Archives: Podcast

Travel Blogger Gets Paid via Pinterest and Guidebooks

What It’s About

A French travel blogger zigzags around Europe documenting her travels and selling guidebooks for passive income.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Claire tried to give a lot of information about fewer locations, as opposed to most travel guides that try to give information about hundreds of locations. And she gave very clear directions about how to find the best shot of a particular waterfall, landmark, or landscape.

Her overall objective was to simplify the information being offered on a particular destination so people didn’t have to sift through a lot of extra information to get to the good stuff. She wanted to help with the trip planning overwhelm and lay out the really good options instead of every single option, and this is really good advice for anyone looking to do something similar. Everyone writes general guidebooks—stand out by simplifying your selection and getting specific with your info.

Fun Fact

One of Claire’s customers not only loved her guidebooks but said that it saved her marriage. The customer is also a travel planning addict and generally spends hours trying to find the information for their next trip, which annoys her husband. Thanks to Claire’s guidebook, the customer found all the information she needed, saved a ton of time and didn’t annoy her husband.

Notes from Chris

Episode 293

There are a lot of travel bloggers out there, but the vast majority of them aren’t making any money—at least, not anything to write home about. Today’s story is a bit different though—it’s about a travel enthusiast in France who spends her time road tripping around Europe. The best part? She documents her travels and turns them into guides that earn her an additional $10,000 a year. What a journey!

Today’s side hustle comes from Claire Robinson who is based in France, but travels a lot… so who knows where she is right now. Back in 2013, Claire was a Quality Manager for a medical device company and was lucky enough to travel around the world for her job. Since she was visiting and at times, living, abroad she started blogging about her excursions.

She set up a simple WordPress website and started sharing specific tips and itineraries from the places she would visit. She named her website ZigZag on Earth: because she zigzags around when she has time before zigzagging back home.

By early 2016, Claire decided to put some sort of strategy in place for her guidebooks. She picked Pinterest as her social media and for her efforts made $4500 in 2016. She continued with her free Pinterest marketing and so far in 2017, her revenue has exceeded $10k. She now has over 4,000 followers on Pinterest and over 46k unique monthly visitors to her website.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • ZigZag on Earth: Zigzag your way across Europe with some help from Claire. Check out her website!
  • Selz: The ecommerce platform that Claire used to take care of payments and the delivery of the guide book to the buyer
  • WordPress: Claire used WordPress to create ZigZag on Earth, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes!
  • Canva: The free design platform that Claire used to create images for social media

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
"Don’t go into travel blogging just because you love travel. Know that it will completely change your travel experience. My travel days are really long so that I can cover a lot of ground. I do not stop. I take strange pictures of information boards and entrances signs. It’s definitely changed how I travel."
—Claire Robinson #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

Artist Turns Daily Commute Into $5,000/Month Side Hustle

What It’s About

A bartender-turned-artist sees opportunity in spilled ink.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Ursula quickly realized the work she was creating, and the work collectors wanted to buy, weren’t the same. “Instead of figures and hands, they had landscapes and surreal pieces,” she said. “No one wants to look a painting in the eye.” But instead of giving up and walking away defeated, she drew on her experiences in high school and art college to help her update her style and bring it more in-line with what customers wanted.

Moral of the story—when creating something that you’d like others to buy (whether artwork or a product) make sure that it’s something your customer is actually wanting to buy. Sure, you can make something that you need, but if you’re planning on making it successful, make sure that it’s useful for others as well.

Fun Fact

Ursula Barton has built her entire art career on spilt ink. During a particularly trying period in her early 20s, she found herself broke and in the middle of a creative dry spell. In a fit of desperation, she spent the last $100 she had to her name on expensive ink and watercolor paper hoping to gain control over her creative muse. Unfortunately, disaster struck when she knocked her new ink all over her brand new watercolor paper.

She was completely devastated, but then some Portland skyline images she had snapped during her daily commute caught her eye, and she decided to overwrite her error with buildings. This unlikely incident gave rise to her first three drip-works featuring the Steel Bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge, and the Portland skyline. “It took that moment of spilling the ink and rolling with it,” Barton said. “That made me surrender.”

Notes from Chris

Episode 292

Ursula Barton always knew that bartending wasn’t her calling. Although she’d been in the service industry since she was 19, using it to fund her way through art college and her many travels, she believed that a more creative career was beckoning.

