Tag: Unique Ideas

Short Order Cook Turns Pancake Art Into Six-Figure Business

What It’s About

A line cook uses his fun talent and stacks up a six-figure business.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Don’t discredit your talents, especially the ones that bring people joy. It could be the next big side hustle idea.

Fun Fact

Pancakes are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday, which is known as “Pancake Day” in Canada, the United Kingdom Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, and “Pancake Tuesday” in Ireland and Scotland. (Shrove Tuesday is better known in the United States, France, and other countries as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.) Historically, pancakes were made on Shrove Tuesday so that the last of the fat or lard was used up before Lent. No meat products should be eaten during Lent. Re: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancake

Notes from Chris

Episode 1000

How does a diner cook on the graveyard shift end up bringing in $450,000 a year as the co-owner of a brand that makes pancake art? It’s a pan-tastic story, and a great example of what happens when weird and wonderful talent comes together.

In the beginning, there was just Dan, a man with a pan–but no plan.

Dan is Daniel Drake, a short-order cook in St. Louis, Missouri who discovered one day that a smiley-face pancake could bring in a $15 tip on an otherwise slow day at the diner. From that first funny flapjack came the revelation that would change everything: pancakes don’t have to be round … and they can take on any kind of design and shape you can pour into a griddle. A few layering tricks later, and Dan was “the man” of the diner, using colored batter to draw and create incredibly detailed characters and logos out of pancakes.

It started when a customer asked if he could create his pancake art at a party. At this point, Dan had never taken his edible art on the road, but he agreed to the gig. Then he turned to his buddy Hank and said – “I just promised to do pancake art at a party. Can you help me figure this out?”

Dan and Hank then did a bunch of house and birthday parties in St. Louis, learning along the way. It was literally a messy process. Hank also had a side hustle as a video producer and created music videos for bands. So it was natural for him to use his skills to make videos of the pancake art creations, which they began to post online.

Images of Dan making a pancake in the shape of a Super Mario Bros Mushroom went viral and hit the front page of Reddit. That’s when the Today Show came calling and Dancakes the company was off and running. By the time they de-planed from their appearance on the show, their phones were filled with requests for events.

Birthday parties, weddings, and trade show appearances were all part of making the Dancakes concept sell like, well, hotcakes. They’ve been asked to create pancake portraits of professional team logos.

Over the past four years, Dancakes has made an estimated 1,500 appearances around the world. Hank says he had to learn how to negotiate with companies like Disney to make sure that Dancakes got full credit for images and the right price for what they produced. He says now, “if you have concerns, voice them. The worst they can say is no.”

As the business grew, the two held back on cashing in on the perks of fame, opting instead to invest back into the business for necessities like a studio for professional kitchen shots and better video equipment.

Eventually, Dancakes was ready to hire additional pancake artists and they hired four others. The team has made pancake art a go-to medium for the MLB and NFL Networks, and partnerships with Hulu and Netflix. They have traveled the world taking their pancake art to countries including Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil. And in 2019, Dancakes brought in $450,000.

The company anticipates 2020 will be another banner year as a pancake art home kit hits the market, complete with a special pan and batter bottles. They have a licensing deal with a company that will produce and distribute the kit while they maintain creative control. Dan and Hank have flipped over a new way of life.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Dancakes Learn more about Dan, Hank, and their amazing works of edible art at their website
  • Watch how the Dancakes artists make their amazing works of art at their Dancakes Instagram account and Dancakes YouTubepage.

 

SEE ALSO:

Hip Hop Glitter Pendants Sell $60,000 on Instagram:

    A web developer and a faceless artist in Florida team up with celebrities on Instagram to promote hip hop glitter pendants. Thug life has never looked so shiny!
  • It’s No Joke: Prank Musical Greeting Card Earns $36,000/Month: What starts as a silly idea to make a musical greeting card with no off-switch turns into a multiple six-figure, nonstop success for two brothers.

