To ask what your "side hustles" are and if there really worth the extra headache/stress?

[Puddinandpie]

So Im a crafter/sewist and can make really pretty things and i have have been thinking about this for some time but not sure a)where to start and b) if having a side hustle is worth the extra hours, money invested and of course stress to make it work, how long does it take to get going, make a profit, please tell me your side hustles and if in the long run it was worth all the headache?
I hope any of that makes sense sorry had covid really recently and today I feel not with it everything is a bit foggy so my writing skills have gone out the window unfortunately!!

I do proofreading and examining. I probably make an extra 2500 a year…

@QuentininQuarantino

I do proofreading and examining. I probably make an extra 2500 a year…

How do you get those kind of jobs please?

One shrewd lady made a fortune selling face masks to ‘gentlemen’ that she’d made out of worn knicker gussets.

@DreamingOfTowels

I’ve got a few - I focus a lot on passive income because life is busy.

I make YouTube videos - lots of those ‘Christmas scenes and music’ background videos. YouTube have clamped down on monetising them now so you can’t start this now but it makes £1,000 ish per month.

I have a website earning anything from $500-$1,000 per month from adverts and I work on it for 3 hours a week.

I sell courses and digital products like planners, budgeting books and that sort of thing. Around £200 per month passively, more if I put more time into advertising.

Could you please share some advice on how to start with something like this.

@Choopi

I have a website that has adsense on it. It makes a few hundred euros a month. I literally haven't looked at it in about 2 years. It was an effort to set it up when I first did about 5 years ago though.

That's really impressive. It's really impressive to make a lot from Adsense, it really doesn't pay a lot and you have to have a lot of impressions to even make a small amount.

I used to have adsense on my blog, I was getting 8-10k a day in views and made a whopping £12.49 over a number of years.

I'd also be interested in what kind of site yours is - very impressive!

I've got a couple of Android apps I developed in the past 3 years, I'm not spending much time on them nowadays, just small updates now and then. They bring in maybe £2-300/month.

@Hunderland would you mind sharing how you got into writing copy of websites? I’d like to do that alongside my regular job but honestly I don’t even know really what I’m looking for!

Recently been offered extra work as a city and guilds assessor but the hourly rate was circa £25 but in my mentoring side hustle I charge between £35 and £55 per hour
Could be worth checking out if you have experience in an appropriate industry

Could you use your free time to help a local charity?

We had a few volunteers helping us, but its really tailed off... We desperately need people eith sewing skills.

We had a few volunteers helping us, but its really tailed off... We desperately need people eith sewing skills

Which charity? I'll see if i can help.

Yes but no. I had a couple of easy to make things that brought in a profit and sold in bucket loads, then some harder to make ones that didn’t. As you like sewing my tip would be

Staight stretchy skirts in jewel tones or bright colours as this is the fashion for 2022. Quick to make, sell cheaply and you will turn a profit. Matching tops should also sell.

Dresses with darts, tucks, pleats or ruffles are going to take time and you won’t turn a profit.

Look at what is selling in the shops, what is popular, factor in time to make and cost. Do not copy shops, put your own unique stamp on anything you make - for example if you are doing a straight stretchy skirt in a bright colour, contrast it with a waistband or lower panel in a different colour for example. If you get it right you will both sell more and avoid lawsuits.

For me, it was the customer service and uncertain income that put me off. I have plenty of work that is certain.

@EliyanahM I sort of fell into them.

The proofreading was because the foreign uni Dh used to work at asked him to check their work but it took time out of his working day so he suggested they pay me.

The examining I got into after tutoring EFL - I got in touch with the exam board.

I resell vintage books.

Not much hassle for me. I know my customers and what's in demand, and I know where to find people giving books away for peanuts where I can find the rare gems.

I sell vintage on Etsy. I've got a Facebook page which I post on every week or so, and slightly different items are popular on there, then I also sell some other bits on ebay.

I average about £150 profit a month and I have a few craft items I make at Christmas which took it up to about £600 a month for Oct and Nov last year. It's at a comfortable level so I can manage packing and posting around my day job and can still enjoy researching and making. I don't want to make it a full time thing, as it takes the fun out of it!

@ChiefWiggumsBoy

My advice is decide on a specialism and approach agencies with clients in that field.

Be 100% reliable and never ever miss a deadline.

Find the company's voice and write like them.

Oh and offer first piece free - then they have nothing to lose.

Good luck :)

@Hunderland thanks for that! I shall get my thinking cap on :)

Following

Can I ask what the website is? Just interested as you say you haven't looked at it for two years so it must be fairly low maintenance. I've been looking to do something similar. Thanks!

Sorry I forgot that I had posted here. A few people asked about adsense. I have a website with articles about a specific hobby with how tos etc. Say it was gardening it would be how to take care of this plant, how to prune roses etc. I wrote up a lot of articles, got a domain name, applied to adsense and that was that. I will say though that I did have(still do I suppose but I again I haven't used it in a few years) a social media following of about 100k across various platforms, I took lots of gorgeous photos, posted links to my website with the photos on Pinterest etc. My photos are still shared widely and often come up at the top of google searches on the topic.

Like I said it was effort in the beginning and it was something that I was really into, the interest has faded but I thank past me for having the energy to set it all up every month when I get paid.

[quote londonmummy1966]@LadyFlumpalot - can I ask if your etsy shop is for silver clay items with a range of pieces from nature? If so I love your work and have been eyeing up a pair of earrings for a while now......[/quote]
It is... but I don't have any earrings, so I don't think it's my shop. I have mostly leaves made from silver clay impressions as pendants and bracelets. Lovely to see someone perusing the actual made from scratch items though!

What a helpful thread!

I sing in an acoustic duo and a five piece band as my side hustle.

@LJAKS

Thanks for the tip on QMEE. I started this on Wednesday and have been doing them on public transport or when watching TV. Have earned £8 already.

Will be great for saving up for Christmas.

@Chely

If you're making things for fun, selling them is a nice bonus. I know people who make stuff and I at what they want to charge for them.

I love my job, but I expect to be paid well, not to do it ‘for fun’ and my employer to pay me a pittance as a ‘nice bonus’.

Do you actually think like this @chely?

[quote Frannyhy]@LJAKS

Thanks for the tip on QMEE. I started this on Wednesday and have been doing them on public transport or when watching TV. Have earned £8 already.

Will be great for saving up for Christmas.[/quote]
Ah brilliant! It really is a game changer! I'm just about to go off on maternity leave so it's worth it's weight in gold at the moment in this house 😂

I get screened out on most surverys, wrong demoraphic I assume old and live in London