This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up, Side Hustle School listeners? This is Chris Guillebeau here with a weekly recap for you. We have just finished week number 33 of the show and I've got some big news for you as promised. I've been telling you for weeks about the Side Hustle School fall tour. We now have the first 30 cities ready for signup.
I am beginning September 19th in Seattle, going to Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Denver, then to the East Coast for a week, then to London for a few days, back to the States, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Chicago, a week up in Canada, then some more cities back stateside. If you are in any of these cities, I would absolutely love to see you. With a couple of exceptions, registration is totally free for all these cities and you can check it out at sidehustleschool.com/tour. When you sign up there, you'll get an email confirmation, you'll have a guaranteed ticket and it would also be great if you could help spread the word, tell your friends, invite anybody who needs a side hustle. If you've never been to one of my book events, it's a lot different from traditional book readings.
I try to keep it fun, lively, interactive. You will have a good time, you won't be bored and you might learn something. Once again, that's sidehustleschool.com/tour. And now for the recap, I want to begin with a shout out to listener Steve W in Tasmania, Australia. Australia is one of my favorite countries, but I actually have not been to Tasmania.
Hopefully I can correct that error at some point. Anyway, Steve writes in and says, "Hey, mate, I've been catching up on all the shows in the last month, love it. There was something you said in a very early episode that struck me. It was addressed to the busy person, maybe working a full-time job with a family, maybe studying, having a hobby, et cetera, but trying to start a side hustle. You said you're being underserved or something to that effect." And I was like, yes, there's finally somebody not telling me to be everywhere or even not assuming that my goal is full-time entrepreneurship.
Some of us like our day job and some of us choose to keep it even if we don't love it because it helps meet our other important values. Steve, that is awesome. Thanks for the note. That is exactly why I started side hustle school for those busy people like you and like others around the world, who in my opinion are being underserved for those very reasons that you mentioned. So I'm glad you enjoyed that binge listening session or sessions of all the side hustle school archives.
I also assure you and everyone else the best has yet to come. [Music]
In today's recap, I've got a look back on the episodes of this week. I look ahead to what we're doing next week. And in keeping the focus on you, the listeners, let's hear a couple of voicemails with questions from other people who are out there. [Music]
Hi, Chris, my name is Sarah and I'm calling from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
I have a question for you today. I'm looking to start a side hustle in copywriting because I love writing and I use it in my current day job. The problem that I'm having is I've been listening to some information that's saying that LinkedIn is a really great resource for copywriters especially and to update your LinkedIn profile. Problem is is I currently work in the healthcare industry. I work at a local hospital and I'm not really sure if it's appropriate for me to put on that I'm starting a side hustle as a copywriter.
So I'm just wondering on your thoughts about if that would be appropriate or not because I don't want to give my current employer the impression that I'm not taking my full-time job seriously. So any thoughts would be super helpful. Thank you so much for the work you do. [Music]
Hey, Sarah, thanks for listening. I hope to see you in Toronto or Montreal, if not Ottawa itself.
I love how you frame this question because I hear it over and over in different forms. So first and foremost, let me just say you're not alone and wondering about this and trying to navigate this issue. Lots of people are navigating this world in different ways. Like how do I manage my job and my side hustle? Should I tell my boss about it?
Should I worry if my boss finds out? Is there some conflict of interest, et cetera? One thing I know is that it's not a one size fits all problem. And so the solutions will probably vary as well. But overall, at least from what I heard from your situation, it doesn't sound like there's any sort of conflict of interest with what you propose.
And you do have the right to earn income outside of your hospital job. And it doesn't mean you're not taking that job seriously. So without knowing anymore, it sounds like you're safe. And I also think that part about how you are taking your job seriously is something that you would point out if it ever became an issue. But hopefully it wouldn't become an issue at all and you'll be totally fine.
Good luck. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Randy from San Mateo, California. Thanks for the show. I listen to it every day on my walk to the gym. My wife and I are expecting in August and while she was planning the baby shower, she made a comment to me that she wanted guests to bring signed books instead of cards.
That she was just gonna throw away anyway. But channeling my interview, I decided to build a books registry to keep guests from being duplicate books. The site ended up being called booksnotcards.com. I built this out myself for the problem I'm having is finding enough people to beta test it and give me feedback on what they like, what they don't like, or what they'd like to see in the future. I'd love any insight you have.
Thanks. [Music]
Hey man, thanks for listening. Congratulations to you and your wife. And as background for any new listeners, we actually featured Randy's story in episode 154. That project of encouraging party guests, whether for baby showers like this example or for any other kind of party or gathering, encouraging guests to bring books instead of cards or other gifts.
So his website was called booksnotcards.com. And the concept is to make an online registry. And then Randy would earn affiliate commissions on purchases from amazon.com. As I said at the time, I thought that was a really smart idea. I'm really surprised it hasn't been done before, at least in this way.
And so like a lot of things like this, his challenge, or I should say your challenge, Randy, what you just mentioned, now that you've got the infrastructure built, it is all about how do you get the word out? Like how do you bring people to this site? And here's a quick tip that might help you or other people in this situation. There's a great resource called helperreporter.com. It's also known as Haro for short.
