6 Steps for Starting a Side Hustle

Did you know that 81% of six-figure business owners started their successful ventures as side hustles?*

This statistic reveals a powerful truth: Side hustles are a viable path to financial freedom that’s growing more popular by the day. And it’s easy to see why—today’s digitally-driven world makes it simpler than ever to pursue your passions, showcase your skills, and set your own schedule, all to the tune of extra income.

However, starting a side hustle from scratch can be daunting. Like with any new venture, the challenge often lies in the specifics of how to start a side hustle, such as which tools you’ll need and where to find them.

Whether you’re seeking a six-figure success story or just looking to earn a little extra cash, dive into this comprehensive guide to learn more about the six essential steps to side hustle success in the digital age: defining your brand, choosing the right domain name, building a website, enhancing your digital presence, promoting yourself, and optimizing your online presence.

Step 1: Define your brand

Embarking on a new venture is always exciting, but it’s crucial to anchor this enthusiasm in a solid foundation. A successful side hustle is more than a paid hobby—it’s a well-planned business venture.

To that end, start with these fundamental questions to guide your planning:

• What are my skills and interests?
• Who is my target audience?
• What sets my offerings apart as unique?

Your answers to these questions (and, more importantly, where they intersect) will help identify your niche. A niche is the specific, focused segment of a broader market that your side hustle is uniquely positioned to serve.

Gaining a deep understanding of your niche is just the beginning. Next, you’ll need a solid brand identity that reflects your core values and personality—the soul of your side hustle. As these elements take shape, you’ll be better able to craft impactful and consistent designs to match.

In particular, you may want to focus on key design elements:

• Catchy and meaningful business name that reflects your niche and values
• Visually appealing logo that encapsulates your brand essence
• Cohesive color scheme and typography that evoke the desired emotions and associations
• Brand voice and messaging that speaks directly to your target audience

By investing time and effort into defining your brand from the outset, you’ll create a strong and recognizable identity that will serve as the foundation for the rest of your side hustle.

Step 2: Choose a domain name

Once your brand identity is defined, securing a website domain name that aligns with your brand is crucial. Your domain is the front door to your online business; it’s what people type into their browsers to find you. It’s what shows up on search engines and on your business cards.

Domain names include the website name itself (before the dot) and the domain extension (after the dot), which is also called the top-level domain (TLD).

While classics like .com or .net are the traditional choice, many business owners are now opting for more unique selections. After all, the right domain name lets you thrive in the competitive digital space.

Here’s some domain naming inspiration to help you find the perfect name:

• Grow your professional brand with TLD choices like .agency or .work
• Secure your industry niche with TLDs like .fashion, .finance, or .fitness
• Boost your local SEO search appearance with location-based extensions like .nyc or .vegas

With Name.com, you can choose from nearly 800 unique domain extensions that can set your side hustle apart from the crowd, like .consulting, .pro, or .services. In fact, partnering with Name.com simplifies the entire process, as you’ll be able to choose your domain name and create your website at the same time.

Step 3: Build a website for your side hustle

Your domain gives your audience a place to find you. Now, you need to prepare for their arrival with a top-notch website.

The digital era has made it easier than ever to get businesses rolling with a branded website. For example, Wix website builder has a user-friendly interface that enables you to build that website in minutes, with zero design or coding skills necessary.

Here are just a few Wix features that can elevate your side hustle website:

• Customizable templates – With hundreds of templates designed for various industries and purposes, Wix lets you choose a look and feel that aligns with your side hustle’s theme and then customize it to your liking. Wix’s AI-powered onboarding tools simplify site creation, allowing you to create a professional site with no coding skills.
• Side-hustle-specific capabilities – From e-commerce capabilities with secure payment gateways to integrating booking systems for appointments, Wix supports a range of functionalities that can help you scale your business.
• SEO tools – Wix provides built-in search engine optimization (SEO) tools that guide you through fine-tuning your site content to increase visibility and attract more organic traffic from search engines.

