Josh Belk is a full-time college student, he works full-time in web design, and in what little spare time, he’s started a $6,000 a month mobile detailing business with his younger brother. This idea came about when Josh connected the dots between obsession and opportunity. On the obsession side, Josh would always see his brother out in the driveway cleaning his car. On the opportunity side, he received an email about business ideas anyone could start, and mobile car washing was one of them. He a...
Oct 22, 2020•41 min
How can you instill the skills and values of innovation and entrepreneurship in kids? And if you can teach it to kids, why can’t you teach it to grownups? This week I’m joined by Don Wettrick, an award-winning middle school, and high school teacher and the CEO and co-founder of StartEdUp, which has a mission to empower students and teachers to apply innovation and entrepreneurship in the classroom. He’s author of Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level...
Oct 15, 2020•40 min
$18k in 9 months ... from ONE YouTube video? And that's without even filming or putting your face on camera! Jon Corres identifies trending topics on YouTube and produces viral videos to ride that trend. Or at least videos he hopes will hit the algorithm just right. It's a numbers game -- not everything you publish will get traction. In fact, Jon said most of his videos don't even breakeven on their production costs right away. But when you have one that hits, it washes away all those expenses a...
Oct 08, 2020•53 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 10th installment of “20 Questions” so feel free to go back and binge on the older ones too: 365: Market Saturation, Mind Mapping, Miracle Mornings, and More: 20 Questions, with Nick 346: The Con of the Side Hustle, Be...
Oct 01, 2020•37 min
"I allowed the business to coast and it's coasted wonderfully well," Nate Dodson explained. In this episode you'll hear about the power of an evergreen digital product that makes sales on autopilot. It's allowed Nate to shift his focus to some offline projects, including several real estate renovations. In Nate's first appearance on The Side Hustle Show (episode 314 in late 2018), he shared the simple sales funnel that ultimately earned over $1 million in total online course sales. Tune in to he...
Sep 25, 2020•17 min
How does a new blog get to $50k a month within 2 years? It takes great content, a consistent SEO strategy, and building strong partnerships. When we last heard from Alex and Healy from FinvsFin.com in episode 367 at the very end of 2019, the site was earning around $20k a month in affiliate commissions. Just 9 months later, that's jumped to $50k! Tune in to hear what's changed and what's working today in terms of content, SEO, and affiliate partnerships. Full Show Notes: $50k a Month Online in 2...
Sep 24, 2020•24 min
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right? Well, when you're a knife sharpener, every house is a potential customer! Matt Rowell was earning $250-500 a month when we caught up in episode 308 back in late 2018. Since then, he's grown to a consistent $1500 a month, working maybe an hour a day. Tune in to hear: The most important new marketing channel for Matt. How the pandemic has impacted his sales. How he's leveled up his skills to broaden his customer base. How new sharpeners ca...
Sep 23, 2020•16 min
The mobile notary business is booming for Brian Schooley, a long-time Side Hustle Show listener. When we last caught up with Brian in mid-2018 (episode 286), he was earning $1500-2000 a month as a loan signing agent. In this "where are they now?" edition of the show, he shares how he's grown to $10k a month and quit his day job to focus on the notary gig full-time. Tune in to hear: when he felt comfortable quitting his job how the pandemic has impacted his business how he builds relationships wi...
Sep 22, 2020•14 min
$1000 a week cleaning backyards? Erica Krupin turned some earbuds at the start of the year with her fast-growing pet waste removal business. Since we spoke, she's added another 50+ recurring weekly customers and expanded to a new location. Tune in to hear: What's working on social media today. How she's grown 50% in 9 months, in spite of a global pandemic. The software she's testing to manage her customers, team members, and jobs. Full Show Notes: 135 Recurring Weekly Customers
Sep 21, 2020•15 min
Want to scale back on your day job? Want to travel more, and spend more time with your family? That’s exactly what Stacy Gallego has been able to do thanks to her part-time flipping business. What’s cool is that this income stream was actually inspired by a former side hustle show guest, Rob “the flea market flipper” Stephenson, who we last heard from in episode 298. Stacy is one of Rob’s star students, and I’ve loved watching her share some of her sales results for quite a while. In just two ye...
Sep 17, 2020•48 min
We all live by a set of unwritten "money rules." These guide the decisions we make on how we spend, save, earn, and invest. But are your rules really serving you? In this episode, we’re looking at 10 "unconventional" money rules. These are suggestions that hopefully spark some introspection and conversation. Because the "conventional" wisdom clearly isn't working for a whole lot of people! To help me talk through these is Rich Jones. He’s the host of the award-winning Paychecks and Balances podc...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr
Build your email list! Get your first 100, 1,000, 10,000 subscribers. “The money’s in the list,” right? That's the chorus of advice you hear from all the marketing experts. But what do you send someone after they join your list? That’s what we’re diving into in this episode with Daniel Throssell of PersuasivePage.com. Daniel is a copywriter and has been called “The best marketer in Australia” by a prominent client of his. His journey started as a side hustle while working 12-hour shifts as an el...
Sep 03, 2020•57 min
This week I’m excited to share a unique side hustle that’s turning hobbies into profits, through what I’m calling “local” e-commerce. This is a story of building a following for homemade or handmade products -- without shipping anything, without advertising, and without relying on 3rd party marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy for exposure. We’re going to explore this through the lens of So Here’s the Dough, a local cottage kitchen cookie operation run by a friend of mine here in Livermore, Jenn Fei...
Aug 27, 2020•39 min
Create a design. Upload it to a store. Earn passive royalties whenever it sells. That’s the passive income dream, and that’s the premise behind the Merch by Amazon and print-on-demand side hustles. But does it really still work? To find out, I invited Michael Essek on to the Side Hustle Show. Michael has been designing and selling t-shirts online since 2013, and he’s seen how the market has changed over the years. For the past 4-5 years, Michael's earned $100,000+ licensing and selling his desig...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr
We’re all dealt 24 hours a day. I believe how you spend that time, or maybe rather how you invest it, should give you some sort of return. That could be a monetary return, sure. But it could also be a return in personal satisfaction or impact on others. Today, I want to introduce a productivity framework I’m calling The Productivity Pyramid. Like most frameworks, it’s a work in progress, but here’s how it shapes up: Vision / Goals Projects Tasks Tools and Tactics Full Show Notes: The Productivit...
Aug 13, 2020•50 min
Starting a business doesn't have to be expensive -- in fact, low startup cost business ideas are everywhere. Just last week, Nate and Alysha Jackson explained how they started their Amazon retail arbitrage business with just $100 -- and had since grown to over $1 million in total sales. Inspired by their story, along with a couple of threads in the Side Hustle Nation Facebook group that asked for some real-life low startup cost business ideas, I put together this episode. Stick around to hear ho...
Aug 06, 2020•34 min
“It was costing me money to go to my job,” Nate told me. That was just a year after Nate and Alysha Jackson started their Amazon FBA retail arbitrage business -- with just a $100 investment. Since then, the former public school teachers have sold over $1 million worth of products on Amazon! Amazon FBA retail arbitrage is the art of buying low locally and online, and reselling for a profit on Amazon. After hearing about the opportunity on Side Hustle Nation, they turned that $100 in initial inven...
Jul 30, 2020•44 min
If you want to start an online business, you’re probably going to need to build a website. But could you shortcut the process by just buying one that’s already working? In this episode, which is the fourth and final episode of our Showdown series this month, we’re comparing two ways you operate a revenue-generating website; building your own site vs buying an established website. For this debate, I’ve got a couple of powerhouse guests: Mark Webster from AuthorityHacker.com and the Authority Hack...
Jul 23, 2020•58 min
A service business is one of the fastest side hustles to get off the ground, and you can scale it by hiring other people to deliver the work. But is there an advantage to staying a solo operator? In this Side Hustle Showdown we're looking at freelancing vs. building an agency. For this debate, I invited a couple members of The Side Hustle Nation community who both run cleaning companies: Chris Schwab from ThinkMaids.com represented the agency side. We last heard from Chris in episode 294, where ...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr
In the e-commerce space, selling private label products on Amazon has been a popular side hustle for the last several years. But is it still the best way to go? Or is there a lower risk, higher reward way to turn your ideas into profits? In this episode, which is the second episode of our Showdown series this month, we’re comparing two ways you can capitalize on opportunities in the market; selling private label products and product licensing. For this debate, I’ve sourced two guests who have ap...
Jul 09, 2020•51 min
Creating content online can be a super-effective way to build an audience and ultimately to make money. If you’re just starting out or trying to grow your business, you might be wondering what type of content makes the most sense to create. In this episode, we’re going to compare and contrast two of the most popular content channels going today: podcasting and YouTube. This is actually the first of several friendly debate-style episodes this month I’m calling the Side Hustle Showdown series. For...
Jul 02, 2020•57 min
Businesses evolve over time, but I don’t think anyone could have prepared for the pace of change this year. To gauge how some of you have been handling everything the pandemic has thrown at you, I reached out to Side Hustle Nation and asked what pivots and changes you’ve been making in your business over the last few months. What I got back were some interesting and innovative ways some business owners and side hustlers have found to actually grow their businesses during the pandemic. Here’s a l...
Jun 25, 2020•30 min
In honor of father’s day, I wanted to share some of the best advice I’ve received from my dad over the years, and how we can all work to apply it in life and in business. For the sake of background, dad is a chemical engineer — he spent decades of his career at one company — but still had lots of entrepreneurial experiences and insights along the way. The funny thing is almost all of these were very literal conversations, which I’ve extrapolated out (30 years later!) to have a broader meaning. A...
Jun 19, 2020•25 min
At the end of nearly every episode of The Side Hustle Show, I ask my guests for their "#1 tip for Side Hustle Nation." There’s always a great variety of responses, and I wanted to take some time today to go through some of my favorites from the past 50-ish interviews. This has become an annual tradition on the show, and we just passed 7 years and 12 million downloads! If you like this short-and-sweet meta-style show, be sure to check out the others in this series: Episode 50 Episode 124 Episode ...
Jun 18, 2020•32 min
How did a butcher shop's side project turn into "the best snacks in the world" -- and $500,000 in sales in their first year? And more importantly, could you apply the same strategies to help local businesses take their products online? This story features Dustin Reichmann, a long-time Side Hustle Show listener. He has a blog called EngagedMarriage.com, and with the online marketing skills learned there, started a new consulting business to help other businesses build their online presence. One o...
Jun 11, 2020•46 min
How does a YouTube channel with less than 300 subscribers generate 6-figures a year? In Joshua Lisec's case, he does it by answering targeted questions, and selling high-value services to those viewers. Joshua is an award-winning, celebrity-recommended, #1 international bestselling Certified Professional Ghostwriter. He’s also a TEDx speaker, a novelist, and has ghostwritten over 45 books for entrepreneurs, executives, and public figures. Over the last few years, Joshua's freelance work has gone...
Jun 04, 2020•48 min
Liam Austin made $50k off his first online event, and hasn't looked back. Since then, Liam has hosted another 17 virtual summits and online business networking events. In total, these events have brought together more than 400 speakers and 100,000 business owners. Virtual summits allow you to connect with industry leaders and influencers in your niche while growing your own audience. Hosting a virtual summit sounds pretty straightforward: interview a bunch of influential people in your niche col...
May 28, 2020•49 min
Are you stuck with the idea that you don’t have the skills to start a side hustle? Today’s guest, Chris Misterek of SelfMadeWebDesigner.com didn’t let that hold him back. He went from being in a tight spot personally and financially, to bringing in an average of $3k a month on the side through his new web design business. With no previous experience with web design, Chris decided to start at the ground up by working through some free online courses. Within a few months, he was introducing himsel...
May 21, 2020•50 min
$15,000 a month for 30 minutes of work? The passive income dream is real for Dustin Heiner. Dustin achieved this by following a systematic approach to buying homes and renting them out. He started with his first property back in 2006. Within 6 years he had 19 properties, and within 9 years he had 26 properties and had retired from his day job at the age of 37. Today he has more than 30 properties bringing in (mostly) passive income supporting him and his family. Dustin is a serial side hustler, ...
May 14, 2020•53 min
Side Hustle Show listener Kate Johnson started her bookkeeping business in 2017, and now serves several recurring clients. She targets an effective rate of $70 an hour, and is able to work from home. With her youngest starting preschool, Kate found herself with an extra 9 hours a week. "I wanted to be a good steward of that time," she explained. Tune in to this episode to hear Kate explain: Why she decided to start working as a virtual bookkeeper How she landed her first clients How she’s grown ...
May 07, 2020•41 min
