Last year, Lise "came out of nowhere" as they say, and published 13 books in 6 months, and now earns between $3000 and $4000 a month in author royalties. Of course the truth is she didn't come out of nowhere at all; she came out of New Zealand and had already built a successful freelance writing business. However, the hustle of delivering work for clients all day had her seeking a more time-leveraged use of her skills. Since she already knew how to write well and write quickly, she figured book ...
May 21, 2015•42 min
Freelancing or selling some useful service is one of the fastest ways to earn more money. It may not be as sexy as "passive income" but it does come with instant gratification. Make deals, deliver awesome work, and get paid. In today's show, I'm excited to welcome back Daniel DiPiazza from Rich20Something.com. You may remember Daniel from Episode 35, where he talked about how his "marsupial method" took his tutoring business from $18 an hour to $1000 an hour.
May 14, 2015•46 min
On this week's show, I'm joined by Steph Halligan, who runs ArtToSelf.com. She's a talented cartoonist who began a daily blog and email newsletter with inspirational and affirmational art -- all created by her. The site is 100% supported by donations from her followers, and even though it's very early in the journey, I think there's enough validation to say she's on the path her 1000 true fans doing work she loves.
May 07, 2015•38 min
I was very excited to sit down with Mark Podolsky, The Land Geek, to talk about his side-hustle-turned-full-time-biz of investing in raw land. In fact, he was able to replace his day job income and quit his job only 18 months after starting. Mark calls it the best passive income model because you don't have to worry about building a website, building a product, dealing with tenants, dealing with repairs, or selling a service.
Apr 30, 2015•36 min
Dorie's latest book is called Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It, and it is the perfect companion to anyone trying to build a personal brand, an authority website, or an audience-based business. This episode is a little different from other Side Hustle Show episodes because we actually don't talk much about Dorie's personal story or experience at all, but rather dive into the research and examples that went into Stand Out. Listen in to learn how you can...
Apr 23, 2015•42 min
I've been medium-obsessed with the idea of early retirement ever since I discovered this little blog called Mr. Money Mustache a couple years ago. The basic formula goes like this: once you have 25x your annual spending in invested net worth, you can theoretically live off growth/interest/dividends in perpetuity. On today's episode you'll meet Jeremy Jacobson, who retired at 37 and now spends his days traveling with his wife and soaking up new cultures and experiences -- and blogging about finan...
Apr 16, 2015•34 min
Four months ago, Andy Slamans gave us a detailed look at Amazon FBA product selection, working with manufacturers, and bringing those products to market. But the most common question I get from listeners is how to find that first product to import. How do I find a profitable product? How do I measure the competition? How do I validate the demand and the pricing? In today's episode, I sit down with Will Mitchell from StartupBros.com to dive into those exact questions.
Apr 09, 2015•42 min
Dan Faggella sent me an email last month that essentially said, "Hey Nick, I'm a fan of the show. I have some expertise in email marketing, and I know many of your listeners are working to build their online presence and their email lists. Would it make sense to do an episode on some list building and email best practices?" And then he added the kicker: "I'm making $50k/mo selling martial arts training videos right now, and I have other businesses as well..." OK, I'm listening!
Apr 02, 2015•42 min
This week my friend Alex Barker co-hosts and interviews me on my entrepreneurial beginnings, my first side hustle, and the origins and future of Side Hustle Nation. We also go through a few listener questions as well. I realized I've told some of these stories only in bits and pieces on the show and on the Side Hustle Nation blog before, despite having mentioned them on several other podcasts. This episode is admittedly a little "fluffy" -- so I promise a return to the hard-hitting tactical stuf...
Mar 26, 2015•43 min
Nate and his brother earned $300,000 in passive income by licensing one of their ideas to Mattel. They didn't have to design it, produce it, or sell it. But they found someone who could, and they cashed the checks. And to be fair, Nate will be the first to tell you these kind of results aren't typical -- but he's proof they ARE possible. Nate's actually a dentist by day, but a pretty serious side hustler by night, and on this call we take a deep dive into the world of product licensing.
