So one of the things I get asked a lot is “How do you guys find the time?”
Well it isn’t always easy for Lacey and I. Sure now we have a pretty good schedule and rhythm to get things done on the business and allow us to have time for workouts, family and even my job (yes I still juggle a 9-5).
But, back when we started it was tricky. Especially, during the timeframes when Lacey was working her own 9-5.
In fact I recommend this route to most people.
Most people don’t understand just how much cash you burn through when you quit working. We did that once (spent 30k of savings).
Plus, if you aren’t super confident in your gameplan and business models this will take some time.
We have pivoted a few times and burnt ourselves out once. Before replacing Lacey’s income.
How To Find The Extra Time
So how did we find extra time? First I would take stock of your day. Where are you wasting time? For me it was on my drives, or at my desk at work when I could be multi tasking, at night watching a show or two. Sometimes too lazy in the morning on the weekends.
Find a few spots where you have an extra hour or two.
Some good spots to cut out time:
- Watching TV we almost all watch too much TV. Cut this out and see the progress immediately.
- Multitask. You can usually listen to podcasts or plan out content or sales funnels while doing something else.
- Snacktime and Lunchtime. On your break is another great time to sneak in a little side hustle. I used to go to my car listen to podcasts and plan out my todo list for the night.
- Find a way to do stuff at work that lines up with your future goals. For me it was to start doing SEO tasks and Focus on User experience.
Where To Start
So I started by listening to online business podcasts at work and in the car. This started to give me a great idea of what to do do lay the foundation of my business. If you can map out your business and what a possible sales funnel will be in your mind then you can hit the ground running a lot easier that what we did.
I started by listening to Internet Business Mastery and we even where guests on the show awhile back which was fun. Jason helped us with our recent and most successful pivot.
Some good podcasts for learning about online business:
- Smart Passive Income Podcast
- Internet Business Mastery
- Food Blogger Pro (mostly food blog related)
- Entrepreneur On Fire
These are a good place to start. There are a bunch out there now. Didn’t use to be lol. So find one that resonates with you and dive in.
Second Step, Same As The First
Now that we have our baseline setup and figured out where we have some extra time. We need to figure out how to use our time on stuff that’s important. This way we are maximizing the time we do have.
First, figure out the medium that you are interested in using and the skillsets you have. Are you going to make videos? podcasts? write? structure your business around consulting? or social media?
Depending on what you’re most comfortable with and what skills you have will help figure this piece out. If you love to talk but hate to write don’t focus on writing. If you have no idea how to shoot and/or edit a video and don’t have the time or money to figure this out then you might want to find a different medium.
We started with a ton of content without really having a plan. This is bad.
If I was starting over I would have a better game plan since we are a food & health blog I would create a balanced schedule of recipes, healthy tips etc…
I would also start with topics that I know will do well. You can figure this out by researching other blogs/businesses in your niche and seeing which ones perform well for them.
I recommend a schedule that keeps you on track and then gradually increase the frequency and intensity.
For instance, try to write a blog post or record a podcast once a week then go to two times after a few weeks.
Start Monetizing
The next step for the side hustle is really the monetization. I wrote a post on food blogging monetization for ASPC. Usually though this is where you start to lay down the ground work that we did in by planning out our sales funnel.
I always recommend starting with the Epic Content pieces and then making lead magnets around the ones that do the best for you.
After that you can build from products from there.
Most of our income comes from sponsored posts and video deals as we have grown out the product piece but these can be harder to get when starting out and not as lucrative as your own products.
The Time Snowball
You’ll find that you magically have more time the more progress you seem to make. Once you really start to see your business make sense and gain traction you will have a lot more energy and focus to accomplish bigger and better things.
The big trick is just to not give up.
So you have all this info but you’re not sure what to do next.
The first step is to understand what you want your business to look like.
Maybe model another site or company you like.
Figure out how to make some extra time. Use the checklist above.
Crush it!
