Life is driven by primal needs and desires.
Escaping pain and seeking pleasure are just two.
It’s human.
To the core.
Then there is inspiration and desperation.
Sometimes you need them to show up on the same day.
I was driven.
Desperate.
But curious.
And looking for answers.
Then it was discovered and it started, evolved and grew while I was working at my day job.
It was a side hustle and a passion project wrapped in inspiration and desperation.
The side hustle evolved and grew up, and became my main hustle and a full time business four years into the project.
And twelve years later we are still going strong.
Along the way, I discovered the freedom it gave me both financially and emotionally as I designed my life with purpose.
I built it on my terms as I stepped into the future with deliberate action.
Then “I” fired my 9-5 job.
I was now free.
Ready and waiting to be “me”.
It led to a life that I had never imagined.
I was able to work when and where I wanted.
I was able to travel in Europe for three months while I kept making money.
I spoke at international events.
While my team did the heavy lifting and looked after the details.
And the mundane daily processes.
Taking control of your life design means you don’t need to ask your boss for permission.
As they are no longer looking over your shoulder.
Many of us feel trapped by circumstances.
And think that you need to take big risks to change your life.
Burn your bridges.
Shut your eyes and leap into the void.
But I discovered that the do or die approach wasn’t necessary.
Now I want to share the roadmap and foundational pillars I learned on my journey.
I call it The Freedom Code – it’s the foundation for all the content you’ll receive as part of Side Hustle Strategies.
My vision is to provide you the inspiration, resources and community to start and grow your side hustle.
I’ve refined this framework from years of trial and error and can now distill it in an easy-to-understand format for you to learn. You can use it as a template or just as inspiration. It’s up to you.
My wish for you?
To give you permission to dream for a better future.
To crystallize that into an actionable idea.
To start.
To rise and thrive.
There has never been a better time to act.
We now have the tools and platforms you need to succeed that are either free or low cost and easy to use.
Many of them didn’t exist ten years ago.
In our digital society there is an appetite to start a side hustle as the uncertainty of full-time work makes it essential to have supplementary income, and de-risk your financial security.
Build a life of freedom.
I want to create the best place for you to be inspired, learn and grow into your bright future.
That is why I created “The Freedom Code” framework. A distillation of decades of hard work, creating and learning.
The Freedom Code Five Pillar Framework
These are the five pillars that inspired and sustained me in my side hustle journey. They do not need to be sequential but they are essential.
You may have started the journey and just need to grow.
Or you don’t know where to start and need a guiding hand.
You may need to read a story that inspires you to start.
Find a framework that gives you some structure and simplicity in a world of complexity and confusion.
And you can leap in and leap out. Grab what you can and take your time.
So what are the five pillars?
- Discover
- Create
- Share
- Monetize
- Amplify
Here’s how they work:
Pillar 1: Discover
“Sometimes the dream almost whispers. And I’ve always said to my kids: the hardest thing is to listen – To your instinct, your human personal intuition – But it always whispers, never shouts.
Then that is going to be what you do for the rest of your life, and we will benefit from everything you do”. – Steven Spielberg
Introduction
Discovering your life purpose and why you are on this planet means discovering your gift. As Steven Spielberg reflected. “It is just a whisper and never shouts.” This means you will need to consume, observe and quietly reflect and listen to the whisper. There is no template and no exact formula for this but there are some life habits and tactics that will help you in this discovery phase. We encourage side hustlers to start a business built upon their passionate purpose.
Story
I was over 50 and I had just closed my business, was in the middle of a divorce and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. I handed over the keys for the family home to the bank. My younger brother took pity on me and invited me to come and live with him.
In my quiet and forced sabbatical, I started looking for the next opportunity back in the technology world where I had spent most of my career.
I read the book “The 4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss. He painted a picture of the modern entrepreneur in a digital world and its opportunities and I started to imagine some business ideas.
Then I read the “New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott. He mentioned the idea of attracting customers with inbound marketing. Now well known as “content marketing.”
I finally read a blog post on HubSpot that said if you want to start a business and have just an inkling of what that is, “Start a blog” and create content that attracts an audience.
As an ex-salesperson who was used to cold calling and chasing customers it was an attractive idea. That was my passionate purpose.
But on what topic?
It turned up as a quiet observation. Almost a feeling. An intersection of topics and trends that had attracted my interest and curiosity.
I had been invited to join Facebook by a friend then I joined Twitter and I was fascinated and curious. I thought it was a game changer. It was the intersection of humanity and technology with global opportunities. We now had two way global conversations. We were connecting people with similar interests. Discovering tribes.
So in March 2009, I started the Jeffbullas.com Blog on the topic of how to use social media for starting and growing a business. It was just a passion project and a side hustle. But I dared to dream of a new life and a new business idea.