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
"Be in the moment. Everything is temporary and the joy right now is the only joy there is. So soak it up."
—Hank Gustafson & Dan Drake #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

Store Manager Makes Micro Gainz For Macro Profits

What It’s About

A grocery manager proves that micro gains make a huge difference.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Research all potential competitors in the market and figure out how much they are selling in order to see if their product is worth producing. I did this with Micro Gainz. I looked up several micro plate sets offered on Amazon, found their seller rank, and found out roughly how many they were selling in a month. Once you have that information you can come up with a basic business model to determine if the business is feasible.

Fun Fact

The fitness industry is an enormous market in the USA. With close to 40,000 different clubs and estimated revenues of 30 billion per year, there’s plenty of opportunities to be had.

Notes from Chris

Episode 997
Michael Reed works as an assistant manager for Weis Markets, a popular grocery store chain in New England. On any given shift he might be motivating staff, helping customers or lifting heavy boxes while helping pack shelves.

For the most part Michael enjoys his job, especially the latter of those tasks. Because you see, in Michael’s spare time he’s an avid gym junkie. In the words of Arnold Schwarznnegger, he likes to pump iron. Weight training in particular is one of his favorite ways to exercise.

In particular he enjoys barbell training. It provides a measurable way to progress by keeping track of how much weight you’re able to lift. If you put in the work this week, next week you’d be slightly stronger, then, slightly stronger again the week after that.

Eventually though, lifters reach what’s known as a plateau. That’s the point at which they stop making rapid improvements and the work doesn’t produce the results it used to.

When Michael hit his plateau, he looked ways to remedy the situation. Before long he came across weight plates. Weight plates are small sets of weights that lifters add to their dumbbells to increase the overall weight in smaller increments. So, instead of adding five pounds, they can add a quarter, half, three quarters or a full pound. It enables them to make the incremental increases in weight that help bash through weight lifting plateaus.

Michael knew this was exactly the product he needed. So he hopped on over to Amazon to see what was on offer. The options there were limited, expensive and almost all were made in China. Being a handy kind of guy, Michael figured he could make some cheaper himself right at home. He also thought he might be able to sell a few on the side. He called it Micro Gainz—with a z—Micro for the small plates and Gainz for the inevitable gains weightlifters would have using them.

To start, Michael went to a local steel laser cutter and had twenty five of each size cut, from a quarter pound to one pound. That was enough for him to make eight sets.

The first batch of sets sold relatively quickly and Michael was left with a small profit when all was said and done. He chose to invest all the proceeds into buying more steel plates. After a few reps, he realized his process of making the plates was far too time consuming.

Over the next year, he refined his plates and process even further. Consequently, he sold more than four times what he did in the first year, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth.

In October 2018, he listed Micro Gainz on Amazon and sales exploded again. With a huge uptick, revenue in 2019 is already at one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

With that sort of money on the weight lifting bench, you might think that Mike has quit his full-time job by now. But that’s not the case, he has been pouring all the profit generated back into Micro Gainz with maximum intensity.

To do that, he’s now working on the next line of Micro Gainz plates which will be color coded. He also has ideas for another couple of product lines he can create in the same space. With enough sets and reps, he’ll go from Micro Gainz to macro profits.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Micro Gainz: Looking to maximize your gains? Check out Michael’s website to see his entire product line.

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
"Don’t give up if your business stumbles. Starting a business is hard work. Running a business is a marathon not a sprint if you want it to be successful long term."
—Michael Reed #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

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

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

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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

Two Friends Use Welding Skills To Keep Beer Flowing

What It’s About

Two friends weld their expertise to save local breweries.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Matt has great advice for those seeking to use their skills, “Do not chase every shiny object. Not every job is within your capabilities. Act on your strengths and be honest about your abilities.”

Fun Fact

Their biggest current project is building 30 pieces of unique stainless-steel kitchen surfaces for the Glacier National Park/Sperry Chalet rebuild. The Chalet was burned to the ground in 2017 with only the rock walls and the kitchen being spared from the forest fire. The Chalet was built in 1914 by the Great Northern Railway Co. and is considered a Historic National Landmark, one of two chalets in the park left. Knowing that their work will be part of something that could be installed for another 100 years makes this project all the more rewarding.

