I’m really excited to share this guest post from my pal Jesse over at LiveGoldRich with you today. I think we all know I love a good side hustle and this man nailed his as a stage hypnotist (how cool is that, right?). Even better, the man is an awesome salesperson (which I am not) and offers some really terrific tips on how to amp up your earnings with some side hustle steroids.

**Public Service Announcement: Generally in life though, avoid steroids.** 

This is the age of the Side Hustle. 

Side Hustles create opportunities for us.

Side Hustles lift the burden of debt, secure future wealth, generate personal growth and pay for expensive vacations.

If you don’t have a Side Hustle then you should! The problem with Side Hustles is they are not automated to increase earnings.

            Side Hustle Steroids to Increase Income

I am going to share my Side Hustle Steroids to make more money. They are simple systems that teach you how to break pricing mindsets, release your fear of customers saying ‘No’, and secure future income with follow up methods that keep you Top of Mind.

My Side Hustle Steroids use up-sell services to unlock increased earnings. The side service system helped one woman quit an accounting job and follow her passion while making $100,000 a year.

     Side Hustle Systems: Work Less to Earn More

If you have a side hustle you have customers. You could walk dogs, clean houses, fix computer tech. issues, write, etc. Your customers can make you more money. Market research shows the easiest path to increase earnings is tapping existing customers. How do you do this?

My first system is to charge more. First time Side Hustlers don’t charge enough. They have pricing complexes. They undervalue their service. Don’t be afraid of customers. Great customers want great service. Great service will attract great customers who pay more.

When I started my stage hypnosis business I undercharged. I charged a third of what I charge today. I didn’t believe high schools would pay $1699.00 per show. Entertainers told me, “Schools don’t have any money” or “The government took all the school’s funding.” These are limiting beliefs.

Limiting beliefs are attractive to follow.

Limiting beliefs chain you to low prices.

I limited my beliefs and undercharged my market.

I raised my rates. I was the most expensive entertainer in the territory. I lost shows. Seventy percent of my clients dropped me. Schools told me, “You’ll starve because of your greed.”

I didn’t starve.

Dropping seventy percent of my client base left me free to work with a better customer.The rate raise curated my client base. The clients I kept were higher quality and they had higher quality referrals which meant I would book more shows at a higher rate. Don’t accept limiting beliefs, charge more.

          Long Term Success, How to Secure Your Future

Not all Side Hustles curate high cost customers. Some Side Hustlers offer low entry costs to funnel customers into subscription models. A subscription model is a side hustle where your service is ongoing. Putting on a roof is a onetime thing. Dog walkers, lawn mowers, house cleaners, personal trainers, etc, are Side Hustles with subscription model services. They require repeat business every week or month.  Reoccurring models secure continual income, require little effort and are filled with earning options. To increase earnings sell extra services.

For example: if you are a dog cleaner you could offer an ‘exercise’ service walking the dog post-cleaning. Building on this model you could charge clients to optimize their dog’s health by researching ‘natural’ diets for their dog.  You could take this further and partner with a local dog boutique. You send the dog boutique clients for high end nutrition and they give you a cut of the profits or refer customers to you. I coached one woman who quit her 9-5 as an accountant to groom dogs. She makes over $100,000 a year because she followed this model.

Extra services increase earnings with little cost or time.  If you were a window washer offer a ‘finishing coat’ to lengthen the life of the window.

A tutor friend of mine came to me last year and asked could I increase his income without raising his rates or getting new clients. He didn’t believe he could upsell his clients. I told him he should record his session and then sell the student copies of the recording. He, like most Side Hustlers, didn’t believe his customers would pay for that. I had him write a phone script to sell the recordings.

I instructed him to call his clients and say, ‘I have just started recording sessions. If you are interested you can purchase your child’s session for nineteen dollars.’ The response was enormous! Over half of the parents purchased recordings and that number jumped to seventy five percent during midterms and finals!

Do the math. Assume you tutor ten kids (my buddy did over forty) a week and six get audio recordings: If you charged $19 per recording and sold for 30 weeks you’ve made $3,420.00. What could you do with an extra $3,420.00? That’s a year of car payments, a nice vacation, a good emergency fund, etc.

       Stay in Touch:How to Maximize Client Re-purchasing

This last system secures future income. The biggest mistake Side Hustlers make is not using Top of Mind Strategy. Top of Mind Strategy is following up with customers. Following up with customers reminds them that they used your service and could use it again.

An example of Top of Mind Strategy is 22 touches. 22 Touches is a system realtors are taught. 22 Touches teaches realtors to follow up with customers 22 times a year. Side Hustlers don’t have to follow up 22 times a year to remain top of mind, but you do need an outreach system. An outreach system keeps existing customers in your service funnel. You can do this through emails, a newsletter, coupon deals, flash sales, etc.

Keeping your name in front of a customer affords you valuable mental real estate. A simple email saying, ‘Hello, how are you, do you need any assistance this week?’ or a monthly newsletter with updates and offers secures prominence in customers minds. Being prominent in a customer’s mind increases re-purchasing of your service when they need it again.

These systems are a prescription for increased earning. Applying any of these Side Hustle systems will increase customer re-purchasing, secure future income and increase earnings per customer.

Jesse Gernigin is a debt to wealth blogger who coaches side hustlers and boot strappers to increase income and live a better life. His writing can be found at LiveGoldRich.