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What is the best way to make money online?  Well, coming from somebody who has literally tried it all (with the exception of anything scammy fishy, pyramid scheme-y, NSFW, or flat out weird), there are so many different ways! 

Later in this series we will dive into all of the possible side hustles you can pursue, along with my proven money making strategies.  But before we get into that, I need for you to understand the environment of each side hustle and the internet knowledge that goes with making money online.

For example, you may suck at dealing with numbers and analytics.  That knowledge can deter you from some side hustles and pinpoint you towards others.  Maybe you have a little extra cash that you are willing to invest into a side hustle.  Great!  That just opened up some other side hustles.  If you're the opposite and ballin’ on a budget, there is a category of free side hustles you can try.  

The point is that each person has their own individual skill set and financial background.  No matter what your circumstances are, I guarantee that we will cover a side hustle that works for you in this course.  

Side Hustle Goggles

As I look around the Airbnb that I’m staying at right now, I see so much potential for making money solely based on the products within the room.  

The handmade piece of decor hanging on the wall?  I could sell something like that on Etsy.  

The sign that says “Fresh Baked Pies Served Daily”?  I could set up a print on demand shop via Shopify and sell a similar sign.  

The artwork hanging in the living room?  I could team up with a local artist and be an affiliate for them in order to sell a comparable canvas.  

Once you put your side hustle goggles on, you'll see the world differently!  It won't just be decor, it will be ideas of what you can sell online!  (Which could be a blessing or a curse, but while I’m making money online, I’ll call it blessing). 

So to help figure out what the best side hustle is for you, we will walk through and categorize what I think are some of the biggest real and mental challenges when starting an online business.  

Money

Let’s begin with the biggest one that will determine where you should start — money.  

If you have a budget of around $500 to invest into a side hustle you automatically have a few options: 

• Drop Shipping (to read about a drop shipping campaign I ran with just $500, read this post.)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Running Paid Ads
• Selling on Etsy

 

Another way to make profit from a $500 budget is by teaming up with someone who can make a high end, quality product.  When the Pokémon Go trend was happening, I knew I wanted to participate in it but I didn't have means or abilities to make a product on my own — but I did have my $500 testing budget!  So, I found someone and we creatively came up with a Pokéball phone charger that we sold on Etsy.  That site made over $5,000 in 30 days and got me featured on TechCrunch!  

One of the beauties that you’re going to learn naturally by starting a side hustle is how to market online.  This is a valuable skill set, especially for those that might be great at making the physical products but poor at running the online side of the business.  This is where you can team up and offer your knowledge to make a campaign that ends up working out.  

This will be enough to get started.  I can't promise that it will turn into $20,000, but it is enough to set your online business on its feet.

 

The only side hustle that $500 isn’t enough for is Amazon FBA.  This requires buying a bulk amount of items to sell.  Unless you are selling really cheap goods (which I don't recommend), $500 just isn't enough.  

My first Amazon product was a pickleball paddle.  The cost of the product alone was around $5,000.  That didn't include the cost to run ads, build and maintain a website, etc.  So while selling on Amazon does seem very sexy, it takes a hearty investment to get in.  

Now, let's say that you have $100 or less.  That doesn't mean that all of the above options are out! What it comes down to is paid vs. organic traffic.  Organic traffic is “free”.  You create content, push it out on the platform(s) you use, and an algorithm shows your content to the world.  On the other hand, paid traffic is where you pay the platform you are using to display your content in front of qualified viewers.  Paid traffic is the quickest way to scale, while organic traffic takes a little bit longer.  

Don't be taken back if you don't have any money to spend right now.  Instead, be encouraged. Acknowledge that you need to focus your efforts organically and get really good at research.  When making content, be sure to create it in the best potential for it to be shown.  Lastly, maximize the algorithms that are being generous.  Right now on TikTok, you have the opportunity to go viral from one video!  

To recap… when it comes to budgeting there are three different categories of side hustles to zone in on.  If you have a couple grand, Amazon FBA is one of those side hustles where you can order inventory, put it on Amazon, and you're in business.  

If you have around $500, then that means you can try drop shipping, affiliate marketing, selling on Etsy, or any other side hustle that has to do with running paid ads.  

And if you have $100 or less, it doesn't mean you can't do some of the middle categories.  It simply means that you're going to focus on organic traffic which may end up taking a little longer to see returns.  

Skill Set

Now that we have the budget out of the way, let's talk skills.  

One skill set that you absolutely need to have, no matter the side hustle, is research.  In a later post I will go over how to do proper research but for now I want to tease one example tool that I use all of the time — Google Trends.  This tool allows me to plug in my idea and see whether or not it has legs. 

Google Trends is amazing because it tells you the specific search behaviors in terms of relativity to the quantity of searches of a given phrase or niche.  It tells me if searches are increasing or decreasing and the difference between multiple similar terms.  You'll notice in the example above that out of all searches, skateboarding is searched much more frequently than longboarding. 

 

 

Google Trends also provides you with data regarding searches by location.  This could be helpful if you are thinking of starting an online business targeted towards one state in particular.   

 

In addition, you can view related topics in Google Trends.  This can give you insight into relative searches and possible keywords for your niche.  

 

 

Another tool that I love is a feature of Google Ads called Keyword Planner.  This tool allows you to see exactly how often a product is being searched so you know if you are pursuing the right niche.  All you have to do is plug in a few terms relating to your niche or offer.  Google will then give you a report as well as suggested terms.  Even if there are only 1,900 searches like in the example above, all you have to do is convert 1% of those 1,900 people and you have a booming business.  

Like I said before, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to research.  Also know that no matter what your financial background is, no matter where you are in the world, and no matter what skill sets you have or don't have, there is definitely a side hustle for you.  

With a little bit of research, some creativity, and the right strategy, we can get you there. 

There are just a few more days in this introduction week until we dive into some really heavy stuff, diving specifically into some of the side hustles we talked about in this post.  I hope you're ready for it! 

As always, peace and God bless!

For the complimentary worksheets and resources, go to adrianbrambila.com/30days.

I make new content every single week, so be sure to subscribe to my Youtube and follow my Instagram @brambilabong and TikTok at @AdrianBrambila. I also have tons of resources and courses on my website that you won’t want to miss. Head over to www.adrianbrambila.com to learn more about what I do and how I live a financially free life.