Archives: Podcast

Q&A: Should I stick to my plan or accept other offers?

What It’s About

Today’s caller faces a common side hustle crossroads.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1834

Great question today! If you’re listening in real-time, you know we are beginning a new year. I’m a big fan of using this season for momentum and motivation. I do it myself—I’ve been working on something for three months that I’m publishing soon. Trying to get the year started off well.

That’s why this listener question is timely.

She’ll explain more, but in short: when you have a plan and something else happens along the way—specifically, you start getting related offers that are not quite your intended business model—what do you do?

Do you stick with the plan or accept other offers?

It could go either way, right? You often hear stories of each argument.

Let’s just take Amazon for one example: relentless focus on the plan. But wait, AWS is their most profitable division—that wasn’t the plan, right? … So how does the average person who doesn’t have access to lots of money and a big team make this decision?

Well, let’s consider it from the perspective of Kara.

“Hi, my name is Kara, and I’m from Indiana. I’m starting my side hustle. It’s a videography business focusing on short family documentaries. I have a pretty clear idea of my niche, which I understand can be difficult for some people. When I share my business plans with others, they react favorably. But they also often suggest additional opportunities for me to use my video camera, sound equipment and editing software sometimes solicited, sometimes not. Things like sports reels for kids trying to get scholarships, funeral slideshows, podcasts. I even got an offer to record a training course for someone because I’m relatively inexperienced.”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Failure Friday: “My complacency set in over time…”

What It’s About

The owner of a men’s fashion site becomes complacent—before regrouping and getting back to work.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1833

Just like our Throwback Thursday segment, you’ll hear directly from side hustlers who have struggled to get something off the ground. They’ll tell you a short story of something that went very wrong.

The stories will vary, but often it starts with an idea, what they thought would happen and what really happened—and of course, what they learned.

This one is different from a cruise ship not showing up in Croatia or the epic yoga studio fail—those are in the archives—but it’s something that is a true misstep. Full disclosure: I’ve had exactly the same problem that Brock is going to tell you about. Fortunately he’s turned it around, so you’ll hear about that too, but I encourage you to pay attention to both parts of the story.

Today’s short story features Brock from TheModestMan.com. The site helps short men dress better and ultimately feel more confident. We told the successful story of his project on Episode #1082. But they had some struggles along the way. Let’s hear from them about one of those struggles…

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Brock for sharing this transparent and truthful story. Check out his website at TheModestMan.com. He also has a popular YouTube channel (The Modest Man) which offers all kinds of tutorials.
  • He also shares his detailed income reports at FullTimeBlog.com.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

TBT: Rocket Scientist Tutoring Achieves Liftoff

What It’s About

A high achieving update from the founder of a successful tutoring business.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1832

Welcome to Throwback Thursday / “Where are they now?” where we take an in-depth look at someone who’s story has evolved considerably since we first featured them.

Last week (I mean last year!), we heard from the co-founder of Radical Tea Towels, a British family business that promotes historical progress and modern messages of change.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from Thais Lage, the young founder of a Florida tutoring business that now has 25 staff tutors. She does this while working full time as an aerospace engineer!

What’s happened since?

Listen to today’s episode to hear Thais’ updates…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Thais for sharing their updates with us. Check out her website at 321tutoring.com serving central Florida and beyond through virtual sessions.

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Q&A: “I’d like to sell an Apple Watch guide…”

What It’s About

Today’s listener wants a bite of the Apple device guide market.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1831

I have a streak I’m particularly proud of. One of them is public—that’s the sequence of episodes of this very show that have come out every single day since we started.

The other one is just my own thing: I recently crossed over 1,000 days in a row of getting all the activity points on my Apple Watch every day. It’s been a long saga, complete with two resets when I traveled to Asia and lost the streak through no fault of my own—then a very difficult two days when I was sick from the COVID vaccine (which I’m thankful for, of course).

The point there is that the #1 feature of the Apple Watch is that ability to track streaks. Anyway, enough about me—and Apple is not our sponsor! I should send them a bill… Today’s listener wants to make money helping people set up and get the best use out of their new smartwatch. What’s the best way for them to do this?

“I’d like to sell a guide with tips and hacks for using your Apple Watch effectively. Apple doesn’t include a manual with Watch sales, and even though the setup is fairly intuitive, there’s a lot you won’t learn unless you spend time Googling and watching videos. That’s why I think there’s an active market for my guide. How much should I sell it for?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Self-Published Kindle Books Produce Full-Time Income

What It’s About

A state government administrator helps families tell their life stories, bringing in $387,000 in 2020.

Words of Wisdom

Jeffrey says when a project doesn’t work out, ask yourself what parts of it you can relaunch as something new. Everything you create is an asset that can be used elsewhere. And remember to keep at it — the more you do anything, the better you’ll get at it. Keep creating, keep selling, and something will start to stick.

