This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello, hello. Hey, what's up? This is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School, bringing you the weekly recap, episode 393. We are at the end of January 2018 for those listening in real time. If you are listening later, that's totally fine.
Over here in my little world, I went to Victoria, Canada this week. I was part of a small business event there. I was honored to be able to speak and got to meet some readers and listeners as well. Now I'm back in Portland, Oregon for a bit. I got some travel coming up again at some point, of course, but I'm actually home for a while, so that's nice.
In this update, I wanna answer a listener question about when to open a dedicated bank account. It's actually a question that comes up a fair amount from people. I'm also gonna talk about how sometimes your hustle idea can be found in your workplace. What does that mean? Well, I'll tell you.
And we've got a listener voicemail and a look ahead at what's to come. Oh, and also going on, a couple weeks ago, we opened Side Hustle Society, which is our inaugural training program and online community. That community is closed for registration now, but we're gonna open it again in a couple of weeks. So if you'd like to be one of the first people to know about that, just go to sidehustleschool.com/society and you can join the little announcement list there. I just wanted to mention how happy I am with the initial community and all the members who joined so far during that inaugural week.
We have a private discussion group where people can introduce themselves, talk about their side hustle challenges, share their ideas, what they're working on, get some advice and feedback from others. And the program kind of keeps up with the stats so we can see like how many people are there and who's contributing and so on. And we noticed this week that more than 4,000 messages have been shared since we started just two weeks ago. So 4,000 messages about ideas and feedback and introductions and connections. And when I say that, I don't want you to be overwhelmed.
I don't want you to think, wow, I don't have time to go through 4,000 messages. Well, you don't have to. If you're part of that group already, then you know like there's all kinds of ways to filter and you can look and see, okay, what am I looking for? You can post a question and focus on the responses you get. So it's not an overwhelming thing at all.
And if you're not part of the group yet, well, I'm just letting you know how active it is so that when the chance to join comes up again, maybe you'll say, okay, this time I think I'm in. I can see the value here. I can see how this kind of accountability would help me. Anyway, more about that later. I just wanted to say how excited I am that that's taking off so well.
And I wanted to look a bit at that question of, how can your side hustle idea come from your workplace? I was thinking a bit about the episode this week on Monday, episode 387, the Excel spreadsheet guru who earns $3,500 a month. If you haven't heard that episode already, I would highly recommend you go and listen to it. It's all about how once again, we see that doing something useful and helpful can be very valuable. Not just valuable, it can also be profitable, which is what a side hustle is about.
And this is a guy who lives in India where $3,500 a month is a great income. And he makes that money by selling courses and tutorials on how to use Microsoft Excel better. Now, why does that matter? There's probably a lot of people listening who think like, oh my God, spreadsheets Microsoft Excel, why would I care about that? Well, there's probably some other people listening who understand that in a lot of jobs, people have to spend a lot of time using that program and similar programs.
So if you can make people's lives better, if you can help them work faster and more productively, more efficiently, accomplish more, then you really are doing something that's valuable that can be profitable as well. And in this context, the guy who does this gets the idea because he's just really good at Excel. And for years, he helps his colleagues. He shows his colleagues little tips and time saving tricks. He starts a blog where he writes some of this out, makes some tutorials.
And because he's encouraged by the response, then he decides to actually turn it into the side hustle. So basically he's observing and then taking action, which of course are the two tenets of the side hustle school way. So what does this mean for you? Well, I don't mean you do the same thing for your job and then do it elsewhere. That's a bit different.
That potentially raises a number of issues. People sometimes ask me like if you could get in trouble for doing a side hustle. Well, you could get in trouble with your employer if you're doing the same thing for your side hustle that you do for your day job, especially if you're trying to reach the same customers or clients. But also even if it is okay, you might just get tired of doing those things. You know, so many of the side hustle ideas I tell you about involve people doing really different, unexpected kinds of things.
Like they have their day job, their career, but for their side hustle, it's either completely different or it just kind of takes the skill, it takes the knowledge they have and then uses it or applies it in a different way. So another example, in day six of the side hustle book, I told the story of Meredith Floyd Preston. Meredith is a Waldorf teacher who created her own curriculum and then sold that curriculum to other teachers. Because of her experience, she knew that Waldorf teachers were expected to teach in a certain way and it took a lot of time for them to design their lessons from the ground up each week. So she provided templates and ideas they could use, which of course they could then further customize.
So basically just like Sumit, the Excel spreadsheet guru who earns $3,500 a month, Meredith found a way to be useful and helpful to her colleagues. Now, by the way, let's just go back to this whole topic of non-compete and will I get in trouble because I get a lot of emails about this too. The thing is like most people don't have to worry about it. I'm not saying no one has to worry about it. Like if you sell the trade secrets of your employer, that's a problem.
