Archives: Podcast

Insult This! Witty Event Organizer Prepares You to Respond to Rudeness

What It’s About

A side hustle that equips victims with quips!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Why is it different from other web-based projects? Mostly because it’s so entrenched and has been around for so long with such good organic search results. It would be hard for somebody to come along and say “I’m going to have a better insult-response site.”

Fun Fact

Bryn’s “Ask Bryn” forum actually caused a young woman to contact the administration from her school and completely turned the bullying situation around for her.

Notes from Chris

Episode 608

Back in 2012, Bryn Connor of Vancouver, B.C. had a mortifying encounter, but instead of letting it get the best of her, she aimed to find a way to fight back. Bryn decided to take a trip to the local Planetarium with her two children in tow and had chosen not to wear her wedding ring. Unbeknownst to her, this would turn into a HUGE issue for a man at the event. He decided that it was his responsibility to attack Bryn for this. He went on and on in front of 20 other families about how her husband had left her… just because she didn’t have her ring on and had two children with her.

Bryn was stunned. She couldn’t believe what had happened to her, and in such a random way!

All night the scene played over and over in her mind. Not only was she embarrassed by what the man said to her, she was also upset that she didn’t put him in his place. He had no right to talk to her, or anyone else, like that, but he didn’t have any consequences for it.

The next two months flew by, but Bryn couldn’t get what happened to her at the Planetarium out of her mind. However, instead of feeling embarrassed, she channeled her frustrations into a new side hustle called “I Should Have Said”—a library resource for people being verbally bullied full of snappy comebacks for all occasions. She knew that so many others experienced the same kind of situations she did. There were even memes about “that moment when you think of the perfect insult two hours too late.” Whomp whomp… She wanted to help get people ready.

To start, Bryn created blog posts for every kind of insult she could think of on her WordPress site. There were comebacks for people of all ages, sexualities, genders, and races. Topics ranged from what to say when someone calls you ugly, to what do when someone is being racist, to how to respond when people point out your grey hair. No matter the situation, Bryn wanted her audience to be able to come back with a snappy retort. She called it I Should Have Said.

Then, Bryn had a new idea. Not only would she suggest a series of comebacks for each scenario, she would also create animations to accompany the blog post. Well… she was planning to… until her child spilled water all over her computer. Her temporary computer didn’t have the capabilities for animation, so she tried creating polls instead.

Now I know what you’re thinking… this IS a Side Hustle School story, so where does the money come into the picture? Having and building a following is one thing, but actually getting paid for it is another. Well, after the first four months of growing her online community, Bryn decided to invest in Google Adsense ads. At this time she was making about $20 a month from her hustle, solely from those ads.

Over time her following began to increase. Of course, she continued writing and sharing her posts, but Bryn credits most of her success to her devotion to learning about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. This is the study of how to make your website appear at the top of the search page, rather than be lost in the far corners of the internet. The better Bryn got at this, the more people would visit the site, and the more money she’d make off of ads!

Combined with her advanced knowledge of SEO, her research in optimizing ads, and her new products, her profits skyrocketed. She is now making anywhere between $3,000 and $8,000 a month.

Bryn can’t quit her day job just yet, but making thousands of dollars a month from her snappy comeback website is nothing to laugh at.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • I Should Have Said: Looking to stock your verbal arsenal? Head on over to Bryn’s website to stock up!

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 feel a lot more confident now that I’ve started my own side hustle, and I am not afraid to try new things because I realize that I probably won’t be great when I try something new."
—Bryn Connor #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

Miniature Dollhouse Website Pays Full-Size Profits

What It’s About

A side hustle that proves that great ideas can come in small packages.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Amanda said something especially wise when I was talking with her. She said, “People will say it’s a risk to start your own business, but so is wasting opportunities and your potential. Time is our most precious resource—don’t let your whole life pass you by without going for what you most want.”

Fun Fact

The earliest known miniature homes were found in Egyptian tombs from nearly 5,000 years ago. It’s believed these wooden models were made for religious purposes.

Notes from Chris

Episode 607

When Amanda Austin was a child, her late grandmother presented her with her very own dollhouse. Her crafty grandmother had assembled, painted, and wallpapered the miniature house personally. She even crocheted miniature rugs for each room in the house! It didn’t take long for Amanda to become preoccupied with the dollhouse. She spent every free moment playing with the house and the miniature family that lived there. Whenever she got allowance or birthday money, she would spend it at the local miniatures store.

Now, as an adult working full-time as a digital marketing manager, those memories have come full circle. Amanda sells wooden dollhouse kits and dollhouse miniatures on her own branded e-commerce site. She runs this site as a drop shipping business, which means she doesn’t have to buy and store any of her items. When someone places an order on her site, she notifies her wholesaler and they fulfill the order. There are over 3,000 items for sale on Amanda’s site Shop of Miniatures, and she takes care of the marketing, customer service, and website maintenance.

