567: Why Everyone Needs a Side Hustle in 2025 – And the Best Ones to Start Today

Summary

Podcast Summary: Episode 567 – "Why Everyone Needs a Side Hustle in 2025 – And the Best Ones to Start Today"

The My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast with Steve Chou
Host: Steve Chou
Guests: Tony (co-host)
Release Date: December 10, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 567 of The My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast, host Steve Chou and co-host Tony delve into the critical importance of having a side hustle in 2025. Amidst the rapidly evolving economic landscape and the surge of automation and AI, the hosts explore why diversifying income streams has become essential and discuss actionable strategies for launching successful side ventures.

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1. The Necessity of Side Hustles in 2025

Steve Chou emphasizes the growing necessity of side hustles for achieving financial freedom and securing one's financial future in an uncertain economy.

Steve Chou [00:00]: "In this economy and in this generation, I really think that you need a side hustle in order to achieve financial freedom and actually make some money and save some money."

Tony adds a personal perspective, highlighting how side hustles have evolved into full-time roles.

Tony [01:56]: "I thought, well, my side hustle is my full-time job."

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2. Impact of AI and Automation on Employment

The conversation shifts to the rising influence of AI and automation, which are increasingly displacing jobs across various sectors, including both white-collar and blue-collar professions.

Steve Chou [02:34]: "When AI comes, I think there's just gonna be a lot of unemployment."

They discuss real-world examples of automation replacing human roles, such as automated cash registers and remote-operated robots.

Steve Chou [03:07]: "There's actually places in New York doing this already."

Tony voices concerns about the rapid advancement of technology outpacing societal infrastructure, such as outdated voting machines.

Tony [06:50]: "Why do our voting machines look like they were invented by Thomas Edison and never updated?"

The hosts agree that no job is safe from automation, underscoring the urgency of establishing side hustles as a protective measure.

Tony [10:39]: "Roughly, all jobs are going to go away."

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3. Leveraging Social Media for Side Hustles

A significant portion of the episode focuses on utilizing social media platforms, particularly Instagram, to build and grow side hustles without the initial need for complex websites or technical setups.

Steve Chou [17:26]: "You can do the exact same thing with Facebook... It’s completely viable."

Tony shares success stories of using Instagram for service-based businesses, emphasizing the power of word-of-mouth and social sharing.

Tony [18:49]: "People want to share their pets, yards, renovations... Anything that people love to show off works great."

Steve introduces the concept of integrating Instagram lists as a makeshift email list to engage with customers more effectively.

Steve Chou [24:49]: "Instagram list... It's kind of like a poor man's email list."

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4. Real-life Side Hustle Examples

The hosts share personal anecdotes and examples of side hustles within their families, illustrating practical applications of the discussed strategies.

Tony's Daughter-in-Law: Dog Grooming Business

Tony describes his daughter-in-law's journey from a full-time procurement officer to a side hustle in dog grooming. She successfully builds her client base through word-of-mouth and Instagram, ultimately using her side hustle to save for a down payment on a home.

Tony [12:00]: "She's built her entire business on Instagram... she puts pictures before and after of all the dog grooms."

Steve's Employee: Delivery Business

Steve recounts how his first employee at Bumblebee Linens started a side hustle delivering for Amazon, which eventually grew into a full-fledged delivery business.

Steve Chou [39:20]: "What started out as a side hustle while working for Bumblebee Linens has turned into a lot more."

Tony's Daughter: Cosplay and Hair Business

Tony shares his daughter's early ventures into side hustling, from braiding hair in elementary school to launching a print-on-demand business for high school students.

Tony [32:03]: "These kids are probably using their lunch money to pay to get their hair braided."

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5. Strategies for Growing Side Hustles

The hosts discuss various strategies to scale side hustles, emphasizing the importance of recurring revenue and leveraging existing platforms to minimize technical barriers.

Recurring Revenue Models

Tony highlights the effectiveness of subscription-based models, such as monthly plans, to ensure consistent income.

Tony [21:58]: "These monthly plans... if you have anything that you can do with recurring revenue, that's the next level."

Utilizing Local Markets and Word-of-Mouth

Steve and Tony stress the significance of local engagement and referrals. They cite examples like dog breeders and home renovation services thriving through community sharing.

Steve Chou [27:19]: "Word of mouth is just extremely powerful, even when it comes to E-commerce as well."

Minimal Technology Hurdles

Tony advises newcomers to bypass complex technological setups initially, suggesting starting with social media interactions before transitioning to more sophisticated systems like Shopify.

Tony [25:28]: "If technology is your hurdle, this is the perfect way to do it."

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6. Conclusion and Future Outlook

As the episode wraps up, Steve and Tony reflect on the transformative potential of side hustles and the vital role they play in safeguarding against future economic uncertainties driven by AI and automation.

Steve Chou [41:57]: "Things are going to change drastically in the next just two to three years, and I really think you need to protect yourself and diversify however you're making money."

They encourage listeners to take immediate action in launching or expanding their side hustles, leveraging the discussed strategies to build sustainable and scalable income streams.

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Notable Quotes

• Steve Chou [02:34]: "When AI comes, I think there's just gonna be a lot of unemployment."
• Tony [06:50]: "Why do our voting machines look like they were invented by Thomas Edison and never updated?"
• Tony [18:49]: "People want to share their pets, yards, renovations... Anything that people love to show off works great."
• Steve Chou [39:20]: "What started out as a side hustle while working for Bumblebee Linens has turned into a lot more."
• Steve Chou [41:57]: "Things are going to change drastically in the next just two to three years, and I really think you need to protect yourself and diversify however you're making money."

