This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today we're gonna hear from Holly the Hula Hoop Hustler. Holly the Hula Hoop Hustler, that's fun. She's earning up to $2,000 a month as a little side project selling hula hoops on Amazon. In fact, one of the things she learned along the way, which she'll tell us about, is that hula hoops are actually a seasonal business. Did you know that?
I did not know that, she didn't know it either when she got started. I would just imagine hula hoops are sold, I don't know, kind of on a regular basis, whenever somebody needs one. But as we will hear, it's a little bit different. This episode is part of our first $1,000 series. We get to hear how somebody goes from idea to making at least $8,000, and they often go on to earn much more.
As noted, she's making up to $2,000 a month from a little side project. There are an endless number of markets out there, an endless number of opportunities where you can apply a little bit of skill, a little bit of creativity, and make some extra money. Sometimes a lot of extra money. A lot of our first $1,000 stories have gone on to earn $100,000 or more. But I want you to know how they get started because you too can do this.
You can do this in your own way. All right, without further ado, let's pass the mic to Holly. What is her name again? Holly the hula hoop hustler. I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up.
[Music]
Hey, it's your girl Holly from upstate New York. Yeah, I've had a few side hustles, but the one I'm here to tell you about is hula hoops. Yeah, hula hoops. So I've been selling hula hoops on Amazon for the past year. I'm not sure why I first chose this market except it kind of seemed cool and unusual.
I also thought there really wouldn't be a ton of competition. So I got lucky in finding an overseas supplier and I ended up placing an order for 500 hula hoops using Alibaba. And everything pretty much looked exactly like it did in the pictures. And I know that's not always the case, but my product has been solid. For a long time, I actually used ship station for fulfillment.
Shout out to ship station. And I actually only switched because Amazon does everything. Honestly, ship station was great. And if I end up doing anything in house again, I'd probably go back to them. Now Amazon brings a few headaches, but they also bring a lot of customers.
I would say I'm easily earning at least $1,000 a month in profit, sometimes 2000. And at this point, it's mostly passive. So what have I learned? Well, did you know that hula hoops are a seasonal business? Yeah, I didn't, but it's true.
They actually sell much more in the summer than the winter. I saw a huge increase as the weather got warmer. And then as it got colder and we went into October, it kind of declined a bit. I'm kind of curious to see about the holidays and if I'll see a holiday increase or a bump. I mean, so far I haven't noticed it, but then again, if everyone's as last minute shopper as I am, then there still could be time.
So another thing, I actually know that having positive reviews is important, but getting them is like pulling teeth. I think I get like maybe 3% of people to leave a review. I try to increase the numbers however I can, mostly by bugging my friends who've purchased to post five stars. But even then it kind of takes several reminders. I would say the best thing I've learned however, is how much fun this kind of is.
Every day I'm eager to log in and see what my numbers are. It makes me want to do this more and more and I don't know, maybe move into a new product line someday. But for now, I'll just kind of keep pulling, but I guess that's really it. But thanks for all the inspiration and I don't know, I hope you can feature my story in the next "Side Hustle" book. [Music]
Thank you, Holly.
And yes, I would love to feature you in the next "Side Hustle" book. I'm not sure when that will be, but this is a great story and would be some fun visuals as well noted regarding how difficult it is to get people to leave reviews. I've noticed that with books as well. Whenever I have a book out, I always encourage people to leave reviews 'cause they do make a huge difference. And sometimes it's just difficult, but I always appreciate those who do.
So for any of our listeners who have ever left me a book review, thank you. It does make a huge difference. Holly, thanks for telling us about your first $1,000. Listeners, thank you for being out there. If you have a question or comment, www.sidehustleschool.com.
You can also access every single episode of the show since we first started in 2017. We're still going strong with new episodes every day, seven days a week. You can access those wherever you get your podcasts. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
