Side Hustle Stack: What Is It & How You Can Use One

Our website is supported by our users and contains affiliate links. We get paid when you purchase or sign up for anything through those links. Read the full disclaimer for more information.

Last Updated on August 12, 2021 by Daniella

If this is the first time you’re hearing the term side hustle stack, you’re not alone.

According to a recent Zapier survey at the end of 2020, 1 in 3 Americans have a side hustle and 61.1 million Americans were looking to start a side hustle just this year.

That is a massive pool of people starting side hustles, exploring new ways of making money, and potentially leaving the work force.

And when you have 1 side hustle, you might also have a couple of others. That doesn’t mean you are working 5 different jobs but maybe you have your main gig, 1 active side hustle, and a passive side hustle. 1 income stream can potentially create many income streams.

But how? The side hustle stack.

Table of Contents

What is a side hustle stack?

A side hustle stack is the way you “stack” or combine your different income streams or side hustles to maximize your earning potential. They could be active income streams, passive income streams, gig apps, or a combination of the three.

It’s a fairly new term that has only come to light in the last year or two with the rise of online content creation platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Anchor, WordPress, and more.

Content creators actually make a perfect side hustle stack example.

Side Hustle Stack Examples

Content Creator

A content creator could stack their side hustles in several different ways. One of these ways is having their main platform and creating several income streams from that main platform.

For instance, a blogger has their blog as their main platform and generates income in the following ways:

Ads
Affiliate links
Sponsored partnerships

They could also link to and promote their products and store to bring in additional income those ways.

Many of these same content creators also provide services such as consulting, coaching, writing, and more. Some also go on to create podcasts and start YouTube channels. Those would all be additional income streams and side hustles.

Another great example is the YouTube content creator – maybe they’re an artist that films their illustrations, originally only started making money from ads, and then decided to also create and promote their Etsy or Redbubble store in the description of their videos.

They have that main side hustle being their brand and main platform and then several “sub side hustles” and income streams that are created from it.

Gig Juggler

A gig juggler would do the same gig but using several similar gig apps.

They could start delivering for DoorDash and later also sign up for Postmates and Instacart. Then every time they start their side hustle work, they turn on all the apps and look for orders that pop up around the same time in the same neighborhood so they can knock out multiple orders on their route. This CNBC Grow article gives a great example of a way one worker does this.

Several gig workers actually operate like this every time they work. Their side hustle stack is stacking opportunities by literally stacking which apps they are working out of.

Service Stacker

Let’s say you’re a freelance tech consultant for a side hustle. You can use several different sites to offer your services on and even get creative with the way you make money from your tech skills and knowledge.

A tech consultant can offer their services on a site like Freelancer.com but also write about those some topics for a site like SimpleProgrammer.

You can then add their services to more freelance sites and job boards like Guru, pitch other websites to write tech articles for, or add a different income stream that they want to explore onto their side hustle stack.

However, you have to be mindful of how you will balance the work load if you want to keep stacking on your opportunities.

How to Build Your Own Side Hustle Stack

Stacking side hustles can seem pretty exciting, especially when you start researching and getting creative with ways that one could work for you. But you can’t have a stack without the first one.

All stacks start with 1 and if you’re struggling with starting that first side hustle or even what that 1 side hustle will be, take our free quiz that will match you with your perfect side hustle type and free guidance for where to get started.

Finding the best side hustle to start with depends on 4 factors:

Your availability
What kind of work you want to do
Your skills
What you love doing

Once you decide what you want to do or what you want to try, make a commitment to take some sort of action on it and give yourself a time period to reach this goal. That action can be anything from buying a domain name, creating a free YouTube account, or signing up for a gig app like Rover.

Start with that first action and keep doing small actions until you end up diving in from habit. Once your first side hustle really blossoms, ideas for your side hustle stack will come.

You can also use other online creators and side hustlers you see online as inspiration and see how they create their own side hustle stacks. Take note of what they’re promoting, who they’re partnering with, or what new site they started writing for. Their marketing is free education.

You can also refer to these guides for more ideas and inspiration:

Get to Stacking Both Your Side Hustles & Your Dollars

A side hustle stack can be a powerful toolbox of multiple income streams. However, it can get hard to manage.

We were never meant to be constantly working. A full-time job and day to day life is already a lot for anyone but when you start to add just 1 side hustle on to that same plate, it can lose it’s balance. Add more side hustles and the plate can tip, fall, and break.

Don’t try to start everything at once and instead take it one idea and side hustle at a time. You can do as many side hustles as you want but you can’t do them all at the same time.

Please take this side hustle journey as a creative exploration opportunity and as you see reasonable and manageable ways to start stacking side hustles (and not working all the time), explore with an open mind.

Are you currently working on stacking your side hustles? Share your stack in the comments below!

Related:

Pin it for later!

Daniella

Daniella is the creator and author of iliketodabble.com. When their wife Alexandra and them aren’t globetrotting or playing with their 7+ animals, they are dabbling and working towards a future of financial freedom.