Start Your Perfect Side Hustle with Gina Messina

Welcome back to the Real Life Momz podcast. It's time to take a break from our to do list and take time to focus on ourselves. I'm Lisa Foster and today we are talking about tapping into our talents and creating a side hustle. I am here with fellow mom, Gina Messina. She is an author, Speaker and entrepreneur and Gina focuses her time on supporting women who are ready to hustle less so they can live more.

Hi, Gina. Welcome to the show. Hey, Lisa. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

So I thought we could just start with. Just maybe even defining what a side hustle is because I don't know if everybody out there even knows what what that even means, right? Is it a career? Is it a something you do for fun? What is it? Yeah, that's such a good question. So I have to tell you I have this amazing coach who When I told her I was going to be talking about hustles, she really found [00:01:00] the word offensive.

She was like, like, you're hustling somebody? And I was like, no, that's not what it is, right? No, it's about, you know, finding opportunities to do things that you really like and make money at them as like an extra source of income. Because who of us could not use an extra source of income, especially now with inflation and everything else.

So finding those things that can work for you in your schedule, that it's something that you enjoy. And sometimes offers passive income, which can be really exciting, right? That is my goal is passive income. I just, I just am looking for that so much. Yes. And, when you're talking about kind of making this extra money, I know for me, like the gurus out there finance, right?

They talk about something called an MSI, which is multiple sources of income for those that haven't heard that term. And it's all about, they say like [00:02:00] having actually like, Four, right? Is it four sources of income? And so like you might have your career, you might have investments, but there's, it's hard to find those other sources.

And I think for those listening that have never heard this before, right? Like it's all about if we lose a source of income, you really have other sources to hold you until maybe you find another thing or whatever it is. And Personally, I know how important this is because I was working at a career that was very stable.

I was a pediatric physical therapist in a hospital setting. Like, who gets laid off from that, right? Right. And I had also started a private practice, but just very part time as of my craniosacral degree. I started a private practice. I was doing that part time. So I had two sources of income, and they laid off me.

Everybody, they just closed the pediatric department, just closed it. And a lot of people were like, Oh my God, what do I do? And I was like, well, I just go into my [00:03:00] private practice and away I go. But I need to start now thinking about what is my other sources of income? Because you never know. I might not have enough patients coming in the door.

Who knows, right? Like what happens? So this is such an important topic to talk about. Oh, agreed. I mean, I think so many people are in the position that you just shared, right? And all of a sudden being laid off, or, your pay gets cut for some reason, or, who knows, but even so, like, just your grocery bill is so much more expensive right now.

And so finding these different opportunities. can sometimes feel overwhelming. It can also be scary. You're thinking, wait, do I have to invest in this? Do I really have the money to invest or the time? Like, how do I balance all of this? So, There are so many questions and I just, I have to tell you, I literally have been doing this since I was 12 years old, like 12.

I've had two, [00:04:00] at least two jobs since I was 12 years old. And throughout all of this time, I'm almost 50, which I, Wow. How it comes up so quickly. Right. Welcome aboard. Yeah. Right. I'm like, Oh my God, this is happening. I learned all of this stuff because here's the thing I never had. Just a few thousand dollars laying around or 10, 000 laying around to give somebody to do something for me.

I, I had to figure it out for myself. And so I, I have just been teaching myself over time and realizing like, You can do anything. If there's something you want to do, you can do it. You just have to decide what it is and put your mind to it. Give yourself the space and figure it out.

Yeah. So, okay, so let's get into it. How does someone actually figure out maybe what their talent is that they should be even pursuing? What are they good at? What feels good? And that [00:05:00] could actually make an income. Yeah, that's a great question. So first things first is it's really important to do some self exploration, right?

And think about, you know, where you are right now. What are things that you've really enjoyed? What are things you've appreciated? What are things you've really excelled at? We all have people in our lives that say, Oh wow, you're so good at this.

This is what you should be doing. Right. I have one of my friends who always tells me you should be an aesthetician because I'm a little skincare obsessed. Right so I actually have a great. PDF, download on my website. It's free. You can download it, and it's about how to write your personal mission statement.

And I heard of this maybe 10 years ago or so, and I thought, That's so fascinating because we all know like businesses have mission statements, organizations, why don't you have one for yourself? So I've been perfecting that [00:06:00] and looking at how do you really identify those things for yourself?

What do I love? What do I really excel at? And what really connects to my own personal values? Right? Because if you're doing something that's conflicting with your own values, you're not going to want to do it. You're not going to be happy about it. So it gives you a way to kind of work through this, What are my values?

