Tag: Service

High School Bootlegger Grows Up

What It’s About

A serial entrepreneur upgrades from reselling beer to recording spaces.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Scope out the competition—what are they offering, and at what price point? Can you do better and still turn a profit? Consider the type of customers you want to attract and envision the type of service you want to provide them. Don’t lose sight of this image!

Fun Fact

You know those angry police officers mentioned earlier in the story? Now that Jacob is an adult, they tell him that his bootlegging operation was a pretty brilliant money-making move for a 16-year-old to pull off. Still, SHS recommends that you don’t try this at home, kids…

Notes from Chris

Episode 957

For Jacob Pippus, his love of entrepreneurship started at an early age. Short of cash and wanting a ticket to an upcoming WWE wrestling event, this elementary school student was undeterred. He printed and sold a dozen “This sucks, I’d rather be skateboarding” T-shirts to friends at his school. Wrestling ticket secured.

His next venture was admittedly illegal but no less entrepreneurial. You see, in high school, Jacob learned how to brew his own beer. And rather than just share it with friends, he promptly sold it at skatepark out of the back of his family minivan.

The business was immediately profitable (surprise…) and he doubled his money with each batch. Not surprisingly, however, the venture was short-lived as soon the police showed up at his house to discuss reports of a kid bootlegger selling the beer out of a van.

Fortunately, he avoided further trouble with the law and, shortly after high school graduation, Jacob jumped on a plane to Costa Rica for his next adventure. He was soon offered a job at the hostel where was staying at, so naturally, he just missed his flight home. Soon he put his entrepreneur cap back on and opened his own information center with bicycles, scooters, and a dirtbike for rent. He hired two employees and life was good.

But after his short vacation turned into roughly seven years, Jacob, now 25 years old, decided that it was time to make moves to secure his future … so he gave up his life as a semi-retired beach bum and headed back to Vancouver, Canada.

It’s in Vancouver where we pick up the story. Back home, Jacob became an apprentice electrician and was also playing drums in the local music scene. Through his after-hours activity, he noticed something: many of the local rehearsal spaces were poorly maintained, difficult to work with, and expensive.

He rented a permanent rehearsal space that his band shared with another band, but that place wasn’t much better. When the second band unexpectedly moved out, the landlord promised to get a new one in there as soon as possible, but Jacob wasn’t worried. Instead, he saw an opportunity and told the landlord that he’d pay the full rent.

That’s how the idea for Red Brick Music Studios was born. Jacob was upfront with the landlord that he intended to make a profit, which was fine because the landlord was just happy to have a reliable, long term tenant.

In 2017, a larger space in Jacob’s building became available and he moved there adding a second, larger studio in the process. Today Red Brick earns about $1,000 per month profit and it only requires about an hour per week of Jacob’s time to manage and maintain … which is music to his ears.

He says he’s most proud of the community of like-minded individuals that he’s created and grateful that he’s able to give them a place to rehearse that they can not only afford to pay for but that they feel fortunate to be a part of.

After completing his electrician’s apprenticeship, Jacob plans to open his own electrical company. He’s also currently looking to expand to a second studio location in the Vancouver area that is just as automated and passive as the first.

For him, this will mean work weeks will become shorter and his vacations will become longer, time that will come in handy with a recent purchase of land he made down in Costa Rica. And of course, he’s planning to start a business there, too.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"Build a place that ‘one ups’ the competition, set a high standard, and be consistent with what you are providing your customers. Your clients or customers will appreciate that and remain loyal to you."
—Jacob Pippus #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Sports Writer Wins Big Gambling On His Own Book

What It’s About

Sports writer takes a gamble on self-publishing and wins big.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Matt says that to come up with a book idea of your own, ask all your friends and acquaintances to join your personal email list. Then, ask them questions similar to the following; What problems have I helped friends, family and coworkers with? What are your biggest accomplishments in life? What do you pay money to learn?

Fun Fact

There are now over one million books self-published in the US every year. With so many books hitting the virtual shelves of stores like Amazon it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Which is why most sales go to only a small percentage of the books published.

