Chris Guillebeau - 100 Side Hustles: Ideas for Making Extra Money

Each morning at 6:01 a.m. eastern time, I publish a new episode of Side Hustle School, my daily podcast. Every story features someone who creates a moneymaking project without quitting their job. On average, forty thousand people download or stream it over the next seven days, and then many more listen later. Since I started the show on January 1, 2017, the stories have been downloaded more than twenty million times.

But why? Why do people keep listening week after week and month after month, even though the essential lessons of starting a side business dont change much from day to day? Ive thought a lot about this question, and Ive heard a lot of feedback from listeners.

As it turns out, people love the idea of making money without quitting their day jobs.

Earning extra money without having to give up the stability of an existing job is a powerful motivator. And more than anything else, we respond to stories.

For instance, ) didnt know much about the world of online education, and she wasnt particularly skilled with technology. Shed recently hit a rough patch in life, leaving an abusive relationship, raising a son with autism, and even going on food stamps to supplement her meager income as a motel housekeeper. Through it all, one of her favorite things to do was bake. And in particular, she loved to bake sourdough bread.

Everything changed when Teresas daughter suggested she teach a course on baking bread. Instead of putting up flyers and renting space in her local community center, Teresa signed up with an online service that would allow her to sell the course to anyone online. Using cheap equipment, she filmed Sourdough Bread Baking 101, and then released it to the world. That course produced $25,000 in net income for Teresaa truly life-changing amount for her at the time. The next year, she created half a dozen other courses and made $85,000, more money than shed ever made in her life. With the profits from her courses, Teresa was able to make a down payment on the first home shes ever owned.

athletic cup he had to wear.

Brandi and Kyler created a much better cup, one that was more comfortable but still provided the necessary protection. Then they learned how to make it in bulk and sell it to parents of other young athletes. The Comfy Cup is now manufactured in Hong Kong and then shipped by the case to Lenexa, Kansas, where the whole family is involved in mailing the finished product to customers.

Its not just a nice storyits also a profitable one: the Comfy Cup is selling at a rate of more than $10,000 a month. They currently have a proposal in with Walmart, and are hoping to break six figures in annual profits soon.

These arent startup stories of people risking it all, going around in search of investors to rescue them. Theyre stories of regular people with jobs, responsibilities, and busy lives, who start moneymaking projects in their limited time.

Most of the people featured in this book didnt even consider themselves entrepreneurs when they started out. Many still dont. They just wanted to make some extra money while holding on to the stability of the jobs they already had.

Some of these people might earn an extra $1,000 a month. Some go on to earn much more, sometimes even multiple six figures a yearand some of them have indeed gone on to quit their jobs. Whatever the outcome, most of us can relate to these inspiring stories precisely because they are about regular people doing things that almost anyone can do.

I wanted to gather some of my favorite stories from the show and present them to you in this visual compilation. Maybe theyll give you an idea for a side hustle of your own, or maybe youll just enjoy seeing what other people have done.