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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Entrepreneurship => Topic started by: Guy Ensenada on March 06, 2017, 02:48:09 PM

Title: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: Guy Ensenada on March 06, 2017, 02:48:09 PM
Hi Folks, Long time casual reader, first time poster- heck, I just created an account today.

So inspired by so many of you- your side hustles, your badassity, your kickassery. All of it. But I find myself looking for some direction.

20 years in the same job. Kinda mustachian- I work an academic year (long winter break and a summer off! as a career counselor and also do a lot of educational planning- transferring out to other schools, finding the right college, etc. Living in an economically depressed and slow growth area, moving away not an option yet. I have fairly limited computer and tech skills.

I am trying to figure out some side hustles i can undertake that could be fun and lucrative and I am stuck as to how. I know- Career Counselor, heal thyself. But I think I am so stuck in a rut that I can't find a groove. Hoping some of the kind souls and brilliant minds of this site can help me figure out some marketable skills and maybe even some things unrelated to my occupation that I can go do.

So, fire away, gang. I am open to anything and everything.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: Vindicated on March 06, 2017, 02:50:27 PM
I can't offer any concrete examples, since I haven't done many side gigs myself, but I've seen other readers here post about Craigslist jobs.  I checked it out today actually, and there is a lot of side work you can pick up on weekends for general labor, etc.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: swick on March 06, 2017, 03:14:59 PM
Welcome to the forums!

You have a lot of knowledge and experience, you need to leverage it! I don't think it makes sense for you to be trying to find labor jobs on Craigslist when you have such specific and much-needed knowledge.

I envision you being "THE NO BS CAREER COUNSELLOR" Work from home, online, on your own schedule, helping people from making costly mistakes and busting career myths.

I'm making some ASSumptions based on how things tend to be (in Canada) but most career counselors are serving the systems. Sure they try to help out the students but as my friend was told directly: "Your job is to make sure as many of our school's students as possible go to University" That is how her success and competency was assessed. Also considering the sheer workload of many CC's they can't give the personal attention that really helps students weigh through the options and get on a career track they will like and is worth spending the money on.

It is very cheap and doesn't cost a lot of money to build a basic website and Zoom room. You could offer 1 on 1 coaching, you could offer specialized career coaching, you could write books to publish on Amazon, you could offer "find your ideal career" assessments...oh actually that is a SUPER idea....create your own assessment, charge people a nominal fee  to take it and upsell private coaching to create a plan from the results.

The great thing about being able to do it virtually is you don't have to move and you can target people non-locally that will be able to pay you a good price for your services.

I would start by writing a giant list of everything you offer advice on. What are the biggest knowledge gaps? What problems come up the most for your students? You have such a gold mine of information and insight into your target audience because you are in the field.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: mindy on March 06, 2017, 03:44:03 PM
Well, I know that you want to get away from your current career, but academia has some pretty lucrative side hustles. One is  tutoring if there's a subject you're really good at or even a second language you can teach. Or perhaps a musical instrument? You can also hold seminars related to what you're already doing and make a ton of money off that. Heck if you know a ton about scholarships people would pay you quite a bit to hold a seminar on how to find them and get them. People will even pay you to help with their FAFSA if that's something that you know a lot about. You have a lot of great knowledge that so many people want to know.   

Outside of the academic world, there's always driving Uber or Lyft. Not sure how much money you can realistically make from that, especially if you're not in a very populated area, but it's an option you can look into. You can also look into turning hobbies into side hustles. Do you like to make anything that you can sell online? Is there something you're really passionate/knowledgeable about that you can write a blog or an e-book about? Sometimes this isn't very lucrative though. Oh and check out selling tradelines. There's a thread on here about that and it seems if you qualify for it you can make a pretty penny for little work.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: toodleoo on March 06, 2017, 06:08:09 PM
Contrary to all of the scam postings out on the internet, there are actually legitimate websites where you can make money online. 2 of my favorites:

1) http://www.instagc.com/681614 (http://www.instagc.com/681614) I make $60-75 monthly off this website. They have active offers and surveys, plus a passive video watching section where you can make money just by letting videos run on your computer.

2) https://prolificacademic.co.uk/rp?ref=HILG19C7 (https://prolificacademic.co.uk/rp?ref=HILG19C7) Get paid for taking surveys. Very reliable payout. I make around $25 a month on this site.

Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/) for other sites as well.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: HipGnosis on March 06, 2017, 07:23:35 PM
Welcome aboard.
You can't career counsel yourself because you're looking for a gig, not a career.
Start with a SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Only you know what is 'fun' to you and what would be like crawling thru glass.
Look/ask around to find out what opportunities exist where you are during your breaks. 
Decide if you only want to do it during the breaks or also some evening and weekend time thru the year.
Find out if TaskRabbit is in your area - go to their site as is you're looking to hire someone to find out.
See if PostMates (food delivery) appeals to you.  Or Uber.
Since your breaks are traditional vacation times, could you board pets?  House sit?  Tutor?
Read the thread about selling tradelines (of your credit cards).
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: Guy Ensenada on March 07, 2017, 07:52:10 AM
Thanks, all. I have toyed for years with some sort of web-based service, and been uncertain how to get started. I guess it's time to get off the dime. I have done gigs as a subcontractor over the years- outplacement, college counseling, etc. so I know I have some knowledge to use. Just a matter of getting it down on paper and into the ethers.

Any good recommendations for a webhost or developer that I can employ to get me moving?
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: Guy Ensenada on March 07, 2017, 08:48:04 AM
Welcome to the forums!

You have a lot of knowledge and experience, you need to leverage it! I don't think it makes sense for you to be trying to find labor jobs on Craigslist when you have such specific and much-needed knowledge.

