Tag: Niche Ideas

Former Construction Inspector Earns $200,000 Helping Students Pass Exams

What It’s About

An inspector zeroes in on a niche field helping others and builds himself a lucrative side hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

When Gabe looks back on his side hustle journey, he says that the main reason for their success seems to be having multiple points of difference. When we asked him what kind of advice he had to offer fellow side hustlers, he recommended adding value wherever your competitors are lacking. He said that if you do this in different ways, you will have a great chance of success.

Fun Fact

One of the main skills of inspectors is reading building plans, and it’s no easy feat (see screenshot for example)!To help his students learn, Gabe shipped physical plans to them that complemented the online teaching. He even added his best teaching notes right on the plans.

Notes from Chris

Episode 311

Gabriel Kramer’s side hustle story began in 2011. A former high school teacher who had burned out due to the lack of support from administrators—an all too common story—Gabe had begun a new career as a construction inspector. He’d heard about this career from a cousin, who helped him get a job as an entry-level inspector.

To advance in the industry, you have to earn certifications by passing exams. The more certifications you have, the more money you can make.

Over the next few years, he continued to gain experience, take more exams, and increase his earning potential further. So then came the next step, and the side hustle we’re focusing on today.

One of the main skills of inspectors is reading building plans. To help his students learn, Gabe shipped physical plans to them that complemented the online teaching. He even added his best teaching notes right on the plans.

This teaching aid was unique to the industry. There were some other people teaching cert study courses, but no one was doing that. Video marketing was another marketing strategy that was rarely used by anyone else. Therefore, after he created the first course, Gabe shot videos that covered material from the first exam entry-level employees are required to take. He uploaded the videos to YouTube, and SI Certs and their channel have given them a steady stream of traffic over the years. They recently reached 300,000 total views!

Today, Gabe still works 9-to-5 in the construction industry. We’re calling this episode “Former Construction Inspector” because he moved into business development, and then marketing director position, where he’s currently employed. He enjoys the job and isn’t thinking about working on SI Certs full-time, but he still invest times weekly to continue growing it. They’re on track to pass $200,000 in revenue for 2017 and the growth doesn’t seem to be slowing.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • SI Certs: Interested in fine-tuning your inspection skills? Head on over to Gabe’s website—no construction hat required

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
"Add value where your competitors are lacking. If you do this in different ways, you will have a great chance of success."
—Gabriel Kramer #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.
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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.


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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Construction Company Owner Creates Gig Platform for Contractors

What It’s About

Freelance contractor builds a gig platform for other contractors.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

In this day in age, technology has a tendency to take over in areas where blue-collar workers are falling behind, but people like Teris are building something that ensures that they still have an important place in our economy. This is also a great method of finding a side hustle idea if you’re technologically inclined!

Do you know of a market that could use some streamlining?

Fun Fact

The stories that come from users are a big motivation for Teris at this point. He shared a story about a father who uprooted his decades-long construction career to move to Baltimore to be closer to his daughter and brand new granddaughter. This construction worker was not only able to find enough work through EFynch to keep him going but plans to keep using the app so that he can keep his hours flexible to help with his new granddaughter.

Notes from Chris

Episode 307

Like many of us, Teris Pantazes’ career path has been a bit circuitous. While he originally earned his Master’s in Real Estate, for over 10 years he owned and operated his own construction company in Baltimore, Maryland.

Between jobs, he would try to find any kind of work for his guys so he could still pay them something. But still some days he would have to send them home once the trucks were clean and the warehouse was spotless. Sometimes he would even try posting an ad on Craigslist to try and get his workers some gigs, but it rarely panned out.

In 2015, Teris decided he wanted to get back into real estate, and while he was working his way back into that industry he turned to the platform Upwork.com to earn some money. Around that time he was hanging a TV in his house and couldn’t lift it the final 6” by himself. He lived less than two miles away from a major university and knew that if he could somehow contact them, he’d have a line of helpers looking for some extra cash.

