Through these growth tools and strategies I was able to build a 6 figure side hustle that operates in only 3 day workweeks.

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Building A Flexible Side Hustle

We are all capable of building a thriving side hustle. With business strategy and organization, you can create a part-time business that provides abundance. In this episode, I am going to walk you through how I was able to build a 6 figure side hustle with 3-day workweeks. 

I want to do two things, convince you that your side hustle can be sufficient financially and fill up your personal cup. But also to show you some less sexy sides of this 6-figure mark. 

There’s a lot of give and take when it comes to earning a larger salary for yourself. And I personally don’t think the goal is to make as much money as you can. 

I want this episode to deliver you a beautiful balance of understanding how you can build a side hustle that checks your boxes, including that flexibility box that I know is on your list!

My 6 Figure Side Hustle

I have a food photography side hustle. This means I am a ghost content creator for food blogs. I develop family-friendly recipes, photograph the cooking process, and sell the copyright and photo rights to food bloggers that then publish them on their websites. 

Listen to all of the details from my 6 figure side hustle inside episode #26 of Side Checks.

My name nor my face is anywhere on my side hustle and my recipes after I sell them are no longer legally my property or connected to my business. Instead, I end up finding the recipes that I create usually on Pinterest while browsing what to have for dinner. Or even sometimes in a family group thread. 

It’s an amazing side hustle because it’s given me the freedom and flexibility to work from home and run the business in just 3 days and sufficiently pay myself and my family. 

Understanding My Audience

One way that I’ve been able to grow this 6 figure side hustle and operate in only 3 days is through truly knowing my audience. 

I now know through years of doing this side hustle who truly purchases food photography content, how they purchase; when they purchase, and what they are looking for. And I discovered all of this through lots of trial and error. Which in my case, looks like a lot of recipes that went unsold. 

The first key to this was discovering where my audience was at. Facebook groups have proven to be very successful in finding my audience and studying their behavior.

I began to notice that they made quick purchasing decisions and did not need to be warmed up or nurtured before they bought. I also began to notice what types of recipes they purchases and which ones they did not.

Because of my audience’s characteristics, I really had to forget about the type of recipes I wanted to create and instead pay attention to what was making money. 

This was a wake-up call for me in business because until this, I constantly heard “like attracts like” and “you manifest what you put out there”. And to be honest, this doesn’t work with every business. If I only did that, I would have made a lot less money.

Growth Tools

The next way I was able to build this business to my revenue goal and only work 3 days a week was through utilizing various growth tools. This includes lead magnets, strategic growth, and sales. 

The three major growth tools I use to grow my 6 figure side hustle are:

• Facebook Groups / Virtual Networking
• SEO
• Email Capture / Email Marketing

Refining the strategies that worked well inside this business was key. And since this business was unique, so was the formula of growth tools best utilized.

Facebook Groups

Virtual networking, like Facebook groups play a large role in my side hustle growth.

There are a lot of groups out there for people looking to purchase recipe content and people looking to sell recipe content. There are even groups of food photographers/sellers like me looking to grow their skills. And groups of new food bloggers looking to outsource and learn more about it. 

Virtual networking in these groups kept me growing my email list, getting more shop visitors, and seeing what was trending in the world of food photography. 

SEO

First, I did ensure my Shopify store was built out for SEO or search engine optimization. 

Lemon Squeezy doesn’t have a website, I only use a Shopify storefront and I cannot recommend it enough. Explore Shopify here for your e-commerce storefront.

I ensured that my homepage and my product page had SEO-rich titles and meta descriptions. 

Email Capture

And of course, I have a lead magnet for my side hustle. Since I have a digital shop, my lead magnet is a 20% coupon that someone can redeem on their first order after signing up for my email list. 

This is a simple lead magnet but it’s actually the most important tool inside my business. And that’s because this email list drives 100% of my sales. 

When my shop is restocked each week, all I do is email my list of restock alerts. And this small but mighty list of 50 people earns me an average of $8,000 in revenue each month. 

And they all get on my email list through this one lead magnet. 

Email marketing is a huge player in this business because it appeals to my audience so well. They want quick alerts on their phone and they want to make fast decisions and beat everyone else. 

My Honeymoon Email Sale Campaign

If I’m in a pinch or we have an unexpected bill come up, I can create custom offers or recipes pre-sales and use email marketing to present the purchase to my email list. 

An example of this was right before our wedding. I knew we had so many expenses coming out of our account that week and that we would be taking time off after the wedding. So I loaded up a 5-day honeymoon sale to my email list.

Total sales for this $5,867.75 over a 7 day period.

Organization

The final main way I have been able to grow this 6 figure side hustle business has been through organization. 

I have to stay on a repetitive schedule for my business to operate within 3 days. Now, I can stretch my business over 5 days and work 4-6 hour days. However, I choose to have a shorter work week when it comes to my food business. 

Understanding my standard work, my order of operations, and what I personally need to operate this business the same way each week is why it’s so successful. 

In entrepreneurship, it’s really easy to downplay the time spent inside our business. And I think this is even more true for a side hustler. However, we have to start treating our businesses like businesses. 

If there is something within our side hustle that drastically saves time, energy, money, or any other form of waste, it shouldn’t be done only when we are feeling our best. It should be standard. Every week. 

Applying This To Your Business

The things that have grown my business may not be what grow yours. Facebook groups, SEO, and my email list have worked for THIS business. 

It’s all about understanding your audience and your business model. 

And if you are growing your audience, the best place to start is through a lead magnet. Download my Free Lead Magnet Workbook right here to started.

Your audience may be similar to mine and may need a simple coupon code. Or perhaps your audience needs a little more nurturing and a free guide is a great lead magnet idea.