There are a million MLMs and Pyramid Schemes out there, promising big, fast, easy money. The problem is that it doesn’t often work that way.
How do I know?
Well, I left my job as an executive at a fintech in October 2018. I worked on the start-up full time (40+ hours per week).
I didn’t take a salary until October 2020. I didn’t take one penny until 2 years later
That’s 2 years working full time on something without making any money. Side note: My wife was very gracious to let me live off our savings for these 2 years. I married a saint!
So, why do I generally dislike get-rich-quick MLMs and Pyramid Schemes?
Because I don’t believe these are often true. Yes, some are legitimate.
But you may say, “Mine is different. Mine sells organic coffee straight from Africa”
Everyone says there’s is different. Everyone says there’s isn’t a pyramid scheme.
You may not believe me which is fine, but I would suggest reading stories about others who have joined MLMs.
So, what do you do to make money not doing an MLM? Let me discuss my favorite alternative.
My Favorite Side Hustle
I do what I enjoy. I write. I can get paid for writing.
You can get paid for things you enjoy
How can you make money doing the thing you love?
If you click on the link above, you can see that I can make about $1300-$5000 every month blogging on the side. I estimate that I spend about 20 hours per month on the blog, so that’s an hourly rate of between $65 and $250 per hour!! Not bad for a side hustle.
If you’re interested, I’d recommend checking out my blog post, how to start a money blog in 5 simple steps. I would estimate that it will take about 30 minute to 1 hour to setup, and then the fun begins.
I will also note that if you do setup a money making blog, please reach out to me directly at savedbythecents@gmail.com as I have a lot of free materials and ideas to share that I WISH I would have known when I first starting blogging. It would have saved me a lot of time and helped me make money FASTER.
Help With Your Blog
I want to share one trick that I have been using on my blog for some time as I have 4 small kiddos and a full time job as an executive of a startup.
Let’s say you do not have a lot of time to blog or are not great at design.
I have been using Fiverr and Upwork to help me source content for my blog as it makes the process much easier, and it allows me to curate great content at a discount.
For example, I like helping people get out of debt, so I was going to write a free e-book to help people get out of debt cheaper, easier and faster (full disclosure: I haven’t yet, but if you’d like the book, email me at savedbythecents@gmail.com as I need some motivation).
Check out a design I got from Fiverr.
I believe I had 3-4 of these covers made and many of them were really good/fun.
Why It’s My Favorite Side Hustle
Let’s cover a few reasons why I really like making money blogging.
It’s flexible
You are essentially starting a business, similar to an MLM. Except, you are not having to pay a lot of upfront costs and fees.
With this business comes great flexibility. You can work when you want and how you want in most cases.
It’s easy
It’s very simple to sign up. I put together this detailed approach how you can start a blog in a 5 simple steps to start your money making blogging adventure. You can put in some information about what you are interested in doing, and voila, you can get started rather easily.
Do What You Love
I like writing. I get paid to write. How cool is that?
Conclusion
Before you jump into an MLM, do your research and come into the experience with an understanding that many people lose money. If you are early to an MLM, you may make significant money, but the question you may want to ask yourself is whether it’s worth it.