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Key Takeaways

1. Essentiality of Side Hustles: In the face of advancing AI and automation, side hustles are no longer optional but a necessary strategy for financial security.
2. Leveraging Social Media: Platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer accessible avenues to start and grow side businesses without significant upfront investments.
3. Recurring Revenue: Implementing subscription-based models can provide consistent income, making side hustles more sustainable.
4. Word-of-Mouth Power: Personal referrals and community engagement remain potent tools for expanding business reach and client bases.
5. Adaptability and Diversification: Continuously evolving and diversifying income streams can mitigate risks associated with job displacement due to technological advancements.

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For more insights and resources on starting your own e-commerce store, visit mywifequittterjob.com. Interested in connecting with fellow entrepreneurs? Tickets for Seller Summit 2025 are available at sellerssummit.com.

Transcript

[Steve Chou]

Welcome back to the podcast, the show where I cover all of the latest strategies and current events related to e commerce and online business. Today, Tony and I are going to discuss why you need to have a side hustle today and what your best options are. But before we begin, I wanted to let you know that tickets are now on sale For Seller Summit 2025 over at sellers summit.com the Seller Summit is the conference that I hold every year that specifically targets e commerce entrepreneurs selling physical products online. Unlike other events that focus on inspirational stories and high level advice, mine is a curriculum based conference where you will leave with practical and actionable strategies specifically for an e commerce business. Every speaker I invite is deep in the trenches of their e commerce business, entrepreneurs who are importing large quantities of physical goods and not some high level guys who are overseeing their companies at 50,000ft. I personally hate large events. So the Seller Summit is always small and intimate. Every year we cut off ticket sales at around 200 people, so tickets sell out fast and we've sold out every single year for the past eight years. If you are an e commerce entrepreneur making more than $250,000 or $1 million per year, we also offer an exclusive mastermind experience with other top sellers. The Seller Summit is going to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from May 6th to May 8th. Right now, this is the cheapest the tickets will ever be. So head on over to sellers summit.com and grab your ticket. Now onto the show. Welcome to the My Wife Quitter Job podcast. Today we're going to talk about side hustles. And the reason why I think this episode is so important is because in this economy and in this generation, I really think that you need a side hustle in order to achieve financial freedom and actually make some money and save some money.

[Tony]

So you know what's funny is I think you put out a YouTube video about a topic similar to this, basically about using a side hustle to help fund, you know, retirement type thing. And I had to laugh because as I was like looking, you know, just kind of glancing at it, I thought, well, my side hustle is my full time job.

[Steve Chou]

Well, no, the goal is do I.

[Tony]

Need another side hustle?

[Steve Chou]

The goal is for it to become your full time job, obviously.

[Tony]

Yes, yes. But yeah, I thought, oh, I turned all my side hustles into full time jobs so now I need to find the next one.

[Steve Chou]

I must admit I'm a little paranoid about what's going to happen in this world just because AI and robots and all that stuff is creeping in. And really, it's right around the corner.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

So when I was in. I think when I was in Europe, you know, there was someone on Zoom running the cash register.

[Tony]

What?

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. Instead of a real person and. Yeah, right. And then. Okay, the place next door had a Zoom greeter. And guess where they were all from? The Philippines.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Steve Chou]

Right.

[Tony]

So that was.

[Steve Chou]

That was the first wave. Right. And then I just did a little research on this for my YouTube video, and there's actually places in New York doing this already.

[Tony]

Well, so similar to this, I was. I do not remember what airport I was in. And you know me, it could have been any airport, but it was one of the larger. Either Internet, it was either international, or one of the big international airports in the US where there was an Amazon store. Have you seen these? And you literally just walk out with your stuff.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. That was all fake.

[Tony]

Maybe it was all fake.

[Steve Chou]

There was. There was one right by us. It was all fake. It actually. It was run by a thousand Indian people. It was. You didn't. It was all a hoax in the end. It was semi automated, but, yeah, you walk out with the stuff and. Yeah.

[Tony]

Yeah, you don't even check out anymore. It just scans your stuff when you leave.

[Steve Chou]

Right. So Amazon led everyone to believe that it was automated, but in fact, there was a thousand people from India actually, with cameras.

[Tony]

Oh, like cameras. Well, I just. Okay. So. Well, that. Thanks for ruining that little mad. Well, what I thought was so interesting about it was that, like, they've removed people from. So you probably. Good or bad, you probably can pay a thousand people in India to do what you're paying the people in a big, big metropolitan area to work cash register in. In a big metropolitan airport. Right. Like, the cost is probably the same.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah.

[Tony]

And you have no theft because they're literally. You're literally a thousand cameras. Like, watching you walk out with your diet soda and your bag of Pringles for the flight.

[Steve Chou]

I don't know what your airport is like because I haven't been to Orlando in a while, but they have these robotic coffee makers now. Literally no one behind the thing. You just swipe your credit card and the robot makes the coffee for you.

[Tony]

Yeah. I don't know if they have them in Orlando, but I have seen those at other airports.

[Steve Chou]

And then there's literally unmanned snack bars now you go and you grab what you want and you check out. There's no human around at all.

