Archives: Podcast

“Middle Class Dad” Earns Passive Income from Parenting Advice

What It’s About

Rest your arms, we won’t leave you hangin’—today’s story is all about a dad who specializes in parenting.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Suggestion: pay close attention to what is working and what isn’t. If something is working and it’s not annoying, great! Do more of that. If it’s not working and it’s annoying, remove it. If it’s working and it’s annoying, then you have a decision to make, and I think it’s okay to push it a little.

Fun Fact

Interestingly, Middle Class Dad readers tend to be about 65% women between ages 25-45, which isn’t always indicative of his popular posts. One of them? Window repairs. Lately, Jeff says that relationship posts, like the ones about rekindling marriage and overcoming infidelity, have started to take over his top ten. But generally? Middle Class Dad’s most popular categories tend to be relationships and do-it-yourself.

Notes from Chris

Episode 718
Jeff Campbell, an Academy Director for a martial arts studio in Austin, spends a lot of time with kids. His days are spent organizing 500 of them, and his nights are dedicated to his three almost-teenage daughters. He also is a self-described handyman around the house and an advocate for healthy eating. Before getting the job at the studio, he spent 25 years working as a manager for Whole Foods. Jeff describes himself as “just your average, Middle Class Dad.”

And now he blogs about it.

He started his blog in August 2016 as an outlet for all things “dad-related,” which includes parenting (obviously), relationships, personal finance, travel, and household things like product reviews and home repairs. Jeff had decades of experience to share, and he knew his wife would only listen to so many of his opinions. But he also set out with the intention of looking for more freedom and flexibility for his family.

As he says, “I was tired of trading my time for money, given that some people can accomplish much more in the same amount of time than others.” Jeff knew that wherever the blog went, his end goal was to monetize it.

How would he do that? Mostly through affiliate commissions.

Since his overarching goal was to monetize his blog so he could have extra money for his family, Jeff began to add affiliate links once his page views began increasing. As he tells us, “I still recall the first few email subscribers I got, as well as the first affiliate commission. Both were quite small, but I knew if I could do that once, I could do it again and again.”

Jeff also knew that, with careful observation, he could pay attention to other people’s blogs and learn from them. And, while it took about two years to see consistent income and growth, it did eventually happen.

Now, two years later, Jeff earns an additional $2,000 a month, which he adds to the family budget to cover the costs of raising a family. The money on Middle Class Dad comes from Adsense ads and Amazon affiliate links. Last year he started to sell an e-book about budgeting for parents, and offers custom budgets and website building. Jeff says that these sales aren’t usually as consistent, but they still bring in a small amount of revenue.

From one faithful reader to 25,000 unique page views in two years, Jeff has built the Middle Class Dad blog into one serious side hustle. With plans to continue growing his blog so that the income can replace his full-time salary, it looks like Jeff won’t be stopping anytime soon.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Middle Class Dad: Do you want to hear a joke about paper? Never mind, it’s tearable. But, since you’re here, and you’ve made it past the dad joke, you probably want to know more about this parenting blog. Head on over to Jeff’s website 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

Quote of the Day
"The first step is just to start and remember that done is better than perfect. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. You can always improve it once you start, but you can’t get back the months or years spent hesitating or procrastinating."
—Jeff Campbell #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

Car Enthusiast Races Towards Reselling Success

What It’s About

A reselling side hustle that’s really racing to the finish line!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

From time to time, we look at a reselling side hustle that uses drop shipping where the seller never holds any inventory.

Tim’s model is different because he’s actually the importer himself. This requires a lot more work, but it also has the potential to be more sustainable since he controls so many more of the variables.

Fun Fact

In 1896, in England, a design for a car that could be assembled at home was developed. In the USA, in 1912, one particular kit car could be bought for $140.

Notes from Chris

Episode 717

Tim Trampedach is a self-proclaimed car and motorsports nut. So much so that 5 years ago, he decided to build his own kit car called a SuperLite Coupe. A kit car is an automobile sold as a set of parts that the buyer assembles into a functioning vehicle. Kits can vary widely in the amount of assembly required.

