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 reco

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 implemen

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 busin

With the holidays approaching, you may find yourself noticing lots of posts popping up with gift recommendations and wondered if they really boost revenue (they do!) and how you can make one for your own blog. A well done gift guide can be a fantastic way to increase your affiliate income. But a poorly done gift guide can actually damage the trust you’ve built up with your audience. So before you go on your virtual shopping spree and start seeing dollar signs in your eyes, let’s talk about the right way to put together a gift guide. Before You Start Know Your Audience Creating a gift guide that actually generates income depends on your understanding of your audience and what they need. So before you start, make sure you have a clear picture of who they are and why they’re coming to your blog. Their preferences are going to play into every decision you make, from which stores you feature to the price range of the items you select. Consider the following questions: How would you describe your ideal audience i

Know, like, and trust. You may have heard those words before - you may have heard them from me - and thought, “That’s great… how do I do that?” Even though we live in a time when we feel highly connected to people we only know from the internet - I have friends I’ve never met in my online due date group - you still have to put effort into forming authentic, human-to-human relationships. Today I’m sharing 5 practical strategies to connect with your readers: Be Yourself Nothing turns people off more than a phony. Still a lot of bloggers think they have to be or act a certain way because that’s how “everyone else” is doing it. Not true. Your readers come to you because you’re you! So be yourself in your blogging. Use conversational language and write the way you speak. If you’re an English teacher, this may feel a little (or a lot) wrong, but bloggers don’t have to follow all the rules of grammar that you do in formal writing. Blogging isn’t formal. It’s intimate. Use the words you would use when having a conver

Burnout is nothing to joke about. It’s real and it is vicious. Blogger burnout has derailed many potential entrepreneurs and we don’t want that to happen to you. The good news is that you can avoid this all-too-common phenomenon with a little planning, and a lot of self-monitoring. Here are 4 tips to maintain a healthy schedule and avoid burnout: Start as You Intend to Continue We all know that when you first start a new venture you want to throw your whole self into it. This is normal, and honestly, it’s part of the fun of starting something new. When starting a long-term project like a blog, though, it’s important to set boundaries for yourself from the beginning so that your blog doesn't end up taking over your life. I’m not going to tell you to limit yourself from working on your blog when you're super excited about it - that would be silly and counterproductive. What I am saying is that you need to remember that one of the best things about having a business like a blog is the freedom it creates in your

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

Guest posting, also called guest blogging, is a process in which a blogger creates content for another site in order to build backlinks, expand their audience, and strengthen their authority.  Early on in the world of blogging, guest posts were a hugely popular way to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) and grow an audience. In fact, anyone could write a 300-word post, share it on any other site, and boost their blog’s standing. It didn’t even have to be a good post. However, in recent years Google (and other search engines) have updated their algorithms to limit the abuse of guest posts. These days posts need to be both well-written and useful, but also relevant to the blog on which they’re posted… and the site should be in good standing, too. Still, guest blogging can be a valuable experience if you do it right. What are the Benefits of Guest Blogging? Broaden your audience. A guest post can get your ideas in front of new people, ideally those who will click over to your site and become loyal, ra

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

When you’re first building your blog, you’ll make some design choices about the aesthetic of your site. You’ll choose colors and fonts, and maybe a simple logo, and you’ll run with it. But at some point along your journey, you’re going to decide that everything about your site is wrong. You’ll decide that your colors are hideous and your fonts are unreadable, your logo is annoying… and maybe even the name of your site is all wrong. This is normal. It happens to everyone. The truth is that your site will need a refresh every now and then, and it’s good to do so. People expect modern designs and functionality, and in order to provide that, you have to update things. But, you shouldn’t give in to every urge to rebrand your site.  While it’s a completely normal desire, and an occasionally necessary thing to do, sometimes - oftentimes - there are better things to do with your time. When NOT to Rebrand I would argue that in 9 cases out of 10, especially if you’re in your first year of blogging, you should not rebra

We are so lucky to have Denise Duffield-Thomas back with us this week for round two, talking about money blocks that hold teachers back from making money outside of teaching. Of course, there's not a lot we can do about our teaching salaries - that's pretty much set in, well, not stone, but contract -  but we can help ourselves make money in other ways.  Denise says it’s understandable that teachers have a tough time making money from a side hustle because we’ve always been part of a system in which money has always been connected to time. We go to work, we get paid for the time we were there. If we want to make more money, we take on extra duties, which require more time.  And it’s not just teaching! Historically, unless you were very wealthy and owned lots of real estate or a factory, or something like that, money has always equaled time. You showed up to a physical location, you put in a certain amount of hours, or you made a pacific amount of widgets, and you got paid a set amount of money.  This is the “

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 ba

SEO, when implemented properly over time, can provide a major boost to your blog traffic and your overall income. For each blog post you write, you need to have a clear, repeatable, SEO process to make certain that you’re maximizing search engines. Follow the steps below to fully optimize every blog post you create. Strategies for improving every post’s SEO 1. Write for Your Target Audience It’s tempting to try to write posts that appeal to a broad audience - because you don’t want to limit the number of people you reach - but focusing on your target audience is key to building strong SEO. Knowing who you’re writing for, as specifically as possible, will allow you to craft content that addresses their needs, uses their language, and meets their expectations. 2. Do Keyword Research Find out what your ideal audience is searching for so that you can provide content that answers their questions, and include the search terms strategically in your post. (more on this below). An easy way to do this is to enter a sea

