Archives: Podcast

Q&A: “Help! My sister is pressuring me to join her MLM…”

What It’s About

“We are family…” takes on a whole new meaning with multilevel marketing.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1619

Nothing says “family” like “Will you join my network marketing program?” or “Can I take 20 minutes of your time to tell you about a wonderful opportunity?

Today’s caller finds herself in this precarious situation. Should she in fact waste all of her money or never speak to her sister again or might there be some third or fourth option?

“Hi Chris, this is Caroline and I recently found your show through the Happier Podcast. I’m really enjoying the stories, puns, and helpful content. So I need help! My sister has recently joined a multilevel marketing company, and she won’t stop pestering the rest of the family to “get in while we can.” I made the mistake of agreeing to go to one of her presentations. Now I’m worried I’ll end up getting excited too … and wasting my money. How can I back out? And what if I’m missing the opportunity of a lifetime?? Just kidding—I’m pretty much sure it’s not that. But how are you so sure that all of these programs are so bad? What do I tell her?”

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

Accountant Shifts Gears To Renting Out Cars

What It’s About

An account uses the Airbnb model to rent out his fleet of cars.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Kisean shares advice on time management, “take a fast from social media, Netflix, etc. whatever is taking up your time. Check your screen time on your phone and think about how much time you waste a day. You would have a full degree in whatever area you want to specialize in.”

Fun Fact

Getaround has been in business for over 11 years and, as of 2019, was reported to have five million users and approximately 20,000 connected cars worldwide.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1618
Kisean Smith graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016 with a degree in accounting. While studying, he had low expenses and paid minimal student rent. But after graduating and landing his first job, he soon realized student life is not real life.

In his home city of Atlanta, rent for even a modest place was four times what he was used to. Being an accountant, Kisean started to crunch some numbers. He figured he could buy a modest home, rent out the spare rooms on AirBnB, and make a profit on top of his monthly payments. To make a long story short, it worked—and that was what led to his next adventure.

The sharing economy has become a huge industry. AirBnB is now a household name but there’s plenty of other services in the space—and Kisean set about exploring them. He soon discovered Getaround, a platform that enables car owners to rent their cars to others for an hourly or daily rate. After a good experience as a renter, Kisean decided he wanted in on the action.

He settled on a 2015 white SmartCar: cheap, small and fit for utility. He purchased the car for one thousand dollars down with monthly payments of one hundred and seventy six dollars.

Kisean received bookings almost instantly. By the end of the first month, he’d earned seven hundred dollars in rentals. After the car payment, insurance, and commission he was still left with well over two hundred dollars profit. The best part though, was that it took almost no work. Getaround provided the marketing channel, their app took care of the logistics, and all he had to do was sit and wait for the money to hit his bank account.

Kisean was excited! That first month’s results were enough to go all in on this side hustle. Almost immediately, he purchased a second car, same as the first and under the same financial terms. It too became a successful rental on Getaround. So, he did it again and by now was the proud owner of three Smart Cars all zipping from A to B around Atlanta earning him money every month.

Being an accountant, Kisean kept a close eye on the numbers over the following months. He learned that on average his cars were rented for nineteen days a month resulting in up to nine hundred dollars of rental income. After subtracting the expenses he was still left with an average of three hundred dollars profit per car, per month.

With those figures, it was time to hit the gas.

Kisean switched from a financing to purchasing model and began using his own funds to purchase additional cars in cash. He’d buy from private sellers, not dealerships, that enabled him to find better deals. Over the next two years, his personal fleet grew to thirteen vehicles and encompassed not just Smart Cars, but Fords, Nissans, and Kias as well. With that many cars, Kisean earns well over three thousand dollars profit per month. The best part though, is that he does it all remotely and in less than one hour a day.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thinking about replicating Kisean’s hustle? Learn more about how people rent out their vehicles at, getaround.com or Turo.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
"Take a fast from social media, Netflix, etc. whatever is taking up your time. Check your screen time on your phone and think about how much time you waste a day. You would have a full degree in whatever area you want to specialize in"
—Kisean Smith #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: Can I get paid to help iPhone owners switch to Android?

What It’s About

Today’s listener wants to help people go from Apples to Androids.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1617

When it comes to Apple products, there are three distinct groups: those who are true fans and will buy anything that Apple makes, those who hate Apple products and swear that PCs and Android phones are better, and a lot of people in the middle. We use Apple products because we like some of them, and we end up buying other stuff because it’s simple … which of course is all part of Apple’s plan for global takeover.

Today’s listener is in the middle group: she believes that the Android world is superior. What does this have to do with Side Hustle School? Well, she wants to start a service helping those of us who might be overpaying (in her opinion) convert to the dark side.

“Hey Chris, this is Ali and I saw that Apple was coming out with a new iPhone … again. They do this every year and make billions of dollars from it. But the Android world is superior! I get into arguments with my friends over this subject all the time. They all have expensive iPhones that they inevitably end up upgrading every couple of years. In fact, Apple encourages this so much that they even had to pay a few years ago for disabling the battery life of older phones to force that upgrade process. And it’s not just phones! Everything they make is overpriced. Anyway, once in a while I’m able to convince someone of the error of their ways, and they end up converting to Android. This is always a little stressful for them, since there’s a learning curve and they worry they made the wrong choice. I want to help more people make the switch, and I’d like to sell some kind of guide as part of the process—and maybe even teach a class in it, but I’m not sure about that part. What do you think, and how much should the guide cost?”

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: “The client ordered the most expensive thing on the menu…”

What It’s About

Next time, put a limit on that suggestion to “order anything.”

Notes from Chris

Episode 1616

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 we’re starting 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.

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

Today’s short story features Chris Waters. We told the successful story of his incredibly fun project/business/mission on Episode #943: Reddit Secret Santa Delivers Sack Full Of Adventure.

Even Santa has some fails along the way. Let’s hear from Chris about a point in his client contract that he was a bit too laissez-faire about until he learned his lesson… I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

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

TBT: Premium Cocktail Pins Offer “Negronis for Your Homies”

What It’s About

Check out this shaken-not-stirred update from a company selling premium cocktail pins.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1615

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 an Irish travel blogger with type 1 diabetes. She’s recently moved to YouTube—and into a tiny home on wheels.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from Brian, an American living in Spain who operates a side hustle partnership primarily based in New Orleans. Don’t worry, it all makes sense—and the key point is that this business, Tipsy Per Tutti, sells premium cocktail pins.

What’s happened since Brian’s episode more than 800 days ago? Let’s hear directly from him. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up.

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

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Tipsy Per Tutti: Don’t wait around for “last call”—get your pins over on Brian and Gillian’s website now!

 

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 do income-share agreements work?

What It’s About

What are income-share agreements, and do they exist in the world of entrepreneurship?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1614

Some cool things are happening in the world of higher education, which of course has changed a lot in the past decade or two—but one thing that hasn’t changed, at least until recently, is the skyrocketing cost of tuition.

A listener has an opportunity to go to school as part of an income-share agreement (ISA), where her tuition isn’t due until after she graduates. What is this all about, and is it a good deal? Also, are there opportunities like this for side hustlers to learn about entrepreneurship?

“Hey Chris, this is Megan and I’ve recently learned about income-share agreements. As best as I can tell, this is where someone goes through an educational program for free, in exchange for a portion of their income for a certain time period after they graduate. It seems pretty cool—back when I went to college, there was no guarantee about anything. All you had to do was pay up and hope for the best. Do you have any thoughts on this—and are there income-share programs for entrepreneurship? Looking forward to what you have to say about this.”

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

Monogrammed Blanket Etsy Shop Measures Up

What It’s About

A military spouse gets to work during her husband’s deployment, selling more than 20,000 items on Etsy.

Words of Wisdom

Lauren warns that it’s easy to overcommit. “I suggest having a set number of hours in the day that you commit to your store and growing your business. In your off time, seriously use it as time off.”

Fun Fact

Lauren is a former competitive athlete and says her competitive streak has driven her to seek out new challenges and grow her business.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1613
During her husband’s deployment, Lauren Keplinger wanted to find a way to contribute financially to her family. She started dabbling in embroidery, making baby items like bibs and onesies monogrammed or appliquéd with giraffes, turtles and sailboats. She was especially interested in making baby boy items that weren’t overly masculine, like all the ones that came in camouflage patterns. She also made things for her friends with baby girls.

Once she felt confident in her skills, Lauren opened an Etsy shop called Funky Monkey Children. She kept her startup costs low: about $100 on a garage sale embroidery machine and $10 on cloths from a local store. Her sister-in-law had an Etsy shop at the time and was available to answer questions, but it helped that Etsy is largely self-explanatory in getting set up.

After about eight months in business, Lauren upgraded to a six-needle embroidery machine that cost around $8,000. It was a big, scary step in the business but it helped her get to the next level of professional quality and growth in her sales. She now averages around $160,000 in Etsy sales per year for her physical products. She’s done nearly 20,000 sales and has over three thousand reviews averaging five stars.

How’d she do all that? First, Lauren is huge into using the power of the Etsy search engine to drive traffic. Understanding Etsy SEO and positioning her products with the appropriate tags and titles has helped drive traffic to her shop and capitalize on potential customers who are already on Etsy.

In fact, Lauren is so good at Etsy SEO that she now has a coaching business including a podcast and an online course helping other Etsy sellers.

The family uses her extra income to save for vacations and fund extracurricular activities for their kids. The flexible schedule has allowed her to remain physically present with the kids, too.

Beyond the money and flexibility, Lauren says the best part of the experience has been hitting a stride that allows her to transfer what she’s learned from Etsy into the online course. Not to make a blanket statement, but it seems there’s no limit to her success.

 

 

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
"Have a set number of hours in the day that you commit to your store and growing your business. In your off time, seriously use it as time off."
—Lauren Keplinger #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: “Help! My lifestyle site is stuck at a plateau…”

What It’s About

Today’s listener feels stuck. How can she keep moving forward?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1612

Welcome to a new week!

I often feel like I’m making this show for myself, because so many listener questions are issues I’ve dealt with in different ways.

Today’s caller has a lifestyle site that started well, but can’t seem to get past an early-stage plateau. What should she do?

“I’ve been listening to the show for a couple of years. I’ve been trying to grow a lifestyle directory and resource site for a while, and at first it was amazing, but now I find I’m just going through the motions and not really looking forward to spending time on it. Does this just mean it’s time for something else? My hang up is that I haven’t really built the site to a point where I could sell it, so I hate the idea of just closing it down or letting it sit there without anything happening. What should I do? Thanks for your advice.”

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

Intern Manages Businesses For Six-Figure Income

What It’s About

An intern becomes her own boss and brings in over $8000 a month in the process.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Deya shares some encouragement, “If you’re like me and a bit more risk-averse, give your side hustle idea a test drive before deciding. Have a think about something small that you can do to test and validate the idea of your side hustle first. What do you need as proof? How much money is enough to validate your side hustle? Could you just try to land 1 customer? Could you just try to make your first $1?”

Fun Fact

Some estimates state there are 57 million freelancers in the US alone. With that many workers serving that many clients it’s no wonder a few new job titles spring up every now and then.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1611
Deya Aliaga Kuhnle likes to say she never worked a nine to five job; because it was more like nine to whenever she finished—sometimes as late as 2am. Maybe some of our listeners can relate. That’s the life of climbing the corporate ladder. You have to pay your dues and earn success the hard way.

Deya had fallen into the social pressure of working at a big company through two internships. It was six months into her stint at the second when she realized something … doing this her whole life was not how she wanted to exist.

Yet she couldn’t just walk away. She admired those who quit with no safety net in place and risked it all … but that felt scary. She had no savings and no backup plan.

Instead, Deya followed the tried-and-true model of working on her side hustle while keeping her day job. She called it “Try before you buy.” As for what this side gig would be, well, she wasn’t exactly sure yet. But she threw herself into anything that came her way to try to find out.

Deya didn’t mind. She was still working her day job and considered this a testing phase. In taking on odd jobs for digital companies over the course of a full year, she realized that working on small projects was great, but what she really liked was looking at the business holistically, on a process and systems level. Seeing the whole picture and diving into the nitty gritty details with the business owners was what she excelled at.

It was that service she’d offer—and she came up with her own name for it: “Digital Business Management” (DBM for short), something akin to an outsourced chief operations officer. She planned to pitch this service on the pain points it addressed.

At her peak earnings as a DBM, Deya takes home nearly nine thousand per month from four different clients, some of which take ten hours per week of work, and others that only needed a few tasks done now and then.

Being a systems thinker, Deya eventually turned everything she knew about freelancing as a business manager into a course called DBM Bootcamp. Since launching earlier this year it’s already turned into another lucrative project.

 

 

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

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
"If you’re like me and a bit more risk-averse, give your side hustle idea a test drive before deciding. Have a think about something small that you can do to test and validate the idea of your side hustle first."
—Deya Aliaga Kuhnle #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

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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

Q&A: Will my web host design my website?

What It’s About

Today’s listener is ready to create a website—but will her web host build it?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1610

A listener wants to know if their web host offers a “full service” option, or if it’s better to find another way to get the job done.

What’s the best path forward here, using the value “get it done quickly so you can keep moving”?

“Hey Chris, this is Kelly from St. Louis and I’ve been listening to the show for a while now. You’ve talked about web hosts a few different times, but I’m not totally sure how it works. From what I understand, there are two categories: ones that provide templates, and others that just give you server space …. whatever that is. Here’s what I’m wondering: will the company that hosts my website also design it? I’m really new at this! Also, do you still have the $5/month deal with your web host?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The $5 (or maybe less) per month Side Hustle School web hosting deal.
  • Upwork.com: a marketplace to find freelancers to help you with your project (developers, graphic designers, etc…).

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