Podcasts about side hustle teachers

The end of the year is a great time to reflect, examine, and set new priorities for what's next, which makes it the perfect time to do a review of your blog business.  If the word review makes you shiver and think of your end-of-year teacher eval meeting, where you have to prove to your administrator that you're an effective teacher, don't sweat it. This is your business, and you don't have to prove anything to anyone. If it helps, this is not just a review, but also a clean-up, a chance for you to clear out some digital cobwebs, and spruce up a corner or 2 of your website. And remember, teachers kind of have 2 year-ends, so feel free to do this in December, or June… or both! I start this process with the review part because that informs the cleanup portion. It takes me a few hours if I do it all in one sitting, but it's also possible to do a little bit at a time. And there's no rule that says this has to be done by a certain date. Finally, before we jump in, this is a big overview-type of process that I recommend for beginners. If you're more than a couple years into your blog, check out a more nitty-gitty review process (then come back for the cleanup because he doesn't talk about that). Gather Your Information Data, Data, Data Yes, we're all data'd out, but this is your data. And it's not being used for anything except to help you make informed decisions about your blog. Data is information.  Information is power. Some things you're going to want data for are your key performance indicators (KPIs) and can be gleaned from your Google Analytics account. Number of page views, sessions, and/or unique visitors per month.  Traffic sources. Top posts and pages Total email subscribers by month. It's All About the Benjamins (or Washingtons… whatever) If you want your blog to make money, you need to track where your money is coming from. I can't stress this enough. Now is the time to dig in to how much you made and how you made it. If you've been tracking your income and expenses, this will be easy. If not… well, it's important. In this step we're only focusing on income. You'd be amazed how many entrepreneurs don't know how much money they're bringing in!  I check in on my blog money once a month to update my spreadsheet and move my money to the proper accounts, but even I was surprised at my income when I looked. I normally just put all the numbers in the right boxes, then close it up. This time I actually looked at the monthly and yearly totals and… wow! I hadn't even realized I'd already surpassed my revenue goal for the year by October. Sometimes numbers are fun! The two things you need to know are: Your sources of income. How much each source earned. Where Are You Spending Time and Money? Not as much fun as the income, you also need to know where you're spending money. If you don't already, I strongly suggest setting up a business bank account and credit card. This not only helps you track your expenses more easily, but it also protects your personal accounts from legal action (provided you've set up an LLC). You'll definitely need to know: What you're paying for in your business How much you're paying You should also do a time audit for your own information. This involves tracking what you do for your blog and can help provide valuable insight into strengths, weakness, and improvements you can make. The goal is to find out what you're doing in an average week, and how long you're spending on it. With the other data you've collected, you'll be able to see if you're spending your most precious resource, your time, wisely. Break It Down Now that you've got all your data collected, you can start to scrutinize it. (You have no idea how hard I worked not to use the word “analyze” there, so as not to traumatize you.) The good news is that you don't need to make spreadsheets, charts, and tables to get what you need. You really just need to be able to answer these questions: What trends do you notice? Are there particular post types on your blog (or social media, if you track that) that got more engagement via comments, shares, or sales? If so, when planning ahead you want to plan more of that type of content, and try to determine what's working so you can use those techniques in other content as well. You may also notice that certain times of year are peaks or valleys for your readership and/or sales. This is normal, and nothing to panic about. For example, September is a slow month at Side Hustle Teachers because my audience is focusing on back to school stuff. Knowing this is helpful because not only do I not freak out when my stats drop, I also know not to launch something new at this time. Does your effort match your outcome? Are the places you're spending your time benefiting your blog? For example, if you're posting diligently on Instagram every day, are you gaining followers, and more importantly, are those followers becoming readers and/or customers? While it can be a good ego boost to see our follower count go up, it doesn't mean much if those followers aren't clicking over to your blog, signing up for your email list, and making you money. For example, my engagement on Twitter was circling the drain (and I never enjoyed using the platform), so I deleted my account… and it felt great!  What are your income producing activities? Knowing where your revenue is coming from, what specific tasks are moving your audience toward a sale? If 1% of people on your email list buy from you (a very normal statistic, by the way), consider the steps you take to get people on your list. At SHT, a good portion of our sales come from my free training, Profitable Blogging for Teachers, so I would examine the ways people can find this training. If your blog is not making money yet, not to worry. Since email is far-and-away the most cost effective way to get customers, focus on your list. Even if you don't have anything to sell yet, build your list. It is a marketing channel that will pay off big time in the future. In this case, you would address the question; What are my list building activities? Now that you have a big-picture view of your blog, keep the information in a visible place. When you're considering a new project, reflect on the questions above. Is the new project in keeping with the expectations of my audience? Do I have evidence that my audience needs or wants this? Is this going to build my income? Pausing to deliberately weigh the costs (of money and time) and the potential returns of each project can prevent you from chasing shiny objects or procrastinating by taking on non-income-producing tasks. Before we move on, there's two more things to think about in your end-of-year review: What did you love about blogging this year? What did you not enjoy doing this year? Remember that your blog is your business, and you get to design it in a way that makes you happy. If there are things you loved doing, moments that made you feel great, or connections made that you treasure, do more of that! When you look ahead to next year, plan more of what brings you joy. Conversely, if there are things that just drain the life from you, feel really difficult, or you put off for as long as possible, find a way to do less of them. Maybe that means those things just don't get done. Or, if it's something that needs to be handled, like sending welcome emails to new subscribers, automate it with a tool like ConvertKit, or hire someone to do it for you! Your business, your rules! Clean It Up While you've got all your data out and available, let's see if there are some things on your blog that can be tidied up. This is an important part of your year-end processes because it will make for a much better experience for your readers and can help your SEO results, too. Amp up your top posts. Once you know which posts are resonating with your audience over time, you're going to want to maximize them. A few things I recommend is adding more internal links to other blog posts of yours. This will help keep people on your site longer and lead readers through more of your content, building a stronger connection, faster.  Next, do some keyword research to find what people who are interested in that particular content might be searching for, then update your content to include these words or phrases.  Lastly, review your post images. Update them if they're outdated, and make sure you're using a plugin like Social Warfare to make pinning and sharing easy. Update or redirect old posts. If you've been blogging for more than a year, you may have some content that is a little dated, doesn't 100% fit your niche, or you just don't like. As you grow, this is totally normal. You have a couple of options for what to do with this type of content. You can always update or improve upon old posts. That's one of the beautiful things about blogging! If there's a typo, you can fix it. If there's something new you want to mention, add it in! No big deal. But not all content is worth updating or fixing. Sometimes it's better to just scrap it and move on. However, you don't want people who find old links to be taken to get an error when they click, so I suggest you use a free plugin called Redirection. This allows you to point the old URL of the post you don't want shown to another, related post that's more in line with your current blog niche and standards. This way, when anyone clicks on the old post, they'll be automatically taken to the new one. Remove or update dead links. There are few things more frustrating for a reader than clicking on a link and going nowhere (or to an error page). This happens a lot with affiliate links as other sites make updates to their inventory or system. A tool like SEM Rush's website audit will give you a list of links on your site that are dead, then you can fix each one. I actually suggest doing this more than once a year, but life happens… so definitely make it part of your end-of-year cleanup De-junkify your inbox. If you're like me, you may sign up for a lot of free trials, trainings, etc. I also like to sign up for people's email lists just to check out their nurture sequence. All of this means that my inbox gets pretty cluttered. Use this time of year to unsubscribe from things that are no longer serving you. This is another thing I recommend you do more than once a year (like daily), but it's helpful to have a reminder. The end of the year is a natural time to do a review and cleanup of your blog, but it doesn't have to be done then. If you're feeling a little unclear on where you're going with your business, this process can help illuminate where you're at, and what your options are. Remember that in the end, your blog is yours and yours alone. Make informed decisions, but make ones that work for you and your goals, not because it's what you're supposed to do or because that's what anyone else wants.

With a new year, comes new possibilities. Looking forward is so important for content creators, but rarely do we give ourselves time to do it. If I'm totally honest, I haven't been good about giving myself enough white space to think about my business for several years.  When Side Hustle Teachers started, I didn't expect it to become so popular so fast. I really had to keep my nose to the grindstone and fix the little issues that sprang up… seemingly one right after another. It didn't leave me a lot of time for reflection, and certainly not for projection. This year, however, I'm not only demanding that I be more deliberate about the choices I make, but also about creating more time and space in my life so I can reflect on where I've been and think about where I want to go. I have to constantly remind myself that my business is not school. I can take my time to consider my current situation. I can take my time to examine the options I have. I can take my time making a decision. And I can take my time implementing that decision based on my wants and needs. So this year I've been contemplating this business I've built, and how I can move it forward in a sustainable way, and grow the company I want. Let's dive into my key areas of focus for 2023. Some of them might surprise you. Rule #1: Simplicity is King I've always been a fan of the KISS rule - keep it simple, stupid - but it's never as easy to implement as it is to spout to others… or needlepoint on a pillow. In 2023 simplicity is going to be my guiding star. The longer I'm in business, the more I realize that I don't want to hustle. I want ease. (And yes, I realize the irony of rebelling against hustle when my company is called Side Hustle Teachers.) For a while I've been using one question to decide whether or not to take on something new; Is this going to bring ease to my life? This simple question has allowed me to say no without guilt, hire help to get things done that I've been putting off for ages, and give my attention to things that are building my business and bringing me joy. To be clear, I'm making simplicity a priority in all areas of my life, not just business. We're in the (extremely slow) process of getting rid of stuff that's been piling up, and we're focusing on creating experiences instead of giving physical gifts. We're not trying to be minimalists… but clearing physical space allows me to find more mental space…  Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Elimination, Automation, Delegation To aid my search for simplicity, I'm following the eliminate, automate, and delegate model. First - and this part has been happening for a while - I'm on the hunt for things I'm doing that aren't necessary, or that can wait, or that are just a big ol' waste of time.  Entrepreneurs in all fields have a habit of taking on more and more to-dos until our lives are completely out of balance. This is very easy for side hustlers to do, especially teachers, because our jobs are already taking up our time and energy. I'll talk about a few things I'm dropping in the new year in the following sections. The second step of this process is to automate whatever possible. I've long been a fan of automation. It's literally been essential to being able to grow my business while teaching full-time.  I automate my email marketing, my social media posting… even my Facebook “Lives” are pre-recorded because my family schedule doesn't allow me to be available every Wednesday at 9pm. Just note that before you start automating, you eliminate. There are a ton of tools available to help you automate pretty much anything, but most of them will cost you money, and they require time and energy to set up. Don't waste your limited time and money on tools that help you with things you don't even need to be doing. Finally, if there are things that are keeping you from moving forward or making money, it's time to consider hiring someone to help you.  This person could be someone you work with in person or virtually, and can work as little as a few hours a week. You could also hire them on a project-by-project basis to take care of things you need done, but not on an ongoing basis. In the past I've hired people to help me with SEO, graphics creation, email writing, customer support, and more. All In on the Facebook Group While I have a presence on multiple social media platforms, the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group has been my primary focus for a long time. In 2023, I'm going to go all in on this platform. I've even deactivated my Twitter account. Side Note: My deactivation decision was based on the fact that I never use Twitter myself (I find it annoying) and it's the only platform on which I couldn't get the handle of Side Hustle Teachers. Elon Musk didn't factor in at all. Also, though I'm not leaving Pinterest all together, since it's not a major source of traffic for me, I'm paring back on my use. I'm only creating one pin per post, and everything is automatically posted. It's very hands off - if it weren't I wouldn't use it. Even my Facebook page isn't a priority for me. Meta has been making it harder for pages to reach people organically (read: without paying) for a while, and it's just not worth it for me. Instead, my attention has been on, and will continue to go to the ever growing group of teachers that I've built over the last 3 years. The group includes (mostly) daily prompts for members to share their thoughts, content, and wisdom. There are also weekly videos released on Wednesday that address mindset and common blocks that teachers hit when building a business. My goal is to use the time I've freed up in other areas to be able to interact more with the SHT group members. When I take on too many things, my connections suffer… but the connections made through this business are one of my favorite parts! All Roads Lead to Teacher Blog Academy One of my biggest stumbling blocks as an entrepreneur has been creating too much stuff. This might just be me… or it could be a teacher trait since we're all expected to be prolific in our classrooms. If you've been around Side Hustle Teachers since the beginning, you may remember that I used to have a membership program. On top of that I sold each course from the membership separately… and I just kept making courses! It was exhausting, and a constant struggle. I was creating, and promoting, and delivering digital courses all at the same time. And don't forget about the weekly free content for my website and social media. It took longer than it should have, but I finally figured out that that was a recipe for burnout. The past year (ish) I've had 3 course offerings, with the Teacher Blog Academy being my signature program. In 2023 TBA is going to be my sole course. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to make it work, but when I am realistic about my life, I just don't have time to promote 3 different courses. So now all roads are going to lead to Teacher Blog Academy. Practice Self-Promotion Last year much of my time and energy was put towards creating TBA, launching it, delivering it, and creating an automatic system that would regularly promote the course for me. I was also putting out this weekly blogcast, and trying to be as present for the SHT community… and, oh yeah, I have a job and a family. One of the balls I (by choice) dropped was promoting myself outside the SHT bubble. In 2023 I'm going to be reaching out to more podcasters and entrepreneurs for collaboration. Even though I'm a blogger at heart, I love podcasts as a way to reach new audiences… though I'm definitely open to other opportunities, too. Hint: If you'd like to have me as a guest on your show, blog, video series, summit, etc. reach out and we'll see if we can make it happen! While the Side Hustle Teachers community is still growing, I know that there are more teachers out there who I can help.  I just have to reach them first. This is definitely a priority in the new year. Start My Book Last, but not least, I've been thinking about writing a book for a reeeeeeeally long time, and I think this might be the year to make it happen. A book is not only a fantastic way to help more people - especially if Teacher Blog Academy is my sole offering - but it can also serve as a business card and help get my name and this community out to more teachers. Over the last 6 months all the potential topics, names, chapters, and themes I've had in my head for years have started to coalesce, which I'm taking as a sign to get started.  I'll be self-publishing, and I'm hoping to have it ready for release for next Thanksgiving. Stay tuned! And if you're a member of the Facebook group, I'll definitely be asking for stories, experiences, and opinions along the way! If you haven't started to look forward to the year ahead, maybe this will give you a little inspiration. It's so important to pause for a moment and get out of the “plan, craft, distribute” cycle of content so that you can think about where your business has been, how it's changed, and where you want it to go from here. Maybe that means you need to take a break from your blog for a little while. I'm going live in the Facebook group to talk about how I'm taking the month of December off and why giving yourself space to think is so important. Tune in live on Wednesday at 9pm!

As we approach 2023 - man, that sounds weird to say - I realized that I have been blogging for 10 years!  I don't actually remember the date, so don't be expecting an anniversary party or anything, but I made my first money as a blogger in 2012. Holy crap, that's a long time. In those 10 years I was able to grow a successful mom-lifestyle blog that paid off my student loans, let us buy our cars with cash, and put me on track to pay off our mortgage in 15 years instead of 30.  I also sold my blog when I was called to start Side Hustle Teachers and it grew faster than I anticipated. Blogging is a fairly low-key way to make money, but it still requires work, and I just couldn't do both. Now Side Hustle Teachers is a thriving blog with a highly engaged community, a new signature course that's helping other teachers build and grow their own blogs, and a clear path to early retirement. Over that time I've also discovered and consciously worked towards a more chill lifestyle, even as I continue to teach and my business consistently grows. I have more free time now than I did before I started my first blog! When it comes to the business of blogging, a lot has changed, and that's what we'll be talking about today. So let's dig in. Technology is WAY Easier Let's start with the best thing on this list. Tech is way more accessible now than it was when I started. Not only is it cheaper (yay!), but the improvements and upgrades have also made it easier for the average non-tech-geek to use, making the internet a much more user-friendly place. When I first started, putting up a website took either a lot of money or extensive knowledge of coding and internet language. Yes, I had access to WordPress and ready-made themes (it wasn't the really early days), but any changes needed to be done manually or via code… I broke my site many, many times. There are also a lot more tools available to use online. Pretty much whatever you want to do online, there's a tool you can use to manage it for you. From payment processors to schedulers to customer management to auto-responders… you name it, it's out there.  And - this is big - they all talk to each other! Your credit card processor talks to your bank, who talks to your business email, who talks to your email management system, who updates your database… It's amazing. You can integrate all your tools, making automation 1000% easier, and taking a ton of work off your plate. There are even tools that help your tools talk to each other if they don't have built in integration (thank you, Zapier!). And one of the few good things to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic is that, by forcing more people and businesses online, even more programs, platforms, and systems were introduced… and they're not going anywhere. All this makes starting a blog a totally doable endeavor. I know many teachers are afraid of the tech that's involved, but if you can handle the tech of a 21st century classroom, a blog is a piece of cake! Social Media has Exploded When I started there was Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest was still new and masquerading as a social network, and Instagram was just barely born. Social media was growing, but it was not the ubiquitous part of everyday life that it is now. Cut to today when social media platforms abound and are some of the most trafficked parts of the internet. For a while, every time a new platform was introduced, bloggers were encouraged to jump in and become founding members before it became big. Side note, this was brought on by Pinterest, whose early adopters gained HUGE advantages on the platform, frustrating those who came after. However, as we've seen, not all social media sites are created equally or are built to last… I'm lookin' at you Periscope, Clubhouse, and Google Plus!  Today, anyone who's telling you to be on every social platform, especially when you're new to blogging, is given sideways glances and dismissed as out of touch. This is a very good thing for your content and your sanity. My focus is on the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group. Everything else is extra. These days it's better to focus your time, energy, and creative skills on 1 or 2 platforms where you can build authentic connections and engage with your audience. If you want to have a presence on more platforms, you can use tools to automatically share the same content in multiple places so your apparent omnipresence doesn't take any more work. So when the next big social media app is introduced, don't feel the need to dive in. Just grab your username so it doesn't get stolen, and feel free to delete the app. Standards are Higher When I first started my original blog, I published a post every day.  Back then it was way easier to do that (though still crazy) because the internet rewarded quantity over quality. I still cringe when I think about some of the things I shared with the world. But I was trying to “catch up” with the people who'd been blogging for years, and volume sold. These days not only do readers expect higher quality information, but search engines demand it. I may have ranted about this before, but it bears repeating. Your readers expect and deserve quality posts.  On top of this, Google now considers your site's authority when ranking pages in search results. People and posts who cite facts, give value in their content, and meet other authority based criteria (there are hundreds of factors considered), will be boosted in search results, and therefore discovered by more people. But it's not just content quality expectations that are higher. Internet users expect a beautiful, user-friendly website experience when they land on your site. They expect high-quality images with thoughtful design, and they have a very low tolerance for poor sound quality. Interestingly, while video quality is important, users will watch a video with poor video quality longer than they will watch a video with poor sound quality, according to VTRep. With all the tools available to help, people demand quality. I'll add a side note here, though, and this is important. While people expect high quality, they also understand and are forgiving - even appreciative - of authentic imperfection. In my videos you may see my cat wandering around in the background. In my podcast episodes you may hear my daughter singing or other family life noise. No one complains about it. It actually helps me seem more real and relatable. So, in my early days I would have spent huge amounts of time re-recording or editing, these days I'm happy to leave that stuff in. Saturation is Real The internet was already starting to get crowded when I began blogging, but now it's downright mobbed. There are 600 million blogs on the web today, compared to about 100 million when I started. That's pretty massive growth! The good news is that the number of blogs continues to grow because blogging is a highly effective marketing strategy and way to build revenue. That means that even though you feel late to the game, you haven't missed out.  The bad news is that it can be harder to be noticed online with so many options. There's a lot of noise online and sometimes it feels like you're just waiting for your class to settle down and listen. But the really good news is that if you want to be noticed, it's pretty simple; Show up and be yourself. It may take longer to build an audience, but if you continue to show up as your authentic self (and market your blog), your people will find you and stick with you. So, a lot has changed in the last 10 years, but if I'm totally honest, most of it has made the online world better, more accessible, and more profitable. And while it may seem intimidating to try to get into this space, there has never been a better time to give it a go. The internet has never been more readily available for those who want to form new relationships, build community, and make money.  The time is now! If you're ready to give a go at this incredibly profitable realm, check out Teacher Blog Academy!