Currently, most kit cars are replicas of well-known and expensive classic cars, such as the Porsche 550 Spyder or Lotus 7. You can definitely say for this type of vehicle, some assembly is required!

When Tim was building his own kit car in San Francisco, he decided to import the seats from a company in the UK called Tillett Racing Seats. Tim’s Coupe was limited on what model seats would fit in the car—but Tillett fit the bill. He also chose Tillett because he knew someone else who had successfully installed the seats in their car.

But importing such an item overseas can be difficult. The seats are bulky and there can be a long factory lead time—up to 14 weeks. Why not just buy from somewhere in the USA? At the time, there was no one in the country who stocked the seats. Tim knew if he could bring inventory stateside and have them ready to ship, there was a demand for such a product. He recognized this as a potential business opportunity.

Tim reached out to Tillett about importing and selling the seats here in the US. He started slowly—these are a big ticket item, and not simple to store—for most it’s not feasible to keep a large number of bulky race car seats stashed around their home! The seats start at around $900, and most customers buy a pair.

At the start, Tim would sell 3-4 seats per month on average. He met lots of cool people, got to hear about their cars, and would help them troubleshoot when they had problems. As a part-time business, Tim estimates he generated $40,000 in annual sales with an approximate 35% gross margin. It was the perfect side hustle for a car enthusiast to earn some extra cash to fuel his own car hobby pursuits.

Earlier this year, Tim decided to turn his side hustle into a full-time online auto racing parts and gear business—on his website, Torqued. His rationale for doing so involved several key points. The opportunity with Tillett was getting bigger and required more of Tim’s time. Timing was also right for his family since his wife recently gave birth to their son. She is returning to work and this will provide them with a steady income.

Tim feels that Torqued is the perfect fit for his varied skills. He has enough technical knowledge to mostly build the website himself. He knows how to build a great user experience through his work in product management. He’s naturally very organized, which lends to running an efficient warehouse. And his knowledge in motorsports allows him to provide excellent customer service in such a niche market.

You could say that he’s is racing towards his own finish line!

 

 

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
"I provide all the help I possibly can, both pre-sale and after-sales support. You live and die by your reputation in such a niche business."
—Tim Trampedach #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get Your Logo Today With Logojoy!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Logojoy, an online tool that uses artificial intelligence to help you design a beautiful, custom logo.

Try Logojoy today and get 20% off any logo package when you visit logojoy.com/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

Snack-Sized Business News for Millennials

What It’s About

Bite-sized business news for those always on the go!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

What is the key to making something like this work? In Nick and Jack’s case, a distinctive voice, a clear target market, and of course, consistency. It’s a winning combination!

Fun Fact

While pumping out content on a daily basis is not especially common, Nick and Jack haven’t missed a day of news for MarketSnacks since they first launched in 2012.

Notes from Chris

Episode 716

A lot of business news just isn’t appealing to younger readers. Bloomberg has been having a hard time getting millennials to read its website. Fidelity Investments couldn’t get them to understand all the financial lingo. The Wall Street Journal can seem like an old-fashioned club that only the elite belong to.

Even as professionals in the world of finance, Nicolas Martell and his roommate, Jack Kramer, didn’t enjoy reading up on the latest news—but they didn’t have a choice. Keeping up with developments was important in their banking jobs.

One day the two met up at Old Town Bar in New York before walking back to the apartment. They talked stocks, economics, spreadsheets—the usual—but they also dreamed of a project. What if they created a business news media company that could be understood by millennials?

Nobody had easily-digestible market news. They knew they could make such a thing, and they called it MarketSnacks.

Their plan was to publish a blog with daily news stories that were relevant and understandable. All they needed was a simple website and an email provider, so the monetary startup costs were almost non-existent. And in just a couple weeks, MarketSnacks came to life.

But the hustle did cost a lot to start … in time. Nick and Jack blocked off multiple hours before and after their day jobs to plan, write, edit, and publish content. It was an intensive project—and it required their focus every day.

The work paid off. In just a few weeks, MarketSnacks had a couple hundred daily readers. The idea was being validated with each new visitor to the site who turned into a regular reader.

