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2016 Annual Review and Q4 Progress Report: What Was Awesome, What Sucked, and What’s Next

June 6, 2024January 9, 2017

As we move into 2017, on the surface, things are great. I had my best year financially since 2009, we managed to keep our little hustler alive 11 months in a row, and we went on quite a few cool adventures as a family.

Yet I’ve got some weird anxiety. Like I’m working every week, but maybe not on the right things. Like I could and should be taking on more or different projects. Like I’m letting people down who email me. Like I’m in maintenance mode and not growth mode — even though things are growing.

3 Productized Service Business Ideas You Can Start Today

April 26, 2024December 12, 2016

Productized service businesses are all the rage these days. They involve packing up a service traditionally sold on a freelance or hourly basis, and instead selling it at a fixed price or on a monthly retainer contract.

Examples include Dan Norris’ WP Curve, which offers unlimited WordPress support for $79 a month, or Russ Perry’s Design Pickle, which offers unlimited graphic design tasks for $370 a month.

These services are popping up in a ton of different niches, and for good reason. They have low startup costs, low overhead, and a simple to understand proposition for customers.

Here’s Everything I Did To Launch a Bestselling Book (and How Much It’s Made So Far)

July 3, 2025October 31, 2016

Last month I launched my latest book project, Buy Buttons, out into the world. On Day 1, it became an Amazon bestseller and has gone on to collect 75+ 5-star reviews and sell more than 2600 copies.

My process was much more involved this time around than it was two years ago for the launch of Work Smarter. A lot has changed during that time so I was excited to put some new ideas to the test.

In this post, I’ll break down the entire writing and launch process, step-by-step, start to finish.

Quarterly Progress Report – Q3 2016

December 3, 2020October 17, 2016

For the past couple years, I’ve been doing these quarterly progress reports.

Why go through this exercise?

It’s time to evaluate what happened over the last 3 months, to see if you achieved your goals, and to ask if you’re happier or otherwise better off than you were when you started.

So am I?

5 Simple Steps to Get More Clients Than You Can Handle

December 14, 2022October 5, 2016

We know that the attorneys, window washers, and web designers who earn the most money aren’t necessarily the ones who do the best work. Those who earn the most are those who know how to sell their service.

Realize that selling is a huge part of your side hustle.

If you are nervous about selling, this exercise will help.

The 30-Day Meditation Challenge: Am I 10% Happier?

November 4, 2021September 12, 2016

In August I embarked on a personal challenge to develop a meditation habit. If I could do it every day for a month, maybe it would (finally) become a routine practice.

Inspiration for the challenge came from a conversation with Dan Harris, an Emmy award-winning journalist who discovered meditation as an effective way to calm the voices in his head.

Dan convinced me to give it another shot, citing scientific evidence that meditation has a whole host of benefits including lower blood pressure and increased focus. So I committed to meditating every day in August, and I recruited 47 side hustlers to join me for accountability.

Amazon FBA Update: I’m Up $656

June 9, 2023August 15, 2016

A few people have been asking for an update on my Amazon FBA efforts, so here goes!

The bottom line is that this side hustle has been profitable, but not by a lifestyle-changing amount.

So far, I’ve only focused on local clearance arbitrage, with my best finds being from Walmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, and Babies ‘R Us.

What Happens When You Post “Epic” Content? My Traffic, Income, and Subscriber Results

May 15, 2023August 1, 2016

What’s the most common piece of advice when it comes to online business? Let’s see if this sounds familiar.

See what else is out there, and create something 10x better.

And while creating the best / most helpful / most shareable / most awesomely epic 10x content ever is supposedly the golden ticket, I thought I’d put this advice to the test and share some results from a recent attempt at “epic-ness” of mine.

Does it really work? Is it worth the effort?

Email Sponsorships: Earn $300+ per Month Selling Email Newsletter Sponsorships

April 26, 2024July 25, 2016

A few months ago, I looked for new ways to monetize my blog. I came across a post about selling sponsorship spots in my email newsletter.

I liked the idea so I thought that I would give it a shot.

The result? 3 days after reading the post, I landed a 3 month-contract with a couple of sponsors and made $300/month with only 30 min of work. Here’s how it works.

Quarterly Progress Report – Q2 2016

November 28, 2020July 18, 2016

Last quarter I wrote about feeling more stressed, anxious, and tired, and wondering if that was just the price of parenthood.

With our little hustler growing every day, things are definitely getting better. I think we’ve already blocked from memory how horrible the first 6 weeks were!

This quarter he started daycare 3-4 days a week, which has helped block off longer hours of hustle time and rebuild a bit of a routine.

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