Why You Should Have Side Gigs as a Freelancer

Side gigs are all the rage right now, and they are on their way up.

Everywhere you see, a new way to make money is coming up every day.

It’s simple.

No matter what you do, side gigs can come in handy in many aspects.

Whether you are a student strapped for cash or a stay-at-home mom wanting to do something in your free time or a freelancer looking for an extra income stream, side gigs are the answer to your needs.

But what exactly are side gigs?

Side gigs are the convenient projects you can take on along with your current workload – whether you are freelancing exclusively or have a day job.

Side gigs are especially popular with millennials and freelancers. And there is a good reason for this. These side income earners give you maximum flexibility and the chance to do something that fits around your lifestyle instead of dictating it.

And why are side gigs important?

There are many perks of taking on side gigs, and many reasons why you should have at least one. Most importantly, the flexibility that they allow makes them vital elements in any income-earning strategy.

To give you a specific example from my own life, nothing beats the fact that I can work whenever I want and still take care of my kids at home.

But this is about you. So let’s dig deeper into the reasons why you need side gigs.

Passion Projects

Ever heard about how Steve Jobs started Apple in his garage? I am sure you must have. It was a side gig that he just went for in whatever way he could, in spite of the obstacles, because he was passionate about it.

Side gigs are an excellent way to really dig into passion projects. They can give you that much needed creative outlet to explore your interests. Plus, you get to do the things you like and get paid for it. Moreover, when you do what you love, you become more motivated to work and produce more and better results. Finally, getting into a passion project allows you to test the waters to see if the work you love can provide the level of income that you need.

Freelancers have a much bigger opportunity to take on passion project side gigs. This is mainly because they already have a degree of flexibility in terms of their work schedules. If this is you, then taking on a gig that ignites your passion can fit into your lifestyle easily.

In my case, I have been working independently for over eight years now, and my passion is my blog. This is how I help others who like to find legitimate side gigs – various ways to earn more money.

Feel that freedom to explore your passions. Get out there and pick up a gig that gets you fired up.

Learning Lessons

At every step in life, we need skills to go forward in our careers or start a new side hustle. Did you know that side gigs provide a golden opportunity to learn and enhance your skills? They surely do.

Side gigs can teach us a lot of things like being productive, managing time well, multitasking without sacrificing quality, communicating at a high level, and many more soft skills. These traits are pretty vital especially for freelancers.

The biggest plus with side gigs is that they give the chance to learn new hard skills, too – and to learn them practically. It could be a skill like using QuickBooks that gives you a better chance to progress in your career as a bookkeeper. It could also be something that can open doors for your new business, like calendaring website content so you can level up from blog writing to full-fledged content management. Having the ability to try new things on the side and learn while doing them is a solid way to achieve your freelance business goals.

Before I started blogging, I was totally new to all the ins and outs of social media. After a year of learning, I can now say that I am pretty good at analyzing how Pinterest works and how I can make the best use of it. That’s my lesson learned, all from one side gig. And now, on top of my blog, I can also market this skill to earn more.

Safety Nets

We all experience financial stresses at one or another time in life. Most of the time, these things happen because we depend on a single income stream. This is where side gigs come in. Having a side hustle is a lifesaver when it comes to creating a nice buffer so we either get over these financial hurdles more easily, or altogether avoid at least some of them.

Think about it, if you have a side hustle as a web developer or you offer freelance graphic design services apart from your regular work, it’s something you can fall back on even if you lose a job or a client project ends suddenly.

Of all the reasons, I think choosing a side gig with the idea of a safety net in mind is the best one. These are tough financial times, and making the right decision to increase your income with side hustles is the way to go. I would say this is the easiest way to keep a good income flow and not end up in debt.

Income Boosters

How many people nowadays have two jobs or work on freelance projects more than 8 hours a day to make ends meet? I am sure there are a ton. The income boost that comes with having multiple gigs is the primary reason for hustling.

