You Need This for Your Odd Idea
Jen “Odd” Glantz here! I’ve been putting out this newsletter less often than usual. After writing almost 100 issues of Odd Jobs, I’ve slowed down and tried to be more mindful about what I’m putting out, and how often I enter your inbox.
I’ll probably send this newsletter 2x a month instead of every week.
But if you’re looking to read my other weekly newsletter, The Monday Pick-Me-Up, here’s where you can subscribe. It often features really odd jobs, ideas, and tips, that you’d love.
The Tools You Need to Start an Odd Job
I’ve written a TON about odd jobs you can start (all the archives right here). But today, I realized that maybe you need an extra push to help you actually start one of these side hustles that can turn into full-time money-making machines.
Having an idea is a powerful step one. But doing something about that idea is a painstaking step two that not many people actually get to.
Don’t be that person. Be the person who gets to step two, then three, then 200.
That’s what I’m here to help you with.
No matter what your odd job idea is today - or in the future - here are some of the digital tools that can help you get going (ps. most are free!!!!!)
Save this email for when you press go on your idea.
SHARE this email with anyone you think would adore it.
Website
Every business needs a website. It’s your home base and a spot on the internet that you own. Based on the business you’re starting, you can build the website on many different platforms.
Here’s a breakdown:
Wix/SquareSpace - These are templated based websites. You don’t have to have any website building experience or even coding experience to use them. Great for starter websites. They do have online store add-ons you can use to sell products too. It’s free to use, but you’ll pay for hosting the website (around $8-$14 a month) and a little extra if you have an online store.
Wordpress - A little more complicated to use and having some coding or website experience can benefit you. You can get a template to use on Wordpress. I find Wordpress is better for more B2B websites or for a website that you want to look extremely professional. I started off using Wordpress in 2011 but it became a headache. I switched to Wix and now I use Showit.
Showit - Both of my websites are on Showit. I hired a designer to design both but using the interface is easy (once you learn how) and it’s similar to Wix/SquareSpace. Great for a person who wants to have a beautiful looking website and can invest some money in working with a professional designer.
Shopify - The premier platform for e-commerce. Some of the world’s biggest online stores use Shopify. I’ve never used it and it’s a bit pricey. But if you want to scale to a 6-figure+ online store business, then you might want to look into using this platform.
Email Marketing
Everyone goes ga-ga for social media, but my brain believes that email marketing is actually how you can generate sales and make actual money. You have two routes you can take with email:
Route #1: Newsletter
This is where you use email marketing as a content source. You send weekly/monthly emails to subscribers with tips, advice, or anything of value to them. You can sell 1-2 things per email - but keep 75% of the email to content that they want to receive in their inbox.
You can use Substack / or FloDesk (for really cool designs and email funnels).
Route #2: Sales Funnels
If you’re looking to use email purely from a sales perspective, that means you’ll send people post-purchase / upsell / new product release / discount / welcome emails, etc. To do this, you want a “smart” email platform that can help segment and target your audience.
You can use Active Campaign or MailChimp (both cost $$) to help you do this.
Design and Graphics
The best place to design pretty much everything is Canva. It’s free and they give you templates to use. I use this 2x a day - at least - for social media posts, logos, and even to design sections on my website when I don’t want to pay a designer.
I also use Unsplash for great stock photos / and Pond5 for videos and music. Both of these have free versions.
Email Reach Outs
First of all, read this book. It will change how you reach out to people via email and make your life easier.
Then, I use tools like:
Any Email Finder - to find email addresses
ReBump - to schedule follow-up emails
Boomerang - to schedule emails to go out during the week when I’m too busy to send them
Copywriting
A really fun copywriting tool - for everything - from social media to newsletter copy is Copy.AI. It uses AI to help write you the best copy…ever. They have a free version but their paid one is great if you don’t have the budget to hire a professional writer.
Hiring Freelancers
If there’s something you need help with for your side hustle or odd business, but don’t have the time to DIY or learn - I hire all my freelance help via Fiverr. It takes some deep research to find someone perfect for what you need, but you can get such good work done on here.
Ps. Want personalized help starting your odd job or side hustle? Grab a coaching session with me before 2022 ends.
Random Stuff You Might Need
A course on personal branding - YOU NEED A PERSONAL BRAND!
How to make life more interesting
How to up-level skills to get paid more at work
How these Task Rabbit-ers make thousands a month
Until next week,
Jen Glantz is a whimsical entrepreneur, 3x author, podcast host, and all-around pizza-obsessed goofball. You can connect with Jen on LI or IG. If you want 1:1 coaching, this is for you, or if your business wants a badass speaker, check this out.