7 AI-Proof Side Hustles You Can Start in 2024 Without Tech Skills

The first AI-proof side hustle I would recommend to you is calligraphy. This is how I got started in 2018.

I learned calligraphy for 3 months and then I started selling greeting cards and then 2 months later I started

teaching workshops. Out of all the art forms, I would say is one of the easier kinds of art to learn and one of the

best ones to monetize and you can monetize really fast. Because with calligraphy, there are income streams

like wedding calligraphy, onsite calligraphy to personalize gifts for brands and companies and for corporate

events, even for personal parties. You can sell cards, you can teach workshops, and people will always need handmade

stuff, especially for weddings or corporate. So, [music] I don't see this really going out. When I first started

in 2018, I mainly used networking and social media to promote my calligraphy business. And if you're interested in

hearing my very pro-networking tips, which a lot of people have loved, you can watch my freelancing video after you

watch this video. This is my old business plan that I wrote up in 2018. And if you are starting a business and

you want to jot down ideas and make a plan, you can download my business plan template. It is a short business plan

template, don't worry it's not 10 pages long, and you can find it in the video description. The next one is a little

bit controversial, but I still think that this can be AI-proof if you do it in the right way. So, it is to be an

artist, but specifically an artist that does something that is interactive. [music]

So, for example, a portrait painter at weddings. This is also called a live event artist. And if you do poetry, you

can be a typewriter poet and do that at events. I've seen a lot of people doing that. You can also host art workshops or

sell paintings, and you have to do it in a specific way. >> [music]

>> So, I made a video before sharing how I made $500 selling home paintings to realtors. You know, I'm not a painter.

Like look at these paintings. They're like not that great, but I could still do it because what they wanted was a

handmade art gift for their clients. Like these people aren't going to just like create something with AI. So I do

believe that art will still be in demand. It won't be completely replaced by AI, but you have to do specific

things so you can survive as an artist. The main thing is it should be interactive. The next one is actually my

dad's side hustle and that is to offer home repair or wall painting or handyman services because my dad has done a lot

of that throughout the years for his own home, so he just already knows how to do these things. I think it's mainly

friends of friends who will hire him. If you already know how to do these things, it's easier to get started. [music] The

next one is to be a nail tech or to do eyelashes or to offer, you know, any of those like beauty treatments that you

could offer at home. And I think this also includes like aesthetician. [snorts]

Can't say the word. Aesthetician. Anyways, you know what I mean. So I actually have a lot of friends who told

me that they get their nails done at people's homes, like at people's home nail salons and I have also gone to an

eyelash person who does it at home. So this could be a good option for you if you are already interested in beauty and

you want to learn more about this. This does require more training though. Like I think you actually need to go and get

like [music] certifications, but if you already enjoy doing these things, why not start a side [music] business doing

that? I actually do my own nails. This hand's better. Did my own nails yesterday and I helped my friends do

their nails for fun, but I don't think I would turn it into a home salon because I don't think I want want touch other

people's hands. Oh yeah, and the startup cost might be a little bit higher for this one compared to the other ones cuz

you need to pay for the training and the materials and the home setup. The next one is a photographer or videographer

and this is the last one in the skill-based services category of these AI-proof side hustles.

>> [music] >> So, I don't think being a photographer or videographer will ever go out. I

think people will always want to capture moments in their lives and this could be lucrative if you get into corporate or

wedding photography/videography. The best way to get clients as a photographer is probably a combination

of networking and social media and I have a couple of friends who are photographers. They do photography for

weddings and what they did starting out was just start with mini photo shoots for like couples, like outside in

nature. You could do some for free if you're not comfortable charging yet or you could do it at a very low [music]

price and then eventually you increase your price slowly and slowly. I know with photography or especially if you

offer some kind of a creative like art or calligraphy, you might have imposter syndrome and I just want you to know

that the average person doesn't have that high of a standard and they can't really tell when your photography is

good versus excellent or your calligraphy is like just average or excellent because I actually took some

photos for my friends' engagement and I am not a photographer. I can only do video. I just have a YouTube camera,

okay? I took some photos and she was very happy with them and she asked me, "Why don't I offer this as a service?"

