Tag: Service

Teacher Hustles to Pay Off $100,000 in Student Loans

What It’s About

A new teacher supplements her day job to pay off student debt in record time.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Diana says that if you want to start a side hustle in tutoring or babysitting, you need to find the right client base. She was lucky and moved to an area with lots of families that need babysitters and tutors, which made it easier to get jobs. Once you know you have potential clients, find Facebook groups for that area that Moms and Dads would be in. Diana has found all of her clients through Facebook groups!

Fun Fact

Diana first began babysitting when she was in middle school. When she got her first client, she was so excited and soon made flyers to pass around to her whole neighborhood so that she could find more clients.

Notes from Chris

Episode 874

Like many millennials, Diana Farmen graduated from college with a lot of student debt. After entering the workforce and scoring a job as a teacher, she wasn’t making nearly enough money to live on her own and pay the minimum monthly amount of $2,000 on her loans.

As a matter of fact, she had to move back in with her parents so she could afford it. She knew that she needed to find another way to make more money, work her way out of the hole of debt she was in, and live independently, but she wasn’t sure what to do…

So, Diana started thinking about what she liked to do and what she was good at. What she discovered is that she truly loved to work with kids. Her first job ever was as a babysitter, and over the summers when she was still in school, she worked as a camp counselor and a nanny. Thus, Diana decided that she would start babysitting again and offer tutoring to help kids improve their reading skills.

It was a simple idea, but as a teacher, these two side hustles were a natural fit for her. Diana knew that if she was going to spend hours a week hustling, after working her regular job, it needed to be something that she enjoyed doing.

Because she already had a reputation in her community for working with kids, it was easy to find her first few clients. However, as time went on, she wanted to increase her clientele. Instead of creating flyers to post around her neighborhood like she used to as a young girl, she turned to Facebook instead.

Her dad was a handyman and had found some of his clients from local Facebook groups full of adults from the area. One of the groups was specifically dedicated to parents, and Diana knew that if she could get in, it would be the perfect place to promote her side hustles.

Luckily, one of Diana’s family friends was an admin for the group and added her to the “recommendations” portion of the page.

When Diana made her first post advertising her services, she found that many of her current clients were in the group. They liked and commented on her post about how amazing she was at babysitting and tutoring which led to more attention from other parents. Most of them were friends, so if one person trusted someone, the others were likely to follow suit.

She made a combined total of at least $1,200 a month from her hustles as a babysitter and tutor. By making this amount of money and by being very frugal, Diana has been able to live completely off of her side hustle income and dedicate the entirety of her income from teaching to her loans. In three years, she paid off more than $100,000.

Diana says the key to her success has been to “go for it”. When she first started working her two side hustles, she would make an extra debt payment every week with the money she made to ensure that she wouldn’t spend it on anything else. Once she started making enough money to live on, she made debt payments every month on the 15th and 30th, which was when she got paid for teaching. Diana created boundaries for herself and stuck to them, rather than spending money here and there on things she didn’t truly need.

While she worked through her debt, she also started a blog, called Diana on a Dime.

Originally, it started out as a place to hold herself accountable, but it soon began to attract an audience. Now, she uses it to help others who are in the same situation as her. She has also just launched her first coaching program.

Diana plans to continue to hustle until the rest of her debt is fully paid off. However, she’s hoping to move away from babysitting and tutoring to working more with her blog. She knows there are only so many hours in a week that she can spend on her current side hustles, but that her “website income can grow without a tie to time.”

Next month, she’ll move out of her parent’s house and be able to live independently. Since she’s paid so much of her debt off already, her minimum monthly payment has been lowered, which has allowed her the freedom to be able to afford her rent.

When she first graduated, Diana had no idea how she’d be able to pay off such a daunting debt. Now, thanks to her hustle and hard work, she has an even bigger vision for the future.

 

  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Diana on a Dime: Learn more about Diana’s dime pinching endeavors over on her blog!
  • WordPress: Diana used WordPress to set up her blog, 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

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 best way to use a side hustle to pay off debt is to set yourself some specific boundaries and find something you enjoy doing."
—Diana Farmen #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

Professor Starts Marvel-ous YouTube Channel

What It’s About

A professor creates a money making alter ego.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re looking to do something similar, here’s the strategy you should use:

“Make a video every day. Even if it’s just you staring into a camera talking. No one will watch at first and that’s a good thing! You want to make your mistakes when no one is watching and find your own voice/platform before you really take off.”