These days, there aren’t many brick and mortar dollhouse stores open. Since she still has that self-professed “soft spot” for miniatures, when she was thinking about starting a side hustle, she decided to dig deeper into the online world of miniature dollhouse sales. In her words, “They were all terrible… They were poorly designed, poorly organized, and not mobile optimized. I knew I could do better.”

How did she do better? Well, first—being a digital marketing manager, she knew using keywords was critical.

Keywords are words and phrases in web content that enable people to find a site via search engines. Sometimes a business can have a great website, but if keywords aren’t included in the site’s content, it won’t be found when a potential customer conducts a search on Google. Coming up on a Google search isn’t even good enough. According to one study, the first page of a Google search gets 95% of the web traffic.

Best of all are long tail keywords—which are, as the name implies, keywords longer than regular ones. They are also more specific. This means you have less competition with other sites when using long tail keywords on your site. Often someone who is searching the internet is looking for a specific item or subject. They will likely be using more descriptive terms in their search. If a website is sprinkled with long tail keywords that match such a search, the shopper is more likely to find that site. They are also more likely to stay engaged on that site, or even make a purchase.

Amanda’s goal was to rank on the first page of a Google search for dollhouse related items. She used metrics to conduct keyword research. She started out looking for keywords that had 3,000-5,000 hits a month that also weren’t overly competitive. She used the site longtailpro.com, where she found three keywords that had good search volume and low competition from other sites.

Her discovery that dollhouses and miniatures were in demand but weren’t that competitive of a niche was the deciding factor to enter this market.

Unlike some of the stories we’ve featured recently that have used Facebook ads or other paid strategies, Amanda has had much success in growing her business organically. However, this was no miniature feat. She did a lot of keyword research. She spent many months working to get on that first page of a Google search. She says blogging helped immensely and was very strategic about keyword placement on her website.

She started her business in November 2017 and is now making about $800 profit per month—which is just enough to cover her soon-to-be-born daughter’s daycare costs. Amanda now only works on her business about one hour a week.

Amanda’s goal is to continue to work on her site’s SEO so she can rank even higher than her current spot as the third top keyword search on Google. She would also like to hit the $30,000/year revenue mark—which she is hoping she will achieve with upcoming holiday sales.

No doubt about it, this savvy doll-house lover has set herself up for BIG success in a miniature world of e-commerce!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Shop of Miniatures: If you’re interested in learning more about Amanda’s side hustle, head on down to the land of mini—where the grass is painted green and the girls are itty-bitty!
  • LongTailPro: The website that Amanda used to find keywords with good search volume and low competition from other sites

 

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
"People will say it’s a risk to start your own business, but so is wasting opportunities and your potential. Time is our most precious resource—don’t let your whole life pass you by without going for what you most want."
—Amanda Austin #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

One Man’s Trashed Mash is Another Man’s Cash

What It’s About

As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure…or side hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

As Dan said, if you’re persistent, it’s easy to get in touch with the buyers, and a lot of them were really eager to give a chance to sustainable companies like ReGrained.

But of course, that means that they’re also giving a ton of other new bar companies a chance as well, so their bar aisles end up looking a lot like the “Great Wall of Bars.” So, they let you in, but that means that you’re likely one of a thousand different products on the shelf. You really have to sell it yourself—so they did demos and hustled getting people to try it. They felt that if they could get people to try it, the product would speak for itself.

Fun Fact

When they started working with breweries for the first time, they ran into some big issues. The first brewery that they were scheduled to get the grain from had it in a dumpster in the back. They were really counting on that supply at the time, but the spent grain was completely useless for their purposes in its current state.

Another time they were working with an inventive local brewery, and they ended up with another grain they couldn’t use for different reasons. Unbeknownst to Dan and Jordan, the brewery had just finished up what they called an oyster stout which meant that they added oysters in with the grain during their brewing process. This showed them that they needed to dial in a gold standard process for creating a food-grade ingredient and food-grade handling throughout this process.

Notes from Chris

Episode 606
When UCLA Freshmen Dan Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz started brewing beer in the comfort of their frat house, they weren’t planning on it leading to a side hustle. At all of 19, these two were really just trying to find a loophole to the legal drinking age! But like the great foamy head of a freshly tapped keg, a side hustle began to rise to the surface.

Although both were on the fast track to earning their degrees in economics, they had a keen interest in sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices. Which meant that the brewing process posed a moral dilemma that had nothing to do with their underage drinking. Each 5-gallon batch of beer that they brewed was generating roughly 15-20 pounds of grain waste.

The technical term for this byproduct was “spent grain” because it was no longer capable of producing beer.

With a little digging, Dan and Jordan learned just how nutritious this “spent grain” really was. All of the sugar had gone into their favorite drink leaving behind an abundance of protein, fiber, and micronutrients. That’s when something else started to brew—an idea.

