4 Things I’ve Tried to Supplement My 9–5 Income But Didn’t Last
I didn’t wait for the perfect opportunity to fail and learn from my mistakes
Most employees want to make more money with their current job.
However, a lot of times, that increase in income does not make sense (when viewed from the employer’s perspective). That explains why I wanna create something to generate extra income on the side.
Here are some of ventures I’ve tried in the past but had to stop doing them because they proved to be a lot harder than when they were sold to me:
#1 — Engineering CAD work for small businesses
Why it was a good idea — Small local business cannot afford to hire full-time CAD designers.
Why it became too difficult — I didn’t know how to find these small local businesses. Google isn’t a reliable method because most of them have outdated website that do not rank in the search engine.
#2 — Affiliate Marketing
Why it was a good idea — The thought of having a webpage with affiliate links or ads and getting people to buy from them sounded easy. This explains why I have a website lol.
Why it became too difficult — Creating trust online takes time. There’s 1,000,000,000,000 who are thinking exactly like me. They’re a prey to those affiliate marketing gurus who are selling online courses that don’t work as well as they’re promised.
#3 — Life Insurance Agent
Why it was a good idea — Why not help other people with their financial burden while at the same time make good money from it?
Why it became too difficult — This path helped me learn more about how investing works and all that. Then I learned more about that I lost my confidence with the product I’m selling. It’s still good…but not as good as I initially thought.
#4 — E-Commerce Store
Why it was a good idea — I love to create illustrations with MSPaint. So why not make extra money by printing them on a T-shirt? I thought about offering personalized designs too!
Why it became too difficult — I couldn’t find the people who wants to spend $40 on a T-shirt. Plus, you have SEOs and all that other stuff to worry about too!
#5 — Freelancing (Writing SEO Articles)
Why it was a good idea — It turns out, I enjoyed writing and sharing about my thoughts and interests online. So why not give freelance writing a shot and make money doing what I love?
Why it became too difficult — Working for some dude in 3rd world country and pay me $1 for an hour of my time didn’t make sense. He was also pushy about the deadline. Plus, I felt icky writing articles I don’t have any interest in.
I failed a lot, but I also learned a lot!
