Abby B. As a welder, you’re typically well-paid for the tough jobs that you commit to. However, this can differ for everyone depending on experience and area they’re serving.
Whether you’re a beginner welder or an experienced one, there’s an assortment of ways you can earn extra income as a welder – both active and passive!
*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 Welders
1. Design and sell your own furniture
Selling end products to consumers is a sure way to making more money – compared to just offering straightforward welding services. You’re serving a wider audience and able to sell unique items!
You can be taking custom orders from others or just sell whatever you have in store. If you’re on a tight budget, taking pre-orders helps you collect enough money to buy materials.
Things can get more interesting if you offer personalization for your smaller-sized furniture. People are always more willing to pay extra to make their purchase one of a kind.
You can use social media to promote and sell your finished products, or set up a store on Etsy or eBay. Etsy is best to sell small welded hardware like unique drawer knobs or lamps!
2. Record vlogs and tutorials for a personal YouTube channel
Too busy to be doing anything extra but still want to make some side income? You can just video-record your current work and upload them to YouTube as vlogs or tutorials.
Compared to typical day vlogs, people are more inclined to search for product-specific welding tutorials or welding product reviews on YouTube. They will also watch your tutorials over and over again just to get things right.
So if I were you and I’m just starting out, I would make my videos concise and straight to the point. More views means more revenue (once you’re monetized)!
It’s important to be consistent with your YouTube uploads. You don’t have to be a professional from the beginning, just improve as you progress.
Want to earn from advertisements but don’t want to be making YouTube videos? You can make money by writing for your own blog.
Setting up a blog is generally more complicated than creating your YouTube channel. It also requires you to purchase a domain name and hosting plan, whereas a YouTube channel is free.
However, everything should cost less than $100 and you would have a full-fledged website of your own. Looks super professional, no? I did it with zero technical background!
Instead of selling things on your website, you can just make money from writing content on it. You can write about anything you’re passionate about, including welding or furniture-making topics.
It’s best to stick to single niche in the beginning! This means writing tens or hundreds of content just on welding.
With enough traffic to your site, you should be able to earn an income from advertisements (using Google AdSense) and any affiliate links you’ve included in your content.
Check out my free 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
4. Offer mobile welding services with a truck
If you’re waiting for freelance welding jobs to be knocking on your door, there’s a chance you have to be the one seeking it instead.
The most practical method to go out of your way and get clients is to start a mobile welding service. It would require some investment as you’ll need to source a vehicle or truck to be your main moving workstation.
Once you have your workstation, tools and equipment in place, it’s time to let others know you’re open for freelance jobs. Aside from networking around and relying on word of mouth, advertise your services on Craigslist, Yelp, Nextdoor and Facebook Marketplace.
Ensure that your truck has a “welding & fabrication” signage and make it obvious for customers to come to you. Even if you don’t have enough resources to set up your mobile welding shop, start with what you have and get your biz running from your home garage!
Remember to have the right license for your service and always honor your quoted price to get good reviews (and repeated sales).
| What do I need to start? | – A vehicle as your main workstation – Platform to market your services |
5. Take original photos to sell online with stock websites
If you’re not looking to exhaust all energy outside your day job as a welder, look into building passive income streams online.
A fairly easy one almost anyone can go into is selling photos on stock websites. You’ll need to get a camera as your main gear and learn photography from scratch.
Unlike other services, selling stock photos does not require great photo-editing skills so you’ll be okay as long as you have an eye for good angles.
You can specialize in taking photos of furniture, outdoor gardens or even handyman work. It takes some time to build your portfolio but once it has a substantial amount of photos, your income can skyrocket!
Stock websites you can join to start:
| What do I need to start? | – A good camera & photography skills – Basic photo editing skills – Consistency to upload photos frequently |
6. Create short online courses to teach welding
Some other ways to make passive income online is through selling pre-recorded online courses on learning platforms (list below).
As a welder, you can record your own short classes to teach welding and sell them online for anything between $30 and $100. Price of courses depend largely on the content modules and the value you’re offering.
It’s best to look around and assess your competition before designing your product and your price! You can target beginner welders (fresh out of school) with basic lessons or experienced ones with more advanced courses.
People have a higher tendency to purchase a course if it allows them to make extra income. So putting this mind, you can structure welding courses that teaches others how to start a welding business and how to make your best-selling welded products or furniture.
People may feel that offering face-to-face classes is better but with an online course, you can free up your future time and reach a wider audience. You may be selling to anyone in the world!
Also, you don’t have to be preparing any materials or set up a class venue beyond your own working space.
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!
7. Self-publish your own welding e-book on Amazon KDP
Another way of making an extra income through selling your knowledge (without the hard physical labor) is to write your own e-book and sell online with Amazon KDP.
Depending on your focused niche, you can write books for carpentry, woodworking or just basic welding.
Compared to other niches, welding is a highly visual niche that needs others to have the end product in mind. So work with a lot of pictures, diagrams and colors!
E-books allow you to earn on royalty from every sale as well as commissions from affiliates. You can place links to your favorite tool or welding product within your e-book’s content.
When your reader clicks on it and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a percentage of the sale amount. As long as the device is connected to the internet, readers will be directed to the product or service you’re promoting when clicking links within the PDF.
