How My Tiny Side Hustle Grew to a $12,000+ / Month Business

Friends, family, well-wishers…

A lot has changed.

In 2018 when I started this side hustle, sure, I had dreams of this happening. But I don’t know if I ever pictured myself getting here.

When I quit my stable $78K/year job last July, I certainly didn’t think I’d get here so soon.

Things didn’t start off all that great after I quit.

In August 2020, I only made $1,800 (about half of what I needed to survive).

But if you know anything about me, you know, I had been saving up for a while in anticipation of a slow start.

I knew I needed about $2,800 to cover my basic expenses and about $4,000 if I wanted to live a semi-comfortable life and continue contributing to my long-term savings.

In my master financial plan, I anticipated it taking about a year to get to that level and I was okay with it.

Wow…

I was wrong.

Before I did anything right, I did something massively wrong.

I had committed to taking this business very seriously. And according to the research and beliefs I held at the time, that meant spending money on advertising.

On September 30th, 2020, I launched my big online course, Job Search Institute, and I was determined to sell that with a perfectly designed sales funnel.

The plan was this:

1.       Use Facebook Ads to drive random people who didn’t know me to a quiz I created

2.       Use the Quiz to help people find out what was wrong with their resume

3.       Use those Quiz Results to sell people on taking Job Search Institute to fix their resume, etc

There were a few problems with this…

-          Random people who you don’t know will not buy anything from you online

-          Facebook Ads were costing me about $900/month (a huge chunk of my income)

-          I was panicked by how much money was flying out of my account every day

Then something changed… Then everything changed…

I had been dabbling with the idea of posting on TikTok to promote myself as a resume writer.

My first couple videos were total flops because…

I thought that TikTok videos had to be funny / quirky, and I came up with what I thought was a solid comedic skit about job searching:

You can see that video here

It got 300 views and I got… slightly discouraged.

A month or so later, toward the end of October, I decided to try TikTok again and this time, just talk to the camera and give some genuine job searching advice.

And my life has not been the same since.

That first successful video garnered 250,000 views and about 2,000 new followers in a week.

Needless to say, I started creating TikTok content at a furious pace.

Within a month, I was up to about 15,000 followers and now, 6 months after that first successful video, I have over 127,000 Followers!

Here’s where it gets really cool

Unlike the random people who were taking the Quiz that I paid Facebook to show them, these TikTok followers were actually getting to know me and trust me through my videos.

And then they started asking me for help.

So I posted my courses and services and everything on my TikTok profile and suddenly, the clients and course sales were rolling in… literally every day!

By December, I had surpassed the salary I was making at my old job…

Then in January, I made $10,531 (I had never made more than about $6,000 in a month before).

In February, I made $9,160,

In March, I made $14,218

And in April, I made $13,256

Here’s a breakdown of what that March income looked like:

Resume / Cover Letter / LinkedIn Services: $9,601.05

Interview / Job Search Coaching: $2,013.52

Selling Resume & Cover Letter Templates: $1,418.81

Video Course Sales: $1,184.64

And since then, I have added 2 more sources of income:

• Influencer Marketing: Brands have started to reach out to me to ask me to talk about their products on my TikTok videos which is really cool!

• Entrepreneurial Coaching: I now have clients who I am helping to building service / coaching-based businesses just like me. Speaking of which…

My Next Big Venture

I’m not 100% sure where this is going yet. I’m leaning toward creating a course and expanding on the 1-on-1 entrepreneurship coaching that I’ve been doing. I just know I want to share my path to success because it is very replicable!

To Learn More…

If you want to see how I found success and/or you’re interested in learning how you can do the same for yourself (which you absolutely can), I’d highly encourage you to check out my latest FREE e-book!

LIFE HACK: How I Made the WORST Month of the Year AWESOME… And How You Can Too!

October 2019 was one of the hardest months of my life. I wrote a blog about it, and many of you were kind enough to read it and then personally reach out to check if I was okay. This is why I love blogging and all of you :)

It was really cool to have probably 100+ people (from my dad, to my students, to friends I hadn’t seen in years) get in touch and make sure I was okay.

In case you missed it, here’s that blog post: How the Hardest Month of My Life Made Me Believe in Myself and Follow My Dreams.

For all the people who checked in to see if I was okay, and anyone who was feeling concerned and thought of me during that time… and anyone who just needs to hear some good news right now…

this one’s for you!

You probably know where I’m going with this because of the title of the blog but I let me shout it out loud:

My February was freaking AWESOME!

I usually hate February… who doesn’t?

It’s cold (when you live in Canada as least), it’s dark… it generally sucks.

But not this year!

Of course, many of you read about how damn tired I was feeling earlier in the month when I started a new job in my last blog post: The 4 Hardest Parts of Transitioning to a New Job… And Some Major Benefits Too!

So you know that I was feeling pretty drained earlier in the month.

But another reason I was feeling so drained is that I had A LOT of great things going on!

Just like I did in October, I’m going to run you through a day-by-day of all the notable things that happened in February…

except…

This time, instead of it just being a continuous shit-storm of death, failure, and sadness (with the occasional joyous evening here and there), it’s pretty much all good, baby!

Just Before We Start…

I want to talk about the power of positive news.

We’ve had a lot of negative things happening in 2020 thus far and they’ve dominated the news cycle. I personally feel like that’s been a huge dark cloud hanging over me.

I can’t blame the news outlets, because fear and bad news definitely help with their audience engagement.

My goal here is to just cut through that a little bit with a sprinkle of good news…

News that guy who wasn’t doing so great a few months ago, had a really amazing month full of little things that made him smile!

Let’s get rockin!

Feb 1 - CHANGES! It’s a Saturday, but it’s also the first day after leaving the job I held for the past 5.2 years. I feel a bit sad, but also relieved and excited to be moving on!

Feb 2 - Ariana and I host my Dad, Step-mom, and her parents and brother for our Second Annual Super Bowl Party at our condo. I love all these people and bringing them together for great food and an exciting half-time show is always a blast. Yay to new traditions!

