How one guy juggles 4 side hustles while being a full time student.
John Linford has about as diverse of a side hustle portfolio as you could find.
As a full time student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, John currently runs projects as a Ghostreader, Professional Magician, Data Analyst, and Managing Director for Social Venture Academy.
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive right in.
If you haven’t subscribed now would be a good time to do so.
Ghostreading
Recently John has become quite popular on the social platform LinkedIn because of his new project, something he has termed “Ghostreading”.
In John’s own words: “I’m sure you’ve heard of a ghostwriter, the copywriting wizards behind viral posts, speeches, or literary works. They help busy people communicate their ideas with maximum effect. “
A ghostreader is similar, except I read the books that busy professionals are “supposed” to read (as dictated by coworkers, bosses, influencers, etc.) so you don’t have to.”
Since he started posting frequently on LinkedIn John has taken on 2 clients for his ghostreading role, who pay him a monthly retainer for his services.
Professional Magician
In high school, John went to see a movie with his friends without expecting to be inspired to learn a new skill. After seeing Now You See Me, he was thrilled and tried to learn everything he could about about magic.
He practiced tricks and eventually took the plunge into performing tricks for others. At the time he was working as a server at a restaurant, so he quit his server work and instead went from table to table performing magic.
It was so embarrassing to mess up a trick in front of an audience, but that only pushed him to become better and better.
After a while the guests at his tables started asking him if he did private gigs. John’s response was, “I do now!”
Data Analytics
As a statistics major set to graduate in April 2023, John has been able to parlay the skills he has learned into small consulting opportunities with local businesses.
Advice from John
No stupid stuff. John doesn’t spend time watching Netflix or playing video games on his own. Of course he’ll watch a movie with his wife or play video games with his friends, but his time is devoted to being productive.
Use time in creative endeavors to sit and be bored. Inspiration comes when you allow the brain to just think and be in a creative space.
Find a balance to multitask, by listening to books or podcasts while doing mundane tasks.
Don’t be afraid to dive in and fail. It will be hard but by putting yourself out there you open yourself up to opportunities that you never would have had.
Stay lean, don’t spend money until you are making money.
John’s work and business experience has demonstrated an often discussed topic here on The Steel Road. How to get customers for your non-tech business without spending a dime on marketing.
To keep up with John, follow him on LinkedIn!
Take 2 seconds to click a link and give feedback on this post.
With your feedback, we can improve the newsletter. Click on a link to vote: