This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello, what's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. Hey, it's Chris Guillebeau. We have just finished week number 10 of season three. Rolling along here with episode 799.
Almost made it to 800 episodes. It feels like only yesterday I was beginning this program. I had no idea that I would continue to find story after story, you know, 800 days later. I was worried at the time that I wouldn't be able to make it through the first year. You know, I had committed to 365 episodes and we had about 30 of them planned out.
So thankfully I was not only able to get through the year, but things just kind of grew and grew and more people started listening and more people started sending in their stories. And best of all, my favorite part actually is more and more people from our community began starting projects of their own. To the point where something like 20% of the stories you hear on the show are coming from listeners who are following this method, developing this method and using it in their own way to do it in a way that makes sense to them in a way that helps them create a little bit more freedom through the form of an income generating project. If you need to make some extra money, if you need to diversify your sources of income, or if you just want to do something different, fun and creative, well, that's what Sadassul School is all about. And I'm so excited about all that is to come.
Got some big plans and things coming up quite soon. Now this week featured a nostalgic bowl of Pizzoli. It inspires a spicy hustle, a hand lettering artist who upgrades cheesy photo booth props, a real estate agent in Spain who starts an all new income source renovating homes for his buyers and more. This coming week, I'm going to Santa Barbara to film a course for LinkedIn. I'm excited about that.
We're going to talk about the art of the side hustle. And then to Atlanta for a couple of days. Next week, I'm going out of the country for the first time in a while. I'm actually going to Southeast Asia. I'll look forward to sharing some of that journey with you here on the podcast.
And of course on Instagram or wherever else you want to connect. Two more quick things. A few days ago, we started the last round of ticket sales for WDS 2019. That would be the World Domination Summit, also known as the greatest gathering of awesome people ever. It's going to be the ninth year we have done this in Portland, Oregon every summer.
We are especially excited about this year, bringing together like-minded people from truly all over the world. So if you have not had a chance to check it out, if you're like, wow, world domination, what is that? Just go take a look at worlddominationsummit.com. There you can watch a video. You can see thousands of photos, literally thousands and hear lots of stories from people who have been before.
I would love to see you in Portland this summer. And again, the final round of ticket sales has just started. Now, last but not least, no, it's a lot of stuff. Last but not least, I'm starting to make a plan for my June tour, featuring the all new book, "100 Side Hustles." Beginning on June 4th, I'll be going to a bunch of cities, number in specific cities TBD. We're going to a bunch of cities and hopefully we can get a chance to hang out and talk about side hustles and everything else.
So more info on that coming soon. Now in today's update, I want to share a couple of messages I received on Instagram this week from our listeners. Speaking of listeners who are starting projects, I got some great stories here. And we'll also have an audio update from a previously featured story on the show from a woman who trains and releases doves for weddings. If you've ever wondered about the dove releasing business, which you probably haven't, I realize, but if you ever stop to think, well, how does that work?
People release doves at weddings. Do they get the doves back? Is somebody paid for this? Well, the answer to both those questions is yes. And we'll have an update from a woman who is doing it.
[Music]
It's been getting a flood of messages recently, a whole bunch of notes from people who are starting different projects. Again, one of my favorite things to hear about. If you're doing something, you know, feel free to reach out. Let me know what you're up to. I wanted to read you one from, these are from Instagram, Copper Creek ADV.
Copper Creek writes it into me and says, "Hey Chris, I heard about you on the Art of Manly-list podcast, bought your side hustle book and guess what? My side hustle has made me $5,000 since starting on August 13th, 2018." I love that, thank you so much, Copper Creek ADV. Very glad to know that has been helpful to you, $5,000 and hopefully much more to come. Let's see, my next message I wanted to share was from my mute bag. This is from a musician who's starting a project where you protect your valuable mutes and gear and look like a pro while doing it.
So if you're a trumpet player or a trombone player, et cetera, this is a little bag that you can carry your stuff in. And she writes in to say, "Hey Chris, I wanted to thank you because I launched my new business today. I started listening to side hustle school last summer. It was kind of random considering I'd only listened to one or two podcasts ever before yours, but side hustle school truly changed my life. It made me start thinking of the opportunities that are all around us and often go unnoticed.
Within a month of listening, I had an aha moment. It would probably have just been a passing thought before hearing the show. Then after about six months of research and action, today my website went live. The very first order was within minutes of the launch and was to someone I don't even know." That is exciting. Congratulations, my mute bag on Instagram.
Mute bag is M-U-T-E-B-A-G. So fun. I'm just looking through it and I have a few more like that. Again, so glad to know it's helpful. It is really the reason why I do what I do.
I've said this for 10 years now as an author. For me, the greatest thing about writing a book is when somebody comes along and says, "Hey, I read the book." And not just that I thought it was a good book. That's nice to hear, but even better to hear, I think, is I read this book and then I applied something from it or I learned something I didn't know or helped me to look at the world in a different way. Or maybe it just gave me the confidence to move forward with an idea that I already had. So kind of the same goal with the podcast.