If you're a teacher and you've thought about starting a business, you probably know Stacey Ogden and Side Hustle Teachers (and if you don't, you should!). On this episode of UNcomplicating Business Stacey and I talk about the things learned (repeatedly!) as we started businesses, our biggest mistakes (and learning experiences), our ah-has as entrepreneurs, and WAY more. If you're growing a business AND doing something else (even if it's not teaching), this episode is a must listen, full of practical advice, things to try, and things you can STOP doing right now. 

This question came to me from someone in the Side Hustle Teachers community, and I wanted to answer it here because it's something a lot of people may worry about. Here's the question: “I want to start a blog, but I'm worried that my students will find it. What should I do?” My question is, why? Honestly, I understand the sentiment, but I also know that there's no reason to be concerned about this. Yes, if we put ourselves out there, our coworkers, students, and families might discover our blogs. But having a blog, even one for profit, isn't anything to be ashamed of.   These days upwards of 30% of teachers have jobs outside of school, and more and more of them are creating those jobs for themselves rather than working for yet another boss. For good reason - it's awesome! So, let's just agree that unless your blog is about something illegal or is just bitching about your boss/ students/ job, you're good. The question I get next is usually, “Have your students found your blog?” Yes. Yes, they have. A few years ago, when I was still working with moms, a student found my Instagram account. (It wasn't hard, my account had my name attached, but one student thought he was really clever for finding it.) He was going up and down the hall outside my classroom saying, “Side Hustle Moms,” in a loud voice, so I asked him what he was doing.  He “confronted” me about my account. (Insert a creepy dun-dun-dun sound here.) It was almost comical to see his face go completely flat when I wasn't horrified to know he'd found me out… I just confirmed I had a business and that I helped moms start businesses. Except for blocking a handful of students who followed my IG account, that was the end of it. This year another group of students found my business. A couple have said they've listened to my podcast, and others have asked what Side Hustle Teachers is.  Truth be told, I think they're just trying to get me to go on a tangent and avoid doing work… or see if they can get a rise out of me… but after a couple days they just drop it. I'm proud of my business. I'm proud of the community of nearly 12,000 teachers I've built. I'm proud of the hundreds of teachers I've helped through my courses and coaching. I'm proud of the money this business brings to my family. All that said, the question still stands.  What should you do if your students find your blog? Or parents?  Or admin? Take a breath.  The first time someone from school finds your blog can bring on different responses from different people. Honestly, when that original kid started shouting my business name down my hallway I thought I was going to throw up. It was an automatic, subconscious response. But once I took a breath, I remembered that I was still me, he was still a student, and my blog was still awesome. Acknowledge your blog Not only is it pointless to deny your blog once someone's found it, it's unnecessary.  A simple, “Yes, I blog at Side Hustle Teachers,” is enough. You don't have to explain, justify, or tell your story. A coworker discovered me on Facebook one time and told her it was my blog and that she should join my group. Move on Most of the time when it's a student who brings up your business, it's because they want to either get a rise out of you or get you off topic.  Confirm that you have a blog so they know you're not embarrassed about it, then carry on. If it's a coworker or admin, simply tell them you don't use school time to talk business… and carry on. Celebrate With all the stuff on the internet, your blog got found! It's easy to miss this fact in the moment when a student is asking about your blog… but this is a good sign.  Your students or coworkers might not be your target audience, but the fact that you are being found and read by people other than your relatives and college roommate means that you are becoming more discoverable by everyone online. So once you're past the initial “oh crap” moment, do a little happy dance! In order to make money online you have to be found by people. Sometimes that means people you wish wouldn't find you.  But don't let the possibility of feeling awkward for 30-60 seconds stop you from building something great. Teacher Blog Academy can help you get your blog up and running and making money faster and easier by following our 5 Step Roadmap. Learn more here.

Once you tell people you're thinking of starting a side business, you will find yourself presented with all sorts of opportunities. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions in the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group is, “what should I do for a side hustle?” And believe me when I tell you, if you post that question, you will get hundreds of responses. In reality, there's more to picking a business model than just picking something other people have found success with, especially for busy teachers. Over my 10 years of blogging, coaching other teachers, and running a Facebook group of thousands I've found that those who are successful not only think carefully about what they'd like to do, but also how their side hustle will work with their teaching lives.  I've determined that there are 4 traits a side hustle must have in order to work for educators.  Let's dig in! 1. Makes Use of Your Teacher Skills Teachers have a ridiculous amount of skills. Beyond the obvious ability to explain difficult concepts to young people, there are countless other skills required to navigate a classroom. Think about the organization, planning, and preparation for each lesson. Consider your communication skills; being able to create analogies out of thin air, talking upset kids off a ledge… or their parents! Let's face it. You have mad skills. That said, teachers have a difficult time identifying their skills because we're too close. We also tend to overlook innate gifts and natural talents because we think they don't count. A skills assessment tool might be able to help you pinpoint not only what skills you possess, but those you enjoy utilizing. After all, when you start a side hustle, it should be something you enjoy doing! The reason this is so important is because building a business requires so much new learning on its own. There's tech stuff, jargon, and other industry-specific stuff you'll need to develop. If your side hustle itself is also something new to you, you're going to struggle… way more than you need to.  Find a hustle that builds on skills you already have AND (I would add) something you love to do. So even if your friend swears that anyone can make a million dollars with their food based-company, it might not be a great fit for you if your idea of workin' it in the kitchen is cleaning up the takeout containers. For me, blogging was a perfect fit because I'm a strong communicator, I'm organized and good at breaking concepts down into bite-sized pieces for my readers, and as a hard-core introvert I prefer to work alone and without a set schedule. I am very self-motivated and I like to help people, so… blogging! 2. Allows You to Work When and Where You Want I know there are people out there that think teachers work a few hours a day and have tons of time off… but they're idiots and we know better. So let's just acknowledge that teacher's schedules are insane, definitely extend beyond the school day, and are often unpredictable. (Like when you plan to leave at 3:30 one day, but can't because a couple kids decided to act up, so now you're at school calling parents and writing reports until 5. Ugh.) Knowing that, building a side hustle that is not dependent on me showing up at a particular time is a big priority for the teachers in the Side Hustle Teachers community. The ability to work on your own schedule is one thing I've found is key to the success of a teacher's side hustle. But not just that, being able to work from wherever you are is equally important. For example, I'm writing this post from the lobby at my daughter's gymnastics class. This just happens to be an hour I have free and is perfect for writing… but I'm not at home. Thankfully, we live in the time of the laptop and wifi. I don't need to be holed up in my office to get stuff done. 3. Be Your Own Boss Teachers have enough bosses. We have principals, assistant principals, team leaders, department heads, instructional coaches, superintendents… and let's not forget parents who like to boss us around, and (more and more lately) their children who do the same. When you're looking to start a side hustle, the last thing you need is another person telling you what you can and can't do, how to do it, and when you have to get it done. One of the things Side Hustle Teachers find most valuable is the ability to run their business how they see fit. This is an extension of being able to work when and where you want, because as your own boss, you can also choose what you're going to work on, and what you're going to ignore. Unlike teaching, which has a million tasks that you'd rather not do, if you don't want to dance around and point at things on Instagram for your business, you don't have to.  Does that mean you won't have to do anything groan-worthy for your business? Sadly, no. Even if you're not big on budgets, you still have to run your numbers. However, there's a lot more flexibility of what “have to” do, AND who has to do them.  Yes! You can outsource things you don't want to do. As a blogger, I get to choose what I write about, and who I get to serve. When I wanted to narrow my focus from side hustles in general to blogging, I just did it. I get to show up for my group on Facebook and ignore TikTok. If I want to sell physical products someday, I can do it, with no restrictions from a company or boss. 4. You Can Earn Multiple Streams of Income The average millionaire has at least 7 streams of income. The average teacher has 1. Why is this important? Well, earning money through multiple sources means that you not only have money coming in from different places, it provides added security in case one of those streams dries up. When it comes to a side hustle, it's important to choose one that will allow you to build multiple streams of income. It doesn't have to all happen at once - in fact, it's probably best that it doesn't - but you should be able to see a clear path to earning in several ways. For example, if you start out selling your time through a coaching service, can you think of some physical products you could offer in the future, or a course… or adding another product? Here's the thing about multiple streams of income as a teacher; You want to make your various streams of income flow through a single business.  This is key. You are a busy teacher. You don't have time to run multiple businesses! And if I'm being totally honest, even if you had time, it's not a good strategy to have several unrelated businesses. With my blog I earn money through ads, occasional private coaching, my courses, like the Teacher Blog Academy, and affiliate marketing. (Blogging provides for other revenue streams, too, that I choose not to utilize.) And everything is managed, marketed, and integrated with my blog, so I don't have to try to juggle 4 separate businesses. The nice thing about many of these sources of revenue is that they are passive. I don't have to be involved in the sales or delivery in order to make money.  Ads are placed on my site, and I make money when people see and click on them. I created my courses once, and make continuous money as people buy them. I add affiliate links to my content and on social media, and earn commission when people buy something through them. Side note: When I was on a recent vacation, standing in line for a ride, I got a notification that someone had bought a course - now that's passive income! Teachers need to think carefully about which side hustle they choose. There are a lot of opportunities around, but not all of them are a good fit for educators. For me, blogging was an easy choice. It checked all the boxes above, and has proved to be a perfect fit for myself and my family. If you're ready to learn more about blogging for money, check out my free training, Profitable Blogging for Teachers.

This week is special because I'm joined by money mentor, Denise Duffield-Thomas and we're talking about 2 things that teachers find challenging; maintaining an abundance mindset and applying that to pricing for your business Abundance is something that teachers struggle with in many ways. There never seems to be enough… anything.  Not enough supplies.  Not enough time.  And certainly not enough money. We feel stretched in a million directions and there's not even enough us to go around. And of course, most teachers enter the profession with that understanding, particularly around money, as we discussed in How Teaching is Keeping You Broke. Denise Duffield-Thomas, author of Chill and Prosper and my money mentor, says, that's what teachers get told. We say to ourselves, “While you're in it for the right reasons, you're in it because you love teaching. You love kids. It's almost like, well, if you love what you do, you shouldn't get paid for it.”  Obviously that's a bullshit excuse… …Derek Jeter loved playing baseball, but no one thought anything of him earning $12 million a year from it. …Lady Gaga loves making music, and no one batted an eye when she earned $100 million dollars from a 2-year Las Vegas residency. So, yeah. Bullshit. But, as Denise points out,  the amazing opportunity that we have now for teachers is that they can develop side hustles, that they can create abundance for themselves, so they can recapture their love of the profession until the salary catches up. However, our misbeliefs about money often carry over into our side hustles, leading us to under-charge (or not charge at all), and even repel money because we feel bad about earning it. Instead we say we “just want to help people,” as though you can't help people and make money at the same time. Denise points out that teachers aren't the only ones who struggle with this money block. A student of hers helps people with postpartum, pelvic floor yoga and believes deeply that everyone should have access to it, so she under-charges or gives away her services for free. Another student is a pet photographer who says, “But I love dogs so much, I'd do this for free!” And that's great to love what you do that much, but you don't have to do it for free. Additionally, society frequently reflects these “if you really cared” beliefs back to us.  Have you ever been asked to do something for no pay, “for the kids?” I know I have! Have you ever been offered or given something of no monetary value as a thank you for going above and beyond? Like a jeans pass? Or a mention during morning announcements? That's all fine, but a jeans pass isn't going to pay for my kid's gymnastics class (and I wear yoga pants every day anyway), and a thank you won't fill my gas tank. Or has anyone ever referred to your work (at school or in business) as selfless?  That's not really a compliment, you know. According to Denise, there's often another layer to this money block that makes it particularly hard to clear, and that's the idea that we have to give up something in order to become a person who makes money. Do any of these resonate with you? I can make money or be a good mother I can make money or be ethical I can make money or be very caring I can make money or I can be down to earth I can be a godly woman or I can make money I can be a good teacher and care about my students, or I can be an entrepreneur Instead, try to embrace the power of and. I can make money and be a good person I can make, make money and take care of the earth I can make money and be a nurturer I can make money and I can be the same person I've always been I can be a spiritual person and I can make money I can be a present, engaged teacher and I can be an entrepreneur This often shows up in the Side Hustle Teachers group when it comes to pricing products and services. There are frequent posts about how much to charge for tutoring, or a course, or VA services… In today's interview Denise says, “This is across the board of all industries, to be honest. And I think it's tricky, especially if you've had a job or come from a profession where salaries are kind of just set. It's not like if you work really hard, you know, the department of education goes, wow, let's, let's pay you so much more. It just doesn't happen.”  “But we know that often in the corporate world, women don't negotiate either. Right? And so what I find is that when people then go into entrepreneurship, they're just adrift because they go, ‘I have to put a value on' and we take it so personally, even though in our jobs, they didn't take our personal value into consideration either. They seem to just pick a number arbitrarily.” “But we somehow then take it really personally because we think that the number we choose makes us look like we believe something about ourselves.” “And so it's like, ‘Oh, you think you're so great. You are putting this figure on yourself,' and that's not true. We're just putting a price on the value that we can offer to someone. And we know as well, that pricing is marketing. Pricing can be positioning. Pricing can be this made up construct because price is different for our customers. Sometimes people are suspicious if things are too cheap, sometimes things look better if they're more expensive.”  “It's one of those weird things that we sometimes can't get our head around that pricing is this, this made up thing. And so what I often say to people is you have to, you have to figure out your pricing. You can't ask other people.  “And this is the tricky thing. When you, when you pull together entrepreneurs and people go, ”How much should I charge for this?” it's just this collective money block situation where people could be in different states, countries, professions, and they still ask each other.”  “But also it has to be personal because when you are the one who has to work with your clients, you are the one who has to fulfill that service. And if it's not energetically win-win, you will feel resentful. I'm sure you've experienced it. I know I have. I have, you can feel it, right?” The answer to which is a resounding “YES!” If there's one thing that teachers understand, it's that there's no way to make everybody happy, and no matter what you do, someone will complain. So the question then becomes, how does someone who has been told their entire career (and sometimes through their childhood) when they decided to become a teacher that they are never going to make any money, that they're never going to be given what they're worth - and their paycheck reflects that - start to just pick a number?  “Just start with an arbitrary number. So if it's something that's, you know, under a hundred dollars, you could start with $10 and just go, how does that feel? And then go, how would $20 feel? And you could write it down, have a look at it. How would $30? So you might go up in 10.”  “If you're charging in multiples of hundreds, you could start at a hundred and go up…  same with more… start with a thousand and go up.”  “And what you're looking for, it sounds very unscientific, but it actually does work. You're looking for that number that goes, oh, oh, oh, oh, uh, okay. That's the number you're looking for! (But I have used random number generators, which you can just find online and say should I charge 59 or 79 or 89 or 99?)” When I first started private coaching I radically undercharged and I found myself resenting every minute with those clients. I actually felt icky - like I was being taken advantage of by my own pricing. What helped me was visualization. In my head I'd imagine a new client who paid $X (a little bit more each time). I visualized each piece of the process from getting the reminder on my phone to getting on the Zoom call, to the actual coaching, note taking, summary writing, 2-week follow-up emails… the whole thing.  In the end, it wasn't until I quadrupled my original rate that I felt good through the entire process. So that's what I did. Denise, whose business earned over $4 million last year, went through similar trials. “I would get requests for speaking and they'd say, ‘Oh, what's your rate?' and I'd go, ‘What's your budget?' And then they would say, ‘Oh, $500.' And I was like, ‘Oh, what a coincidence! That's my rate!' because I had no idea what to charge.” “And I realized that when you don't charge that win-win pricing [the extras have] gotta come from somewhere, and it was coming from my life force energy. And you have to learn from that.” “And I mean, teachers are great at this. You see people who've been in the industry for a long time. They can be absolutely in that martyr energy, you know, and they can be bitter and resentful. And that's where I was heading to, instead of just going, no, I have to stop this because it's just eating you up inside and that's not good. That's not good at all.” Next week Denise is going to be back with more great mindset shifts all about keeping your business simple, and embracing the idea of “good enough” when it comes to building a sustainable income. For now, go grab her updated book, Chill and Prosper: The New Way to Grow Your Business, Make Millions, and Change the World. Once you've got it, go to DeniseDT.com to claim your bonuses!

As of this writing, there are over 600 million blogs on the internet. That's a lot. However, not all are active and not all are profitable.  Why? There are a number of reasons blogs don't make money, but the most common are these 3: It's a hobby blog. The blogger started it just for fun and never intended to monetize it. Fair enough. Blogfade. In this case the blogger fully intended to monetize their blog but was expecting it to be quick and easy. When it wasn't, they gave up. Bad practices. There's plenty of bad blogging advice on the internet that people are still following. Without a trusted guide, making money is going to be harder. That said there are lots of people making money from their blog, every.. single. day.  What do they have that the others don't?  Here's the good news.  Nothing. There's no special skill or talent that was bestowed upon successful bloggers at birth. Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather didn't bless them with a magical gift, like Sleeping Beauty. Bloggers who build profitable blogs did so by establishing 3 essential habits. And literally anyone can do them. I built my first blog with these foundational habits. They're also why, when I saw the potential of Side Hustle Teacher, I knew I could grow this blog, too. Even though my old blog was making good money, and Side Hustle Teachers wasn't (yet), I didn't hesitate to sell the old to make room to pursue my true passion, helping teachers.  The money would come.  And it did! So what is it that you need to do to ensure a successful, profitable blog? Let's dig in! Show Up The number one thing successful bloggers do is they show up. That may sound ridiculously simple, but this simple thing is truly what separates success from failure. When you have no audience in the beginning, there will be a little voice that says, “You're really busy this week. You can skip your blog post. No one's reading it anyway.”  When I hear that little voice, I say (out loud), “Shut up, Becky!” Yes, I named my little voice Becky - apologies to all the lovely Becky's of the world. Successful people show up. When you're writing blog posts that you're certain only your mom is going to read, write it as though hundreds of people are going to read it - eventually, they will. When you're sending an email to your list of 5 people, write it as though you've got thousands of people on your list - eventually you will. At the beginning you're a beginner. And that's okay. But a beginner doesn't become a novice, and a novice doesn't become a master unless you keep showing up. If you do nothing else, you have to show up. Learn and Apply It goes without saying that in order to grow a profitable blog - or do anything you've never done before - you need to be open to learning new things.  Honestly, teachers have this part locked down. We are natural life-long learners. We seek out new information like a bear seeks out food after hibernation, especially if it's something we really want to learn. Look out world - hungry bear coming through! But don't start patting yourself on the back too soon. Learning is only half the equation. You also have to apply what you're learning. And this is where many people, especially teachers, get stuck. We don't want to get started until we know everything and feel like experts.  This is also a great excuse not to take the scary step of actually getting started. It's called educrasticastion or procrastilearning.  But imagine doing that with our students. Would you teach them the Pythagorean theorem without giving them problems to apply it to? Nope. So don't do that to yourself. In order to build a profitable blog, you have to allow yourself (force yourself?) to apply what you're learning as you go. Don't move on to learning something else until you've practiced and applied what you were just taught. That's why Teacher Blog Academy is designed with workbooks for every lesson, so there are clear action steps to take before you move forward. I'm on to you! However you learn, get into the habit of learning, then applying. Rinse and repeat. Treat Your Blog Like a Business Your blog isn't going to be the profit-making machine you want it to be until you treat it like one. I will admit, I had trouble with this one for a while. I worked on my blog in my “spare time.” (You know, all the free time teachers have.) If something else came up - literally anything else - I would say okay and ignore my blog. I would even minimize my enterprise when people asked me about it. “Oh, it's just a little blog.” Once I started taking it seriously, I saw the returns immediately. What does this look like? Schedule time to work on your blog. In our house, if it's not on the calendar, it doesn't happen. Book time for yourself, tell your family, set boundaries, and enforce them. My daughter knows that when my office door is closed she's not allowed to interrupt unless there's a fire, flood, vomit, or blood. Set goals for yourself. At first it might be a goal to get your blog posts every week. Then it might be to increase your blog traffic. Then it might be to earn a particular amount of money. Or you might just go for a big, audacious goal, like quitting your job, right from the start. Having something to work towards adds purpose to your work, and makes it easier to make your blog a priority. Be consistent. If you commit to putting out a blog post every week, put out a blog post every week. If you go live on Instagram on Tuesdays, do it. The world is full of people who don't do what they say they're going to do. Don't be one of those people.  Show up. Show up. Show up. Yes, it really is that simple. Too often people think that they can't be one of the successful bloggers because they're not expert enough, or smart enough, or that they need to know some secret handshake. Maybe you've thought these things, too.  Maybe you've wondered if you're too old or too young. Not fit enough, or not the right color. But I promise you; the you that you are is the you the world wants to hear from. There's absolutely no reason you can't be one of the people who succeed. There are no skills, talents, personal or physical characteristics that you don't already have in order to make money from blogging. All you need is to develop the habits that others haven't. Treat your blog like a business Learn and apply Show up Teacher Blog Academy, is launching on April 21, 2022. This program is going to take students through my proven 5-step system for creating a profitable blog. You can learn more and sign up for the waitlist at teacherblogacademy.com. You're not going to want to miss this. I'll be offering a once -in-a-lifetime introductory deal on TBA for a few days only!

