Business Strategy | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

The Different Faces of Side Hustle

March 5, 2018 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Side Hustle Hustle — Photo by Jonas Svidras on Unsplash

[Article republished from “Mondays with Mike – 2/19/18” email newsletter ==> Subscribe to get weekly newsletter in your inbox plus FREE REPORT]

Being part of several freelance/side hustle/work from home groups on Facebook, I get to see the different types of questions that come up. I started to notice a few trends or commonalities around each type of group.

Work From Home

They’re focused on opportunities like Virtual Assistant or Transcriptionist or Customer Service jobs. These are part time gigs that typically pay by the unit, deliverable, or hour. And the rates are typically really low. These are often below minimum wage jobs (if you calculated the rate hourly rather than by the unit).

Many of the people here are just trying to survive. Many have limited skills or education. Or they’ve had major life impacts like divorce (stuck raising kids alone and have lost the second income provider from their lives) or health issues.

Here it isn’t about doing what they want or reaching their full potential. They’re just trying to survive. Many times they’re desperate to make money. And make it fast. This is where many of the scam artists and get rich quick and MLM purveyors hang out and prey on their desperatation.

You see the pain and frustration of just trying to put food on the table. But complex solutions and even paying for a website or web hosting is too much money.

They’re often looking for a work from home option because they have kids and can’t work in a normal full time job around the pick up and delivery schedules of their kids. With the internet this has become a more viable option. There are a lot of work from home opportunities out there. But you often have to cull through many bad ones to get to something decent.

This is a place the Facebook work from home groups can be immensely helpful. Many have gone through the frustrations themselves and are more than willing to provide good guidance.

Side Hustle

The main side hustle crowd often has the basics handled. They have some spare time on their hands that they’re willing to devote to a side hustle. But the side hustle or freelance work has to generate something substantial enough to be worth the effort and prioritizing over family time.

Here is where online marketing, affiliate marketing, coaching, and freelance tech and design work fits in.

You’ll see web designers, Amazon product marketers, authors, and people who have their eyes on the big dollars.

For these people you’re finding most have a good day job and just want an extra couple hundred dollars to a few thousand on the side each month.

A handful also want to eventually leave their day job and do their side hustle as their full time gig. But this is a low percentage of the whole. The rest are just looking for a little extra money and to learn, have fun, and create something meaningful that their day job doesn’t provide.

Sometimes the work aligns and supports their day job. Or it is what they do on their day job just applied as a freelance business. They may be a game coder during the day and do more coding as a freelancer at night. Or they’re an internet marketer who’s day job is in digital marketing but maybe just a small portion of it.

Entrepreneur/Startup

Then there is the group who is going full bore to create a new business full time. They may start as a side hustle but their goal is to create a business that can more than replace their full time income.

This is a much bigger operation and often involves more contractors and employees that the work from home or side hustle model requires. This is true business building. And it takes a certain personality and mindset. You have to be comfortable with higher levels of risk. And you need to be someone who can both sell a big vision and also build and manage a team of people as the operation is often much more complex than the side hustle model. Many times there is more than one founder as each person brings a different skill set to the operation.

This is where big valuation dollars are found and money is made or lost rapidly. This is where the Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, and Founders hang out. They’re looking for the next idea they can leverage to the stratosphere. Something, that if developed right, can create the next Google. But typically about 1 out of 10 are hits and the other 9 flounder or go under.

Employee Route

The final route is typically the easiest to maneuver. The entire business world is set up to make being an employee easy. They give you the rules and you follow them – just like school. You’re accountable but typically not to the same level as the founder.

The good side of this is predictability. You know when you go to work. You know when you leave. You get a paycheck every two weeks. You get holidays and paid vacations. You have most weekends to yourself.

The downside of this is you are still at the whim of your manager or the employer. If they don’t manage things well you essentially only have one client (the business you work for). And you could be out of a job in an instant through no fault of your own.

The other problem with this is you aren’t designing your own future typically within that one company. You may design your career but the company may or may not be a long term play.

