Tag: Service

Bring Your Own Cannabis to this “420-Friendly” Painting Class

What It’s About

A side hustle that’s equal parts Bob Ross and Cheech and Chong!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

With any partnership, maintaining trust and respect is crucial. Kelly and Tasha have collaborated from the start, and they work through hurdles by being honest and being able to talk through things. They complement each other with their different skill sets, being able to create a complete business. Never having to hire out anything. Plus, they like to set an example of a hard-working stoner duo, to really break the stoner stereotype. We’d have to say that they’re definitely succeeding!

Fun Fact

Kelly and Tasha aren’t much for social media. But one day, they woke up and discovered Brush Tokes was featured in Rolling Stone magazine! They were shocked and thrilled. As one of the best places to get your paint and pot on in California, Brush Tokes has had other fun PR moments like being in the California Pot Guide and on the Cannabis Talk 101 radio show.

Notes from Chris

Episode 510

What do you do when you’re in Orange County, California and you want to paint while getting high? It’s always been a huge problem—there are places you can paint, and there are places where you can consume recreational marijuana … but until Kelly Pyszkiewicz and Tasha Rindt came along, there was nowhere you could do both.

That’s right, this side hustle story is all about combining two passions that both Kelly and Tasha had: painting and pot.

As local artists, they were inspired by one another’s endeavors and realized along the way that the cultural topic of cannabis was also a connection. At the time, California was buzzing with the possibility that it might follow suit with the rest of the west coast and make recreational marijuana legal. For Kelly and Tasha, that signaled an idea.

In 2017, they decided to commit to creating Brush Tokes, Orange County’s premier 420-friendly art studio. It’s a place that welcomes artists who also enjoy hanging with friends while casually having a glass of wine and a joint. Kelly and Tasha wanted to create a place for folks to get inspired, relax and meet like-minded people.

The biggest hurdle for many pot-specific businesses is finding a space that will allow smoking. Luckily, Kelly’s gracious boyfriend offered up a space where he usually works on custom cars, to be used for Brush Tokes classes. Once they landed the space, gathering the tables and chairs to host was the next step. Kelly and Tasha found gently-used options on Craigslist. This approach kept their start-up costs way down to only around $1,000.

The first few Brush Tokes classes were filled with their friends, all hanging out and learning to paint. One friend led to another friend…and another. To this day, Kelly and Tasha haven’t spent a dime on advertising. One way they did spread the word was by going to pot dispensaries and introducing themselves, leaving flyers and branded stickers to promote.

Classes range in subject matter from Bob Ross landscapes (happy little trees and cannabis plants) to a class coming up around Glass Vase painting. Kelly and Tasha teach the classes themselves and encourage their fellow artists to explore and experiment. And of course, have fun. Classes range from $30 to $40 and they fill up fast. Each ticket includes an 11″ x 14″ canvas, supplies, step-by-step instruction, and a goodie bag! The goodie bags are filled with fun pot-related freebies like rolling papers, a hemp wick, a branded lighter and stickers.

The classes are so fun that people stay sometimes until 10pm or later. The addition of pot can influence people’s paintings in some funny and creative ways. Of course, it helps the painters come up with unique ideas. Even the instructors get inspired by the weed, like when Kelly added a ferris wheel at the end of a painting of Newport Pier, and when Tasha added a joint in the Lovely Lion’s mouth.

Kelly and Tasha are able to cover expenses and make a profit from each class. Usually, two, two-hour classes a month brings in a profit of $2,400! Proving Brush Tokes is paving the way for art and pot-enthusiasts alike to make and mingle. This is certainly proving to be no one-hit wonder!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Brush Tokes OC: If spending your time getting high and painting happy little trees with others sounds like your idea of a good time (I mean, how could you not?), learn more about what Tasha and Kelly are doing over on their 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
"If you’re thinking about starting a side hustle, you need to step outside of your comfort zone. Comfort inhibits achievements, and fortune favors the brave!"
—Tasha Rindt #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Travel the Globe With Cards For Travel!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by CardsForTravel.com. Use travel hacking to see the world!

When you apply for their most popular, small business rewards card, you can earn 80,000 Bonus Points—enough for three round-trip plane tickets or $1,000 in travel credits. Check out this limited time offer! ✈️ 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

Policy Researcher Offers Private Tours of Nation’s Capital

What It’s About

Tour guide “trip hacks” his way to $1,500/month using YouTube.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

With the idea hatched, guidebook firmly in hand and a custom t-shirt printed, Rob was ready for business. To get customers he first thought to use TripAdvisor. Go where the tourists go right? But it’s not so easily done! Competition in DC for tour guides is fierce. There are currently over 150 companies listed in the tours section of TripAdvisor. With 22 million tourists visiting every year, it’s easy to understand why.

Instead of giving up or banging his head against the wall, Rob got creative—and it seems like it was the much better approach.

Fun Fact

While Washington DC is home to some of the world’s most famous monuments and memorials, there are also a multitude of fun facts about our capital and presidents that might surprise you!

