Archives: Podcast

Q&A: Should I sell or hold onto my 5-letter domain name?

What It’s About

Should he take the leap and sell his domain name for $2,500?

Notes from Chris

Episode 1155

Happy Leap Year, everyone! It’s a bonus day that only comes along every four years. I encourage you to use it well.

And as for today’s question … it’s about domain name reselling. The right domain name is an asset and can be resold for profit.

Today’s listener is holding onto an asset—a 5-letter domain name. He’s got an offer to sell it for $2,500. Should he take the money and run?

“I’ve owned a five letter dot.com domain for about 18 years now about it because of a personal connection/in-joke with my brother. But I’ve never really done anything with it. Over the years I’ve had a few meager offers for it, but I’ve been happy with just keeping it for nostalgia’s sake. Recently, though, I was offered a thousand dollars from an anonymous buyer through GoDaddy services for the domain.

Of course, I thought that was a lowball offer. So I countered with twenty-five thousand just to see what would happen. Today I got a reply to my counter offering twenty-five hundred with a note: “Our buyer’s best and final offer.”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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 can I source items for a toiletry kit … and should I crowdfund?

What It’s About

A listener with an idea for a unique product has questions about sourcing and funding.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1154

This listener wants to start a “bring-your-own-hygeine” kit for public restrooms. How would she get started, and is crowdfunding a good option for this project?

“I would love to start something. It would be basically a little toiletry bag that you would take with you, especially going into public restrooms. I ran into this problem many times where there was either no toilet paper or there was no soap, no paper towels, no toilet seat covers. So I wanted to start up a side hustle basically with that in mind.

But the two main issues that I’m running into are not knowing where to source product to get this started. And the number two funding right now, I don’t have the money to actually start this up. So I didn’t know if by crowdfunding would that be an option for me to actually get this started. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much.”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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

RELIABLE WEBHOST FOR $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 my past 5 websites. It's cheap, flexible, and you can get support 24 hours a day.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
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: Bridesmaid-for-Hire Keeps Walking Down the Aisle

What It’s About

Ever consider hiring a bridesmaid to help with your wedding? Many people do!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1153

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.

So far in these features, we’ve heard from a woman who teaches citizenship classes and civics lessons on YouTube as well as a guy producing scavenger hunts in many different U.S. cities.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from Jen Glantz, also known as the Bridesmaid for Hire. She had one of the most interesting ideas I never would have thought of and was able to capitalize on it in a remarkable way. I’d encourage you to listen to the original episode (Ep. 83) for more backstory.

In today’s throwback episode, she’ll tell us a bit about what’s happened since, along with her biggest current challenge and some advice for anyone who’d like to follow in her bridesmaid biz footsteps.

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

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Learn more about Jen and check out her businesses at these links:

 

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

Quote of the Day
"I finally realized that if you are a one-person show, you can’t be as powerful as you possibly could be if you allowed other people to enter your business and do the things that you either don’t have time to do or you’re not the expert in."
—Jen Glantz #SideHustleSchool

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: Tell us more about the spreadsheet guy… why did it work?

What It’s About

A six-figure business helping people with spreadsheets … really.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1152

Nearly a decade ago I published a book called The $100 Startup. Two of the stories I told in that book have been particularly interesting because they come from parts of the world that aren’t often featured in business profiles.

One of them was from Rhett, my tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia. I listed Rhett’s phone number in the back of the book and said “Next time you’re in Cambodia and need a ride, give him a call” – since then, dozens of people have emailed me or posted photos of meeting Rhett the driver.

The other story in this vein is a little different, but it was about Purna Duggirala, a guy from India who branded himself as BFF for Excel. In other words, he was helping people with spreadsheets and making a lot of money from it. Today’s caller is wondering a bit about Purna. What was so compelling about his business idea?

“I’ve heard you tell the story about the guy in India who makes six-figures showing people how to use spreadsheets. Can you explain more about why this is so compelling? I don’t think it’s what most people, including myself, would think about when trying to decide on a business idea.”

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

Skincare Woes Lead Moody Sisters to Picky Products

What It’s About

Two sisters team up to create their own skincare products.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

It’s important to know who your target audience is. Here is what Jen and Whitney say about the subject: “Unbeknownst to us we were targeting people like us, when we didn’t even know what a target audience was. We put ourselves in the buyers’ shoes and made it look like something we’d want to buy.”

Fun Fact

Jess and Whitney spent so much time and effort experimenting with products that they ended up with a large stash of what they call “reject lotions.” Till this day, their family still has no clue what their actual products feel like because they are still trying to finish using all of the misformulations made by the two sisters.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1151
Jess Acheson had resigned herself to a lifetime of skin oiliness, acne, and rosacea. With the exorbitant prices of skincare products on the market, she decided that she might be better off living as a hermit. Her sister, Whitney, had another problem. Despite being a beauty consultant, Whitney was unable to find products that wouldn’t flare up her eczema or cause a severe allergic reaction with her dry and sensitive skin. This was a problem that even doctors couldn’t make go away.

