A fair amount of people are looking for side hustles to supplement their current income. There are endless ideas for making money and Nick Loper talks about some of them.
Nick also talks about side hustles on his podcast, Side Hustle Nation, and many of them are capable of becoming the main income stream in many instances.
How Nick Provides for His Family While Being Successfully Unemployed
As his first official side hustle in 2005/2006, a comparison shopping site for footwear took most of Nick’s time. He imagined that if he could build a dedicated site for comparing items in one place, he was going to give it a go.
One main reason he did this has to do with other comparison sites falling short on accuracy. They were trying to be everything for everyone including too many comparison categories.
In order for Nick to compare soft goods, he would have to come up with a cool comparison algorithm. He not only did it, he also ended up beating competitors ¾ of the time. In addition to this, the site also offered integrated coupon codes.
After doing this for about three years, Nick was finally able to leave his regular job. Nick noted that many people believe you have to raise venture capital but insists that people should just start and build it slowly.
How Nick Felt Leaving His Regular Job
Nick believes It’s never easy and the timing will never feel right leaving a consistent paycheck. When he quit his job, it was 2008 and the economy was collapsing. There were a lot of layoffs, and gas was at an all-time high.
However, since he had been building for years prior, he felt empowered and that it didn’t phase him much. Nick felt it was a freeing experience when he finally quit his job but things were still difficult.
It made him question if he could really be capable of cutting his own paycheck. Nick was grateful he had left when he did because Google had closed his account.
If he had waited even two weeks, he felt with the account being closed, he potentially would not have made the choice to leave. Thankfully, the account closure was a misunderstanding and he was able to have that continue to bring in revenue.
What Nick Does Now Compared to When He Started
Nick tried to get back on Google’s good side. Eventually they told him they had made a mistake and he was given the go ahead to continue the business. It was 2013 where Nick experienced his transition point.
It took soul searching to figure out what he wanted to be known for and what he wanted to do. Nick analyzed different business models and how he wanted to make money.
There was some peer pressure because people said he needed a personal brand like a podcast or YouTube channel, so he began to spend more time on his blog writing and started the podcast.
Although the comparison site was making money in 2013, it didn’t make sense for Nick to continue with it and dedicated his time to the podcast that was making things happen for him.
Dustin remembers hanging out with Nick on a ski trip to Tahoe where he got to know him a little bit more.
He realized they both loved not only skiing and side hustles, but also being frugal. Dustin knew he liked Nick at this point and they had a lot in common.
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The Process to Start a Brand or Side Hustle
Step 1: Decide on a home base
Nick recommends a website, podcast or home base so people can find you. Nick’s podcast was and early content channel because he thought of himself as a writer first. He recommends making adjustments as you go and use it as a relationship builder.
He believes there are tons of benefits of podcasting but you have to try and conquer your self-doubt, how to be different and how to stand out.
Even though there is bigger money in podcasting now and a lot more crowded, you have to keep trying and make sure you have good content.
Step 2: Learn how to stand out
Nick points out that half the planet doesn’t know what a podcast is, yet. There are millions and millions of websites and channels but only a couple hundred thousand podcasts.
Learn how to differentiate yourself from all of the other podcasters. Additionally, Nick says that niche selection is key.
Find out what excites you or what people ask you for help with and go from there.
However, Nick believes you should not niche down in something you are passionate about. If you are, then someone else is, too. People who are very passionate about a subject may do irrational things like working or doing it for free.
Instead, Nick says to do something you are competent or skilled in. Every entrepreneur has the meta-skills to find a new skill. He says to be cognizant about what is out there in the market, and then make sure to differentiate.
Side Hustle Nation Example
As an example, Nick’s wife and her friend decided they wanted to get into wedding photography.
They had never done it before and were not competing with the professionals as they didn’t have a portfolio. Once they built their portfolio, they were able to show that to potential clients and also charge a larger cost.
Dustin has a similar story where he saw a need and began Master Passive Income. Successfully Unemployed became his passion project. He has 30+ properties and literally does not have to work.
He can then enjoy the work he does with Successfully Unemployed as a passion to help people and does not have to worry about making money. Essentially, Dustin is able to have his base project and his passion project working at the same time.
Nick emphasizes that you do not have to know everything about something and that shouldn’t stop yoFu if you don’t. You can have confidence even though someone else may know a little bit more than you. That is where the differentiation comes into play.
Step 3: Write content and get it out there
Anything from long form blog posts, audio content, and even summary of podcast episodes are what should be going out. You may want to recognize that the podcast may not be the main draw.
You could be doing content marketing, creating lead magnets and opt-ins as well.
Side Hustle Nation’s Main Draw
For a long time, it was the podcast and the blog. Nick says he didn’t understand SEO and that it was more of an afterthought. He does say that there is definitely still a need for SEO.
