In the e-commerce space, selling private label products on Amazon has been a popular side hustle for the last several years. But is it still the best way to go? Or is there a lower risk, higher reward way to turn your ideas into profits? In this episode, which is the second episode of our Showdown series this month, we’re comparing two ways you can capitalize on opportunities in the market; selling private label products and product licensing. For this debate, I’ve sourced two guests who have appeared on the Side Hustle Show before: Greg Mercer of JungleScout.com, creator of the popular Jungle Scout product research and amazon analytics software. We last from Greg on episode 263, when he talked about how to find your first Amazon FBA private label product. (Try Jungle Scout for half off your first month with my referral link.) Stephen Key of, InventRight.com and author of the One Simple Idea: Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work. We last heard from Stephen on episode 113, when he talked about how you can turn your ideas into recurring revenue. Both business models allow you to exercise our creative muscles. But, as you’ll find out, each model is suited to a different personality type and has a different balance of risk and reward. Tune in to hear both Greg and Stephen dig into the different strategies behind: Getting started Marketing and discoverability Start-up costs Beating the competition Monetization And more There is some interesting insight into these business models. By the end of the episode, you’ll have a clearer idea of which business model is best for you. Full show notes

The Side Hustle Show

396: Private Label vs. Product Licensing: Which is the Better Side Hustle?

Creating content online can be a super-effective way to build an audience and ultimately to make money. If you’re just starting out or trying to grow your business, you might be wondering what type of content makes the most sense to create. In this episode, we’re going to compare and contrast two of the most popular content channels going today: podcasting and YouTube. This is actually the first of several friendly debate-style episodes this month I’m calling the Side Hustle Showdown series. For each debate, I tried to source guests in a similar niche so they could best speak each other’s language. To fire shots over the pros and cons of starting an online business with podcasts or YouTube, I enlisted the help of: Podcaster Jonathan Mendonsa, co-host of ChooseFI, a personal finance show. We last heard from Jonathan in episode 287, where he talked about how his show took off and how he was able to quit his job just 10 months in. YouTuber Marko Zlatic, who started his personal finance channel Whiteboard Finance as a side hustle also in 2017. Since then he's amassed 370k subscribers and quit his job to produce videos full-time. Tune in to hear both Marko and Jonathan go back and forward discussing which of the platforms are best for: Marketing and discoverability Content production Monetization Start-up costs And more This is a fun one, and by the end, you’ll have an idea which platform is going to be best for your business. Full show notes

395: Podcasting vs. YouTube for Building an Online Business

Businesses evolve over time, but I don’t think anyone could have prepared for the pace of change this year. To gauge how some of you have been handling everything the pandemic has thrown at you, I reached out to Side Hustle Nation and asked what pivots and changes you’ve been making in your business over the last few months. What I got back were some interesting and innovative ways some business owners and side hustlers have found to actually grow their businesses during the pandemic. Here’s a look at some of the hardest hit industries, and some of the ways business owners have been pivoting and adapting. Full show notes

394: Pandemic Pivots: How Entrepreneurs are Adapting to "Obliteration"

393: Best Dad Advice: 10 Life and Business Lessons from Dad

At the end of nearly every episode of The Side Hustle Show, I ask my guests for their "#1 tip for Side Hustle Nation." There’s always a great variety of responses, and I wanted to take some time today to go through some of my favorites from the past 50-ish interviews. This has become an annual tradition on the show, and we just passed 7 years and 12 million downloads! If you like this short-and-sweet meta-style show, be sure to check out the others in this series: Episode 50 Episode 124 Episode 177 Episode 236 Episode 288 Episode 338 Full show notes

392: What I've Learned and Applied from 49 Awesome Entrepreneurs - Part 7

How did a butcher shop's side project turn into "the best snacks in the world" -- and $500,000 in sales in their first year? And more importantly, could you apply the same strategies to help local businesses take their products online? This story features Dustin Reichmann, a long-time Side Hustle Show listener. He has a blog called EngagedMarriage.com, and with the online marketing skills learned there, started a new consulting business to help other businesses build their online presence. One of his clients was a local butcher shop. Impressed by one of their products--a higher-end, clean-ingredient meat stick--Dustin felt there was an opportunity to reach a lot more customers online. So, he made Ryan -- the owner of the butcher shop -- a low-risk offer to partner and launch the product online. What followed was a series of wins across multiple marketing channels and through a number of innovative promotional tactics. Tune in to hear: How Dustin approached Ryan with a win-win partnership. The marketing channels and techniques they used to sell more than $500,000 worth of FireCreek snacks in their first year. How they got their product into 50+ Walmart stores. And how anyone can apply the same online and offline marketing strategies into their own business. Full show notes

