Match your skills to real business problems

Merely having a particular set of skills does not guarantee you will have a successful side hustle. You need to see where your skills overlap with real (and preferably expensive or arduous) problems.

Graphic design is a good example. Talented artists with some photoshop skills are a dime a dozen. Yet there are designers who make millions of dollars every year. How does this happen?

Top-earning designers must draw a clear line between their work and solving important problems.

Think of this as your skill-to-market fit. A graphic designer who says they “do it all” won’t command the same fees as the graphic designer who specializes in designing user-friendly, on-brand websites with a track record for improving online sales.

The first designer charges a hundred dollars per design. The second commands thousands—or tens of thousands—of dollars per project.

So it’s not enough to know your skills. You must know what those skills mean within the context of the challenges your ideal client is facing.