Fun Fact

The first Kindle e-books appeared on Amazon in 2007. That year, there were 88,000 e-books available. [Source]

Notes from Chris

Episode 1830
Jeffrey Mason was filled with regret. His father suffered from Alzheimer’s, and his memory slipped away more each day. Jeffrey felt he’d missed his chance to learn more about his dad’s life and experiences. The two men used to have weekly calls and frequent visits, but they had drifted apart over the years.

In April 2018, Jeffrey was feeling particularly sad and ended up writing a long list of over 200 questions—the things he’d like to ask his dad about. Jeffrey knew some of his father’s ambitions, his problems, and his successes, but a lot was missing.

Writing that list reminded him of something. The previous February, he’d ordered a book for his girlfriend called The Couple’s Bucket List. When it arrived, he found it was simply a lined journal with no writing in it. Kind of disappointing!

Jeffrey believed he could do better. He already knew a bit about self-publishing from listening to podcasts and reading articles. He was confident he had the skills to create a better bucket list, or at least something like that.

Jeffrey turned that list of questions he wanted to ask his father into a book that he self-published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. He designed the cover himself using free Canva software and put his book out into the world. It didn’t cost him a cent.

Unfortunately, the first version of the book didn’t sell well. So Jeffrey relaunched in February 2019 with a new cover and a new title: Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story. That did the trick and Jeffrey earned $2,400 that month. His earnings jumped to $5,400 in June thanks to Father’s Day, and then he made another $2,100 in July.

Soon after, Jeffrey started getting emails from readers asking if he had a version of his book for mothers or grandparents. Taking the cue, he self-published three more books in July 2019. In total, he earned $52,000 that year from his four books.

Stay-at-home shopping during the pandemic led to a huge year of book sales the following year. What kind of numbers are we talking about? Jeffrey made $387,000 in 2020. Sales have dipped a bit since then, but he’s still earning an average of $20,000 each month.

The business is now a family affair. Jeffrey’s mom runs his Facebook page, and his oldest daughter handles all other social media. He’s currently looking at how to turn the concept of his books into a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a course. These ideas are in the development phase and will launch this year.

What started as a way to cope with his regret has become Jeffrey’s full-time work and even his mission. He wants to keep encouraging people to learn their loved ones’ life stories.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Get one of Jeffrey’s books and learn more about your your family at his website, HearYourStory.com.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Quote of the Day
"When a project doesn’t work out, ask yourself what parts of it you can relaunch as something new. Everything you create is an asset that can be used elsewhere. And remember to keep at it — the more you do anything, the better you’ll get at it. Keep creating, keep selling, and something will start to stick."
—Jeffrey Mason #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

First $1,000: “Don’t give up—your future self will thank you!”

What It’s About

New segment alert! Learn how one of our featured case studies made their first $1,000.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1829

New segment alert! As we enter Season 6 of Side Hustle School, naturally we’re looking for ways to evolve and bring more helpful, insightful, and interesting content to you—all within the constraint of a brief daily episode, because I know you’re busy.

Today’s episode is part of a new feature we’re doing in 2022 called ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

 

Of course, the case studies that I share with you weekly go into origins stories in some detail, but with this feature, two things are different: one, you get to hear from the side hustler or small business owner directly, and two, this segment is focused entirely on the first $1,000 the person made.

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

One thing I’ve learned is that once you begin to earn real money, the steps required to go to the next level—whether it’s $1,000 to $2,000, or even to $5,000 or $10,000 are often easier than that first real paycheck.

Also, fun fact: you’re a lot more motivated at that point! Making money feels encouraging.

With that in mind, today’s origins feature comes from Deya Aliaga Kuhnle. We first featured her back on Episode #1611: Intern Manages Businesses For Six-Figure Income.

That’s great, but what about their first $1,000—how did she make that happen, what did it feel like, and what did she learn?

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Deya for telling us about her first $1,000. I hope you found it encouraging. Check out her website at DBMbootcamp.com/ or follow her on Instagram at @mynameisdeya on Instagram.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Q&A: How to monetize a year of 40 side hustles?

What It’s About

Today’s caller sets a lofty, all-year goal for non-stop hustling.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1828

Happy New Year! We are off to the races in another year. I’m eager to get underway and bring you lots of stories from interesting people.

I’m also working on some stuff myself, including an online course that I’ve been preparing for three months without mentioning. I’ll say more about that soon—it’s very different from everything I do for Side Hustle School.

For today: we’ve got a listener with a cool project of trying to monetize a year of side hustles. Conveniently, he started preparing for this during the holidays so that he’s ready to go now.

Does it need to be narrowed a bit? Perhaps, but let’s consider. Also, what is the monetizable path to this sort of project. It’s interesting because presumably a collection of moneymaking projects makes money by nature—but what’s the value of the collection itself, as well as the shared journey?

“Hi, this is Brett from Illinois, and I’ve been listening to the show for three months now. I recently came across a blog post that listed numerous side hustles you could try, such as 100 Side Hustles to try or 63 side hustles for 2021. It got me thinking, I wonder how many of these side hustles the authors have actually tried. Then the idea hit me in twenty twenty two, I’m going to try 40 side hustle. My goal is to make at least $1,000 per side hustle. I know this sounds pretty ambitious, but I have a pretty solid list and plan of how to accomplish this.

