Professional Documents
Culture Documents
HUSTLE?
EDWARD LYNCH
DAVID MCTAGUE
Dave is a Music Promoter & Publicist based in Liverpool. He has worked with a
range of organisations, events and projects, with a background primarily in the
music, arts and cultural sectors.
He is the founder of Mellowtone / Mellowtone Records and Liverpool agency
One Fell Swoop, and has worked with the Africa Oye festival for over 1ð years, in
addition to supporting Milap, Mandela ó, RedHouse Originals and many others.
Initially working as a promoter for clubnights, venues, bands, and arts and
music projects, as well as running a magazine for two years, Dave has been
responsible for assisting the creation and development of businesses and
projects; managing artists, coordinating marketing and publicity campaigns,
and producing a wide range of events from exhibitions and parties to tours and
festivals.
https://www.onefellswoop.co.uk/
MEET THE PANEL
KATE MURRAY
Kate Murray is the founder of Handled With Care Design, an illustrations and paintings
business. Most of her artwork is of urban settings, and of course, she particularly likes to
draw Liverpool.
Not all of Kate’s work revolves around Liverpool though, with her drawings spanning
from the different places she has lived and travelled to the everyday.
Kate also delivers visual learning and sketchnoting sessions to businesses in the local
area, as well as to students in her full-time role as Projects Officer at the University of
Liverpool. She is very much looking forward to talking to you more about what it’s like
managing a side hustle alongside a full-time position.
https://www.instagram.com/handledwithcaredesign
ALASTAIR TELFER
Alastair is a final year Business Management student and has returned from his year in
industry which was working for Careers and Employability at the University as a
Student Success Intern.
Alastair learnt so much from his placement year but the main thing he learnt was to
proactively go and seek your own career through extra-curricular work. This lead to
him setting up his own rugby blog where he writes rugby articles along with running a
weekly rugby podcast. Alastair loves the feeling of creating content and being able to
express his own opinion, and given the fact that he wants a career in Sports
Journalism, this really helps.
Furthermore Alastair writes for rugby magazine NU-GEN Rugby who approached him
on social media; it just shows what can happen when you put yourself out there.
Finally Alastair works as a part time Career Coach in his final year, continuing to work
alongside his studies for Careers. Alastair enjoys the satisfaction of helping other
people develop their own career paths. Side hustles in his opinion are what give him
his energy for success.
https://telfrugby.wixsite.com/mysite
THREE TYPES OF SIDE HUSTLES
FREELANCER
What is a freelancer?
A freelancer normally works within one area of the industry but for a variety of
companies and clients. For example, a freelance photographic journalist may produce
images and stories, they can then pitch these to a variety of publishers. This means they
are a photographic journalist, but they are not tied down to just one publication. This
type of work has its own pros and cons as you can have more creative freedom and
choose the work you want but you don’t get the same benefits as working for a
company, such as job security and any company benefits like annual leave, etc.
It is typical for most people who are offering services such as photography, film making,
copywriting and content creation to work as a freelance. This is less common for those
who work within sales, management and product development.
As a freelancer, your income would come from multiple sources. Some of these could
be taxed by an agency whilst others may be a one-time payment through PayPal. You
will need to calculate all of your income and work-related expenditure to then
complete a self-assessment form at the end of the tax year.
CONTRACTOR
What is a contractor?
Let’s use the example from before here, a photographic journalist! If you are working as
a contractor, one of these publication companies may ask you to work for them for a
certain length of time, this is known as a fixed term contract. This could provide you
with a bit more security over a short period of time, this could be useful if you are
wanting to make a large purchase or travelling and need a definite income for that
period of time. It may also allow you to gain some of those benefits that the company
may offer; be aware though most company benefits aren’t given until you have worked
for the company for a minimum length of time.
Another example of contract work which is incredibly popular is delivery, varying from
app based food delivery companies through to parcel delivery. A contract worker, in this
instance, relies on the company or app to provide them with work, but much like a zero
hour contract, there is no recurring agreement.
