Here’s how to use your side hustle to fund your lifestyle

My voice is now paying for my holidays.

How do you ask? Through a podcast.

I just got back from a 3-week trip around New Zealand and the entire trip was financed by my podcast.

In the space of 1.5 years, my co-founder and I generated $30,000 of revenue.

Nothing to break the bank, but for a side-hustle, getting this amount of money in a short amount of time was an impressive effort.

Add on to the fact that my co-founder and I started the podcast while we both had full-time jobs and no background in digital media or audio engineering. The podcast was also something we did when we had spare time.

My experience is a short lesson in the power of Wifi money.

The bottom line is: If you aren’t learning how to turn digital assets into financial assets, you’re living in the stone age.

Start before you’re ready because you’ll never be ready

The first 3 episodes we recorded were terrible.

We were nervous, off-pace and weren’t comfortable speaking into a microphone. We never released those episodes. We didn’t want to cause harm to our audience.

They are painful to listen to now. I cringe just thinking about them.

Even the first few episodes we did release publicly were better but not great.

But you have to start somewhere. If we waited until we felt 100% comfortable, we never would have started.

At some point, you’ve got to put your work out there, get feedback and implement improvements as you go.

People are generally forgiving and encouraging when you first start. Use that momentum to get valuable feedback on how you can improve and use these conversations to generate content ideas for what you can record next.

Leverage early momentum

The day you launch your first podcast episode is generally the most attention you’ll receive in the beginning.

Use that to your advantage.

Ask friends to share the episode via social media, host an in-person event, or host a giveaway with a sponsor. The point is that you want to create as much hype as possible early.

This momentum can provide early encouragement and followers to kick start attention on your podcast.

I also recommended banking 6 episodes and a strong content plan before the launch so you can consistently publish and keep the engagement strong.

Create an email list to own your audience and also a private group you can join to communicate directly with your listeners.

Find a niche and a problem to solve

Don’t make your podcast for everyone.

That would be like trying to boil the ocean. Don’t try to be something for everyone.

Focus on a group of people you are uniquely placed to influence and aim to solve their problems.

Our focus for our podcast was young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Living in a disadvantaged part of Melbourne, young people were the most impacted cohort by the pandemic.

Loss of jobs, lack of support and social connection. We identified a chance to create social impact while also producing a product we could monetize. A win-win situation in my eyes.

Since no one else was operating in this space, we quickly became a leader. We attracted funding and sponsorships, as well as newspaper articles being written about us.

See below:

Find your niche as quickly as possible and iterate your podcast to solve their problems.

There is an unlimited amount of niches you’re passionate about that are currently being under-served. You just need to look and do some basic research on the topic.

Ignore the critics and pessimists

When I first told people I was starting a podcast, I was met with some excitement, a bit of support but mostly apathy.

“Not another podcast” I would hear through thinly veiled feedback.

Numerous people asked who would even listen, let alone pay for my podcast? The podcast market is too saturated it will be too hard to monetize.

Every excuse you can think of, I heard it.

Here’s the hard truth:

Most people won’t make money because of their limited mindset not because of their limited skillset.

Since making money from the podcast, some people are now asking how we did it and whether they can do the same thing.

Don’t take criticism from people you wouldn’t take advice from. And don’t take advice from people who haven’t achieved what you want to do.

What does my experience mean for you?

Anyone can make Wifi money.

If you want to enjoy financial freedom, start building that runway with digital assets.

It doesn’t have to be a podcast. If you prefer video, start a YouTube channel. If you prefer writing, double down on Medium.

The platform economy is now preferencing creators. The best value proposition is being uniquely yourself.

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