One objection I hear over and over again when I talk to people about blogging is that what they do is different, so they don't need to blog. This is a very common misconception. The fact is that I have a hard time coming up with any business that can't benefit from a blog - the most affordable type of marketing on the planet!  Here's why: A home of your own. The first thing every blogger needs is a website, and these days, that's expected of just about any business. Using your space to highlight your work just makes sense. Know-Like-Trust. Every business is different, and every business owner is different. Blogging allows people to see not just what you do, but who you are. That goes a long way to establishing loyal customers. Discoverability. Search engines like Google and Bing use the content on your website to determine when to serve you up in search results and to whom. When you blog, you raise your chances of appearing in searches - which means more people find you!  I even recommend that my students and private clients who want to grow via a podcast or YouTube channel maintain a blog to host their content because blogs remain the most discoverable content on the web. Long-Term Access. Unlike social media, which is controlled by an ever-changing algorithm, and has a life-span counted in minutes, your blog will continue to bring in new people for years to come! But how can you actually utilize blogging in your specific business? Well, let's dig into how the four most popular teacher side hustles can benefit from blogging. Direct Sales Also known as network marketing or multi-level marketing, this is one of the most popular teacher side hustles. When you join a direct sales company - think Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, or Beachbody - you are provided lots of support, content to use, and even a personal website. However, those who really flourish in network marketing are those who make personal connections with potential customers through their own, unique content. Let's think about the examples I gave above of direct sales companies:  A Pampered Chef consultant can use a blog to share recipes, give tips for kitchen organization, and review new tools as they come out. People are much more likely to click on a recipe than a blatant sales pitch, and by creating your own content, you can be certain that customers are clicking through to your sales page, not just the company's main page (which looks exactly like yours). A Mary Kay consultant can share his or her morning routines, techniques for using the makeup, tips for makeup hygiene, updated looks for new seasons and trends… it's limitless. And just as with food, people are more likely to click on something that can help them than something that's only trying to sell them. Beachbody trainers can use a blog to share workout tips, previews and reviews of new programs, inspirational posts for motivation, and success stories of customers. Again, people want to be helped, not sold to.  Digital Service Providers A digital service provider  is a person who helps small business owners manage their time and business. They do this by taking administrative tasks off the business owners' plates, allowing them to focus on the things that are in their zone of genius.  Virtual Assistants, for example, can offer general services like email management and support with paperwork and other behind the scenes basics. Others can be more specialized, like social media managers, podcast editors, or graphic artists. Beyond that there are online business managers or launch specialists that take care of more high-level tasks and manage teams of other VAs. A blog can entice potential clients by offering tips on efficiency, productivity, and even how to do some of the things that they provide as services. Some people worry that creating a blog that gives tips on how business owners can manage their own tasks will cannibalize their business, but it rarely works that way. Most business owners quickly realize that it's much easier, efficient, and cost effective to hire someone than it is to do everything themselves. And if they do it themselves for a while, they often come back to the person they learned from to take over when they're ready. Digital Product Sales A digital product is anything people buy from you that can be accessed online. This huge category includes a few types of digital products, all of which can use blogging to market and attract customers. Downloadable Products. If you want to offer something that people can download and use immediately, like an ebook or teaching resources, a blog is the perfect marketing tool. People who pay for solutions to their problems want to know that the person they're giving their hard-earned money to knows what they're talking about. Your blog can be a teaser for what you offer in your paid content and serve as a way for people to get to know, like, and trust you so they feel comfortable that you have the right solution for them.  Digital Courses. When someone purchases a course, they want to learn from someone who knows their stuff and can teach them in a way they understand. Free content, like blog posts, offer a taste of your personality and teaching style that let's potential students know if you're a good fit for them.  In all situations, a blog is the most cost effective way to set yourself apart from the rest of the marketplace.  After all, what makes you different is YOU! Let your audience know who you are, what you do, and how you can help them so that whenever they're ready to invest, you're the person who comes to mind. I don't know what I want to sell Many people who come to Side Hustle Teachers and think about starting a blog, don't know what they want to sell. In fact, many are dead set against selling anything, especially at first.  The good news is that you can start your blog knowing what you want to write about, the kind of help you want to offer, and just make money through ads, affiliate links, and even sponsored posts. Then, as you grow, you can choose how to grow your income without limits because whatever you choose, your blog will support it.  So, yes, blogging can benefit any business. Not sure how? Come on over to the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group and ask! Myself and the other 10,000+ members would be happy to help! Have you grabbed your ticket to Edu Side Hustle Con yet? Happening in Hollywood, FL July 12-14 this 3-day event is a cross between networking and learning and should not be missed. This is the conference I wish they'd had when I was starting out. This year I'm thrilled to be a speaker and I want to meet and hug as many of you as possible. Check it out by clicking here!

When trying to monetize a blog, affiliate marketing is one of the fastest ways to start making money from your site. Affiliate marketing is selling other people's products or services in exchange for a commission on the sale. For more on the basics of affiliate marketing, check out this post. As you get started with using your blog to make recommendations to others, there are a couple of terms you need to know. Affiliate Program vs Affiliate Network There are typically 2 types of options for affiliate marketers. Affiliate programs and affiliate networks.  An affiliate program is when a company manages its own affiliate recruitment, tracking, and payouts. Some large companies, like Amazon, do this. However, this type of affiliate marketing is more commonly used by small businesses and solopreneurs, like Side Hustle Teachers. On the other hand, an affiliate network is a company that manages the affiliate programs for multiple organizations. The networks act as an intermediary and filter for their merchants, as well as managing all the link tracking and payouts. With networks there is often a secondary layer of applying because you will have to apply for the network, then again to each merchant within the network you'd like partner with.   So with that in mind, let's dig in to the 5 affiliate programs or networks all new bloggers should join. 1. Amazon Affiliate Program Amazon is one of the oldest and largest affiliate programs on the web. Because Amazon is so ubiquitous in our 21st century lives, it makes sense for bloggers to join this program. To join, simply click here and then the sign up button. If you already have an Amazon account, you can sign in using that information. If you don't, or you want to keep your personal and affiliate account separate, create a new account. Honestly, part of the benefit of using an affiliate program like Amazon is the ease of use, so I recommend using your existing account, if you have one. Once approved, a gray bar will appear at the top of the screen when you sign into Amazon. There you can check your earnings and easily get affiliate links to share on your blog. Amazon cookies last for 24 hours and apply to anything purchased, whether it was the product you suggested or not. So, if a reader follows a link to a $3 product, but ends up buying a $600 product, you get the affiliate commission on the entire sale. I can tell you from experience! Pros: Amazon sells literally billions of products, so if you want to recommend something… it's probably on Amazon The name Amazon is well known and people feel secure buying from them Easy, free signup Cons: Relatively low commission rates Bank or check payouts only, no PayPal Short cookie life of 24 hours 2. ShareASale Affiliate Program   ShareASale is an affiliate network with more than 16,000 merchants that you can recommend to your readers, and it's wildly popular among bloggers. To join, click here to create an account. Follow the steps provided and then search for merchants you'd like to promote. ShareASale tends to work with small-to-medium businesses, so while you won't find Fortune 500 companies on this platform, there are lots of smaller, highly niched merchants to choose from. Once accepted, you will need to search ShareASale's database and apply separately for each merchant you want to be an affiliate for.  Pros: High acceptance rate for merchants Detailed analytics on each merchant on the platform Great user support for those just getting started Cons: Payout threshold of $50 means it takes longer to get paid Limited links available for each merchant 3. Impact Affiliate Program Like ShareASale, Impact is an affiliate network that was formed by former employees of other affiliate networks, and is quickly becoming a favorite for anyone looking to get started in affiliate marketing. To join, click here. The process to join takes a bit longer than it does on other platforms, but once you're in, getting accepted to a merchant's affiliate program is less cumbersome.  Impact, formerly called Impact Radius, includes many large companies like Best Buy and Home Depot, which is great for building trust with potential buyers. Again, since Impact is an affiliate network, you will need to apply separately for each merchant. When you first join, you may not be eligible to apply for larger merchants, but as you earn commissions, more will open up. Pros: Many large companies work with Impact  $25 payout threshold so you get paid faster Excellent reporting and analytics to track your progress Cons: Many of the larger, more well known merchants are not available to new affiliates Platform navigation is not intuitive 4. Commission Junction Affiliate Program Also known as CJ Affiliate, Commission Junction is another well-established affiliate network that can connect bloggers to numerous companies and products. To join, click here and select “publisher” to let CJ Affiliates know you are a blogger. The application process is relatively straight-forward, however, to become an affiliate (or publisher) you have to apply for each merchant's (advertiser) program separately. CJ makes it easy to find companies that are related to your business by allowing you to search by niche, keyword, or specific business name. When you find a company you'd like to work with, complete their application process. Some will respond instantly, some review each application manually, so it takes a few days, others will never respond. Pros: Well-known, trusted companies are part of CJ Affiliates They serve just about every niche Cons: You have to apply for each company's affiliate program separately, and some are quick tricky to get into Accounts can be cut off for low or no sales Difficult to track payouts for each advertiser 5. Your Personal Choice I know, I know. Insert eyeroll, here, right? But the fact is, the most successful way to make money from any affiliate program is to recommend products or services that are highly specific to your niche and something you use and recommend. To find these programs think about what you use to make life easier, automate tasks, make life more enjoyable, or that are must haves for people in your niche. Go to the websites of those products or services you want to recommend and scroll all the way down to the footer. If they offer a public affiliate program, there will likely be a link to click and register. (This link will often lead to a larger affiliate network, like those we've already discussed… but not always.) If there's no affiliate program available on their website, and it's a product or service you know you want to recommend, reach out to the company or entrepreneur directly and ask. Tell them you love what they do and recommend it to everyone you know. Mention you're starting a blog and would love to partner together to promote their product/service. Pros: Highly niched affiliate programs are less likely to have major competition Your audience is primed to buy these products or services, so sales are often stronger than more general products Working with smaller businesses can often lead to other business partnerships Cons: Not everyone you ask is going to be open to an affiliate relationship Private agreements can be harder to track You're responsible for your own contracts, terms, etc. Putting it All Together There are a gajillion affiliate marketing options out there, and honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of them. In fact, I suggest you join multiple affiliate programs and networks as you learn about how it works.  You will find that some merchants work with more than one network and then you can decide which network fits your goals best. 3 Final Tips: When you join an affiliate network take the time to fill in your profile completely. This will give you the best chance of being accepted to merchants you apply to and help merchants find and reach out to you. Only recommend products or services you truly find useful. Your audience needs to trust that when you tell them to invest in something, it's going to be good. Once that trust is broken, it's hard to get it back. Always disclose that you're an affiliate. This includes affiliate links you share on your blog, in emails, and on social media. Ready to take the next step? Get started with my new free mini-course, the 5-Day Content Challenge. Come up with 6 months worth of post ideas to share your affiliate links in just 20-minutes a day! Enroll for free here!

It's easy to dismiss the choice of hosting companies for your blog as an unimportant decision. On the surface, all hosting companies seem alike. Isn't one just as good as another? In a word, no. Your blog host is one of those behind-the-scenes tools that you don't want to have to think about - but if you don't choose the right one, it will be a constant thorn in your side. What is a WordPress host? WordPress is an open source website system that is used by more than 40% of all sites on the internet today. And it's popular because it's awesome.  Open source means that WordPress itself is free to use, and you can change, edit, and customize it all you want for no charge! However, in order to get your WordPress site online for everyone to see, you need to purchase hosting through a private provider.  There are tons to choose from, but they aren't all created equal. If you think of your website as a house you're building, the host you choose is the land you're building it on. And what's the number one rule of real estate? Location, location, location! Just like when you're searching for a location for your home, you want your website to be in a safe place that has a good reputation, one that's easily accessible so you can get there fast, and is in a supportive community where you can get help when you need it. So here are 5 questions to ask when you're trying to choose the right host for your WordPress website. 1. Do they have a plan to suit your current and future needs? Some companies offer many tiers of pricing, while some offer just a couple. Before you sign on, take a look at the options and whether or not there are low-cost choices for newbies as well as plans that will grow with you. Another thing you want to check is the features that come with your plan. A good hosting company will offer all the essential features in all plan levels, with the primary difference in service being the amount of traffic your plan can support and the amount of storage space you have. If a company forces you to upgrade in order to get basic service features, like customer support or an SSL certificate, keep looking. SiteGround, the company I use and recommend, has 3 tiers of pricing that are appropriate for new sites all the way up to 400,000 pages views per month. (If or when you need more than that, they'll create a custom package.) Each plan offers the same features, but main differences are the number of websites you can host, the storage space available, and the traffic each level can handle. 2. Do they keep your site secure? The security of your blog is essential to its success. Without a secure site, some browsers or private firewalls won't let potential readers go to your site, which obviously is not what you want. How do you know if a host is going to provide a secure connection? Look for something called an SSL certificate as part of your hosting plan. Some companies, like Siteground, offer this for free, while others charge for it. When your site has an SSL certificate, short for Secure Sockets Layer, you'll see an “S” in the scheme of your web address. If that's too techy for you, here's what that means: The beginning of your URL will switch from http:// to https:// like you see on Side Hustle Teachers, Target, and Wikipedia. That one letter is what tells browsers and firewalls that your site is safe. If you're planning on selling goods or services on your blog - and your website is going to manage the transactions - you can purchase an additional SSL certificate for financial security. However, if you're only hosting a blog, or your products are sold through a 3rd party, like ThriveCart or your direct sales company's site, the extra SSL isn't necessary. 3. Will your site load quickly? When it comes to websites, speed matters.  In this day and age of instant gratification, people aren't going to wait around for your page to load, so you need to make sure that your blog host is built with speed in mind. There are a number of ways that hosts can support site speed.  First, hosts that use a worldwide network of servers provide faster load times because the information is physically stored closer to individual users. This can get your page loaded seconds faster, which in the digital age, is an eternity. Some hosts also include optimization plugins to users that will help pages load faster by prioritizing information and images. Siteground has partnered with Cloudflare to store your blog in more than 150 locations and has a proprietary plugin called SG Optimizer that speeds up page load time. Both are included in all pricing tiers. 4. Do they have features that make life easier? A website has a lot of moving pieces to it, but there are some hosting companies that make it easier to get set up and manage on an ongoing basis. Some of the things Siteground provides that make blogging easier are: Domain Registration - because I get my domain names and my hosting through the same company I not only get to deal with just one company, but when there are updates to WordPress, my hosting, or the servers, Siteground handles it and all the peripheral updates. Website Migration - if you already have a website and you want to transfer it to Siteground, they have a free service that will move it for you. WordPress Installation - when you purchase a managed WordPress hosting plan, Siteground will automatically install WordPress on your site, saving you a step! 24/7 Customer Support - with a real person. This has saved me more times than I can count as I built, transferred, moved, and sold multiple websites over the years. A reputation for quality customer service is a must. 5. Does the price fit your budget? Web hosting comes in all sizes and price ranges. You can pay a few dollars a month or a few hundred dollars a month. You want to find a plan that fits your budget while providing all the features you need. Many hosts also offer massive discounts to new customers at sign up. But be sure to look at the length of the contract before assuming it's a great deal, though. For example, while Siteground offers a rate of $3.99 per month, A2 offers $2.99 a month. However, with Siteground the lowest rate is available to those who pay up front for a year, making your up front investment about $50. To get the lowest rate with A2 you must pay for 3 years in advance, making your initial investment over $100. My recommendation You might notice I'm a big fan of Siteground I started my first blog with Siteground in 2012 and I've never even considered leaving because the price, features, and services are fantastic. So, while you're welcome to look around at the various options, if you just want a quality, reliable hosting company with outstanding customer service, just go to Siteground. And if you want someone to walk you through the setup of your domain and hosting, plus WordPress and your site theme - all the tech stuff you don't need to be scared of - grab my free guide, 5 Steps to Start Your Blog Today!

