Many people want to know how to make more money so that they can save enough for a vacation, pay their monthly bills or pay off their debt faster. It could even be to save for retirement.

Whatever your reason, a side hustle might be just the thing that you need to achieve your financial goals. More and more businesses are closing their doors because of health reasons.

This also means that many are wondering how to make more money without having to seek employment in person. The solution to this dilemma? The gig economy. This started out as a small trend that has exploded into fulltime careers for many individuals.

What Is a Gig?

The gig economy is an employment market that is defined by the high ratio of freelance work or short-term contracts in contrast to permanent and traditional jobs. The whole idea of the gig economy is for one to earn more money or extra money with part time jobs and freelance work.

The best part about this is that you can pursue the kinds of gigs you want at a time that works best for you. The flexibility of the gig economy not only allows you to schedule your own work, but to also dictate how much you want to do or how little.

With the awesome technological power that comes with the Internet, there are many short-term gigs that one can complete for the clients who hire them. Gigs have become more frequent as technology permits users to connect linearly with people who are willing to hire them for a project based on their expertise, time availability and skills.

Short-term gigs or side hustles have now become a legitimate means of earning income if you don’t have a job and act as a supplement income for those who already have a career.

Here are some facts that may sway your opinion about choosing gig work if you’ve been skeptical about its legitimacy:

Over 37 percent of American adults (that’s roughly over a third of adults) have at least one side gig that they are engaged in. So, yes, it is more common than you think.

Almost 40 percent of those who have side gigs use the earning received from it to afford their daily living expenses. This means that side gigs are necessary for a budget that breaks even.

They may not be extremely lucrative for part-timers, as the average monthly earnings for side gig workers is $690, and most side gig earners earn $210 or less. But it all depends on what type of gig you choose and how much you want to charge and work.

You’re in complete control of your hours and commitment to the gig work available, so if you need to earn more, you can simply accept more jobs to earn the amount you need for whatever purpose you choose.

Who Would Be the Best Candidates for Gig Careers?

Gig careers are great for men and women of all ages. From college kids who need to earn money while in school to senior citizens looking to supplement their retirement or social security funds – gigs can help.

If you’re someone who has a hectic schedule that makes it hard to get hired by traditional employers, such as a college student with scattered classes, then gig work can allow you to earn between classes or on off hours.

Moms and dads who have kids they want to spend more time with may find gig work an attractive option to a traditional employer. Instead of having to ask a boss for permission to take off and care for your child, you’ll be the one in charge of when you work and when you don’t.

Senior citizens who either hate the idea of retirement and want to maintain a career – or those who need more money but who can’t work in a traditional workforce, will love the idea of using gigs to earn the money they need or want to fund their lifestyle.

People who love doing gigs might be creative people. They love putting their writing or artistic skills to good use. They might be laborers who don’t want to have to expend a lot of mental energy on a job.

Some people love the idea of listening to a podcast or music while delivering groceries or restaurant meals. Introverts love gig work because they don’t have to show up every day to a room full of coworkers and clients.

Extroverts love gig work because it gives them the opportunity to meet people. Uber or Lyft drivers get to meet new people, chit chat and see new places as they drive. But introverts can work from the privacy of their own home and only deal with clients via email or messages.

Start as a Side Hustle and Build a Fulltime Career

When it comes to working in the gig economy, there are a lot of factors that you need to consider, from skills and hourly rates to time management and the other important little details.

This is a business you can start out doing here and there as time allows, and snowball it into a fulltime career if you want to. But you need to know a few ins and outs of how to start and expand your gig work.

In the beginning, you may not know exactly how much time and effort a gig takes. Or you may need to master certain skills, tools or even learn the right route to take. As you gain experience, you’ll become faster and more capable of delivering for your clients, and this can help you build repeat business in the future.

Before you begin, there are some important things to consider. Number one is to choose the right side gig. One may be a dream and one a living nightmare to you, depending on an array of components, such as skills, goals, and personality.

Ask others performing certain gigs (as well as those buying them) what they think about the service – if their needs are being met, any mishaps they have to endure, etc. Spend at least a couple of days to take a good look at the gig and all of the advantages and disadvantages associated with it.

This is to ensure that you make the right choice. Choosing the wrong one may discourage you from ever trying this line of work again. For example, if you think rideshare driving might be right for you, but you read about the extensive wear and tear on your car, you might think twice.

However, if you take out time at the beginning to research all about it before you choose it, you might as well be saving yourself a whole lot of headaches. Look at forums and social media to see what others are talking about regarding what they experience.

Second, take a look at the type of side gig that you have chosen to pursue. If you are going to be launching an actual gig business by yourself, then you should consider registering as an S Corporation or an LLC (Limited Liability Company).

However, before you rush in and do all the paperwork, you should try speaking with a lawyer to understand whether it’s necessary or not. If you’re just working off of a third party platform for part-time pay, you may not need to.

You also want to prepare for taxes. The last thing you might think about when you start a side hustle is that you need to pay taxes on those earnings. However, this should be one of the first items on your list because you don’t want to be hit with an unexpected tax bill at the end of the year.

When preparing for your gig tax, make sure that your personal bank account is kept separate from your business bank account. This ensures that your finances do not get mixed up and you can report expenses correctly.

Another thing to do is to get a certified accountant and speak to them about how you can prepare yourself for the tax season – and how much you should be setting aside. Speaking to a certified public accountant will help you figure out whether or not you are breaking even with your side gig or whether you are losing profit with it.

While gig work may not provide the same degree of job security as traditional employment, there are many different ways to earn on your own, so you’re not restricted to just one method of work.