Fun Fact

Shane’s alter-ego has been revealed to his students, and he loves incorporating his Marvel-lover side into his lesson plans.

Notes from Chris

Episode 872
Shane Hoffman leads a double life. Each morning he gets up, puts on his clothes, and drives to his job as a multimedia journalism professor at Oklahoma State University. His students love him, and he loves his work.

But once the day is over, and the sun sets on the city of Stillwater, he transforms into Prof Hoff. A game-playing, Oreo-reviewing, dad-joke-cracking YouTuber with over 12 million views.

Much like Peter Parker and a plethora of other superhero alter-egos that came before him, Shane has an origin story with pretty humble beginnings.

Back in 2017, he found himself at one of the lowest points in his life. He’d just broken off an engagement and was fighting an uphill battle against depression. He felt like he’d spent all his time and energy on the wrong things—he wanted to focus on something that he enjoyed, and he wanted to help people.

Most of his free time was spent playing a strategy-based video game called Marvel: Contest Of Champions. In the game, players assume the identity of a Marvel superhero and go to battle against other people the world over. He was pretty good at it.

One day he was chatting with his twin brother, who suggested that he try turning his gaming into a YouTube channel. It would give him something creative to focus on and bring him closer to a wider gaming community.

Shane had spent the last few years reviewing Oreos and pizza on his channel, without much success. So, he figured why not try and mix it up a bit?

After that encounter, he went home to play the game, recorded a video of what he was doing, and posted it on his channel. He didn’t expect much, but to his surprise, the video gathered more views in a couple of hours than any of his Oreo videos had in the last three years!

Each video uses YouTube advertising to generate income. Because his content is safe-for-work, he’s the perfect candidate for advertisers to place their products at the start of his videos, and he rarely has issues with videos being de-monetized, a problem that some other YouTubers have experienced. Shane also receives donations from his fans who enjoy the videos he creates.

How much money are we talking about? Well, this year he’s on track to earn $36,000 from his side hustle, which is almost the same as his teaching income. And, if it keeps growing at this rate, it won’t be long until he surpasses it!

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
"Make a video every day. Even if it’s just you staring into a camera talking. No one will watch at first and that’s a good thing! You want to make your mistakes when no one is watching and find your own voice/platform before you really take off."
—Shane Hoffman #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

Fire Protection Engineer Finds a Hot Side Hustle

What It’s About

A side hustle that’s really lit!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Sagiv has several pieces of advice for others wanting to teach a course. First of all, specialize! There are so many organizations offering courses, so be unique and offer something no one else does. The second is to do what you enjoy. People have encouraged him to put his class online or do webinars, but he isn’t interested in that. He enjoys the personal interaction of being in-class.

Fun Fact

Sagiv was involved with the first building in the world that evacuates people from tall buildings during a fire. The 60-story Facebook building has a unique Occupant Evacuation Elevator safety system that uses automatic voice and visual instructions to get people out of the building in a short amount of time.

Notes from Chris

Episode 871
Sagiv Weiss-Ishai is a fire protection engineer for the City of San Francisco, and his day job is to inspect fire plans and building permits and make sure they are up to code. He specializes in high-rise constructions and elevator-fire codes. Fun fact: he was involved with the first building in the world (the 60-story Facebook building in SF) that evacuates people from tall buildings utilizing the elevators during a fire.

Because of his expertise in these systems, he was invited to speak at professional association conferences all over the country as a volunteer. The great reviews for these 60-90-minute presentations were coming in hot! Seeing the potential in his insights, many participants encouraged him to teach an accredited, full-day class since engineers are required to get continuing education unit (CEUs) to keep their licenses.

Riding the spigot of those glowing reviews, Sagiv reached out to a professional association to see if he could become one of their teachers, but they said already had enough trainers. The elevator door was slammed shut in his face. But this rejection turned out to be a bit of a false alarm—because it was the moment he decided to produce his own trainings.

The first critical step was to get a continuing education unit (CEU) accreditation for his course. After considering the requirements, he developed a day-long class and sent in the fee and accreditation application to the National Training School. They reviewed his credentials and syllabus—and like a building with fully functioning sprinkler systems, he passed inspection with flying colors!