Notes from Chris

Episode 994

Like many side hustle beginnings, Matt Young and Keanan Janus had an epiphany over a beer. As professional welders, inspectors, and coworkers, both men found themselves reflecting on a recent job and realized they could have done it better. That’s when they thought about taking their welding skills and start something of their own on the side. What they needed, however, was a niche … because there were a lot of welders.

So while sipping their beer, they looked around the room … and it dawned on them that breweries could use their skills.

Why breweries? Matt and Keanan live in Montana which has a very popular craft beer scene with an estimated 90 breweries. Many of the breweries there use stainless steel equipment, which if not properly treated, can lead to rust, and compromise the quality of the beer. So they put together a business plan that would utilize their welding skills by sipping into a niche that wasn’t crowded. In fact, no one was paying much attention to it at all. And just like that, Whitefish Heliarc was created.

So how does the process work? Since Matt and Keanan are both still employed full-time, they utilize part of their weekends to work at various breweries in the area. Without trying to overweld you on the technical details, they assess the equipment to see what types of piping repairs or modifications are needed. What sets them apart from other welders and companies is their certification with the American Welding Society. This is one of the most sought after certifications in the welding technology sector. So not only are their brewing partners getting a team of qualified welders, they’re also getting a thorough inspection as part of the process.

Startup costs were around $6,000, and since 2018, they’ve brought in an extra $16,000 from this weldly-popular side hustle. They charge for their services using a typical system common to any repair service. The cost includes materials and handling, as well as the labor of actually doing the job. They typically charge a per hour rate that varies depending on difficulty or project complexity.

The best part of this experience is having the opportunity to work with many different local brewers. Each brewery is unique on its own and not in competition with one another. They’ve been excited to receive referrals from one brewery to the next. And they often get tipped through refreshing pints of beer.

In the future, they’re hoping to build their own facility so they can conduct multiple projects at one time and expand outside of the brewery niche. That expansion has already begun.

They’re now working on their biggest project with their biggest client, Glacier National Park, building 30 pieces of unique stainless-steel kitchen surfaces for a historical chalet that burned to the ground in 2017. It makes the purpose of this project even more meaningful, even without the free beer.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Whitefish Heliarc:Check out Matt and Keanan’s site to learn more about their unique services.

 

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
"Start small. Don’t chase every shiny object or accept every job or client because someone asked. Accept ones that are within your strengths and capabilities."
—Matt Young #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

Prank Potato Parcels Produce Promising Profits

What It’s About

Proof that a personalized message via mailed potato is not a half-baked idea after all.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

As simple as it is to write a message on a potato, it takes forever!

Fun Fact

The average American eats about 124 pounds of potatoes per year while Germans eat about twice as much.

Notes from Chris

Episode 984

From an early age, Texas-based Alex Craig had big entrepreneurial dreams. As a college student, he had been part of several startups with promise, but they never took off. Post-college, he did what millions of graduates do every year: he went and got a 9-5 job.

Like many of us, Alex didn’t actually have his nose to the grindstone nonstop for eight hours a day. He spent a fair amount of time checking in on social media and browsing the internet.

One of his daily visits was to Reddit—and on one particular day, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, the top post of the day was an image of a potato with a stamp on it. The image titled “I delivered a potato today.”

The post had over 2 million views in less than 4 hours. And while the vast majority of those people simply saw a potato….Alex saw an opportunity!

He thought, “What if mailing potatoes to your friends through the mail could become the next internet trend?”

Alex’s idea was simple: for $9.99, he would send potatoes complete with a handwritten, anonymous message to the person of the customers choice. If all went well, Potatoes by Mail could have its moment of fame and bring fortune to him.

Alex didn’t disagree that it was a stupid idea but he was undeterred. He started working on his website that same evening. Twenty four hours later, Potato Parcel, was online and open for business.

He immediately went back to the original Reddit post, still popular, and posted his new project. On the second day that the project was live, Alex got $2,000 in orders … maybe it wasn’t such a stupid idea after all.

The orders continue to come in and Alex would leave work and spend his evenings inscribing, packing and mailing his potato parcels.