It was then that something clicked—why not create a platform similar to Upwork for contractors and handymen? This wasn’t a simple idea, but he thought it had real potential, so he decided to explore it further.

Within the first six months of launching, over 1,000 homeowners and contractors downloaded the app and created accounts. EFynch continues to grow each month—anywhere from 15% on a slow month to 30% on a good month. Teris explained that the home improvement industry is pretty cyclical, so those variances are to be expected. But at their 1 year anniversary, they had over 3,000 users.

While this side hustle is still in its infancy, it’s well on track and (like YourGreenPal in Ep. 123) has the potential to completely revolutionize the way that people hire contractors.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • EFynch: Check out Teris’ website to learn more about his contractor and handyman gig platform
  • Upwork: The online gig platform that inspired Teris to start EFynch
  • Braintree & PayPal: Two platforms that Teris used to accept payments on his gig platform

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
"If you can, start a side hustle before you have major responsibilities and debt and use whatever money you make from it as a rainy day fund. One day that side hustle might be the difference between having the ability to pursue a new business idea, taking that dream honeymoon, or making rent when you’re between jobs."
—Teris Pantazes #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get a FREE Audiobook from Audible!

Audible is offering SHS listeners a free copy of the Born For This audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. 📚

Just go to aonc.co/bftaudible and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs and start listening.
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

Designer Turns Bad Parking Into $25,000 Per Year

What It’s About

An LA man creates a series of magnets to shame bad drivers into better parking behavior.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

What bothers you or annoys you? Peter took something that annoys a lot of us and created a fun solution. If something bothers you, you’re likely not alone—find the solution!

Fun Fact

Did you know that if you have a driveway you don’t use, you could start your own side hustle renting it out as a parking space online? Learn more, here!

Notes from Chris

Episode 283

If there’s one thing all drivers can agree on it’s this: bad parking is a cardinal sin. Entering an almost full parking lot to find someone has double-parked across the last available space is enough to make sane people go crazy, and maybe even leave a nasty note. But for designer Peter Vandendriesse, none of this was doing enough to solve the problem.

Peter wanted a way to change how people communicate about bad parking and create a “delightfully distasteful” way to start the conversation.

The idea was simple: create a series of magnets that could be stuck to a bad parker’s car, and then passed on from that driver to the next bad parking job they see. Thus moving the conversation forward, doing no damage to cars and still giving drivers the opportunity to vent their frustrations. As Peter says, 100% of people enjoy the satisfaction of slapping a magnet on someone’s car who has improperly parked.

Some of my favorites include, “Colouring books must have been hard for you,” “Airlines would charge you double for this,” and “Titanic. The Hindenburg. This parking job.”

Do Your Park (a clever play on “do your part”) is currently averaging about $25,000 a year in income, mostly through seasonal online sales as the product makes for a perfect stocking stuffer. Peter has recently bought some of the equity from his partners and is looking at ways to increase the year-round income from the product. This will include an increased marketing push, and getting the product featured in more retail stores in his new home of Los Angeles.

But if it’s current rate of growth is anything to go by, this side hustle has a parking spot reserved around the world. Just don’t park outside the lines!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Do Your Park: Find a healthy way to express your frustrations with bad park jobs while still getting the point across. Check out Peter’s magnet creations on his website or visit his product page on Amazon!
  • Shopify: Peter used Shopify to set up his store for Do Your Park, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • Trello: The free, communication platform that Peter and his co-founders used to brainstorm phrases for the magnets

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
"Whether your side hustle is limping along, taking off, or on auto-pilot, you should have a plan ahead of time of what you’re going to do in each scenario. Be receptive to signals that are telling you that your side hustle DESERVES more attention."
—Peter Vandendriesse #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

University Lecturer Earns $2,000/Month Writing Children’s Books

What It’s About

An American expat teaches children about other countries and cultures with his imaginative children’s book series.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Andrew didn’t want the website for The Adventurous Mailbox to feel too commercial and initially resisted big “BUY NOW” buttons. But he soon realized that people don’t have time to sit and read a website with a long detailed explanation before making a purchase. By adding a simple video, explaining the books and overall packaging plus a couple tasteful “ORDER NOW” buttons, his conversion rates started going up.