Feb 3 - I have the Monday off so I “pretend” I’m already a full-time Entrepreneur. I head over to my self-employed friends’ house and spend a wholesome day co-working in the bliss of my imagined future.

Feb 4 - New job baby! It’s a long, draining day… but very very exciting and energizing too! Funny how purpose can do that.

Feb 5 - We take Ariana’s parents out to a Raptors Game! It’s a blast… we win on a huge comeback and a last-second three from Mr. Scarf Energy, Serge Ibaka. Great day!

Feb 6 - I attend a Change Leadership training with my new job and we come up with a change project that we’re actually actioning. Not just theoretical. I’m starting to see the opportunity for high-level impact in this job. Very cool. Also, it’s Thursday, so I have improv class… Always fun.

Feb 10 - I take my Dad to our annual Raptors game. We have a fun dinner and then the Raptors win their franchise-record 15th straight game! Another great day!

Feb 12 - My Mom comes into town and we have dinner with Ariana at my fav restaurant and then my mom and I see the Second City Main Stage show, If I Could Throwback Time. Sooooooooo funny. Highly recommend!

Feb 13 - I perform with my improv class for our end-of-term show at Second City. Making stuff up (and singing) on stage in front of dozens of strangers… my favourite. Once again, another great day :)

Feb 14 - Valentine’s Day!!! Woo!!! Ariana and I make a nice dinner and spend some quality time together :)

Feb 15 - Ariana and I head down to Niagara to see my mom. And we take the newly expanded GO Train route that saves us like an hour on the trip. Bonus! Also, solid dunk contest that night at NBA All-Star Weekend :)

Feb 16 - My mom, Ariana and I take advantage of the unseasonably not-horrible weather and go down to the actual Niagara Falls (something we locals don’t often do) and take in the sights. Also on this day, the NBA All-Star Game is good for the first time in forever… so you know that’s got me excited!

Feb 19 - Ariana and I celebrate our 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Wowie! I’m surprised it’s been 4 years already but also soooo happy and lucky to be with this amazing woman. We have a nice Italian dinner at Eataly. Very delicious and they’re great about allergies so that’s nice for me too :)

Feb 20 - Improv class… awesome as always.

Feb 21 - Pirate-themed Escape Room! Ariana and I, along with a couple of our favourite friends take on (and defeat) a very interesting escape room. Winning feels good!

Feb 23 - Ariana’s Mom comes into town for an afternoon of skating. It’s almost spring-like weather but not too hot for ice skating… kind of perfect. We have a very nice, enjoyable day :)

Feb 25 - Monster payday! I get paid out for all my vacation from my old job, plus my first paycheck (with increased salary) at my new job. It’s a lot of dough, which I added to my cushion that I will be using to supplement my income for the first few months after I leave my job to go full-time entrepreneur.

Feb 27 - My first officially sanctioned “work from home” day at my new job. It’s relaxing… it’s productive… why don’t we do this more often?

Feb 28 - We head out to Oshawa to spend the evening at Ariana’s family’s house before…

Feb 29 - We get up first thing in the morning and go up to their cottage for an awesome and fun weekend full of sledding, bonfires, outdoors, and family time.

It was only part-way through the month that I realized how awesome of a time I was having but I’m so glad I did because it really helped me enjoy every single moment.

As I said, I usually dread February. But when you fill it with new challenges, and lots of fun with family and friends… it can actually be pretty great!

I’d recommend you do the same whenever you have a month coming up that usually drags you down. We all have the power to make ourselves happy! We just have to be proactive about it sometimes!

I hope this little rundown reassured you that I’m doing much better now, and lifted your spirits a bit too!

Oh yeah! And…

Another thing I did in February that I was super proud of was LAUNCH MY E-BOOK!

I has allowed me to help a lot more people in a whole different way! Check it out!

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The 4 Hardest Parts of Transitioning to a New Job… And Some Major Benefits Too!

An exhausted man tries to smile for a photo during the first week of his new job…

Between my resume writing services and my video courses I have helped hundreds of people transition into new jobs… however, it had been 5+ years since I did anything like that myself…until now

...and let me tell you, this shit is hard.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that I recently resigned from my stable, permanent, long-term job to take on a 6-month contract in a department across the hall from my old job (before leaving to take this business full-time… July 31st, baby!).

My old job was absolutely awesome and fun and full of great people, but after 5-years and a devastating missed promotion, it was well-past-time to move on.

On February 4th, I started my new job. 

Process Evaluation and Service Delivery Analyst… 

which is a cool job but it’s all very new and there are many unfamiliar feelings. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love feeling feelings.

I love feeling nervous, out-of-place, and generally uncomfortable… it reminds me that I’m alive, and those feelings usually come when something awesome is happening (or is about to happen)…

P.S., on a related note… I’ve taken up musical improv and let me tell you… I am, what my retired-music-teacher-mother would call, “Not good at singing”… but I love that discomfort… and I’m getting good at rhyming… but that’s not why you’re here… hahaha sorry… let’s get back on topic :)

All that considered…

Now that I’m living this transition experience, I want to share what I’ve found as the hardest parts of transitioning jobs.

My hope is that if you’re going through something like this, or you’re scared about your own transition… you’ll at least know that you’re not alone.

We’re in this together :)

1. I Miss (Almost) Everything About My Old Job

The day I moved to the U.S. for grad school, I immediately became this uber-proud Canadian and started doing Canadian things I had never done before. I hung a flag in my residence room, I started following the Toronto Blue Jays religiously, and I would take every opportunity I could to blast my Canadian-only playlist to anyone who would listen.

It’s so funny how you leave somewhere you’re comfortable with and then suddenly you relate so strongly to how things used to be. What was once annoying becomes endearing and you miss the little things that you took for granted.

I miss a lot of little things…

Like at the end of the day at my old job, each of my colleagues had a designated sign-off for each other… kind of like a “verbal secret handshake”.

I miss annoying my cubicle neighbours by eating baby carrots at a volume that I thought was completely reasonable… ;)

I miss the smell of the kitchen. It wasn’t good… but it was home… the new kitchen is fine… but it doesn’t smell like home.

2. Learning is Hard / Self-Doubt is Exhausting

When you’re in a job for a long-ass time… you generally get pretty good at it. And I don’t mind bragging (I rarely do, hahaha), I got really damn good at my old job.

You had a question… I had an answer.

A problem came up… I knew how to solve it.

A decision had to be made… I’m your guy.

But now…

I know nothing.

I’m a total beginner. I don’t know names, I don’t know acronyms, I don’t know processes, I don’t know anything.

So all day… every day… I’m just asking people to explain stuff to me. I’m reading, I’m watching videos, and I’m eavesdropping a lot.

Luckily for me, my boss has designated these first few weeks as “listening time”. So I’m very grateful there is no pressure to deliver anything yet, but damn… it’s just so hard / different to go from having all the answers to having none at all.

3. Meeting People is Draining

I’m an extrovert. In fact, I’d call myself the extrovert’s extrovert. When I’m all out of energy after a long day, I usually want to find some people I like and just talk things out and chill.

But wow...

In the past 8 days, I’m sure I’ve met over 100 people and it has been draining.

What’s hard is that this energy I use to engage with these people is the same energy that drives me to excel and achieve things. So without that, I feel my wheels spinning a bit.

Even doing little things like writing this blog are hard. I’m sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, only able to write after literally doing nothing at all for my whole Saturday.

The good news is…

I don’t think I’ve got a ton more people to meet in the role.

The bad news is…

Now I have to interact with a bunch of people who “know” me but I can’t remember their names because I met so many people so close together.

That’s okay though, I'm still within the window of time where I can sheepishly ask, “Sorry, what was your name again?”… although that question alone takes up a lot of social energy.

Long story short… I’m tired.

4. My Precious Routine… Rest in Peace

Last week, for the first time since New Years, I fell short of my gym goal for the week. I also didn’t eat my healthy breakfast (bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and a hard boiled egg) that typically fuels my mornings.

I’m also dead when I get home because of the previously mentioned energy drainers, which annoys Ariana because I’m no fun at all.

I feel confident that this is temporary and I’ll settle in before too long, but it kind of sucks that during a time of uncertainty and transition, I can’t count on the things that used to keep me stable.

Patience young Langstaff… the routine shall return to it’s mighty glory.

Of course… there are lots of good parts too!

Every personality test I’ve ever taken has accused me of being overly positive… so let’s embrace that for a moment and share the 4 Best Parts of Starting a New Job to balance things out.

1. I’m being challenged again!

As I stated… I got really good at my old job. Perhaps too good. It all sort of became automatic. In the last week I’ve said the phrase, “I feel like my brain is turned back on” several times. 

For that... I’m grateful :)

2. Salary bump, baby!

As with most career moves, a part of the motivation was financial. And because this job is a short contract, it’s all cash (as in, no money going into pension or benefits or union dues or anything) which is great for my current situation since I’m saving up cash so I can supplement my income temporarily when I go full-time entrepreneur (also, I’m enrolled in Ariana’s benefits so health-wise, I’m covered).

3. I’m diversifying my experience

Of all people, a Professional Resume Writer should know the value of adding a different job with new responsibilities to my experience. Although I’m not planning on leveraging this experience for a new job, the value of working with different people and having some new, analysis-and-process-focused experience under my belt will be immensely valuable.

4. I’m proud of myself!

You want to see the people you love succeed, learn, and grow. And I maintain a healthy level of love for myself, so mathematically speaking… how can I not be happy for myself?

When people would ask me what I was “up-to” in the past couple years, I would be excited to tell them about the Career Services business, but when the full-time job came up, I was using the word “still” with some disdain…  “I’m still in the same job”, not very proud, you know?

Now… I feel great about what I do and I’m proud of myself :)

To Summarize…

The challenges are temporary… the benefits will help me for the rest of my career. All this stress will be well worth it in the end :)

Thinking About Making a Career Change?

Check out my eBook!

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2 Years Since Launch! A Look Back at the “F-IT” Moment that Led Me to Start a Business, Take Control of My Own Destiny, and Change My Life Forever

December 2017… I was less than 4 months from my 30th birthday and having one of those typical “What Am I Supposed to Do With My Life?” conversations with myself while lying in bed around 6:30am on a Sunday morning (I have no trouble falling asleep at night but in the twilight hours, my mind starts to motor with these big questions and there’s often no falling back asleep). 

Things were… fine.

I had a steady, unionized job with a good salary and amazing benefits. I was working with great people and doing things that I, for the most part, enjoyed. But the challenge and uncertainty that I thrive on had faded from the job after 3 years and I was stuck facing the prospect of being overly comfortable. I had a lot of energy and drive and really no outlet for it. 

To be honest…

I had spent over a year thinking about starting a business. I wanted the challenge, I wanted the extra income, and I wanted “entrepreneur” to be a part of my identity. I had gone as far as making a workback plan of all the things that I needed to accomplish before any sort of business would be ready to launch. That plan was over 6 months long… I was hiding beneath a list of to-do’s like a scared little puppy. 

Until…

On that fateful Sunday morning in December, when I realized I had been hiding, I had what some might call an “F-IT” moment. The next day, I booked the first week of January off from work and committed to spending that week (and what was left of December) doing as much as I could and then just launching with whatever I had. 

Sure, I could have spent the next 6 months meticulously pre-writing blogs, building my website, getting a logo designed, writing perfect sales copy, getting my Certified Resume Strategist designation (I didn’t get this until 18 months later), creating a marketing calendar and on and on… but I knew that if I launched now and figured that stuff out as I went, I was probably going to learn a lot more through real world feedback and maybe even make some money during the learning process (which I did). The only reason I wasn’t launching before everything was “perfect” was that I was scared!

→ Sidebar: “HOT DAMN! As I’m writing this, I realized that the procrastinating and fear I was describing is exactly why I haven’t launched my email marketing program that I’ve been coveting (and paying for) since September. Time to kick it into gear, Langstaff! ← 

So I busted my butt throughout the rest of that December and then spent the first week of January working full-time to get everything ready… and on that fateful day: Monday, January 8th, 2018, I launched! Was everything perfect? Absolutely not. But I got the damn ball rolling!

Good for me! 

Accomplishments Since Launching

I’m soooo glad I launched when I did because I learned so much from actually being live (so launch your damn email list, man!). Here’s a quick list of the stuff I was able to accomplish since the business launched which I probably would be nowhere near if I had decided to wait those six months (which could have turned into a year and so on...): 

• I’ve earned over $24,000 and counting

• I’ve served 126 clients (as of writing this)

• I’ve produced and launched 5 video courses on SkillShare.com which have amassed 550 students to date (earning over $1,100 and picking up serious steam)

• I got my Certified Resume Strategist designation from the Career Professionals of Canada (the Executive Director of the organization called my sample resumes “exceptionally strong”)

• I’ve published 36 blog posts (that seems low now that I think about it… might have to step that one up) 

• My website has had over 5,700 unique visitors (with December 2019 hitting an all-time high of 627)

And perhaps more importantly than all these small (and big) victories, is the feeling that has come with doing all this. I’ve put in an ungodly amount of hours into marketing, working with clients, writing, and just learning how this is all supposed to work. And sure it feels like work sometimes, but it also doesn’t feel like an option. This is just who I am and it’s what I do.

End of discussion :)

All those feelings of not being challenged and the lack of uncertainty that I crave… gone. And not only that, I just feel more in control of my life… especially at work. 

• Whenever we talk about government funding cuts that might affect jobs at work… I’m not really worried because I know I have this other income source (and a substantial amount of savings) from this business to fall back on.

• When I didn’t get that Manager job I had my heart set on, the idea of having more time to focus on this business was the first thing that comforted me (followed closely by my special lady and rock, Ariana). 

• When I’m frustrated by “the system” or “the hierarchy” or anything else that comes with working at a large organization (which is increasingly often these days), I can escape to a fantasy of running this business full-time. 

The way I feel about my life is so much better with this Career Services business in it.  

Moving Forward

I know, I know, the blog title said I was going to change my life forever… let me explain: 

I’ve got some big plans for year 3. I think I have enough evidence that this is something that I want to invest more time into, so year 3 is certainly a big year for expansion. 

I do have visions (and perhaps an action plan) for taking this thing full-time. But it’s not quite time yet, so here’s what I’ve got planned for year 3 that I’m ready to share today:

• Launch my damn email marketing program (I’ll tell you what… right here, right now… I’m going to commit to launching in 4 weeks from today. February 6th, 2020, my email list will be live and I’ll start promoting it. There… done. F-it.)

• Publish MORE video courses to Skillshare on topics including creating an Amazing LinkedIn Profile (almost done filming this one), Career Exploration, Strategic Networking, and Personal Budgeting (I know this one’s a little outside of the Career Service lens but if you’ve been following me for long enough, you know I’ve been a bigtime budgeter for a long time). If you want to see what I’ve already got on Skillshare, check out my teacher profile here: Greg Langstaff Skillshare. 

• Launch a line of low-cost digital products including Resume and Cover Letter Templates, Career Exploration Worksheets and some others.

• Expand my marketing efforts to video to start reaching a wider audience and helping people in a different way. 

• Professionalize my marketing planning and materials because… let’s be honest, you all know my graphics are an artistically ill-equipped man struggling with Canva / PowerPoint. I’ve partnered up with a creative agency to help me with some major rebranding. 

Also… I know I’ve been teasing this topic a lot, so I promise to soon explain when and how I plan to transition this side hustle into a full-time gig! So excited!

Talk to you all soon!

7 Business Books That Helped Me Start My $16,000 Side Hustle

If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, I’m sure you know that I’m an avid reader (and rereader) of business books. For every book I’ve read, I make sure to take at least one major concept and integrate it into how I’m running my business.

In my first year, 2018, I made a little over $8,000 running my Resume Writing business and this year, as of July 21st, I have already surpassed $8,000. I owe a lot of that to reading and listening to podcasts. I’m going to do another post of my favourite business podcasts, but for now, let’s talk literature.

Tiny Disclaimer: I am a registered Amazon Affiliates member, so if you click through these links and purchase the book, I will get a (laughably small) commission. However, I’m only recommending books I have read and which have significantly helped me get this side hustle running and growing!

 

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money that the Poor and Middle-Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki

How it made me feel: This is the first business-related book I ever read and it got me FIRED UP! Rich Dad Poor Dad opened my eyes to the possibility that I was headed down a seriously wrong path if I wanted to gain any kind of financial independence. It also made me feel a little overwhelmed by how much work I had ahead of me, but that’s why I kept on reading more business books!

What it taught me: This book taught me many of the mistakes most people make when they think they’re building towards a sound financial future, and why most people work they’re whole lives only to live a modest retirement with frequent financial headaches.

When to read this: Read this if you’re starting to feel like the track you’re on might not lead to the life you’re dreaming about.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

2. The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

How it made me feel: This is the Mecca of all business books for a budding entrepreneur. I still get butterflies when I see this on my bookshelf. Tim Ferriss has designed a blue print for not only creating financial freedom, but also creating a time-flexible lifestyle that I (and many others) so desperately want. Tim’s step-by-step guide also makes me think… I can do this!

What it taught me: Tim’s “Definition”, “Elimination”, “Automation”, “Liberation” formula helped me to craft a vision of what I want my life to be and craft a plan of how to get there.

This book taught me how to work smart and not hard and stop wasting the enormous amount of time when I thought I was being “productive”. It has also made me far more efficient in the workplace and a much higher-performing employee (bonus!).

