Career Life
It’s 2018 people, can you believe it? Times have changed. Teachers no longer have to break their backs over waiting tables or bagging groceries, after an exhausting day in the classroom. Entrepreneurship is on the rise, and there are many ways to make money on your own, without having to punch a time clock, or answer to a boss with an authoritative complex. Teachers already deal with enough administrative crap on a daily basis. Besides, who wants a second boss?
So we’ve come up with this list of 20 perfect ways that teachers can earn money on the side, by using the skills and tools they already possess, and without adding too much extra stress on their plates.
1. Start your own blog
With all the easy-to-build website tools that exist out there now, starting your own blog is a piece of cake, these days. If you use any of the popular and easy-to-use website-builders, like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace, creating a beautiful website doesn’t require much technical knowledge at all. Fill up your new blog site with Pinterest projects, photos of your classroom, stories and personal experiences, and even your products from TPT and/or Etsy. Promote your blog through your social media pages, and you’ll have enough traffic that you can start making money from it! There are plenty of ways to monetize a blog such as, Google ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, creating a shop, making YouTube videos, and more.
2. Sell your teaching materials
Out of the 80,000 contributors on TeachersPayTeachers (TPT), at least a dozen teachers have made over a million dollars through selling their lesson plans online. TPT is a marketplace for teachers to buy and sell classroom materials. That’s right, all those lesson plans, worksheets, activities, and flash cards that you already spend so much time putting together, can be uploaded to this platform and sold for a profit. It’s not only a clever way to earn some side cash, it’s a time-saver (and sometimes a life-saver) for teachers all over.
3. Become an Uber driver
If you own a decent car and don’t mind driving, Uber has been helping a lot of families pay bills and put food on the table in recent years. While the market is becoming more and more saturated, Uber drivers are still in high demand. With all the people needing rides to the airport, you can earn up to $35/hour, depending on where you live. To become a driver, you must have a valid police background check and pass an interview — similar to what is required of taxi drivers. And in case your worried about the danger of picking up strangers, Uber’s two-way reviews help to weed out those undesirable passengers.
4. Rent out your car
Don’t like the idea of driving people around? If you own a car, you can make money with it whenever you’re not using it. Websites like Turo and Getaround give you access to thousands of people looking for a car to rent, so they can avoid the headaches at the rental counter. It’s free to make a listing and post when your car is available. If someone requests to rent, you can check out the person’s profile/reviews and choose whether or not you want to rent it to them. Turo.com provides up to $1 million in liability insurance coverage AND 24/7 roadside assistance, so you can be worry-free while your car rolls out for a spin, and the money rolls in!
5. Rent your house/apartment on Airbnb
Don’t want anyone touching your precious wheels? There’s always your home. Airbnb (Air Bed and Breakfast) is an online marketplace for people to rent their homes, apartments, or even just a room for short periods of time. Feel like going somewhere on vacation during winter break, spring break, or summer break, but not sure if you can afford it? Well, you could fund your entire vacation by renting out your home while you’re away. Some people make more money by renting out their homes/apartments for 1 long weekend, than others do renting it out on a monthly basis. You set your rates, rules, and dates of availability on your profile, and then pick & choose between the requests that roll in. Easy peezy!
6. Teach online
When you’ve spent countless hours and dollars (aka student loans) earning all those teaching degrees, certifications, licenses, and professional development credits, it only seems logical to use all that to make extra cash, too. Teaching online is a fun way for teachers to earn extra money while doing what they do best, all from the comfort of their home. With DaDaABC, teachers can earn up to $25/hour by teaching one-on-one lessons, not 30-40 kids at a time! Here are a few more advantages of teaching online with DaDaABC:
- No need to prepare anything for classes, all lesson materials are provided for you.
- You pick your own hours — perfect for stay-at-home moms, digital nomads, or teachers just graduating from college and looking for some teaching experience.
- Meet with the same students every week.
- Guaranteed class schedule by week 2 — DaDaABC won’t leave you hanging to find students by yourself — they’ll find them for you.
- Opportunities available to earn monthly bonuses!
7. Grow your Instagram page
On Instagram, teachers who post fun photos, interesting articles, and cute videos regularly to their page, can quickly become social media “influencers”. The more followers you gain, the more traffic you can send to your personal blog, to your lesson plans/products being sold on other sites, and eventually get paid to promote for others (aka paid “shoutouts” or sponsored posts). Prices for sponsored Instagram posts can start at $50 per post if your page has +10K followers. The more followers you gain, the more money you can charge!
8. Sell your photos
Back in the day, in order to make any money with photography, you had to work for a magazine like National Geographic, become a paparazzi, get in the wedding business, or be featured in a chic gallery and sell your work to the top bidder. Nowadays, more and more websites are popping up, making it easier for even amateur photographers to make money with the click of a shutter. From photo contests on websites like Pixoto, stock image royalties, and even selling prints on websites like Viewbug, there are a number of ways you can turn your hobby into a supplemental income.
9. Write for Bored Teachers
Are you already a teacher blogger, or have a witty sense of humor about teaching and would like to share it with millions of other teachers around the world? Well, Bored Teachers provides $50 for every approved article submission, and helps build up your social followers or traffic to your own blog, through the links in your author bio, at the top of each article.
If you think your writing will bring a smile to other teachers’ faces or you have some valuable wisdom you’d like to pass on, then check out the writing guidelines on how to submit your first article.