The city itself uses letters instead of numbers to name their streets, but because DC was planned prior to the letter J joining our alphabet, there is no “J street” in the city. And although most of our recent Commanders in Chief have opted for a family dog, some of our past presidents have made more unconventional choices. Did you know that both Herbert Hoover and John Quincy Adams (allegedly) had pet alligators while they were in the White House?

Notes from Chris

Episode 508

There are two things that Rob Pitingolo loves: hanging out with people… and his hometown, Washington DC. So it’s of little surprise that, outside of his day job, Rob spent four years as a part-time tour guide. He got to meet interesting people and show them around the nation’s capital.

A big chunk of the DC population works in government, and Rob is no different. His full-time job is in public policy research. But in addition to the population of government employees, there are also a lot of tourists. The latter make up the lion’s share of the population during summer and spring.

Tourists give the city a constant hum of excitement. Sometimes it made Rob feel like he was on vacation himself. That’s why he spent a lot of his free time working as a tour guide. Not in his own side hustle per se, but for one of the biggest tour operators in the city.

Being a true “people person,” Rob most enjoyed the small, intimate private tours with only a few people. But, the problem with working for a large operation is that there are very few opportunities to give those tours. The real money for those companies is in volume. The chance to lead a group of only a few people rarely comes up.

Instead of begging the company he worked for to take on the limited amount of private tours on offer, Rob decided to take matters into his own hands! He took a step that America’s founding fathers would be proud of and inched himself closer to the American dream. How? He decided to start his own side hustle, and he called it Trip Hacks DC!

He’d offer private tours that he knew tourists would love.

To get customers he first thought to use TripAdvisor. Go where the tourists go right? But it’s not so easily done! Competition in DC for tour guides is fierce.

You can’t just add your company to the site and hope for the best. TripAdvisor prioritizes reviews above everything else—so if you’re new to the game, you’re at a real disadvantage. In Rob’s case, some of the top companies in DC had 100’s of reviews already.

This revelation led him to a hard truth. The difficult part of starting his tour company will be getting people to know he even exists. To paraphrase an old proverb. If a guide talks in the city and no one is around to hear it, is he really a guide at all?

Rob refused to head down the same path as everyone else and resort to fighting over TripAdvisor crumbs. He knew he had to think outside the box. So, he decided to try YouTube as a way to reach potential customers.

It turned out to be a great insight!

Using his own initiative, Rob is guiding himself to the bank, earning around $1,500 per month on average. Not bad for a little known public policy researcher from DC working on the side and doing it in his own way.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Trip Hacks DC: Did you know that among the many gargoyles adorning the National Cathedral, there’s a sculpture of Darth Vader’s head? I bet Rob knew that one! Learn more about him on his website
  • TripAdvisor & YouTube: The two platforms that Rob used to get Trip Hacks DC out to the masses

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 part of this side hustle is getting to meet everyone who finds my YouTube videos and decides to book a tour with me. It’s one thing for people to leave a comment and say the videos are helpful, it’s even more rewarding when they spend their hard-earned cash on a tour to prove it."
—Rob Pitingolo #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Travel the Globe With Cards For Travel!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by CardsForTravel.com. Use travel hacking to see the world!

When you apply for their most popular, small business rewards card, you can earn 80,000 Bonus Points—enough for three round-trip plane tickets or $1,000 in travel credits. Check out this limited time offer! ✈️ 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

Tales of a 15-Year-Old YouTube Makeup Artist

What It’s About

A teen goes viral and discovers something way more lucrative than an allowance.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

When it comes to monetizing YouTube channels, ad revenue can be just a drop in the metaphorical bucket compared to other options…

There are plenty of other opportunities for aspiring YouTubers with growing lists. Sponsorships and product promotions are great for a makeup artist like Sarah, and she’s learned how to take advantage of these lucrative revenue alternatives.

Fun Fact

Sarah’s passion is for makeup artistry, but in Melbourne where she lives, it’s common for schools to have a no-makeup policy. Her school’s policy is pretty strict, while others allow the use of concealer and mascara. This rule only applies during regular school hours though. Many of Sarah’s first clients were friends that were attending a school formal with her, and these events are where her talents really got to shine.

Notes from Chris

Episode 507

Side Hustle School is all about encouraging people to pursue financial freedom. After all, where’s the fun in living paycheck-to-paycheck? For most teenagers, however, this pursuit isn’t quite top of mind just yet. They’re still attending school, living at home, and trying to figure out what Algebra has to do with anything.

In many ways, Sarah Fritz is your typical teenager. She goes to school, lives at home in Melbourne, Australia, and probably has a better grasp on mathematics than most other students her age. But that’s because, at just 15, Sarah’s side hustle equates to real money from YouTube.

