Archives: Podcast

French Engineer Makes Silver-Wear in Mexico

What It’s About

An international couple sees the bling with their on-demand jewelry store.

Words of Wisdom

Not taking action is worse than failure. Nobody is happy with is life for not taking action, while all of those who take action (and sometimes fail) are happy people, they live without regrets.

Fun Fact

The Great Silver Wine Cistern of Thomas Wentworth currently holds the title of most expensive English silver sold at an auction. The $3.8 million wine cooler was crafted by talented artisan Philip Rollo between 1706 and 1711.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1585
In 2009 Nicholas Tranchant was living in France with his Mexican girlfriend Reyna. Although they were young and in love, that isn’t always enough to eliminate all of life’s problems.

Nicholas had a well paying job as an aerospace engineer. Reyna, on the other hand, was unable to work. She was a highly qualified doctor, but unfortunately her credentials were not recognized in France.

Nicholas brooched the subject of side hustling as a way to make some extra money. It didn’t take long to find something that sparkled.

You know where I’m going with this, right? They clasped onto the concept of an online store selling silver jewelry. Not out of passion, but rather opportunity. Reyna had contacts in Mexico who could act as suppliers, and they decided to go for it.

The couple placed an order for two thousand euros worth of different silver pieces. It was a risk as they didn’t see high resolution photos of the items in advance and had no real idea of what designs would be popular with customers. On top of that, they didn’t know how to create an online store.

Then, he stumbled across a better option called Shopify. It made setting up the store dead simple. Viva Latina Jewelry was forged! He quickly moved their products over and waited for the gold rush … or is there such a thing as a silver rush? Regardless, there wasn’t even a bronze medal waiting for them.

He and Reyna decided to move to Mexico so that she could practice medicine again. Nicholas was now determined to make their jewelry store work. He’d dedicate one hundred percent of his time to forging ahead and making it a success.

It came about when a customer asked for a customized piece of jewelry to be made—something they couldn’t find anywhere else. Since Nicholas knew local designers, he was happy to oblige. But he also wondered: How many other people out there were looking for specific types of jewelry they couldn’t find? He looked for answers to that question and developed a solid SEO strategy.

The strategy worked well and turned the business around. Sales went from a trickle to a flood and finally it was going so well Nicholas opened a small workshop and hired his first employee. That meant he would no longer have to rely on suppliers and could manufacture all of his own items for a higher profit margin.

On demand jewelry making, alongside custom orders, is really what helped this side hustle grow into a full time business that now employs three people and earned one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in 2020, a figure Nicholas hopes to double in the next two years.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Nicolas and his on demand jewelry business at his website, VivaLatina-Shop.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
"Venture out, learn what makes you uncomfortable and repeat. What I learned about myself in 15 years I could never have learned just from reading books or hearing others tell their stories."
—Eva Rosales #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: My Bridge Club Gets No Respect!

What It’s About

Today’s caller wants to bridge an old school card game to a new school of players.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1584

Welcome to a new week!

Vintage t-shirts, typewriter poems, vinyl records, Game Boys being hacked to mine Bitcoin… you never know what’s going to come next in the mashup of retro and present-day culture.

Chess in particular has seen a tremendous pandemic-time boost, with literally millions more people watching games online and playing with faraway friends. Right now there’s a battle being waged between Chess.com and Chess24.com, two rival platforms. Twitch has also emerged as a leading entertainment hub for this world.

But in our question of the day, a Side Hustle School listener enjoys playing bridge, and he’s the youngest in his local club by several decades. Bridge has not yet joined the ranks of chess and vinyl records as being cool again.

How can he get paid to pass on his love of the game to a new generation?

“Hi Chris this is Calvin and I’ve been listening to the show for a couple of years now. I’m 22, but I like playing bridge. Until my local club had to stop meeting due to the pandemic, I was the youngest person by something like forty years. It’s time to make playing bridge cool again! Unlike lots of other hobbies including knitting or chess, it hasn’t had a proper resurgence yet. But if I have my way, it will … how can I increase awareness of how awesome it is, as well as turn it into my side hustle where I get paid for it? Thanks and looking forward to hearing your thoughts.”

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

Counselor Cakes in the Money with Baking Biz

What It’s About

A couple that bakes together makes sweet dough together.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

When it comes to starting a business, Paul and Anne suggest making friends. “Befriend someone who is doing something similar – maybe in a different industry or a different locale. Try to learn from someone else’s mistakes rather than making those mistakes yourself.”