When to read this: When you’ve decided you want to make a change in your work/financial situation but you don’t know where to start.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

3. You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero

How it made me feel: This book gave me permission to pursue a better financial lifestyle. It talks about the limiting mindset many of us have around money and the psychological reason many of us have chosen to take a safe, timid financial path. This book oscillates between giving me that heavy feeling on my chest and energizing blasts of hope and empowerment.

What it taught me: Sincero helped me identify my negative relationship with money and put me on a path to re-examine my financial mindset and open me up to the possibilities which I am able to pursue.

It also empowered me to share exact dollar amounts when talking about money (see title of this blog) which has helped me to have much more meaningful discussions about money with more people.

When to read this: If you’ve ever felt a bit icky thinking about or talking about money.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

4. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau

How it made me feel: Chris Guillebeau has this innate gift to make the process of starting a business seem simple and possible. He fills this book with a dozens of real world examples of people who started a business, investing roughly $100, and grew it into something big. While other books made me feel excited (and occasionally overwhelmed) The $100 Start Up gave me my first sense of calm.

What it taught me: This book taught me where to start! Guillebeau walks you through defining your idea, crafting a one-page business plan, and how to start making money with a minimal investment (as a side, the initial investment in my business was about $220 for web hosting and an email service, so this definitely helped).

When to read this: When you’ve decided you want to start your own business but before you know exactly what you’re going to do.

Times I’ve read it: 1.5 (just skimmed it the second time)

Check it out!

5. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

How it made me feel: When you’re starting a business while still working a full-time job and trying to have a life, finding time, energy, and willpower to get things off the ground (or expand) can be daunting. Charles Duhigg breaks down the psychology of habit forming and how we can use that to construct a life where working towards our goals is automatic. For a more detailed look at how I’ve incorporated the lessons from this book, see my blog How I Make $1,000 per Month Riding the Subway.

What it taught me: Duhigg’s research taught me how to build time into my daily schedule for business development without needing to use up precious willpower to get to work. He helped me discover how to work, when to work, and how to reward myself so that I can handle all the clients I do (coming up on 100!) while still driving the business forward and not letting it take over my entire life!

When to read this: Read this if you’ve started a business and if you’re having trouble finding time and energy for the rest of the commitments in your life.

Times I’ve read it: 1… plus I listened to him walk through the concepts in a podcast.

Check it out!

6. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

How it made me feel: Gary Vee (as the author likes to be known), is probably the most high energy public-figure/entrepreneur out there. I picked up this book during the third month of my business (March 2018) when I famously made exactly $0. This book is focused on content marketing through social media and it had me saying, “Aha!” and “Ohhhhhhh!” a lot. Lots of good revelations about how to build trust with your audience through providing high-value content online.

What it taught me: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is full of screenshots of actual social media ads which real companies have used. Gary Vee breaks down each ad and tells you why they are good and bad. This book got me back on track and helped me to start bringing in clients who weren’t in my inner circle through social media marketing.

When to read this: If you have started a business and you’re ready to expand your client/customer base.

Times I’ve read it: 1

Check it out!

7. Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Deep Work by Cal Newport

How it made me feel: This book gave me two very distinct feelings. First, it made me feel like I had superpowers. By following Newport’s advice, I have been able to find my flow-state and get a load of high-concentration work done in a short period of time. Second, it made me understand that we have natural limits to our concentration and that I shouldn’t feel bad when I start to lose my focus.

What it taught me: Cal Newport taught me how to structure my workflow so that I can really drill down and do deep, concentration-intensive work, and still have plenty of time for family, friends, and relaxation.

When to read this: Whether you have a business or not, read this one if you’ve got a lot on your plate!

Times I’ve read it: 2

Check it out!

Let me know if you found this helpful! And please comment with any business books you think I should read next!

How I Make $1,000 per Month Riding the Subway

Me on the first day the subway came all the way to my work! Sorry for the dramatic Insta-filter ;)

Hi, my name is Greg Langstaff and I make a little over a $1,000 every month riding the subway. Am I really good at riding the subway? After all these years, I’d like to think so. But no, I’m not just getting paid for sitting here looking pretty (notice I said “here” because I’m writing this on the subway). 

As many of you know, in January of 2018, I launched my resume writing and interview coaching business. And if you’ve been following closely, you’ll know that over the first little while, I had some ups and downs, including earning $820 in my second month and then $0 in my third.

After nearly a year of experimenting with various marketing and promotional tactics including organic Facebook content, word-of-mouth, paid Google and Facebook Ads, and registering with the Career Professionals of Canada, I started to experience a reliable flow of candidates that would earn me anywhere from $1,000 to $1,400 per month. 

Lots of Clients… Not a lot of Time

The challenging part was, when would I write all those resumes and cover letters? I still have  an 8:30am to 4:30pm job and I also live with my girlfriend, Ariana, who I like to spend time with in the evenings, so I can’t just work into the night. I also try to hit the gym 3-4 times a week and I don’t miss a Raptors game if I can help it. Also, friends. They take up time too!

It takes me anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours to write a resume (depending on my familiarity with the industry and how useful my phone call with the client was). Cover letters take another 45 minutes or so and then an additional chunk of time for the LinkedIn makeover. I’ve been working with 5-7 clients per month so as you can tell, the time adds up. 

So not wanting to give up any aspect of my life, or cut back on clients (and income), I scoured my schedule in search of a time when I could get this writing done. I tried waking up at 6:00am to start writing, but after even two days that turned me into a zombie. I tried doing work at home on the weekends, but that just made me sad. I tried working on lunch breaks at work and that had some success but it just wasn’t quite enough time. 

Then… a Miracle 

I tried writing during my commute. Every morning I walk 8 minutes to the subway station in downtown Toronto, sit down for 40 minutes and arrive just steps from my office. The subway is fairly empty because I’m leaving downtown when most people are coming in, so there is always a seat. 

Right there, I found 1 hour and 20 minutes per day (nearly 7 hours per week) for writing. That’s more than enough to get through 1.5, even two clients a week without even touching my social life. Between that time and the odd lunch break here and there, I’ve managed to almost completely avoid letting writing interfere with my home or social life. 