Side gigs provide great opportunity to top up your income and put you in better financial shape. Stable and long-term gigs like providing freelance Amazon VA services, consulting or blogging can show impressive income potential.

In my journey as a blogger, I have seen people working in full-time time jobs who side hustled as bloggers. There are many inspiring stories where these side gigs even surpassed the income they got from their day jobs.

Avenue for Creativity

Many of us do what we do just because we need to earn money. But what about the creative side of us? Everyone has a creative side, whether it is planning, graphic art, organizing, or something else. There is creative juice in many of things we do every day.

Side hustles give you the needed outlet to express your creative side.

Have you ever heard of flipping junk items? It’s true that people buy, redesign and sell thrift store stuff. And they make good money on this. It takes a truly creative mind and skillful hands to pull this off.

You can find many side gigs like event planning, home organization, design, photography, crafts, etc. All of these are very flexible hustles that will give you the satisfaction of exploring your creative side.

Upskill

Some people take up side gigs just because they want to hone their skills and climb the ladder in their day jobs. And side hustles are perfect for that.

Let’s imagine that you took up a side gig as a freelance SEO consultant (SEO is a super lucrative gig on its own, by the way.) Working with different clients on various projects can give you a wider perspective and additional experience which can hugely aid your day job.

Many times just learning something might not give you enough hands-on experience. Practically doing a side gig related to a skill that you want to develop might give you a chance to get a better grasp of how things really work.

True Calling

Sometimes our true calling comes in the way we least expect. At least that was the case with me. I started blogging to help others to find legitimate work from home jobs to earn good money. But I slowly realized that this is what I love doing, so more than the people aspect, it became my true calling. Something I enjoy doing.

I bet more than half of all the entrepreneurs found their dreams when they started a side gig.

Big names like Instagram and Etsy started as side hustles and flourished into super successful businesses. Anything is possible if you dare to take the first step.

All this is great to hear, but where do I start?

On any freelance marketplace you can find dozens of projects that you can start right away. They are often very flexible, so you can do them any time you have a few free hours, like after 5 or on weekends.

Now that you know why you need side gigs, here are some tips that you need to keep in mind before you start:

First of all, set aside the thought of failure.

This is the first thing that gets anyone down before they start. Side gigs are supposed to be little helpers; you don’t need to leave your day job to side hustle unless it’s really going great. Once you get out of the mindset of fear, you can explore your options with a free mind.

Take a step back and analyze your strengths and interests.

Most of the time, we overlook the skills we are good at. Do you love teaching? Are you a software nerd? Do you love music? Does cooking interest you? No matter what you like, there is a way to start a gig with that skill. Just look within yourself and find out what you love doing and find out the options to make it into the right side gig for you.

Keep an open mind.

This is pretty important as a side hustler. As I mentioned above, there are many reasons to hustle, and one of them is the chance to create a thriving business from your hustle. To see the real potential of your side gig, keep an open mind so you can invest in yourself, learn from your mistakes, and take calculated chances. You never know what you can achieve!

Be prepared to spend long hours initially.

The money and the flexibility all sounds excellent. Before you get any good results, however, you need to focus on growing your gig. You will likely be juggling your day job, side gig and family in the beginning. Using productivity apps, practicing effective time management, and finding the best time to work can really help. There are also many websites like Udemy, Skillshare, and Lynda which can be extremely helpful in getting you started with the new skills you need for your new your gig.

Remember, side gigs have absolutely no growth limits.

If you work hard and focus, there is so much you can achieve from side hustles.

The only thing that you need is to find the gig that you love doing and simply get started.

Sireesha is a career blogger and founder of Crowdworknews.com. She helps remote job seekers find blogging tips, legitimate online jobs, and side hustles through her blog. She has successfully grown her online business from scratch to a full-time gig in just two years. Sireesha has been featured on websites like MyCorporation, Fairygodboss, Moneyish, Virtual Vocations, Payoneer and Side Hustle School.