There's an old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.” And while I absolutely adore my neighbors, I also absolutely believe this is true. Separation between our homes means that what they do to their house doesn't impact me, and I don't have to care about it. When it comes to the various obligations we have - teacher, family member, and blogger - good fences are just as important.  The problem is that time is harder to delineate. You can plan to quit working at 6pm, then you decide to just do that one thing, and suddenly it's 7pm and your kids are starving, dirty, and permanently glued to their iPad. But that's not the biggest problem. In fact, overwhelm is just a symptom of the real issue; mindset. The problem isn't that there's always something more we can do - there is, but that's not the problem. The problem is that we want to do all the things. And we want to do them well, if not perfectly.  Whether it's part of our inherent personalities as teachers, or that we've been conditioned to do more, more, more, the fact is that it's up to us to set - and enforce - boundaries for ourselves. But how?! Here are some things you can do to set clear boundaries for yourself. Setting Boundaries at School Let's start with the most obvious, and most challenging boundary breaker; school. In the world of service professionals there's something known as scope creep. If you haven't heard of this, it's when a client tries to add things to the job that they hired you for - it could be extra revisions, an additional version, or “just one little thing” - without paying extra for it.  Schools are notorious  for this. There's always something more you're being asked to do, and no money to go with it. We talked about this last week in How Teaching is Keeping You Broke, but let's talk about how to stop it. Stop taking work home. This may seem impossible, but it's absolutely not. There are lots of possibilities - get to work early or stay later to complete your work - but the key is focusing on what's most important. Angela Watson, creator of the 40 Hour Teacher Workweek, has a podcast episode all about how one teacher stopped taking work home that I highly recommend if you're looking for real-life inspiration. If you're unable to set down your giant, stuffed-to-the-gills teacher bag, then give yourself only a specific time to work on school stuff at home. Set alarms on your phone to remind you to stop if necessary.  Say no to unpaid work. At the end of the 2017-2018 school year I found myself on 3 committees and using my prep time to rewrite my curriculum. It had happened slowly, but somehow I had found myself in a swamp of unpaid work, no time to complete my actual job, and burning the midnight oil to work on Side Hustle Teachers.  Before the new school year started, I emailed my assistant superintendent and told him I'd no longer be able to serve on the committees I was on. I also stopped writing curriculum during my prep and started using it only to *gasp* prep for my classes. In fact, my district has curriculum stipends for teachers who write curriculum over the summer! When I applied and was told that the money was being designated for other subjects, I decided my curriculum was just fine as it was and took the summer off. Note: If you're in a school that requires you to serve on committees or do “volunteer” work outside of school hours, those are obviously part of your contract and therefore, are inescapable. However, you can typically choose which committees or events you “volunteer” for, so make sure that you select opportunities that have the greatest impact on you as a teacher, fit your schedule, and are most interesting to you. Get assigned to those tasks as early as possible so that you're not assigned to something else. Setting Boundaries at Home Like school work, house work is never done. There is always something that needs to be cleaned, fixed, cooked, or put away.  Always. If you have kids, the home demands only increase as now you have to keep them alive, too. Also like school work, we often put more pressure on ourselves to keep a perfect home than is necessary. Decide on your non-negotiables. Sadly, you can't let all your housework go. There are some things that have to be done for the sake of your sanity and by order of the health department. So what are the things you absolutely must do? If cooking dinner each night is important to you, then make it one of your non-negotiables, but maybe you can let the bathroom go a little longer in between cleanings. Maybe you spend a lot of time in your car and need it to be a sanctuary. Keep it on your list and do the dishes every other night instead. Get help. There's absolutely no need for you to be the only person who handles housework. If you live with other people, they should be contributing to the care of the home equally, if not more so. Teachers tend to be people who just do what needs to be done, and that carries through to our home life. But it doesn't need to be that way. You may need to accept that things aren't going to be done the “right” way, but done is done. And done by someone other than you, is perfect. You can also hire help. Yes, I know that cleaners cost money and teachers are often living paycheck to paycheck, but you can set it as a goal. When I first started my blog, paying for a bi-weekly cleaner was our first monetary goal and it was sooooo amazing to reach it. Setting Boundaries in Your Business Work for your business is a bit unique because you often may not see it as work. Instead, working on your blog is a relief - an escape from all the things you have to do. Still, it's important to set boundaries so that you don't burn yourself out and also so that your family doesn't become resentful that you're spending all your free time working. Focus on money making activities. Having limited time means that you have to prioritize what you use that time for. While you may not be in love with the design of your website, or the colors in your logo, spending time “fixing” those problems is not going to make you any money.   What is going to make you money? The answer might be slightly different for everyone, but it comes down to 3 things; growing your audience, nurturing your relationships, and refining your offers. Spend your time on those 3 things, and let the other stuff go. Make a schedule. This is beneficial to both your family and your business. For example, you can decide that each night, after you help your kids with their homework, you get 1 hour of time to work on your blog. Or after dinner, while your husband does the dishes (because he helps with the housework now) you get to write a blog post. A schedule is especially helpful at the beginning of your business when you're, as they say on “Shark Tank”, pre-revenue. It's at this stage that it's hardest to prioritize spending time on your blog because you're not getting a return on your time investment yet. Creating a schedule, and sticking to it, will help you build good habits and actually build your business instead of just talking about it. Setting Boundaries for Your Business While we're talking about boundaries, it's important to have some that not only protect you from working too much, but also that set expectations for what happens when you're working. Give yourself a dedicated space. It doesn't have to be a big space. It doesn't even have to be a permanent, stationary space. But providing a location or setup that is associated with your business, and that no one else touches is a great mindset hack for you and helps your family see your blog as a real business. Teach your family how to treat your work. If you're working, you're working. Your family wouldn't come in while you're teaching to ask you to open a packet of fruit snacks (hopefully), and they shouldn't while you're working on your blog either.  Still, working at home, especially while your family is home, can easily wind up being one long sequence of interruptions if you don't address it up front. Here are some things you can try: Use signals. You might use signs on a door or color-coded post-its… In my house, if I'm in my office with the door open my family knows I'm working, but they can come in for quick things, like stuff they'd text me about at work. If the door is closed they should come in for emergencies only. Define emergencies. Especially for kids, the word emergency is flexible. If my daughter couldn't get the tv on to watch “Lion Guard,” she thought it was an emergency. Finally we came up with a clear, easy to remember definition; fire, flood, vomit, or blood. Everything else can wait, or Dad can help you. Enforce your boundaries. Boundaries mean nothing if you don't defend them. If you've got a work space that's just for you, don't let your kid use it to color. If you schedule time to work on your blog, don't let your spouse guilt you into cleaning out the garage during that time. Despite the name of this site and my business, I don't think teachers need to hustle and grind in order to make money outside the classroom.  In fact, using the strategies above, you can actually live a reasonably chill life, get plenty of sleep, and still make money from your blog. Good fences make good neighbors, but healthy boundaries make healthy, happy teachers!

Teaching and education are popular topics for teacher blogs.  It makes sense.  You're a teacher. You write about what you know. Sounds perfect, right? Well, here's an unpopular opinion. Your teacher blog shouldn't be about teaching… or education… or anything school related. Wait. What? Yep, you read that right. I don't think teachers should start blogs about teaching. That may sound counterintuitive, or even just plain wrong, but there are some very solid, practical reasons not to set up your blog around the topic of teaching and learning. Your Teacher Niche May Change, But Your Blog Niche Shouldn't When you start a blog, finding a niche is important. You need to narrow the focus of what you write about so your audience finds you when they search, and you become highly referable. “Oh you want help learning how to refinish colonial furniture? You've got to check out Jessica's blog!” If you want to know more about niching, check out this blogcast. So let's say your niche is 2nd grade classroom management, or even more broadly, early elementary classroom culture. Both of these would be awesome niches, and could be the basis of a successful business. But… What happens when your partner gets a new job that takes you out of state, and the only teaching job you can find is in 5th grade? You either have to change your blog topic, or create early elementary blog info while you develop 5th grade lessons.  What if you want to loop with a class you really connected with and follow them up to 3rd grade… Would you reconsider staying with your awesome kids because they don't fit with your blog? Or would you again be doubling up on work? What if your principal reads a book that says teachers who stay in the same grade level for more than 5 years become complacent, and decides to arbitrarily change everyone's teaching assignment? (I have seen this happen.) When your blog niche is tied to your job, which you don't have total control of, you run the risk of being put in the tough spot of staying in a grade level, subject, school, or even profession that you feel ready to move on from, or changing the focus of an established blog and setting your business back, or doubling your work trying to keep your blog niche the same while you teach something else. This is just one reason I recommend choosing a blog topic that has nothing to do with your role in the classroom. Here's another… You Need a Break You teach all day.  You probably spend time at home thinking about, and working on, and planning for your teaching. That's enough. Creating a blog that is also about teaching and learning is just more time you have to spend thinking about teaching and learning. Teaching is already a 24/7 profession (if you let it be), and building a business can be a fantastic way to explore other interests and areas of expertise, give your brain a break from thinking about school, and grow in new ways. My first blog was centered on mom life, which was the other major focus of my life, having just become a new mom. It was also an area I felt was suffering due to the amount of time I was working or thinking about work. For me, the blog was a way to force myself to take off my teacher hat, learn news things, and focus on my family. It's hard to admit, but yes,  it took starting a business to get me to refocus on my family. The interesting thing was the impact it had on my teaching. I was more patient with the kids. I didn't snap at them as much. I had more empathy for the kids who were struggling because I was struggling with learning how to run a business. I was more efficient with my time because I really wanted to have time to work on my blog. When I set a hard stop time for all school work at 8pm (and even set an alarm to remind me to stop), I knew I had to focus on the most important things first. All the necessary stuff got done, and I discovered just how much I was doing that I didn't need to do. My burning desire to get out of teaching faded. My blog brought my life back into balance (ish), which helped me see that I wasn't done with teaching… I was just burnt out. I needed a break, not a divorce. Being a teacher in this day and age will consume your life if you let it. Do you really want to base your blog and your business on it, too? Perhaps you're feeling a bit of teacher guilt creeping in for wanting time away from thinking about all things education. After all, we're bombarded with messages of teaching being a calling rather than a career, and that teaching isn't just what we do, but who we are. And I don't necessarily disagree on those points. I was called to be a teacher. It is who I am.  But I don't think that the universe is so particular as to say that I'm only allowed to teach PreK-12 music in the state of Connecticut. Or that one has to be certified by any institution in order to be considered a teacher. I was teaching through my mom blog, and I continue to teach via Side Hustle Teachers. And those outlets are just as valid a place to teach as a classroom. So, if you need someone to tell you it's okay to care about, be interested in, and even make money from something other than what it says on your teaching certificate, you've got it. You have permission to be a teacher plus. What's plus? Plus is whatever you want it to be. You can be a teacher plus, a crafter, a fisherman, a songwriter, or a fashionista, a genealogist, astrologer, or candy maker. You have permission to take off your teacher hat to expand your mind and your bank account. You have permission to believe that you're called to teach and impact the world in other ways. You have permission to identify as a teacher, but still want to be something more. You have permission to want more than your teaching salary affords. What Are Your Long-Term Plans? About half of the teachers in the Side Hustle Teachers Community say that their ultimate goal for their side hustle is to start a business that will help them leave teaching. And while, you may change your mind - like I did - if you're going to start a blog with the goal of ultimately leaving the classroom, it doesn't make sense to build it around education. For one thing, if you don't want to continue in teaching, why would you establish a business that is founded on being a teacher? Logic would dictate that you want to spend less time on school-related stuff, not more. (See the previous section, You Need a Break.) But there's another issue to consider here. Street cred. Have you ever read a teaching book by someone who's no longer teaching? And while reading that book, did you think to yourself, “That's great, but you haven't taught actual students in 20 years, so who are you to tell me what to do,” while angrily closing it and throwing on top of the pile of other books just like it? This is the same problem I have with most professional development because it's run by former teachers turned consultants… and don't get me started on “inspirational” teacher movies. Once you leave the classroom to run your blog business full time, it's difficult to maintain authority with teachers. Because, while I believe blogging is a form of teaching, it's not a classroom, and teachers are quick to dismiss information and advice from people who aren't “one of them” anymore. Now, please note that I'm not telling anyone that teacher blogs about teaching are bad or that teachers who start them are making a mistake.  There are many teachers out there whose businesses are education-based, even though they aren't teaching anymore, and they're killing it!  If you sell on Teachers Pay Teachers, for example, you don't need to be actively teaching to create useful resources for teachers. If you have a connection to your community through your blog, they can tell you what they want! If you consult with schools and work with teachers, your blog can include the real-world examples of the schools and classrooms you visit. It is possible. So if you read this post and are thinking, “I really want to start a blog about teaching, but Stacey told me not to…” Nope. This post came about because a number of clients, students, and community members have reached out recently asking what they should blog about. They were stuck because they felt like the only thing they could write about (as teachers) was teaching. Not true! You can write about anything that lights you up. You can write about anything you're good at. You can write about anything you're learning about, and take your readers on the journey with you. You can write about anything. If you're ready to get your blog up and running, grab my new free guide, 5 Steps to Start Your Blog Today!

One question that comes up all the time with my clients and members of the Side Hustle Teachers community is how I manage to consistently put out my blogcast week after week.  There are 2 things I rely on; systems and tools. I'll address my systems in a future blogcast, but today let's talk about tools. I'm going to walk you through my complete content creation process and tell you which tools I use for each step. Some are free, some have a modest fee, but all of them are indispensable in my business. Google Business Suite I use Google in a myriad of ways, but when it comes to content creation, I use it in 2 key ways. First I maintain a spreadsheet of blogcast topics. Every 6 months or so I draft a list of ideas to share, then organize it into a spreadsheet, organized by planned date of publication.  When it's time to craft my content, I have created a Content Planning Worksheet that provides spaces for every aspect of my content, from title to the actual blogcast, to social media shares. (The Content Planning Worksheet is available to students enrolled in Content Made Simple.) I make a copy of the CPW for each blogcast, then craft my content in the doc.  I pay for Google Business Suite for the extra storage (it's $1.99 a month), but it's also available for free until you reach your storage limit. WordPress Once the blogcast is crafted, it gets pasted into a new post on my website.  My website is built on WordPress and it allows me to host all my content, sales pages, and everything else I need for an online presence. If you don't have a website already, I recommend getting your domain and hosting through Siteground. I've been with them since I started my blog many, many years ago and have yet to be disappointed by their service. Siteground also makes it easy to install WordPress on your site for free. I use the Divi theme on my site, but there are many free themes to use as you get started. Each year WordPress releases a new theme of the year, which are typically well designed and audience-friendly. PicMonkey My next step in the process of crafting my content is to create my graphics. I make 6 graphics for each post, but that is not what I'd recommend when you're starting out. Before deciding what graphics you need, consider what platforms you're going to use.  I suggest you create a square and horizontal image for each post or episode. If you also want to utilize Pinterest, you also need a vertical image. For my graphics I use PicMonkey. It lets me save my brand colors, add videos to images, and I get access to a massive library of stock photos. Another option that many people love is Canva. You can try PicMonkey free for 7 days here. Social Warfare Within my website I use the plugin called Social Warfare. It allows me to create prepopulated shares for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more, for each post. It also gives me the floating bard on the side of my website that allows people to share my blogcast with just one click.  Using this tool, when someone clicks the share button, let's use Pinterest as an example, their new pin will populate with the image I've selected and the description I've created. They can edit the description, of course, but it gives me more control over the way my brand is presented. Adobe Audition There are hundreds of programs that let you record your voice for a podcast, but the one I like best, and use every week, is Adobe Audition. It's part of the Creative Cloud program, so you may have access through your school.  I like Audition because it's fairly easy to learn and it enables me to edit my own blogcast in minimal time - because anything that saves me time is awesome. I know it has a lot of features I don't use, but the ones I do use save me time and money. Adobe offers a discounted rate for teachers. Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to find it. Libsyn Once the sound is recorded, I upload it to my podcast host, Libsyn (short for Liberated Syndication). I recommend using a paid hosting company like Libsyn (only $5 a month) over the free platforms because of the ease of use, customer service, listener stats, and multiple distribution channels. Libsyn also allows me to embed my episodes on the blog post page, making it easier for people to listen and helping to grow my listenership. ConvertKit Once the content is created, I draft an email to those signed up for my list. The email text is included in the Content Planning Worksheet, so I can simply copy and paste it into ConvertKit. One way I make my weekly emails easier is to duplicate the email from the week before, then adjust the sections as necessary. This also ensures that the correct people on my email list get the Side Hustle Headlines email. Those who are new to my list are in what's called a nurture sequence, and to prevent them from getting an overload of emails I don't send them the weekly messages. The ability to create nurture sequences, tag subscribers, and segment my list are what makes ConvertKit my email service provider of choice for 7 years now! Use ConvertKit for free until you have 1,000 subscribers! CinchShare The last step in my content creation process is to schedule my posts for social media. In my personal opinion a good scheduling program is essential for all business owners, but especially teachers. We aren't available to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In all day long.  Just imagine, “Hang on class, I just have to post this prompt to my Facebook group.” Ummmmmm. No. Each Sunday night I get all my posts for the week loaded into CinchShare, use their auto-scheduler to set up times for everything to go out, and click “schedule.” So before I go to bed I know that all my prompts, stories, posts, questions, quotes… you get the idea… will go out on time. Try CinchShare for 14 days for free. Using the right tools can have a massive impact on your business. It can take stress off of you and make running a business while teaching much more manageable. While it may take a small investment to get access to some tools, the time, energy, and effort you save will be well worth it. For a complete list of all the tools and programs I recommend, check out the resources page on my site.

Let's start this blogcast with an important statement: You are enough. Right now. Today. You are enough. I say this because there are a large number of side hustlin' teachers who want to start a blog, podcast, or video show, but don't because they feel they're lacking… something. Whether it's education, experience, age, or something else all together, let me reassure you that there is nothing you need to get started on the journey of content creation that you don't already possess. But, I know that understanding that may not be enough, so today I'm sharing with you 3 reasons that you should start publishing your content now… even if you don't feel ready. Action Begets Growth As teachers, we know that the best way to get better at something is to do it… over and over again. Imagine teaching a student how to write in cursive, but never asking them to practice. They'd never get better at cursive, right?! The same is true for your blog, podcast, or video show. When you put your content out to the world, that's your practice.  Why can't you just practice on your own?  Some clients wonder why they can't just write a blog post and keep it for themselves, or record a video and never upload it.  Well, you can. But it's far less effective. If we go back to our cursive analogy, imagine again giving your students opportunities to practice their cursive, but never giving them feedback or guidance on how to improve. They may get better, but some will actually develop bad habits and learn things incorrectly, making it even more difficult to get it right later on. By sharing your content you're opening yourself up for feedback. Your audience will help you get better through their comments, questions, reaching out, and sharing. They will tell you what they want more of, and what they need less of.  Without their feedback it will take longer for you to be your best, and you may get into some nasty habits that will be hard to break later. Newton's First Law Full confession, I had to look up the order of Newton's laws. Just in case you're in the same boat, Newton's first law states that an object in motion will stay in motion until acted on by an outside force.  What's true in physics is also true in business. It's hard to get into the habit of building a business if you don't take the first step. Once you start putting your content out into the world, you can establish a routine that will help you hit publish every week. If you need some help with your routine I encourage you to check out Content Made Simple, in which I walk you through my 3-step content creation process and give you the Content Planning Worksheet I spent years refining. The other thing that happens when you start sharing your content on a regular basis is that your audience expects and looks forward to it.  At a conference I went to, Pat Flynn shared that one time he forgot to schedule a podcast episode to go out he got an email from a fan that read, “Hey Pat, it's Wednesday, where the f@$k Is today's show? Love your show. Thanks!” The expectation of other people - people who look to you for information and expertise - is kind of trippy. But it's also great motivation to keep going and put out new content. Of course, the first thing you have to do before you form these habits is to hit publish for the first time. Cultivate Your Confidence Have you heard the expression, “Fake it ‘til you make it”?  That's it. That's everything. One of the biggest reasons many teachers don't put their content out to the world is because we think that we're not enough.  If you've ever hesitated to publish on a blog post, podcast, or video show, because you thought: I'm not an expert in this.  There are plenty of others who are better at this than I am. Who's going to listen to me, I'm just a _______. If I write this post/ record this episode, people will see that I'm a fraud. I don't have the right degree/ certification so no one will listen to me. You're not alone. Those thoughts are completely normal, and while they don't ever completely go away, putting your content out helps you push past them. The first time I stood in front of a class full of students, I just knew they were going to ask me a question I couldn't answer, tell me they didn't have to listen to me because I wasn't a real teacher, or just fully devolve into a Lord of the Flies style tribe. But every time I stepped into a classroom and successfully survived, my confidence grew.  Now, after 20 years, I know that I can handle whatever the kids can dish out. The same is true with content.  Once you put out your first piece, you realize that the only one putting you down is you. Fake it ‘til you make it isn't about faking success and putting on a show so others will believe in you. It's about acting as if you are what you want to become… and then, one day, you are that person. Fake confidence until you feel confident. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “By acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid.” (Of course, Teddy was talking about Grizzly bears, but the principle still holds.) You came to Side Hustle Teachers for a reason.  You're looking for more. More money, more growth, more personal fulfillment. To quote another great president, “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” So if you want more, you're going to have to make it happen.