Whereas with the Entrepreneurship model you are charting your own course.

So what is the right model for you to work?

Ultimately it is up to you. It is your choice. Only you know your skills, interests, family situation, and risk tolerance.

I know for me the side hustle plus employee route has been the best. It allows me to have a core career that I’ve developed and is now coupled with my side hustle that allows me to create and provide value in a different way. And it is something I can leverage into my retirement years and scale up or down (on the side hustle front) as makes sense.

So what about you?

Where are you at? Have you thought about your situation? Are you do for a change?

If you’re considering your options, email me. You may find it makes sense to work with someone who’s been through several of these options and can provide guidance to help you along your journey.

Or maybe you’ve already gotten started on one of these and need help getting to the next level.

Either way, have fun and let me know if I can help.

7 Simple Ways Grow Your Business Now

February 19, 2018 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Photo credit: Sudipto_Sarkar on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

[Article republished from “Mondays with Mike – 2/5/18” email newsletter by John Hawthorne (full article here) ==> Subscribe to get weekly newsletter in your inbox plus FREE REPORT]

Entrepreneurs diving headfirst into a new business venture have more in common with LEGO enthusiasts than they would like to admit.

Your enterprise has reached a peak.

You’ve constructed the 3000 piece Death Star set… but, and here’s the caveat, you’ve only reached a peak, not THE peak.

Which leaves you with a few options.

You can stay your hand, hamper your imagination, and cage your ambitions. Basically, be as simple as humanly possible and simply “stay within the lines”. Or, and this is the pivotal moment that separates the mortals from the Steve Jobs, you can stare at your business and coworkers and say:

“This is a good start. Now let’s make this baby grow. Fellas’ burn the manual and let’s think outside the box.”

Of course, this sounds great…like something from a movie. But how do you make it a reality?

Explore Your Market

The best way to make your investment pay fruit is by exploring, beating and penetrating your own market. You already know your niche and target audience, now it’s time to really dig in.

You first instinct, “more business = more customers”, is the sort of gut feeling that sounds right, but isn’t actually true.

It’s more cost effective to convince people who already know your goods to break out their wallets and buy more of your wares. Getting new customers is much harder than working with existing ones.

Explore New Ideas

Just like it’s easier to work with existing customers, a simple way to increase profits is to attract more people to your product.

Discover, promote and invent new uses for your products or services. Walk down any Walmart aisle and chances are that each and every product on that endless army of shelves has been sold to the public under a strange umbrella of practical, odd, zany and even miraculous properties. Properties that go way beyond their main purpose.

For example, consider all the people pitching the idea that all you need to survive the apocalypse is: WD-40, Olive Oil, Crazy Glue, Duct-Tape and Milk. None of these things was originally intended for disaster situations.

There’s a whole subsection on YouTube alone dedicated to this theme. Investigate your product, and discover in it things you never dreamed off. Nothing is too bizarre or too wacky; leave nothing off the table.

Here’s a great example: each time an authority figure says that “something something” has a previously unknown holistic quality, that something’s profit suddenly skyrocket.

Make Them Addicted

Brand loyalty: you have to snare your public and make them unconditional devotees. Inspire in them religious fervor. There’s a reason you’ll never catch a Coca-Cola fan sipping a Pepsi. Why in certain states Bud reigns over Miller. Why some folks will only wear Nike for a marathon and never anything by Under Armour. There’s a reason why, every September, with the coming of the new iPhone, Apple stores have to bulk up their security.

It’s not a question of quality or quantity necessarily, it’s all about subjective perceptions.

You have to create, using both classic and non-traditional marketing techniques, a clear link between your product and your public’s self-image. The key to Brand Loyalty lies in making your wares essential facets of your client’s life. Intrinsically tie together your goods and the positive perception or construct they’ve made of themselves. Or, make them so reliant on you that it costs more for them to switch to someone else.