Some other gigs might require you to develop the necessary skills you need in order for you to gain more profitable work in the future. While you may not need it for ridesharing or food delivery, you may need to gain experience writing or creating graphics before you do those kinds of gigs.

What to Know About Working with a Gig Platform

There are various online or app platforms for on-demand work, such as DoorDash, Fiverr, Upwork, Uber, and other freelance jobs. With the power of the Internet backing it up, the gig economy is able to connect side gig searchers directly with individuals and companies that need their skills without them having to go through the conventional offline means of dealing with certification and applications.

Working on a platform, keep in mind that you operate at the mercy of their rules. If you want payment up front, but they only require funds in escrow, you have to abide by that. Or, if they require certain customer service elements, you must deliver on their regulations, so make sure you know what they are asking of you before you sign up and agree to anything.

When working on a gig platform, your success or failure may be dependent upon what those who have hired you have to say about your performance. Your reviews and ratings will often determine whether or not you are able to maintain a consistent flow of income on that site or app.

These platforms allow sellers and buyers to exchange their services and payment at a faster rate. The gig economy is fast becoming a deeply rooted and significant part of the overall workforce economy.

So, if you have the right skills and develop an excellent work ethic, you can start earning and making a living just by working gigs and being a stellar provider. Also, if you are able to develop healthy relationships and a good rapport with some particular clients and customers, you could end enjoying full-time earnings.

With that said, let’s take a look at the gigs that you can start doing now to start earning ASAP. If you are talented in a field or you have the skills that allow you to earn a living at a traditional job, you can decide to sell your expertise online.

Here are examples of a few fields where you can put your talents and skills to work without leaving the comfort of your home…

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing can also include editing, proofreading, and translating, if you are proficient in those areas. It’s also important to note that freelance writing is one of the most popular ways of earning extra money in the gig economy, so if you have the skill to convey a message, consider this option strongly.

On some platforms, a skilled freelance writer can earn anywhere from $10 to $250 per hour. This is dependent upon the type of writing that they specialize in, their qualifications and also, their portfolio.

Freelance writing include a range of specialized types of writing, such as medical writing, technical writing, academic writing, and legal writing – and more entertaining types of writing, such as informational content and blog posts or even fiction!

Another amazing thing about freelance writing is that, most of the time, it requires nothing more than a strong Internet connection and a gadget with a word processing software.

This means that you can make use of your laptop, desktop or even your smartphone. Also, you can earn money as a freelance writer from anywhere in the world as long as you are online and you have a computer or a smartphone.

Are you fluent in multiple languages? You can earn a living with that skill through the freelance gig of translating. There are not many multilingual people in the gig economy, so a freelance translator can earn steady money from gigs.

Also, if you are fluent in an in-demand and difficult-to-learn language, such as Japanese or Mandarin Chinese, you have a whole lot of opportunities open to you. Zip Recruiter assents that a freelance translator can earn up to $29 per hour as average pay.

Coding

Coding, otherwise known as computer programming, includes several popular programming languages, such as Java, SQL, and Python to name a few. The difficulty it takes to learn coding can ensure that a freelance programmer earns a high rate.

According to Career Karma, a freelance programmer can earn up to $60 as an average hourly wage. You can find work on gig sites or launch your own site to accept on-demand projects from individuals and companies who need your skills.

Ridesharing

Another popular job in the gig economy is the ridesharing service. This service allows users to transform their cars into taxis. Some popular ridesharing services include Uber and Lyft, and they are more convenient and cheaper than traditional taxis.

For this, all you have to do is own a smartphone and a car and go through some compulsory background check and application processing (depending on the service) to become familiar with the rules and regulations of the company.

There is flexibility in work hours and one can earn an average hourly wage of about $15 to $25, depending on the location. It’s possible to sign up with more than one company to earn from, too.

Delivery

Not every restaurant has delivery options. However, with the gig economy and its option of food delivery, a lot of restaurants can now offer home deliveries using these third party platforms.

A list of food deliveries are Postmates, Uber Eats and DoorDash. These platforms operate like the ridesharing services and let you earn cash for delivering food to customers.

Upwork

Upwork is arguably the largest freelancing job structure on the Internet and offers a wide array of fields for gigs. So if you are a writer, designer, sales marketer, legal service provider, business analyst, data scientist, brand expert, translator, or other freelancer, you can use Upwork to earn money.

The platform takes a cut of all earning as a service fee. When you earn up to $500 of lifetime billings, they apply a fee of 20 percent. When it’s $500.01 to $10,000, it’s 10 percent fee, and when it is over $10,000, the fee is reduced to 5 percent.

Fiverr

Fiverr gives you the variety of having writers, artists and programmers all on the same site. The site also offers you the option of add-ons, which lets you charge more when you complete additional tasks for each job.

Like Upwork, Fiverr also uses a customized profile and portfolio and takes a 20% fee on all jobs completed. This is a good starting point for the newbies in the freelancing gig economy.

How to Succeed as a Gig Worker

There are several apps and gigs that you can use to earn some cash, but not everyone will succeed. You want to consider several things before you get started so that you’re able to maximize your earnings.

First and foremost, you never want to take on a gig that you’re unsure you can complete, either due to your schedule or desired skills or talent. It’s better to pass up an opportunity than to accept a gig, fail with it, and ruin your reviews and ratings.

You also want to make sure that you carefully abide by all of the customer or client’s requests. If they hire you to write a report and give you an outline, don’t stray from it to do something else.