[Tony]

I've seen. We have those. So this has always bothered me. Okay. Like, just to do A little side note before we talk about side hustles, like, I have. Do you remember, like, 30 years ago, there was like, this restaurant chain that opened where it was like, you grilled your own steak at your table. Like, you picked out your cut of meat. Oh, they still have those.

[Steve Chou]

That's like every Korean restaurant in, in California, right?

[Tony]

Oh, that's why I hate those places. Because I'm like, I'm like, so this costs the same amount as if I were to go to Fleming's and buy a steak that they cooked correctly for me, or you're gonna make me. Hold me. Like, if I'm eating here, I don't want to touch the food until it's presented on a plate. Just like, I don't want to do self checkout. I don't. Like, I want. Like, if. Cause I don't get a discount for self checkout, I don't get to go through self checkout and save 5% for the cost of the cashier that I don't use. Right. I'm still paying the exact same amount of money. Um, like, all that stuff. To me, it's like, I understand it, I understand the automation. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. But like, if I have a choice and I'm not saving any money, I'm not bagging my own stuff. Like, you're gonna, like, absolutely. It's like when you get to a hotel, right, you can choose to have them valet your car, or you can park your own car and walk a mile. I'll walk a mile to save that $30. Right? But like, if I don't get to save any money, then, like, what's the point? Anyway, that's my rant for the day.

[Steve Chou]

Okay, so the other thing that's going on also is, like, there are these robots that can be controlled remotely. And people. Stores in Japan have been doing this for a while. It's literally some guy with his, like, VR setup manipulating a robot and stocking shelves and stuff.

[Tony]

Okay, yet. And I don't. We never get political, but yet. Why do our voting machines look like they were invented by Thomas Edison and never updated? Like, what. Why do we have robots doing stuff? But yet we can't, like, get voting machines to work properly? Like, that is one thing that absolutely blows my mind. Like, let's put the technology to good use.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah, so. So bottom line, I think we're gonna. I mean, when AI comes, I think there's just gonna be a lot of unemployment. And so. Yeah, previously I used to Feel that, you know, if you were in a, a job that required, you know, manual labor, that you wouldn't get replaced. But I think everything's on the table now here in the Silicon Valley. Graduates in computer science majors are having lots of problems finding jobs because AI can write code now. So computer science actually is not a desirable major. There's tons of people unemployed here in Silicon Valley, whereas in the past it wasn't like that.

[Tony]

I agree with you. I don't necessarily think the like, construction type jobs. Yes. I mean, there will be more machinery and things that improve what can be done. But I think at the end of the day, a lot of those jobs are not going to get phased out.

[Steve Chou]

I wasn't thinking construction, I was just thinking just your everyday retail worker or.

[Tony]

Yes, everyday retail worker. Like, do you remember when McDonald's went to the ordering, where you went to the kiosk and you punched in your order and like, removed the need for cashiers and it's like, first of all, good, right? Like, I mean, I've never met a nice McDonald's cashier. Like, I've never met a McDonald's cashier that I thought was actually punching in my order order correctly. But I also think there's a reason why everyone goes to Chick Fil A. Right? Because they've got the two people in the brightly colored vest standing outside asking your name, giving you a high five, you know, making you feel like an amazing person. And like, I just, I think that yes, technology is going to continue to. An AI is going to continue to replace jobs. But people crave that, like, interaction. That's why Chick Fil A blows everybody else out of the water. That's why their line, literally, they have to do city, city planning. When they put a Chick Fil A in because of the amount of traffic it backs up. Like, does do the roads have the ability to have a Chick Fil A? Right. And there's a reason for that, because when people go to Chick Fil A, they feel good about themselves. And I don't think you can get that from the kiosk at McDonald's.

[Steve Chou]

So where I live, there's all these promo tea places, Boba tea places, where the line's out the door and there literally is no one manning it.

[Tony]

Yeah, No, I think it works for sure.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. And one time the guy was right there and I had a question, he just ignored me because he was busy preparing orders. Right. And yeah, I think efficiency matters. So you can actually have like six iPads out taking orders.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

As opposed to six people. I, I personally would actually prefer efficiency. Like I'd rather just order on my phone.

[Tony]

You can, you can order on your phone and scan and then pick it up. But there's still that lovely smiling teenager comes to your car with, with your chicken nuggets and Chick Fil A and.

[Steve Chou]

In n out actually hire really good people too.

[Tony]

Yes. So same thing with, there's, there's several restaurants around. The Culver's is like, there's like several places in fact sometimes we'll go to like if we're traveling and we'll drive through a place that we maybe aren't familiar with. Like in our area we're always like, oh, do they like take the Chick Fil a training manual or are they on the Burger King Training manual. Right. Like which one are they on? Anyway, all that to say, I do think the jobs. Jobs market is going to radically change.

[Steve Chou]

Over the next like, I mean no job is safe. Like blue collar, white collar. Nothing is safe.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

So I've been a huge proponent of just, you know, what's the right word?

[Tony]

No, you know what Mitigate your risk.

[Steve Chou]

What's that?

[Tony]

Therapy. Because more people are going to need it.

[Steve Chou]

No, there's AI therapists, there's.