But then came the question of where he’d teach. He wanted to hold it in a hotel and serve breakfast, a coffee break, and lunch, which is much nicer than what other trainings provide. It also needed to be in a convenient Bay Area location. His sister-in-law, a professional meeting planner, found the venue: the Oakland Airport Holiday Inn. The room was free and they only charged a per person cost for catering. This reduced Sagiv’s risk because he only had to pay for the number of people that signed up.

The first class was in 2016 and he was ecstatic when 60 students sign up, bringing in more than $20,000 in registrations—his side hustle was on fire! He has steadily grown since then, with five different course topics offered on a rotating basis. He taught four classes in 2016, six in 2017, eight in 2018, and plans to teach ten in 2019. The attendance averages about 45 students per class, with 118 being his largest. He’s expanded from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, Seattle, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

One thing he wished he’d done differently: he wishes he would have hired professionals from the start instead of trying to save money. At first, he just used his own email list and contacts to promote the class with Mail Chimp, but eventually bought email list from Fount Media to increase his reach. He also hired someone to create his website.

Fortunately, Sagiv’s elevator safety side hustle has a lot more ups than downs!

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
"If you think you’re offering a better product than everyone, charge double the going rate. If people don’t show up, you can lower your price. Otherwise, you will never know how high you can charge."
—Sagiv Weiss-Ishai #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

Retail Worker Cleans Up With Litter-Picking Business

What It’s About

A litter removal business that cleans up in more than one way!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

You would think that going from parking lot cleanup to snow removal or grass cutting is logical, but Brian discovered that it was a mistake. Focus on that core competency!

Fun Fact

Brian says people leave all kinds of weird and valuable stuff in parking lots. It’s not uncommon to come home with a handful of cash or a new phone!

Notes from Chris

Episode 870

The year was 1981, and Brian Winch was stuck in a dead-end job. He’d wake up, shower, and drag himself off for yet another shift at his local sporting goods store. Brian knew he didn’t want this to be his life forever, so he began looking for an escape route.

Back then, however, he had little in the way of money, education, or specialized skills. There was nothing that screamed “successful businessperson” on his resume. So, he narrowed his search down to opportunities where he could get his hands dirty and work up a sweat.

He would come home from work each day and brainstorm lots of different ideas, and eventually settled on one that was inspired by his late father.

Brian’s dad was one of America’s original side hustlers. A few days a week he could get up early before work and head out to sweep local parking lots. Occasionally Brian would tag along to help out, and remembered it being as easy as going for a brisk walk—so he figured he’d give it a try!

This started in the land before time, also known as before the internet. There was no way to Google “shopping malls near me” to find a list of potential clients. Instead, he did what everybody in the 1980s had to do to find local businesses … he reached for the Yellow Pages.

He began by looking up Property Management companies to get a list of prospective clients. He did this in a way that didn’t involve pitching his services but rather focused on gathering information. He armed himself with a list of questions like:

● Do you manage commercial properties?

● Do you find it difficult to keep them clean?

● If so, would you like to learn how to have a cleaner parking lot for less money?

He repeated this process a number of times—and, within a couple of days, landed his first three contracts. Brian says it doesn’t hurt to have a little elevator pitch planned out if you want to try this yourself, but focusing on information and their needs is more important.

When Brian started his sweeping business he expected it to become a part-time, one-man-band, kind of side hustle. But it quickly took on a life of its own. Brian started to receive requests and client referrals for him to expand his business, until he had so much work he couldn’t handle it on his own, even after quitting his job.

Brian brought his brothers on board and gave the company an official name, Cleanlots. And, whenever the workload got too much, Brian would just hire another person. Sometimes it would be for just one parking lot a week, sometimes it would be a full weekend of sweeping. But this is how the business grew; one parking lot and one employee at a time.

Brian has been successfully running his business since 1981 and now earns a full-time income of over six figures a year, and his business has yearly contracts of around $650,000 a year. Many of the people who work for his company earn up to $4,000 a month for part-time work!

Recently, he’s been looking at ways to teach people how to start their own Cleanlots-style business and has even written a book on it. He wants to continue to pass on the model of what he calls America’s Simplest Business.