And it's kind of a DIY publicity matchmaking service where journalists who are seeking sources for stories will post on this platform and people can respond and pitch themselves or pitch their project. The reason why I mentioned it in this case is because books not cards seems like the kind of project that is very press worthy. It seems like something that should be written up in some major publications. And sometimes that just happens fortuitously, like you wake up and you see, "Oh, the New York Times wrote about me," which is a pretty great thing to wake up to, but lots of other times you have to pitch for it. And I don't think it's always a great investment of time for everyone's project, but anything like this that does seem kind of press worthy and interesting and unique, where people hear about it and they're like, "Huh, never thought about that before.
Seems like it might be a good match." So I would encourage you to register with that and just kind of pay attention to the emails that go out. If something seems like it might be a good match, you can just reply to it and send some information about your project. So once again, for Randy and anyone else, that's helperreporter.com. [Music]
All right, so looking back on this week, we focus quite a bit on the combination of skills and hobbies, which is a recurring theme for Sautosle School. Episode 226 was the brewery fan who crafts a successful website hustle, the guy who had some IT development skills, and also happened to be a big fan of Pacific Northwest craft beer.
This guy was an employee at Starbucks headquarters in Seattle. Started this project while he was working his job. It eventually grew into a six figure project and now he does it full time. Next was episode 227, the animal lover who breeds rabbits and graduates college debt free. As part of the research for that episode, I learned more than I thought I would ever know about breeding rabbits.
I also learned a new word, rabbitry. That is apparently a place where rabbits are bred. Who knew? Next, we had a fashionista who starts a boutique after getting fired while pregnant, followed by a bearded man who grows a $500 a month grooming business. No relation.
And then episode 230, luxury toothbrush hustle produces polished profits. I liked that story for several reasons. One of which was the guy went through a detailed process, lots of research, lots of experimentation to try to handcraft his own luxury toothbrushes before realizing that there were some problems with that approach. And if he just imported these toothbrushes from, I think it was a manufacturer in Italy, somewhere over there, and he could actually succeed with his goals in a different way than he first imagined. Think it's a great lesson to be willing to scrap your plan or at least revise your plan along the way.
And we close out the week with a meaningful project that also makes money, two good things. That was about a marketing coordinator who realizes a lifelong dream of starting her own magazine. Now, as part of my encouragement for you this week, I just want to go back briefly to the story of Keisha, who was the fashionista who starts a boutique. Really loved something she said in that story. Since she was 12 years old, she wanted to have a boutique.
And she just kind of kept going back to it and kept going back to it. And finally, when the time was right, or at least when she went through this time of transition in her life, she decided to pursue that dream. And like I said in that episode, I want to encourage you, if there's something that's been in your head for a long time, if you've had an idea, I believe very strongly that that idea is there for a reason. And you don't have to lose your job to pursue that dream. You don't have to have something bad happen in your life to say, you know what, I'm happy in some parts of my life, but there's something else that I want.
What am I gonna do about that? I hope you'll pay attention to that idea that's been floating around. Coming up next week, another set of great stories, including several that I was personally surprised by, there is a fidget spinner cookie. That's right, a fidget spinner cookie that became a viral sensation bringing in $2,000 a month for someone who works in the TV industry. There's also a bedridden marketing director who pops tags at thrift shops, creating a sustainable and recurring side income.
She'll wear your granddad's clothes. She'll look incredible. And you'll hear about that in just a couple of days. Last but not least, a story involving Mexican avocados and Snapchat filters. What do these two things have in common?
Well, they have $85,000 in extra income in common. I know it sounds crazy and it is pretty crazy, but like every story you hear on the show, it is also true. [Music]
Friends and listeners, thank you for joining me on this journey. You are the reason I make this show. 232 episodes and counting, recording every day, no matter where I am in the world.
And starting next month with the book launch, it's gonna get even crazier. But if you make the commitment to make this part of your routine, I too commit to supporting you fully in your quest to create that new source of income. That side hustle that you've thought about for a while, but haven't turned into reality until now. Closing out the week, I wanna say thanks to a few folks who work on the show, make the magic happen. Side hustle school is recorded on location at world domination headquarters in Portland, Oregon, or sometimes elsewhere, depending on where I am.
One way or another, it is then transported to Brooklyn, New York to be produced at the Panoply Studios. My production team is led by AC Valdez. Thank you, AC. Also featuring Adelia Rubin. Show notes and host wrangling are by Whitney Karenik.
My cat, Libby Gillibo, works the night shift. And here's a fun fact of the week, what do you call a happy rabbit? A optimist, you're welcome. Side hustle school is part of the Onward Project, curated and led by Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen also has a new book coming out.
It's called "The Four Tendencies." It's based on a hugely popular online quiz that she created. That book will be out September 12th, one week before the side hustle book. And you can pre-order both of those books now. It makes a huge difference to authors when you do that. Thanks as well to everyone who's left a review for the show, especially on Apple Podcasts or iTunes.
Those are super awesome. We celebrate when we see them coming in. And I'm also very grateful for everyone who shares the show with their friends, helps their friends subscribe to the show, or just kind of spreads the message of side hustle school. This is a listener supported show. So much more is on the way.
And every day I like to remind you that inspiration is good, but action is even better. I want you to take action this week on pursuing your dreams, your goals, those ideas in your head, whatever it is. And I will be around every day with some encouragement, some practical tips, and a real life side hustling story. Episodes go online at 601 a.m. Eastern time.
Thank you once more. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.