In the world of online marketing, a call to action is a common term that gets used in many different ways. But what is a call to action, and how can you use one (or more) to grow your side hustle? Let's dig in! What is a Call to Action A call to action, often called a CTA, is a line of text or an image that directs your audience to do something. It helps your readers, listeners, viewers, followers, or website visitors know what to do next once they engage with your content. It can be simple text that is linked to another page or website, a button, or just plain text that is not linked (and simply gives instructions of what to do). Common calls to action include “Buy Now” or “Learn More,” but there are literally countless ways that you can prompt people to take action on your content. Where to Use CTAs Your website. On different pages throughout your website you should have various calls to action directing people to where they should go next. On the Side Hustle Teachers website I have different calls to action on different pages. On the homepage options to “Learn More” about the education, and connection I offer, and to “Join the Group” for the Facebook community. On the Podcast and Blog page, the call to action is to engage with the content. Your content. Within your blog posts, podcast and video episodes (and the show notes), you want to give your audience calls to action that fit with the content. It might be a general call to action, like follow you on Instagram, or it could be more specific, like downloading a freebie related to the content. Landing pages. A landing page is typically a very simple page designed to capture email addresses in exchange for a freebie. When people land here it's often because they've clicked on one of your calls to action somewhere else. Therefore, this page will usually contain a form submission and a call to action to download the freebie. Social media. Since engagement is the name of the game on social, every post you share on social media should contain a call to action. Whether you're asking people to engage with your content, leave a comment, share a post, go to a page for a freebie, or click a link to buy from you. Email. When you send emails to your list each week you should include links to your weekly content and any other pertinent information.  How to Create Effective CTAs Use action words. When telling your audience what to do you have to tell them… you know… what to do. Use language that is clear and instructive so your audience doesn't have to guess what to do or what's going to happen when they do. Create urgency or FOMO. If there's a limited time to get your freebie or special offer, include that in your call to action. If there's no time limit, don't try to create false urgency. No one likes a phony. Instead, try to create a fear of missing out on a community or lesson. Make it easy to see. Whether it's through a contrasting color, larger text, white space, or word choice, make sure your call to action is noticeable and won't be missed by skimmers. What Not to Do with CTAs There are 3 common mistakes people make with their calls to action: Not using CTAs. Oftentimes new content creators hesitate to add CTAs because they feel like it's too bossy or spammy and it will annoy their audience. However, well thought out CTAs are considered helpful because they give people instructions for what to do next. They can choose to disregard the instructions or, if they enjoyed what you shared, they likely want to know what the next steps should be. Asking people to do too many things. Having too many different calls to action is overwhelming and confusing to your audience. When you ask people to do multiple things - follow you on social, share the post, subscribe to your email list, download a freebie, etc. - you reduce the chances of them taking any action at all.  Putting CTAs everywhere. Even if you have a single call to action, when your page is so full of buttons and links that it makes it visually confusing or difficult to engage with the content, it's very off-putting. Provide your audience a few places to take action, but remember that your purpose is first to serve.    A final word: Like most other things in business (and life), calls to action take testing, testing, and more testing. Every audience is different so you just have to try various strategies and see what works and what doesn't. Join me on Tuesday at 7:30 pm (EDT) in the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook Group for a LIVE recap, answers to your questions, and examples of great calls to action! A replay of the video will be posted below the Friday after the live. ↓↓↓

Creating content for your blog, podcast, or video show takes time, energy, and mental bandwidth, but it's totally worth it, right?  Yes! As long as your content is getting found and people are engaging with it. Oh. Yeah. About that. Getting discovered online is not as easy as it used to be. There are billions of websites up and running now - with more going live every day - and you can't just hit publish and hope people stumble on it. Because they won't. But don't worry. If you are intentional about how you create and share your content your ideal customer group will find you. Before we get started let's clarify what we mean by engagement.  For today's purposes engagement refers to how people interact with your content. If you write a blog post, people engage by reading it. For a podcast episode, by listening. And a video show, by watching.  But there are other types of engagement we can consider, too. If someone leaves a comment on your post, that's engagement. If someone shares your content with another person, that's engagement. Social media likes, shares, comments… all engagement. Engagement is important because, well, what's the point of creating content if no one's going to read it, listen to it, or watch it? But getting people's attention can be tough. There's a lot of competition out there, and it includes cats who make friends with llamas.  So how do you get more people to engage with your content? There are any number of things you can do, some of them stranger than others. But today I'm sharing 5 tried and true ways to increase engagement for your blog, podcast, or video show. Email Your Audience Someone who has already read your blog, listened to your podcast, or watched your video show and opted in to your email list is obviously someone who's interested in what you have to say. But many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of assuming that those people will keep coming back on their own.  Not true. Life is busy.  I don't know about you, but there are times I forget why I walked into a room only seconds before, nevermind remembering to go check someone's website!  Email your list every week. Each week when you publish your new content send an email to your list letting them know so they can check it out. This will not only let them know to go to your site, but an email is also something that can be forwarded - people have definitely found Side Hustle Teachers that way! Continue to grow your email list. Make sure you're collecting email addresses in ConvertKit (or whichever email provider you use) so that the list of people you email each week grows.  Connect with Other Creators No matter your platform or topic, there are others who do what you do (or something close to what you do), and building relationships with them is not only great for your bottom line, it can help you grow as a content creator and business owner, too. Find others who share your area of interest and/or audience. Get to know other creators in your space, and the peripheral spaces (i.e. graphic designers can get to know web designers) and you can support each other's efforts. Some ways you can start conversations: Leave comments on their content Engage with them on social media Attend summits or conventions Optimize your relationship so it's beneficial to both of you. Bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers can all benefit from building relationships. You can be a guest on each other's sites, and link to each other within your posts. Optimize Your Content for Search Engines Search engines, like Google, have a massive impact on whether or not our content gets found. Literally the first thing people do when they want to learn about something is to Google it. So it's important to craft your content with this in mind and help Google help you. Do your keyword research. When you know what people are searching for, you can create content that specifically addresses it. Use a tool like Keywords Everywhere to find out search volume, related search terms, and long-tail keywords so you can create content that will show up in searches. Optimize your back end. Once you know your keyword or phrase you need to include that exact word or phrase in your content, the url for the post, the image title and descriptions, and the meta description. A tool like Yoast keeps all this organized on WordPress sites. Link to your own content. When relevant, create links to other posts, podcasts, or videos you've created. This not only keeps people on your site longer, but it also builds your SEO authority. Pro Tip: Your SEO authority is also boosted when links to your site appear on other people's sites (as mentioned above). Plan, Craft, and Distribute Great Content Weekly No amount of optimization or connection is going to help if you don't create great content consistently, people won't engage with it.  Put content creation on your calendar. In my house, if it's not on the calendar it doesn't get done. Because of this I actually block off time on my calendar to work on my weekly posts. I even make it a recurring appointment so I won't forget when things get busy (like when report cards are due) or when my schedule changes (like during summer vacation). Create a system. Blogs, podcasts, and video shows have a lot of moving pieces, so it's essential to have a system in place to make sure you take care of everything. In my courses I teach my students a 3-step process to plan, craft, and distribute their content. You can even create content in batches to save time and get ahead. Harness the Power of Social Media Let's face it, social media is essential for businesses these days. On the plus side, it's also an amazing tool that can help you reach more people, connect with your audience in a more authentic way, and increase your influence. Pick your platforms. Rather than trying to be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tik Tok, and whatever else is out there, your energy is better spent focusing on 1-2 platforms where you can share your content.  Post and engage. While social media is great for spreading the word about your business, what it's AMAZING for is connecting with people. It's not enough to just share links and wait for people to share them. When you start to engage with the people who are commenting on your work, you can form relationships, which are of course, the basis of business. Save time by using a tool like CinchShare to post, and then use that time to respond to comments and connect with your audience. In the end, there are a number of ways to increase engagement for your content, however you produce it, and you want to try a few of them to see what works for you and your audience. An effective content marketing plan is going to include multiple channels so people can discover your content across the internet. Of course, you can always start with just one thing, like creating great content, then add pieces as you get more confident and build your systems. Join me on Tuesday at 7:30 pm (EDT) in the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook Group for a LIVE recap, answers to your questions, and my recommendation for which of these steps to follow, in which order, and why!

Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA) is a phrase that's been used in marketing seemingly forever. Sometimes it's replaced with buyer persona, marketing persona, or customer profile, but it all comes down to one essential idea; Who is your perfect customer? There are a number of reasons it's worth taking the time to clearly define who your product or service is for.  A clear definition of who you're trying to sell to:  Helps you create content that speaks to people who are actually interested in your expertise.  Increases your email open rate because your subscribers know it's going to contain value. Assists in product development by helping you create products or services your audience truly wants and needs. Makes your paid marketing more productive by allowing you to more effectively target. Allows you to create a more user friendly experience for your followers. However, recently I've been rethinking the idea of an ideal customer avatar.  What's wrong with having an ICA? A customer avatar, when conceived as a single person, limits our ability to imagine our potential customers as a diverse group. Even more troubling, the avatar that most business owners create is typically a white, cisgendered, straight person, even when those qualities have nothing to do with what they're selling. If we instead think of our clients and customers as a group, we're better able to envision that group containing people of color and with different gender identities and sexual preferences, and therefore create a more inclusive company. It's important to note, however, that trying to define an ideal customer group (ICG), rather than a single customer avatar, is not an excuse to get loosey goosey with your description and understanding of that group.  In fact, by eliminating some superfluous facts usually contained in an ICA description, you can hone in on the attributes of your ideal customer group that will really make a difference in your messaging. For example, some proponents of ICA deep dives suggest you should know your ICA so well that you know what brand of toothpaste they use, what size shoes they wear, and how much money they have saved up for their second-born child to attend college.  But unless you are selling dental health products, footwear, or 529 plans, that information probably won't help you. What should you know about your ICG? This is where defining an ICG is a little tougher than an ICA.  You can do a Google search and get more than a million returns for defining your ICA. Many of them will provide you with questions to ask to get to know him or her, as well as suggestions for things you can do to make them more “real,” like download a picture and create a dossier about them. But when you're trying to define a group, it's not so easy.  Instead of answering questions about a single avatar, which will have only 1 answer, your answers might have ranges, and instead of answering every question, you're looking for commonalities. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about your ICG in order to create a more complete picture. Don't feel the need to answer all of them. Instead, focus on getting quality answers to the questions that are truly pertinent to your business. How old are they? What gender are they? What is their marital status? What do they do for a living? How much money do they make? What's their level of education? Where do they live? What kind of home do they have? Do they have kids? What are the ages of their kids? Do they have pets? What kind? Where do they hang out (online or in-person)? What are their hobbies? What magazines or books do they read? What gurus do they follow? What kind of personality do they have? Are they an introvert or an extrovert? What are their values?  Let's take a look at a couple of these questions and see how our answers might change when defining an ICG as opposed to an ICA. How old are they? When answering for a single ICA, there is only one right answer (32), but an ICG may have a range (31-41).  What gender are they? This may or may not be relevant to your business at all. If you work with busy moms, you can specify women, but if your business, like mine, isn't gender specific, you can say it's a mix, or just skip the question. You can also choose to dig more deeply into some questions. For example, at Side Hustle Teachers, the question, “What do they do for a living,” is very important. But I also like to go a little deeper, asking how long they've been teaching, what are their favorite and least favorite things about teaching, etc. Similarly, if you have a values-based business, like environmentally friendly cleaning products, you can choose those to ask more questions about that and examine that aspect of your ICG more thoroughly. That said, what you absolutely, 100%, no excuses, must know about your ICG are the answers to these 2 questions (in relation to your product or service): What are their pain points, challenges, or struggles? What are their desires, dreams, and goals? If you don't know the answers to those 2 questions, you need to spend some more time getting clear on what you do and who it helps. Clarifying your ICG as you go As your business grows and you get more data, your ICG may change. As you engage with people, work with clients, get testimonials and reviews, and your products or services evolve, you can adjust your ICG. Once you start to have customers you can use the data you get from them to refine your description and messaging, and your business will grow exponentially. But don't let the fact that you don't have “real” data prevent you from getting started. Make assumptions and educated guesses where you don't have data, do research when you can, and remember that, just like everything else in business (and in life), your first ICG may not be your only ICG.  And let me also remind you that establishing an ICG isn't just to attract people who want to work with you, but also who you want to work with.  As a teacher you have the skills to work with pretty much anyone who walks through your classroom door. But in your business, you don't have to do that. You can pick and choose who you want to work with. Use the characteristics of your favorite clients to help define and attract more like them. Be picky, my friend. Create an ICG who will be a joy to work with.

Welcome Back to the Side Hustle Teachers Podcast

Content marketing, using a blog, podcast, or video show to attract customers, is one of the best ways to grow your audience, build your business, and make more money.  But, like most other things, there's a right way and a wrong way to use content as a marketing tool. Ask anyone who's been blogging, podcasting, or YouTubing and they'll tell you that they've all made mistakes along the way.  Honestly, you're going to make mistakes, too. If you don't make mistakes, you're probably not trying very hard. But you don't need to make all the mistakes, so let's see if we can find a way to sidestep some landmines. Keep these common mistakes in mind as you create your content and review some of your old posts to see if there's something that needs to be updated. Not having a plan Just like in your classroom, when it comes to content, you have to have a plan. You may not have every single step planned out in advance, but you know what your goals are, and each blog post, podcast episode, or video show should be moving you toward that goal. So let's talk about the 3 primary purposes of creating content and what it would look like to create content for that purpose. Build authority: Establish yourself as an expert with information about your topic, how-to, explanations, etc. This helps you become the person your audience thinks of when they have a question or problem about your area of expertise. Strengthen relationships: Let your audience know that you understand them, care about them, and (if it's true) have been where they are now. People buy from people they know, like, and trust, and you can't have any of those things without a relationship. Tell stories, let people behind the scenes, and give them a glimpse into you. Sell a product or service: Technically, everything you create is to help you move towards a sale, but some content is more explicit in its purpose. Content that sells is very purposefully designed to help people see your expertise and the value in your product or service. This might be a podcast episode about how to interview and hire a VA, or a video episode about the myths about using CBD oil. Not knowing your audience When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one. Yet a common mistake of new content marketers is trying to reach everyone.  Instead, write your posts for a specific person; your ideal customer.  Could everyone use great, quality cookware? Sure. But a post about 5 tools that will help busy moms get dinner on the table is likely to have more success than one that speaks about 5 kitchen tools everyone should try. Posting and running Once you create a piece of content, you can't just post it on your website and hope people find it. SEO is an amazing thing, but you need to help it work.  You need a distribution strategy to make sure that your content is seen by those who need it. That means you have to share the posts on social media, and give others a way to share them as well. Identify 1-2 social platforms that you will use and decide on what days you will share your new content. Quantity over Quality Producing content is a must, but that content has to be useful and of good quality. It's better to create 1 fabulous, incredibly helpful piece of content than 5 meh ones. When you decide how often you're going to put out a new post or episode, take into account how long it takes you to produce high quality content. Sharing inconsistently It's hard to become a fan of someone who only shows up occasionally.  If you want to turn people who happen to stumble upon you into rabid, raving fans, you've got to keep. showing. up. That means posting regularly, sharing (and resharing) your content, being present for your followers, and staying consistent for at least a few months before you change a strategy. Not giving content strategies a chance to work Great content can have a massive impact on your business, but it's not going to happen overnight. If your first posts don't go viral, keep going. Even great content takes time to be found on the internet.  We also know that one of the benefits of using content to attract customers is that your posts or episodes can be found forever once they're published. About 30% of the traffic to Side Hustle Teachers is coming from posts or podcast episodes published at least 3 months prior. In other words, be patient. Trying to do too much at once Trying to do too much too fast is a sure path to burnout. When I first started blogging I put out posts 5 days a week. It was overwhelming (not to mention it wasn't stellar content) and I realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep up that pace for long.  These days we also have a growing list of social media networks that we “have to” be on, and we're on the road to exhaustion.  Instead of trying to be posting all the time in all the places, focus on growing one primary platform, like a blog, podcast, or a video show, and 1 or 2 secondary platforms, like Facebook or Instagram. Once you build an audience and, most importantly, develop a system for crafting and distributing your content there, you can add something else. Always going for the sale Content is a fantastic marketing tool, but no one wants to read a 1,000 word advertisement. Even your sales content should be helpful to your audience, and it should match the tone of your other content. If you're only posting about the spring collection that's now on sale, or your new program for sale, or the 30% off you're offering on essential oils it isn't hard to wonder why no one wants to read it. Not enough you in your content Your audience wants to know you so be sure to infuse your personality in what you share. If you're someone who drops an occasional f-bomb, go for it. If you absolutely love Stranger Things, go ahead and let your audience know you can't wait to find out what happens to Hopper in season 4. Side Hustle Teachers began because I wanted to be able to use all my classroom jargon, experience, and know-how in my business coaching!

If you’ve been wanting to start your side hustle, but are worried that you need a stack of cash to get going, this is the episode for you! In a perfect world every business would be able to start with a healthy flow of capital, a staff full of capable people, and a plethora of assets like a bright shiny website.  But the reality is that most of us are starting out with little-to-no money and we’re starting from scratch, doing everything ourselves. Here are several helpful hints on how to start your side hustle when you don’t have money to throw at it to begin with. Make Use of Social Media I am a big proponent of having your own website - owning the land you’re building on - but I also believe that starting where you are is better than waiting for perfection. So if you are hesitating on starting your business because you don’t have the time to get a website up and running, start with social media. There’s several advantages: it’s free, it’s easy, and it helps you get a sense of what you want to do and who you want to help. If you’re not sure what you’re wanting to do still, look at this as an experiment, or test run. Utilize the Free Tools Available to You There are tons of free ways to get yourself going You want to start a podcast? Anchor is a free app for your smartphone. Are you wanting to be in coaching and need to schedule when people are going to be meeting with you? Acuity has the tools to help you with that. This could be a great tool for scheduling consultations or podcast interviews too. They have a great free level of service to begin with. ConvertKit is an email managing service that I use and they have a free level as well so you can start collecting email addresses and so on.  Want to start a blog? Wordpress has an entry level as well for you to just get your content out.  Wordpress.org is where you’ll want to start if you plan on monetizing your blog, but I won’t get into all the ins and outs of that.  If you’re going to want to offer courses, MemberVault is where I keep all of my courses and offerings and they have a level of service for those just getting started as well. Overall keep in mind that many services offer free versions with a pay upgrade or free trial periods for you to test them out. Look for these free or super cheap things as a means of saving money to start with. Focus On Doing One Thing Well Focus on doing one thing well and not a hundred things poorly or mediocrely. Many beginning entrepreneurs try to take on too much, (I touched on this back in Episode 32) but in reality it is so much better to focus and hone your skillset into being great at one thing instead of trying to wear a million different hats at the beginning.  The problem is we listen to podcasts, read magazine articles, watch youtube videos and everything sounds like such a good idea and so…essential, especially when it’s people selling courses or services. But if your goal or your “one thing” at the moment is just building a facebook following, a super spiffy website or fancy logo can wait. Work on your one thing. Pre-Sell  Create an offer and sell it before you actually create it. See who’s interested and you can even record the content you’re offering live and resell it later. This also brings in money before you spend it. You’ll know what you have to work with and can budget from there and invest. Also important: use the tools you already have instead of investing in new ones. Think Like a Teacher Teachers know how to be scrappy in the classroom, but for some reason think we need all the things to run a business. Instead, think of your business like a lesson you want to teach, but don’t have the funding for. Get creative! New Episodes Coming! This is the last episode of season 4, but don’t worry, there will be more Side Hustle Teachers before season 5! Starting in January I’ll be sharing a few, shorter-format episodes called Teacher Features. These episodes will be brief interviews with real teachers who are building real hustles and will hopefully serve as an example and reminder that any teacher can be an edupreneur! I hope you’ll be around for those but either way, I’ll see you in Season 5! Wanting to start your side hustle but not sure what business is right for you? Take our new quiz to find out which business idea fits best with your interests, talents, and lifestyle at sidehustleteachers.com/quiz

