Side Hustle Hero

You may not aspire to be a mentalist like today's guest David Jaison, but you'll benefit from what he shares about self promotion, customization for clients, applying online skills to live performances, and learning from his presentation disasters. After you hear this episode, maybe you will be inspired to start a side hustle as a performing mentalist. Be sure to catch the end-of-episode takeaway to discover how to strengthen your intuition, which should be your constant traveling companion in life providing you amazing, timely, profitable guidance. What You'll Hear: 02:42 Knowledge and skills David draws upon to perform as a mentalist 04:54 The value of intuition 06:02 Can anyone train to be a mentalist? 08:36 Why Brian's first major presentation was an "epic failure" and lessons learned 11:55 The value of a mix and mingle before your presentation 13:20 What happens behind the scenes in preparing for a show 16:45 Examples of routines in his show 18:54 Carving out time for a side hustle during a very full time job as a director of logistics 21:44 You may not be getting jobs because you're not charging enough! 23:30 Rethinking an interactive live show to….zoom 24:50 The first online show was "horrible" - more lessons learned! 26:35 A priceless resource - an industry Facebook group focused on zoom performing 28:30 The benefit of offering your services to nonprofits 30:25 Remember that bartering can be a great alternative to paying cash 31:46 A strategic move to a convention and tradeshow-rich city 32:40 Marketing by offering demos, and getting on event-planning/gig websites 35:12 Two indicators showing you it's time to jump full time into your side hustle Takeaway: 36:50 The power of your intuition - one of your 6 mental faculties 38:50 An exercise to develop your intuition David's Website: https://www.davidjaison.com/ Connect with Joan: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/joanposivy/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/posivy/ Joan's Main Site https://www.joanposivy.com/ Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest https://www.joanposivy.com/be-our-guest.html

In this episode, you'll learn no-cost DIY tips for polishing your brand, making your website more "hospitable" to potential clients, and boosting client conversion. Sierra Janisse is a bona fide side hustle hero as she was teaching middle school full time when she started a hobby, which turned into a side hustle, but after 2 years when the income from that began to exceed her teaching income, it was time to re-evaluate. Her side hustle has now become her full time, six figure company. Sierra Janisse is a brand, website, and funnel designer. In our conversation she also talks not only about her wins - but also her mistakes, how to leverage your website through 5 ways to boost client conversion (that DON'T require hiring a designer), actionable tips for email marketing and growing your list in the "age of inbox overwhelm," and clear guidance on where to start the process! What you'll hear: 05:09 "Elementor," a long-time favourite 06:24 Balancing full-time teaching with a growing part-time side hustle 07:37 The decision to leave teaching 08:18 The mistake Sierra made that cost her money 08:45 Offering free services to build your portfolio is fine….to a point 09:45 How to raise your rates 11:20 First hires - accountant and lawyer 13:16 The importance of clear, thorough contracts 14:40 What "holistic" branding is about 15:45 How to do your own "brand audit" 18:35 Overcoming decision fatigue 19:20 5 ways to boost client conversion…that don't require hiring a designer!!! 19:50 Your website should be making you money 20:06 What is your website goal (yes, you need to have one!) 21:15 Have a call to action - and the best place to put it 22:08 Client/Website hospitality - how not to be annoying 23:20 When and how to use popups on your website 25:39 How and why to use the "3-step marketing method" on your website 27:15 Consider the traffic sources for your website 29:35 Breaking through email overwhelm - building your email list 31:10 What not to do in your emails 31:40 What (and how) to adjust if people are unsubscribing to your list 33:12 The value of storytelling in your emails…and guidance on how to do it 34:50 Where do I start??? It's not on improving your weaknesses 36:30 How to inspire yourself to take action on your big side hustle dream Takeaway 38:30 Life is happening….now - not when the goal is achieved 39:13 The secret sauce of life How to Connect with Sierra: https://www.sierralindesign.com/ https://www.instagram.com/sierralindesign/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/sierralindesign Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

This is a tried-and-true side hustle! Get up early. Walk around the outside of commercial buildings picking up trash before your day job. Get paid. What started out as a side hustle for today's guest, Brian Winch has grown to a mature business with gross earnings consistently over $600,000 per year. He still gets up early to walk around buildings and pick up litter, but he scaled the business by picking up more contracts and employing subcontractors. There are so many things I love about this business; it's very low cost entry point ($100 for tools), ability to get paid for going for a walk ($30-$50/hr), the simplicity of the business model, and if you choose to, it's totally scalable! When Brian isn't out picking up litter, he's at HQ (a room in his home) from where he runs the business and teaches others to set up and thrive in their own lot cleaning business. Today's end of episode takeaway is inspired by an add-on service that Brian provides his clients. Apply the idea behind it to elevate your offering and wow your clients! What You'll Hear: 02:50 A second generation side hustle 05:23 Brian's first entrepreneurial attempt at the age of 5 07:09 Earning over $100,000 doing the business himself 07:20 Started scaling and bringing in subcontractors 09:30 Why not franchise? 11:00 Providing free reporting - a very valuable add-on service 13:10 Teaching others the lot cleaning business 17:40 Tips on getting started in the business, under $100 for the tools 19:13 Consider the tax benefits of running your own business 22:10 A positive approach to sales 23:00 Sizes and types of buildings you're most likely to gain contracts 25:15 Frequency of servicing the contract 28:30 Is the lot cleaning business for you? 35:00 Brian's best tip for taking action! Takeaway: 35:44 How will you apply Brian's added service idea? Connect with Brian and Clean Lots: https://cleanlots.com/ Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

Out of the four gigs she juggled, freelance writing became the clear financial winner for today's guest. It's what now pays for Ruksana Hussain's desired lifestyle. She's a pro at making connections, landing writing jobs, and learning from her mistakes. You'll hear unique and easy ways to connect with potential clients at conferences and networking events, what social media platforms are the most productive for freelancers, and how to grow your subscriber list - her Traveler and Tourist online magazine boasts just under 30,000 subscribers. If you've ever thought about becoming a travel writer as a side hustle, you'll definitely want to listen to her response when I ask her to pull back the curtain on what it's really like doing that gig! What You'll Hear 02:35 Acquiring multiple hustles to bring in income, out of necessity 05:43 Burnout hits 09:03 Lessons (costly ones!) learned for the next business 10:24 Leveraging volunteering contacts 12:08 The need for being more selective in choosing clients to work with 12:30 Ask for advice! 13:49 Being more strategic to ensure payment 15:25 Freedom to travel is not available for everyone in all countries 17:30 Proof of concept for travel and lifestyle online magazine 19:54 Chooses to self-fund to market research the magazine 21:03 A grant may be available to you! 22:19 Choosing something other than the typical business model for an online magazine 26:25 How to make networking events work for you 27:16 Offer to help at the event! Here's why. 28:36 Ask to be connected to a longer-term member 30:15 Best platforms to help grow your freelance business 34:00 Reach out to others in your industry, rather than recreate the wheel 34:27 The need and benefit of connecting with others 35:37 The reality of being a travel writer 39:00 Who pays for all the travel expenses 41:00 Way out of Ruksana's comfort zone - Onsens, Japanese public baths 44:00 One of the greatest benefits of travel Takeaways: 45:05 Reach out to someone who is getting the results you want to achieve 46:02 Include these questions when you're talking to an expert Connect with Ruksana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruksanahussain/ https://twitter.com/ruksanawrites https://www.instagram.com/ruksanah/ http://www.ruksanawrites.com/ http://www.travelerandtourist.com/ Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

Shelley Verlaan was a career accountant, until one day a friend suggested they get together and make soap. That one session did it - Shelley was hooked. She dove into R&D, started creating her own line of soap, and sold them at markets for a few years until Covid restrictions shut that down. What did she do? She went full-in and opened a brick and mortar store. Sales have blown past projections. In this episode, you'll hear how a business plan has been a key component of her success with Soapolallie Soapworks (and how it can accelerate your business too!) It's refreshing to discover how the concept of making choices in her business so that everyone can survive and thrive, is what guides her decision-making. Be sure to catch all the valuable no-cost and low-cost marketing tips and reminders sprinkled throughout our conversation, and enjoy the end-of-episode takeaways where I focus on how and why to treat your side hustle NOW as the big, bold, beautiful success you envision it to one day be. What You'll Hear: 04:16 The first soap-making session 05:18 600 bars of soap - now what? 06:06 Selling at markets 10:00 Covid restriction gives birth to the idea of opening a store 12:38 Customers experience a calming effect by being in the store 14:22 In-depth business plan - a necessity 15:20 Grants, and supports, are often available - take advantage!!! 21:49 Business to Business Love, one way Shelley highlights local businesses 23:23 Everyone needs to survive and thrive 24:30 Failure is part of the soap-making process 25:20 Product line has expanded greatly since moving into the store 26:44 Who is your buyer? 28:00 Develop your email and client list vs just relying on social media 28:52 The naming of Soapolallie Soapworks 31:33 Shelley's special source of inspiration 33:58 Choose a side hustle you're passionate about Takeaways 34:25 The need and importance of a business plan 35:40 How to treat your side hustle as a big, bold, beautiful success now! Connect with Shelley: Soapolallie Soapworks Her videographer: Brand Stories Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

Have you ever thought of getting involved in a trade as a side hustle? With the current shortage of employees, now might be a great time to discover whether this could be your path! Today's guest was a salesperson until one day, her employer decided not to pay her the commissions she was owed. She was forced to make a choice, and that choice was to quit. Fast forward 16 years. Tenille Landy has been working as an employee of painting companies. But then a few years ago, she started doing her own painting jobs after hours as a side hustle. After so much work started coming her way, she decided it was time to convert her side hustle into her own full-time work. While her expertise is in painting, what she shares applies across many industries, and to life in general. I bet even the principle of how she prices her painting jobs, will apply to aspects of your side hustle! The end-of-episode takeaways include what can happen when you make a decision - not a wish - but a true decision and commitment to take action and, the importance of the 5 people you spend the most time with. What You'll Hear: 02:45 Not getting paid commission led to a work change 06:50 Being a women in the trades 07:39 Pretending to be a man to get a job 09:11 Exploring multiple opportunities in the industry 12:02 Being asked to lower her standards 14:14 Choosing to be the "boutique painter" 15:44 How Tenille prices her jobs 19:33 Being self employed is worth the trade off 26:00 Friends gave her the courage to establish her own business 27:45 Everyone experiences self doubt at times 28:00 Change what you're telling yourself, in order to improve your results 29:50 Using podcasts for self-improvement 31:45 Beware of becoming complacent 2 Key Takeaways: 34:10 The power of making the decision to act 35:08 Being around negative people will have a negative impact on you 34:40 The importance of being surrounded by positive people 36:00 The connection between your thoughts and the things showing up in your life Joan's Online Course: Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things And her book: The Way Success Works: How To Decide, Believe, & Begin to Live Your Best Life Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

A fun way to grow your influence, your audience, and customer base is by being a podcast guest. But how do you do that? And how do you find the right podcasts? Then once you're booked, what do you need to do to be a success? Today's guest has the answers. Andrew Allemann started a podcast as an offshoot of his trade publication. Not only has it proven itself with over 400 episodes, but it spawned an idea for a service that connects podcast hosts with people wanting to be interviewed! That service, PodcastGuests, has grown to over 38,000 subscribers, adding solid revenue to Andrew's business. You'll also hear about MVP - minimum viable product, and how to use this concept to minimize losses and double-down on promising side hustle winners. In today's end-of-episode takeaways, I focus in on how to get the best results when you're a podcast guest, and you'll hear about a super-efficient, yet under-used free tool (yup, it's free) that puts you in touch with great publicity opportunities. What You'll Hear: 03:10 Domain Name Wire: trade publication for the domain name industry with 10,000+ posts 04:35 Birth of a podcast 07:03 Out of necessity - podcastguests.com was born 09:48 The jump to building up the platform to enable paid subscriptions 10:36 Key contacts made at an industry conference 11:20 MVP - minimum viable product 13:00 Andrew has had businesses not work out 16:08 The value and benefits of being a guest on podcasts 17:13 Why you might want to start your own podcast…and reasons why you shouldn't 20:44 How to sell and how not to sell if you're a guest 25:52 How to get booked more often 27:48 Resource for new guests: podcastguests.com/guide 29:12 Best ways to monetize your podcast 30:30 A lot of podcasts don't make it to 10 episodes! 31:15 Discoverability is not good in podcasts, resulting in typically a slow-build 32:00 Best way to grow your listenership 36:33 Figure out the minimum product you can get out there to test, then ACT! Key Takeaways: 38:05 Focus on content - not selling, when you're being interviewed 38:45 google.com/alerts, a free way to be notified of news in your industry…for pitching stories to the media, it's a handy idea-generator How to find the resources: Connecting podcasters and guests, podcastguests.com How to be a podcast guest, podcastguests.com/guide Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

My guest today has deep reservoirs of courage. He'll say "yes" to new challenges and then scramble to figure out a way to deliver. Like when he said yes to opening for Paul McCartney's son. His band was hired for the gig, but there was one problem…at the time, he didn't actually have a band. It was just him! But that didn't stop Patrick McWilliams. He's a full-time contractor and tradesperson, and his side hustle is performing as a musician, stand-up comedian, and DJ. Regardless of your industry's side hustle,you'll be inspired by Patrick's "just say yes" spirit and perseverance. Check out the end of episode takeaways where I drill down on being "authentic" and saying "yes"... yes to new opportunities, to adventure, to your best life. What You'll Hear: 04:05 The early days 08:06 Creating his first (one man) band 09:48 Just saying "yes" 11:11 LA, Vancouver, an agent, then….covid! 11:45 Being ripped off by agents 14:30 Learn the lessons now when it's cheaper 15:56 Stand-up comedy added as a new side hustle 18:50 How a double-date left his kitchen cupboards a lot less full 25:05 Construction biz grows but there's time for side hustles 26:04 Juggling music, stand-up, and DJ 27:27 "I'm just going to say yes to things first…" 30:00 Forced to do creative writing…a blessing in disguise 31:23 Your best path to success? Keep the end goal in mind 33:44 Great lesson learned in a bar - no one can do it like you! 37:30 If you're authentic in what you do, you'll never consider it work Takeaways 38:35 No one can deliver the product and/or service that you do 39:48 Be yourself, but be your very best self 40:30 If your intuition/gut is prompting you to say yes…then SAY YES! 40:39 Either you'll have a "success" or a "learning experience" How To Connect With Patrick McWilliams: Instagram Tiktok Facebook Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

This episode is all about helping you set yourself up to receive greater wealth and prosperity. You'll hear a featured session from my 12-part video course, Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things, which is all about the inner game of wealth. If you haven't yet been enjoying the abundance you seek, you'll definitely want to check out this episode. It's very likely your inner wealth programming that keeps tripping you up. You'll hear how to identify your mental money stumbling blocks, and how to build a prosperity consciousness to support the financial success you seek. Here's to your financial freedom! What You'll Hear: 02:39 "98% of adults reaching 30 years of age will not substantially alter their income pattern (adjusting for inflation) for the remainder of their life. Only 2% will experience gains." 02:56 Will more money solve the problem? Nope. Here's why 04:02 Improving your results…your "orange tree" 06:14 You can "grow" into anything you choose 07:50 Thoughts - Feelings - Actions - Results, it's all hooked up 08:20 Your external results are merely a reflection of your internal reality 08:35 Do you have a poverty or a prosperity consciousness? 09:02 Here's how you developed your outlook on finances, money, and wealth 09:51 Sources of our programming 10:20 Why we have the money beliefs that we do 11:15 This is what's driving your financial decisions today 14:49 How to re-write and install your new prosperity program 15:02 How to discover your beliefs about money and rich people 16:03 More money amplifies who you already are Joan's Online Course: Turn Youth Thoughts Into Wanted Things Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest

The side hustle that started with buying books for $1 and selling them at a big markup on eBay, morphed into a $5 million dollar brand on Amazon. This happened through the skill and resilience of today's guest, Annalisa DeMarta. She recently discovered that while there are 2.7 million sellers on Amazon, her company Ridgeline Insights is in the top 0.0005% of Amazon sellers. If anybody understands selling on Amazon, it's Annalisa. In our interview, Annalisa reveals what it really takes to be a successful seller on Amazon. She shares the sweet spot of how long you should give your product listing a chance, what are the most important aspects you need to pay attention to, and so much more. It was difficult to choose which takeaways I'd feature at the end because not only does she share many gems for successful selling on Amazon, but the philosophy behind her advice applies to the majority of side hustle businesses. But I settled on these 3 things; why and when to jump into a new venture even if there's the possibility of failure, how to improve your cash flow situation, and how to reframe the feeling of depriving yourself when you're making those smarter cash flow choices. You'll definitely want to check out this episode! What You'll Hear: 03:30 Buying books for $1, selling them for $5, $10, $25… 06:16 A lightbulb moment: Shifting to a scalable and dependable model 07:33 BIG lesson learned: Minding cash flow 08:45 From just the two of them, to 25 employees 10:05 If we don't try this, we'll regret it 11:20 Set yourself up for success by being fiscally conservative in your spending 11:56 A shopping trip provides the seed for a winning business idea 14:00 So many things could have gone wrong - The first shipment of boots from China 15:05 Built Lone Cone to a $5 million brand 18:00 Where to start if you want to import products 21:45 Amazon aggregator picks up Lone Cone 24:14 Ridgeline Insights, an Amazon channel management company 26:55 3 Most common ways to sell on Amazon and pros & cons: arbitrage (a great way to learn Amazon), private labeling/black labeling, contract manufacturing 30:35 Incorrect assumptions people make about selling on Amazon 32:40 What it takes to do Amazon well! 33:58 Just like MSI's (multiple sources of income), diversification of assets is smart 35:01 A lowball offer - nothing lost if they say "no" 35:56 What it REALLY takes to be successful selling on Amazon 39:00 The sweet spot for long you should give a SKU a chance before you give up 43:50 Fear of failure - get over it because you will fail 44:20 Risk a little, learn a lot 45:20 From side hustle to multi-millionaire…you can too! Key Takeaways: 46:00 Don't play the "what-if" game 47:04 Work towards the first tier of financial success - having your base expenses covered 48:00 You're not losing, you're trading for a future payoff 49:00 Act on what's in your control How to connect with Annalisa & Ridgeline Insights: Ridgeline Insights website LinkedIn: Annalisa Tiktok:Annalisa Connect with Joan: Instagram Facebook Joan's Main Site Email Be on the show! Be Our Guest