Studying the way to make 6 figures ($100,000) a yr is a standard aim for a lot of — and why wouldn’t or not it’s?
The six determine quantity is a milestone that may put your earnings effectively past the median family earnings in the USA, and probably afford you with a extra comfy way of life.
However how do you get there – particularly for those who’re making nowhere close to this quantity now?
Methods to earn 6 figures a yr:
There are numerous methods you may get to incomes six figures a yr. The 2 most typical methods are:
- Getting a job that makes six figures a yr
- Beginning a aspect hustle and scaling it so that you’re finally making six figures a yr
- A mix of the 2 above methods
None of those choices are straightforward, and they’re going to seemingly contain sacrifices and sweat fairness. However leveling up your full time job and scaling a aspect hustle are precisely what we specialise in at IWT. The next techniques have labored for hundreds of our college students efficiently, and with effort and time, you can be in your solution to incomes 100k in a yr.
What Does a Six-Determine Earnings Truly Look Like?
You must make no less than $100,000 a yr if you’d like a six-figure earnings. Which means making no less than:
- $8,333.33 a month, or
- $2,083.33 per week, or
- $416.66 every workday, or
- $52 an hour.
Breaking down your bigger aim into smaller increments will show you how to perceive what it would take to get the place you wish to go. Are you able to land a full-time job that pays $52 an hour? Or are you able to freelance for that quantity?
It’s vital to determine the place you are actually in comparison with these benchmarks if you wish to attain your aim of 100k/yr.
Learn how to make $100,000 a yr in 5 steps:
Let’s get began.
Step 1: Arrange your monetary basis for six figures
When you’ve a aim as formidable as “I wish to earn a six-figure earnings,” it’s straightforward to lose sight of the actually vital issues in your life.
I’m speaking concerning the fundamentals: meals, water, shelter, and so forth.
That is the “Tripod of Stability” — all the foundational, large facets of your life that you just preserve ultra-stable so you possibly can take dangers in different areas.
“I’m a proponent of a part of the Tripod of Stability,” says Naveen Dittakavi, founding father of NextVacay.com. “When you have a day job, you’ll want to be sure that it’s secure. You must carve a capability to work in your aspect hustle whereas doing nice work at your day job.”
He continues, “I lived at residence for six years. My mother and father had been actually cool and helped me get by whereas I constructed out my enterprise.”
Naveen lately scaled his hustle in order that he’ll be taking away roughly $1 million this yr (so you realize he is aware of his stuff).
By caring for your large issues — your private home, automotive, relationships, meals — you’ll be capable to take dangers in areas like your aspect enterprise. As Ramit says, when you’ve your bases coated, you’re probably not taking dangers in any respect.
Your Tripod of Stability doesn’t essentially imply that you just’re freed from sacrifices although. If you wish to dedicate your self to creating six figures a yr, you’re going to have to alter a few of your habits and beliefs.
“I sacrificed rather a lot to construct my enterprise,” Naveen recollects. “In spite of everything, dwelling at residence together with your mother and father for six years means you’re going to be single for six years — BUT it gave me what I needed out of my life.”
Motion step: Determine your Tripod of Stability
Write down the three principal “legs” of your Tripod of Stability. These are the issues that, if they continue to be fixed, would will let you climate dramatic modifications in different areas in your life. It may very well be issues like:
- Your own home
- Your automotive
- Your job
- Your partner or associate
- Your financial savings account
As soon as you realize what makes up your Tripod of Stability, you possibly can be sure you have these areas safe so you can begin taking dangers in areas like beginning a aspect hustle.
Step 2: Earn more cash in your profession
For those who’re trying to construct a six-figure earnings on freelancing together with your aspect hustle alone, you possibly can skip this step.
If having a job is without doubt one of the legs on your Tripod of Stability, although, you’re going to wish to maximize your wage as a lot as doable.
Why? The extra you earn, the nearer you’ll get to your first six-figure yr. There’s no higher means to do this than to barter your wage.
Try this chart that exhibits how a lot a $5,000 improve in wage can add up through the years:
Not solely is it a BIG win, nevertheless it additionally units you squarely on the highway to incomes extra after only one dialog together with your boss.
And step one to do that is definitely easy — however many individuals nonetheless neglect it: Do good work.
