💻 SIDE HUSTLES; Dream or Real?
Earning while sleeping
Imagine this…
You are a yoga instructor working in a studio, and you have lessons from 10:00 to 18:00.
Generally, you arrive home at around 19:00 if you don't have an extra lesson.
After a light dinner and sparing some "me-time" for yourself, you are heading towards your desk with a cup of green tea which will keep you up until midnight.
Because you just started a blog where you write about yoga & mindfulness and share tips & tricks for a healthy lifestyle.
You are a one-person band for the moment because you can't afford to hire someone.
So, in addition to writing all the blog posts, you are building e-mail collecting strategies, managing SEO, creating & posting social media posts, distributing the content in different channels, and replying to each and every comment & question from readers, etc.
So it is quite a work.
But you enjoy it despite getting tired.
You are learning a lot about building a community and content marketing on the way;
You searched for a free tool to send e-mails to subscribers and red blog articles that compare different alternatives. Finally, you created an account in substack to send e-mails free.
You learned Canva to design social media templates after watching a few videos on youtube.
You read and watched a lot about content distribution and how critical to repurpose your content in different channels. You find relevant subreddits on Reddit and replied questions while leaving your newsletter's link. You create threads on Twitter and catchy visuals & reels on Instagram.
You build meaningful relationships with some authorities in your area via social media or e-mail. Initially, you felt a bit weird writing to people but learned the proper ways to reach out to diverse audiences in different channels.
You even learned SEO a bit. You are checking keywords in "google trends" to understand popular questions about yoga and mindfulness. You consider investing in an SEO tool in the future when you have enough funds to invest.
After blood, sweat, and tears for 11 months, you managed to reach 5000 subscribers to your newsletter who are highly interested in your niche.
You got your first sponsorship to your newsletter from a detox juice brand for the following 3 months.
You also started paid subscription to your newsletter, where you provide an extended version of your content.
You can pay half of your rent with your side hustle income.
You just started to turn your content into youtube videos and seek collaboration with brands like yoga studios, mindfulness apps, healthy food, etc.
You can also add one-to-one consultancy sessions in the future for premium subscribers.
This is just one example of thousands of similar real stories.
And these real-life cases show that you can build a side business even if you don’t have prior knowledge in that area!
I am talking about online side hustles.
"SIDE HUSTLE" PROJECTS EVERYWHERE!
"Online side hustle" is a job on online channels with a flexible schedule that you can do on the side of your regular job.
It can be an entrepreneurial project like in our example or freelance work.
It can stay as a one-person business or turn into a big team in time.
There are many cases where side hustle projects replace full-time jobs when it generates enough income and makes people happier than their regular jobs.
"Side hustle" keyword showed 500% growth in the last 5 years, %127 growth in the previous two years on the internet.
According to a study by Upwork, in 2022, an incredible 12% of the US workforce started freelancing for the first time.
This increasing interest in side hustles can be derived from;
more free time during pandemics
the need for additional income
dissatisfaction at a full-time regular job having no flexibility
increasing opportunities to acquire new skills via online channels
HOW TO EARN MONEY WHILE SLEEPING?
In some cases, your side hustles may provide passive income; the money you earn with little to no effort.
The easiest way to describe passive income is "earning money while sleeping".
The most classic example is buying a house and renting it.
But we are talking about building an online model, so; let's continue with the above scenario...
You continued to work on your newsletter for 3 years and increased the number of subscribers to 45K. You started your Youtube channels as you planned and created a solid base of subscribers.
You build a website in parallel, and you have monthly 90K traffic. Hence, you are generating a passive income via joining affiliate marketing programs.
An affiliate program is an agreement in which a business pays another business or influencer ('the affiliate') a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
Let’s make it more clear;
In your case, you make deals with vegan food brands, yoga training equipment brands, detox and retreat facilities, etc. Their links appear on your website. If your website visitors click these links, you can get a commission per their visit or purchase.
You also created an online course that explains key steps to adopting yoga & mindfulness practices. The course package includes an e-book, videos, and checklists to track progress. You sell it on your website and promoting on social media and among your newsletter subscribers.
Once you create these assets, you earn money while sleeping, as the definition states.
While you sleep, someone buys your course, someone clicks the links on your website, and someone subscribes to your youtube channel.
And this is where "passive income" comes to the stage!
Sounds nice, yeah?
It actually sounds cool to many, not only to you.
Below you may see the increasing trend in the "how to make passive income" keyword search according to Google trends.