Mar 19, 2015•42 min
John Corcoran is well-known in online business circles for being "the connections guy," but I was more curious in how he's built his own online business than networking tips. Today he sells his own premium course on Connecting with Influencers, plus earns money as an affiliate for other high-dollar, high-value online products. In January, he earned $30,000 in one month, through sales of his own product and as an affiliate for others. In this call we get into building and selling a course of your...
Mar 12, 2015•54 min
In Hawaii and on the plane home I read two books with very similar themes: The ONE Thing by Gary Keller Essentialism by Greg McKeown Both titles share the common message of FOCUS -- de-cluttering your day, your work, your mind, and your life. They came at a good time because I was starting to feel overwhelmed with projects and wanting to pursue new ideas and opportunities as they came up.
Feb 27, 2015•27 min
Twenty months and 90 episodes ago, I was introduced to the incredible story of AnarchoFighter, the Top-Rated Fiverr seller who earned enough cash on the platform to buy a house. That episode convinced me to give Fiverr a shot as a seller myself, and it's turned into a fun side hustle income stream. Since we last spoke, Fiverr has implemented a bunch of changes, including the option to create custom quotes up to $10,000. And Mark was the first to make that $10k deal, taking a buyer from $5 to 5-f...
Feb 26, 2015•51 min
It's tax season, and I think it would be foolish to give Uncle Sam more than you're legally required to. This week I'm joined by Joshua Sheats from RadicalPersonalFinance.com and the host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast. He explains there are 2 tax codes: the personal tax code and the business tax code. As a business owner, even as a side hustler, there are a number of distinct tax advantages available to you. Listen in and keep your hard-earned dollars!
Feb 19, 2015•53 min
Dayne Shuda runs GhostBlogWriters.com, a done-for-you blogging service that commands premium prices, and oversees a team of 20 part-time writers to deliver the work for clients around the country. But like most businesses, Ghost Blog Writers came from some pretty humble beginnings. In fact, Dayne started it as a side hustle with $0 upfront investment.
Feb 12, 2015•42 min
Here's a guy who built an online business, and had the courage to up and move to Cozumel, Mexico -- with his wife and 3 young daughters. It's not your typical single-23-year-old-dude digital nomad type of story, though Sean's business itself is simple enough to be replicated. This is a fun chat about hustling for business and building a lifestyle on your own terms. I think you're going to like it, even if you have no desire to move abroad.
Feb 05, 2015•39 min
This may surprise people, but I'm a pretty slow writer. I have a challenging time writing in "rough draft" mode. You know, where you just brain dump onto the page and clean it up later. That's one reason I wanted to have Chandler Bolt back on the show; because he's got a cure for that I'm anxious to try out. In this episode, we talk about his 3-step writing process to quickly create a new book project, along with Kindle launch tactics for new and aspiring authors.
Jan 29, 2015•43 min
You want traffic? You want readers? You want customers? You'll want to listen to this episode. Your free book is essentially your epic "guest post" -- only a MUCH bigger site than you could ever hope to publish on regularly. Like a good guest post, it leads readers back to more of your content, where they opt-in with their email to continue their relationship with you. This works for authors and non-authors alike. In fact, Nick pretty much convinced me I need to be doing this as well!
Jan 15, 2015•44 min
I'm thrilled to welcome Benny Hsu back to The Side Hustle Show! Remember Benny from way back in episode 17, when we talked about dominating the app store? In 2014, his app business took a backseat to a new side hustle: selling t-shirts through Teespring. I ran into Benny at Podcast Movement last summer, where I was proudly rocking my "Every day I'm hustling" tee, and we got to chatting about his new Teespring business.
Jan 08, 2015•43 min
If you're not already following Bryan Harris, I recommend you do. The guy is super smart and has a unique way of breaking things down so that they're easy to understand and implement. He doesn't mess around, and gives super-detailed actionable advice with some awesome examples, but gives the caveat that it takes real work. This is not a 4-hour workweek passive income system -- at least not at first. But that's OK, because we're hustlers and ready to make something happen in 2015, right?
