The Side Hustle Show: Business Ideas for Part-Time Entrepreneurs

In Episode 21 of The Side Hustle Show, Jim Wang shares the strategies and tactics he used to take Bargaineering.com from a part-time hobby to a 7-figure business. In 2010, Jim sold Bargaineering to Bankrate for a reported $3 million, which probably makes him my wealthiest guest so far! We also discuss how the blogging world has changed since 2005 and what he's doing differently for his latest project. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode you'll learn: How Jim got the idea to start Bargaineering. Why he didn't expect the site to be a source of income. What he did to gain some initial traction and readership. His "epiphany moment" in terms of monetizing the site. Why it was so difficult to quit his job, even though the site was earning 6x more than his salary! The extreme habit it took to build Bargaineering into a major force in the personal finance niche. How building a blog today is different from 2005, and what strategies he's using for his next project. Jim's #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned: Bargaineering.com | Side Hustle post Microblogger.com -- Jim's new site Episode 10 of The Side Hustle Show w/ Robert Farrington The College Investor Be sure to stop by Microblogger and say hi, or reach out to Jim on twitter and let him know you heard him The Side Hustle show. What do you think of blogging as a side hustle? I think a blog can feed a business, but probably won't be an awesome business all on its own. Let me know!

In Episode 20 of The Side Hustle Show, local SEO expert and entrepreneur Adam Steele shares how local side hustlers can set their business up to generate more leads than they can handle. We discuss the exact tools and tactics to use to get to the top of the local search results. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In exchange for your 31 minutes, you'll learn: How Adam quit his job to start an online marketing agency. How to use Google Places without showing your home address. How to use Google Places without showing your personal phone number. The best ways to rank in Google for local searches today. Trust signals you can add to your site easily and cheaply. A smart and fast way to manage basic social media for your side hustle. Adam's #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned: CreatureLocal.com wickedfire.com - online marketing forum known for somewhat "aggressive" tactics Google+ Local Adam's full meal deal post on local lead generation 

In Episode 19 of The Side Hustle Show, Lee Drozak from MyOfficeAssist.com shares how she got started as a virtual assistant and how you can do the same. We talk setting up shop, getting your first clients, setting your prices, establishing a niche, and more. Quick background on this side hustle if you’re not familiar - a virtual assistant is not Siri, despite how much Apple wants to hijack the term, it’s a real-live person that works for you remotely as an independent contractor. This is a huge industry overseas in countries like India and the Philippines, with giant call centers staffed with low-cost workers. But you might be surprised to learn there is a thriving VA industry right here at home, and many VAs are side hustlers like you, or started their business as a side hustle. And we’re not talking about a race to the bottom on price either. According to a recent survey, nearly 90% of VAs charge $20/hr or more, and nearly 60% charge $30/hr or more. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode, you'll learn: The "eureka" moment of working from home. How Lee got her first clients. How to get paid what you're worth. How to determine which virtual assistant tasks you love and should build your business around. Why industry certifications might be overrated. The best free resource for aspiring virtual assistants. Lee's #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned: ivaa.org VirtualAssistantForums.com (Thank you, Tess, for the introduction to Lee!) Zirtual | eaHELP | Fancy Hands | Contemporary VA Elance VAclassroom.com Suzanne Evans You can connect with Lee on her site, MyOfficeAssist.com, as well as on twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn. What do you think of virtual assisting as a side hustle? Pretty basic, right? Identify your skills and find someone who'll pay for them. Kind of like a real job except you can do it from anywhere.

In Episode 18 of The Side Hustle Show, Spencer Haws of NichePursuits.com shares his detailed process for niche site creation and monetization, including idea generation, competitive analysis, content creation, link building, and much more. Spencer is the leading expert in this field, which is one of the most popular side hustles around. If you know a thing or two about WordPress (or are willing to learn) and can follow a few simple rules that Spencer lays out, there's no reason why you can't borrow his process to get started with a niche site or ten of your own. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode, you'll learn: One smart way to generate "seed" keyword ideas. Why worm farms and buffalo nickels hold a special place in Spencer's heart. The tools and metrics used to evaluate a niche. How Spencer overcame a $10,000/month ban from Google Adsense. Why rumors of the death of "exact match domains" are false. The link-building strategies Spencer uses to rank new sites quickly. Links mentioned: Long Tail Pro - Spencer's powerful and proprietary keyword analysis and competitive research tool. Use that (affiliate) link for $30 off. Elance Textbroker Pat Flynn's Niche Site Duel Google Keyword Planner Moz (formerly SEOmoz) Open Site Explorer LayeredLinks.com Ubersuggest Learn more about Spencer at his blog, NichePursuits.com or hit him up on twitter. And of course, you're welcome to leave a comment here as well and I'll make sure he sees it. What do you think? Are niche sites a viable side hustle? Have you ever built one (or several)? Let me know!

In episode 17 of The Side Hustle Show, veteran app entrepreneur Benny Hsu shares his insider tips on how to get app ideas, build them out (even if you don't know how to code), launch them, and promote them in the App Store. In 2011, Benny famously made $30,000 in 30 days from his first app. Now he has a portfolio of different apps and quit his job earlier this year to be a full-time "app-preneur." More importantly, he has a new excitement for life that simply wasn't there before discovering this side hustle. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! I was lucky to run into Benny by chance at World Domination Summit, and I'm so glad I did because his story is really inspiring. This interview is filled with tons of actionable advice for aspiring side hustle entrepreneurs and app developers, including: The letter Benny wrote to himself to “Get Busy Living.” Overcoming self-doubt and a string of side hustle failures. How to validate your app idea. Where to find developers and how to sort through all the bids. How to test your app throughout development. How to optimize your app for the best exposure in the App Store. How to reach out to app review sites and bloggers to gain traction for your app. Why Apple users are more attractive than Android users. How the freemium model can work for you. Benny's #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned during this show: Smart Passive Income | Pat's podcast episode on app development Elance TestFlight Episode 3 of The Side Hustle Show w/ Alex Genadinik appadvice.com List of app review sites App Academy - Benny’s course on Udemy If you want to connect with Benny, check out his blog, Get Busy Living, or hit him up on twitter. Do you have an app idea? Have you had any experience with the App Store? Let me know in the comments below!

I'm excited to have Ari Meisel from LessDoing.com on the podcast today! Ari is one of the leading thinkers in the productivity space and someone I've been following online for a couple years. Today though, we shift gears a little bit and talk about the online education platform Udemy.com as a potential side hustle opportunity. Ari's Less Doing course is a popular offering on the site and I had the chance to take it last month after winning a contest on Meron Bareket's site. It's a short and sweet episode at 26 minutes, but we cover a lot of ground. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode you'll learn: Why Udemy is an excellent platform for passive income. How to set up your course for maximum quality and success. One savvy tactic to flood your new course with students and reviews. Ari's #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned: Ari's course: The Art of Less Doing Expert Enough Paddle.com Lynda.com FancyHands.com (50% off your first month!) Definitely check out Ari's blog at LessDoing.com for productivity tips and other interesting finds on a weekly basis. You can also follow him on twitter. What do you think? Have you ever taken any paid online courses? Could you see yourself teaching one? I think Udemy is a pretty attractive side hustle opportunity and am curious if anyone else has had any experience there.

In Episode 15 of The Side Hustle Show, I'm excited to have the hardest working man in radio, John Dumas on the show. John's Entrepreneur on Fire podcast is tearing up the airwaves and earning him a healthy six-figure income less than 1 year after launching. We discuss the viability of podcasting as a side hustle as well as the monetization strategies he uses to bring home the bacon giving away free audio content. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In exchange for your half an hour, you'll learn: What makes podcasting an awesome medium. How an investment in coaching "paid back in spades." The savvy way to find and pitch sponsors for your show. How to expanding the brand beyond the earbuds. John's strategy for podcasting as a $500 per month side hustle. Links and resources mentioned: Jaime Tardy | EventualMillionaire.com John's sponsorship rate sheet for July 2013. John's Book Podcast Launch Cliff Ravenscraft | PodcastAnswerMan.com Pat Flynn's podcasting tutorial video series Check out John's awesome show on iTunes or through his site, EntrepreneuronFire.com. You can also hit him up on Twitter. This post wraps up Podcast Week on Side Hustle Nation. You'll also want to check out: How Much Does it Cost to Start a Podcast? How to Get a Podcast to the Top of iTunes in 8 Weeks — With No Audience or “Celebrity” Guests [Case Study] What do you think of podcasting as a side hustle? Have you ever thought of launching your own show?