WHAT CAN BE SET UP AS AN ONLINE SIDE HUSTLE?
Online side hustles may vary from crypto buy-sell to having a Tiktok channel which requires different levels of time, energy, financial investment, and efforts for maintenance.
They can create passive income as well, according to your model.
I listed some of my favorite models where you can continuously learn new things while creating & building, and offering value.
Creating content via
a newsletter
a blog in a niche area
a podcast & youtube channel
in Medium
Help people to learn by creating online courses in your area of expertise
Create digital assets such as e-books, checklists, templates, etc.
Graphic design work using Canva
Learn no-code
Give consultancy as a freelancer
Sell on Etsy what you create or help people to sell on Etsy
Sell stock photos online
Creating Job Boards
We will discuss most of these models in detail in the upcoming issues.
For now, if you want to learn more about side hustles & passive income ideas, real-life cases, and relevant platforms in order to get inspiration, here are some recommendations.
RESOURCES THAT YOU CAN DIVE INTO
Stories of People with Day Jobs Creating Side Hustles (Podcast by Side Hustle School)
Side Hustle Project (Podcast by Ryan Robinson): Start a Side Hustle Today
Starter Story: Interviews with entrepreneurs and the stories behind their businesses
RELEVANT PLATFORMS
Medium: A social publishing platform
Etsy: Online marketplace for unique and creative goods
Upwork: Online marketplace for freelance services
Fiverr: Online marketplace for freelance services
Shutterstock: Platform of stock images, videos, music, and editing tools
Substack: E-mail newsletter platform
Canva: Online graphic design tool
Maker Pad: Platform & Community to learn no-code
DON'T FALL FOR THE ILLUSION OF SHORT-CUTS
"Side hustle" projects and "passive income" ideas are everywhere on the internet.
I thought it could be so easy to build a side hustle when I first heard the concepts and read appealing titles of articles to promote short-cuts, such as;
“The easiest ways to create a passive income”
“The shortest paths to earning a 6-digit income”
“10 ways to build a side hustle in 3 weeks.”
This is not so true!
Behind all the success stories, there is patience, resilience, and hard work.
And I think the healthiest way to find the strength to move on is;
putting your hunger for learning and willingness to provide value at the heart of this journey instead of dreams of getting rich in the shortest way.
MY APPROACH TO BUILDING A SIDE HUSTLE
Building a side hustle can be an exciting yet painful journey.
So; you need to find your approach regarding the process and educate your thinking.
Below items are my golden rules and I still remind some of them myself from time to time.
Don't focus on generating income first; focus on developing skills.
Consider the time you spent building skills as an investment in yourself.
This is a type of investment with the lowest risk of bankruptcy. Money will come eventually.
Don't be pessimistic if you have no prior experience.
Building while learning is the most efficient way to learn. There are thousands of resources on the internet which is free or at a very low cost.
Don’t be a perfectionist. Just start!
You don’t have to find the million-dollar idea before starting. You can always make iterations on the way.
There is no shortcut or a quick way to build a business.
Even if you build a side hustle in an area where you have the expertise, it will require so much effort and time.
Consistency, Focus, and Patience!
I think these 3 words are the key to success (whatever “success” means to you)
You have to continue showing up,
You should focus on one side project at a time
You should wait, not give up even when everything seems meaningless
You are not alone on this journey!
There are thousands of similar cases. Read, watch, and listen to their stories to learn and get inspiration. It is not easy for anyone and it’s normal to struggle.
Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Work wisely.
This is not a sprint but a marathon. If you lack fuel mentally and physically, you can not hold on.
You don't have to create a tech product as a side hustle despite the general perception.
In my case, this newsletter is my MVP.
We will see how it will evolve together 🙂
See you next week!
TERMINOLOGY
Side Hustle - a job on online channels with a flexible schedule that you can do on the side of your regular job.
Passive income - income that does not need a significant commitment of time or money.
Affiliate Marketing - the process of earning money (commissions) every time you promote a company's products or services and drive a sale. You only get paid every time you drive a sale, just like a commission-only sales representative.
Website Traffic - the number of visitors and visits a website receives.
Job Boards - an online location (website) that provides a list of open job positions.
SEO - stands for search engine optimization, a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results.
Content Distribution - publishing and promoting content in various formats across multiple channels to reach as many people as possible.
Subreddit - subsidiary threads or categories within the Reddit website.
MVP - stands for “minimum viable product”, the most basic version of a product, and allows the team to validate the user flow and adoption of core features.