If you steal office supplies and then resell them on eBay, that's your business model, that's probably a problem too. But if you're doing something totally different on your own, it's extremely rare for your employer to have any kind of enforceable contract that says 100% of the money you earn has to come from them. Like if you think about it, you should realize that's absurd. And it's also an issue of control in multiple ways. So number one, your company can't control you.
You're an individual, not a company. Your job doesn't own you. And two, don't you want more control of your life? Don't you wanna be able to make more decisions for yourself and have more freedom of choice? Which again is what having a side hustle is all about.
You know, this is positive. It's not rebellious. It's not so much like I hate my job, I'm trying to get away from there as quickly as possible. I mean, it's true for some people it is. I do hear from those people.
So if you're out there, you're not alone. But just bigger picture wise, this is about doing something for yourself. So assuming you're not stealing office supplies to put on the aftermarket, and assuming you're not selling the trade secrets of your employer or anything crazy like that, it's probably just more important to think about, okay, how am I gonna serve people? What is this product or service? And how am I gonna get it to those people?
Which is what I want to remind you to always focus on. That is my encouragement for you this week. And I also promise to answer a listener question. Got a couple of things going on here. I've got one email and one voicemail.
So let's look first at this email. This is from Emily. Emily says, "Hey, Chris, thank you so much for sharing side hustler stories on the podcast. It's been a big inspiration for me. Currently I've cast a wide net trying to find the right project.
This includes an Etsy store and hopefully a Merch by Amazon account. My question is, when do I need to open a business bank account and can I have one bank account for multiple potential revenue streams like my Etsy store and Amazon? I haven't made much money yet, so it doesn't seem necessary, but I also want to avoid any future complications. Thanks so much for your input." Well, Emily, great question. Congratulations on exploring your hustle ideas, Etsy store, Merch by Amazon, whatever else comes about.
And my answer is you don't need a dedicated business account from the beginning, but as you say, it can help you avoid complications later. So it's usually not that difficult to set one up. Depending on where you live, this can often be free. Worst case scenario, there's like a monthly fee of $10 or so. And in some cases, you can even get paid for it.
Banks are often sending out incentive offers for new accounts. I recently got a $250 incentive offer from a bank that I haven't been part of before that I've never done business with. And basically the offer is, hey, if you come into one of our branches, open a new business account, I think you have to deposit a certain amount of money, maybe have some activity in the account for three months or whatever, but the incentive is $250. So basically, if I go to the bank at some point, open this account, do whatever it is I need to do, I'm gonna get paid that incentive. Now that kind of offer may not be available where you live, but it's not that complicated.
So generally speaking, I think it's a good thing to do it as soon as possible. And yes, for the most part, you can use the same account for multiple projects as long as they're your own projects. What I mean by that is if you have something you're doing by yourself and something you're doing as a partnership with somebody else, then that should absolutely be separate. You should definitely have a dedicated bank account for any partnership activity. But for your own stuff, especially when you're getting started, it's usually okay to just have one account for multiple business activities.
Emily, I hope that helps. Let me know how it goes. Okay, I mentioned I was gonna play a listener voicemail for you as well. I've been getting a bunch of these. I might do a special episode at some point, just Q&A with listeners.
So if you have a question or comment, I'd love to hear from you as well. You can call up the Hustle Hotline. You can ask a question, you can share a comment. Today's is actually a success story, which is fun. I always like to hear what you guys are doing.
Now that Hustle Hotline is 8449 Hustle, 8449 Hustle, or 844-948-7853. If you prefer, you can also use your phone and make a little voice note and just email that to podcast@sidehustleschool.com. And by the way, I'm the worst person in the world at leaving voicemail. So if leaving a message intimidates you too, don't worry. If you screw up, you can just try it again.
Pretty much anytime I have to call someone and leave a message, I always feel bad afterwards. So surely you are not worse than me. It's a safe space. So if you'd like, let me know what's going on. And for now, let's hear a report from Faith.
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Hi, Chris. My name is Faith. I'm actually local to you in Portland, Oregon. And I was just calling to thank you for doing the show. I'm late to the game, but I've been binge-watching and I'm, I think in August now.
And I just love the show. I've learned so much and it's got me really inspired and working on a couple of different projects. And I was actually just wanting to let you know that yesterday I put an ad on Craigslist to do some key cluttering and organizing for the new year. And I already got someone who wants to hire me. And I totally wouldn't have done that without your show.
So thank you so much. Keep doing what you do. - That's so cool. Thank you so much, Faith, for sharing that. Congratulations.
And I hope this is the first of many clients for you. I will cheer you on. I know that there's lots of other people out there doing the same. So good work. Okay, looking back on this week, I realized we had quite a variety of stories.
And when I was making some notes about them, I realized that each story fit into a different side of some model. I shouldn't say it like that, actually. I should just say like, by intention, by design, that's how it worked. But it's better to be honest. I only just realized that right now when I was making my notes.
