It’s time to dive into the ol’ listener mailbag and answer a few questions in this week’s edition of The Side Hustle Show.
It’s been 6 months since the last Q&A show I did (where does the time go??) and I’ve had quite a few interesting questions come in since then. I picked 20 to talk through in today’s show.
Like this format? This is the 4th installment of “20 Questions” so feel free to go back and binge on the older ones too:
- 219: Growing Traffic, Monetization, List-Building, a Day in the Life, and More: 20 Questions with Nick
- 198: Blogging, Branding, Book Writing, and Finding the Right Side Hustle for You: 20 Questions with Nick
- 181: SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Self-Publishing, Udemy, and More: 20 Questions with Nick
Suggested Playlist: 20 Questions with Nick
A common piece of advice you’ll hear is to take audience questions and turn them into content, so here’s a meta example of that in action.
This episode covers questions on affiliate marketing, audience building, network marketing, imposter syndrome, my income streams today, and my side hustle mistakes.
Tune in to hear my responses to those questions and a dozen more below.
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The Questions
- Are people REALLY making the kind of money they say they are?
- What’s the best way to securely share login information with assistants?
- What’s your podcast production process look like?
- What qualities in a niche do you like to see before entering?
- Who are the bloggers and podcasters YOU follow?
- What do you think of Amway as a side hustle?
- Are you really censoring swear words?
- What’s been your experience with Geni.us so far?
- What’s up with podcast guests “doing the rounds?”
- What resources can you share specifically on building an audience?
- What’s been your experience with Fundrise?
- What are your top 3 books on business/marketing/personal development?
- Do I have the right to teach or give advice in an area outside my profession?
- Should I set up a different Amazon Associates account for each of my websites?
- Is my new business model stupid?
- How did that webinar you did with Chandler Bolt work?
- What do you think about my idea for a freelancer directory?
- What WordPress theme are you using on Side Hustle Nation?
- Which side hustles are you working on right now?
- What’s been your biggest side hustle mistake?
Links and Resources
- BlogStarterCourse.com (my free video course on how to set up your website)
- Fiverr
- LastPass
- Updraft
- WP Backup to Dropbox
- PodcastFastTrack.com (my podcast editing service)
- Carey Green on The Side Hustle Show
- Zencastr
- IFTTT
- Smart Passive Income
- Tropical MBA
- The Tim Ferriss Show
- Noah Kagan Presents | Noah Kagan on The Side Hustle Show
- My Wife Quit Her Job | Steve Chou on The Side Hustle Show
- Bigger Pockets
- Listen Money Matters | Thomas Frank on The Side Hustle Show
- Freelance Transformation | Matt Inglot on The Side Hustle Show
- Kindlepreneur | Dave Chesson on The Side Hustle Show
- Videofruit | Bryan Harris on The Side Hustle Show
- MrMoneyMustache.com
- BudgetsAreSexy.com
- Taylor Pearson | Taylor Pearson on The Side Hustle Show
- John Oliver’s segment on network marketing
- Genius Link
- Dr. Kenyon Meadows on The Side Hustle Show
- 37 Ways to Grow Your Side Hustle
- Rosemarie Groner on The Side Hustle Show (the Pinterest episode)
- Growing your audience with webinars
- Growing your audience with virtual summits
- Fundrise (I’m a long-time Fundrise investor and affiliate partner. When you join through my referral link, I earn a commission. Opinions are my own.)
- My Fundrise Review
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
- The Go-Giver
- The Slight Edge
- Finding Your Slight Edge (podcast episode)
- Ben Foley on The Side Hustle Show
- FullyRichLife.com
- The Side Hustle Nation Facebook group
- Dan Norris on The Side Hustle Show
- John Rouda on The Side Hustle Show
- Design Pickle
- Copywriter Today | Gabe Arnold on The Side Show
- GeneratePress
- My website redesign process
- The 8 Income Streams I’m Working on Right Now
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?
The John Oliver piece on MLM is a good one. There’s more good guidance from the head of FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/993473/ramirez_-_dsa_speech_10-25-16.pdf.
Essentially the median MLM participant grosses $200 a month, which is often the amount he/she pays to be “qualified” to earn that income. The FTC says that such qualifications can’t happen anymore and a majority of the money must come from sales to non-participants.
The few examples of people you see who are making big money in MLM have what is called a large “downline” of recruited participants. The FTC’s guidance is that this is a pyramid scheme (https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/multilevel-marketing).
My recommendation is that if you love a product feel free to join and sell it, but don’t recruit people as 99% lose money. If you care about the person you are selling to, you might also want to tell them they can probably get the product cheaper on Ebay or Amazon. Of course that won’t help you sell product.
I had a feeling you’d be on top of this one :)
From the article :
https://www.sidehustlenation.com/side-hustle-statistics/
The median for side hustles is $200/month. With half earning less than $100/month.
My point….it’s not Multilevel/Network Marketing…it’s human nature. With no training, experience, or guidance in a field….how can one hope to succeed?
This just demonstrates that the potential for income IS there in MLM if people are trained properly on how to establish customers and ethically sponsor.
Appreciate the referral to the FTC. Interested parties can also read the FTC ruling on the Amway investigation. In short, MLM is a viable and legal business if conducted within certain parameters. The article nicely lays out what those parameters are and things for which to look when investigating an opportunity.
But basically, if you were to put an untrained driver in the seat of a Lamborghini, and turn them loose on the autobahn…the ensuing wreck would not be the result of the car. It’s the lack of training of the driver. This sums up network marketing.