Our beta program for Remote Side Hustle Profits is sold out! đĽł
Over 60 students applied and we accepted 35 for the beta cohort. Donât stress if you missed it. Iâll announce future opportunities like this exclusively in this newsletter, so keep on reading!
In 10 minutes or less, you'll learn:
FROM OUR LABS
đ Want to move abroad in 2024 as an American?
Iâm excited to partner on a live event with my friends, Maiki and Travis from Coupled Investments, where weâll uncover our top wealth and health tips for new American expats. đ§
Date/Time đ
5:30pm EST, December 18, 2023
Our goal is that this workshop demystifies the confusing parts of living abroad, so you can take ACTION to make your dream a reality in 2024.
Here's everything we'll be covering:
How money and taxes work while living abroad as an expat đ
How to build long-term wealth while living overseas đ¤
What tools can you use to manange your finances đ ď¸
How to manage your mental and physical health while abroad đĽ
Q&A and much moreâ
Donât miss the valuable insights from this workshop.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Sign up for the workshop: https://lu.ma/llz04prw
P.S. Even if you can't attend live, we'll send a replay to everyone who signs up.
đŞ 10 Remote Side Hustles to Earn $1k/Month (Part 2)
Last week, we deep dived into remote side hustles #1-5 like consulting and newsletters.
Letâs keep the ideas flowing:
6. Investing in Dividend Stocks
What is it: Purchasing dividend stocks, like the Dividend Aristocrats, which pays a dividend to its shareholders every month or quarter
Platforms: Interactive Brokers, Saxo
Pros: Potential for passive income, consistency
Cons: Market risk, requires a bit of investing knowledge
Example
Morten Sorensen teaches full-time at a Danish university while passively investing in dividend stocks and running Dividend Club
Iâve held REITs like OHI and SRC since 2020 when the market cratered due to Covid, which led to both dividend returns and healthy appreciation since then.
Protip:
Morten recommends using research tools like Stockrover, Investorâs Business Daily, Seeking Alpha, Finviz, Dividend.com, and Dividend History to get started. (I personally like Stratosphere.io too)
7. Investing in Rental Property
What is it: Investing in residential property to rent out for income
Platforms: Airbnb, Zillow, real estate investment groups
Pros: Potential for passive income, property value can appreciate
Cons: Requires significant capital, may need to manage property
Example
Robert Hoving invested in Bali villas and rented them out on the side, while still working for his previous corporate employer before he turned it into a company
Protip:
1. Find a property that you think can be good for investment purposes.
2. Search Airbnb, bookings.com or any other OTA to find the listing to see the current pricing, occupancy and reviews to date. This will give you an indication if the property is investment-worthy.
3. If yes, speak to the selling agent and request a historical rental income report. Which can then be compared to the Airbnb listing. The selling agent can also give more insights into the property.
4. Study the area in which the property is built, to understand what the neighbouring properties look like and charge and look out for construction that may impact rental income.
8. Creating an Online Course
What is it: Creating and selling online courses on a topic that you have some expertise in or that youâre passionate about
Platforms: Maven, Teachable, Kajabi
Pros: Scalable, passive income after initial upfront investment
Cons: Time-consuming to create, market is filled with competition
Example:
I taught a Growth Strategy course for Kurios (YC21), which provides B2B cohort-based training for LATAM companies
Elena Verna, interim Head of Growth at Dropbox, teaches courses on Product-Led Growth and Growth Leadership on Reforge
Protip:
We are often asked âHow do I build an email list?" "How do I generate interest in my course?" and "How can I make sure I've got course-market fit?"
A survey is the best way to:
Find out if thereâs demand for your course idea. Get your first leads in your waitlist
Almost every successful instructor on Maven has done this step.
9. Blogging
What is it: Writing and publishing articles on a personal or niche blog
Platforms: Wordpress, Medium.com
Pros: Flexible schedule, low starting costs, helps you establish authority
Cons: Time-consuming to write, takes time to build traffic and monetize
Example
Steve Chou started his blog, mywifequitherjob.com while working a full-time Silicon Valley electrical engineering job (and proceeded to grow it to 7-figures of revenue)
Protip:
Be patient and showcase your personality.
I didn't really start making decent money with the blog until three years out. And I know there's a lot of people who do it a lot faster, but really it's a slog, just to be honest with you..
You got to just gather email addresses [âŚ]. Basically it's about putting out good content and then just keep presenting that content out to your people. And get people to just jump on your bandwagon. And the more your personality comes through, the more people will just like you for you. And then once you have their mindshare, then you can start worrying about making money.
I feel now that I have the mindshare, it doesn't really matter what product I put out, I feel like I'll be able to make sales. Not necessarily because of what I'm selling per say, but because of my personality.
10. Creating a Digital Product
What is it: Creating and selling online templates, tools, and other resources for various platforms
Platforms: Notion, Google Sheets
Pros: Leverages existing content, scalable
Cons: Time-consuming to create a high-quality product
Example: Bachata Library from my talented dancer friend Tam Pham
Protip:
My pro tip is to just ship something. People value learning new things in a structured/compact way from someone they like. I thought no one would buy but random people who I've never met were buying my product. I felt like I had hit the jackpot (even though I only made a few hundred dollars jaja)
So ship the thing. It's ok if your landing page or demo video or pricing isn't perfect. I sold Bachata Library for $15 and once I had ~25 sales, I upgraded the product massively and sold it at $49, which was still a bit low. Now it's at $97. I'm still experimenting with pricing, improving the product, and pondering about what's next. But I can only do this because I'm constantly taking action and getting direct feedback.
đ Beyond your borders
đŽđš This entrepreneur couldnât buy a home in American, so she bought in Italy for $62,000. Loved Stephâs energy (her lunch line made me chuckle). My view is that retiring abroad is going to become a huge trend over the next decade (link)
đŚđş Australia to triple fees on foreign homebuyers of existing homes. While property prices have started dropping in the US, the opposite trend is happening for our friends in the Land Down Under (link)
đşđ¸ How Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. One of the most insightful deep dives from this past year on the whole SVB crisis and what went down. This one gets a bit technical, so read this if youâre a nerd like me (link)
𧳠Best travel insurance for digitally savvy travelers in Singapore. Tired of your trips getting canceled or baggage getting lost? Get the right travel insurance coverage so you get reimbursed no matter what happens while traveling. Learn more now â (link)*
*this is a sponsored link
đ How I can help
Thatâs all for today!
Whenever youâre ready, hereâs how I can help you:
1. Work with me 1:1 - Book a coaching session for your next career transition.
2. Work with my tax team - Get personalized guidance from a US expat tax professional.
3. Sponsor this newsletter - Get in front over 5,000 professionals and business owners in the US and Singapore.
