It’s time to dive into the ol’ listener mailbag and answer a few questions in this special Friday edition of The Side Hustle Show.
The last Q&A show I did was back in November and I’ve had quite a few interesting questions come in since then.
Suggested Playlist: 20 Questions with Nick
Today we’re chatting about SEO tools and strategies, affiliate marketing, self-publishing, Udemy, real estate, taxes, consulting, and more.
Have you left an iTunes review for the show yet?
We’re closing in on 200 reviews in the US iTunes store! Can you help me get there by dropping in your honest review of the show?
The Questions
- How much vetting do you do of your guests?
- What happened with the public coaching experiment from last year?
- Will you join my MLM?
- “I created something that I think your followers would enjoy! It’s an article / podcast / infographic about __________. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested in and I can send it your way to check it out.”
- I want to interview other entrepreneurs and have them share how they started their business. What’s your opinion on how to start that and get paid for that service?
- I actually write about some of the topics that are covered in your blog. Would you accept a guest post on one of those topics?
- How can I get started as an affiliate and build a successful business?
- I’m trying to get my computer genius son involved in affiliate marketing. Is there a profitable program or product you can recommend?
- Kindle Question: Based on a selling price of $1.99 to $2.99, any idea what someone could hope to earn from one book being sold at moderate level?
- Can I become a millionaire reselling?
- I want to start a real estate business but I can’t afford to buy rental property. What do I do?
- Any experience on getting AdSense going in Weebly?
- If you could only use 3 tools to build and run a successful SEO campaign, which 3 would you choose?
- I’ve been wondering as I read about your different streams of income: what’s it like for you at tax time? How do you keep track of the earnings from the various channels and do you have to report each activity separately?
- Can you please send me a PDF of “Will It Fly” by Thomas McKnight?
- Can you send me a free copy of Work Smarter?
- When companies email you offering to pay you in order to place a link or an article with a link on your site, do you go for it? If so, what’s your minimum price?
- What do you do for your own SEO link building?
- I created a paid online forum — a virtual mastermind group. How do you attract members?
- What do you think about the new pricing strategy on Udemy?
Links and Resources
- Side Hustle Coaching: What it REALLY Takes to Build a SaaS Business, with Dane Maxwell
- Side Hustle Coaching: When to Pause
- PodcastingTutorial.com
- FreePodcastCourse.com
- How Much Does it Cost to Start a Podcast?
- How to Get Sponsorships for Anything, with Jason Zook
- How to Start a Consulting Business: Your First $5k, with Jonathan Stark
- Stop Building Affiliate Sites
- Kindlepreneur Sales Estimator
- Ryan Finlay from Recraigslist
- The Flea Market Flipper, Rob Stephenson
- Travis Scott’s $4k a Month Amazon FBA Business
- Assad Siddiqi’s Retail Arbitrage on Steroids
- Darrel Fitzpatrick’s 6-figure eBay Reselling Business
- Getting Started in Real Estate Investing for Less Than $100
- The Best Passive Income Model: Raw Land Investing
- The Best Passive Income Model: Listener Success Story 1
- The Best Passive Income Model: Listener Success Story 2
- The Fastest and Cheapest Way to Build a Great-Looking Website for your Side Hustle Service [Case Study]
- Yoast SEO plugin
- Google Keyword Planner
- 150+ Ways to Make Extra Money in Your Spare Time
- Chris Ducker’s YOUpreneur
- Screw the 9 to 5 Facebook Community
- Fizzle
Your Turn
Is there a topic you’d like to hear covered on the show? Is there a guest I absolutely NEED to have on?
What can I do to serve you better in the coming months?
Let me know in the comments below and score a free copy of my next book when it comes out! (I don’t have a title yet, but it’s about one of the common themes of The Side Hustle Show: tapping into pre-existing marketplaces to make money.)
Want More Side Hustle Show?
The award-winning Side Hustle Show is a
Top 10 Entrepreneurship podcast
with over 1,200 5-star ratings!
Listen in your favorite podcast app or directly in your browser.
Hi,
wow this is an amazing podcast. lot of amazing questions.
I think it would be amazing to have more podcast of DIY people like repair or creative people who start small side businesses. also very important i am looking for you to talk more about how to balance work life with family life.
Thank You
Avi L
Thanks Avi — appreciate the feedback.
