{"id":199,"date":"2023-07-26T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T15:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2023-07-26T08:00:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T01:00:33","slug":"the-accidental-side-hustle-that-earned-me-1185-in-6-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/26\/the-accidental-side-hustle-that-earned-me-1185-in-6-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cAccidental\u201d Side Hustle that Earned Me $1185 in 6 Weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some side hustles you relentlessly pursue, trying day after day to make something happen. Others sometimes just find you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a case of being in the right place at the right time, and the opportunity finding me. I won\u2019t chalk it up entirely to luck though, because this side hustle was actually the result of a couple years of building trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cLuck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013Seneca<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lately I\u2019ve been playing HR Manager \/\u00a0Recruiter\u00a0for a web development company on the east coast. I\u2019m working on a performance basis (an idea I love!), finding talented workers in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cAccidental\u201d Side Hustle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It started with a one-line email, seemingly out of the blue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you available for hire? I\u2019m looking for an outsourcing consultant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty random, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, maybe not so much. For the last 2+ years, I\u2019ve been running a site related to small business outsourcing, establishing myself as somewhat of an authority on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, I had no \u201cconsulting\u201d experience to speak of, nor was this service mentioned anywhere on my website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So of course I replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to be your outsourcing consultant. What did you have in mind?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that, I had a new consulting side hustle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turned out my new client\u2019s business was growing rapidly, and he needed to ramp up his staff in a hurry but didn\u2019t have time to deal with a lengthy recruiting and interview process. We focused on finding technically skilled workers in the Philippines, because it\u2019s a sweet spot for English education, a talented workforce, and attractive wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We agreed on a rate of $395 per hire, only because that\u2019s what one other established company was charging for a similar service. Except they take their fee upfront, and I\u2019d only get paid if I found someone good enough to get hired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the 15-hour time difference, I worked some odd hours, doing Skype interview calls with the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next 6 weeks, I found 3 suitable candidates (out of a pool of well over 100), which resulted in a nice $1185 in side hustle income<\/strong>. It was an awesome learning experience too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s back it up, to how this gig came about, because that\u2019s a far more interesting story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Social Media Connection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Long before my client was a client, we began following each other on Twitter<\/strong>. I believe he\u2019d tweeted something about small business outsourcing so I decided to start following him, and he followed back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was 8 months before the \u201cout-of-the-blue\u201d email above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Email Connection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Around that same time, my client-to-be signed up for my email list<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In between the initial sign-up and his proactive contact above, I sent 17 emails <\/strong>over the course of the 8 months. These messages primarily contained free outsourcing resources, tips, tricks, and best practices, both from my personal experience and from around the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, I was delivering relevant and valuable content to his inbox on a pretty regular and consistent basis. And after 17 times<\/em>, there\u2019s a certain level of recognition, familiarity, and trust. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many others on my email list might be interested in a similar service? It stands to reason if one person was having difficulty recruiting, others might be struggling with the same problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A couple times \u2014 at the very beginning of the relationship and then again right before the \u201cconsulting\u201d email \u2014 my not-yet-a-client reached out for some advice via email, which I was happy to provide free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Sales Pitch Required<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the end, I didn\u2019t have to sell anything, because the relationship, trust, and value had already been established over a long period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He proactively contacted me, about a service I didn\u2019t even offer<\/em> (or have advertised). Isn\u2019t that an awesome way to get business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a sharp contrast to\u00a0cold calling\u00a0for paint job leads!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know, Like, Trust<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This side hustle is testament to a long-term outlook <\/strong>and is proof the Know \u2013> Like \u2013> Trust <\/strong>sales funnel works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side Note: I was curious where the Know\/Like\/Trust language came from, and traced it back to a Bob Burg quote from\u00a0Endless Referrals<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAll things being equal, people will do business with \u2014 and refer business to \u2014 those people they know, like and trust.<\/strong>\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

(Mr. Burg also co-authored\u00a0The Go-Giver<\/em>, one of my favorite business books of all time.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying Yes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a great example of how good things can come from saying yes to new opportunities, even if you have no idea what comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conventional wisdom is to shelter yourself by saying no:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • No to new obligations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • No to new time-sucking projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • No to new ideas that probably won\u2019t go anywhere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    But no great side hustle was ever built by saying no. Sure, there\u2019s some level of selection<\/strong> you have to exercise, but you can open yourself up to new challenges, opportunities, and businesses with a well-placed \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    No is the easy way out. Yes is scarier, but more fulfilling too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Behind every side hustle success story is a Yes.<\/strong>\u00a0My path\u00a0is sprinkled with them. Many\u00a0didn\u2019t go anywhere, but you never know until you try, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Some side hustles you relentlessly pursue, trying day after day to make something happen. Others sometimes just find you. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time, and the opportunity finding me. I won\u2019t chalk it up entirely to luck though, because this side hustle was actually the result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-service-businesses"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}