MarketSnacks has evolved a lot over the years. In 2017 the duo launched a podcast, in early 2018 they raised outside funding, and later in the year they became full-time content creators.

With the sponsors they have, they’re making a lot of money. But according to Nick, the money’s not the best part—otherwise he wouldn’t have done it for nearly three years without pay.

The greatest rewards are the 5-star podcast reviews and email testimonials that indicate MarketSnacks is successful helping a generation understand business and finance news in a way that’s never been done before. Hustling in the dream job full-time—well, that’s a nice perk, too.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • MarketSnacks: Interested in the business world but finding that you don’t have the time to stay up to date? Get your daily business news over on Nick and Jack’s website!
  • Fidelity Investments, Betterment, Robinhood, & LinkedIn: Some of the partners that Nick and Jack secured for MarketSnacks

 

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
"Having a co-founder with a skill-set that balances yours will minimize friction, allow you to strategically balance the workload, and optimize the value of your product."
—Nick Martell & Jack Kramer #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

WEEKLY RECAP: Sorry, You Can’t Have It All

Notes from Chris

Episode 715

THEMES & TAKEAWAYS:

I’m very excited to close out the year and move into our third season. Our team has been working behind the scenes to make a number of big changes for next year—all designed to improve listener experience and better support the incredible community that listens every day. Stay tuned!

Also, this week on the podcast: why a CEO/mom says you can’t have it all, more comments on reselling, including a simple tactic you can use to make money right away, and of course an audio update from a previous featured case study.

To learn more about this and everything else, check out today’s Weekly Recap!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW:

Today, we have an update from Cielo de Paz, who was featured on the show in Ep. 102.

Listen to the Weekly Recap to hear from Cielo herself!

You can also check out her website, The Storyographist.

EPISODES FROM THIS WEEK:

Here’s what we heard this week on Side Hustle School! Listen to this week’s recap for a more comprehensive highlight reel.

  • Ep. 709 – After relocating to Tennessee from Canada, a restless homemaker creates an online farmers market, delivering produce to more than 200 homes a week
  • Ep. 710 – He started creating webcomics back in 2003. Little did he know this labor of love would eventually turn into a $10,000 per event side hustle
  • Ep. 711 – Don’t take a time-out … take a time-in! Recognizing the struggle parents have with teaching kids how to handle emotions, a mom and educator creates a game to solve the problem
  • Ep. 712 – After running from tedious computer science lectures, a self-taught developer decides to help others learn through a series of “friendly” coding tutorials
  • Ep. 713 – A self-proclaimed “collector of things” turns her guilty pleasure into a profitable side hustle that brings in over $2,000/month
  • Ep. 714 – A mental health counselor gets a head start with a side hustle that brings in $3,000 a month

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

We want to hear from you!

The best part of Side Hustle School is our community, and around 20% of our episodes come from listeners. Are you working on something and want to share it with us and our audience? If so, we want to hear from you!

Head on over to our online submission page, and we’ll be in touch if your story is chosen.

And if you’re still working on something but have some questions, we want to hear from you too! Most Weekly Recap episodes include Listener Q&A.

Call the Side Hustle Hotline at 844-9-HUSTLE (844-948-7853), record your question and send it to podcast@sidehustleschool.com, or just send us an email!

Here’s what’s coming up next…

Each week I’ll feature more stories from people who are starting side hustles without quitting their job. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming next week:

  • A banking duo discovers a disconnect between business news sites and millennials, then builds the solution into their full-time occupation
  • A journey from Wall Street to a healthy snack alternative—and then to a brand new career
  • And much more!

Do you have a side hustle story you’d like to share? Fill out the Side Hustle School submission form and your story may be featured on the show!

Also, if you’re interested in joining the Side Hustle Society, visit our Society page to get notified when it goes live!

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
"Something’s got to give somewhere. It’s just what is going to give, when, and on what day."
—#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

Mental Health Counselor By Day, Headband Artist by Night

What It’s About

Headbands for every occasion!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Nothing wrong with $500/month, but the key to growth is understanding what people want. How do you figure that out? Through experimenting and engagement, of course! Brittany kept in close contact with her followers and customers and used a lot of their feedback to determine the next headbands she’d make.