Fun Fact

Four states claim to have been the place where whoopie pies were invented: Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. However, only one state claims the whoopie pie as their official state treat (yes, apparently that is a real thing), which is Maine.

SOURCE: Who Invented Whoopie Pies – Maine’s Official Treat – (lobsteranywhere.com)

Notes from Chris

Episode 1583
Anne Marsland has been baking ever since she could remember. She even worked in a bakery when she was in college.

Ten years after that college gig, Anne was an established professional in the field of hospice care and grief counseling. Although she still loved baking, that was just a household hobby.

Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Anne saw her professional world turn upside down. Suddenly, her career working directly with patients was severely impacted.

This meant that she was spending a lot more time at home, and like many other people who were suddenly homebound, she started to bake … a lot. One day, she filled the kitchen table with lemon blueberry whoopie pies, right next to where her husband Paul was taking calls on Zoom.

They were delicious, but they had way too many and needed to find somewhere for them to go. That’s when Paul suggested that they try to sell them.

The couple agreed that Anne would do the baking and Paul would focus on selling them. The following Wednesday, he sent out an email to their family and friends to gauge interest. The response was overwhelming! Within ten minutes, they had their first sale, and within a few hours they had sold all 72 pies they were planning on baking. In fact, they even oversold when more requests came in.

They knew they had to figure out a way to keep their customers engaged. That’s when Paul and Anne decided that they would raise the stakes. They decided to make two different treats each week. Part of this was also to accommodate some friends, one who didn’t like chocolate and the other who didn’t like cooked fruit.

In addition, they also expanded their products beyond whoopie pies to all kinds of other baked goods. Why not? In the end, they decided to offer a choice of Treat A, Treat B, or a combination box with various surprise items every week.

Since then, they’ve switched to a more formal platform, Square, and created a fully fledged website for their business, now called The Wistful Baker. The couple wanted the name they chose for their business to encapsulate the warm feelings of biting into your favorite dessert. They also liked that it was simple enough to understand, but complex enough to make people pause.

In addition, they stopped offering those combination boxes. Why? Well, there were fun to make, but it became too much work to determine the pricing. The couple wanted to streamline their process as much as possible.

Now, around a year into their side hustle, Anne and Paul are bringing in around $800 a month from The Wistful Baker. This all comes from people they are within driving distance in their hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. While they say it’s not enough for them to change careers, it has been wonderful extra cash.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • thewistfulbaker.square.site: If you happen to live near Paul and Anne, make sure to put your order in. We know we would if we lived closer.

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
"Befriend someone who is doing something similar – maybe in a different industry or a different locale. Try to learn from someone else’s mistakes rather than making those mistakes yourself."
—Paul and Anne Marsland #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: How to offer continuing education for therapists?

What It’s About

Today’s listener has an idea to help fellow therapists with their continuing education requirements.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1582

Welcome to a new week and a new month!

The other day I told you a story about a physician’s assistant who creates his own Medical Spanish course and is doing really well, earning $50,000 a year part-time.

Well, today’s caller is a therapist who wants to offer his training to other mental health professionals. How can he crack the code of continuing education (CE) licensing?

“Hey Chris, this is Jacob from Salem and I started listening to the show last year. As a therapist, I’m required to take a certain number of Continuing Education hours every two years to maintain my license. The requirements vary by area, but pretty much everyone in the field needs to do it one way or another. I’ve heard you talk about building a CE business in other episodes. It seems lucrative, especially with the fact that getting the hours isn’t optional if you want to keep working.

When I looked into the process for offering CE hours (getting accredited to teach other therapists) it seemed confusing, which put me off for a while. But I keep coming back to it, because it seems like the ideal intersection between my skills and something that’s valuable. How can I figure out what I need to do to make this idea more feasible? Thanks for your thoughts on 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

Failure Friday: “I didn’t know what I didn’t know…”

What It’s About

You win some, you lose some … and today’s featured story has plenty of experience with both categories.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1581

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 segment features David Lawrence from Los Angeles. Back in Ep. 627, we brought you the story of an extremely popular app for actors he created. Fresh off that success, David begins to explore the world of online course design—and not every idea is a hit.

Why did some succeed and others fail? Looking back, he thinks he knows why and even has some advice that might help the rest of us.

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: Bumblebee Linens Builds a New Hive

What It’s About

An update from a handkerchief brand that hasn’t folded under the pressure.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1580

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 athlete who sets out to create chewable energy gum. It’s gum-believable!