I want people to like it, but more than just like it, I want it to be useful and helpful and actionable to them. And that includes you, by the way. Wherever you are listening to the show, if you're listening on the treadmill at the gym or in the car or, I don't know, whatever it is that you're up to, whatever you're doing, my greatest hope is that this will help you with your project. And maybe when I go on tour of this gym, we can hang out and talk about it or you can send me a message on Instagram or you can not even tell me about it at all because you do you. But again, I hope that something here is helpful.
[Music]
All right, today's featured case study updates, our audio update comes from Lisa who has a great project called "A Dove's Love." So I'll just let her explain more and then I'll have some brief comments at the end. Here is Lisa. - Hi Chris, it's Lisa from Mason Neck, Virginia. And I'm reporting in about my side hustle that was featured on episode 195. And somebody might remember my side hustle of releasing white doves at all sorts of special events.
And since that episode, I've been busy training the doves to fly home from all over Washington DC and Northern Virginia. And most days I drive to different locations where I release the doves and I try to beat them home. But if all goes well, they beat me home. And business doubled last season and I'm pretty sure it's gonna double again this season. One of the challenges I had in the beginning was stepping up and speaking in front of large audiences which I would be really scared to do.
But I started to pretend that I knew what I was doing and that I was this experienced speaker. And that actually worked all that pretending because now I feel pretty comfortable in that role. So at these events that I have been going to, I have seen tears and I have seen hallelujahs. I've seen joy and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Time and time again, the families have come up to me and told me how the doves were the best part of their event.
And since our episode aired, we have earned about $6,000. And this money has been a true godsend for our family's needs. And I have added an extension on the dove loft to make it an even better home for the birds. And the wonky part of me has invested in a GPS device that tracks the path the birds fly on Google Earth. Their altitude, their stops, where they're actually flying, which is really cool.
So one of the challenges I still continue to face is that I don't fly the birds during the winter time. It's a big chunk where I do turn away calls. But I'm challenging myself to be a better flyer and to learn how to keep my birds safe. And eventually I might be able to fly all year long. [Music]
Awesome, thank you so much, Lisa.
Really appreciate that. Out of 800 episodes, that's the only episode we've had about homing pigeons, unless I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I'm not mistaken because I thought that was very cool. If you've ever wondered how that business works, you might want to go and listen to her episode. Number 195, "Birds of a feather flock to your bank account." It's great to hear that business doubled last season and is doubling again. Way to go, Lisa.
And I love that speaking trick, by the way. What you mentioned is very similar to what I've done before. You just start by pretending you know what you're doing. Great expression. Probably the first 100 times I spoke in front of an audience, I was terrified.
And I learned to kind of pretend I knew what I was doing, just like you said. And eventually it got better, but I still get nervous. So I just still pretend sometimes. So good trick. Also, it's fun to hear about the GPS tracking devices that you have installed on your birds to see what they're up to when they're out and about.
And last but not least, good luck with the winter flying. It sounds like a challenge, but it sounds like Lisa is up for it. Now, everybody out there, if you would like to follow along with Lisa or learn more about this, again, in addition to the episode, you can go to adoveslove.com. That is adoveslove.com. We will link it up in the show notes.
More of these updates to come. And also we'd love to hear from listeners. If you want to give us a call, the Hustle hotline is 8449HUSTLE. Or you can also make a little voice memo and email it to podcast@sidehustleschool.com. Or you can just email the same address with a note, podcast@sidehustleschool.com.
[Music]
Coming up tomorrow, got an episode called the Sisterhood of the Traveling Digital Nomads. Got something later this week about an underground graduate school. And perhaps something about a blackjack card counting course. Also, I think something about plants and card decks. Just all kinds of stuff coming up as usual.
You never know what you're gonna hear from doves to blackjack to underground schools and sisterhoods of traveling digital nomads, et cetera. Before I take off, I wanna thank everybody who makes this show possible. That is first and foremost, our listeners. You're the reason I make this show 799 days and counting. Because as I said, I want this to be helpful and useful to you.
Now, it's not just me. We got a whole bunch of folks also working on the show. From our producer Chuck Reed to content manager, Whitney Karinek. Editorial review, James Johnson. Community liaison, Jed Chang.
Cat herder, Tina Hart. And not associated with the cat herder, but the official show cat, Libby Dillebo. This is a completely free listener supported show. If you're enjoying it, I'd be super grateful for your quick rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Give us a little five star rating.
It just takes a moment and it helps other people discover the show. I also really appreciate it when you tell your friends or you show your friends better how to subscribe. If you know somebody who needs to make extra money, who needs to embrace these kinds of values, or maybe they already embraced these kinds of values, but they don't know what to do. They need practical steps. Send them to us and we'll do our best to take care of them.
I often say inspiration is good, but action is better because I hope you'll take action. I want to feature your story. And I hope you'll join me again tomorrow and every day next week. Consider this a short daily 10 minute investment in yourself. And our episodes go online every day at 601 AM Eastern time.
Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau and this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
