Side hustles are becoming more and more popular among college graduates and millennials. That makes sense because you can learn new skills online and turn it into a side hustle. A side hustle earning just $500 a month can max out a Roth IRA each year. That’s a big deal!
My side hustle turned into a full-time business while I was in college and earns me an amazing income while working from home. This is why side hustles are becoming so popular – regular people are finding ways to make a living from a side hustle.
Today we’re talking about:
- Exactly how to succeed with a side hustle
- Side hustles you can start today
- Benefits of side hustles
- How to get started with a side hustle
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Benefits of side hustles
- Creates multiple streams of income
- Can add skills to your resume
- Increases confidence
- Can turn into a highly profitable business
Side hustles you can start today
- Creating an Etsy shop and selling printables
- Run a dog treat business from your home kitchen and earn up to $5,000+/month
- Becoming a Pinterest Virtual Assistant and helping businesses succeed on Pinterest
- Working as a Facebook Ad Manager and creating high-performing ads for small businesses in your city
- Work from home as an online English teacher to children in China
- Starting a blog that helps people around the world
- Run an Amazon FBA from home
- Become a freelance proofreader
- Flip items for profit as a flea market flipper
- Help a business by working as a Virtual Assistant
- Become a Freelance Writer and write for large publications
- Becoming a remote bookkeeper who helps small businesses
Here are 10 tips for succeeding with a new side hustle. Let’s get started!
1. Create a block of time you will work on a side hustle
If you don’t make time for a side hustle, you’ll never have time for a side hustle. This is why being organized and finding time is especially important if you want to make extra money with a side hustle.
You can use a time block planner or you can do what I do, which is use Google Calendar.
So let’s say you created printables to sell on Etsy. You would work on creating printables from 8-9AM on Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, you would work on your side hustle from 5-6PM. You could also work on your side hustle on Saturday morning’s from 9-12PM and have Sunday’s off. That’s about 8 hours of working on a side hustle each week. Pretty great, especially if you’re working a full-time job or taking care of your family.
For example, your Google Calendar may look like this. One of the most important steps in side hustling is finding and making time for a side hustle.
2. Set goals
If you don’t set goals for your side hustle, you’ll never know if you’re progressing. It’s important to keep metrics and numbers on hand to ensure you’re always growing in the right direction.
Your goals could look like like:
- Earn $500/month in January, earn $1000/month by June, and so on
- Get 1,000 visitors to my website by January, get 5,000 visitors to my website by June, and so on
- Get customers from every state in the United States (this is a fun and unique goal!)
Let’s say you want to become a Facebook Ad Manager. Your goal could be to reach out to 3 small businesses each month and sign on one client per month. One client per month can be about $1,000 a month, which is a big deal and a great goal to make.
3. Make the most of your time
Write down the tasks that need to be done in order of most important to least important. This is critical because our minds typically want to stay away from the harder tasks, so we resort to the easy stuff.
When you write tasks down from most to least important, you’re telling your brain what needs to be done now. When you get the most important tasks done, you’re also doing the most to further your business.
For example, my to-do list may look like:
Most Important to Least Important
- Create outline of new product
- Create email newsletter for next week
- Draft 1 blog post
- Create new printable for free resource library
- Reply to emails
- Accept new Facebook group requests
- Reply to Instagram comments
4. Create a routine
Once you get a routine down and have developed good habits, your side hustle gets that much easier.
For example, I have a blogging routine. This helps me maximize my time and get used to habits that help me work toward my goals.
Here are some tips to help you create a solid routine:
- Create a morning routine that will help you get set up for a productive day
- Find out what needs to be in your routine
- Read Atomic Habits and learn how to build good habits and break bad habits
- Make your routine fun and simple
- Make use of time blocking
5. Networking
Networking is a great way to meet people and learn more about your side hustle. I’ve had several side hustles in my life and many of them came from knowing someone. I’ve also started side hustles and have had people come to me and ask for advice.
For example, maybe through networking you find someone that started an Amazon FBA. You create a genuine relationship with them and they may give you a few helpful tips to help you start strong on your Amazon FBA journey.
Here are some quicks for networking:
- Join Facebook groups and meet with like minded people
- Join Meetup groups related to your side hustle
- Follow and connect with likeminded people related to your side hustle on Instagram
- Chat with friends and family about your new side hustle and see if they know anyone doing the same
6. Get rid of distractions
If you have a problem with getting distracted and having a short attention span, I highly recommend using the Pomodora Technique. The Pomodora Technique is a time management technique using intervals to get the most work done.
This is how the Pomodora Technique works:
- Choose a certain task you need to get done.