Andrew also started sending out his book series to bloggers in target market communities, and this turned out to be a great way to both build up testimonials on his website and get the word out in an authentic, grassroots way.

Fun Fact

Andrew received an email from a mom telling him how much her daughter loved the books, and she insisted on having him over for dinner the next time he was home visiting his mother who lived in the same town. Upon taking her up on that offer, Andrew met his first super fan—the daughter knew every little detail about the books and had lots of ideas for what he should do in future books.

The mom also arranged for him to visit the daughter’s school where he got to talk to over 300 students about travel, adventure, culture, and languages and writing books. That school visit solidified his commitment to the project and made the challenging times easier to handle.

Notes from Chris

Episode 276

Today’s side hustle comes to us from Taipei, Taiwan, where American Andrew Bliss has living and working abroad for going on 12 years now. Andrew is a chronic side hustler, as he put it, “I usually like working a full-time job, I just always needed something of my own creation to feel like I am still the one determining the course of my life.” While he’s taken on a variety of different side hustles, to various levels of success, this current side hustle has a much longer build-up than anything that’s come before.

Eight years ago, Andrew took his first trip to Thailand. At that time, his niece and nephew back home in Cincinnati, Ohio were around the age where they could start reading books on their own. He hated not being there to watch them grow up in person, and also remembered what it was like to grow up in the Midwest. He wanted to figure out a way to both spend some quality time with them, and bring the world to them, since they weren’t able to go see it with their own eyes.

So on this trip to Thailand, he took them along with him in spirit and imagination, by trying to experience the culture through their young eyes. After that trip, he made a book for his niece and nephew about “their” adventures together, with tigers, monkeys, elephants and helpful monks in fancy robes. Through the book, he tried to spark their interest in the world and in exploration in general. He wanted them to know, at an earlier age than he did, that the world was full of rich cultures that they were welcome to partake in and learn from, even if they couldn’t fly across the ocean right away.

The first day his website went live he sold ten packages—all to family and friends. But the second day he sold his very first package to a stranger. All in all that first year his monthly sales averaged about $500 a month. But his sales have grown steadily as he’s adapted his marketing strategies. In 2017 his average monthly sales are coming in around $2,000, with August being his biggest month yet.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The Adventurous Mailbox: Help the children in your lives experience other cultures from the comfort of their own homes. Visit Andrew’s website!
  • WordPress: Andrew used WordPress to create The Adventurous Mailbox, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes!
  • WooCommerce: The customizable eCommerce platform that Andrew used to accept sales on The Adventurous Mailbox
  • PayPal & Bluesnap: Two of the payment processing services that Andrew used to accept international payments

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
"Before you launch a new project, step back and ask yourself what you could do for a few hours a day that you would actually enjoy—and what are your unique skills and experiences? If you can base a side hustle on those answers, you have a much better chance of success."
—Andrew Bliss #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get a FREE Audiobook from Audible!

Audible is offering SHS listeners a free copy of the Born For This audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. 📚

Just go to aonc.co/bftaudible and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs and start listening.
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

Friends Team Up To Create Student Care Package Hustle

What It’s About

Two students use Facebook to sell their student studying care packages.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Along the way, Craig and Logan discovered that a major weakness of their business model was that sales were cyclical. Demand for StudyBox drops significantly during the semester breaks and increases during the exam season. This comes as a perfect opportunity for the two friends to improve their product and raise awareness and decide if they are going to scale up the business.

It goes to show that it is ultimately you who decides how big your side hustle will be—the business comes secondary to your needs and other commitments.

Fun Fact

Craig and Logan launched StudyBox only a month before finals week. They weren’t just hitting the books themselves, but helping others as well. A lesson in shipping, and not waiting.