On her bicycle commutes to her job, bartending for high-end catering companies in wealthy houses, she found inspiration in the cityscapes and rainy landscapes of her hometown of Portland, Oregon. The bridges, the skyline, and the not-always-sunny weather worked as a muse.

But Ursula didn’t just want to create the work that she likes, she wanted to create work that people wanted to buy, which is when she had a great idea. She would use the access her job gave her to the houses of Oregon’s top echelon of earners, study the artwork they were buying, and use it to influence her own work. She took notes whenever she could on her shifts, snuck off for a glimpse at their pieces, and “painted” a picture of what would make her work profitable.

What she found though was that people were looking for landscapes and cityscapes—paintings they didn’t have to look in the eye. Naturally, she started catering to that Before investing all of her time and energy into bigger pieces, she started out running some tests on smaller pieces of her new work. Ursula put together some small postcard prints of her cityscapes and asked some of her favorite shops if they would sell them on consignment, where the shop takes a piece of the profit from each card. Once she got her first few sales under her belt, she knew she was onto a profitable side hustle and began to look to grow it.

Ursula admits she’s not done a lot of marketing for her work. Instead, she focuses on keeping her work featured in different coffee shops and stores every month of the year, as well as word of mouth was more than enough to keep her business afloat.

These prominent placements in stores also led to Ursula landing work creating murals for businesses and events around Portland, too.

Murals also proved to be a successful marketing technique, and the exposure from them has allowed Ursula to quit her job and work full-time on her art. Right now she averages between $4,000 and $7,000 per month in revenue, of which she takes home around $2000 to $5000 in net income once all of her bills are paid.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • UrsulaBarton.com: Check out some of Ursula’s landscape pieces on her website!
  • Travel Portland & Trimet: Two of the local Portland businesses that commissioned some of Ursula’s work

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
"Don’t be afraid of your own success, and ask for help when you need it."
—Ursula Barton #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

Oregon Woman Gets Paid to Clean Animal Skulls with Flesh-Eating Beetles

What It’s About

A side hustle that employs the most unlikely of contractors—a thousand flesh-eating beetles!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

For those who want to take the leap and follow in Carla’s footsteps, she had this to share: “You should constantly work to improve your craft and respect yourself and your work. Don’t undersell yourself just to make a quick buck. Running a business right is all about playing the long game.”

Fun Fact

Carla is sometimes fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with educational facilities and museums and provide skulls or skeletons that can be teaching tools. It’s an aspect of her side hustle that brings great joy. “If I can inspire curiosity, respect, and interest in the natural world because of what I do, I’d consider that a victory,” she said.

Notes from Chris

Episode 291

With a little help from thousands of flesh-eating beetles (her best—and only—employees), Carla takes a raw specimen and turns it into pristine bone—clean, bright and white. Her work may be seen at a museum, as part of a historical and/or educational display, or hung over the mantel at someone’s house. It’s not the most glamorous job. Carla spends hours prepping, cleaning, repairing and restoring, but the end result is well, better than it was when she started.

While she first learned about dermestid beetles for bone cleaning from the TV show Bones, Carla’s interest in it as a hobby came about while working on a goat ranch, as one does. “Nothing teaches you to appreciate your food more than looking it in the eye and raising it yourself, and learning to use every part of the animal is very important to me,” she said.

When she first started bone cleaning, Carla never thought of it as a potential business. Her first experience, about 10 years ago, was [in creating props for] a horror show, she said. It was one of those things she thought was going to be way easier than it really was.

Then, about five years ago, she got her best employees, her dermestid beetles. But even with 300 subcontractors, something was still bugging her. She felt that she still had a lot to learn. As she developed her process, word got around. People began asking if she could clean something for them or had anything she could sell. About three years ago, her hobby turned into a hustle and Dermestidarium was born.

Carla maintains standard prices for the skulls she cleans most often and then quotes case-by-case for anything unusual. Her business provides both a service, skull cleaning, and a product, clean skulls in bulk to sell retail. It’s been a challenge for Carla to pin down prices but she keeps an eye on the industry. She has always struggled with asking for money, though she’s gotten better at it over the years.

Her work is largely seasonal, being busier in the fall and winter, during and just after hunting season. During a busy month, she may bring in $3,000 yet in a slow month might only make $300-$500. That being said, she can see her beetle biz becoming full time in the future and has a lot of ideas regarding how to expand the scope of what she does so it may grow and prosper. Make no bones about it—you can get paid for anything!

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Dermestidarium: Learn more about these fascinating creepy crawlers and Carla’s process on her website
  • Wave: The free, small business financial software that Carla used for invoicing and accounting
  • WordPress: Carla used WordPress to create her website, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes!

