When employers shut their doors at the start of the pandemic in March of last year, employees took to the web, creating freelance side hustles and finding online community, despite the foggy future of the job market.

For many freelancers starting out, platforms like Fiverr, an online marketplace that connects freelancers to businesses who may need digital services, are key to getting their side hustle off the ground. In February 2020, Fiverr announced that freelancers had collectively earned over $1 billion on the platform since the company's launch a decade prior. Last month it announced that number had increased to $2 billion, meaning half of that amount was earned in just over a year.