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from Stephen Chou in Northern California who together with his wife operates a couple of different businesses including Bumblebee Linens, which we first featured back in Ep. 928. That was an interesting story that he’ll touch on a bit in his update—but since then, a lot of things have happened.

After experiencing a lot of growth, they ran into a huge problem one year ago when people stopped getting married (or at least having large weddings). They’ve been able to pivot in a remarkable way … I’ll let Steve tell you more specifically how Bumblebee Linens has taken flight once again after returning to the hive in the early pandemic days.

Listen to today’s episode to hear Steve and Jennifer’s updates…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Bumblebee Linens: Learn more about this million-dollar side hustle over on Steve and Jennifer’s website!
  • My Wife Quit Her Job: If you’re interested in learning more about what it takes to build something like this into a seven-figure business, head on over to their blog!

 

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 set up cryptocurrency charity pledges?

What It’s About

Today’s caller has an idea to use cryptocurrency for fundraising efforts. Is he bitcoining more than he can chew?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1579

A listener wants to create “Kickstarter for crypto.” Is this a side hustle, a billion dollar idea, or a pipe dream?

In this day and age, it could be any of them—or maybe even more than one of them! We are fulfilling that Chinese proverb about living in interesting times. We’ve had meme stocks, NFTs, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies that have debuted in the past year for billions of dollars in market capitalization.

Last month I was going to make a joke and say “I’m making an NFT that explains what NFTs are,” but then I saw that someone actually did that and it sold for $120,000. Clearly I’m in the wrong business!

But to our question: what about a charity component for some of this? That’s what our listener wants to know.

“Hey Chris, this is Tyler and I’ve been a fan since the $100 Start-Up. I’m sure you’ve seen the news about Bitcoin rising to sky-high levels in the past year. Between that and Ethereum, and Elon Musk tweeting about Dogecoin, I feel like cryptocurrency is finally having its day. I’d like to start something like GoFundMe, but with a twist: all pledges must be made in Bitcoin, or maybe some other digital currencies at some point.

I know this isn’t a mainstream idea, it’s more for the community that loves crypto. I’ll make money by charging a 10% transaction fee on all campaigns. I feel that this is a solid concept, but I’m worried it’s more than I can handle on my own. When I think about everything that’s involved, I start thinking maybe I’d be better off reselling textbooks and just enjoying the Bitcoin news as a hobby. Am I wrong? 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

Emergency Room PA Creates Medical Spanish Course

What It’s About

A Physician’s Assistant combines his Spanish speaking and medical experience to fill a need. Que bueno!

Words of Wisdom

Ben, who used his areas of expertise to launch a side hustle, says, “explore your own strengths and find something unique that combines two or more of them.”

Fun Fact

Ben is fluent in Spanish. He learned the language in high school and college, as well as when he lived in Guatemala for two years. He’s also traveled throughout Latin America, including on two medical missions.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1578
Ben Tanner attended podiatric medical school before deciding that he wanted to become a physician assistant instead. These years of schooling resulted in his entry to an in-demand profession, but also a heavy burden of student loan debt. That’s what prompted him to start some sort of side business to pay it down.

He brainstormed different ideas before it dawned on him: he works as a PA in an emergency room and speaks fluent Spanish – why not combine his two areas of expertise and create a Spanish course for medical professionals? It seemed like a logical match.

Ben ultimately decided that the course would teach Spanish phrases that medical providers would need to know to learn a patient’s medical history and conduct a physical on them in the emergency room. Setting up materials required him to create a combination of audio and video modules with accompanying text to go through each step of the lesson.

The course is called Essential Emergency Medicine Spanish. His startup costs of $5,000 included creating a mobile-friendly website, hiring a native Spanish speaker as the voice talent, and purchasing audio equipment like a high-quality microphone. There was also an application fee of about $1,800 for the accreditation, but instead of paying for it upfront, the accreditation company subtracted it from Ben’s earnings later on.

Speaking of which, Ben doesn’t sell his course directly, but through that accrediting organization, the Center for Emergency Medical Education. This is the result of a negotiation between the two since the company wanted to advertise the course on their own website, attracting attention to other courses as well.

The course debuted in 2018. Leading up to launch day, the employee Ben was working with at the accrediting company had low expectations of how well the course would sell. Then on the first day of being publicly available, the company sent a promotional email out to their listserv. Lo and behold, 41 people registered for the course that day – more than the employee had seen before with the company’s own home study courses.