Notes from Chris

Episode 955
Matt Rudnitsky was working as a writer and editor for a sports blog when he first became interested in gambling. He began placing a few bets as a way of making his favorite sporting events more exciting. He never took it too seriously and lived by the old mantra of “never gamble more than you are willing to lose.”

As a writer himself, Matt was shocked to notice there was very little useful content out there on gambling. Nothing that encouraged people to make informed decisions about how to bet. Most of the information was of low quality, and typically written to promote online gambling websites.

Matt was keen to learn more, and not from someone who had a chance to win big at his expense. That meant scouring Twitter and online message boards for winning advice. After months of research, he decided to put his money to the test.

He took one hundred dollars, gifted to him by his grandma for his birthday, and started to play! As he gained more knowledge and experience, he managed to turn one hundred dollars into ten thousand over the course of two years.

Then, he got cocky! He forgot what he learned and became reckless. Within two months, he had lost it all and was back to zero … let this be a reminder to gamble responsibly, which for many of us means not at all.

With his bankroll bruised and broken, Matt realized something else. He hadn’t been following any real system … in fact he’d actually gotten lucky. He’d been playing for table stakes without earning a seat at the table. It was a crushing blow, but, instead of giving up he decided to double down. But not on gambling, on something else entirely.

He thought about his experience over the last two years, the highs and the lows. When recounting the story to friends they all found it highly entertaining. So, he decided to write a book. It would be part memoir, part education, and all fun. In it, he’d chronicle how he’d won big and lost it all, and what he learned along the way so readers wouldn’t make the same mistakes. Sort of like a self-help book dedicated to gamblers.

For a couple of months he chipped away at the book and, in October 2014, Matt published his tell-all as a 114-page ebook on Amazon.

Two months later, Matt received a royalty check for $1,150.06 and was absolutely shocked. He celebrated back in Prague by drinking too much Pilsner at the bar. Worth it! With that success, his life was never the same. He felt like a real, bonafide writer.

Over the next year, his book earned $6,000 and, within three years he’d netted $14,000 in totally passive profits and sold thousands of copies. Totally by accident!

Which, since inception in 2017 have netted him over six figures in revenue with an average of $5,000 per month.

The only downside is that, like gambling itself, the results are mixed. Sometimes Matt will have big wins in the form of very profitable months, other times, huge losses in the form of no revenue at all.

He’s working to solve this problem by creating an online course outlining his whole process. His hope is that it will bring more consistency to his earnings.

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
"Distill your book idea into a catchy ‘hook’ and test it on your audience. Find a few places your ideal audience hangs out online and post it there, too. Repeat until one of your ideas strikes an emotional chord."
—Matt Rudnitsky #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

Upstart Producer Turns Nostalgic Concerts Into Modern Money

What It’s About

A casting director for The Voice drops the mic on tribute style concerts.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

An event has at least one big difference from other business models: a fixed deadline that comes with other unchangeable variables. If no one signs up for your online course on ballroom dancing, you can try again later. But if no one shows up at a physical venue you’ve booked, you have a bigger problem.

Therefore, PR is essential. You absolutely must have a clear plan for how you will attract people to your event. This should include an easy way for them to sign up (and pay in advance whenever possible) so that you know what to count on.

Fun Fact

Turns out, whether it’s rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, hip-hop or classical, your gray matter prefers the same music you do. For a while, researchers believed that classical music increased brain activity and made its listeners smarter, a phenomenon called “the Mozart effect.”

In recent studies, however, they’ve found that people with dementia respond better to the music they grew up listening to. If you play someone’s favorite music, different parts of the brain light up—that means memories associated with music are emotional memories, which never fade out—even in Alzheimer’s patients. [SOURCE]

Notes from Chris

Episode 951

Lamont Leak has always loved music—but his first musical side hustle did not love him. After saving nearly $1,000 from two summer jobs, a then-fifteen-year-old Lamont hosted his first event, a party for high schoolers in his hometown of Detroit. He rented the venue, got the DJ, promoted the event like crazy—and it was a flop.