They began brainstorming different ways of using this grain so that they weren’t ditching it in the dumpster. Since beer is essentially bread in liquid form, it seemed only natural that they try and use it to bake bread. If it wasn’t a totally botched experiment, maybe they could find a way to sell it to their peers and fund even more brewing.

With a little experimentation, they landed on a recipe, and within a couple weeks, they were selling roughly 20 loaves a week. More than enough to keep them swimming in the brew that started it all! But although bread seemed like a natural application for this “spent grain,” Dan and Jordan quickly realized that they definitely didn’t want to be a bread company. It was far too labor intensive for their busy school schedules, and it wasn’t really something they could easily scale.

Since bread wasn’t going to be their plan long-term, Dan and Jordan had been experimenting with a granola bar recipe. And since nobody else seemed eager to get their hands dirty, Dan and Jordan decided to glove up.

But first, they needed a name. Since they were essentially giving this grain new life, they decided that ReGrained seemed like an appropriate name for their unique operation.

Dan and Jordan didn’t end up spending a dime on advertising and marketing. Instead, their story and lofty, waste-minimizing goals were so novel and contagious that it did the work for them. This unique and innovative concept that they were creating opened them up to a multitude of opportunities including being featured by The Washington Post, Forbes, and Fast Company among countless others.

Due to high volume requests, they ended up having to upgrade their operations to a commercial kitchen in 2014, and both Dan and Jordan officially hung up their aprons by 2016 after a successful crowdfunding campaign through Barnraiser—a food and healthy living specific crowdfunding platform—that allowed them to bring on some hired hands. The $30,670 they raised also helped them upgrade their recipes and compostable packaging!

What started as an operation pumping out hundreds of granola bars in 2012, quickly started churning out thousands by 2013, and then tens of thousands of bars by 2016. These days, the duo are selling hundreds of thousands of bars a year and are close to having their products in a thousand stores all over the U.S.

Although they’re quite a substantial business now, ReGrained comes from humble beginnings. Since their base product of “spent grain” was essentially free, all they really had to spend money on in the beginning was the pantry essentials to help them make their bars (like honey, cinnamon, and puffed quinoa) along with some baking necessities like sheet pans, mixing bowls, spatulas, and a whole mess of parchment paper.

At this point, both Dan and Jordan have left their full-time jobs in order to build ReGrained, and they say that if you’re looking to break into the food industry, a side hustle is the absolute best way to do it.

That’s the path they followed. They didn’t set out to change the world or the way we look at food waste. They were just two college friends looking for a loophole and who decided to take action when faced with an idea. Or as Dan puts it, “when life gave them beer, they made bread.”

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • ReGrained: Interested in seeing what it is like to eat your beer? Head on over to Dan and Jordan’s website to snag yourself a couple bars and learn more about their process!
  • Shopify: Dan and Jordan switched over to Shopify after originally setting up their site for ReGrained using Wix, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • Barnraiser | ReGrained: The crowdfunding platform that Dan and Jordan used that specializes in healthy food products
  • Man Crates: The subscription box that carried ReGrained bars in the early days and helped them really get things off the ground

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
"It’s important to understand that there are a lot of times that you are going to take one step back for every two steps forward—that you have to celebrate all of the wins, whether little or small, because there is always going to be stuff that doesn’t exactly pan out."
—Dan Kurzrock #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

Hungover Accountant Starts “Morning After” Party Cleanup Service

What It’s About

A cleaning service that takes the headache out of the hangover.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Find a niche market and develop a business strategy that is new and will be remembered. Make sure you have developed an easy to use website and can capture your audience’s attention straight away with a clear message of what you do, who you are and why. Finding the right staff is also key as they are the face of your business. This is one of the reasons we haven’t grown as fast as we could have. Finally, make sure you commit 100%.

Fun Fact

The cleaning industry is worth around $4 billion annually to the Australian economy. That huge amount of money means there are over 62,000 people employed as contract cleaners. With so much money and job opportunities out there it’s no wonder that there are literally thousands of cleaning companies across the nation. By picking a niche market James was able to stand out from the crowd and carve out a nice little side business for himself.

Notes from Chris

Episode 605

Drinking too much on a night out certainly has its consequences. You’ll likely wake up the next morning with a ton of regret and a wicked hangover to match. All most people want to do in that situation is lie in bed and wait for the storm to pass.

However, today’s side hustler thinks a little differently. Meet James Hookway, a full-time chartered accountant from Perth in Western Australia. For James, it was while hungover after a Christmas party in 2014 that he came up with a unique business idea.

He and his wife had thrown the party and the next morning, they lay in bed, dreading the inevitable after party cleanup. While procrastinating about when to start the job, they began talking about how great it would be if there was a service that would clean up after you big party and maybe even bring you breakfast in bed.

