This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey, hey, what's up friends, listeners, side hustle school community. This is Chris Guillebeau bringing you the weekly recap. We have just finished week 40 of season two. And today, if all goes well, I'll be running a marathon in Long Beach, California. I've done two half marathons this year, but it's been a really long time.
In fact, it's been six years this weekend. So exactly six years since I've done a full marathon, which is 26.2 miles or a lot of kilometers, like a thousand kilometers. And this episode is being recorded a bit in advance. So in some ways I'd rather not say, hey, I'm out there running a marathon today because what if it doesn't go well or what if I can't finish? You know, in a lot of ways it would be better to just come back with you next week and say, oh, hey, guess what, last week I ran a marathon.
But the thing is, you know, I believe in public accountability. I believe in setting big goals and putting them out there. So, you know, hopefully it'll go well. And if for some reason it doesn't, perhaps I will rally or recover or plan for something else. But hopefully it will go well.
And doing this race is also personally significant for me. This is the last I'm gonna say about it because you're not here to hear about my marathon running. But doing this race is personally significant for me because I mentioned a couple of times that I struggle from time to time with depression, with anxiety, with just some issues like a lot of people do. And this whole year has been kind of a year of recovery for me, a year of focusing on wellness. Like I said, I haven't done a marathon in six years.
And as I've tried to take better care of myself in different ways, running more and getting out to do those longer distances and then finally deciding to set this goal and saying, "Okay, I don't know if I always want to run marathons, but I do wanna go out and try it again." So that's what I'm doing. And if you would like to follow along, like I said, I'm talking about it on the show, but I'll be sharing on my Instagram stories at 193 countries, that is 193 countries. Also, one other quick announcement, the tickets for World Domination Summit 2019, WDS 2019, will be going on sale very soon. And if you'd like to check that out, you can come to sidehustleschool.com/wds. I may have mentioned it the other day and said, "Go to worlddominationsummit.com, that will also work." Either way, WDS is an annual gathering that I've been hosting for going on nine years now.
And we've been bringing all kinds of awesome, remarkable people to Portland, Oregon every summer. It's a conference in some ways. We have lots of main stage keynote speakers. We have lots of workshops and half day academies where you can learn all kinds of stuff, including some stuff about side hustling and podcasting, all kinds of other things. But it's also just an amazing community.
The people that come to WDS are from all sorts of different backgrounds, doing all kinds of different things. And what they have in common is they're interested in improving their lives. And they're interested in making a difference in the world. So as I said, tickets are going on sale this week, in fact. And I would love for you to come.
If you haven't been before, I would love to say hi and hang out next summer. That's sidehustleschool.com/wds. All right, a couple of more pertinent things to talk about in this episode. Got a listener email with a great question about selling history lessons. Will people pay for history lessons?
He says no, and I think maybe. And we'll jump into that in just a second. Also got an audio update from one of our previous features like we've been doing each week in the recap. I've heard from a lot of listeners that you have enjoyed these little blasts from the pasts, just kind of updates on what's happened with someone since we first featured them on the show, along with any advice or tips or lessons that they have to share. So that's coming up.
But let's jump into this question that arrived in my inbox from Jerome. And Jerome wrote in and said, "Hey, Chris, I really enjoyed both your books. I'm constantly thinking about starting my own side hustle. I think I will be able to execute, but finding good ideas remains difficult. It seems that most people have developed either teaching skills or have a deep product knowledge.
I am more of a jack of all trades master of none. I work as a corporate finance advisor. The one thing that does really interest me is history. Have you ever heard about a side hustle related to this subject because people won't pay for online history lessons? Love to hear from you.
Thanks Jerome." All right, great question. As I said, I wrote Jerome a quick little reply and then afterwards I was thinking about it more. And I was like, I actually wanna go into this in a little bit more detail, because I bet this could be helpful to a lot of people, even if history is not your thing. Because one principle that I have long believed in and have just seen affirmed over and over since producing the show, is that you really can make money in all kinds of different ways. And where there's a will, there's a way.
So when I say where there's a will, there's a way, I don't just mean be persistent, keep trying the same thing. I mean, keep knocking on the doors and keep throwing things against the wall or whatever metaphor you want to use. There probably is something with history that you can do. And as for being a jack of all trades, that's another conversation, but I too am a jack of all trades. I'm not really a master of any particular skill.
I've just kind of cobbled together all the stuff that I have done over the past 20 years. But let's dig into the heart of your question. It's probably true that people won't pay for online history lessons. I mean, someone correct me if I'm wrong. I think Jerome's assumption there is probably correct, at least most people.