He was devastated—all of his money and his hard work were for nothing. Fortunately, he kept the faith and the devastation wore off after about a week. Then he reassessed his plan for the next attempt.

This time, Lamont built rapport with his vendors so he didn’t have to pay anything upfront, he found a venue at half the price in a prime location, and he picked a better day to hold the event. The lessons he’d learned paid off well—his event sold out and earned him over $3,500. Not bad at all for a teenager.

Fast forward several years to 2016. After living in Atlanta for a while, Lamont was now based in Los Angeles to pursue his dreams in the entertainment business.

He got a job as a production assistant in Hollywood, which he says is just about the lowest job you can have. Basically, you do whatever the producers, crew, or artists need. It was tough work with long hours.

But, Lamont kept a good attitude! His work ethic and bright personality helped him advance. After a while, he was getting PA jobs with higher-profile events like the Oscars, and then with higher-profile TV shows.

But he was also looking for a side hustle. Not only did he need to supplement his income, he was looking for a creative outlet. While living in Atlanta, he had hosted music showcases for up and coming artists because he loved giving artists a performance platform. The showcases were also a great way for him to connect and build relationships in the city, in addition to the income they brought in.

So with those experiences in mind, Lamont decided to host showcases once again—and soon The Live Playlist was born.

Lamont knew that Los Angeles was much more competitive than Atlanta. But that was okay because he had an idea. He decided that The Live Playlist would a showcase with a nostalgic twist. So how does it work?

Specifically, it’s a series of unique, immersive experiences that breed culture and creativity with Music and Art. The events are nostalgic music experiences that feature up and coming artists reimagining and performing music from well-known (often legendary) artists.

One show, I LOVE THE OLD KANYE, featured performances of Kanye West’s top hits and another recent event, the SOUL SESSIONS brunch, featured a live music tribute to R&B legends Usher and Brandy.

All of Lamont’s work has paid off well. He’s now bringing in a steady $4,000 per month in profit—a beautiful sound to anyone’s ears!

Lamont says he can’t imagine ever giving up his side hustle, even when the hours are long. He also said that while he enjoys his job, it’s his side hustle that keeps him going. The Live Playlist allows him to express his skills and creativity without limitations. And, for him, that is more valuable than money.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The Live Playlist: Follow the beat—head on over to Lamont’s website to learn more about this nostalgic side hustle!

 

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
"My side hustle is honestly what keeps me going. While I enjoy my day job, my side hustle allows me to express my skills and creativity without limitations."
—Lamont Leak #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Vegan Food Lovers Sprout Plant-Based Festivals

What It’s About

Vegan food events become a big dill in the Garden State.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Kendra and Marisa spent hours listening to people’s insights regarding what they didn’t like about their event. And Kendra said that listening to this feedback and making changes based on what they had to say has made their events so much better.

As Kendra put it, “It turns out that people who are taking the time to complain have good ideas, you just have to take the time to really listen. It really pains me when I see other businesses deleting comments or having kneejerk reactions because I think they are missing out on some really amazing feedback.”

Fun Fact

The number of U.S. consumers identifying as vegan grew from 1% to 6% between 2014 and 2017, a 600% increase, according to GlobalData. That’s still a pretty small portion of the total, but other data reveal a growing interest in plant-based foods by consumers who don’t consider themselves vegetarian or vegan.

Sales of plant-based alternatives to animal-based foods including meat, cheese, milk, and eggs grew 17% over the past year, while overall U.S. food sales rose only 2%, according to data from Nielsen and the Good Food Institute. The market for such foods totaled more than $3.7 billion. [Source]

Notes from Chris

Episode 950

When New Jersey native Kendra Arnold switched over to a vegan lifestyle in the early 2000s, it became painfully obvious that food options for her new diet were rather scarce. Together with her vegan spouse, she began to host Meatless Monday bike rides with her group of omnivore-inclined friends, hitting up the downtown area in pursuit of falafel and hummus. But beyond that, there was little else that made eating exciting. Food had become sustenance, and nothing more…

But all of that changed one day thanks to a single Facebook post.