Her YouTube journey began back in April 2015 with her older sister, Amy. Their videos featured makeup tutorials and general teenage commentary. But after just a few months, the two parted ways with Amy starting her own channel, leaving Sarah to come up with own content. Of the two sisters, you could say that Sarah had the biggest passion for makeup artistry and tutorials, so she sat down in front of the camera in December that same year and recorded a video that was close to her heart—“13-year-old cakeface.” It was a response to people who kept telling her she was too young to wear makeup and that she wore too much makeup—that it was “caked on.”

She’d posted videos before this one, including a tutorial on her everyday makeup look, a demonstration of how to get the ‘perfect smokey eye’ (by the way, I’ve spent years mastering my smokey eye, and she got hers down by 13…sigh) and a review of her latest shopping excursion in the United States. People watched and liked the videos, and some of them even subscribed to her channel. As a matter of fact, the “American Haul” post to date has over 178 thousand views. But “cakeface” was a real turning point for our young vlogger, and the video would surpass one million views just six months after uploading it.

That was the moment when she realized her passion could be profitable. At first, it was an escape; something to distract her from the stresses of trig. homework and high school love triangles. Now, her content is a distraction for over 140,000 followers!

But of course, she needed to monetize her channel. To do this, Sarah and her dad first looked at the analytics behind their channel. Based on the demographics of the audience (mostly female between the ages of 13-30), they were able to get a general idea of who was watching Sarah’s videos and used that information to determine what kind of ads would be worthwhile to promote to their audience. And from there, they signed up to be a YouTube Partner and connected their account with Google Adsense.

And she says it’s a much more satisfying return than mowing the lawn or taking out the trash! Sarah says that most of her ad revenue falls in the $500-$2,000/month range depending on how often she puts together tutorial videos, and her most popular videos have brought in around $3,000. Not a bad haul for less than 20 minutes worth of recorded content!

With her successful YouTube channel, a bevy of sponsorships, an active community of followers, and a growing list of makeup clients, Sarah is securing that financial freedom we love hearing about at Side Hustle School—starting well ahead of her peers, not to mention many people much older. Maybe some of us need to catch up!

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

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

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

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

Quote of the Day
"People ask me all the time how I’ve found success, and I think it’s because viewers can relate to my life and the authenticity in my videos. Mostly, I’m not afraid of what others think—I’m unapologetically me!"
—Sarah Fritz #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Travel the Globe With Cards For Travel!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by CardsForTravel.com. Use travel hacking to see the world!

When you apply for their most popular, small business rewards card, you can earn 80,000 Bonus Points—enough for three round-trip plane tickets or $1,000 in travel credits. Check out this limited time offer! ✈️ 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

Car Crash Leads To Pain Relief Side Hustle

What It’s About

An innovative service that connects physical therapists and people with busy schedules.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Paging Patch has used lots of content and email marketing to help grow their following. And they’ve been featured on many industry websites like Shape and Huffington Post Health. These have been short excerpts and quotes that link back to their website. You can achieve similar results in your side hustle by using Help-A-Reporter-Out (HARO), where you can provide quotes and insights for journalists.

Fun Fact

Physical therapy is proven to be one of the most effective, least invasive, and least costly ways to get care for pain and injury. Yet only 10% of people suffering actually use physical therapy as a care option.

Notes from Chris

Episode 503

Rachel Sanders’ life was changed forever by a car crash. The accident happened while she was a full-time business school student, and afterward, she was left with persistent neck and back pain. During the months following her injury, she visited what felt like hundreds of doctors to try and cure the pain. But the diagnosis was always the same—it was chronic.

The only relief she found was through acupuncture and physical therapy. The sessions she undertook helped relieve many of the symptoms and made her studies much more bearable.

But, like so many students, Rachel’s schedule was pretty busy. There were essays to write, classes to attend, and events to host—leaving little time to spend on self-care. Most of the clinics she needed to visit for her treatment were only open when she was working or in class, and it was hard to get appointments for after-hours care.

Rachel began to look for solutions. Instead of going to the therapist, she’d bring the therapist to her. And she began to book appointments, at a time that suited her, in the comfort of her own home.

This piqued her entrepreneurial interest. Rachel realized that there is no shortage of busy people who struggle to find the time for self-care around their work!

She saw this as a business opportunity and a way to help people she could empathize with. She’d learned a lot in her studies about how much people love convenience. Meanwhile, health care was still an inconvenient industry, despite the amount of money people pay in insurance over the course of their lives.

This led to an idea that Rachel called Paging Patch. She wanted to connect people with injuries or medical problems to physical therapists who would travel to them. The name came from the idea of “paging” a doctor, and the way a doctor can “patch” you up.

This allows suffering patients to get personalized care and work with a therapist they can trust. But this system doesn’t just help the patients, it also helps the therapists.

Since its conception on October 2017, Paging Patch has worked with around 60 therapists to treat over 100 patients, and they’ve seen numbers double each month. Some of their therapists have been able to earn $1,000 a month or more by being registered on the platform.

