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Josh Wilson, owner of Off Leash K9 Training Hampton Roads and 5 other locations around the country shares how he scaled his business and the successes and heartaches that come with it.

Should you be using instastories differently than you are now? Should you be using them at all?

Because we're constantly inundated with advice for both!

Many people have let a sea of good ideas go unexecuted because of uncertainty in the market or a because of a bad economy. So what do Über, air b 'n b, fitbit, hulu, and buzzfeed all have in common? They all started in 2008 in the middle of one of the worst economic recessions in nearly 2 decades. While most of these companies had fat wallets because of start-up money or seed investments, they all share a few fundamentals that businesses of any size can learn from. We're going to learn what separates them from the pack, and how to apply that to your dream in today's episode of full time hustle.

Should you get a degree in your field or is there specific training that would take you farther? Today on Full Time Hustle we're talking about how we learned the skills needed for our business and how we choose to do paid or free training, online or in person, and formal or informal education. -Paid, free-Online or in person-Formal or informal I learned photography from The Pioneer Woman's "What the Heck is an Aperture" blog series. It's a 4 part series she wrote in 2008. I printed out all the pages and used it as my textbook to learn photography. That's a little insane, but it proves how you can truly learn without paying money. https://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/what-the-heck-is-an-aperture-part-one/ HOWEVER, I've also paid for training from area photographers who are excelling in their fields. The biggest thing is to know what you want and need to learn. Figure out the best place-- whether it's free, paid, formal or informal, online or in person. And then go for it! Take it very seriously. Even if it's informal or free, treat it with importance.

Goal planning is awesome, but it's not cool when husbands and wives don't have goals that line up. It can create resentment and frustration both at work and at home. Today we're sharing how we decided to fight back this year as a team, and we'll also share our words for the year!

In our business we have big projects that produce a lot of income, and smaller ones that fill in the gaps. Today on Full Time Hustle we're talking about how we balance the two and make them work best for our business and our lives.

You don't have to start every goal in January.

This week we're sharing practical tips that we use to protect our life from being taken over by our business. For most businesses, this is the busiest time of year, and for many families it's the most emotional time of the year. So listen in, and then tell us how you manage it all… or how you don't. We'd love to hear from you!

So you've started making some cash with your hobby and you're thinking you could turn it into a business. Easy, right? Just start charging and the orders will in! Not so much. There are a million little things that you'll need to do to get started, but today on Full Time Hustle we're talking about some of the best basics you can have under your belt to ensure a successful business. -how to run a business -how to write a business plan -marketing -SALES (one on one, how to close a deal) -balancing business books- Quickbooks -public speaking -web coding -extra, but my life development course in college was immensely helpful -study people

We're heading into Thanksgiving and this is the best time of year to slow down, reflect on what you're thankful for, and take steps to simplify your life for an even better year in 2019. Today we're talking about practical steps to simplifying for even the busiest person.

These days, it seems like everyone is looking for a shortcut to success, especially when it comes to social media. Wanting a shortcut to success isn't a new idea, but because of social media we're seeing it more and more. We're constantly inundated with so-called "guaranteed" social media growth strategies every single day through our feeds and spam emails. They promise to double, triple or even quadruple our followings in a short amount of time. With the growing use of the already common social media outlets we have, mixed with the proliferation of new businesses leveraging social media, it seems like it could be a good idea to purchase some sort of service or software that will take us straight to the top. Today on Full Time Hustle, we'll talk about why this is exactly what you DON'T want to do, and we'll talk about some easy ways to better position yourself on social media, and do it organically.