Another friend of Kendra’s had just attended a vegan food festival, and posted about her adventures on Facebook. For Kendra, it was the answer to her tempeh-fueled prayers.

She set off to see what it was all about. On the way there, though, serendipity struck! She ran into Marisa Sweeney—one of the only other vegans she knew—and fielded the idea of putting together a vegan festival. Marisa was on board—the only question she had was whether it should be for the town or the whole county.

Kendra, on the other hand, was thinking much bigger than that—she envisaged a festival large enough for the entire state that would give restaurants and shops an opportunity to test out the demand for vegan food. Both Kendra and Marisa had some experience running nonprofit events, so they put their skills to work and began sourcing potential venues and vendors.

That festival, VegFest, was announced in 2015—and Kendra and Marisa spent the next year and a half getting the word out via non-profit organizations, Facebook groups, and restaurants. And, in the midst of their marketing efforts, they discovered that there were a whole lot of people out there keen to be part of what they were putting together!

At the very least, it certainly proved that people were willing to eat plant-based foods on days other than Monday.

Building on the community that had sprouted up overnight following the festival, Kendra and Marisa started to organize other events. They stepped up their social media marketing efforts and started sending out more postcards. Simple though it may seem, the postcards proved to be so effective that the team still sends them out today.

These days, Kendra and Marisa throw roughly seven vegan-themed festivals on an annual basis, with their biggest events bringing in up to 7,000 attendees and boasting over 100-150 vendors!

Moving forward, Sprout Everywhere Events have been consulting with more vegan food festivals around the country and are starting to branch out to other events too. Kendra isn’t just content with merely growing a business—she wants to grow a movement as well.

 

  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Sprout Everywhere Events: Learn more about this growing side hustle over on Kendra and Marisa’s website!
  • WordPress: Kendra and Marisa used WordPress to set up their site, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes

 

SHS EPISODES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"If there’s too much noise, plan the event that you want to go to and ignore everything else."
—Kendra Arnold & Marisa Sweeney #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Lyft Driver Bags Luggage Storage Hustle For Tourists

What It’s About

A Nashville rideshare driver takes the stress out of travel.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

I love simple projects! A simple business idea, well-executed, can be much more interesting than a grand vision that never gets implemented because it’s too complicated or for whatever reason.

So, here’s a challenge for you: as you go through your day, identity some kind of service you could provide. There is an opportunity somewhere!

Fun Fact

Cecilia bought a domain and created a Facebook page in just ten minutes when she got the idea for Music City Luggage Lockers, demonstrating that, to be successful, you don’t have to do it perfectly… you just have to do it.

Notes from Chris

Episode 948
Cecilia Ebrahimi is always on the lookout for new, interesting ways to earn money. She owned a recording studio for her own music. She started a women-only rideshare service. She bought a giant touch screen mirror for photo booth pictures at events. And during her free time, she drove for Lyft.

Driving people around was fun. She loved meeting tourists that were eager to explore Nashville. She’d listen to their stories, and offer suggestions on where to eat and what to see.

Along the way, she kept noticing something: many of those Lyft customers would carry their luggage all over town while they were sight-seeing. It looked exhausting. Surely they’d rather not have to lug all their belongings around.

One day, she got to talking to two passengers about it. They said they’d be willing to pay $5 per hour for someone to store their luggage for them in-between hotels, flights, or sight-seeing journeys.

The idea seemed ripe for a side hustle—and it was going to be an easy one to test out. Cecilia knew it was a widely-experienced problem. She already drove for Lyft and could manage picking up and delivering luggage. She already had an extra room in her music studio for storage. All she needed was … her first customer.

She dropped those passengers off at their location, pulled over to the side of the road, and immediately bought a domain for Music City Luggage Lockers. It cost her $10. She also claimed a Facebook page for the business. All-in-all, it took about ten minutes.

The $5 per hour storage fee turned out to be fairly lucrative. And along with optional pickup, drop off, and airport trip fees ($20-25 each), she earned more than $200 that first month with only a few hours of work and a handful of phone calls.

