Man, 2021. What a year, right? I remember seeing that headline, “Virgo Horoscope 2021 Money: Grow your income!” and something just clicked. Now, I’m not saying I live and die by horoscopes, but sometimes you just need a little nudge, a little kick in the pants. And for me, that year, it was about money. Not because I was broke or anything, but because I felt like I was just cruising along, and the idea of growing something, building something up, really got stuck in my head.
So, I started thinking. “Grow your income,” huh? How does a regular guy like me even do that? My day job was steady, but it wasn’t exactly overflowing with bonus opportunities. So, I figured, it had to be something on the side. My first thought, like probably a million other people, was “I need to sell something online.” Simple as that.
Brainstorming and First Steps
I sat down with a coffee, just staring at my wall, trying to figure out what I could even sell. I wasn’t a craftsman, couldn’t draw worth a lick, and my old junk wasn’t exactly antique-worthy. Then it hit me: I was pretty good at writing. Nothing fancy, just decent, clear English. Could I sell that? I had no idea, but it felt like something I could actually do without buying a bunch of special equipment or learning a whole new skill from scratch. That was early January 2021.
So, I started snooping around online. I looked at all those freelancer sites. The ones where you make a profile and bid on jobs. It felt super intimidating at first. Everyone else seemed to have portfolios and glowing reviews. I had… well, I had a keyboard and a desire to make some extra cash. I decided to start small. I wouldn’t go for anything big; just super quick, simple writing tasks to get my feet wet.
- Created a profile: Took me a whole evening just to write a decent “about me” that didn’t sound like I was begging.
- Picked a profile picture: Tried to look approachable but serious. Ended up using a slightly awkward selfie.
- Set my rates: This was the hardest part. I literally guessed. Started super low, just to attract any kind of work.
The Hustle Begins: Trial and Error
For about two weeks, I just kept my notifications on. Every time a new job popped up that I thought I could manage, I’d send in a proposal. Most of them went nowhere. It was pretty disheartening, I won’t lie. I’d refresh the page, see other people getting hired, and think, “What am I doing wrong?”
Then, finally, I got a bite. Someone needed a short product description for an obscure kitchen gadget. It paid like, ten bucks. But man, ten bucks felt like a million. I jumped on it. I spent way too long writing that description, probably three times what it was worth in my time, but I wanted it to be perfect. And it paid off! I got a 5-star review. That little star felt like winning the lottery.
That one good review was a game-changer. Suddenly, people started looking at my profile more. I started getting more small jobs: blog post outlines, quick social media blurbs, even some basic proofreading. I wasn’t getting rich, but the money was slowly, steadily coming in. I started tracking it in a simple notebook. Just the date, what the job was, and how much I got paid. Nothing fancy, just a running tally.
Scaling Up and Learning Lessons
After a few months, I had a decent string of reviews. I started feeling more confident. I slowly began to raise my rates. I learned pretty fast that you can’t just keep charging pennies forever. My time was worth something, and if I was going to actually “grow my income,” I needed to value my work.
I also learned about rejection. Plenty of times, I’d pitch an idea or bid on a job and hear nothing back. It stung, but I told myself it wasn’t personal. Just part of the game. I started looking for patterns: what kind of jobs did I enjoy the most? What kind paid the best for my effort? I found I liked writing short articles and content for small businesses – stuff that needed a clear voice but wasn’t too technical.
Around mid-year, maybe June or July, I started getting repeat clients. That was awesome. It meant less time pitching and more time actually doing the work. One client, who ran a small online shop selling handmade jewelry, loved my descriptions so much, she kept coming back for more. It wasn’t huge money, but it was consistent. And that consistency was the real win.
Keeping Track and Looking Forward
By the end of 2021, when I looked back at that little notebook, I was genuinely surprised. I hadn’t made a fortune, no, but I had definitely grown my income. It wasn’t just pocket change anymore; it was enough to cover a few bills, or just have a nice little cushion in my savings account. More importantly, I had proved to myself that I could actually do it. I could start something from scratch, learn the ropes, deal with the setbacks, and actually make it work.
I still use that simple notebook. My methods haven’t gotten much fancier, to be honest. I still just jot down the gig, the date, and the pay. But seeing those numbers add up, month after month, year after year now, it’s a solid reminder of that little nudge I got back in 2021. Sometimes all it takes is a simple idea and the willingness to just get started and figure it out along the way.