We love a good podcast, and since you're listening anyway, check these out! -NPR Up First / NPS News Now -North Point Community Church- currently talking about The Bible for Grown Ups -Bobby Bones Show -Dave Ramsey -99% Invisible- all about design -Reply All- things about the internet- crazy tech support issues, random internet finds, explaining memes -Young House Love has a Podcast -Dads Drinking Bourbon -The Joe Rogan Experience -Criminal- stories about anything related to criminal activity- and it's not scary. It's fascinating! -Detective- no new seasons right now, but the old ones are so captivating -Serial - Story about the murder of Hae min Lee and Adnon Sayed's involvement. -Ear Hustle- it's recorded inside San Quentin prison- that's fascinating What's New: Susan: Advocate Like a Mother- brand new this fall! Little Warrior- clothing line Josh: Post Malone; I'm into him now. Super weird. Not my typical thing at all. AT ALL. Did the track for the latest spiderman movie. First saw him SBSW, seemed crazy. Face tats. I've come to view him as very humble, respectful, talented. Talk about sounds cloud.

Scheduling instagram posts has helped our business tremendously, and these tips work for instagram or any social media. You can even modify it for blogging or even podcasting! With this, we've had richer content on social media, leading to increased interactions with clients, and therefore more bookings. It also saves us a ton of time in the long haul, especially now that instagram allows auto posting! This method also allows for easy outsourcing. I have someone do steps 4, 5, and 6 for me because that's what I really don't enjoy doing. You don't have to do all of this every time, but this is how you get started. 1) Make a list of things you will post about (you, hobby, family, passion, work, favorite food/activity, a journey you're on)- can be multiple things for each category, but get these written down, then focus them in on what you would like to post about - remember, people love personal things. You don't have to share everything (we don't!) but we share enough personal things that people feel like they really know us *have evergreen posts- things that don't depend on weather or season to be relevant, so you can schedule them farther out 2) Block out a good chunk of time. All day if you can, but if not, at least a few hours. Yes, it seems like a lot of time, but it will save you SO much more time in the long haul. 3) Look at inspiring things (gather up items around you- clean desk, coffee shop) but don't look at other peoples instagrams! 4) Gather all your photos (stock photos are so helpful- free ones or social curator)-- have an arsenal to choose from - google free stock photos and several great websites will come up. Don't worry about choosing exactly the right ones right now, but have a good variety to choose from, and remember the categories you had in mind from step 1. *to autopost photos to instagram, they have to be a certain size. A vertical 4x6 photo is too tall to auto-post. So go ahead and make sure all the images are cropped correctly. An 8x10 vertical is a safe height, or if you're unsure, just make it easy and do everything square. Do this all at once to save yourself a ton of time! If your photo is landscape (more wide than it is tall, then you're fine no matter what the dimensions are) * remember to stay true to your instagram style while choosing (colors, close up photos, far away photos, text) 5) Find the planner you like the best, that autoposts! planoly- find post in tuesdays together (other suggestions from local business owners: Later, Gramblr, Buffer, Cinchshare, etc) 6) Load all your pictures in, or do 10 at a time if it's too overwhelming! Move them around the grid as much as you like to get the look you want. Then start scheduling them for certain days and times. I do about one post a day, but go with your own flow and what you think is sustainable for you. It's better to have fewer posts with better content, than a bunch of posts with sub-par content, so take it easy on yourself. Also make sure you are spreading posts out among all your topics! -Fill in important dates. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays -As you schedule pictures, think of what you're going to write about. leave notes in the captions to help you remember later. 7) Caption your posts! Make sure to add hashtags, and create a hashtag grouping for each of your categories that you made in step 1. This will save you tons of time as you go! Don't always just describe the picture... tell your reader something they can't see in the photo. Did something happen behind the scenes? What does the photo remind you of? What was your favorite event from that day? What do you love about that person? How has this changed your life? Where are you at in this journey? 8) Keep it Fresh! Now that you have everything planned, you can always change out posts and add a new post for today, then take the scheduled post for today and reschedule it for a future date that is free.

