Nick Loper

Nick Loper is a side hustle expert who loves helping people earn more money and start businesses they care about. He hosts the award-winning Side Hustle Show, where he's interviewed over 500 successful entrepreneurs, and is the bestselling author of Buy Buttons, The Side Hustle, and $1,000 100 Ways.His work has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Forbes, TIME, Newsweek, Business Insider, MSN, Yahoo Finance, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Hubspot, Ahrefs, Shopify, Investopedia, VICE, Vox, Mashable, ChooseFI, The Penny Hoarder, GoBankingRates, and more.

Loan Draw Inspections: How I Earn $2k+/mo Taking Pictures of Houses

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026

Do you know there’s a side hustle where you can get paid to drive around, take a few photos of houses being built, and turn it into a steady side income?

That is the little-known real estate side hustle Lou Shaver from drawinspectortraining.com picked up in retirement.

Lou is a construction loan draw inspector. It has almost no startup costs, no special license, and not much selling. He started it as a retirement gig, made about $2,000 a month last year, and is now averaging about $4,100 a month.

Lou spent a career as an inspector, first in the Army and then for the Navy, and now he is getting ready to teach others how to do this work through his own training program.

17 Proven Tactics to Grow and Monetize Your Online Business

July 2, 2026July 2, 2026

Today we’re sharing proven ways to grow your email list, engage your target audience, and ultimately make more money in your business.

Chenell Basilio is back on the Side Hustle Show. She’s the longtime listener turned go-to source for online business growth case studies, and she runs GrowthInReverse.com along with the Growth in Reverse podcast.

A common theme in this episode is tapping into other people’s audiences, often on social media, in a way that’s tasteful and tactful instead of spammy.

Chenell brought 17 real examples from other newsletter owners and creators, grouped into three buckets: growing your list, keeping subscribers engaged, and turning subscribers into paying customers.

Dog Gyms, Cold Caking, Time Travel Videos, and More

June 29, 2026

Here are five completely wild businesses, and somehow, each one had something worth stealing.

Chandler Bolt, founder of SelfPublishing.com, is back on the Side Hustle Show for the first time in 12 years.

He built an 8-figure business helping thousands of people write and publish books — and today, he’s here to talk about five emerging business ideas, from a cake dropshipper to a virtual dating matchmaker.

My Intentionally Boring Podcast Turned into a Media Empire

June 19, 2026June 18, 2026

The Side Hustle Show is designed to get you motivated and excited. This episode is the opposite — and that’s the whole point. Nothing Much Happens is intentionally boring bedtime content for grown-ups, and it’s been downloaded hundreds of millions of times.

Falling asleep is one of the most universal pain points out there, and Kathryn Nicolai found a way to solve it. Before she was a content creator, Kathryn ran a yoga studio for more than two decades. She never planned to build a media company. She just wanted to help people sleep the way she’d been doing for herself her whole life.

Six years and 400 episodes later, she now has spawned two books, landed in 35 countries, and grown into a full media company. And she still writes every word herself.

$0 to $100K in Year One: How This Anti-Inflammatory Coffee Brand Did It

June 19, 2026June 15, 2026

Eli Mash had been putting turmeric in his coffee for 10 years before it ever occurred to him that it could be a business.

Now, Makor Coffee, the anti-inflammatory brand he co-founded, does over $100,000 in annual revenue and $11,000 in monthly recurring revenue, all while Eli works a full-time job and raises three kids.

In this episode, Eli breaks down exactly how he and his co-founder got it off the ground — from finding a local manufacturer to figuring out pricing, building social proof through influencers, and finally cracking the subscription model that made the numbers work.

21 Best Side Hustles for Retirees: How Seniors Can Make Extra Money

July 9, 2026June 12, 2026

What are the best side hustles for seniors?

If you’re looking to earn extra money in retirement (or nearing retirement), you’re in the right place.

And you’re not alone — roughly 1 in 4 baby boomers already has a side hustle.

Anyone Can Build an App Now. Here’s How to Actually Make Money with Them

June 15, 2026June 11, 2026

Thanks to AI, anybody can make an app now, but just because you can build it doesn’t mean it’ll make you money.

Steve Young is the go-to expert on all things app marketing at AppMasters.com.

He’s been building, buying, and selling apps for many years, and he’s back on the show nearly a decade after his previous appearance to break down how AI tools have lowered the bar for anyone to build a small but profitable app business.

24 Best Real Estate Side Hustles to Build Wealth and Cash Flow

July 9, 2026June 5, 2026

Chad Carson is a 30-something semi-retired real estate mogul, who together with his business partner, oversees a portfolio of 90+ rental units.

In fact, he and his wife are in the middle of an exciting adventure — a year abroad in Ecuador with their two daughters.

But of course he didn’t start there. Fresh off the football field at Clemson, Chad’s real estate career started more modestly by “bird dogging” and house hacking — two of the tactics he shares in this week’s show.

The $72k “Secret” Side Hustle, $90k/mo Selling Baby Sleep Masks, $500k in Print on Demand Candles, and more

June 15, 2026June 4, 2026

What do a baby sleep mask, a detail van, and a print-on-demand candle have in common?

They’re all quietly generating serious income for real people — and in this episode, we dig into the numbers behind six of the most interesting side hustle stories making the rounds right now.

Nick is joined by Cody Berman — co-host of The FI Show and author of Retire by 30: How to Build Wealth, Gain Freedom, and Live Life on Your Own Terms — for a roundtable breakdown of the latest Side Hustle Headlines. Each story comes with real numbers, honest reactions, and ideas for how the same model might work in your own life.

How to Start a Roadside Produce Stand: $1,000 a Weekend Flipping Peaches

June 1, 2026June 1, 2026

“Nothing puts a smile on a consumer’s face quicker than a good peach.”

This week’s guest is Shannon Houchin of RoadsideRepublic.com, and she’s passionate about peaches, fresh produce, and delivering an awesome customer experience.

Shannon actually reached out to me and said, Nick, you’ve got episodes on flipping books and mattresses, clearance products, domain names, flea market finds, and a ton of other stuff – but have I got a side hustle for you: I flip peaches.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social