This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh, hey friends, thanks for tuning in today. I hope your month is going well so far. I hope you're able to do something that's important to you. Hope you're able to focus. And that's always a big challenge for me.
Sometimes I just kind of get stuck in doing either the same things all the time or I'm not able to make progress on something that's important. So I just kind of keep trying and I hope that you do the same, maybe not always trying in the same way, right? Trying different stuff, but just having a little bit of grace for yourself as well. That's my wish for you as we dive into today's episode 2,349 of Side Hustle School. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
And today we've got a question from Laura in Houston. Laura is a dog trainer. I was gonna say a professional dog trainer, but actually she is a side hustling dog trainer. I'm not sure what her day job is, but on the side, she is, well, I guess, training dogs. And she wants to sell training equipment and toys.
So she wants to move from the service of being a dog trainer to selling a product, which of course has much more potential for passive income and such. So let's settle in. Quick little sponsor message, 30 seconds, then Laura's question. Her question and my answer, in fact, both of those. [Music]
Hey there, I'm Laura from Houston.
In my spare time, I'm a dog trainer, specializing in positive reinforcement techniques. I've trained dogs for obedience, agility, and even as therapy animals, I wanna start a second side hustle for creating and selling custom made dog training equipment and toys. I wanna focus on durable eco-friendly materials. How can I leverage my training expertise to create products that are both functional and appealing to pet owners? I love your show, so keep up the good work.
And thanks for taking my question. [Music]
All right, Laura, it's wonderful to have you with us. So glad you're enjoying the show. Let's see what can be done. I love the idea of going from a service business to a more passive income business as well, either as a totally new focus or just as a diversified income stream.
And in this case, as a dog trainer, Laura has firsthand experience with training equipment and toys. I assume she already knows what works well and what doesn't. She's coming to this idea with a bit of history, with a bit of experience of this is great, this isn't great. So you wanna use that knowledge to design some innovative products that cater to specific training needs, perhaps, or solve common problems faced by pet owners. And then in terms of the marketing, let's go big on that background.
Let's go big on that background as a trainer in the branding and marketing. I would love to see that front and center sharing success stories, testimonials, maybe before and after pictures of dogs that you've worked with to build credibility and just showcase the effectiveness of your methods. You want to pair that experience with the physical product that someone's going to purchase. That's gonna help establish trust with your customers and demonstrate the value of the products themselves. You might wanna also offer tips and tricks, how-to guides, other resources.
That's gonna not only showcase your expertise, but also help you build more of a customer base of people who appreciate the knowledge and support that you provide. And then lastly, one other tip here, since you're focusing on durable materials, make sure to highlight the long-lasting and quality aspects of your products in the marketing. Explain how using durable materials benefits both the pet owners and their dogs, as well as the environment. So it's a win-win-win. That's the kind of message that you wanna present.
Sounds like a cool project. Laura, I'd love to know how you're gonna go from the service business to the product business. Keep us posted and good luck. Listeners, good luck to you as well. If you have a question or comment, feedback, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
Every single day, we've got a new episode. Tomorrow's gonna be 2,350. We are just going strong. I'm so grateful for you. So thanks for tuning in.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
