« Side Hustle School

#276 - University Lecturer Earns $2,000/Month Writing Children’s Books

2017-10-03

An American teaching in Taiwan tells tales of foreign lands, packaging them in a series of books for children back home.

Side Hustle School features a new story EVERY DAY of someone who started a hustle without quitting their job. You’ll learn how they got the idea, how they overcame challenges along the way, and what the results are. You need a hustle! Share: #SideHustleSchoolShow notes: SideHustleSchool.comTwitter: @chrisguillebeauInstagram: @193countries

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Support for this. Podcast comes from progressive. What would you do with an extra eight hundred dollars? Biplane ticket paid on your student loan treat yourself to those whose, U benign with progressive you could find out drivers who switch? save save an average of seven hundred. Ninety six dollars on car insurance get your quote online. A come and see how much you could be saving national average annual cards savings by new customers. Urban who saved with progressive and twenty nineteen maybe their side, hustlers, side, ass, well, school listeners, community, friends, neighbours, I'm critical about back with you. With another story question for years, as we begin how much of the world have you seen or experienced, in addition to that classic nineteen. Seventy disco album that I'd like to forget, I'm known for having visited every country in the world By known, I mean at least five people of her to me and know that fact, but I did have a car for about eleven years to go to every country in the world now
Not that I mean a lot of other people who travelled, especially at the events and people talk about how many countries they ve, been too funny because they feel like they always need to compare themselves to me or to someone else, and they say something like live We ve been to thirty five countries, or I've only been to five countries. Whatever the number is and always like. That's awesome. That's great people never go anywhere and of all the parts of the world. I'm sorry an expert on all of them are even most of them. So, first about don't compare soft anyone, your life, your your experience that are, you need to you, and also there's more than one way to see the world. So maybe you don't care trying to go to every country in the world or even going a lot of places. I do something as well but to immerse yourself in other cultures and tat, understanding of different parts of the world travel is again way to do that. I believe, but there are also other ways whatever religious background. As for example, Org, I want it all. I think everyone please, why should visit a mosque and a synagogue and a church and a temple any other cultural important site like that? Just gonna learn people do things and why people have
the world that they do not get attention on that. But I won't because and focused on site us here too stories about one of those shocking, specifically about a teacher who about two thousand dollars a month on the side by introducing kids to new cultures through the world of books. Too. I love a story for all kinds of reasons. Why? Because I anything that shows people more of the world too, because I love books three, because I always liked to hear unconventional stories of people creating more freedom for themselves. Just like this guy's done with this two thousand dollar months site, hustle say a quick word. Extra hour sponsor and then I'll be right. Back with that story, support for this programme comes from C d, W and Adobe C D, W We get your organization can be demanded, the marketing
As I might office, they want their adobe update now with a dull. These value incentive plan deployed by the experts had seedy w. You can quickly and easily manage software subscriptions for the whole de Acrobat, an created cloud, all included guys come out, don't hurt me airport satisfied digital workforce. You need a doctor and I d orchestration by C D, W people who get it find out more at C D. Dot com, Slash Adobe today, dress from Taipei. Taiwan, where American Andrew Bliss has been living and working abroad for going on twelve years now, and it is a chronic side hustler as he put it. I like working a full time job it is always needed something of my own creation to feel like I'm, though determining the course of my life while he is under
in. A variety of projects to various levels of success is current side. Hustle has taken the most work and is perhaps also the most rewarding see eight years ago undertook his first trip to Thailand. That time. His niece and nephew back home in Cincinnati Ohio were around the age when they start reading books on their own. He hated being here to watch them grow up in person. The US remember what it was like to grow up in the MID west. He wanted to figure out a way to spend some quality time with them and bring the world to them. Since they were able to go see with their own eyes. So on this trip to Thailand, he took them along with him in spirit and imagination. I trying to experience the culture with in mind when he got home. He made a book about their imaginary ventures with Tiger is monkeys, elephants and helpful monks in fancy robes. Throughout the book he tried to spark their interest in the world outside Ohio in an exploration, in general. He wanted them to know at an earlier age than he did that the world was full of rich culture is even if they couldn't fly across the ocean right away. That book still sits on the family mantle many