Profits were growing, peaking at around $10,000 per month, but he also knew that fads could have a short shelf life. He thought that the idea had the opportunity to be a viral sensation but knew that the window was narrow.

So that’s when he leveled up by sending cold-emails to all of the local TV stations. One responded, and said their correspondent would be there that evening for an interview.

The local news story also caught the attention of national media and Alex and Potato Parcel were featured shows including Ellen, The Steve Harvey Show, and Good Morning America.

Not surprisingly, Potato Parcel was inundated with orders. Over the next six months, Alex would sell thousands of potatoes and earn $40,000 in profit, one potato at a time. But that’s not all … he was thinking about his exit strategy and how to sell the business from the very beginning.

He’s since launched a digital agency to help companies with their viral marketing and his clients include NBA teams and huge brands like Sony. He’s also written an ebook, The Potato Playbook, about creating an idea that goes viral.

 

 

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
"Just start! Even if you fail, you’ll learn."
—Alex Craig #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

Dance Teacher Launches Toe Tapping Online Course

What It’s About

A dance lover taps out a profitable online course and video series.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Forget how you think you’re supposed to do this, and what you think everyone wants. Focus on one person, and help them with all your heart.

Fun Fact

Bills original plan was to film, edit and launch the course in five weeks, with filming set for the first week. While he stuck to the filming schedule, the rest of the process took over six months, completely blowing out his original estimate. You can’t rush perfection!

Notes from Chris

Episode 982

Bill Simpson believes it’s impossible to be unhappy tap dancing. He also believes that everyone secretly wants to learn how to do it. This opinion comes from personal experience: he’s dedicated his life to mastering the art of tap.

Bill’s captivation led him to serious study. Slowly but surely, he began to master the art form. Over the course of the next decade, he became a bonafide tap dancing star in his own right. Eventually, he became one of the most well-respected tap dancers in Australia! He choreographed shows, performed in musicals, and learned from masters all over the world.

In short, tap dancing was Bill’s life. Beyond performing, teaching tap became his full-time job and main source of income into his late twenties. He enjoyed it, but it had one big, built-in problem. He was only one person, and one person can only teach so much—even when that person can tap dance as fast as he can.

You see, teaching didn’t afford Bill the flexibility he wanted in life. It was an in-person job, and if you weren’t there, you weren’t paid. On top of that, although he loved tap, he’d spent so much of his life dedicated to it that he was feeling the urge to try new things. He wanted to dance to the beat of a different drum. But, with the way his life was set up, it just wasn’t possible.

Bill decided he had to make a change, and that he’d start a side hustle with the goal of creating a full-time income. The answer of what to do was somewhat obvious … he chose to create an online tap dancing course. In this course, he’d cover all the main steps and film in high-res video from different angles. He wanted to make the most definitive course on tap dancing that existed … anywhere.

What helped him shuffle forward was forgetting about the enormity of the task. Instead of trying to make the perfect course for everyone, he focused on making the perfect course for one person. For him, that person was a version of his sixteen-year-old self.

With that character firmly in mind, he powered through and finished. It took six months in total, but he was incredibly proud of it.

To make it accessible to customers, he’d need a website. He got lucky when his preferred domain name, HowToTapDance.com, was available. He registered it straight away, credit card fumbling in his hands the whole time. He installed WordPress and used his own rudimentary skills to modify a premium theme to his liking.

It was April 2016 when he was ready to launch—The JustTap Tap Dancing Course was about to take centre stage. Bill was confident he’d delivered on what he set out to do, providing the best tap dancing course out there.

He’d built an email list from teaching over the years and he used it to kick things off. Roughly 1,000 people were notified via newsletter that the course was ready for purchase. Within the first few days, he’d made $1,500 in sales. He was clicking his heels all the way to the bank!

But sales dwindled fast. With the original source of sales tapped out, Bill decided to turn to YouTube. He edited parts of the course into an eight-minute video tutorial that covered some of the early course material.

