What It's About
Drummer marches to the beat of his own drum creating a highly successful niche podcast.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Anyone can begin by talking about something they are knowledgeable about, whether through blogs, videos, or podcasting. Focus on distribution and get the word out, and build Only then, can you think about customers and advertisers.
Fun Fact
When he was younger and just getting started on his path to rock, Nick religiously watched an instructional VHS called "Under the Table and Drumming" from one of his heros—Carter Beauford the drummer for Dave Matthews Band. He watched it so much in fact that he broke the tape. Of course, he bought another one to replace the defective tape, and lo and behold, he wore out that one too!
Notes from Chris
Episode 296
Philadelphia native Nick Ruffini developed a love for the drums when he was a teenager. When he was 15, his parents hosted a party and invited his brother’s garage band over to play for them. As fate would have it, the drummer of the band left his drums at Nick’s place after the party and wouldn’t come back to collect them for over a month. During this time, Nick played with the drum set every day. By the end of the month, he realized that he needed a drum set of his own because he had fallen in love with the instrument. This love of drumming continued through his teens, and he took his act on the road with a band he helped form when he was 18. As Nick said, one of the best ways to make money as a musician in a band was to tour and get your name out there, and that’s exactly what they did. And this worked out really well for the most part—even as he was getting his degree—but all of that changed when he met a girl in New Jersey. This wasn’t just any girl, she was the girl, and it got Nick to thinking that there had to be a better way to make money from his music without having to sacrifice his time and relationships to life on the road. It was around this time that Nick decided to take up lessons to learn more about different drumming techniques and styles, and one day, Nick asked his teacher if he could record his lessons for the day. Nick was no stranger to side hustles, so naturally, he thought that there would be others who would want to listen to the conversations he was having with these knowledgeable drummers. One popular podcast, one blog, and four years later, he's been able to take Drummer's Resource on full-time and is bringing in six figures annually! Nick shows us that there's no fixed playbook on how you can expand your side hustle. Like him, you can march to the beat of your own drum. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:- Drummer's Resource: Check out some of the interviews Nick has featured on his website!
- GarageBand: Nick used this digital music creation studio to produce the episodes for his podcast
- 6 GarageBand Alternatives for Music Production on Windows: Interested in producing your own music (or podcast!) but aren't part of Team Apple? Here are some GarageBand alternatives for our friends who use Windows
- NYC Jazz Musician Builds $40,000/Year Blog: A musician finds financial freedom by growing a blog and starting an e-course teaching other people how to play jazz
- Lawyer Earns $400/Month With Stock Music Side Hustle: An online music marketplace offers a young lawyer an opportunity to fulfill his dreams of having his music heard, and also provides him with a new source of passive income
- $10,000 Side Hustle Helps Musician Land Full-Time Job: A classically trained musician creates affordable options for music students in search of quality music demos
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Resources
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