490: $10k a Month Helping Babies and Toddlers Sleep Through the Night

From being a “bored stay at home mom” to running a multi 6-figure business in just a few short years.

That’s the story for this week’s guest, Jayne Havens of TheSnoozeFest.com who decided to take a sleep certification course “on a whim.”

This is a 2-for-1 episode where we’re going to learn about starting a service business from scratch — in Jayne’s case that’s coaching parents how to help their babies and toddlers sleep through the night.

Jayne started earning thousands of dollars a month doing the coaching, before deciding to add the addition of an online course component teaching other people how to do what she did.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Jayne got started coaching parents on how to get their babies and toddlers to sleep better
• why she decided to start the online course component of her business
• the methods she’s used to grow both sides of her business

Full Show Notes: How to Start a Sleep Consulting Business

Download Your Free Bonus: 101 Service Business Ideas

489: How I Bootstrapped a 6-Figure E-Commerce Brand in Year 1 Business With Zero Ad Spend

“How I bootstrapped a 6-figure e-commerce brand in its first year with zero ad spend.”

That was the subject line that Side Hustle Show Connor Meakin sent me that grabbed my attention and earned him a spot on this week’s show.

The brand Connor is talking about is BluebirdProvisions.co, an organic bone broth, and bone broth powder company.

Connor started Bluebird Provisions after suffering a devastating foot injury that doctors said he would never fully recover from and be able to run again.

Searching for alternative, holistic ways to heal his foot, Connor decided to try drinking bone broth.

He accredits healing his foot injury, in part, to the healing properties in bone broth and decided to manufacture his own line of bone broth products.

Connor now sells his products through retail stores like Whole Foods, on Amazon, and through his own e-commerce site, and saw a 225% growth last year.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Connor came up with the idea to sell bone broth
• how he’s turned it into a reality for a relatively low startup cost
• the creative and effective ways he’s driving sales on and off of Amazon today

Full Show Notes: How I Bootstrapped a 6-Figure E-Commerce Brand in 1 Year

488: 16 Free and Low-Cost Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Side Hustle

Today we’re geeking out on the awareness problem — how to spread the word about your business.

And how to do it in a way that aligns with your style and your budget.

To help me out with this is long-time Side Hustle Show listener, Larry Towner. He’s a real estate investor, a handyman, and co-host of the Handyman Pros Radio Show podcast.

Larry runs a local handyman service in the North Atlanta area and always has his work calendar booked up months in advance.

He uses a wide range of free and low-cost ways to get his business in front of the right customers, so there’s going to be more than enough ideas you can use for your own business.

Tune in to this episode of The Side Hustle Show to hear 16 free and low-cost marketing ideas, including:

• how you can use your website and business cards as an “electronic brochure”
• why it’s so important for local businesses to use Google My Business
• how Larry gets so much business through referrals both online and offline

Full Show Notes: 16 Free and Low Cost Marketing Ideas

Download Your Free Bonus: 10 Proven Local Marketing Ideas

487: From $17/hr to 6-Figure Side Hustle

“Changing the world with chess” and making $100,000 per year on the side.

That’s the story of today’s guest, Jeff DiOrio from EliteChess.net.

Jeff went from working in summer camp chess programs teaching kids how to play chess, to running his own summer camps and earning five times as much.

He then transitioned to an online recurring membership model, in part due to the pandemic, while also keeping the in-person coaching side of his business alive.

Jeff’s approach to growing his student numbers so rapidly?

Organic growth through giving to charities and delivering a value-driven service. All while doing something he loves — teaching chess.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Jeff built his minimum viable audience
• the methods he used to set up the business for recurring revenue
• how you can borrow some of these same tactics in your business

Full Show Notes: From $17/hr to 6-Figure Side Hustle

Download Your Free Bonus: 20 Hobbies to Monetize with an Online Business

486: Get Paid to Sell Other People’s Stuff: Building a Successful Consignment Business

How does risk-free profit sound?

That’s the promise and of the consignment business — getting paid to sell other people’s stuff.

To help school me on how it all works I’ve invited Megan Church from PineappleConsignment.com onto this week’s show.

Megan experimented with her first popup consignment event in October 2018 with the goal of breaking even and to do something creative with her time.

Megan did a little better than break even with that first show, and more importantly, validated her business idea and had a lot of fun doing it.

She has since broadened her business into online sales, estate sales, and now has her own warehouse and storefront open to the public.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how you can get started throwing popup consignment events right away
• how Megan sources and manages her inventory
• the creative ways she’s found to market and grow the business

Full Show Notes: Get Paid to Sell Other People’s Stuff: Building a Successful Consignment Business

485: The $90k Niche Daily Deals Blog

What’s one thing people want?