Blah.  There's that B word again... budget.  Yet it's a question we get often, so we're diving into the nitty gritty of how we pay our bills when there isn't cashflow coming in, and it's a 3 part answer! But first... Entrepreneur.com has a great article titled 15 Business Tips Every Entrepreneur Should Know full of really great tips, which leads us right to todays episode topic: How do we budget for slow months? The question that is NEVER asked is how do we budget for busy months? But they answer is the same for both-- and you have to pay attention to both-- you can't just focus on freaking out in the slow months and trying to make enough money to survive. Instead we use those months to dream and grow in ways we can't when we're super busy. We regulate our finances-- plan for the whole year rather than month to month. It takes a few key things to do this: 1) We know what our baseline household budget is for each month. How much money do we really need to pay our bills, eat, and put gas in the car? You HAVE to know this number. You also need to know the high version and the low version. If we had to cut extra things, we know exactly how much we could save... and if we wanted to spend extra, we know exactly how much we typically spend extra and in what categories (entertainment and clothing!). 2) We know how much we can pay ourselves and still keep a good business running. We can't short the business to pay ourselves-- that's unsustainable. If we spend all our personal money in the busy months and then still need money during the slow months, then we aren't handling business or personal finances very well. So we choose to pay ourselves off of commission-- when I do a wedding or session, I know exactly what percentage of that I can pay myself. 3) When we pay ourselves, I immediately transfer the extra beyond our monthly budget needs to a sinking fund- just an extra savings account we have. I can look at a glance and know how much money we have to play with-- that money can be to carry us through the slow months, or to buy a new car, or to go on vacation, or whatever we want. But most important is to carry us through the slow months.

There are some pretty terrible lists of side hustles on the internet. For me, a big attraction to a side hustle is that it can be on the side... minimal back end work, but to make a quick buck. There are a lot of reasons why someone might want a side hustle- whether it's to turn it into full time, or its to fund your full time hustle dream, or just to make some quick cash for vacation. Today we're discussing our favorites and what to look for in a side hustle. CreditLoan.com did a survey of 996 Americans who are doing a side hustle.  21% said they worked on their side hustle while at their primary job. Blegh. Not a smart idea unless there's a contract saying you can, and you own your work. I realized that I have an inner turmoil when reading side hustle idea lists. I'll say this: Keep in mind the tax laws in your area, and in the country. The government does understand that you can make money from a hobby, but only to a certain point. We aren't tax professionals so we can't give advice here. Personally, we got a business license about 6 months in. I realized this was a real thing, and I wanted to keep going and to run it like a business. You might find that if you don't get a business license, you'll hold yourself back from being too successful because you're scared of the tax implications. Guys, that's dumb. I did that, and it's so silly. Starting an actual real business on the books is scary, but it's really worth it. If I hadn't of made that leap, then it would never be our full time income today. Yes, taxes stink, but living in fear stinks too. However, definitely dabble in an industry as much as you can before investing money in it. But you have to keep some things in mind... like you can't just do everything under the table. Some things you need insurance for. Some things your insurance will forbid you from doing (rideshare anyone?) Dog walking is cool, but what if a dog gets loose from you and gets hit by a car and has $3,000 in vet bills? Do you have insurance to cover that? Do you have a contract in place to cover yourself? Lauren Greutman has a great list: 24 Awesome Side Hustles You Can Do While Working Full Time  A lot of them center around what you're already trained to do, and then finding a way to do extra work on the side. Entreprenuer.com has kind of a terrible list. I feel like a lot of them are gimmicky and take a lot of time for minimal income. Like, write an ebook or produce an audiobook. Or #32 "Open a Mobile Pet Grooming Service." This is more of a serious side business that needs a lot of attention to flourish and grow. And perhaps something you should be passionate about.. not just try your hand at it. But this list might give you a crazy idea that works well for you, so... it's worth a skim.  Also, #41. Start a GoFundMe Page.  Don't even get me started... Remember, not every idea is a good one. Find one that sparks something inside of you. Really fantastic article by Luxe Strategist. She shares extremely practical ways to make money on everyday things. And also talks about how some side hustles aren't worth it because of the time investment and low payoff. What side hustles do you do?