I envision you being "THE NO BS CAREER COUNSELLOR" Work from home, online, on your own schedule, helping people from making costly mistakes and busting career myths.

I'm making some ASSumptions based on how things tend to be (in Canada) but most career counselors are serving the systems. Sure they try to help out the students but as my friend was told directly: "Your job is to make sure as many of our school's students as possible go to University" That is how her success and competency was assessed. Also considering the sheer workload of many CC's they can't give the personal attention that really helps students weigh through the options and get on a career track they will like and is worth spending the money on.

It is very cheap and doesn't cost a lot of money to build a basic website and Zoom room. You could offer 1 on 1 coaching, you could offer specialized career coaching, you could write books to publish on Amazon, you could offer "find your ideal career" assessments...oh actually that is a SUPER idea....create your own assessment, charge people a nominal fee  to take it and upsell private coaching to create a plan from the results.

The great thing about being able to do it virtually is you don't have to move and you can target people non-locally that will be able to pay you a good price for your services.

I would start by writing a giant list of everything you offer advice on. What are the biggest knowledge gaps? What problems come up the most for your students? You have such a gold mine of information and insight into your target audience because you are in the field.

Thanks on all accounts. Yeah, really not looking for labor jobs- mid to late 40s, kids, mortgage, etc. And I am serving the systems. Need to serve myself. I think there is an opportunity to work from home doing some counseling and coaching, and maybe even contract with employers who want to refer employees directly for some skills upgrade coaching. Also looking to do some college counseling- selection, essays, majors, interviews- the whole 9. I have a broad experience and skill set, just haven't been able to quantify, and am a total techno-peasant. Your post was a great eye opener.

And thanks for moving it to a more appropriate- and heretofore unbeknownst to me- forum.

Any suggestions on some websites for development? Thanks! I need to go google Zoom Room now!

Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: swick on March 07, 2017, 09:59:52 AM
https://zoom.us/ (https://zoom.us/)

It is basically a virtual meeting room. So if you want to do one on one or group coaching or meetings virtually, it is the best as far as stability, allows you to record, has a chat function, virtual breakout groups. The basic account is free, which limits your meetings to 45 minutes. That being said I have used my free account to have longer 1 on one meetings without a problem (although I haven't recorded them) But for what you get the subscription price is worth it if you are using it often. It is good to try out and see if it will work for you.

Many of my clients who have wanted to get up and running fast who don't want to worry about keeping up with wordpress but still want to do it themselves  have used SquareSpace to build their sites, https://www.squarespace.com (https://www.squarespace.com) I use wordpress though, which is free if you have a domain, but you need more technical know-how to keep it running.  There is WIX and other website builders out there. I think it depends on your budget and how much you are willing to learn.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: jade on March 07, 2017, 11:29:45 AM
Hi Guy Ensanada

I do a similar job and hours and have a side hustle of coaching, some freelance writing and I make simple websites. If you fancy a chat, drop me a DM. I've been doing this all for about 8 years, it's nice to have a few work avenues, and like you, coaching particularly works well as a side job.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: trammatic on March 08, 2017, 06:46:58 AM
A good framework for corporate career coaching is the Gallup Strengths Finder series.  I've heard of a number of local companies who are investing in that development approach, and it seems pretty robust.  You could incorporate that into your teaching skills and then approach small to medium sized businesses.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: ChpBstrd on March 20, 2017, 01:59:22 PM
Or just ask your local temp agencies what kind of weekend opportunities they have. Never know what will pop up.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: bwall on March 20, 2017, 03:30:58 PM
It sounds like there aren't that many opportunities locally, which is ok. It just means that you'll have to look for paying clients elsewhere i.e. via the internet. There are ways to do it, but it can take awhile to figure out.

One of my funnest side hustles was importing out of print books from overseas and selling them on eBay, and then later on amazon at even higher prices. You have to find your niche, but the first year I earned $1500 and gradually worked up to $7k/year profit, all for very little work once I figured it out.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: Guy Ensenada on March 23, 2017, 11:32:59 AM
Hi again all.

Wondering if my pal @Zwick or anyone else can help me figure something out...is there a platform such as Zoom Room that incorporates billing- I want to make money so a client would have to pay for an hour of my time in a video chat room. Is that typically part of the service with Zoom or whatever service, or is that something additional?

Thanks for any guidance.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: swick on March 23, 2017, 04:22:40 PM
Hi again all.

Wondering if my pal @Zwick or anyone else can help me figure something out...is there a platform such as Zoom Room that incorporates billing- I want to make money so a client would have to pay for an hour of my time in a video chat room. Is that typically part of the service with Zoom or whatever service, or is that something additional?

Thanks for any guidance.

As far as I know there is no payment integration with zoom. There are a bunch of different payment processors that work, some that combine with scheduling software so they can choose an appointment time and then be taken to a payment gateway, or vise versa. I haven't ever had to use these though, I usually just do email and a paypal link. It would be fairly easy to get built into a website.
Title: Re: Side Hustle Blues
Post by: INFP writer on March 29, 2017, 04:00:09 PM
You might take a look at Fiverr.com. The basic idea is you offer a service - any service for $5. But many people make good money through it. You might scroll through the services offered and see if there is anything helps you come up with a service you would like to provide. What's neat is that you can offer practically anything. Read through others' offerings and you'll be surprised at the variety.

One way people make decent money is by offering a very specific limited service (i.e. proofread 300 words) for $5 and then charge an additional $5 for every addition 300 words, or something.

I haven't actually used it because the one time I did research it in depth, I was hoping to make $$ quickly and Fiverr doesn't usually work that way. It can take some time to get going and attract some sales.
Like most things in life, you have to invest some time into it to see a payoff.

Good luck!