Side hustles you can start with your iPhone

Your iPhone is your salvation in terms of keeping you connected and in-the-know, but it might also be your actual lifeline when it comes to helping you earn a bit of extra cash on the side.

Think about it: we spend umpteen hours a day on our phones anyway (recent research from Flurry Analytics found that Americans are spending five hours a day on mobile devices. Eek!), so we might as well embrace the fact that phones are good and use all that time to our advantage.

First stop? Book yourself into one of our illuminating, practical and totally FREE sessions at a Three Discovery Centre.

These sessions are possibly the world’s best-kept secret, and can get you mastering everything from phone basics to getting you up to speed with WhatsApp and YouTube. You even have a guide on getting main hustles (i.e. a job) on your phone without leaving the house.

We also offer sessions that can give you a great overview of some of the ways you can use the Internet to make money (and get famous, of course), like classes in Blogging with WordPress, Podcasting, Vlogging and photo editing with Lightroom. Since all of these sessions are free, you can brush up on those intro skills as many times as you need, or sign up for something new when you’re ready to expand your repertoire.

After you’ve spent the next five Sundays in your local Discovery Centre, here are some other ways you can use your phone to earn extra cash.

Embrace the gig economy with this errands-running app, which lets you earn money by doing odd jobs, from building flat-pack furniture to raking up a neighbour’s leaves or helping someone with a computer task. Taskers are rated and reviewed, so the more reliable you are, the more work you’ll have in your future (not to mention competitive pricing). Perfect for earning a little extra money on the side (and building up those biceps – moving furniture is a big one on this site).

We’re pretty sure there’s an ancient saying that “those who are well-organised will be given great bounty.” OK, fine, we made that up. But this app surely brings that idea to life: just save your receipts (from anywhere), take a pic of them with your phone and rub your hands gleefully as cash and gift vouchers start pouring in.

Whether photography is just a hobby you started two weeks ago or you’re a serious talent (whose day job happens to be in HR), Snapwire is a gamified app which connects photographers with brands and businesses, allowing you to compete in photo challenges where you can earn points, and, ultimately, sell your photos for real money.

From copywriting to app developing, Upwork is the freelancer-friendly app that connects clients with local and far-flung freelancers. Also see: Fiverr, where you can sell your skills (from translating docs to astrology readings), stating the amount of work you’re willing to do for $5 (or £3.98). As your ratings go up and your reputation improves, so does your earning potential.

This app lets you be a pseudo-detective – with the ultimate aim of improving customer experience – and sends you into stores looking for products, snapping them and answering basic questions. You can also earn cash by filling out consumer surveys or, for the hardcore, attempting the Scavenger Hunts, which are as tricky as finding “a needle in a haystack,” according to some field agents. Also see: Gigwalk.

One way to keep that exercising resolution? Get paid to do it. The premise behind this app is that when you make a workout commitment and fulfil it, you can start to reap cash rewards. So you’ll lose weight everywhere except your wallet.

If you’ve got a crafty bone in your body, why not set up an online business on the side selling your intricately crafted ball gowns for Monster High dolls or your DIY map-emblazoned phone cases? The Sell on Etsy app lets you manage your online shop on your iPhone.

No creative talent whatsoever, but you do happen to be a hoarder of pretty much everything? No prob – there’s always selling stuff online with eBay.

If you’re set on the path to becoming a social media influencer, there are a few tools that can help you get there once you’ve launched your blog. If you join Amazon Associates, you can drive traffic to your blog by promoting Amazon products through reviews and advertising.

Google AdSense automatically earns you money through ad click-throughs on your site or YouTube channel. Remember, when first starting out with a blog, the key to success is to build up your social media persona and engagement, to blog frequently, to share your content and try to find partners to collaborate with. Also: do a crash-course in SEO to make sure you’re giving readers what they’re looking for.

Note: it only looks like blogs become overnight successes – mostly, people have been plugging away at something for months or even years before serious financial rewards come their way. But even if you’re not Chiara Ferragni – yet – you’ll have fun posting about what you like and you can still make an extra fiver here or there in the early days.

Why not use that extra hard-earned cash to treat yo’self to a new phone? The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are here – go check ‘em out.

Main pic: Via Getty