Abby B. Wondering what are some suitable side hustles for videographers? Unsure what you can do with your expertise? Here are 11 ideas!
In this article, I’ll be sharing 11 suitable side hustles for videographers and recommendations of what you’ll need to start. At the end of the post, you can find more tailored options for making money online on the side as a videographer.
*This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link!
11 Best Side Hustles For Videographers
1. Video-shoot for others and offer freelance video-editing services
Looking to start a side hustle outside your day job that will look good on your resume and can help your career as a videographer? You can work on a freelance basis to video record and edit for others.
It’s best to choose a niched angle to start with as it helps to build your credibility in the industry. Choose between video shooting for commercials, music videos, ecommerce products or even community events.
There’s ample opportunities in these areas if you’re open to offering your services for a cheaper rate than others. This helps you practice your skills and accumulate work for your portfolio which you can then use to negotiate a better rate later on.
You can set up a profile or seller account on Upwork and Fiverr to reach out to online clients or visit events in your area to make connections with small to medium businesses. Depending on the industry you’re going for, jobs tend to fluctuate and can drop especially during wintertime.
Services related to videos you can offer:
- Video editing
- YouTube intro/outro video
- Video for ads
- Resume video
- Social media management
- Short form video editing
- Subtitling
- Website video
- Tutorial videos
- Aerial videography
Ways to promote your services:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- PeoplePerHour
- Indeed
- TikTok (because anything can go viral here)
- Build your own website
| What do I need to start? | – Technical skills for a specific service – Your hourly rate charge – Platform to market your services |
2. Make videos for your own YouTube channel
Sometimes the best way to get more side jobs (if you want to) is to create sneak peeks of what you can offer and make it free to view.
As a videographer, it’s ideal and perhaps mandatory to have a YouTube channel of your own. Whether it’s to share videos of your past works, tutorials or test out new videography tactics, a YouTube channel can 100x your credibility.
I personally love watching unique short films on YouTube that uses rare and difficult video-shooting techniques – ones the normal person will not do!
Aside from making videos solely on videography, you can explore any other passion you may have. This includes personal vlogs, food adventures or travel!
YouTube lets you earn through advertisements, affiliates, brand sponsorships and sales of your own products.
Interesting YouTube channels in the videography niche:
| What do I need to start? | – A camera to record – Portable microphone for better sound – A video editing software |
Read: What I spent for my vlogging gear in first 6 months
3. Start a podcast for the videography niche
Have great interest in becoming an online content creator? You should start a podcast alongside a YouTube channel.
It’s a trend nowadays to video-record your podcast sessions and upload it to YouTube. This way you’re both a YouTuber and a podcaster – which makes content planning super easy (even with a busy schedule).
You can then include links to your podcast channels on Spotify and Apple in the description of your YouTube video.
Unlike YouTube, podcasting allows you to earn from downloads and brand deals. It’s normal to have short breaks to introduce your sponsors and anything you’re promoting.
Although it’s not your forte to edit just audio files, it’s actually an easier task than editing videos and you should be able to do it in no time.
| What do I need to start? | – Good desk microphone – Set of quality earphones – An audio editing software |
Check out: 19+ best podcasts on videography
If you’re exploring content creation on your own, it can be daunting to do everything at once. But most websites, YouTube channels and podcasts started that way!
Another way you can make money with your knowledge of videography is to share it on a blog – for FREE. Just like YouTube, your readers don’t have to be paying you for you to earn with your site – you’ll have ads to pay you.
Many think that in order to succeed with sharing written content, you’ll need an established website with 50 editors working concurrently. But a simple blog can be managed by a single person even if it’s a side hustle.
Blogs are much less demanding compared to the two options I’ve talked about above as you can publish an article every two weeks and still get traction. However, you’ll need to publish a lot of articles before you make any substantial income.
Aside from ads, blogging allows you to earn from affiliates, sponsorships and sales of your own products e.g. courses. Check out my article for step-by-step guide on how to set up a blog.
| What do I need to start? | – A WordPress Website – Domain name & hosting – Passion to write for a specific niche |
Read: Why I invested in a blogging coach before doing anything else
5. Earn commission with affiliate products and services
There are all sorts of ways you can earn with affiliate programs – and it’s not limited to just your YouTube channel or your blog.
You can be promoting the same links on social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and even Pinterest. I can say that it doesn’t work as well on Facebook.
So if you love using social media and have a good number of followers on any of these platforms, you can create a side hustle out of promoting affiliate links to products and services you love.