What do I really love to do? What am I really good at? And thinking about how you can put that into like a one sentence statement, which by the way, I keep on my desk and on my nightstand. So I remind myself every day what my personal mission is, why I'm doing what I'm doing. Right. And that's the goal.

And it helps you kind of like organize these ideas and start to brainstorm. What is it that I really want to do? And why shouldn't I be the person to do it? Because so often we think, well, I can't do that. Like, why would [00:07:00] I be the person that people would pay attention to? But why not? Is the better question, right?

Totally. I love that question. Why not? Because it's so true. I think we stand in our way all the time. We are, we are the person in our way, not anyone else, honestly. Yes. Yes. Get out of your own way. We all do it. I'm like, I'm so good at telling everybody else, like, how they should do things, but I have to have somebody to tell me because we do it, right?

It's so hard to break certain habits. And once you can identify those, and just be like, Okay, just, just do it. The Nike slogan, right? I mean, there's something to that. And when you just do it, You're acting from almost like a subconscious place where that conscious mind doesn't come in and say you can't do it because you know what people do it better or you're not whatever you don't know enough you're not a business person like be [00:08:00] quiet and just do it I love that.

Now, this is hard though okay I know this is hard it's easy to say. So, okay, you write your mission statement, which we'll have that in the show notes that people just can click on it and start writing their mission statement, figuring out what it is they want to do. But once I say, okay, I love doing, I don't know, let's say I love making water bottles to sell.

I don't know. I love that. That's amazing. How do I start? Like, how do I even do, what are my first steps in starting this side hustle? Yeah, so I am big on research, right? Like, do your homework. I will tell you that Shopify has an amazing Like I read through their blogs all the time and I've learned how to do a lot of things, honestly, from Shopify blogs they have great information about, you know, how do you create a product?

How do you do drop shipping? You know, print on demand kind of [00:09:00] things, so that you can get started and it requires no investment because literally you're. Connecting with you know, a drop shipper like Al Alibaba, you put in what you want to sell, you create a site, send it out to people, they buy it, it ships directly to them.

It's amazing. You can find all of this out. With a Google search in looking through like, this is what I want to sell water bottles. So where can I buy water bottles? How do I design them? Like, should you just ship them in like generic packaging or should you brand it and create like a branded store?

The other thing is that you can open an Amazon store and sell your water bottles on Amazon. You know, you just create a business account, you connect your drop shipper or you can have Amazon you know, house your items and ship them for you.

There is I am, by the way, I am like [00:10:00] the resource library. I could tell you anything and almost like. So many things. There's a company called Jungle Scout. YouTube videos all about how to do how to open your own store on Amazon, how to sell on Amazon, how to, you know, keyword search and market your items.

Their YouTube videos are free. They're amazing trainings. They have paid for trainings too, but you can get such fantastic information from those resources looking for like, who's the, who's like, you know, kind of like the known expert. So Jungle Scout is really, really great. Shopify, great source. When you're thinking about selling online and If you're looking at, you know, sales and funnel building.

Okay, that stuff was so foreign to me for so long. I had no idea. Like somebody said, well, you have to build a funnel and I laughed. I [00:11:00] was like, what does that mean? What's a funnel? Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so There is this company that I am such a fan of, Funnel Gorgeous. They have an amazing YouTube channel.

These two women who are best friends started this company and in three years became like a seven million dollar company. Teaching, You know, especially women all, but like also, especially women how do you sell, like, how do you write your language on your sales page? How do you make it look pretty?

Like all of those kinds of things I've learned so much from them. So there's tons of free resources out there that you can take advantage of to just kind of figure out, okay, this is why, what I want to do. What is the process? Where do I start? Yeah, okay. So yeah, so figuring out a the step, what do you want to do, which is what you have kind of to help you through that on your website, which is great.

And then there's a ton of free resources, especially it sounds like with sales, [00:12:00] especially like kind of items, you know, I actually used Etsy for a little bit. And use Printful. And once again, yeah, it's an on demand, like, actually I think I'm wearing the shirt that I made. Let's say it's the love shirt.

Yeah. I love it! I had, yeah, I was trying to spread a little positivity through clothing and yeah. You can go on and honestly Printful does everything for you. You're, Someone just buys it and they do everything. It's all connected and all you know is that it happened And you're there's nothing out of pocket for you.

So that is kind of cool. However Like there are some side hustles that are definitely more lucrative than others I think clothing maybe not as much, you know merchandise not as much depending on what it is But are there what do you find is the most profitable side hustles for people? Yes, so This is such a great question.