“Initially, it’s important to ship nice outcomes,” says IWT reader and six-figure earner Enoch Ko. “With out outcomes, no quantity of networking or relationship constructing can get you [to six figures]. That mentioned, it’s important to construct good relationships at work together with delivering nice outcomes.”
“Outcomes and relationships go hand-in-hand,” he continues. “As soon as I had confirmed myself to be a High Performer, larger wage was only a matter of time — having common wage discussions with my managers and skip-level managers, figuring out timing with the company planning cycles, and so forth.”
When you show your self to be a useful asset to your organization, start to construct two of an important instruments at your disposal: your community and your observations. Enoch made such an influence he finally moved on to a different position that he was referred to by … his present supervisor.
“It was via constructing good, trusting relationships via delivering nice outcomes that helped,” he says.
One factor that may have a HUGE influence on wage negotiations is exhibiting you possibly can add even extra worth sooner or later.
An effective way to do that is just by asking questions of your supervisor:
- What’s one thing that you just want to enhance throughout the firm — and the way can I assist?
- What traits do you worth probably the most in a brand new rent?
- How can I assist together with your most vital aim this quarter?
Not solely will this present that you’ve got initiative nevertheless it additionally offers you perception into precisely the form of speaking factors that may grand slam your wage negotiation.
One of many largest fears of job seekers just isn’t understanding what to say in an interview. Discover Your Dream Job contains word-for-word scripts and breakdowns with actual hiring managers as a way to nail your subsequent negotiation. Click on right here to study extra.
Motion step: Put together on your wage negotiation
Try our assets all about the way to put together on your wage negotiations. Just a few nice locations to begin:
Step 3: Discover a aspect hustle thought
That is the primary barrier holding individuals again from creating their aspect hustle.
In spite of everything, you’re searching for one thing that’s worthwhile and that you just’re captivated with.
And the Venn diagram between these two issues typically looks as if two separate circles.
Fortunately, you have already got worthwhile expertise already. That’s what Christina Nicholson of Media Maven realized when she left her job after years of expertise as a tv information reporter and began working for a PR company.
“Like many individuals, I didn’t have an amazing boss,” Christina recollects, “and extra consideration was paid to the hours I used to be sitting in entrance of my desk within the workplace as a substitute of the standard of labor I used to be executing.”
That each one modified when someday a consumer got here in to pay his retainer and Christina found that it was greater than what she made in a single month.
“That’s once I realized I may do all of the work AND preserve all the cash,” she says. “I didn’t have to work for somebody who induced me pointless stress. I didn’t have to get trip authorised or be on the receiving finish of an angle once I wanted to go away the workplace early as a result of I had a sick baby.”
She continues, “I may additionally do different issues, like host native and nationwide TV segments on a contract foundation.”
So she started to construct out Media Maven, her hustle to assist different companies get a deal with on their PR. “After beginning my enterprise,” she recollects, “I noticed what was doable and it motivated me, much more, to study extra about entrepreneurship and take issues to the subsequent stage.”
That’s not the one means you will discover a worthwhile freelancing thought both. In case you are at a loss for the place to begin, try the 30 confirmed enterprise concepts within the PDF under. As you scan the listing, take into consideration the way you may apply these concepts to your present expertise and hobbies.
Click on right here to obtain your very personal PDF of the 30 confirmed enterprise concepts.
For now, simply select one enterprise thought. It’s okay, you possibly can all the time change it later. For now, we’re going to simply attempt one out and attempt to discover a consumer with it.
Step 4: Get your first consumer
With the intention to begin incomes cash, you’ll want to discover the individuals who provides you with cash on your concepts.
However the query is … how? The place do you discover these individuals?
Naveen’s tactic? Providing mouthwatering worth.
“I used to be actually concerned in a whole lot of entrepreneurial aspirational teams,” he explains. “So entrepreneurs would cling on the market and I might discover methods I may add worth. I wasn’t making an attempt to pitch or shut offers. I might simply say that I had a pc science diploma and, ‘I may help you make clear your imaginative and prescient and perceive what it takes to construct it out.’”