Affiliate programs is not available for everything but you can find good products/services to promote on marketplaces like Amazon Associates, CJ affiliate, Clickbank, Share-a-sale and Rakuten Advertising.
Once someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a percentage of the sale amount. Most affiliate programs have a commission threshold for you to meet for them to make the payment.
| What do I need to start? | – Affiliate products or services you can promote – Social media account with growing followers |
6. Sell your videos online on stock websites
If you’re looking to make use of your footage and video assets, you can earn a good passive side income from selling them on stock websites.
Stock websites would require you to confirm that videos/photos uploaded are exclusive and not used anywhere else – so it’s best you keep proper records for yourself to ensure no overlaps.
There’s a growing trend for stock videos in portrait (vertical) format thanks to the rise of short form videos on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts. There’s also huge demand for drone footage!
Just like anything else, it’s hard to grow if you’re focusing on too many things at once. You should focus on a capturing videos for a single niche industry or a few in-demand travel spots in 5.7K resolution and HDR mode.
If you’re an introvert and don’t want to spend any of your remaining energy working for others, this is your ideal side hustle!
Stock websites you can join to start:
| What do I need to start? | – A good camera & photography/videography skills – Basic editing skills – Consistency to upload photos or videos frequently |
7. Create and sell online courses for videography
Have great confidence in your videography skills and want to take things further? You can create your own online courses and sell on any of the learning platforms I’ve listed below.
As someone that’s always looking to upskills and make extra income on the side, I’ve been generous in purchasing online courses for myself! It’s something I often budget for and don’t mind spending on, compared to the daily $5 lattes.
There are so many people out there that wants to pivot to videography and interested in structured lessons. It’s also applicable to seasoned videographers as they may not have the same skill sets as yours.
So identify what unique value you can offer and start documenting them as online courses. They can be sold at any time to anyone in the world!
You can also look into mentoring young creatives interested in video-making. Hosting physical classes and one-on-ones does not bring in passive income but it lets you build connections in the industry.
Some sites you can host online courses on:
| What do I need to start? | – A niched course idea – Well thought out module – Tools to record your lessons e.g. screen record, microphone |
Creating courses is too much work for you? Here’s a list of digital products you can make to sell on easy platforms like Etsy. I’ve made a quick guide on how to make these products too!
8. Write an e-book to self-publish with Amazon KDP
Aside from promoting affiliates on your socials, you can also earn affiliate income passively by placing links in e-books that you sell. Double earnings!
Selling e-books to make extra income online is often overlooked due to the expectation of low sales. But these products are only made once with almost zero cost involved and you can be selling them for the next ten years.
If you create a series of ten different e-books for videography, sell them individually for $9 and make an average sales of 100 per year for each e-book, you can make an extra $9,000 per year passively!
These are figures on the lower end so imagine if it’s on the higher end.
You can self-publish your books with Amazon KDP, Lulu and Book Baby. They can be sold digitally as an e-book or as a physical copy (printed once purchased by customer).
| What do I need to start? | – Book writing skills – Join an online self-publishing platform |
9. Create digital products for videographers to sell on Etsy
Unsure about selling stock photos, online courses or your own e-book? You can start simple by just selling digital products for other videographers.
This can be anything from premiere pro presets and elements, to specific videography contracts (samples below). These kind of resources are super helpful for beginner videographers and individual content creators.
I surely do not want to spend 20 hours learning how to make a YouTube intro!
Whether its for social media, websites or just video editing, there are all sorts of digital products you can sell on Etsy. There’s almost no extra production cost involved with every new sale as you only make these products once.
You can create a listing for your digital products on Etsy that requires no shipping on your end as the seller. Once you make a sale, Etsy will allow the customer to download the file immediately.
You can either prepare the file as the final product or have links in a PDF guide that directs the customer to the digital product (applicable for Canva templates). It’s practical to include a simple instruction sheet (PDF or image) for customers to follow.
| What do I need to start? | – A digital product idea – Tools to create the digital product – Platform to sell on |
10. Pet-sit for cats & dogs in your free time
Stuck at home with video editing work that lets you do nothing else? You can still make money by taking care of pets that need home-boarding by signing up to sites like Rover and WagWalking.
You probably can’t make a lot with pet-sitting as it requires your time commitment but with an average rate of $15-$20 per visit, you can make at least $200 with 10 visits in a single weekend.
Rates differ based on the type of service and your experience as a pet caregiver.
Traditional pet-sitting would require you to make a visit to the pet owner’s home and make use of their space. So logically, you should be able to charge more with home-boarding!