After having a good laugh about it, they dragged themselves out of bed, had a big breakfast, and got to removing all traces of the night before. But the idea stuck with James and, like a fine wine, it actually got better with age.

Fast forward to July, six months later, and the concept still excited him. He decided to do some research and realized that, although there were a lot of cleaning companies out there, none of them were marketed specifically at the after party/hangover crowd—which can be a large market in Australia. They were all fairly generic, boring companies with terrible branding.

Figuring there might be something there, James decided to test the concept. To keep things simple he created a Facebook page describing the proposed service and shared it with his friends and family. The name for the page almost wrote itself. He called it Hangover Helpers!

Perhaps it was the perfect name, the concept itself, or maybe the right person just so happened to share the page. Whatever the cause, what followed was one of the craziest weeks of James’ life!

He was contacted for interviews on TV shows, radio stations and by journalists from major publications all over the country. They loved the novel concept and wanted to talk to the creator of such a unique idea. He had achieved national exposure in less than two weeks. That’s something most larger companies are never able to do despite expensive and time-consuming campaigns.

With all that free marketing, it was inevitable their first customers would come on faster than a headache after too many gin and tonics. And that’s exactly what happened.

Their first booking came that very week. James had no cleaning equipment, so he had to buy some to get started. He picked up basic cleaning products and a Ghostbuster-style vacuum cleaner as well as some food supplies for the breakfast.

It was a hell of a party to start the business on! The house was a total mess, but that didn’t phase James too much. It meant he was able to get some great before and after photos to showcase the type of work he was capable of. After the cleaning was done and the party hosts had enjoyed their breakfast burritos, James knew this could be a viable side business.

Just under a year after their successful launch of the Facebook group. Over the next 12 months, the revenue from the side hustle doubled and hit $30,000. Not bad at all for a weekend cleaning gig outside of a full-time job!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Hangover Helpers: Take the headache out of party throwing—head on over to James’ website to learn more about this niche cleaning service!

 

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
"Find a niche market and develop a business strategy that is new and will be remembered. Make sure you have developed an easy to use website and can capture your audience’s attention straight away with a clear message of what you do, who you are, and why."
—James Hookway #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

Military-Themed Teddy Bears Help Kids Hibernate

What It’s About

Teddy bears that are trained to keep the nightmares at bay!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Justin still insists on asking his audience for help and believes in Facebook as a great way to receive immediate feedback. He says it’s a great platform to ask questions and get real-time responses. When he posts a question regarding a product they’re developing he gets hundreds of replies.

Fun Fact

Justin once received a 20-foot container from China full of bears at his front door and had to unload 4,000 bears down his driveway into his house. He says the laundry room became the assembly room and his garage became the warehouse. Justin used to hand assemble every bear and retail box in his living room—sometimes 750 at a time!

Notes from Chris

Episode 604

Justin Baum is the full-time Creative Director for the in-house advertising agency at Lenovo—the second largest PC company on the planet. His company developed Thinkpad computers, Moto phones, and much more. But before his job at Lenovo, from 2005 – 2012, he was the lead writer of recruitment advertising for the United States Marine Corps.

It was while working here that Justin was stirred by the men and women serving in uniform that made him want to give back. Inspired by his own daughter’s difficulty sleeping through the night, Justin had an idea.

He decided to bring his daughter home a teddy bear in a marine sweatshirt. He then told her a story, introducing him as a marine bear who has protected the nation for more than 200 years. “Now, he’s ready to protect you while you sleep.”

“Well, what if he falls asleep?” his daughter asked.

Justin reassured her. “He’s a marine. He would never fail at his mission!” That night, as Justin put it, his daughter slept like a bear in hibernation. A light bulb went off in Justin’s head. If this worked for his daughter, perhaps it could work for other children.

He developed the idea of Sgt. Sleeptight—a full-fledged military grade sleep system that protects children from bad dreams, fear of the dark, and the nighttime anxieties that come from having a deployed parent.

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill teddy bear. Sgt. Sleep tight comes equipped with a door hanger warning nighttime monsters that he’s on guard. A sleep tight oath to be read with your child before bed, which officially puts your bear on duty. And a Silver Slumber Star to be awarded to your child for sleeping through the night.

The project was called ZZZ Bears.

When first starting out, Justin had no idea how to get a teddy bear made. So, he did what most of us do when we want to figure something out—he Googled it. This led him to Alibaba, the gateway to manufacturing in the East. He typed in “teddy bears” and got back hundreds of manufacturers. He narrowed his search to ones with experience making military uniforms. Justin found one willing to do a small run of 200 orders.

About a month later the bears arrived safely on his front door. Fortunately, that supplier was honest… unfortunately, his quality was good but not great. And these bears deserved greatness!

In order to scale his business, he needed a better manufacturer. He used the power of Facebook, connecting with another plush product designer named Juan, who had just gotten his product into Walmart. Justin formed a friendship with him, and Juan referred him to his manufacturer. This was two years ago and Justin still uses the same one today.

