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200: Side Hustles: Part-Time Entrepreneurial Ideas, The Sharing Economy, and Just-in-Time Learning with Nick Loper
Nick Loper is an entrepreneur and digital business expert known for his work in side hustles and online income strategies. He runs the popular Side Hustle Nation blog and podcast, where he interviews entrepreneurs and shares insights about part-time business ideas. Nick is also the author of "Buy Buttons," a book that explores various online marketplaces and strategies for making extra money. He has built multiple online businesses, including a footwear comparison shopping site, and has become a respected voice in the entrepreneurial community for helping people explore alternative income streams.
Nick Loper from the Side Hustle Nation podcast is the king of side hustles: low-risk entrepreurship, for-profit hobbies. Thanks to marketplaces like iTunes, Fiverr, eBay, Craigslist, and other sharing economy sites, the universe has shrunk, and now is the time for you to jump in:
- Find a marketplace that uses the sharing economy (such as Uber, Airbnb, DogVacay, Turo for P2P car rental, Prosper for P2P loans)
- Use your unique skills (freelancing)
- Buy low and sell high
- Create your own products
Quotes:
“I think of side hustles as a lower-risk form of entrepreneurship. You don't have to quit your job, but if you have an extra 5, 10, or 20 hours a week and want to do something productive with that time, consider it like for-profit hobbies.” – Nick Loper
“We've underutilized assets in our lives—our car, spare bedroom, and even various platforms to generate money.” – Nick Loper
“Realistically, the biggest failure is often cash flow. Businesses fail because they don't bring in enough money or make enough sales.” – Nick Loper
Takeaways:
01:53 Marketplaces like Fiverr, Amazon, and Airbnb provide built-in audiences and easier entry points for new entrepreneurs.
04:13 Treating a side hustle like a real business, with persistence and willingness to learn from failures, is crucial to success.
22:17 Side hustles offer a low-risk path to entrepreneurship, allowing people to earn extra money and learn new skills without quitting their day job.
29:40 Small, incremental earnings can grow into significant income streams when approached with patience and strategic thinking.
37:39 Successful side hustlers focus on one platform or skill at a time, building momentum through consistent small actions.
Side Hustles Mentioned
- Turo (rent out your car)
- CuddleUp (charge money for cuddling -- yes, really)
- Fiverr (provide any service you want)
Resources
- Buy Button (Book)
- Side Hustle Nation (Podcast)
- The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson (Website)
- Steve Scott (Website)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:27 — 43.4MB) | Embed
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199: Financial Gravity: Lower Taxes and Higher Profits with John Pollock
John Pollock is the CEO of Financial Gravity and an expert in tax planning for entrepreneurs and small business owners. He is the author of a book about the 10 biggest tax mistakes small business owners make, which is available for free through his website or by text. John has also created a program to train accountants and financial professionals in tax-saving strategies.
John Pollock from Financial Gravity wants to help you save on your taxes, since accountants and bookkeepers aren't trained for that. He has some unique insights on how you can get a tax blueprint to proactively plan your finances.
Be sure to text "TAXBOOK" to phone number 33-4444 for a free bonus.
Quotes:
“If I can show you ways to save on federal and state taxes, you'll also gain savings on payroll taxes and sales taxes, leading to a compounding effect.” – John Pollock
“The tax code is not designed for the rich. It's actually designed for the small business owner.” – John Pollock
“The IRS is a collection agency. That's the stark reality, and collection agencies are going to go after people that don't know the tax code, not people that do know the tax code.” – John Pollock
Takeaways:
02:08 Many business owners are surprised by big tax bills, and most accountants are not trained to help lower taxes.
06:00 There are thousands of pages in the tax code that can help business owners save money, but most people don’t know about them.
08:32 Using legal tax rules does not make you more likely to get audited.
14:00 Changing how you handle your business taxes can save you a lot of money.
20:08 Having a clear tax plan, like a “tax blueprint,” helps you know what steps to take to pay less in taxes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:24 — 27.8MB) | Embed
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198: Practice Happy Now: Tap into Your Subconscious Mind, Crack the Ego Code, and Discover Emotional Laws with Rene Brent
Rene Brent is a certified clinical hypnotherapist with over 25 years of experience as a registered nurse. She is an international speaker and faculty member at the Institute of Interpersonal Hypnotherapy. Rene is the author of the international bestselling book "How Big is Your Butt," which offers practical exercises for understanding and overcoming mental blocks. Her work focuses on helping people tap into their subconscious mind and break through emotional barriers using scientific approaches to personal development.