years later. A few years went by and during an annual visit home Andrew re read that book his brothers I'm reading in casually mentioned. That would be great if a lot of kids could get books like this. That planet a seat at Andrews Mine that eventually grew into his current project. The adventurous mailbox enter was based in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, but he decided to relocate to a university in a small city in the south of Taiwan to get away from distractions. Do some research and begin bring together this adventurous no box when he wasn't in class teaching writing an intruder western philosophy he sailed into it, in writing in planning, he developed a vision of the project and wrote the first eight books about seven different countries. Now remember these are children's books, so the pretty short, but still a books before it was done running the first sat he actually found in illustrator completely by chance a colleague who heard about the project insisted that Andrew meet someone who is in town travelling with his girlfriend. That person turn out to be a young price illustrator from New Zealand who love the idea and jumped the chance to illustrate his first children's books series once end
the stories with illustrations heated to turn them into actual bucks. To accomplish this, he teamed up with that illustrator to create a ready to print products. We could sell, publish and were then contacted one of Taiwan's top running houses, which fortunately was headquarters. Same small town. He moved to even spent way too much time according to him, picking out the perfect paper before his books were finally printed. Instead of just shipping these books and plain Brown Box, he went to send them in a box with funds Damson postmarks, so that it looks like really sent from abroad. The inside of the boxes, line with newspapers and multiple languages to add to the international feel in the book themselves are in. Visually wrapped in international envelopes is also a personalized. Letter from the main character of the bucks Andrew, knew that this was a package. A kid would be excited to get an unwrap other pieces of with the books printed The shop he then focused on the operations and technology side of things he hired someone to build his website and signed up for whew commerce so that he can process payment, with a website in a way to accept money in place. Andrew got started
and his marketing plan. He open accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram he'd heard it was important to market on Facebook, but exports have been very far. He said he threw some money into Facebook adds without thinking much about strategy that haphazard approached in produce great results. So we take a step back and began to be more intense he also realize he needed to make his website a bit easier to navigate here's an important lesson he and what the website to feel too Mercer so initially resisted. Adding big buttons that say by now, but he soon The people don't have time to sit and reader website with a long, detailed explanation before making a purchase by adding Bulgaria explaining the books and overall packaging and putting on by now buttons. His conversion rates went way up also began sitting on his book series, two bloggers and target market communities has turned out to be a great way to both without testimony was on his website and get the word out in an authentic grassroots way. The first days website went live, he sold ten package's, alter family and friends, but the second day he sold his very first.
It to a stranger for the first year of his hustle. He made about five hundred dollars a month. This year, however, he's doing an average of two thousand dollars a month with August being his biggest month. Yet with sails up. Andor. Isn't showing any signs of slowing down here in writing the next series of books and is also looking around for washing partner to help him get into schools, and actually he thought his market was to individual children and families, but then he realized that both schools in homes scores were eager for the type of materials he was creating the books them else, however, weren't enough to be offered as an educational product to be updated, has launched to create a comprehensive curriculum that includes vocabulary, reading comprehend creative and academic writing critical thinking and country. Specific lessons, not to be a good decision, because teachers have since become some of his biggest supporters He came around adding those by now buttons and are also began work expanding his website offerings to include products at odds with the book series he play sewing items that he finds during his travels. These items will support local artisans furthering the connect
he makes with his young faraway readers There are several lessons we could drop in this story. I want to focus on just one, don't be afraid, Add now button your order button, not be subtle. Yourselves process should not be subtle. If you made something that you believe and like entered it in the story, you want people to find it and when potential parents or teachers or anyone buying a gift for kids stumbled on his website. It should for them to figure out how to order somebody was able to make that shifting You heard toward the end is actually countrymen, further to now rising. He can do some up cells or product. Add ons. Those are also good reason. Up cells work so well is because people have just purchased from you. They ve already been won over their interested in your product or service. If you can the national add on, and it makes sense, and it also offers value to them. You should definitely included I'm glad he's doing this project, I'm glad it's going well, look for deciding what happens next today
notes are, unlike silos, will score dot com slashed to seven sex. But to say on social media. I'm a hundred ninety three countries on Instagram, one hundred three countries, or just my name Priscilla Gower on Twitter, Facebook, cats, Christianity, as do you I allow you. Inspiration is good, but Raising with action is so much better, whether you in Taiwan, Thailand, Ohio or somewhere else, or we have a wonderful day, even listen, dishonourable school I'll, be back tomorrow.
Transcript generated on 2020-08-06.