Fun Fact

Headbands aren’t just Blair Waldorf’s favorite accessory. They’ve been popular since the ancient Greeks started making special occasion hair wreaths about 2,500 years ago. Originally given to ancient Olympic athletes, the wreaths started a tradition that continues today as the modern sports headband (and key fixture on the Upper East Side).

Notes from Chris

Episode 714

Brittany Lipowski was busy. The overwhelmed grad student was trying to balance her school course load, a part-time job, some semblance of a social life, going to the gym or yoga, and all the errands associated with adult life. And, like most adults, she had to wash her hair in between all these activities.

But that didn’t always mean she looked as put together as she would’ve liked. All she ever really wanted to do was be able to go through her daily activities while looking effortlessly adorable. Not an unreasonable ask, especially once she started her side hustle to help her accomplish that feat.

BizzyBCrafts became Brittany’s answer to a question she had only half-asked herself: “How do people wash their hair every day?” With a surge in dry shampoo sales, she’s clearly not the only one who struggled with looking put together when she felt anything but.

It wasn’t until she was in Virginia to visit a friend that she seized the moment to create her side hustle. Brittany noticed a cute headband in a small shop… and then noticed the $20 price tag. Her first thought? “I can make this.” She immediately went home to start researching supplies so she could make her own headbands. She invested $300 of her savings into materials, taught herself how to sew, and got to work.

She knew from personal experience that good headbands (you know, the kind that stay on your head) were hard to find, so she tested her headbands until she created the perfect design. Then, she made an Etsy account and… waited.

Sales trickled in, but not as a steady stream of secondary income. Still, Brittany stuck with her labor of love. Slowly, she started to bring in an average of $500 a month from Etsy sales.

Once Brittany started to connect with her customers, and listened to what they were looking for, she saw her income skyrocket to $3,000 a month. She asks lots of questions in Instagram stories, does polls on new fabrics, and asks for opinions on what her customers would like to see added to her lineup. As Brittany told us, “I think that customers appreciate that you want to know these things and it has definitely worked. I used to struggle with things that weren’t selling, but once I started involving the customers more, it has helped.”

Since her humble grad school beginnings, Brittany has added different headband styles, hair ties, scrunchies, kids sizes, and seasonal launches to her product offerings. And, while the extra monthly income is great (especially since she now has a wedding to plan!), she says that nothing beats hearing positive customer feedback and connecting with new communities of people on Instagram.

She now knows firsthand that you don’t need a business degree to make a side hustle work. She’s definitely getting ahead in life.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • BizzyBCrafts: Learn more about Brittany’s line of headbands over on her website!

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"Listen to your customers. Struggling to take your business to the next level? Look no further than your customer base! Ask them what they want and actually listen to them. The results may surprise you…"
—Brittany Lipowski #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

Music Lover Strikes Chord with Guitar Flipping Hustle

What It’s About

A flipping side hustle that’s music to our ears!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Reselling is a great side hustle option, but you want to do this with items that cost a decent amount so that you can walk away with profit.

Fun Fact

To celebrate the first guitar sale she had, Mark got a new tattoo. It was of her favorite cat, Victor.

Notes from Chris

Episode 713

29-year-old Daniella Flores is already a seasoned side hustler. She’s been doing it for years. It all started as a way to help her pay off her debt, but has since evolved to serve a greater purpose. That purpose is to live a more sustainable life, and eventually gain financial freedom.

So, it came to no surprise when Daniella’s wife, Mark, began experimenting with a side hustle of her own.

Mark has been in the music scene for years, and she especially loves guitars. In fact, she says it’s kind of an obsession. And, as a self-proclaimed “collector of things,” she ended up accumulating a lot of guitars through the years.

We all know that life can have ups and downs financially. During one of the dry spells, Mark decided to sell some old guitars that she had bought, but had no use for anymore. This gave her the extra boost of cash she needed.

