The Side Hustle Show

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-podcast, pre-kids, and pre-almost everything I'm working on now. I'd been a full-time entrepreneur for 4 years already at that point, but my business had seen lots of ups and downs.Turning 30 had hit me harder than I expected it to, and I'm guessing it was because I really wasn't where I wanted to be. I'd been battling with flaky developers, fighting with the state Assembly in Sacramento over affiliate marketing tax laws, and we were in the process of short-selling our home -- which had been a major source of stress.Seven years later, that stuff is thankfully in past, and I’m in a better place today.That's not to say I'm completely stress-free, but I'm incredibly fortunate to have a healthy family and to get to work on stuff I love every day. Each year that goes by makes me more and more aware of that fact.But the life I have today didn't happen overnight. It's the result of literally decades (well, at least 2) of entrepreneurial education, trial and error, hustle, and if I'm being totally honest, luck.In any case, here are 37 life lessons I've picked up in my 37 years on this planet.Enjoy!Full Show Notes: 37 Things I Have Learned in My 37 Years

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 some of the boxes for an awesome side hustle: Anybody can do it It doesn't require a huge upfront investment It’s quick to get started and see results If this sounds like a side hustle you’re interested in, listen in to hear Keely’s top tips for sourcing profitable inventory, the types of products she sees doing well today, and where she lists and markets her items for maximum exposure and profitability.Full Show Notes: Thrifting for Profit: How I Made $270k in Sales Reselling Vintage Items

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 the Side Hustle Nation Facebook community.On the other end of the line is Zach Evanish, a remote real estate investor and Director of Retail for Roofstock.  Roofstock is a marketplace designed to make it easy to shop for, compare, and purchase rental properties. (Zach was Roofstock employee #3 -- and has bought 11 rental properties of his own through the platform.)Full Show Notes: Is Real Estate Your Next Income Stream? Rental Property Q & A

Sylvia Inks, a financial coach for small business owners and author of "Small Business Finance for the Busy Entrepreneur," shares her journey from IT consulting to financial coaching. She emphasizes the importance of networking and adapting services based on client feedback. Sylvia discusses impactful marketing strategies and engaging presentations that resonate without overt selling. The conversation also touches on innovative solutions for managing business finances and the critical role of accounting tools for entrepreneurs. Tune in for actionable insights and inspiring stories!

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 professional blog coach Kim Anderson.(You might remember Kim from an earlier appearance on The Side Hustle Show, in which she shared how she made financial independence a reality for her and her family through her blog, Thrifty Little Mom.Listen in to our coaching call with Jamie as we try and guide him toward clarity on his content, promotion, and monetization strategies.What strategies could you apply to your own site?Full Show Notes: Blog Coaching: Building Traffic and Income to a Brand New Site

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 certified meditation instructor. The interesting part is how she's managed to carve out a profitable business model in the experience economy using Airbnb’s Experiences platform.When travelers book a stay in Arizona using Airbnb, they are also offered one of Michele’s meditation experiences -- at a cost of course.This enables Michele to take advantage of the huge marketing machine that is Airbnb. They drive the traffic and raise awareness of her meditation experiences, and it’s paying off.Tune in to hear how Michele found her first experience customers, what she’s done to market and grow her business, and how you may be able to apply the same strategies to an experience of your own.Full Show Notes: Paid to Breathe: Make Money Hosting a Unique Local Experience

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 Conferences: 20 Questions with Nick 271: Brilliant Blogging, Ruthless Productivity, and Guaranteed Success: 20 Questions with Nick 245: Network Marketing, Imposter Syndrome, My Side Hustle Mistakes, and More: 20 Questions with Nick 219: Growing Traffic, Monetization, List-Building, a Day in the Life, and More: 20 Questions with Nick 198: Blogging, Branding, Book Writing, and Finding the Right Side Hustle for You: 20 Questions with Nick 181: SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Self-Publishing, Udemy, and More: 20 Questions with Nick 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 the dark side of side hustling, beanie babies, affiliate marketing, and much more.Full Show Notes: The Con of the Side Hustle, Beanie Babies, Affiliate Marketing, and More: 20 Questions with Nick

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 see what I was actually spending my time on had both my wife and I complete a 5-year vision document So, if you want to hear what a millionaire coach thinks of my operations and what I could or should be doing differently, or just want hear the kinds of questions that come up, tune in.I think you’ll find the insights applicable to your own business, no matter what level you’re at.Full Show Notes: A Millionaire Business Coach Takes a Look Inside My Day-to-Day

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 wheels in motion on his consulting business centered around specific software tools.Which as a side hustle tactic, is fantastic. If you can hitch your cart to a rising tide of interest in a particular tool, and become the go-to expert in that space, you can do really well.And, that’s exactly what Paul has done.Paul was able to leave his day job within a couple of months of starting his business. He was then able to go traveling with his wife for 6-months while working 15-20 hours a week from his laptop.After arriving back home, he started working full-time on his consulting business. “I noticed the impact of that straight away, within a couple of months I had doubled my income,” Paul told me.It's clear Paul has figured out this business model.This one’s packed with ideas you might be able to apply to your own areas of expertise. Maybe you’ll even uncover some areas of expertise you never really considered that special before.Tune in to hear how Paul came across the idea of offering his first consulting services “by accident”. As well as how he’s used several different marketing channels to drive targeted traffic to his website, and how he’s been adding more products and services to his portfolio and seen his revenue increase as a result.Full Show Notes and PDF Highlight Reel: Virtual Consulting: How to set up your location-independent Consulting Business

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 since 2005, I’ve still got a lot to learn! This is something that’s been on my mind this year as I think about where I want to my current operations to go and who can help get me there.To help dive into this topic, I’m excited to welcome John Jonas and Nate Hirsch to the show.Between them, they’ve got more than 60 virtual team members and have been practicing remote management for more than a decade.They both run platforms to help you make your first virtual hire as well: John heads up OnlineJobs.ph, the largest remote job board and resume database for workers in the Philippines. Nate created FreeeUp.com, a curated freelance marketplace for workers all around the world. Tune in to hear John and Nate’s take on when it’s time to hire, how to find the best talent for your budget, and some common mistakes to avoid.Full Show Notes: Hiring Your First Virtual Assistant: When, Where, and How to Do it Right