Believe in your Skills — put them to use
After speaking at a university about social media, I met a couple of students who were wondering less about my talk and more about how I started out making money. Not shy at all, they wanted to see what I had done to hustle.
So I broke it down:
- starting an eBay business to move more inventory from the retail store I was working in
- building a basketball league that evolved into an events company
- designing websites/blogs on contract and selling a couple of my own
- building a following of sneakerheads across a few niche micro blogs
- taking on research and consulting assignments
- building a marketing agency, then another, then another
- launched a media company focused on building brands and growing audiences
Seeing opportunities has never been the issue for me, its the feasibility of the opportunity. Is it a good fit for me to make a profit? Am I leveraging my skills? Will I enjoy it for long enough to be a meaningful endeavour?
Back to the students… both in their final year of an undergraduate degree, they were curious about the relevance of what they had been studying. Being an older student when I finished college, I knew it took the right lens to see the application or context.
The main takeaway here was that they were curious and ambitious. How can a student leverage this? Here’s my advice:
Never lose your Curiosity, be focused and have persistence, be patient. -Chris Milton
In the hope these don’t sound too cliche, I’ve tried to give relevant examples. After all, if you’re a student or someone ready to start their side hustle, I truly hope you implement this.
Never Lose your Curiosity
As we get older and learn more things, we naturally become less curious about how things work or what’s new. Our brain’s ability to deduce what’s repetitive or what might be something we are familiar with, sucks.
Keep an eye for new things, trends, fashions and who’s paying attention to which.
The curiosity you have now with the new project that you’re interested in or the skills you can’t wait to apply fresh out of school are more precious than you can see. If it could be bottled up, mixed with energy, it would probably sell for more than gold!
Curious about if what you’re learning can make an impact in the real world? Post it as a free service on Craigslist or in a relevant Facebook Group. For these two taking human resources courses, offer to review and edit a resume. Or practice with someone to prepare for interview questions.
If a stranger will take your service for free, then you can ask if it helped them out. AND, if they got enough value that they would have paid for it. Find out how much the market will bear.
For resume editing, I asked a friend who was doing this in a career centre, then went freelance and she charges $75 to review resumes for typos, grammar, etc. She does about 5–10 of these per day — its a simple, yet profitable business.
I don’t have any other tips here, for me, I’m really fascinated by a wide variety of topics and I tend to want to learn about things. Do a deep dive rather than just read a headline. But that’s also me, I like to read. I like to explore. I’m curious. Currently, I’m really enjoying re-learning some of the things I did as a kid through the lens of my kids.
Be Focused and have Persistence
There’s always a number you have to hit. To get there, some will say yes and support you. Some will say no. In fact, more people will say no. Its a reality that we need a very low percentage of success to actually be successful.
Regardless of our interview prep and resume help example above, we’re all shooting for goals. Don’t be discouraged to the point that you stop or pivot abruptly. Know you’re on the right path and trust the process. Pivot when the market tells you, not when you’re feeling down.
How many positive metrics would you need to feel accomplished and that you’ve got something that works?
Here’s a few examples:
- Closing 3 new deals… but it could have taken 100 phone calls
- Raising your next round of funding… but it could have taken 30–50 meetings and trying, often desperately, to get investor money
- Launch a new product, congratulate everyone on your team for making it happen- then get back to work.
Remember, its recommended to be niche focused. There’s more upside to you working in a specific industry that you’re interested in.
Be Patient
I looked back today at some old photos and couldn’t believe how much things have changed over the years. In one photo I was holding a Blackberry 8700! Especially with my career, I didn’t think I would end up where I’m at today, or accomplished the goals that I set for this time in my life.
The same amount of time it takes to build something, it’ll take the same or less amount of time to destroy it. Natural growth will help make this more feasible and avoid churn.
Now, I’m appreciating the journey more than the milestones. Looking back, there have been some mis-steps and a lot of hard work. Guess what’s ahead? Some mis-steps and a lot of hard work.
Enjoying the journey makes it much easier to be patient.
Next Steps
What ever your skill, you need to build a path to market. How will people find out about your product? When will you be able to make money? Using the example above, test your services by posting a Facebook group or putting up a listing on Craigslist.
You’ll now have to pay a fee in some cities to post on Craigslist, but its well worth the money spent if you get a couple paying customers. Every time I’ve posted services on Craigslist, I get at least 10–13 inquiries before the post expires. Not all are qualified, but its good to know that the market is responding to ads.
Craigslist is a transparent place. You can be open and honest that you’re a student looking for projects that would relate to what you’re studying. You can be upfront that you’re working on your side hustle. The more details you offer about the situation, the quicker you can fill the void.
You can even ask for the sale on the spot.
Play around with craiglist and get a client or two; even its free work….. then you’ll know if the stuff you’re learning in the class room is valued in the real world. And, if you position it just right, you might find a niche that pays really well while you’re still in school.
