311: How to Create Your Own Niche—and Your Own Income

Her escape plan was an interesting one.

April Whitney was staring at a future of pharmaceutical copywriting, and wanted out.

Today, April is the leading voice in the niche of petite fitness.

Where the story gets exciting, is that it’s a niche that for all intents and purposes, April invented.

Nobody was searching for this stuff, which would normally be a huge red flag. But when women came across April and her content, something resonated.

Starting a little over a year ago, she’s built a tribe of over 10,000 followers, raised $8,000 on Kickstarter for her first product, and now sells $1000 worth of that product on autopilot every month.

April built most of her tribe on Instagram, a platform that’s saturated with fitness-related content and notoriously difficult to convert followers into customers.

Tune in to hear how April found her tribe, converted them into followers and customers, and the products and services she created that ultimately funded her quitting that cubical job to do something she loves.

Full Show Notes and PDF Highlight Reel: How to Create Your Own Niche—and Your Own Income

310: 10 Creative Side Hustles that Make Real Money

In this episode of the Side Hustle Show I’ve put together a round up of creative side hustle ideas that people have shared with me over the last couple of years.

Here are the 10 creative side hustles I cover in this episode:

1. Flyer Distribution Business

2. Moose Poop Art

3. Tumbleweed Sales

4. BabyQuip 5. Subleasing Airbnb

6. Snuggling

7. Waiting in Line

8. Penny Posters 9. Funeral Cryer Service 10. The Death Reminder App

Full Show Notes: 10 Creative Side Hustles that Make Real Money

309: Side Hustle Coaching: How Can I 10x My Current Business?

Nikko Mendoza is one listener who’s taken a lot of action this year building his side hustle

He runs a really cool business in the 3D printing niche that today has 2 main revenue streams:

1. Selling digital files for masks and customer armor inspired by well-known comic book characters, where customers can print out their own physical products at home with their own 3D printers.
2. A Patreon campaign, where fans of Nikko pay him monthly for behind the scenes access and members-only content.

Currently, those 2 income streams combine to earn around $2k a month, but Nikko told me he had the goal of 10x-ing that income in the next year.

To help me brainstorm ways to get that done, I invited Don the Idea Guy back to the program for this special coaching episode.

As you listen in, we talk traffic generation and revenue generation for Nikko’s business, and I’m confident you’ll find some parallel opportunities to pursue in your own business too.

Full Show Notes: Side Hustle Coaching: How Can I 10x My Current Business?

Bonus: 5 Ways to Be More Effective Every Day

Busy doesn’t always mean effective!

It’s not just about getting more stuff done; it’s about getting more of the right stuff done.

So how can we be more intentional, proactive, and destination-driven with our days, instead of just reacting to everything life throws at us?

Today I want to share 5 ways — 5 key habits — I’ve found that will help you be more effective, excited, satisfied every day.

And because I’ve seen their power firsthand, these are the 5 habits I’ve baked into my brand new Progress Journal. (Official subtitle: A Simple Daily Planner to Make Meaningful Progress on Your Most Important Work.)

Click here to order yours on Amazon today!

Now let’s dive into those 5 ways to be more effective every day.

308: How to Start a Knife Sharpening Business

Every house in the country is a potential repeat customer…

Matt Rowell set himself the goal of generating an extra $5k over 5 years to fund some passion projects, and he’s well on his way.

Matt runs AmericanEdgeSharpening.com on the side from his day job as captain of a research vessel. It’s a knife sharpening business, which was up to $250-500 a month when we spoke and is earning him $30-60 per hour.

He saw an ad while posted abroad with the Navy that gave him the idea for his business. 

And then he took action. Matt:

• Picked up a knife sharpening kit
• Taught himself how to sharpen knives by watching YouTube videos
• Offered to sharpen knives for family and friends for the practice
• Found paying customers

The best thing about the knife sharpening business?

“If you drive down the road, every house that you pass has a bunch of knives in it,” Matt said. That means an almost limitless number of potential customers.

Tune in to hear how Matt got started with this idea while he was deployed in Djibouti, Africa, including his equipment, how he learned how to do it, and how he’s marketed and priced his service.

Full Show Notes: How to Start a Knife Sharpening Business