Exhausted after spending hundreds of dollars on consultations and commercial products, the two sisters decided that they’d had enough. They came together and started researching alternatives. They experimented with hundreds of DIY recipes, some they found online and some they invented. Then, they would tweak and enhance their creations, increasing or decreasing the amount of the active ingredients as necessary.

This went on for months as they balanced their project with full-time jobs and families. Before long, they had quite a stash of “reject” lotions. Still, they knew that this was part of the learning curve—so they persevered through the mishaps.

Eventually, the sisters created blends they were satisfied with. Whitney remembers that the first products they successfully made included a thick cream for her dry skin and her daughter’s eczema, along with a deodorant and face wash that wouldn’t cause an allergic reaction. As they continued the experiments, they toyed with the idea of selling them. Might there be people just like them out there?

Six months later, Whitney and Jess decided to launch their own Etsy shop. They named it Moody Sisters to reflect the duo’s attitudes towards mainstream commercial skincare products. Within minutes of launching their store, they got their first sale.

This wasn’t completely a fluke. Growing up, the two sisters had spent their time in the world of handmade products, accompanying their parents to weekend fairs to sell their pottery. This gave them the real-world experience that no marketing or sales workshop could. So they made sure that photos of their creams and lotions looked uniform, appealing, and professional. They tried to mimic that level of authority (“I-know-what-I’m-doing”)—even when they didn’t.

With slow, yet steady progress, it grew to the point where it was bringing in more than $4,000 of profit each month.

This team spirit has enabled them to weather the ups and downs, from solving their own skin woes to developing products for their customers. On some days the sisters are still moody, but they no longer have to put up with poor skincare products—and they have a new way of making a living.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Check out Jess and Whitney’s entire skin care lineup at their website, MoodySisters.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
"Unbeknownst to us we were targeting people like us, when we didn’t even know what a target audience was. We put ourselves in the buyers’ shoes and made it look like something we’d want to buy."
—Jess & Whitney #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

CLASSROOM: Three Elements of Every Strong Offer

What It’s About

How to create a strong, compelling offer.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1150

In recent Classroom episodes, we’ve looked at different side hustle ideas—where they come from, categories of different ideas, how to decide between competing ideas, and so on. Two weeks ago we began building our Roadmap to Launch, and last week we looked at the first part of a series on branding.

This episode is called Three Elements of Every Profitable Offer.

  • The Promise: how your hustle will change someone’s life
  • The Pitch: why they should purchase or sign up now
  • The Price: how they can purchase or sign up

First – why think about offers? Again, it’s because consumers respond to offers, not just “here’s a product or service.” Even if you’re selling to companies (B2B), there’s still a person at the company making the decision. Don’t wait to think about these important elements.

The promise should change your customer’s life on some measurable level. Go big and keep your attention focused on the benefit people will receive from it. Then, craft that into a short statement that attracts attention and makes the benefit to customers immediately clear. “A short, daily podcast that brings you daily ideas for making extar money” is the promise of this show.

The pitch should provide everything someone needs to know, without getting bogged down in a bunch of irrelevant details. A key part of the pitch is timeliness or urgency. Your offer is great, but great isn’t good enough. Why should they take action right now?

Lastly, the price or CTA (call-to-action) tells prospects not only how much it costs but also what they need to do.

The call-to-action should tell prospective customers or clients exactly what they need to do. Examples of call-to-actions include: click this button, call this number, sign up here, etc. It should be easy and obvious.

Listen to today’s Classroom episode to learn more…

 

 

THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENT:

Do you know the promise, the pitch, and the price for your offer? How can you improve something from each one?

Tip: If you can only improve one thing, work on that promise. It needs to be simple and powerful.

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • – Facebook’s Bug Bounty Caught a Data-Stealing Spree [Wired]
  • – Ep. 766: Vigil Anti-Hacker Logs $110,000 Profit

 

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

Bookkeeper Begins Banking Bonus Income

What It’s About

An self-taught bookkeeper quickly counts the ways to an annual six-figure hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Andi has some important wisdom on staying true to yourself while running a business. “Be authentic, not perfect. In many ways I’m the antithesis of what your typical financial person is. I’m a queer woman with tattoos and purple hair. I don’t talk in fancy language or even care about sounding “authoritative in my niche”. Instead, I just show up as myself and I’ve found the small business owners that appreciate my voice and brand.”

Fun Fact

QuickBooks is one of the most popular pieces of accounting software in the world. In fact, there are approximately 30 million users in the U.S alone. This goes to show, becoming an expert in something many people use can open up weird and wonderful side hustle opportunities.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1149
When Andi Smiles entered the workforce in her early twenties, she never dreamed she’d become a business owner—far from it. In fact, she figured she’d stay in that workforce for decades, so she dutifully began her first job as an administrative assistant.

One day, her boss asked, “Can you learn QuickBooks to do our bookkeeping?” (QuickBooks is a common bookkeeping software for small businesses. They’ve also been a sponsor of our show in the past.)