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
"You should constantly work to improve your craft and respect yourself and your work. Don’t undersell yourself just to make a quick buck. Running a business right is all about playing the long game."
—Carla Brauer #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

Sneaker Fan Flips Shoes For $1,000 A Month

What It’s About

Sneaker enthusiast flips sweet kicks for profit!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

For anyone looking to enter a similar industry, Chris says it’s paramount to know your product and what your buyer is looking for. You won’t be able to resell all products and you have to be flexible to what the market is looking for, not just your own tastes.

Fun Fact

It’s not unusual for sneakers to sell for well into the five-figure range, with signed Air Jordans retailing for up to $60,000 a pair!

Notes from Chris

Episode 290

Chris Casseday has been obsessed with sneakers since he was 10 years old. When the rest of his peers were playing video games, trading baseball cards or watching cartoons, he’d be pestering his dad to take him to the mall to look at shoes.

But even then, he wasn’t looking for the hottest kicks to stand out in the schoolyard, instead, he’d found a way to turn a profit. Stumbling across a rare pair of shoes in his local mall, Chris used $125 of money he’d saved up to buy the shoes, and then put them on eBay as soon as he got home. Within five minutes he’d sold them for $325 and was looking to repeat his success.

Chris still employs much the same business model. And this year he decided to take that business model into 2017 and beyond by starting his own e-commerce website, 513 Kicks (referencing his area code in Cincinnati).

His goal with a pair of sneakers is always to double his profits. If he’s going to invest in a pair for $50, he needs to be confident he can make $100 when it comes time to sell them. It would be possible to work at lower profit margins, but it’s not always worth the time and effort that goes into it. Still, he’s averaging around $1000 per month in profit.

Looking to the future, Chris wants to increase awareness of the brand through social media, and use the money he’s making to invest in new pairs so he can update his stock daily.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • 513 Kicks: See what kind of kicks Chris is hustling today on his website
  • One.com & WordPress: The web hosting service combo that Chris used for 513 Kicks

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
"It is important to find the right products and then know the selling market. Supply and demand is obviously crucial to all markets, and this definitely applies to selling sneakers online."
—Chris Casseday #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

Marketer Creates Six-Figure Subscription Box Success

What It’s About

A trailblazing subscription box company for people looking for more control of their products.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

A note for programmers and coders: focus on problems—more likely than not, you won’t have to look very far. And as you’re problem-solving, make sure that you move forward with solutions that people will actually pay for.

Fun Fact

There are currently around 5.7 million subscription box shoppers in the US today. If you can think of a collection of items someone like you would need, this could be your next great side hustle! [Source]

Notes from Chris

Episode 289

Long business meetings are rarely a breeding ground for good ideas. In fact, they often end up getting in the way of good work. But, for Stefan Pretty, one of these meetings is where he was struck with the idea for his side hustle.

Sitting in a client meeting at his digital marketing agency, Stefan was working with a company who wanted to sell juice cleanse subscription boxes—but needed to do it on a bootstrapper’s budget. Creating a site like this from scratch requires a lot of coding, design, and a number of tools being brought together under one roof…. Which is of course something hard to achieve on a tight budget.

So Stefan went in search of more affordable plug-and-play solutions his client could use. But, what he found was that no such system existed.

Even though subscriptions were growing in popularity and demand, nobody had created a platform that made it easy to set up. And that’s when it hit him. What if he was the person to create an all-in-one solution for subscription boxes? He had the coding, design and marketing experience to build a basic model and get it running, so why not put it together himself?

He named his new idea and brand Subbly and set to work in his spare time around his day job. Although this was time intensive and sometimes exhausting, this investment allowed Stefan to start his entire business for less than $200. Not bad considering how high-tech a lot of this can be.

Unlike their main competitor CrateJoy that works as a marketplace for people to buy and sell crates, Subbly focuses on giving you independence. To be able to create, design and sell from your own platform, and not be reliant on someone else’s platform and their search engines for your sales.

So far, it seems to be working. Subbly has grown their income to five figures per month and is growing its member base month on month. Stefan has also been able to leave his digital marketing agency behind and focus on his side hustle!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Stay lean—you can always do more with less and validate your ideas and assumptions with the simplest of things that cost nothing."
—Stefan Pretty #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

WEEKLY RECAP: What’s the Best Platform to Sell On?