As this went on, Mark realized that she could make even more money if she restored pieces of the guitars. With just a few fixes, like simply replacing a rusty screw and doing a quick paint job, the price could go up by 40%.

This got her gears turning. What if she bought and flipped guitars as a side hustle? She already had plenty of inventory on hand, and it would give her an excuse to buy more guitars!

This was perfect for her: Mark could buy a guitar she was interested in and enjoy it for a while. Then when she was ready to sell it, she could flip it and end up making money from the process. It was music to her ears.

She started by selling some of the guitars that she already had. Then she began scouring websites like eBay and Craigslist.

With her extensive knowledge of guitars and the music community, she had a pretty good idea of which ones would be high ticket items. For example, brands like Gibson and Fender are huge hits in the United States, since they’ve been in the country for over 100 years.

Mark began flipping guitars a year and a half ago. As she’s learned how to fine tune her hustle, she now makes at least $1,500 from flipping guitars … and that’s on a bad month. She makes $3,000 or more on a good one, which are usually around the holidays or in the summer, when people are wanting to pick up a new hobby.

Mark also says that there is no “trick” for what she’s doing. She says that it takes research and asking yourself how you can be competitive in a market. Like all side hustles, it’s necessary to find out what people are willing to pay for the product and how much your time is worth.

As her hustle grows, she and Daniella are excited to see what progress will occur this holiday season. Both of them now have side hustles that are bringing in $2,000 or more a month. It looks like this couple struck the right chord.

 

 

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

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

Quote of the Day
"Never give up or give in to bullying. Be aware that some people are trying to take advantage of you and hammering on the fact that they know you are trying to make a buck. Never do business for free."
—Mark Flores #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

Wedding App Founder Exchanges Vows for Coding Book Biz

What It’s About

A developer writes a series of beginner-friendly books on coding.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Tracy loves to recommend Kickstarter (she doesn’t work for them, she just loves them!) because she considers it a great marketing tool. It shows that there is demand for your book before it is written, and it gives you an advance if successful.

Fun Fact

A year ago, an order came in from Reykjavik. Tracy was already headed to Iceland for vacation and jumped on the opportunity to hand deliver the book. Friendly as ever, Tracy and her delighted reader toured the town and talked design over drinks.

Notes from Chris

Episode 712

Tracy Osborn initially pursued computer science back in college. She bailed out to avoid what felt like boring lectures and transferred into art and design. She was convinced her initial interest had been a simple mistake.

Still, a few years later she ended up running a business called WeddingLovely. It was a planning app for brides, and it reintroduced her to programming. While teaching herself Python in order to build the app, she noticed that most tutorials assumed she already had a grasp on programming tools and resources.

Dedicated to cracking the code, Tracy pushed through the challenges, past the theory and straight to the play by play … and found the fun in coding. She also recognized a problem. Surely, there must be other would-be coders who were ready to create, if only they had a more friendly guide.

Feeling inspired, she ran with her new idea—and wrote the tutorial she wished she’d had for other right-brained designers with no back-end programming experience. She called her new venture Hello Web Books.

Researching formats, Tracy decided to package her just-what-you-need web app development blueprint as a book. She opted for self-publishing based on the track record of similar authors. She also knew she could more easily update the material if she published it on her own, and she could sell it in a variety of formats and for a range of prices.

Once the first book was done, she was hooked, and wanted to write more. She used a similar model of crowdfunding for the next two: an intermediate version of Hello Web App, and Hello Web Design.

For each of the three books she’s written so far, all tailored to designers and other non-programmers, it’s taken Tracy nine to twelve months of dedicated work. Even with her early Kickstarter success, she still doubted whether her work was wanted, never sure if each book would sell.

Despite those doubts, Tracy has knocked out four successful Kickstarter campaigns, refining her marketing and now experimenting with zines as a shorter format for quick learning on-the-go.

Tracy continues to offer physical books that readers can treasure. Before graduating to a drop-shipping warehouse from her initial closet full of book stock, she amused her local post office clerks. She was a frequent visitor, shipping single copies in between the yearly expedition to dispatch 300+ copies to eager Kickstarter supporters.

