598: 21 Little Life Upgrades for 2024

What’s one small change you could make right now to instantly improve your life?

I’m talking about tweaks that are completely within your control—minor upgrades that deliver outsized returns on your happiness.

Today we’re talking 21 little life upgrades—small purchases, shifts, and habits you can adopt this year to improve your life.

I’ll be sprinkling in some of my own tweaks throughout, but we’ve also got a ton of suggestions from the Side Hustle Nation community on everything from work hacks to health habits to home upgrades.

We actually did a whole previous episode on life upgrades back in 2020, Episode 418, with a completely different set of upgrades and tricks.

I definitely encourage you to check that one out as well for even more upgrade inspiration!

I guarantee you’ll find at least one new idea to try out here.

Full Show Notes: 21 Little Life Upgrades for 2024

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• US Bank — Get a 75,000-point sign-up bonus with the US Bank Business Altitude Power World Elite Mastercard, and earn 2X points on everything you buy for your business.
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• The Science of Scaling Podcast — A framework to help guide entrepreneurs through the scaling process!
• This is Small Business — Pulls back the curtain on pivotal moments in the journey to success for small business owners!

Scaling Up a Service Business: From Idea to $400k in Monthly Recurring Revenue (Greatest Hits)

Three years ago Design Pickle didn’t exist. It wasn’t even an idea in founder Russ Perry’s head yet.

That’s why it seems crazy to me that today the unlimited graphic design service is doing $400k in monthly recurring revenue!

Back in 2014, Russ was running a creative agency, but he started to hate everything about it. “I felt like I was in a prison of my own creation,” he said.

By January 2015, he’d shut down his agency and started working as a freelancer. Not wanting to build a similar prison again, he sought out a different business model — one with a simpler service offering that was designed to scale.

From taking on a friend as his first client to now completing more than 800 design jobs a day, it’s been an incredibly quick ascension and a great example of how to scale a service business.

Tune in to hear how Russ grew his business from zero to $410k+ in monthly recurring revenue in less than 3 years.

We cover his marketing strategies, his hiring best practices, and what Design Pickle does to keep customers coming back month after month.

Full Show Notes: Scaling Up a Service Business: From Idea to $400k in Monthly Recurring Revenue (in Under 3 Years)

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Sponsors:

• Squarespace – Start building your professional website today!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
• My First Million — Explore new business ideas based on trends and opportunities in the market!

597: Website Rentals: The simple local websites that earn $1000/mo each

Miao Rios was listening to the Side Hustle Show episode “Rank and Rent” with Luke Van Der Veer about creating niche websites to rank them on Google, then renting out the leads to local service businesses.

She decided to give it a try, and just 3 months after creating her first site, she got an unexpected call.

It was from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand, inviting her new website business to bid on a large demolition project for a local school.

Despite having no actual demolition capabilities, Miao took a chance responding to the tender.

She partnered with a qualified local contractor, got help polishing up the bidding documents, and ended up winning the $5,000 job!

In this episode, you’ll learn how Miao of blackbirdseo.com builds and ranks her sites to earn $1000-$1500 per month passively. More importantly, you’ll get a blueprint to find profitable niches and service providers to create your own side income stream.

Tune in to Episode 597 of the Side Hustle Show to learn about:

• Finding profitable niches and locations
• Building out niche sites to rank locally
• Getting high-quality leads
• Partnering with reliable service contractors

Full Show Notes: Website Rentals: The simple local websites that earn $1000/mo each

Free Listener Bonus: 50+ Rank and Rent Niches

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• US Bank — Get a 75,000-point sign-up bonus with the US Bank Business Altitude Power World Elite Mastercard, and earn 2X points on everything you buy for your business.
• Notion – Try Notion AI for free!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!

596: An Online Course Business Turns 10: Lessons from $4M in Online Piano Course Sales

You may remember the story Jacques Hopkins first shared on the Side Hustle Show in 2017 about his online piano course.

Over the past decade, he systematically scaled Piano in 21 Days, into a powerhouse brand that generated over $4 million in sales.

Now in 2024, I connected with Jacques again to get an update on his current projects and perspective looking back on his entrepreneurial wins and lessons learned over the past years.

Like all savvy business owners, his approach and focus has evolved quite a bit during that timeframe.

Tune in to Episode 596 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:

• Jacques’ online piano course business after 11 years and over $4 million in sales
• Elements of building a successful online course business
• How Jacques’ passion has shifted after doing this side hustle for over a decade
• What Jacques is focused on next with his coaching program and podcast

Full Show Notes: An Online Course Business Turns 10: Lessons from $4M in Online Piano Course Sales

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• Squarespace – Start building your professional website today!
• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• The Hustle Daily Show – Your daily news podcast about irreverent and informative takes on business & tech!

595: The Million Dollar Weekend / Business Idea Giveaway Show

What if I told you that you could launch a million-dollar business this weekend? Sounds crazy, right?

I recently had the pleasure of having Noah Kagan back on the Side Hustle Show podcast.

You might remember him from Episode 237 about brainstorming and validating business ideas.

Noah is a serial entrepreneur and founder of AppSumo, The Noah Kagan Youtube channel, Noah Kagan Presents podcast, and several other successful ventures.

He recently launched a new book called Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours.

Throughout our conversation, we brainstormed numerous side hustle business ideas that listeners could pursue this year.

Noah also shared his insights on idea validation, launching quickly, and much more.

