15 Artists Share their Most Lucrative, Illegal, and Crazy Side Gigs
By Literally Broke
Photo by Coco Tafoya on Unsplash
Having a side gig provides financial flexibility and a back-up plan in case your main income source falls through. And in a moment of poetic justice I am, as of today, officially #funemployed.
The good news? I already have two side hustles lined up: freelance social media management and freelance blogging.
This week I spoke with 15 other artists about their best side hustles. Here’s what they had to say:
“Taskrabbit. I generally do a lot of Ikea tasks, which are shockingly simple. The more I’ve built a thing, the quicker I can build it.” - An anonymous scenic artist
“My side hustle has become my main hustle lately—I build Squarespace websites for folks. I am a certified Squarespace Circle member, and I specialize in building actor/artist portfolios and e-commerce stores.” - Actress Anna Jordan (check out her portfolio)
“I created Tell Tell as a blogging platform and I spent the first 3 or so years interviewing some of my favorite contemporary poets. I had a tiny little “work with me” button on the site, and after three years, people actually started emailing ME for editing support. From there, the Tell Tell side hustle blossomed and, when I got fired last year, it became my official forever job, full-time business!” - Poet Kallie Falandays
“Tarot Cards. I have clients from all over the world, and it's given me the flexibility to kind of work on projects that I want without having to worry too much about pitching my brains out just to get anything.” - Writer Libby Leonard, the founder of Idealist Tarot
“I used to illustrate for magazines as a side hustle. Also used to make soaps that looked like gems and sold them at flea markets.” - Artist Alyssa Carvara
“I worked at a pie shop inside of a dive bar on weekends for years. So fun, so weird.” - Kenzi, a photographer
“I had a short gig one time addressing hundreds of Christmas cards for a family.” - Writer Claire Zajdel
“Pre-grad school I did a bunch of odd jobs while also being a scenic artist and props artisan. My favorite and most frequent side gig was being a nude artist's model.” - An anonymous scenic designer
“I've been a nanny on and off for the past 10 years!” - Costume Designer Matsy Stinson
“I started a newsletter as my side hustle to freelance writing and it's all about freelance writing! I just recently switched over to paid subscriptions. Also, in a more unique side hustle, I bought a camper van a few years ago and put my house on Airbnb. Whenever the house was rented, I moved into the camper van.” - Writer Britany Robinson (Check out her newsletter One More Question)
“ I've worked as a personal trainer and I've had a web-based job for the last 4 years with a fitness company while pursuing acting and getting an MFA in Theatre.” - Actress Sara Lessman
“I do Human Design and Tarot readings to fund my writing. It used to be the other way around! I used to do content writing as a side hustle to be able to study witchy things. But then I started writing books, and in order to have time to write, I have grown my Human Design and Tarot side hustle into a middle hustle to be able to write my next book.” - Writer Clare Marie Edgeman
“I worked doing jewelry piece work from home for a local craftsperson! I wasn't fast at it - I averaged $6 per hour. It temporarily halted when Covid began and all of the owner's business stopped. I'm hoping she doesn't ask me to start working for her again. The pandemic was the perfect excuse for me to stop.” - One anonymous writer and editor
“I photographed fake weddings of people getting married for citizenship. I also did bottle service for illegal after-hour parties from 4am to 10am with Saudi Royalty.” - an anonymous dancer
“I stripped in a truck stop town in the middle of Iowa.” - an anonymous actress
Side hustles are one of the easiest ways to increase your income and achieve your financial goals. Here are fifteen side hustle ideas perfect for creatives.