Notes from Chris

Episode 273

Remember the days of college and high school when you were swamped with work and curricular activities? All you ever wanted was more time and the ability to focus without watching cat videos on YouTube every 15 minutes. What if you could get everything you needed to study in a box?

That’s what Craig Lamb and Logan Foster set out to do. As students in college with demanding majors, Craig and Logan noticed that it was too easy to get distracted during study sessions. Not having the right stationery, feeling hungry, and being completely exhausted by the rigors of student life were all common reasons for being unable to focus on the task at hand.

StudyBox was Craig and Logan’s answer to the needs of the student. They started by writing down items that would be beneficial to have nearby during study sessions like snacks, energy and sports drinks, highlighters, pens, pencils, post-its, flash cards, and Tylenol for that inevitable late night headache—or for the morning after.

They took a number of trips down to convenience stores to get an idea of the costs of each item. After that, it was just a matter of testing the market, which they did by offering prototypes to students on their campus.

StudyBox is still in its infancy, but so far they’ve received a ton of positive feedback from their customers, and have sold over 133 boxes! This may seem small, but their goal from the beginning has been to help students create a more productive college experience and in turn, achieve greater academic success. Even though their product has only been up and running for a couple months, Craig and Logan said that it feels really great to know that they’ve already made a positive impact!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • StudyBox: Learn more about Craig, Logan, and StudyBox on their Facebook page

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
"If you are on the fence about whether to give your idea a shot or not, take the leap of faith. You will never know what could have been if you don’t try and the results may surprise you!"
—Craig Lamb & Logan Foster #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

Writing Duo Makes a Vow To Improve Wedding Speeches

What It’s About

Two friends help tongue tied couples put their love into words.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you were looking to start a similar business, Alicia says you have to have to be fearless in putting your name out there. You may waste some time, or lose some business cards, but eventually, it’ll lead to clients.

They even invested their time into free work at Yelp Elite events to help drum up more business, and Yelp is still their second biggest driver of clients.

Fun Fact

Alicia and Angie actually found their first customer on Craigslist. She was looking for a writer to help her write a rhyming poem for her boyfriend’s 40th birthday party. They contacted her, offered their help, and what they learned from helping her became the basis of their process. To celebrate, they ordered their first batch of business cards.

Notes from Chris

Episode 271

Alicia Ostarello’s Side Hustle started out like many good side hustles; as a simple favor to a friend. As she reached an age where engagement photos started to take over the late night party pictures that usually clogged her Facebook newsfeed, she found herself sitting in the audience at more weddings. While many of the ceremonies were touching and heartfelt, she sometimes found herself at a ceremony where the vows and speeches were choppily written, generic, or even confusing, leaving the crowd in a state of bemusement. These encounters left Alicia—who had just gotten her MA in Creative Writing—feeling that surely she could write something better.

While Alicia has always been blessed with a quick pen, some of her friends were not, and several even reached out to ask if she could write their wedding vows for them, at least two of them in a mad, frantic rush the night before.

That’s when it hit her: if her friends were asking her for this service, there would probably be strangers who would be more than happy to pay for the service too. After all, people hire florists to arrange the flowers, bakers to bake the cake, so why not a writer to write the vows?!

Alicia reached out and asked her friend Angie if she’d like to join her in this new endeavor. She said “I do”—and the pair set out to work on their joint side hustle together.

In their first six months, Vow Muse made just about $500, but since then their income and number of incoming clients has grown tremendously. Since the beginning, Vow Muse has provided over 300 clients with the perfect words for all different occasions, and that extra income has helped the duo out significantly.