- What am I liable for? E.g. If the job requires driving a motor vehicle and you get into an
accident
As a small business owner, you have ultimate control! As we know, a side hustle can
provide us with an income whilst working or studying full time BUT the difference
between a freelancer, contractor and small business owner is that, for both the first two
options, there is generally a middleman involved. As a small business owner you have
the ability to cut this third person out and take that control. That is not to say as a small
business owner you can’t take on freelance and contractual work, you just have the
control over how much of this you want to do. Side hustles can be so varied, especially
in today’s digital world, influencers can generate a massive income alone!
- The more control you have over your business/hustle the more responsibility you have
- Check out the different types of companies and legal structures ahead of time
- Remember there is so much free business advice available out there, take anything
you can get
THE BIG IDEA
Use the below boxes to help you put your idea down on paper and start
to create your vision board!
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THE IDEAL CUSTOMER
You will now need to think about who your ideal customer is?
How old are they? Do they have kids/pets? What are their hopes and dreams?
Do they have any struggles? What don't they like? Do they use social media?
In the below boxes, you will now develop your top four ideal customers
using these questions and any more you can think of.
CUSTOMERS?
There are so many different ways for you to accept payment, technology now gives us access
to mobile card readers, virtual methods of payment and there is always good old cash.
Remember to check if your chosen method of accepting payment charges a fee! Here are a
couple of ways to collect payment online.
When you are generating an income, it is important to keep a note of all of your finances. This
will help you when it comes to doing a self-assessment, don't worry we will talk more about
that later. The point we want to focus on is that you must keep a record of all income and
outgoings! You may decide you use good old pen and paper, but there are many online tools
to help you too.
So you don't forget to invoice, here are some project management tools!
Project management tools are so useful, they help you stay on track. Setting yourself
deadlines can also be a good motivation, some of these tools will also send you a reminder
when something is due and help you balance your priorities.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is something you have created using your own mind. This could
be a new invention, a new coding to a new recipe, story or artwork, the list is endless.
You have a brand that could be a trademark, for example, Nike or Kris Kardashian's
‘Momboss’ brand. Intellectual property can have one owner if you created it with a
team or bought a percentage of the ownership. It can belong to an individual person
or to the business and it can also be sold or transferred. The intellectual property
rights allow you to make money from the IP that you own. If you are self-employed or
own your own business/side hustle, when someone commissions you for a piece of
work, these rights will remain yours unless you have a contract with them that gives
them the rights.
Copyright
Copyright allows you to protect your work and will stop others having the ability to
use it without your permission. In the UK, you automatically get copyright protection
and don't need to register this, you just need a way of proving the date you created
the work. This could be the date on a file. You can mark your work with the copyright
symbol, along with your name and year of creation.
Registered Designs
You are able to register the look of a product to stop others from copying or stealing it.
- Any decoration
- The appearence
- The physical shape
- It must not be offensive
- The configuration, how parts of the design are arranged
- Be new
- It must be your own intellectual property
- It must not use protected emblems or flags
- It must not be an invention or instructions for how a product works (this would be a
patent)
You can find out more about registering a design here.
Trademark
To protect your brand you will want to register your trademark, this could be the name
of your product or service.
When you register your trademark, you can then do the following:
- You can take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your
permission, including counterfeiters
- You can put the ® symbol next to your brand, this will show that it is yours and warn
anyone else from using it
You can find out more about how to apply for a trademark here.
LET’S GET PROTECTED!
Patent
You can patent any new invention you have created. This will give you the ability to take
legal action against anyone who sells, uses, makes or imports your invention without your
permission.
Patents can be expensive and difficult to get, but if your invention requires one, then
you can find out more information here.
DO I NEED A NEWSLETTER OR BLOG?
Most new side hustlers are hesitant to create and start a newsletter or blog, but when it
is done right and with engaging content, your audience will look forward to reading
your new post or email.
What if I forget to post it? What can I talk about each month?
Social media could disappear overnight, this would mean most of your contacts and
audience too. If you have a mailing list, you can stay in touch with your audience and
customers without relying on other media.
It gives you a space and opportunity to add extra value to your product and service,
this could be in the form of adding content on and around your product and service,
selling the product indirectly!