But here are a couple of examples. There's a podcast called "Hardcore History." Some of you may listen to it. This is a podcast hosted by Dan Carlin. It's four to five hours long. So kind of the opposite of Side Hustle School, like literally and truly, you can go and download one of these episodes and it will be four to five hours long.
It's also extremely successful. When I say successful, I mean both in terms of audience and listeners and financially. So Dan Carlin is a commentator, but what he's doing through this extremely popular podcast is teaching history. So in other words, I think there are options. And then also I went to look through our archives and I was reminded of episode 464, which was almost 200 days ago.
So you might want to look it up. It's called "College Student Starts Historic Letter Subscription Service." And the last time we featured this guy, he was bringing in more than $20,000 a month. Maybe he's a good candidate to go back to for our "Blast from the Past" series and see, is it still doing that much? Like what has happened with this? But obviously this is someone with a keen interest in history who has found a way to monetize that.
Last but not least, some of the best-selling books every year are historical accounts. So there are a lot of people interested in history. The book "Hamilton" by Ron Chernow has sold more than 2 million copies, which is incredible. I mean, that guy writes like he's running out of time. He's not throwing away his shot.
So again, there are options, but I think what you need to do is think more broadly. Maybe people won't pay for history lessons in the form of tutoring, because that's what you think about when you think of history lessons. But are people interested in history? Yes. Will they pay to support that interest?
Yes. So again, where there's a will, there's a way. Thanks so much again, Jerome, for that great question. I hope this answer is helpful to you and maybe somebody else out there as well. [Music]
Okay, let's hear from one of our alumni side hustle school featured case studies.
I believe this message is from Dale, who was originally from San Francisco, but has now relocated to Texas. - Hey, this is Dale Dene from Dallas, Texas, and my side hustle is Savvy Sleepers Fat and Pillow Cases for hair, skin, and lashes featured on episode 143. Since then, I've expanded into selling into more retailers, including lash extension bars, which is a booming beauty trend, and also did a collaboration with celebrity esthetician, Joanna Chek, and that was a pure silk eye mask. And since my episode aired, I've really focused on growing my business, especially throughout Texas. One challenge I've had is trying to get to beauty trade shows when I have a three-year-old and one-year-old daughter.
It's just been really hard and expensive. So what I've done is focused locally on going to as many networking events as I can in the evenings, and also setting up business meetings on the weekends. And this has led to not only that eye mask collaboration, but also getting some private label buyers, which has helped grow the business, although it might not necessarily be going out with my brand. But one challenge that I would say has been the hardest is just finding time to manage my family and my small daughters while growing the business and the e-commerce site. Some advice I would offer to listeners is to, especially if you are starting out your side hustle, just try to think backwards because everything can be really overwhelming at first.
And this will save you time and money. Test any product. If you are trying to come out with a product, make sure that you like it and that your family and friends like it, and that it's the highest quality that you can possibly offer because without a good product, you really can't grow a business, especially if your side hustle is a specific product. And also just to not stress out and take everything as slow as you can. Awesome, thank you so much for sharing, Dale.
I'm so glad the business continues to grow. By the way, I think Dale is actually going to be in my next book, which I'll be talking about at some point, along with many other people that we have featured on the show. Really excited about that and I look forward to sharing that with you soon. Now back to her business, I'm glad to know about the extensions and collaborations. I think it's great what she's doing locally.
I also think though, this is the beauty of selling online that you aren't constrained by the need to attend trade shows or open a retail store with fixed hours or whatever. So local expansion and local growth is always great, but in her situation with the two young daughters and lots of other listeners, you have families or really busy day jobs or both or other responsibilities. It's not that online business is the only way to do things. Of course, we look at plenty of side hustles that are predominantly offline or local or whatever, but I do think overall there's a lot more potential with e-commerce, which of course is what she's doing as well. She's got a popular website that's selling a lot of pillowcases.
I actually have one of them myself. Now, I also think here, here's probably the greatest lesson, make sure you think product first, okay? I get more questions and she really emphasized this. I get more questions about tactics and sales than anything else, but really having a great product is the essential characteristic of something that's going to be sustainable, of something that's not just going to make money quickly, but something that has the potential to be this kind of asset that's going to serve you well throughout your life or if not your whole life, at least for a while, and then it's gonna lead you to something else and so on. So don't worry about trying to do everything, let go of some of the smaller things, let go of some of those tactical things and make sure you have a good product.