In Episode 14 of The Side Hustle Show, Chris Guthrie helps me explore the idea of buying income-producing websites as a side hustle investment strategy. It takes a little bit of capital to play in this game, but Chris explains the first site he bought cost just $500 and has paid for itself many times over. Buying websites is a risky endeavor, which is in part why the potential returns are so attractive. In the interview, we talk about how to mitigate your risk, find some winners, and make some money! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show in iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! Listen to the episode to learn: How websites are typically priced. How Chris finds sites to buy that aren't even "for sale." How to identify sites that might be undervalued or under-monetized. How to do your due diligence to avoid getting screwed. Ways to increase the earning power of a website acquisition. How to transfer the site into your ownership. Chris' #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned during the show: Flippa.com - the leading marketplace for buying/selling websites 3dtvreviews.org - Chris' first website purchase CopyCatCrafts.com - a site he bought for public case study semrush.com - shows what keywords the site is ranking for moz.org compete.com - can give an estimate of site traffic ahrefs.com - link analysis tool Copyscape - tool to determine if a website's content is original or not Vibrant Media / Kontera - contextual advertising services Escrow.com - for safe funds transfer WordPress Search and Replace Plugin - for swapping out affiliateIDs on a newly acquired site. One thing we didn't talk about during the show but is worth mentioning is an inexpensive software tool Chris built to help filter and sort through the madness on Flippa. It's called SiteFinderPro, and I actually used it a lot last year when I was spending time looking through all the Flippa listings. Ultimately, I didn't find anything  attractive enough to pull the trigger on, but that tool definitely saved me time. You can learn more about Chris at MakeMoneyontheInternet.com and check out his Kindle books here. What do you think about buying sites as a side hustle strategy? Faster (and potentially more affordable) than building one yourself, but without the DIY satisfaction. This is one I would certainly love to get more involved in, so curious to hear what you think. Let me know!

In this edition of The Side Hustle Show, I'm joined by Side Hustle Nation member Melanie Ida Chopko. Melanie has an awesome side hustle story to share about her journey as a visual facilitator, bringing ideas to life with beautiful visuals in real-time. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show in iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! Listen and you'll learn: Melanie's awesome strategy for connecting with mentors. How to exercise your atrophied creative muscles. Why you may be targeting the wrong customers (and how to find the right ones). How to build a portfolio and generate referral business. The habit of doing the work, whether paid or not. Links mentioned: What Color is Your Parachute? Orbiting the Giant Hairball The Side Hustle Show w/ Kai Davis The Side Hustle Show w/ Jeremy Blanchard Google Streak International Forum for Visual Practitioners Check out some of Melanie's visual facilitation work at NotesinPictures.com, her illustrations here, and her music here. As mentioned during the show, you can also find her side hustle business on Facebook. What do you think?

In this edition of The Side Hustle Show, we hear the super-inspiring story of Josh Isaak, founder of MySky.  He talks about how he built the CRM software from scratch, beginning without an idea or coding experience, and using the customer's money to fund the product before it ever existed. We also talk about how house painting in college is a great gateway drug into the world of entrepreneurship. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show in iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! You'll learn: How Josh built a 6-figure business, part-time, while still in college. The sales process that worked for both painting and software. How Josh got $40,000 for a software product that didn't exist. The proven cold calling script for idea extraction. How to use price anchoring to decide how much to charge. How to get a huge list of business leads for $10 a week. Differentiating your product from the competition. The mindset shift that made all the difference for Josh. Links mentioned in this episode: Phantom Screens The Foundation manta.com oDesk GuardConnect CollegePro Dane Maxwell interview on Inspiring Innovation Dane Maxwell interview on Smart Passive Income Want to learn more and connect with Josh? You can find him on twitter, LinkedIn, and of course at MySky. A big thank you to Mike Kawula from SelfEmployedKing.com for the introduction! What do you think? Is this a good side hustle? I know I'm already thinking of businesses I could "idea extract" on.

In Episode 11 of The Side Hustle Show, I sit down with Jason Pliml, the founder of MockDraftCentral.com. We discuss building a web application business as a side hustle, even in an ultra-competitive area like sports, and what he would do differently if he had to start all over. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show in iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! We cover: The importance of idea validation (and the costly assumption that provided that lesson). Building a business based on what you love to do for fun. Picking a topic that's debatable and that other people are passionate about. How being nimble allows you to take on bigger and better-funded competitors. The strategy Jason used get new users on the site. How to test different pricing levels. How to avoid scope creep. The 6-month ROI rule for new features.