“I’ve all the time been useful,” Naveen continues. “I began to seek out that being useful to different individuals builds belief and can lead to gross sales. I used to be able the place there was restricted expertise to execute tech tasks and there wasn’t lots of people to assist aspiring entrepreneurs.”
By doing this, Naveen did two essential issues in the case of discovering shoppers:
- He went to the place the shoppers lived. By going to precisely the place his goal market frolicked, he was in a position to construct a community of potential shoppers and folks he may assist.
- He supplied wonderful worth. Naveen acknowledged a possibility to indicate his potential shoppers that he was the person to assist them. This value-add helped him acquire his first few shoppers.
You are able to do the identical factor.
Ask your self:
- Who’s my consumer?
- The place do they go after they wish to search for an answer to their issues?
- The place are they ALREADY searching for options to their issues?
- How will you join them to your service?
At this level, you’re additionally going to wish to area of interest down your goal market so as to actually tailor your companies and attract clients. So take into consideration who’s an instance of a consumer who may wish to purchase your product.
Just a few inquiries to jump-start your analysis:
- How previous are they?
- The place do they reside?
- What are their pursuits?
- How a lot do they make?
- What books do they learn?
Utilizing this data, discover out what your shoppers want by going to the locations they go.
For instance:
- On the lookout for bodily or therapeutic massage therapists inside 50 miles of your own home? Yelp ought to get you began simply.
- If you wish to do massive canine grooming and sitting, effectively there’s in all probability an area pet retailer or canine park close to you the place homeowners are all congregating simply ready so that you can supply them an answer.
Listed below are a couple of strategies of another nice websites freelancers can use to seek out enterprise on-line:
When you discover a potential consumer, you’re going to wish to attain out to them and pitch your companies.
Constructing a enterprise, together with a contract enterprise, may be difficult. In Earnable, we’ve damaged down the complete course of. It’s been confirmed over 15+ years, 50+ industries, and 42,000+ paying clients. It’s a whole system — you get all the precise methods, frameworks, hands-on ways, real-world examples, mindsets, done-for-you templates, word-for-word scripts, and hard-won breakthroughs to begin and develop your individual enterprise. Click on right here to study extra.
Motion step: Discover a consumer and e mail them (with scripts)
Discover your consumer utilizing the data I’ve outlined above. Let’s say you’re a video editor trying to choose up some aspect work. Right here’s a helpful script you can use (simply exchange the “video editor”–particular stuff together with your ability):
CLIENT’S NAME,
I noticed your put up on X and visited your web site. I seen that you just’ve lately began utilizing movies too.
I’ve been doing video modifying for 3 years and I’d like to supply that can assist you edit your movies and get them optimized for the online.
That might make them look extra skilled and cargo quicker, which is vital on your readers. And also you’d unlock time that you can use to create new content material.
We are able to talk about the main points, in fact, however first I needed to see if that is one thing you may be all for.
In that case, would it not be okay if I despatched you a couple of concepts on the way to assist?
Finest,
Joe Instance
Just a few takeaways:
- There’s zero fats within the pitch. Each phrase counts and is required to assist actually promote the advantages of working with you.
- Don’t point out fee. There’s nothing that may kill a possible consumer’s curiosity in you greater than pushing costs on them earlier than they’re prepared.
- Stress the advantages. This e mail exhibits the consumer why it could be of their finest curiosity to purchase from you within the third paragraph.
When you get a consumer utilizing this e mail, congrats! You simply secured your first consumer — nevertheless it doesn’t finish there. You must really do the work for them, and which means frequently including worth.
“Being tremendous conscious of how one can assist individuals and the way they understand you and recognizing that cash will come for those who’re valued by your viewers helps most,” Naveen explains.
Step 5: Spend money on your funds AND your self
Investments can take all shapes and kinds. Let’s stroll via three areas the place you can begin to speculate in the case of constructing out your six-figure life.
Funding #1: Private finance
That is IWT’s bread and butter. We now have intensive assets in the case of private finance. It’s additionally a vital leg anybody ought to have on their Tripod of Stability.
The best solution to get began guaranteeing your private funds are so as is by automating your funds.
That is our system of sending your paycheck the place it must go every month (utilities, lease, cellular phone invoice, and so forth.) so that you don’t have to fret about it.
