There’s a huge problem with traditional advice about how to earn more money.
Conventional wisdom wants you to sell yourself short. Most advice says you should trade your limited time and energy for a few cents.
Here’s what a quick search for “earn more money” found:
- Babysit
- Mow lawns or rake leaves
- Clean homes
- Host a car wash
- Host a yard sale
- Fill out online surveys
- Sell your sperm (huh?)
- Have a surrogate baby (seriously?!)
What’s the common thread here? With the exception of selling your sperm or giving birth for money (what?!), these jobs could be done by a middle school student.
In other words, these jobs don’t respect your time.
This menial work is fine if you’re desperate for some quick cash between now and next Tuesday. (You should build a bigger savings cushion, but that’s a different story.)
But man, oh man, don’t believe the writers who tell you this is the only way to earn more. You’ve got to start believing that you’re smarter than a 5th grader. You’ve got to start thinking big.
Think Big.
You have talents – c’mon, I know you do. You have special skills that can’t be replicated. You can do something that no one else can do.
You can create something special. Find a niche and conquer it. Don’t just earn a quick buck – create something amazing.
Need examples?
A Serial / Cereal Entrepreneur
David Roth loves hanging out in his pajamas eating cereal and watching cartoons. So he decided to monetize it.
He could have earned pennies filling out surveys about his favorite cartoons or mystery shopping in the cereal aisle. But that would have wasted his time.
Instead, David Roth hustled. He talked to banks and investors, scrounged some funding together, and opened a little eatery where he serves people cereal topped with candy.
Seriously, that’s it. He pours some Golden Grahams and Coco Puffs into a cereal bowl, mixes it with mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips, and calls it the new breakfast S’mores.
(Actually, he doesn’t use cereal bowls. He serves breakfast in a Chinese take-out box.)
Instead of becoming a server, he hires servers – who wear pajama uniforms, of course. And yes, he plays cartoons in the background.
Need Cash, Will Drink Wine
Natalie MacLean had a fairly average life in Canada, with a business degree and a tech-sector job. But after she had a baby boy, she needed a change of pace.
“… in a haze of postpartum sleep deprivation, I wondered around Loblaw’s grocery store and picked up the now-defunct President’s Choice magazine,” she told The Oran, a Nova Scotia newspaper. “They had beautiful food photography, but I wondered why there was no wine column.”
“I called the editor and asked if she’d be interested in an article and she said yes … (She) asked had I published elsewhere, so I said yes — thinking of my high school newspaper — and we went from there.”
She decided not to return to her tech job after her maternity leave ended. Instead she became a full-time wine writer.
“Eventually I’ll be donating my liver to science,” she jokes.
Build The Biz You Want to Be
Lee Silber and his brothers pooled their cash together to buy a struggling little surf shack in San Diego.
The tiny retail outlet wasn’t earning much, so the brothers came up with a simple strategy: morph it into the type of place they’d like to hang out.
They played surfing movies, hosted skateboarding demonstrations, and challenged kids to compete in surf contests.
Their marketing was cheap and effective. Within months, locals were flocking to their surfing shop to watch movies and hang out – and the locals spend a few dollars while they’re there.
Moral of the Story?
What’s the common thread to all three stories?
#1: Be Unconventional
None of these people wanted to follow a conventional path. They didn’t send out resumes to 20 employers, hoping someone would hand them a job.
#2: Think Big
None of these people were wealthy, but they weren’t mowing lawns for money. They were thinking big and creating scaleable models.
#3: Take Risks
None of them had any assurances that their gamble would work out. Most entrepreneurs, adventurers and risk-takers fall flat on their face at least once, twice, three times. Then they get up and try again.
#4: Combine Niches
David didn’t invent cereal. He’s not a top chef. But he combined his interests to create something clever.
Natalie isn’t a master sommelier, and she isn’t a Pulitzer-winning literary writer – but she combined two niches to emerge as the best wine writer.