My first question I have is, have you ever heard of someone trying something like this before? I’ve done some research and have not seen any documented attempts of something like this done in the past. My second question is how do I monetize this process? My guess would be to start some sort of social media blog or YouTube following. But what do you think would be some of the best ways to monetize this process? I’m about to go through. How do I turn my pursuit of 40 side hustle into a side hustle of its own?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
Get Started Here!

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

New Year, New Season! Let’s Make This the Best Year Yet

What It’s About

It’s the start of a new year—and our sixth season!!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1827

Hey there, it’s Chris! Welcome to a new year and Season 6 of Side Hustle School!

We have turned the clock and the calendar … if you’ve been around for a while, never did I imagine we’d still be going strong—but it’s largely because of you and the community at large.

Most years, we get a new group of listeners joining in in January, and perhaps some people who are re-joining. So in this short inaugural episode, I’d like to spend just a few minutes today reorienting us.

The mission of Side Hustle School is to help you create a new source of income without quitting your job. To be specific, this isn’t about the gig economy or just working two jobs, but actually creating significant revenue (aka money) through an asset you create.

We have featured hundreds of real people (not “entrepreneurs”) who have done this. And in the show, we look at the practical nuts and bolts of how you can do this for yourself. This includes everything from generating the right idea down to the full implementation and marketing of the idea.

Our values are being frugal and resourceful, but also being willing to invest in yourself—because you want to achieve a positive return!

In case you’re curious about me, I’m an author and entrepreneur. I’ve always worked for myself. I was an aid worker for several years, and then I started a blog called The Art of Non-Conformity, which also documented my journey to every country in the world. I feel really fortunate to connect with a global community of awesome people doing interesting things.

This is all free! Nothing’s for sale, there is literally no way to give me money on the Side Hustle School site. More than 1,800 episodes are freely available. How is this possible? Well… because we do have sponsors, and I appreciate them.

Every episode has just two sponsor messages, one at the beginning and one partway through. We try to choose partners who are both on-brand and that are making truly valuable offers to you. I hope you’ll find some of them helpful, but there’s never any pressure.

Alright, here’s what I was saving for you. Two things, specifically:

1) This is important: I really want you to be able to take action, not just enjoy the stories and other content.

Every year we hear from a number of people who want to make it their year of the side hustle. Is that you?

Coming up in the days, weeks, and months to come—we’ll feature many listener stories.

2) We’re also introducing a new segment, called First $1,000. As you might guess, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000. Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

As part of this project, we’ll also give away $1,000 to the best listener side hustle that begins this year.

If you start a project this year, pay attention because you might win $1,000. And the cool thing about starting a moneymaking project is, even if you don’t win the prize … you still win!

Aside from winning $1,000, how else can you participate? You can listen every day. You can leave us a quick 5-star rating or review, which is always appreciated. You can tell your friends.

But mostly, I want you to do something for yourself this year. All of us face tremendous pressure to be someone we aren’t and carry other people’s burdens. I hope that this year you’ll rethink that a little and consider what you’d like to do for yourself.

I can’t wait to share the journey with you! Make it part of your routine, just 10 minutes a day, wherever you like too listen.

 

 

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Failure Friday: Self-Guided London Food Tours Fail to Excite

What It’s About

A London small business owner learns an important lesson.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1826

It’s the last episode of the year!

I believe we can learn as much from failure as we can from success, if not more. It’s with this principle in mind that I offer you a weekly segment called Failure Friday: a collection of short stories all about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure.

Just like our Throwback Thursday segment, you’ll hear directly from side hustlers who have struggled to get something off the ground. They’ll tell you a short story of something that went very wrong.

The stories will vary, but often it starts with an idea, what they thought would happen and what really happened—and of course, what they learned.

Today’s short story features Jen Earle, originally from Melbourne, Australia but now living in the U.K. We told the successful story of her London chocolate tours on Episode #194. But as you’ll hear, a new business she started called Taste Tripper struggled quite a bit in getting off the ground and she finally made the brave decision to close it.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Jen for sharing this transparent and truthful story for the first time! Check out her website at JenniferEarle.com/ or follow her on Instagram at @jennifer.earle on Instagram.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

TBT: “Radical Tea Towels” Promote Historical Progress

What It’s About

A radical update from a unique tea towel company.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1825

It’s the end of the year, whoa! I can’t believe how the time has gone by…. but you feel that way too, right?

Welcome to Throwback Thursday / “Where are they now?” where we take an in-depth look at someone who’s story has evolved considerably since we first featured them.

Last week, we heard from the founder of Cut Buddy, a tool for home haircuts. The week before that, we had the soap-making adventuress who goes all-in on a squeaky clean side hustle.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from Luke Pierce. He’s the Chief Radical at a British family business called Radical Tea Towels. We first featured him back in Ep. 956, and they were on track to do $1 million in sales of tea towels.

What’s happened since? Let’s hear directly from him. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up.

Listen to today’s episode to hear Luke’s updates…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau