Side Hustles Are Now Mandatory

The ability to find profit is the ultimate job security

It’s important to remember: everyone is an entrepreneur, some people have settled for just having one client.

I’m not saying that it’s never a good idea to enter the 9–5 world, but I am saying that you should never find yourself in a position where you are completely dependent on your employer.

Here are just a few of the benefits of starting a side hustle:

• Having multiple income streams brings an added level of security
• A side hustle has a chance of maturing into a full-time gig
• Starting a side hustle gives you practice facing your fear and working through obstacles
• A side hustle gives you the opportunity to learn new skills
• Making money on the side forces you to find ways to create value for society
• Growing a side hustle will empower you and build your confidence

“The ability to find profit is the ultimate job security” -Nick Loper, Side Hustle Nation

Not only is starting a side hustle beneficial, it’s never been easier. We are living through the golden age of the internet, and people have been connected to each other digitally at scale.

It’s never been cheaper or more feasible to start earning money on the side.

Starter Ideas vs. “Next-Level” Ideas

In his book Side Hustle, Chris Guillebeau distinguishes between “starter ideas” and “next level-ideas”

A starter idea is something that can start making money right away, but has limited long-term potential. Think becoming an Uber driver. If you don’t have a handle on a “next-level” idea, you can jump on a starter idea to start earning some cash.

A next-level idea is something that can scale. In my opinion, in order for something to truly be a next-level idea, it has to have the potential to make you money while you sleep.

The Starter Idea: Arbitrage

Here’s the core idea of arbitrage: Any time something is being sold in multiple places (e.g. Amazon, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craig’s List, etc.), you can expect to find different prices. Often this provides the opportunity to profit by buying low in one market, and selling high in another.

With arbitrage you can scour Craig’s List, garage sales, and other marketplaces for under-priced items that you can flip for a profit later on.

There are lots of skills that you need to acquire here: you need to learn how to source cheap items, you need to learn which items will resell for a profit, and you have to learn how to take attractive pictures and write appealing and informative descriptions.

The positives of this idea are that you can get started quickly and that it will never go away. As long as people buy things in different places there will be opportunities for arbitrage.

The negatives are that you usually need at least some seed money to get started (unless you already have something to sell or can find something on the free section of Craig’s List), and that it’s hard to scale (although it’s certainly possible).

The Next-Level Idea: Content Creation

There are people making millions of dollars a year creating content online.

That sounds crazy, but it’s just a simple fact.

We’re to the point where teens posting pictures on Instagram is the new summer job.

It’s easy to think that you’ll never be that person who earns millions from your website or $100,000 for a single Instagram post, but you don’t need to be. You just need enough to make your side hustle profitable (and who knows, maybe one day you will join the big leagues).

In creating content online, your goal should be to inspire, educate, or entertain.

You need a medium (such as the written word, audio, video, pictures, etc.), and a platform (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Medium, your own blog, etc.)

You also need a way to monetize, such as advertising, affiliate marketing, or selling your own product, as I go into more detail on in this post:

But the good news is that monetizing is easier than ever; many platforms now help you make money right from the start

Here are some of my favorite platforms to get started on:

Medium (Writing)

That’s right, my #1 suggestion for starting a writing side hustle is to do it right here on Medium.com.

Medium members pay $5 a month for unlimited reading, and their $5 membership fee gets distributed to the authors of the stories they read.

You can learn all about it here:

My journey making money on Medium in 2018 can be summed up by this table here:

And I wrote much more about it in this post:

The nice thing about Medium is that you don’t have to have any technical knowledge. It’s easy to just sign up and start writing.

Anchor (Audio/Podcasting)

Anchor is an app that was recently bought by Spotify.

The idea is that they will handle the technical side of podcasting for you, so that you can literally create a show just by opening the app and talking into your phone.

The best part is that they will find sponsors for your show for you, and they’ll even volunteer themselves as your first sponsor so you can start making money right away.

It’s completely free to use: they make money by taking 30% of the revenue that you earn from the sponsors that they found for you.

In another month or so I’m going to get started in earnest with podcasting on anchor, but I already recorded an initial episode which you can listen to here:

One awesome thing is that Anchor automatically distributes my show to all the major podcasting channels. So if you open Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or Stitcher and search for “The Matthew Kent Show”, you should find me.

Other Opportunities

The downside for those of you who are into video is that you need to build up an audience before you start monetizing.

The good news is that people can’t seem to get enough video content.

In terms of monetization, platforms like Facebook and YouTube will find advertisers for your videos, but they require you meet certain subscriber thresholds first.

As I’ve already alluded to several times, sponsored Instagram posts are a real thing, but you’ll need a decent following before you can turn that possibility into a reality.

Making Money While You Sleep

The advantage of creating content is that the content can outwork you. My YouTube videos, Medium stories, and podcasts are tirelessly working around the clock to earn me money.

They will all earn more when I have more of a following, but as it is they keep chugging along even when I’m being lazy.

For example: in October of 2018 I did nothing on Medium. Nothing at all. I took the whole month off.

And I still made more than $150.

$150 isn’t life changing, but $150 for doing nothing is a pretty sweet deal.

“In creating your side hustle, the goal is to turn your idea into an asset, something that has real value and produces income for you over time.” — Chris Guillebeau

Most people are trading time for money. You should be investing your time in creating something you can sell besides time.

Final Thoughts

There are no more excuses.

Making money online is easier that it’s ever been.

You don’t need to use the ideas that I’ve mentioned here, you just need to get started with something.

It’s time to choose action over inaction, starting over stalling, working over waiting.

You’ve got this.