Lee isn’t the best surfer in the world – but he’s a darn good surf shop owner.
The Bottom Line
Don’t waste your time competing with middle-schoolers for extra money. Find your talent – wine, surfing or even cereal – and spin it in a create way.
The world doesn’t reward mystery shoppers. Fortune favors the bold.
Thanks to Red Car Gurl, Isante Magazine and Cuba Gallery for the photos.
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You left out pet sitting and walking…
I cant agree more about thinking outside the box.
Great post! I just clinched three hustling deals last month:
1. I’m freelancing as the mystery blogger for the new website of a jewellery magazine my company owns.
2. Now that I’m blogging more and learning more about how to build user-friendly blogs, my editor just hired me to build a blog for her blog as part of her masters program. I build her blog, and all she needs is to post.
3. Interpretor/translator for a London-based jewellery company who wants to venture into the Chinese market. Being multilingual is awesome!
@iwantmyhdbflat — I love blogging! Congrats on the three new hustles! 🙂
I love the cereal restaurant — how creative!
@Christa — I know! I’d love to go there … they only have locations in Dallas, Texas and Richmond, Virginia, though. Guess I’ll have to wait until I’m in one of those two cities!
My mind is spinning with ideas of what I could create. I will take a lot of work to quiet the practical and conventional person within me.
@Matt — Your creative side can come up with ideas, your practical side can evaluate them. Just never confuse “practical” with “conventional.” The two are not the same — and often, the conventional route is totally impractical. 🙂
Love this article as usual, Paula. I’m creating a career for myself by combining my love for writing, the internet, and personal finance. I couldn’t agree more with your “think big” advice, but I need constant reminders. Thanks for helping out.
I love it. I started a flash mob side business (DenverFlashMob.com) after I had fun at a few events. It is not full time, but it is fun and it pays.
@Eric — Oh, nice!! What a fun project!!
I’ve been working on a website for a year or so now, more for fun and information than anything else. However, I decided about two months ago to make this a small business and why not…. I love it, I find it relaxing, I enjoy the interaction, and perhaps, someday, I’ll make a penny or two as well!
My problem is picking which of my interests I want to focus on – but partially, I’m scared to commit to any of them *because* it’s not a sure thing that it’ll do well… Thinking big can be scary, and lots of people will tell you your ideas are silly, because they wouldn’t have the guts to do it themselves, and they want to convince themselves it’s not worth it.
@Kellen — the tough truth is that some ideas will pan out, and some will not. You can think carefully before you take the dive, but ultimately you have to 1) not get stuck in “analysis paralysis” (all thinking and no doing), and 2) accept the fact that some of your efforts/ideas really will flop. And that’s okay. Abe Lincoln lost elections. Michael Jordon got cut from his high school basketball team. Lucille Ball was laughed out of auditions. Their common thread was that they kept trying.
I think you provide some great examples of how doing something that you love can be monetized in creative ways to become extremely profitable. Sometimes it is not about what you do but how you do it or for whom you do it for that creates the tipping point between average and extraordinary rewards for your efforts.
Wow. This is a great post. I honestly have nothing more to say…..
@Tony — Thank you!
1. I’m freelancing as the mystery blogger for the new website of a jewellery magazine my company owns. Sometimes it is not about what you do but how you do it or for whom you do it for that creates the tipping point between average and extraordinary rewards for your efforts. I love it, I find it relaxing, I enjoy the interaction, and perhaps, someday, I’ll make a penny or two as well!
I’m looking to turn my two passions into a side business. I love teaching and have a degree in it, I’m also currently working on a Masters in Education. I also love writing about personal finance but I (and most PF bloggers do as well) see a need for financial education. I’m going to start teaching classes in my area. I’m working on the plans now with a couple of other bloggers who want to do the same thing in their area. Hopefully we’ll be pulling in money this year!
@Jessica — Oh that’s fantastic! I hope you’re able to start doing financial education — there’s a HUGE need for it! What area are you in?