Looking to the future, Rachel wants to grow patch into different areas of the country. They’re currently working in Nashville, Boston, NYC, and Denver and will hopefully be coming to a city near you very soon! If you need to get patched up and want your therapist to come to you, now you know where to go.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Paging Patch: If you need to get patched up but are short on time, check out Rachel’s service over on her website
  • Wix: The online website building platform that Rachel used to set up her website for Paging Patch
  • Help-A-Reporter-Out (HARO): The popular sourcing service that connects journalists and bloggers with relevant expert sources to meet journalists’ demanding deadlines and enable brands to tell their stories

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
"Don’t let what you don’t know stand in your way. You don’t need to be able to code—there are so many website builders and other tools that you can use to set up something that can be tested. Figure out a way to hack together a quick solution, and get out there and start selling it."
—Rachel Sanders #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
Get Started Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

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

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


Here's How

Keep in Touch

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


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Part-Time Music Teacher Tunes Up Piano School to $100,000/Year

What It’s About

A six-figure side hustle that’s like music to your ears.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Emilee’s biggest piece of advice? Be decisive. If you have an idea, start it today. What Emilee has learned through her side hustles is that the success of a business depends on a person’s ability to just take the plunge and start their project… even if they’re worried they might fail. That acceptance of potential failure cuts down on the time you lose as you think about whether you should start your project and brings the day you make your first sale or earn money even closer.

Fun Fact

When it comes to instruments, the piano is a relative baby. The first piano was created in 1698 by an Italian named Bartolomeo Cristofori. While 320 years sounds like a lot, other instruments, like the flute, are over 1000 years old. But, what the piano lacks in age, it makes up for in sound—this instrument covers the entire orchestral range. Pretty noteworthy!

Notes from Chris

Episode 502

You could say that Emilee-Mae Feely is a full-time side hustler. Her list of roles includes property manager/art model/kid’s cake baker/musician manager/bachelorette party coordinator has always liked to stay busy, but she has her old high school boyfriend to thank for her most profitable side hustle to date. And that’s what we’re going to focus on today!

Emilee was 16 when she started her first side hustle, Feely Piano School, which began as a way to fill the gaps in her after-school schedule. In a problem that has plagued the world of music teachers worldwide, she noticed that her students weren’t consistently showing up to their lessons—which left her with free time, but no income. They were supposed to pay even if they didn’t come, but that didn’t always happen.

So, Emilee modified her high-school business plan and began offering in-home lessons to her students, instead of having them visit her. Emilee figured this would help cut down on missed classes because her students wouldn’t have an excuse not to show up.

She kept offering piano lessons into university and used her now long-distance relationship as a happy coincidence to expand her client base into a new city, while still offering lessons in her students’ homes. Although the relationship didn’t last forever, Emilee saw her business expand and used the momentum, and rave reviews, to branch out into other nearby towns.

How has she been able to be in more than one place at a time? Well, first consider this: in the five years since her university days, Emilee has grown her piano school side hustle into a $100,000 a year business, all without investing in any marketing, and all while starting other projects as well. She’s been able to reach that figure through subcontracting the lessons to other teachers, which also helps her add new cities to Feely Piano School’s repertoire.

How does the money work out? Emilee charges $400 per 8-week semester for one hour of lessons a week and pays each subcontractor about ½, or ¾ of that—depending on their level of experience. Because every lesson is literally ‘in-house,’ there aren’t any overhead costs to consider. Any printed materials, like music sheets, are covered by the students themselves, and her subcontractors pay for their own transportation.

Emilee spends roughly 10 to 15 hours a week either teaching lessons herself, or dealing with the administrative tasks that come with running a 5-city piano school. She’s played with the idea of expanding into more cities, but that also means it would add more administrative work for Emilee, leaving her with less time to focus on her other projects.

The multi-passionate multi-side hustler is looking for her next idea, now that her piano school is mostly passive income thanks to subcontractors. When we spoke to Emilee, she was participating in The StartupBus, where she was spending five days focusing on building (and launching) a music education app. She now has an idea to start a new online business every week, for the next 52 weeks, to challenge herself to create more ideas… All while continuing to cash the checks from Feely Piano School.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Feely Piano School: If today’s episode struck a chord, learn more about Emilee and her project over on her website!
  • StartupBus: A competition that Emilee was involved in where she spent five days focusing on building and launching a music education app

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
"When I’m working on coming up with a new side hustle, I generally think to myself ‘if I were a client, what would be the most attractive thing for me, or the ideal situation?’ Then I drive my business to cater to that need."
—Emilee Feely #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
Get Started Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

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

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


Here's How

Keep in Touch

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


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Hollywood Film Editor Optimizes Life Through Self-Care Side Hustle

What It’s About

A Hollywood film and tv editor helps those in the industry strike a healthy work/life balance.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

According to Zack, the first step is understanding the reason why you would start a side hustle in the first place. There are plenty of ways to earn money online now, but some of them aren’t rewarding. Knowing why you want to build a business and who you specifically want to help are key. Otherwise, it can be difficult to overcome the drudgery of what you’re doing when you hit walls, have glitches, have failed launches, etc.