391: Taking Local Businesses Online: $500k in Sales in Year 1

How does a YouTube channel with less than 300 subscribers generate 6-figures a year? In Joshua Lisec's case, he does it by answering targeted questions, and selling high-value services to those viewers. Joshua is an award-winning, celebrity-recommended, #1 international bestselling Certified Professional Ghostwriter. He’s also a TEDx speaker, a novelist, and has ghostwritten over 45 books for entrepreneurs, executives, and public figures. Over the last few years, Joshua's freelance work has gone from $1.67 an hour on his first writing project, to over $500,000 a year! (Long-time listeners might remember him; Joshua appeared on episode 201 in late 2016. In that classic Side Hustle Show episode, we talked through the OPA strategy -- tapping into Other People's Audiences -- to sell your services.) In this episode, we're diving into another innovative marketing strategy involving YouTube. It's one you can apply to your own business right away. Tune in to hear Joshua explain: How he’s generating high value leads on YouTube with less than 300 subscribers The tools and techniques he’s using to optimize his YouTube videos to rank well How he bundled individual low paying freelance gigs for a high-value service 

390: YouTube for Freelancers: The Surprising 6-Figure Strategy

Liam Austin made $50k off his first online event, and hasn't looked back. Since then, Liam has hosted another 17 virtual summits and online business networking events. In total, these events have brought together more than 400 speakers and 100,000 business owners. Virtual summits allow you to connect with industry leaders and influencers in your niche while growing your own audience. Hosting a virtual summit sounds pretty straightforward: interview a bunch of influential people in your niche collect registrations of people who want to watch those interviews sell access to the recordings after they expire But the virtual summit model has a lot of nuance and strategy, and behind-the-scenes action that all has to come together to make it a hit. That's why I invited Liam on the show. Note: Click here to download Liam’s top tips for planning and hosting a virtual summit from this episode. If you’re looking for ways to grow your business and make meaningful connections within your industry, this episode lays out that blueprint for you. Tune in to hear Liam talk through: The core benefits of hosting a virtual summit How he made $50k from his first summit and learned some valuable lessons What it’s going to take to create your own virtual summit in your industry And more 

389: How to Host a Successful Virtual Summit for Influence, Impact, and Income

Are you stuck with the idea that you don’t have the skills to start a side hustle? Today’s guest, Chris Misterek of SelfMadeWebDesigner.com didn’t let that hold him back. He went from being in a tight spot personally and financially, to bringing in an average of $3k a month on the side through his new web design business. With no previous experience with web design, Chris decided to start at the ground up by working through some free online courses. Within a few months, he was introducing himself as a web designer, and within 18 months he was earning double his day job salary on the side! Tune in to this episode to hear Chris explain how he: Picked up this new skillset on the cheap Found his first clients Marketed and grew his business Recommends you replicate this across any number of industries 

388: From “No Skills” to $3k a Month on the Side

$15,000 a month for 30 minutes of work? The passive income dream is real for Dustin Heiner. Dustin achieved this by following a systematic approach to buying homes and renting them out. He started with his first property back in 2006. Within 6 years he had 19 properties, and within 9 years he had 26 properties and had retired from his day job at the age of 37. Today he has more than 30 properties bringing in (mostly) passive income supporting him and his family. Note: Click here to download Dustin’s top tips for finding and buying rental properties from this episode. Dustin is a serial side hustler, but once he realized the benefit of getting paid over and over again for work he did once – he doubled down on real estate. Tune in to hear Dustin talk through: His approach to property sourcing The 6 ways he makes money with rental properties How he’s been able to grow his portfolio so quickly His advice for those looking to replicate his success 

387: Retiring Early with Real Estate: $15k a Month in Passive Cash Flow

Side Hustle Show listener Kate Johnson started her bookkeeping business in 2017, and now serves several recurring clients. She targets an effective rate of $70 an hour, and is able to work from home. With her youngest starting preschool, Kate found herself with an extra 9 hours a week. "I wanted to be a good steward of that time," she explained. Tune in to this episode to hear Kate explain: Why she decided to start working as a virtual bookkeeper How she landed her first clients How she’s grown her client base with little marketing The surprising new side hustle this work has spun off 

386: $70 an Hour from Home as a Remote Bookkeeper

Is trading stocks a legit way to make money from home? Or is it just another get-rich-quick-scheme? Admittedly, I’ve always kind of looked at stock trading as a glorified form of gambling. And to be sure, there are risks involved. In this episode, Teri Ijeoma does a good job of convincing me there really is an art and a science to it -- and that it is a winnable game. Teri is a former assistant principal at an elementary school, who turned her stock trading side hustle into a full-time income. To replace her day job salary, the MIT grad set herself a goal of making $300 a day. By trading stocks before school started and during her lunch break, she was hitting that goal in about a year. Today, Teri’s on a Million Dollar a Day mission -- that is, to help 1,000 people start making $1,000 a day trading stocks through her online course. Tune in to hear: Teri’s trading criteria Her advice for new traders Why small players like you and me may have an advantage over billion-dollar hedge funds and Wall Street quants Where and how you can get started trading today 

385: $1000 a Day Trading Stocks From Home?

Reports of email's death are greatly exaggerated. Andrew Allemann has gone from zero to up to $10,000 a month in just 3 years with a low overhead side hustle: An email newsletter and an online directory that helps connect podcasters with guests. Finding it difficult to find guests for his own podcast, he wanted to create a solution that would not only help himself, but the greater podcasting community as well. It’s a business model I’m excited about right now, and Andrew is proof that if you provide value through email, people are willing to pay for it. Tune in to hear why Andrew decided to start a newsletter and an online directory, how he’s grown his audience to more than 19,000 subscribers and 500 paying directory members in 3 years, and how he’s turned this into a profitable business.

384: From Zero to $10,000 a Month with a Niche Newsletter and Directory

Would 10 new clients solve all your business worries? That was the position Helen Pritchard was in back in 2008. On the back of a financial and personal crisis, Helen needed 10 clients paying £250 each to pay her bills. She turned to LinkedIn to find those clients, and it didn’t take her long. Since then, Helen has pivoted her business and now teaches other people how to get clients and grow their business using LinkedIn. Note: Click here to download Helen’s top tips for attracting your ideal clients on LinkedIn from this episode. In fact, I found out about Helen through a listener of the show: I do not work for Helen. Nor do I do her PR. I just want to nominate her because she changed my life. Thanks to her, I have filled my client roster and have more money coming in as an entrepreneur than I ever did working for someone else. That’s an awesome testimonial for Helen, and solid proof that her methods work. If your goal is to leave your job in the near future, you don’t want to miss this one. What Helen teaches is probably the fastest way to start your own business with the least upfront expense. Tune in to hear Helen talk through: the processes she teaches students on her LinkedIn mastermind how to set up your LinkedIn profile as a landing page that converts how to connect with potential clients and more 

383: LinkedIn Lead Generation: How to Attract Your Ideal Clients on LinkedIn

Chris Guillebeau is a tremendous advocate for the lower risk brand of entrepreneurship we cover on the show. He’s the bestselling author of several books including, The $100 Startup, Side Hustle, and The Art of Non-Conformity. On top of that, he’s hosted over 1,100 episodes of The Side Hustle School podcast. His latest project is The Money Tree: A Story About Finding the Fortune in Your Own Backyard. I've been a fan of Chris' work for years, so it was about time we had a meeting of the side hustle minds! Tune in to this episode to hear Chris’ take on: How you can come up with side hustle ideas What actions you should take next What may be coming down the road in the world of side hustles. 

382: Going to Side Hustle School with Chris Guillebeau: Planting Your Money Tree

The Side Hustle Show is the podcast for part-time entrepreneurs who are looking for actionable tips and strategies on how to turn their side hustle dreams into reality. We cover all aspects of small business including marketing, sales, websites, social media, and more. Learn from experienced side hustle entrepreneurs the tactics you can implement today to take your ideas to the next level. Hosted by Nick Loper, Chief Side-Hustler at SideHustleNation.com.

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