As a teacher, I was no stranger to the side gig. Now as a stay-at-home-mom, we’re still on quite familiar terms (yo, Giggity!)
I’m proof that it’s possible to hold a side gig as a teacher. Difficult, painstaking, and downright exhausting, but not impossible. (One year I even worked at two school districts at once!)
The truth is, as hard as it can be to rush to serve drinks to tourists right after a long day of herding first graders, working a side gig for even just a short season can be a powerful force for your financial freedom.
Why pursue a side gig?
I’m not a fan of the infinite hustle, of the chase of things I don’t need, or complicating my life more just to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. But I’ve found it’s even a squeeze to afford life’s basics. (Which is also not helped by the growing teacher wage gap!)
If I need to hustle a bit to make ends meet, I will. I prefer to view it in terms of seasons to motivate me to keep going. I can swim upstream for a time until we reach the next level, where I can finally float a bit.
Side gig income can:
- Help chip away at debt
- Fund necessary supplies
- Grow in investment accounts
- Pay for an investment such as further education or starting a business
- Aid in funding a medical or maternity leave
- Go toward helping a family member
- Be used just for fun!
Whether you are planning for this side stream of income to become your main stream or just want to use it as a source of supplementary cash, you’ll join tons of other teachers in this endeavor. A study found that over 59 percent of teachers took on additional paid work. Over half our teachers are hustling, so at least– what’s the phrase– misery has company?
Side gig ideas especially suited for teachers
The beginning of this brainstormed list includes examples of self-employed income opportunities. This is because while being self-employed carries risk, it has a great reward potential: working on your own terms, with less cap on your earnings. I also have a theory that teaching lends itself to the kind of skills necessary for self-employment, so you may find being your own boss to be a natural fit.
This list also includes side gigs that involve working for an existing company. The upside for these jobs is that there are low/no startup costs, you can get started and earn right away, and work is given to you rather than having to seek it out.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both models. I encourage you to research these ideas further, ask around, and give them a try to see what fits best for you.
Types of self-employed gigs:
Service
Great teachers possess a whole host of skills that turn a profit. Of course, you could market any service you choose (like being a background dancer for music videos!) but I’ll highlight a few ideas that I think are particularly well suited to educators.
Related to childcare:
- Babysitting or nannying
- Summer camp directing
- Children’s lessons in particular skills like sports or the arts
- Tutoring
- Learning pod or homeschool co-op teaching
Related to hobbies and talents:
- Teaching private lessons such as a piano teacher
- Personal training or coaching
- At-home health care
- Residential or commercial office cleaning
- Administrative assisting or bookkeeping
- Interior decorating
- Event planning
- Consulting
- Freelance project management
- Freelance writing
- Graphic design
- Solo marketing agency
- Photography
Product
- Selling learning materials on TPT
- Creating and selling classroom décor like personalized signs
- Selling crafts on Etsy
- Reselling or flipping items
Content creation
Teachers haven’t just figured out the whole social media thing, a few have discovered how to make good money on it. The past few years on Instagram alone, I’ve witnessed not only adorable bulletin boards, color coordinated bins and great new read aloud ideas but also the meteoric rise of the teacher influencer.
Content creation earns a category of its own here, because the product is often the content itself if monetized through ads. But some content creators advertise their own products and services with the platform.
The origins of many Teachergram accounts (like mine!) were based in a desire to share their classroom experiences and put the word out about their TPT products.
The tough part about content creation is that it’s also not a surefire way to earn money. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to monetize, and metrics such as amount of followers don’t always translate to cold, hard cash.
But content creation, be it posting on Instagram or YouTube or starting a blog, plays to a lot of educators’ strengths by using creativity, planning, social skills and design. It can be a very flexible option as well, with no particular schedule, making it an attractive option for integrating into the busy teacher life.
Personally, I feel I may have missed the wave on Instagram. That and I don’t have a particular strategy for growing my account. A successful content creator teacher told Buzzfeed she works on her TPT/social media business for at least six hours each day after school. That puts the hustle in side hustle, for sure.
Other side gigs worth looking into:
- Restaurant serving
- Assistant librarian
- Tutoring through a company
- Summer camp or summer school staff
- Afterschool care
Whether you’re a teacher or a former teacher or very much not a teacher, I hope this handpicked list of worthwhile side gig opportunities gave you some ideas and motivation to get started! As a serial side hustler, I’m right there with you.