In fact, that video is so successful, it’s the main driver of sales to Bill’s website. Which, in the last year has generated $40,000 for him. It’s enough revenue that he’s taken a step back from teaching and now has the time and finances to explore other passions and interests.

Today, Bill is grateful that he didn’t tap off into the sunset. He pushed through his self-doubt, and hot shoe hustled his way to success.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • HowToTapDance.com Tap dance your way over to Bill’s website to start tapping. No experience needed!
  • Bill’s YouTube Video Over 1.2 million views and counting! Check out Bill’s How to TAP DANCE – Beginner Tutorial video.

 

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
"Forget how you think you’re supposed to do this, and what you think everyone wants. Focus on one person, and help them with all your heart."
—Bill Simpson #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

Illustrated Greeting Cards Provide Personal Touch

What It’s About

An MBA student draws up the perfect way to send personalized greetings cards.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Alex has some great words of encouragement to share from his side hustle journey:

“I have failed so many times with Tellinga but have gotten back up and tried to improve for the next time. I see and hear too many people talking themselves out of great ideas because they develop paralysis by analysis. Quit talking about it and start being about it!”

Fun Fact

Alex had wanted to name his company “Snail Tales,” a play on the term “snail mail,” but the domain would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to buy. So, he crowdsourced the name by creating a poll and asking people to choose their favorite from nine names he brainstormed.

Notes from Chris

Episode 978

We’ve all stood in front of the racks containing dozens of greeting cards looking for just the right one. But that unicorn card seldom appears because greeting cards are so often generic and trite. Meanwhile, most snail mail these days consists of junk promotions and bills. When we do hear from our family and friends on a special occasion, it’s often in the form of a digital message via social media, text, or email.

A pharmaceutical sales rep by day and an MBA student by night, Alex Kurkowski of Houston saw this from both sides.

He disliked mass-produced greeting cards … and he fondly remembered getting letters in the mail from his grandmother. Later, he had a pen pal and enjoyed the anticipation of checking the mailbox for a letter each week. Then, as an adult, he started sending cards and letters to family and friends complete with silly doodles and stick figures as a way to stay in touch. The recipients said they loved opening the mailbox to find something special and personal.

And it’s that experience that led him to his side hustle, Tellinga.

Tellinga creates personalized, hand-drawn greeting cards. The sender chooses a story length—either one day, one or two weeks, or one month—and uploads a photo of the hero of the story with a description of the story they wish the cards to tell. The story can be funny, dramatic, romantic, or anything you choose. It can even be a fictional story. You can make the recipient into a superhero or the leading lady or gentleman in a romance!

Tellinga’s team of illustrators and artists will then tell your story through personalized illustrations. A few days later, the recipient will start receiving the one-of-a-kind greeting card-sized illustrations in their physical, not digital, mailbox every other day until the package ends and their story is complete. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to open that envelope?

Having completed his degree, he has plans to integrate a sharing economy model into Tellinga in an effort to streamline the onboarding of aspiring artists and writers. The writers will create love letters, poems, or fun narratives which will be paired with the illustrations to more fully tell the stories that people want to share.

For stories that are too good to end, Tellinga hopes to soon offer a subscription plan.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Tellinga: Check out this fun and personalized take on greeting cards at Tellinga’s site.

 

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
"Quit planning and start failing."
—Alex Kurkowski #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

Mochi-Making Empire Produces Profits and Delight

What It’s About

An English teacher cooks up delectable Airbnb Experiences!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Part of what I love about this episode is that we’ve not really focused on Airbnb Experiences before. Lots of people have great ideas for activities, tours, or classes—but don’t have a way to connect with enough customers. This is one of the biggest benefits of partnering with Airbnb or Verlocal!

Interested in starting an Airbnb Experience of your own? Head here to sign up!

Fun Fact

According to the Japan Kagami Mochi Association, mochi is thought to contain the pure spirit of rice and thus be possessed with “Toshigami,” a deity that is said to visit during the New Year’s period, bringing a good harvest and the blessing of ancestors.

Notes from Chris

Episode 976
Growing up, Kaori was surrounded by Japanese cooking. Her mother is Japanese, and her grandmother owned a ramen shop in Japan. Kaori dove deep into these roots and became skilled at making ramen from scratch.