This additional income source has especially helped Alicia who used it to completely cover her health insurance last year since benefits are not readily available for freelance writers.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Vow Muse: If the thought of giving your Best Man speech has you anxiously reaching for a bottle, check out Alicia and Angie’s website!
  • The New York Times, The Daily Mail, & The Today Show: Check out some of the media coverage that Alicia and Angie’s side hustle has received
  • Weebly: The platform that Alicia and Angie used to create their first website iteration for Vow Muse

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
"Make up a name, buy the domain, and make business cards. Pass out those business cards to anyone you think might be your target audience. I literally used to stop women at the coffee shop who were wearing engagement rings to give them our card."
—Alicia Ostarello #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

Computer Teacher Turns $2 of PVC Plastic Into $800/Month

What It’s About

Kansas man turns $2 in supplies into $170 bows for Renaissance Faire and cosplay enthusiasts.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Jeremy’s advice to fellow hustlers: Find something you love, look for shortcomings in that area, and solve the problems people have.

Fun Fact

Jeremy can make a bow in about 40 minutes, using $2 worth of PVC, which he then sells for $40, making a profit of $30.

Notes from Chris

Episode 269

Jeremy Bays has been a Robin Hood fan since he read the Howard Pyle novel in fourth grade. It’s also what inspired his interest in bow making. And now, the Computer Technology Instructor at a career school is turning $2 of PVC material into $30 profit—over and over—from his bow making craft through sales at Renaissance faires, on eBay and his own website.

How did this come to be? In his youth, he would search his yard for sticks and branches to fabricate his own bow until he had saved enough lunch money to purchase a used fiberglass bow. After high school a lack of time caused him to set aside archery, although the interest always lingered in the back of his mind.

After the birth of his first child, Jeremy’s financial situation was strapped. Every penny in the budget went for food, diapers, and childcare.

He longed to get back into archery, but money was tight and he couldn’t afford the $100 investment. Yet that didn’t stop him because he was resourceful. Jeremy emailed the site’s owner and asked if he could barter something for a bow. Thankfully, the bowmaker, who was 65 at the time, was looking to establish a better online presence and Jeremy was just the person to help.

Three years after his partner closed up shop, Jeremy saw a YouTube video of a guy building bows from PVC sprinkler pipe which got his attention. Jeremy went to work, and after a few attempts, he found he could make a PVC bow in about 45 minutes. And Woodland Archery was born!

Jeremy makes about $800 a month selling bows at local festivals. When not a festival, he uses eBay and his own website to generate a few hundred dollars more.

The best part of his side hustle experience has been the spending money. It’s given Jeremy a layer of security for when he’s had a family emergency and an opportunity to splurge now and then. He hopes to expand his business further by getting involved with more faires and possibly branching out into archery tag, in addition to selling medieval and oriental swords—another of his hobbies. Stay tuned for that episode!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Woodland Archery: Discover your inner Robin Hood and check out Jeremy’s customized bows

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
"Bottom Line: Most of this came about simply because I ASKED and was willing to barter when I lacked funds."
—Jeremy Bays #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

Woman Sells Hair Grips to Orthodox Jews & Drag Queens

What It’s About

An East Coast woman gets a grip on a niche hair market.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re planning on working with an overseas manufacturer, Estee recommends getting orders in early because they can occasionally be a little unpredictable. For example, in China where their manufacturer is, there’s a ban on factories dying their products right now, so manufacturing is being delayed for close to a month. Hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst!

She also recommends placing an order yourself, so you can see what kind of envelope or box the product comes in and what condition. This is the best way to know how your product is being packaged.

Fun Fact

Estee has a four-year-old and a one-year-old, so juggling work and her children is often time-consuming. So she tries to make her side hustle as passive as possible. She has an accountant, a dropship company that handles their shipping, and a liaison that deals with the manufacturer in China.

Notes from Chris

Episode 268

Today’s story comes from Estee Brick in New Jersey. She works as an administrative assistant for Yeshiva University Stern College for Women and she’s a busy mother of two. Her side hustle is selling a product called The Hair Grip—a $20 velour band that goes underneath wigs and scarves to prevent them from falling back.

Estee started her side hustle when she first got married and her husband was unemployed and looking for work. In Orthodox Jewish culture, it’s customary for married women to cover their hair, and Estee was looking for options to help keep her wig and scarves throughout the day rather than falling off.

