The Side Hustle Show

Latest Episodes:

369: 7 Key Steps to Start and Grow Side Hustle Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

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 opportunities for improvement this year.

Full Show Notes: 7 Key Steps to Start and Grow Side Hustle

368: How to Start a Pet Waste Removal Business: $50 an Hour Part-Time Jan 02, 2020

Show notes

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 some results. Erica just left her day job to pursue this full-time, and with the plans she has in place, it looks like her business is set to continue growing.

Tune in to hear how she landed her first customers and markets this business, how she prices the service, and how she delivers on her promises.

Full Show Notes: How to Start a Pet Waste Removal Business: $50 an Hour Part-Time

367: Zero to $20k/Month in a Year: Affiliate Marketing Case Study Dec 26, 2019

Show notes

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 Highlight Reel: Affiliate Marketing Case Study: Zero to $20k/month in a Year

Ready to Start a Site of Your Own? My free video series will help you get online quickly and affordably.

FinvsFin is an example of what I’ll call the modern comparison shopping site -- helping readers make decisions and getting paid for it. And since comparison shopping was my original side hustle over a decade ago, this was especially fun to dive into.

The impressive part is that this is still very much a side hustle. Both Alex and Healy have full-time jobs, and their business falls under the “passive income" business model.

Tune in to hear how Alex and Healy prioritize and create their content, what they’re doing to market the site and drive traffic, and how you can borrow some of their same strategies in your own niche.

366: Drop Shipping and Digital Products on Etsy Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

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, since 2015, the number of Etsy buyers has more than doubled -- far outpacing the growth of Etsy sellers.

So, if you are currently selling online or have an idea in the pipeline, you’d be crazy to ignore the potential Etsy holds as a "Buy Buttons" platform.

Melissa MacDonald is a long-time Etsy seller who now focuses her efforts on Etsy marketing and optimization for other shop owners.

Tune in to hear Melissa’s process for coming up with new passive income product ideas, her favorite tools for running a hands-off Etsy shop, and how to optimize your listings for conversion and sales.

Full Show Notes: Drop Shipping and Digital Products on Etsy

365: Market Saturation, Mind Mapping, Miracle Mornings, and More: 20 Questions with Nick Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

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:

A common piece of advice you’ll hear is to take audience questions and turn them into content, so here’s a meta example of that in action.

This episode covers market saturation, getting up earlier, mapping out content, and lots more.

Enjoy!

Full Show Notes: Market Saturation, Mind Mapping, Miracle Mornings, and More: 20 Questions with Nick

364: Public Domain Publishing: $100,000 Selling Classic Books on Amazon Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

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 straight to their device.

I think any business where you can get your inventory for free is pretty compelling!

Since 2013, Aaron Kerr has pocketed over $110k in royalties through this very part-time side hustle. You can see all his public domain projects over at TimelessReads.com.

Tune in to hear how this business model works, Aaron’s advice on what to publish and how to get past Amazon’s gatekeepers, and how to differentiate your public domain books from everything else out there.

Full Show Notes: Public Domain Publishing: $100,000 Selling Classic Books on Amazon

363: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money - Part 2 Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

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 Dog Walking Business
The 7-Figure Email Newsletter Business
The Ambient Noise Alexa Skill
Big Bat Houses
The Niche Service Provider Directory
The Niche Productized Service
In-Person Classes

Enjoy!

Full Show Notes: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money - Part 2

362: Get Paid to Answer Questions: How I Make $20,000 a Month Online Nov 21, 2019

Show notes

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 customers would have,” Debbie told me.

But as you might have guessed, the site soon started to reach an audience well outside her local area. A couple of years later Debbie got out of the brick and mortar flooring business and decided to monetize her blog.

She was already pulling in more than 100,000 visitors and by simply turning on ads she made $1,100 in her first month.

From there she continued to grow her traffic numbers, added affiliate posts, created her own products, and is now making more than $20,000 a month.

Tune in to hear how Debbie is driving traffic, how her site earns money, and how you may be able to replicate some of Debbie’s tactics in your own niche.

Note: If you don't have a blog of your own yet, my free video series will show you how to get up and running quickly and affordably.

Full Show Notes and PDF Highlight Reel: Get Paid to Answer Questions: How I Make $20,000 a Month Online

361: How to Get More Clients … By Interviewing Them Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

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 has created a podcast called The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. It serves as a platform for business owners to talk about their businesses, and for Josh to demonstrate to them how he can improve their visibility.

It’s a win-win, and with streamlined processes in place, Josh is seeing a return of around $4,000 for every $200 he spends on producing his show.

If you’re a current or aspiring freelancer, consultant, coach, or agency owner… this is gold.

Tune in to hear how Josh does his proactive prospecting, how he’s turning his content creation into sales conversions, and the foundational ground game he’s got set up that makes this all work.

Full Show Notes: How to Get More Clients … By Interviewing Them

360: From $12/hr at Walmart to a $70k a Year Part-Time Business Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

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 friend while working at Walmart. More than a decade into the operation, he's got dozens of predictable retainer clients that pay him every month.

In this episode, Larry shares some interesting tactics he’s used over the years to find new clients and keep them around for years.

I'm confident he'll give you some food for thought as to what type of local service business could be right under your nose.

Full Show Notes: From $12/hr at Walmart to a $70k a Year Part-Time Business

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