Today we are talking all about playing small. Now, this is something a lot of us do early on in our business but sometimes it carries well into our business journey, or it can even cut short our journey that we are trying to find our way on.  The reason for this is that when we play small, we sabotage ourselves. Not intentionally of course, but we do get into a mindset of minimalism and even defeat. We keep looking for evidence of why we shouldn’t go bigger and find it because, well, that’s what we’re looking for.  Whereas, if we were looking for reasons to go bigger and celebrating our successes, we could find that too. So what I’m saying, is that if we go all in, we have a better chance for success than if we play small. Of course, going big can be scary and require you to put yourself out there in a way you aren’t used to. “Small is easy, small doesn’t attract attention, small is comfortable, small doesn’t offend, small doesn’t raise eyebrows, small keeps that little voice in your head quiet, small doesn’t hurt as much when you fall – and small keeps you right where you are.” - John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing Now, I know a lot of you come to Side Hustle Teachers because you aren’t happy right where you are, but if you keep playing small, that’s where you’re going to stay.  I want to emphasize that by going all in I DON’T mean to quit your job, sell your house, live off ramen noodles, and basically be a bag lady. Going all in means that you are standing up and proudly identifying yourself as a business owner. It means you tell people you know that you have a business, you celebrate your successes, and it means when people ask you what you do you say, “I’m a teacher AND I’m a business owner.” Now this can be a big shift but it is possible and it is so worth it.  Here are some ways that entrepreneurs could be playing small. Number 1: You use minimizing language.  One of the ways to look at this is called “upspeak,” and it’s when you turn every sentence into a question. It could be as simple as adding, “right?” to the end of a statement. Or it could be using filler words. But the worst culprit here is using “just.” “I don’t want to bother you, I’m just checking in,” or “I have this business, it’s just a little side thing I do.” See how easily we slip that in there to minimize what we’re doing, not to raise eyebrows like Mr. Jantsch said?  We all want to fly under the radar until magically one day we can announce that we’re a millionaire but that isn’t going to happen if we keep minimizing ourselves. Number 2: You pretend your business is a dirty little secret.  No one’s going to buy anything from you, whether it’s products or services, if you don’t tell them about it! Now, I’m not saying you need to DM everyone on facebook that you went to highschool with, nobody likes that person, but what I am saying is that you have to let people know you have a business. If you have a blog, share posts with your friends and family. If you have a business with physical products, let people know when something is on sale. You may not know what people want, but if you keep it from them, but if they don’t know what you have to offer, they’re going to go buy that something from somebody else. Number 3: You set small goals.  Now the problem with many new business owners is that we set micro-goals, but those are the only goals we have. Micro-goals are those baby step goals that are supposed to be working us to something bigger. But these goals like, “I want to sell one thing this month,” or, “I want ten page views,” don’t result in much change and they aren’t going to bring success. There’s nothing wrong with setting these micro-goals, but they have to be leading to something. Maybe you set an overall goal of 10,000 page views a month but you realize last month you only had five. So maybe your first goal is 100 so you need to work toward that by sharing your post and asking friends to share it with someone they think might enjoy it. Number 4: You only focus on the worst case scenario.  What if I tell everyone I started this business and it doesn’t work? What if I put myself out there but then have to later explain I’m no longer selling that, I’m doing this other thing? To all that, I say...SO WHAT? If anyone has followed my journey, you know that nobody's path is straight. If you start off one way but end up somewhere else, no one is going to judge you, they’re going to congratulate you for finding your very own “just right” business. So instead, try and focus on the best case scenario. What could go right? Success is different to everyone, so just think about how your life could be so much better if you reach your own level of success. As I said before, if you play it small, you hold yourself back from making big decisions that could lead you to success. So just to recap, instead of saying what you shouldn’t do, let me phrase it in a way of what you SHOULD do. Commit to going all in. Tell yourself and everyone you know, “this is my goal and this is how I’ll do it.” Replace that minimizing language. Catch yourself when you start using “just,” or answering in the form of a question. This isn’t Jeopardy. Own your answers, they’re from your own unique life experiences. Tell people about your business. Nobody can buy anything from you if they don’t know you have something to sell.  Set bigger goals for yourself. They should stretch you and make you uncomfortable.  Dream big. Let the worst case scenario worry about itself. Think about the best case scenario, spend your time there, and your whole perception of your business will shift. If you aren’t sure which side hustle business fits best with your interests and lifestyle, go to sidehustleteachers.com/quiz. You’ll answer 6 simple questions to find out what business is best suited for you. 

If you’ve ever thought about leaving the classroom for the corporate world, today’s episode with Ali Parrish of Teacher Transition is a can’t miss. Her business is all about helping teachers transition from classroom to corporate.  A lot of teachers come to Side Hustle Teachers with the intent of building a business that can help them leave the classroom, but what if you don’t want to wait? What if you just want to see what else is out there beyond education, now? Now that’s a tricky road because we’re trained as teachers, so who would want to hire us as anything other than a teacher? Well it turns out a lot of people. Teachers have crazy high levels of abilities, skills, and talents that lots of companies are begging for. Ali noted that the saying teachers often use is, “I wear a lot of hats,” but what that means is that teachers have crazy loads of skills. The first step is just identifying what those skills are and what that means for work outside the classroom. When Ali got into the business of helping teachers transition out of the classroom, she knew she found her passion.  Ali helps a lot of teachers interested in instructional design. Instructional design is perfect for someone who loves creating a scope and sequence and planning how to accomplish learning objectives with different learning experiences. With her experience, she created a course to help teachers make the transition to instructional designers called From Teacher To Instructional Designer. If you are a teacher who wants to create resources for other teachers, this is a perfect profession for you.  The first step for someone who wants to make the shift from teacher to the backside of the teaching industry is to look inside of yourself and identify what you want and need, and what jobs correlate with that. She has a quiz that can help you find out what that is at teachertransition.com/quiz.  It took Ali two years to figure out what to do next. She loves having a plan, she likes a methodical approach and so she came up with a process of how to figure it out with her course called Find Your Next Dream Job- For Teachers that walks you through all of the things she recommends starting with what are your strengths, skills, interests, needs, and then use research based assessments to identify the fields, jobs, or roles you would like and enjoy the most. It also has so many other resources to help you on your journey like help on how to get the job you want and be successful.  Knowing when it is time to transition out of the classroom can be hard. There is a big period of growth when you first start your teaching career. However, after five years or so, it can plateau and leave you feeling stuck and unsure of what to do next. Growth in your work is so important. The book Well Being by Tom Rath and Jim Harter explains that one of the essential elements of wellbeing is happiness in your career. it is important that if you are not feeling happy, it is time for you to make a change. You can check out Ali's courses by visiting sidehustleteachers.com/transition  One of the biggest challenges that teachers face when it comes to starting a side hustle is knowing what to do. So I created a quiz for you that will help you figure out what side hustle fits your needs. Your results will be based on your answers to 6 simple questions about your interests, skill set, and lifestyle. Go to Sidehustleteachers.com/quiz to take your quiz. Connect with Ali Website: Teachertransition.com Facebook Group: Teacher Transition Instagram: @teachertransition Podcast: The Teacher Transition Podcast

Nate and Alysha Jackson are former teachers turned seven figure Amazon sellers who know what is like to start from nothing. They started their business selling on Amazon nearly four years ago flipping everyday things they found at Walmart and Target. After selling over $180,000 in their first year, they were hooked. They are commonly referred to as “the Bra People,” since they have sold more Kohls bras on Amazon than their house is worth. Their end goal was to be able to be stay at home foster parents. However, they never lost that teaching bug but now, instead of teaching in the classroom, they continue to build an online community and support group for those wanting to get rid of debt, quit their jobs, and be financially free. If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon, you’ve probably noticed that there are literally millions of sellers using this platform to make money. But how do they do it? It can seem really overwhelming. My guest today, Nate Jackson, is here to share all the details of how he and his wife built a seven figure business selling on Amazon. We’re talking about Amazon FBA. If you’ve heard the term but still have no idea what it means, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. First and foremost, FBA stands for Fulfilled By Amazon and what that means is that the products are bought and sold by sellers but are held at Amazon warehouses for distribution.  Now there are several ways to manage you’re FBA account but the two biggest are what’s known as “white labeling” and “retail arbitrage.” White labeling is when you purchase a new product from a supplier  and sell that product on Amazon. Retail arbitrage, on the other hand, is what today’s guest specializes in. That’s where you purchase merchandise from retail sellers at steep discounts and then sell them on Amazon for a profit.  Selling on Amazon with arbitrage, instead of being a brand who sells their items directly to consumers, requiring a high investment and high risk strategy, you buy something from point A and then sell it on point B, ideally yielding a profit vs what your cost was. This has a much lower risk factor as you are buying and selling 1 of 100 different things instead of buying 100 of 1 thing. Another great perk to mention of Amazon’s FBA program is the use of their warehouse space. When Nate began his journey as a seller, he and his wife lived in a very small apartment with no room to store items to box and sell himself. So instead of self storage, he would send everything he purchased to an Amazon warehouse and then as customers purchased the items from his seller account, Amazon would package and send those orders. Getting Started Selling On Amazon Getting started, Nate only used $100, which was going to be he and his wives date money for two months and was no small sum at the time, however, small enough to not truly dent their day to day should it not work out. Their small gamble was rewarded quickly when within a month they were able to double that money which they then used to go back and buy more product, sell that, double again, and so on, repeating the process for the first year before realizing they didn’t need to continue their day jobs and this side hustle on top of it. When picking products, Nate uses the Amazon Seller App, an app only available to those who created and made an Amazon seller account. Using the app, you can go to any store and scan labels to see their selling history on Amazon. Using the given data, you can see how well a product has sold, how long it took to sell, at what price it sold, and what fees are involved in selling the item in order to best estimate your possible ROI. This is how Nate continues to pick items he knows will sell. TIP: It’s not what you think people will want to buy, it’s what people are buying based on the data.  Kohls became a very profitable place to find merchandise, especially bras. Nate said when it comes to certain things, like undergarments, people likely already have the one they want and often times when ordering online, just want to find the exact same thing so they can have more of what they already like. This is how Nate and his wife went on to sell more than double the price of their house in bras alone. Further helping them bolster profit when using Kohls, as well as other retailers, they utilize stacking of discounts such as X-percent off, Kohls cash incentives, Kohls credit rewards, as well as $10 off of $40 promotions, bringing their cost even lower and their profits even higher. Nate went on to emphasize that though this job is not easy, it is simple. Within that first year, or the growth phase of their business, Nate was spending around two hours a night and around ten hours on the weekends buying and shipping products. He had his goal set on building a business, not just having a side income. Again, going to a store, scanning every item on clearance and using the apps data to determine if it was a worthy investment was a tedious task but it was simple work. Nate does advise against going into this business if you’re someone who needs money right now. There is a building period and it does take time. It is an inventory business, you have to have an initial investment, however little or much, and then inventory to sell in order to turn profit. If you’re looking for a side hustle where you can grow something over time, this could be the gig for you. If you have time, patience, and are able to roll your profits back into the business for a time, this could be a great set up.    If you are interested in selling on Amazon, Nate is offering an exclusive discount for the Side Hustle Teachers community. You can get 10% off of his most popular course on flipping items from Kohls by going to sidehustleteachers.com/nate and use the code SIDEHUSTLETEACHER10.  Connect with Website: hustlebuddies.com Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/hustlebuddies Youtube: Hustle Buddies Official

When people come to me for help choosing their side hustle, I usually ask them “what are you awesome at?”, or “what are you an expert at?”.  Teachers have a hard time identifying themselves as an expert in anything because they put a lot of pressure on the word expert. Today, we are talking about how you can start thinking of yourself as an expert, even if you don’t feel like one yet.  Expert is a big word. We put a lot of meaning behind this one little word. There are so many teachers I know that have amazing skill sets and could do amazing things out there with their side hustle but they won’t take that first step because they wont allow themselves to think they might be an expert.  I am going to take you through a few steps today on how you can start shifting your mindset to start thinking of yourself as the expert that you really are.  I hear a lot of teachers say to me “I’m not an expert, it’s just easy”. The thing is we often don’t see our own super powers, the things we are really great at because they come easily to us. Not that we don’t have to work at them, not that we don’t have to develop that skill, but it is easier for us to do that than other people. Therefore, when we go to program something on a computer, it seems easy to us, whereas someone else might go to do it and want to throw their computer out the window. These things that are easy for you, are actually a good way to start thinking of yourself as, if not an expert, someone one step above. Someone who can help other people with the wealth of the knowledge that you have, get one step further.  You can use this skill in a couple of different ways.  1. You can actually do these things for other people. Because it is easy for you and not for them, so why would they not pay you for it?  2. The other way to go is to use your teaching ability and help other people learn how to do what you do. Even though you think this is just something that is easy for you, there are still ways for you to build a side hustle around this, without calling yourself an expert.  The next thing I want you to remember is the 10% rule.  The 10% rule says that you don’t have to know all the things. If your side hustle is teaching golf, you don't have to be Tiger Woods! There are plenty of people who are making a living as golf experts that are not as good as Tiger Woods because, quite frankly, few are. So you only have to be about 10% better than the people you want to help at whatever you want to help them with. The 10% rule is a great rule of thumb when you are first getting started that you don’t have to know all the things. You just have to know a little bit more than the people you are trying to help.  The next thing is to remember, you’re a teacher! You are already a lifelong learner. You can learn as you go. There is nothing that says knowledge and skills when you start your business are all you’re allowed to have. Imagine if we started teaching like that, and the skills that we had as a first year teacher were all we had, never allowed to improve or learn more. What would our classrooms look like? It would be a nightmare! Why would we think the same is true for our business? You can learn as you go. As you figure out what clients and customers want from you, and focus your learning on that topic.  As you learn about your business, you can grow into your role as the expert. Whether the expert is teaching other people or doing for other people.  The last thing I’m going to say is that you don’t have to call yourself an expert. You can let other people do that for you. You will earn the reputation of expert from the people that you help. You are teaching them, you are the bees knees, and they are going to recommend you to other people! It’s not you announcing you’re an expert.  I’m technically a “master teacher”. I’ve got the degree and letters after my name to prove it. But that doesn’t mean I walk into a classroom and say “hello there, I’m Stacey Ogden, master teacher”. That would be a little ridiculous, and a little bit obnoxious. What I do is let my teaching speak for itself. I let my students and parents figure out that I’m a master teacher. You don’t have to go into your business calling yourself an expert. Do the work and let other people call you an expert. You can be the humble, ever-gracious genius behind the scenes.  Don’t feel the need to call yourself an expert. Understand that expert is a big word for teachers. Frankly, there is always something more to learn. When we stop learning, we stop growing. That’s when things get stagnant, boring, and frankly, nobody wants to be around the person who is stagnant and boring. You know what you know, and that can help the people that are 10% behind you.  This is true for all side hustles, if you want to be a virtual assistant, you need to know just a little bit more than the person you’re assisting. Maybe you want to sell resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, but you worry that they aren’t pretty, cool, interactive, or engaging enough. There are people out there that are looking for lessons that you already created and would be grateful for what you can provide for them! Because you have skills or knowledge that they don’t have.  So, my friend, do not fear calling yourself an expert. You don’t have to. But you do need to know that you have something that people need. And it is not just teaching. You can use your skills, your abilities, whether they’re innate or something you worked really hard to learn, to help support your family in a new way.  The CEO Teacher Academy opens this week, so if you’ve been thinking of selling your teaching resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, now’s the time to get started. Kayse Morris, who was on last week’s show, will walk you through everything you need to know to get started and get found on Teachers Pay Teachers AND as a special bonus for Side Hustle Teachers community members, if you join via my affiliate link, sidehustleteachers.com/ceo, you’ll be granted a lifetime membership into Edupreneur Academy! This gives you access to our ever-growing library of lessons and resources AND monthly live calls with me and the community to ask questions, get feedback, and learn from your fellow edupreneurs.

Today's Guest: Kayse Morris, Online Business Owner Kayse Morris is a former 8th grade english and language arts teacher and now helps teachers live their best lives. Her main goal is to empower the educators of the world to leave a legacy online by selling their teaching resources. She got started on Teachers Pay Teachers in 2013 and it changed her life. She had no intention of leaving the classroom, she loves being a teacher and it is her greatest joy. However in  2018, she stepped out of the classroom to start helping other teachers with their businesses. Summary If you’re a teacher, you’ve probably thought about selling on the website Teachers Pay Teachers, but sometimes it can be daunting. How do you get started? What do you sell? Well today’s guest is telling us all about it and she is an expert.  This website has been around for a long time and many teachers have thought about or tried to sell their course materials on that website. But sometimes it can be overwhelming. There’s so many teachers on there so how do you get found? Today’s guest Kayse Morris is the person to ask about that.  Kayse is a former teacher who has created a 7 figure online business and through her course, the CEO Teacher Academy.  She teaches educators how to become a thriving CEO Teachers by taking their best asset in the classroom and building a legacy by teaching their passion. CEO Teachers are coached on how to create and market their teaching resources and grow their businesses to make an impact and enable them to live their passion each day.  Teachers have the perfect DNA to become entrepreneurs because they encompass the word “badass”. They have the ability to know how to teach in the online space. A lot of people are trying to sell courses online but they just aren’t teachers. We are born with it. It is the perfect match for us.. Because we are lifelong learners, whatever we don’t know about running an online business, we can totally learn.  While struggling through postpartum depression, Kayse thought that teaching was going to help her find happiness. But creating lesson plans and juggling being a mom, putting her kids in daycare, realizing she was only making enough money to pay for daycare, she was struggling and felt like she just wasn’t a good teacher. Making lesson plans on top of battling her depression was very hard for her. When she finally confronted her depression, she also decided to start selling her teacher resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. She made $50 in her first month but knew nothing could stop her after that.  Now, after experiencing much success, Kayse has left the classroom to focus her business. She doesn’t necessarily encourage teachers to leave the classroom. She likes to celebrate those that do for impacting even more students but she wants teachers to know that you don't have to ever desire to leave the classroom. You can make a financial impact on your family that changes the trajectory of your life. It can make your life easier.  Every day she was encountering teachers that wanted to know how she did it so she started coaching other teachers on how to do it. After finding out what they needed, she created a course on how to sell teacher resources and enrolled hundreds of teachers. She teaches 5 levels of the teacher success path, and Teachers Pay Teachers is just level one.  Kayse believes that success leaves breadcrumbs  She dove headfirst into learning everything she could and taking every course she could to learn how to make this happen. She developed the perfect opt in that was lasered in to her ideal client. She wanted to serve them to the best of her ability, and for her students to know that investing in her course would be worth every penny.  It is so important to know that if you take the courses and watch all of the videos, but you don’t do anything, then it’s not going to happen. You have to put the work in. This is not a short game, this is a long game. If you are trying to build something long term, you have to be in it long term. It’s not going to happen overnight, just like you didn’t become a great teacher overnight.  That’s not to say nothing goes wrong Sometimes you will make something amazing, and no one buys it. And that’s okay. You learn. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!  Teachers Pay Teachers has exploded since 2013. You may hear that it is oversaturated. If you are trying to come in and sell Kindergarten and math centers without a unique spin, it will be hard to sell a large amount.  There are 3 important things for you to understand when you start selling on Teachers Pay Teachers Keyword optimization  Know what you are good at  What your customers need that isn’t oversaturated.  You bring awareness to this need, and then you begin selling it. The CEO Teacher Academy is opening soon and you don’t want to miss this. If you want a sneak peak into how Kayse works and creates and sells her resources, she has a free training for you that you can join by going to sidehustleteachers.com/tpt.  As an extra bonus, Kayse is going to be joining us live in the Side Hustle Teachers facebook group  on October 19th at 7 pm. You aren’t going to want to miss this chat because she will be answering questions about her program and spilling all the tea on Teachers Pay Teachers. Connect with Kayse Website: Kaysemorris.com Instagram: @kaysemorris Podcast: The CEO Teachers Podcast Find your teacherpreneur type to find out where you are on this journey and how she can help you by going to kaysemorris.com/quiz

The term side hustle can mean different things to different people, and even different things at different points in your life. So today, we are going to dig into all of those different definitions and in what situation you might use to decide which side hustle is for you.   What is a side hustle?  In some cases it might be just anything you do that brings in extra money. In my mind, I have always thought of a side hustle as something that is more within your own control. So a business that you run or a side gig that you are in complete control of. There are different types of side hustles and different situations might make you more interested in a certain type.  People Who Need Money Now You can’t wait, you’re behind on your bills, and you just need money now. A side hustle would be something along the lines of driving for Uber, delivering for Instacart, or something along those lines. You could even get a second job. You would have a second employer and you would get paid through a regular paycheck system.  Pros You get money pretty quickly It tends to be low stress (or at least lower stress than teaching) Some flexibility (especially with Uber or Instacart) because you are setting your own hours. Your boss will usually be pretty flexible and allow you to work around your family and primary job as well  Cons Very unlikely you will ever replace your teaching salary or get to your long time goals by doing one of these side hustles They are a bandaid, or temporary fix to an immediate problem They tend to have lower pay They are pretty unsustainable because if you are working 60 hours a week as a teacher (which is what they say the average is) and you are trying to work a second job on top of that, you will hit a wall.  This is not something I would suggest if your strategy is something long term. If you are looking to create something that will help you retire early, but it is something that is available to you if you need money now.  You don’t need money right this second It’s a more pressing matter than a long term play. You need it pretty soon. In this case, you are looking at something like Outschool or VIPKid as really good options. They’re not instant money, you have to be approved to teach for them. You have to have classes approved for them. It is a process so it usually takes a couple months. You also have to build up a following of people who actually take your classes, which takes a little bit longer as well.  Pros They are very flexible You set your own hours Your earnings are dependent on you- how many classes you offer and what you charge for them They’re designed for teachers. If you are going to teach for Outschool, and you are already a teacher, you have a leg up on the platform. You have totally got this!  Cons Your earnings are capped. You can only teach so many classes. And while you do set your own rates, there is a normative center for what people charge on Outschool, and if you go much over that, people aren’t going to take your classes no matter how good you are.  You are still trading time for money. Even though it is flexible and you have freedom, you are still at the mercy of someone else to create income for you. That’s not to say you’re not always, because you eventually have to sell something. But when it comes to these side hustles, if you are not physically present in your class, or don’t physically create the work for a flex class, then you are not going to make any money.  It’s not really scalable. It is dependent on you being there, doing the work. You can’t pass it off to somebody else, and you can’t really scale beyond a certain point.  You Have Long Term Money Goals You want to buy a house, you want to pay for your children’s college, or perhaps an early retirement. The situation is different, because in this case you want to build a sustainable, scalable business. Something like Side Hustle Teachers, or like what you have heard some of our guests talk about, they have created a business that can grow beyond them.  Pros You are in complete control. It is your business and it can be whatever you want it to be. Obviously, there’s some leg work that goes into that and some research, but you can make it work any way you want to. Once you set it up, you have a long term sustainable income to rely on.  It's fairly simple to bring that up once you have a scalable business. If you are making $1000 a month, and it turns out your kid wants to take special dance lessons, and you need another $500 a month, you can ramp up your business pretty quickly to earn it.  Cons It takes time. It is not an overnight thing. It is a long term play.  It requires self discipline. You need to be the one because you don’t have a boss telling you what to do. Setting your own hours and making yourself work even if you don’t necessarily feel like it. You’re in complete control. Your business and how you set it up, is all on you.  Here’s why I am such an advocate for option number 3- building your own, sustainable business.  If you are an exhausted broke teacher, this is the only option that allows you to stop trading time for money. You might start out that way. If you are a life coach and you start working with people one on one, you’re still trading time for money. But eventually, you can go beyond that and create a course, or train other people to coach in the way that you do. There’s really no limit to what you can do with your own business. As opposed to when you are working for somebody else, you are limited.  It also allows you to build an income that gives you the option of teaching or not. I don’t know about you but there have been times in my teaching career when I have said, “I don’t want to do this right now, but I don’t have any other options. I’m not trained for anything else.” This was before I started side hustling and realized that I am trained for just about everything else. This allows you to take a step back and have the financial freedom to know that teaching is an option. It is a choice you are making and it is not something that is being forced upon you. As someone who is only teaching because of my side hustle and the personal growth and freedom that it gave me, that is a great feeling. I am teaching because I want to.  Another reason I support this is because we have enough bosses. Between our immediate superior, team leader, school level admin, district level admin, and everyone else, we have enough bosses. We don’t need to have someone else tell us what to do anymore! Teachers already have crazy business skills. Teachers don’t know they have these skills or how they apply outside the classroom but they do in so many ways. There’s really no excuse and no reason to not build your own business. Check out my bonus episode about 10 reasons teachers make great business owners here. Here’s the good news, you don’t have to choose. You don’t have to have only one side hustle. Would I recommend it forever? Probably not. But when you are first starting out, it is okay to do more than one. If you really plan it out, your job and business could be related. You don’t have to choose one or the other. If you need money right now, you could always go in and do one of those jobs that is going to get you money right now.  Just remember to keep an eye on the future. If your goal is long term financial stability, you’re going to need to do something that is going to set you up for the long term. And driving for Uber or delivering for Instacart are great short term ways to get cash, but they are not a long term play.  I am a huge advocate for starting your own business. I have seen the power that it has in people’s lives and the changes and differences it has made for teachers. So i strongly recommend you consider this option, but remember that you don’t have to choose.  If you want to start building your business and setting yourself up for long-term financial success, I invite you to check out Edupreneur Academy. It’s full of practical, step-by-step guidance on how to start and grow your side hustle while still being a boss in the classroom. To learn more or to join now, go to sidehustleteachers.com/academy

The first episode of the new season of Side Hustle Teachers drops 2 weeks from today - September 28, 2020 - and it is going to blow. your. mind.  I’m Stacey Ogden, self-taught entrepreneur and founder of Side Hustle Teachers. It’s my mission to help teachers like you make more money, follow your passions (education-related, or not), and give you the confidence to know that teaching is just one of many career options you have.  So if you’re an educator who is struggling financially, feeling stuck, and not sure that you can handle being a teacher for another 10, 20, or 30 years, you have come to the right place! This season on the podcast you will hear practical tips for starting and growing a business of your own from me and my guests. And since I only feature educators on this show, you know that every piece of advice or strategy is totally doable for a busy teacher. Mark your calendar for September 28, 2020 for the first episode of season 4! You’re not going to want to miss it!

One of the ways we create a more fulfilling and joyful life is through a career that we’re passionate about. That said, it can be difficult to get excited about the work we do when it feels like an obligation or a chore.  When we actively choose to do something, we will feel fired up for it more consistently. Having a side hustle is a great way to refresh our love for what we do in a meaningful way. To make it even better, we need it to be specialized or niched down.  How do we go beyond something general, to a side hustle in a great niche? Why does this help us feel more fulfilled at work?  In this episode, CEO of Side Hustle Teachers and Founder of the Edupreneur Academy, Stacey Ogden shares how to start a niched-down side hustle that reignites our passion for work.   Don't make the mistake of trying to talk to everybody. Your business should be what you want it to be, not just what it can be. -Stacey Ogden   3 Things We Learned From This Episode   How to narrow our focus to only the people we’re excited to serveMany people struggle with wanting to help everyone. But if we want to create successful businesses, we have to narrow down our focus because it helps us connect with people who really love what we do.  How to stop apologizing for not helping everyoneTo create a niche, we have to narrow down the group of people we want to serve until we have a clear picture of our ideal client. Once we’ve done that, we have to be unapologetic about what we offer and what we don’t.  How to build a referral network to help the people who aren’t in our nicheIt can be difficult to say no when someone outside our niche asks for our assistance, but we can still help the client without broadening our scope. Building a referral network allows us to say “Yes” by introducing other products and services, without getting off track in our side hustle.   Guest Bio-  Stacey Ogden is the CEO of Side Hustle Teachers and founder of the Edupreneur Academy.  She has built a community of more than 4,000 educators supporting each other on their entrepreneurial journeys and helped dozens of teachers start and grow profitable side hustles, all while maintaining her full-time teaching job.  That’s right - she walks the talk.   To find out more about Stacey, head to: sidehustleteachers.com  facebook.com instagram.com linkedin.com   Stacey’s Edupreneur Academy is a membership program for teachers who want to start or grow a side hustle while still being the boss in the classroom. Learn more at members.sidehustleteachers.com

Thank you for listening to Teacher side gig This is Paul Lichtenauer from Side Hustle Teachers. I teach electives at an alternative high school in the Kansas City area, and on the side I do audio production, songwriting, composing for TV and fil... Thank you for listening to Teacher side gig This is Paul Lichtenauer from Side Hustle Teachers. I teach electives at an alternative high school in the Kansas City area, and on the side I do audio production, songwriting, composing for TV and film, announce and promote bike races, and co-host a podcast on local cycling. Website is velosoundsrecordings.com Instagram @velo_sounds Facebook - Velo Sounds Recordings YouTube - Velo Sounds Recordings Make sure to check out website at www.teachersidegig.com

When people start thinking about trying a side hustle, many get stuck on the thinking and never get to the trying. The same can often be said for those who have a business and are thinking about leveling up... lots of thinking. Today we're talking about why action will get you farther than thinking (and faster), how to get over your fears of starting, and simple ways to gain some momentum! Have you left a review for the Side Hustle Teachers podcast?  Reviews from listeners help other people find our little corner of the world and let us help even more teachers.  If you haven't written a review, we'd be honored if you could take a moment to do so on whatever podcast app you're on.  If you use an iPhone you can simply open the Apple Podcasts app, search for Side Hustle Teachers and tap on ratings and reviews. You can also use the desktop version of iTunes on any computer and leave a review there.  Like I said, it really helps us spread the word and help more people. Why is it wrong to think about things? It's not. At all. However, weighing your options, considering your choices, and thinking over the variables is supposed to be a step towards taking action. Instead, many people get stuck on thinking and never get to the action part. Let me give you some examples: You go to a store and pick out two new shirts, and are trying to decide which one to buy. You look at the shirts, compare the sleeve lengths, the colors, the cuts... you even hold them up in front of you in the mirror. But the only way to know for sure which of those two shirts you should spend your money on, is to try them on. That's the only way to know how they look on you, how the fabric feels, whether the cut of the shirt pinches your armpit, or if the shirt is going to reveal a little too much when you bend down or lift your arms. Now you can decide which shirt to get, or if neither of them work. It's date night.  You and your spouse are going to go to dinner without the kids and you can't wait! You've thought about where to go all week, and now it's time to leave... but you haven't decided where to go. The Italian place has great bread, but the Asian fusion place has amazing atmosphere. Essentially, you can't make a bad choice because you're going to have a good time no matter where you go.  But, you have to make a choice.  Otherwise date night is going to be spent in your driveway and no food or fun will be had. Thinking isn't wrong. It's an important step in the process. You just have to remember it's not the last step.  You're thinking so you can feel more confident about doing. "I can't get out of my head" I hear ya.  We all suffer from analysis paralysis from time to time. We become like those kids who can't answer multiple choice questions because they can arguably make some circular logic case for why the answer could be B: the sky is purple. When you find yourself spinning out, talking yourself into and out of multiple options over and over again, it's usually because of one thing: fear. You're afraid of making the wrong choice. Afraid of looking foolish. Afraid of failure, and maybe even a bit afraid of success and what it would do to the life you've built. This fear can paralyze everyone in different ways. For some it means you keep coming up with idea after idea and every time you eliminate one idea, another one comes to you. For others, you can't think of anything. Your mind is a complete blank. And still others will knock out every possibility because you can see every possible pitfall down the road. That's fear's way of keeping you "safe." Fear knows that where you are right now is safe. It might not be happy, proud, fulfilling, or financially stable, but it's learned to deal with this situation, and anything else is... well... unknown. What can you do? The good news is that you can move past fear. A few episodes back I shared a few ways you can get experience in a side hustle before you launch your business. If you haven't listened to that episode, episode 31, check it out. By test driving your side hustle before you fully invest you can quiet that fear because you'll have some experience to draw on and fear won't have so much to argue about. Another great strategy for getting out of thinking mode and into action mode is to give yourself a deadline. Give yourself a week to research your side hustle options and, if there are a lot of them, narrow it down to the top two. If not, just make a choice. Then give yourself a set amount of time to decide if you're going to jump in or get some experience first (and what that experience will be) Remember that baby steps are still steps. You don't have to take massive action all at once - quit your job, downsize to a tiny house, and live on Ramen until you make your dream come true. Honestly, the people who do that aren't normal. They're the kind of people tv shows are made about, but so are the people on Jerry Springer, so... In season 2, I chatted with Michelle Paul, a member of the Side Hustle Teachers community, about how she built her very successful business slowly, over time, with baby steps. The fact that it happened slowly doesn't make her success any less valid or impressive. It makes it achievable! So this week I challenge you to take action on something that gets you one step closer to starting or growing your business. And if you're ready to take the next step in starting or growing your side hustle, I invite you to join the Edupreneur Academy! Edupreneur Academy is a membership program designed for teachers, by teachers and contains everything you need to confidently get your side hustle off the ground, making consistent income, and growing steadily. As soon as you join you'll get access to our unique Success Path, the entire library of courses, trainings, and tutorials and an invitation to our monthly live Q & A calls, not to mention a private Facebook community. Just go to members.sidehustleteachers.com to enroll.

Today's Guest: Erica Terry Erica Terry is a 17 year educator, who currently serves as a professional learning consultant and coach committed to empowering co-teachers to build collaborative relationships that include shared roles & responsibilities. In addition to her role as a consultant, she also is an edupreneur and host of the Classroom to CEO Podcast, where she equips educators to build an online business and create multiple streams of income. While empowering educators to create a life they love embodies her professional passion, her husband, Melvin and daughter, Eva are the driving force and greatest blessings in her life. Summary When Erica decided to start her side hustle journey, she first started with a blog. She wanted to talk about goal setting and personal growth, but she soon realized that she hadn't fully developed her idea, her focus, or her ideal customer avatar. Without those three key pieces, it was difficult to find an audience, so the blog didn't last very long. Of course as side hustlers, we never actually fail, we just learn what doesn't work and do better next time. And that's what Erica did.  The next time she launched Erica thought about what her strengths were. How did her personal experience as a teacher set her apart from others? How could she use this experience to help others?   As a new teacher, Erica was placed in a classroom with a co-teacher. However, her co-teacher was just  a few years away from retirement, and perhaps... not fully invested in the classroom.  The situation was a struggle.   A couple years later when she was placed with a new co-teacher, she was able to build a much stronger professional relationship and create a cohesive bond that aided her, her co-teacher, and their students. Drawing on this experience, Erica created a consulting company specifically designed to help co-teachers work together better. She provided professional training on how to co-teach and how to build a relationship in the classroom.  Through this experience Erica was able to master three tenants that trouble so many edupreneurs, including those with whom I work closely:  Identifying a specific problem  Defining a specific solution  Offering your solution to a specific group of people Once she had a product to sell, her program for helping teachers work together in the classroom, Erica had to figure out how to get the word out so people could find her and hire her. So she did what so many are unwilling to do; she reached out to people she already knew. She leveraged the network she had spent years building to help her grow her new network.  She then started to reach beyond her comfort zone and to people she'd never met before to be on podcasts or speak at education events.  Erica admits that this was a big step for her, and something she had to mentally prepare herself for, but that the rewards of being featured on stage or on podcasts or as a guest blogger go far beyond the discomfort she felt sending a pitch. And like we say at my house, “If you don't ask, the answer is always no.” In the beginning she used her network as guinea pig audiences. She would provide her presentation for small groups in exchange for feedback on how to make it better. This way when she got on the larger stage she knew she was giving the best version of the information and could go on with confidence.  Erica says that her two biggest roadblocks to building her business were time and mindset. For teachers, time is always at a premium, so when you start a side hustle on top of teaching, it can become a bit of a juggling act for a while. When it comes to mind set every entrepreneur will have to work through their own mental issues. Erica says one of her techniques for conquering mindset issues is to, “get off the island.” If you want to be an entrepreneur, join groups for entrepreneurs, like Side Hustle Teachers. put yourself around people you want to be like, and reach out for connections beyond the teaching world. Connect with Erica Website: www.ericaterry.co Facebook: facebook.com/ericaterryceo Twitter: twitter.com/ericaterryceo Instagram: instagram.com/ericaterryceo Pinterest: pinterest.com/ericaterryceo

In working with teachers along all points of the entrepreneurial journey, and through the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group, there are some mistakes that come up over and over.  Today we’re going to dig into them and what you should do instead.  Stick around. When you’re starting something new, mistakes are inevitable.  But some mistakes are avoidable, if you’re prepared for them. Today I’m going to share 5 of the mistakes I see most often with clients and members of the Side Hustle Teachers community (and may or may not have made myself when starting out), and how to avoid them. Choosing a business based on what your friend sells People will post in the SHT group that a friend of theirs has had good luck with XYZ business, and they’re thinking of doing the same thing. This happens most often, but not exclusively, with Direct Sales companies partly because they actively recruit people, trot out successful sellers, and promise quick returns. While it’s great that you’ve been inspired by another edupreneur, it’s important to think about your business as yours, and consider what you want to do.  What do you like to do? What are you great at? What do you want your life to look like? So before you jump into a business because someone else is having success with it, remember that you’re more likely to have success with something you’re passionate about. Wait too long to get started On the flip side of jumping in too quickly because you’re excited by someone else’s success is another mistake; not getting started because you’re waiting for… something. Whether you’re waiting for the perfect time, or the perfect hustle, people often delay starting a business because they feel it’s not just right. The truth is, there’s no such thing as a perfect side hustle (as we talked about in episode 25), there’s just the next right step. There is no such thing as the perfect time to start a side hustle - just like there’s never a perfect time to have a kid, start a new diet, or try a new hair style. Stop overthinking and start doing! Remember that clairy comes from action, not thinking. Taking on too much, too fast If you’ve ever gone on a highly restrictive diet, like the kind where you can only eat meat and beans, you know it doesn’t last because it’s impossible to maintain. The minute someone waves an apple or a piece of bread at you, you crumble. The same is true of starting and growing a business.  If you try to do everything, be all the places, run all the social media, and put out new content all the time, you’re going to burn out.  All businesses, but especially side hustlers, and especially side hustlin’ teachers, need to focus on the activities that are going to make you money and get you known for what you want to be known for. Try to do everything ourselves There is a lot of learning to be done when building a business. Things we’ve never had to think about as teachers are part and parcel for entrepreneurs, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be experts in everything, or that we have to do everything ourselves. When your time is precious, you have to use it to do things that are within your skill set and helping you move towards your goals. So, if you’re not a tech savvy person, you have to question whether spending time and energy on building a website is worth it. OR would that time be better spent working on your marketing and with clients, while someone else builds your website. And hiring someone doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. You can find folks who are new to their craft working for less, or even barter your services in exchange for theirs.  Quitting too soon Regardless of what internet marketers trumpet in their Facebook ads, building a business takes time.  It’s a long-term proposition.  No one goes out and starts raking in thousands of dollars a month right off the bat. But too many quit before they make any money, thinking they’ve done something wrong. You haven’t. Before I monetized my first business, my blog, I worked to establish it for 6 months.  Then, when I put AdSense ads on it, I made $2.11 the first month. But do you know why that $2.11 made me so happy? Because it proved I had something that could make money.  Was I going to hand in my resignation the following Monday?  No, but it was proof that I had something. When you’re starting and growing a business, remember that it’s going to take time. Like a lesson plan, you’re going to tweak it and change it, and rearrange it many times before you hit the sweet spot.  (Come on, think of a lesson you wrote in your first year vs what you plan now - no contest!) Give yourself time to learn what you’re doing, figure out what works and what doesn’t, and tweak your business until you find your edupreneur sweet spot.