It’s also a business you can really clean up with!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Cleanlots: Learn more about how you can start a cleaning business yourself over on Brian’s website!
  • WordPress: Brian used WordPress to set up his website for Cleanlots, 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

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
"It’s better to be the best at something than trying to do something for everyone."
—Brian Winch #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

Hair Braiding Workshops Help Trans-Racial Adoptive Families

What It’s About

A simple side hustle with a real impact.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Being good in the world of haircare can often lead to a sea of referrals you just can’t handle. This means you need to improve at one of two things: saying no or working more. Saying no is an acceptable option!

Fun Fact

Tamekia has started to attract a wide-reaching client base, with people driving a number of hours to attend her classes and get their kid’s hair styled.

Notes from Chris

Episode 868

Tamekia Swint’s interest in hair braiding started at an early age. Her mom braided her hair every week, and by the time she was old enough to hold a comb, Tamekia was pestering her to pass on what she knew. And then, by the time she reached her early teens, she’d mastered the styles of Cornrows and Dutch Braids.

When it came time to go to college, Tamekia decided she would turn her skills into a little extra income. She had a part-time service job, but the work was sporadic and unpredictable. After enrolling in and completing a styling course in Chicago, she was ready to offer her services to people.

After graduation, she took a job as a parole agent. She stopped braiding hair for a while so she could focus her time and attention on the job, but after a few years, felt the urge to start back up again. There were loans to be paid, and it didn’t hurt to have a second stream of income coming in.

Tamekia ran this side hustle for a number of years, working 10-20 hours a week around her job. By now, she had raised her prices and was earning up to $4,000 a month. She didn’t need a high volume of clients to meet these figures, because braiding someone’s hair can take between two and ten hours.

Every few years, she paused her braiding hustle to pursue other ventures. She went back to business school to gain her masters, got married, worked for her husband’s business … then got divorced and found herself a job at an insurance firm. Once again, she began braiding hair in her spare time to make ends meet.

But it turned out to be the last time she would give it up and eventually come back to it.

Tamekia got involved in a mission at her church and went with a group to teach English to kids in Poland for two weeks. There she started showing students how to braid their own hair as a way to get them talking and learning in English. She loved teaching, and the kids responded really well!

Back home, she knew she wanted to work more with kids. She started by simply expanding her services to include kids hair. She promoted the business using flyers and business cards—the same way she had in college—and quickly found a number of families who needed her services.

One of the families she grew close to was a trans-racial adoptive family. They were white parents who had adopted two African-American daughters. And, it was in their hair she felt she found her true passion.

Tamekia saw that the two children’s hair needed some love. They had no idea how to take care of it themselves, and neither did their adoptive mother. Tamekia felt she had to jump in. So, she styled the daughter’s hair and taught the Mom how to do some basic care herself.

Over the course of a few weeks, Tamekia was contacted by a number of other trans-racial adoptive families to see if she could help them out. She made the bookings, did some stylings, and taught the parents how to manage it all.

This led Tamekia to start a not-for-profit called Styles 4 Kidz. It’s an organization that styles African-American children’s hair and provides courses on hair management for adoptive families. Much like her side hustle, Tamekia has built this purely on referrals and only started marketing through social media in the last few years.

In 2018, Tamekia and her organization’s volunteers were able to serve 500 children in and around Chicago, and they are projected to serve 1,000 this coming year! Braiding hair is a real need, and her transformation was an unexpected twist.

 

 

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

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
"A side hustle is a great thing to have in an emergency. When life circumstances change, having a skill you know you can be paid for can help in many ways."
—Tamekia Swint #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

Healthcare Advisor Transitions to Full-Time Advocacy Consultant

What It’s About

A passion for social justice leads to career change in the pursuit of advocacy.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Bethany elaborated on her approach for engaging nonprofit members and volunteers into becoming lifelong advocates:

“I think a misnomer in our industry is about amplifying your message, which focuses on getting your message out to your target audience. But I really see advocacy and communications about bringing your members and donors closer to your organization, drawing them in, and engaging them so they feel like they’re part of the work and excitement. To successfully engage your members and donors in their work, I advise my clients to identify their target audiences and build upon them.”