Nick also learned how to get traffic to his site from FinCon. Nick recalls wanting to write an article about how to make money. He naturally Googled just that and was inundated with numerous articles.
Even though someone else may have already written about this idea, the key is to put your own creativity and perspective on it. And who knows, you may end up taking the top spot on the search.
Nick stresses that podcasting is currently less competitive than blogging so now is the time to start.
He started out with 11 or so friends and family on his list. Now he has a network of friends and colleagues that are interested in what he does. Nick recalls starting an email and just went through his list in alphabetical order.
Pro-Tip #1: Do not ask for anything in the first email.
The initial transaction is to just ask the recipient what they have been up to and it is human nature to reciprocate the question back. Then you have an established dialogue and can add an opt-in or call to action for something pertaining to what you are doing.
How Nick Loper Monetizes From Other Options
Three things generate income for Nick:
1. Sponsorships on the show
It took about three years to get official sponsorships on the show so this is not something Nick would have you count on.
2. Affiliate offers on the website
Several years ago, Nick put out a list of The Best Udemy courses for entrepreneurs. Every year he updates the list because of Udemy’s yearly sale. People were thanking him in the comments for creating and updating the list.
Over time it ranked well in Google as he built on SEO. He credits learning more about this to FinCon, DollarSprout, and Well Kept Wallet. That article alone over time brought him $30,000-$40,000.
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3. Nick’s own side hustle experiments
Nick recommends trying some experimental side hustles. This would include self-publishing, course creation, freelancing or e-commerce. Nick recalls being interested in the Virtual Assistant movement.
So he built out a project similar to Yelp for Virtual Assistants and it is still doing its thing eight years later.
Dustin believes guys like him and Nick are going to keep working and finding new ways to make money. Now he has plenty of money, buying and selling.
He also has so many businesses and opportunities he has to pick and choose which ones he spends time on. Dustin say when this happens, you just have to learn to say NO.
Pro Tip #2: The best opportunities are not visible until you are in motion
Nick recalls hearing this on episode 72 with Ryan Finley. He said, “The best opportunities are not visible until you’re in motion.” At first Nick didn’t think much of the quote but now, six years later, he totally agrees.
Dustin agrees as well. It is hard to get opportunities if you are not moving. The “objects in motion tend to stay in motion” idea. Real Estate is a good example.
If you don’t invest in a property that comes up right away, someone else will be there and be ready to do it.
Additionally, if you are ready to invest, you will have the means later to make those quick choices, thus, continuing to “be ready” later on as well.
The First Products Nick Started to Sell with Side Hustle Nation
1st Product: Private Mastermind Sessions
Out of 600-700 people reached, 6-7 folks signed up to hang out with Nick in a private mastermind session. He ran this for a couple of years which cost $100/person/month.
Nick recalls this not being significant at the time but still remembers the first cohort he worked with. He now sees some of them have some pretty substantial businesses that they run.
2nd Product: Books
Nick has a book on Amazon called, Work Smarter, a compilation of online resources. This was helpful in getting his name out there with a lot of different people in the entrepreneurial space.
3rd Product: Side Hustle Coaching
After building up his email list a bit more, he began offering private coaching on the client’s side hustle. He did not love this part and found it very stressful.
4th Product: Venture Projects
He was able to begin group venture projects where an audience will want to learn about a subject. He would then find someone to do a training for his audience and at the end they would be invited to purchase the product.
This is very common in the entrepreneurial space and served Nick well because he didn’t have to create a product that he wasn’t qualified to do and also serve his audience.
The Importance Of An Email List for Your Business
An email list will really help you. The emails lend a way to offer an opportunity to get things, services, or work with us options. The email list is a way to show the audience how you can serve them.
The email list had been huge for Nick. He noticed this from some of the newsletter he was subscribed to. Nick felt that Steven Chou from My Wife Quit Her Job was ascending him up the listener pyramid.
The pyramid brings strangers to listeners, listeners to subscribers and then subscribers to fans.
The first battle for Nick was awareness, how to get people to notice him. This came from compelling titles, marketing, SEO and word of mouth. The second level is what is the call to action when you have someone tuning in.
For a lot of years, that for Nick was downloading a highlight reel, or a summary of the episode. In terms of effectiveness, this has not had much return.
Recently, Nick had a guest that for every post would do a video, written instructions and then an opt-in with a template download or the like.
Her email list was around 375,000 people. Nick urges people to see what’s working for other people and paying attention. You want to deliver some value that is worth opting in for.
Dustin thinks that the logistics of this sounds daunting. Nick offers the 80/20 plan where he realizes he may have a long post so he offers the option to download the post to read later.
With Master Passive Income, Dustin started a membership with group coaching and an investor mastermind. Basically a huge group of people doing it all together. He was able to get five people in a week.
There is a $200/month charge and a $600 buy in for this course and he already has five people.
He believes it comes down to what the listener likes. The audience opens his emails and like him so they stick around. If they don’t, they will leave and move on and that’s ok.
Types of Podcasts to Choose From
For Dustin, his podcast is 90% his content. He is teaching the topic. This shows that he is the expert on his business model. If people like him and are listening to him then they will continue to do so. If not, they will leave and the time will not be wasted.
Another option is Interview based. One important question for this model is how do I also make sure I show I am an expert as well when I am interviewing people about a subject.
Nick says it helps if you can speak the language and add to the conversation in an interview style podcast.
Try and do a wrap up at the end about what you took away. Nick also offers that you use a consistent format and also try to mix things up now and then. Some of the ways you could mix it up are with solo podcasts or have Q&A or even round table types.
He urges just to try something outside the normal.
You will have your mastermind members and as soon as they have success, bring them on your podcast to talk about how it worked for them.
Nick assures Dustin he will never see a bigger spike in membership and listeners if he tries this. You will not only have social proof but a testimonial.
How to Scale This Type of Business
Scaling for Nick has looked like drawing back the group programs, and delegating where budget or revenue allows. He has recently added to the team and then scaled it as it grew.
The advantage is already a one-to-many and that is a powerful place to start. Imagine you get the same question over and over so you write the content, be more intentional. This will be the biggest return on investment.
Dustin has a hard time with frugality. It is hard for him to hire someone when he knows he can do it himself, potentially quicker. Dustin can edit a podcast in an hour or pay someone else to do it and spend $50.
He thinks he could use that hour to coach and potentially make $1,000. At the end of the day, he chooses to make money elsewhere and have someone do it for him. Then he feels he is helping someone else get a side hustle and help them make money.
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What Nick Does to Give Back
Nick hangs out a lot with his kids. One thing that came up to try came from a friend’s daughter who started a park clean up day. Even though they live in a clean town, it was appalling how much garbage was there.
Nick also loves being a part of 1% For the Planet where you donate 1% of revenue to environmental causes. This has been helpful for philanthropy goals that he has.
Dustin describes a scene from The Tick. A villain say to The Tick, who is a superhero, that he will blow up the whole Earth. The Tick responded with “Oh no! That’s where I keep all my stuff!”
Nick’s Advice to Get You Started
The most important thing is full transparency with potentially dozens of failed projects. Approach each with the scientist mindset where you experiment. Think about having a hypothesis and attempting to test it.
Nick also says to be ok with the outcome no matter what it is. Even if it fails, learn something and apply it to the next project. Lastly, he says to be persistent which is the entrepreneurial mindset.
What Nick is Most Frugal With
For Dustin, he is most frugal with consumables like razors. Nick’s more has to do with the fact that he has been the same size for quite some time. He doesn’t feel the need to buy clothes when all of his clothes still fit.
But housing is where he is most frugal. While recording from his child’s closet, he talks about how maybe an office space would be nice but does not want to waste the money on that yearly amount.
Where Nick is Least Frugal
Lately, health related things and buying foods. Nick’s family could eat cheaply on rice and beans but they have decided to pack their meals with veggies, etc.
Nick believes that some medical tasting like blood tests are important in making sure everything is on a safe level.
He says you have to have a baseline on your health if you ever want to improve. Travel has been big with Nick’s family but usually use points and are frugal on the trips.
Dustin Tip: every time he had to spend money, he would remind himself it was travel and fun and shut the brain off on the amount being spent.
He and his family spent six weeks in Europe visiting 11 different countries and used this tip each time there was a large cost involved.
What Nick Would Tell His Younger Self
Nick would tell himself that he can figure it out. He is grateful to receive that at the age of 19. His girlfriend at the time, and now wife, gave him that advice. Nick was considering taking a house painting internship.
His wife said, if it sucks it is only three months of your life and you will figure it out. We all have the ability to learn new skills. Nick talks about a book he likes, Everything is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo.
The App or Tool Nick Recommends
Last Pass has been the unsung hero for Nick. It is a free service for password management. The app frees up so much brain capacity and you can share with members of a team. He says it just makes life better.
The Non-Fiction Book Nick Recommends
Nick loved The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg. The book teaches the power of being helpful first. Nick read the book when he was working on a wine site. He asked himself how is this site helpful. It helped to figure out what he wanted to share and what to broadcast to the world.
Where You Can Find Nick
The best way to find Nick is to tune into the show, Side Hustle Nation. Or if you want some side hustle inspiration, head over to sidehustlenation.com/ideas. This is an updated laundry list of how to make money.
If by the end of that list you have tabs open about something that would be cool to try, then Nicks considers that a win.