[Tony]

Yeah, that's a joke. But yeah. Anyway, you're right, everything's going to change. And so I think that's one of the reasons why finding your side hustle becomes really critical as time goes on.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. And I know you've been helping your daughter in law, is it with, with certain things. So I'm curious. I've been doing this with my daughter, but she's still in high school. I'm just curious what you've come up with.

[Tony]

Yeah. So my daughter in law, she has a regular job working as a, like a procurement officer for a hospital. So she has her, her 9 to 5. But before, before she did that she had several like she did the typical like you know, she worked at Chick Fil A. Actually she was, you know, she ended up becoming an assistant manager at Chick Fil A. She worked at a massage therapy place as like the sales rep booking agent. She's had a lot of different type of jobs but then she went and got her dog grooming license and she loves, she's like an animal person. Right. So she's the type of person that you want. She's not doing this for the money. She does it because she absolutely loves in a way that I cannot comprehend. So when she got this job at the hospital, you know, which was A nice pay raise for her, as well as, you know, benefits and things like that, which are really important. They have a family. She didn't want to give up the dog grooming and she realized that the dog grooming was like their path to owning a home, right? So, you know, they want to buy a house and obviously the housing. It's not a great time to buy a house if you, if you don't have like a large income, I would say, right? So this is a way for them to build a down payment, right. With continuing on the dog grooming on the weekends. So, you know, she did work as a groomer for a while, so she had some clients that she could take with her basically when she moved it from full time to a side hustle. But then, you know, she's basically grown her business fully on word of mouth, which I think is honestly one of the best ways to grow a business that's in the service space, right? So because think about it like, how many times have you gone on Facebook and seen someone post like, hey, I need my driveway re poured, right? Like I have cracks in my driver or hey, I need a good sprinkler company or hey, you know, who knows has a good babysitter, right? All these, like most people would much rather know that their friends are using somebody versus like even reviews, right? Like reviews are very effective. But if I tell you like, you've got to try this new restaurant, we went there, we absolutely loved it. The staff's amazing. Get this dish that means more than a Yelp review, right? To somebody who knows me. So I think, you know, if you're thinking about starting a side hustle, especially in the service based space, getting that word of mouth out and then, you know, she's built her entire business on Instagram, really.

[Steve Chou]

Okay, I would see that.

[Tony]

Which normally, you know, we say like, oh, you got to have website, you got to have a home base. And I still like fundamentally believe that. But like I know my daughter in law, she's not like, she understands technology, but she's not what I would call like she's not one of these like my 18 and 20 year olds who are like super tech, you know, like can do everything, you know, how to know how to edit video. They're all like, that's their life, right? She's like your standard, like Edge of Millennial. Like, you know, I know how to post on Instagram and I'm like, great, then let's use Instagram. And she's basically used Instagram. She created an Account for the. Because she has her personal account where she posts pictures of their daughter and things like that. But then she has an account that's completely dedicated to. She does dog sitting and dog grooming. So she has an account that's completely dedicated to that. And she basically posts pictures before and after of all the dog grooms. And the way to get in touch with her is to DM her, right? So she can manage everything through a DM on Instagram. And here's the thing that I think why this works on any like, social platform, but I think Instagram especially is that one. You can do local searches on Instagram, right? So you can, you know, people can find her and based on her location, right? So it's like if you're in, you know, the central Florida area, her stuff could appear in your feed. The other thing is like when she grooms my dogs, then I share that on Instagram. So everybody that knows me now sees her as a. So I oftentimes when I share stuff from that she's done. I will have local friends message me like, oh, I need a dog groomer. You know, get where, where do I contact her, right? So I really think that Instagram is super effective. And it's interesting because she, she contacted me earlier this week and said, hey, I'm. She's doing like an expo. Basically she got invited to like have a table and she's like, most people sell products at these like it's craft fair kind of thing. And I said, well, most people have pets, right? Like, I mean like huge majority people have pets and most people want. And she, she's like grooms in her home. So it's like you're not dropping your dog off at this like kennel. And you know, it's definitely like a personalized experience. Experience. And I said you need to just make a like, basically flyer with your services and where people can contact you. And honestly, I think once people talk to her like, she'll sell herself, right? So we're doing a flyer with basically this like basically one flyer that says why you should have your dog groomed. So basically giving people if they're not in the like. Because like I had a lab for a long time and I never took him to the groomer. I'm like, he's fine, we give him a bath. But there are reasons to get your dog professionally groomed, that it's good for your dog, right? And now I have two dogs that are like super high maintenance coats, right? So they have to get groomed once A month. And so just educating people on like, hey, here's why you're, here's why this is a good experience for your pet. And then on the top of that, a flyer where it shows her services. I said, because people always want to know like what you offer and can they just go and get their dog's toenails clipped or can they just go, or do you do full service or like, how does all that work? I was like, let's get it all so people can walk by your table and just get all the information at once and then talk to you about specifics. And at first I was like, maybe I should throw up a webpage for her. Like, because I have all this free time this week. But then I was like, no, she's successfully done this with Instagram. Let's like DM her. Let's do.

[Steve Chou]

Is she using Instagram lists?

[Tony]

She isn't yet. Yes, we're still, we're still in the new. Okay. And I also didn't want to go, like she texted me and I immediately sent her back like a 42 page marketing plan and I was like, okay, I need to like calm down because she is a mom, she does work full time and she only has the ability to groom so many dogs on the weekends, right. Like it's not like she can take a hundred dogs, but just seeing like how that one, you know, just one strategy, right? Getting on Instagram, posting your befores and after. Like if you're, if you do. I have a friend that does like custom finishes. So like if you want like a faux wall, right? Looks like it's a certain, you know, he literally posts before and after pictures on Instagram, gets all of his business from Instagram and word of mouth referrals. People just need to see what you're doing and know that you're out there and have an easy way to communicate with you. And what easier way to communicate with people than a DM on Instagram, right? Like so non threatening. So not a sales call. So I actually think that this is a pretty good strategy, especially if you're just getting started and you don't want to like have all the technology hurdles of like setting up a website, you know, getting. It's just like very complicated and I think people that could do something don't because they get stuck in the weeds on these sorts of things.

[Steve Chou]

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you about a free resource that I offer on my website that you may not be aware of. If you are interested in starting Your own online store. I put together a comprehensive six day mini course on how to get started in E commerce that you should all check out. It contains both video and text based tutorials that go over the entire process of finding products to sell, all the way to getting your first sales online. Now this course is free and can be [e-mail] free. Just sign up right there on the front page via email and I'll send you the course right away. Once again, that's mywifequitterjob.com free. Now back to the show. Actually walk me through how she got started. So she probably just had some initial clients that were friends and then she just started posting the photos on Instagram and then her friends would share those posts of their dogs. And that's how it all started, right?

[Tony]

Yeah. So she would groom a dog and she would post like, oh, so excited to see little, you know, she, she groomed Penny, my dog this weekend. So she's like so excited to see Penny. She let me put bows in her hair this time, which by the way, on my whole family it's like, why did you let her put bows in her hair? I was like, she looks cute, leave it alone. So then I haven't had a chance to share it yet, but I will share, you know, this post and then I am 100 positive because every time I share it happens, someone will message me and go, oh, who's your dog groomer?

[Steve Chou]

Right?

[Tony]

And then I'll say, hey, here's her Instagram. And obviously she's tagged in the share as well. But lots of people, since people love sharing their pets, this is great for like anything where people like to show off. So yards, right? You get landscaping done, something in your house, right? Anything like that. People love to show pictures of their remodeled bathroom, things like that. So anything in the service based industry I think is very effective to use this with because you get the shares without asking for them, right? And then she. So she started that way and then basically once she got a client, which I think this is just a genius marketing thing, is she put people on a monthly plan, right? Because I mean in theory pets need to be groomed monthly, right? Or of six weeks. So now she has a monthly plan or I don't know what the frequency is since she's related to me, I just call her and be like, can you pick up the dog? She looks really mangy. But then you get people who like they're paying per month who are getting their pets. So now you have Guaranteed income. Right. Or at least more consistent income. My brother, who has a ranch, they do trail rides, put people on a monthly ride program. So people who love to ride horses, they can ride on this monthly plan for a discounted price. Because what they do is if you're on the monthly ride plan, when they have a ride and they don't have all the horses booked, they're like, hey, you know, you can come Tuesday or Wednesday at 4pm and, and get your ride. Right. So they're basically getting a dis. Like a substantial discount. Right. But in reality, like, if they didn't fill that, it would be $0. Right. So getting people on that recurring revenue, if you have anything that you can do with reoccurring revenue is like the next level. Right. For doing that side hustle, I just.

[Steve Chou]

Thought of an idea that I can use for Bumblebee.

[Tony]

Okay, what is this chatting about this recurring crying plan?

[Steve Chou]

No, no, no. It's. It's about asking people for their Instagram handle at checkout and then photographing the products that they've personalized for themselves and just tagging them.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Steve Chou]

I think I would need to ask for permission though, right? Would I need to?

[Tony]

I don't think if you tag them. Because the people that don't allow tagging just won't let you tag them.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. And then there's nothing really super personal about these personalized things anyway. But people like to get tagged and maybe they'll share it.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Steve Chou]

Okay. So I am going to try that because social has always been a struggle for me because I don't want to do the work for social. But this probably will work with TikTok too. I don't think I've seen very many stores ask for people's Instagram handles. Have you ever checked out?

[Tony]

I've seen it very, very rarely.

[Steve Chou]

So I would say rarely.

[Tony]

Once or twice. Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

But it's really easy to do.

[Tony]

Yes. Yeah. And here's the thing. Like, I think you can do the same exact thing with a Facebook page. Right. So once again, remove all the technology hurdles. Right. So if you have a service or a product that you know you want to get out there, you can do the exact same thing with Facebook. And I cannot tell you the people that I feel like do this the best are dog. What are they? Dog breeders. Right. Like, if you've ever been to, like a dog breeder site, they use. All use the same exact template from the same company. It's terrible. It doesn't ever load correctly, but their Facebook pages are amazing. Right. Because when they have a litter of puppies, they post that. Or when the dogs get pregnant, right? And they're like, well, we had Miles Turner, you know, breed with Sophia, whatever. Like, you know, they've got these fancy dogs and it's like, you know, this is the size of the litter, this is what we're expecting. And these, they sell out the litters before they're even, like, born. Right. Because everyone's sharing and tagging. Like, I think that that part of the Internet still works, Right. That hasn't changed the ability, the virality of sharing and tagging. People, like, when you post a picture of a puppy, everybody comments, everybody tags. You know, it's just like. And it doesn't work with everything, obviously. Dogs and animals are really great use case for this. Right. But it's also with. I've seen it all the time with home stuff, like renovations, where it's like everyone's sharing it because they're sending it to the other person in their family. It's like, oh, can we do this with the fireplace? Oh, can we do this with the pantry? Oh, can we get this refrigerator? Right. Like. Like there's lots of different spaces that still work on that, like tag and share. And you don't even have to ask people to do it. They're doing it because they want someone else to see it.

[Steve Chou]

Right. Yeah, no, that's. That's a great strategy. And then Instagram list, which I mentioned earlier, now you can actually ask people to subscribe to you, and then you're allowed to send them one broadcast per day. So it's kind of like a poor man's email list. Yeah, I would say.

[Tony]

Which I think. I think if technology is your hurdle, like, to get started, this is the perfect way to do it. And there's going to come a time where you're going to be too big or too busy, where you're just going to pay someone to set everything else up for you, and that's fine. Right. And then you move over. But while, you know, while you're just getting started in the hustle, like, why not remove all your barriers?

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. And then once you get a little bit more advanced, you can actually start taking transactions directly on Instagram, where you list your products and then you check out directly on Instagram. And if you have a Shopify store, it automatically ties back to your store.

[Tony]

I think we talked about this on one of the last podcasts. So my nephews worked for that plant nursery, the exotic plant nursery, who do all their transactions on Instagram they literally post a picture of a rare plant and be like, we have 16 of these and they're sold out in five minutes. So, yeah, they still have a physical nursery that you can. I mean, they still do business other ways, but, like, great side hustle and augmentation to, like, they basically doubled the business of this nursery just from doing that on Instagram.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah, yeah. So it's powerful. Like, I often get asked the question, hey, Steve, do I really need a website, a Shopify store right away? And my answer almost always is, yes, I think you should just get something up so you can collect emails and that sort of thing. But, you know, every now and then, I do have someone who just like, I don't even know how to go through the wizard in Shopify. Right. But I do know social. Like, I have an Instagram account. So just doing what you described is completely viable. Setting up the store is a little bit more technical. Like, arguably, it's easier just to get a Shopify store and link it to Instagram, I think, than it is to get that hooked up. But, yeah, completely viable.

[Tony]

Actually.

[Steve Chou]

Actually, I have several students in the class. They get all their business through Instagram for the most part. Yeah.

[Tony]

Which is, to me, that's exciting. Right. Because I feel like it's still not too late to utilize some of these platforms where it feels like, oh, it's so saturated. Oh, everybody's. It's like, no, not really. If you have an interesting spin on something, I think you can. You can still monetize it.

[Steve Chou]

No, I mean, word of mouth is just extremely powerful, even when it comes to E commerce as well.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

Right. Because, I mean, that's. That's, in a way, how we started. Like, we weren't running, like, ads. I mean, we were running ads, but they weren't like, the bulk of our business. Like, after year one, a lot of it was referral business.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

And I remember we got our first wedding planners or event planners, and that was huge because they all talk to each other.

[Tony]

Yes.

[Steve Chou]

And then all of a sudden, we were getting hotels and. Yeah. Don't estimate word of mouth.

[Tony]

Yeah. I think that's the thing to think about is that in all these industries, right, like, so you and I live in, like, the E commerce, online marketing industry. Right. So when one of us needs something, Right. Or needs an expert or needs, like, you know, help, we all talk to each other. Right. Well, who are you using? Who are you talking to? Who are you? And then usually there's a consensus like, oh, this person is the or this person, like highly recommend, right? And then that person, like a lot of people we know have built their whole business in the online space because other people have recommended them, right? Like, look at Grayson Bell, right? Perfect example of this, has a WordPress business, basically helping people with debug WordPress sites, basically. I don't think he builds them anymore or ever did. But, you know, he got his business by. He was a blogger. And then he realized he really liked fixing WordPress stuff and started doing it for a couple other bloggers and then a couple other bloggers. And then between word of mouth and another strategy that's great for side hustles, he went in blogger groups and when someone's like, hey, I think this plugin is broken, it's showing this error on my site, he would come in and then the comments say, oh, have you tried doing one of these three things? Right? And Grayson's a great explainer, right? He's a great teacher. So he would basically walk people through in a comment, like how they could fix it themselves. And by doing. And never selling his services ever. Never saying like, oh, and by the way, I do this too. Not once, right? And so then after a while, it's like someone would. Someone would post in like the ad thrive group, right? Oh, I need someone to make this change. Or I want this plugin to set up a shopping cart on my site. Or I want, you know, to do XYZ 16. People in the comments are like, oh, well, have you talked to Grayson? Have you talked to Grayson? You know, because he put himself out there as the WordPress expert and gave all this, like, free advice and free help. And so he built his business on two rails, right? The first one being the word of mouth, the second one being proving yourself an expert in these groups, which is still also effective. And then just getting business that way.

[Steve Chou]

I mean, it reminds me of Carson Fuel made. He designed Shopify websites. He is like the de facto website designer for like ecf.

[Tony]

Yes, right.

[Steve Chou]

Mainly because, you know, he was active in a community and word of mouth through that community.

[Tony]

Yeah. And this is a bad side hustle example. But another example of that is our friend Steven Wegler, right? The attorney. You can't really be an attorney as a side hustle. But same concept of when we always get asked legal questions, right? Always like, should I have an llc? Should I do this? What? You know, and you and I are not attorneys. And we never want to give anyone legal advice because it will probably be incorrect. But we constantly refer people to Steve because He's proven himself time in and time out that he is one, really great to work with. And two, like a very much like when you talk to him, you don't feel like you walked away with a bunch of legal jargon that you don't understand. Like very basic explanations of why you should do something or why you shouldn't do something. And so I think that you don't understand how much people network with each other that, you know, just meeting one right person can change your business.

[Steve Chou]

And we don't make any money off these referrals. I mean, we just refer them because we use him. So.

[Tony]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think that that's really important when you're thinking about doing something on the side.

[Steve Chou]

I mean, whatever it is, just leverage something that you're talented at or that you have knowledge with. So one thing that my daughter is working on, and it's been a hell of a lot of work, is the never.

[Tony]

The never ending story is what I.

[Steve Chou]

Feel like this is the end of print on. Well, we're actually close to the finish line now, but she's been really into print on demand. So she started a class for it for her kids. And she started this entrepreneurship club at her high school. And so those are going to be her first guinea pigs. And then she's going to start selling. Selling the class. But this is something that any teenager can do with no money. I mean, she has a laptop, she has her phone with a camera. We bought her a mic, and she's just been filming videos for a class. She put together the curriculum, and, you know, we're working on the sales page right now. And that's going to be her side hustle. So she can drink more Boba drinks and buy clothing, which she's really into.

[Tony]

Yeah, right. It's nuts. So interesting. So my. One of my daughters is. She's going to be in cosmetology school soon, but she's always been really good with hair and makeup. And so I think I told us on a podcast a million years ago. So when she was in the sixth grade, she used to ask me to drop her off at school really early. And I will say, my kids are not Asian, so they are not always the best students. And so I was always confused as to why she wanted to go to school early because most of the time you go to school early for tutoring, Right? And I knew for a fact she was not getting any tutoring. And so I was like, sure, I'll drop you off early. I don't really care. It doesn't matter to me when we. When you get dropped off. Well, what she was doing, I found out, like, down the road is she could do. Remember when those Dutch braids got really popular by, like, the Kardashians were like, the braids were sitting on top of your head. Okay. You don't know. But people listening do know it was a really popular hairstyle, but it's actually kind of hard to do on your own head. And she can do them really, really well. So she was getting to school early to braid people's hair for money. So she would charge, like, I don't know what the dog. But you know, in sixth grade, like, if you're making five bucks a day, like, you're rich, right?

[Steve Chou]

Yeah.

[Tony]

And so she would get to school early to braid people's hair, you know, so. And once you braid it, the style stays in for a couple of days. So you're, you know, you're getting a little longevity out of the thing. So these kids are probably using their lunch money. I'm not even joking. To pay to get their hair braided. But, like, that's the thing with side hustles is that you never. And obviously for her, it's turned into like, she does cosplay, she does makeup, she does hair, she does other. I mean, she's doing side hustle hair right now without her cosmetology license. Right. So, you know, eventually she'll. She's going to school for that and she will get, you know, she'll be a licensed hairdresser. But in the meantime, she's been side hustling. Right. All these years doing these little things here and there. And so I never underestimate, like, what you can do as a side hustle. And also don't think that this is the other big one. You don't have the time to do it because you do.

[Steve Chou]

You do. I mean, you know, it's funny, the other day we. I asked my daughter, like, why didn't she film the next video? And she's like, oh, I was busy. I didn't have any time. I'm like, okay. So I pulled up, like, the traffic logs in my router, and I was like, okay, you were. You were on whatever, you know, YouTube or whatever for several hours, doing what? Probably wasting time. So everyone has time. I waste a ton of time every day also.

[Tony]

Yeah. So it's a matter everybody. Yeah, I think everybody wastes time. And. And sometimes wasting time is fine. Right. I think everyone needs, like, some downtime and some time. To like decompress from their day. But I also think if you are in a position where you're like, hey, I'm not sure about retirement. I'm not sure if this is something that I can achieve in a comfortable way. Right. Or if, or if the side hustle is just so you can get ahead. Right. Like you want to buy a house or you want to be able to pay off your cars or you know, whatever that financial need is. You have time to do it, you just have to make it. You have to decide if it's a priority and how much you want. Whatever it is that you, what, you know, do you really want to pay off your house? Do you really want to save for a down payment? Do you really want to fund your 401k? Like, how badly do you want that? Because everybody I, that I know that wants it, that wants it, wants it, is able to achieve it. I find very few people that are like, well, I just tried so hard and it just didn't work out. I just don't hear that from many people if they're taking all the right steps.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. And I, and I can't emphasize like how important it is today. It's weird. Like a bunch of my friends have come up to me wanting to do side hustles right now because the job market is tough.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

You know, I've never seen this happen before where tech people were losing their jobs because they were getting replaced by machines. Machines. Right. I mean, back when I was working, like a bunch of us got outsourced to India, but then those prices kind of evened up and then, you know, there are a bunch of hurdles there. So eventually that, that kind of worked itself out. But I don't necessarily see that working out with AI.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

And I, I actually don't use writers anymore and I, I used to love coding my own stuff, but now like I can code anything with AI and I don't, I don't need to hire anyone. It's really scary what, what can be done. So one engineer and that, that's my space. So that's what I'm, I feel qualified to talk about. One engineer can do the work of like five engineers now.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

Right.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

And in the retail space, I'm seeing automation and, and outsourcing all over the place now. And pretty soon with the self driving cars like they've been testing in SF for a long time, basically humanless Ubers. They're not Ubers.

[Tony]

It's terrifying.

[Steve Chou]

Yeah. So all these jobs are going to go away.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Steve Chou]

And you have to have something to protect yourself.

[Tony]

Yes. And I think so think about this. Let's just say that you work at Nordstrom, right? And you've worked at Nordstrom for 15 years. Right. And you love the apparel industry and you realize that you're going to get phased out from Nordstrom because they're going to self checkouts in, you know, more technology, less humans. Right. So what do you do? Well, if you have 15 years at Nordstrom, I think about our friend Kelly Snyder from Adore youe Wardrobe. She created a course teaching people how to dress based on their body shape using math and science. So it's a fantastic program. If you want to look into. It's called Adore youe Wardrobe. Shout out to Kelly. But she's basically. But she's in the business of giving women their confidence back, which cannot be done by AI right now. Right. So what if there's something, you know, you take your love of working at Nordstrom, your clothing, whatever it is, right. And you turn that into a side hustle, which then becomes your full time hustle. Kelly makes more than anyone, probably than half the people that are in the administration of Nordstrom. Right, Right. Or you think about, I saw this trailer being pulled the other day. It said we hang Christmas lights, right? Who likes to hang Christmas lights? Literally no one. It's the worst thing, right? You're on your roof, you're hoping you don't fall, half the lights don't work. Like it's a huge pain, right? Genius business idea, right. So many people I know have their Christmas lights, their house is decorated because people want to decorate for Christmas, but they don't want to go through all the pain and suffering of the Christmas lights. So you start a side business of decorating houses with Christmas lights, right? Well, then you do that for 10 years, then monetize your knowledge. Monetize your knowledge of how to get in that business or how to get in the seasonal business. And sell that as a course or coaching. Or sell your company. Right. Sell your Christmas light decorating company to somebody else. Like most of these things, even if they're in the service space, have a path to larger abilities to monetize in the future.

[Steve Chou]

So the perfect example of this is my first employee at Bumblebee Linens that we ever hired. He started delivering stuff for Amazon, just kind of as a side hustle when he was working for us, which is fine. He did it at night, we didn't have any problems with it. And then he took all that money and he bought his own truck before he was renting and today he owns a bunch of trucks and has a delivery business for Amazon and other places. And so he's, he's a business owner now. What started out as a side hustle while working for Bumblebee Linens has turned into a lot more.

[Tony]

Yeah. And I think you can't underestimate, like the ability to make money from these things over time and how you can leverage your knowledge and expertise over time. I had to laugh. The I'm having a septic tank moved, right? It's this huge ordeal. You know, my whole yard is torn up. But the owner of the septic, which septic tank seems like the absolute worst job, right? Like, I cannot imagine, like having to pump out a. It seems absolutely terrible. The owner of that company drives a $170,000 pickup truck.

[Steve Chou]

Wow.

[Tony]

It is the nicest pickup truck I've ever seen. It has like the Bentley tires where the tire rotates, but the logo of the septic company stays still. Like whatever the heck that thing is. And I'm like, this dude's not doing bad, right? Like, because, because he's not, he's not pumping tanks anymore. And that's where I also think, like, I'm not sure if my daughter in law will ever want to like do grooming full time again just because of the health care. Like unless healthcare changes. Like, unless healthcare changes. If you have a job with health insurance, it's hard to walk away from that, right? But like you get to the point where you're not grooming dogs anymore or you're only grooming the dogs you want to groom. You're owning the grooming business and now you own Wolfgang Gang Puck, right? Or what's, what's the Wolfgang Wolf? Wolfgang Puck, right? The dog grooming business, right? With franchise location.

[Steve Chou]

I was about to say Wolfgang.

[Tony]

Yeah. I was like, it's something. But now you own the franchises, right? And now you're, you know, you have 16 stores and you're not grooming a dog. You're managing a business. And maybe that's never what you want to do, but those options are available and that's what can become of your side hustle, vessel.

[Steve Chou]

And don't underestimate where it can go. Like Bumblebee Linens. Our goal was only $50,000. And then it's turned into so much more. My blog, actually, I was just planning on having it pay my mortgage and I would have been happy. And then turn into so much more. The key is a better house.

[Tony]

If it's paying your mortgage now.

[Steve Chou]

Well, you know, houses in California are quite.

[Tony]

That's true, that's true. It's actually, it's probably right on par.

[Steve Chou]

So yeah, I don't think I've ever felt this way, at least not publicly on the podcast before. But things are going to change drastically in the next just two to three years, and I really think you need to protect yourself and diversify however you're making money. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Seventeen years ago, a small side hustle selling handkerchiefs completely transformed my life. The key is to start something now, give it time, nurture it, and you never know how far it could grow. For more information and resources, go to my wifequitterjob.com Episode 567 Once again, tickets to the Seller Summit 2025 are now on sale over at sellers summit.com if you want to hang out in person in a small intimate setting, develop real relationships with like minded entrepreneurs and learn a ton, then come to my event. Go to sellersummit.com and if you're interested in starting your own e commerce store, head on over to my wife quitherjob.com and sign up for my free 6 day mini course. Just type in your email and I'll send the course right away via email.