As a wise philosopher once said. “Beautiful beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”
Lesson
The biggest question we all face is “What do I do with my life?”
In essence, it goes to the heart of who we are and answers another question. “Why am I here?”
But…don’t force it.
Be patient. And start. Ideas are just the genesis.
Manifest your idea and take it from the unseen to the visible.
That’s action.
So grab a pen and write it down. It only needs to be one page and includes just 3 steps. Don’t overcomplicate it.
- Write down a description of the product or service you will be creating.
- Summarize it into one sentence so that when someone asks “What do you do?” It’s succinct, clear and memorable.
- Write down all the reasons for the question. “Why am I uniquely qualified for this mission?” – This will be revealing and will validate your vision, big idea and concept.
Pillar 2: Create
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw
Introduction
Once you’ve settled on your passionate purpose then it’s time to do the work – Create.
This is about what product, service or even art you are going to create and sell. It requires you to choose how you are going to create and the resources needed to do that. This is where you go from idea to action.
What do I mean by the word “Create”?
When the word create is mentioned we usually think of artists. But we forget that the art and science of creating is not limited to the normal definition and accepted version of creatives! Entrepreneurs are often left out of that conversation. We think more about painters, artists and conventional art.
The reality is that the entrepreneur, the start up, and the “side hustler” are artists and creators. They take an idea and turn that into a business. That is a creation.
They take an imagined idea and make it a reality.
Dreaming, ideas and imagination takes form.
As humans we are all dreamers and creators. But some act and others dither.
The reality? If it isn’t visible then it doesn’t exist.
- Architects are creators. They imagine a building.
- Builders are creators. They take a design from paper to production.
- Scientists are creators. They imagine a world and a universe and we can then see the reality of that creation.
- Entrepreneurs are creators. They see a problem and create a solution that turns into a real service or product that can be seen and felt.
- Photographers are creators. They take us on a journey and allow us to see the beauty of the world.
So why is creating important?
To the “wannabe” side hustler who dreams and doesn’t act and is stalled by procrastination and doubt, the world of business looks messy and complicated. That is often enough to stop and stall all of us in our tracks. When I started my side hustle I didn’t write a complicated business plan and I didn’t set out to create a high pressure “start-up”. But I started creating. And it worked!
This concept was confirmed recently by Sahil Lavingia in his book “The Minimalist Entrepreneur” when he wrote about the importance of being an artist. “Creator first, entrepreneur second… Before you become an entrepreneur, become a creator.”
It removes the complication and keeps it simple.
So to succeed, be a creator first and share that with the world, and work out how to make money second.
Story
When I started the blog I was writing. That was my creation. Your creation may be something very different. But what is vital is to create. Take an idea from virtual to reality.
For four years I climbed out of bed at 4.30am and wrote, published and shared my insights and ideas about social media before I started my day job in a digital agency. It was a passionate side hustle.
Three years later I realized I had built a digital media company one piece of content at a time and one day at a time. It had become an accidental side hustle.
As it grew I started to take time off from my full time job. Invitations to speak at events around the world about the rise of this social media phenomenon turned up in my inbox.
When my side hustle became a bigger distraction, I was slowly fired from my day job as they weren’t getting the focus they needed from me. They cut me down to three days and then two days and finally I was contracted back in as a consultant for social media and content marketing.
I had engineered my own exit.
Lesson
Once you’ve settled on a topic area then it’s time to do the work. And start.
This requires you to choose how you are going to create and the resources needed to do that. This is where you need to work out what your gift, genius and passionate purpose is. And start building it. It could be a business or could be your art.
“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.” – Dhirubhai Ambani
Pillar 3: Share
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ―Winston S. Churchill
Introduction
So….you have created a product, a service or a piece of art.
You then need to share your creation with the world and that means getting your content and products and services in front of people.
Here are some ways to do that. Social media, email marketing, search engines (SEO), influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, and many more. When you share your creation the world will change you and you will change the world.
It will also validate your idea and give you the feedback you need to evolve and grow.
Story
After joining Facebook and Twitter, I realized I had built my own global distribution network for sharing my creation and content. The platform I owned was my website and blog. My creation was my writing and the ability to share that with people that had the same interests was supercharged by the rise and rapid growth of social media platforms.
In essence I could earn attention through social media by giving away free information. This opportunity had never existed before. It was a brave new world on many levels.
I could also bypass the media mogul gatekeepers. The race and motivation now was to grow my followers to get my voice heard. I also started automating my tweets. And the social media purists were horrified. But automating my sharing meant that I could scale my personal brand and business.
As I started sharing I realized I was changing the world in my own small way and that two way conversation was changing me as I received feedback from my followers and tribe.
They told me what worked and what didn’t. The feedback also validated my idea and provided more motivation.
