While there are lots of side hustle options, (many of which I’ve dabbled in) I would highly recommend at least considering blogging as an option to making some side income.
(P.S. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m a bit biased being a full time blogger, but stick with me!)
So, before I get into the benefits of making a side hustle blogging, let me start by asking you a few questions to determine if blogging is really for you.
Is Blogging For You?
First, let me explain what it takes to be a blogger. There are a lot of misconceptions about blogging. Blogging is a fairly sedentary, sometimes lonely activity. It takes time, patience and a lot of effort. Often when you first start (especially with no experience) you’ll watch a billion tutorials on WordPress, pay for a domain, take time to make the design perfect, publish your first post and … crickets. This is not an unusual occurrence. It’s COMMON. You have to continually put effort in to get effort out.
So, with that being said-If you’re only interested in the money connected to blogging, or if you hate the internet/social media, aren’t good at balancing your own time and social activity, and are impatient/have unrealistic goals to #getrichquick then blogging is probably not the best side hustle option for you.
The Benefits Of Blogging
Who Blogging Is For:
If you are willing to learn the process of blogging (and stick to it long term), like the idea of creating content (whether that be writing, videos, pictures, memes, quizzes etc.), enjoy interacting with people digitally, are self-motivated and are interested in residual and passive income than blogging might be a perfect side hustle.
Personally, my favorite part of blogging as a side hustle is that it allows you to get in touch with your creative side. If you’re in college for a boring creative-free degree, blogging is an opportunity to be creative and make some money doing it. The same applies if you have a boring desk job. You can write, edit photos, and create video content, or even memes or quizzes for your audience. This gives you lots of opportunities to find a style of communication that fits you and your audience.
Besides being creative, blogging allows you to reach people in a variety of ways. First, you can reach them via search engines like Google, Pinterest or Youtube (bet you didn’t know all three of those were search engines).
Second, you can create a following on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
You can also have a list of followers that you email occasionally.
This means that while the first few views are difficult to get, the more the post the more likely it is that people will find you through search, or will follow your efforts on social platforms. A few months (or a year in) and you’ll have more authority with Google and a list of people who will devotedly read you. Two years in and those first pieces that didn’t see much action can be redistributed to your readers and start making money/save you time. So, it’s really a time and patience game.
But 6 months in and you should be able to start seeing monetary success at a far greater amount than per hour pay checks you can get doing other side hustles like babysitting.
Beyond the obvious, blogging also opens up opportunities to work with brands, meet new people and visit new parts of the world. Just in the last month I partnered with two different amazing companies that I believe in and got paid for doing it. If those types of ideas excite you, than I would definitely consider starting a blog.
If you want I have a guide to getting started which you can check out here!
How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?