While in college studying to be an English teacher, Kaori started teaching her mad ramen skills at a local cooking school. Soon, she expanded to offer other forms of Asian cuisine. SHE LOVED IT! Even though she wasn’t formally trained, she had a knack for communicating culinary concepts, and her classes were popular. What she learned for her education degree ended up being helpful for her time in cooking classes—so she eventually left her high school teaching career to focus on them.

Here’s where the mochi comes in. Kaori moved to the Bay Area and formally started her business, which she called Kaori’s Kitchen.

She knew her credibility came from her heritage as a “hapa” or half Japanese woman. Her mom had been making mochi for local festivals for many years and taught Kaori. Mochi is from Japan and is made to celebrate the new year. It’s so iconic to Japanese New Year that mochi is likened to the Christmas tree or Star of David in terms of symbolism.

With the success of her ramen classes in mind, Kaori developed a Mochi Making Class. Mochi ice cream was gaining popularity among ice cream lovers, but there wasn’t anyone in the Bay Area teaching it. In her class, Kaori, sometimes along with her mom, teaches how to make mochi five different ways. The class begins with mochi in a traditional soup. Participants then learn to make sweet mochi three ways with many topping options. To finish, everyone gets to fry and glaze a mochi donut.

But of course, she needed a way to get people to her classes. She first found a platform called Verlocal. Verlocal is a booking platform for experiences, such as cooking, hiking, and painting. Kaori focused on team building classes. Word soon got out that her mochi classes were amazing. She started to receive direct booking emails from companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Kaori’s Kitchen was taking off!

Within two months, the Saturday mochi classes she offered there were full … and have been ever since. In the beginning, Kaori charged a lowly $35 per person. Experience, reputation, and over 200 positive reviews allowed Kaori to increase her price to $75 per person. Currently, her classes are booked through Airbnb Experiences, Verlocal, and her own website, KaorisKitchen.com.

The business is bringing in a bit more than $90,000 a year in revenue. $24,000 comes in from Airbnb Experiences, making it a key partner. Kaori estimates each class has an average 75% profit margin because her costs are low. She runs most of them out of her home kitchen or she travels to the business hosting a team-building event. Plus, the ingredients are reasonable as the main ingredient in mochi is rice.

She’s now writing a book about starting an experience-based side hustle. She believes everyone is passionate about something, so why not make money doing what you love? A lot of millenials (and others) put a higher value on experiences than things, so the market is ready for experienced-based businesses. Kaori intends to self publish her book this November on Amazon. In addition, a publisher asked her to write a mochi cookbook. That’s in the works and should come out in 2020.

By focusing on her core expertise, and connecting with the right platforms that reach active travelers, she’s building security while sharing her knowledge.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Kaori’s Kitchen: See what’s cooking over on Kaori’s website!
  • Weebly: The platform that Kaori used to create her website for Kaori’s Kitchen
  • Airbnb & Verlocal: The two platfroms that Kaori used to list her mochi and ramen making classes

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
"Many people crave ‘the side hustle life’. They want to make money doing what they love and not have to work all of the time. They want flexibility and joy in what they do, and I believe that Airbnb Experiences and the experience industry allows you to do that."
—Kaori Becker #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

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

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

Raver Turns LED-Powered Gloves Into Bright Future

What It’s About

Raver capitalizes on an underground scene.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Subcultures have their own terminology, practices, and means of recognition. And they attract people who want to belong to something. This is true for fans of indie music, anyone who enjoys a certain activity, sports fans—especially if you’re a fan of a less popular team, or perhaps a team in a different area than the one you live in.

A while back we had a story (Ep. 667) about a guy who was a Seattle Seahawks fan and moved to a part of the country where few other people were. He created an app that allowed displaced fans to find a bar or other venue that would show their games. So in other words, he found a way to capitalize on an opportunity no one else was paying attention to.

