There are countless ways to incorporate artificial intelligence in everyday life, including using AI to make money. Whether you’re looking to launch a side hustle, optimize your workflow, or streamline the internal operations of your business AI can help. In some cases, it can be leveraged to create entirely new revenue streams.
No need to reinvent the wheel, as there are preexisting AI tools to choose from—and new tools are being launched every day!
#1 Brainstorm Side Hustle Ideas
Mass layoffs during the pandemic sparked the entrepreneurial aspirations of many who’d never considered a side hustle or part-time employment. From traditional freelancing to gig work, coaching, consulting, and automated revenue streams.
The success of side hustling took off, inspiring gainfully employed individuals to supplement their income. So much so, that reports that MarketWatch 54% of Americans have a hustle. Some aim for a few hundred dollars a month in their spare time, for others, full-time self-employment is the objective.
If you want to side hustle too, you might not be sure what type of hustle you want to launch.
How AI Tools Can Help You Brainstorm?
You may be so accustomed to someone hiring you to complete the job duties they’ve outlined, that it can be overwhelming to decide what hustle to explore. Using AI to make money often begins with AI-supported brainstorming.
There are several tools to choose from, but Google Gemini is a top pick for this use case. Gemini is similar to ChatGPT but generates its results to include real-time Google search data.
This might include asking Gemini:
· What side hustles are trending right now?
· What side hustles utilize your unique skills?
· What side hustles are best for your availability?
· What freelance websites to consider for your skills?
#2 Scaling Your Existing Business
Whether it’s a side hustle or a business of any kind, artificial intelligence can help you establish, market, automate, and scale.
Establish
There is SO much to do when launching a new business. If you can, hire a consultant, but if it’s not in the budget—consult AI. Head to ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot and ask them to write a business plan. Be as detailed as possible for the most accurate results. If not a full business plan, a to-do list of what to do next, and answers to your most pressing questions.
Marketing
It doesn’t matter what type of business you have; you’re going to need to market it. For some businesses, all you need is online marketing, but some require offline marketing too.
AI can optimize content creation in a variety of ways. From using AI writers to write website content, social media posts, and ad copy to optimize what you write.
· Many DIY website builders for WordPress and Wix include AI features.
· Image editing sites such as Canva provide automated editing.
· You can create custom images and graphics with software such as Midjourney.
Automate
Using AI to make money includes automating internal processes to free up time. There are non-AI methods of automation, such as lead nurturing, but also an exciting and growing range of new technology.
Automation might sound like it’s something that only larger corporations can afford, but there are some budget-friendly options for side hustlers and small businesses. At the top of this list are chatbots.
Chatbots aren’t bad bots!
You know when that little box pops up at the bottom of a website screen asking if you have any questions? Even if there’s a photo of a person, it’s almost always a chatbot. Chatbots provide answers to frequently asked questions and track communication so that you can analyze the data. They also utilize natural language processing to respond conversationally and machine learning to get “smarter” as time goes on.
Scale
Once your hustle or business is up and running, you can use AI to innovate, expand, and scale your business. The options are endless, but here are a few ideas to consider:
· Identify new product or service use cases.
· Identify new primary and niche demographics.
· Gain powerful and actionable consumer insights.
· Innovate new product and service development.
· Optimize the creation of new products and services.
· Insights on nationwide and global consumer trends.
· Optimize pipelines for sales, upsells, and retention.
#3 Digital Product Creation
We touched on AI content above, but let’s dive into using AI to make money by selling automated digital products. Digital products are ideal because they can be sold online on multiple platforms, globally (in many cases), and 24 hours a day.
Digital products
AI writers can help you craft the content for your downloadable products. It can’t fully create your written products, but it can help you brainstorm and streamline the writing process.
eBooks: Provide ChatGPT with a detailed description of the book you want to write and who your target audience is and have it write your outline, chapter titles, and first drafts of chapters. Currently, this is most effective if your book is informational.
Guides: Ask your preferred AI tool to create a detailed FAQ based on the most recent online search results your demographic has about the topic at hand. It can write answers to the questions too, but you’ll need to fact-check and add a personal touch.
Online courses: Even if you’re a subject-matter expert, creating a live or virtual course is extremely time-consuming. Utilize AI to streamline everything from your to-do list, course outline, marketing materials, PowerPoint graphics, and more.
#4 Print-On-Demand Products
Print-on-demand products can also be sold online on multiple platforms. Using AI to make money with this strategy can create multiple micro streams of income. Sometimes these streams grow into a substantial income!
For example, Etsy might be your primary sales channel, but you can also sell on your website, market and sell on social media, and sell on platforms similar to Etsy. Depending on the product, you may even be able to sell your products on Amazon.
How to use AI to create print-on-demand products?
If print-on-demand (POD) is new to you, it’s the concept of creating original designs that a POD provider stocks, prints, and ships on your behalf. POD inventory options are endless, including:
· Coffee cups
· Water bottles
· Wall art
· Wallpaper
· Wrapping paper
· T-shirts
· Totes
· Mugs
· Smartphone cases
· Notebooks
· Journals
· Coloring pages
· Coloring books
· And more!
How to create POD AI content?
No worries if you aren’t an artist or graphic designer. Thanks in part to AI, you don’t need to be! Make no mistake, you can create custom designs from scratch, or you can hire a designer, but AI software accelerates the ideation and design process.
Use ChatGPT or a similar tool to identify trending products and design elements. Then use software such as Canva to design. Canva offers high-resolution graphics and AI editing tools.
Once the design is completed in the proper size and resolution, you upload it to your POD provider and select the products you want to print it to. The provider will create life-like images you can use to market your product and add to product listings.
How Are You Using AI to Make Money?
We hope the tips above serve as inspiration for using AI to make money. We’d love to hear other ways you are monetizing artificial intelligence.
If you need help shifting your mindset into entrepreneurial mode, we have a few books that can help!