They want to get great deals on great products, and for you as a side hustler, that spells a business opportunity to curate and spread the word about those deals.

This is exactly what Side Hustle Show listener Camron Stover from HuntingGearDeals.com is doing.

Camron stumbled into the business, starting with his hunting hobby and a passion for finding good deals.

He ended up acquiring the site from the original owner and has accelerated its revenue growth to $90k last year.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how the site is making money
• the creative ways Camron gets free content and products
• how you may be able to apply similar strategies in your own business

Full Show Notes and PDF Bonus: The $90k Niche Daily Deals Blog

484: Turning a Service Business into a Passive Income Stream – Part 3

Today’s guest, Matt Bochnak of HowToMotorcycleRepair.com, is one of my favorite examples of how you can dedicate part of your week to generating time-leveraged income.

This is Matt’s third time on The Side Hustle Show, and every time we speak he’s made huge leaps forward with his business.

Matt first appeared on the show back in 2016 when he was making around $1,000 a month recording himself performing motorcycle repairs in his garage and selling digital products.

When Matt appeared on the show for a second time in 2019 he was making $4,000-5,000 a month from a combination of digital product sales, YouTube ad income, affiliate commissions, Patreon, and sponsored content.

As you’ll discover in this episode, Matt is now making almost $20,000 a month in revenue. He’s completely shut down the service side of his business, expanded into physical products, and more.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Matt’s business has changed since we last spoke in 2019
• where the idea for a physical product came from and how he validated it
• the various revenue streams ringing the cash register for Matt right now

Full Show Notes: Turning a Service Business into a Passive Income Stream – Part 3

483: 6 Figures in 12 Months: Pivoting from Low-Ticket Products to a Productized Service

When the pandemic hit, Timmy Bauer from DinosaurHouse.com pivoted his business from being a traveling children’s book author to running a children’s book production company.

Timmy was enjoying working as a traveling children’s book author, but he was forced to change directions when schools started locking down and not allowing guests.

His story is the perfect example that you don’t always need to make a complete 180 if your business hits a wall.

Sometimes you just need to make a slight re-calibration, a couple degrees one direction or the other that can set you off on a new path.

This new path has taken Timmy from “just over the poverty line” to running a 6-figure business in the last 12 months.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Timmy pivoted his business model when the pandemic hit
• how he uses content-based marketing and other people’s events to drive sales
• the ways you might also be able to take your existing skills and knowledge to serve a different customer base

Full Show Notes: 6 Figures in 12 Months: Pivoting from Low-Ticket Products to a Productized Service

482: From 6-Figure Blog to 7-Figure Online Business: Catching Up with Robert Farrington

From a $10,000 a month “blog” to a 7-figure “Media Company” — a lot can happen in six years.

Today’s guest is one of my most important real and virtual online business mentors — I’m always trying to pay attention and keep an eye on what Robert Farrington from TheCollegeInvestor.com is up to.

Fun fact: Robert was one of the very first guests on The Side Hustle Show back in 2013.

Our last update was 6 years ago, in early 2016. Back then, The College Investor was earning $10k a month and Robert was still working full-time at Target.

There have been lots of life changes since then, plus some exponential growth on the business side.

Today, The College Investor is one of the biggest personal finance media brands in the world.

With over 1 million visits a month, covering student loans, taxes and tax software, investing, insurance, budgeting — if it’s related to money, you’ll find it at The College Investor.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• what the biggest changes Robert has seen in his online business are since 2016
• what marketing channels are driving traffic for him today
• why he’s started a new brand and the future of his business

Full Show Notes and PDF Bonus: From 6-Figure Blog to 7-Figure Online Business: Catching Up with Robert Farrington

481: 6 Months to 6 Figures … Helping People with Excel

There are a million and one ways to make money online, but they almost always come down to helping other people.

Today’s guest, Kat Norton aka Miss.Excel, has been doing plenty of that. She’s reaching hundreds of thousands of followers as a spreadsheet influencer — you didn’t know there was such a thing, did you?

Kat started on TikTok in June 2020 and already has over 734k followers, she later branched out onto Instagram and has already built a following of more than 573k followers there, too.

She hit 6-figures in sales within 6 months and has since scaled to consistent 6-figure months and even the occasional 6-figure DAY – which is absolutely nuts.

Tune in to The Side Hustle Show interview to hear:

• how Kat built her following so quickly
• her tips for viral success on TikTok and Instagram
• how she’s turned those views into real-life revenue and profits

Full Show Notes: 6 Months to 6 Figures … Helping People with Excel