Notes from Chris

Episode 288

LISTENER SHOUTOUTS:

This week we have a listener check in from Melissa and listener voice messages from Jessica and Sam:

  • Melissa wanted to touch base regarding an idea she had shared earlier in the year. She went ahead with setting up a website for her accounting practice and simply called it Side Hustle Accounting—providing Australian tax advice and encouragement for Side Hustlers and entrepreneurs in Australia. Since officially launching in July, she averages 1 new client per week!
  • Jessica is interested in starting a side hustle selling professional documents and forms and offering professional document prep services which is awesome since it’s a service that is much needed, but she’s having a hard time deciding what platform would be best to sell her goods.

    Links from my response to Jessica: Etsy & Creative Market

  • Sam is a musician in St. Louis who often finds it challenging to locate a space to practice music in since he lives in an apartment where that level of noise would not be appreciated by his neighbors. Naturally, this got him thinking about a solution to his problem, and he’s considering using the Airbnb model to create a service that would allow people to rent out their practice spaces for musicians in need.

If you have something you’d like to ask me or an update you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a voice message on the website or call into the Side Hustle Hotline (Dial 844-9-HUSTLE // 844-948-7853), and your question may be 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. 282 – When mosquitoes attack, this marketing manager creates a wristband to ward them off. The project is a swarming success!
  • Ep. 283 – Ever been annoyed at someone who double-parks? This Los Angeles designer turned his frustration into a novelty gift item with growing sales
  • Ep. 284 – Two New York City event planners and dessert fiends create a festival series focused on their love of sugary goodness
  • Ep. 285 – To make a living in the arts, this museum educator gets creative and says “Yes, and?” to the idea of her own hustle
  • Ep. 286 – While struggling to pay his student loans, this enterprising graduate finds a way to “round up” his spare change to a six-figure side income
  • Ep. 287 – A couple in Ottawa learn to “upcycle” unused furniture, working extra hours whenever they want and getting paid for something they’d do for free

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Weekly Update:

Make a plan to start your hustle in 27 days or less!

You need more than one source of income. You need a side hustle. Side Hustle builds on the lessons from the show and presents a step-by-step, 27-day plan to help you create a new source of income without quitting your day job.

The book is out at a bookstore near you (or purchase it online!), and I’m also about to start the fifth week of my 100-city book tour! My bags are packed for Canada this week (join me!), and I hope to see you on the road! Here’s where I’ll be next:

  • Vancouver, Canada – October 16th
  • Calgary, Canada – October 17th
  • Montréal, Canada – October 18th
  • Toronto, Canada – October 19th

Don’t See Your City? Use the form at the bottom of this page, and let me know where I should go next! I’ll use your input to decide on future book tour stops. If we get enough people together in your city, I’ll be there!

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 trip to the mall at age 10 turns into a long-term hustle buying and reselling popular sneakers
  • How an Oregon woman gets paid to clean animal skulls with flesh-eating beetles…yeah, you read that right!
  • And so much more, so stay tuned!

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
"First decide on what you’re going to sell, and then think about the best place to sell it."
—#SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

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

Couple Turn Unwanted Furniture Into $1,000 Per Month

What It’s About

One man’s trash is another man’s side hustle—couple refurbishes unwanted furniture and turn it around for profit!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re looking to start a similar business, Jamie says there are two practices you’ll need to have:

1) You should never sell a piece at a loss, even though it’s tempting to take lower prices when you’re first starting out. You should keep in mind the time, effort and money to put into the piece and sell it for what it’s worth.

2) You should set up a pricing system for buying pieces should you not be able to find them for free. For example, Lindsay will never pay more than $60 for a dresser, even though she knows she could sell it for a $300-$400 when it’s complete. This helps to regulate the costs and invest in the pieces that are most worth your time.

Fun Fact

Did you know furniture accounts for over 9.8 million tons of household waste in the US each year? If you’re handy and interest in DIY, upcycling these unwanted items could be your next big side hustle [source].

Notes from Chris

Episode 287

Have you ever heard the old saying, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure? Well for furniture upcyclers Lindsay and Jamie Larue in Ottawa, it’s helped form the basis of their side hustle.

The couple have been finding unwanted pieces of wooden furniture in their local Ottawa area and breathing new life into them for close to a decade. Partly as a hobby, partly to help affordably decorate their home with unique pieces of furniture. And with so many years practice under their belts, they began to get pretty good at it.

