The 4 Ultimate Creative Side Hustles for Marketing Experience

Breaking into marketing is becoming harder than ever.

Many "entry-level" jobs now expect experience, portfolio work, and proof of results before they'll even schedule an interview.

That leaves many aspiring marketers stuck in a frustrating cycle: you need experience to get hired, but you need a job to gain experience. The experience feels impossible to get if no company is willing to give you a chance.

The good news is that there are ways to break out of this cycle. Creative side hustles let you build real-world marketing experience on your own terms.

What is a Side Hustle?

A side hustle is extra money earned from work outside your primary full-time job. Some of the creative side hustles below can become profitable enough to replace your main job, but it's best to start while working your current job and using your free time.

Why Creative Side Hustles Matter in Marketing

Employers need to see proof of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, and side hustles are a great way to make some extra cash and show initiative. Real analytics from real audiences is an extremely valuable experience and cannot be taken for granted.

A hiring manager is much more likely to hire someone who built a creative side hustle from the ground up than someone who only completed classroom projects.

What is a Marketing Portfolio and The Importance of Having a Marketing Portfolio with Results

A marketing portfolio is a collection of work that shows people your marketing skills, creativity, and experience. It acts as proof of what you can do instead of just telling people your skills on a resume.

Marketing is one of the few industries where portfolios can matter more than a marketing degree. Since this is the case, it is extremely important to have a marketing portfolio! If you do not have any experience to put in your portfolio, these creative side hustles can be a great way to get some experience.

Etsy Shop Selling Canva Products

The first option for getting some useful marketing experience is creating an Etsy shop. An Etsy shop lets you sell digital products through an online storefront. To get started, create an Etsy shop and come up with a name for it! After you set up your Etsy shop, head to Canva and start creating digital products you can sell!

Some examples of products you can sell are birthday/wedding invitations, flyers for common events, coloring books, and so much more. You can even create and sell virtual designs, like wallpapers or printable art, which are other popular items on Etsy.

Over time, this can become a passive income stream after all of your products are listed on your site. However, creating the Canva digital products can be very time-consuming. Canva does offer free tutorials online to teach you how to use all of Canva's different features!

I would also recommend investing in an Etsy research tool to best understand trends and being able to adjust to sell more products. Finally, there are some minimal upfront costs when opening an Etsy shop, like the account set-up fee (to deter scammers) and a 'publishing a listing' fee.

UGC Creator

UGC stands for 'User Generated Content', and it can be a perfect creative side hustle to help prove you understand marketing and how to sell products. This is a great idea for people who want marketing experience and have a little free time. There are many different websites for getting started as a UGC creator, like Billo and Insense.

Many industries need different types of UGC content.

Different Types of UGC Content

The different types of UGC Content are: product demo/tutorial videos, problem-solution videos, testimonial videos, lifestyle/vlog-style videos, trend videos, and unboxing videos.

Product demo/tutorial videos show you how to use the product or service. Problem-solution videos address common challenges, or pain points that consumers face with similar products/services, and offer the brand's product/service as the solution!

Testimonial videos provide authentic feedback and share your personal experience with the product or service. Lifestyle/vlog-style videos share glimpses into your everyday life and routine, like a "get ready with me" showing how you use the product or service.

Trend videos include recreating a current trend with the product or service you are promoting. Unboxing videos are about the product unveiling experience and first impressions.

The Different Types of Industries that Need UGC

While all industries could have UGC creators, the most common industries that are looking for UGC creators include: wellness + supplements, skincare + beauty, finance/ finance tech, pet products, software + apps, and food + kitchen gadgets.

Relating UGC Creation to Marketing

UGC posts are great for showing you understand social media and what the consumer wants. This is also great for showing that you understand video editing, content creation, video content, and what valuable content is. It is also strongly recommended that you create a UGC marketing portfolio so the employers can see your work and know what to expect from you!

Freelancer

The third creative side hustle is becoming a freelancer! A marketing freelancer can do everything for social media, from creating posts for social media platforms, scheduling content, managing DMs/comments, and creating monthly content calendars.

Other tasks for marketing freelancers include: tracking analytics, writing articles/blogs, and growing engagement. Freelance writers can get more experience writing copy. Freelancers have an amazing opportunity to get experience, get paid for it, and work in many different industries.

Good websites for getting started on freelancing are Upwork and Fiverr. While some recommend having specific niches on these websites, so you can have quality work on a quicker turnaround. Others say if you are looking for experience in all aspects of marketing, be open to anything and everything.

You should have your own website portfolio showcasing your creative skills and technical skills! Freelancers can set their own rates and choose their clients, providing flexibility in their work schedules and the types of projects they take on. If you are looking for experience in marketing, have some spare time, and would like some extra income, look into freelancing!

Content Creation

The fourth and final creative side hustle is becoming a content creator. This side hustle is the most well-known because content creators are all over social media and YouTube channels.

I would recommend filming your content based on your life! If you have a mini pet sitting business, then go into detail about the cute animals you are with and what your pricing looks like. If you enjoy baking, have a baking channel where you show off different recipes and your favorite baked goods!