The key wasn’t just that Music City Luggage Lockers existed as a service, but that Cecilia bent over backward for her customers. She loved helping people, sometimes even if the pickups were inconvenient. And as a result, her 5-star ratings began to soar on her Facebook page, as well as a new Yelp profile she’d made. That September she had her first $1,000 month. This is certainly a side hustle that’s locked in!

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
"When I started the service, I just wanted to help people. I started bending over backwards for them, getting amazing reviews, and it’s just taken off from there."
—Cecilia Ebrahimi #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 Connects Filipino Employees with Global Employers

What It’s About

In searching for outsourced help, this marketer ends up building an all-new business.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

John says that if you are struggling running your business and need help, then try outsourcing. But first, you need to read more on what outsourcing is and how it’s done. He says it’s not a complicated process but business owners need to know every bit of it so they don’t end up frustrated and in the dark while going through the process.

Fun Fact

Businesses understand that they need to have the right number of people to ensure that they can grow. In fact, getting the right people on board has led the recruitment and staffing market in the US to grow to the tune of US$150 billion.

Notes from Chris

Episode 945

When Internet marketer John Jonas was building marketing websites, he was working anywhere from 10 to 12 hours a day. With a day job and a family, he realized that this arrangement was not ideal for him … or his family. The obvious solution was to outsource some of his work to someone else. He needed to work smarter, not harder.

This was in 2009. At that time, there wasn’t a comprehensive online marketplace you could just turn to when you needed virtual help with a task. John had to go through an agency—which was a frustrating experience. All he could do was inform the agency of his requirements and then accept whoever they sent his way.

As you might expect, the first candidate that he received was someone who did not meet his meets.

Subsequent candidates that he looked for got better, but with so many aspects of the process outside his control, John always had a nagging concern that the work would not be completed satisfactorily. This was a big pain point, but he thought that it might just be something that he could fix.

True to his mantra of working smarter and not harder, John acted by bypassing the agency and hiring his own programmer from the Philippines. With his degree in computer science, he was able to explain exactly what he needed and could verify that work was done properly.

He had little idea what that would cost him initially—all he knew was that he was paying that person $500/month. This was a win-win solution: it was far cheaper than hiring another programmer in the U.S.—and at the same time, this was a wage that was significantly higher than the market rate in the Philippines. It went so well, in fact, that he decided to keep going … and to create a job site as a platform for hiring Filipino workers.

This was a conscious choice after working with several employees from the Philippines. Not only were many of them fluent in English, but it was also a location in which it made financial sense for work to be outsourced—employers could lower their costs while workers would get a higher wage. This was a value proposition that was not immediately obvious since John’s site, OnlineJobs PH, was built at a time when outsourcing and remote work wasn’t as common as it is now. But through webinars, teleseminars, and videos, John evangelized about the reasons why people should consider it. This proved to be the most effective way of marketing since it was deeply personal.

As OnlineJobs PH grew, the main source of referrals quickly became word of mouth. Growth was organic, with employers and employees joining because of the good things they heard, as well as through methods such as SEO. Ten years later, the model has proven to be sustainable: John now has 21 virtual employees from the Philippines working for him. This year, Online Jobs PH has over 5,000 paying employers and earned revenue of over $4 million.

It’s worth noting that John’s initial goal was not to set up an online job board; he only did so after trying to outsource some of his work and discovering that there was such a gap in the market. Solving his own problem, however, has turned a small idea into a daily hustle—not just for himself, but for thousands of people around the world.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • OnlineJobs PH: Looking to outsource some of your work? Head on over to John’s website to learn more

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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
"We teach people to focus on long-term workers which help build long-term businesses. Everyone else focuses on short-term contractors or per-project work. Both of those guarantee 100% turnover for the business, and it’s hard to run a business when your labor is based on turnover."
—John Jonas #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Reddit Secret Santa Delivers Sack Full Of Adventure

What It’s About

A Reddit Secret Santa unwraps a new career.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Today’s story is a perfect example of something I say on the show often—side hustle ideas really are everywhere! When Chris initially did this, he wasn’t planning on starting a business around it. But when he saw how successful it was, he took action.