Fun Fact

It is generally agreed that gloving first emerged in the mid-2000’s at raves parties as a form of drug enhancement. Many of these party-goers would be high on ecstasy, and they found that gazing at bright lights intensified the pleasure that they felt on the drug. The first lightshows were done using glowsticks or handheld lights to dance in rhythm to the music for onlookers.

Eventually, someone had the idea of taking gloves and putting a small LED light in each finger. Suddenly, this opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for moves, as having the freedom of using every finger individually created limitless potential for movements.

Notes from Chris

Episode 973

Twenty-seven-year-old sales executive Andrew Zhao fell in love at a rave. But it wasn’t with a person, it was with an artform called gloving. Gloving involved performers, called “glovers,” wearing gloves with LED microlights and using them to share their own light show.

The artform first emerged in the underground rave scene in the mid-2000’s when performers would use glow sticks to create art. Then someone had the idea of taking gloves and putting a small LED light in each finger, which opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for moves.

Andrew was entranced. He immediately spent much of his free time studying and practicing the artform. Online message boards were popular at the time, and he would spend hours on forums dedicated to the rave culture. However, rivalry and bullying on the message boards would soon push Andrew into his first side hustle. You see, the “glow stickers” outnumbered “glovers” at both the raves and also on the message boards, and the larger group was hostile to the smaller one.

Fed up with the negative vibes, Andrew started Throw Life, a new forum dedicated to “glovers.” The website grew quickly, attracting thousands from around the world who created an online community that was active 24 hours a day. But like many love stories, Andrew’s relationship with gloving would not be without its difficulties. The quick success of his new forum and the responsibility of managing it became too much for the then 19-year old and he decided to shut it down.

While this project didn’t work out, Andrew was excelling professionally. Now working in enterprise sales for a large, multinational telecom company, he was soon earning $80,000/year selling fiber optics.

But his love of gloving was never far from his mind. Andrew continued to spend most weekends at large raves. He also still believed that the niche artform would one day be a billion-dollar industry like street art or skateboarding. Andrew didn’t know what he could do, or how he could do it, but he wanted to be part of the industry’s future.

That’s when he decided to relaunch as an e-commerce brand. This time, Andrew started small … really small. His first product was the tiny batteries that power the colorful gloves.

He went on Alibaba and found a supplier. Soon he had thousands of batteries on the way to his door. While waiting for the delivery, he set up a simple Shopify store. The new venture, now called Throwlights, cost less than $1,000 to get off the ground.

He consistently worked to expand his product line, which is sold exclusively on his website, and he soon began offering gloves, bulbs, t-shirts and other accessories that became popular in the gloving community.

Since then, Andrew has raised $150,000 for his venture, and he recently left his sales job to focus on it full time. But of course, it all started with a side hustle that enabled him to turn his dreams into reality.

He says that the best part of the experience has been the phenomenal relationships he’s made with people along the way, plus the opportunity to be around an artform that he loves. Through all of the ups and downs, he credits his success to his mindset. Before what he learned through experience, Andrew didn’t have the skills or the habits he needed. He became much more conscientious about building a strong community to surround himself with and he became more intentional about what information he consumed.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Throwlights: Learn more about this rave-worthy side hustle over on Andrew’s website!
  • Shopify: Andrew used Shopify to set up his site for Throwlights, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • Alibaba: The marketplace Andrew used to find a manufacturer for Throwlights
  • Game on! Seahawks Fan Kicks Off Six-Figure Sports App: When faced with the possibility of not being able to enjoy his favorite football games, this sports fan creates an app to solve the problem. Four years in, it earns him a full-time income in exchange for 30 minutes of work each week

 

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
"Start somewhere. It’s a cliche, but the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step. That’s true—don’t be afraid! Along the way, you WILL mess up and that’s okay. You might also wildly succeed, so just go for it."
—Andrew Zhao #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

All Boxed In: Knoxville Man Rents Reusable Packing Totes

What It’s About

Plastic moving boxes stack up monthly profits.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Because moving is stressful, what are some other problems associated with it that could be solved? Here we’re talking about boxes, but I think other challenges include getting people to help, saying farewell to a place you’ve lived for a while, and just making decisions in general.

