Notes from Chris

Episode 3237

Barter isn’t new; colonial farmers traded eggs for blacksmith work. What is new are digital ledgers that let dozens—or hundreds—of people swap skills without a single dollar. Time-banks pop up in hobby circles all the time, but most collapse under fuzzy rules: one person trades gourmet catering for “two hours” of dog walking and feels short-changed.

Our guest wants to avoid that chaos and create a professional network where an hour of legal counsel equals an hour of coding—simple, transparent, and mutually beneficial. Let’s break down the must-have rules, software tools, and outreach steps to give her co-op a fighting chance.

“I’m a web developer who barters projects with a photographer friend—she shoots my family photos, I fix her website. It works so well that I’m thinking bigger: a ‘skill-swap cooperative’ where local professionals trade hours through a time-bank instead of cash. A lawyer could earn credits drafting contracts, then spend those credits on bookkeeping or marketing help. But I’m stuck on logistics and trust: how do we track hours fairly, handle disputes, and keep the cooperative from turning into free-for-all chaos? Plus, would people join if money never changes hands?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3236

Today’s episode is part of a feature we call ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

But what about their first $1,000—how did they make that happen, what did it feel like, and what did they learn?

Let’s hear today’s story. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up. 

SEE ALSO:

• Military Spouse Starts Subscription Box Mission:When an HR Director’s husband is away on military deployment, she uses the alone time to march toward a subscription box.
• Think Inside the Subscription Box:Looking for more community, a North Carolina web agency owner starts a subscription box for female entrepreneurs. It’s supposed to be a referral tool for her agency, but it ends up becoming a full-time business of its own.
• Nature-Loving Neighbors Create Kids Subscription Box: When two couples can’t figure out how to get their kids outdoors and away from electronics in the winter, a personal challenge blossoms into an unbeLEAFable side hustle.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3235

It’s Weekend Workshop, and it’s new!

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3234

Money and friendship mix like epoxy—permanent if done right, messy if rushed. Tessa owns the idea and the grind; Rico supplies a crucial $25 K lifeline. The instinct is to shake hands on 50–50, but parity today can breed bitterness tomorrow when one partner’s calendar is full of late-night emails and the other’s full of Netflix. Let’s engineer a split—and a vesting path—that pays cash its due while rewarding ongoing contribution.

“I’m a designer with a prototype travel accessory. My college friend Rico loves the idea and can invest $25,000 in cash, while I’ll handle product development, branding, and ops. We’re both worried of resentment down the road: if we go 50–50 now but I’m working nights while he’s mostly passive, is that fair? On the flip side, without his capital I can’t fund the first production run. What equity split keeps our incentives aligned and feels future-proof for both work and money contributions?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3233

Plenty of side hustles stall at the “my friends love it” phase. The leap from free samples to the first stranger’s dollars isn’t about social reach; it’s about putting the product where buying already happens. For baked goods, that place is a local market packed with people who came to spend on food.

Today’s side hustler doesn’t need a global audience—she needs a booth, a license, and a simple way to capture future sales. Here’s how to do it step by step.

“I’ve perfected a home-baked gluten-free cookie after months of testing, and everyone loves the samples. The problem? I have zero clue how to land an actual paying customer outside friends and family. Cold-calling coffee shops feels terrifying; posting on social just gets ‘likes’ from acquaintances. What’s the very first concrete step—market stall, DMs, sample boxes—that turns a hobby into real revenue when you have no network?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3232

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, where we take an in-depth look at someone who’s story has evolved considerably since we first featured them.

Last week, we heard how a creative project for a friend in recovery became a business, eventually leading to a partnership with a Washington, DC nonprofit.

Today, in our latest feature, we’ll hear how a quest to build a budget-friendly garage gym during lockdown turned into flipping equipment, selling guides, and running a growing newsletter for thousands of fitness fans.

Listen to today’s episode to hear more…

SEE ALSO:

• Raver Turns LED-Powered Gloves Into Bright Future: When a raver-turned-salesperson falls in love with an underground art form, he turns it into a successful side business.
• Bright Idea Leads Chicago Woman to Million-Dollar Hustle: A Chicago-based plastic recycling sales rep overcomes her fears and doubts to transform her love for DIY lamp shades and $10 in supplies into a multi-million dollar business.
• 3D Printing Brings Cosplay Into 21st Century: With a 3D printer and sense of imagination, a California natural gas industry worker takes superhero DIY cosplay to a whole new level.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3231

In today’s story…

.. a petroleum engineer who finds the perfect item to resell on Amazon. He goes on to sell $300,000 worth of the humble coffee grinder.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3230

Organic SEO is the slow cooker of marketing: reliable, inexpensive, but rarely explosive. Paid social ads are the microwave—fast results, quick to burn cash. Andrew’s list already hits 3,000 subscribers without spending a dime, so the bar for ads is high: they must beat organic on cost per quality lead. We’ll build a lean experiment—short, cheap, and data-driven—so he knows within fourteen days whether to scale or shut it down.

” I’ve built an email list of 3,000 using nothing but organic SEO posts. Zero ad spend so far. Part of me thinks, ‘Great—why should I ever pay for ads?’ The other part wonders if I’m leaving money on the table by not testing Facebook or TikTok ads. What’s a smart, small-budget experiment to prove that ads accelerate growth or are a waste of money, and which numbers should decide the verdict?”

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3229

Today’s episode is part of a feature we call ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

But what about their first $1,000—how did they make that happen, what did it feel like, and what did they learn?

Let’s hear today’s story. I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up. 

SEE ALSO:

• Military Spouse Starts Subscription Box Mission:When an HR Director’s husband is away on military deployment, she uses the alone time to march toward a subscription box.
• Think Inside the Subscription Box:Looking for more community, a North Carolina web agency owner starts a subscription box for female entrepreneurs. It’s supposed to be a referral tool for her agency, but it ends up becoming a full-time business of its own.
• Nature-Loving Neighbors Create Kids Subscription Box: When two couples can’t figure out how to get their kids outdoors and away from electronics in the winter, a personal challenge blossoms into an unbeLEAFable side hustle.

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

Yours in the revolution,

Notes from Chris

Episode 3228

It’s Weekend Workshop, and it’s new!

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

SEE ALSO:

• Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
• Seattle Couple Creates New “Income LiveStream”: When a married couple runs into logistical problems at their wedding, it leads to an innovative service that other engaged couples need during the pandemic.
• Role-Playing Pastor Rolls The Dice On $2800/Month Hustle: Listener success story! This Presbyterian minister turns to his lifelong interest in role-playing games to set up a sustainable second income source.

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

Yours in the revolution,