Seventy million people across the U.S. have a side hustle, with the average side hustle bringing in roughly $1,122 per month. If you’re looking to increase the amount of money you earn from a side hustle—or come up with a side hustle idea altogether—this blog post walks you through 5 steps to build more financial freedom through another income stream.

P.S. New here? Grab a welcome gift: How to Get Paid $100/Hour to Write for Businesses Online.

5 Steps to More Financial Freedom

Below are 5 steps that I have used to go from corporate to side hustles, then eventually to my own multiple 6-figure business with the freedom to work from anywhere, choose my own schedule, and work on fulfilling projects. I’m breaking them all down for you!

1. Get Clear on What You’ll Do With the Money

This first step is a fun one, and while it may seem frivolous, it will actually help inspire your mission and be something fun to look back on one day as your dreams materialize.

Open up a notepad or blank document on your computer. Brainstorm a list of everything you want to buy—big and small—with more income. It could be everything from Lululemon yoga pants to a condo. Everything is fair game. As you make more income, not only will you be able to cross these items off your list, but you’ll look back and realize that you created the life of your dreams, one paycheck at a time.

2. Make a List of Topics You Have Experience In

Next, brainstorm a list of skills and industries you have experience in. Ideas include:

• Hobbies like gardening, home renovation, travel, or fitness.
• Career experience like teaching, marketing, or nursing
• Topics you know a lot about like parenting, nutrition, or technology
• Education in things like healthcare, psychology, or finance

Once you have your list, choose one industry that excites you most.

3. Brainstorm Businesses in Your Chosen Industry

Then brainstorm brands big and small in that industry. For example, if you chose healthcare, make a list of as many hospitals, insurance networks, PPE equipment companies, local doctor’s offices, nutritionists, psychologists, orthopedists, and so on.

The thing to recognize is that EVERY one of those companies creates written content (or wants to). Every one of those businesses has a website, blog, social media, email newsletters, and maybe even a podcast or video channel.

Most businesses can’t create ALL of that written content themselves, either because they don’t have the time or because they’re not confident in doing so. As a freelance writer, you can earn $50 to $100/hour writing for those businesses.

4. Learn How to Write for Business

Writing for business is one of the most underrated skills to earning extra income as your own boss. As you saw in the exercise above, there are millions of brands out there, and each one has unlimited written content to create.

By learning content marketing strategies, in addition to writing basics, you can position yourself as more of a strategic partner to brands, which enables you to earn more premium rates like $50 to $100/hour.

You can learn to write through articles, webinars, or online courses, like my course Content Business Blueprint. (Learn more here.)

5. Pitch Brands + Begin Earning $50 to $100/Hour

Once you learn how to write for business, you can then pitch any of the businesses that you brainstormed in Step 3. There are a number of ways to do this (again, I teach a new way every week in Content Business Blueprint) but even connecting with a business via email or LinkedIn is enough to get started.

In your pitch, let them know about your experience in the industry, what you can help them achieve from a business perspective by taking written content off their plate, and include a sample or two of your writing. Most businesses are overwhelmed with the amount of content they have to create, so they’ll be thrilled you reached out to help them.

Financial Freedom via Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the lowest-risk, lowest-cost ways to bring in extra income. You don’t need to invest in any fancy branding or purchase a vacation home. All you need is training in how to write for business, a few writing samples, and a plan to pitch clients.

If you want to learn more about how to write for businesses, find those writing clients, and position yourself to earn more premium rates like $50 to $100/hour from the start, check out the free training below to dive deeper:

Ready for Your Biggest, Brightest Life?

Read my book: Your Bright Life: Get Clear on What You Want, Overcome Self-Doubt, and Bring Your Dreams to Life.

Learn from self-paced masterclasses: My self-paced workshops featuring videos, workbooks, journal worksheets, and practices guide you through each stage of bringing your dreams to life.

Start your own business: If your dream involves starting a business or becoming your own boss, my business course teaches you step-by-step how to start a copywriting business, based on my experience traveling the world as a writer, running a copywriting agency, and writing for HuffPost.

Coach with me 1:1: 12 weeks of private coaching to design your brightest life or business, overcome the fears holding you back, and get a step-by-step plan to bring your dreams to life—together!

Sign up for a free training: 5 steps to build a 6-figure copywriting business (even if you’ve never written professionally before)! I’ll break down what I learned in 15 years in the industry, a journalism degree, and being inside global brands mentoring writers AND on the outside as a writer getting clients and building a business… so YOU can create more freedom and fulfillment as your own boss, too!