The bigger picture and the greater ‘Why’ is the engine that will drive everything.

Fun Fact

On average, Zack spends about 20 hours a week on Optimize Yourself. His work schedule changes often, so his time commitment shifts. But he’s built in a lot of automated systems over time. When he’s not busy with editing TV shows, he stocks up on podcast interviews. It took Zack a while to learn the lesson that he needed to delegate. Once he learned how to teach it to someone else, he did. Zack would spend weeks doing it by himself, only to realize someone can do it better and faster.

Notes from Chris

Episode 501

Is a work/life balance even a real thing? Zack Arnold, a successful Hollywood film and TV editor, doesn’t subscribe to the idea…at least not as it’s commonly known. Even though he was working on shows like Glee, Empire, Unsolved and others, his days were spent sitting in dark editing bays and then rushing home to be with his family at night. Trying (like many of us do) to divide and compartmentalize his days, he realized something.

Even though he may have been spending 50% of his days at work and 50% at home, he felt scattered, unhealthy, and unhappy.

One spring day, he decided enough was enough. He started an email chain he coined “Fitness in Post” with his fellow film/TV editors to get his friends together to do fitness-focused activities like hiking. In the beginning, it was more about starting a club than a business.

His initial email blast was with friends, but more people wanted to join, including a lot of people he didn’t know. So he decided to sign up for a MailChimp account to help manage it. With very little effort, he found an audience of more than 500 people. He realized he was on to something.

One of Zack’s friends wanted him to come on his podcast and talk about the clear need in the film industry for a better way to balance work, life, and wellness. Inspired by a suggestion from that same friend, Zack decided to start his own “Fitness in Post” podcast. At first, he thought it would be two to three episodes, something short-lived. Another surprise: The podcast caught on just like the email list. A lot of people in the industry really wanted to talk about how to make working conditions better.

Zack was inspired to make it his mission to push forward the conversation. At conferences and events, people started asking him about his podcast vs. his full-time job. Another push to charge ahead.

His friends were his first fans of the group and the podcast—really the catalyst to help to build his business.

And one day, a friend said something to Zack at a conference that really changed his whole outlook. He asked how he was going to monetize his side hustle. This friend said “If you don’t have a plan to monetize it, anything that takes this amount of time and dedication, you’ll have to give up in two years. It’s going to be too much.”

That advice shifted the way Zack thought about Fitness in Post, realizing that his audience would want him to continue creating. He got over the initial hesitation about asking for money, and that’s when he started to research different podcasts and sites. After a little rebranding, he created some online teaching tools and grew more and more excited as he considered the possibilities for his new side hustle, Optimize Yourself.

Last year, he added coaching to his side hustle skills. As he created courses, he wanted a place to test and try his methods. Coaching was the perfect way to help others and to hear first-hand their needs. This helped Zack cater his courses to help people with all different types of goals.

For the coaching, he offers a 12-week program, one hour a week, for $2,500. He has two to three students at a time, working with them one-on-one, setting goals and take actions. He’s coached six people so far, bringing in profits around $15,000.

Today, Zack’s side hustle monthly income varies depending on if he does a product launch or not, but in general, he brings in around $2,000 per month which is largely passive with the exception of two hours of coaching per week. His email list now has over 4,000 people, and he’s still generating profits through the online courses and coaching. His priority is to launch new products with two courses in the works. He’s spent zero money on Facebook or Google ads throughout all of this. All of his audience growth has been organic through podcast listeners, the free guide on his website and his courses. It really proves great content can make your side hustle a box office hit.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Optimize Yourself: If you’re like Zack and spend much of your day sitting at a desk, learn how to find some balance yourself on his website
  • MailChimp: The email marketing platform that Zack used to help manage the email blasts to his friends

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 first mistake I made was NOT celebrating because I was so enamored with the fact that someone was actually willing to pay me money for my knowledge and view me as an ‘expert.’ Give yourself credit along the way, otherwise you’ll get burned out when you only focus on the things you haven’t done yet."
—Zack Arnold #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
Get Started Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

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

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


Here's How

Keep in Touch

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


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Paintball Enthusiast Builds Epic Field in New Zealand

What It’s About

When the economy takes a hit, this pilot helps residents of his hometown hit back even harder.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Having trouble determining which ideas are worth pursuing? Craig says that he has a notebook that he writes down every single quirky idea that comes into his head. He considers this notebook “a never-ending to-do-list.” And if he picks up the book and adds something to an existing entry, that is a flag for him to think “hmmmm, this could work.”

Fun Fact

Borderlandz Paintball even had its own race car. For real. From Craig, “We entered it into national events. We placed 7th out of 96 entries in the championship. We used the car for promo events for the paintball field and friends that had other small businesses added their logos all over the car (We looked so ‘pro’ with all the ‘sponsors’, haha). I later sold the car to finance our motorhome build and the move to Australia. It was fun while it lasted that’s for sure!”