I just want to tell you this. I have an obsession with coffee mugs, like you with the clothing. I was like, I want to sell coffee [00:13:00] mugs with these, you know, positivity to wake up to in the morning. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I belong to some women's networking groups, which have been an amazing source of support.

And information. And I met with this woman and said, so what do I do? And she said, well, you're not going to make any money at that. And I was like, real, really? She goes, yeah, you'd have to sell a lot of coffee cups every day. Right. And I hadn't even thought about that. So In digging in, you want to find, what you really love to do, which is always I think the most important, but selling digital courses and sharing your knowledge out in the world.

is really where it is at. Yes. So I huge Amy Porterfield fan. I went through her digital course academy training. It was so amazing program and learning about [00:14:00] how do you put your expertise out there in, and it doesn't have to be just through a course. You can be doing group trainings or, all of these kinds of things.

The key is your price point and understanding who your customer is, and what they're going to be willing to spend on your service. And so having, different tiers so that you can connect with different people and know that, you're going to have a whole bunch show up for your lower end Item offer that's maybe, you know, 199 or something like that.

And far less it show up for your 2, 000 offer, but when they all come together, they're going to create a nice income source for you.

And you're probably going to close what 10%, right? And so you can look at that and have a really good idea of like, okay, I want to sell these big courses.

For 2, [00:15:00] 000 a piece, but then I'm going to do like a week long workshop, for one 99 that can reach a larger audience and having things that you can, upsell, that you may have heard of adding on when people purchase something from you, give them the opportunity to add something onto There is an an entrepreneur.

Who I follow who is all about the 9 offer, you know, put out a 9 offer to your email list. And you'll be shocked how many people take advantage of that because it's 9. You're like, Oh, I can afford 9. And you might make an extra couple thousand dollars in a day, depending on the size of your email list.

So you want to have those larger priced items, but, you know, have a tier have different options for different people. But know that it is your knowledge, right? And your abilities that are going to bring you the greatest source of income. Yeah, [00:16:00] I agree.

And yes, digital courses are the in thing. And people love them because they don't have to go anywhere.

They're right there. A lot of times they can do it live or just on their own time. But someone like me, I thought about the digital course making. I also took some Amy Porterfield stuff as well. But at the end of the day, there's a lot to them. For people who don't like the tech for people who don't maybe like the customer service end of like having to deal with questions and things that are coming your way.

What I started coming into a little bit is what we call Affiliate links. So I have taken a digital course that I love and I have affiliate link for it. It's an SEO marketing course and it's really helped me actually even in my business. I now have the last three weeks of fall patient load. FYI, just shouting that out there.

I'll put the link in the show notes as well. But it's just been so helpful to really learn how to [00:17:00] handle Google. And that's something I really believe in. That's the other thing. You have to believe in what you're doing, right? But instead of me creating a course and teaching it because that's a little overwhelming, I can partner with other people who have courses and have their affiliate link and how the affiliate link works is that you will get a percentage.

Usually it's around 10 to 20 percent of the course. So I can make 100 off a course that I didn't even create. That is so, so true, right? Finding those products that you really love, that you really buy into and you know, that they offer a really good service and being able to become an affiliate and say, like, I really support this.

I think this is a great product and if you're looking for it, this is what you should try because people trust you. Right. They trust you and your opinion. And they're like, okay, if Lisa thinks this is good, then I know it's good. And then you, you know, it's [00:18:00] essentially you're marketing for that course, right?

Right. So you're making an income from that. And that's a great, great way to bring in some additional passive income. Yes. And I love the word passive income because I feel like courses That's not necessarily passive. That seems like a lot of work behind the scene, right? Like you're, yes, it becomes passive if you put it out there, but there's a lot of work, like, but are there some passive income that you are just fired up about?

Yes. So, such a good question. So for passive income, right, it's this idea that you create something and then it just sells over and over again and you just collect the profits. You don't have to do anything once it is created.

So I mean, you can do that with a digital course, but as you said, there's a lot of work behind that if it's not something you're used to doing or you are uncomfortable with maybe speaking on camera, whatever it [00:19:00] might be. But. I know we have talked about this. I am a huge, huge Canva fan. I love Canva so much.

I always thought I was not a creative person, that I had no artistic capabilities, and Canva allowed me to erase that narrative, right? Because they give you such great tools. And so, So many people are putting out Canva templates for sale. Like, if you are a coach, you know, here are all of the workbooks that you need to get started with your coaching business.