TL;DR – stay on alert for good ideas, and know when to take action!

Fun Fact

Reddit’s secret Santa gift exchange is a behemoth of generosity! Since 2009 there’s been nearly 2 million people take part, from over 160 countries with almost 50 million worth of gifts given.

Notes from Chris

Episode 943

A few short years ago, Chris Waters was working as an account manager for a software company. He says he was just an ordinary guy with an ordinary job. Adventure, excitement, and randomness were not at all part of his daily routine.

But, once a year Chris did embrace those three things with great enthusiasm. He did it through the fun of Reddit’s Secret Santa, the world’s largest gift exchange. In December every year, Reddit matches willing users of the site. Each person is provided a few details about their match, so they can arrange a suitable gift based on their interests.

Chris loved it and got into the spirit of it every year. Then, in 2015, he was particularly excited because his match, Blane, lived in the same city as him: Phoenix, Arizona. That meant that Chris could provide a truly unique gift, one that he’d been pondering for some time.

He’d create an elaborate scavenger hunt; one full of clues, codes, and curveballs. Blane, the lucky recipient, would receive a once in a lifetime experience of engaging in an adventure around his own city.

Chris had a lot of fun putting the whole thing together and says he did so without any ambition other than helping Blane have a good time. Little did he know, that the very same scavenger hunt would lead him to a treasure of his own…

To start, he planted clues that sent Blane and his girlfriend to a local cemetery, then the zoo, and then on to several other locations around Phoenix. Each stop featured a clue to the next, with fun activities sprinkled along the way.

The hunt culminated with a stop at a bar where Chris was waiting to present them with a bottle of champagne. Blane and his girlfriend were amazed. They said it was one of the most enjoyable days of their lives.

Chris spent $400 putting the whole thing together, which, in hindsight, was a pretty cheap way to validate a novel business idea…

Since the concept was so well received, he thought he might be able to find a few people willing to pay for their own unique scavenger hunt. So, he registered a domain name and built a very crude website describing the offering.

He called the project Constructed Adventures.

Although his beginnings were humble, Chris is now in the position of being booked out well over six months in advance, and he builds experiences for people all over the world! His adventures have gotten even more professional and elaborate, and his pricing has grown along with it. He only handles one adventure every two weeks, but now he charges several thousand dollars per client.

That means, on top of traveling the world for free, Chris is also well paid. Each month he earns around $5,000 in profit.

Needless to say, he is loving life! He’s gone from an act of gift-giving kindness and turned it into a new career that almost anyone would envy. His biggest adventure of all is the one he’s on right now.

 

  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"You can start a business like this by practicing on the people you know. Start planning unique events and days (surprise parties or proposals) for friends and keep improving."
—Chris Waters #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Paternal Twins Produce Passive Publishing Profits

What It’s About

Twin brothers oversee an Amazon self-publishing factory.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

When finding book ideas, the Mikkelsen twins rely on one thing: market research. As they put it, numbers don’t lie—you need to look for book topics that have high demand and low competition (not enough books on the subject).

To look at demand, they simply go to Amazon and look at the average BSRs (best seller rates) of the books in a particular niche. Then they compare that to how many authors/publishers are selling books on this topic by looking at search results on Amazon and Audible.

Fun Fact

Did you know that eBook sales have more than doubled in 2018? Well, that’s according to some estimates. While exact data is unknown, many experts believe that sales of eBooks in the United States alone have eclipsed 200 million per year.

Notes from Chris

Episode 942
In 2016, the Mikkelsen brothers, Rasmus and Christian, were working their way through college. In addition to being identical twins, they also had identical 4.0 GPAs. To pay the bills while studying, they each worked part-time jobs—Rasmus as a Chinese food delivery driver, and Christian as a receptionist. The jobs weren’t high-paying but gave them the money they needed to live.

If they continued down their current path, they’d graduate with honors and go on to lucrative careers in a few short years. But these two had other plans…

They already knew that the typical path of college to an office job wasn’t for them. They wanted something different, and they hoped to escape the rat race before they even started running. So, they began to explore different online business models in hopes of making some extra money.

