This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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How can I diversify my side income streams? That is the question we're gonna consider today. Welcome back to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Today's question comes from Lina, a freelance writer based in Oxford, Mississippi.
And for the past couple of years, she has relied mainly on content creation for a single client. But recently this single client has been hinting at budget cuts. And so what's she gonna do? How can she in fact diversify her revenue streams and how might you be able to do that as well? Whether you are a freelance writer or a freelancer of any kind, or you're just trying to figure out how can I make more money, have more money coming in from different sources, always a good thing, right?
Especially if some of that income is passive. Let's consider a couple of strategies to create a more resilient business or side hustle and protect against potential income loss. That sounds good to me. I hope it sounds good to you. Detailed question from Lina and my answer coming up in just 30 seconds.
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Hi, my name is Lena and I'm a freelance writer based in Oxford, Mississippi. For the past two years, I've been relying mainly on content creation for a single client, but recently they've been hinting at budget cuts. I'm kind of worried about the financial stability of my side hustle if I lose this client. How can I diversify my revenue sources to create like a more resilient business and protect myself from potential income loss? [Music]
Lena sounds like a good goal to me and I think it's wise to notice that if your single client is hinting at budget cuts, probably good to be thinking about what else you can do to make money elsewhere.
I think it's always smart, especially if you are a freelancer who only has one client or has a small number of clients. We've had a couple of episodes recently where people have kind of navigated that process and obviously being proactive is better than being reactive when a situation occurs and you end up losing that client or they're not paying as much or whatever the case may be. So what can we do? Well, one way or another, you need to expand your client base. At least this is the most straightforward way to take on new clients.
So whatever you did to get this first client, what can you do to get others? And if that one was a little bit random, maybe you need to be more intentional. So time to update that website, time to update your LinkedIn, maybe post more on LinkedIn or other sites, just noting this is, hey, this is what I do. I would love to help other businesses or whatever industry you're in. I would love to do more content work for you or whatever the case is.
You might wanna sign up on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer to find some gigs. That can be good. Or if you're an experienced freelancer, maybe not as good. Those tend to be platforms for people who are getting going. But if you want to get new clients and just kind of experiment with diversification, that can be helpful as well.
But speaking of diversification, my next suggestion is to diversify your services. So offering a wider range of services can help you attract more clients, increase your income, maybe even serve this single client a bit better. So you've been doing some content stuff before, but what else can you do? What about copywriting? What about social media management?
What about editing and proofreading? Those are all very related services. And maybe that's not what you want to do. Maybe that's not what this client needs, but just a suggestion, consider diversifying your services, whatever those services might be. And then I think I mentioned passive income earlier.
Passive income can provide greater financial stability. Like wouldn't it be great if you had something that could be sold, an ebook or another course or some kind of affiliate marketing where it has the potential to bring in money while you sleep or while you do other things. And I never want to exaggerate that because there's always all kinds of work you need to do on the front end to make that happen. Passive income can be quite active, but once it is in place, then it is great to be doing something else, to be traveling or sleeping. And whenever you check your email next and you've got that notification, or some people even set it up on their phone to where they're getting like a little chime.
And that chime is like a cha-ching, I just made a sale. Oh, there's a hundred dollars or several hundred dollars in my bank account that wasn't there before. It's magic. It just feels really, really great. So wherever you can kind of work towards creating some kind of passive income, then I think that is worth your effort.
That is worth your time and effort. So I think those three things are the way to go. Somehow you need to expand your client base, diversify your services and/or, let's say, create passive income streams. And ultimately that's what we all want to be doing one way or another. So I encourage you, I encourage you, Lina, I encourage our listeners as well.
Thank you so much for being out there. I hope this is helpful to you. We make it for you every day. We make it to be helpful. So of course, let me know if I can do a better job or otherwise just to serve you better.
sidehustleschool.com. I'm on social media most days. Chris Guillipo or 193 countries on Instagram. And of course, much more is coming up. Tune in again tomorrow.
This is Chris Guillebeau, your host of Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