She discovered that a velour band would do the trick, and thought other people could use her solution, too. She spent a year coming up with the design, logo, packaging, and colors. The logo was created by a friend who has a background in graphic design, and the packaging was created by their manufacturer in China. Once the design and creation was done, they then placed an order for 7,000 velour bands and started selling them.

At first, Estee and her husband started the business to help keep wigs on women’s heads, esp. women in the Orthodox Jewish population. But the band isn’t just for that population—it also works well for people suffering from conditions that cause baldness, people undergoing chemotherapy or just anyone with a penchant for wigs and scarves. They also sell to cosplayers, drag queens, and Broadway performers. They created the business to have another income, but Estee says the responses from people who say the product has changed their life is what keeps them going.

At first, Estee was nervous that they wouldn’t sell any of the 7000 pieces they bought, but now they are up to their 5th order from China. After her first sale, she remembers thinking she only had 6,999 to go. They didn’t celebrate but kept on pushing. They sold 7000 hair grips in their first year (2011/2012) and 14,000 in 2016, and they’re expecting to well surpass these figures for 2017. These days, Hair Grip makes an average of $4,000 a month in profits!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The Hair Grip: Get a grip on your hair with Estee’s hair grip!
  • Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): The model that Estee used that allowed her and her husband an opportunity to pass on the responsibility of keeping stock and shipping out orders

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
"The best part of the experience so far has been being able to help all those who are undergoing chemotherapy and suffering from alopecia. It’s also great to hear when our clients use The Hair Grip and go on speedboats, rollercoasters, and convertibles and then tell us their wig did not slide at all."
—Estee Brick #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

Rogue Financial Analyst Earns $34,000 from Golf Membership Site

What It’s About

A former financial analyst hits a hole in one with his golf membership side hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Golf is a great niche because it’s a hobby that people have to spend money on. In fact, there’s no way to participate in it without paying money. So just like personal finance is a great blog topic when it comes to monetization, so too is golf for this kind of side business.

Fun Fact

Sean also has a quest, which is closely connected to Breaking Eighty. It’s not just to break eighty—it’s to play the top 100 courses in America and the top 100 in the World. And he’s playing most of them for free!

He’s now played 41 of the top 100 in America and 35 of the Top 100 in the World. He’s currently looking for a way into Pine Valley—the #1 golf course in the world—so that he can mark off two more!

Notes from Chris

Episode 263

Sean Ogle got his start as a financial analyst, but that didn’t last very long. He had a bucket list, a list of goals, objectives, and missions of all the things he wanted to do in life. So he started a blog, Location Rebel, as a means of public accountability.

In another story which I told in some ways long ago in the Art Of Non-Conformity book, six months after starting the blog, Sean ended up quitting his job, moving to Thailand, and then working on Location Rebel and freelancing to pay the bills.

But that’s not what we’ll talk about today; today we’ll talk about his side hustle. Yes, even self-employed people need side hustles, and I really like Sean’s…

His side hustle is called Breaking Eighty, a golf membership club. Sean monetizes it through a community he created within the site called The Eighty Club. It’s an online forum for private golf club members across the world.

Right now they’ve just passed the 150 member mark in about 8 months of being in business. It continues to bring in 1-2 new members a week on average, at a fee of $500 annually. Right now Sean is looking at $35,000 in annual recurring revenue, that’s growing quite a bit since they raised their price from $250 to $500 a couple of months ago.

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Breaking Eighty: Take your game to the next level on Sean’s golf membership website. Fore!
  • Location Rebel: The blog that Sean started as a means of public accountability
  • WordPress: Sean used WordPress to create Breaking Eighty, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes!
  • Discourse: The modern forum software that Sean used to build he forum for The Eighty Club
  • ConvertKit: The email carrier that Sean used for his mailing list, and right now, you can get your first month free!

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

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

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

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

Quote of the Day
"I think creating a small niche community is one of the best ways to grow an online business right now.

 Think about what the perfect community would look like for YOUR passions or hobbies. Niche down as far as possible, and then create that."
—Sean Ogle #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