Our direct marketing efforts we made close to $90,000 in gross sales (around $30,000 in profit) in the first year. This despite the fact that on the “best day” ever our meager 3-page website got a server-crashing 24 hits.
And all this was as a side hustle.
A couple weekends ago I finally got around to creating a website for a new side hustle of mine; non-fiction book editing.
Now I should mention that this is something I’ve been quietly doing on the side for the last year or so without a website, landing clients via word of mouth and even a few through Fiverr.
When your service business is just starting out, you absolutely don’t need a website. In fact, it can be one big giant distraction from your primary goal of winning paying clients.
Have you ever done a juice cleanse or a “Whole30” challenge?
While I haven’t ever gone to that extreme, I DO always feel better physically and mentally after even just a few days of clean eating.
So if a quick “cleanse” can work for our health, why not try it with our money?
Getting started making money online is as easy as following a few steps — steps that I’m going to outline for you in this how-to guide.
What you’ll learn is a step by step process that is all but guaranteed to make you a couple of hundred dollars per month via affiliate marketing.
The setup is minimal and once things are flowing it really is as close to passive income as you can get.
Progress report time!
Why go through this exercise?
It’s time to evaluate what happened over the last 3 months (and in this case to look at the year as a whole), to see if you achieved your goals, and to ask if you’re happier or otherwise better off than you were when you started.
So am I?
Half the people I talk to are still looking for a side hustle idea. The other half have too many to choose from.
If you fall in the second camp, how do you pick which to work on? How do you prioritize your limited time for the maximum impact and result?
We all could use some extra cash at the end of the month, but it’s not like we have a ton of idle time to be hustling all over town.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to put more money back in your wallet — both by increasing your earning power and strategically cutting expenses.
There’s a great deal written about how to find work in the first place, but once you have it, how do you manage everything effectively? You must avoid becoming a victim of your own success, keep your work-life balance healthy, delight your clients, and ensure you still have enough projects coming in.
If you want to work in harmony and avoid the anxiety monster, you need to look at every aspect of your work and ask “How can I make this better?”
In a way, that consistent effort has started to feel a little tedious, like I’m never getting ahead of it, and I’m trying to come to grips with never really being done. There will always be more I want to work on and new projects I’d love to tackle.
Instead it’s become a game of focus and prioritization, which I know is good for me, but frustrating at the same time for somebody who wants to do all the things.
So why a “progress” report? Because that’s what it’s all about.
Being a freelance writer is an amazing way to put your love of words to use while bringing in a nice chunk of change on the side.
So let’s talk about how you can build a sustainable and thriving side hustle as a writer.
Just follow this step-by-step guide and you’ll be well on your way to earning your first $1,000 as a freelance writer.