There could be some others as well! Whenever there’s a problem, consider what the potential solution could be.

Fun Fact

Frank has discovered that there is a deep-seated hatred of cardboard boxes. Between the weird cardboard smell, putting the boxes together, trying to find the end of the roll of packing tape, having to break down the boxes, and then figuring out what to do with them once they’ve been unpacked (and no, no one on Craig’s List or Nextdoor wants them!), lots of people are fed up. Even if you never minded cardboard boxes, here’s something that might change your mind. Bed bugs love cardboard. Ugh!

Notes from Chris

Episode 964

We all have to do it at least once in our lives, and no matter what advances technology brings, moving can still be stressful and expensive. For anyone who has ever spent hours shoving all of their earthly possessions into a U-Haul, you know the struggle is real!

For the most part, we take Moving Day challenges in stride and consider them a necessary evil. But as Frank Ramey of Knoxville, Tennessee listened to the lamentations of his sister and brother-in-law regarding their recent hellish move, an idea began to take shape… in the form of a box.

Because that was one of their biggest complaints: cardboard boxes. No move was complete without an abundance of flimsy and expensive cardboard boxes and rolls of sticky packing tape. To them, the whole process just felt so wasteful—what do you do with those boxes once you’re done? You can store them for later, but you never know if they’ll hold up over time.

Like most of us, Frank never really gave the moving business a thought unless he needed to move. He happily ran an online marketing company, but he knew that there had to be a stress-free and eco-friendly solution to these cardboard box woes.

In his mind, the solution would be made of something sturdy and reusable like plastic. Something that movers could rent on an as-needed basis so that storage wasn’t an issue.

Before running with what he thought was a great idea, Frank did some research. As he put it, “Your idea might be a good one, but you have to ask yourself if you’re in the right area for it.” Since this was something that he was planning on starting out locally, Frank wanted to learn how many people move into the Knoxville area each year and how many of those moves were local. Only when the numbers looked good, he knew it was time to unbox his idea for real!

These were the beginnings of Rent Plastic Moving Boxes, or RPM Boxes for short. Frank planned on delivering sturdy, waterproof, and reusable plastic totes for people to pack their belongings in. When the client’s move is complete, Frank would pick up the boxes, sanitize them, and then get them ready for the next customer. Ideally, he wanted each tote to be sturdy enough to use more than 400 times each and capable of being responsibly recycled once they had served their purpose.

In the beginning, Frank was spending 10 to 15 hours per week on his hustle. He built the website, spent time networking, delivering totes, picking them up, and sanitizing. Currently, the business requires just 2 to 5 hours per week—most of which is spent cleaning the boxes. Frank’s home has a large detached workshop where the totes are cleaned and stored, but he has long term plans to rent a small warehouse with a storefront that would allow customers to pick up and return the totes themselves for a discount.

Frank began this hustle in June 2018. In that time, the business has averaged $600 a month in income. Most of his small startup cost went to purchasing the totes which cost about $15 each. He already had the truck he uses to deliver and pick up, a holdover from his lawn mowing side hustle which really helped reduce his start-up costs.

As word of mouth spreads about RPM Boxes, Frank is trying to find a balance between keeping inventory lean while keeping up with customer demand. For the future, Frank’s looking to expand outside of the Knoxville area, and he’s even toying with the idea of turning RPM Boxes into a micro-storage business as a way to produce passive income.

Clearly, there’s more than one business idea still to be unboxed!

 

 

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
"Don’t be afraid to be profitable out of the gate. If you’re bringing a product or service to market that people really want, you need to charge accordingly for it. This way you can quickly figure out if there seems to be enough profit to be had."
—Frank Ramey #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

Upstart Producer Turns Nostalgic Concerts Into Modern Money

What It’s About

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

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

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

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

Fun Fact

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

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

Notes from Chris

Episode 951

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

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

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

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

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

RELIABLE WEBHOST FOR $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for my past 5 websites. It's cheap, flexible, and you can get support 24 hours a day.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

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

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

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

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

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

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

Keep in Touch

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


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau