Can You Start a Side Hustle for Under $1,000?

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Are you looking for a little extra cash each month?

Maybe you want to escape your 9-5?

Or perhaps you are out of work and need to earn some fast cash?

If so, it is possible that a side hustle is exactly what you need to do.

In today's post I'm going to share with you what a side hustle is, examples of good and bad side hustles, the best business model I would recommend as a side hustle, and how much it will cost for you to get started.

Who are Side Hustles good for?

In my opinion, everyone should have a side hustle. Whether you are looking to invest more money into retirement (FIRE anyone?), take a vacation, save for a house, or just stop living paycheck to paycheck, a side hustle is a great way to supplement your income.

The problem is that many people don't understand what a side hustle is, or how they can get started.

For some, they worry that starting a side hustle business will cost more money than they will make from it. Or they aren't sure what is a scam and what is legit. It makes sense. If someone tells you that you can invest a little bit of money and then all your dreams will magically come true, I agree that you should run the other way.

What if you DON'T start a side hustle?

But there are opportunity costs in play if you do nothing as well.

It is easy to go back to the status quo. But will you regret that choice in 5 or 10 years from now when you are stuck in the same job, earning nearly the same salary, and wondering "what if?"

Yes, it is possible that you could try something and fail. But what then? You try something new. And if that doesn't work, you try something else.

As an entrepreneur for the past 20 years or so, I can wholeheartedly say that I learn way more from my mistakes and failures than I do from my successes.

What is a Side Hustle?

If you have read this far, you likely already know what a side hustle is, but if you don't, let me fill you in. It is anything you do outside of your normal working hours (usually, but not always part time) to earn extra income.

Side hustles, generally speaking, can be broken down into several categories.

• Trading Time for Money

• Investing Activities

• Starting a Business

Let's review these one at a time.

Trading Time for Money

Trading time for money is the oldest side hustle there is. This is the proverbial "work three jobs" to pay the bills. You have your main job, and then you go wait tables on the weekends, or deliver pizzas, or tutor school kids. The options are literally endless. 

But what is common with all of these activities is that they are safe, you know you will get paid quickly, and you are exchanging your time for money.

There is nothing wrong with any of this.

The next two activities are where you start to build an asset that will pay you even if you aren't working on it.

Investing Activities

Real Estate Investing

The most common investment activity, and where most people make their millions, is real estate. Let's be honest, they aren't making any more land. So if you can get a good deal on a property that generates enough cash flow to pay your expenses, then you can use that positive cash flow to purchase more properties, further increase your net worth, and eventually retire. 

But there are downsides to real estate as well. First, unless you have a rich uncle or friend that is willing to help you, if you don't have any cash or your credit is shot, then you will have a hard time getting a mortgage to purchase a property. Yes, you could get creative and hustle your way to a purchase, but it won't be easy.

As I write this, mortgage rates are at a 20 year high, and they don't look to be going down anytime soon. This makes the cost to borrow money much more expensive and eats into your cash flow if you do purchase a rental property. Not to mention, the price of houses continues to creep up (which seems counterintuitive, but it is what it is). 

Stock Market Investing

Another type of investing activity is stock market investing. Lots of investing savants were created over the past 10 years when you could seemingly buy anything and it went up. But the stock market is in less certain times right now, and unless you REALLY know what you are doing, I would not wager your life savings on attempting to trade stocks or options.

 Which leads us to, what I feel, is the best type of side hustle to start.

Starting a Business

When I refer to starting a business, I'm not talking about purchasing a franchise or starting some other sort of store or service that will require your full attention. Those are not "side hustles", they are your main hustle. In addition, I'm not referring to starting an Amazon business where you would be investing up-front in a lot of inventory.

The types of businesses I'm referring to will take very little startup capital (get started for under $100), and takes only your time to build. On the flip side, you will need to spend a lot of time building the business, and it could take six months to a year for you to start getting paid.

So what am I referring to?

Creating websites, pumping them up with content to build a viewership, and then monetizing that traffic.

Building an Online Business 

As I've mentioned before, there are lots of different online businesses you can start, and a myriad of side hustles you can do to earn extra income.

But in my opinion, starting and building websites that contain valuable content, is still the best business model for people with ample time and little money to invest. Yes, it takes time, but the rewards are worth it.

Consider that if you build a website, attract visitors by creating content, and then monetize that content, you are building an asset that will pay you month after month, whether you continue to work on it or not. In addition, according to Moz.com, you can sell a website that is properly monetized for anywhere from "20–50x of the 12-month average net profit".  So if you have a website generating $10,000 per month in net profit, you could sell that asset for between $200,000 to $500,000 in cash. Or, you could just continue to grow the website and take the monthly profit.

If you are currently working at a job making the national average of $60,000 per year ($5,000 per month), keep in mind that it will take you about a year to earn $1,000 per month on your blog. In addition, the more you post, the more you earn. Here is a graphic from that same survey:

Source: https://www.productiveblogging.com/how-much-do-bloggers-earn/

What does all this tell me? You need to start a blog in a high value niche, and you need to start posting... a LOT. Everyday if you can, several times a week at a minimum. If you post once a week or even once a month, it just won't cut it. You aren't going to see any traction.

So to recap, here are some of the pros and cons of starting a business with a blog:

Pros of Blogging as a Side Hustle

When you are starting a blog, unless you purchase a high domain authority (DA) website to start, you must post consistently for anywhere from 6-12 months to build up backlinks to your blog and start to generate traffic.

But if you are willing to put in that work (typically 1-2 hours a day to create new content - you will get faster the more you do it), then here are some of the pros of starting a blog: 

• The up front investment is minimal
• This is a highly scalable business - you aren't trading time for money. In fact, the longer you work on your blog the more you will make and the LESS you will have to work.
• You are building an asset that you can sell
• You are building an asset that will throw off cash whether you work on it or not
• You aren't trading time for money

But there are some cons to starting a blog.

Cons of Blogging as a Side Hustle

The biggest con to starting a blog, and the reason I see many entrepreneurs fail, is that they aren't willing to put in the work, plain and simple. They start with 2-3 blog posts, don't see any results, and then give up. There is no shortcut to success. You have to put in the time and do the work. Expect it to take longer than you think.

Second, there is no guarantee of success. If you pick the wrong niche, or you hate what you are writing about, then you may be spinning your wheels. 

Finally, and I've mentioned this before, it takes a lot of work on the front end and it will be at least 6-12 months before you start seeing a return on your investment.

But if you can tolerate the negatives, and you are willing to put in the work on the front end, then you exponentially increase your potential for success.

One Other Fatal Mistake Newbie Bloggers Make

Before you run out and start your blog on basket weaving for teenagers, there is one other caveat you must be aware of. You must pick a topic that contains lots of high traffic, low competition keywords. So while yes, you may be able to rank on page one for basket weaving for teenagers, it doesn't mean that anyone will read or visit your blog. (But honestly, I haven't done the research on that term, it may be amazing for all I know!)

In general, there are 13 niches that surpass all others when it comes to blogging. Here is a graphic from RankIQ.

My recommendation is that you steer away from finance - this is a highly oversaturated market and will take you substantially longer to build a traffic base. But if you can fit your business idea into one of the other niches, you will be starting off on the right foot.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Blog?

Honestly, it costs a lot less than you think. The biggest investment for most bloggers is to purchase a course for $3-5k to teach them how to blog. Assuming you don't need that, and you are able to google around for some Wordpress tutorials (or you join our mastermind - more on that in a minute), then you have all the information you need to get started. 

Here is what you need to start a blog:

1. A website host. You need a place to host your blog. My recommended hosting provider is Siteground. You can get started for $3 a month and they make it dead simple to install Wordpress and start your blog.
2. Keyword Research. Keyword research can make or break your website. If you think you can just hop on and write about whatever you want and people will find you, you are wrong. You need to find the best keywords for your niche that will allow you to rank quickly. RankIQ, in my opinion, is the best tool for this. Not only is it substantially less expensive than some other keyword tools on the market, but the owner is a blogger who has personally researched all of the best keywords for your niche. And if you have a niche that isn't included in his database, you can make a support request and he will do the research for you and add it to the software. At $50 a month, RankIQ is a no-brainer. I use it almost daily and love it.
3. Wordpress Theme. When you just start your blog, you can use a free theme or a premium theme. I recommend starting with a premium theme such as Astra. This is a theme that is easy to use and is SEO friendly, meaning that you will rank higher with your content.

But What about the Legal Stuff?

Yes, you will need an LLC. And yes, you need to register your trademark. In my opinion, once you have settled on a name for your blog, then you must do a comprehensive search to make sure it is available and start the process of registering your trademark. The last thing you want is to spend a few years building your blog and then get shut down by a competitor that has registered your name as their own trademark.

My recommendation is to hire a lawyer for assistance. My law firm has trademark packages starting at under $1,000, and payment plans are available.

But if you can't afford to hire a lawyer just yet, consider joining our monthly OB Foundations Mastermind. Now through the end of August 2023 we are offering $100 off the current monthly membership. With courses on how to set up your LLC, file your trademark, and start your blog - not to mention legal templates and monthly coaching calls, you would be hard pressed to find a more valuable offer on the internet. Click here for more details and to sign up.  

Final Thoughts

Someone once said that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. The same is true of building a blog or website that has the potential to change your life. You should have started it during COVID when you had a ton of time, or even before then. But you didn't. Or maybe you did but then you stopped working on it when you went back to work.

Well, now is the time to start again. I believe that building and growing a blog is still the absolute best way to build a side hustle.

So what are you waiting for?

Click Here to Save $100 off the OB Foundations Mastermind