This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey, Side Hustle School listeners, welcome back. This is Chris Guillebeau beginning an all new week on the show. So glad you're here with me and a community of awesome people, really all over the world with a shared interest in creating freedom for themselves through an income generating project. For everyone who's new, the mission of Side Hustle School is to help you create a new source of income without quitting your job. In other words, this show is for the busy and impatient.
You don't have a lot of time but you believe in investing in yourself. And every day I'm bringing you a different true story of somebody who does that. And today's story is pretty cool because in a lot of stories, somebody has an idea and then they create a website. And I often talk about the different platforms for doing that. Well, that's a pretty common step especially if you're selling something online.
But today's success story is making $2,000 a month selling cookies online without a website. At least at the time I'm recording this, all of her orders go through Facebook and Instagram. As I said, pretty awesome. So if a website has been a handicap to you, well, I don't actually think it's that hard to learn to make one. We have a bunch of resources on the Side Hustle School site to help you with that.
Well, perhaps you'll be inspired by somebody who is like, I'm gonna skip that step. I don't need a website. My people are gonna come to me. And I'll tell you how it worked. How she got the idea, how she followed a trend and the sweet success she's creating.
[Music]
Based in Dallas, Texas, Jessica Gross is currently the executive producer of Valuetainment Media, a popular YouTube channel. For the past 10 years, she's worked in the TV industry on shows like Oprah, Ricky Lake, Rosie O'Donnell, TMZ and Home and Family. But her Side Hustle has also been going for about 10 years off and on. It's totally unrelated to the entertainment business. Her Side Hustle has been all about baking cookies.
Now, when she started 10 years ago, this was very informal. She only took orders from friends and family for around $3 a cookie. She accepted cash or checks. And her unique twist was she always made custom cookies based on exactly what the person wanted, like little dump trucks for a kid's birthday party or pink feet for a baby shower. People loved her cookies and in those early years, it quickly grew to friends of friends and then eventually word of mouth referrals elsewhere.
So that people could see what kind of cookies she made and message her with an order, Jessica set up a Facebook page. She also got an account with PayPal and Venmo. With this simple setup, for years, she had a steady stream of customers, enough to keep her busy baking and delivering her creations after work and on the weekends. And she kept things simple like this as she changed jobs and as she moved around. Thankfully, all the different states she's lived in have cottage laws that have allowed her to work from her kitchen and still sell a commercial product.
A couple of years ago, she set up an Instagram account to begin showcasing her creations there as well. Around this point, she also began shipping her cookies nationwide. She began getting more orders and was soon baking and shipping between 500 and $1,000 a month of net income from these delicious baked goods. But then something changed, dun dun dun. At the end of May 2017, Jessica made a fidget spinner cookie and it went viral.
Just like fidget spinners themselves have taken over the culture, that trail of cookie crumbs got picked up by all sorts of publications and featured on the Food Network. This gave Jessica a huge bump in social media following, almost 5,000 followers and a lot of sales. In fact, while her fidget spinner cookie was getting so much attention, the CEO of T-Mobile tweeted about it. So Jessica, a proactive hustler that she is, reached out to their PR department and offered to make some T-Mobile branded cookies. After they accepted and she sent the cookies, the CEO gave her another shout out, posting photos on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Jessica sells only in batches and at this point, the average cookie costs about $5. Some can be $4, some can be $6, depending on complexity. And all of this growth and attention have led to her now earning $2,000 a month from the hustle. Jessica is still happy in her main career. She doesn't have plans to become a full-time creator of cookies, but she also loves having a business that she can run from her own kitchen.
Awesome, congratulations to Jessica. After this episode goes out, I might have to order some side hustle school cookies myself. And just a couple of comments here, following a trend is not normally a good business strategy. This show and all the episodes I produce, it's actually very non-trendy. Like I try to focus on ideas and stories that are lasting, enduring, something that relies more on skill than luck.
And I actually love stories of people just doing kind of random stuff, but making money from it. And that's because a lot of random stuff can be quite profitable. Still though, it's totally true when something dominates the culture, when there's like a new item or a new gadget or a movie that everyone's talking about, or a book that's not just popular, it's not just a successful book, it's like something that everyone knows about. Then there are usually opportunities to do something with it. So fidget spinners have been kind of like that.
And if you haven't seen a fidget spinner yet, just Google it or ask somebody you know, I'd be surprised if you asked five people and not one of them knew what it was. And that's why that cookie got so much attention because everyone's talking about fidget spinners, who actually thinks to make a cookie out of it? Well, Jessica did. So as you learn the power of observation, as you learn to spot ideas, your goal is to kind of position yourself in a space so that when something like that comes along, you're ready to take advantage of it. I love starting off the week with this story.
I hope you enjoyed it too. If an opportunity like this comes your way, don't let the cookie crumble. Take advantage of the fortuitous situation to bring in the dough. I'm your fan. I'm cheering you on from world domination headquarters.
And I believe that you are one tough cookie. Inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including links to these awesome custom cookie creations are online at sidehustleschool.com/233. You can also send me a note on social media, use hashtag side hustle school and give it to me straight, don't sugar coat it. I'll be back again tomorrow.
I'm Chris Guillebeau for side hustle school. [Music]
