The Ultimate Side Hustle Book - 450 Moneymaking Ideas for the Gig Economy

 A recent book I browsed through was The Ultimate Side Hustle Book - 450 Moneymaking Ideas for the Gig Economy by Elana Varon. As I'm trying to think of ways to earn money when Olivia begins college, I'm looking at some side hustle books. This one had quite a few ideas that sound intriguing and worth exploring. 

The ones I'm most interested in or intrigue me are:

- Arts or Crafts Teacher - teach art or craft classes to adults or children. Need experience with the medium or method you are teaching, a teaching degree or certification if teaching at a school. Teachers charge students for materials, but for photography courses, students bring their own equipment. Can offer private lessons to groups or individuals. Promote lessons on social media. Teach through adult education programs. Charge per student - about $60 or more for an hour lesson. Earnings depend on what is left after your expenses.

- Lesson Plan Creator - sell your lesson plans and teaching materials to other teachers. Post materials to online marketplaces where teachers sell lesson plans and materials. Set your own rates for materials. Sites take a cut plus may require membership. Prices range from less than $1 to $15 or more.

- Baker - sell baked goods, such as cookies. Need to be able to bake plus comply with state and local cottage food laws. May be able to sell your products from your home. Customers and social media generate orders. Set up a booth at the local farmers' markets or events. Sell through local stores. Price your products to cover your costs and time.

- Fiber Artist - make woven clothing, accessories, or home goods. Need to be good-quality items. Need yarns and equipment. Sell online, farmers' or crafts markets, or in stores. Use social media to market your work. Cover your costs and pay yourself for your time. Craft artists make an average of $19 per hour.

- Personal Chef - cook meals for clients in their homes. Know how to cook nutritious everyday meals. Professional training can help you get started. Get friends and customers who have had your cooking spread the word. Network with friends on social media to promote your services and meet potential customers. Private chefs can earn $30 per hour or more. 

- Photographer - Event or Portrait - photograph weddings, individuals, families, children, or pets. Need artistic ability, experience capturing individual personalities and group relationships, and ability to create rapport with reluctant subjects. Having a portfolio enables you to showcase your abilities. Need a camera, lenses, and related equipment. Just as with the above side hustles, social media, friends, and customers seem the best way to get leads. Event photographers can charge $100 or more per hour and wedding photographers get $2,000 on the average per event. Portrait photographers earn about $20 per hour.

- Photographer - Prints - shoot images to sell as artwork. Know how to compose, shoot, and edit photos. Hospitals, libraries, and places of worship may show work for sale by local artists. Galleries and art shows are other options. Cover your costs and time plus whatever fee a gallery or shop takes out. Average pay is about $20 per hour.

- Social Media Marketer - write social media posts for companies, interact with followers, and manage social media accounts. Need writing, digital marketing experience, a social media presence, and knowledge of social media metrics. Need a computer, smartphone, and reliable internet service. Join an online freelance platform, network with colleagues, and promote your services on social media. Pay ranges from $10 to $50+ per hour.

- Event Planner - plan and organize conferences, lectures, or social events. Bring an event concept to fruition. Develop and work within a budget. Coordinate vendors such as caterers, florists, speakers, and entertainers. Start by planning small, social, community, or business events. Network with people you know, promote your services on social media, and get referrals from people who have attended events you planned. Earn about $25 per hour.

- Home Organizer - help people arrange their space and reduce clutter. Have experience organizing closets, drawers, and living spaces. Take classes to improve your skills. Do projects for your friends and use social media. Pay ranges from $40-$200 per hour, depending on your experience and location. 

- Party Planner - plan and organize parties, such as birthdays and special occasions. Identify a niche theme - children's birthday parties, baby showers, spa treatments. Need equipment and supplies. Can earn anywhere from $250 to $2,000 depending on the type of event and number of guests.

- Slide Presentation Designer - create presentation slide decks. Have design ability, business, marketing, or industry knowledge; storytelling ability; and expertise using PowerPoint. Leads - start-up companies that need a library of slide decks for presenting to funders and customers. Rates vary. For formatting and basic editing, it may be less than $20 per hour. Someone with proven storytelling and design skills can charge $100 per hour and up. 

- Balloon Twister - make balloon sculptures on-demand at parties or events, or create balloon art as party decorations. Know the craft. Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and neighborhood or community groups can be sources of work. About $100 per hour is common or by the piece.