Since it was their first foray into making money online, they didn’t quite know where to start. So, they spent a couple of days scouring Google researching as many methods as they could; dropshipping, affiliate marketing, app building, Amazon FBA … and the list goes on.

After that, they decided on a divide and conquer approach. They each chose a business model and would dedicate a few months to trying to make it work. For Rasmus, it was dropshipping; Christian would try his hand at self-publishing ebooks.

Within six months, a clear winner emerged! While Rasmus’s dropshipping experiment yielded some success, it was Christian’s self-publishing that really excited them.

Here’s what happened…

On July 2016, Christian published his first ebook. He wrote about something he knew and titled it “How to Be a 4.0 GPA Student in College, Like Me.” It was a 5,000-word guide that included study tips, hacks, and techniques he used to maintain top grades. It wasn’t exactly a magnum opus, but a useful handbook nonetheless.

He published the book on Amazon and made $6.46 that first month. The next month, they quit school and retired to live a life of leisure … oh wait, not quite. Still, even earning $6 felt validating. After all, you have to start somewhere!

Through a lot of trial and error, by the end of that year, they were making over five thousand dollars per month through their self-publishing business. It was easily enough to live on, perhaps not for two people in the USA, but definitely in Thailand.

So, they embraced the expat lifestyle and moved overseas to lower their expenses, all while continuing to work on the business.

Over the next year, they traveled to over a dozen countries while growing revenue to more than $8,000 per month. And that success led them to something new—to teach what they know. They’ve started a YouTube channel and are working on a self-publishing course.

The story of the Mikkelsen twins is only half complete … but this time, instead of outsourcing, they’re writing it themselves!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • YouTube | Mikkelsen Twins: To learn more about Rasmus, Christian, and their self-publishing hustle, head on over to their YouTube channel!

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"The amazing and completely unfair advantage of having a twin is that we can split business models. So, to begin with, we started two separate businesses, and whoever would have more success, the other one would just jump over and do that business model too. It’s a foolproof strategy!"
—Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen #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

Texas Couple Turns Test Scores Into Treasure

What It’s About

Texas teachers help students measure up.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Oh, the age-old question: “To expand your service offerings or not?”

Think about your core competency, the thing you are particularly good at. If your expansion is still in that realm, great. If it’s just something you could do, that’s where you should be careful. Either way, it’s OK to pare down as you go—in fact, you should.

Fun Fact

So, which subjects boast the highest demand for tutors?

According to the research, students struggle the most with 4) Math, 3) Chemistry, 2) Foreign Languages, but above all, 1) Physics takes the cake!

Notes from Chris

Episode 940

Shayna and Adam Pond met in grad school at Baylor University while studying science. However, Shayna soon transitioned to education. Both knew they wanted to be leaders. Adam started his career in biotech, while Shayna became an assistant principal after teaching the state-mandated minimum requirement of three years.

On top of her day job, Shayna started operating a tutoring business in the evenings and on weekends. When her first client signed up, Adam called her at work to tell her someone they didn’t even know paid for tutoring services through their website. The client even signed the needlessly long contract. Adam was so in shock he checked three times to be sure the sale wasn’t fake.

During the first few years, Adam worked both his full-time job and helping Shayna launch what they called Action Potential Learning. They wanted to recruit a small army of tutors and go into schools across the district and the state. Adam worked on the website with their newborn on his lap while Shayna tutored to put cash into the business.

They wanted to work with struggling schools, with programs geared toward improving student test scores quickly since test scores serve as a measurement of school success. Soon, they began hiring and training people to tutor for them. After a few years, Adam was finally able to quit his biotech job to work full-time on Action Potential Learning, and they added additional services—too many services, it turned out.

The business offered private tutoring, school tutoring, live personal development training for teachers, after-school camps, curriculum development, and more. The Ponds had overstretched themselves. Shayna and Adam had to figure out their company’s strengths in order to be as effective as possible and to keep from burning out.