Some popular affiliate marketplaces to you can join are Amazon Associates, Share-a-sale and Rakuten Advertising.
| What do I need to start? | – Book writing skills – Join an online self-publishing platform |
8. Sell digital products for other welders on Etsy
Digital products can be anything – from stock photos and online courses to simply PDF files. You’ll be surprised of what digital products you can sell as a welder!
You don’t always have to be sharing real education courses to be teaching, sometimes it’s in the form of easy-to-follow guides that others can purchase.
You can be selling plans and drawings for DIY metal welding of unique items (sample below). Simply search for “welding plans” on Etsy and you’ll get a ton other ideas.
Not everyone wants to buy a ready completed product and some may want to build things as a hobby – so that’s your target market!
If you didn’t know, there’s also whole category for “Woodworking & Carpentry” on Etsy under craft supplies section. Other than the usual wooden products, there are a lot of sellers selling just videos of how to create a specific wooden furniture (a.k.a. digital product).
Etsy is one of the few marketplaces that lets you create a digital product listing which requires no shipping on your end as the seller. Once a customer makes a purchase, they can immediately download the file.
Other online platforms to sell your digital downloads:
| What do I need to start? | – A digital or physical product idea – Tools to create the digital product – Platform to sell on |
9. Get a part-time job with a car body repair company
Want to go the traditional route and just get a side job as a welder? You can work for workshops that does car body repairs.
Serious car damages may require welding work to restore the car’s shape and function, so there’s ample work in that field. Second hand car dealers may also need a professional for these small but important repairs.
Especially if you’re a young welder just starting your career, working at body repair workshops or even fabrication shops help you practice your skills and learn the industry.
The demand can fluctuate from month to month so a part-time role may be easier to arrange for both parties!
Alternatively, if you’re into cars, you can get a side job with automotive shops that does car modifications.
| What do I need to start? | – Time to dedicate to part-time job – Job openings to apply to – Relevant working experience |
10. Sign up as a pet caregiver on pet-sitting apps
Looking for a side hustle that lets you relax at home on weekends? You can get paid to pet-sit as a pet caregiver on sites like Rover or WagWalking.
With an average rate of $15-20 per visit, you can make at least $200 in a single weekend with just 10 visits! This of course depends on the service you provide and the area you’re serving.
You can even be selling your own pet furniture and custom pet fittings to pet owners! They may be more keen to hire you since you’re already helping them take care of their pets.
If there’s extra space in your home, you can offer home-boarding services while doing your welding work in your garage. Win-win!
I highly recommend this side hustle if you love pets (cats & dogs) and have experience taking care of them.
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 – Platform to market your services |
11. Design unique merchandise to sell online with print on demand
Already have a side business selling metal products but you’re unsure how to scale? You can go into ecommerce with print on demand – check out my seven reasons why POD is for you.
You don’t have to be making these products yourself as everything is handled by your POD supplier. I would recommend going with either Printify or Printful.
You’ll only need to create your own digital designs using tools like Canva or Kittl, then upload them to merchandise like metal signs, license plate frames and even metal posters.
Once you get a sale, your POD supplier will print the product and ship it directly to your customer for you. You’ll keep the difference between selling price and cost price as your profit!
If you don’t wish to make your own designs and have some fund to spare, you can purchase ready designs on 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
13 Freelance Welding Jobs To Explore
Here are 13 ideas on freelance welding jobs you can explore:
- Build your own furniture to sell
- Install or repair patio decks
- Design welding plans to sell as digital products
- Source welding tools to sell
- Create online courses to teach welding
- Get a part-time job at a car repair shop
- Start a mobile welding service
- Become a freelance content writer for welding topics
- Make videos for your own YouTube channel
- Design and sell customized metal signs or posters
- Sell welding video guides on Etsy
- Repair boats for others
- Write your own e-book for welding
How To Make Money Welding In Your Garage
Here are some ideas on how you can make money welding in your garage:
- Determine the product or service you want to offer
- If it’s a service, decide on a good pricing based on your area and competition
- If it’s a product, determine the price for the finished product
- Offer ready products, customized products and pre-orders depending on your availability
- Invest in the right tools for your working space
- Register your business on Google My Business to collect customer reviews
- Ensure there’s a sign outside your garage for others to see
- Sell your smaller products on marketplaces like Etsy and eBay
- Create a Facebook page and Instagram account to promote your service
- Consistently share your completed work via social media
- Use short form videos to promote your business on TikTok and YouTube
- Repeat and scale!
Which Side Hustle Should I Choose?
Unsure which side hustles for welders 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
With any craft-based business, there are two ways you can make money on the side. It’s either you sell a product or sell your service.
Like some of my explanation above, offering a service requires time and energy on your end. It may be hard to juggle especially if you have a day job.
Products are more manageable – whether it’s a physical or digital one, as you create them at your own pace. Life is all about exploring, so find a side hustle that resonates to you the most.
I always encourage my readers to build passive income streams and have the freedom of time!
Here are 11 best side hustles for welders:
- Design and sell your own furniture
- Record vlogs and tutorials for a personal YouTube channel
- Share your welding knowledge with a blog
- Offer mobile welding services with a truck
- Take original photos to sell online with stock websites
- Create short online courses to teach welding
- Self-publish your own welding e-book on Amazon KDP
- Sell digital products for other welders on Etsy
- Get a part-time job with a car body repair company
- Sign up as a pet caregiver on pet-sitting apps
- Design unique merchandise to sell online 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 Collab Media
