Archives: Podcast

TBT: Hydroponic Indoor Plant System Branches Out

What It’s About

This indoor plant system is in full-bloom!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1650

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 a sex positive blogger who publishes a long-running site that reviews toys and other adult products. New direction this week: today’s episode, like 99.5% of Side Hustle School, is family-friendly … it’s also all about plants, which feels like 20% of Side Hustle School recently.

In this feature, we’ll hear from Dave Stevens, the founder of IG Works (Indoor Garden), offering smart indoor gardening kits for anyone who wants to grow fresh farm produce year round. They had a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign that we covered in Ep. 888.

That was all about the iHarvest, an amazing invention that allows you to grow up to 30 large plants in a small space. They claim that you can grow $1,000 worth of food in a year.

What’s happened since?

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

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • IGWorks: Learn more about this growing side hustle over on David’s website!

 

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: How to profit from electric vehicle credits?

What It’s About

Today’s listener is charged up by the rise in electric vehicle (EV) sales. Is he onto something?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1649

A number of years ago, when electric vehicles were very new (pre-Tesla) there was an opportunity for Oklahomans to purchase a Chinese-made electric vehicle called the Kandi Coco. The MSRP was $10,599, but the net cost was just $865 because of all the credits! You may have seen the Coco in the Tiger King with Joe Exotic … he got in on the deal.

Sadly, that deal is no longer available—in Oklahoma or anywhere—but large incentives for buying RVs remain.

The federal government offers a $7,500 tax credit for most electric vehicle (EV) purchases, and many states offer additional credits as well—but it’s a confusing process. Where there’s confusion, is there a way for an enterprising EV fan to make money? That’s what today’s caller wants to know.

“If you purchase an electric vehicle in the U.S., you get a $7,500 rebate on your taxes … but only for certain models. Teslas are now excluded, and other manufacturers will also be excluded once they reach the cap of 200,000 vehicles sold per manufacturer. Still, there are many other automakers making electric cars—and on top of the federal rebate, many states offer additional incentives as well. It’s awesome, but also confusing … which tells me there’s some way to profit from this knowledge. I’m thinking of two options: either buying and reselling cars themselves, maybe through some kind of pre-order system, or just creating an educational product to sell to people who are interested in getting the rebates. Which idea do you think is better, and how should I get started?”

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

Digital Marketer’s Playlist Skills Pay Off

What It’s About

A DJ spins the hits … and the crowds yells, “BINGO!!!”

Words of Wisdom

Chelsea shares an important reminder; “Charge what you’re worth. Don’t discount taking the time to make a playlist, getting to the venue, the act of hosting, etc.”

Fun Fact

Bingo originated in Italy and is descended from Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia, the Italian national lottery. It’s been played in one version or another since 1530!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1648
When Chelsea Tirone was in college, she was always the one making the playlists for a night out, a road trip, or a workout. Now, she’s a digital marketer who also gets paid to create playlists for her side hustle Beats, Brews & Bingos.

It started last year when Chelsea was doing social media marketing for a local brewery in Charleston, South Carolina. The owner wanted to bring events back once COVID restrictions lifted. They’d been hosting regular bingo nights prior to the pandemic, but the host had moved away.

Chelsea was somewhat familiar with music bingo from other places, so she suggested it. The owner agreed to try it for one night, with Chelsea doing the hosting… and the music hasn’t stopped since.

Here’s how it works. Music bingo is like regular bingo but with songs. There’s a different bingo pattern each round, such as five in a row. If an attendee completes the pattern, they yell “Bingo!” really loud and they get a free beer.

Chelsea admits that she was super nervous the first time she hosted, since she wasn’t confident in her public speaking skills. However, she quickly gained confidence. In fact, it went so well that she decided to offer the experience elsewhere—and she now hosts musical bingo at five breweries and bars in Charleston. Beats, Brews, & Bingos has a loyal following of people who come every week, and earns a profit of $1,750 per month. Chelsea sometimes also gets tips from people who’ve had a fun night out.

Next, she plans to create a monthly music bingo membership for other venues outside of Charleston. The membership will include four curated playlists per week, as well as social media templates and everything they need to start hosting music bingo! She’s even going to find a roster of local hosts so all the venues have to do is host it and supply the prizes, typically free drinks.

The best part of the journey so far has been watching families and friends come in week after week. After 2020, that sounds like something we could all enjoy.

 

 

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

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
"Charge what you’re worth. Don’t discount taking the time to make a playlist, getting to the venue, the act of hosting, etc."
—Chelsea Tirone #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

Q&A: “I fell for a scam and want to help others…”

What It’s About

Today’s caller got scammed (oh no), but wants to turn it into a positive experience.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1647

It is so easy to fall for a scam or a hack these days. A friend of mine had an experience recently where they were selling their home and ended up paying $500 to someone who convinced them that there was a fee they needed to pay. This friend is smart and well-educated, so it really could happen to anyone.

