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- 🐧 10 remote side hustles to earn $1k/month (part 1)
🐧 10 remote side hustles to earn $1k/month (part 1)
INSIDE: Protips and Real Side Hustle Examples for Consulting, Online Stores, and More!
Dexter Zhuang
November 26, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Hey freedom fighter, contrary to what hustle influencers on X are telling you, quitting your job is not the only way to start a business.
Start it on the side first.
And turns out, there are plenty of remote side hustles too!
FROM OUR LABS
🧠 Last chance to join my remote side hustle beta program!
This is the final email I’ll send about our exclusive Beta Program for our upcoming course, Remote Side Hustle Profits. (title TBD)
After generating over $30k in remote side hustle revenue, I’ve received an overwhelming amount of questions from readers about how to earn an extra $1,000/month on the side.
Why join the Beta Program?
⌛️ Early Access: Be the first to experience the Remote Side Hustle Profits curriculum, get personalized Q&As, and co-create the course with me.
🧠 Shape the Course: I will be starting from scratch and creating course videos on a weekly cadence based on your feedback over a 4-week course creation sprint (95% async).
🌎️ Intimate Community: Connect with like-minded professionals from diverse sectors, including tech and finance who are also part of the beta program.
🔥 Exclusive Price: In exchange for your help, I’m offering a 75% discount ($222 value). Plus, if you complete the beta tester feedback form, then I'll rebate 100% of your fee.
🏇 Limited Spots Available: Act fast! We're accepting 25 beta testers.
Interested?
👉️ Apply via this 5-minute form, then we’ll get in touch about next steps if there’s a good fit!
💪 10 Remote Side Hustles to Earn $1k/Month (Part 1)
1. Consulting
What is it: Use your expertise to help businesses solve a specific problem, from marketing to software development
Platforms: Linkedin, Upwork, Catalant
Pros: Leverage your existing skills, flexible hours
Cons: Requires a strong network, inconsistent income
Example: Sean O’Dowd started consulting on the side when he joined a tech startup as employee #40 and wanted to pay off a loan that he took out to buy an engagement ring for his then-financé. He eventually took it full-time and grew his revenue to $500k/year.
Protip:
Be first to submit a pitch. When asked why he believes he ultimately became so successful on Catalant, Sean explains that he started by being open to doing the work that other consultants on the platform weren’t signing up to do.
He submitted proposals for projects that were live on the platform but had not yet received any pitches. By taking on these projects Sean was able to deliver results and begin collecting social proof, including glowing reviews, from his clients. (source)
2. Digital Marketing Agency
What is it: Provide digital marketing services like social media, paid ads, SEO, lead generation, etc.
Platforms: Linkedin, your own website
Pros: Quick to get started, flexible hours
Cons: Hard to scale, potentially high operational effort
Example: Genspot, my close friends’ Pak and Ale’s agency that they run on the side working as full-time as Sales Directors
Protip:
Agency is a great side hustle because you have a good monthly renewal. The downside? It can be quite a bit of effort depending on the service you are selling. So be sure to niche down on areas that you are able to automate with VAs or interns as an easy and cost effective solution.
3. Career Coaching
What is it: Helping professionals navigate their job search, negotiations, and career growth
Platforms: Linkedin, your own website
Pros: Rewarding, opportunity to make a significant impact
Cons: Clients typically desire industry experience, need emotional intelligence
Examples:
Alex Berghofen is the CEO of a headhunting firm by day and moonlights as a career coach at night. Many candidates come to him for with their careers, but they may not qualify for his headhunting service, so he offers coaching help
In 2019, I started a career coaching service during my travel sabbatical to help tech professionals make a career transition
Protips:
Optimize for lots of discovery calls. When I started career coaching, I ramped up faster by joining an online career coaching marketplace. This matched me with a high volume of discovery calls each week, which gave me a rapid feedback loop to learn (1) if I would enjoy doing it (2) if I was good at it and getting my clients results and (3) how to improve my coaching techniques.
4. Starting an Online Store
What is it: Selling physical or digital products online on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces
Platforms: Shopify, Amazon, Etsy
Pros: High income potential, quick to monetize, scalable
Cons: Requires initial investment, competitive depending on your niche
Examples:
Steve Chou and his wife built a 6-figure e-commerce store, BumblebeeLinens.com, in their first year of operations while he was working full-time as a Silicon Valley engineering director
Mark Soh and Ara Kyi became a 7-figure distributor for Paper Shoot Cameras while working full-time for tech startups
Protips:
Protip #1 - According to Steve, you don’t have to sell on Amazon. You can pick from multiple e-commerce models like (1) affiliates (2) dropshipping (3) selling other people’s products with inventory and (4) sell your own private label.
Protip #2 - If you're interested in becoming a distributor, attend trade shows to find existing brands, says Mark Soh. For instance, Taiwan Excellence trade shows showcase Taiwanese products and offer opportunities for potential distributors.
What is it: Writing an email newsletter on a niche topic that ranges from industry news to personal insights to curated content
Platforms: Beehiiv, Substack, Convertkit
Pros: Builds an owned audience, low overhead costs, flexible schedule
Cons: Time-consuming, audience growth takes time, can be a slog
Examples:
Product Growth newsletter, written by my high school friend Aakash Gupta, who grew his newsletter to 80k subscribers and monetized it, while working full-time PM jobs.
Money Abroad newsletter (of course)
Protips
Pick a social media platform to post from and promote your newsletter.
This is where 80% or more of your first 1,000 subscribers will come from.
There’s no getting around it - to grow a newsletter, you need to publish content. If people like that content, they will subscribe to your newsletter for more content.
It’s that simple. Newsletter content is rarely discovered or shared like social media content is - so you must build an audience on social to build your newsletter.
Liked these case studies?
🌐 Beyond your borders
🇵🇪 Peru launches a digital nomad visa. I was surprised to see that Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina and Costa Rica already offer one (link)
🥧 The downside of diversification. Why you’ll lose money and what to do about it (link)
✉️ Berkshire Hathaway 1977 letter. This one is more technical but contains Buffet’s explanation on why “earnings per share” is a poor measure of company performance. Instead, measure “return on equity capital,” e.g. how effectively does a company take its inputs (capital) and turn it into outputs (earnings) (link)
📆 How I can help
That’s all for today!
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:
Work with me 1:1 - Book a coaching session for your next career transition.
Work with my tax team - Get personalized US expat tax help.
Join my side hustle course - Learn to build a remote side hustle that earns you $1,000/month on the side (limited slots available!)
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