Here are your Instagram templates that are branded and you can build your brand around or building your own brand. Right. Which sometimes feels very overwhelming. If you're not sure about what. It needs to have a brand. Getting in Canva, like, you know I have brand boards that are as a free download that you can take and then do whatever you want [00:20:00] with them, change the colors and figure out your style.

So what, you know, what do you like to create in Canva? You can make workbooks, you can make social media templates, you can do branding, you can do all kinds of things, right? That you can put out. For sale through a simple link which is a great thing to do. Also, this can be a lot of work depending on what path.

You go I am an author, like I have published several books and, selling your own books on Amazon, like write your book, design it, create it in, you can do it in Canva, you know, upload that book and sell your book. That could be a great source of income if you market it correctly. And just as an FYI, it's like one of the programs that I'm working on the publishing secret.

I published books with like major publishing companies, right? And [00:21:00] one of my books, you know, it was the best selling book of the year for my publisher. My royalty check was 400. You do not make money selling books with a publisher, but if you sell it yourself, you know, it could be life changing, which by the way, I think that's how the Twilight author got her start.

Wow. Wow. Yes. And you can self publish. You're right on Amazon. Yes, yes, absolutely. Maybe you want to make a journal to sell. It doesn't have to be I'm going to write a 500 page book. Maybe you like want to put this, source of inspiration out into the world, like you were talking about with your shirt and you create like a 365 day journal with quotes every day and put that out for sale.

So, you know, what is it that you enjoy? and that you can create and put out to the world and not have to continually every day be like, okay, now I got to do [00:22:00] this one. Now I got to do that one. It's exhausting, right? It can be very exhausting. And so this is, why digital courses, well, as a producer, right?

Like why they're popular. It's like, I can create this and put this out. And. There are other pieces of it, but eliminating the what I call like the daily grind is really important. So that we don't burn out, right? Because. burnout. I found this out recently. It is a real diagnosis and it can take up to two years to recover from burnout.

So don't do that to yourself. Okay, so we've got our mission. We're selling, we're starting, we're excited. However, I feel like it's hard to get it out there as far as marketing. So do you have any tips on marketing your product? Because you can create the best product in the world, but if nobody can see it or find it, [00:23:00] then nobody's going to buy it.

Yes. Exactly. And that is where most people feel stuck. Like, okay, I have this great thing, but I don't know how to get it out to the world. And we think like social media is so flooded. You know, it, it is another piece that can feel really overwhelming. The number one thing is to build your email list.

Do you have an email list? Even if there's five people on it, like, do you have an email list? Create a way to collect emails so that lead magnet or even, you know, spending a little bit on Facebook and putting out a free resource. and collecting emails that way your email list will grow over time. It will.

So you're going to start off small and that is okay. But you know, Lisa, you are evidence of this, like your podcast and how it has grown, right? You are [00:24:00] giving people something that they really appreciate and look forward to and benefit from. And so they spread the word and people continually You know, sign on to get you know, your, your weekly updates and, and be able to listen to your podcast.

So it's okay. The important thing is to start the, just do it, right? Just do it. Don't get in your own way, create an email, you know, get your email list together and start sending out and see what happens. You have to have a way to build that email list. The lead magnet is a great way to do that. I don't know if the listeners know what a lead magnet is. Basically a lead magnet is something that you may offer for free. Like Maybe the five steps to creating an email list, right? And you would ask for, you put it on your social media, something like that.

And you would, or like you said, a Facebook ad or something and would say, you know, [00:25:00] give us your email and here you go. Here's your five steps to creating your email list. And that starts to grow your email list. Emails. One of the biggest email growth things for me was honestly workshops. I did free workshops on different topics.

I put them out there and that seems to grow my email list a lot more. Personally, people seem to like to come live or watch it later, but that was a really big. Magnet for me. So that's what a lead magnet is. . Thank you for clarifying that because it took me a long time to figure that out as well.

And the, the workshops the different things that people can tap into and also once they get your.

You're a list of five ways to build your email list at the end, putting in, Hey, you know, mention this on social media to be entered in to the monthly drawing for a free. whatever you want to give away, right? So lots of creative ways to do [00:26:00] that. And when you're feeling like you're not sharing, you need additional information, you know, Google it.

I'm serious. Look and make sure you know, know where information is credible and is not. I know that sounds like well, how do you even know? You'll, you'll see repeating themes, you'll recognize particular companies that you, You know, know are trustworthy but the information is out there and you can put it together.

And you can always look for these free workshops as well. So how do I launch, you know those are certainly available. Yeah. And once again, for the email list, I think the email list again becomes important because other platforms like the email list, you know, is going right to the person that you're asking to buy something.