Fun Fact

As a testament to her hard work, Bethany’s list of accolades is both large and impressive. She’s the recipient of the American Heart Association’s National Rome Betts Award for Excellence in Advocacy; the Leader of Sacramento Area Rainbow Families; Enroll America’s national conference presenter in Washington D.C., and helped pass historic state and federal legislation in health care, women’s issues, nutrition, senior issues, and for the LGBTQ community.

Notes from Chris

Episode 865
Bethany Snyder is the owner of Snyder Strategies, a consulting side hustle turned full-time business. She helps nonprofit organizations create grassroots advocacy programs. As a self-described optimist, she believes in the power of bringing people together. Or, as Bethany puts it, she wants to help you unlock your people power.

To create this business, she drew on the skills and experience she’d gained in over 15 years as an advocacy director, lobbyist, consultant, and US Senate staffer. She’s now leveraging that expertise to help other groups … and she’s getting paid well for it.

How did she make this transition?

Back in 2016, Bethany was working full-time as the Director of Communications and Outreach for a Sacramento-based consulting firm. She advised healthcare clients on outreach strategies and led a team of communications professionals.

While her full-time job was paying the bills, Bethany felt unfulfilled. Her working environment didn’t provide her with the opportunities she craved—growth, expansion, and experimentation. She started thinking about ways she could make a bigger impact outside of her day job.

So, in November 2016, with the changing political climate and a growing concern for her LGBTQ community, Bethany decided to take action.

She reached out to people in her community and looked for ways she could help. She started by leading advocacy workshops … for free, at first. Gradually, she found her way into helping small organizations with their communications and realized how much she loved training others.

It was while working with community organizations that she spotted an opportunity. She noticed there weren’t a lot of people offering training workshops or providing this kind of expertise.

Up to this point, the workshops she was leading were mostly pro-bono, with only a sprinkle of smaller, paid projects throughout. However, in September 2018, Bethany decided it was time for a new chapter.

Since her career was mostly in healthcare advocacy, Bethany leveraged those contacts in pursuit of landing new clients. It didn’t take long. In just two months, she landed two, large clients with six-month retainers. Since then—just over two years—her consulting business has gone on to earn $14,000 a month.

So, what’s next for Snyder Strategies? Bethany’s steeped in doing great work for her clients with a focus on the 2020 election. She refers to it as the “Super Bowl” for her industry.

She’s also considering whether to partner with other PR firms, target specific organizations, or extend existing client contracts. The future is bright—she’s doing what she believes in and has made it sustainable.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Snyder Strategies: Learn more about the work that Bethany is doing over on 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
"First steps: be clear in what you want to do and can do; you can’t be all things to all people. Do what you love, then delegate or hire off the rest."
—Bethany Synder #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

Wedding Planner Earns Passive Income with DIY Flowers

What It’s About

Wedding Planner helps people enjoy A-Grade flowers at B-Grade prices.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Amy has great advice for anyone looking to follow in her footsteps:

“Start slow, keep it as a side hustle at first so you don’t throw yourself into financial jeopardy. You will know if the business idea has legs to stand on within 6 months to a year.”

Fun Fact

Amy was able to negotiate lower minimum orders with her flower wholesalers because she knew they wanted a way to sell directly to consumers, and via Flower Moxie was their best shot.

Notes from Chris

Episode 863

Amy McCord Jones studied biochemistry and forensics in college. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but once she had to start working with dead bodies in upper-level classes, she realized it wasn’t her life’s calling.

So after graduation, she tried out a corporate job installing bank security software. That wasn’t the best fit either—but it was tolerable and had the perk of not working with the dead, so she stuck with it.

One day, Amy and her mom were out walking her dog in her hometown of Oklahoma City. Her mom mentioned a nearby chapel that was up for sale. It was beautiful. It was old. It was historical, having been moved all the way from Nova Scotia decades ago. The financial crisis had lowered real estate costs dramatically, and the entire chapel—located right in the up-and-coming Paseo Arts District—was only $125,000.

She did the math. The mortgage would come in right at $900 per month. She figured if she could book just one wedding each month, her bills would be covered. Amy and her sister wrote up a business plan, asked their mother for help with the down payment, and went to the bank.

A couple of weeks later, they were owners of the oldest chapel in the city. And that’s how the wedding planning business got started. It took a couple of years, but Amy was eventually able to quit her corporate job and work with soon-to-be-married couples full-time.