Andi, never being one to back down from a challenge, said “Sure!” … and then totally freaked out because she had no idea what she was getting into.

Luckily, she was tech-savvy, and good at learning. She went about studying up on QuickBooks and all things balance sheet. At first it was difficult, but her tenacity and willingness to learn paid dividends.

A while later, she left that job and was hired as an assistant elsewhere. The main reason for landing the gig? She now knew QuickBooks inside and out. And she must have been doing something right! When it came to tax time, her new boss’s tax advisor raved about Andi’s bookkeeping prowess.

In fact, the advisor loved Andi’s work so much that she recommended her to her son, another tax preparation expert. He, in turn, recommended her to a customer of his. Soon, Andi had her very first freelance bookkeeping client in what became a truly word-of-mouth driven side hustle.

In fact, Andi had such an influx over the next few years that by the time she entered her mid-twenties she was able to quit her job and go all-in with her unexpected hustle. Interestingly, she did it all without any marketing or even a website.

And then she kept working smarter, not just harder. After quitting her day job, Andi realized that service based bookkeeping work had a ceiling. There are only so many hours in a week and therefore only so many clients she could serve at a time.

Therefore, rather than provide ongoing bookkeeping services for an hourly or monthly fee, she put together short-term training packages, offering financial tune-ups to educate clients on how to better handle their business finances.

In 2016, she registered the first domain name for her business, AndiSmiles.com. She blogged about the types of things she knew her clients struggled with, and marketed the posts using SEO and Pinterest. Slowly she gained a small following. A year later, she successfully launched her first online course.

So, how much money can a finance expert make? Andi’s business now brings in a comfortable six figure income. A sum large enough that she has recently been able to purchase a home with her partner.

What started as an accidental side hustle built by word of mouth is now a lucrative website and consulting service. One that has Andi needing to do more bookkeeping, but this time for herself.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Andi and her business from at her website, AndiSmiles.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
"In many ways I’m the antithesis of what your typical financial person is. I’m a queer woman with tattoos and purple hair. I just show up as myself and I’ve found the small business owners that appreciate my voice and brand."
—Andi Smiles #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: Where do I begin if I want to make an app?

What It’s About

A listener wants to create an app, but isn’t sure where to start.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1148

This listener wants to make an app, but needs some help knowing where to start. I’ll give him three different paths to consider, none of which involve becoming a programmer.

I’ll also point out something that most non-technical people totally forget about when it comes to making an app or otherwise doing something that requires specific coding skills.

“This is Mark Wilkins from Dallas, Texas, and I’ve been listening to the show since Day 1. I’m thinking about starting a side hustle creating a smartphone app. Do you have any tips? I’m concerned about sharing the idea because that’s all it is—an idea—that could be used to create a competing product.”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

SEE ALSO:

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 grow a YouTube channel with 121,000 subscribers?

What It’s About

How to keep improving an already considerable YouTube audience.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1147

Beginning in the second half of year one of the show, we began to see that an increasing percentage of stories we featured came from listeners who had joined in early on. This is one of my favorite things about making Side Hustle School—because I know it works!

This Australian listener already has a very popular home cooking YouTube channel with more than 100,000 subscribers. He’s now looking to expand his reach further. What comes next?

“My side hustle is my home cooking YouTube channel where I create and share videos of myself, prepare my favorite meals in a relaxed way. I have recently passed one hundred thousand subscribers and also landed a partnership with the brand name.

I’m now looking to further expand my reach. My question is how do I expand this type of business without losing my child’s identity? I’ve read about SEO and have studied the data from my analytics, but the data is telling me that in order to grow quickly that I need to be making the same popular dishes that are also being featured by larger channels. This could mean venturing into the already saturated spaces, which increases the risk for each video. I invest time and resources into producing. I don’t want to sell too much and lose my viewers, but I would also like to grow my numbers. So what direction do you think it’s best to take?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Hungry for more? Check out and subscribe Gabe’s YouTube channel, Food for the Gabs.

 

SEE ALSO:

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

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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

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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: YouTube Tutorials Help Immigrants Gain Citizenship

What It’s About

A stay-at-home Mom uses YouTube to teach citizenship and civic lessons to hopeful US citizens.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1146

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.

So far in these features we’ve had a New York City musician with a blog teaching jazz that becomes a multiple six-figure business, a guy doing city-wide scavenger hunts, and more.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear from the person behind one of my favorite stories of all-time. I told her story early on in the podcast and then to audiences in 25 cities during the SIDE HUSTLE tour in the fall of 2017.

You’ll hear directly from her, but in short, she has found a very creative way to help new immigrants who are preparing for the U.S. Citizenship exam. She does this without them paying anything for it—but she’s able to earn a significant amount of money because of how she monetizes through YouTube.

In fact, in this update she’ll tell us about a huge jump she’s had in subscribers and income since we first featured her.

Listen to today’s episode to hear Danielle’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

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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

Quote of the Day
"I think that my YouTube channel has been successful because I do really try to work hard on building a positive community."
—Danielle Fang #SideHustleSchool

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