Kind of crazy, but it makes sense if you think about it.

Hey there 👋

It's been a while...I know. Things are going fine. In fact, there's a lot to be thankful for and so much fun stuff I'm going to share in the coming months but first...the $1,213.45 message in a bottle. Let's start with that.

In order to get there, we have to talk about tax season...it's something a lot of people dread, especially if you're not prepared or just dread the big numbers, little numbers, numbers that are funny and frankly, quite annoying but I want to talk about some big numbers because I didn't realize how much my side hustles brought in for me in 2021.

I'm not going to share how much exactly but I will say that it surprised me to see a number that was in the five figure range. Now, I'm not rich by any means, in fact, I'm paying off a lot of debt that I've accrued from being a student but that's the point...I was able to make that much just with side hustles and still keeping a full time gig as a band teacher for half of 2021 before leaving the profession.

So what does this have to do with $1,213.45? Well...

Back when I was just starting my side business in 2018, I had maybe a couple of people interested in what I could do to help them. I learned the hard way how to pitch, work too much for too little, undervalue my services, and all the pitfalls you can think of when first starting out...it was not easy.

But, over time, I kept sending messages out to different people; family, friends, neighbors, people at the store, anyone willing to give me a couple minutes to share my knowledge and what I could do to help their business or someone they knew.

It was exhausting and did take a toll on me, but the more I got rejected, the closer I got to acceptance.

In fact, I sent so many messages out in bottles that some of them started coming back in groups. It was a bit overwhelming. I suppose another cliché would be the "snowball effect" - I started with a small snowball, kept pushing it down the hill, and then gravity helped take care of the rest.

Now, more than ever, whenever I think, "can I really do this? Quit my teaching profession and run my own business?" or whenever I doubt myself for a moment, there seems to be someone messaging me, calling me, or asking more my services.

So, if you're thinking about doing a side hustle and have gotten nervous, scared, freaked out, or not sure what to do? Just start sending those messages out and find something that you can help people with and please, please, please charge what you think you are worth.

I cannot stress this enough.

Because there will always be people willing to do things for cheaper, but I know people that charge more that do less -- because they're good at it and they simply believe how much they're worth.

Happy hustling and reach out if you need ideas on what you can do to monetize your favorite hobbies or skills. You'd be surprised how much money people make by simply selling their knowledge, expertise, time, skills, whatever -- there's something out there for everyone. Maybe you'll get a single message from someone worth $1,213.45 -- maybe more!