THE BIG PICTURE

1. The Most Profitable Small Business to Own

The most profitable small business to start on the side is this:

“Education products & services”

You can offer:

1. Books

2. Courses

3. Training webinars

4. Newsletters

5. Consulting projects

6. Group coaching

7. 1:1 coaching

Each one of those has super-high margins (as high as 95%) because they usually cost nothing more than your time and some elbow grease.

The best part is that you do the hard work once, and repurpose endlessly.

For example, you can write a book and then turn it into a course. You can then turn that content into a live training webinar or offer consulting projects about the topic.

You can even get creative with packaging. For example, if you offer a high-end 1:1 coaching service, you can give away your book and course as a free bonus.

Education products and services are the best type of side hustle because you can rely on platforms for marketing (e.g. Amazon for books and Udemy for courses).

The best part? You can scale up and down depending on how much free time you have.

• Got really busy at work? Shut down access to your 1:1 coaching service and redirect folks to a waiting list.

• Got free time while you’re on vacation? Open up access to a paid live training webinar while you’re on the beach.

TIME-SAVERS

2. Focus on What Truly Matters to Save Time

As a side gig creator, you’re stuck in a dilemma.

You don’t have a lot of time, but you need to be producing quickly.

The key to creating efficiently with limited time is to spend more time on things that matter and less on those that don’t.

Things that matter (spend more time on these):

• Crafting a strong title for your book or course

• Ensuring your content is actually useful

• Writing with clarity and conciseness

Things that don’t matter (spend less time on these):

• Over-designing your website

• Endlessly tweaking your bio

• Crafting the "perfect" social media post

Case in point

When I launched this newsletter, I spent several hours writing my first email (because the content matters) but only five minutes creating the logo (because no one cares).

Here’s the logo as proof 😅 

TOOLS I LIKE

3. Start Your Newsletter for Free with Beehiiv

I used to hate the idea of newsletters, but I changed my mind about them (here’s a podcast episode I published that explains why).

I now run 3 newsletters on a platform called Beehiiv:

1. AI for Leaders

2. Leadership 80/20

3. Side Gig Hacks (the one you’re reading now)

The cool thing about Beehiiv is that they make it super-easy for you to monetize your newsletters.

Their paid plans are not cheap, but can make your money back through their ad and boosts network.

For example, I already made over $1,600 this past year with barely any additional effort (sponsors just reached out to me and I included their ads).

If you’d like to get started, use my affiliate link to get 30 days free (and 20% off your first 3 months on any paid plan).

Click here to try Beehiiv for 30 days for free

TWEETS I LIKE

4. The Simplest Way to Make Money

Great advice from Alex Hormozi (the secret is point #2)

ONE-MINUTE HACKS

5. A Quick Side Gig Hack You Can Apply Today

Write a shorter book.

Shorter makes it easier and faster for you to write, edit, and publish.

And shorter makes it easier and faster for your customer to read, learn, and apply.

It’s a win-win.