Tracy is now earning enough to live off of her side hustle. She’s letting her other business, the wedding app, fall by the wayside in order to pursue the bigger idea of practical programming for regular people.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Hello Web Books: If you’re interested in learning how to code, head on over to Tracy’s website to check out her books!
  • WeddingLovely: Tracy’s first app that helps others plan their wedding and helps them find wedding vendors

 

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

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

Quote of the Day
"Niches are better! I thought that it would be a good thing to market my design book as broadly as possible, but in hindsight, this was a mistake—marketing is more powerful when you can find a small segment and really focus on that."
—Tracy Osborn #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

Educator Makes Cards to Teach Kids About Emotions

What It’s About

An educator teaches mindfulness to the next generation.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

According to Suzanne, her “motto through it all has been ‘less hustle more grace’… and keeping my eye to the quality of my life rather than the biz performance. My kids are still home, and I could speak a lot to the pressures of balancing things.”

Fun Fact

As I’m sure you already know, shopping for toys and games on the internet has consistently been on the rise since 2008. In 2016, almost 44 million US consumers shopped for toys or games online!

Notes from Chris

Episode 711
Any parent can relate to the feeling of helplessness when dealing with a child having a meltdown. The crying, possibly screaming, and maybe even kicking and hitting. What do you do? You want to raise kids that can deal with their emotions in a healthy manner. But becoming a parent doesn’t come with a handbook. Learning to teach kids social skills and manage their emotions is one of the biggest challenges of parenthood.

Suzanne Tucker is a parent educator, physical therapist, and mom. She noticed a lot of her parenting class graduates were asking for help in connecting with their children, especially when stressed. Suzanne realized this was an opportunity to help other parents connect with their kids through daily play. She wanted to create a fun way to learn because she knew kids are especially receptive to learning through creative play. So she decided to make a game, called PeaceMakers Mindfulness cards, to do just that.

Each of the cards in a deck of PeaceMakers has a positive message meant to spark conversation between adult and child. The cards are especially appealing to kids due to the colors and animals that represent themes, such as balance, love, and forgiveness.

Suzanne decided to start a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce her PeaceMaker cards. In about one month, she raised $8,000—twice her goal! For Suzanne, the experience validated her idea. She wasn’t an influencer; she just wanted to make a difference.

From its start in 2016, PeaceMaker monthly sales averaged about $1,000. The first BIG jump in sales was in the holiday season of that year—with monthly sales going to $10,000! Suzanne attributes this increase not only to holiday shopping but also due to a great article published in the Philly Voice at that time. PeaceMakers Mindfulness cards were her only product at the time, and the piece included a direct link to purchase the cards.

Sales grew from there. Once she had three months in a row of $10,000 in sales, she put her energy into creating a second product, the Time-In Toolkit, an alternative to time-outs and behavioral charts that helps teach children emotional regulation.

By early 2018, Suzanne had named her company Generation Mindful, or GenM. (At first it was just that one product.) The company was growing so fast, she started to hire more help, including a marketer and content creators. However, another lesson here: she ended up taking back much of this work to keep the voice and brand of Generation Mindful intact. The company has a very distinct—and hard to copy—brand and voice. This has been the brands’s greatest struggle, but it is also one of their greatest assets.

Earlier this fall, GenM ran their latest Kickstarter campaign for a third product, SnuggleBuddies. They raised $35,000 in 2 weeks. From the initial $1,000/month, to the $10,000/month boost and then back again before restructuring and working smarter, Suzanne now expects the company to hit seven figures in revenue in 2019.