Very useful format this time, Nick. Several questions really resonated with me, under the general subject of emails to ask about guest posting, reviews of someone’s site, etc.
You already said what needed to be said, I’m hoping someone who really didn’t listen will read this comment and take heed.
If you want to publish an article on someone else’s site, or ask for a review, etc., then send along what you are proposing in the initial email!
I generally just delete all these type requests with no content, becuase I don’t have the time or inclination to engage in 3 or 6 or even more emails back and forth before we can even get to the “meat” of the request.
Think of it this way guys and gals, you’re asking a favor of me, which is fine, but don’t make it hard on me. Just send what you are proposing instead of yakking back and forth about it.
And one general comment to all those asking “how can I get paid” when talking about starting a new venture. If it’s any good, people will want to pay you, if not, you’re not solving anyone’s problem, not relieving any “pain point”, so you need to pivot and re-think.
Keep hustling.
Amen! Thanks Dave.
Hey Nick,
I just listened to this podcast episode and I wanted to drop by to just let you know that I absolutely love your show. Since I’ve been working on my two side hustles for the past year while working a 9-5 (and commuting 3+ hrs a day! yikes), your content and interviews have been incredibly valuable and your podcast is literally one of the top podcasts that I listen to religiously! You always make my commute go by so much faster and I learn so much valuable info and tips from your experiments and interviews!
I think it would be really interesting if you could dive deeper into when is a good time to sell a digital course or info product to your list if you’re just starting out. Should you start small with a guide, ebook, or mini course as a tripwire first and then later ease into selling a course a couple months later? Or just jump into selling a course right away and use Facebook ads to drive traffic to a webinar registration page?
Also, I agree with Avi that it would be really cool to hear from DIY Etsy Hustlers who scaled their businesses. Specifically, if they started their own websites or expanded into Amazon!
Thanks so much and keep up the good work!
Athena
Good stuff, thanks Athena! As luck would have it, I’ve got an episode coming up about selling a course even with a small audience :)
Hi Nick,
I enjoyed the 20 Questions format and would like to hear more shows like this.
I would also like to hear more shows that cover older side hustle entrepreneurs. I am 59 years old and am starting a side hustle to help me earn extra money for retirement and to provide income after I retire from my full time job.
O that’s great! Can’t wait to listen to it!
Hi Nick, long time listener. First off, I loved this style of episode, cool to hear your feedback to questions from regular people. Along those lines I think it could be cool to hear more from people that haven’t had huge success, but are hoping to and are currently in the thick of hustling. Along similar lines to your public coaching, but less demanding, I’m thinking a 3 or 6 monthly check in to see what their plans are, how to hope to achieve their goals, and you could pepper them with advice given your knowledge and experience. I love hearing from people that have “made it” but I would really like hearing from people trying to make it. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Jarratt — that could work, and would be less demanding time-wise for me :)
Yes! This is a good compromise.
Hey Nick! Really enjoyed the episode. I was thinking about doing a Udemy course myself so hearing your feedback on how the pricing has changed was investing. Would be great to hear more about that later on in the year. I think as I’m new to online courses Udemy would still be a good platform for me to start on or Teachable. As well as this question, i found the 3 tools for SEO, guest posting on Side Hustle Nation and the public coaching very interesting. I’d love to see the public coaching return, you’ll have one eager candidate here already. Great podcast, always a great listen. Keep it up and keep hustling!
Hi Nick,
I love your podcast and the content. Loads of varied useful stuff to dig in to. Listening to your latest Q&A I went back and listened to Wellington and Dane and found it fascinating. It was so helpful to hear the real emotions of someone struggling to follow their dream and it resonated massively with where I am now. So to answer your Question 20. I would say more of the questioning around our ‘Why’ would be awesome.
Keep up the good work and I hope this is working for you and the family too. Jay.
Thanks Jay – appreciate the feedback!
Great episode Nick! I’d love to see someone profile a bunch of online entrepreneurs and report on the revenue share from different revenue streams e.g. affiliate marketing (30%) vs. products (60%) vs. sponsorships (10%) etc… For me this would be interesting to see what kind of targets I should be aiming for across different channels.
Thanks Paul — that would be interesting. What do the percentages look like for you at the moment?
Loved this episode – thoroughly enjoyed the 20 questions; would love to hear more of these type of episodes.
Also, I was incredibly curious about what happened to the public coaching participants- I had been following those like a reality t.v. show! It would be fun to see/listen to that again.