10. Write an e-book
If you’re already a teacher blogger, have a passion for writing, or your brain is exploding with stories/ideas, publishing an e-book is not as difficult as one might think. With Kindle Direct Publishing, you can have your e-book published in 5 minutes and up in front of millions of readers on Amazon within a day or two. You set your own prices and earn up to 70% royalties on sales. Big difference compared to most big publishers, that only offer 6-10% royalties!
11. Sell your handmade goods
Being creative is a skill a lot of teachers have honed through years of arts & crafts activities in the classroom. So why not put that talent to use at home by building your own storefront on Etsy and making handcrafted novelty items to sell online. This platform was made for artists and creative people to sell handmade jewelry, photographs, paintings, clothing, food, knick-knacks, vintage treasures, and more. Starting a shop is free, and then Etsy only takes a small percentage of each item listed and each item sold.
12. Sell your old stuff online
Over the years, we consume and collect a lot of stuff, some nice, but mostly junk. If you’re like most of us, you probably have an attic or basement or garage (or all of the above) FULL of stuff you never use anymore. Time to unload.
With all the easy-to-use websites and apps available now, you can start a new collection in your garage, a collection of money! Let people bid on your stuff through eBay, or simply list a fixed price directly on popular sites like Craigslist or Gazelle (for electronic devices).
There are some great apps out there now, too. Check out Letgo and Wish Local, for buying/selling just about anything. And if you’re a fashion diva ready to start freeing up some space in that cluttered walk-in closet, then check out thredUp — a fashion resale app for buying & selling used clothes, shoes & accessories.
13. Rent out your stuff
Not yet ready to part ways with your stuff and sell it all for good? Then just rent it out! Zilok is a website where you can rent almost anything! Tools, furniture, video game consoles, sports equipment, boats, cars, camping equipment, musical instruments, you name it! So instead of letting all those expensive items get auctioned off for a fraction of the price you paid, or letting them sit around and collect dust in the garage, throw it on Zilok and make a few bucks off it. You might make enough to just buy new stuff… or pay off all those student loans!
14. Liquidate your kids’ stuff
For all you teacher-parents out there with kids that have grown up, it’s time to turn those dust-covered boxes of toys and sporting goods into some cold-hard cash! Recycle your no longer needed/wanted used sports and fitness equipment at Play It Again Sports. Sell it for cash, or trade it in, and save money on new gear. Then take all those toys, baby clothes, cribs, bouncers, swings, maternity wear, and car seats into your local KidtoKid store, and get paid the cash, or 20% more in store credit.
15. Direct-sell
There are thousands of companies that offer direct-selling jobs for people just like teachers, those looking to make some extra income around their day jobs. Some of the most well-known direct-selling companies are in the cosmetics and supplements industries, but in recent years, some clothing companies have become popular, too. One that became popular from their comfy leggings is called LuLaRoe (LLR). A lot of teachers have joined as sellers for LLR and have made a killing! They coordinate flash sales through Facebook groups and house party events, so it has the perk of improving your social life, as well. Not to mention, you get to keep quite a few free outfits in the process. Female teachers know the value in that!
16. Freelance
If you’re a teacher, you most definitely have more than a few talents. Whether it be in film/photography, web development, design, customer service, language translation, data/research, science & engineering, or general labor, you can turn your skills into cash. Check out websites like Upwork, Freelancer, or this list of the 15 best websites for making money as a freelancer.
17. Event Planner
Teachers are the masters of organization and planning (well maybe not all of us). So why not put that talent to use by providing your services as an event planner in your area. Plenty of people are looking for someone creative to help coordinate their big wedding day, their first baby shower, big birthday parties, and even company gatherings.
18. Babysit
Who else would people trust better with their kids? With your credentials as a teacher, you can even ask for higher rates. Parents would be willing to pay top-dollar to leave their kid(s) with someone who can help them with any homework questions and who will surely be able to keep things on lock-down with their “teacher look” and “teacher voice“!
But if being around kids is the last thing you want to do after a long day of teaching (good chance you will be), then you can always “pet-sit”, if you’re more of an animal person! On Care.com, you can find people in your area looking for childcare, pet care, or even senior care. Take your pick!
19. Graphic Design work
With all those classroom materials and decorations you’re always making, you might have become pretty nifty on the computer with graphic design. That’s a valuable skill to have! Businesses are constantly looking for graphic designers to make logos, business cards, and brochures. Check out Fiverr, a popular website where you can list your services for $5 (starting price), and then offer add-ons for $20 and up. That might not sound like much, but once you build up a bit of a portfolio, you’ll have more requests for projects than you can handle!
20. Teach summer school/camp
Last but not least, as much as you need your summers to recharge before the next school year, there are always students who go to school during the summer break. If you’re not feeling the entrepreneurial drive, then summer school is always an option to keep the paychecks rolling in during the summer months.
If you need to get away from the school building, then there are also plenty of summer camps looking for teachers. With all the kids whose parents can’t fathom the idea of them sitting around the house all summer, a wide variety of camps exist, ranging from academic camps, adventure camps, arts camps, military camps, sports camps, religious camps, technology camps, special needs camps, and the list goes on.
This article is sponsored by DaDaABC — a one-on-one online English-learning platform where teachers can earn money from the comfort of their home, doing what they love: teaching! Find out how to sign up at DaDaABC.com.
