One way to get through an expensive Christmas season is to focus on your side gig for the holidays. This can help you get extra income before the year ends. Christmas is quite an expensive holiday since it involves a lot of gift-giving and even vacation time. You could also be seeing a lot of travel to be with family and friends over the holidays.
With this, an increase in income will help you offset some of the big expenses over the holidays. It can help you budget more for gifts you will give out to family and close friends. If you are hosting or attending a social event, extra funds will be a big boost to make the party a little better or to be able to contribute more than asked.
One challenge you might face when looking for a side gig for the holidays is that a lot of other people could be doing the same thing. It is that time of the year where you want to be able to show your appreciation for the people that you love by showering them with gifts. It is
Identify your main strength
If you are looking at your side gig for the holidays because of the huge expenses it brings, you need to identify your main strengths to make it work. One area to look into is your hobby and figure out a way to convert it into an income positive venture. You could be a photographer and love to take portrait photos. You can either offer that for families and even corporate businesses in your area or make personalized photo sessions as gifts for people.
Another area you can consider is your area of expertise. This may or may not coincide with your hobby and that is perfectly fine. You can be an expert creative designer but your hobby is cooking at home on weekends for your family. Your expertise can also be an option for your side gig efforts. Figure out a way how you can earn extra off of it for the coming holidays.
The bottomline is for you to be able to pinpoint your strengths to help you put together a side gig effort before the year ends. Once you have a clear understanding of what your hobby is or what your area of expertise you can bank on, start from there. This is an important first step in helping you get through the holidays with your finances intact.
Look for the demand in your industry
Looking for a side gig for the holidays requires you to look at what works in your industry and most especially, where you are located. If you are a photographer and a lot of the people in your neighborhood who needs family photos to send out to their relatives during the holidays, you can focus on that niche for the holidays. Intelligent Economist shares that if demand exceeds supply, prices normally go up.
If baking is your expertise and you know that beautifully packed cookies sell quick over the holidays, create a lot of them and make it easy for people to order. It can be as simple as giving out your number for quick orders or creating an online page for your cookies. You can offer to deliver them to their house to make it convenient for your customers to receive the cookies.
The idea here is matching your skills and areas of expertise with what people around you or your potential customer needs. Having the ability to match these two increases your chances of earning more over the holidays. Do your research well before putting in your efforts in a side gig and you will see your actions pay off.
Start with family and friends
As you start off and look for your first customers, your side gig for the holidays can pick up steam if you start with family and friends. They can always be your first set of customers and they rarely say no. In fact, they would love to support you in your endeavors because family and close friends wish only what is best for you.
Start telling them about your plans and they might not only be your first set of customers, but they could also even help you in a lot of ways. For one, they can start telling their friends or colleagues about your services. This way, you get to increase your chances of selling a product or offering your skills to earn extra money.
One thing you have to remember though is that your family and friends would most likely recommend you to other people because they love you. If you want to go beyond that where you are recommended by people you do not know, you have to make sure that the quality of work that you put out can speak for itself.
Get your name out there
You might find it challenging to get more clients outside your immediate circle and if this happens, your side gig for the holidays might start to suffer. You could also start to lose heart and think that you are no good which is the reason why people are not getting your services or even buying your products for the holidays.
One thing you need to do is make sure that people know what you are doing. If you do not advertise how your skills can help people or how your products are different from others, it is similar to winking at someone in the dark. Only you know what you are doing but the people and potential clients around you have no clue.
If you are selling baked goods, you can take great photos of your products, post them online or create a page or a site for it and start sharing it with people around you. You can also send out an text message to the people in your contact list or even an email to offer your products. Once you do, they can easily pass this on to other people they know which increases your chances of getting clients.
Side gig for the holidays can be an income positive venture
As you look for a side hustle for the holidays, remember that it can turn into a regular income positive hobby. If this continues on, it would be a positive development for your finances in the coming new year. This gives you all the more reason to approach your side gig as a potential money-making endeavor for you.
With this in mind, make sure that you put out some quality work. The effort you put in now can be your calling card for future work or re-orders. Yes, you are starting it to make some extra funds you need for the holidays but it could also be your ticket to a stronger financial position as the new year comes in. You can augment your income and be able to reach your goals faster.
Getting a side gig for the holidays can help you manage the additional expenses that are coming in at the end of the year. It also protects your funds and gives you a great start for the new year. On top of these, a side hustle can turn into a regular source of income which will give your income a boost getting you closer to your financial goals.