Services you can include with pet sitting:
- Walking
- Home boarding
- Sleepovers and night care
- Training
- Bring to vet
- Basic grooming & care
- Travel trips
| What do I need to start? | – Good skills with pets e.g. dogs, cats – Tools for the service you want to offer – Socializing to get clients |
11. Design custom merchandise to sell with print on demand
Thought of designing and selling your own branded merchandise? You can start your dream business as a side hustle with print on demand without incurring any upfront cost – here’s seven reasons why POD is for you.
It works just like dropshipping as you don’t need to purchase any stock or handle the shipping when a customer makes a purchase. Your chosen POD printing provider will print the product (even if it’s a single unit) and ship it directly to your customer.
Two best suppliers I usually recommend are Printify and Printful as both integrates seamlessly with Etsy, Shopify and WooCommerce.
As the seller, you’ll have to make your own designs using tools like Canva or Kittl then upload them to merchandise you want to sell. This includes phone cases, laptop cases and even mouse pads.
If you can’t make your own designs, you can purchase ready ones on creative marketplaces like Envato Elements or Creative Fabrica.
| What do I need to start? | – Basic designing skills – A laptop to work with – An initial niche and product |
Can’t decide what product to design and sell? Check out my product guides before deciding!
- Tote bags for print on demand
- Tumblers for print on demand
- Phone cases for print on demand
- Posters for print on demand
- Leggings for print on demand
- Jewelry for print on demand
- Candles for print on demand
- Doormats for print on demand
- Hoodies for print on demand
- Pet products for print on demand
- Socks for print on demand
- Pajamas for print on demand
- Blankets for print on demand
- Baby clothes for print on demand
- Wrapping paper for print on demand
- Puzzles for print on demand
- Stickers for print on demand
- Athletic wear for print on demand
- Hats for print on demand
- Journals for print on demand
- Greeting cards for print on demand
- Mugs for print on demand
How To Make Money As A Freelance Videographer
Here are 9 ideas on how you can make money as a freelance videographer:
- Offer freelance content writing for large websites
- Make a personal YouTube channel
- Teach others videography via recorded online courses
- Design and sell merchandise with print on demand
- Take event videography jobs
- Sell your videos on stock websites
- Create templates to sell to other videographers
- Start a podcast for beginner videographers and photographers
- Become a freelancer for video editing
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
As a videographer, how much you can make depends largely on how many hours you’re dedicating to jobs. Taking at least ten small side jobs in a month allows you to make around $15,000-$30,000 if you’re charging anywhere between $1,500-$3,000 per job. Ten jobs is a lot to begin with!
Which Side Hustle Should I Choose?
Unsure which side hustles for videographers you should go for? Here are the top 6 things to consider when deciding which is best for you.
- How much time can you commit to it?
- Consider how much time you can set aside for your side hustle for weekdays and weekends
- What type of income are you looking for?
- Do you want to make income actively or passively while you sleep?
- What sparks interest & passion in you?
- Choose a side hustle that aligns to your personal goals and interests as it keeps you motivated
- Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
- Different side hustles requires different level of communication with the outside world, are you comfortable meeting new people every day?
- What is your current partner or friend up to that you can leverage on?
- Doing something with a friend or partner makes things easier and more manageable
- How soon do you need to make extra money?
- Not all side hustles make the same amount of money in the same pace, do you need money today or in a year’s time?
Bottom Line
Any skills that relates to the digital world has huge potential in today’s content creating economy. Whether it’s for a full-time job or a side gig, there are so many options for you to explore as a videographer.
You’ll just need to decide on a theme or a niche and go all in. If things don’t work, pivot fast!
I will always encourage my readers to build passive income streams aside from having a stable day job.
Here are 11 best side hustles for videographers:
- Video-shoot for others and offer freelance video-editing services
- Make videos for your own YouTube channel
- Start a podcast for the videography niche
- Share video-editing knowledge with a blog
- Earn commission with affiliate products and services
- Sell your videos online on stock websites
- Create and sell online courses for videography
- Write an e-book to self-publish with Amazon KDP
- Create digital products for videographers to sell on Etsy
- Pet-sit for cats & dogs in your free time
- Design custom merchandise to sell with print on demand
I’m not one to brag, but blogging has changed my life. I’ve been able to earn an income passively while on a coffee date and traveling with my family. With everything, it takes time to learn and not an overnight success – to speed things up, get yourself a blogging coach before starting.
These are my blogging resources to help you out:
- Step-by-step guide how to start blogging in your free time
- Why you need a blogging coach right from the start
- Worried of exposing yourself? You can blog anonymously
Photo by Peter Fowler