So, what’s next for this ZEO of ZZZ Bears? Justin says 2019 will be a pivotal year. He’s grown to 7 SKUs already which makes inventory management and cash flow a real tough balancing act. In 2017 he did just over $100,000 in sales with $10,000 in profit.

Justin still insists on asking his audience for help and believes in Facebook as a great way to receive immediate feedback. He says it’s a great platform to ask questions and get real-time responses. When he posts a question regarding a product they’re developing he gets hundreds of replies. It just goes to show you that there’s no bear-ier to entry!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • ZZZ Bears: Thanks to Justin and ZZZ Bears, there’s no need to fear the dark—head over to his 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

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
"Growing up, my mom used to tell me how good I was at everything—from drawing and baseball to brushing my teeth. I now realize it was a well-meant lie. Nobody is good at everything. So, be brutally honest in assessing your strengths and weaknesses—then get help. There are plenty of subject matter experts out there. Find the ones you need, put them to work, and stay focused on what you do best. P.S. – I love you, Mom."
—Justin Baum #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: Bees, Children’s Books, & Granola Butter

Notes from Chris

Episode 603

THEMES & TAKEAWAYS:

From children’s books about real-life to a buzzworthy six-figure beekeeping biz to a Frenchman who says Bonjour to $35,000/month in foodie sales—this week has been full of adventure and lessons!

We also celebrated crossing the rubicon of Ep. 600! Julius Caesar was once told by the Roman senate to disband his army and return to Rome—and most important of all, do not cross the Rubicon river to make a 600th podcast episode.

In other news, Labor Day is right around the corner, and we’re going to reimage, reinvent that concept by calling it “Happier Labor Day” (#happierlaborday). This project is the invention of Gretchen Rubin, who I have mentioned many times on the show. She is a great friend and mentor to me, and Side Hustle School is part of her Onward Project imprint.

In an upcoming episode of her popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, she’s going to talk a bit more about this Happier Labor Day concept. In this episode, she’ll be sharing some great tips with her listeners, so make sure to tune in!

If you’re interested in learning more about Happier Labor Day, check out today’s Weekly Recap and head on over to Gretchen’s podcast page!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW:

This is a new segment we’re trying out with the help of side hustlers that we’ve featured in the past. Today, we have an update from Meredith Floyd-Preston, who was featured very early in the show on Ep. 13.

Meredith is a teacher who specializes in very specific learning style: Waldorf Education. She started helping other Waldorf teachers with their lessons through her website, A Waldorf Journey and checked in with us to let us know how things are going.

Listen to the Weekly Recap to hear from Meredith and learn what’s happened since she was featured on the show!

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. 597 – The buzzworthy journey of Minnesotan bees and their keepers. These hardy bees don’t mess around—last year they produced $150,000 in sweet profits
  • Ep. 598 – A mom in search of a new side hustle creates a profitable after-school enrichment class
  • Ep. 599 – After sharing about her recovery from unhealthy eating, this health tech worker leverages an Instagram following and turns a kitchen experiment into a growing business
  • Ep. 600 – Two Canadian mothers shake up the children’s book narrative by publishing stories that tell the truth about hard things in life
  • Ep. 601 – After relocating to Quebec, this continental creative brings seasonal flavor to an artisanal food retailing biz
  • Ep. 602 – A particularly productive crafter shares her goal-setting tips with readers, then goes on to make a “Get to Work Book” that earns more than $1 million in sales in the first three years

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:

  • An ad executive turned teddy bear manufacturer creates a military-grade sleep system for children, earning $100,000 in sales and making a lot of people beary happy
  • What starts as a collegiate adventure in getting around the legal drinking age requirements leads to a mission that turns trash into cash
  • 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
"Have you chosen a one-word theme for the year? It’s not too late, even in August or September!"
—#SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
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

Crafting Maven Creates World’s Most Practical Workbook

What It’s About

A crafty side hustle that helps people get to work!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

What if you’d like to to do something like this? Elise says:

“I always recommend starting with just something small. GET TO WORK BOOK was possible because I had tried other (smaller) ventures before it. I was familiar with printing processes. I could build out a small website. I knew how to manage shipping. If you have a grand plan, that’s AMAZING, but often the first step towards that plan will feel tiny. Take it anyway!”

Fun Fact

Elise said that her very first Etsy shop customer way back in 2007 was her Grandma! According to her, it was the sweetest. When she first launched GET TO WORK BOOK for pre-order, it was about 9pm on the third of March in 2015, and she sent a newsletter and watched the sales pour in. It was overwhelming, and she admits that she probably cried.

Notes from Chris

Episode 602

Elise has been getting crafty since 2007 when she graduated college. Back then she worked full-time as a sales associate at a paper store. She launched an Etsy shop on the side to sell mini notebooks and letterpress prints.