Hope you have a great week in Chicago. The picture of you and your little one is darling!
Thanks Melissa — appreciate the feedback :)
They are nice. I like the content and the podcast too. I had been finding stuff about millionaire reselling, probably this can help me. Looking forward for more stuff like this.
Hi Nick, I have never commented before, so thanks for asking for comments. First off I enjoy your show and your consistency. I don’t really have much to say in terms of making the show better, but I did enjoy the 20 Questions segment of this last show. Maybe once a month on those would be cool. Thanks again!
Hi Nick,
Thanks for this post and soliciting feedback. I’ve more recently become engaged into Side Hustle Nation as I’m looking to supplement my income and accelerate financial independence.
I’ve been considering a few ideas and even did a small jump into the Amazon reselling business (after Assad’s episode since I work in e-commerce). However, Amazon lost the inventory (they are reimbursing me, but it’s not the outcome I expected). I might give it another few tries but wasn’t too encouraged by this first experience with them and that it was a loss when considering time invested.
I’d be open to a coaching experiment if you’re interested in starting one up again; I’m actually in the Bay Area, too.
If you had to start a side hustle business today, which would you pursue given the current landscape?
Cheers,
Ryan
Nick,
I definitely enjoyed the Q&A podcast. It’s always good to hear questions that others have and your thoughts on them.
A subject I would love to hear about in the future would be somebody who teaches classes while they are traveling.
I have heard a lot about classes on Udemy, but I don’t recall hearing about anyone who travels and teaches classes in person.
I ask because last year a began traveling as a professional wrestler. It isn’t exactly easy to work a traditional job when you are traveling every weekend, so my financial situation has struggled because of this.
I have been considering teaching martial arts seminars on the road in the areas I travel to. I am a third degree black belt so I am qualified to teach the classes, but I’m concerned about finding people who want to take the classes in areas I’ve never been to before. How do I market to these areas? How do I find a place to host the classes?
If you know anybody who has done something similar, or have any advice, I would very much appreciate it!
Thanks!
Austin
Hi Nice,
I enjoyed this Q&A podcast — although I find the interview format more engaging. I tend to struggle with too many side hustles and I suppose I’m having trouble figuring out what to focus on.
-There’s my website design company (I’ve been doing this for the longest time and make the most money) — plus the blogging and social media that goes with that
-a home reno blog — which gets a lot of traffic but creating projects and writing about them, social media etc.
– Etsy1 – sells barnwood frames and other decor. So — I designed a simple one page website for this, and I’m on instagram and basically have social media automated other than insta.
– Etsy2 – sells “printables” (which mostly crossover from plaques I’ve made for the barnwood store). I’m digging the printables because I make it once and it generates some extra revenue for me.
Then I hear your podcasts and want to teach on Udemy… and … and .. and … I just want to do it all. Any tips for how to focus in? I feel spread thin, but there’s nothing I really want to give up on. Is everyone listening like this?? Lol. That’s a really long, drawn-out way of saying I enjoy your podcast (probably a little too much). I’m really interested in finding ways to simplify my side hustles, or hearing from others who have been down this road.
Amy, I’m definitely having the same experience! There are so many possibilities that I sort of have “analysis paralysis” and haven’t gotten started on anything yet. I, too, would be interested to hear how others focus!
Hey Nick,
Great podcast! I really enjoyed that one. Thanks for addressing my question about tax issues. My uncertainty about the legal framework is one issue that’s hindering me. I keep wondering, Should I just get started and worry about a business structure when I actually make some money? Should I set up an LLC? If so, in what state? What are the pros and cons of setting it up in a state where I don’t reside? If others are interested in these types of questions, it would be great to have a guest with expertise in this stuff. Thanks again!
I really enjoyed this Q&A format and hope to hear some more of it in the future. I always enjoy downloading your weekly episode to listen to on my commutes to my day job.
I would really like to see a really in depth episode about hires freelancers to sub out the the majority of their work load. I have no idea who would be a good fit for something like that, but hearing first hand experience from who hires all kinds of different freelancers and how he manages and works with them would be awesome, in my humble opinion.
Great suggestion, thanks Kyle!
Chalk up another vote in favor of the “20 questions” format. Loved this episode — lots of tips and thoughts squeezed into one episode.
Thanks Mike!
Yay! Very valuable information.