How do you start a side hustle? Well we can talk about side hustle ideas and marketing tactics until we're blue in the face, but in studying my catalog of past interviews, a few common traits popped up over and over again. I've compiled those into this 7-step guide to starting a side hustle. Whether you’re an established business owner, or you’re just starting out, I think you’ll find this a helpful framework for your projects. It'll also help you identify where you have the biggest opportunitie...
Jan 09, 2020•24 min
Is there gold in your backyard? Or, more accurately ... dog poop? Erica Krupin found $1000 a week in hers, with a side hustle that can easily be replicated in your local area. Erica started Kroopin’s Poopin Scoopin, a pet waste removal business in her spare time, and now has more than 80 recurring weekly customers. With an average price of $15 per customer per week, that’s over $1,000 a week, picking up dog poop. Sometimes it’s the simplest businesses that are the fastest to get started and see ...
Jan 02, 2020•36 min
Helping people make decisions is a big business! In fact, these two Side Hustle Show listeners started a website to do just that, and it's now bringing in $17-20k a month. Oh, and the project is only a little over a year old. Alex Goldberg and Healy Jones run a site called FinvsFin.com, which focuses on reviews and comparisons of direct to consumer brands. They earn money as affiliates -- basically earning a commission on sales that are referred through the site. Full Show Notes and PDF Highligh...
Dec 26, 2019•51 min
Etsy is no longer just the marketplace of handmade crafts! Yes, you can sell digital products like printables and even drop ship physical goods without ever touching your inventory. We haven’t really discussed Etsy in detail for a while. But I thought it was time to take a closer look at this platform again, as it’s seen tremendous growth in recent years. Opening the doors for you to create your own passive products -- both through digital downloads and drop shipping physical products. In fact, ...
Dec 19, 2019•40 min
It’s time to dive into the ol’ listener mailbag and answer a few questions in this week’s edition of The Side Hustle Show. I’ve had quite a few interesting questions come in since the last Q&A episode, and picked 20 to talk through in today’s show. Like this format? This is the 9th installment of “20 Questions” so feel free to go back and binge on the older ones too: 346: The Con of the Side Hustle, Beanie Babies, Affiliate Marketing, and More: 20 Questions with Nick 320: Multiplying Money, Morn...
Dec 12, 2019•44 min
Looking for a part-time side hustle where you get can your inventory for free and there are almost no startup costs? This week, I’m excited to introduce the side hustle of public domain publishing. This is the art and science of republishing classic literature - where the copyrights have expired - and earning passive royalties when your version sells. Because these works are so old, they’re available online for free - but many Amazon shoppers and Kindle owners will pay to have them delivered str...
Dec 05, 2019•47 min
This week’s show is a re-take on last year’s Thanksgiving episode on 10 Creative Side Hustles that Make Real Money. That show was a hit, so I’m returning to that format for another round. Some of these will you have kicking yourself not thinking of it yourself, and some of these are 6-figure businesses you could literally start tomorrow. Here are the 10 creative side hustles I cover in this episode: The 7-Figure Lemonade Stand The World's Most Boring Podcast Local Dog Poop Pick-Up The 6-Figure D...
Nov 28, 2019•36 min
Can you really get paid to answer questions? That’s exactly what Debbie Gartner from TheFlooringGirl.com does - and her answers are earning her $20,000 a month. Debbie used to run a local hardwood flooring consultation business. She’d estimate jobs, make recommendations, and match homeowners with reliable installers. In her spare time, she started her blog with the goal of showing up in some local search results to generate some more business. “I wrote blog posts that were questions that my cust...
Nov 21, 2019•51 min
Would you trade $200 for $4,000? That’s exactly what today’s guest, Josh Elledge is doing. Josh runs a kind of modern PR service for small businesses and has developed a unique and innovative way to break through the marketing clutter and have real conversations with real prospects -- and do it at scale. He’s found a way to create what he calls “a speed dating environment.” That's his metaphor for the revolving door of new prospects he’s interviewing and selling his services to. To do this, Josh...
Nov 14, 2019•38 min
He knew his $12 an hour gig at Walmart was a dead-end job. His escape route was a business idea you probably walk past at least a couple times a year without even thinking about it. What's he do? Today, Larry McGee's the guy who takes care of the aquarium at the dentist office and other commercial waiting rooms. And it earns him around $70,000 a year, doing something he enjoys and working just 15-hours a week. Larry’s aquarium maintenance business started as a lunch break side hustle with a frie...
