Affiliate Disclosure: How The Side Hustle Index Makes Money

The short version

Some links on The Side Hustle Index are affiliate links. If you click one and sign up or buy something, we may earn a commission. It doesn't cost you anything extra. You pay the same price you'd pay going to the company directly.

Commissions help pay for this site. They don't decide what we recommend.

  • Affiliate links to products and services, such as LLC formation services, statutory agent services, tax software, bookkeeping tools, freelancing platforms, and seller tools.
  • Referral links and codes, such as a gig app's "refer a driver" bonus. If we could get a bonus when you sign up, we treat that the same as an affiliate link and disclose it.

If a page contains any of these, you'll see a disclosure box near the top of the page, before the first affiliate link. It looks like this:

SAMPLE

Pages without affiliate links don't carry the box.

How we decide what to recommend

  • Readers first. We start with the question "What would we tell a friend in Arizona?" If the best answer is free, like filing your LLC directly with the Arizona Corporation Commission, getting a free EIN from the IRS, or using IRS Free File, we say so, and we usually list it first.
  • We include options that don't pay us. If a product or service is right for readers and has no affiliate program, we still recommend it.
  • Commissions don't buy rankings. Companies can't pay to be ranked higher, included in a list, or described more favorably. We don't publish sponsored content dressed up as editorial.
  • Prices and fees are shown honestly. Where we compare paid services, we show the price we found on the date we checked, along with the free or DIY option.
  • We update and correct. Every guide has a "last verified" date. If we learn something is out of date or wrong, we fix it. You can report a correction.

What we will never do

  • Write fake reviews or testimonials. We don't invent customer quotes, star ratings, or experiences.
  • Claim we tested something we didn't. If we've only researched a product, we label it "researched, not tested." If we actually used it, we say how.
  • Make up earnings. We don't publish income claims we can't source. Startup costs we show are labeled as estimates.
  • Hide the relationship. You'll never have to dig through the footer to find out we earn money from a link.

Who we work with

We may participate in affiliate programs run directly by companies or through affiliate networks. [TODO: List programs and networks here once approved. Example of required program language, if joined: "As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases." Add any program-specific statements required by each program's terms.]

We don't currently accept affiliate commissions from insurance providers. If that ever changes, we'll update this page first.

Other ways we might make money

Right now, affiliate commissions are the only way this site makes money. If we add anything else, such as display ads, sponsorships, or paid newsletters, we'll update this page and clearly label anything sponsored.

Questions

If you have a question about a specific link or recommendation, email us at [TODO: contact email (set up on thesidehustleindex.com)]. We're happy to tell you whether a link is an affiliate link and why we included it.

This disclosure is provided in line with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidance on endorsements and testimonials (16 CFR Part 255). FTC guidance for businesses: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/advertising-marketing/endorsements-influencers-reviews