​Are you waiting to start your business until the perfect side hustle reveals itself to you?  Today we’re talking about why you should stop waiting and start taking action. Oftentimes people come to Side Hustle Teachers with the goal of starting a side hustle, but no clear idea on what to do.  And while I and the Facebook group can provide lots of ideas, only you can decide what’s right for you. There’s no “1 way” Like many things in life, there are multiple paths a side hustlin’ teacher can follow.  What most people don’t say out loud is that most of the paths available to you are equally good. It’s like when you input a destination into Google maps.  You’re often given several routes to choose from - maybe one has tolls while another takes a few minutes longer - but in the end, they all get you to your destination. No matter what your side hustlin’ destination, whether it’s early retirement, saving for college, or to build up a savings account and stop living paycheck to paycheck, there are multiple side hustles that will get you there. We might not know the whole path before we start. It can be scary to start a journey without knowing every turn along the way, but if you take the first step, then the next best step, and repeat, you’ll reach your goal.  If you wait for the path to become clear, you’re never going to start. For example, in Season 1 I talked with Robin Walker about her journey.  She started out selling cheerleading bows and now coaches women in business and runs the annual Women’s Business Conference in Wisconsin. I know this can be a daunting prospect for teachers who are used to Backward Design and planning with the end in mind, but it can be done.  Remember, there’s no end of the year or state test for your business. You can take your time and just keep taking the next right step. Is there a wrong path? So, if there are numerous right ways to reach my goal, is there a wrong way? You know you’re not on the right path if you’re doing something that doesn’t align with your values or your goals, and only you can define what that is.  If you’re doing business with a company or in a way that goes against your moral or ethical code, stop. Find another path. However, a lot of people think that discomfort is a sign that something is wrong.  That is simply untrue. Discomfort is a sign that something is changing. And change, while scary, isn’t bad.  It’s up to you evaluate your discomfort and decide whether it’s coming from growth and change, or if something in your life is misaligned. What’s the next best step? The only way to reach your goal is to take action.  Your next best step is to make a decision and go for it. If you’re at the beginning of your journey, your next best step might be securing a domain name or signing up with a company you want to be a part of.  If you’re further along it might be hiring a coach or investing in a web designer.   The idea is to act.  Make a decision and do it.   If you’re ready to start or grow your side hustle, I invite you to join the Edupreneur Academy.  Follow our Success Path, check out the growing library or lessons and tutorials, and get support in finding your next right step.  Right now, and through March 24th, 2020, you can join for only $10 a month and get access to all the tools you need to reach your goal.

Have you been missing the Side Hustle Teacher goodness?  Well, your time has come my friend because Side Hustle Teachers Podcast is returning March 16th!  We’ve got a new logo, a new web address - sidehustleteachers.com - no dashes, that’s right - and a new program, the Edupreneur Academy, Business School for Teachers, but everything you know and love about Side Hustle Teachers is just the same. In season 3 of the Side Hustle Teachers Podcast we’re all about taking action.  Each episode is designed to help to move forward in starting or growing your side hustle because if there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the years it’s that clarity comes in the doing. So, in support of our goal of helping you take action, we’re hosting a Jump Start Your Side Hustle 5-Day challenge starting March 9, 2020.  If you’re still trying to get started, have hit a plateau, or are struggling with leveling up your business, this challenge is for you. Each day you’ll get an email from me with a video lesson and a small task to complete.  And, just because we can, I’ll be going live in the Facebook group each night to answer questions, offer support, and give high 5s! To join the challenge, just go to sidehustleteachers.com/jumpstart and, if you’re not one of the nearly 4,000 people in the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group, make sure you submit a request to join. What can you expect from Season 3? We’re going to dig into mindset issues, debunk some side hustle myths, give practical tips and advice, and, of course, feature some amazing guests, all of which is presented to you to help you what?  TAKE ACTION!

#018 - Stacey Ogden of Side Hustle Teachers explains her process for deciding what sort of side business to start and how you go about implementing it.For the show notes for this episode, visit:https://changeworklife.com/18Also, make sure to join the Change Work Life Facebook group and check out all the resources mentioned by our guests on the Change Work Life Resources page.

Stacey helps teachers make more money at Side Hustle Teachers, which offers courses to get started with a business. Since we last spoke, she’s been really focusing on communicating with her audience through the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook Group and via direct emails. We also talk about how Stacey has been able to organically grow her Facebook group without spending anything on advertising.If you enjoyed today's episode and you love the format of this show and helping other entrepreneurs, can you help me convince others to listen too? All you have to do is leave a quick review and rating on iTunes (and subscribe if you haven't already). That would mean the world to me, so thank you so much!Today’s sponsor is FreshBooks, who make the best financial management software out there. It’s ridiculously easy to use and their interface is highly-visual and super-intuitive. You can actually get an unrestricted, thirty-day trial for free; just go to FreshBooks.com/askpat and enter “Ask Pat” in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.Buy my new book Superfans!

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that I believe teachers can do absolutely anything we set our minds to.  That said, what I believe doesn’t really matter if you don’t believe in yourself! So today, for the last episode of Season 2, we’re talking about how to start believing in yourself as much as I believe in you. Acknowledge your mad skills I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, teachers have a crazy set of skills that are totally transferable to starting a business.  Let’s do a quick run down. Organization Writing Budgeting Listening Explaining stuff Self-discipline Communication Problem solving Creativity Draw on the soft skills of teaching Let’s face it.  Teaching builds a skill set that no one talks about and you probably wouldn’t put on your resume.  Compassion Doing a lot with a little Coming up with a plan B-Q on the spot Finding teachable moments Making connections Powering through the crap Starting a business is more manageable than you think Literally thousands of teachers do it every year.   And there’s no right or wrong way to do it.  You can get up early to do work, or do it at night while you watch Netflix.  You can work on something education related, or not. You can work online or in person.  Write, talk, or do video. You can do hard things Are there hard parts to starting a business.  Yep. But, there are hard things about teaching, too.  And being a mom. And buying a house.   But like those things, you learn as you go.   And… you have Side Hustle Teachers, in whatever form you choose to use it, for support at every step of the way.  That’s literally why it started. This is the last episode of Season 2, but don’t worry.  You can still get lots of ideas, support, and advice - not to mention hang out with some awesome people - in the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook group!  And if there’s anything you want to hear in Season 3, drop me a note and let me know. Planning begins as soon as this episode wraps!

Lots of people come to Side Hustle Teachers because you like the idea of having a side hustle, but for whatever reason, you’re not ready to take action.  But even if you’re not ready to launch your business, there are things you can do today to make it easier for yourself later. Start tracking your time You don’t have to use a formal time tracking app or anything, just start to take notice of how you use your time.   Most of us like to stay busy, so when we have time, we fill it.  Even if that means we’re doing things that don’t need to be done (or don’t need to be done by us), we feel our days are full. Some things to look at: How much time are you spending on social media? How much time are you spending on busy work? How much time are you spending on dreaming of making your classroom Pinterest perfect? You don’t even have to make changes to your schedule.  Just noticing that there are opportunities in your week to adjust how you spend your time can shift your mindset enough to get you moving. Squirrel away some money While it is possible to start a business with no money, it’s much easier if you have at least a bit to invest. If you’re building on your own, and are willing and able to do the work yourself, I would advise having even just $100 set aside for basic expenses. If you want to join an MLM, starting kits generally run $200-500. If you’re thinking of creating a product, the up-front investment is typically larger. Do some market research Ask questions.   You: What’s a problem you can solve?  How can you help others make their lives easier?   Friends/ Family: What’s something you wish were easier?  If I could make this situation less taxing/annoying/difficult, would you pay for a solution? Strangers: I have an idea about ____, is this a problem you have, too?  If I were to offer you ____, what would you expect to get with it? What would you expect to pay for it? Dream big Getting some of the pre-planning work out of the way clears a path for you to begin to see your dream as possible.   If you’re ready to take the next step and turn what’s possible into reality, check out Business Prep Program!  This is a small group program just for teachers like you who are at the beginning of your edupreneur journey. Get monthly lessons, a live Q & A call, a private Facebook group and priority access to me.  Join now for just $10 a month at side-hustle-teachers.com/businessprep

Stacey is a music teacher, entrepreneur, podcaster, and founder of Side Hustle Teachers. On this episode, she discusses how, despite becoming a teacher has been her life-long dream since she was only 9 years old, having a side hustle ultimately made balancing work and family possible.

Side Hustle Teachers is back with more tips, more stories, and more guest experts!

Show Notes & Links Elite Edupreneurs: Empowering Educators to Become Entrepreneurs 7/16/19 Episode 103: Stacey Ogden - Side Hustle Teachers Today I interview Stacey from Side Hustle Teachers. Stacey is a teacher, blogger, and coach who helps teachers find their side hustle. Stacey shares how she has successfully monetized her blog through ad and affiliate income without having a TpT store! We discuss how to build multiple streams of income, why she prefers a lifestyle blog, and how to build a personal brand alongside your TpT store. Elite Pinning Course   Recur Post   Tailwind   Google Adsense    Amazon Affiliates   Media Vine Ad Network   Media.net   Popcast   Yost SEO   Mailmunch   Convertkit   FB Group: Side Hustle Teachers   Podcast: Side Hustle Teachers    Connect with Stacey on social media: Website/Blog Facebook Pinterest YouTube   Connect with Rachel on social media: Elite Edupreneurs Website / Blog  Elite Edupreneurs Instagram  Elite Eduprenerus Facebook Elite Edupreneurs Facebook Group  Elite Pinning Course TpT Store  Bright Futures Counseling Website / Blog  Bright Futures Counseling Facebook  Bright Futures Counseling Instagram  Bright Futures Counseling Pinterest  Bright Futures Counseling Twitter  Bright Futures Counseling YouTube    If you are enjoying Elite Edupreneurs please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes! 

In today’s podcast episode, we chat with side hustle expert, Stacey Ogden… as she helps teachers find a way to increase their income through starting and running profitable side hustles. Learn more at side-hustle-teachers.com iTunes link Youtube link – full episode Youtube link – Rising Tide Micro Course The post 2.28 – Stacey Ogden – Side Hustle Teachers appeared first on Rising Tide Startups.

Join Stacey Ogden and I as we talk about tips and tricks for teachers who have a side hustle. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hannah-wedger/support

If you are a teacher, or someone who is building your virtual assistance business and not looking to make it your full-time job, then this is the episode for you. My guest today is Stacey Ogden, founder of Side Hustle Teachers and creator of Side Hustle Summer Camp. Her mission is to help teachers build businesses outside of the classroom, to provide them with financial security, alternative means to support themselves, and a way to follow their passions.Stacey is here to talk to us about building your business as a side hustle to bring in additional income and to foster a place for the passions in your life that the classroom may not provide you. She wants to make it easier for her fellow teachers to start a side hustle. As someone who taught at a private school for around five years, I understand how a classroom doesn’t feed all of your passions. Let’s see what Stacey has to say about how she side hustles:What struggles she sees when it comes to why teachers are hesitant to start side hustles, even when they want toHow having a side hustle can help you want to stay in your classroomWhat steps to take when you want to start a side hustleHow to set realistic expectations in your side hustleOne thing you can do this week to start working on, or figuring out, your side hustleHead to thelaunchguild.com/podcast for more info See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's Guest: Stacey Ogden Stacey Ogden is the founder of Side Hustle Teachers and the creator of Side Hustle Summer Camp. Her mission is to help teachers build businesses outside the classroom to provide them with financial security, alternative means to support themselves, and a way to follow their passions. Her clients are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to run successful businesses. When not in the classroom or helping other teachers, Stacey can usually be found at home with her husband and daughter, and their dog, Toby. Join the “Acknowledge Someone” Movement! Use the code "TEACHERRECHARGE" and receive 10% off your entire purchase:  http://www.fredmotivates.com/shop/   Stacey Ogden: Website: side-hustle-teachers.com Summer Camp: 2019 Side Hustle Summer Camp Blog: creatingmyhappiness.com FREE Audiobook (such as  "Always Looking Up" by Michael J. Fox) and a FREE 30 Day Trial: Audible   Fred Koepp: Twitter/Instagram: @fred_nationBusiness Account: @teacherrecharge Facebook: Fred Motivates Website: www.fredmotivates.com Podcast Website: www.teacherrecharge.podbean.com Email: teacherrechargepodcast@gmail.com   You can also listen on: Stitcher iTunes Google Play Podbean Spotify Player FM

Stacey Ogden (Side Hustle Teachers) joins the podcast to discuss music teacher woes, balancing teaching with a side gig, music lesson practicing (or lack thereof), and parent goals for students. All this and more on this week's episode.  Check out Stacey's Podcast "Side Hustle Teachers." EXCLUSIVE Content: www.patreon.com/classroombrew Check out Ryan's appearances on other Podcasts: https://www.podchaser.com/creators/ryan-michael-107ZzlNYFn/appearances   Contact: classroombrew@gmail.com Twitter & Instagram: @ClassroomBrew 

Build a website in just 5 days (even if you're not techie) at www.free5daywebsitechallenge.com Already have a website? Take the Free "Jumpstart Your Website Traffic" marketing mini-course at www.jumpstartyourwebsitetraffic.com Leave a Review! Today I’m bringing you Stacey Ogden of Side Hustle Teachers, who believes that being a teacher doesn’t mean that you have to be broke or burnt out. Through her Side Hustle Summer Camp, she helps teachers that want to start a business as a way to stay busy over the summer, or want a different way to pursue their passions, or are looking to transition out of the classroom altogether. Stacey’s business is a great example of niching down. She takes a topic that is very broad, like starting an online business, and instead of trying to teach it to a very broad audience, like entrepreneurs or women or mom, she blended it with her passion and her experience and then laser-focused it on teachers, which allows her to speak directly to them in a way that resonates with them. You can go check out her website, www.side-hustle-teachers.com to see how she does it, and if you know any teachers, share this episode with them! You never know if they’ve had the inkling that they’ve wanted to do something different, and Stacey might just be the guide they need to take the first step. She has a couple of freebies on her Resources page so you can choose your own adventure - if you already have an idea for your side hustle she’ll help you cultivate it, or if you have no idea what you want to do but you know you want to do something, she’ll help you figure that out. Today we’re talking about: How Stacey started a blog for moms then pivoted to helping teachers figure out how to start a side hustle How Stacey leveraged skills she had already (instead of trying to learn a bunch of new ones) to serve her audience. The importance of listening to your inner voice How she monetizes her blog Three different strategies Stacey uses to drive traffic to her website. The method Stacey walks teachers through to help them figure out what they want to do Her best advice for what to do if you aren’t getting traction in your side hustle What Stacey had to do to start really believing that she’s a legit business owner The one belief she had to change about herself to get where she is today If you’re an educator, or you know one, you can join the Side Hustle Teachers Facebook Group. Side Hustle Summer Camp enrollment opens on May 6, so spread the word to all your teacher friends and check out Stacey’s podcast too! My favorite quotes from Stacey in this episode: “What are some small tweaks I can make to make my audience’s life even easier - and make them realize that I totally get where they are coming from?” “You have so many skills that go into being “just a teacher.” Let’s hash those out. What are you not only good at but what do you enjoy?” "I wasn’t a teacher by trade, I AM a teacher. It’s just my nature. It’s part of who I am, like my DNA."  

Stacey sits down to chat about the best side hustles for teachers! Some of them are teacher-related but some are not. A great episode for anyone interested in building a little income on the side of their main gig. Side Hustle Teachers: https://side-hustle-teachers.com/meet-stacey/ Stacey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidehustleteachers/ Michael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teacher__michael/ VIPKid Cheatsheet: https://www.vipkidcheatsheet.com/

Today Stacey Ogden and I discuss how to stay on top your both your “real” work and starting your own business. Stacey Ogden is the founder of Side Hustle Teachers and the creator of Side Hustle Summer Camp. Her mission is to help teachers build businesses outside the classroom to provide them with financial security, alternative means to support themselves, and a way to follow their passions. Her clients are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to run successful businesses. When not in the classroom or helping other teachers, Stacey can usually be found at home with her husband and daughter, and their dog, Toby. Find Stacey Ogden at: https://side-hustle-teachers.com http://www.facebook.com/groups/sidehustleteachers https://www.instagram.com/sidehustleteachers

Today I'm talking with Stacey from Side-Hustle-Teachers.com—she helps teachers create additional income through side hustles. She has some launches and new pursuits on the horizon, so today I'm giving her strategies for knocking them out of the park, like coordinating a launch with various start dates, utilizing influencer and affiliate marketing, and more!If you want to be considered for a coaching session, apply via the form at AskPat.com.If you enjoyed today's episode and you love the format of this show and helping other entrepreneurs, can you help me convince others to listen too? All you have to do is leave a quick review and rating on iTunes (and subscribe if you haven't already). That would mean the world to me, so thank you so much!Today’s sponsor is FreshBooks, who make the best financial management software out there. It’s ridiculously easy to use and their interface is highly-visual and super-intuitive. You can actually get an unrestricted, thirty-day trial for free; just go to FreshBooks.com/askpat and enter “Ask Pat” in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.

Who are Side Hustle Teachers? Side Hustle Teachers are teachers who are looking for options. We want options for ways to make money because teaching doesn't pay the bills (or it does pay the bills, but it doesn't allow for nice things like vacations, a savings account, or heat). We want options for the future, because after experiencing the realities of the classroom for 5, 10, or 15 years, retirement feels reeeeeeally far off and we're not sure that we can make it. Why are we here? You went into teaching because you love kids and felt called to the profession.  For you, teaching isn't just a job.  It's part of who you are. BUT... education has changed since you first walked into a classroom.  There are more and more layers of bureaucracy added every year.  You have less autonomy over your teaching.  There are regular commentaries on how schools are failing and teachers are the problem, and when towns have to vote on school budgets you hold your breath to find out whether or not you'll be getting any raise at all, and how many of your classroom supplies you'll be buying out of your own pocket. Of course, you didn't go into teaching for the money... However, the low salary (particularly in comparison to other people with your level of education) is making it difficult to make ends meet.  Finances are a constant stress, but you feel like all you're qualified to do is teach. You feel, in a word, trapped. Who am I? 7 years ago I was looking for something more. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but I knew I felt trapped in education and that terrified me. I started with a MLM (network marketing or direct sales company) and it just wasn't a good fit. At all. I was awful. But that led me to my first successful business. Since then I've built a thriving blog that provides my family additional income, learned the ins and outs of starting a business (sometimes the hard way), and discovered that there are a lot of people just like me out there, they just haven't taken their first step yet. The first time a colleague asked me for advice about starting a business, I didn't think much of it. But as it started happening more and more, I realized I was in a unique position to help teachers. After having listened to hours of business specialists ans attending numerous trainings no one seemed to be talking to me. I always walked away saying, "That's a great idea, but..." No one could understand the unique stresses and challenges of being a teacher with a side hustle, because no one was one. What Now? 1. Subscribe to the Side Hustle Teachers podcast 2. Join the community on Facebook 3. Engage! With guests on the show, people in the group, and yours truly. Don't be shy! Or not... Of course, you don't have to do anything. You can continue to count down the days until summer and count down the years until retirement, worrying about your finances, and groaning every time another new "thing" is passed down by the administration. Your Happy Ending Imagine starting next school year with a business of your own, a few extra bucks in your pocket, and the confidence to know that you have options! Knowing that if you stay in teaching for 40 years it's because you want to. Because you love it. Not because you're stuck. Your education degree provides you with limitless possibilities. And Side Hustle Teachers is here to help you discover them all.