This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
I really appreciate our international listeners. We've got people all over the world, many different countries that can see you in the download statistics, which I don't really look at that often, but once in a while I do it. I'm like, wow, there are people from a lot of different countries. So thank you for being part of Side Hustle School, wherever you are. I hope we can help you create some economic freedom through the form of an income generating project.
Also, I miss kind of going around the world. When I get these callers, like we have today, a caller from Ireland, I think, wow, I miss going to Ireland. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do that again this year. Now to our question today, this listener in Ireland, wonders about selling eBooks or other tools to help users with software applications such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, probably could be some others. What does she need to know?
Is this a good idea and what does she need to know? How can she have the best possible odds of success? It's a great question and one that can get a bunch of listeners thinking perhaps about a guide or a tool that they can make, okay? So I feel very confident that I can provide some helpful intel for her and potentially you. Are you ready?
Her detailed question and my answer coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hi, this is Anna from Ireland and I've been listening to the show for the last nine months now. I'm enjoying listening to your podcast every week. I'm thinking about starting a size hustle by creating tutorials or guides to provide you with tips and shortcuts for using Microsoft Word. My question is, do you think providing ebook guides or training in software applications is a good size hustle?
I'm referring in particular to apps such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Thanks and have a great day. [Music]
Hey Anna, thanks again for listening and for calling in. So do I think it's a good side hustle? I think it's not a good side hustle.
It's a great one, at least potentially so, okay? It's also been done a lot, all right? So you wanna see what's out there and how you're gonna stand out a bit. And I say this often, but it's really important. Just because something has been done a lot doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.
In fact, it can actually be a positive sign because it shows there is market demand. And just think about this, Microsoft Word, how many millions of people, I don't know the exact numbers, I'm just guessing, a lot of people use Microsoft Word on a daily basis, same with Google Docs, same with lots of other common software applications. So it is a huge need, right? And people want to become faster, better, more efficient, improve productivity at work. So clearly a market and clearly a market demand.
But because there are lots of other guides and lots of other resources and training, you wanna think, you know, what can I do to kind of carve out my own little space? And doing that doesn't mean you have to be better in every way, just to be clear, you know, from everything else that's out there. You just need some kind of different approach or a different method or a different medium. In some cases, that can be the answer. For a long time, I had a little business called Unconventional Guides.
And I was selling exactly what Anna's talking about, basically not for software, but for other topics like travel, lifestyle, entrepreneurship. And I certainly wasn't the only person to sell guides like that. But we carved out a little space that worked pretty well for a while, for a number of years. Now on a higher scale, and speaking of different medium, there's a woman known as Miss Excel, talked about her once or twice here. You know, she is making millions of dollars a year selling Excel courses, largely from her popular TikTok videos.
So that's an example of the different medium, not necessarily the courses themselves, but the lead generation. She's built this very popular profile and then drives traffic to her courses. So, you know, as I said, millions of dollars a year, is she a better spreadsheet teacher than everyone else? Like I would say probably not, like I'm sure she's good. But I think the key is that she's found a way to reach a different audience, you know, different people on an unexpected medium.
So yes, there's absolutely lots of potential here. And I would encourage our listeners to think about this as well. Like what kind of guide could you write? Doesn't have to be Microsoft Word, could be something totally different. Lots of potential, just a crowded market, and that's okay.
So just know that and proceed apace. Proceed with abundance, proceed quickly, proceed with whatever adjective you would like, but don't hesitate. All right, listeners, if you have a question of your own, something you're trying to figure out, you know what to do, sidehustleschool.com/questions. I'm excited to feature them throughout the rest of the year, along with updates from other listeners as they move forward and launch their projects. Thank you for tuning in today.
Take care of yourself out there. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
