{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Side Hustle","description":"As with any business, a side hustle boils down to creating recognized value for others. When you create obvious value for someone else, you can get paid. The more value you create, the more you can make. When thinking about a new business or side hustle, people make the mistake of focusing on what they want to do, rather than the value they can create for others. You want to flip that: Ask yourself what you can offer that\u2019s valuable to others. Side hustle vs. employee As an employee, you sell your time for a relatively fixed value in exchange for a level of certainty. That\u2019s really no different than driving for Uber. As a driver, you\u2019re offering a service for less than you could get on your own, in exchange for Uber\u2019s distribution to customers who want your service. If I\u2019m a farmer, I know the value of my products can swing wildly depending on supply and demand factors when I bring products to market. I can gain some certainty by selling all or part of my crops in advance for a fixed price. I might end up being worse off than if I\u2019d waited and sold at harvest time. The customer decides your value I usually take issue with the phrase \u201cthe customer\u2019s always right\u201d because people look at it like whatever the customer wants, a customer should have. The intended meaning is that it\u2019s the customer that decides the value that you\u2019re creating in a free market system. If customers decide the lettuce you grew is only worth $2, then it\u2019s worth $2. The fact that you spent 30 hours tending to it makes no difference to them. Do things \u2018beneath\u2019 you There are a lot of things that people think are beneath them that would actually make good businesses. Depending on the career stage you are in, you should probably focus on these types of things \u2014 opportunity exists in the things others don\u2019t want to do. Here\u2019s a small example: Fewer and fewer people mow their own lawns these days. Rather, they hire big lawn companies that charge a premium price for a mediocre job.  Those are the types of opportunities an entrepreneur can exploit. Get as close to the customer as you can With a business or side hustle, you ultimately want to get as close to the customer as possible \u2014 because that\u2019s where the real value creation happens. You might use someone else\u2019s platform starting out, in order to start interacting with customers. You\u2019ll make less money, but you\u2019ll get valuable experience. For example, if you want to be a tutor, platforms like Tutorme.com will connect you with customers. The site will pay you less than you could make if you found your own customers. But in return, you\u2019ll learn about your customer and the problems they face; you\u2019ll see how the service is delivered and where the holes are.  Own your list The end goal is to build your own list of prospects. Starting out these, might be people who are interested in what you\u2019re doing and want to follow you. You raise your flag and say, \u201cThis is the business I'm in. This is the kind of stuff I like to do. If it\u2019s interesting to you, let me know.\u201d We talked in previous episodes about the beef business I\u2019m pursuing here in Colorado. A local rancher had a product he wanted to get to customers, so he started with farmers markets. Once his list grew to 200 emails, he no longer had to go to the markets because he could build a business around those leads.  He migrated from a very inefficient platform (farmers markets) to owning his own list and getting organic growth. Lead magnet You can offer a lead magnet to draw customers to you \u2014 some free tool or valuable piece of information that makes people want to engage with you. For example, if you\u2019re selling communications services, you might offer up a template for messaging matrix in exchange for an email address. Anyone who downloads that template is likely to be a prime target for your consulting business. Courses are another way to attract a customer base. I helped create a management course for Early to Rise University that gets great reviews. I could offer that as a consulting service, but this way I can offer it to more people and focus on the things I really enjoy doing. Content strategy Once you have a list, you then have a responsibility of creating value for your customers on an ongoing basis. Great information markets you better than anything else you could possibly do. Your content strategy gives you an opportunity to organically enter the conversation with potential customers on things they\u2019re already thinking and talking about and the needs they already have. When I run a newsletter, I create editorial pillars \u2014 messages that align with what I\u2019m selling \u2014 and then look for conversations happening around that topic. For example, one of the pillars for one company was resilience, so we\u2019d look for news stories about people put in situations where they needed to show grit. Charge dramatically more Once you\u2019ve drawn in enough people and convinced them of the value you deliver, you can consider charging dramatically more for your services than is typical.  Instead of charging $2,500, maybe you charge $25,000. You won\u2019t get as many clients from it, but the ones you do get are willing to pay it because of the credibility you developed. Resources The Reluctant Entrepreneur by Mark Ford (who writes with the pen name Michael Masterson), the founder of Early to Rise and a mentor of mine. Ryan Deiss at DigitalMarketer.com offers extremely helpful advice for anyone looking to market themself or their business. ","author_name":"Smith Sense","author_url":"http:\/\/smithsense.com","html":"