But she noticed a problem. Many of her clients were struggling to keep costs low on their wedding. She’d become quite the floral designer, but she wasn’t using those skills as much as she would have liked—$3,000 for a simple set of arrangements was just too expensive for most people.

And that’s when she came up with her next idea: a website that made it really easy for brides to order DIY flower bouquets that they could put together on their own to save money.

After a bit of research, Amy confirmed that there weren’t any businesses like this already—at least, none that were in pursuit of quality flowers instead of B-Grade flowers like you’d get from Costco or other grocery stores.

She knew the idea would work—she’d already met her target audience dozens of times. Now she just had to build it.

Amy started by reaching out to wholesalers she’d bought from in the past. They were always complaining about not being allowed to sell directly to the public, and Amy knew her business could act as an easy workaround for them.

She shot about twenty instructional videos in her living room on how to actually make the bouquets, corsages, and table toppers once the brides received their flowers. And finally, in March 2015, Flower Moxie went live.

One year later, Flower Moxie had its first $10,000 month—a huge milestone—but not all was well with Amy. Collecting and shipping flowers overnight was stressful, and as business continued to grow, Amy got more and more burned out.

In January of 2018, Amy left the wedding planning business to her sister to work on Flower Moxie full-time. She’s since made more arrangements for sale, improved her website, and made more instructional videos.

Not only is Amy less stressed and tired now, but sales have grown dramatically—and all by word of mouth. After spending a few thousand dollars on ads in her first year, she turned off the tap and currently spends $0 per month. Simply doing everything she can to help brides-to-be save money on gorgeous flowers has been her most successful growth strategy.

And she’s not finished growing yet. At $60,000 per month in revenue (approximately 40% of that as profit), Flower Moxie is now well-positioned to expand into markets other than DIY wedding flowers. She’s currently exploring some new partnerships.

But the core of Amy’s success isn’t going to change: helping people enjoy A-Grade flowers at prices they can feel good about.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Flower Moxie: Cut the stems off of some of those wedding costs—head over to Amy’s website to learn more!
  • Shopify: Amy used Shopify to set up her site for Flower Moxie, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!

 

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 critics only criticize and never put themselves out there. The ones you want to listen to are your customers. Their opinions are the only ones that matter."
—Amy McCord Jones #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

Working Military Mom Finds Success Working Virtually

What It’s About

A military wife forges her own path as a virtual assistant, then shows others the way.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Esther advises letting go of clients that are less than ideal and moving on. As she puts it, hanging onto toxic clients for fear of being destitute is the wrong kind of mindset and keeps people stuck in low-paying jobs.

Fun Fact

Did you know that 63% of companies now have remote workers? 48% of companies also use freelancers, and work done by freelancers has increased 168%.

Notes from Chris

Episode 859

Seven years ago, Esther Inman dreamed of having a career that allowed her to work from home, wherever “home” might be. At the time, her husband was in the Marines, and they lived with their 2-year-old son in San Diego.

But Esther was supremely unhappy trying to juggle her corporate day job in software product management with being a mom and military wife. A typical work day consisted of dropping off her son at daycare at 7 am, then catching the train for her 1-hour commute to work. After work, she would pick him up after 6 pm and they would have only an hour for dinner, a bath, and bedtime.

Her husband was often deployed overseas or working nights, so she had no help on the homefront. And weekends were spent running errands and doing household chores. Eventually, Esther realized this was not a life she wanted for herself or her son. She just couldn’t do it anymore, so she quit her corporate job.

Needing to replace her income ASAP, she took what she thought was her dream job, but it involved a lot of work travel. With her husband was deployed at the time, this meant their son had to stay with family for weeks at a time. She toiled at this for a year before realizing it wasn’t the answer either. She then decided to try her hand at being a VA, or Virtual Assistant.

She landed her first gig in the VA world through a posting on CraigsList. The job was working for an online course creation agency, and Esther was chosen out of 300 applicants! What made her stand out from the competition? First, she made a modern-style resume using a tool called Canva, which included a picture of herself. She also included a brief “about me” video.

Mostly, though, she followed directions.

The posting also had a few other requirements, such as asking specific questions for each applicant to answer. This is commonly used in job postings to help filter out candidates. It not only ensures that people are reading the posting in its entirety—it also shows that prospects can follow directions.