For example, consider Rolex. They have defined themselves as being the luxury watch. If you want to be seen as wealthy, you wear a Rolex. Or think of Nike and how they dominate the basketball world. Or Zappos and how they signify customer service.

Consider how you can inspire deep product loyalty in your customers. There are all sorts of simple ways, including:

Have amazing customer service
Offer a product associated with a specific lifestyle (think Whole Foods)
Constantly use imagery that associates with a self-perception (think Fitbit)
Give rewards to loyal customers
And many more

If you manage to make zealots out of your audience, they’ll come back – time and time again – to your trough.

Extend Your Reach

One of the best ways to attract new customers is to explore uncharted territories. Boldly go where your products have never gone before. Think about the various ways you could do this.

Open a new location
Advertise to audiences you’ve never previously targeted
Create products that will target new audiences
Partner with companies offering similar, supplementary products

Digital advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google allow you to reach audiences you never thought possible.

These days, people in give more credence to what’s happening inside their phone’s screen to the discussion they are having over dinner. The lines between reality and Virtual Reality have blurred. You can take advantage of these blurred lines.

In most cases, spending some advertising money on a social media platform you didn’t even know existed, or a service that specifically targets an unknown buyer’s pool, might be more cost-effective than getting a loan for a new store location.

Go Big On Word Of Mouth

Ebay, Amazon, Tripadvisor, UBER, AirBnB, and hundreds upon hundreds of platforms peddle their services and products with the explicit help of their customers. The truth of the matter is that referrals, good costumer reviews, and positive experiences are the driving force for sales these.

Each star on Amazon, owl on TripAdvisor, or thumb up on Facebook, for any business venture, is like to getting a pat on the back by God. There’s a reason why certain enterprises go the distance, and are willing to sell off their mother, for a 100% review anywhere.

Scour the web and, I know it’s a pain, but list each and every platform out there (Google Maps, Snapchat, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, etc), then get some positive feedback. It’s a simple, time demanding practice, that will payoff in a big way.

If someone leaves an unfavorable review, follow up on immediately and make it right. Show customers that you are a trustworthy company.

Go Across The Waters

Take a walk around your house, pick up random objects, and turn them around. That ladle, that alarm clock, that guitar set, that BluRay of Deadpool, that kitchen towel – what do most have in common? That’s right! 3 out of 4 have a big label that reads: “MADE IN CHINA”, and there’s a 50% chance the last one says: “MADE IN TAIWAN.”

If you want to make your business grow, then you have to look beyond state lines. Cast your eyes over the horizon and start thinking Internationally. Sometimes, it might seem strange, but the same qualities and characteristics that manage to keep your product safely hidden behind the eight ball in your neck of the woods, might be considered amazing overseas.

Here’s a clear example: ever wonder why Hollywood keeps dredging out so many innate sequels? Ever wonder why, despite the fact that the first one was a gigantic bomb in the box office, they suddenly decide to churn out a second helping? Because, overseas – in some exotic locale – that movie broke records. Let’s look at some numbers:

WARCRAFT the movie:

Domestic Sales: $47,225,655.

International Sales: $385,900,000.

It’s a plunge into unknown waters, and outlining and mastering an exportation plan is no easy task, but it’s one that pays off in gold.

And here’s the good news. Given that you don’t need a physical storefront to sell products to people in other countries, you can implement this without a huge amount of work.

Consider testing ads for your products in other countries. See which countries send the most traffic to your website and then target those countries with ads. Find out what products are popular in certain countries and see if you can tap into that popularity.

Be Cost Effective

An IPhone, depending on the generation and model, costs about 350 to 435 dollars to make (that includes parts, assembly, transportation, marketing, rent, employees, etc.). Those same models are sold for 700 to 900 dollars. That’s a HUGE profit margin! Almost a 100%.

All great companies will swear by one fact: the secret to success is to bring the cost of manufacturing down, and maintain a semblance of quality. If you find this golden ratio, than you better start building a Scrooge McDuck bank for your gold coins.