For the next few years, she always worked full-time and started various entrepreneurial projects. When she got married and moved across the country, she began thinking about a more substantial project that could grow into its own business.

On her blog, which she posted on daily, Elise spent a lot of time sharing her routine, time management tips, and goal-setting techniques. She thought it would be fun to make a product that helped people be more creative and productive—and besides, a lot of her readers were constantly asking for resources. Originally, she thought she’d write a book about goal-setting but then decided to get even more creative and productive herself and make a planner. She wanted people to have something active to work with instead of just passively reading. (Side Note: Four years later, she ended up writing that book anyway…but that’s a different story.)

What would she call this workbook? Well, at first she thought she had the perfect name “The Reality Planner”—because this was all about planning your real life. However, when she searched online for that phrase, she realized that a lot of people might confuse reality for realty… and while this planner could be helpful for real estate agents, that’s not really what it’s about. It’s a good thing that her first idea was problematic because the process made her think more about what this planner would be. This one-workbook-to-rule-them-all would help people get to work. That’s when she found a much better name: GET TO WORK BOOK.

When Elise first launched GTWB for pre-orders, it was about 9pm on 3/3/15. She sent out a newsletter and watched the sales pour in. The feeling was overwhelming. People really wanted what she had made!

That was three years ago. Since then, a lot has happened—she’s done two new versions for two New Years, and she’s added a lot of complimentary products to her online store. Mostly, though, she’s just sold a lot of GET TO WORK BOOKs. How many? At least 18,000.

Over the past 3 years, the Get to Work Book has sold those 18,000 copies and earned $1.2 million in sales. There are real costs with this kind of business, but Elise is able to take a six-figure salary from it. She also hears from customers all the time who talk about how it has improved their lives. One woman even wrote in to say that it helped her plan a funeral for a close family member. The process of grieving was made easier with the tool that Elise made—a powerful testimonial!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Get to Work Book: Don’t you think it’s time you got to work? Head on over to Elise’s website to pickup a work book to help you get started!
  • Elise Blaha: And while you’re at it, learn more about Elise over on her blog

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"I always recommend starting with something small. GET TO WORK BOOK was possible because I had tried other (smaller) ventures before it. If you have a grand plan, that’s AMAZING, but often the first step towards that plan will feel tiny. Take it anyway!"
—Elise Blaha Cripe #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Move Forward With Uber!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Uber—the company determined to improve the ridesharing experience for both riders and drivers.

I've seen a lot of these improvements firsthand, but don't just take my word on it! Read more about all of the ways Uber is moving forward—head on over to Uber.com.🚘 Learn More

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

Frenchman Says Bonjour to $35,000/Month Foodie Hustle

What It’s About

A Frenchman brings quality food products from Quebec to the rest of Canada.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Unlike a lot of other online businesses we’ve featured, this kind of project comes with risk and will take time to succeed. Costs are high and whenever you’re purchasing a food product to resell, you have to deal with all those complications of shipping and storage and the need for it to go from your warehouse (or basement…) to the customer in a fixed period of time before it expires.

Fun Fact

Cedric has been watching The Walking Dead, and starting this business has had another surprising benefit for him: in the event of a zombie apocalypse, he knows exactly where he’s headed—his warehouse full of French food. So, while the world is burning all around us, Cedric plans on living it up and snacking on foie gras and jam. We asked him for the address, but he’s not looking for any competition.

Notes from Chris

Episode 601

In a lot of ways, Cedric Fontaine is your typical Frenchman. He’s usually found with foie gras, cheese, bread, and butter on his plate, and he’s never far from a glass of red wine. And Cedric brought his love of gastronomy with him when he emigrated from France to Canada about 15 years ago to work as an eCommerce consultant. But upon his arrival, a friend informed him that he wouldn’t be able to find his favorite French flavors in Quebec. He almost got on the next flight back to France.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Cedric was determined to scour Quebec looking for a flavor from every region of the province. He began a directory of artisanal food producers and used that as a basis to begin his new venture, Terriors Quebec.

Terroir was the perfect side hustle starting point because the word refers to the unique environmental context that helps give food its distinct flavor. Cheeses from different regions, produced in different seasons, can have characteristics that inform the taste and flavor profile. The same can be said for coffee, wine, chocolate, and even tomatoes.

Cedric began Terroirs Quebec in 2005 with about 10 products and has since grown to about 400 different items. For the first five years, he kept the inventory in his basement, managing 1 order a month in the early days, scaling to 30 in the first years.

For just a couple thousand dollars, Cedric was able to purchase a full inventory of his first ten products so that he had 12 of each—enough to launch his website. How did he choose those ten items? Well, he had a very specific idea of what his customer base was looking for because he was his own ideal customer.

He was, and is, the kind of person who puts a lot of thought and care into the food they choose. They want to know where it comes from, they want it to be organic, and they are looking for labels without a huge list of ingredients. Less filler, more substance!

While the profit margins might be lower than other side hustle avenues, Cedric can still use a lot of the revenue to invest in more products, advertising, and growth. But he also wants to make some money for himself, too, so he earns about 10% of his side hustle’s monthly revenue as his extra income. That means he takes home about $1,000 during a slow season that sees about $15,000 a month in sales, and upwards of $3,000 a month during the holiday months, which typically bring in about $35,000.

What’s next in the world of fine food and maple butter? Cedric is looking for ways to tweak his shipping methods in order to increase his profit margins. Shipping heavy food products is always going to be a somewhat expensive venture, but he knows that there’s a better solution out there for him.

He’s also working on a new website and expanding his product offerings to foods found all over the world—not just in Quebec. We’ll wish him Bonne chance since terroir and side hustle seem to go together as well as fresh cheese and warm baguette.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Terriors Quebec: Get a taste of Quebec—check out Cedric’s full lineup over on his 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
"When you’re getting started, it’s important to know your limitations so that you can set goals for yourself instead of biting off more than you can chew. This way, you can grow your side hustle intentionally and deliberately."
—Cedric Fontaine #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
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

Canadian Colleagues Publish Children’s Books About Real Life

What It’s About

Two moms exchange pumpkins and glass slippers for real-life lessons!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Working as a copywriter, Meaghan understood that good products don’t sell themselves. And she was prepared.

She knew that in order to narrow down to your target audience you had to do a little research. Meaghan started by getting a feel for their competition on Instagram and mirroring some of their methods for reaching out to followers. She followed them and checked in on their posts to see who their most active followers were and what resonated with them. What she noticed is that the bulk of the followers were predominately female or people with children (naturally) and she built an audience profile based on that.

Fun Fact

The first week Meaghan and Niki launched, they received a couple hate mail messages, and it was alarming and totally disheartening. They knew that some people wouldn’t be fans of the books, but within the first day, they got four angry emails. People who hadn’t even read the books were simply objecting to them based on their titles. They were literally judging a book by its cover. In hindsight, Meaghan says that they haven’t received a single angry email since so they’re very happy and take feedback in stride. But at the time it was pretty upsetting.

Notes from Chris

Episode 600

Meaghan Hadwyn and Niki Snjaric were just two moms in Toronto, Canada… two moms who were fed up with puppies, rainbows, counting sheep… pumpkins… and magic polar bears. The whole lot, really.

No, they weren’t fed up with real puppies, or real rainbows, or real pumpkins. Meaghan and Niki were just fed up with the cliche tropes that existed in children’s stories. The tropes that fail to reflect the reality humans live in.

Each trip to the children’s book section left them feeling more frustrated than enchanted. Where was the honesty? Where were the books that were helping plant the seeds of empathy and resilience in the next generation?

Answering these questions became the centric focus for Meaghan and Niki when they decided to change the narrative—the children’s story narrative, that is. This decision to shed the tulle-coated world of fairy godmothers, prince charmings, and kissing frogs led them to create Other Life Lessons, an honest children’s book series that focuses on teaching kids about the real ups and downs of life.

Other Life Lessons was launched several months ago, but the inception of this business has much, much earlier roots… The story of Other Life Lessons took form eight years ago when Meaghan and Niki started working together at a Toronto advertising agency.

Since they met, they’ve been working together as a team… which forged them into an inseparable dynamic duo. During this time, they did everything together—they even had babies born a mere six weeks apart! At this point, Niki and Meaghan’s whole world revolved around thoughts of what future life lessons they would teach their children.

This is when it all clicked.

This is when they realized that their kids needed an honest children’s book series that focused on teaching the ups and downs of life. No fuzzy metaphors. No hiding the truth. REAL life lessons that packed a metaphorical, real-world punch.

So they took matters into their own hands.

The duo wanted to start with three titles and build their brand out from there, and it made sense for them to focus on some life lessons that children might have to learn early in life: Life’s Not Fair (about accepting the downs, celebrating the ups, and showing how hard work can help to make all the difference), Sometimes Someone Dies (reminder that even though we experience loss, we never let go of the love), and Why Mommy Works (a glimpse at a few of the many reasons Mom works and shows who is in her thoughts throughout the workday).

Since Niki had a lot of experience using Adobe Illustrator at her day job, she set to work creating all of the fun graphics and illustrations for the books, and Meaghan started weaving together the stories. And once the stories were complete, they’d join the two together in Illustrator and download a file that could go straight to the printer.

There was a lot of trial and error when it came to designing the physical book itself, but in the end, they landed on a 6”x6” soft cover book with 36 matte pages. And since they wanted to get a better feel for the market, they decided to order 9,000 books (3,000 of each title).

But, after five months since the birth of Other Life Lessons, Meaghan and Niki have made $16,000 and have sold over 2,600 books!