It gives you the ability to express your passion, your values, your brand and go in
depth with your content
It provides an opportunity to stay in touch with past, present and future customers,
you can pop in the odd reminder here and there!
Do!
Be authentic
Add value and give!
Stick to one topic for each piece
Add content at least one a month
Share snippets of life or the brand's journey
Do not!
Try to sell something every time
Say the same thing in every piece
Take an unsubscripition personally!
Feel like it has to be completely formal
Newsletter
Omnisend Sender
Blog/Website
Wix Ghost
BRANDING!
Your brand is much more than just a name or a logo, your brand tells your customer who
you are and represents how you want to be perceived.
Your customer and audience should be able to recognise your brand across all platforms
both physically and personally. Your brand should be like wearing a uniform. A strong
brand can make or break some ideas. When creating a brand, leaving space within the
branding for you to expand or make changes in the future is important for growth.
Tip 3: Visualise
In today’s world of social media and technology, nearly everything is visual. Images
and visuals will need to become one of the most important aspects of your branding
strategy. You will need to remember to only use images and visuals that fit your
brand identity. If you are consistent with image and graphic selections, including
colour palette, angles, style and the content of the images, this will help your
audience recognise your brand even more.
Back in the 1970’s the term handle was used when people who owned a CB (Citizens
Band) Radio. Radio users could find each other and communicate via their handle,
which was the nickname they had chosen for themselves.
If you haven’t already, pick your name or handle and get an account across all social
media platforms, even if you are unsure if you are planning to use it yet. This will help
with consistency and protect you from anybody else using it.
If all of your handles are matching, this will not only enable your customer/audience to
find you across all platforms much easier but it will show much more professionalism. It
also helps when you are marketing and want to add the handle onto your marketing
materials.
- Keep in mind there is a limit to how many characters you can use, try to keep it short
- If your handle is already taken try using The Real, HQ, Iam or try prefixing it with This is,
We Are or Hello
PROMOTE IT
The list of ways to promote your side hustle is unlimited, try to be creative and think
outside the box. Nothing beats originality. You will want to build excitement and
momentum with all of your promotions. Think @emilyinparis!
Not only will this type of campaign generate excitement and buzz but it will more than
likely drive people through to your website. Just remember to keep everything well
connected, up to date and easy to find.
Email marketing
Use incentives, you could offer an incentive like a discount or something free for people
who subscribe to your mailing list. Make use of the title in the email subject line and
consider adding pre-header text to entice the audience to open the email and drive up
your open rates.
SEO
Make sure your website, if you have one, is fully designed to get the most out the search
engine optimisation
Press Release
Consider sending out press releases to publications, radio shows, News Directors at TV
stations and the weekly newspaper. Learn more about press releases here!
A great way to start expanding your network, is to start connecting with other
similar business owners in your area.
Work on your LinkedIn profile and then reach out and connect with other
professionals in areas of interest to your brand.
Team up with influencers, publications or anything that you could benefit from
sharing a readymade audience, collaboration work has never been so popular!
You can connect via LinkedIn, facebook groups that are set up for likeminded or
local businesses owners.
Check out your local Chamber of Commerce and see if they have anything to offer.
Utilise Eventbrite, there are so many networking events that happen and are
advertised. This is a great tool for finding local, national or virtual events happening
that may be of interest to you.
Keep in touch with the contacts you have already made, although this can be hard
work, make a conscious effort to build that relationship and stay engaged. The key
to this is to keep conversations natural.
Attend seminars and webinars where you are most likely going to meet some
likeminded people who you would like to connect with.
CREATE A COMMUNITY
Once you have started building your following, why not add a chat element, use a group
message, email list, WhatsApp or similar if you can.
Now may be a good time to trial these new ideas as so many of us are feeling lost, lonely or
suffering with problems in silence. This wouldn’t be a platform to help give advice exactly,
but if someone is lonely, having a readymade community that they can participate in will
help them feel engaged with other people and may help indirectly. This can be a super
useful tool is for new businesses if they are struggling in any way; it’s ok to be vulnerable,
and a loyal customer audience can help in those times of need. Look at Bold St Coffee, read
their crowdfunding success story here.