Esther jumped through each hoop. One requirement was to call a number and leave a message about why she was a good candidate for the job—only 3 out of all 300 applicants bothered to do this properly. It’s the simple things, people!

When Esther first started working as a VA seven years ago, she charged $20/hour, with a minimum of 30 hours per week, but she often would have the opportunity to work a LOT more. Good VAs are hard to find, so she was quite the hot commodity. Within about a year though, she raised her rates to $35-$50/hour.

She was soon so booked out that she had to hire help! From there, Esther’s business quickly evolved into a Virtual Assistant agency. For several years, she led a team of twelve, primarily building online courses for clients.

As her VA business grew into an agency, Esther had so many people asking her how to work online that she began mentoring and helping other women become VAs, too. From there, she then developed her own VA training programs. For four years, she ran both her agency and training programs. Eventually, she became burnt out with the client work. In the last year, Esther transitioned into running her VA training programs full time (she still offers online course consulting). Last year Esther’s business made $158,000, and this year, she is on track to make over $200,000.

Now able to travel the world at any time, Esther and her family call the island of Bali home. Being an influencer in the remote work movement, having an army of women working online and saying “no more” to the old corporate ways is her goal for the future.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Virtual Assistant Internship: Now that she’s mastered working as a VA, Esther is working to help others do the same. Learn more about working remotely as a virtual assistant over on her website!
  • WordPress: Esther used WordPress to set up her website for Virtual Assistant Internship, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes
  • Canva: The free design platform that Esther used to create her stand-out resume. Whitney, our Content Manager, uses this platform daily and gives it her stamp of approval!

 

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
"The great part about the online space is that it’s not about what degrees, years of experience, or certificates you have—nobody cares. What they do care about what you’ve DONE."
—Esther Inman #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

That’s the Spot! Dog Lover’s Hustle Becomes Fur-ever Biz

What It’s About

A dog training side hustle to go mutts over.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

It can take time to gain confidence when you’re going out on your own. The important thing is to not let it get the better of you.

In Patrice’s case, humility can be a healthy response if it leads you toward self-improvement. In fact, she cites overcoming those fears as one of the most rewarding aspects of growing her business. She says, “Prior to this experience, I didn’t know I had as much gumption as I do.”

Fun Fact

For years, getting researchers to pinpoint the origin of man’s best friend was like walking into a room full of dog owners and asking, “Who’s a good boy?” Everyone would promote, with utmost confidence, their own pet theory.

But a new dual-origin theory found that an ancient European population was replaced by an eastern Asian population as the latter expanded across the continent. Every dog alive today is descended from ancient Asian roots!

Notes from Chris

Episode 856

Patrice Kuiken knew she wanted to run her own business. She even knew exactly what that business would be. But like all of our stories—and because she had to pay the bills—it needed to start as a side hustle.

You see, Patrice had been passionate about animals from a young age. Ever since volunteering at the Humane Society, helping train dogs at the shelter to become more adoptable, she was hooked on dog training.

Patrice devoured every book, video, and resource she could find to learn more about dog behavior and how best to humanely train them. Interestingly, dog training ended up being much more about training the humans than the dogs!

She gained experience working at a doggy daycare through college and then as a dog trainer at a local pet store after graduation. Patrice’s specialty became young, out of control dogs, and highly reactive dogs whose owners were at their wits’ end.

She made herself “top dog” at training, but she knew very little about business. So she started out simply. While working full-time at a customer service job she wasn’t mutts about, she began offering private training sessions. This required no overhead since she would go to the dog owner’s house and do the training there.

After a year or so, Patrice realized that her full-time job was standing in the way of building her dog training hustle. Work was draining, leaving her little energy for after-hours work. Though it was keeping her afloat financially, something needed to change.

After a brief search, she found more flexible work as a personal assistant and gardener for a psychologist who ran her practice out of her home. This allowed Patrice to create her own schedule and focus more on the business, which she named “In Good Paws” Dog Training. She’d get her work done for the psychologist in the morning. Evenings and weekends were dedicated to In Good Paws, helping people train their dogs to be the well-behaved family member they always wanted.

After taking into account her business license, liability insurance, a website, and some business cards, her annual profit from 2018 was $23,000, which was up 40% from 2017!

