10 Smart Gig Economy Jobs for Immigrants

9 MIN READ

Gig economy jobs are all the rage nowadays for earning money, not just in part due to the ongoing pandemic. Working from home to get paid has always been a top-notch option for people looking to spend some of their extra time working and being able to make extra money for their pockets.

There’s so many opportunities for people of all interests to take part in the freelance work-from-home craze. In fact, there are many reports saying that almost half of the U.S. workforce will be freelancing in industries such as writing, video editing, and more! First, what are these best side hustle jobs or freelance jobs?

What Are Solid Gig Economy Jobs?

Popular gig economy workers and jobs are typically part-time jobs with not only flexible hours but flexible employers. What does that mean? It means you can work for multiple organizations at once and earn more money efficiently. For example, if you worked for both Uber and Lyft, you can ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck when accepting rides for people.

There are typically no benefits given for these gigs, hence why they are part-time. Regardless, with minimal cons except possibly less pay, there’s no reason to throw the idea of working as a popular gig worker for these groups and starting a job search to find work on social media away.

Where Can You Find Gig Economy Jobs?

You can find gig economy jobs on most websites that offer full-time positions, like Indeed, but with the added benefit of freelancer sites like Upwork, Fiverr and more. There are also specific websites for companies to work for, like Postmates, Rover or Care, which focuses on food delivery, dog-walking, and babysitting/nannying.

It’s seriously so simple to find all these jobs, so taking a quick look at all of them in this article will give you a boost in your wallet and pocket and put you well on your way to finding a side gig and getting much money for gig work side jobs! Gig jobs are everywhere and will help you make extra cash as an independent contractor in more ways than just delivering food. Speaking of that...

What are the Best Gig Economy Jobs?

1. Deliver Groceries & Food

There are numerous organizations that pay you to deliver food to people with side jobs as economy workers. We’ll break it down into two categories via the gig jobs’ job description: the first will be grocery shopping for errands, and the second will be delivery food from restaurants.

First, companies that pay you to shop for groceries consist of Instacart, Shipt, and many more and represent a great way to get a new job, with many options on freelance job boards, freelance job sites, and gig economy apps (you just need a card and internet connection!). You can sign up to both to get the most amount of money possible, possibly up to around 20 dollars per hour.

When someone wants to have groceries delivered to their house or apartment without driving to the supermarket on their own, they go to applications or websites to order food and supplies. When they press “send,” you will have a notification pop up on your screen. You’d then drive to the store, pack in the groceries, then checkout with a prepaid card before delivering the products to their door.

With restaurant delivery, it’s pretty similar, except you will not be doing any shopping and will be using different apps. Postmates, Grubhub, and the upper-class Caviar app will lead to you making money from home getting paid extra cash and money online.

With both types of delivery options when earning bucks, you get a tip and a percentage of whatever algorithm the companies choose to use out of the purchase price. You will have to worry about your car wear, though.

2. Rent Out Your Car

Speaking about putting wear and tear on your car…

GetAround is an app that lets you rent out your car to people. It’s pretty much a passive income tool, but you have to make sure you are okay with the potential damage that your car could gain without you behind the wheel.

Thankfully, with GetAround’s premium insurance policy, you won’t have to worry too much about any damages to your car. The company also puts its drivers through a driver screening process, so you can feel as comfortable as possible with who is driving your car.

3. Deliver Amazon Flex Packages

Amazon is one of the newest package delivery services in the game. No longer is UPS, USPS, and FedEx the main way to receive Amazon products, as Amazon Flex drivers can deliver these packages.

According to its website, you stand to make up to 18 dollars per hour delivering whatever type of package you prefer to deliver, so it’s not a bad idea to download the app and sign up!

4. Offer Freelance Services

There are so many freelancing opportunities, as you’ve already begun to see on the list. But, while those are you offering a service, it’s a service that requires very little artistic talent or thought put into it. When you have a skill that you can make money off of, these are the types of areas you want to go into.

First, freelance writing jobs can pay well, with the average beginner rate being around 10 cents per word. If you have strong writing skills in multiple areas or one specific area and are good with meeting deadlines, you can write for people’s blogs or large publications. You can even start your own blog!

If writing isn’t your style, perhaps proofreading is. Typically, after an article is written in most media, someone else looks at it to ensure that its grammar, statistics, and everything else is accurate and fair. Many people don’t see just how important these people can be to the long-term success of any publication, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of options!

Maybe you enjoy more of the technological aspect of writing, and in that case, maybe coding is up your alley. Not only will you make a lot of money, but you can assist in the creation of incredible foundations for companies. You could also look into digital marketing and ad management systems (like Facebook Ad Management), which requires people who are strong with technology and have incredible sales and people skills.

Graphic design could be your path if you love creating visually appealing graphics for businesses and individuals. On single projects, you can make hundreds of dollars, if not thousands. It’s extremely lucrative, but you have to find all these opportunities, typically through many online resources like Facebook groups!

Lastly, you could become a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants can work remotely and assist with booking clients and travel arrangements, answering emails, logging other employees’ time and progress on projects, and more. It’s not particularly difficult, but it can take up a lot of your time in exchange for solid cash.

5. Create A Digital/Physical Product or Create Content

Similar to other freelance projects you could work on like writing and graphic design, you could create products that people will want to purchase. You could learn how to bring people’s graphics to life through printing solutions, create clothing and earn commission when selling your designs to larger companies, create printables and jewelry to sell on Etsy, and more. It might not be lucrative, but as long as you work hard and have the talent and some luck, you might get a great deal!

6. Walk Dogs or Pet Sit

If you love dogs, you’ll love dog walking and dog sitting. As long as you can be flexible with hours, you can find either older people needing to pay to have their dogs walked during the day, or people who leave for vacation needing you to feed and walk their animals.

You can make up to 100 dollars per night in wealthier neighborhoods, and you can find these opportunities on Rover, Indeed, and more sites.

7. Become an Airbnb Host

Similarly to renting out your car for people to drive, you can rent out your own house or room in your house to get money from. This will be a bit awkward for some people, as opening up their house for random people can leave a sore taste in people’s mouth. You could also rent out a secondary home you have, making sure you get a return on investment with that house.

8. Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is basically a program created by firms, some scammy but many legitimate, that help businesses learn of and fix customer service issues that may run rampant through their locations.

In a way, becoming a mystery shopper will allow you to live out your dream of becoming a James Bond 007 agent. In a department store. Okay, it’s not glamorous, but it’s something!

You can make a solid amount of money mystery shopping, but it all depends on numerous things like the store, the hours spent, and the distance driven.

9. Sign Up For Handyman Services

Not everyone can safely partake in blue collar work, but if you are one of those people that love to flex your muscles on the job, then why not look into doing things like repairing homes, fixing decks, moving furniture or more?

You can become a well-respected contractor in your locality if people are happy with your service and make it known to the general public, too!

10. Babysit or Nanny

Babysitting can rake in tons of cash. If you are someone that works well with kids and can be extremely trustworthy, then you may make a lot by watching over children while parents are at work or busy doing other things. Sites like Care are highly involved in matching parents with nannies, so try your best shot with the site!

Are Gig Economy Jobs A Good Fit For You?

As you’ve seen, there are so many jobs that will provide you with flexible work hours, nice payments, and more. You can live out your dream and create it into a full-time job if you are lucky and hard-working, and it can fill up your spare time.

At the end of the day, more money means a more comfortable living. Good luck on your searches!

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