- Set your alarm for 25 minutes and make a promise to yourself that you will work on this task for 25 minutes without distractions. It’s just 25 minutes – you can do it.
- Work on the task until the alarm goes off.
- Take a short break and start again.
The Productivity Planner stands out from other planners because of its use of the Pomodora Technique. The planner includes an easy to understand introduction that helps you use this helpful technique in your daily life. You get 6 months worth of daily productivity planning and weekly planning.
7. Join a Facebook group of likeminded peeps
Like I mentioned earlier, there are tons of Facebook groups for people side hustling. Facebook groups are great whether they are free or you had to buy a course to get access to.
For example, when you purchase the E-Printables course, you get access to a private Facebook group where you can ask questions and see what people are doing to be successful at the side hustle. The same goes for being a freelance writer. There are many private Facebook groups where people list freelance writing jobs and share tips and advice.
8. Increase skills when you’re working out or walking the dogs
If you exercise at home or go the gym, this is a great time to take advantage of podcasts. You can learn so much about side hustling and building a business from free podcasts on Spotify or iTunes. You can also listen to side hustle audiobooks.
Some of the best side hustle related podcasts are:
- The Side Hustle Show
- Side Hustle School
- Smart Passive Income
Before I go to bed each night, I download new podcasts for the next day. I personally listen to podcasts when I walk my dogs. So for about an hour each day, I get new ideas and tips to grow my business via podcasts. This is a great way to maximize your time.
However, there are many days where I don’t listen to podcasts at all and simply enjoy my walk or workout without trying to “grow my business”. I wanted to add this in because it’s not all about hustling all the time. That’s my opinion, at least.
9. Make sure you’re still performing at 100% at work
You most likely already have a full-time job. If so, you want to make sure you’re still giving 100% at work. Your schedule may be heavier, which is why staying organized is a must.
You can also use the Ultimate Business Toolkit to help you stay organized and motivated on your side hustle journey.
You may enjoy your side hustle more than your full-time job, but your full-time job is paying you a steady income and more than likely giving you benefits. Be a great employee and keep that job until or when your side hustle can become a full-time gig!
10. Start now!
One of the biggest mistakes people make when thinking about starting a side hustle is simply never starting. Decision fatigue and doubt can kill dreams. Do yourself a favor and start your side hustle and stop overthinking it.
What can you do to get started on a side hustle right now? What side hustle do you want to start? Here are a few ideas.
- Proofread for people and businesses
- Fill out surveys and give your honest opinion for cash
- Walk dogs on Rover (I did this and loved it!)
- Rent a room out on Airbnb
- Clean parking lots for commercial properties
- Work from home as an online English teacher to children in China
- Become a virtual assistant and help a small business
- Shop for groceries for people
- Launch a blog and help people around the world
- Flip items for profit as a flea market flipper
- Become a Freelance Writer and write for large publications
Final Thoughts
If I could give my #1 tip for succeeding with a side hustle, it would be to simply start today. So many wait for the perfect time to start a side hustle, that they end up never starting it at all. Stop over thinking and commit to a side hustle and go all-in!
If you’re ready to start a side hustle, I recommend reading these posts:
- How I Make $10,000 A Month With These Side Hustles
- 10 Side Hustles For People With Less Than 5 Hours A Week
Don’t forget to sign up for the free resource library and get exclusive access to free printables & planners related to saving and making money, meal planning, and more!
Are you starting a new side hustle?
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This Post Has 4 Comments
Great post Alexis! When I started my side hustle 40 years ago, I did so with little money, education and skills. I also didn’t have the internet. I ran into many road blocks but never quit, always finding a solution to my problem. I feel it’s imperative to develop this mindset.
So amazing!
I’ve been blogging on and off for a decade and only saw success when I set input goals rather than measuring, for example, website views or social media followers.
This is less of an issue if you’re choosing to promote via Pinterest or social media, but if you’re trying to woo google, you’re better off setting goals that you definitely can achieve, such as ‘make a list of 10 potential articles and do the keyword research’ or ‘write 10 articles every month’.
You typically don’t see results for a year or two using the methods I learned (the free income school channel on YouTube is so good if you’re just into writing, rather than promoting) , so having goals that you can definitely achieve are really helpful.
I know it’s a pain, but by the time the pageviews start piling in, you can usually be a little more hands off and maybe just produce an article every week or month.
I’m a glutton for punishment, so I just keep making more blogs!
It took me a LONG TIME to see any income, but it’s now largely passive income (ads and affiliates) and I get to spend my days writing about (and buying) plants. I’d quit my day job, but I’m working on buying a bigger house so I can buy more plants :D.
So many great tips and words of advice!
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