How to Profit from Your Side Hustle Without Going Broke
It’s that time of the month again. You look at the pile of bills, and the dwindling amount of reserves in your bank account, and wonder…
Can I get an advance from this credit card to pay off that one?
Will they really give me $100 to open a new bank account, or is that just for people with good credit?
If I let that bill slide for another month, they won’t really turn off my utilities, will they?
People you follow online keep talking about side hustles, and you’d love to start one. But it seems like they promise you the moon, if only you first buy this course, get this certification, or…
If you had the money to buy those things, you wouldn’t need a side hustle!
There must be a way to actually make money from a side hustle without burning out or going broke.
Here’s what I learned when working on various side hustles over the years.
The Rich Dad method
One of the most memorable stories I remember from Rich Dad / Poor Dad regarded buying a car.
The Poor Dad way of buying a car was to save for it, and when you had enough saved, buy the car.
The Rich Dad way of buying a car started out the same. But when you had enough saved, you bought an investment that would produce enough money to buy the car. If I recall correctly, he bought a dry cleaning business.
You can use the same idea when investing in courses or other training. Instead of buying the course outright, buy something that will pay for the course many times over.
I wanted to hire professional help to produce my Amazon best-selling book. I needed an editor, a cover artist, and a promotional budget. But I didn’t pay for them.
Instead, I produced a small cookbook of recipes for a hot new diet at the time. I did the cover myself, as well as the interior layout. It took maybe two weeks from start to finish. That little cookbook paid for the other book.
Get paid to eat out
When I was between jobs, and things were looking a little tight, we tried to conserve money by not eating out. Given that neither my husband nor I particularly like to cook, this was a problem.
To have food that was healthy and halfway edible, we ended up spending more than we could afford, anyway.
Then a friend turned me on to an excellent option — getting paid to eat out. You basically go to a restaurant, including some very nice ones, on someone else’s dime. In return for filling out a form about the restaurant service, they reimburse you the cost of the meal.
You can also get paid to test drive a car, or, since I live in Colorado, visit a pot shop and make sure they’re on the up and up.
The company I worked with was BestMark. There are other reputable ones, too. Just make sure they’re paying you, not asking you for money.
According to my friend, if you stay with them long enough, they’ll move you up the ranks quickly. They even sent her on vacations.
I was only with them for a few months, but it was enough to start getting $60 dinners at fine dining restaurants.
Can you write fast, about anything?
One of the simplest side jobs I had was doing SEO marketing articles. At the time, companies wanted lots of cheap articles to put on their website.
I learned about jewelers in Australia, wine making in California, and classic cars. Once you started working for a client, you often ended up writing more articles.
You’d write a few hundred words about their desired keyword, and get paid in pennies. If you were fast, and could knock an article out in about fifteen minutes, you could make decent money.
One of the women who worked for the same SEO marketing firm as I did made about $30/hour. She wrote blindingly fast. And her articles were good, too.
I am not a fast writer. On my good days, I managed a rate approaching minimum wage.
However, I could write in the evenings, on weekends, or whenever I had a little bit of free time.
You can make more money if you get your own clients. But if you work for a marketing firm, you don’t have to worry about dealing with the clients. So many clients try to come up with some excuse for not paying. Working for a firm, you get paid even if the firm doesn’t.
Pay attention to the flow of money
Whatever you choose to do for a little extra spending money, pay close attention to how much it costs to do it. If you’re driving for cash, are you making enough to cover your gas and wear and tear on your car?
If you’re working as a virtual assistant, are you paying postage or copying costs out of your own pocket? Do you need an extra phone line or higher bandwidth internet package?
There’s an old saying in publishing: Money flows to the author. If anyone tries to get you to pay for something, because it will help you make more money in the long run, say no.
This is obviously a little less clear of a line nowadays with self-publishing. You’re both the author and the publisher. So sometimes, you do need to pay for things. But you should do so as the publisher, not as the author.
Conclusion
To make money from your side hustle without going broke, consider the Rich Dad method.
Get paid to eat out, or to write flurries of words. Both of these give you freedom, but at the cost of working for a marketing firm.
Above all, pay attention to the flow of money. If anyone wants you to pay them for an opportunity to make money, think long and hard. They may be selling you hope, rather than a real opportunity.
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