This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Turning my sleep obsession into a hustle. This is not my sleep obsession. I don't always sleep so well. Sometimes I'm awake thinking about stuff or just can't sleep for whatever reason. But I know that sleep is super important.
So today's listener, Theo, has an idea to turn a love of sleep into a legit business. Can, in fact, reviewing sleep products make you money? Now there's definitely a side hustle connection here because mattress brands, there are a bunch of them. I'm sure if you listen to podcasts, you've heard all kinds of ads for mattresses. These mattresses typically cost $1,000 or more.
So they pay out a lot in affiliate commissions. They're trying to get people to talk them up and choose their brand over another. And this guy has spent years testing mattresses, sleep gadgets, other bedtime accessories just for fun. Now he's wondering, is there a way to turn this interest into income? Could he, in fact, become a reviewer?
Build a business around it, maybe even get some products for free. Well, I'm pretty sure he could probably do the last one, but we want to help him make money too. It's a good example of passion with potential, but also one that might need to evolve into something else that the traditional route doesn't pan out. So let's look at all of that. Let's consider what's possible.
I want to get you inspired, motivated, taking action, but I also want to make sure you spend your time wisely. So let's consider all that in a brief action-packed episode, detailed question from Theo and my response coming right up. [Music]
Hello, I'm calling from Salt Lake City. I've always been obsessed with sleep. Billows and mattresses, white noise machines, weird new sleep trackers, you name it, I've tried it.
I spend way too much time researching and testing products and some friends even joke that I should turn it into business and that got me wondering, could I actually make money testing or reviewing sleep products? But I don't have a big platform or any formal experience, but I genuinely love the topic. Is this a viable side hustle or just one of those things that sounds good, but isn't really sustainable? [Music]
In this kind of market, it's always good to follow the money and when there are multiple companies all selling a premium product for a high price point and they are all competing in this cutthroat manner, they're all spending lots of money on ads, they all have these really long guarantees. I had this project that I wrote about in my book, Gonzo Capitalism, about basically getting free mattresses for up to a year.
Basically, when there is a lot of money like this, there is money to be made. There's money to be made on the affiliate side, there's money to be made as a middleman, middle woman, middle person. So I definitely think it's a good idea that Theo is asking this specifically about mattresses. And then I think he also mentioned some other items. There are things like wearables, apps, supplements, and so on.
The challenge is that most traditional product reviewers don't get paid unless they have a platform. So you get paid for your podcast ads once people are downloading your podcast, same with YouTube or similar, but you have to get an audience. So what can you do if you don't have an audience? Number one, build a niche review site. So build a review site, focus on SEO.
And instead of aiming for mass product reviews, this is a very competitive field. So you don't wanna try to compete with those big companies that are using AI and just building thousands of pages all the time. Focus on one narrow angle. Best pillows for side sleepers, for example. That's one option I got when I did some research.
Testing white noise machines for ADHD. That's another one that's probably relevant to me. And then you create super useful in-depth content, ideally with affiliate links. And that's how you get paid. I mean, can be $200 a sale on some of those mattresses.
So that's pretty good. You just think, can I sell one mattress a day through my affiliate blog? Well, if so, you've got a real business there, right? Let's see here. A couple of other options shift from reviewer to curator.
Like if reviewing products head-on doesn't work, what about curating bundles, guides, or experiences? You could offer like a digital download. The sleep setup that changed my life. You could sell that. You could partner with small product makers, run your own affiliate shop with them, create a sleep-themed email series.
You know, you may not get rich doing that just to be real, but with the right affiliate site, you could definitely bring in a lot of money. And if you grow a platform, then you might be able to just do some direct ads, like you hear on so many podcasts and YouTube channels and elsewhere. To wrap up, sleep products are everywhere. Interest in sleep optimization is only growing. And Theo here clearly has some passion and curiosity.
So I would shift from thinking like, how do I get paid to test stuff? To how do I help people sleep better using what I know? I think that's actually where the money is. That's where the real opportunity lies. Theo, good luck.
Hope you get a good night's sleep tonight. Listeners, if you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Thanks for being out there. 3,000 plus episodes and counting. I'm excited to bring you many more in the days to come.
Always completely free. Subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