Whenever possible, go the extra mile for your customers. You may have seen rideshare drivers who have snacks and phone chargers in their care for customers. This creates a nice experience and ensures they get tipped well and receive a nice rating for future work.

But even if you’re doing something else, such as freelance writing or graphics, you can go above and beyond and throw in something extra to seal the deal that you’ll be the one they come to in the future for more work.

If the gig is something where you can be chosen specifically, like ghostwriting, then ensuring your customers’ happiness will translate into more work via word of mouth recommendations.

If you’re someone who is currently sitting at a job you hate – or worse, unemployed and in desperate need of money – then you need to look at gig work as a solution to your problem.

With gigs, you can create a listing and have money deposited into your account within hours – or even minutes. Of course, there are no guarantees, either. Sometimes there’s a bit of a lag between when you create a profile and when you get hired.

So you don’t want to walk out on a steady paying job before you’ve started building momentum with your side hustle. If you’re in a situation where you want to leave your 9-5 job, then start doing gigs in your off hours.

Learn the ropes and gain a favorable rating. This gives you time to ensure you’re happy with that type of work, too. Then, you can submit your two weeks’ notice to your employer once you’ve gained your footing as a reliable gig worker.

In time, you might decide to move from a platform offering gigs to the creation of your own business entity dealing directly with customers and clients and cutting out the middleman altogether!

There are many men and women of all ages who choose to pursue the entrepreneurial lifestyle by starting an online business they can call their own. This is not an easy task, but it is very rewarding in terms of both personal satisfaction as well as the unlimited income you stand to bring in.

One of the various business models that you can implement is that of a digital info product creator. As a vendor who sells information, you have to take the necessary steps to not only ensure the quality of your product, but the integrity of your launch.

While it may seem daunting at first, the product launch process is actually very easy as long as you understand what steps need to be taken along the way. There are six primary areas that you will need to address from beginning to end.

Step 1: Be Smart with Your Product Creation Process

There are many people who will advise you to take as many shortcuts as possible so that you can have a product launch as quickly as you can. What you have to remember is that this is your one and only time to make a first impression as a quality vendor of digital information

Customers have seen and spent money with those who don’t take time and care in creating their products, and to be honest, they are sick of them. Unless you want to be labeled a scammer, and unable to earn a good living with your talent for teaching people solutions to their problems, you need to take your time and create a product that you will be proud of and that customers will enjoy.

Start by brainstorming something that isn’t already being done well in the marketplace. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done before, but that you bring something new to the table or different that your target audience will appreciate.

It may be a different media format, a different slant, or new and updated information. Check to see what is already being sold. If everyone has done eBooks, then you may try your hand at a video course.

For example, you may see lots of different eBooks that teach traffic generation. But you could come along and create a video course that shows them over the shoulder what to do in a step-by-step manner and have a hit on your hands.

You never want to concern yourself about the size of the product or necessarily what you will charge for it in the very beginning. During the planning stages, you want to think about how to thoroughly and precisely solve the problems that your target audience is experiencing so that they walk away feeling relief and satisfaction.

Once you come up with ideas, which you can base on forum chatter, blog post comments, social media engagement, keyword research, and more, you can outline your product so that you make sure nothing has been missed along the way.

You don’t want to have to go back later and fill in the gaps if you accidentally forget something. When you create your product, you want to deliver a high quality item to your audience.

That means that it is well written. It needs to be in English and written by someone who is fluent if you are outsourcing it to someone else. You want to take time to review the finished product and make sure that it is grammatically correct and that there are no spelling errors or typos.

You also want to make sure that the information itself is correct so that you don’t misguide anyone who buys from you. If you outsource a product about paid advertising on Facebook to a freelance service provider who knows nothing about it, they may put information in there that is not correct.

If you are creating a video product or some other media format, you want to take the same care as you would with text and go over the information, check for the quality of the visuals and sound and make sure that there are no glitches when the buyer downloads and engages in the product.

Step 2: Create Two Kinds of Copy

You can have the best product on the marketplace, but if your sales copy lacks the ability to convert visitors into buyers, or looks very amateurish in nature, you will fail to have the kind of successful launch you were hoping for.

You have to learn how to improve your copywriting skills over time. But in the meantime, if you are new to this aspect of online business operations, there are some things that can help you get by.

You will be creating two different kinds of copy. The first is your front end product copy. This is the most important one because it determines whether or not your visitor becomes a buyer or clicks out and leaves.

You want them to at least purchase the front end product so that you have the opportunity to present a one-time offer upgrade (or several). The first thing you may want to do is go to your fellow competitors and create a swipe file of the kinds of slants, tone and topics that are discussed by others.

You will never want to copy what they have done, but it’s important that you learn from other people’s success. Almost every good online entrepreneur has a swipe file of things like headlines, storylines, bullet points, etc.

You want to create a template of the layout you intend to use for your front end sales copy. For example, you might lead with one or two headlines and sub headlines followed by a video presentation if you want to create a hybrid media format sales letter.

After that, you will launch into your storyline, which can either be about your journey or that of your customers. Ideally, it will be both so that you can showcase your passion for the niche topic and expertise as well as show empathy for your visitor and what they’re going through.

You will need to have the details of the product spelled out for them so that they know exactly what they are buying and aren’t left in the dark about it. You can do this through the use of bulletpoints as well as storyline copy.

Another thing you want to have sprinkled on the sales page are testimonials from people that you have given a review copy to and who can vouch for the quality of the product.

It’s always best if you can include their picture, name, and brand or website so that everyone knows it’s legitimate. Towards the end of your sales copy template, you will need to have a strong call to action that tells the visitor exactly what they need to do next and why.