Lesson
Discover and Create are just two pillars towards freedom.
But the magic happens when you share your gift with the world. Creating is just the start and then you need to get your creation out to the planet. That’s how you make a difference to other people’s lives. And your bank balance.
Sharing becomes real-time research as you get feedback to make better products and services.
It only needs to be a simple product (An MVP “Minimal Viable Product”) or as someone delightfully called it. An “MLP” (Minimal Loveable Product”).
That can be a physical product, a service, art or whatever you create that adds beauty and value to the world that people can benefit from.
In the end, sharing will change you (and your product) as it makes its impact felt with your customers.
Pillar 4: Monetize
“To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans”. – Kevin Kelly
Introduction
You also need to find out if the world will pay you for your creation. Sustaining the sharing of your gift and amplifying your purpose means that you will need to get paid. Sales.
So what are the different business models in a modern digital economy? There are many!
Story
For the first year I didn’t make any money. But I created content, shared it and built a personal brand.
Ten years later I realized that with the right tools and mentors you could do this in just a few months.
I must admit that I hadn’t written a business plan on how to make money out of my passion project. But then I got an email from a stranger who was reading my blog in New Zealand and loved my creation and content. He asked me if I would come over and run a workshop on how to use social media to grow your business. We negotiated a fee. I was now making money from my media platform.
Then I was invited to speak in Italy and they paid me and flew me via business class. These were the first small steps in monetizing my passionate side hustle.
Today that revenue stream has expanded to include sponsored content, affiliate marketing and revenue from influencer marketing.
As with any business or side hustle the journey starts simply and the revenue streams can be expanded as you build the business and team.
Lesson
Many people start with the motivation to make more money. But I have discovered that if you create first you can then work out a way to make revenue and build a serious side hustle from your creation. It also keeps the side hustle focus and initiative much simpler. Focus first on creating. And as you act the vision becomes clearer and the value you start building provides a platform to monetize and grow further.
The more you get paid the bigger difference you’ll make. Being a starving artist is not fun. You deserve to be paid for your gift, your creation, your product or service. You just need to work out what that looks like and how to grow and scale it.
Pillar 5: Amplify
“You’re either growing or you’re dying, so get in motion and grow.” – Lou Holtz
Introduction
To accelerate and get more traction for sales and revenue you need to Amplify. Grow your reach, sales and influence.
You do this after you have launched and validated your creation and idea. And there are many ways to do so.
These include Facebook advertising, Google advertising, Instagram advertising, and paid influencer marketing.
The more people you reach the bigger the difference you can make and change more people’s lives.
Story
On discovering social media in 2008, I was amazed and excited to see that it connected me to old friends and colleagues at the click of a button in countries in every corner of the planet.
I quickly realized that this was going to not only be a game changer for connecting people but for business. You would be able to start conversations and access customers all over the world. And you could not only sell to a village but amplify it to the masses.
The planet was now your market and the opportunities were rapidly moving from local to global.
At first the reach and audience was in the millions across the social networks and that quickly became billions. Imagination, technology and action met a world of infinite possibility.
Then the perfect storm arrived as the smartphone allowed businesses to market to people anytime and anywhere. Media and marketing had both been democratized and mobilized. At scale.
There has never been a better time to start a side hustle or turn that into a main hustle. The tools and access to markets have never been cheaper, easier, or bigger.
Lesson
In the past, to reach a global market and advertise it was complicated and expensive. The social media revolution now provides the tools and platforms to reach the world. It gives you the power to amplify your marketing message to a global audience. This wasn’t possible before social media unless you were a major corporation with deep pockets. Now side hustlers can play the game, right at the start with small budgets.
When social media was in its early stages you could rely on organic Facebook and other social media platforms to get your creation out to the world for free. That has changed – the concept of getting free promotion is long gone, unless you’re a mega influencer with millions of followers.
Social media is now “Pay to Play” and you need to invest in Facebook and other social media advertising to promote your products and services.
Today’s digital media allows you to control your platform’s reach and monetization. You don’t need an office and you don’t need to have people on wages to start. Your marketing is now almost infinitely measurable, scalable and can be highly targeted.
Wrapping it up
You joined this community because you’re not that different from me and thousands of others out there in our tribe.
You want to create a life of freedom.
The Freedom Code framework I’ve presented in this newsletter is just that… a framework.
The real value in any framework is to act on it. Your journey will take shape differently from mine. The pieces of your puzzle will fall at different moments.
But you’ll never discover the true joys of life if you don’t start.
In reality, starting a side hustle isn’t all that risky. Look at it as a hobby. A passion project. A mental stimulator.
Then, if you love it, find a way to turn that passion into a business.
Wherever you are in your side hustle journey, take a moment to reflect on the five pillars of The Freedom Code and identify where your gaps are.