What we are talking about is growing your business’s bottom line. Everything, no matter how small, takes a bite from your profits. Taxes – snap went those jaws. A/C at your office – crunch. Faulty overhead lamps – yummy went the profit devouring monster. Hour commute to work – a buffet.

Here’s a nice nice example. SG guitars used to manufacture their line of electric guitars in Taiwan. One day, a competing company approaches them with an offer:

“I can produce the low E string for 5 cents less than what they are charging you.”

The head haunches rushed madly into that handshake and moved – despite the overall initial cost of millions – to the new factory. In less than a year, their profits had skyrocket. Why? Because those five cents, spread out over so many guitars and products, equaled mountains of cash.

One small move, that might cost an arm and a leg at the beginning, might fundamentally change the dynamics of your revenues.

Scrutinize all your costs. Are there ways you can cut down on overhead? Can you cut production costs without sacrificing quality? Can you save on shipping? Each of these things represents potential growth for your small business.

Conclusion

Being the owner of a small business isn’t easy. You work long hours. You have to handle a lot of things that would normally fall to other people in a larger company. You have to be creative to beat out competitors.

But you get to be your own boss, the captain of your ship. You drive the train and you can take it into new, unexplored places.

While expansion might be scary, it can be done. Be creative. Maybe take a few small risks. You’ll be amazed at the payout.

By: John Hawthorne

How to Effectively Manage Business Debt [Infographic]

February 15, 2018 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

If you have developed a good relationship with creditors, now is the time to call in a few favors. It’s worth making some inquiries to see if you can refinance to get a loan with lesser repayments, or perhaps renegotiate terms with established suppliers. If you have an unnecessarily large office space, there could be an opportunity to hire out a portion of this to interested parties and reduce your rental costs in the process.

It could also be worth marketing yourself more actively to existing and prospective customers. A lot of businesses now pursue the opinions of customers by asking them to leave online reviews, as a swarm of positive feedback could persuade a prospective customer to do business with them. If you don’t have an active social media presence, it’s a good idea to form one, as these avenues can be very lucrative to businesses nowadays.

Eazy Cash (http://www.eazycash.ca/car-title-loans/) created this infographic guide to managing business debt, advising on where money can be saved or extra revenue generated. Once your company’s debt is continually decreasing, you stand a very good chance of maintaining the business long-term. How to Effectively Manage Business Debt

How did you land your first paid Side Hustle? [Answered]

February 11, 2018 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Side Hustle | Land that first paid gig — Photo via Foter.com

Photo via Foter.com

How did you land your first paid gig?

I asked this question in several freelance and side hustle related Facebook groups.

This is a common stumbling block for many first time side hustlers and entrepreneurs.

Great on ideas but often struggle to make that first sale… Or even get off the bench and implement.

The biggest suggestion from experienced entrepreneurs and side hustlers is…

“Just start!”

But with that sage advice the newbie often gets stuck on the…

“How?”

So here’s some answers to your question,

“How do I land my first paid gig?”

The item in parentheses is the Facebook Group name the person responded from. If you’re looking to get your side hustle off the ground, I’d recommend checking some of these out.

Enjoy!

George Krahn (80/20 Entrepreneurs)

About 10 years ago, I helped my massage therapist sell nutrition supplements online using Google AdWords.

It didn’t pay a lot, but the great results I was able to get and use as proof of success, allowed me to land my first big client.

That led to me eventually quitting my part-time job and going all in on freelance AdWords management.

From there, our agency grew to a team of 4 employees and 2 subcontractors: https://ProvenResultsAgency.com

Lee Hills (SH Nation)

Happy to share mine! Mine was through a freelance website PPH. I had the idea for an explainer video service. Back before explainer was a word or thing.

The service was based on explainer videos I had created for myself. I put it together as an offering and someone bought it. This confirmed that there was demand so I kept going! Began to develop the offering and my brand as things grew. Let me know if you want more of the story or more info 😉

http://www.leelaunches.com/ditchthejob

Tiffany Dawn (SH Nation)

I do graphic design and sent an email to a number of my closest business contacts. Told them what I was doing, where I was hoping to taken it, and to please keep me in mind if I could help. One person responded and hired me to do the graphics for her campaign for Board of Directors for a national association. Word of mouth picked up from there! She continues to be one of my biggest cheerleaders and advocates, and has become a mentor.

Al Clunnie (Side Hustle Success Lab)

Way back I was chatting to an old friend and telling him I was learning about web development. He said he knew a guy that needed a website and put us in touch. That was it! I’m still working with this client on retainer even though I would never take the same type of client now.

CherylAnn Crego (Side Hustle Success Lab)

Right after my marriage ended, before the divorce, an acquaintance asked me to lead sing in his gypsy jazz band, for pay. I know it was motivated by compassion. It was a kindness and it gave me the confidence I needed to become a voice teacher. That was 6 years ago. I started teaching 4.5 years ago. I think our rural area really needed a voice teacher and I filled a void I hadn’t recognized existed. I was used to traveling 6 hours to see my teachers. I said I was doing it and a year later I had a full studio of voice and piano students via word of mouth. When I think back, it makes me emotional. There is a lot more to that story…like it never could have happened if I’d still been in that marriage, I’d forgotten/not listened to the people who said I should do it for years before I did, when I decided to do it I did not believe I was ready or qualified but showed up, transparently, anyway. This work doesn’t pay all the bills but it is consistent and brings me joy.

2. We started teaching cooking classes out of our home. Then someone who knew we were doing that asked us to be private chefs for a vacationing family. Since then, private Chef work is making a bigger percentage of our income every month. We’ve done a lot of FB ads, have a very active FB page, and stay in front of our email list.

Really, long story short, we take risks and show up, giving all of ourselves to each person/family we work with. And we have a couple angels who helped us launch in both music and cooking. I hope to do that for someone someday…be an angel that launches them into their fulfilling future.

Tracey Minutolo (Side Hustle Success Lab)

When I made the decision to offer virtual services for podcasters, I reached out to a few podcasters I’d been following for awhile and asked them a few questions (which looking back now, amounted to some solid target market research) about what types of tasks they outsourced to virtual assistants, what they liked/disliked about their experiences with VA’s so far, etc. Two of those three podcasters became paying clients. 🙂

Jo-Elle Byrne (Serious Bloggers Only)

I’m lucky, my friend works as an SEO specialist and decided to set up his own business. He landed a gig for a shed company of all things and asked me to do the content marketing for it. Believe it or not it was a great gig and I learnt a lot from doing it. Plus, being paid to write was the dream right? ☺

Becky Gallion (SH Nation)

Threw up a post on craigslist.

Matthew Miele (Hobby Hustler Community)

Hey Mike, for me it was reaching out to local businesses and offering help for free.

I know some people who went straight to Facebook ads to an offer and that worked well too.

Dharmesh Barot (Hobby Hustler Community)

I got my first photography client when I offered free photos as part of a dog trainer’s classes.

My first freelance design client was one of the acquaintances I met during social events. Told them what I do and what I can offer to their part time business. They were so happy I got my 2nd project with them soon after.

I learned this technique from a book I read “Getting The Money” by Susan Lassiter. She said tell everyone you meet what you do and soon people will start recognizing you.

It took me 2-3 events and coffees to show my value.

Brian Seim (SH Nation)

I just started selling my services to non-profits I was involved with.

Kelly Boyles (Hobby Hustler)

Back in 1985, can’t recall how I found this guy. But I wrote five holiday-themed poems for a funeral home for $100. You can’t make this stuff up!

Jonathan Wilson (80/20 Entrepreneurs)

I circled back around to people I’d formerly worked with in other places.

Donna Regen (Serious Bloggers Only)

Mike McRitchie I am now getting some paid gigs after a few unpaid gigs, but the unpaid gigs served as published work samples, and that is what helped in securing the paid gigs. So I would would say they are worth doing.

