Side Hustle Series: Unleash your creativity with SHOW IT!
Side Hustle Series: Unleash your creativity with SHOW IT!
Thinking of a way to make money while studying? Ready to launch your ideas into the world but don’t know where to start?
Launch Pad’s new Side Hustle Series is where to go!
The first workshop named “SHOW IT” kicked off on two days: 6 and 7 July 2023 with 18 potential content creators who are Western students.
Day 1
On the morning of the day, students grabbed their notebooks,
pens and Launch Pad t-shirts ready to start day 1. The doors to the Side Hustle Studio opened with three aesthetic backdrops and countless equipment, enticingly catching the attention of our eager student content creators.
Kicking off with an Acknowledgement of Country, our Entrepreneur in Residence Brad Twynham told a vivid story about the Yidaki (or as from the narrative – the magic stick) and used the Indigenous musical instrument to play us beautiful nature-born rhythms.
Fireside chat with YouTuber Samuel Suresh
For this special occasion, the Launch Pad team had prepared a surprise for our students. Samuel Suresh, the star guest speaker of the show and WSU alumni, came and shared about his journey of becoming a content creator during his time as a Western student and securing over 325k subscribers on YouTube. Key takeaway from his fireside chat with students?
When planning out your content, think about these two questions:
Who is it for?
and
What is it for?
Day 1 focused on skills development and content preparation, where students learnt non-verbal communication skills and began to write up their stories.
“Listen to your gut. Not your head or your heart, but your intuition, the little voice inside you.”
Samuel Suresh
Youtuber
During the workshop, students dedicated time to crafting the story for their side hustles using their exploring opportunities they’ve been seeking. They enthusiastically came up with unique ideas, moulding them into meaningful narratives that potentially pave the way to their financial independence.
Stories from Western Students
Tuan Anh knew about the program via an email sent by Launch Pad. He learnt through the workshop that he needed a framework for crafting content and aligning it with the appropriate audience. He also gained a deeper understanding of the things happening behind the camera, including the various thought processes involved.
As an international student, Dhimahi harboured a desire to cultivate a side hustle. It was through dancing that she realised where her true passion would thrive. Within the immersive experience at Side Hustle Series, she learnt that good content comes with trusting your instinct a bit more, and definitely felt more confident in the long-term pursuit of her side hustle.
Tingting, a Master of Nursing is a student who enjoyed cooking as a pastime. She especially cares about natural therapies and traditional medicines, the two interests which she had the opportunity to explore to great extent at Side Hustle. Having never filmed a YouTube video before, she saw it as a place to share her expertise, experiences, insights, and to connect with a like-minded community.
Non-verbal Communication with Brad Twynham
After lunch, students learnt about non-verbal communication skills from Brad. They coupled up and practiced different verbal mistakes to stay away from them the next time they are public speaking.
“Stories are the original classroom,”
Brad Twynham
Entrepreneur
His lively and captivating narratives spread across the room; the air grew still as students eagerly listened. Another day at Launch Pad full of friendly conversations, laughter and actions where students were our focus.
Finally, Jamie Pride brought it home by reminding students about monetary aspects of having side hustles.
Day 2
On day 2, the Entrepreneurs in Residence presented a morning of hands-on learning on how to set up a YouTube channel.
Students watched as our Entrepreneur in Residence Jamie Pride gave a masterclass on hardware in video production, observing first-hand application of hardware technologies and techniques used in the realm of video production to enhance video production knowledge and inspire their creativity.
Walking back into the studio, students harnessed an opportunity to explore software and tools used in content creation (such as ECAM, Canva and Mighty Networks) to build a videography setup, design video thumbnails and manage the subscriber community. Can you believe these are the astonishing things that happen behind the scenes for a content creator?!
As the last bit of tutorial progressed, students were given a spiel on the use of generative AI in content creation and how it can act as a potential productivity booster that can fast-track their content creation journey. To end with one of Jamie’s quotes from the workshop:
“AI does not captivate the audience; instead, they are captivated by you.”
Day 2 ended with our students passionately filming one of their first pieces of content to launch their side hustles. We look forward to seeing what type of content will be created by our Western Sydney University students!
Have you got a side hustle idea that you’re eager to introduce to the world? Well glad you are on this blog! Get started here!
