Side Hustle Spark 142: Brooks Conkle

Today, I googled [should I capitalize the ‘g’? Will Alphabet/Google sue me if I don’t?] side hustlers’ favorite tools and up popped brooksconkle.com.

Interesting guy.

Quote from his ‘My Story’ page:

I don’t think that we should only attempt to think outside of the box. I think that we should Destroy the Box.

Here’s a list of his current, completed, on-hold, and scrapped projects. Interesting cross-section…

But back to his preferred tools to further his side hustles…

I hope you learn a little something…or that one of your own strategies or approaches is affirmed by something you pick up in my posts.

Forge ahead!

Side Hustle Spark 141: MasterClass Trailers

I’ve been spending lots of time checking out MasterClass’s greatly expanded offerings since my wife bought me a James Patterson writing course.
One of my discoveries–its targeted sets of topic-based videos.

This link takes you to trailers for their business-themed courses. Lots of thought-provoking stuff.

Here also is the link to MasterClass Live on YouTube. Excellent free knowledge being shared by the experts.

I was going to post this here and at my inventwithwords site next week, but I’m going to squeeze this in today to promote their 2-for-1 annual membership offer through Nov. 30. (Nope, not getting any $$ for doing this. Just wanted to pass this along. I’m inches away from ordering myself, as it opens me up to gift my friend with free year of all their courses.)

Side Hustle Spark 140: 6 Steps to Stop Procrastinating

In keeping with Side Hustle Spark 138, I found Chris Dritsas’ guest post on ryrob.com helpful and relevant.

Holidays for many side hustlers the holidays are a time when they’re putting in the extra time. But these not-so-normal times may well generate a few extra rationalizations for easing off the gas pedal.

Some favorite takeaways:

  1. Your brain is programmed to accomplish short-term tasks for more immediate gratification.
  2. I like the Warren Buffett strategy of listing several goals, then paring it down to five goals, and then to one goal.
  3. I had heard, but never really learned, the term, ‘kaizen’–small steps toward continuous improvement.
  4. Chris uses Trello for his ‘break it down’ strategy. I went ahead and signed up. I had done so four years ago and never followed up. Gee, seems procrastination really is hard-wired into some people.
  5. “You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
    –Steve Jobs [I just installed the Escape 2 app to keep me focused.]
  6. I liked the quick bullet-pointed review at the end of the post.

Of course, the enduring notion rattling around in my head is: “Am I creating these posts to put off my other projects?”

I’ll just set that aside for another day.

Forge ahead!

Side Hustle Spark 138: Super-charge Cyber Monday

Always on the lookout, that’s me.

Okay, okay, this one fell into my lap as I cruised startupnation.com.

So, apologies for dropping the ball on this November 14 post:

6 Ways E-Commerce Startups Can Compete on Cyber Monday

But, in case you haven’t tried them out, I don’t think it’s too late to act on a number of these suggestions.

Here are three of the strategies suggested by Keith Shields, but to honor his work and lock in on the necessary details, do click to the article.

  • Create a dedicated CyberMonday landing page.
  • Make your deals easy to share.
  • Extend CyberMonday deals through the week.

Note: Two posts today equals a day off tomorrow for Thanksgiving in the U.S. And really, who’s kidding who… I’m a slacker anyway.

Here’s a counterintuitive sales line: Ignore this site tomorrow and spend time with your special people…and pets.

Side Hustle Spark 136: Experts’ excerpts

I know, I know, that’s a mouthful of a title. Sorry, I just had to. Don’t say it out loud and you should be fine…

Yesterday, I ran across startupnation.com‘s book excerpts section.
Lots of wisdom and experience from smart people in compact portions.

If my eyesight and concentration were ‘at one with each other’, I counted 156 different book excerpts.

Other authors include:
Srinivas Rao
Chris Guillebeau
Jen Sincero
Paul Jarvis

Other titles include:
Applied Empathy
Forging An Ironclad Brand
How We Make Stuff Now

The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed

Reminder: Don’t forget my suggestion in this post. Record yourself reading aloud ‘good stuff’ like these excerpts and listen to them while rearranging the silverware [yeah, like that’s ever going to happen in my house] or walking the dog [and that happens all too regularly].

A thought…An experiment: You give me the content and I’ll create an mp3 or slide show or video for you. [sidehustlecurator at gmail dot com].


NOTE: I’m not trying to throw shiny objects at you. Just alternative options and ideas from people who’ve ‘been there’.


Thanks for checking in.

Side Hustle Spark 135: DiscoverFest (free)

A rare Sunday post…Just thought I’d get this out to you in case you have some free time to run a session in the background.

This no-cost, online event is happening right now…

Sign up here: https://discover.teachable.com/discover-fest

Even better, you can sign up right on the schedule page. You’ll notice that a fair number of the sessions cover non-business topics.

Replays will be available until November 30 at midnight EST.

Quote from the Discover by Teachable FAQ page: “The promotions and bonuses from participating creators will be available from November 17 to November 30 at midnight EST. We will be sending out the link to the promotions to registrants of any of the workshops.”

Hope you get something helpful from Discover by Teachable.

I’ll try to take some notes from sessions. If you have a specific request, email me at:

sidehustlecurator at gmail dot com

Another reminder: No affiliate links. Just want to pass along good stuff for side hustle-preneurs. [Again, Tim, soooooo weak. I’m sure someone has already ‘hybridized’ those terms.]

Side Hustle Spark 134: Money Tree TV: 100’s of Side Hustle Ideas [Chris Guillebeau]

This was fun.

Chris Guillebeau streamed this slide show, entitled Money Tree TV: 100s of Side Hustle Ideas–complete with mellow music–on his Money Tree TV channel. He weaves side hustle ideas gleaned from his 1400 podcasts with occasional nuggets of advice and, appropriately so, a few promos of his book, The Money Tree. **

Just a thought: While you may have an entirely different approach to side hustle success, you have to give Chris credit for his versatile and ever-evolving strategies to reach listeners/viewers/readers. He IS a prime model for this niche.

Thanks for visiting. As always, check in with questions and requests at:
sidehustlecurator at gmail dot com


** Why do I link to Goodreads rather than Amazon?

  1. There is an easy link to Amazon from the Amazon-owned Goodreads page.
  2. I like providing you with some of the reader reviews.
  3. I like accessing quotes from the book. I just entered the following search string in my browser: goodreads the money tree Chris Guillebeau quotes

Side Hustle Spark 133: How to avoid ‘stuckness’: Chris Guillebeau

Greetings, Side Hustlers. [Heeeyyyyy! Upper case! Aren’t you feeling special right about now? ;->]

Chris Guillebeau, author of The Money Tree, Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days, The $100 Startup, etc., and creator of over 1400 consecutive podcasts, also shared his expertise on Periscope.

Five months ago, he posted a session, How to Avoid Getting Stuck.

Skip to the 14:30 mark to listen to him embellish these five suggestions:

  • Identify potential problems in advance.
  • Always know your next step.
  • Impose an artificial deadline.
  • Look for an alternative way forward.
  • Try something totally different.

[Note: Each of his 30+ minute Periscope sessions also feature a live participant Q. and A. that nails down many of the universal concerns of side hustlers.]

Thanks for visiting. As always, check in with questions and requests at:
sidehustlecurator at gmail dot com