The Problem with the Side-Hustle

So what if today’s norm is for most people having a side-hustle, i.e., a gig on the side.  That’s the attitude I have come to adopt after freelancing as a writer for only a few months!  Here is what I don’t like about side-hustling:

• The pay.  Elance.com and other freelancing platform employers are cheap.  They want to pay you some ridiculous amount like $10/hour.  People submit proposals for these low-paying jobs.  Some of them are even American!  In the case of writing and blogging, some employers will state they want to pay $1.00 to $1.50 per 100 words and then request a 700-1000 word blog post.  U kidding me?!  I’d spend about an hour from start to finish, writing an excellent piece, and only get paid up to $15.  I would not work for this amount.  Would you?  I consider my time just a tad bit more valuable.  I’ll explain why further below.

• Side-hustles where freelancing is involved, as opposed to where you actually go out and get another permanent part-time job, have term/time limits.  As soon as you finish the job, or it is due, it’s done!  No more work, no more money.  You’re essentially back at it, looking for the next gig and the next, and so on.

Side-hustles in-and-of themselves will not make you wealthy.  You’ll have to do hundreds of freelancing gigs to either help support you (if you rely on them) or help supplement your investments (if you have enough money coming in from your day job, but want out of the rat race sooner).  That is why I have taken to only accepting side-hustles where I am allowed to insert my money-making platform, i.e., my blog and personal business, CCM LLC in some way.

Can side-hustles be utilized to benefit you in more than the expected way?  More than being content with remuneration, you can use a completed side-hustle gig to springboard you into additional forms of monetization.  All you have to do is ask the employer.  It doesn't hurt to ask. Take my second Elance job I recently completed.  I was asked to write five blog posts on educational topics.  I was paid a total of $110 for these five articles, $22 for each.  Now the money wasn’t half-bad.  What was more valuable than the money for me, ongoing, was this:

C. Osvaldo Gomez

C. Osvaldo Gomez has been a high school Assistant Principal for ten years in CA.  He’s been featured in newspaper for his work as an educator.  He’s also a published author of creative short fiction, and blogger at commoncoremoney.com where he writes about his investing and entrepreneurial experiences for educators and other professionals. He can be reached at: calilimexica@yahoo.com.

This is the profile I was allowed to write about myself on the site where the blog posts are featured:  Lumos Learning

See how I took a job on Elance and transformed it into more of a monetization vehicle?  When people Google, C. Osvaldo Gomez, guess what?  This site is on the front page of Google.  If people click on it and read the profile, guess what?  They will see my blog address.  They will have my business email too. They may visit my blog and become returning readers, or even better, they may email me for a job inquiry!

The key to making more money side-hustling is, therefore, having your own money-making platform: a website, a blog, a book you can sell, a service, etc.

Not all Elance or other platform employers will allow this.  Even though Lumos Learning had me sign a contract so that I gave up my rights to the articles, they didn’t discourage me from promoting these articles with my own platform.  In fact, they’re benefiting right now.  This employer was smart enough to visit my blog and Google my brand name, C. Osvaldo Gomez.  This employer realized the “drafting” that could occur if I were to include more about me then what’s provided to readers in the first sentence of my profile.  I, of course, made the original suggestion.  Want more traffic to your site? I asked.  And what do you think this fledgling company’s response was? Duh!  

More on "drafting''? See: generalist-opportunist-case-study-3

YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.  That’s what I’ve been telling you in my new eBook to be series, Bold in America: Making Financial Opportunities Happen.  (I’ve changed the title).

So if you are out there side-hustling, remember what I’ve just said:  1) Have your own money-making platform and 2) Get gigs that allow you to embed your platform in some way.

Use the side-hustle as a springboard to more monetization, authority, and financial opportunity. If not you are simply killing time when you can actually be creating a platform. Investing time in creating, improving, launching, etc., your own money-making platform is worth more than a low-paying side-hustle gig, trust me.

If you've never taken on a side-hustle and want to know how to do it right, I recommend you read the work of Kimberly Palmer, and in particular, her new volume: The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur...



I "met" Kimberly today over email.  She is nice, responsive, and professional.  Not to mention, she's an expert on the side-hustle; that's why I contacted her. 

There's a link to her book on my left sidebar for fast access to Amazon.

Thanks for reading!