Service businesses can get a bad rap. After all, there are clients to deal with, and actual labor involved in fulfillment. They’re just not as glamorous as other more “passive” income models. But you should know that more Side Hustle Show guests started with a service-based business model than any other. This week’s guest has a unique approach to service businesses -- one that doesn't rely on your skills as the expert. Tyler Gillespie has built two successful service businesses and had a clean e...
Feb 06, 2025•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s 2025, and the line between reality and science fiction is getting more and more blurry every day. In this episode, I sit down with someone I’ve never met, but they know me pretty well. He even kind of sounds like me in an eerie sort of way. I was curious how well today’s AI models could pretend to be someone else, given a few simple prompts. The result is this chat with Robo-Nick, my AI alter ego. Let’s see how well Robo-Nick answers these questions, plus my real thoughts about them. (This ...
Jan 30, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Getting out of the rat race is simple, but not necessarily easy. To escape, all you need is monthly income -- from non-job sources -- that exceeds your monthly expenses. For example, if you spend $3000 a month, you'll need to bring in at least $3000 (after taxes) outside of your day job. Simple, but not always easy. In this episode, I'll break down: the most common rat race "escape routes" the pros and cons of each how to choose the right path for you Ready? Let's do it! Full Show Notes: 3 Ways ...
Jan 27, 2025•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2022, Summer Fisher discovered the world of renting out dresses. "Oh, well, I have all these dresses. Let me just put one up," she told Yahoo Finance. Now with a streamlined inventory of around 200 pieces, she made $150,000 last year using what she calls a "double-dip profit strategy" — renting dresses multiple times before selling them for more than she paid. (Check out her free masterclass at theprofitcollective.co/RookieResellerMistakes.) Tune in to episode 652 of The Side Hustle Show to l...
Jan 23, 2025•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re looking to turn LinkedIn into a money-making machine, you’re in the right place. Joe McKay has taken his LinkedIn ghostwriting side hustle from zero to a multi-six-figure business, generating millions of impressions along the way. And he's here to fill us in on how to make money on LinkedIn this year. We broke down the 3 types of posts you need to make money on LinkedIn, how to navigate the platform as a side hustler, and the most common (and costly) mistake people make. Listen to Epis...
Jan 16, 2025•51 min•Ep 651•Transcript available on Metacast Do you know how much cash flows through your hometown on a monthly basis? In this episode we explore how to get some of that cash flowing toward you! I'm joined by Nick Huber, co-founder of Storage Squad and host of The Sweaty Startup podcast. Storage Squad, a student storage service, has grown to over $3M in sales since starting it as a little part-time project back in 2011. I invited Nick on The Side Hustle Show to help walk us through his "sweaty startup" framework. That is, how you can start...
Jan 13, 2025•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do you come up with a business idea? Aspiring entrepreneurs often get stuck in the business idea phase — that is, they’re confident they could run a killer business, make a ton of money, and live the good life — if they could only come up with the right idea. If that’s you — the idea seeker — I’ve got good news for you: coming up with new business ideas is actually pretty easy. It’s what comes next that’s hard! But today, let’s go through some of the proven methods you can use to come up wit...
Jan 09, 2025•50 min•Ep 650•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Ettenberg spent 10 years as a firefighter, but was constantly losing or breaking his sunglasses on calls. Frustrated, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Frontline Optics makes durable sunglasses for first responders with a no-questions-asked replacement policy. Despite having "no business experience," the Side Hustle Show listener took Frontline from side hustle to full-time venture, selling over $1M worth of sunglasses along the way. Tune in to episode 649 to learn: How Mike fo...
Jan 02, 2025•54 min•Ep 649•Transcript available on Metacast I want to introduce a concept I call The Side Hustle Snowball. If you’ve heard about Dave Ramsey’s “Debt Snowball” framework, this may sound familiar. Here’s how The Side Hustle Snowball works: You itemize out your expenses and then aim to come up with side hustle income to cover them, starting with the smallest and working your way up. Once you reach the bottom of your list, you don’t need your job anymore! The reason I like this framework is setting out to replace your income with a side busin...
Dec 30, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast The end of the year is upon us, which means it's time to reflect back on the side hustles that stood out — the ones that got people talking and that I was most excited to share. "Best" is always subjective. But what marks a good episode is when I hang up the call, thinking, "I need to drop what I'm doing and go do something else. I should totally do that." And I try and exercise some level of discipline and restraint because the shiny object syndrome is real. But when the shiny object shines for...
Dec 26, 2024•1 hr•Ep 648•Transcript available on Metacast Why should your first online business be a directory? This is one of the most overlooked yet potentially lucrative side hustles out there. I've got a little bit of experience in this space (I actually built a virtual assistant directory years before), so this is something close to me. But my experience is nothing like John Rush’s from JohnRush.me, who is a master at quickly building and marketing these little side projects. He has launched 30 directories in just the past year, managed to monetiz...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep 647•Transcript available on Metacast If you create content online, sell anything—whether it’s in person, over the phone, or on a website—and want to make stronger connections, reach more people, and ultimately grow your income, here’s something to help you learn how to do it by speaking directly to the 9 types of buyers. To help us is Melanie Warren, a professional copywriter and the author of The 9 Buyers System. She has helped sell millions of dollars worth of products and services, and she has graciously agreed to stop by and gi...
Dec 16, 2024•55 min•Ep 646•Transcript available on Metacast Building a remote cleaning side hustle from scratch. How crazy unique is that? Skyler helps homeowners get the help they need while also helping on-the-ground professional cleaners get the work they want — and still makes a margin in the middle. And the most interesting part is he’s running this $60k/month operation in less than two years — all while keeping his day job. Tune in to Episode 645 of the Side Hustle Show to learn: How Skyler landed his first customers and cleaners How to market a re...
Dec 12, 2024•51 min•Ep 645•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re looking to add some time-leveraged cash flow to your bottom line, two of the best options are investing in rental real estate and buying small businesses. Both are viable options, and to help you figure out if either or both of these investment options are right for you, it’s time for another Side Hustle Showdown. For the debate, I’ve invited back two Side Hustle Show favorites: Chad Carson is the owner of over 100+ properties and the author of Retire Early with Real Estate. Codie Sanc...
Dec 05, 2024•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Would you believe there's a marketplace of millions of buyers eager for digital products for teachers — and it's not Etsy? Rob is a high school math and personal finance teacher at fieducator.com. He's built an impressive side hustle selling lesson plans and resources online at fieducator.store. Through the popular platform Teachers Pay Teachers, Rob has turned his passion for financial education into a growing business that regularly brings in $2,000 a month — and it’s been growing 40% a year. ...
Dec 02, 2024•43 min•Ep 644•Transcript available on Metacast It's that time of year again—Thanksgiving! What's particularly fascinating about this year's collection is the blend of traditional services reimagined for the digital age alongside completely novel business ideas. This is the 7th installment of the series, so I encourage you to check out the previous episodes if you like this format, make sure to grab the full playlist here. Here are the past editions if you want to see them individually: 10 Creative Side Hustles Part 1 – 2018 10 Creative Side ...
Nov 28, 2024•45 min•Ep 643•Transcript available on Metacast I'm always looking for ways to work smarter and more efficiently, and to that end I took a recent inventory of my online business "toolkit." Of course many of these will be obvious to you, but hopefully you discover some helpful new resources as well. The good news? Many of these are free or at least have a free version! And if you're looking for the definitive guide to online resources named by top entrepreneurs, check out the full collection in my book, Work Smarter. One important note is I di...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep 642•Transcript available on Metacast It’s time once again 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 10 to talk through in today’s show. Click here to join Side Hustle Nation for free! We're covering everything from building audiences in today's digital landscape and even how to compete in what some are calling a "no-click world. This is the 17th installment of this series, ...
Nov 18, 2024•40 min•Ep 641•Transcript available on Metacast How do you make extra money in a low-risk way? And one method I keep coming back to is the idea of starting a consignment business. So you're selling other people's stuff and just taking a percentage. They get paid, you get paid, and you've got no upfront inventory risk like you'd have with a traditional physical product business. Sarah McAffry of Statemint Consignment earned over $10,000 from her first consignment event and has continued to grow from there. She has been crushing it in this spac...
Nov 14, 2024•41 min•Ep 640•Transcript available on Metacast Looking to make extra money for Christmas? You’re not alone! The average American spent over $900 on Christmas last year. In this episode, I'm joined by Allison Baggerly from Inspiredbudget.com and we’ll share our top side hustle picks to make extra money for the holidays. These side hustles are easy to start and have no to low startup cost so you can earn what you need for the holiday season. Ready? Let’s do it. Full Show Notes: 30 Ways to Make Extra Money for the Holidays New to the Show? Get ...
Nov 07, 2024•50 min•Ep 639•Transcript available on Metacast More than 150,000 women have completed Tiffany "The Budgetnetista" Aliche's Live Richer Challenge. The roughly 30-day challenge participants step-by-step instructions on how to get their financial lives in order, get out of debt, and start saving money. Collectively, Tiffany's tribe has saved $17 million and paid off $1.5 in debt! I first heard Tiffany tell the story of how she started the challenge and how that's turned into a thriving business at FinCon last year, and am excited to share it wi...
Nov 04, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Happy Halloween! It’s the perfect time to explore some creative and spooky-themed side hustles that can bring in real money. I sat down with Jared Bauman of 201creative.com and host of Niche Pursuits Podcast to talk about 10 scary-good side hustles that could add a little financial excitement to your Halloween. Tune in to Episode 638 of the Side Hustle Show to learn: how to turn hobbies or unique skills into profitable side hustles why holidays and niche markets offer huge earning potential unco...
Oct 31, 2024•56 min•Ep 638•Transcript available on Metacast It’s always inspiring to reconnect with longtime friends of The Side Hustle Show, and Debbie Gartner aka the Flooring Girl is one of them. Over the last few years, she’s turned her love for simple, creative projects into a $4,000-per-month digital product business on Etsy. What started as a personal outlet has grown into a scalable, semi-passive side hustle. Tune in to Episode 637 of The Side Hustle Show to learn: how to build a $4,000/month Etsy shop selling digital products keyword research, c...
Oct 24, 2024•55 min•Ep 637•Transcript available on Metacast There have been a few requests for a Progress Report update, so wanted to take some time this week to give a behind-the-scenes look at the last year or so of the business of Side Hustle Nation. Inside you'll learn more about: what I’ve been working on / through some of my biggest challenges, wins, and projects what's been on my reading list Ready? Let's do it! Full Show Notes: Is Business Coaching Worth It? A Look Inside the last 12 months of Side Hustle Nation New to the Show? Get your personal...
Oct 21, 2024•35 min•Ep 635•Transcript available on Metacast Sometimes the simplest ideas can lead to remarkable success. That's certainly the case for Gary Grewal, founder of Cal Box Rental, a moving box rental service that has grown from a college student's brainstorm to a successful side hustle generating $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue. For the last 10 years, he has been renting out moving boxes with a low start-up cost, consistent and increasing demand, and only a few hours per week to run on the side of his day job. Tune in to Ep 635 of the Side...
Oct 17, 2024•46 min•Ep 635•Transcript available on Metacast Chloe Winstanley began making and selling polymer clay earrings as a hobby. It was a decent side hustle, but the big unlock came when she started teaching other people how to make the jewelry. "I just realized that I could make way more money from hosting people for workshops than I could just by selling the earrings," she explained. Her business taps into the "experience economy," helping people get out from behind their screens and out in real life with friends. In just a couple years, Chloe s...
Oct 10, 2024•45 min•Ep 634•Transcript available on Metacast There’s hidden gold in everyday places — if you know where to look. That’s the message Rob Stephenson from FleaMarketFlipper.com and Flipper University is spreading, and he’s back with some of his most profitable stories yet. Rob is a full-time flipper, sourcing low and selling high. He’s turned a side hustle into a full-time business with jaw-dropping profit margins, all from part-time work. In episode 633 of The Side Hustle Show, Rob explains the "Big Profit Flipping Model." This model draws i...
Oct 07, 2024•35 min•Ep 631•Transcript available on Metacast Thinking of becoming a bookkeeper? 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...
Oct 03, 2024•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast How can a food tour side hustle turn into a $300k a year business? Chris Andrews from Bienville Bites Food Tour started his side hustle back in 2017, where he gave food tours on the weekends in Mobile, Alabama. Fast forward a few years, and now he’s running a $300k business! He quit his job at the steel mill and now runs these food tours full time. How did Chris go from slinging steels to doing food tours? Tune in to Ep 632 of the Side Hustle Show to learn: how Chris built his food tours from th...
Sep 26, 2024•48 min•Ep 632•Transcript available on Metacast How can you drive traffic to your website without relying on Google? The last 12 months haven’t been easy for content creators, especially those hit by Google updates. Some people saw a massive drop in traffic — up to 90-95%! So is online publishing done for? Is the niche site era over? Not quite. For those who adapt, new opportunities arise. Jon Dykstra from Fat Stacks Blog was among those affected but has since turned his attention to other strategies — and here are some of his strategies you ...
Sep 23, 2024•37 min•Ep 631•Transcript available on Metacast 
