Hobbyist Photographer Finds $800/Month Hiding in Local Newspaper

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[Music]

It's always good to find something you do for work, even if you didn't get paid for it. And then it's even better to then get paid for it. Today's featured case study is really passionate about the photography he does for real estate listings, so much so that in the beginning, he says he felt like he should be the one paying for it. Now, fortunately for him, that's not how it works. The real estate agents pay him because he makes their listings stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. So glad you're here today. What is something you like to do so much that you would do it for free, but it is also a marketable skill? Now, that question is something I know a lot of our listeners are thinking about.

It is a crucial question. It is kind of your gateway point to the world of side hustling, especially if you're thinking about doing some kind of service. So think about that. I'll come back to it at the end of this episode. And we're calling this one hobbyist photographer finds $800 a month hiding in local newspaper.

Stay tuned. [Music]

A revenue manager for Suffolk University, Adam Hogue has always had a passion for photography. He had an act for finding the best perspective in whatever he was shooting. He also had another passion for real estate, but it wasn't until a few months ago that he paired them together in a picturesque side hustle. Adam was simply flipping through the real estate ads in his local newspaper when the opportunity came into focus.

Many of the homes for sale had grainy cell phone pictures. And when he saw a beautiful home from his childhood represented in such a way, his resolve set in. He immediately sent an email to the listing agent offering to take better images of the house. And the agent responded quickly saying that she was interested. He realized he could draw from prior experience.

His own family's home had gone up for sale a year earlier and he'd witnessed the photo shoot by a local photographer. He was quick to look her up on Facebook and ask for advice. He also contacted his friend next door who had a nearly identical home and they let him complete a practice shoot. The house responsible for the impulsive hustle idea went under contract before you could take photos of it, but Adam made good use of the setback. He created Instagram and Facebook profiles posting sample work of family and friends homes.

He then offered a $50 visa gift card to a lucky winner who liked and shared his page, later on offering the same reward for a referral bonus to real estate agents. After conducting some research, Adam figured out an ideal range of what to charge. To undercut his competition, he decided to go with the lower end of the spectrum and in hopes of getting more business from the same agents, he even offers 50% off the first job. His very first paid shoot took place less than two weeks from when he first had the idea and he made a couple of rookie mistakes. He arrived at the home wearing a suit thinking he should dress to impress, but then he realized he would need to be flexible in different positions, including getting down on the ground for the perfect angle.

So for future jobs, he ditched the suit. Also, Adam was nervous rushing through the home as the real estate agent breathed down his neck. The shoot took 45 minutes, but it felt like hours. When he finally escaped into his car to head to his second shoot, he nearly cried. He says he felt like a failure, like he hadn't been able to get any good photos and that he had just wasted that agent's time.

It turned out that he worried too much. Many of the photos turned out just fine and he learned from the ones that weren't so good. He also learned about getting paid. When he started, Adam would reschedule his entire day around whatever was best for the real estate agent, even changing his schedule on the fly. More than once, he did a job and the agents had conveniently forgotten to bring their checkbooks, so he would do that job and then not get paid for weeks afterwards.

He realized he would need to set some boundaries. He still tries to be flexible wherever possible, but he now has a policy of getting paid before handing over the final photos. So far, he's only been doing this for four months, but he's making $800 to $1,200 each month on the side. This has already made it possible for Adam and his dog to move into a nicer apartment. That's right, the dog has benefited from Adam's hustle, which reminds me of an old story.

What happens if you play a country music song backwards? You get your house back, your truck back, your girl back, your dog back. Looking ahead, Adam hopes to grow the business so he can raise his rates and maybe one day even sink his lens into the more competitive market in Boston. You never know, the picture-perfect side hustle just might be hiding in your local newspaper. [Music]

So back to that question that we started with, what is something you like to do so much you would do it for free, but is also a marketable skill?

I think this is one of our shared life goals. I think this is something that everybody should aspire to. It's not the only life goal, but I think it's really important to be able to find something that makes you come alive, that you feel passionate about, but again, is also something that is economically viable, is sustainable. And like I said, I know that question is something that many of our listeners are thinking about. I wanted to give a shout out to a good friend of mine, Jonathan Fields.

Jonathan is the founder of The Good Life Project, and he has recently created a new tool that can help you discover the essential nature of the work you're here to do. This is a free tool. You can take a little quiz. It's gonna tell you some information about yourself. He's calling it the life's work DNA.

I took this quiz myself yesterday, and it was interesting to see the results. This project is called Sparkatype. And if you go to sparkatype.com, you can check it out for yourself, take the quiz. That is sparkatype, S-P-A-R-K-E-T-Y-P-E.com. And my Sparkatype is the maker.

So I'll be curious if you take that quiz, let me know what yours is. Thank you as always for listening today. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Those show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/672. You can check out Adam's project and see what he is up to as well.

We are nearing the end of the week. I've got a weekly recap for you tomorrow, and then a whole new set of stories coming next week. Don't go anywhere. Be sure you're subscribed. Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau.

This is Side Hustle School. [Music]