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.

The 6-Figure Video Game Mom: How to Build a 6-Figure Business Teaching Video Games

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024

You know those endless hours you’ve spent perfecting your Fortnite skills or learning how to defeat a Guardian in Zelda games?

There is a chance those skills aren’t just good for bragging rights or racking up likes on Twitch.

In fact, it is possible to make money out of these games without being an online streamer.

I’m talking about teaching video games online, and the demand for these is exploding.

In this “Where Are They Now?” series, we have once again Devyn Ricks from missdevyn.com share how much her online gaming teaching business has grown over the last years since we talked in Episode 499.

When Devyn and I connected a couple of years ago, she was making around $4,000/month.

Today, her business has more than doubled, earning her the title of “six-figure video game mom.” She has since expanded her team to 14 teachers.

The Stadium Model of Entrepreneurship: How to Think Like a Sports Franchise to Unlock More Profit From Your Business

May 20, 2024May 20, 2024

What if we looked at our businesses like professional sports teams?

That’s what Vincent Pugliese from Membership Freedom shared, drawing parallels between running a successful business and how sports franchises operate.

Vincent helps people build successful membership sites and communities around topics they care about.

He previously shared his freelance-to-freedom story of going from making $30k a year to earning $30k in a single day through freelancing.

In this episode, Vincent explains the “Stadium Model of Entrepreneurship.” This model draws inspiration from how sports franchises operate, offering various levels of access and products to their audience.

How to Start a Billboard Business: $30k a Month Part-Time

February 17, 2026May 16, 2024

Even with the rise of digital technology, billboards remain a profitable business.

In fact, Chris Brown built his billboard side hustle to $30,000 a month (part-time!).

Chris now owns approximately 30 billboards around Bentonville, Arkansas, and retired early at the age of 42.

10 Rules to Get Rich and Build Wealth

January 31, 2025May 9, 2024

Do you want to get rich? To build real, lasting wealth that can change your family’s circumstances for generations?

Prepare to be disappointed because there are no get-rich-quick shortcuts or overnight secrets.

Building wealth takes time, discipline, and sustained effort.

But the good news is you can absolutely do it, no matter your current situation or starting point. All it takes is following some proven rules and principles to put you on the path.

I’m talking about 10 fundamental rules that will help turn your financial dreams into reality. And they come from my recent conversation with Robert Farrington, founder of the famous personal finance site The College Investor and a longtime guest on The Side Hustle Show.

This conversation is based on his article 10 Rules to Get Rich and Grow Wealth.

How to Start a Vending Machine Business: $500+/mo Per Machine

October 8, 2025May 7, 2024

Tired of trading time for money at your 9 to 5 job? Looking for a way to make passive income with minimal startup costs and overhead?

Then starting a vending machine business may be perfect for you.

The vending machine industry was valued at $42 billion last year and is expected to grow at 8.1% from 2024 to 2030.

Profitable vending machines are everywhere — offices, apartment buildings, gyms, airports.

Wherever people gather, there’s an opportunity to provide convenient access to snacks, drinks, and other bestselling impulse-buy items.

And it’s a great market to get into because it’s extremely fragmented, with vast potential for growth. No national player owns more than 5% market share.

Side Hustle Stacking: How One Extra Income Stream Can Lead to More

May 6, 2024

How can one income stream turn into a whole lot more?

Simplify first, diversify second—that’s an idea I have always advocated on the show.

The first step towards diversifying is to have something working. But how do you know it’s time to diversify?

That is exactly what Bjork Ostrom (our previous guest from Ep 46) has done as he (and his wife Lindsay) masterfully “stacked” multiple online businesses that have developed out of their original food blog, Pinch of Yum.

This 10-year-old blog has been a launchpad for Food Blogger Pro (a guide for aspiring food bloggers), Clariti (for optimizing your site’s content), and the holding company, TinyBit.

And this is the framework he uses to decide if an idea is worth pursuing.

How to Start a Service Business to Replace Your Income, Step-by-Step

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024

“I had a lot of drive underneath me, I hated my job so much,” Abbey Ashley from TheVirtualSavvy.com told me.

If you’re looking to make extra money, there’s no doubt that starting a service business is one of the fastest ways to do that, with almost no barrier to entry and minimal startup costs. In fact, it was a service business, a house painting business, that was one of my first entrepreneurial adventures.

Blogging in a Post-HCU World: The Savvy 7-Figure Online Business

March 31, 2025April 25, 2024

Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU) hit a lot of online businesses hard with its new update.

Even well-established and authoritative websites experienced a significant drop in their rankings.

That’s why I went behind the scenes with Kelan Kline from The Savvy Couple, whose online blogging side hustle did well even after the update.

Kelan built his online business up from making $50 in the first year to now seeing around 500k pageviews a month. That led to his online business making seven figures last year.

Amazon Wholesale: How I Sold $3.2M of Other People’s Products Last Year

April 18, 2024

Ever wish you could get a piece of the Amazon pie?

Corey Ganim of coreyganim.com did just that, banking $3.2 million in sales by selling other people’s products on the e-commerce giant’s platform.

And he didn’t have to deal with the massive upfront costs and headaches of manufacturing his own products.

Corey got started in early 2019 and went full-time with his unique wholesale business model by mid-2020.

He’s since built a multi-million-dollar business buying brand-name inventory at wholesale prices and reselling it on Amazon at a profit.

In this episode, Corey shares his best tips and insights featured in his book, The 5 Pillars of Amazon Wholesale and his free Wholesale Challenge training.

How to Start an Ice Vending Business: $2500/mo in (Almost) Passive Profits

July 16, 2024April 14, 2024

Making extra money on the side often requires finding ways to create leverage.

Leverage means getting paid multiple times for work you only have to do once, and making money without having to actively do the work yourself.

One side hustler who has cracked the code on leveraged profits is Steve Slagle. By day, Steve works construction jobs. But outside of his 9 to 5, he now earns over $2500 a month from Beachside Ice, his ice vending machine business.

In this episode, Steve takes us through the world of vending machine location negotiations, landowner compensation, and the importance of maintaining positive relations. We explore the finer details of partnering with manufacturers, securing permits, and overseeing installation and delivery.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social