[How to] Build a Successful IG Side Hustle

Instagram Marketing
#1

Hi all!

I have been a member of the forum for a while and have learnt so much from here that I feel it’s been more informative than college lol. Anyhow, I wanted to give back to the community by providing you all with details on how to successfully build an IG Side Hustle.

Please note that the tips below work for any Side Hustle in any business area and are not exclusive for IG, but since I have experience on Instagram it might be skewed towards that.

It will be a long read, but let’s begin…

Introduction - Why even start a Side Hustle?

  • In today’s world, unless you’re a high paid executive, 1 income source is not enough… the side hustle is the new job security.
  • When you receive multiple paychecks from different sources, you are no longer dependent on just one employer
  • More income means more options. More Options = More Opportunities = More Freedom

What to you REALLY need to start a successful Instagram Side Hustle?

  1. The willingness to invest time to learn
    By far, the most important thing you need to build a successful IG Side Hustle is the time to learn through forums like this one. Even it is just 1 hour every other day, being active and reading through guides/tips and other posts in forums like this one is an invaluable way to learn what works and what doesn’t work. What software to use; what VPS to run; what settings to test etc etc.

  2. The right frame of mind that understands the following:

  • Testing is needed on a consistent basis - IG is always changing and what worked last year might not work today. Heck, what work yesterday might not work today, so TEST TEST & TEST on a regualr basis.
  • You need (A LOT) of Patience - Many people believe that Instagram is a “get rich quick” endeavor. That is far from the truth. It usually takes anywhere between 6 months to 1 year to really understand how everything works and test what best works for you.
  • The only way to master a side hustle is by doing: BE WILLING TO ACT - Another reason for which patience is needed is because you have to act, test and fail frequently and fast. If you don’t read the forums, you won’t learn. If you don’t test, you won’t succeed. If you don’t go on a risky adventure across the Atlantic, you will never discover America. You get the point… If you don’t want to act/put an effort, then don’t even start a side hustle.
  • You don’t need a lot of money, nor a business degree, nor employees, nor assistants, not business partners to start a side hustle.

In Practice, how can my side hustle succeed?

  1. If possible, set aside a dedicated hustle space that motivates you to be the very best … like no one ever was…

  2. Right from the beginning, set up a very simple accounting system. An excel spreadsheet is more than enough and you should be able to easily find good templates on google.

  3. Set up a way to get paid: If you don’t have a way to get paid, then you don have a side hustle. Period.

  4. Employ the 20/80 rule: 20% of your efforts will create 80% of your results. SO focus your efforts in fulfilling the tasks that correspond to that 20%

  5. Celebrate small and early achievements.

  6. Found settings and/or sources that work for you? Do more of that and less of what doesn’t work.

Some clients are assholes
Yes. They are. However, not everyone is and it’s your job to keep the ones you want to work with.
Remember, people only work and hire those they trust. This also applies to you, the business owner. YOU should only do business with the people/clients you trust.

Side hustles are tough, there is no sugar coating here. It takes time, sleep deprivation, testing, learning, adapting, planning and a lot of patience - especially on Instagram. But, success grows on trees, you just have to plant the right seeds.

You’ve reached the end of this road … or is it the beginning? Time to get hustling!

9 Likes
#2

Why make it a side hustle? Why not the main hustle? I make more than some executives at corporations.

Great post. Keep them coming.

9 Likes
#3

I think for people to trust you, it’s gotta be more than just a side hustle. They need to see you’re ALL IN, not half-way, for them to trust you with their business.

3 Likes
#4

Great post! I agree in almost every point but for myself I found that sleep deprivation is one of the baddest things I can do for my productivity, focus and at the end of the day for my results. Back in the days I thought shortening my sleep would give me more time to get shit done, but that wasnt the case. As Jeff Bezos does, I made the right amount of physical and mental regeneration a priority. Since few weeks I’m experimenting with not even using an alarm clock and waking up naturally. This was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. How much sleep you need is different from one person to the other, but for me I found out it’s about 7-8 hours. To give you a better idea of what waking up naturally does I will explain it with science. As you may now we sleep in phases or cycles. I don’t want to dig to deep inside of the science of sleep so in short: One full sleep cycle is about 1,5 hours. The most people experience the best feeling when waking up shortly after a sleeping cycle. So the popular recommendation of exact 8 hours of sleep might not be the best idea when you think about that 7,5 hours are 5 sleeping cycles and 8 hours would would crush the 6th. I have the feeling that waking up naturally always goes in hand with this sleeping cycles. When your not waking up naturally and using an alarm clock a good way to use this knowledge to improve your regeneration would be to setup your alarm clock to your sleeping cycles. For example 6 or 7,5 hours.

This maybe got a little bit off-topic but I think that is some interesting stuff to share and maybe someone gets inspired.

6 Likes
#5

I second the thing about sleep, it already has been scientifically quantified that we have a certain “willingness” energy to do things everyday. They did a test between radishes and cookies between groups and pretty much one group was able to eat cookies but the other group had to eat radishes after being enticed by cookies. Afterwards both groups were given a puzzle which the cookie group had visibly solved in almost half the time as opposed to the radish group. To summarize, the radish group had to use mental energy to not eat the cookie therefore depleted doing their puzzle task. This applies to everyday life where even if we choose to focus on social media, we should remember not to burn out on our own mental health and physical health.

2 Likes
#6

sleep is super important. our culture kind of values being so busy and productive that you are sleep deprived but this is not healthy or sustainable and bad for productivity

3 Likes
#7

You cannot pour from an empty cup. Gotta fill that baby up so you’re all there when it counts.

1 Like
#8

Quick edit: The amount of sleep affects our mental and physical state, which in turn affects our ability to make decisions. This ability is probably the most important and strongest we humans possess, as it determines the direction in our lives.

2 Likes
#9

Totally agree with this sleep part even though I went through the sleep deprivation phase lol. Actually, I think I heard somewhere that you can survive more time without food than without sleep…