Nov 07, 2019•34 min
Just because a niche is insanely competitive, it doesn’t mean you can’t start an affiliate site and claim a slice of the revenue. At least, that’s what Sa El of SimplyInsurance.com has done, and the way he lays out how he’s done it will pique the interest of affiliate marketers out there. Sa was a door-to-door insurance salesman in Atlanta. He wanted to get into the online space and build an affiliate site, and with more than 11 years’ experience in the insurance industry, it made sense to enter...
Oct 31, 2019•44 min
What if you could make your rent or mortgage payment go away? Or, what if instead of paying that expense every month, your living situation actually paid you? It’s not as far-fetched as it may sound. In fact, that’s exactly what today’s guest, Craig Curelop, has done by intentionally "house hacking" over the past few years. He’s even written a book on the topic, and it's one I wish I’d had when I was 18 or 19! I would have definitely done some things differently. The basic idea is to use other p...
Oct 24, 2019•44 min
You’ve started a business. You’ve created a product or a service. You’re selling it to clients and getting great feedback. That’s great, you’ve overcome so many of the hurdles we face as entrepreneurs. But the next step is finding a way to keep new customers coming through the doors and scaling up your services. That’s the challenge today's guest Matt Rudnitsky of Platypusbooks.com is facing. Matt helps entrepreneurs and other interesting people turn their ideas and expertise into books. For thi...
Oct 17, 2019•46 min
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective. This post (and podcast episode) are inspired by my presentation at FinCon last month. I broke my own rule of not seeking out any speaking gigs, and submitted for a breakout session. The idea was a bit of an homage to the conference: 10 FinCon Breakthroughs that Tripled My Business. The powers that be stripped the "FinCon" part from the title, but I was still able to highlight some of my favorite -- and most impactful -- takeaways from the ...
Oct 10, 2019•42 min
If you have an online business, chances are you’ve tried your hand at outreach. If you want to expand and grow your business, especially from an SEO standpoint, you need good quality links pointing to your site from other websites. The problem is that getting other sites to link to you is not easy, as I’m sure you’ve found it. The “traditional” method is to send out dozens, even hundreds of emails to other site owners trying to land a guest post. But, as today's guest Brendan Hufford explains, t...
Oct 03, 2019•45 min
Sick of trading time for money? Looking for ways to turn a service or a skill you already have into a digital product? This is exactly what Matt Bochnak of HowtoMotorcycleRepair.com has done. He’s turned a "blue collar" service business--repairing motorcycles--into a lucrative business with multiple streams of time-leveraged income. This is a “Where are they now?” episode. I first caught up with Matt early in 2016 when he was a guest on episode 160 of the Side Hustle Show. Back then, Matt’s reve...
Sep 26, 2019•42 min
A small blog doesn't have to mean a small income. By helping a specific group of people solve their problems, Carol Tice has attracted more than 1500 members -- at $25 a month -- to join her community. Carol went from working as a freelance writer, to coaching others how to become freelance writers, to building one of the largest online membership sites for freelance writers. (I found Carol while doing keyword research for terms like “get paid to write” and “make money writing” – and Carol OWNS ...
Sep 19, 2019•43 min
I wish I was half as smart now as I was at 16! But learning everything you don't know is part of the process. One thing I love about my work is I feel like I learn new things every day. Sometimes they're small little tweaks and hacks, and other times they're broader strategies or ideas. I originally drafted this list 7 years ago, after my 30th birthday, but decided it was due for an update. (I updated it at 35, too, but keep learning more!) For context, that was pre-Side Hustle Nation, pre-podca...
Sep 12, 2019•36 min
The fastest way to multiply money? It might be reselling. That is, buy low, sell high, repeat. Keely Stawicki started reselling when she was just 12 years old, flipping a horse saddle on Craigslist and making $100 profit. Fast forward 15 years--and more than $270,000 in sales--and reselling is now her full-time gig. Today, Keely focuses mostly on vintage goods, clothing, and furniture--all items in great demand right now. Reselling is a business model we keep coming back to because it checks som...
Sep 05, 2019•52 min
Buy a house. Rent it out. Tenants pay it off for you. It’s possibly one of the oldest side hustles in the books, right? Done right, owning rental properties can be an attractive long-term income and wealth-building strategy. But done wrong, it can be a recipe for headaches and a mountain of debt. It’s a side hustle that I know a lot of the Side Hustle Nation readers and listeners are interested in (as am I). For this one, I collected my own real estate investing questions, and gathered more from...
Aug 29, 2019•46 min
She always knew she wanted to start her own business, she just didn’t know what kind of business. Sound familiar? So, Sylvia Inks asked friends and colleagues what they saw her as an expert in, and what they go to her for advice and help with. Their answers? “They said I’m great with finances, and they said I have great research skills,” Sylvia told me. This helped Sylvia narrow down her focus to financial coaching. From there she started networking, wrote a book, and worked diligently on her pr...
Aug 22, 2019•44 min
Creating content. Marketing your site. Monetizing your traffic. There’s a lot that goes into running a money-making website! In this episode, I want to shortcut your learning curve a little bit. To do that, I’m joined by a couple of gracious volunteers. The first is Side Hustle Show listener, Jamie Robe, who’s started a new website to help people in the path of hurricanes and tropical storms. As a resident of Central Florida, it’s a topic he knows plenty about! My second volunteer is professiona...
Aug 15, 2019•55 min
Michele Mattix of SedonaMeditationExperiences.com has a unique side hustle where she gets paid to breathe. As a tagline that sounds great, but there’s a lot more to her side hustle than just breathing. In fact, in Michele’s own words she describes her business as helping, “people experience the spiritual side of Sedona and to bring more awareness and wellness into their life through meditation, mindfulness, and a deep connection with nature.” Michele is able to offer all of this because she is a...
Aug 08, 2019•43 min
It’s time to dive into the ol’ listener mailbag and answer a few questions in this week’s edition of The Side Hustle Show. I’ve had quite a few interesting questions come in since the last Q&A episode, and picked 20 to talk through in today’s show. Like this format? This is the 8th installment of “20 Questions” so feel free to go back and binge on the older ones too: 320: Multiplying Money, Morning Routines, and $100k Side Hustles: 20 Questions with Nick 291: Email, Ebooks, Platforms, and Confer...
Aug 01, 2019•36 min
Jaime Masters has interviewed more than 500 millionaires. On top of that, she runs some premium mastermind programs and is a sought-after business coach. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to get on the podcast for years, and I think we came up with something unique and hopefully compelling. Jaime agreed to actually coach me on a couple of areas of my business. In preparation, she: took a look at the last 12 months of my business finances asked me to complete a time-tracking study to se...
Jul 25, 2019•49 min
A location-independent consulting business that replaces your day job income in a matter of months? That's exactly what Paul Minors accomplished with his virtual software consulting business. You might recognize Paul’s name. Paul is a productivity blogger and consultant from New Zealand. He was part of a fun productivity roundtable episode we did towards the end of 2016 -- that was episode 197 if you want to go back and check it out. What I now know, is that at that time Paul was putting the whe...
Jul 18, 2019•50 min
We all have a limit to our capacity. For some entrepreneurs and small business owners, that’s a tough pill to swallow . But when you’re up against that ceiling you have to decide between two options. You can: Settle in. Ask for help in breaking through. This episode is about growing your team in such a way that you have some breathing room in your schedule and in your mental bandwidth to do the work that’s required of a business owner. Even though I’ve been hiring virtual help in my businesses s...
Jul 11, 2019•57 min
Is options trading legit? Is it a viable side hustle? In this episode, we’re tackling trading options -- a topic that’s been frequently requested by listeners, but is somewhat foreign to me. To help school me on this, I’m excited to welcome my friend Kirk DuPlessis to the show. Kirk runs the super popular site OptionAlpha.com, where you can get all sorts of free options trading training. He’s been at this for over 10 years and the site has over 150,000 members. Options trading (when done right) ...
Jul 04, 2019•50 min
Amy Feierman and Kristin Ostrander of MommyIncome.com have generated over $2 million in sales on Amazon over the last 12 months with a unique strategy that has high margins and lower costs per sale. What are they selling on Amazon? Bundles -- Think shampoo and conditioner, peanut and butter, or any 2-6 products that compliment each other and provide some added value and convenience to the buyer. Amy and Kristin have both been selling online for over 10 years, but recently they have shifted their...
Jun 27, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Over the last 10 years, the bulk of my energy and attention has been on building audience businesses. These types of businesses (usually) involve creating some helpful resource, and then figuring out a way to monetize the people who come by to use it. In my case, that's primarily been through affiliate marketing and more recently, advertising on this podcast. But you also have the flexibility to sell products and services to your audience once you have their attention. In this episode, I'll play...
Jun 24, 2019•37 min