Jan 01, 2015•39 min
Scott Oldford sent me a proposal for a podcast episode about part-time podcasting, and included the hook, "I've made $1900 in revenue from my first episode." OK, I'm listening! In this episode we discuss how a podcast can be a very part-time venture but still reach a wide audience and begin to earn revenue on its own.
Dec 18, 2014•45 min
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're having an amazing holiday with friends and family, and taking a moment to reflect and recharge. Even though it's an American holiday, the idea behind giving thanks for what we have is universal. What's your Turkey Day tradition? I'm behind the mic solo this week, talking about 6 habits I believe have made me a better entrepreneur, and how you can implement them in your own life.
Nov 26, 2014•27 min
When I asked listeners last month who they'd like to hear on the show, Rob Cubbon is a name that came up from a couple different people. Rob's been crushing it lately between is online teaching efforts and his Kindle publishing business, and as luck would have it, is a Side Hustle Show listener himself. I've been following Rob's blog for some time myself, and have been really impressed with his journey. In fact, it's pretty inspiring and eye-opening to see some his quarterly income reports, with...
Nov 20, 2014•45 min
J. Massey discovered real estate as a business out of necessity. He and his wife were both in poor health, and as he explains, had a 398 credit score and $75 to their name. Then, introduced to real estate wholesaling, the picture began to turn around. This strategy allowed J. to develop some cash flow without risking his own limited assets, and he says he got started by dedicating just 2 hours a day, or 10 hours a week to this new side hustle.
Nov 06, 2014•46 min
Today, Alexis Grant runs a social media, content marketing, and blog management agency and manages a team of 10 people to get it all done. But like many of us, she started off as a side hustler, working her way up and adding clients until it was time to make the leap. She took some very strategic steps along the way, including setting up clients on a retainer model instead of a one-off project basis, and building a "personal brand" and audience of her own through her blog.
Oct 16, 2014•39 min
One of the surprising bright spots in my side hustle portfolio (my strategy of building multiple income streams) has been Fiverr. After hearing the incredible story of AnarchoFighter last year, I knew I had to give the platform a shot! While I haven't exactly earned house-buying money, it has turned into a nice little revenue source. I'm up $7490 through 14 months, or a little over $500 a month on average.
Oct 09, 2014•49 min
Everybody's an expert in something, right? Well this week's guest, Matt Giovanisci, is an expert in pool care. He describes it as the most boring industry that serves such a fun product. He's taken an innovative approach to rank his site, SwimUniversity.com, in Google and monetize it with affiliate relationships and private advertising. I feel like Matt's process is proven and repeatable -- but takes real work.
Sep 25, 2014•46 min
Ryan Finlay from ReCraigslist.com makes a full-time living (and supports his family of 7) buying and selling items on Craigslist. In fact, he used this business to pull himself out from $25,000 in debt and now teaches others to do the same. This is really one of the most fascinating side hustle stories I've come across because there's a Craigslist for your city that is probably teeming with "inventory" for you to run a similar business.
Sep 18, 2014•40 min
One of my favorite questions to ask guests on The Side Hustle Show is how they got their first customer. Because that's an empowering moment! So today, I'll take you through how I got my first customers in a half dozen different business ventures. This show covers some formative moments in my journey, my struggles with sales, and some of my biggest takeaways from these businesses.
Aug 22, 2014•30 min
It's been quite a while since our last discussion of a software business here on the show. Even though we touched briefly on Long Tail Pro with Spencer Haws, I really have to go all the way back to Josh Isaak in episode 12 to find an in-depth breakdown of a Software as a service business. So that means today's conversation with Garrett Moon from CoSchedule is long overdue! After all, the low incremental cost and recurring revenue potential of the SaaS model is such a trendy holy grail of busines...
Aug 21, 2014•40 min
