The 3 P’s Every Profitable Side Hustle Has

Hey zxcv, it’s Mark.

Let me start with a question, and I want you to be brutally honest…

How many side hustles have you tried, only to end up making barely enough to cover your Netflix subscription?

Don’t be ashamed if the answer is ‘a lot.’ I was the same when I first started.

I’d always blame the method, or the person teaching it. But I was focusing on the wrong things.

Over time, I discovered something I now call the ‘3 P’s.’

These are the three key ingredients that every side hustle needs. Master them, and you can turn almost any side hustle into a money making machine:

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The first P is for PRESENCE

Look, it doesn’t matter how amazing your product or service is, if nobody knows it exists, you’re not going to make a single sale. That’s where presence comes in.

Your presence is how people see you, I’m talking online, and offline. Wherever your potential customers spend their time. Presence is what builds attention before the sale even happens. It’s the difference between chasing customers and having them come to you. The stronger your presence, the more your brand pulls people in, instead of you having to push your product onto them.

So here’s my challenge to you…

For the next 30 days, pick one or two platforms where your potential customers already spend time. It could be Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or even a marketplace like Etsy or eBay and post something valuable three times a week.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, just focus on being helpful, consistent, and real. Think of each post as a brick in the foundation of your brand. Over time, people will start to recognise you, trust you, and eventually buy from you, often without you needing to hard-sell.

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The second P is for POSITIONING

This is all about how people see your product, and it’s not just about pricing. It’s about perception. How your product or service is presented, how it’s described, and yes, how it’s priced.

The real question about your product or service is, does your offer make sense to your customers? Does it feel like a good deal? Does it match the value you’re offering?

If your product seems too cheap, customers question the quality. If it’s too expensive without a clear reason, they walk away. Your price has to fit the value you’re offering, but even more importantly, your product has to look and feel worth it.

That’s why one of the best ways to position your product is with “try before you buy.” This lets customers experience the value for themselves without a big commitment.

If you sell a physical product, you can offer a mini sample, a trial size, or make your returns policy clear and risk-free. If you sell a service, offer a free consultation, a demo, or a free resource that shows your expertise in action. For digital products like templates, courses, or memberships, give a sneak peek or a free preview.

The idea is to give customers a low-risk way to experience your value firsthand. The easier you make it for them to say yes, the faster you build trust.

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The third P is for PRODUCTIVITY

You can hustle your way to your first few thousand. But if you want to scale beyond that, you need productivity. And by productivity, I’m talking about leveraging people, technology, and AI to multiply what you can achieve.

A lot of entrepreneurs think they have to do everything themselves. They’re stuck in the mindset of trading time for money, grinding away at every little task. But that’s a recipe for burnout. The real secret to scaling is understanding how to delegate, automate, and amplify.

You don’t need to build a massive team overnight.

Start small. Outsource the low-skill or time-consuming tasks first. Things like admin work, customer support, or even use AI to speed up research and content creation.

Don’t just hire the cheapest person you can find. If someone doesn’t care about the mission, it shows in their work, their attitude, and eventually, in your results.

Skill can be taught. Vision and alignment, on the other hand… that’s much harder to fake.

Whether it’s real people or powerful AI, the secret to scaling is learning how to use productivity as it multiplies what you can achieve.

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zxcv, which lesson did you find most useful in today’s email? I’d love to know, so hit reply to this email.

All the best,

Mark Tilbury