Tips for Generating Extra Income While Employed Full-Time

When I began side-hustling, it was out of desperation. I felt stuck at my corporate job in IT, had discovered the FIRE movement (I know, so 2010's millennial 😆), and was struggling with the reality that if my rheumatoid arthritis progressed, the likelihood of "permanent disability" preventing me from working full-time was high. Suddenly, the developing sources of income that wasn't location or job-specific seemed urgent. There's a lot to break down in terms of how I got my footing, but in interest of time, here are some things I wish I knew before/when I started freelancing: ✉️ Find a niche you can uniquely fulfill and thrive in. Look into multiplications of your skills/knowledge/talents. Niche down isn't a bad thing. I've read that focusing on things you don't mind doing (don't have to love it) but other people HATE doing is secret to wealth. ✉️ Keep finances simple as possible (no, you do NOT need that shiny app), keep monthly running costs as low as possible. You can always easily scale up in subscriptions, but it's much harder to cut things out (loss aversion). ✉️ Start small. Make small experiments, see what works, and begin to find that niche that you uniquely thrive in. Not everything you do will work out and that's fine. Flexibility is your biggest strength! ✉️ Get a separate bank account (doesn't need to be a business checking) and have a spreadsheet/bookkeeping software to keep track of money in/money out. I use Quickbooks and Quickbooks Checking for bookkeeping and business checking. ✉️ Pay your estimated taxes... both federal AND state (ask me why I emphasize state 🤪). Google due dates for every quarter. ✉️ Many would say it's too much, but I set aside 40% of my income for taxes, especially because you pay more taxes self-employed. Better to be over-prepared than hit with a shocking bill in April. ✉️ You're suddenly every function in a company: CEO, accountant, business strategist, lawyer, product, sales, marketing... And you're gonna hate parts of it, and love parts of it. Once your business starts rolling, it probably makes more sense to outsource parts you hate so you can focus on what makes your business shine thanks to ✨you✨ ✉️ Don't get distracted by the shiny gurus and get rich quick rhetoric. Even those people who seem to suddenly quit their jobs and make 6 figures were probably putting in the grind in the background. Get rich quick stories sell, but "I worked after my 9-5 for 4 years and finally made enough to go on my own" doesn't. Also, you really don't know who is telling the truth. ✉️ Focus on smaller # of high quality work. I think one thing that has set me apart is my "need" to provide the highest quality work I can no matter the amount being paid. In the short run, I don't earn as much. But it's so hard to earn trust and recommendations, so it's paid dividends. ✉️ Higher paying clients respect you and your skills more, and tend to be easier to work with. Do you freelance? Have anything to add?

Everyone should have a digital business that makes at least $10k/month. Sadly, most overthink, never act, and waste years. Here's the playbook that got me from $0 to $40k/month while working full-time at BlackRock: 1. Start a Side Hustle While Working Full-Time. Don't quit your job right away. Instead, trade time for money until you can trade knowledge for money. Choose a job you can learn from (not one that's just boring, monotonous work). Take me as an example. From January to September 2020, I worked on my biz for 9 months with no results. So, I picked one platform (𝕏) and went all-in. I did a 30-day thread writing challenge. Most of my threads flopped. But on Day 28, the thread went viral. 2. Validate Your Business Idea. By writing online, I could test out different ideas. I made a $29 Notion podcast summary library and bundled it up with a Slack channel. I promoted it on 𝕏 and made $400. But, a few days later, I signed a $5k ghostwriting client. 3. Differentiate Input vs Output Thinking. I could have sold podcast summaries & ghostwriting on the side and made $20-30k/mo, but I wanted to feel more secure to quit my job. As I reflected, the input that got me the $5k client was from the threads I wrote. So, I had an idea to help others start writing online with a 30-day writing challenge: 4. Niche Down Your Offer. This 30-day challenge solved: • 1 specific problem • For 1 specific audience  • In 1 specific way I helped beginner writers start writing online (to unlock new opportunities). How? Have them write every day for 30 days. This became my flagship course, Ship 30 for 30. I wanted to build something sustainable, so after my side hustle made $40k/month, I still worked full-time for another 15 months. I didn't leave until my side income was 2-3x my day job earnings. This gave me the freedom to operate from abundance. 5. Reinvest in Yourself. As the business grew, I wanted to surround myself with people & ideas that would reset my worldview. So I set aside a portion of my savings for education, and in early 2023, I joined a $68k mastermind. The ROI has been at least 5x. From there, Nicolas Cole and I grew the Premium Ghostwriting Academy. To date, we've helped over 1,000 people become Premium Ghostwriters. Why ghostwriting? Because it's the fastest way to monetize as a writer: • You get paid to write • You get paid to network • You get paid to learn from industry leaders This free, 5-day email course has everything you need to get started: https://lnkd.in/ep3kMFAA