Hypnotist Rene Brent, from Practice Happy Now, is a professional garage door opener. She believes that your brain is running an old program and can help you to get rid of false beliefs. She wants you to allow your subconscious mind to move you away from pain and towards pleasure.
Quotes:
“Hypnosis is like being a professional garage door opener—I help people open that garage door, hold the flashlight, and let them figure out what's blocking the door.” – Rene Brent
“The subconscious mind defines and runs about 95% of your day. So if you don't know what's going on in that garage, then someone else is driving the car, for sure.” – Rene Brent
“Your body acts as your emotional GPS, which is why we use expressions like gut-wrenching, sick to my stomach, or heartbroken—it's your body's way of communicating with you.” – Rene Brent
Takeaways:
01:46 Your subconscious mind runs 95% of your daily actions and can be redirected through specific mental techniques.
08:07 Breathing and accepting emotional sensations can help release stress and gain mental clarity.
12:09 Visualizing your desired day and emotional state before waking up can help set a positive mental framework.
16:06 False beliefs formed before age 10 can significantly impact your current perception and behavior.
20:23 Procrastination is often a protective mechanism driven by fear of failure.
Resources
- How Big Is Your BUT (Kindle Book)
- Practice Happy Now: 2 free meditations (Book)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:30 — 24.3MB) | Embed
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197: Million Dollar Platform: Create a Dream Business, Find Your Specialty, and Scale Your Business with Newsletter Guru Jim Palmer
Jim Palmer is a marketing and business building expert who helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses. He is the founder of the Dream Business Academy and the Dream Business Coaching and Mastermind Program. Jim hosts Dream Business Coach TV, a web TV show, and Stick Like Glue Radio, a weekly podcast. He is also the author of the book Decide. Jim is known for creating No Hassle Newsletters, a program that helps businesses with their newsletter marketing.
Jim Palmer is the Newsletter Guru and Dream Business Coach. He believes marketers should setup a Million Dollar Platform that includes email marketing, ezines, newsletters, and more. Many people lack focus and aren't finding their best customers. You should also mail a 4-page physical newsletter once a month to your best customers to retain those customers and get yourself some repeat, high-ticket sales.
Quotes:
“Starting a question with ‘Can I just’ is a limiting thought, as it implies you're already doubting your ability to do it all or your willingness to take it on fully.” – Jim Palmer
“The largest cost that most businesses have is the cost of acquiring a new customer.” – Jim Palmer
“People don't necessarily want to read everything about your business and what you do. It's important to have a balance of what can be considered relevant and non-relevant material.” – Jim Palmer
Takeaways:
02:31 Many business owners struggle because they try to do too much and don’t focus on what works best for them.
09:01 Doing many types of marketing, like email, books, and video, helps reach more customers because everyone learns differently.
13:10 Outsourcing most tasks lets you spend more time on important work that grows your business.
20:41 Sending a printed newsletter every month helps keep your business in customers’ minds.
28:24 Spending money to keep your customers is important because it costs more to find new ones.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:08 — 29.4MB) | Embed
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196: Generate Targeted Leads and Put Sales in the Pipeline: Outbound Email Marketing, Phone Closing and Objection Handling with Dan Englander
Dan Englander is the founder of Sales Schema, a company that helps agency owners and project-based businesses get more clients and grow their accounts. He was the first employee at the animation studio Idea Rocket, where he played a key role in growing the business from the ground up. Dan is also an author, having written "Mastering Account Management" and "The B2B Sales Blueprint." He lives in New York and works with creative agencies, especially those offering services like websites and video production.
Dan Englander from SalesSchema.com has some great information for you about marketing funnels and automation. Dan lands many new clients using outbound email marketing, virtual assistants, and phone closing.
He also has used some unique strategies to land new business. For example, he's contacted up-and-coming tech companies mentioned on CrunchBase or checking job posting on sites like Indeed and AngelList, who needed services such as animation videos. He also walks us through his process of qualifying his process, getting those leads to the proposal stage, feeling them out with test closes, handling objects and feedback, and more.
Quotes:
“It's very hard to completely and to automate human empathy, and that's really what sales entails.” – Dan Englander
“Sales calls quickly reveal your position in the market, often much faster than any number of survey funnels can.” – Dan Englander
“If I can learn, teach, or sell something every day, I’ll progress much faster than if I isolate myself from the world.” – Dan Englander
Takeaways:
01:50 Using sales tricks like fake deadlines in one-on-one emails can hurt trust if you don’t have a real reason for them.
06:02 Building your own list of leads is better than buying a pre-made list because you learn more and get better results.
14:57 Personalizing emails, even with simple details like recent company changes, makes your outreach more effective.
