What It's About
A book club for people who like to read and party!
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
For anyone looking to start a similar side hustle, Abbey’s advice is to focus on your brand first. Get clear on what your brand is, what you stand for, and who you want to attract. This will help the rest of the pieces fall into place, and ensure you make more informed decisions as you move forward.
Fun Fact
The mixologist reads the book and weaves a similar story through the cocktails based on what she read, saw and felt. For example, she created a “Sisters Whiskey Sour” inspired by the book Homegoing, which she filled with flavors based on the book’s journey through Ghana. Abbey also provides the non-alcoholic ingredients in the box to help people make their cocktail!
Notes from Chris
Episode 553
For content editor Abbey Jones, books have always been important. She loves nothing more than immersing herself in the worlds, ideas, and lives of other people in the books they’ve shared. But, as her career progressed, she found herself reading less and less. Between work commitments, her social life, and the ease of other types of entertainment, reading ended up falling by the wayside. And Abbey found she wasn’t the only person who felt this way, either. She found herself talking less and less about books with her friends and colleagues who also found it hard to make time to read around their busy lives. It was a part of her life that she missed, and she wanted to find a way to make books a bigger part of people’s lives again. Abbey realized the younger generation’s biggest problem with reading is that it’s not always considered relevant or exciting. The cool thing to do is to scroll through your news feed or get sucked into a new Netflix series; you’ll find more workplace conversations about the latest season of Stranger Things than the current bestseller. Trying to reconnect with books, Abbey began to research book clubs and immediately found the same problem. These clubs were almost always targeted at an older generation and focused on books that were (in her opinion) hard to get excited about. None of them felt like they were on the pulse of what was happening in her life. So Abby resolved to start a book club that was relevant and exciting and had people eagerly awaiting their next read. She called it the Bad People Book Club. She describes it as, “A book club for people who like to read and party,” and uses vibrant branding to create a feel that goes against the grain of the usual mental images a book club would conjure. She currently delivers these boxes to 300 subscribers and is making just over $1,000/month. That's right, Abbey—we see you, you bad!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Bad People Book Club: For the bad people in your life who enjoy a cocktail and a good book—learn more on Abbey's website!
- Shopify: Abbey used Shopify to set up her site for Bad People Book Club, and they're offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
- Shippo: The multi-carrier shipping software that Abbey used for her e-commerce shop
- Subscription Box Service Delivers Candy from Japan: An expat living in Japan packages candy twice a month and sends it around the world to hundreds of people who pay $29/month
- Curated Gift Boxes for Breakups and Baby Bumps: A breakup brings two sisters together to create one happy side hustle
- College Student Starts Historic Letter Subscription Service: A student cashes in on his love of history by mailing beautifully designed letters to monthly subscribers
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Resources
CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE
Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.
Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today!
Learn More
GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS
Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time.
Quote of the Day
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To infinity and beyond,