The social media goes out through algorithms, you have no control over [00:27:00] any of that. Right. But the email list, you know, it's in their inbox, they will at least see it. Whereas when you're posting on social media, not that that's a bad platform. Right. But you have no idea if it's even going to show up in somebody's box or not.

Right. Well, those, those algorithms are constantly changing. And that's something that you need to keep up with. I admittedly, at the moment, am not big on my social media. But put your energy where you can. And the number one place to start is with your email.

If you already have a big social media following and you're really engaged there, leverage that, right? Absolutely. Leverage it. One of the most important things that I have learned on that I always want to share with people is to listen to what's out there. and recognize what is good for you. Every answer is not the right answer.

There is a right answer for you.

So where can the [00:28:00] listeners find you and what do you have to offer? Oh my gosh, You are so kind. So, you know, I, I have a website, Gina Messina. com that you can definitely find me there. I just want to share that as I told Lisa, I'm going through a little bit of a pivot. You know, I've been a professor for the last 20 years.

And I really, I really just want to be doing work in the world Is connecting to everyday people that we can support each other and be excited. So I'm making that move into doing something a little bit. different and exciting and that warms my heart and that I like doing. So you'll note that if you check out my website, some things may be shifting over the next month or so.

And also my new launch is Gig Mama. G. I. G. M. A. M. A. Dot. Co. C. O. Because you know, it's almost impossible to find a dot com these days. [00:29:00] And so my whole goal is to put out these, you know, templates and services to moms like me who want to be doing a side hustle, who want to be trying these things out and don't know where to start and don't want to spend it.

Thousands of dollars. So, you know, get your social media templates for 20 bucks or, you know, get your brand boards for 20 bucks or whatever, right? So that you can Find a source that's trustworthy and reliable and not break the bank and help yourself get started and you'll see I'll be putting workshops out soon.

Teaching is kind of my specialty I'd love to meet you. Like, I am always so excited to meet new friends. So please you know, head to the site. If you go to my personal website, how to write your personal mission statement rate is on the website. The homepage, you can pop your email in, it's my lead magnet, right? Perfect. And get [00:30:00] your, your form there.

And you can also go to gigmama. co and Put your email in and there's four branding boards on Canva that you will get so you can start to work on your, your brand and see, you know, how you want to put yourself out to the world. Oh, I love that. And we'll have that in the show notes so people could just easily click on them and just head right over there.

So what is one thing that you want moms that are listening today that leave this podcast, shut it off and go do right now. Thank you. Well, if you shut this podcast off and you're going to go do something right now I highly suggest getting those downloads and thinking about what your next steps are, you know, what do you love to do?

What are you really good at? What do you want to be doing? Find that energy for yourself, but a couple of other tips that I will throw out there is to recognize, as we talked about, how you might be [00:31:00] getting in your own way, just do it. Mel Robbins, the five second rule, one of my favorite things ever.

Don't let yourself talk you out of it. When you just do something and start putting yourself out there, you will be amazed at what comes to you. There is no such thing as luck, right? It's about putting your heart and your soul into something. And people see that and they appreciate it. So find what is right for you.

Do it and don't burn yourself out. Don't burn yourself out. Find the right times of day that are good for you to be doing things. Manage that energy for yourself and, and look for opportunities to streamline, which is something maybe we can talk about. I know we're at the end here, but streamlining is so important.

The last thing, This is the most helpful thing that I've been doing in my life, for like the last [00:32:00] year. It has nothing to do with launching. It's about batch cooking. I batch cook once a month, I freeze all my meals, I pop it in the oven for 30 minutes, it's done, and now I don't have to cook dinner every day.

And that has been life changing for me. Like really. So find ways that you can make things a little easier on yourself and what works for you. I love that. First of all, I love the passion and the energy you bring to everything you do. It gets us all so excited to want to go out. I mean, I almost want to batch cook and I don't even like cooking.

So that it's great. It's great. I love it. So thank you so much for coming on and just sharing all your insights and for all the work you're doing to make this easier for those that really want to start to do a side hustle. Oh, my gosh. Thanks so much for having me. This has been amazing. And thanks to those of you who listened, I hope I get to meet you.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I hope you have been inspired to [00:33:00] start creating your own side hustle and to get that multiple source of income into your daily life. If you want to get a hold of all those resources that Gina spoke about on her website, just click on the link in the show notes and grab those free templates.

, and if you're interested in learning about that organic marketing course, that really has made a difference in my particular business, those links are also available in the show notes as well.

, and until next week, keep carving out time for yourself, because you matter.