Another of Suzanne’s goals for 2019 is to create more products. She also wants to translate her products into Spanish and then French. Through her tools, toys, and programs, she wants to “make connection a habit so that together we can raise an emotionally healthy world.” One year ago, she transitioned to working full-time on Generation Mindful.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Generation Mindful: Interested in learning more about Suzanne’s products and how you can help your chilren process their emotions? Head on over to her website!
  • Kickstarter | Time-In ToolKit & SnuggleBuddies: Here are some Kickstarter campaigns that Suzanne launched for a couple of her products

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
"Mostly when I talk about life balance as a CEO/mom I like to blow up the myth that you can have it all. Ummm, no—something’s got to give, it’s just what is going to give, when, and on what day. I say no to (some) things so that I can say yes to other things. And I am constantly letting go of the unicorn that is being ‘perfect’. That myth will kill ya."
—Suzanne Tucker #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

Movie Editor Turns 19th Century Art Into Full-Time Job

What It’s About

Witty and socially relevant “old-timey” comics!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

To choose his merchandise, David relies a lot on gut instincts. If people like his comics, he figures, they shared common ground with him and may find similar products and ideas interesting. But he is still always sure to test new items before printing them in large quantities.

Fun Fact

David was really careful to slowly phase out his day-job, opting for a freelance position for nine months one year, six months the next, and three months the year after!

Notes from Chris

Episode 710

For movie trailer editor David Malki !—who’s name is legally spelled with an unpronounced exclamation point at the end—creating comics was a fun way to keep himself entertained between projects. David loved pulling 19th-century illustrations from books in the public library, or his own rare collection, and re-contextualizing them with modern-day references. He’d scan the images into his computer, upload them to Adobe Photoshop, and add funny passages.

David mostly saw this as a labor of love. He’d upload the comic to his website, Wondermark, and share them with whoever cared to read. He did this mostly by taking part in discussions in webcomic forums and on message boards. This was back in 2003, so it was way before Facebook groups and Twitter threads.

Over time, David and his comics began to build a following. People would comment on his work and share it with their friends. The more he created, the better he got, and the more people reacted to what he was making. As David’s audience grew, so did his desire to turn Wondermark into a business. He’d seen a few other creators making a comfortable living from their comic creations, and felt he’d like to be able to do the same.

To see if Wondermark had the chops to survive on its own, David devised a test. He created a handful of print books to sell to his colleagues at his advertising agency. He printed 60 copies for $8 each, and then sold them for $15 each.

If he could pitch them on it, well, he just might have a legit business on his hands. And, much to his delight, 48 of the 49 other employees did! The only outlier being one grumpy producer who didn’t “get it.”

This small initial success gave David the confidence to look at selling products on a wider scale. But, as is David’s ethos, he continued with more tests.

Over the next few years, he carried on in a similar fashion. He created comics during his evenings and weekends and attended events and conventions whenever he was able to. They were few and far between, so luckily, it didn’t interfere with his day job. Every new convention meant he’d try a new product; creating small runs of stickers and t-shirts, seeing if they’d sell, and ordering more of the products which worked well. Working part-time, in just a few years David was earning enough to quit his job and focus on Wondermark full-time.

The landscape of the webcomics industry has changed over the last few years, and David is now able to make money online between events, thanks to e-commerce and Patreon, where he currently receives $869 a month from 212 supporters or patrons. He also runs three e-commerce stores which are connected to Wondermark. The backbone of these stores is print-on-demand, where t-shirts and mugs and other products are printed and fulfilled by third-party companies like T-Shirt Diplomacy, with David’s designs on them.

Looking to the future, David isn’t quite sure what he’s going to do. He’s always testing and trying new ideas to see what will work out for him, but he’s also open to the possibility of using the skills he’s learned to go back to the working world and help other companies out. Either way, he wants to keep being creative and connecting with people.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Wondermark: Learn more about David’s work over on his website!
  • WordPress: David used WordPress to setup Wondermark, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes
  • T-Shirt Diplomacy: The first-ever intergalactic casual-apparel website that David used to produce his t-shirts
  • Patreon | David Malki !: Check out David’s Patreon page—this is the membership platform that helps David get paid for putting together the content for his comics

SEE ALSO:

  • How to Become a Comic Book Artist: The comic book, graphic novel, manga, and anime industries are some of the fastest growing areas in all of literature, and the demand for great artists continues to grow with each passing year. If you can draw and spend much of your day reading Peanuts and The Hulk, or Tank Girl and Scott Pilgrim, a career as a comic book artist is for you!
  • Comic Creator Illustrates His Way to $30,000: A long love affair with the Sci-fi genre helps this side hustler build an empire—both imaginary and real—through his successful comic books and audio drama podcasts
  • Comic Book Curator Creates Custom Crate Subscription: A Sacramento-based comic and collectibles owner sparks an interest in reading with a monthly comic book subscription box service

 

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
"Owning the whole operation means I get to take the credit when things go right, but in a certain sense I have to take the blame when things go wrong, too."
—David Malki ! #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get Your Logo Today With Logojoy!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Logojoy, an online tool that uses artificial intelligence to help you design a beautiful, custom logo.