Ben’s total earnings from Essential Emergency Medicine Spanish so far are around $150,000. After expenses, that’s a profit of about $55,000 per year.

For Ben, one of the best benefits is that the additional income has enabled him to switch to part-time at his hospital job. He sees himself becoming financially independent and free from student loan debt in the next couple years.

In the future, Ben plans to create more content on his own website, Learn Medical Spanish, and attract more followers to his email list. He also hopes to start a YouTube channel and update his course later this year when the initial accreditation expires.

 

 

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
"Explore your own strengths, and find something unique that combines two or more of your strengths or interests."
—Ben Tanner #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: How to charge for a podcast sponsorship service?

What It’s About

Today’s listener has an idea to connect podcasters with sponsors.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1577

A listener in Philadelphia wants to start a matchmaking service between podcasts and sponsors. Who should pay for this service—the podcast host, the sponsor, or both?

Here we have a situation where two parties have needs, and both parties already have a primary business: the podcaster working on their podcast, and the sponsors presumably operating some other type of business and seeking good placements for their ad campaigns.

Our listener is wondering who should pay, but perhaps first it’s helpful to look at what each party is getting out of the relationship.

“Hi, this is Brad from Philadelphia. Right now, I’m working on starting a side hustle within the podcast space. A lot of podcasts search for sponsors themselves or sponsors, sometimes contact them. When podcasts are growing. They don’t want just revenue, but a sponsor that fits their brand perfectly. That’s where I plan to come in. I’m working on contacting new podcasts and asking them what they’re looking for and then going out and finding them the perfect brand to join up with. The question I have is, how would I charge the podcast host? Would it be a monthly fee for my services, a one-time fee, a percentage of the deal or even some sort of royalty? How do I make it profitable for my time consulting and also a good price they will be comfortable paying.”

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

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Chris Guillebeau

The Man Who Paints Parking Lot Stripes

What It’s About

Where people only see parking lots and lines, one estimator sees major profits.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Dan share’s some advice on how to start striping lots; “I say start small. Look for the pizza shop that opens at 4PM, has 14 stripes and a handicap stencil. Look for the truck dock that has 20 lines or the beauty salon that has 6. One nice thing about striping is that it’s all the same. Once you’ve striped a few jobs, you’ve striped them all.”

Fun Fact

Dan was offered a $3000 loan from his mom to start the business. Around the same time he received a $700 bonus from his day job. The cost to purchase a striping machine was exactly $3700. If that’s not a sign to get started, we don’t know what is.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1576
It was the early nineties when Dan Zurcher first thought about starting a side business. He was an estimator in the asphalt industry, making pretty average money in Columbus, Ohio. On top of that, the industry ground to a halt every winter leaving him jobless for several months.

He felt like the job was going nowhere—but it was his mom who put him on the path of the straight and narrow. (And yes, I do mean that literally.)

One day, Dan was describing his work to her on the phone. He explained how they were finishing a few large parking lots he’d estimated for and all that was left was striping and stenciling the white lines and shapes on the asphalt.

“Why aren’t you doing the striping?” his mother asked.

“We don’t do that, asphalting companies contract that work out to someone else,” he replied.

“No, no, why aren’t YOU doing the striping?” She asked again, and by YOU she meant Dan himself.

That question, phrased in that way, changed the way Dan thought about work. He was looking for a side business, and here was one staring him right in the face.

He made a few calls and received quotes for striping machines that cost around three thousand seven hundred dollars all inclusive. He’d just received a seven hundred dollar bonus at work, and his mom agreed to loan him the remaining three thousand dollars. Soon, he had everything he needed to become a professional striper… it was time to earn his stripes!

Working after hours and in between other commitments became the norm for Dan. He still worked his full time job and was married with a young family. He had to take the side hustle time wherever he could get it. And, by the end of his first year operating he’d found time to generate four thousand dollars from his venture. Enough to pay back his mom and put a little money aside.

It was then that he decided to quit his job and take his striping business full time, where he was able to grow his income to one hundred and sixty five thousand dollars per year in the next few years. A figure which remained the same as he maintained his business over the next decade. And he didn’t stop there.

Dan branched out into creating a website, American Striping, where he manufactures and sells stencils for others doing exactly what he does. On top of that, he’s distilled his knowledge into a book teaching others to do the same. He shows anyone that if they put the work in, they can earn their side hustle stripes.

 

 

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
"One nice thing about striping is that it’s all the same. Once you’ve striped a few jobs, you’ve striped them all."
—Dan Zurcher #SideHustleSchool

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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