stoner side hustle

A Stoner’s Guide to Side Hustling

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know life's gotten crazy expensive lately. It doesn't matter if your paycheck is bigger than it used to be - everything costs an arm and a leg now. A gallon of milk will set you back more than your monthly utility bills!

With costs skyrocketing, a lot of people are looking for ways to supplement their income and bring in extra cash flow. Hey, we all like our comforts and little indulgences in life. So picking up a side hustle to fund those extras makes total sense. Plus, building up multiple income streams is how you create real wealth over time.

That's what this article is all about - exploring three solid methods for generating supplemental income through your own entrepreneurial efforts. We're not talking about get-rich-quick schemes here. Instead, these are techniques you can build sustainably into money-making systems to boost your bank account without killing yourself.

For all you stoners out there looking to subsidize your herb habit or just afford more of life's finer things, we'll dive into: 1) Using AI to create a passive income blog attached to products or ads, 2) Developing and selling your own products, and 3) Opening a brick-and-mortar Headshop. With some creativity and elbow grease, you can turn these side hustles into decent revenue streams.

Why Building a Business in the world of AI is mandatory!

We're living in revolutionary times, folks. AI has completely transformed the playing field, ushering in a new era that most people still don't fully grasp. I'm not exaggerating when I say this technological breakthrough is on the same level as the discovery of the internet itself.

AI has drastically reduced the effort and labor required for creating digital content and even physical products. With AI assistants, a single individual now has access to virtually infinite minds - able to tap into a vast pool of knowledge and find answers to any questions. It's an unprecedented force-multiplier.

This democratization of AI means that anyone with a smartphone and internet connection theoretically has the ability to build a viable business in a relatively short timeframe. The barriers to entrepreneurship have never been lower when you can leverage AI to augment your skills and efforts.

Whether you want to write a book, launch a product, start a YouTube channel, or spin up an e-commerce store - AI can accelerate and empower you to make it happen as a lean, nimble solopreneur. You don't need a huge team, millions in startup capital, or special expertise in every area. AI fills those gaps.

The enterprising folks who recognize this paradigm shift and start putting AI to work building their own business ventures will be the ones surfing the new wave of opportunity. If you're still just going to a 9-to-5 without any irons in the fire, you're already falling behind the curve.

In this AI-powered era, not building something of your own design - a source of self-directed income and a path toward financial freedom - means watching the world pass you by. This is the Renaissance 2.0, and AI entrepreneurs will be the pioneers and leaders. Don't get left behind.

Option 1: Blogs for Money!

Can you still make money from blogging in 2024? Absolutely! The problem is most people simply don't understand how to properly monetize a blog. Well, I'm here to tell you that blogging remains one of the easiest and most reliable ways to build a passive income stream. While I won't dive into all the nitty-gritty details, I'll provide the general path to take your blog from zero to cash flow in around 6 months to a year.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when starting a money-making blog: niche selection, content quality, posting frequency, traffic acquisition, and monetization analytics. Let's break it down:

Niche - You'll want to find a topic that intersects your personal interests and passions, but is also a proven "money niche" where people spend cash. Sports, for example, is generally a lucrative area of focus. But "sports" alone is too broad - you'd want to niche down further to something like "golfing." The more specific and niche you get, the more you can realistically monetize. Just know that richer niches also tend to have more competition.

Content Quality - While AI can simply spit out generic articles on any topic, that low-quality output won't draw an audience. Instead, use AI as an assistive tool while you provide the unique ideas, perspective, and editorial oversight. Come up with interesting angles, flesh out your outline, then collaborate with AI to craft share-worthy, media-rich content that you'd genuinely want to read yourself.

Frequency - Consistent publishing is less critical if you're delivering ultra high-quality content that provides immense value. Still, try to post new longform content (1,000-2,000 words) at least once or twice per week. Quality over mediocre quantity.

Traffic - Paid advertising is the easiest way to drive traffic to your blog. But you don't want to rely solely on that from the start. Build an initial audience for free via social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), video platforms like YouTube, sites like Reddit, and other online communities. Test content in these free channels first - if posts get solid engagement, then invest in promoting them as ads.

Monetization & Analytics - Once you have steady traffic, that's where you can leverage your audience to make money through channels like affiliate marketing, brand sponsorships, banner ads, and more. Cannabis brands, for instance, have very few options to advertise online - so a high-traffic cannabis niche blog could earn thousands per month on autopilot from banner ads alone.

If you're on a bootstrapped budget, I recommend spending only what's needed to buy a domain and set up a basic blog. Use free email marketing tools to start building your list. Concentrate your effort on producing stellar content over many months. Once you've built up a loyal following and consistent traffic, connect your blog to something like Google AdSense to start monetizing. With diligence, your passive income blog could be earning a substantial side revenue within 6-12 months.

