LexTalk

  If you had asked me a few years ago what my favorite side hustle was, I’m not sure I would have had an answer.

Now?

I have several.

But here’s the part nobody really talks about:
It took me a long time to build them.

There wasn’t one magical morning when I woke up, started a side hustle, made a bunch of money, and suddenly had life figured out.

There were ideas that went nowhere.

Posts that barely got views.

Things I created that nobody bought.

Moments when I wondered if I was wasting my time.

And plenty of days when the money I made probably wouldn’t have even paid for dinner.

But I kept going.

Not because I had some secret formula.

Not because everything I touched magically became successful.

I kept going because somewhere underneath all the doubt, frustration, comparison, and impatience…

I never completely stopped believing in myself.

And that might be the most important side hustle advice I could ever give someone.

1. Blogging: Turning My Thoughts Into Something Bigger

Blogging has become one of my favorite creative outlets because there really aren’t many rules about what I can talk about.

One day I might write about family life.

Another day I’m talking about Halloween, something that happened to me, a show I’m watching, traveling, relationships, or answering a random WordPress writing prompt like this one.

And somehow, all those little pieces become part of my corner of the internet.

Is blogging a get-rich-quick side hustle?

Absolutely not.

If anything, blogging has taught me patience.

You can spend hours writing something you’re incredibly proud of and then…
crickets.

Hello? Anyone out there?

 
But then something interesting happens.

Someone reads it.

Someone subscribes.

Someone finds an older post.

Someone connects with something you wrote months ago.

Those tiny moments remind me that I’m building something.

Maybe brick by brick.

Maybe painfully slowly sometimes.

But I’m building it.

2. Etsy: Getting Paid for Something I Actually Love

My Etsy shop has been another lesson in believing in what I create.

I love oracle cards, spirituality, witchy things, creativity, and making things that feel a little magical.

So instead of trying to build a side hustle around something I thought would simply “make money,” I started leaning into things I genuinely enjoy.

Oracle readings.

Ritual kits.

Little witchy creations.

Things that actually feel like me.

And I still remember how exciting those first sales felt.

Because when you’re starting small, a sale isn’t just money.

It’s proof.

Someone out there saw something you created and said:
I want that.

That feeling is pretty incredible.

Even when the profit is $15 or $20, I refuse to look at that and say, “That’s only $15.”
That’s $15 I didn’t have before.

That’s someone supporting something I created.

That’s evidence that an idea living inside my head turned into something another human being valued enough to purchase.

That’s worth celebrating.

3. Amazon Reviews & Affiliate Content: Making Everyday Life Work a Little Harder

This one is interesting because I already buy things.

Home decor. Clothes. Cat products. Holiday stuff. Random things I convince myself I absolutely need at 10 p.m.

 
So why not create useful content around things I’m already using?

I’ve learned that side hustles don’t always have to involve inventing something completely new.

Sometimes it’s about looking at what you’re already doing and asking:

Could this create value for someone else?

If I buy a shirt and can help another woman figure out how it fits, that’s useful.

If I buy something for my house and can show someone what it actually looks like outside of a perfectly staged product photo, that’s useful.

If something works great — or completely disappoints me — that’s useful too.

Your normal everyday experiences have value when you learn how to share them.

4. Content Creation: Showing Up Before Anyone Is Watching

YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok…

Content creation might be one of the biggest exercises in patience I’ve ever voluntarily signed myself up for.

 
You can spend forever making something you’re excited about…

Post it…

Refresh…

And get approximately three views and a sympathy like.

Meanwhile, someone else posts their cat blinking and gets 2 million views.

And yes, as someone with a cat, I am absolutely taking notes.

But I’ve learned something important from creating content:

You cannot only show up when people are paying attention.

Sometimes you have to create when almost nobody is watching.

You have to post when the numbers aren’t exciting.

You have to experiment.

You have to learn.

You have to make something better next time.

Because every post teaches you something.

And every person who follows, subscribes, comments, clicks, or comes back is one more person who wasn’t there before.

Growth can feel painfully slow when you’re staring at the numbers every day.

But zoom out far enough and suddenly you realize:

Wait… I actually built something.

5. Find a Way to Make Money From Something That Already Lights You Up

This is probably my favorite side hustle idea of all.

Don’t just ask:

“How can I make extra money?”

Ask:

“What do I already love doing — and how could I turn some part of that into something useful?”

Maybe you love baking.

Photography.

Writing.

Organizing.

Dogs.

Travel.

Makeup.

Crafting.

Fitness.

Thrifting.

Tarot.

Gardening.

Whatever your thing is, start there.

You don’t necessarily need to become an expert overnight.

You don’t need thousands of followers.

You don’t need a perfectly designed logo.

You don’t need to know exactly where it’s going.

Sometimes you just need to start.

The Part About Side Hustles Nobody Likes to Post About

Here’s the raw part.

There have absolutely been times when I’ve questioned all of this.

When something didn’t sell.

When the views weren’t there.

When I wondered why other people seemed to grow faster.

When I put effort into something and didn’t get the result I hoped for.

When I thought:

Am I actually going anywhere with this?

That’s the side of building something that doesn’t look very cute on social media.

We see people’s milestones.

We don’t always see the months — or years — that came before them.

The failed ideas.

The quiet accounts.

The products nobody bought.

The videos nobody watched.

The constant experimenting.

The moments when quitting would have been easier.

I’ve had to remind myself over and over again that slow growth is still growth.

And I’ve had to learn not to measure the value of what I’m building solely by what it earned today.

Because I’m not just trying to make an extra few dollars…

I’m learning.

I’m creating.

I’m building skills.

I’m figuring out what works.

I’m figuring out what doesn’t work.

And most importantly…

I’m building something that belongs to me.

If You’re Starting Your Own Side Hustle…

Please don’t look at someone else’s chapter 20 and decide your chapter one isn’t good enough.

Your first sale matters.

Your first subscriber matters.

Your first dollar matters.

Your first 100 views matter.

And honestly?

Sometimes your zero-view days matter too.

Because those are the days when you find out whether you only believed in the applause…or whether you actually believed in yourself.

I’m still building.

I’m still experimenting.

I’m still learning.

I haven’t reached some magical finish line where I can turn around and tell everyone, “I figured it out!”

Far from it.

But maybe that’s exactly why I wanted to write this.

I’m not writing from the finish line.

I’m writing from the middle.

And if you’re in the middle too — trying, failing, learning, creating, doubting yourself, getting excited again, and wondering whether any of it is going to work — I hope you keep going.

Try the idea.

Start the page.

Write the post.

List the product.

Make the video.

Celebrate the $5.

Celebrate the first follower.

Celebrate the tiny little signs that something you once only imagined is slowly becoming real.

Because all of my side hustles started the same way:

I had an idea.

Then I had to believe in it long enough to give it a chance.

But more importantly?

I had to believe in myself long enough to give me a chance.