“Being financially conservative, I’ve additionally automated my money stream in order that I routinely have financial savings and investments,” Enoch says. “I get pleasure from not having to consider financial savings and investments. I get pleasure from having the ability to spend cash with out worrying whether or not I’d have sufficient money to pay for the extremely cyclical quarterly fuel invoice or bimonthly electrical energy invoice after they come.”
“Automation is extremely vital,” Naveen says. “On the time I used to be drawing a wage from my day job, it was useful to place my belief in a system that made sense and would work out in the long run. On the time, I used to be placing money away in my ING Direct account and my sub-savings accounts. I used to be in a position to see that quantity improve and I noticed it labored very well.”
Automating your funds solely takes one to 2 hours on the most, however when you set it up, you don’t have to fret about it once more. It’s undoubtedly a key a part of the way to make $100,000 a yr.
AND it’ll prevent hundreds of {dollars} over your lifetime.
Funding #2: Your aspect hustle
If you wish to know the way to make $100,000 a yr, you’re going to need to hustle onerous. Which means you’re going to achieve a degree in your aspect hustle the place you’re going to need to put again some cash into it if you wish to develop.
That would take the type of hiring staff, shopping for a web site area, or getting a mentor / coach as was Christina’s case.
“It sounds cliche, however working smarter as a substitute of working more durable is how I reached six figures,” Christina explains. “How do you’re employed smarter? You encompass your self with people who find themselves smarter than you and have already achieved what you’re working for.”
So she employed a enterprise coach and located somebody to assist her construct out her enterprise.
“I actually did my homework,” she says. “I employed somebody with a group of individuals, all of which had been profitable entrepreneurs incomes no less than a number of six figures, a lot of their shoppers had been incomes no less than a number of six figures, and the teaching group had a really excessive retention charge, which informed me they have to do one thing proper!”
That’s only one instance although. You could find some ways to place a reimbursement into your small business to assist it develop.
One nice solution to make investments is to hunt down mentorship or buy a product or a e-book — which brings us to …
Funding #3: Your self
Presumably the perfect funding you could make that may put you on a path to make 100k a yr is placing cash in creating your self each career-wise and on a private stage.
“My largest funding is self-care,” Bonnie says. “The very first thing on the calendar every month is Pilates, pole health, massages, day spa visits, {couples} remedy, fast getaways to Desert Sizzling Springs, and so forth. If I’m not my finest self, I’ve received nothing to convey my shoppers. It’s simply silly vital, as investments go.”
LOVE IT.
Who cares if this looks as if a luxurious? Who cares if individuals may scoff on the thought of getting a therapeutic massage? What issues is that YOU need it and that YOU are prepared to work for it.
The easiest way to get began is to start investing in your self. That is one thing individuals hardly ever take into consideration after they begin studying the way to make $100,000 a yr.
And one factor that you’ll find quite common with individuals who haven’t taken the time to spend money on themselves and find out how these things works, is they are going to create what’s referred to as ranges of abstraction.
Somewhat than simply going on to what they need, they are going to create all these completely different ranges of abstraction — like making a Fb web page or a weblog — that make them really feel good, however that really don’t require them to do the onerous work.
So, they’ll spend six, 9, twelve months doing one thing irritating after which surrender as a result of they by no means hung out shopping for a pair good books or shopping for a course.
Ceaselessly Requested Questions About How To Make 6 Figures
Is it onerous to make 6 figures?
Constructing as much as or incomes 6 figures just isn’t straightforward. It is going to take onerous work to have the ability to earn that a lot or purchase that a lot wealth. The easiest way to get to $100,000 is by always rising your internet price and expertise.
What jobs make 7 figures a yr?
Right here’s an inventory of jobs that make 7 figures:
- Enterprise House owners
- Docs and Different Medical Professionals
- CEOs and Different C-Suite Executives
- Salesmen
- Traders
- Bankers
- Company Legal professionals
- Actors and Actresses
- Skilled Athletes
- Youtubers and Influencers
At what age ought to I be making 6 figures?
Often, individuals don’t earn 6 figures till they’re of their 30s. Nevertheless, there isn’t any particular timeline for this and everyone seems to be completely different. Employees in America are often anticipated to be making 6 figures or extra by the point they’re 30 due to their expertise. There are in fact outliers and exceptions to this rule.