Every seller dreams of running their own business. Few actually build the bridge to get there. The difference? Most wait for "someday." I used my commission checks to architect my escape. In 2022, I walked away from a $1M+/year strategic account role to build my own thing. Not because I hated sales. Because I designed it that way from day one. Here's the 10-move playbook I followed: 1) Document your expertise I tracked every deal, every lesson, every failure. Your next 3 years of content is hiding in your last 3 years of experience. 2) Invest in yourself first Used 20% of every commission check for personal brand development. Courses, coaches, tools—whatever accelerated my learning curve. 3) Create while you earn Posted daily at 8:25 AM before my first meeting. Built my audience on company time (legally). Let my employer fund my future business. 4) Find your anti-tribe I didn't target "everyone in sales." I targeted sellers who hated hustle culture. Polarization creates community. 5) Build before you need it Started my email list at 5,500 LinkedIn followers. Launched my community at 10,000. Had 3,500 subscribers before I left corporate. 6) Learn by serving Free mentoring sessions taught me what people actually needed. Every DM was market research. Every comment shaped my future offer. 7) Collaborate strategically Connected with creators who'd already made the jump. Learned their mistakes without paying the price. Built relationships that became revenue streams. 8) Monetize incrementally First year (while employed full-time): $2,377 (affialiate links only) Second (left corporate in March): $194,775 (6 income streams) Third: (full year on my own): $249,194 (7 income streams) Started small. Scaled systematically. 9) Enhance through iteration Every product taught me what the market wanted next. Customer feedback became my product roadmap. Let demand pull me forward. 10) Scale when ready When passive income hit >50% of my corporate salary, I started my exit plan. When it hit 100%, I submitted my resignation. The result? More freedom at 42 than most people get at 67. But here's what nobody tells you: The skills that make you great at strategic sales—systems thinking, relationship building, value creation—make you unstoppable as a solopreneur. You're already running a business. It's just inside someone else's company. Time to build your own. Start documenting today. Start creating tomorrow. Start living your actual life in 10 years or less. The internet has democratized entrepreneurship. Your commission checks can fund your freedom. What's actually stopping you? 🐝 P.S. Still in corporate? Good. Use their resources to build your bridge. That steady paycheck is your greatest asset—until it becomes your only option.

I was laid off 3 months before Christmas last year. Luckily, I’d been side-hustling part-time on and off since 2019. That experience taught me the power of having multiple income streams. Want financial security? Build a side business on part-time hours. Here’s how to make it work: 1. Audit where your time is going now.  - Create a “stop doing” list to free up time. 2. Create time blocks for your side business. - Working in the business: Dedicated hours for content creation, research, and Biz development tasks. - Working with clients: Schedule calls and service times on certain days. ⚡ Bonus tip: Reserve one day for NO calls! 3. Protect your energy 💅🏾. - Stick to your job description & stop raising your hand for extra work. - Don’t try to climb the ladder. - Upskill strategically- invest in skills that benefit your side business. Start your business while you have a career, and build it on part-time hours to create your financial security. PS: What else would you like to know about creating a business on part-time hours? Drop it in the comments (& I'll answer)!

A post for my anxious pookies who are employed and kind of 😀freaking out😀 about the economy and the job market. I was unemployed for nearly a year in 2023, so I get it. Here's some actionable ideas on how to increase some stability for you/your household. Things you can control. Maybe they won't all work for you, but they'll get your gears turning: ✴️ Do everything you can to ensure your current role is aligning with company goals. If your manager isn't talking about this with you/your team, *you* should drive this conversation in your 1:1s. Take an audit of everything you're working on and raise a flag if something you're spending a lot of time on isn't tied to a company or org goal. ✴️ Get ONE client on the side. 10 hours a week. This could bring in $1,000-$2,000 additional income every month, could pay for some or all of your mortgage/rent, and could extend the runway of your emergency fund or severance by 6-12 months. ✴️ How to find that one client? Continue to naturally tend to your network (DMs, coffee chats, in person walks) and start sharing you're looking to take on one client. Join an online community of people who are your target customer or target network and start contributing (this is how I found mine!). There's also great fractional job boards like Hello Generalist and Fractional Jobs! If you know of more, tag em in the comments please 🙏 ✴️ Reduce your 401k contributions to just the employer match if you need to beef up your emergency fund. There have been times that I reduced my contributions to $0 and I deeply regret it. I'm not a financial advisor, but my opinion is that now *especially* is not the time to stop contributing. Buy in the dip! Especially if you are in peak earning years and retirement is still 20+ years away. ✴️ Dabble in a gig economy side hustle. Uber, UberEats, Instacart, Rover. While these may not be the most lucrative use of your time right now while you're employed, dabbling in them now can: 1) get you extremely familiar with the app & service so you have 0 learning curve if you get laid off and decide to ramp up 2) could bring in a few extra hundred bucks a month. Add it to your emergency fund, pay for some smaller fixed expenses, pay down debt. Example: Aim for Uber driving 2 mornings a week before work for a lot of airport drop offs. When I was unemployed for nearly a year, I drove for Uber most days and kept it up 2x/week once I was employed again. Many of us are clenching our entire bodies at the thought of weathering another round of unemployment via layoff. Some have made it through the last few years without being impacted by a RIF, which can actually be a scarier feeling if you've never been laid off. Feels like you've been outrunning a bear! It's not just about money. It's about identity, control, and safety. If you're feeling anxious, you're not broken. You're paying attention. Comments are open for more ideas, fam! 🫶🏻