Search Engine Optimization, SEO for short, is an essential piece of any blog growth strategy, but it generally has an air of mystery around it.  There are lots of definitions floating around - some that seem to contradict each other - that use a lot of buzzwords and tech-speak and don’t really clarify anything. Add to that the fact that SEO is a long-term strategy, and it gets even fuzzier. It can take months for SEO work to pay off, so there’s nothing we can even point to and say, “Aha! That’s SEO!” In this post I’m going to clarify what SEO is, and recommend some tools for getting started putting it to use. Why is SEO Important? There’s an old joke that says that if you want to hide a dead body, you should put it on the second page of Google. The point being that no one ever looks past page 1 of the search results, so if your site is there, it might as well be dead. I don’t know how much truth there is to that - when I’m researching I always go a few pages in to see more results - but I understand the senti

Last week I shared my system for tracking income and expenses, but knowing where your money is coming from, and where it’s going to, is only part of the process. Most likely - if you’re like the vast majority of business owners - when you start to track your income and expenses you’ll likely notice that very little of your income (if any) is going to you! That’s what today is all about. What’s Profit? I’ve mentioned before that in my first month of blogging I made $2.11, but what I didn’t share was that, as excited as I was about it, I didn’t actually get that money. I left it in my blog accounts and “reinvested” it.  Of course, since we’re talking about just a couple bucks, that’s no big deal, right? Sure. But what if I told you I continued to reinvest everything I made the first year of my blog?  Essentially, though I made a couple thousand dollars, I didn’t actually make anything… Not one penny got put into my family’s accounts. This story is incredibly common for new business owners of all kinds - and not

When I started blogging I did everything I could to avoid looking at any numbers other than page views. For months I was “too busy” or I “forgot” to update my income and expenses report, so it just didn’t get done. This is a very common mistake that a lot of new bloggers make and it’s usually for one (or both) of 2 reasons:  You know that in the very beginning you’re likely not making as much as you’re spending or you’re just making a few dollars, so you stick your head in the sand to avoid the topic of money altogether. You have a mindset issue around money, so you stick your head in the sand and avoid the topic of money altogether. This could also show up in other areas of life if you let your partner handle all the money stuff in your personal life, too. In reality, knowing where your money is going, where it’s coming from, and how the incoming and outgoing funds balance out is essential.  This is yet another instance where knowledge is power. Tracking your income. Let’s say you have 3 streams of income

Passive income is often seen as the holy grail of the side hustle. There are many - especially online - who present themselves as passive income specialists, lying on a beach all day, sipping fruity beverages, and listening to their phone cha-ching to alert them to new sales.  If that sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is. For a long time passive income was dangled in front of people as a “set it and forget it” method of making money. Just do X, Y, and Z, then sit back and watch the money roll in. Of course, that’s not really how it works. Passive income, in the sense of making money for doing nothing, doesn’t exist.  On the other hand, I woke up to 2 sale notifications this morning, meaning I made over $100 while I slept, so passive income is a real thing. And as a teacher who doesn’t want to hustle and grind my way into early retirement, it’s key to running a side hustle that doesn’t make me more stressed out. Let’s explore the real world of passive income. What is Passive Income? For today’s purpo

At this moment there are an unprecedented number of educators looking to get out of teaching. It’s a sad, and more than slightly terrifying, prospect, to be sure. But it’s also understandable…  I’m not going to start in on the state of education right now, because that would lead down a pretty dark rabbit whole. So let me just say, I get it If you’re one of this group, you might be wondering how a blog can help you in this pursuit. In fact, that’s one of the questions I get from community members most often. Truthfully, a blog can serve your exit strategy in a number of ways. Let’s dig in to the top 3. Blogging to Replace Your Income Perhaps the one thing that automatically comes to mind when you think of blogging for money is the idea of using a blog to create a new income stream. Then building that income to the point where you can blog full time. Because blogs offer multiple streams of income, there are multiple ways to reach your income target. It can take time to build up your revenue to a point where yo

A blog is a quick and ebay way to start marketing an existing business OR start making money while you decide exactly what your business is going to be.  In terms of building authority, establishing and strengthening relationships, and providing a platform through which to sell, blogging is extremely cost effective. That said, one of the biggest questions people have is, “How much is it going to cost me to start a money making blog?” Can I start a blog for free? Let’s first start with what they’re really asking, which is, “Do I really have to pay to start a blog?”  Well, no… but yes. There are options for starting a blog for free. WordPress.com is a free blogging platform, Wix and Weebly have similar options, or you can take advantage of sites like Medium to publish. There are a few reasons I don’t recommend this path.  Your URL will give you away. Free blogging sites include the name of the platform in the web address, which gives your blog an unprofessional feel. When I see myblogname.wordpress.com, I autom

What should my blog be about?  That’s one of the first questions you have to answer when starting your journey into blogging. And it’s one that many people get stuck on. Of course, your blog niche can be literally anything. The only limit is your imagination. But this can be a little intimidating, right?  Anything seems like a lot to choose from. So today we’re going to talk about the 11 most popular blog niches for teachers. This list is by no means exhaustive, and there’s no rule that you have to choose one of these niches. But… they’re popular for a reason. They include topics that teachers know and feel comfortable writing about and people want to read about.  You can also mix and match, pairing a couple of different niches together. Let’s dig in! Education Is it any surprise that we’re starting with education? While teachers can certainly write about anything, classroom-related topics are very popular. It makes sense - people write what they know.  Among the popular education niches are classroom environ