This will be followed by the buy button, which you get the code for from the platform that you are selling it through. After that, you will include your signature as well as your post scripts, which sum up the offer and the urgency they need to know about.

The second kind of copy, which will be for the one time offer upgrade(s), is positioned a bit differently because you are talking to someone who has already proven that they have a buyer’s mindset.

They will not be taken to this page unless they have already purchased the front end. Therefore, they are in a buying mood. You just have to convince them that the upgrade offer is both relevant and necessary to their original purchase.

You don’t want to make it sound as if the front end product will not work without them purchasing the upgrade, but you do want to highlight its many benefits and make it irresistible.

Make sure that you are using a professional page builder for your sales letters and that you have either created or outsourced the creation of professional graphics that will represent your digital info product.

If you are not good at this skill, give it to someone else who can do it for under $20, because many visitors will see an amateur digital graphic and relate it to the quality of your info product.

Step 3: Implement These Technical Launch Set Up Steps

When it comes to the technical aspect of creating your own product launch, there are a few simple tasks you need to complete. In addition to the sales pages that you will be creating to convert visitors into buyers, you will also need to create two additional pages.

The download page is where you will house the link to the product that the customer just purchased. You can use this space as a way to promote other products that you have for sale and as a promo spot for top affiliates that you wish to recruit, allowing them to have an image linked to one of their offers.

You can also remind people about the rest of the products that are in your funnel in case they declined to purchase them the first time around. Your JV (joint venture) page is the other page that you will need to have set up for your launch.

This is where your prospective affiliates will gather all of the information they need in order to promote your product. They will go here to find out where to grab their links, to see what all is in the funnel and how it is priced, any contest details, and of course the date and time that the launch takes place.

When you are ready with all of your pages, you will go to a site such as Warrior Plus and create a product listing for each of the items in your funnel. Next, you will create an offer that will connect each of those items in the funnel.

When your product is complete, you can upload the files to the site and connect it all to your email autoresponder list. You can also share the link to the JV page and recruit affiliates from the platform.

When everything is set up properly, you want to perform a test purchase to ensure that the customer will have a positive experience from the time they click the buy button to the moment when they download the product from you.

Step 4: Go to the Effort of Recruiting Affiliates

When your JV page is in place, and your product is complete, you will want to begin recruiting affiliates for your launch. This is an important step because affiliates have the power to provide more than half if not almost all of your revenue, depending on who you recruit and what your own list is in comparison.

You can’t just create a JV page and expect all applicable affiliates to show up & up to promote you. If you have a little money to spend, then you may want to hire an affiliate project manager to help you with this task.

But it’s also something that you can do on your own if you prefer to do that. First, you want to create a listing on MunchEye, which is where many marketers list their upcoming product launches for affiliates to consider.

In addition to other similar sites, forums that allow launch listings, and groups on social media that do the same, you will want to announce your upcoming launch to your affiliate list if you have one.

If not, begin contacting prospective affiliates directly. You can do this via private message on social media or in email. In addition to the link to your JV page, make sure you send them a review copy for consideration and mention any additional perks you’re willing to give them, such as a bump in commission.

Step 5: Use These Traffic Generation Ideas to Ramp Up Sales

When your launch goes live, you will want to give it every chance at success possible. Start by notifying your list of subscribers about the fact that the product has gone live. The sooner you can get an influx of traffic and sales, the higher the possibility that you will land on the overall bestseller list within the platform.

Not only do some consumers shop from this list, but it will bring your product to the attention of many top affiliates who see that your sales page is converting, and they will take a look at your listing for a possible promotion.

Another thing you want to do is announce your product launch on social media sites. Facebook is the most common for digital info products, but it’s not the only one. While you might make a text and image post for Facebook, you can also create a YouTube video and use strategic hashtags that help your video get found.

Many people want to know about organic traffic solutions for a launch, but there are also paid options. For example, you can purchase a solo ad that will be emailed out to a fellow marketers list with a promotion to your product launch inside.

Step 6: Make the Most of Your Launch Momentum

When your launch is nearing its end, you don’t want to lose the momentum you have built up. Now is the time to immediately let your current affiliates and customers know what you have planned in the near future.

If you have just sold them a course about generating traffic on social media sites, and your upcoming product is about building a list, make sure you have your JV page ready for that sale early so that you can immediately send it to affiliates and let them begin preparing their bonus or promo.

At this time, you can also promote something related to what you have just sold. Make sure that it is a product that complements your own and doesn’t compete with it, because that would confuse your audience.

As soon as you have new buyers on your list, begin the nurturing process so that they are shown immediate value for being a subscriber. Surprise them with unannounced freebies that they were not expecting.

If you’re like many people, you find that you have a lot on your to-do list and it often leads to a struggle to get everything done. There is one habit that you can develop that can help you achieve more in your day – learning how to work in time blocks.

This is a time management habit where you separate the projects and tasks that you have to work on into dedicated blocks of times so that you get it done. Instead of sitting there feeling overwhelmed with your time management, you’ll be zeroing in on a very specific strategy that helps you end your day with fewer items left on your list.

Why Time Blocks Are More Effective

Time blocks are effective because they cut out procrastination and other wastes of time. They’re more effective for you to use to be able to get work done. You won’t have to sit for prolonged periods of time wondering what you should work on next, or for how long.

For example, if you have to go to the dentist, you may have the habit of writing off the rest of the afternoon as being unusable. But if you’ve divided your afternoon into time blocks, you’ll be able to see the trip to the dentist only used two of those time blocks.

