Business

The Side Hustle Report – Edition #2

Home Valuations and Weighted Hula Hoops Welcome to the  second edition of The Side Hustle Report where we present two side hustle opportunities each month. Check out Edition 1 here for background on us and the strategy behind our two monthly selections. One of the most important points you should bear in mind when assessing these opportunities is the fact that anyone can start one of our featured businesses. We have selected business ideas which are simple to understand, have a competitive advantage and benefit from a great domain name usually with a large number of exact match searches. This strategy alone will assure a steady flow of  traffic to your website from day 1 while requiring minimal marketing spend. It is difficult to stand out when starting a new business that is why it is important you start with an impactful domain name. You don’t need to be an expert in solar power or home loans to start a lead generation business. And you definitely don’t need to invest your life savings. Last week we presented the idea of starting a solar panel lead generation business with a domain name that has the advantage of a large number of exact match searches. This week we have something similar, positioned in the personal loan space. Side Hustle #1 HomeValuation.org Let’s say you are a homeowner looking at selling your property. What you are interested in is how much your current property is likely to sell for. That will determine how much you will need to borrow for your next purchase. Therefore users of a site such as HomeValuation.org are likely to be in the market for a home loan. The Opportunity Therein lies the opportunity. The cost of a mortgage lead can vary widely depending on several factors, including the quality of the lead, the source, and the geographic market. Generally, mortgage leads can cost anywhere from $20 to $200 or more per lead. Higher-quality leads, such as those with verified contact information and a strong indication of interest, typically cost more. Additionally, exclusive leads (sold to only one lender) are usually more expensive than shared leads (sold to multiple lenders). Projections Now let’s look at the key words ‘home valuation’. These keywords receive 22,000 monthly searches (Source: Wordstream) with a cost per click ranging from $0.94 to $5.32. Let’s assume that your new valuation platform receives 10% of these searches and of these 10% will complete an online form and qualify as a quality lead, that is 200 leads a month which you can sell for anywhere between $20 and $200. If you choose to sell these leads exclusively, let us assume a price per lead of $50, which is reasonably conservative. That’s $10,000 a month in revenue. Cost per Click What is the relevance of CPC? It provides you with a possible value for your website. If you are receiving 2,000 visits to your website that is equivalent to spending let’s say $3 a lead to generate these through a search engine. In this case your new website is worth up to $6,000 a month in free advertising. The value of .org According to a recent trust survey .org is the third most trusted domain extension behind .com and .co. This is one of the reasons why we like HomeValuation.org as a viable and potentially profitable side hustle. To add to its credibility and authority with search engines, it was registered in 2002 some 22 years ago, which provides a lot of history and credibility for any new owner. Developing your new platform You are probably thinking, how do I build a home valuation website? It’s easy! Find an existing home valuation site and then source a website designer on Fiverr to copy the functionality using your own unique content of course. It shouldn’t cost you more than a few hundred dollars. You can buy HomeValuation.org directly from GoDaddy for $1,950. That is a steal considering the .com is undeveloped and is priced at $175,000. Side Hustle #2 WeightedHulaHoop.com Last week we presented the idea of establishing a drop shipping business based on neck pillows. This week it’s hula hoops. But not just any old hula hoop, weighted hula hoops. Why weighted hula hoops? There are 18,000 monthly searches for the key words ‘weighted hula hoops’ according to Wordstream. If you own the .com you effectively own the category! Here is a little about the Weighted Hula Hoop Market A hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs, or neck. Weighted hula hoops are a variation of the original plastic version. The benefits of hula hoops are stronger heart & lungs, improved blood flow, a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a stronger immune system, improved brain function, and lower stress levels. Weighted hula hoops come in a variety of sizes and weights. Hula hoop sizes vary by brand, but in general, adult sizes range between 37 to 41 inches. They range from roughly 1 to 5 pounds. Based on the product, the market is classified into a Fitness hula hoop and Dance hula hoop. The most surprising part of our research on the weighted hula hoop as a side hustle was its market size.  It is estimated that the market was worth 1.67 (USD Billion) in 2023 and is expected to grow from 1.75 (USD Billion) in 2024 to 2.5 (USD Billion) by 2032. Owning the .com provides you with immense credibility in the Weighted Hula Hoop market. Cost per Click With over 18,000 keyword searches every month and assuming that on average 20% of these searches translate to a visit to your website, that’s around 3,600 visits a month. With a cost per click of let’s say 75 cents that means WeightedHulaHoop.com is worth up to $2,700 a month in free advertising alone. Projections Taking this a step further. Let’s assume that 10% of these visits result in a sale, with a sale price of $14.99, undercutting your competition, which generally