But if we go back to where we started this week, with that first episode about the Excel spreadsheet group, well, that's a model focused on education, on usefulness, and in that overall concept of using your workplace to find side hustle ideas. So we could call that the workplace plus usefulness model. The next episode, 388, was the quiz master who creates a side hustle nobody can question. This is a model of taking a hobby, of something that you like to do and you'd be happy to do for free, but then finding a way to get paid for doing it. Now, not every hobby should become a hustle.
It's also okay to just do things for fun or for enjoyment. But as you can see in that story and many others, sometimes it can be fun and enjoyable to both do your hobby and to get paid for it. The next episode, the snuggle is real. Architect moonlights by selling designer onesies. This is a print on demand model, where he doesn't actually have to create products and stock inventory.
The inventory is only created by an outside company when people order. Like I said in that episode, it's a no risk almost zero investment model, which is the good thing. The bad thing, or at least the challenge is you have to stand out somehow because it is so easy. So many people are trying to do it. The next episode, a Michigan social worker who creates sexy cosmetics line.
In her case, she wasn't actually manufacturing, she was just private labeling. So these cosmetics, those lip products already existed, but she had a way to essentially create her own branding around them, which is also interesting and it can be a lower risk than manufacturing everything yourself. After that, there was a South African writer who launches an accidental acting career. Actually wasn't sure what category this was in, so I kind of wrote random. It's the random idea model.
Maybe you have a better idea than me, but to close out the week yesterday, it was a dog sled trainer who becomes a women's fitness coach. This is clearly in the coaching model. And by the way, we'll have to talk about this another time, but just a side note on coaching. Coaching is not really about instruction, it's about empowerment. And people who are successful in the coaching business understand that.
So this former dog sled trainer understands that really well. She knows that she's helping women, I believe in their 40s and 50s, to get fit and be healthier and more active, but she understands that her real goal is something deeper than that, something more than that. So we'll cycle back to that at some point. And coming up next week, we've got another wide variety of stories, including a couple that of course you will have to just hear to believe. We have got, for example, an electrical engineer who becomes a romance novel cover model.
True story, of course, and I think he makes something like $20,000 extra a year from doing this. Pretty crazy. So if you've ever wanted to become a romance novel cover model, which you probably haven't, but who knows, maybe there's one person out there. Even if not, you can learn how it works. There's also a TV producer who gets paid to hunt down blog post typos, a music therapist who writes custom lullabies for restless children.
And of course, so much more. And before I sign off for the week, I want to say thanks to a few people who make all of this possible. Satasle School is recorded on location at World Domination headquarters, that's in Portland, Oregon. It's then produced in Washington, DC and Mexico City, sometimes even Brooklyn, New York, depending on who's working on it. Our production team is led by AC Valdez.
It also features Sarah Barrett, believe she's the one in Mexico City, show notes and content management and keeping me in line. That's all by Whitney Karinic, my wonder assistant. And of course, there is the official show cat, Libby the Lipster-Gillibo, in charge of responding to negative feedback. So if you have a complaint, I've offended you in some way, just reach out to her and she'll probably never get back to you because that's just how it works. She's a cat, sorry.
Satasle School is part of the Onward Project that's led by bestselling author Gretchen Rubin, a number of podcasts with concrete actionable ideas for making your life better. Well, not just better, it's technically happier, healthier, more productive and more creative. But those are all good things. And as always, as I say every single week, I want to thank you, the listener, you out there listening on your commute at the gym while you're at work as to be doing something else or wherever you are, I want you to know that you're the reason I make this show. I am committed every single day to supporting you in your quest to create an additional source of income.
That's good for you for all kinds of reasons. What you do with it is up to you. But I do think and not just think, I firmly believe it can change your life. And that's why we're here every day. So as you heard from Faith and her voicemail, this is working for lots of people.
I want it to work for you as well. If you're enjoying the show, please tell your friends about it. All of our growth comes from listeners. We don't have a big marketing campaign. We're not spending money on ads.
We are focused entirely on delivering the best possible experience to you. I want to say thanks as well to everybody who's left us a little rating or review in iTunes, also known as Apple Podcasts. That stuff does make a difference. If you don't have an iPhone, if you prefer to listen somewhere else, then feel free to review us there too. Like whatever you want to do is totally cool.
And I don't take your time for granted. So thanks to everybody who's done that. In each episode, I always say inspiration is good, but action is better. It's because I want you to take action. I want to be able to feature your story at some point.
At least I want to hear about it. So I'll look forward to that. And I hope to see you tomorrow and every day next week with more stories and ideas. This is an investment in yourself. It's a pretty low cost investment, just 10 minutes a day.
And the episodes go online at 601 AM Eastern time every morning. You are a rockstar. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.