Building the Habit

Writing first thing in the morning or after a tough day of work wasn’t easy at first. I’m somewhat of a morning person but after work, my brain often feels like mashed potatoes. 

However, I’m a big believer in habit forming. I have read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg twice (weird brag, I know), and using the tactics in his book, I was able to completely take the willpower out of writing on the subway. There is literally no decision making process at all. 

When I get on subway. 

1. Sit down.

2. Turn off music/podcast. 

3. Open laptop. 

4. Start typing. 

When I arrive at my station: 

1. Hit save. 

2. Close laptop. 

3. Exit train 

*(oh damn, as I was writing that line, I literally arrived at my stop and had to exit the train. Now I’m continuing to write this a couple days later. Welcome to this meta/behind the scenes tangent. Okay back to what I was saying). 

What Makes a Habit Stick

According to Duhigg, there are four essential elements to building a successful habit. Here are mine. 

The Cue: A recurring event that triggers the desired behaviour (e.g. waking up is the cue for brushing your teeth). My cue is getting into the subway.

The Behaviour: The thing you want to do. For me, this is writing resumes or blog posts or whatever is on tap. 

The Reward: This is the reason for doing what we do. For brushing your teeth, it’s a clean mouth and a nice smile. For me, it’s clearing out my to-do list and having a free schedule. 

An Internal Driver: It’s the subconscious driver that motivates us to continue with the habit. The internal driver for brushing your teeth is that satisfying tingly feeling you get after you’re done. For me writing in the subway, it’s relief from the fear of people yelling at me for not delivering their documents on time (if you’ve read my “How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in Six Months while Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending” blog, you know the fear of being yelled at has always been a great motivator for me). 

Final Thought

Life’s good! I had a problem and I solved it! Onto the next one :)

If you know anyone who’s struggling to form a good habit or make a lasting change (or find a time to write), send them this blog. I’d really appreciate it and hopefully they will too!

How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in 6 Months While Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending

On a chilly December morning in 2016, on the cusp of turning 29-years-old, I woke up with a panicked realization that I was about to become a full-on adult and I knew absolutely nothing about money. 

I had a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing, and a Master of Science in College Student Affairs, and despite being fairly well educated, my financial education was pitiful. My parents never talked about money, they never shared how much they made or how they budgeted, and the subject seems taboo around most friends so I was very much in the dark. 

To cope with this lack of information, I had developed a fool-proof plan for my financially ignorant self. I called it, “Spend as little as possible so I don’t run out of money to buy food and die of starvation”. Though physiologically safe, this plan did not provide a lot in the way of an enjoyable lifestyle.

How I Got into Debt

Finishing grad school in May of 2014, I owed my bank and the government a combined total of $47,000. I was unemployed for about 5 months because I desperately wanted to stay in the U.S. but, as a Canadian, that meant I needed to find a university that was willing to hire an entry-level administrator on a work visa that they were saving for distinguished international research professors. My determination to prove I was worth the investment had me basically living in my University Career Center (which eventually sparked my interest in starting my resume writing business, so in hindsight, I can’t complain about that).  

A Brief Look at My Dark Days

Because I was unable to find a job in the U.S. but I was too stubborn to move back to Canada, times got tough. My girlfriend of the time was paying for most of our expenses and I was pitching in what little I could using the remainder of my student line-of-credit. 

Without a clear sense of direction or any kind of financial stability, I essentially melted into a shell of my former self. I lacked my normal confidence and I lost my drive to do much of anything aside from play NBA 2K14.

Okay, Happy Time Again!

In October 2014, I made the big decision to move back to Canada. Luckily for me, I had worked so hard on developing my resume writing and interviewing skills in my attempt to earn a U.S. work visa that within 6 weeks of returning to Canada, I was gainfully employed!

The job was at my undergraduate institution, York University, planning the new student transition programs and the salary started a little under $60K with an annual step progression. 

The First Plan is Not Always the Best Plan

I spent the next two years paying off debt using a new financial plan I called “Spend as little as possible so I can give all my money to the bank and the government so they don’t yell at me for owing them money” plan. 

The plan worked. I was paying off about $850 per month and then whenever I had a substantial chunk of cash in my account, I’d ship it off to either the bank or the government to lower the principal on the loans. 

By December of 2016, in just 2 years of working, I had paid off over $34,000, which is about $1,300 per month. I remember feeling proud that I was able to do that with only my fear-based system to drive me. 

Beware of the “Fear-Based Savings Plan”

The problem with the fear-based system is that it causes a lot of discomfort. I hadn’t been on a vacation in years. I only owned three pairs of pants. I rarely went out for dinner or even lived the luxury of buying myself blueberries. It also caused a lot of arguments with my girlfriend, which you know if you’ve experienced any money-centric agruements, is the worst. 

So, on that frosty December morning, I woke up and made a decision. I was going to learn about money and take control of my money. Here’s how I did it!

The Second Plan… The Much Better Plan

Within that month I read about 8 personal finance books and one, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy, by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D. stressed the importance of creating a personal budget to guide your spending. 

Now, I’ll admit, I’m a bit of an Excel nerd, so it didn’t take much convincing for me to build a spreadsheet to track all my monthly expenses versus my income. By doing this, I was able to not only track and adjust my spending, but I was also, for the first time in my life, able to identify money I could spend on myself, guilt-free!

I built the budget by making a row for every recurring monthly expense: food, rent, phone bill, metropass, toiletries, gym membership, haircuts, etc. Then I added categories for things I’d have to save up for monthly that I wouldn’t be buying every month like clothes (pants) and gifts (oh yeah, I was also a terrible gift giver during this era. Just ask my mom and her bag of Starbucks coffee beans).

Then, after looking at all the money I was obligated to spend each month to keep my life moving, I could see how much was left over to put into student loans. By budgeting, I was able to see that I could comfortably up my loan repayment from $1,300 per month to $1,600.

