Successfully Make Money on the Side

October 31, 2017

Thanks, in no small part, to the internet, it has never been easier to set up a side business and start making some extra cash. Whether you’re an Etsy sensation or a social media manager extraordinaire, it is possible to earn thousands of dollars every year, and even eventually quit your day job (if you wish to do so) by working online.

Of course, for every side-hustle success story, there are dozens of failures. In order to make more money online, you have to be dedicated, and you have to do the following things:

Keep Startup Costs to a Minimum

You don’t need to take out a huge business loan or spend your life savings to start making money on the side – not when you start out at least. What you do need to do is research. Take the time to work out what you need and explore all the options for getting it because, more often than not, you’ll be able to get what you need for free, or much less than some companies are trying to make you part with anyway! By keeping your initial costs low, you increase your chances of making a profit early on.

Be Wild
There are literally thousands of people out there right now getting ready to start their own side-hustle, and that’s in the US alone, so if you want to compete with them, you’re going to have to be bold, do something different and take a gamble on your wildest ideas. If you’re keeping your startup costs low, then what really do you have to lose? So, instead of setting up as a plain old content writer, for example, offer your services as the penner of love letters – do something different, and you’re more likely to succeed.

Develop Mad SEO Skills

Learning how to drive traffic to your website or social media page is essential if you want to make money on the side. After all, it doesn’t matter how good your idea is or how well it’s executed if no one knows you exist!

Learn to Manage Your Time Like a Pro
If you’re working a job and setting up a side business, you’re not going to have a lot of free time, which means you need to get really good at managing it. Get up early. Squeeze in 30 minutes working on your project during lunch, grab five minutes to write a paragraph while you're on hold – so anything you can to ensure you get that work done.

Pay Your Taxes

Finally, I should mention that, just because it’s an online side business, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t count for tax purposes. You must declare any income you make and include it in your tax return.If you’re making lots of money, hiring expert xero accountants, will make keeping track of your money and staying on the right side of the law easy. They will do it all for you, so you can concentrate on making that dough.

Now, go forth and multiply (your money).

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

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