Notes from Chris

Episode 3180

Today’s episode is part of a feature we call ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

But what about their first $1,000—how did they make that happen, what did it feel like, and what did they learn?

Let’s hear today’s story. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up. 

SEE ALSO:

• Military Spouse Starts Subscription Box Mission:When an HR Director’s husband is away on military deployment, she uses the alone time to march toward a subscription box.
• Think Inside the Subscription Box:Looking for more community, a North Carolina web agency owner starts a subscription box for female entrepreneurs. It’s supposed to be a referral tool for her agency, but it ends up becoming a full-time business of its own.
• Nature-Loving Neighbors Create Kids Subscription Box: When two couples can’t figure out how to get their kids outdoors and away from electronics in the winter, a personal challenge blossoms into an unbeLEAFable side hustle.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3179

It’s Weekend Workshop, and it’s new!

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3178

Winning the work should be the exciting part, not the frantic part. Yet most solo freelancers know that sinking feeling: a client says “yes”… and suddenly you’re digging up last year’s contract, rewriting the same email, and chasing files that should have been in your inbox days ago. Big agencies solve this with playbooks and account managers, but what can one person do? Let’s give our listener—and every frazzled freelancer—an onboarding system that runs itself.

“Every time I land a new freelance project, it feels like I’m reinventing the wheel—scrambling for contracts, discovery questions, file-sharing links, all of it. By the time we finally start the real work, I’m already behind schedule. I know agencies have airtight onboarding checklists, but what can a solo freelancer do to make every new engagement run smoothly from Day 1 instead of total chaos?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3177

Décor trends cycle, but plants never really go out of style—and lately they’ve gone mainstream. From boho weddings to TikTok kitchen makeovers, statement greenery is everywhere. Big cities already have full-scale “plant staging” companies for hotels and office lobbies.

But what about a smaller, boutique approach—renting a handful of rare plants to stylists, photographers, or event planners? Sofia’s collection is already drawing requests. Let’s find out if she—and anyone with a thriving plant shelf—can turn that interest into a steady side income.

“I never thought my hobby would turn into a business idea, but here we are. Over the years I’ve built up a personal jungle of rare and eye-catching plants—giant fiddle leaf figs, wild succulents, you name it. Recently, people have been asking if they can rent them for weddings, photo shoots, or influencer projects. That got me thinking: is there actually a market for renting out rare or decorative plants, or is this just a niche curiosity? And what would it take to turn it into a real, profitable side hustle?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3176

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, where we take an in-depth look at someone who’s story has evolved considerably since we first featured them.

Last week, we heard how how a freelance marketer started selling ad placements and sponsorships for medical conferences—on commission only—and turned it into a surprisingly consistent side hustle.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear how one side hustler partnered with trade schools to help high school dropouts gain life skills and secure paid apprenticeships in the plumbing trade.

Listen to today’s episode to hear more…

SEE ALSO:

• Raver Turns LED-Powered Gloves Into Bright Future: When a raver-turned-salesperson falls in love with an underground art form, he turns it into a successful side business.
• Bright Idea Leads Chicago Woman to Million-Dollar Hustle: A Chicago-based plastic recycling sales rep overcomes her fears and doubts to transform her love for DIY lamp shades and $10 in supplies into a multi-million dollar business.
• 3D Printing Brings Cosplay Into 21st Century: With a 3D printer and sense of imagination, a California natural gas industry worker takes superhero DIY cosplay to a whole new level.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3175

In today’s story…

… you’ll hear about the end credits that come up at the end of movies. You know, those hundreds of lines of text that credit hundreds of different people. How are they organized and collected? The two guys you’ll hear about have found a way to make it much easier for movie producers, and this has turned into a highly profitable side business.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3174

The democratization of publishing has opened doors for anyone with a manuscript—but it’s also flooded the market. Reports from Bowker and the UK’s Nielsen BookData show roughly 1.6–2 million unique ISBNs issued annually, plus Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing titles without ISBNs. That works out to roughly 4,500–6,000 new English-language books per day. Jared wants to know: is it even worth finishing his manuscript?

“I recently heard a stat that tens of thousands of new books hit the market every single day—both traditionally published and self-published. If that’s even close to true, how on earth can a first-time author stand out? I’m halfway through writing my own non-fiction book, and the idea of competing with that kind of volume feels overwhelming. Can you put the numbers in perspective and talk about what a new author can realistically do to break through all that noise?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3173

Today’s episode is part of a feature we call ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

But what about their first $1,000—how did they make that happen, what did it feel like, and what did they learn?

Let’s hear today’s story. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up. 

SEE ALSO:

• Military Spouse Starts Subscription Box Mission:When an HR Director’s husband is away on military deployment, she uses the alone time to march toward a subscription box.
• Think Inside the Subscription Box:Looking for more community, a North Carolina web agency owner starts a subscription box for female entrepreneurs. It’s supposed to be a referral tool for her agency, but it ends up becoming a full-time business of its own.
• Nature-Loving Neighbors Create Kids Subscription Box: When two couples can’t figure out how to get their kids outdoors and away from electronics in the winter, a personal challenge blossoms into an unbeLEAFable side hustle.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3172

It’s Weekend Workshop, and it’s new!

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3171

Collecting money from customers used to be simple: you’d accept cash or a single PayPal payment and call it a day. Now we’ve got Stripe for subscriptions, Gumroad payouts, Etsy deposits hitting on Wednesdays, Venmo tips on Fridays, and maybe a rogue Zelle payment from an old client. Reconciling these streams can devour an entire Sunday—and if you don’t keep up, tax season becomes an archaeological dig.

Today’s caller’s dilemma captures a pain point that many modern creators face: revenue is up, but visibility is down. Money lands in half a dozen silos, each with its own fee structure and payout schedule. Today we’ll stitch those silos together into one clear, auditable cash-flow pipeline.

“My side hustle brings in money from half a dozen places—PayPal for digital downloads, Stripe for course payments, Venmo for one-off consulting, and Etsy deposits for physical products. It’s turning into a bookkeeping nightmare. What’s the smartest way to keep track of cash flow when the money lands in so many different platforms? I need a streamlined system before tax season turns into a disaster.”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,