When it came time for Jamie to reduce his hours at the bank he worked for and “carve” out more time at home with his pre-school aged children, it was the perfect side hustle option. Jamie could work from home during the day while Lindsay was at her day job, and Lindsay could work from home in the evenings when Jamie went back to the bank. This allowed them to increase their household income, save on childcare costs and pick and choose how much work they took on each month.

It was also a cheap side hustle to start. Most of the unwanted furniture they work with can be found for free using classified ads, websites and garage sales, meaning the only real investment the pair would have to make would be around $40 on paint and parts. All of which can be factored into the final price of the piece!

But before they began Casa Azul Ottawa, the business they named after their bright blue family home, they wanted to test their idea to see if it was profitable.

The logistics of working out of a family home can be quite challenging, but they discovered an easy and fun way for them to bring in an additional $500-$1,000/month with Casa Azul Ottawa. It also gave them a chance to connect and work together to build something, and the Larues show no sign of slowing down.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Casa Azul Ottawa: Check out some of the pieces Lindsey and Jamie have flipped in their spare time on their website
  • Kijiji: The online classified advertising service that Lindsey and Jamie used to promote their finished products in order to generate sales

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
"Take action. If you have an idea, and the start up cost is $0 to minimal, go for it!"
—Lindsay & Jamie Larue #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

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

Young Analyst Turns College Debt Into $100k Profit

What It’s About

A business analyst creates a digital piggybank that helps people whittle down their debt.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

The average Class of 2016 graduate has $37,172 in student loan debt, a number that is increasing every year [Source]. With so many people struggling to get out of debt, there are plenty of opportunities to help them and make money in the process!

Fun Fact

Savings accounts earn less than 1% interest, while student loans charge an average of 4-7%+ in interest, and credit cards can be higher than 10%!

Notes from Chris

Episode 286

Like many college graduates, Christian Zimmerman found himself struggling to get grips with personal finance. Despite having a good job at a tech startup as a marketing analyst, making payments to his credit cards and student loans was proving to be tough.

Christian had the idea for an app that rounded up the “spare change” from his monthly purchases and put them towards his debt. So if he spent $9.70 on a book, the app would round it up to $10 and put the extra 30 cents towards his debt. Kind of like having a piggy bank for your spare change, but you can’t forget to use it.

It took four months of development to bring Qoins to a browser-only beta-testing stage. This was an important step because it allowed the Qoins team to get feedback from their customers about bugs and faults, before launching to a wider audience.

Another four months later, and after working out all of the small kinks in the tool, Qoins was ready to launch with the first ready-to-use edition of the app, open to anyone with a US checking account and access to the Apple App store.

Qoins works on an automated payment system. They charge a small fee of $1.99 per month that is automatically deducted from the amount of ‘debt’ payments you make that month. So if you round up to $70 a month, they’d deduct $1.99 and send $68.01 towards your debt.

The first few months were rocky. They had made a large, high-risk investment in their side hustle and spent the first few months working at a loss. But by focusing on making small, but important, improvements to their business they were recently able to break $100,000 in annual recurring revenue this last year.

And all of it has been worth it for seeing the real change they’ve made to many people’s personal debts and the potential this tool has for the future. Let’s hope theirs is an investment that pays off!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Qoins: Learn more about Christian’s money saving app 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

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
"Be patient and do your research before you move forward. Doing the small tedious stuff can really help you out in the long run."
—Christian Zimmerman #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

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

Museum Educator Improvises From Day Job to Side Hustle

What It’s About

Improv leads to an impromptu educational side hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Chelsea’s advice—use your village! There is always someone in your community who possesses a connection or a special set of skills. She knew a ton of people in comedy, whom she roped in for her first gig. Working with other photographers, videographers, and designers in her day job also helped as she was able to get recommendations with her launch of MuseumProv. The best part of tapping into her network was being able to hire the services of her fellow creatives.

Fun Fact

Many people who have studied improv have noted that the guiding principles of improv are useful, not just on stage, but in everyday life. As Stephen Colbert in a commencement address said: “Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what’s going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say “yes.” And if you’re lucky, you’ll find people who will say “yes” back.”

Notes from Chris

Episode 285

For museum educator Chelsea Hogan, having a side hustle was always a necessity. Living in Los Angeles is not one of the cheaper cities in the world. Moreover, she had pursued a less than lucrative career in the liberal arts field, which made finances somewhat of a problem. Part-time jobs and side hustles were hence a necessary accompaniment for her to continue doing what she loved.

