Since 2009, I’ve always had some sort of side hustle going on. But only in 2012 that I’ve dived into online side hustle. All started when I stumbled upon Pat Flynn and his Smart Passive Income podcast. For the past 8 years that I’ve been doing online side hustle, I’ve tried many many many different kind there is. You name it and I am sure I’ve tried it. Being an introvert, I love that I do not have to meet or talk to people all the time running these side hustles. (That is why my co-living side hustle is really outside my comfort zone.)
So in today’s MELEPAK session, I will be sharing my top 4 types of online side hustles that I like and am still doing. Be it actively or passively. Either way, I enjoy working on them and am passionate about it. That is why I feel alive every time I work on my online side hustle even after a long day at work. Somehow, these side hustles is keeping me alive.
Your 9-5 May Make You a Living, But Your 5-9 Makes You Alive!
Nick Loper
With that, let’s sit back and start our MELEPAK session on online side hustle!
1. Niche Websites and Authority Websites
The first one that I want to share is my main side hustle – Websites. Website is a digital asset and it is investable as you can see from my Website Investing Case Study series. Niche website can be a lucrative side hustle once you get the hang of it and know what to do.
There are many ways to monetize a website and the best part is that the website is yours and there is no way the site can be shut down for no reason like if you are using other platforms such as Facebook page or Pinterest account.
However if you are starting out, there are a lot to learn especially the technical aspect of it.
Getting Started with Niche Websites
To put it simply, here are the steps:
- Pick a Niche
- Research on Keywords
- Build website
- Write content
- Get traffic to your site
- Monetized your site
- Bank in the cheque =p
Seems simple right? BUT it is not as easy. There are multiple steps within each steps that I’ve shared. However, all this can be learn online too. The learning curve is huge and it would take you at least 6 months to start seeing results from your new site. That is why, nowadays, I buy ready-earning sites to expedite the whole process instead of starting from scratch.
You can read my post where I share my journey and experience with niche websites.
Difficulty Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
The next side hustle that is in this list is Kindle Direct Publishing or KDP. KDP is an amazon program where independent people like you and me can publish our books on Amazon platform. They will take a percentage cut from the sale of the books. Basically, you are an independent book publisher, creating books and selling them on Amazon. So if you are into this online side hustle and you have books listed on Amazon, you can call yourself – International Book Author! HOW COOL IS THAT?!!
If you think that is cool, how about being a MULTIPLE INTERNATIONAL BOOK AUTHOR? Yup, that’s right. You are looking at one. I have (as of July 2020) 86 books listed on Amazon and have sales from Germany, Brazil, US and many more.
Getting Started with KDP
If you love to write books or even if you don’t (which I don’t) and wants to sell books on Amazon, the first thing you need to do is to sign up an account with KDP. If you already have an Amazon account, simply use the same email to link to your KDP account. Once that is done, your journey begins.
But it is not as easy as writing whatever you want and publish. There are certain criteria you need to fulfill. Plus the formatting can be a hassle if you are new. Again, there are many resources on the internet that you can find out and learn.
This side hustle is as passive as you want it to be. You can stop doing anything after publishing 100 books and still get sales every month (if your book is good). That is as passive as can be. But of course, you have to put in the hard work first.
I do intend to share my KDP side hustle journey in a future post. So be on the look out for it.
Difficulty Level: ⭐⭐⭐
3. Various Online Services
This side hustle encompassed a wide range of things. In essence, this side hustle requires you to offer online services to potential client. The type of services really depend on you and how creative you can be to offer your services. For a start, there are many platforms that you can sign up with and sell your online services.
One such platform that I used previously is Fiverr.com. In Fiverr, the most popular services (or ‘gig’ in Fiverr term) is related to online marketing such as content and SEO. BUT there are also whacky gig that is super creative like this. It could be as easy as birthday song or as complicated as drawing 3D architectural diagram. (I would encourage you to explore Fiverr to find ideas of what you can offer)
Getting Started With Online Services
To start offering online services is easy. You just think of a service that you can deliver well and advertise them on various platform such as Fiverr. The more common type of services are content, graphic design and marketing.
Most of the services will depend how good you are at certain things. For example, if you are good with graphic design, then you can offer graphic design services and so on. Personally, I am a jack of all trades but I am good at outsourcing. So what do I do? Well I outsource the services to someone and charge a premium to my client.
For example, at any given time, I managed 10 writers for my personal sites. So I do offer content services for those who are interested and charge double of what I am paying. I will share all the different type of services that I offer in another separate post.
Difficulty Level: ⭐⭐
4. Affiliate Marketing via Social Media
The last online side hustle that I want to share is affiliate marketing via social media. In this day and age, almost everyone is on social media. And the best part is, it is easy to build and grow a following on social media. As such, it is easy to earn through affiliate marketing via social media.
What this means is basically for you to grow a following and promote a certain product or program. When your followers buy or sign up, you get a commission for it.
This kind of side hustle works best with Facebook page/group or Instagram. For example, you create and grow an IG account about Woodworking like this, you can easily promote something like this.
Getting Started With Affiliate Marketing via Social Media
All you need to do is to pick 1 niche that you are interested in and pick a platform to grow an audience. When your followers to a substantial amount, you can start to promoting products and/or programs. There are many affiliate program such as Clickbank and Commission Junction. You can even sign up to be an affiliate of Shopee and Lazada.
Personally, I created a Facebook Group and promotes related Shopee products to the group. The good thing about this is the more time you spend growing your account, the higher the potential earning when you promote the product. Of course there things that you need to learn to be successful in this side hustle but that is the gist of it.
Difficulty Level: ⭐⭐⭐ (Only because harder to build a following)
Pick One And Start Your Online Side Hustle Now
With that, I concluded my top 4 choice for an online side hustle. Throughout the years, I’ve tried plenty of online side hustle such as Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), Purchase on Demand (POD), Dropshipping, Teespring and even Domaining to name a few popular ones. But this 4 is what sticks with me and I’ve been doing it since.
Last piece of advice, side hustle is not an overnight thing. You need a lot of hard word and learning to understand and see results from it. If you are looking for a windfall overnight, then these side hustle is not for you.
Hopefully this sharing is useful especially for those who are looking to get into an online side hustle. If you have any question or want to know more about any of the side hustle I shared, please drop me a comment or an email. And that’s the end of our MELEPAK session. Take care.
