The Side Gig: Everything You Need to Start Earning on the Side
Everyone
has
skills
that
someone
else
would
pay
for
Two
points
that
are
important
here:
-
-
Your
job
does
NOT
have
to
be
the
source
of
inspiration
for
freelancing.
If
you’re
a
project
manager
by
day,
you
can
be
a
creative
writer
on
the
side.
Both
share
similar
skills,
anyway!
You
have
to
be
organized,
create
structure
out
of
chaos,
and
focus
on
delivering
on
time,
every
time.
Now
you
see
why
turning
your
hobbies
into
income
isn’t
some
cookie-cutter
formula.
Because
if
a
project
manager
can
earn
$1,000
on
the
side being
a
creative
writer,
what
could
you
do?
Suddenly,
it’s
overwhelming.
-
Your
-
Your
job
skills
CAN
be
transferred,
no
matter
how
unique
you
think
you
are.
So
you’re
a
dolphin
trainer
at
SeaWorld.
Wow,
unique
job!
Not
really.
You
have
skills
in
working
with
animals,
obviously,
which
would
suggest
training
pets.
But
you
also
have
expertise
in
behavioral
change,
which
many
academic
labs
and
companies
would
love
to
tap
?
and
pay
for.
You
can
tutor
children.
You
can
help
people
stop
biting
their
nails.
Or
100
different
options.
Don’t
simply
say,
“I’m
a
process
engineer!
Nobody
hires
freelance
process
engineers.
I
give
up!”
Instead,
ask
yourself:
What
do
I
enjoy?
What
am
I
good
at?
Here
are
just
a
few
of
my
students
who
have
made
money
with
their
side
gigs:
A
circus
performer:
A
cellist:
A
full-time
dad:
The
simplified
process:
Matching
your
hobbies
and
skills
to
a
side
gig
It’s
overwhelming
to
consider
that
you
could
literally
have
500
potentials
ways
of
earning
money.
That’s
why
people
love
simple
SEO
or
other
automatic
ways
to
earn
money
on
the
side,
which
give
you
a
repeatable
formula,
but
rarely
work.
Take
it
one
step
at
a
time.
What
industry
are
you
in?
Oh,
finance?
Ok,
you
probably
don’t
want
to
be
a
freelance
investment
banker.
But…hmm…you
spend
all
day
doing
analyses.
How
can
you
use
that?
Example
1:
Excel
is
a
breeze
to
you.
Maybe
there
are
people
(like
me)
who
HATE
Excel
yet
need
detailed
analyses
for
their
business.
Could
you
build
models
for
other
people?
Example
2:
You’re
really
good
at
doing
valuations
of
industries.
Are
there
pre-launch
founders
who
need
that
skill?
(Alert:
Observant
readers
will
have
noticed
a
BIG
RED
FLAG
when
it
comes
to
pre-launch
founders:
They
can’t
pay
you.
So
if
your
goal
is
to
generate
revenue,
you
want
to
re-think
your
target
market
to
make
sure
they
can
afford
to
pay
you.)
Identify
your
hobbies
and
skills
?
then
think
more
broadly.
The
most
common
thing
I
hear
is,
“I’m
a
really
good
communicator,
but
I
don’t
know
how
to
turn
that
into
a
side
income.”
That’s
because
you
can’t.
Nobody
hires
a
“good
communicator.”
They
hire
people
to
solve
their
problems.
What
does
a
good
communicator
mean,
anyway?
That’s
just
a
lazy
way
of
saying
you
haven’t
spent
the
time
doing
research
on
the
available
options
you
have
to
channel
your
skills
into
something
that’s
worth
money.
Get
specific.
Are
you
great
at
writing
press
releases?
(I’d
pay
for
that.)
Are
you
great
at
training
public
speakers?
(You
might
be
able
to
find
a
specific
segment
of
people
who’d
pay
for
that.
This
one
is
tricky,
though.
Can
you
identify
why?)
Are
you
a
good
communicator
because
you
can
speak
Chinese?
Boom,
I’d
instantly
be
a
tutor
for
Chinese
kids
since
their
parents
will
love/trust
someone
who
speaks
Chinese
even
when
tutoring
their
kids
for
any
subject.
If
you
don’t
have
any
marketable
skills,
there
are
still
options.
Etsy is
a
perfect
example
of
people
making
great
side
income
and
many
of
them
don’t
have
any
skills
that
would
commonly
be
considered
“valuable.”
Yet
they
do
well
selling
niche
products
to
a
niche
audience.
If
you
aren’t
some
professional
with
software-engineering
skills
or
online-marketing
experience,
that’s
okay.
Can
you
hammer
something
into
a
wall?
(I’d
pay
for
that.)
Can
you
cook?
(I’d
also
pay
for
that…in
fact
I
am.)
Can
you
walk
dogs?
Tutor
kids
in
4th-grade
math?
Help
moms
with
routine
tasks?
You
can
make
money
on
all
of
these
things
?
good
money
?
without
having
to
have
some
hard
technical
skill,
as
long
as
you
find
a
market
that
will
pay
for
them.
I
want
to
go
a
bit
deeper.
People
are
very
bad
at
identifying
their
own
skills.
They’ll
say
things
like,
“I
dunno”
I
guess
I’m
good
at
writing
and
communication,
and,
like,
general
organizational
skills??
AMAZING!!
HERE?S
a
$4,000/MONTH
RETAINER!!!
(Sorry,
won’t
happen.)
Repeat
this
over
and
over:
People
pay
for
solutions,
not
your
skills.
For
example,
I
was
on
a
webcast
where
I
was
suggesting
ways
for
people
to
earn
money
on
the
side,
and
I
mentioned
that
I
hate
cooking,
am
not
good
at
it,
and
would
love
it
if
someone
cooked
for
me.
I
got
an
email
later
that
night
from
someone
who
said,
“Ramit,
I
can
help.
I
can
teach
you
everything
you
need
to
know
over
one
weekend,
and
you’ll
know
3-5
great
dishes
to
cook.”
I
appreciated
the
offer,
but
wrote
back,
“Thanks
for
the
offer!
But
you
don’t
understand.
I
don’t
want
to
learn,
I
want
someone
to
do
it
for
me”
Again:
People
have
problems.
They
want
solutions.
They
don’t
care
what
you’re
“interested”
in.
Are
they
too
busy
to
organize
their
closet?
Do
they
need
someone
to
help
them
redesign
their
website?
Maybe
they
want
someone
to
teach
their
kid
how
to
play
flute.
When
you
make
your
offer,
you’ll
have
to
deeply
understand
what
the
market your
prospective
clients want.
And
then
you’ll
be
able
to
turn
your
service
offering
into
something
so
compelling…that
they’ll
actually
pay
you
for
it.
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