There are con men and women all over the internet.
What they’re selling can become your side hustle if you’re not careful. As your personal human guinea pig, I’ve tried most on this list.
I want to save you hours of your life — and your sanity. Tell your family they can thank me later.
Avoid these dumb side hustles.
NudeTube
A neighbor got into stripping on camera for money during coroni-rona.
I don’t blame them. They earn good money on the fan-only platform. But trouble broke out when some idiot screen-captured their content and started posting it on nude websites.
Their work colleagues saw it. People in the street recognized them. There’s no going back. You can’t remove naughty photos from the internet once theyget unleashed. For that reason, I recommend you avoid it.
The regrets later in life aren’t worth it.
A few people suggested I set up a naked peep show online after I wrote this tweet…
Thanks everyone for the nice words, but no one is going to pay to see my hairy monkey ass. If they would pay, I suspect I’d have already done it haha.
Network marketing pyramid schemes
I first heard of network marketing when a scam company from the US came to Australia and started flogging supermarket groceries.
That’s right, you get a membership and then you can only buy groceries from them from now on. They never have specials, and surprise, surprise, their groceries aren’t cheap.
As you refer more friends to buy their groceries from them too, you get commissions. The trouble is the commissions are simply paid for by the sky-high prices you pay for toilet paper and Froot Loops.
The people at the top of the pyramid and get in early make the most money. They end up with Ferraris which they show you at elaborate seminars to convince you to join the scam and be like them.
The most common place you’ll find network marketing is at your local gym.
Buff dudes in singlets will try to get you to take their protein powder and supplements, claiming they’ll make you magically sexy, skinny, and desirable in bed. Don’t do it.
It’s a trap.
Most supplements end up in your piss a few hours later.
Uber
I used to think Uber was a good idea run by people with angel wings.
Then I watched the tv show about them called “Super Pumped.” I had no idea. In the early days I knew someone driving a black Mercedes Benz S Class and earning $100k+ a year from riders.
Then the rules changed and they lost everything.
Uber destroys your family car and places unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle. The cost of gas is sky-high too. Then you’ve got insurance, registration and other government charges.
You’ll make $10 an hour if you’re lucky. It’s a scam. And Uber hates humans.
Forex or crypto trading
Trading the difference in price between various currencies is a scam. Nowadays there are banks and trading bots that can do this.
If anyone is telling you there’s money in it, they’re lying. Forex trading is similar to gambling. I tried it years ago and learned how it works. Another friend of mine works for one of these Forex companies.
He told me many Forex firms actively trade against their clients to force them to lose money.
Crypto trading is in the same category. I love crypto, but I don’t trade. Trading is where you buy and sell crypto multiple times a day for a profit. You read stupid graphs that supposedly predict market sentiment, although all the data was magically wrong about this latest crash.
And with trading you typically borrow money to invest. For example you’ll put down $1000 to trade $10,000 dollars in assets.
All is great when the market is pumping. But if the market goes down then you lose your $1000 and end up in debt as well. There’s a whole business designed to move markets enough to wipe out day traders.
Stay away. 99% of people lose money trading.
Betting on sports
This one is so dumb. It’s the same as the lottery. If you can do basic math you’ll quickly see the odds are stacked against you by design. If you like losing money for fun, though, while watching sports, then knock yourself out.
Shopping for discounts
My wife’s side hustle is looking for discounts. She doesn’t want to save money. She just loves the thrill of the chase.
My advice: instead of looking for discounts just make more money. Any monkey with a computer can do it.
Property sold at real estate seminars
I’ve been to plenty of real estate seminars. I have no intention of buying anything there but am kind of curious.
As a human lie detector, I can tell you most of the presenters are scammers by the way they talk and their body language. A well-known influencer/podcaster ran the last one I went to in 2020.
Many people worship the ground this man walks on. Something didn’t feel right. I took a photo of the properties they were selling and sent them to someone I knew who’s been in the business for 30 years.
“Mate, these properties are dog sh*t. I wouldn’t sell them to my worst enemy. All you have to do is google one of them to see. How do people fall for this?”
I got my answer.
The best real estate to invest in is what you can afford without the use of middlemen or attending real estate seminars.
Get rich quick schemes
One of the fastest ways to get rich, oddly, is by breaking the law.
A lady I used to work with over 10 years ago fell into this trap. She was a nice old soul. But she got sick of “working for the man.” So in her spare time she started manufacturing drugs.
All was sweet.
She made some decent cash.
Then one day the drug squad showed up at her door. She ran down the street with no shoes on until the dogs from the drug squad attacked her and then six beefy police officers tackled her to the ground.
The aim in life isn’t to get rich. It’s to have a good night’s sleep. If you break the law you’ll never sleep well again. Ain’t worth it.
Paid surveys
The money you make is tiny. Your time is worth more than the $5 they pay you to jump through their ridiculous hoops. I’d rather sell my blood for money and pass out from the needles than do surveys. But that’s just me.
Content writing mills
I love online writers. I’ve dedicated my entire career to working with them.
When I see a fellow writer take a gig writing for a content mill it makes me sad. These slave labor content factories pay writers a few dollars per article. The content is typically jammed full of SEO keywords.
The writing produces low energy. It makes good writers hate writing, so they don’t have mental energy left to write the real stories that’ll one day change their lives.
Build an audience on social media. Write for them. It’ll make you more money than a content mill.
Handmade soaps
A nice man at my old Toastmasters club fell in love with this one. After hours he’d work his ass off to make handmade soap. He’d sell them to everyone he met. His car was full of soaps. But he never made any real money. Why?
The world has enough soaps.
Building social media apps
I get that social media is broken. We want freedom of speech again. But building a new type of social media app as a side hustle probably won’t work.
I’ve seen so many people try this one. Anyone can slap up an app on the app store, but it’s way harder than it looks.
Getting users onto a new platform is a challenge. We say we want new apps but the truth is we’re too lazy and fatigued to move. We like the idea of it but not the execution.
And fixing social media is complex. Try moderating millions of humans with all types of opinions and conspiracy theories wedged in their minds.
I respect social media companies for how hard their job is. I wouldn’t wish this problem on my worst enemy — except, maybe, Mark Zuckerberg 🙂
Taking calls from your boss after hours
Your side hustle isn’t doing more work from your job during downtime. Whatever promotion or bonus your boss is offering … it ain’t worth it.
Don’t let your boss become your side hustle.