Option 2: Digital Product Development

This option for generating income gives you more control over your revenue stream, but it's also more difficult to execute. Building a successful digital product requires deeper marketing knowledge, demographic research skills, payment processing setup, tax considerations, and more.

There's a lot involved in product development, but if you can create something that solves legitimate problems for people and makes their lives better or easier in some way, you've got a potential winner on your hands. The keys are ensuring your product is practical, accessible, and truly beneficial.

When developing digital products, keep these factors in mind: It should solve a real, widespread problem that your target audience experiences. Ask yourself - does it make their lives more convenient or fulfill an unmet need or desire? The more urgent and universal the problem you're solving, the bigger the potential market. Accessibility is also critical - your product needs to be straightforward for anyone to access and use with little friction.

So what types of digital products might you develop? If you're pursuing the blogging option to build a topical brand, some straightforward products could include ebooks, branded merchandise like t-shirts or phone cases, online courses, or membership sites. While you might not traditionally think of them as "products," those are absolutely digital products you can package and sell.

The beauty of digital products is that you have infinite inventory available at essentially zero marginal cost. Once created, you can sell unlimited copies without any restocking fees or additional production costs. Theoretically, this allows for infinite revenue potential.

The biggest challenge in product development is generating consistent sales. You'll need a solid marketing strategy and sales funnel in place from the very start, along with advertising budget to promote your offers to the right target audiences across the channels they frequent.

To get started, select your niche, identify the core problems or challenges that your prospective customers face, and examine how current solutions may be falling short. See if you can create something superior that better addresses those unmet needs in an exciting new way. Solve a tight, specific problem that plagues your audience, and they'll open their wallets for your product.

Digital products also allow creative pricing and partnership models. You can enlist affiliates to promote your product for a revenue share. Or build in continuity with recurring subscription models for products like membership sites or software. You can even bundle products together into higher-perceived-value packages.

The keys are diligent research to validate demand, innovative problem-solving to create something valuable, and intelligent marketing to get your stellar product in front of the right buyer audiences. Do that, and you've got a turnkey system for generating digital income.

Option 3: Start a Headshop

I can’t tell you how many people I know that started with a small headshop in a small market, and after a few years are rolling in money. The truth of the matter is that headshops for the most parts, are perfectly legal avenues of making money.

Many of my friends have started with as little as $200 and over the course of a few years built their shops to be generating thousands of dollars per day. Of course, this side-hustle can easily become a full time thing, but if you’re a stoner looking to make some extra cash, here’s how you can do it.

When asking ChatGPT on how one would start a headshop with $100 this is what it had to say:

Starting a headshop with just $100 is a challenge but not impossible, especially if you approach it with creativity and strategic planning. The key is to start small, focus on high-margin items, and gradually expand your inventory and customer base.

Here's a step-by-step guide:

Market Research

Identify Your Niche: Understand what specific products are in demand within your local area or the online community you aim to serve. Are customers looking for smoking accessories, CBD products, or something else?
Know Your Competition: Identify what they're doing well and what gaps you can fill.

2. Legal Considerations

Legal Compliance: Ensure you understand the laws regarding the sale of tobacco and cannabis-related products in your area. This might require some initial consultation with a legal expert but try to minimize expenses by seeking free resources or advice first.

3. Initial Product Purchase

With $100, your initial purchase must be very strategic.

Focus on items that are:

High Margin: Small, inexpensive items that can be sold at a higher markup.
Popular & Fast-Selling: Rolling papers, lighter accessories, small glass pipes, or CBD gummies can be a good start.
Directly From Wholesalers: Buying directly from manufacturers or wholesalers can cut down costs.

4. Sales Platform

Start Online: Avoid the overhead of a physical store by starting with an online shop. Use free or low-cost e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Etsy to set up your shop.
Social Media Marketing: Use social media platforms to market your products. This is where your market research on your target audience comes in handy.

5. Customer Engagement & Feedback

Engage with your customers through social media and your website to build a community around your brand. Customer feedback is invaluable for understanding what products to add or remove from your lineup.

6. Reinvest Profits

Expand Your Inventory: Gradually add more products based on customer demand and feedback.
Marketing: Invest in more targeted advertising (Facebook ads, Google AdWords) as you start to generate revenue.

The Sticky Bottom Line

I think everyone should be working on a side hustle in this capacity. A.I allows you to write like a copywriter, design like a graphic designer, and research like a master if you know how to ask it the right questions.

These days, the age of solopreneurs is very possible with an army of A.I bots behind them. In this article I provided three solid ways to generate money, more than 90% of you will do nothing about it, but for the brave few who will begin their venture…I hope this served you well!

Make some bank stoner!