…
You can find virtual assisting work on Craigslist, Upwork, Indeed, Remote.co, Ziprecruiter, Flexjobs, and other online job sites.
#21- Be a Delivery Driver
With DoorDash, Postmates, and Amazon Flex, you can sign up to deliver items to people that need them quickly. It’s usually pretty easy to start. You can make a decent side income on your own schedule, working how and when you want in most cases. Of course, you’ll need a reliable vehicle to make the deliveries. If you work during peak hours you can make more money at deliveries. The great thing is that peak hours are usually at night and on the weekends when you’re not teaching!
#22- Buy and Flip Designer Clothes and Accessories
This is a great side gig for teachers who love fashion. You can find tons of fashions at a cheap price, and resell them on Ebay, Poshmark, and other sites at a nice profit. Once you know what to look for, you can find all kinds of cool fashions in thrift stores, clearance racks, and other places that people will pay big money for online. Here’s a link to an article I wrote on flipping fashions you’ll be interested in: Money Making Idea #6- Resell High Fashions on Ebay
#23- Fix Up and Flip Furniture
Old furniture is easy to find. Just go to any garage sale or thrift store, and there are plenty of old, tired pieces just begging to be reborn as a work of art! Sometimes people will even give you their old furniture for free! If you are creative and handy, then restoring and refinishing old furniture can be a nice side hustle in your spare time. With a little elbow grease and creativity, you can turn an old piece of junk into a trendy item people will pay big money to have.
#24- Write an ebook
Do you have specialized knowledge people always ask you about? Put that knowledge in an ebook and sell it! Whether it’s tips to manage a roomful of 4th graders, or how to teach students with learning disabilities, you can teach others what you know in an ebook. It’s easy to publish your work on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and start making money from day one! I wrote an article about how to publish your own ebook that can help: Money Making Idea #5- Write a How To Book
#25- In Person Tutoring- the Oldest Side Hustle for Teachers
Probably the oldest (and one of the best) teacher side hustles is in-person tutoring. It’s a great way to connect with a struggling student while making some extra money in the process. My wife has been tutoring in our home for years, and it’s really changed the lives of her students for the better! She’s been able to help them turn around failing grades and learning disabilities that no one thought could be helped. Not only is it spiritually rewarding, but she also makes $40-$50 per hour for the privilege of transforming these little lives! This article was originally posted on the Celebrating Financial Freedom Blog.
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