Tune in to Episode 595 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:

• How to quickly validate and launch a side hustle idea
• Multiple promising side hustle concepts to pursue in 2024
• The importance of pre-selling a product idea before building it
• Why services businesses make for promising first side hustles
• Actionable tips for overcoming “analysis paralysis” and launching faster

Full Show Notes: The Million Dollar Weekend / Business Idea Giveaway Show

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• US Bank — Get a 75,000 sign-up bonus with the US Bank Business Altitude Power World Elite Mastercard, and earn 2X points on everything you buy for your business.
• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• HubSpot — Connect your data, teams, and customers on one customer platform that grows with your business.

594: The $100/day for 100 Days Challenge

Making an extra $100 a day through side hustles might seem out of reach for many people. So how did one side hustler earn over $10,000 in just 100 days?

Jaclyn “Jackie” Mitchell (@jaclynmitchell) set out to save for a down payment on a house by breaking a big goal into bite-sized daily targets.

By earning $100 every day over 100 days, she ended up netting a total of $10,972.

How’d she do it while working a full-time job?

By relentlessly testing quick-hitting side hustles, working in public to hold herself accountable, and opening herself up to unexpected income from building an audience.

Tune in to Episode 594 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:

• how to break down big goals into small, daily actions
• how to leverage communities for advice and accountability.
• how to look for passive income opportunities
• how consistency compounds over time

Full Show Notes: The $100/day for 100 Days Challenge

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• Notion – Try Notion AI for free!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• Squarespace – Start building your professional website today!

10 Foundational Hustle Habits to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Greatest Hits)

As the author of more than 70 books, Steve “S.J.” Scott is one of the most productive and disciplined people I know.

His latest title, Habit Stacking, became a Wall Street Journal Bestseller and served as the inspiration for this episode.

(Long-time listeners might remember Steve from WAY back in the archives; he was my guest in episode 9 where we discussed how to earn money as a side hustling author.)

This time though we’re diving into a few of the habits that allow Steve to continually drive his business forward, and lead a healthier and happier life. Plus, you’ll learn why we think they’re important and how you can apply them in your own life.

The 10 habits we cover are:

1. Tracking your time
2. Reviewing your goals daily
3. Writing down the tasks you got done
4. Fixing your “broken windows”
5. Wearing a step-tracking device
6. Keeping a food diary
7. Researching one side hustle
8. Breaking down a big project into actionable steps
9. Following an evening shutdown routine
10. Practicing mindfulness

As you can see, they’re not all directly business-related, but most take 5 minutes or less and are designed to increase your productivity, reduce stress, prioritize your workload, and help you find a healthy work-life balance.

Tune in to hear how Steve and I incorporate these habits into our daily routines (or plan to, in my case).

Full Show Notes: 10 Foundational Hustle Habits to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness

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Sponsors:

• Entrepreneur Franchise 500 – Check out the list of the Top 500 Franchicses to own!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!

593: The 30 Day Money Cleanse: A Step-by-Step Detox Program for Your Financial Health

Have you ever done a juice cleanse or a “Whole30” challenge?

While I haven’t ever gone to that extreme, I DO always feel better physically and mentally after even just a few days of clean eating.

So if a quick “cleanse” can work for our health, why not try it with our money?

To dive deeper into this, I’m joined by Rachel Jimenez from Money Hacking Mama, one of the most popular Side Hustle Show guests of all time.

Her episode on selling printables on Etsy has been downloaded almost 90,000 times.

Ready for the cleanse? Let’s do it!

Full Show Notes: The 30 Day Money Cleanse: A Step-by-Step Detox Program for Your Financial Health

Free Listener Bonus: Download the Printable Money Cleanse Checklist.

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• Indeed – Start hiring NOW with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post!
• Squarespace – Start building your professional website today!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!

592: How One Side Hustler Turned $65 into $25k in 12 months

When school teacher Claire McCann turned a $65 used table set into $300, she discovered a profitable new side hustle model. Intrigued by the potential to multiply her money by flipping furniture, Claire set out to hone her skills and scale the venture up.

Just 15 months later, Claire has earned over $35,000 in profits from furniture flipping using Facebook Marketplace and other digital platforms. Now she spreads her hard-won knowledge so others can succeed too through her The Furniture Flip brand.

Tune in to Episode 592 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:

• Where to source profitable secondhand furniture pieces online for low buy prices
• Strategies to customize your outreach messages and listings so your deals stand out
• Which furniture styles and brands yield top resale prices?
• The economics behind leveraging movers and staging help to scale
• Best practices to avoid prevalent marketplace scams and fraudsters

Full Show Notes: How One Side Hustler Turned $65 into $25k in 12 Months

New to the show? Grab your personalized playlist here!

Sponsors:

• Notion – Try Notion AI for free!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!

591: The 10 Best Side Hustles of the Year

We’ve had hundreds of inspiring side hustle stories on the show this past year, but a few really stood out from the pack.

In this week’s roundup episode, I’ll be counting down the 10 best side hustles of 2023.

To make it super easy to revisit any episode, I put together a Side Hustle Show “Best Side Hustles of 2023” playlist on Spotify with quick access to all the audio.

Get ready to have your side hustle dreams ignited as we reveal the year’s top ideas and strategies for earning outside of the conventional 9 to 5. The only question is – which one will you put into action this year?

Let’s dive in!

Full Show Notes: The 10 Best Side Hustles of 2023

New to the Show? Get your personalized money-making playlist here!

Sponsors:

• Masterclass — Get 15% off an annual membership!
• Factor — Get 50% off America’s #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service w/ code sidehustle50!
• Gusto – Get 3 months free when you run your first payroll!