Ultimately, Wix offers the fastest way to transform your side hustle from a concept into a profitable business, minimizing the technical complexities often associated with these foundational steps.

Step 4: Enhance your digital presence with essential tools

Modern entrepreneurs rely on an increasingly growing suite of digital tools to stay competitive in the side hustle arena.

Let’s explore some top tools that can enhance your online visibility and help you target customers more effectively:

• Google Workspace – A full-service suite designed for budding entrepreneurs and industry giants alike, Google Workspace incorporates well-known productivity apps like Google Docs and Sheets with enterprise-grade capabilities and integrations. It also upgrades key business apps, such as increasing Google Drive storage space or linking your work calendar to a website to schedule clients, book appointments, and more. The all-encompassing smart collaboration tool can be purchased directly through Name.com when securing your domain name.
• Titan Email – Alongside your professional website, it’s worth having a professional email address. A service like Titan Email makes this process simple, giving you an @yourdomain email address to send and receive mail from. With plentiful data storage, calendar functionalities, and best-in-class security, Titan is the all-in-one email solution for your side hustle.

If you’re already learning how to become a freelancer, side hustle pro tips like this one might feel familiar. But what may come as a surprise is the level of flexibility these solutions offer, allowing you to tailor them to the specific requirements of your digital side hustle. In fact, Name.com’s comprehensive platform enables you to bundle tools like Google Workspace directly into your Wix-built website from the initial setup.

Step 5: Engage and promote

Of course, your business website isn’t going to advertise itself. To get the word out about your side hustle, turn to social media.

Linking your website with your TikTok, X, Instagram, and YouTube accounts allows you to attract viewers and turn them into customers.

To funnel interested social media users to your website, you can:

• Use Hopp – Hopp by Wix turns the link in your bio into a conversion-focused landing page. It’s especially valuable on platforms like TikTok, where sharing links to products or pages isn’t always easy, though it’s equally powerful on other social media sites. With monetization tools and a potent search function, Hopp is the ultimate tool for growing your social media presence and your brand.
• Create a .bio domain – To ensure your link in bio looks as professional as possible, you can secure a secondary domain like “yoursitename.bio.” This domain will act as a complement to your primary website. That way, when social media users click on your bio, they won’t see a string of numbers and letters—they’ll see your branding front and center.

These social media strategies can help you build a social community around your side hustle, then convert that community into customers, making every interaction more meaningful.

Step 6: Optimize your online presence

In addition to promoting your new side hustle through direct communication, you can also sharpen your competitive edge by optimizing your digital identity for easy discovery.

A Google Business Profile, for example, can help increase local visibility. By listing your side hustle on Google, you ensure it appears in local search results and on Google Maps, boosting your local presence while enhancing credibility and accessibility to potential customers.

You might also use experience gained from early customers or the website design process to fine-tune aspects of your brand that might need to be clarified. For example, you may discover that focusing your offerings on a few specialized services rather than a broad range attracts more targeted clients who value expertise in specific areas.

Ongoing refinement ensures that your business remains relevant, visible, and appealing to new and returning customers alike.

Build your side hustle success story with Name.com

While a side hustle can come with its own set of unique challenges, equipping yourself with the right tools can certainly maximize your chances of success.

By choosing strategic resources such as Name.com for domain registration, Wix for website creation, and Google Workspace for enhanced productivity, you position your side hustle on a solid foundation from which it can grow and thrive.

As you navigate the ups and downs, Name.com is more than just a service provider but a partner that grows with you, offering a full suite of scalable digital solutions that adapt to your changing needs.

Start your side hustle journey today, and let Name.com help you write your own success story.

Sources: 

Luisa Zhou. 2024 Side Hustle Statistics. https://www.luisazhou.com/blog/side-hustle-statistics/

Time. How to Start A Side Hustle. https://time.com/personal-finance/article/start-a-side-hustle/