Notes from Chris

Episode 497

Craig Tyer always wanted to fly airplanes, and once he was old enough, he trained to be a flying instructor. A dream job, right? Well, it was a dream job in some ways, but it definitely didn’t come with a dream paycheck. At least in Craig’s native New Zealand, teaching junior pilots was not a high-paying career.

Naturally, he needed a side hustle. And it helped that he had some history with them, beginning with his first at age nine.

Years later, while going through flight training, he played a lot of paintball on the weekends. Part of it was fun, and part of it was to stay fit. After all, there’s a lot of sitting involved in flying! He was living in Christchurch, New Zealand and the tourist industry took a nose dive after a massive, 6.3 earthquake. A number of paintball fields went out of business.

Determined to keep the beloved pastime in his city, Craig decided to save every penny he could from teaching kids to fly to start his own paintball facility. How much does a paintball facility cost? In Christchurch, NZ, apparently it costs around $8,000. He began by buying 10 paintball packs from his contacts in Christchurch, gearing up for 8-10 people to play, costing around $5,000. He also traveled around the country (by plane?), touring different paintball facilities, noting likes and dislikes. From there, he designed his dream field. He started locally sourcing old tires, wooden pallets and started building forts and barricades. He said it was just like he was a kid again despite being on the verge of turning 30.

Craig had all the elements for a good field, but what he really needed was a place to build his dream paintball field. He leased a back paddock off his Grandfather, one that bordered the neighbor’s property. Hence ‘Borderlandz Paintball‘ became Christchurch’s newest up and coming paintball field.

Last year, they grossed $35,000. Prior to that in 2016, they sat at around $30,000. The game bookings are very seasonal since they make 90% of that income between Late November – Early January. Their biggest weekend to date brought in net income of more than $5,000 and 30,000+ paintballs! But during the rest of the year it’s around $1,500 in profits per month.

If you’d like your own paintball field…

Opening a paintball playground has some unique needs when it comes to insurance. Craig recommends having Public Liability Insurance because of the nature of paintball. They also have a waiver the customer signs and two referees in each game. Not to mention they always have a First Aid certified staff member on call.

Craig recommends that you don’t cater to the ‘hardcore crowd’. It’s the Birthday parties and bachelor parties that make up 90% of the income.

Both Craig and Vicky—who he brought on to help run things—still have their full-time jobs alongside running Borderlandz. Vicky still works for the electrical company in New Zealand, while helping to manage the family business locally. Craig has been able to live out a couple of his dreams; continuing his passion for aviation and—in the rest of his spare time—building a custom adventure van, and traveling with his partner and their pet ferret… as one does after crafting the perfect paintball field.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Borderlandz Paintball: Learn more about this epic paintball field over on Craig’s website!
  • WordPress: Craig used WordPress to setup Borderlandz Paintball, 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
"Borderlandz Paintball has done so much for me—it’s provided me with funds to build a motorhome so that I could live as a digital nomad while I travel. It’s also allowed me to provide employment to some great people and help my awesome sister out as well!"
—Craig Tyer #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

Metal Detectorist Gets Paid for Finding Lost Jewelry

What It’s About

A full-time data developer starts a detective agency with his kids earning some real rewards along the way.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Dan believes really anyone can get started this way. You just need a basic metal detector, some patience on Craigslist, and the willingness to go out and search for a couple hours when you find a gig.

Fun Fact

Dan once drove 4.5 hours to find a ring that had been dropped off a pier. Dan found a ring—someone else’s ring. After a few hours, Dan’s son, who was just swimming around nearby, came up, hands open, and gave the correct ring to Dan.

Notes from Chris

Episode 495

Dan Roekle was vacationing on a Florida beach. A cool breeze ran through his hair, and the sand was… everywhere. His kids were playing close to the water, but it was time to pack up and head out. He walked down to where they were and gave them the sad news. Little did he know, the fun of that day wasn’t over yet.

As they were walking back up the beach, they saw a man walking around with a metal detector. They watched him search up and down the beach for a few minutes. As he approached, they asked him if he had found anything.

In fact, he had. In one of his hands was a necklace with a dozen rings hanging on it, all jewelry that tourists had lost on the beach. The man explained that finding the jewelry was only half the fun—finding the owners was also exhilarating.

Shortly after Dan and his family returned to Wisconsin, his son approached him and asked if they could get one of those “treasure finders.” It seemed like a fun hobby for him and his kids, so Dan agreed.

At first, they had a cheap, hobby-grade metal detector. They would take it around the school playground for a while each weekend and come out a few dollars richer. Dan’s son loved it.

A couple weeks after buying that initial detector, Dan saw a Craigslist ad offering a reward for a lost ring. Dan, equipped with his basic metal detector, replied. The next day, after showing up less than an hour of searching, Dan found the ring and gave it to the friend who would mail it back to the original owner. It was exhilarating, but not quite as exhilarating as the $200 check that arrived in the mail the next week.

Fired-up from the large check, Dan quickly sold his entry-level detector and used that $200 to buy a nicer, more powerful one. He knew he was onto something.

Over the next couple years, Dan and kids found more and more lost rings, phones, and keys across his state. He usually charged some sort of reward, but it wasn’t ever that big. Somewhere along the way, Dan realized he needed to make his business more official.

In 2015, Dan formed Lost and Found Ring LLC, and created a WordPress site to go along with it.

He set up the site himself and started blogging about findings over the years. This led to his site generating some major Google traffic. Most of the searches that lead to the site are along the lines of “where to rent a metal detector” or “how to find my lost ring.”

Dan convinces these readers of his blogs that they shouldn’t try to rent a cheap detector themselves—they should hire a metal detecting veteran with upper-level gear. He also shows his authority and skill with finding jewelry, developing trust with random site visitors. And it works!

Throughout the second half of 2015, Dan made over $1,000, earning back the money he spent getting everything off the ground. But that was just the beginning. Dan’s “feel good” stories started getting picked up by newspapers. The tales of long-lost family heirlooms being rescued from loneliness on some beach or in a random pasture seemed to multiply, and Dan started seeing more inquiries.

Dan and his kids’ little hobby is paying out. He and his son find 2-3 items per month on average with a 65% success rate, putting an extra few hundred dollars in the bank account each time. This metal detecting family—who are now equipped with multiple detectors—will keep searching for treasure. Though, according to Dan, the time they spend together is the true reward.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Lost and Found Ring LLC: Missing a family heirloom or wedding ring? We can officially say that we’ve got a guy for that—learn more over on Dan’s website!
  • WordPress: Dan used WordPress to setup Lost and Found Ring, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

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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
"Being able to return a ring that someone thought was lost forever, and which typically has a huge amount of memory and emotional attachment… is like no other feeling in the world."
—Dan Roekle #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

Doctor Does Off-Hours Voiceover Work to Pay Med School Bills

What It’s About

When faced with the overwhelming debt associated with going through med school, this post doc student turns to one of his best attributes to pay the bills—his voice.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

“Getting good at voiceover work, Anatol says, “is as much about listening as speaking. A good ear makes all the difference.” He listens back to old recordings, checking for flaws in quality or intonation that he might not have picked up on at the time. And he trains his ear by spending time listening to ads, to study the voiceover artist’s approach and its effect.

It’s also important to be attuned to what the client is looking for, so Anatol has learned to pay careful attention to the brief and take artistic direction on board.

Fun Fact

Anatol’s favorite voiceover project so far was for the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. He helped create three videos about three men from the Netherlands who were retracing the steps of Van Gogh’s life. Getting into character for the voiceover had Anatol nearly in tears!

Check out the videos at #FollowVanGogh to hear him in action.

Notes from Chris

Episode 489

In 2016, Anatol Silotch was a recent med school graduate with an abundance of bills to pay. With his funds running out, he needed to earn some extra cash in between medical work experience and studying for his next board exams.

A friend in the music industry suggested voiceover work, so Anatol figured he’d sound it out. A few Google searches later, it was clear that voiceover artistry was a booming industry—albeit a competitive one. Anatol decided to try his hand, and see if he really had the voice for the job.

His first step was to figure out the equipment he needed. Some online research taught him the basics of creating a mini home studio. He was on a tight budget, so he didn’t splash out on buying high-end gear, and cleverly makeshifted the rest. He headed over to Best Buy and bought a microphone (which was $150), an acoustic foam (which was $90) and an Audio Interface (which was $230). He used an old box to make a booth and fashioned a pop-filter out of a wire hanger and a cut up shirt. He already had audio software from his days as a DJ, but he mentioned that Audacity and Pro Tools would have been good free alternatives.

Now that he had the tech set up, he needed clients!

Anatol’s first gigs were tiny, and not well paid. But knowing he was brand new to the world of voiceover, he used them as experience—and within a couple of weeks landed a spot with a national client. With his confidence boosted, he went on to grow his list of clients to include the likes of Corona, Samsung and Dell. He now brings in between $500 and $2,000 per month. With no significant outgoings and upfront costs that totaled $570, those numbers really talk some sense!

Both revenue and time needed can vary a lot month to month—but over time, with more experience and a growing portfolio, Anatol got quicker at auditioning and saw a steady increase in income. He saved time by learning to focus on auditioning for jobs that really made sense for his voice and style.

Anatol had always wanted to run a business, but assumed his first and only shot at it would be the medical practice he plans to open in the future. He’s surprised to find himself with a side-hustle business along the way! His focus now is to continue using voiceover work to fund his medical dreams. And as his client list grows, so does his profile. So while he’s taking more medical board exams, and shadowing people in the medical field, he’ll keep using his voice to earn the cash he needs to support himself.

One thing’s for sure—this is definitely a side hustle worth shouting about!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Doctor Says Voiceovers: Learn more about what Anatol, and check out some of the organizations he’s done voiceover work on his website
  • Voices.com: The online marketplace for voice actors that Anatol subscribed to

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
"Everyone wants the end goal, but you have to realize there are many steps you must meet along the way. Like anything in life, you have to work for it, and realizing your small successes will prove a greater positive influence than only focusing on the big goal that may take too long to get to."
—Anatol Silotch #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get a Free Audit on Your 401k!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blooom. If you're still working a 9-5, make getting a 401k your side hustle!

Blooom is the simple and smart way to grow your 401k. Go online to Blooom401k.com and get your truly FREE 401k audit when you use promo code "HUSTLE" at checkout.💸 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

Developer Earns $37,000 from Day Trading Tool

What It’s About

A day trading enthusiast creates a tool to help others beat the odds in their trading endeavors.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Focus on your product first, then initial users, then improvement and additional strategies. Doing this allowed Michael to go from $7,000 two years ago, $37,000 last year, and now on track for $90,000.

Fun Fact

Although designed for advanced traders, Michael has found many new stock traders use his tool to learn the ropes. It’s a low-risk environment that shows them how to do some of the more technical sides of the job!

Notes from Chris

Episode 487

For software developer Michael Seneadza, stock trading has been part of his life for a long time. Back in the 1990s, Michael and his coworkers first became interested in trading. They’d spend large chunks of their workday watching the market, looking at the rise and fall of their favorite stocks, and tinkering with their trades whenever they could break away from their work.

Being an attentive and patient person, Michael felt he had a knack for trading and his income began to grow. So much so that by the early 2000s, he was earning more from trading than his day job, and shortly after, he quit his day job to become a full-time trader.

Although he loved his work as a day trader, he still had a software development itch he wanted to scratch, and found himself taking a full-time job as a developer again. However, he didn’t want to make this move at the expense of his trading income and began to look for ways he could make his process more efficient.

Using what he’d learned from both stock trading and software development, Michael set about creating a tool that would help perform tasks that would take countless hours of human research, but could easily be run by a piece of software while he was at work.

Michael set about building his tool, which he called SwingTradeBot, using the Ruby On Rails framework. If you’re not familiar with this framework, Ruby is an open source code that can be used by pretty much anyone to develop and create web applications. It’s also incredibly time-efficient, which allowed Michael to build the initial framework for SwingTradeBot in just 80 hours.

Michael’s tool performs two major functions. The first is to conduct technical analysis on stocks. This means the tool uses an algorithm to look for repeatable patterns in a stock’s movement and allows you to plan for the future of that stocks life. The aim here being to make more money because you can better predict the future life of a particular stock. This algorithm can also help you to identify potential new stocks, too.

The second is to alert people of anything that may affect the health of that stock. This can be based on market movements, or recent news, that may negatively impact the price of the stock. You can then use this information to decide the next steps you’ll take.

Michael set the cost of his tool at between $13.95 and $19.95 per month, which he decided upon by looking at his competition and charging a slightly lower price. This helped him to quickly onboard his first users, despite having a small following.

Although Michael hoped for a huge surge of users, SwingTradeBot had more of a humble first year, bringing in $7,000. This came from sales of the tool and banner advertising on the website.

Determined to increase his profit further, Michael began to look for ways to increase the number of users he brought in. To do this he began offering SwingTradeBot as a freemium model, with basic access for free users. This allowed them to use the fundamental aspects of the tool.

He also began to look at more marketing methods to bring more users to his website.

One of the most effective tactics he implemented was sharing information about some major stocks on his website. This led to lots of coverage for his site on websites like Yahoo finance, who linked back to the information and predictions he made. With this strategy, he gained instant publicity, and the links helped improve his website ranking in Google.

He also spent time building a following on stock specific social media channels, like StockTwits, which is basically a carbon-copy of Twitter for stock traders. Michael began to attract followers by sharing the free information about stocks on the page and has worked his way up to nearly 40,000 followers on the platform.

These tactics combined to create a surge in income. Michael made $37,000 in 2017 and he’s currently on track to make $90,000 in 2018. Combining this with the money he makes from trading, Michael has once again been able to quit his day job. Only this time he can keep trading without hiding it from his boss!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • SwingTradeBot: Day trade like a boss with Michael’s app!
  • Ruby On Rails: The open source code that Michael used to create his SwingTradeBot app. If you’re looking to build an app, it is pretty beginner friendly
  • Heroku: The platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and operate applications entirely in the cloud
  • StockTwits: A stock specific social media channel that is basically a carbon-copy of Twitter for stock traders

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
"Hurry up and get started, but do it in a low-risk way. Don’t quit your job until the side project is showing a decent amount of promise."
—Michael Seneadza #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get a Free Audit on Your 401k!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blooom. If you're still working a 9-5, make getting a 401k your side hustle!

Blooom is the simple and smart way to grow your 401k. Go online to Blooom401k.com and get your truly FREE 401k audit when you use promo code "HUSTLE" at checkout.💸 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