Beverly Boerner-Reynolds (Hobby Hustler Community)

Hey there Mike. My shortened story goes something like this…9 years ago, my son was born to us through adoption. Shortly before that, I was contracted to created an animated training course, much like Cardone University, for the 10xers in this group. I have 20 plus years of training and instructional design experience and that was the first assignment that caused me to get a DBA, buy my own software versions and learn how to do all pieces of the project.

So, not only did I have to learn some of the software, but I knew that at anytime during the project – our son could be born and make us new parents. I was under a time crunch, but finished it without the audio – they contracted that piece separately and paid me accordingly. That was the first major project that taught me on the fly that I could do all aspects from the writing, development and animation!

Before that project, I didn’t think I could do it, but the project sponsors loved my corporate work and trusted my services, so I had to trust in me!!! This was not my first gig, but my first LARGE-SCALED gig!

Heston Glenn (80/20 Entrepreneurs)

Desperation. I was trying to pitch a family member a pyramid scheme, and failed. I needed money, so I asked them if I could coach them in their current business for free for a month. They agreed, and we’re still going 5 years later.

Brandon Traynor (Hobby Hustler Community)

Not a huge break, and not my main business, but a while ago I actually got a job delivering pizza 2 days a week just to get to know the owner. Now I run the social media for all his stores for a good bit of money a month. Obviously no longer deliver pizzas 🤣

Brian P. Hower (80/20 Entrepreneurs)

I learned something of great value, applied it first for myself. It proved to be a fantastic system and concept. At that point I knew that just about every existing small business and/or business minded individual/entrepreneur should also be doing it. I had no trouble gaining my first paying client because I am supremely confident that my offer is great, that they need it and that I am the best one to help them.

Employee engagement takes more than a foosball table

January 18, 2018 by Mark Cop 3 Comments

Foosball in the office Today it is common to have an eccentric office which is loaded with things not all that identified with the work environment. I am certain you are all familiar with the Google offices. The best way to describe it is a major open space, loaded with tables for working hours, yet additionally amusement tables and other fun things for lunch breaks. That office design is interesting, but is it good for your work environment? Will that improve our employee’s engagement?

To improve your employee’s engagement, you have to have to be the different boss, a boss that is not so strict or needy. you need to give them reason and be totally genuine with them. Demonstrate to them that they are imperative to you and the organization. Be exact in what you are anticipating from them and what they can anticipate from the activity. Discuss working hours, compensation, rewards and issues they have. In the event that you demonstrate to them that they are a piece of the organization, they will feel like they have a place and they will show you that by engaging more than before.

Tech and Foosball You have to be the leader, not just some supervisor who is never there. Offer your vision and objectives with your group so they can feel a similar way you feel about your organization. When they comprehend the objective you need to accomplish, they will effectively battle for it since they know it is their objective as much as it is yours. You are a team.

Keep in mind that everyone has great and awful days in their life. On the off chance that a representative seems to have one of those days, don’t yell at him because he committed an error. Attempt to discover the answer to the issue with him and offer him support. He most likely feels sufficiently terrible as it seems to be, you don’t need to aggravate it.

At the point when the working climate is great and individuals are getting a charge out of spending their work hours there, their engagement will be great. When you accomplish that level of duty, you can introduce foosball tables, popcorn makers and other fun things in your office. Having a foosball table in the workplace ought to be a reward for your representatives, not the motivation to come to work for you.

That way, you all can develop the best office together and it will mean more since your team will know they got it going. By providing then what they want as a reward, you will awaken the proud feeling in them and you will all become more than just co-workers.

Author Bio: Mark Cop is a foosball player who has the best hobby ever – foosball. Also, he made a blog about it, called the Foosball Zone and on that blog; he acquaints other people with foosball. He has written legit reviews about a wide range of foosball tables, from the competition foosball tables to the interesting models like a coffee table with foosball for any living room or man cave.