18:27 It’s better to ask someone if they can chat before sending a calendar link, so it feels more personal.
21:52 On the first call, make sure the person has a real need, is a decision maker, has a budget, and is ready to start soon.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:26 — 30.6MB) | Embed
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195: Rock, Paper, Simple: Create a Marketing-Focused Website in Seven Easy Steps with Joshua Adams
Joshua Adams is the founder of Rock Paper Simple, a company that helps businesses create websites that focus on marketing and results. With over 14 years of experience in web design, marketing, and branding, Joshua works with business owners to make sure their websites do more than just look good—they help bring in customers. Joshua often speaks at events and colleges about web design and marketing.
Joshua Adams from Rock Paper Simple wants his agency to help you create a marketing-focused website that's them-centric, with clear navigation, that speaks directly to visitors and makes conversions. Be sure to claim his free self audit worksheet to find out how your website measures up.
Seven steps to creating a marketing-focused website:
1. Shut up and listen (know thyself, benefits, goals)
2. Plan for results (design, words, pages)
3. Direct traffic (differentiate value of pages, decide on three most important services, call-to-action on homepage/sidebar)
4. Them-centric copy (wording that's beneficial to them)
5. Convert (phone number, working form, less fields)
6. Simplify navigation
7. Rock the visuals
Quotes:
“People really don't care who you are or what you know until they know that you either care about them or have value for them.” – Joshua Adams
“If you don't plan, you're just not going to get to that end goal. If you don't have a destination, you'll never get there.” – Joshua Adams
“Marketing serves as the intermediary step leading to sales. While the ultimate goal is achieving sales, marketing is driven by the intention to fulfill a specific purpose.” – Joshua Adams
Takeaways:
01:16 Focusing on marketing when building a website helps businesses get better results.
05:31 Making your website about your customers, not just your business, is important.
19:31 Setting clear goals for your website is a key first step.
25:05 Make it easy for visitors to take action, like buying or signing up.
36:35 Simple and clear navigation helps people use your website without confusion.
Resources
- Web design agency: Rock Paper Simple
- Case study: Sorensen Moving & Storage
- Self Audit Worksheet
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:54 — 35.6MB) | Embed
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194: The Voice Formula: Captivate the Room and Become a More Interesting Speaker with Tracy Goodwin
Tracy Goodwin is a voice expert and the owner of Captivate the Room, where she helps people improve their speaking skills and confidence. With over 20 years of experience and two master’s degrees, Tracy has coached hundreds of clients worldwide. She hosts a podcast and offers a free video series called The Voice Formula, along with online courses and group programs.
Tracy Goodwin from Captivate the Room can help you become a better speaker by improving your voice. Tracy says that your voice's muscle memory can be trained. You can retrain those good speaking habits that you might have previously lost over time and rediscover your real voice.
Many people have incorrectly tempered their voice, leading to that "stuck in the back of your throat" speaking style with dropped endings on sentences. Others forget to have tempering variety and still others forget to breathe when speaking.
Tracy wants you to speak with a pattern of unpredictability, to show vulnerability and be authentic. Break down your speaking strengths and weaknesses into the five elements of variety:
1. pausing
2. elongation
3. pitch
4. volume
5. speed
Quotes:
“We are all essentially born speaking in our true voice, rich with beautiful nuances, but as we grow older and accumulate experiences, we tend to hold that back.” – Tracy Goodwin
“The voice is your most powerful tool, as it breathes life into your words and distinguishes you from others.” – Tracy Goodwin
“Research reveals that every 90 seconds, the brain signals us to disengage. When our vocal delivery becomes predictable, we inadvertently give our audience the green light to lose focus.” – Tracy Goodwin
Takeaways:
02:02 Many people hold back their real voice because of past experiences or fear of judgment.
07:50 Common problems with speaking include holding your voice in your throat, not using enough variety, and forgetting to breathe.
13:03 Setting a moderate pace, pitch, and volume helps make your speaking more interesting.
22:27 Using pauses, elongation, pitch, volume, and speed adds variety and keeps listeners interested.
32:54 Tracy offers a free voice assessment if you send her a short audio or video clip.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:36 — 37.2MB) | Embed
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193: Madly Chasing Peace: Use 3×3 Focused Meditation to Find Inner Peace and Wisdom with Dina Proctor
Dina Proctor is a life and business coach and the best-selling author of "Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went from Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day." She created the 3x3 meditation technique, which means meditating for three minutes, three times a day. Dina’s work focuses on helping people use short, focused meditation to improve their lives, health, and mindset.