Try Logojoy today and get 20% off any logo package when you visit logojoy.com/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

Stay At Home Mom Delivers Fresh Side Income

What It’s About

Fresh produce delivered right to your door!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

For Weekly Fig, Anju presold membership and veggie boxes and that helped fund everything else. They then worked out of a garage until things picked up. Her advice? Start small, don’t spend money on extravagant things till you build up a base.

Fun Fact

Some of Weekly Fig’s suppliers come from Amish farms well outside the city. Since these communities don’t have electricity or modern communication tools they can’t take orders over the phone or internet. To combat this problem the orders are sent to the farms via homing pigeon on small sheets of paper attached to the bird’s leg.

Notes from Chris

Episode 709

Shortly after getting married, Anju Wilson moved from Canada to Tennessee. The state of cowboy boots and country music was a world away from what she knew, but that wasn’t the only difference. In Canada, Anju worked in Human Resources, but in America, she became a stay-at-home mom… at least for a while.

Anju loved her children, but she simply didn’t want to be a full-time homemaker. Hopeful of finding a new hobby to keep her busy, she brainstormed a few ideas and sowed a few seeds. But it wasn’t until 2015 that something started to germinate.

After thinking about her interests, one thing stood out above anything else. She was incredibly passionate about good nutrition. She loved going to local farmers markets to buy in-season produce and support growers. Her hunch was that many other moms would feel the same. And to validate that hunch, Anju didn’t have to look far at all.

She created a Facebook group for fresh food loving moms in her area. Her goal for the group was to meet moms so they could pool their resources and buy artisan and fresh foods in bulk. She figured, if even a handful of other people were willing to contribute, they could save quite a bit on their weekly food bills.

It didn’t take long for the seed of her idea to sprout its first leaves. Within a couple of weeks, she had 30 members and was already organizing bulk orders. Once an order was made, they would arrange a play date to drop off the produce and socialize. She continued to nurture the group and, over the next year, the member count grew to 600!

Her small seedling was now growing into a plant and the more moms she met, the more Anju realized that there was a lot more potential with this concept. She felt she could use the existing audience to launch a food-based side hustle.

They decided to call their new venture, Weekly Fig—an online farmers market.

The day before ‘delivery day’ all suppliers ship their stock to the Weekly Fig home hub. Anju and the team pack up the individual boxes. The fleet of drivers then picks them up for delivery the next day. The delivery area is divided into seven zones, one for each driver. The zones are designed in such a way that deliveries can be done while the driver is returning home. This technique has enabled them to scale to the point of delivering to over 200 houses every week and servicing a total of 400 customers (some customers are bi-weekly and monthly). All deliveries are completed in just 4 hours.

With that many deliveries, the financial state of this side hustle is looking very healthy. In fact, in the three and a half years Weekly Fig has been running they’ve built a nice little business. In 2017 the total revenue generated was $37,000 and they are expecting much more in 2018.

Anju and her co-founder have recently rebranded their website and increased the number of products they offer. Their goal for the next year is to focus more on education and use that as an acquisition tool. They believe that teaching people the benefits of supporting local farmers and eating healthy and in season will bring in plenty of new customers. When that is up and running, they hope to duplicate the model in other cities.

She’s planted herself in fertile soil.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Weekly Fig: There are no two figs about it—this is one delectable side hustle. Learn more about it over on Anju’s website!

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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
"Start small and don’t spend money on extravagant things till you build up a base. It can even be done from your garage short-term without a lot of overhead."
—Anju Wilson #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