Today’s guest is Jon Chalden (@jonchalden on instagram.) A dynamic, witty, cynical, intelligent and very underrated drummer friend of mine who is one of the smartest and hardest workers I know. I’ve watched him do well for SO many years, and I’ve been dying to get some real unfiltered knowledge from him on what makes him tick, and how he makes it work. Here are some facts on Jon: Jon Chalden has been playing professionally for over 35 years. After graduating from the nationally-recognized jazz program at Decatur (IL) MacArthur High School directed by Jim Culbertson, he cut his teeth in various Midwest rock, jazz, and R&B acts, honing a very song-oriented style that has created an in-demand schedule of live and studio dates. Currently he is on the road with singer/songwriter Nathan Angelo and regularly performs with the legendary Rupert’s Orchestra. Outside of those commitments, Jon also maintains a busy schedule of sessions and freelance live dates.  Jon is the co-host of the Drummer’s Weekly Groovecast podcast and curator of the ATL Drummer Tributes, celebrating iconic drummers with live shows featuring the A-list of Atlanta musicians. He has performed and/or recorded with Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Aaron Shust (including the 2007 Dove Awards Song Of The Year “My Saviour, My God”), Steve Fee, Candi Pearson-Shelton, Oliver Wood of the Wood Brothers, Babbie Mason, Francine Reed, Brian Culbertson,  Michael Gleason, Citizen Cope, Tom Grose, Kristian Stanfill, R. Scott Bryan, Sylvain Sylvain of The New York Dolls, Alfreda Gerald, Ryan Horne, Chris Unck, Tracy Hamlin, North Point Community Church, The Beggars' Guild, A1A, Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Vineyard USA, Dana Blackwood, Kid's Stuff, ReThink, Turner Networks, Ford Motor Company, Toyota and many others. What's New: Susan broke her toe and has been limping around in a boot for a few weeks.  She's not thrilled. Leo, our pet fish, has taken up a new hobby: Playing dead.  It's a little unnerving, and he's punked everyone in the house now, so we know his antics.  Click below to see his mad skills! IMG_7871

One of the most attractive things about owning your own business is the flexibility in your schedule. Last week when the governor gave us a mandatory evacuation for a hurricane, we took it as a chance to go to New York City! That's definitely something we weren't able to do before when we had traditional jobs. Today we're going to share how we did it, the finances behind a last minute vacation, and we're interviewing our daughter, Hazel, about it as well. Here's a link to the blog post we reference! And the video of when we told Hazel where we were going: IMG_7096

We're celebrating pretty hardcore about hitting 50 episodes! Today we're doing a little trivia about the 1950s and making Josh guess all the answers... and the 5th question is quite surprising.  We also chat about what's new at the end of todays episode.  Let's just say we're highlighting a big milestone for Josh, and a terrible milestone for myself. Today’s guest, is Ed Bley, and unless your one of Josh's bourbon pals listening to this, you probably have no idea who I’m talking about. And while you may not know who Ed is, let me tell you, he is a force to be reckoned with in the bourbon world. Few people have done more private barrel selections than this guy, and we’re gonna talk about what that is and why it matters in a second. The big thing I’m excited about is how much Ed is going to inspire you to chase your dream. A lot of people talk about making their side hustle their full time gig, but the reality is that very few will actually be able to do it. Ed is one of the few who has not only done it, but he’s doing it on a large scale. Ed was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has a background in culinary arts, customer service, sales and medicine. He has 2 children, his son Anthony who is 20 and his daughter CharLeigh who is 10. He loves outdoors, fine dining, fine spirits and inspirational quotes. Two of his favorite quotes: “A bird never flies so high its tail doesn’t follow” - Florence Bley And the old adage that  “A rising tide raises all ships”