5 Steps To Launch Your Side Hustle
So you want to start a side hustle? Launching a new venture like a side hustle or passion project is exciting. The possibilities are endless! Your side hustle could blossom into a full-time business or it could be something you happily continue to work on in your spare time. Either way, it’s important to treat your new side hustle like a business so that you can reach the right people and make some sales.
Even though 2020 has been rough on some businesses, there’s actually evidence that starting a new business in the midst of a tough economic year is a strong decision.
Reasons why 2020 is still the year to start your side hustle:
There’s more free or low-cost education than ever before.
The competition is lower. “This year, the competition is weak, and you can gain an advantage that might last for years.” (Medium)
The average extra monthly income from a side hustle is $1,122+. (Bankrate Survey)
27% of people who pursue side projects are more passionate about their hustle than their careers. (Bankrate Survey)
If you’d decided to take the plunge to pursue your passions or make some extra money (or both!), here’s the steps we recommend taking in launching your first side hustle business.
How To Launch Your Side Hustle In 5 Easy Steps
Step One: Decide What You Want To Do
The first step to launching your side hustle is to figure out what you want to do in the first place. You may have something in mind already—maybe it’s a hobby you’ve had for awhile or a service you’ve been wanting to try out. Or maybe you know you want a side hustle but just need a little inspiration for what you want to do. Luckily, there are tons of side hustles you can start, many of which can be done from home.
Once you’ve honed in on what you want to do, it’s time to figure out your offerings. If you’re going to launch a floral design side hustle, for example, are you going to focus on creating custom floral designs or will you also offer workshops? Or, for a service-based business like social media management or photography, how many services or types of packages will you offer? Since you’re launching a side hustle, it’s a good idea to start small and focus on just one or two offerings. As your business grows, your offerings can expand, too!
This is also when you should determine your pricing. It’s OK if you don’t know exactly how to price your product or service just yet—it might take a little trial and error to get to the right price. But all you need is a starting point to get going.
Step Two: Define Your Audience
Now that you know what your side hustle offerings will be, you can focus on who exactly your ideal audience is. Knowing who your dream client or customer will not only guide how you market your business, but it can make a major impact in sales and ultimately the success of your business.
Our dream client at GoLive is the girlboss who’s ready to launch her business and needs a unique and easy-to-use website to establish her online presence. The more specific you can be, the better you’ll be at reaching your dream client and building a dream business that works for you and helps the people you want to reach.
If you want to dive deeper on the topic of finding a niche and defining your dream client, GoLive put together a workshop that goes over why it’s important to have a dream client and how exactly to find them! Check out the workshop here.
Step Three: Choose Your Name (And Grab The Socials!)
Once you’ve decided what kind of side hustle you want to launch and who your target audience is, now comes the fun part: choosing a name! You may already have something in mind or you may need to brainstorm a little. Either way, it’s a good idea to take potential names and search for them to make sure they aren’t already taken. The easiest way to do this is to enter your potential business name in a Google search and see what pops up.
You should also use this same method on social media so you can snag those handles for your new side hustle. The last thing you’d want is to choose your business name, grab the website domain for it, and then find out that the name is taken on social media, or vice versa. Cross reference the domain name with social media handles and grab them as soon as you can!
Step Four: Build Your Website
You may be thinking to yourself, “Do I really need a website for my side hustle?” And the answer is a resounding YES! If we could shout this from the rooftops, we would!
Your website is the most important marketing tool for your business, whether it’s a side hustle or a full-fledged company. A website is how you can promote your work, establish credibility, and draw in new customers—not to mention, it’s likely what you’ll use to make sales. If you really want to grow your brand, then you need to treat your side hustle like the business you know it can be!
Plus, it’s easier than you may think to launch a website. With the right tools (like our custom, easy-to-use Squarespace templates!) you can have your website launched and ready to go within days.
We also put together a FREE workshop on how to launch your website in just 5 days.
Step Five: Promote & Market Your New Business
Now that your website is live, you can start making sales and landing new clients. But don’t expect the leads to just magically show up once you hit ‘publish’ on your new site. You need to let people know that you’re open for business—it’s time to show off what you’ve got!
You should already have your social media accounts ready to go, so start there. Announce your new side hustle and start posting content that promotes your product or service and will help your dream clients discover you.
Since this is a side hustle, don’t feel like you need to shell out a ton of cash in order to get your name out there. There are many ways to market your business on the cheap, all you need to do is start!
Read More About Side Hustles And Launching Your Business
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