Dina Proctor, author of Madly Chasing Peace, wants you to meditate in short bursts: just three minutes, three times a day. Dina was battling clinical depression, planning her suicide and dealing with alcohol addiction when she began to sit still and focus on her breathing for just a few minutes a day.
After eight weeks, that nagging inner voice in her head was gone and she was able to focus on every activity at hand. She found that inner peace and wisdom, and wants to show you how to do the same.
Quotes:
“Anything we want to manifest in our external world starts within. We don’t always need to know exactly what we want, because our higher guidance already knows what will truly fulfill us.” – Dina Proctor
“I truly believe that meditation, for me, isn’t an activity—it’s a state of being.” – Dina Proctor
“If you’re playing full out, it works. But if you’re half texting and half meditating, it’s not going to be effective.” – Dina Proctor
Takeaways:
00:55 Using short, focused meditation several times a day can help change your mindset and life.
02:48 Giving your mind a simple task during meditation, like counting backwards, can help quiet busy thoughts.
08:31 Building a meditation habit is like building a muscle; it gets easier with practice over time.
19:31 Even a few minutes of meditation, done regularly, can lead to big changes in how you feel and think.
26:07 If you don’t take care of your inner self, outside achievements can feel empty.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:03 — 27.5MB) | Embed
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192: Create Fearlessly: Get a High Converting Website for Your Business with Stephen Christopher
Stephen Christopher is the founder of Sequest Digital Marketing, a company that helps businesses improve their online presence through services like SEO, pay-per-click advertising, and web design. He is also the host of the Business Revolution podcast, where he talks with entrepreneurs and shares advice about business growth. Stephen has experience running several businesses and is known for focusing on what his company does best, while also making sure his clients are well taken care of.
Stephen Christopher from Seequs.com wants to help you with your organic search results, pay per click advertising, and web design.
Choose the top one to three objectives for your website: that's usually for your hot, warm, and cold leads. For example, your hottest prospects who want to buy right now could be looking for a phone number, the warm leads might fill out a contact form to request service, and the cold leads might only want to signup for a video or short report.
Don't take anything for granted, be super persistent (failure leads to perspective). Change the "bad" things about your business.
Quotes:
“Client success is not optional. We’re committed to providing as much guidance as possible because their success—both within our work and overall—is essential to us.” –Stephen Christopher
“Never give up. There is always a way to make what you want happen. What you're doing right now might not be the right approach, so if you fail, it's time to shift your perspective.” – Stephen Christopher
“Sometimes you might be doing something with the potential to succeed, but it’s not aligned with who you are or who you’re truly trying to become.” – Stephen Christopher
Takeaways:
01:02 Focus on what your business does best and let go of the rest.
06:17 Make your website easy for visitors to take action, like calling or filling out a form.
12:32 Good communication and customer service are very important for keeping clients happy.
21:53 Learn from mistakes and use them to build a better business.
26:53 Set clear company values and use them to guide your decisions.
Resources: Seequs SEO agency, Business Revolution Podcast, Business Revolution Facebook Group
Case studies: Petri Plumbing and Hal Elrod
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:00 — 32.0MB) | Embed
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191: Power and Bliss: Find Clarity and Focus Through Self-Care, Meditation and Consistency with Avalaura Gaither
Avalaura Gaither is an intuitive consultant, life coach, and author with a background in psychology and social work. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work from Howard University. Avalaura is the author of two books, "Power" and "Bliss," which focus on reclaiming personal strength and living a life filled with passion and purpose. She also runs Avalaura’s Healing Center and is active as a speaker and meditation guide.
Avalaura Gaither has a background in psychology and social work. She found herself trapped in her career and became an entrepreneur by becoming a guide for others in the areas of daily self-care, meditation, and stress relief.
Quotes:
“Get your mind right, your business will be tight.” – Avalaura Gaither
“The painful stuff—that’s where the magic is. It’s where you discover your true purpose and what will set you apart from everyone else.” – Avalaura Gaither
“People bring things out of you that you can't bring out of yourself.” – Avalaura Gaither
Takeaways:
01:37 It’s important to know yourself and your reasons before starting a business.
09:57 Doing personal work and asking yourself honest questions helps you figure out what kind of business fits you.
19:08 Reading about self-care is not enough; you have to take daily action to see real change.
20:01 Meditation can be adjusted to fit your schedule and needs, not just done one way.
25:27 Having a coach or guide can help you find the right approach for your personality, instead of just following a book.
Resources
- Avalaura's Healing Center (Website)
- Bliss: A Practical Guide to Living a Life of Purpose & Pleasure (Website)
- Power: Escaping the Fear from Within (Website)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:25 — 30.6MB) | Embed
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