Being the person creating the valuable content can make a huge difference in the understanding of social media marketing and give you more content ideas for other companies or influencers. You can film a "Get Ready With Me" series, shopping at retail stores (with a try-on haul), and walking around farmers' markets.

Whatever you enjoy doing or watching other people on social media do; do that! There are even options where content creators can partner with brands. Giving people the chance to use an affiliate link and let companies know you referred that person. Affiliate marketing allows individuals to earn commissions by promoting products or services, making it a low-risk passive income opportunity.

Realistic Challenges

While these are all great opportunities, there are many realistic challenges that someone needs to understand before they dive in headfirst.

Challenges of Having an Etsy Shop Selling Canva Products

The first challenge with an Etsy shop with Canva products is the time it takes to set up the shop and the digital products you are selling. You need to figure out what you are selling, create those products first, and then make them searchable on Etsy so people can find and buy your products. This can be a hard system to set up, but a consistent passive income stream afterwards.

The second challenge is making your products noticeable to consumers. The two options for fixing this are running ads for your products or creating the perfect SEO description for Etsy.

Challenges of Becoming a UGC Creator

The first challenge with being a UGC Creator is setting up your UGC Portfolio. If you do not have a UGC portfolio yet, that is okay, but you will have to accept small jobs in order to build your portfolio. In your UGC portfolio, you need: video examples, photo examples, brands you've worked with, and your contact page.

The second challenge will be getting the UGC jobs. While the websites I listed, like  Billo and Insense, there are many more. Other UGC websites are: Kale, Influenster, JoinBrands, Noise, Cohley, and SideShift.

The third challenge is having or purchasing equipment in order to receive the higher-paying jobs that look better on your UGC portfolio! The equipment and links are listed below.

The first piece of equipment I would recommend is studio umbrella lights; they are better and more visually pleasing than ring lights. The second piece of equipment I would recommend is a tripod.

The tripod linked can shrink to fit onto a countertop and is tall enough to stand at eye level. The third piece of equipment is a microphone; while not absolutely necessary, it can help elevate your videos. Finally, for product videos, you can get two tiles from Lowe's that you can set up for an aesthetic background.

The Challenge of Becoming a Freelancer

The main challenge with being a freelancer is finding quality clients. In the beginning, it is okay to find clients to build up your experience and portfolio, but after getting that experience, it is recommended to lessen your clientele and raise your prices so you can focus on quality over quantity.

Also, most companies think they want a marketing freelancer, but most are not willing to do what it takes and give the information needed to have real marketing results.

A Challenge with Becoming a Content Creator

The challenge with being a content creator is not getting discouraged. It can be easy to get discouraged when you are putting a lot of effort into your videos or posts and not feeling like you are getting a return on that work.

The important thing to remember is that consistency is key, and it is okay to feel discouraged, but do not stop being consistent. Algorithms tend to reward creators who post consistently over time. You would rather grow organically so you have time to adjust, than blow up overnight and have that attention fade just as quickly as it appeared.

Marketing Skills You Can Learn from Side Hustles

Etsy Shop Selling Canva Products Skills

• Branding & visual identity

• Graphic design

• SEO

• Consumer psychology

• Product marketing

• Market research

• Copywriting

• Social media marketing

• Analytics interpretation

• Customer service

• Entrepreneurship

UGC Creator Skills

• Short-form video creation

• TikTok/Reels Strategy

• Content marketing

• Storytelling

• Trend analysis

• Consumer behavior understanding

• On-camera communication

• Video editing

• Copywriting & hooks

• Paid ad creative understanding

• Audience engagement

• Personal branding

• Campaign strategy

• Creating content that converts

Freelancer Skills

• Client communication

• Project management

• Campaign planning

• Marketing strategy

• Time management

• Sales & pitching

• Content creation

• Social media management

• Email marketing

• SEO

• Graphic design

• Brand consulting

• Analytics reporting

• Adaptability across industries

• Learning how to explain marketing results to non-marketers

Content Creator Skills

• Content strategy

• Social media growth

• Audience building

• Platform analytics

• Community engagement

• Copywriting

• Personal branding

• Trend forecasting

• Video production

• Photography

• Editing

• SEO & hashtag strategy

• Campaign planning

• Brand partnerships

• Consistency & content calendars

• Understanding audience attention spans and platform algorithms

Key Takeaways

These creative side hustles are valuable for marketing experience because they show initiative, creativity, adaptability, digital literacy, entrepreneurial thinking, and an understanding of modern marketing trends.

A lot of hiring managers would rather interview someone who stepped out of their comfort zone than someone with zero hands-on experience and only classroom projects.

While these are absolutely great ways to earn marketing experience, they are also a great way to earn money and receive free products in exchange for videos.

You do not need permission to start building marketing experience.

Whether you open an Etsy shop, become a UGC creator, freelance, or start creating content online, every opportunity teaches valuable marketing skills that employers want to see.

The best portfolios are built through action, experimentation, and consistency; not waiting for the perfect opportunity.

🪽 Written by Alyssa Orloff