And I see this in my work too, I don't really do a great job in being consistent with social media, for example. I don't really have a funnel or a systematic Facebook ads campaign or lots of optimized landing pages or all kinds of other stuff. And I'm not making excuses because I do wanna improve. I'm not saying that stuff is not valid or relevant or helpful, but the point is like what I've tried to focus on, since I can't focus on everything, what I've tried to do is focus on what really matters, which for me in this situation is making the show and putting a lot of attention on the books I write and the events I speak at. I figure if I forget to post on Twitter or whatever tomorrow, my life is still gonna be fine.
But if I forget to make an episode tomorrow, which I have promised to do, and some people actually care about and depend upon and listen to, then that's a much bigger deal. So if you get a few things right, just like Dale has done, everything else can either fall into place or you'll get better at it as you go along, or maybe you actually realize that it just doesn't matter. So how about that for a positive outcome? And if you'd like to check out what Dale is doing, maybe pick up your own savvy sleeper pillowcase. You can do that at savvysleepers.com.
More of these to come. And if you've got a question or comment for us, you can just call the Hustle Hotline, leave a little message for us. It is 8449HUSTLE or 8449487853. You can also email me at podcast@sidehustleschool.com. [Music]
Okay, just in brief, looking back this week, I noticed that our episodes featured, as usual, a montage of subjects and topics, including underwear, DJ set lists for weddings, Chicago walking tours, granola, and a firefighter who uses his chainsaw to make a life-sized art, sometimes even full-sized bears.
So what does this suggest to you? Well, as I was suggesting to Jerome earlier, don't write off any particular area of interest or any skill you have. Even if it's not your final answer, there's probably some way to make money from it. There really is, which is why we're exploring all these different topics every single day, not just talking about the same usual stuff that you hear anywhere else. That's why we are digging into real opportunities that real people, perhaps just like you, are exploring.
And not just exploring, but also profiting from, because that's what it is all about. A SODHUSTLE is an income-generating project. It's not just a hobby, it's not just a passion project. There's all kinds of things you can do for those things, but I wanna help you actually make money because that can help you with all kinds of other things in turn. Coming up next week, another montage of crazy topics, including something about cupcakes, something called Rent the Chicken.
That is literally all I see in my notes, Rent the Chicken, and at this point, I wouldn't be surprised. And you shouldn't be either if you've been listening for a while, you're like, Rent the Chicken, okay, great. Can't wait to hear what that's about. Also coming at the end of this week, a special episode, a very special episode that will be hosted and read by Whitney. Whitney Karinek is our content manager, and she's gonna be the one to tell you about a unique product that a Pennsylvania woman has invented.
And when you hear more about it, you'll probably understand why I roped her in to be the one to talk about it. You never know what you're gonna get here on SODHUSTLE School, all kinds of fun stuff. And before I sign off for the week, I wanna say a big thank you to the people that make this possible. It's not just me here at World Domination Headquarters. Thankfully, you're in the hands of a very competent and professional team, including Whitney Karinek, as just mentioned, our content manager, also our senior producer, A.C. Valdez,
our assistant producer, Sarah Barrett. She's actually moving on to do some other stuff, but has mixed, I think, more than 200 episodes for us, if not more. Really appreciate Sarah, who has been doing all of this live on location from Mexico City, where she's been pursuing other journalism projects as well. So big thanks to Sarah and will continue to keep in touch with her. Our community liaison, Jed Chang, remains strong, handling my email, doing all kinds of good stuff.
And the official show cat, Libby Liberia Guillaboe, working the night shift two to four a.m. and in charge of listener complaints. This is a free listener supported show. If you're enjoying it, I'm super grateful. I would love you forever if you would leave a quick little rating and review in iTunes.
Wait, did I say iTunes? It's Apple Podcasts. I know, but everybody still knows it as iTunes. It's complicated. However you listen to the podcast, it would be awesome.
If you would just take a second and do that for us, little rating and review, little five star, if you think we're worthy of it. And you can also tell your friends. That'd be super awesome. Show them how to subscribe. Ask them if they would like to make some extra money.
Better yet, ask them if they know they need another source of income. And if so, send them to us because we'll take care of them. I hope you will join me tomorrow and every day next week with more stories and actionable ideas. Consider this an investment in yourself, a simple, easy 10 minute investment in yourself. Our episodes go online at six oh one a.m.
Eastern time every single day. Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau, hopefully finishing a marathon today. I guess we'll find out and this is Side Hustle School.
