This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Coming up on the podcast today, we're gonna hear from Amelia, a talented graphic designer and marketer searching for a fulfilling side hustle that capitalizes on her existing skillset. That's what it's all about. Not necessarily learning new skills, but learning to apply the skills you already have. Like you have spent a lot of time through your education, through your work experience, through other sets of knowledge that you have acquired, even through hobbies, like things you like to do, or just fun stuff. You've got all this knowledge and experience.
How can you take that knowledge, experience, those skills and adapt them in the form of a money-making side income? Okay, that's what we're all about. Our single-minded mission here on the podcast, episode 2325 here. This is what we do every day in one form or another. So what does that look like for you?
Whether you're looking to turn your professional skills into a lucrative side hustle, or simply seeking more purpose in your work, more fulfillment, more economic empowerment, all those good things. My goal for this conversation is to inspire you towards concrete steps. So as mentioned today, how to leverage your existing skills in the context of Amelia, our graphic designer and marketer. Her question is coming up, along with my answer in just 30 seconds. [Music]
[Applause] Greetings, I'm Amelia from Seattle and a longtime listener.
I have a background in graphic design and marketing, and I've recently been feeling unfulfilled in my day job. I'm looking to leverage my existing skills to create a successful side hustle that could potentially become my main source of income. Can you provide some guidance on how to identify opportunities that align with my skillset and experiences in order to maximize my chances for success and bring more purpose to my work? I don't want to just do design. I'm looking for something really unique that challenges me and also just feels different.
Is this too much to ask? [Music]
Amelia, it is definitely not too much to ask to want a fulfilling side hustle that makes the most of your skills. That is in fact the goal. That's what it's all about for all of our listeners in different ways. So I think it's good you want to use your design and marketing background to create a project that's both challenging and fulfilling.
So first things first, I always think about what is the niche market? Where your expertise could be highly valuable. Maybe there is a specific industry or community that could benefit from your particular design style or your particular marketing strategies. And we've had lots of episodes that have focused on specific niche markets. But since you don't want to just do design, like I did hear that, then you've got two other broad categories to go into to apply these skills.
So category number one is teaching and inspiration to teach and inspire, let's say. So this is basically sharing your knowledge with others in a transferable way. Online courses, workshops, maybe write an ebook, maybe there's some other platform or medium, but essentially again, transferring knowledge. This way you're not only capitalizing on your existing skills, but also challenging yourself by breaking down that knowledge into specific steps, engaging content for others to learn from. So lots of stuff in that teaching and inspiration category.
And the second approach would be to create a product, a product other than an educational product in this case. If you're feeling adventurous and you want to do something totally unique, well, then here's your chance to make a product that combines your skills in graphic design and marketing. This could be some kind of service, could be an app or software of some kind, could be a line of creative stationery or planners or developing a tool that helps other designers and marketers in their work. Again, that's kind of broad, but basically that's your category to create a product. And of course, this might require more research and investment than either choosing a niche and doing some design work or creating some kind of educational offering, but it could be an exciting way to challenge yourself again and diversify your income.
So overall, back to basics here, the key is to find something that you're good with that is something that you're good at that aligns with what other people want. Focus on that and you're on the right track. Whenever something's not going well, I think it's helpful to just go back to those things and say, well, have I really found alignment here? So those are my comments. Amelia, good luck with everything.
Listeners, if you have a question or a comment, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Lots of free resources there. I've got a bunch of stuff coming up. I'm excited to share with you soon. But of course, you can always subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts.
It's all completely free. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
