The Side Hustler Checklist ✔️

Hi friends,

With this checklist, you will know the nitty-gritty behind what goes into the making of a side-hustler and a creator.

Of course, each of these points can have an article of its own (and I’m working on compiling my existing articles around the creator economy and freelancing), but I’ve tried to add as many details as possible to give you clarity on the direction of your journey. These things personally helped me drastically.

And if you don’t know me...I’m Niharikaa! It’s so lovely to meet you :)

I quit my 9-5 in July 2021 and in December 2020 I wrote a goal to quit before I turn 25. I started side-hustling in November 2020 and am self-employed right now. I’ve been awarded the top-writer status 20 times on Medium across categories and joined Twitter in June 2021, where I’m growing dramatically.

My purpose is to help people live better lives, whether it’s by self-improvement articles (where everything I write about is tried and tested), ebooks, guides, or courses.

I hope you enjoy this and I’d love to hear from you once you finish it. Go on, crush it!

Love,

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi

What?

A skill to improve/ learn

Learn from ⬇️

Skillshare

Books

Guides

Online courses

Youtube

Udemy

Where?

A medium for that skill

Choosing one platform

Name that platform:

Choosing one social network (will help build your personal brand)

Name that platform:

Choosing the right platform is important. I had to delete an account with over 11,000 Instagram followers because I wanted to write and not be too visual.

How?

Find Models

(beneficial if you also aspire to be a creator)

Find 3 people who are doing what you want to do

Read about their journeys

What were their failures?

What helped?

What sucked?

How did they combat hard times?

Present strategies

Present routines

Make YOUR routine now

What time works the best?

Morning

Noon

Late afternoon

Evening

Before I sleep

Feel free to break the tasks depending on your convenience. During my 9-5, I worked 1h before work and 1h after work. Right now, I edit in the morning, write in the afternoon or evening and write ideas before I sleep.

Productivity checklist

Routine

Written Goals

Monthly target

Weekly milestones to get closer to the target

Weekly reflection on weekends

How was my week?

What was great?

What didn’t work as planned?

What will I do next week?

Taking out time to learn/ polish the skill

Taking enough rest

Money?

Freelance

Yes or No?

If yes

Create Upwork profile (or Fiverr)

Prepare a proposal (this video helped me)

Cold DM people on LinkedIn

Pro tip: check out their business, find an issue (e.g. your copywriting can be better on ‘about me page’) and suggest a solution in the DM - much better random cold DMs!

No - focussing on just creating

Affiliates

Free and easy

Monetise your newsletter with Swapstack

Use Hypefury affiliate link if you’re a member

Do you use apps that pay you for sign-ups? Use their referral links.

Skillshare if you’re a member.

Medium referral links

Tough ones - work by putting time/money and becoming more credible

If you enrol into a course, hit up the course creator and ask for an affiliate link. The worst answer is just a no, which isn’t so bad. (My Summit 21 course members have an option to become affiliates if they enjoyed the course)

Email the cofounder (that's how I got a 20% off on Hypefury membership without being a member)

Creating Channels

Youtube

Medium

These channels pay you for watching/ reading minutes.

Relevant article: My 5 Income Streams as a Full-Time Creator

Become a Creator

The creator economy is booming! There’s no better time to be a creator. Here’s the path for the same.

Find/ work on a skill

Showcase that skill on a platform for long

Be consistent (algorithms love consistency)

Engage with others in a similar niche

This will help you:

Create better work (because consistency)
Build an audience (because consistency, again)
Build relationships
Add value and gain credibility
Have more fun!
Learn from others
Building in public = direct feedback

Pro tip: I publish 17-20 articles/ month on Medium, and schedule my tweets at 7-10 tweets/day for the week (takes an hour or two). This has helped me a lot so far!

Realities to form peace with

I will not be obsessed with stats

I will increase my quantity as I improve the quality

Traction takes time, easy 6-12 months. I will work for one year even with zero money and views.

Instead of whining about my work not getting traction or criticising the platform, I will find the weak points and work on them.

My first 50 videos/articles will probably be shit, but it’s a learning phase.

I will celebrate wins! Every one follower, client, and $ is a big big deal!

Helpful Reads

How I Have 91,600+ Followers Across Platforms

I Went Viral on LinkedIn With 4.79 Million Views

Be a Thriving Creator With 3 Easy But One Tough Step

Freelancing Tips I Wish Somebody Gave Me When I Started

3 Things Preventing You From Writing Consistently

Successful Side Hustlers Have These 4 Traits

What My 4-Hour Workday Looks Like as a ‘Full-Time’ Writer

Creative Space' - The Sweet Spot Where Ideas Are Brewed and Executed

Learn From Me

Become a consistent writer and grow your online presence with my 3-week long cohort-based course, Summit 21⛰.

Here, I’ll teach you all my tips and tricks.

If you want to become a better writer, ace LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or Medium, and build an audience while you’re at it - Summit 21 is for you.

Our alumni are super happy, check out what they have to say.

Click Here to enroll in the next available cohort.

If it’s not available anytime soon for you, DM me on Twitter and I’ll make sure to ping you when we start next.

More Resources

FREE eBook on Starting a Side Hustle and Making Money Online - Download here

💡Fun fact: It has over 2000 downloads so far (Released in September 2021)

A concise guide on Writing Your First eBook effortlessly - Get here

💡Fun fact: my free ebooks have made me $1000+ built an audience.

Medium Guide: Learn how to ace on Medium and make money quicker than I did - Get here

💡Fun Fact: I made over $10k in my first year on Medium.

What if spending $19.99 on this makes you $1999 a few months from now? 😉

Article Guide: If you want to write kickass blogs without Medium Hacks - Get here

Stay in Touch

Say hello on Twitter!

Connect with me on LinkedIn (fyi, I’m in the exclusive Creator’s Program that LinkedIn invited me for!) If you send a request, do put in a note that you’re from here as I have over 6.5k pending requests :(

Read my stories on Medium - I talk about side hustles, being a creator, and self-improvement. Not a member? Sign up using my referral link.

Lastly, I also have a weekly newsletter with a family of 1650+ subscribers where I help them become healthier and happier 🙂