It wasn’t possible to make a living from just the arts, it seemed. That changed when one of her colleagues at the Hammer Museum reached out to Chelsea and asked if she knew any improvisers who would be willing to perform at an upcoming Family Day.

That was her moment. Unbeknownst to her colleague, Chelsea had been honing her craft as an improviser for the past 6 years, taking classes and rehearsing by night. She quickly assembled a group of friends in the improv scene and prepared a 30-minute performance. It was a spectacular success. That was the story of her first improv gig.

It wouldn’t be her last. The success of her first gig at the Hammer museum made her wonder if she could base an improv show based on art from the museums she worked at. Fundamental to her concept was creating a balanced blend of artwork appreciation and short-form improv games. Her new side hustle, MuseumProv, was thus born.

It’s often said that there’s no money in the arts, but Chelsea proved otherwise when she started bringing in upwards of $800 working a few events or workshops each month.

So what’s the biggest win from pursuing this side hustle?  To Chelsea, that’s the ability to pursue both interests at once. As she says: “If I were a full-time Improviser, I’d miss Museum Education. If I were just a Museum Educator and didn’t regularly perform and practice improv, I would die artistically. Where I am truly happy, is the place where Museum Education and Improv meet, and that I get to create this thing and put it out there, and people hire me to do it, is amazing, and makes me so so happy.”

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • MuseumProv: Learn more about Chelsea’s improvisational side hustle on her website
  • SquareSpace: The website building platform that Chelsea used to create MuseumProv
  • Hammer Museum: The LA museum that Chelsea had her first gig at

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
"Do one thing a day. This can be hard sometimes because your day job can get really really busy. But when I feel buried in work on someone else’s dream, doing one thing towards mine makes all the difference in my personal sense of wellbeing."
—Chelsea Hogan #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

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

“Dessert Goals” Team Creates Sweet Success

What It’s About

Two experienced New York entrepreneurs tap into the urban sweet tooth with their desserts-only festival.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Having worked in events and seen how challenging it can be to make money, Miraya and Liang tried their best to build a business model that didn’t depend on sponsorships to make a profit since that’s something they weren’t able to control. Instead, they found ways to cut costs and focused on building a strong marketing and advertising campaign on social media to get the word out.

There are plenty of free resources out there that you can use to market your side hustle. Figure out who your audience is, determine which platform will best advertise your message, and focus on building a strong, recognizable brand.

Fun Fact

The sweet tooth wasn’t an invention of Twinkie manufacturers. Many ancient civilizations had forms of dessert, including fruits and nuts candied with honey. Forms of sugar began to be manufactured in the Middle Ages, but the sugar itself and any confections made from it were prohibitively expensive and only favored by nobles and the wealthy. Ice cream, invented by the Chinese perhaps as long ago as 3000 BC (pre-refrigerator!) might be considered the first authentic dessert. Dentists cheered.

Notes from Chris

Episode 284

Here at Side Hustle School, we think goals are a pretty good thing. And when the side hustle goal is dessert—and we mean a boggling array of tasty treats—there’s just one word to describe it: sweet. But Dessert Goals, the dessert-event brainchild of New–York based event entrepreneurs Miraya Berke and Liang Shi, is worth many sugary sentences, not just one word.

Dessert Goals is Miraya and Liang’s production company for periodic dessert festivals in New York and Los Angeles. If you think “festival” is too lofty a word for eating sugary morsels with your friends, you haven’t been to an event produced by Dessert Goals.

The two women shared a delight in finding and eating quality desserts together, and since Miraya is an event planner and Liang is a freelance designer who works on events, it was a candied certainty they’d come up with the concept.

After securing the number of ticket sales they needed, Miraya and Liang cold-pitched vendors on the concept, creating a deck that explained the idea, venue photos, and their bios. After the first festival, vendors saw the success of the event and started reaching out directly to them.

They invested $10,000 in their first event and made $5,000 each in profit with the biggest upfront cost being $5,000 venue deposit. The second event notched them $10,000 profit each, and the next close to $20,000 each, with all events again going viral through Facebook. That word “sweet” comes again to mind.

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Dessert Goals: Satisfy your sweet tooth, and join Miraya and Liang next year at Dessert Goals 2018 in NYC or LA. Visit their website for more information!
  • SquareSpace: The website building platform that Miraya and Liang used to create Dessert Goals
  • Dessert Goals | Vendors: The vendor lineup for this past year at Dessert Goals 2017

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
"Dessert after dinner—heck, even after lunch—is mandatory."
—Miraya Berke & Liang Shi #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

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