Patrice recently brought on another dog trainer to do private training sessions as an independent contractor. This allows her to further increase the number of training sessions the business provides, without adding any risk to her. Eventually, she would also love to hire someone to do more of the administrative work so that the business could move forward when Patrice takes a vacation.

What’s so fetching about Patrice’s story is that she knew her end game and kept that ball in sight. She took purposeful steps as she could, including switching her full-time gig to be more accommodating to growing her side hustle. All the while, she gained more experience and confidence until she was ready to roll over into a full-time business. Now she’s barking to the bank!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • In Good Paws: Sit, stay, roll over, and learn more about the dog training work that Patrice is doing over on her website!
  • WordPress: Patrice used WordPress to set up her website for In Good Paws, 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

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
"Most of dog training is about the humans, so you really do have to enjoy working with people and know how to teach them. Finally, network, network, network! Having good relationships with people in the dog industry is invaluable for getting your name out there—this business is a word of mouth business."
—Patrice Kuiken #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

Best Buy Employee Moonlights as Online Ad Consultant

What It’s About

A digital marketer helps businesses with their online advertising.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Jordon has some great advice for those who think that you need to throw money at something or leave your full-time job in order for a side hustle to be successful.

“Spend as little money as possible to get things started, and make sure there’s a safety net. Lots of startups fail, so it’s good to have a full-time job. I nearly replaced my salary with the side hustle before turning that into my job.”

Fun Fact

Jordon’s agency, Granular, was voted one of the “Coolest Offices in Milwaukee”, “Best Places to Work for Young Professionals in Wisconsin”, and the “Top 3 Small PPC Agencies in the U.S.” by U.S. Search Awards.

Notes from Chris

Episode 850
Jordon Meyer now runs the digital marketing agency Granular. It’s a 16-person team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These days, it’s his full-time job and a multi-million dollar agency. But like most of our stories, it didn’t start out that way…

Before building this digital marketing behemoth, Jordon was holding down a job at the Best Buy head office in Minneapolis. He climbed the corporate ladder for a while before realizing there was no end in sight.

He then transitioned into the for-profit, higher-education industry, but felt like he was selling his soul to the highest bidder while making someone else a lot of money. It was around this time that Jordon decided to put his PPC skills to work.

By the way, PPC or Pay-Per-Click, is an internet marketing model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. You know when you do a Google search for something and at the top of the screen, you see those ads? Those are Jordon’s! Well, maybe not Jordon’s specifically, but those are someone’s ads. It’s a way for business owners to buy traffic to their website.

If his talents were already helping someone else’s business earn a lot of money, why not apply those same talents and build something of his own?

He started freelancing on the side as a Google Adwords, Paid Social Media, and Analytics consultant for businesses around the country. He based the business out of his house, specifically, his living room recliner.

Each day, Jordon worked on campaigns late into the night after getting home from his corporate job. He’d even sit in his car during his lunch break to make calls! And he ran his hustle this way for the first two years.

It wasn’t until a few years in that he explored the option of quitting his day job. Jordon had grown to managing ten clients by himself (which he admits was too many) while working 50 hours a week in the corporate role.

Encouraged by one of his larger clients to take the leap (and sweetening the deal by offering up their office to work out of for free), Jordon left his corporate marketing job and returned home to his native Milwaukee. He then officially started Granular Digital Marketing Agency.

Currently, Jordon’s annual profits from Granular total around two million dollars per year. However, unlike typical agencies who charge a percentage of ad spend or a markup (one of the things Jordon doesn’t like doing), he charges more like a consultant by blocks of hours.

The pricing varies, but he usually has a monthly minimum $1,500 agency consulting fee (for about nine hours of work). His hourly rate is $200 per hour. For his enterprise clients, that figure could extend to over 100 hours a month with a multi-person team servicing them.

So what’s next? He wants to continue building Granular along with helping other companies grow where he sees opportunity. He’d also like to build wealth outside of his business through real estate and other investments.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Granular: Learn more about the work that Jordon is doing over on his website!
  • WordPress: Jordon used WordPress to set up the website for Granular, 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

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
"Spend as little money as possible to get things started, and make sure there’s a safety net. Lots of startups fail, so it’s good to have a full-time job. I nearly replaced my salary with the side hustle before turning that into my job."
—Jordon Meyer #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