So what’s next for the motherly dream team? Well, they’re already working on printing series two of Other Life Lessons. They continue to expand the store, and now that their startup costs are paid off, they’ll enjoy making money from every sale.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Other Life Lessons: Give your children’s bedtime story a bit of an upgrade and set them up for life. Learn more about the books Meaghan and Niki have written over on their website!
  • Shopify: Meaghan and Niki used Shopify to set up their site for Other Life Lessons, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • MailChimp: The email marketing platform that Meaghan and Kelly used to connect with those who were interested in Other Life Lessons

 

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
"Research, read, research… and, of course, read some more! If you’re planning on going a less conventional route, understand the rules before you break them."
—Meaghan Hadwyn #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Move Forward With Uber!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Uber—the company determined to improve the ridesharing experience for both riders and drivers.

I've seen a lot of these improvements firsthand, but don't just take my word on it! Read more about all of the ways Uber is moving forward—head on over to Uber.com.🚘 Learn More

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

Avocado Queen Earns $45,000 Selling Spreadable Granola

What It’s About

Did you hear the joke about the Granola Butter? I’m not telling you—you might spread it!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

For those out there still on the fence about starting a side hustle, Ali had some great advice related to starting:

“If you’re hesitating and waiting for the ‘perfect moment’ to launch your side hustle—just launch. The perfect moment doesn’t exist, and it’ll never come. The sooner you launch, the quicker you can pivot and figure things out as you go. Also, tell anyone and everyone that you’re launching a side hustle. It’ll hold you accountable to follow through.”

Fun Fact

Ali’s first launch almost never happened. Before she could officially share her Granola Butter with the world, she needed the approval of the food inspector. However, there was only one food inspector at the time and she was struggling to keep up with the amount of work she had on her docket. Ali was worried that she wouldn’t get the nod before her launch date—she had already announced it and sent influencers her #freethedrip kits—kind of a big deal!

Fortunately, Ali has the tenacity of a bulldog and called or emailed every day. Finally, the day before the launch, Ali got the O.K. Phew!

Notes from Chris

Episode 599
Meet Ali Bonar, a full-time product marketer for a health tech company living in San Francisco. Growing up, Ali’s life was pretty normal. She was outgoing, had a bunch of friends, and played volleyball on her high school team. On the outside, everything appeared fine. However, on the inside, as Ali will attest, she was developing an unhealthy relationship with food.

She’d starve herself all day then spend the night binge eating which left her feeling guilty. In Ali’s mind, she had no self-control and didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin. She had developed an eating disorder while studying nutrition at UC Berkeley from trying to eat clean all the time. Seriously, food was stressing her out!

She began documenting her journey of intuitive eating on Instagram with the handle @avokween shortly after college. Her struggles with food persisted and she quickly realized this was a problem that wasn’t going away. She needed help.

Her breakthrough came when she shifted her focus away from worrying about how certain foods made her look and instead focused on how they made her feel, everything changed. This avokween began giving zero guacs!

Meanwhile, her marketing job was leaving her creatively unfulfilled. As soon as she’d get off work, Ali would go home and tinker around in her kitchen. This was the place where she could exercise her creative freedom. She felt alive. She began experimenting with different foods, posting her stories on Instagram.

A self-proclaimed nut butter-aholic, Ali found herself putting the buttery spreads on everything. And it was while experimenting with a combination of granola and coconut oil that Ali stumbled upon (cue the trumpets) granola butter.

This spreadable gold was getting rave reviews from family and friends. Because of all the encouragement, Ali decided to kick things up a notch.

What started as mere kitchen experiments resulted in the founding of Kween Foods, a wellness company with the mission to empower women to reclaim their relationship with food through self-love and body positivity. Their first official product? Granola Butter—the first-ever spreadable granola!

Riding on the coattails of popular trends was another way Ali leveraged her social media following. She sent her curated list of influencers a #freethedrip kit which was everything they’d need to create a worthy Instagram post. #freethedrip was a play off of the #freethenip movement. #freethedrip was basically a way to let your smoothies run wild, welcoming the nut butter overflow!

Ali says Instagram has been instrumental in promoting her brand. 90 percent of her sales have come from her Instagram following. It made reaching out so easy because of those existing relationships. Since launching Kween Foods four months ago, Ali says business has been a steady climb resulting in $45,000 worth of sales.

So, what’s next for Kween Foods? Ali says Kween is scaling quickly, and there might even be an opportunity down the road to pursue it full-time. And currently, Kween is cooking up some seasonal flavors for the upcoming holidays. Did someone say pumpkin spice? We’ll see! The avocado queen’s reign is set to continue.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"People don’t relate to perfection, they relate to realness—not the glossy image of perfection. If you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one."
—Ali Bonar #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

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Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE, with free shipping. Get ready to say mmmmmm.
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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau