This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
In the early days of the podcast, I did a long, extended episode about starter platforms, basically websites, platforms, networks you could go to and sign up for something that is probably not gonna make you rich, but is going to bring some instant income or at least relatively soon income. And I haven't talked to a whole lot about starter platforms since then, because the whole point of side hustle school is not about the gig economy. It's about creating an asset for yourself, like an actual business. Even if it's not a capital B, like large business, something you're doing for yourself, as opposed to helping a startup or one of these companies in the gig economy get rich themselves, right? But it's always true that we like to look at the angles.
So here I have a question from a listener today. Can you earn a big DoorDash bonus and then quit? Can you sign up for a company like DoorDash or it could be some others? In fact, we'll talk about a few of them here. Chasing after signup bonuses can be a good way to boost some earnings.
Definitely not a long-term income source, but once in a while it could be worth it. So let's just talk about that. Casey from St. Paul, Minnesota is wondering about the viability of jumping from one platform to another, capitalizing on the bonuses and then not staying around after that. Is this a goldmine or a fleeting opportunity or perhaps something else, something in the middle?
Let's talk it out. A quick action-packed episode here, starting with a quick word from our sponsor. [Music]
This is Casey from St. Paul, Minnesota. My friends and I have been talking about various signup bonuses offered by Geek Economy Platforms, especially since some of these apps are just launching in our talent.
I've been contemplating signing up, earning the bonus, and then moving on to the next. It sounds tempting, but I wonder about its sustainability and any possible repercussions. Are there any potential pitfalls or problems I should be aware of? [Music]
When situations like this come up or questions like this, I always think of my friend, Harry Campbell, from Los Angeles. He is now, he has branded himself as the rideshare guy, built this multi-million dollar business, that's correct, multi-million dollar business around advising rideshare drivers.
But one of the ways that he got started was as a rideshare driver himself, and he actually had a good corporate job, but he noticed when Lyft and Uber came out, they had these huge bonuses sometimes. You could get hundreds of dollars in a short period of time. And in fact, I think it was thousands of dollars for driving a certain number of rides in a week or two. It was a pretty low number for what the bonus was. And he just went all out doing that, and then referring his friends, the referral bonuses were several hundred dollars each, if I recall correctly.
So he just kind of maxed it out. And it was funny because at the time his colleagues were like, hey, why are you doing this? You're not making enough money as an engineer. I think he was an aerospace engineer or something to that effect. And he was like, well, let's see how this goes, right?
So I do think it's a smart strategy sometimes, when these things crop up and when they're really trying to use this startup money to get as many users as possible, like they're concerned with growth much more than profitability. In those cases, like might as well do it, right? Take advantage of it, nice work if you get it. The challenge is that there's not many of those bonuses around these days. Like they kind of dried up and from time to time, something may pop up and it may be localized, like it may be available in Minnesota, but not somewhere else.
So keep an eye out for sure, read the fine print, make sure there's not some restriction that is gonna prevent you from getting the bonus. I did notice recently with ClassPass, that's a service I use to go to different gyms and yoga studios. They were definitely pushing this. I think it was a $300 bonus if you referred a few friends. So that could be worth it.
So I just don't know that you could build a business out of doing this. It's more like, just take it while you can get it. And also the bonuses are not always so lucrative these days. So keep that in mind, but definitely nothing wrong with doing it. And I think good things come to those who hustle.
So good luck to you. Let's see who is our caller, Casey, and any other listeners who are trying to do this in their own way. Let us know if you have a good story like Harry's. Would love to highlight that to people so that there's something that other people can jump on as well. That's our whole point here is to encourage, to motivate, give you something positive to think about each day.
In less than 10 minutes, of course, new episode every day, sidehustleschool.com. You can check out some free resources there. You can see show notes for 2,500 plus episodes. And of course, much more is on the way. Subscribe, follow, wherever you get your podcasts.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
