This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today's listener is working on a website that helps medical coders earn free continuing education credit. It's often called CEs, continuing education, or continual professional development, CPD, sometimes some other acronyms. But the big picture is that it is a big industry, a big industry in itself, one with a lot of opportunities. So this listener is wondering, how could this project be monetized? Like they're making this website.
It helps medical coders. These are people that need to earn continuing education credit on an ongoing, typically annual or every other year basis. And they have to pay for that. There are companies, organizations, and individuals making good money providing these types of accredited courses. So how could this person essentially be a middleman, a middle person?
How could this project be monetized? I thought this is an interesting question. We've featured some stories like the Australian architect who leaves her marketing agency to launch a directory for other architects with the same need. Basically that directory goes on to earn six figures a year. So that could be an interesting comp to look at.
But this situation is also a little different. So let's get to the details of her question. I'm gonna do my best to provide a helpful response. And just remember, if you wanna do something totally different, that's the whole point. You're probably not gonna do this exact business model, but there's something you can do that will help you earn extra money.
That's why we make this show every day. All right, stay tuned for the detailed question and my answer. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Tricia from Cleveland, Ohio. I've listened to your podcast for about two years now, and I love all the practical advice you offer. I'm thinking about starting a side hustle that centers around a certification I hold in medical coding.
To maintain certification, coders must earn 24 continuing education credits every two years. Many employers are no longer offering to pay for staff education, so this can get quite expensive. Some companies offer free CEUs, but it takes some searching. I've posed a question to a Facebook group asking if it would be helpful if I sent out a list of free CEUs I found. I got an overwhelming number of requests that said yes.
So because of this, I'm considering creating a website and a monthly newsletter listing all the free CEU offerings that I was able to locate. I'm looking for ways to monetize this. I'm thinking ads would be the best route, but I'm leery of clogging up the website with ads. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks much.
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Well, as I mentioned that Australian example, the Australian architect, and I think we've had some other stories like that over the years, I definitely think it is a working business model. As for ads, I'm not sure that is the solution. You would need a lot of traffic to make it worthwhile. And that is something that's kind of outside your control. You can control making the site, you can control making it helpful and useful and so on, but it may not be a high traffic website.
So I don't know if ads are the right opportunity. I think the right path is partnering with the companies or nonprofits or individuals who are providing these services because again, they get paid when they do it. So because they get paid, they want clients. They want more people signing up for their services. So to me, it's a very natural partnership, revenue, affiliate income.
However you think about it or describe it, I think that is the path. And that's how that other person was able to do so well. Like she takes a cut on all of the signups that go through that process or that site. As for how it's been constructed, there are different ways to do it. You could simply pass people over as they sign up through the normal process.
Then you get credit for it somehow. That's probably the easiest way to do it. If the project grows, then you could start taking signups directly where you control more of the process. That actually gives you a little bit more power in the long-term process. So that might be good as you go along.
And then you might also consider developing a training yourself. So you still create the website and directory, but as part of that process, you're like, how can I make a training? And in different industries, different states, provinces, regions, and so on, there are different ways to get your continuing education certified with whatever board or agency or association is requiring those certifications in the first place. So from there, there's lots of details to look at as to how it works for medical coders, wherever you are. But in short, I think the solution is in partnering with the companies and organizations, nonprofits, who are offering the continuing education so that you get paid, and then possibly, again, for the longer term, developing your own training, which you can then offer on the website that you have already made.
Tricia, I think it's a great idea. I would love to see you build this. Let us know when it's ready so we can share it with the community, our wide community of medical coders, or at least our wide community of people interested in Side Hustles. Listeners, let me know what you think. Let me know what's going on with you, sidehustleschool.com.
Thank you for being out there. You can access every single archival episode there on the site, show notes, download, stream, whatever's best for you. We have come to the end of another month, but guess what? We're still going strong into the new one. That new episode comes out tomorrow.
And then another episode after that, seven days a week. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
