What I've Learned and Applied from 49 Awesome Entrepreneurs

At the end of nearly every episode of The Side Hustle Show, I ask my guests for their #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. There’s always a great variety of responses, and I wanted to take some time today to go through some of my favorites from the past 50-ish interviews.

(I first did this for episode 50, which was my first-ever solo podcast recording, and then again in episode 124.)

Through the first 50 episodes, there were a few common themes that stood out:

1. “Just do it.”
2. Adopt the “lean startup” mentality.
3. Build your team / network.

If all these really smart and successful people keep saying these episode after episode as their “#1 tip,” I think they’re worth paying attention to.

What action can you take today to apply those tips?

My #1 Tip?

Find your WHY.

Why side hustle? What are you trying to build? What will that afford you?

In this week’s show I dive into a meta analysis of the #1 tips from my last 49 guests. A similar pattern emerges with some variation of “just get started” remaining the most popular response.

The Goods

Here are the tips. The ones in bold are the ones I spend some time talking about, including my interpretation of the advice, how I've applied it to my own businesses, and how you can take action on it yourself.

123 – Julie Sheranosher – “Admit to yourself that you’re awesome and everything else will fall into place.”

125 – Travis Scott – “Buy low, sell high.”

126 – John Logar – “Listen.”

128 – Steve Chou – “Start putting content out there in some way. It’s never too early to start collecting email addresses, even if you don’t know where you want to go in the long run.”

129 – Taylor Pearson – “Think in longer timeframes. Even better than 5 years is a 25-year timeline. Think about where you want to be in 25 years and create your 6-month plans from that.”

130 – Navid Moazzez – “Focus on building authentic, powerful relationships before you need them.”

131 – Carter Thomas – “Find opportunities that don’t require you to be in the App Store as much. Consider helping brands get into the App Store.

132 – Dan Norris – “You don't learn until you launch, so launch something.”

133 – Jon Schumacher – “Don’t give up on the long-term dream. Keep going, but always be evaluating. Don’t be afraid to quit something that isn’t working for you.”

134 – Tyler Zey – “Focus on recurring revenue as soon as possible.”

136 – Brian Clark – “Align your passions with your profit motive.”

137 – Pete Walter – “Make sure you broadcast as well as narrowcast.”

138 – Ryan Gray – “Keep at it.”

139 –  John Rouda – “Just keep hustling.”

140 – Jyotsna Ramachandran – “Allocate at least 1 hour per day for your side hustle, preferably in the morning

142 – Rosemarie Groner – “If you want to stay home, start a hobby. Get started TODAY. Do not put it off. Grow it, work hard, and treat it like a business before it becomes one!”

143 – Jeremy Michael Cohen and Fred Perrotta 

Jeremy: “Use Asana when working on projects with teams.”

Fred: “Create divisions in your mind between your business and the rest of life.”

145 – Dave Chesson – “Never put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t depend on one single source of traffic. Look for opportunities to drive your own traffic.”

146 – Lauren Bowling – “Take it seriously and treat it like a business.”

147 – Rob Stephenson – “Be consistent.”

148 – Elizabeth Colegrove – “Be the best at what your side hustle is and be the expert in your sub-niche.”

149 – Ross Simmonds – “Time management is a myth; manage yourself. Embrace your calendar.”

150 – Bryn Miyahara – “Just do it. That first sale is a huge confidence booster. Also, find a partner.”

151 – Amanda Abella – “Crunch your numbers.”

153 – Jon Haws – “Create a cheat sheet for you niche and start running Facebook ads to it… See if there is an interest.  Make it detailed and helpful enough to solve a simple problem. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to validate a potential market and start building your email list. That and don’t be hard on yourself. You can do more than you can imagine if you just never stop learning and hustling.”

154 – Jonathan Stark – “Pick a focus.”

155 – Brian Swichkow – “Never expect your audience’s standards to be lower than your own.”

156 – Mish & Rob Slade 

Mish: “Read everything out loud.” 

Rob: “Show, don’t tell.”

157 – Assad Siddiqi – “Learn in pieces and take action.”

158 – Greg Mercer – “Get started.”

159 – Phil Ebiner – “Perfection isn’t the key.”

160 – Matt Bochnak – “The expert in anything was once a beginner.”

162 – Carrie Olsen – “Be confident. Market yourself.”

163 – Jon Dykstra – ‘‘Publish a website people like, and that you like, because it will work.”

164 – Gina Horkey – “Start before you’re ready.”

165 – Kenny Azama – “Give it a shot.”

166 – Robert Farrington – “Look at your analytics and double down on what’s working.”

167 – Glenn Carter – “Get started in the sharing economy.”

168 – Josh Brooks – “Hustle on, don’t ever give up”

169 – Chris Pritchard – “Read The Richest Man in Babylon.”

170 – Don The Idea Guy – “Drink more coffee, and write down your ideas.”

171 – Jason Zook – “Don’t underestimate the power of the follow-up email. 75% of deals come from the follow-up.”

172 – Carey Green – “Don’t believe the lie you can’t do it.”

173 – Stephen Key – “Stay young, stay curious, get a lot of exercise, and DANCE!”

174 – Jesse Gernigin – “Always take your time. It’s not about being first; it’s about being right for the person you want to be first for.”

175 – Gabby Wallace – “Are you in or out? Decide to commit.”

176 – Matt Inglot – “Pick one group of businesses you want to target.”

You can check out my interpretation and implementation of the advice in bold on this week's edition of The Side Hustle Show. 

Your Turn

What's your favorite #1 tip? 

Or, what would you say if I asked you for your one-sentence piece of advice for aspiring and part-time entrepreneurs?