Our caller today had a similar experience—but they want to turn the frustrating experience into a lesson for others and maybe even a side income for themselves (not by scamming people!). To hear this lesson, just log into your bank account and send me the numbers that appear on your screen…

“I’m embarrassed to say I recently fell for a banking scam. It was very clever: I know not to give out my personal info to strangers, but these guys seemed to know a lot about me already, so I trusted them. By the time I clicked the wrong link and ended up on the phone with them, I was worried about my computer being infected by malware, so I let them have access to my computer screen to fix it. Before I knew it, I had an alert from my bank that money was being withdrawn from my account!

Fortunately, they only took a few hundred dollars before I realized what was happening and was able to stop it. The other good news is that I think my bank is going to refund the money, although they haven’t said for sure yet. All of this makes me realize that a lot of people are vulnerable to these attacks. I’d like to give online presentations to organizations where I share my story and give some advice. If it helps one person, it’s worth it. The tricky part is knowing what to charge. This seems like something I should offer for free, but accept donations—not from individuals but from the company or organization that hosts my presentation. Do you think this is a reasonable expectation?”

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

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

“Side Hustle Bread” Insta Account Sells $100,000

What It’s About

A family bakes bread together during the pandemic leading to big dough.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

As a Hollywood Producer, side hustling baker, and Dad, Jim know’s a little something about time management. Jim shares some important advice, “start slow and never underestimate the amount of time you will have to put in. You better love what you are doing, because it may take a long time to figure out a plan that works for you and your business.”

Fun Fact

Having fun is at the heart of the Serpicos’ baking process. Jim and his family have been known to hide GoPros in their home to catch family members freaking out over a failed batch of sourdough.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1646
For TV and film producer Jim Serpico, baking bread had always been a hobby that he and his family took seriously. Growing up, he spent most of his weekends cooking with his parents, both of whom made it a point to involve him in their Sunday rituals of making rigatoni and bolognese.

Jim loved this and made a habit of cooking over the weekends, but headed down his own path of baking the perfect bread over time. That bread became a staple at every social gathering. A Serpico family tradition of baking on the weekends soon began.

As they baked more and more, the family joked that they should start selling their goods, and created an Instagram account called Side Hustle Bread (@sidehustlebread) just for laughs.

What they didn’t expect was that within a week, they would start receiving direct messages from strangers asking if they could order some of the bread. Out of curiosity, they fulfilled these orders thinking that they were one-offs, but found that the orders didn’t stop but were instead growing. Little did they know, this would be the start of a thriving family business.

It helped as well that the family baked artisanal bread and tried flavors that you couldn’t find in normal bakeries. This naturally led many people to be curious, which also helped with the popularity of their Instagram stories and posts. Within three months, they had built a loyal following, and today they have over 2,500 followers on Instagram. (Side note: hundreds of orders every week from a relatively small following. Engagement is everything!)

The family has been rewarded financially as well, with Side Hustle Bread grossing over $100,000 in sales last year. He’s now shopping a television pilot about his experience selling bread in the time of COVID.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • If you’re in NY, see if you can snag yourself a loaf or learn more about Jim and his business at his website, SideHustleArtisanalBread.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

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

Quote of the Day
"start slow and never underestimate the amount of time you will have to put in. You better love what you are doing, because it may take a long time to figure out a plan that works for you and your business."
—Jim Serpico #SideHustleSchool

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

Q&A: Is there a market for online stand-up paddleboard lessons?

What It’s About

Will this idea hold water?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1645

What can be done online? One thing’s for sure: our expectations have changed since early 2020. Even with travel resuming in lots of places, business travel is still far behind—it turns out that online meetings can work just as well!

However, is there a limit to what can be done online? Today’s caller is testing it! Let’s consider if there’s a way she can teach stand-up paddle boarding from behind a screen.

We’ve seen virtual meditation and choirs conducted by Zoom, but is this pushing it?

“During the pandemic, I saw so many people get creative with offering online experiences that were always in-person before. We’re able to do in-person events now, but I’m still thinking about the potential for online, because my local area is fairly small and relies on a tourist season that only lasts a few months a year. Can anything be taught virtually? What about something like stand-up paddleboarding, that usually requires offline elements like … a lake or river, not to mention some gear that is definitely not virtual. I go back and forth between thinking that there has to be a way, or that this is a totally ridiculous idea. Which is it?”

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: Antiracism Interest Grows, But What Do Clients Want?

What It’s About

How do you help clients with good intentions but unclear goals?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1644

An important thing to remember in life and business: what people want and what they say they want is sometimes different. Sometimes when you’re dealing with more than one person, like with a company, there’s a lack of alignment. One person says one thing, but then you discover they don’t speak for all the decision-makers.

That lesson comes through in today’s Failure Friday feature. This new feature is 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.

I applaud their courage! I’ll share some of my failure stories along the way as well.

Today’s short story features from Dr. Akilah Cadet. We told her story on Episode #781: Workforce Expert Creates Empowerment Consultancy. This consultancy focuses on workplace inclusion and antiracism—which as you might be aware, has been something a lot more people have been paying attention to over the past year.