That might leave you three more time blocks you can utilize to build your business or get things done rather than just wasting them. Time blocks are also motivating. If you sit down and think you have to work for several hours, you can get overwhelmed because you start to think about all that you have to get done as a whole.

You end up just wanting to play a game online or do something else. But if you have a time block where you say “I’m only working on this for half an hour or fifteen minutes,” then suddenly it doesn’t feel so overwhelming and you’re more productive.

When you use time blocking as a strategy, it’s effective because you have to look at what you need to get done and choose what to prioritize over something that’s less important.

Time blocking can help you to concentrate on your work for a specific amount of time. Not only does this increase your focus, but it also cuts out distractions. Sometimes, it can be tempting to go over a project or task repeatedly before taking action on it.

Having a time block only gives you a limited amount of time, so you’re more likely to get it done rather than continually going over a step or the entire project. Setting up time blocks is effective because it gives you a map for what you should be doing.

This helps to end productivity lags due to not knowing what to work on or what steps need to be completed during your day. This enables you to reach more of the goals that you set – not only for your business life, but for your personal life as well.

Time blocks are set up so that you work on one thing at a time during your block. This can prevent you from trying to work on several things at once, which splits your concentration and can limit your ability to get stuff done.

It’s a common thing for people who are busy to say that they don’t have enough time. However, once you set up your day by dividing it into time blocks, you’ll realize just how much time you truly do have to get things done and how much time you may have been wasting.

What Type of Time Blocks Do You Need?

Before you can set up your time blocks, you’ll need to know what type works best for you. To figure that out, you need to know how much time it takes for you to be productive.

It won’t be the same for everyone. Some people find that they’re most productive if they set up their time blocks so that they work for 25 minutes but then break for 5. If that’s the same for you, then an ideal time block would have to be a total of 30 minutes.

But if you’re someone who has difficulty concentrating, then a 15 time block might be what works the best for you. Some people need to sit down and really immerse themselves in the work in order to be productive.

For people like that, having an hour time block that lets them work longer would probably be the best. Keep in mind that your time blocking management system can change over time.

For example, maybe initially, you needed the block where you got to work for an hour at a time. But something is going on in your personal life that you can’t change right now.

So you can shorten that hour block into two half hour ones or four fifteen minute ones.

The key is to make the time blocking work for you – but it’s not something that has to be set in stone. You may find that there’s some trial and error when you first get started.

Set it up how you prefer it in the beginning but later, you’ll be able to look back at your schedule to see where your time went.

This might show you that you only needed half an hour for a task you routinely do that you always thought took you forty-five minutes. You can then adjust your schedule going forward to reflect the time difference.

Or, if you’re someone who likes to have some built in time to go back over your work just to double check it, then you can leave the extra minutes in that block. When you set up your time blocks, it’s helpful if you color code them.

You can choose whatever colors that you like but you want to have two different colors so that your home or personal time blocks are different from the ones dedicated to your work.

So for example, you could use green for anything associated with work and you can use various shades of green. You can have different colors for things like grocery shopping, bill paying, doctor or dental visits, running errands and more.

There are easy to use online apps that will allow you to easily add, take away or modify your time blocks. One of the great things about time blocking is that at the end of the day or week when you look back, you’ll be able to see how much you actually got done.

You’ll also be able to tell at a glance if you have time to do something that crops up – or not – like if someone asks you to go out for lunch or do them a favor and run an errand for them.

How to Use Your Time Blocks

The thing about time is that you either use it or it slips away from you. By setting up time blocks, you’re making the most out of all your days. Start by setting up your evergreen or automated time blocks.

These are the things that usually won’t change. For example, you might have things like: take a shower, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, take your kid to school in your first of the morning time blocks because these are things that you’re going to have to do.

So you could start your daily time block with whatever it takes you to get ready for your day. Next, you’ll want to know what your work is that you need to get done that day and you’ll block that time off.

If you run your own business, or you get to work from home, you can usually decide what your hours are going to be. You’ll want to choose the time of day where you’re the most productive and it can be helpful to know that this is one of your strengths.

For example, you might do really good at graphic design in the morning, so you know to save morning time blocks for tasks involving that. But if you’re dragging in the afternoons, it might be harder to work on graphic design – so you might want to consider saving that for checking email, participating on social media, and other things instead.

It’s okay to block off similar tasks into back to back or even in one time block. For example, you might have three or four meetings that you have to attend either in person or virtually.

It’s okay to schedule those around each other. So you could schedule a meeting at one. If you know it should only take about fifteen minutes, you’ll still want to build a time buffer.

So you would block out from 1 to 1:30 for that meeting and then from 1:30 to 2:00 for the next one and so on. Even if you know a meeting or task should only take a specific amount of time and you’re good at controlling meetings or tasks to stay on point, you can’t control interruptions.

So you do need to have a plan that takes that into consideration. It can be helpful to check your schedule at the start of each week to see how many time blocks you have for work and then subtract time blocks for things not associated with work.

What’s left over will show you how much time you truly have to accomplish your work or build your business. A great thing about time blocking is that this habit can also show you at a glance when your life is out of balance.

If you check your schedule and you see a ton of blocks that are dedicated to work and only a few for relaxation or family time, you can see that there’s a problem. Seeing this can help you to prioritize what’s important to you.

What If You Don’t Have Enough Time Blocks?

The question that always comes up when dealing with time management is what to do when you don’t have enough time to create the number of time blocks you need in order to get everything done.

You might feel that you work so much and that you’re so busy in your personal as well as your professional life that you don’t have enough time to even do what must be done – let alone what you want to do.

If you feel that you don’t have enough time blocks, the problem isn’t really a lack of time. It’s that you’re not managing it well. There are always signs that this could be an issue.

If you don’t get out of bed when the alarm goes off or you don’t even bother to set one, that can steal time.

You might stay up too late so you sleep in and end up missing the most productive part of your day. Or, you don’t get enough sleep and you’re too tired to really be effective, so it takes you twice as long to get your tasks done.

You might think that the problem is that you don’t have enough time blocks because you’re so busy multitasking. But research has shown that multitasking actually slows you down.

It causes a lack of focus as well as a loss of quality work. Not having enough time could mean that you’re just not accurately dividing your time in a way that’s productive. You might be someone who flies by the seat of your pants, so your time blocks aren’t tight enough.

If you’re giving yourself too much time to goof off or procrastinate, then you have to really push it to get stuff done. It’s not that you don’t have enough time, it’s that you wasted time.

Sometimes people don’t feel they have enough time blocks because they lack organization. Their personal or professional life is a mess. If they needed a folder on their computer, it could turn into an hour long search because they have too much junk on their computer and nothing is saved or labeled correctly.

Chaos is always a stealer of time. A lack of prioritizing is also a reason why some people feel they don’t have enough time. It’s not that you don’t – it’s that you may be giving time to things that are simply not that important.

For example, it might be important that you spend time exercising, but it’s not important that you spend forty-five minutes gabbing with the neighbor. To spend time wisely, you have to first understand what it’s worth and what it truly costs you when you waste it.

Not feeling that you have enough time blocks could also be a problem if you’re someone who’s easily distracted. You might be working hard on whatever you’ve scheduled during a time block, but then you notice a new game online.

Or a new email pops up. Or a social media notification appears and the next thing you know, you’ve wasted nearly an hour chasing something other than the task you’d set out to do.

Time Blocking Mistakes to Watch Out For

Time blocking is a system that can improve your life and help you to be less stressed while being more productive. However, you do want to be careful that you avoid some of the most common mistakes that people make when using this type of system.

It’s a mistake to not know the amount of time you have to give to your scheduled tasks. You might think that you can accomplish 15 things during your day when you can actually only get 10 done.

So right off the bat, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Then once you fail, you’ll start to feel like you have too much to do and that leads to overwhelm. Most people commonly write a longer to-do list than they can realistically follow.

It’s a mistake to be too rigid. There will be things outside of your control that will disrupt your time. Some of these things you can quickly deal with and get back on track – like your kid interrupting you.

But others will claim the entire time block. What you need to make sure you do is not to have a now or never mindset. Just adjust and get back on track. It’s okay to go back to your time blocks and create a slot to make up for the time you lost.

It’s a mistake not to write out what you have to do and give that task a number based on its level of importance. For example, it’s important to do the things that bring peace to your home life or keep your home running.

It may not be as important to get that room painted right now. It’s a mistake not to align your time blocks with your goals. If one of your goals is to lose weight, then your time blocks should reflect that you’re scheduled to go to the gym or to get in a workout.

It’s a mistake to let distractions frustrate you to the point that you give up. If you’ve had a problem in the past with stuff getting to you, then block out time for that. You could give yourself ten or fifteen minutes a day and just label it as “blow off steam” and go do whatever gives you some time to chill out.

It’s a mistake to let procrastination continue. Everyone has something they procrastinate at. But if a task is put off continually, then it can become a big deal in whatever area of your life it’s in – whether it’s relationships, finances, health, home repair, etc.

By blocking in the stuff you normally procrastinate at, it will help you get it done. It’s a mistake to be too busy. You can’t always go full speed ahead without taking some time off.

Being too busy in life can take a toll on every part of your life – especially your health – so when you’re creating your time management system, make sure that you’re also a priority.

First, divide your blocks up into work and home time blocks. Then go through each area of that division and block off time for specific projects or tasks. For example, you might have time set aside for creating blog content, networking in your niche, conducting research, etc.

For your home life, you might have time set aside for forming bonds with your loved ones – both spouse and children. You may want to dedicated an hour a day to self-care, where you meditate or do some at-home spa tasks.

Stay organized and be flexible with your time blocks. If you set up a system and refuse to budge from it, you’ll become frustrated. Likewise, don’t allow yourself to constantly have too much leeway to the point where you’re not using the strategy properly.

Find that sweet spot that allows you to benefit from the use of time blocks, without making it end up a bigger burden than you felt before. Don’t try to copy someone else’s exact time blocking schedule.

You may have different priorities, skills, tools and talents that allow you to do something faster than another individual who is lacking those things. And if you’re single with no kids, you might have a different work-life balance than someone married with children, too.

Mapping out the newest methods for SEO (search engine optimization) will be one of the best ways to create exposure for your brand with increased organic traffic and build a list of loyal subscribers to help your revenue soar.

But understanding SEO and how it works is a challenge for many online entrepreneurs. With so many people creating their own businesses and competing to rank their content, it’s more difficult than in the early days of the Internet if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Because so many savvy marketers learn how to game the system and trick search engines into ranking their content when it isn’t the best choice, the companies who provide these results frequently change the algorithm so that no one has an unfair advantage.

What Is SEO and How Does It Impact Your Success?

SEO is the practice of gaining as much organic traffic with as much quality content and site strategy as possible, allowing you to beat out competitors and gain in the rankings of the results pages whenever someone conducts a search.

Becoming successful with SEO requires knowing your audience and the type of content they search for as well as knowing the needs of the search engines themselves. Creating content that is angled towards the interests of your audience will bring organic (results you don’t pay for) search engine traffic.

Organic search results cover the largest portion of search results on any search engine. Even when you pay for ads to get exposure, those ads won’t be able to cover the same amount of space that organic results can.

Along with this, most people who search the Internet will not trust a sponsored post or ad that pops up at the top of search results. When they know it isn’t an ad, it’s seen as a more credible link to click.

Paying for advertisements will also become a constant cost, while equipping your site with SEO tactics will be free. Utilizing SEO strategies will mean you’re creating a direct path of information for search engines to follow, so that your content ends up in the correct search results, and your brand can gain as much exposure as possible.

Since there are brands and other businesses to compete with when it comes to the Internet, mastering SEO for your site is essential to standing out on the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Why SEO Changes Rapidly

Mastering SEO can be challenging because of the way different useful tactics and methods can change into useless ones in a split second. There are many different reasons why SEO changes rapidly.

Keywords can play a role. Some trending keywords will fade over time due to topics of interest changing over time. And when one certain topic is trending and a surplus of people are making content about it, the keywords become so inflated with content that the competition makes it challenging to stand out with a certain keyword phrase.

Outdated tactics are another reason. When people try to game the system and find new ways to force their content to the top of the search results, such as keyword stuffing, it usually doesn’t last long before those tactics get red-flagged, and won’t be effective anymore.

Spamming plays a big role. With the ability to use technology to generate content, many online entrepreneurs try to cheat the system by spamming keywords and other content that thrives with SEO using spin software and other tools.

With this technique, these creators end up falling drastically in rank, and struggle to make their content show up anywhere. Some algorithm updates will completely tank websites due to the tactics they use that are shallow and superficial.

Understanding Google’s Algorithm

Google’s latest algorithm is known as Multitask Unified Model (MUM), which is supposed to be one thousand times more powerful than its predecessor. Google will track a page experience in three different ways.

First, they look at the engagement and interactivity of the site. Google will measure how interactive your website is, and how responsive users are with those options (buttons, links, etc.).

The higher that ratio is, the better your site will perform in search engine results pages. Google wants users to interact and become engaged with the content that they take in, not just land and bounce after consuming a brief piece of content.

Site loading times get tracked. If a site’s loading times are high for a large number of users, that site is less likely to do well with Google’s algorithm. This is a key factor that they are constantly checking when the algorithm determines what order the results should appear in for specific queries.

Visuals play a role. This part detects any bugs or instabilities in the functions of your website. Google wants to present valid and credible sites to users that are not likely to be unsafe or crash.

Apart from those things being tracked constantly, there are other factors the Google’s algorithm MUM will be looking for, like gaps in research. Google is looking for new ideas and information to fill in the gaps.

With MUM, the goal is to make the search experience more of a conversation with an expert, rather than sites being made available to you. Content that presents answers to people’s queries will be essential to bring more traffic to your page.

Access on all devices is paramount. As more and more people do their research on mobile phones, accessibility across all devices is necessary. Your website should look flattering and organized on any device used to view it.

The goal is to optimize your content for mobile viewing, since that is the growing trend, and it’s predicted that people will only use their phones for research more over time. So make sure any themes or design you use is mobile-friendly and that it also works on all browsers.

Quality content is important. Although this may seem self-explanatory, it is extremely important. Your website should have all of your updated information for your business – including hours, contact information, frequently asked questions, and locations.

Your videos and photos should be as high quality as possible, and your written content should be grammatically flawless and easy to understand. It can be conversational in nature, but shouldn’t be filled with glaring typos and spelling errors.

Content Is Key for SEO Success

Having a variety of content on your site will bring in more traffic when you’re using SEO to do the job. Some people learn information better with visuals, while some prefer informative text.

There are different types of content that help with SEO. Text is one. With your writing, make sure to include keywords that will help search engines properly place your content in the correct categories.

Don’t overdo it, but have a variety of the same types of phrases. Your written content should be interesting and informative, and not bloated with filler words and phrases. Some people will find another site if they feel like they can’t find the answers to their questions easily on your site.

Make sure your text content isn’t too scholarly as well, unless that’s your target audience. People want to understand your content, and it won’t be helpful if they can’t enjoy your blog posts because of the level of reading difficulty.

Video can be optimized, too. Including videos is always helpful when it comes to giving viewers a visual of different techniques or processes. If you’re selling products, videos are a great way to showcase the product’s appeal and usefulness.

Since YouTube is such a large social media platform, video content can boost your brand’s exposure. Videos should be filmed with good lighting. Sound quality is just as important as the visuals, so make sure you have the proper equipment in order to make your videos as appealing as possible.

Make sure you title your video so that it can come up in search results, and put some keyword-relevant text in the description, too. Video transcripts will help it get indexed appropriately.

Images need to be optimized, too. Images are great for showing the appeal of your products, or laying out a step-by-step process. Images should be clear and taken in good lighting.

If you work from home and your products are located there, it’s important that everything looks as clean as possible. Check for any hairs or dust when taking photos of your products or other visuals.

The most presentable photos are the ones that show up in search results. Optimize it for search engines by naming it appropriately with a keyword and use captions and titles for your image, too.

Google Isn’t the Only Search Engine to Cater To

Google may be the largest search engine in the world, but there are many other search engines that you will want to cater to, in order to make the most of your organic traffic efforts.