The Best Part: Guilt-Free Spending and Logical Discussions about Money

After calculating all the monthly expenses, and upping my loan repayment rate, I still had a few hundred dollars left over. So I then created a “Dating” budget line, and an “Entertainment” budget line and even a… “Vacation Fund” budget line where I started putting money aside for my first trip in years! 

Adding these pieces to my personal budget meant so much to me. It significantly reduced my financial anxiety while allowing me to spend money on myself and my loved ones without stress for the first time in my life. 

As things got more serious with my girlfriend, Ariana, it got easier to talk about spending together. Instead of saying “those cherries are too expensive”, I was able to say, “I only have $45 in the grocery budget for this weekend so if we want those cherries, we can’t have the watermelon”. I find it so much easier to talk about money with literal numbers than in the abstract. 

Paying Off the Loan

Paying off $1,600 a month from January to May allowed me to whittle down the final $12,000 pretty quickly and then in June of 2017, I submitted one final lump sum of nearly $4,000. I was done! Debt-free for the first time in 8 years with a fully paid-for education. 

It felt great!

Staying Debt-Free

I continued to use the budget for months after I paid off my loans in order to start saving for my investment portfolio and keep tabs on my spending. After a while, when I got a good handle on my expenses, I stopped keeping track and set up automation with my bank so portions of my paycheck each month would go into investment and savings accounts for things like retirement saving, personal development, and food. And I still know roughly how much I can spend each month on myself, just for fun :)

If you’re interested in budgeting your personal life, sign up for my mailing list and I’ll send you my personal budget template for free along with other similar stories and tips, and tidbits!

The Real Reason I Started a Business

Why did I start this business? Really?

This is a tough question. To be honest, I have written an opening paragraph and then deleted it four times now but that wasn’t getting me anywhere so I’m just going to try the stream-of-consciousness style of writing. Bare with me, please.

In December of 2016, as a 28-year-old man, I literally woke up one morning in a panic when I realized I knew nothing about money. I had always been frugal, but that was mainly because the extent of my financial plan was “spend as little as possible so you don’t run out of money to buy food and then die of starvation”.

Lying in bed next to my sleeping girlfriend, Ariana, I googled “Best books to learn about money” and found Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It was only $8.95 so I went to the mall and picked it up later that day. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad over the next three days and I can’t say I understood much (I’ve read it twice since and taken in a lot more), but it certainly got my financial blood pumping.

I read about 8 more personal finance books in the next month and also had a long talk with my most financially successful friend about savings, budgeting, and investing. After just a few weeks of vigorous, panicked financial education, I had designed a personal budget and created a master plan to pay off the last $12,000 of my student loans in 6 months on only my income as an early-career university administrator (see that story here).

Once I had the budget plan in place and got closer to sending in my final loan payment, I started to think about what I was going to do with all my extra money. I was paying off about $1,600 per month and I knew I didn’t want to just waste that money by immediately upgrading my lifestyle and taking on more expenses. I wanted to play the long game… I just didn’t know what that meant yet.

I did a deep dive into investment research, including reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, a 500+ page paper brick that the internet said was for “beginners”. It went waaaayyyy over my head. In the end, I decided to open a Tax Free Savings Account, and invest my money there using fairly safe vehicles like Exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

By July 2017, after one final large lump sum payment of over $3,000 (had to tighten the belt that month), I paid off my student loans and started saving to build my investment portfolio.

The weightlessness of being debt-free was incredible! I don’t own a home or a car (and don’t plan on doing so anytime soon either, but that’s a conversation for another time), so I really had no responsibilities outside of my day job at York University.

I had no debt. I had a reliable, unionized job with good benefits and an enviable pension. I could have stopped there and been fine, but something wouldn’t let me.

You can call this a blessing or a curse, but for as long as I can remember, whenever I’ve had a moment in my life where I felt like I was “good” and I could just coast, something bad would happen to me, usually health related. Maybe that’s why I was afraid to let myself relax, for fear of getting sick again.

I know a part of it was financially driven. Maybe I wasn’t satisfied with the passive 4% to 8% growth I was going to get from my ETFs. Maybe reading about all the entrepreneurs and lifestyle designers like Chris Guillebeau and Tim Ferriss during my quest for financial literacy had me dreaming of a life of financial freedom.

Most likely, it was a combination of fear, drive, and dreaming that revved my engine and got me moving. At some point between July and September 2017, I committed to the idea of starting my own business.

It didn’t take me too long to decide that I wanted to help people find jobs through resume writing and interview coaching. During my last few months in grad school, in 2014, I practically lived in the Career Center, (I’ll explain why another time, but trust me, it’s a juicy tale) and since then, I had become the go-to resource for friends and family members who needed help during their job search.

My next questions were, would people actually be willing to pay for my help, and how could I find those people? These two questions paralyzed me into inaction for several more months, but luckily, I’m a big New Year’s Resolution guy, so on January 8th, 2018, I got my shit together and launched the damn business (forgive the cursing, I just wanted to drive that point home).

Nearly 18 months later, I’m still going hard. Whatever the initial reason was, it was good enough to get me started. What’s more important is that I know now why I still run the business. I love connecting with clients and helping people feel confident about their job searches. It’s been very rewarding to learn how to market myself, develop my reputation and as resume writer and interview coach, and find new ways to expand my business.

As long as I’m able to help people and keep challenging myself, I plan to keep this thing running!

Starting My Own Business: 10-Months In!

Dear Mom... and whoever else decides to read this blog <3

Ten months ago today, I launched Greg Langstaff - Resume Writer & Interview Coach! Believe it or not, I'm still standing :) 

Since January 8th, I have served 43 clients (plus five currently in process) and I owe a great deal of that success to all of you who supported me. Thank you to anyone who passed my name onto some who needed help, or shared my promotional content online, or simply asked me how the business was going. Without you, I am but a lonely man posting memes on his Facebook page.

For all those following along the journey, here's how the first ten months have gone :)

The Money

I don’t think enough people share the cold hard numbers when they talk about their businesses, but like a good resume, I want to show you my specific and measurable accomplishments.