- Food Tour Guide - take groups to visit local restaurants and food shops to teach them about local specialities or a type of cuisine. Know the food and establish relationships with local restaurants and food shop owners. Some cities require tour guides to have a license. Network with hotel concierges, restaurant managers, specialty food shops, and travel agents. Give free tours to generate word-of-mouth referrals and social media posts. List your tours on travel and food business review sites. Guides who work for tour companies earn about $13 per hour. Earnings are higher for independent guides. If you charge $25 per person for a two-hour tour, you'll make $50 per hour with a family of four. 

- Mock Juror - give only survey feedback to attorneys about their cases before trial. Have to meet minimum requirements. Sign up on a mock jury site. This one has multiple sites listed. Jurors are paid $10-$50, depending on the site.

5x5 - September 2019

This month for the 5x5 swap on Swap-Bot, there were five questions to answer - each requiring five answers. Below are the questions and my answers.

Besides Swap-bot, what are 5 websites you visit most often?

- Flickr.com and my page on Flickr

- The Lions Club with which I'm involved.

- Pinterest and my account on Pinterest

- Library

- Facebook

Name 5 places you'd take someone from out of town.

One of the places I would take someone from out of town who was visiting Minnesota is Split Rock Lighthouse in Silver Bay, Minnesota. After being retired in 1969, the lighthouse became the focal point for Split Rock Lighthouse State Park; and is a National Historic Landmark.

Kayaking on July 12, 2014.

The visitor also would be able to see Lake Superior which is a huge lake. The lake is so big that it could contain all the other Great Lakes as well as three more lakes the size of Lake Erie.

Taken on April 15, 2011.

Another place I'd take someone is Lake Itasca. It is a small lake in comparison to Lake Superior. However, it is the headwaters of the Mississippi River and one of the most important natural locations in the state of Minnesota.

Taken on September 5, 2012.

While seeing Lake Itasca, there is plenty to do and see in Itasca State Park, which is the oldest park in Minnesota. In addition to hiking, Sophia, Olivia, and I have enjoyed camping and relaxing at one of the historic cabins in Itasca State Park.

Taken on September 5, 2012.

While touring around the St. Paul area, I would take someone who is visiting from out of town to the Cathedral of Saint Paul which is a National Shrine of the Apostle Paul. A lot of people locally call it St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the state.

The copper dome of the cathedral makes it one of the most recognizable cathedrals in the United States.

The building, which is an example of Beaux-Arts architecture, is comparable to the great cathedrals of Europe. The cathedral is listed as a landmark on the National Register of Historic Buildings. This is also the cathedral where my father was ordained as a Deacon in September 1990.

One of my favorite places in Minnesota is Grand Marais and the BWCA. I have taken many trips up north with the girls, alone, and once with my parents. It is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Minnesota.

Taken on June 5, 2013

Although a lot of people go up north for fishing and canoeing, we have mostly visited this area to hike and do photography.

Taken on June 6, 2013, at Honeymoon Point in Grand Marias 

along the Gunflint Trail.

We also have had fun boating...

Taken on June 4, 2013.

kayaking...

Taken on June 5, 2013.

and horseback riding.

Taken on July 10, 2014.

There are deer, wolves, Canada lynx, bobcats, moose, fox, and black bears that live in the BWCA. One year when we were staying off the Gunflint Trail, we had a young black bear who visited us while we were having dinner. We heard some clamoring going on outside the door of the home we were staying in. The bear had gone through the garbage; and had walked up the steps to another area of the yard.

Taken on July 9, 2014.

A final place I would take visitors to is the Taylors Falls area where Interstate State Park is located. There are large rock formations throughout the park and along the St. Croix River (which separates Minnesota and Wisconsin).

Taken on May 25, 2013. 

The formations and deep potholes (25+ feet or more deep) were made by a combination of lava and glacial movement. This rock, pictured below, was one that the park ranger showed us as an example of how rocks could be smoothed through this process.

Name 5 books you've read or would like to read.

I went through my Goodreads account which has a list of books I want to read and books I have read. There are still quite a few books on my list that I would like to read. So, I ordered five books from the library on September 13th:

The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds by Julie Zickefoose
The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A True Story of Resilience and Recovery by Andrew Westoll
The Christmas List by Pete Nelson
Every Day Is a Holiday by George Mahood
The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

Some of the books the local library has on its shelves. Others need to be ordered from libraries throughout Minnesota. I'm excited to read these books over the next month or so.

Name 5 teachers you've had over the years.

Adama Sow - my pottery teacher who I've been learning from since August 2018. He has taught me how to make bowls and mugs on the pottery wheel; and given me guidance when I've needed it with hand-building.

Glazing leaves I found and pressed into clay on September 12, 2019.

I glazed each of the leaves a different color to see 

which ones showed the veins of the leaves the best.

Chaiki O'Brien - who teaches SAORI weaving. I've taken multiple classes from Chaiki which I've enjoyed. She is a patient and encouraging teacher.

SAORI weaving I did on May 12, 2018.

Eileen Gavin - my all-time favorite professor when I went to college. She understood that not all students are good test-takers and created alternative ways to test students' knowledge.

She gave me the opportunity to show my knowledge through my strength at the time: research papers. These were much more meaningful for me and I was able to share what I had learned through writing rather than showing what I could memorize.

Jonis Agee - a creative writing professor who I had in college. She pushed me to explore different forms of creative expression including short stories and poetry. I knew I had done a good job with one of my creative writing stories when I had many of the students crying. It showed me the power of words; and how they can take someone to another place and time in their imagination by listening to a story.

Sr. Eleanor Lincoln - one of my English professors in college. She told me when I was a freshman that my writing was not college-level writing and that I needed to use the Writing Center. Reluctantly, I went so I could learn to write and express what I was learning.

By junior year, I was an student-instructor in the Writing Center and writing for the school paper; and by senior year, I did an independent study with St. Eleanor about Shakespeare. My final project was a research paper on which I earned an "A." My writing, she said, "had greatly improved" during my college years.

I am so grateful for her honesty and encouragement during my freshman year. Because of her, much of my professional career was related to writing. I wrote countless proposals seeking funding for non-profit organizations in North Carolina, California, and Minnesota.

I was able to start my own non-profit because I was able to secure funding.

Through all these organizations, artists, educators, composers, high school students, and children all were served.  

List 5 words that start with the same letter as your First Name.

Alpaca

Taken on May 17, 2007.

Archeology

 Taken on June 9, 2012.

Autumn

Olivia raking leaves on October 14, 2007. 

She was 4 years old.

Artistic

Sculpture at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West. 

Taken on July 7, 2017.

Accident

Looking at an x-ray of my neck injury after a car accident in November 2018 

with my chiropractor. Taken on December 7, 2018.

My Favorite Photos - June 2019

June went by so quickly. It started out with Olivia and I going on a hike at Interstate State Park in Wisconsin on June 1st - a free-admittance day to state parks. We had never been to this park so we enjoyed driving around and hiking.

There were interesting rock formations left by glaciers. The one below looked like a person (near the top)...or at least we thought it did.

Some of the rocks were huge. I had Olivia stand between a couple of rocks to give a size comparison. She is about 4'9" - so they're tall rocks.

On June 3rd, the tulips were still blooming. There were some purple ones under the pine trees - though I think a mole ate the majority of the bulbs I planted. Aspen is relaxing on what was the limited amount of grass in the backyard. Over half the backyard, at that point, was mud, dirt, and straw thanks to the fire and flooding we had in May and June 2018; and all the construction vehicles that dug up the yard.

The 3rd also marked the day we got two dump trucks of black dirt delivered; and one dump truck full of recycled cement/tar/sand for the driveway. Cooper isn't sure what to make of the big piles of dirt.

On June 6th and 7th, we laid 280 rolls of sod. It covered most of the area that was dirt and mud.

A week later, we laid the remaining 140 rolls of sod. It was very hard work. 

We were basically incapacitated after each day of laying sod. Ice packs and Ibuprofen were necessary for us to use just to get the backyard finished.

Sophia and I took a SAORI weaving course at the art center. We've taken quite a few together now. This time she wanted to make a scarf, so she used blues and greens.

This month also was a month that Sophia received multiple scholarships. The hard work that she invested in writing and submitting them paid off, and her first year of college now is paid for through scholarships, grants, and work study. She was able to decline one loan and may be able to decline a second one - meaning her first year she will have NO student loan debt!

Some of the scholarship providers had special events to congratulate the winners. One of them, through a local hospital, had a very nice event - complete with a cake. Sophia's name is in the bottom row - second from the left.

My sister and her son; and Sophia, Olivia, and I went to Burnet Dairy Days. This was a fun free event that had a TON of samples. They had a wide variety of cheeses, ice cream cones, pizza, sandwiches from their restaurant, pop, milk, and more. We all said that we would go back again next year.

Later that day, we went to the humane society where Sophia played the harp for the dogs waiting to be adopted.

One, in particular, was very attentive when it came to listening to harp music. Bear, the dog, was so adorable and polite. He was fascinated with the harp.

Another dog, Goo-sul, was one of the dogs who was rescued from the South Korean meat trade. He was a very affectionate dog who wanted to be right next to me. I really enjoyed spending time with these two dogs. There was another one, too, who had a huge grin her face the entire time. I've never seen a dog smile as big as she did.

By June 18th, the robin had laid four eggs in the nest and was spending time sitting on the eggs. Periodically, she would fly off and then return...perhaps to eat. By July 2nd, the babies had already left the nest. I looked it up and found out that babies are ready to fledge two weeks after they are born.

This is an odd photo to include in "favorites" for the month. It's Sophia the day after her surgery to get her wisdom teeth out. The surgery was a very complex one. The oral surgeon said that on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex, her procedure was between an 8 to 9. Of course. Things can't be easy.

She bravely dealt with the pain which was more intense than a normal procedure. She has two ice packs on either side of her face and a blanket over her face since she head a serious headache. The recovery time is 4-6 weeks, so she should be in better shape by mid-July to early-August.

A major change this month was the painting of the barn. This is one of the last major projects that was part of the fire damage/rebuilding process. Since May 5, 2018, we have either looked at a burned barn or a barn that had primed boards on it. This is the before photo when the guys started working on it during the third week of June.

This is a photo of it after it was done. What a change! I cannot even begin to tell you how uplifted my spirits are when I look outside at the painted barn. I don't think it has ever looked this good. Seriously.

We've been seeing a lot of does and fawns recently. For some reason, they are walking around and crossing the roads during the day. These little twins were grazing by the side of the road. The mother was nearby in the woods watching them. After a few quick photos, they ran back into the woods to their mother.

Another thing we are seeing a ton of are little American Toads. Every summer, we see hundreds of these for a while. I looked up some information about these little toads. On Ask a Naturalist, I found out that these "newly metamorphosed toadlets...are so tiny compared to the adult toads. We don’t for example, see mini-bullfrogs.

"The tadpoles of many species of the genus Bufo (what most people consider to be the “true toads”) metamorphose at a very small size, often all at once, and then disperse. If you live near a pond or lake or stream where the tadpoles are common, you might all of a sudden see dozens or even hundreds of these tiny toadlets for a few days, and after that, see them only occasionally."

During the fourth week of June, we scrambled to get the final touches on the yard and home since we were hosting Sophia's high school graduation party on June 29th (which also happened to be my birthday).

Despite a 95-degree day with high humidity and dewpoint, we had a great turnout. People stayed to eat a meal; talk with neighbors, friends, and family; and look at the gardens and repairs made after the fire. This is Sophia by her cake. She picked purple and silver for her homeschool colors.

Larry and Maureen are family friends who made the trip up from Winona. They knew my parents since the 1960s; and would have been my parents had something happened to my parents when I was a minor. So, having them at both the graduation ceremony last month and the party this month meant a lot to me. They are closest people I have to parents since both of mine no longer are living (they died in 2012 and 2015).

One of the gifts that Olivia and I made for Sophia was a money cake. I saw the idea on Pinterest and wanted to make one for Sophia. It was a rather time-consuming project, but she really liked it.

I also gave her this gift card/money wreath. The gift cards are to places near where she will be attending college in the Fall. The extra money is to give her a bit of spending money on campus or if she goes out.

In closing,  as I look back on June, I'm so happy when I think about the flowers that were blooming around our farm. The lavender has been doing well.

These are flowers that are in a container with moss roses. They bloom prolifically.

We planted a lot of purple flowers since that was one of the colors Sophia picked for her homeschool colors. The catmint, below, is attracting bees.

The shrub rose is doing well this year. There are quite a few red buds on it.

This is an annual that I found unusual. I love the hundreds of tiny white petals and the circular center.

More flowers are ready to bloom in July. I'm looking forward to seeing how the flower gardens change during the upcoming month; and how colorful they will become.