Robert Farrington is more successful than 99% of all bloggers on the planet. He routinely earns between $3000 and $5000 a month from his blogs. And the kicker? Yeah, he still has a full-time job completely unrelated to this amazing side hustle! His sites: TheCollegeInvestor.com KidsAintCheap.com EntrepreneurshipLife.com MyMultipleIncomes.com BeatThe9to5.com. He shares his tips for blogging success as well has his plan to leave the corporate world behind in the next two years. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode, you'll learn: Why other bloggers in your niche are NOT your competition. Why content-rich sites like blogs will outlast and out-earn thin niche sites. The smart strategy that got his content tweeted out by the Shark Tank hosts The importance of building a real brand around your blog. The unique monetization strategy that blows Adsense out of the water. One savvy way to identify sites that might be for sale. The important action most bloggers overlook. Mentioned during the interview: Derek Halpern - "Newsjacking" or "drafting" SmartPassiveIncome | NicheSiteDuel 2.0 Spencer Haws - NichePursuits.com Help a Reporter (HARO) Yakezie Financial Bloggers Conference What do you think? Is blogging a good side hustle? Hey just a quick favor to ask -- if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to drop in a quick review in iTunes. It's a huge help, thank you so much!

I love the idea of having something for sale in an established marketplace, and I think there's no better example of that than Amazon. If you don't have a book for sale on Amazon you're missing out on a huge audience of buyers. You might not make a fortune, but self publishing is a viable side hustle and one I'm particularly excited about. And even though I have a couple titles myself and am earning a little bit of "passive" income from them, there are a ton of authors with far more success than me. One of those is Steve Scott, the author of 15 (and counting) Kindle books. He's created this impressive portfolio in a little over a year, and it's turned into a business that generates thousands of dollars in royalties every month. Plus, it allows for the freedom and flexibility to work from wherever he wants. A couple days after recording this session, Steve was jetting off to Greece for a month with his girlfriend. Ready to learn how it's done? Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode you'll learn: How to write your book in just an hour a day. How long your book has to be. Whether it's better to write fiction or non-fiction. Why a book might earn you more money than a blog with the same content. The proven path to $300 a month in royalties. Why giving your book away for free can actually help sell more copies. One innovative way to use Amazon to build your email list. The importance of building your own brand, independent of Amazon. Mentioned in this episode: Pat Flynn's Facebook group for authors Steve's blog Steve's author page on Amazon My 30 Day Writing Challenge Elance Problogger job board Steve's new habits website What do you think? Do you have a book in you? What's stopping you from writing it? Have you already published on Amazon? What's your experience been like? Let me know in the comments below!

In this episode of The Side Hustle Show, we meet Jeremy Blanchard, a soon-to-be full-time Life and Leadership Coach. While working as a web developer, Jeremy has been cultivating his coaching business as a fun, profitable, and fulfilling side hustle. During our interview,  he shares his passion for the business of helping others, and gives his firsthand advice on how you can do the same. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show via iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In exchange for your 34 minutes, you'll learn: The value proposition of coaching. The importance of having a mentor who's walked the path. How to get your first paying customers. How to overcome the common objections. The sales strategy that produces a 50% conversion rate. Why coaching is "the best job ever." Links mentioned in this episode: BlanchardJeremy.com/hustle

This week on the podcast, my guest is Meron Bareket from the Inspiring Innovation magazine and Inspiring Innovation podcast. We talk shop about how to get started with digital periodicals and why they make a great low-risk side hustle. I love it because it's a perfect example of a time-leveraged business; each incremental copy you sell costs you nothing to produce. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! In this episode you'll learn: Why the iPad publishing market is so lucrative right now. How to systemize and outsource the production. Where to find affordable, on-demand writing talent to help create content. How a magazine differs from a blog and why you should consider it. How to optimizing your Apple Newstand presence. Meron's 4 top tips for side hustle entrepreneurs. Mentioned in this show: Leslie Samuels' Become a Blogger podcast The Smart Passive Income Podcast with Pat Flynn Ed Dale | Magcast Ralph Quintero Virtual Staff Finder (affiliate link) oDesk (affiliate link) Meron's Digital Publishing Podcast (definitely worth a listen if you're thinking seriously about launching your own iPad magazine) Noah Kagan Dane Maxwell's The Foundation | SPI Podcast Interview Meron was generous enough to offer Side Hustle Nation a free 3 month subscription to his magazine so you can see what it's all about, no strings attached. Here are the instructions on how to redeem: On your iPad, download the mag by opening this link: http://INmag.co/mag Download the Inspiring Innovation Magazine app from the AppStore (it's free) Once downloaded, open the App (either from the AppStore of from the Newsstand on the home screen) Once the magazine opens, click on Subscribe. You will be prompted to choose subscription plan. Select "Current Subscribers". Put the following code: 3monthspromo and click OK. You're all done :) If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below or find Meron on Twitter.