This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
A listener wants to help remote workers look good on screen. Can she monetize her passion for Zoom fashion? Welcome to Side Hustle School. It's Chris Guillebeau here. As the world continues to embrace remote work, you know about that, right?
You do Zoom calls or Microsoft Teams calls or some other platform, some other variation of working from home or working from anywhere or perhaps hybrid work, perhaps, I don't know, there's all kinds of variations, right? But remote work of all kinds. Many people are grappling with a new kind of fashion dilemma, how to strike that balance between comfort at home and professionalism on screen. Well, this isn't a problem for everyone, of course, but for some people it is. And we're all about looking at business ideas, side hustle ideas, how can you take a talent or a skill or just identify a gap in the marketplace and come up with a solution that helps you make some money and also makes the world a better place, et cetera.
All that stuff is important and you can do both. So we've got Riley from Lubbock, Texas. Riley has observed this trend firsthand and is wondering about, as mentioned, Zoom fashion, Zoom fashion styling. Could this be the next big thing in personal styling? Might it just be a flash in the pan?
Well, whatever it is, let's unpack it a personal stylist for remote workers. That's today's topic, detailed question and my answer after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hi there, my name's Riley from Lubbock, Texas. As someone who's worked remotely for a few years now, I've seen the evolution of Zoom fashion firsthand. Realizing that many remote workers like myself are trying to balance comfort with professionalism, I've been playing with the idea of offering personal stylist services specifically for this demographic.
Do you think there's a market for such a niche styling service? And if so, how should I approach it? [Music]
Riley, definitely an interesting idea, but of course, let's unpack it because we need to look at things through the lens of not just being an interesting idea, but what is feasible, potentially profitable, where is the specific market, et cetera. Those are the kinds of questions we need to ask when we're looking at your side hustle. So, no doubt so many people are doing remote work.
I think there was a really big opportunity in the first six months of the pandemic to help people with the technology in particular because a lot of people were like, well, what's a webcam? And like, should I buy a microphone? If I buy a microphone that costs like 50 bucks, it's actually gonna increase or improve my audio quality like a huge amount, but people didn't know how to do that. And so there was a lot to learn. And for people who are doing calls where it's important to be presentable, then they wanna think about their background and lighting and such.
So there's definitely still a need for that, but I think a lot of people have adjusted, right? So you have to, again, think like, where is the market? I wonder if there's more of a market of helping companies like doing it being an advisor to companies or HR departments because they are then advising their employees on what to do to work from home successfully, which includes all kinds of things, not just, you know, what you wear for the Zoom call and such. So that might be something I would think about is how to serve companies as they're trying to serve, you know, their global employees, especially big companies that have lots and lots of employees in different locations and such. There's probably some other way to do it.
Maybe the other market would be independent coaches or people for whom it's really important that they look good on Zoom or Teams. It doesn't matter so much what the other person looks like because they're the ones who need to be in a sales role or a coaching role, as I said. Maybe that could be an additional market to target individuals. But even then it's like, well, what are we actually selling? Like, are you just selling like some tips or is it a guide or is it a service?
You know, is it an ongoing service? Most people probably don't need an ongoing service. Like you probably do a couple of things to help you have a better background or look good on your calls and then you're done, right? That serves you for a long, long time. So I don't know.
I just think, I don't know that it's the best long-term business, but I could be wrong. I'm just always gonna give you my honest take. So, Riley, thank you for the question. Listeners, if you have a question or an idea, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let's talk about how we can help you make money, do something creative and fun, do something that builds more independence and freedom for yourself.
That's what it's all about. Let me know. I'm always available on social media as well. Instagram, 193 countries, or my blog, chrisguillebeau.com. And of course, new episode every day.
That's all for today, though. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
