#5: Meenank is generating ~$1000/month with multiple side hustles

For someone thinking of starting a side hustle, getting an idea can be very daunting. But the beauty of side hustles is that they can be built around any of your skills, interests, or even your career.  Our hustler today, is truly an inspiration for anyone interested in getting started with side hustle(s).

💫Pivoted his career from engineering to marketing through a side-hustle

💰Earning $650/ month with photography side-hustle 

🤯Juggling three side-hustles with his full-time job

Meenank is generating ~$1000/month with multiple side hustles

Meenank Minnu is a SaaS marketing consultant helping companies grow through organic marketing. When he is not working with clients, you can find him running not one but three side hustles! He is a photographer/videographer, teaches marketing at institutions, and consults startups on their marketing strategy. 

A side hustle that led to a career pivot

Meenank was pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Applications, but he was never very keen on becoming an engineer. So, his college life was all about exploring different interests.

One of the interests being writing. He took a very low friction path, and started sharing his perspectives on different topics on Facebook. One of his posts went viral🤩, through which he got multiple inbound requests from certain small companies to write for them. He was ecstatic and started to write for them, but for free. He never realized writing could be a paid gig.

Only a year later, in 2017, he got his first paid client in Milaap. He continued freelance writing while also pursuing college. By 2018, he started venturing into digital marketing and worked with tech clients on videos and social media marketing.

Soon, his freelance hustle became the pivot point in his career.

In 2019, when he graduated, he joined PitchGround, a SaaS marketplace, as a Social Media Manager. He gave his all to the company and, in just a year, was promoted to the Head of Marketing. He was instrumental in taking the company from $1Mn to $20Mn.💸

Turning an interest into a side hustle: Weekend photography/ videography

After the Milaap gig, to explore his long-time interest in photography he bought a DSLR camera. In 2019, when he worked with Pratiksinh Chudasama (aka Digital Pratik) on organizing an event, he got an opportunity to explore his interest further.

Pratik was aware of his interest in photography and experience in creating videos for brands, so he asked him to cover an event as a videographer.

Being one of those people who never say no to new opportunities, he happily agreed and covered the event for free. He shot the event for about eight hours, trying different angles and lights. Despite spending so much time, he felt happy with this experience. Pratik also referred a client to him, and his interest in photography turned into a paid side hustle. He started covering events on the weekend.📸

While he started getting inbound clients, he wanted to stand out from other photographers. To his clients, he also started providing  well-made reels and edited images. The bundling of his social media marketing and photography skills made him different from any other photographer/ videographer.

Today, he is earning ~$650/month working about eight hours a week. As he started getting more extensive projects, he hired photographers and videographers on contract and went on to build a team.

Photography is a side hustle that Meenank enjoys a lot. Starting as a beginner, he learned the tips and tricks of the photography on the job. He feels that anyone with an interest in photography can do photography as a side hustle. 

Meenank says, "One should understand ISO, shutter speed, and basic lighting. Then as you click 100s of pictures, 15-20 will be good, and eventually, you will build the skill."

Finding side hustle opportunities through on the job experiences 

Meenank is a massive proponent of side hustles. He believes that it should be mandatory for all. Why so? Because side hustles teach you time management, expose you to new skills and enable you to propel your career. And even your job skills/ experience can add to your side hustle and help you find a personal monopoly. This is what happened with Meenank. 

His experience with side hustles in marketing enabled him to bag a leadership position early on in his  career. He also built a good personal brand and was seen as an expert, and many people wanted to learn from him. Even educational institutions started approaching him to take sessions for his students. And he began the side hustle to teach digital marketing for SaaS brands to students, earning $100/per hour. He plans to start his course on SaaS marketing in the future.

Consulting became his next side hustle bringing him $350 per client. He capitalized on his strengths as a leader in marketing and his experience in building and leading a marketing team to start the consultancy. He consults with companies for building their marketing strategy and helping them build high-performing marketing teams

Hustlers Insights of the Week

Meenank's story is an inspiration that side hustles opportunities are all around us. 

📷Try out your interests: The most effective and easy way to start a side hustle is to follow your curiosity. You can explore your interests while making money like Meenak did with his interest in photography.

🌟Differentiate yourself in a crowded space: There are certain fields that are overcrowded. Photography is one such field. Its very important to find your differentiating edge in such markets like Meenank did, by bunding his digital marketing skills with photography.

✍️Get your foot in the door by working for free: As you start a side hustle, don’t shy away from working for free in the beginning. You are investing time and skills to build proof of work, which will eventually help you earn. Meenank’s writing, as well as, the photography gig started with a free assignment.

💫Explore multiple complementary side hustles: You can explore different side hustles around one primary skill/domain. Meenank has explored all hustles around marketing, which not only prevents exhaustion but also helps him to propel in his career. Your primary job skills can also pave the way for your side hustle.

Did you learn something new about side-income reading this? If yes, share it with a friend to increase the surface area of knowledge so that more & more people can know of ways to make money.

Also, know anyone (who is making money while having a full-time job) we should feature? Let us know by replying, and we will get chatting!