Gaining as much exposure as you can means that you have to optimize your site for current SEO practices with every search engine that has a place on the Internet. Start with YouTube.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. With over 2 billion monthly logged-in users, YouTube attracts a large audience with a wide variety of interests. Since the focus is video content, it’s a great opportunity for content creators to thrive and promote their interests, and their brand.

YouTube looks for many things you can easily deliver on, such as keywords in the video title. Clickbait is not as useful as it used to be. People want to know that they aren’t wasting their time on a video, and want the title to tell them exactly what they will be watching.

Having a clear title that includes an important keyword will do well in YouTube’s algorithm. Create an informative description. Putting as much information as you can in your description will be incredibly beneficial towards the amount of traffic your video receives.

Use the description as a small blog post, and use it to include as many helpful keywords as you can, as long as they directly relate to your content and it isn’t an obvious attempt at keyword stuffing.

Customize your thumbnails. With so many videos to choose from, the main image for a video has to be good enough to draw viewers in. YouTube wants every user’s homepage to be full of colorful and creative customized thumbnails that showcase each video.

In order to thrive in YouTube’s search results, a customized and unique thumbnail is necessary. There are also some things to avoid, like choosing the wrong category for your video.

Every time you post a video on YouTube, you have the option to choose what category it belongs to. This is something you have to be careful with, especially if your content doesn’t always fit the same category.

If a user only watches beauty videos, they will never have a video attached to the “Gaming” category pop up on their home feed. Even if you have the right keywords, a misleading category will heavily impact the amount of traffic you receive.

Creating a wide variety of content is an issue sometimes. Unlike many other social media platforms or search engines, YouTube channels are most successful when they choose a specific niche to produce content for.

It will draw in a larger following, and the subscribers will be loyal and passionate about the topic you choose to focus on. For example, a channel is much more likely to thrive if they turn it into a gaming YouTube channel, rather than a gaming, beauty, and music channel.

Some creators will create separate channels for each interest that they want to focus on, so subscribers will return to familiar content each time. Engagement can cause problems.

With every search engine, engagement means everything. If people enjoy your content and engage with it, your content will find its way to a high ranking on any search engine. In order to boost your engagement on YouTube, encourage your viewers to like, comment, and subscribe.

Don’t stoop down to unethical levels where you’re bribing people. If you can create a community and make people feel involved, their desire to be loyal and support you will help you greatly.

Bing is another search engine to cater to. Although Google holds a majority of the search engine market share, Bing still takes up 2.88% of the world’s search engine market.

What they are looking for includes clear titles. Whether you have blog posts or other informative posts on your site, they have to be clear and relevant to the topic you are discussing.

If things look misleading or confusing, the other SEO tactics will not be successful. Alt descriptions are useful. Using alt titles and descriptions for the photos and videos that you upload to your site will help Bing’s search engine when it comes to sorting your content and sending it to the right place when it comes to search results.

They also want you to avoid some things, like an over-abundance of keywords. Making sure your content is full of useful keywords that bring the focus of your content to search engines is essential, but you have to avoid going overboard with the amount of keywords you include.

If your keywords are found in every other sentence and fill up a large portion of the content on a page of your site, Bing is less likely to put your content at the top of any search results.

A lack of a variety in content is a problem. Duplicate pages or posts, even if they are spread throughout your site, will be a red flag for Bing’s search engine. It makes your site less appealing, and less original.

Having unique content, and a solid amount of it, will be beneficial for bringing in traffic and keeping them there. DuckDuckGo is another search engine to be mindful of. DuckDuckGo boasts the fact that their search engine doesn’t track user behavior, making their engine seemingly more private and less invasive.

In 2021, their search engine hit a major milestone of over 100 million searches per day. One thing they’re looking for is quality links. Providing quality links in your content will make you more credible and trusted with any audience.

This method should be utilized for every search engine, as they all look for quality links that provide factual and helpful information. An updated Apple Maps location is good, too.

If your brand or business has a physical location, make sure it’s updated and fully accurate. DuckDuckGo uses Apple Maps for any location query for their search engine. Make sure your business has every possible way to contact you, any store hours, and your website connected.

Treating DuckDuckGo like any other search engine is an issue that won’t bode well for you. Because of their privacy policies, users may search differently. For example, if a user is traveling in an unknown city and wants to find local restaurants, they will have to add in what city they are searching for.

This means that you may want to add more keywords that focus on location, so that your brand will appear without other search engines’ location tracing techniques. They want content on current trends.

There’s a push for presenting content that is trending and relatable to current events and topics. If you write about popular topics and focus on trends and information about them, your content will rank higher on most search engines.

Provide unique opinions. If you are writing about trends or current events, having a unique opinion or “hot take” will enable your content to be pushed further to the top of search results.

With many search engines, they put a heavy emphasis on sites creating conversation and highlighting interesting standpoints on today’s trends and events. When you’re working on SEO, don’t go changing your domain name.

There’s a focus on how long a domain name has been in existence and what engagement it’s received. Changing your domain name turns your site into a new site to most search engines.

You will lose the history of engagement and the ranking you have built up. Before registering for a domain, take time to make sure that’s the exact name you want to build a business and brand under.

Each search engine is worth taking the time to fine tune your content so that it can thrive everywhere possible. With some effort and tweaks to how you present your brand and content, you will be able to elevate your rank in each of these search engines.

The rules are frequently changing, though. One thing you may want to do is stay abreast of Google algorithm changes. You can set up a Google alert to notify you whenever this is being discussed, or simply keep tabs on it yourself.

You don’t want to wake up one day and your first page ranking has suddenly plummeted to page 20 because you didn’t stay informed about SEO practices while the competition did.