‘Tis the season to be jolly and fend off the pandemic stress with the help of amazing home-cooked meals and keep our family ties strong. Even if it means the occasional rant or two at the dinner table. While you’re still prepping for Christmas and New Year’s, this is also a brilliant opportunity to plan your future professional endeavors. Being a parent is a full-time engagement, absolutely, but if you have a few hobbies that you know other people appreciate, why not monetize them online in 2021?
With a strong internet connection and some talent to leverage, you can definitely boost your financial stability and become more independent with the help of your own abilities and knowledge. However, the online world is exceptionally competitive, especially with a growing number of people who are building their freelancing careers with their own hobbies. To help you reach more people and build up your hobby-based little side-gig, here are a few ideas to get you started!
Manage the basics of your online presence
Even for a side gig that will be only a part-time occupation, you need a clear presence online. That said, keep in mind what you plan to do, be it write content, provide workshops, or sell hand-made goods – your brand will be of more use if you build a dedicated website for you and find the best social media platforms.
Choose social networks and platforms where your field of work is most desirable. Hand-made goodies, for example, work really well for Instagram, Facebook, but also sites such as Etsy. Do some research to see where you need to present your offers, and go from there!
Learn from what your followers and customers like
Even if you already know that your local community will love your home-made muffins, or you already have a decent number of people coming to you for your English tutoring skills, you still need to make sure your website and your marketing are on point. To learn about your online presence and your ability to rank higher than your competitors, you need to monitor key analytics tools from your website and your social media.
Furthermore, you can use a comprehensive SEO reporting tool that will collect and summarize the most relevant information from those different platforms. That way, you can avoid filtering through piles of raw data, and you can use the actionable information to adapt your website, your content output, your ads, and other details to make your brand more appealing and to slowly boost your ranking in the SERPs. That will help you become more visible to your target audience and turn your brand into a reputable one!
Write up a business plan
You don’t need a degree in management or business development to put your ideas into a coherent, structured document, and turn it into an actionable business plan. Treat this as a great way to brainstorm about your hobby and how you can make the most of turning it into an online side gig. Think about what makes your job idea unique, what you have to offer to your customers, and the best ways to do it.
Start by defining your business model, but also describe your ideal customer, and list your core purpose, as well as the key ways you plan to accomplish that purpose through smaller, more realistic milestones and goals. Write down your estimate on the funds you’ll need to run your business, such as covering the costs of different software subscriptions, or building a website for yourself. All of these pieces will become a wholesome plan to give you direction and shape your new online job properly.
Market your offers properly
Whether you’re a marketing expert or you’re still in the process of learning the ropes, figuring out marketing trends for your chosen field of work will help you position your brand better and reach more people. While we all know that the pandemic has pushed more people to sell online, you also need to find where your buyers will most likely spend their time, and then advertise yourself on those platforms.
That also means that you should research the most effective ways to communicate your brand purpose. If, for example, you would like to offer hand-made jewelry, you can post personalized stories about each piece you make, talk about the materials you use, and your efforts to make your process sustainable and Earth-friendly. Posting content regularly will help you understand what kind of formats your followers like the most, and then you can tweak your strategy on the go.
Although the world is becoming more chaotic by the day, we can all take some steps to introduce more stability into our lives. Taking your hobby to the next level can help you create a flexible, yet lucrative side job for yourself that you know you will enjoy every step of the way. Hopefully, these tips will allow you to get a head start on your plans and slowly discover the potential of your hobby to earn a decent living and have some fun in the process!
