The Side Hustle Show

As we turn the calendar on a new decade, I thought I'd reflect back on the last 10 years.To paint the picture of where the 2010s started for me, I was: coming off a great year in business, and had high hopes for the future about to get married blogging at nickloper.com, on a bunch of random topics $150k underwater in our house, which was a huge source of stress Let's see what happened next!Full Show Notes: Decade in Review: My Most Important Moments and Lessons from the 2010s

Rob brought in $40k last year hosting tours in of Washington, D.C. -- all on the side from his day job, and with no marketing budget.However, if you Google “Washington, D.C tour guide”, Rob Pitingolo's TripHacksDC.com is nowhere to be seen.So what's secret sauce?He’s been creating helpful tourist-friendly content on YouTube, and outlet largely ignored by his better-funded competitors.His channel has had more than 1.4 million views to date, and he’s funneling those viewers to his site where they can sign up for a tour.In fact, his channel has grown so much that he’s partnered with YouTube and ad revenue from his videos has become another income stream for his business.Tune in to hear how Rob has grown his business into a fun and cash-flowing side hustle, how he leverages YouTube to reach his target customers rather than traditional tour marketplaces, and how he’s growing the business beyond just himself giving tours.Full Show Notes: How to Market a Local Business on YouTube: $40k on the Side

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

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

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 YearReady 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.

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

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: 346: The Con of the Side Hustle, Beanie Babies, Affiliate Marketing, and More: 20 Questions with Nick 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 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

Discover how to make passive income by republishing classic books in the public domain on Amazon. Learn from Aaron Kerr's success of earning over $110k through this side hustle. Get insights on what to publish, Amazon's rules, and how to stand out in the market.

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

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