Using the ideal customer profile from earlier again, what things does your customer
want to know, hear or see? What other brands do they support and why? Write down
your answers in the box below.
Connect with those businesses in your network, can you create bundle packages together?
Promote others on your stories and tag them in, you're all in this together!
Give back, create value within your side hustle, why not give back in the same way people
may help you along the way? This could be doing a live Q&A for others who may want to
create a side hustle, create how to guides or videos and things that your audience will
appreciate.
Use the life budget calculator to work out how much you would like to make, you will
need to consider how much you are charging by the hour and how much time you can
realistically put in to working on your side hustle. Remember to balance your time with
any other commitments such as studying, part time job, family and friends, and also
remember to take time out and consider your wellbeing.
Example Answer
Remember not all side hustles are about making a large sum of money,
some can be just to allow a hobby or passion to pay for itself.
Let’s have a look at making some money and upskilling ourselves for any future
employment when the job market opens fully.
Remember to keep track of all our income and expenditure. Waves App has a free plan
that can help you keep track of all your finances and help you keep everything in check for
your self-assessment.
Keep all of your receipts for all expenditure on your side hustle venture as you can claim
this back as tax relief.
As a sole trader, your tax-free personal allowance is £12,500. As long as you’re earning less
than that, you won’t need to pay any income tax. If your business earns between £12,501-
£50,000, you’ll pay a basic 20% income tax rate.
Self Assessment is a system HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses to collect Income Tax.
You can find out more about this here.
If you are not registering as a sole trader and want to register as a limited company, you
would submit your end of year accounts here.
KEEP BELIEVING IN YOURSELF
Most side hustles can start with a big influx of excitement with a rush of
customers to begin with; now this can be exciting, but remember it is
brand new.
There may be a time when your new side hustle starts to slow down a little. Don’t let this
faze you though, at this time you need to keep a strong sense of belief, stay positive.
Use this time to develop new ideas, maintain your social media and even prepare posts,
products, stories ahead of time. It also allows you time to keep your work/life balance in
check.
Just remember if you believe in what you are doing and know that your product or service
brings value to your customer, then they will be back.
Good things come to those who wait, but don’t stop putting the good work in!
Marketing
Social Media housekeeping, prep and prime your posts, reply to any comments or tags. If
your social media just looks like a sales pitch, then it’s wrong, now is the time to rethink and
create a focus on your content being 80% adding value (not selling something) and only
20% selling. Do some market research, does your customer or audience need anything new?
Is something you offer now outdated? Keep creating content, you will be thankful when
you’re busy again!
Admin
Give your branding a freshen up, maybe you have a little bit of extra cash to get a company
in to give your canva-created logo a retouch! Update your website, check your pricing, test
all the pages and links. Get organised, clean up your books, organise your folders, clean your
space or office and get your diary up to date. Do anything you have been putting off,
sending letters or emails.
Grow
Upskill yourself, do a short course, try doing more writing and learn something new. Create
gift cards, if you don’t already offer these! Gift cards are a great idea for people who don’t
know what a person may like but love your brand. They can buy now and redeem it later,
you could even offer a discount on purchases made with these or when bought in bulk.
REMEMBER THIS IS A SIDE HUSTLE
FOR NOW!
Don’t give up on your studies or main job. If you are working all hours, scale
them back, to make time for your side hustle and new income. Remember
to stay versatile, resilient and focused.
Do take the time to care for yourself, don’t burn yourself out
trying to balance a side hustle with intense studying and
extra work!
Take productive breaks so you’re not tired and zoning out in front of the screen.
Prioritise your health and wellbeing, some stress can be good but not too much, make sure
to talk to friends or family.
Relax, take a bath or have a noon snooze. Remember to eat healthily and do some exercise
daily.
ACTION CHECKLIST!
Tel: 0151 794 4647 | Email: careers@liverpool.ac.uk | Web: liverpool.ac.uk/careers | Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: livunicareers
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