Secondary Income Ideas and Tests

Part of my goals for 2022 was to find at least one secondary income to help boost the money coming in and give me, someone who is self-employed, a bit more financial security in the long run.  With all the things that are going on at the moment it feels especially important now.

I have to admit I've been a little bit slow with this as I'm not sure which direction to go in and I'm worried that there are some things that might put a spanner in the works, such as my dyslexia.  There is also the question of finding the time to fit these in around all the stuff that I already doing.  I have had a few ideas though and at the moment I'm having a look to see if they're actually feasible.

One thing I would really like to see if I can do is earn an income from recording things like audio books and articles.  I feel like it is something I'd really enjoy doing, but this is definitely an area where I'm worried that my dyslexia might play a negative part in.  There's also the initial outlay of either getting good recording equipment or finding somewhere to record to produce high enough quality samples which would make people want me to record for them.  I guess I'll just have to have a go and see but I would like to do a little more research on it first so I know what I'm getting into before I start.

I have also been thinking that it might be good to do something that actually uses the more creative side of my brain and is a little more hands on.  I have a few ideas but there are two specifically that I want to give a go.  The first is making jewellery from the sea glass I've collected over the years.  I've never made jewellery in this way before, with wire, but I think it's something I should be able to do.  I'm mostly worried about them not being neat enough to warrant charging for them.  I also need to do some research on how much I should be charging as well.  First things first though, can I actually make them.

The second one it to make t-shirts with my own designs.  It would basically be a cartoon which makes fun of myself, but obviously I need to see if I am able to draw the designs I have in mind first.  I use to draw quite a bit, but that has gone to the wayside over the years and I need to see if I can still actually draw and in the style I would like.  Of course, I could get someone else to do it for me, but that would involve spending quite a bit of money on that and I really want to see if I can do it myself.  So I'm going to practice this for a bit to see what I'm capable of and I also need to do some more research on where I'd sell these items once I was done.

With both of these there is going to need to be quite a bit of practicing before I can even begin to start looking at earning anything from them.  There also needs to be a situation where people can afford to buy them and that might not be the case at the moment.  However, they could end up being quite a steady earner.  That's all my realistic ideas at the moment and I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about giving these a go.  However, even if I fail at them, at least I know I've tried.