Dr. Akilah’s business was perfectly positioned to thrive and grow during this time … but fast growth often produces any number of issues. Let’s hear from her about how her team responded to the need, along with a particular leadership challenge they faced as business scaled up… I’ll be back at the end.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Change Cadet: Don’t let a glass or concrete ceiling keep you from reaching your potential—learn more about what Akilah is doing over on her website!

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: Sexual Wellness Site Revs Up Reviews

What It’s About

An update from a sex-positive blogger who helps her readers level up their self-love.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1643

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.

Heads-up: this episode contains content that you might not want to listen to with young children.

 

Last week, we heard from the co-inventor of a device that allows public restroom users to open the door with their foot. Their business increased 70x at the start of the global pandemic!

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from a sex positive blogger who publishes a long-running site that reviews toys and other adult products.

What’s happened since? Let’s hear directly from her—she has a really interesting series of updates, including advice and a personal testimonial of how she’s making a difference in the lives of her readers and followers. All good things! Her name is Cy—let’s hear from her, and I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up.

Listen to today’s episode to hear Cy’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

Q&A: Does it matter which email list software I choose?

What It’s About

Today’s listener is looking for the best email client. You’ve got mail!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1642

Today’s listener just got her website up (whoo hoo!) and now she’s wondering about the next step: which company to choose for her email list.

Why is this important?

As soon as possible, you want to be collecting email addresses from people who might want to hear from you—whether it’s a topic you’re writing and sharing about, or with updates and potential deals on the products you’re selling. Of course, there are lots of ways to “connect” with people, but email remains powerful decades after its invention because you don’t have to rely on them to be actively checking any particular social network.

Communication matters! But does it matter which company you use for your email list?

“Hi there Chris, this is Becca from LA and I’ve been listening to the show for a couple of years now. I’m finally getting my first website up, and I know I need an email list to go with it. Which service should I choose … does it matter? Once I have it set up, what do I actually do with it—just add a form on the site and hope that visitors sign up? Lastly, after the website and email service, is there anything else that’s a must-have? I’m big on logistics, and I like the idea of planning for everything at once.”

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.
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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Social Studies Teacher Gains 1.5 Million TikTok Followers

What It’s About

A teacher gets high marks as a TikTok entertainer.

Words of Wisdom

Looking to create your own TikTok videos? Listen to what Rebecca has to say about it: “It looks like a lot of fun, and it is! But it’s also a lot of work. Also if you want to make money off of content, you have to find content people want to watch. Eventually after making an online presence people will watch anything just because it is you, but you have to get there first.”

Fun Fact

TikTok has nearly 100 million monthly active users in the United States alone. Unlike a lot of other social media platforms, TikTok skews to a younger crowd with the vast majority of its user base under 30 years old.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1641
Rebecca Rogers is a social studies teacher who witnessed first hand the mental health impacts the COVID lockdown had on students. When schools closed in March 2020 she saw a slow deterioration of their wellbeing.

As the months went by she became desperate to find ways to better connect with them, but it wasn’t until late October that she decided to do something about it. By meeting them where they were already hanging out—that’s right, it was time to sign up for TikTok!

Rebecca created an account on the wildly popular social platform with a plan to “make a fool of herself for her students enjoyment.” Her logic was simple: if they could see her acting ridiculously, they might get a little extra cheer for a day in what was becoming an increasingly tough year. She felt she could do that with a few silly videos every week.

Within days of posting, Rebecca had passed the test and earned a thousand followers. She knew a lot of that was driven by her own students, as well as family and friends. The kids at her school thought she was famous. But neither they, nor Rebecca, had any idea what was to come.

As an added benefit, the ten thousand follower mark also lets users sign up to the “Creator Fund”—TikTok’s way of sharing revenue with successful users. It was around this time that the wider TikTok teacher community also opened up to her. One teacher in particular, known as Mrs Bench, was incredibly helpful in giving Rebecca advice on how to grow her following and maybe, just maybe turn the traction she’d already had into a real revenue generating project. It was time to get an education!

These tips from a successful TikTok teacher worked wonders and Rebecca went to the head of the class. By posting everyday, targeting popular trends and releasing videos in a series the TikTok algorithm rewarded her and viewership skyrocketed, along with subscribers. Since, Rebecca was reaching hundreds of thousands of people with every post, sometimes millions.

With that success, she was able to make some real money from her videos via the Creator Fund. While the payment is usually only a few cents per hundred views, it can add up when you have some viral videos and in some cases Rebecca made hundreds of dollars per video. She’s now consistently bringing in at least $2,000/month.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

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

Yours in the revolution,

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Quote of the Day
"It looks like a lot of fun, and it is! But it’s also a lot of work. Also if you want to make money off of content, you have to find content people want to watch. Eventually after making an online presence people will watch anything just because it is you, but you have to get there first."
—Rebecca Rogers #SideHustleSchool

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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