The Side Hustle Show

I've been medium-obsessed with the idea of early retirement ever since I discovered this little blog called Mr. Money Mustache a couple years ago. The basic formula goes like this: once you have 25x your annual spending in invested net worth, you can theoretically live off growth/interest/dividends in perpetuity. On today's episode you'll meet Jeremy Jacobson, who retired at 37 and now spends his days traveling with his wife and soaking up new cultures and experiences -- and blogging about financial independence.

Four months ago, Andy Slamans gave us a detailed look at Amazon FBA product selection, working with manufacturers, and bringing those products to market. But the most common question I get from listeners is how to find that first product to import. How do I find a profitable product? How do I measure the competition? How do I validate the demand and the pricing? In today's episode, I sit down with Will Mitchell from StartupBros.com to dive into those exact questions.

Dan Faggella sent me an email last month that essentially said, "Hey Nick, I'm a fan of the show. I have some expertise in email marketing, and I know many of your listeners are working to build their online presence and their email lists. Would it make sense to do an episode on some list building and email best practices?" And then he added the kicker: "I'm making $50k/mo selling martial arts training videos right now, and I have other businesses as well..." OK, I'm listening!

This week my friend Alex Barker co-hosts and interviews me on my entrepreneurial beginnings, my first side hustle, and the origins and future of Side Hustle Nation. We also go through a few listener questions as well. I realized I've told some of these stories only in bits and pieces on the show and on the Side Hustle Nation blog before, despite having mentioned them on several other podcasts. This episode is admittedly a little "fluffy" -- so I promise a return to the hard-hitting tactical stuff next week!

Nate and his brother earned $300,000 in passive income by licensing one of their ideas to Mattel. They didn't have to design it, produce it, or sell it. But they found someone who could, and they cashed the checks. And to be fair, Nate will be the first to tell you these kind of results aren't typical -- but he's proof they ARE possible. Nate's actually a dentist by day, but a pretty serious side hustler by night, and on this call we take a deep dive into the world of product licensing.

John Corcoran is well-known in online business circles for being "the connections guy," but I was more curious in how he's built his own online business than networking tips. Today he sells his own premium course on Connecting with Influencers, plus earns money as an affiliate for other high-dollar, high-value online products. In January, he earned $30,000 in one month, through sales of his own product and as an affiliate for others. In this call we get into building and selling a course of your own, the best ways to get it done, and maybe a little bit about building the partnerships to make a powerful impact.

In Hawaii and on the plane home I read two books with very similar themes: The ONE Thing by Gary Keller Essentialism by Greg McKeown Both titles share the common message of FOCUS -- de-cluttering your day, your work, your mind, and your life. They came at a good time because I was starting to feel overwhelmed with projects and wanting to pursue new ideas and opportunities as they came up.

AnarchoFighter, a top-rated Fiverr seller, shares insights on making high-value sales on the platform. They discuss the newest features, including custom quotes up to $10,000 and how to create intriguing titles. They explore limitations of the search engine and red flag system, using Skype for consulting gigs, and increasing order value. Learn strategies for setting up a successful seller account and the advantages of using Fiverr Anywhere.

It's tax season, and I think it would be foolish to give Uncle Sam more than you're legally required to. This week I'm joined by Joshua Sheats from RadicalPersonalFinance.com and the host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast. He explains there are 2 tax codes: the personal tax code and the business tax code. As a business owner, even as a side hustler, there are a number of distinct tax advantages available to you. Listen in and keep your hard-earned dollars!

Dayne Shuda runs GhostBlogWriters.com, a done-for-you blogging service that commands premium prices, and oversees a team of 20 part-time writers to deliver the work for clients around the country. But like most businesses, Ghost Blog Writers came from some pretty humble beginnings. In fact, Dayne started it as a side hustle with $0 upfront investment.