My initial goal was to make a modest $1,000 this year. I went onto hit that in February so I set a new goal of $5,000. I've honestly stopped keeping track of how much money I've made exactly (I guess I'll have to figure that out before tax season), but I can tell you that I'm somewhere north of $6,000. 

The Commitment

At the six month-mark (after some eye-opening spring travelling with Ariana), I decided that I liked running this business enough that it was time to commit. Here's a quick summary of what committing looks like for me: 

July: I registered as a Sole Proprietor with the Government of Ontario. 

August: I applied for and was accepted to the Futurpreneur Mentorship program for young entrepreneurs. I now have a great mentor who is helping me expand my business. 

September: Record-high month in revenue generation at roughly $1,200. 

October: I became a card-carrying member of the Career Professionals of Canada. 

November: I am studying for my Certified Resume Strategist designation which I hope to have by the end of this year. 

Lessons Learned

The first ten months have definitely dropped some knowledge into my lap. I've done my best to categorize those lessons for you. 

Marketing: You can get it for free, and you can pay for it too. 

I've had great success in posting useful content in my social media just to generate awareness in my business and tossing out the occasional sales pitch. To be honest, the content generation does get challenging, and I've been guilty of disappearing for weeks on end. It's a lot of work and I also worry about over-saturating my newsfeed and wearing out my welcome. 

I'm also starting to dabble in paid marketing (this is where it's great to have an experienced mentor). I’ve done a bit of Facebook and now I’m messing around with Google Ads a bit, which has proven to be fairly successful so far.

Service Excellence: I’ve also found that the best way to find new clients is to do a damn good job with the ones you have! About 20% of my clients have been referred by other satisfied clients. That's not a bad ROI for just doing your job with a smile... also it's nice to genuinely help people, but that’s not as measurable ;) 

People are Amazing: There are a lot of really great people out there. I'm so lucky to get to spend a hour on the phone with each of my clients, hearing all about their incredible lives. I have learned so much about so many different professions that I would have never learned if I hadn't started this business. Talking to people has been my absolute favourite part. 

What's Next?

Here's a quick taste of some upcoming initiatives for my business.

Certification: As mentioned above, I'm currently studying to become a Certified Resume Strategist. Just reading the textbook as already validated a lot of my earlier work and given me more confidence in my ability to help my clients. 

More Succinct Marketing Plan: Some of you may have heard that I recently moved in with my beloved, Ariana. And you may know that she is a digital marketing professional. So between Ariana and my mentor, I feel great about the direction my marketing strategy is heading in. 

Video Course: I've been talking about this for a long time now, but I swear I'm going to do it!

Thanks for reading! If you're thinking about starting a business or you recently started one and you want to talk, hit me up!

Starting My Own Business: The First Big Breakthrough (3 Months In)

Last time I blogged about my entrepreneurial journey, I was one month in and despite not being able to spell "entrepreneur" without spellcheck, I was flying high! Since then the journey had been… I wouldn't call it a roller coaster, but a very least, a kiddie coaster. Maybe more of a bumpy train ride through a rolling valley.

What I'm trying to tell you is, things were going great, then they weren't, so I had to make some major changes and alter my tactics, and now they're going great again!

February - Everything is Awesome

February was amazing. I was still benefiting from the initial boost of publicity I received of when all my friends and well-wishers shared my launch and I generated enough leads to last about two months.

After earning nearly $400 in January, I doubled that mark in February with over $800 in income, surpassing my incredibly modest opening-year goal of earning $1,000. It was great! I was receiving repeat business, referrals, and one client even paid for a friend to receive my services as a gift. I’ve never been gifted before ;)

What I didn't realize while I was thriving is that I was neglecting a very important part of my business.

March: Part 1 - Uh oh!

I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, my dear reader, I made $0 in the month of March. The big nuth. I had one solid lead, whom I think I scared off.  Probably because I was so desperate to break my drought.

I must admit, for a brief period, in my over-dramatic state, I thought maybe the dream was dead. Two good months and then fizzled out like a sparkler on a birthday cake (not that sparklers last two months… just… they fizzle out. You know what I mean).

In retrospect, it was easy to see this coming. While I was working with all my initial clients, I disappeared off social media, my website traffic was virtually nil, and my word-of-mouth army had nothing to go on.

March: Part 2 - The Redemption

After feeling sorry for myself for a couple of lonely weeknights, I decided to kick my butt into gear. At least I knew enough to understand that marketing was my problem. So I signed up for a $0.99 trial at skillshare.com and completed at least four courses on social media marketing. In SkillShare, I stumbled across a fairly famous guy who seems to know what he’s doing, Gary Vaynerchuk, and I learned the concept of creating a relationship with your followers before you ask for something.

So I bought his amazing book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World and started crafting my Facebook marketing campaign (do I get a commission if you click on this link and buy this book? Hell yes, I do! But I wouldn’t recommend it if it didn’t help me monumentally). *Sidenote: I just bought his newest book Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence—and How You Can, Too, and I’m expecting even more awesomeness to come.

April - I’m a Believer

Using my rudimentary design skills on canva.com, I built up 2 weeks worth of content to post on my Facebook page and my own profile that was either personal to me, relevant to my services, or just topical what’s going on in the world. Then, on my 30th birthday, boom! I hit the world with my first “Right Hook”, a 30% off deal to celebrate my 30th.

What a hit! Within the week I confirmed six new clients and have seven additional leads who I may work with in the near future. That $28 book made me somewhere between $700 and $1200 in about 3 weeks. But what’s even more valuable is that I now feel like I’m doing this thing for real. I’m still learning, but the power of being able to generate interest in my business and build my brand strategically feels amazing.

Moving Forward

I’m very excited to be where I am today. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support you have given me. The referrals, the social media engagement, the genuine interest in how it’s all going makes me feel like I can take this business to the next level and beyond.

Stay tuned for my next entrepreneurial journey update. I’ve got a couple of fun new projects in the works including a SkillShare course or two of my own, and another project completely outside the resume writing industry :)

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