And I was [music] like, I mean, I was flattered because I'm really glad that she liked the photos,

but as somebody who works in the creative field, I know that my photos aren't super duper like excellent and

professional compared to actual couple photographers or wedding photographers, but this is just to say that the average

person might not be able to tell, so even if you are a beginner photographer, everybody's probably going to say that

your photos look really good. Or if you're a beginner calligrapher, everybody's probably going to say that

your calligraphy looks good, which I have found to be true because my calligraphy is very basic. I cannot do

flourishing or any other styles except for this one style, and people love my calligraphy. The next type of side

hustles I want to talk about is [music] care and community-based side hustles. So, the first one is pet sitting.

And this could be boarding or it could be in-home pet sitting. So, boarding is when the other person's pet comes to

your house, and in-home pet sitting is when you go to the other person's house. So, depending on what you want to do,

you could consider one or both of them. And for pet sitting specifically, you kind of need some very specific life

circumstances to be able to do this, like a remote job and not needing to be at home if you have your own pet or if

you have kids, and you can go to the other person's house and watch their pet. So, it's a little bit more

restricted in terms of who can do this, but it is a [music] awesome side hustle. I did this. I still

do it sometimes. I'm very picky though, but it is really great because you're basically just chilling around. You're

walking the dog, taking care of the cat, and you can just do your own thing still. [music] I do have a more in-depth

pet sitting video if you want to check it out. The next one is also one that I have done and still do, and that is a

community support companion, or you could call it a peer support worker. And [music] at times, it could also be like

a respite support worker. So, basically, I help somebody in my local community, and I take her out on outings every 2 to

3 weeks. So, that's like the mall, I go bowling with her, or we go to the movies, and then we have dinner

together. And basically, I provide companionship for her. This is AI-proof because it literally requires your

presence to be there. A lot of these could be like casual or private hires. So, the best way is to see if anybody

you know knows somebody or if you just put it out there that you're open to this kind of work, you might get like

referrals from your friends or people you know. And that is how I found this client that I currently still work with.

Sometimes when her family goes on vacation, I will stay at her house and just be with her and take care of the

family's dog and that is respite work. The next one that is community-based is teaching lessons about the thing that

you are naturally good at or it's your hobby already or you just know how to do it.

>> [music] >> So, for example, when I was in university, I taught math to a high

school student. So, this could be things like skills, it could be music lessons, languages. I have a friend who teaches

French, I have a friend who teaches piano. And for these lessons, you might think that they should be like ongoing

lessons, but you can also do one-off workshops. So, for example, my one friend did a kombucha making workshop

and it was just like one time, but it was very fun. I think there were like six people. Now, let's talk about

digital and online side hustles, but with a human element. So, the first digital side hustle is content creator

and I know you can argue that, >> [music] >> you know, content creators can we be

replaced by AI because you could do like deep fakes, stuff like that, but I still think that it's going to be around for a

while. Like it's not going to go away completely and I think if you want to be a content creator, the more your content

is human and like relatable, the better and the more successful you're going to be. In terms of what to make content

about, what I would recommend is talking about something that you are already into, something that you like, a skill

that you already have, something you can just do naturally, or something that you just know naturally, or it just like

comes very naturally to you. So, some examples are my friend who loves knitting, and now she has a knitting

TikTok. Or my friend who lives on a boat, and she has a boat YouTube channel. My friend who is very into

finance and has a finance YouTube channel. And for me, I'm very into entrepreneurship and trying different

things and sharing my journey, and that's why I have been pretty consistent with my YouTube channel for the last 5

years. If you are interested in doing YouTube specifically, I have a YouTube guide, and it also has a video outline

guide that you can use. One pro tip, if you are starting YouTube or any kind of social media content creation is audio

is more important than video. So, upgrade your audio before you upgrade your video, and it's also cheaper to

upgrade your audio. The next one, which I discovered a couple weeks ago, and I think it's genius and it's so cool, is a

monthly mailing list. And I put this in the digital category cuz most of the time you need to have like a social

media to promote it, but because it's a monthly mailing list where, for example, an artist or a poet, like they get their

audience to pay, let's say $10. I've usually seen like $8 to $15 a month. It's like a monthly subscription where

you pay and you get physical mail from that artist. I think the most I saw was like 3,000 people on one mailing list.

So, every single month she sends out 3,000 envelopes out and mails them. And obviously, the more you have, the more

you make. So, like if you if you charge $10 and you have 3,000 [music] people, you're going to make $30,000. But

remember, you also need to pay for mailing, the envelopes, [music] the paper, whatever else you include in

there, like postcards or stickers, and then the mailing cost, which is about $1 to $2 per person, and is very

labor-intensive, like packaging, closing the envelopes, all of that. This could be good if you already have a art page

or a poetry page and that is something you can add on. And if it isn't clear already, the best business is when you

combine your passions and you feel super aligned with it. I call it a soul business and mine is my calligraphy

poems for the soul project. So, you can send in a request and I will write an original poem for you and mail it to

you. And if you don't want the mailed copy, you can send in a request for free and I will write the poem for you and

post it on social media. The next one is UGC. So, user-generated content and a lot of people get this confused with a

content creator doing sponsorships, but it's different. [music] A content creator doing sponsorships is when you

make videos for a company and you post it on your own channel. So, the company [music] takes advantage of your

audience. UGC, on the other hand, is when you get hired by the company and you create content, but they post it on

their own channels or their own social media, not your social media. So, you are literally just creating the content

for them. They are not taking advantage of your audience. So, this could be good if you are a new content creator, you

don't have a lot of followers, but you are looking for an income stream. And I actually have a UGC guide, how

convenient, so you can get that for free below. You can argue that AI will replace this and actually I have seen

some like AI UGC creators, but I still think that human UGC creators are going to be still around for a while. The next

one is consulting or coaching on the thing that you are good at. I have one friend who is very, very good at

decorating homes and just like interior design. So, she is now working on a consulting program where she can get

people to take videos and pictures of the room that they want to transform and she is going to help them, tell them

what furniture to move, what things to buy, how to change things so it becomes more aesthetic and the way they want it

to be. [music] If you already have a business or a content creation business, it is very easy to just add this in

because you could literally just create a page with a booking schedule and offer one-on-one calls. Very easy. The next

one, which I believe will not go out even though AI can do this, is video editing. There are more and more content

creators now than ever before and there will be more. The the whole industry is growing and so content creators will

need a video editors. And actually, it's not just content creators, a lot of companies want to do more stuff in video

format. I actually have a podcast editing gig, so I'm helping two people who have a podcast, I'm helping them

edit the podcast, make the thumbnails, and upload it to YouTube and podcast platforms. And for me, it feels like

easier income because I already know how to edit videos. I don't really need to learn anything. But if you do want to be

a video editor, but you don't know how to video edit, you can learn through just [music] YouTube and you literally

just need your laptop. There is no initial investment, like it's not like photography where you need to buy a

camera, you don't need to invest in any tools. You just need a pretty good laptop and video editing software, which

I use DaVinci Resolve and there's a free version that is very good. I've used it for years. If you don't know where to

get clients, I would start off with networking, telling everybody that you are starting to do video editing. You

could also try Upwork or Fiverr, but I typically don't like recommending that because there's so much competition on

there and you're competing with very low-priced video editors as well. The next one, which you might argue is going

to go out for sure, but I would say it's still going to be around for a while, is a website designer. And that is because

yes, AI can do it, but for people to figure out how to use AI to make a website, it still takes time and effort.

And I have tried some AI website builders, and to be honest, they're okay, but I can't get the specific

design I want. So, I think [music] website designers are still here to stick around. The main thing I want you

to get out of this video is that when you pick a side hustle, the best side hustle you can pick is one that is

related to something that you're interested in or something that you already know how to do and something

that you like. AI is going to replace information and it has been replacing information, but it's not going to

replace presence, physical skills, and trust. A lot of the times this means offering a service. And the last side

hustle, which doesn't fit in [music] these three categories, is flipping things. I have a good friend who does

this, but [music] I am sure if you want to make an extra $1,000 right now in the next 2 months, you can literally just

sell things that you have in your home that you don't use, [music] like furniture, tech, clothing. I'm sure you

can find things in your house. If you do want to pursue flipping things as a more consistent side hustle, [music]

you do have to be more familiar with one kind of industry, and you really have to know the products [music] in that

industry or that specific area. Like if it's like clothing, shoes, bags, or like, you know, sports cards, stuff like

that. I share a lot of business advice on this channel, so subscribe if you want more tips. And also, don't forget

to download the business content play YouTube guide or UGC guide below if you want those.