In short, they needed to focus.

They realized that Action Potential’s biggest strength was partnering with struggling schools in Texas through providing programs that improved student performance quickly. So, three years ago they stopped providing private tutoring and after-school programs. This reduction of services allows them to focus on their passion for helping schools and experience this crazy thing called work-life balance.

Standardizing their processes has been a big part of what allowed them to grow. Adam realized conducting trainings live for each school cost too much. So he began converting some of them to online courses. The new format gave Shayna and Adam side hustle number two, Model Teaching.

In 2018, Action Potential Learning brought in over $700,000, a $300,000 increase over the previous year. This year they are on track to do the same.

Model Teaching is new this year. After adding more courses and refining their brand, it brought in $4,600 just last month. For now, they’re putting the funds back into creating more content that teachers want.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Action Potential Learning: If today’s episode has you thinking, read up further over on Shayna and Adam’s website!
  • Model Teaching: While you’re at it, check out Shayna and Adam’s other side hustle

 

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
"There were tons of little problems that were so difficult in the moment, but we simply got to working on a solution—even when all we wanted to do was give up. One of the things we always go back to is saying ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’. We go through all the scenarios in our head and realize the worst really isn’t that bad."
—Shayna & Adam Pond #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Paralegal Takes Flight with Remote Work

What It’s About

A love of travel spurs a paralegal to help others start working remotely.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

For Brittnee, she knew that her creativity would be stifled if she was struggling with money. She wasn’t ready to just quit her job and figure out how to make money on the way. Instead, she spent time building up capital, and she suggests others that are hoping to be entrepreneurs do the same.

Fun Fact

The first person credited with the idea of using electronics to work remotely was astronaut Jack Nilles. He worked at NASA in the 1970s, and called this type of work “telecommuting”. It wasn’t until the 2010’s that the term “digital nomad” became widely used.

Notes from Chris

Episode 937

Brittnee Bond dreamed of working remotely. Even as a teenager, she was brainstorming ways that she could take her future career in law and transform it into something that she could do from anywhere. And her journey accelerated when she graduated from college and scored a job as a paralegal in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It was there that she began to find ways to make her job accessible wherever she was. She encouraged her law firm to go completely paperless. Then, she nudged two more law firms to do the same thing. Not only was it practical, Brittnee had the alternative motivation of making her work that much more location independent.

Three years later, she managed to convince her company to let her work in San Diego for a while. If that went well, Brittnee would be allowed to work from Costa Rica for another stint of a few months.

Long story short, it worked out, and two months later Brittnee was on a plane headed south. She was excited! The only downside was that her law firm viewed the trip as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” that would get the travel bug out of Brittnee’s system.

But after a few months of surfing and lounging on the Costa Rican beaches, the travel bug was nowhere close to leaving. If Costa Rica was this amazing, Brittnee couldn’t imagine what the rest of the world had to offer!

She came back from the trip with a new goal in mind: to become fully location independent. Soon after returning home, Brittnee quit her job in Salt Lake and moved across the country to New York City.

Over the next two years, Brittnee scrimped and saved. She worked her day job, and in the morning, on her lunch breaks, and at night, she worked on her new project: a travel company to help others who wanted to have location independent jobs. Eventually, that company became Bond Works—a consultancy where she helps businesses transform conventional jobs into location independent ones.

She’s also working on a series of courses about the same topic. This approach is less hands-on than her consulting work and has the potential to double or triple her income.

Brittnee had a goal in mind to live a location independent life. By balancing the right amount of risk and cautiousness, she was able to test out a series of projects until she found a few that took off. As she gained experience, she took notice of the needs of her communities and based her new hustles off of those needs. Now, she’s exploring the world just as she imagined.

 

  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Bond Works: Learn more about the work that Brittnee is doing over on her website
  • Squarespace: The website building platform that Brittnee used to create her website

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

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

Quote of the Day
"Save as much as you can now, even if you don’t know what idea you want to pursue. Because even if you find a viable idea, you need capital and a runway while you’re building your business."
—Brittnee Bond #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau