👋 Welcome to The Ramen Hustle, your weekly newsletter serving up hot, scrappy business ideas, helping you go from zero to side hustle. The only rule? Don’t just read it. Steal it.
In today’s episode:
📈 Financial news without the fluff
☎️ High-ticket closing
🎄 The holiday profit playbook
📉 TED’s slump
🥣 Movies with a crunchy twist
Wall Street’s Morning Edge.
Investing isn’t about chasing headlines — it’s about clarity. In a world of hype and hot takes, The Daily Upside delivers real value: sharp, trustworthy insights on markets, business, and the economy, written by former bankers and seasoned financial journalists.
That’s why over 1 million investors — from Wall Street pros to Main Street portfolio managers — start their day with The Daily Upside.
Invest better. Read The Daily Upside.
THE FRESH IDEA
☎️ If you are great at sales, this is for you!
Many small and medium businesses outsource their sales calls to independent closers. The company handles marketing and booking calls, and you show up for the demo, qualify, handle objections, and close. Commissions typically range from 10-20% of the deal price, paid on collected revenue.
There are numerous roles posted on freelance sites. Search for “high-ticket sales” or “sales closer” on Upwork, LinkedIn, Indeed, Remote job boards, and niche Facebook groups.
👉🏼 The model is simple. Pick a niche with clear ROI and prices above two $2k per sale. Think coaching programs, B2B software, marketing services, home improvement, and specialized training. One $5k deal at 15% nets $750. Close three a week and you are near $9k a month without owning the product or buying ads.
Here’s an example posting:
Find an offer you are passionate about and can back up with your expertise. But watch for red flags. Vague offers, no proof, unpaid trials, and delayed payouts. Choose solid operators with testimonials and clean fulfillment.
Do one thing well: show up prepared, follow the script, and close cleanly. Repeat, collect, and scale to a second client once your calendar is full.
Rate this hustle:
PROFITABLE WEEKEND HUSTLE
🪜 January hits and the magic is gone. Homeowners stare at ladders, knots of cold wire, and brittle clips. Gutters are slick, roofs are risky, and no one wants to spend a precious weekend in freezing wind.
Your Solution
🎄 Offer a flat $200 per standard home for holiday light removal, labeling, and storage. You bring the ladder, gloves, bins, and a simple checklist. Photograph sections before removal, coil strands by zone, label each bundle, remove clips without bending gutters, test and note any dead strands, and pack everything into a weatherproof tote the homeowner provides or buys from you.
Target three houses on Saturday for a $600 day. With light gear and a tight route, each job runs ninety minutes or less.
Upsells are simple. Gutter clear of leftover clips, fresh storage totes, strand testing with a short report, and a spring clean discount if they book your pressure wash or window wash in April.
TREND WATCHLIST
🎥 TED began as a one-off conference in 1984 when Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks gathered innovators across technology, entertainment, and design. It stalled after that first event, then relaunched as an annual conference in 1990. The real step-change came in 2006 when TED started posting talks online, unlocking global distribution and billions of views; Ken Robinson’s “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” became a signature hit.
Search interest for “TED talk” on YouTube peaked around May 2017, then drifted down. The spike tracks the moment TED’s online format fully mainstreamed and star speakers drew mass reach.
Why the cool-down?
Format fatigue. After a decade of highly produced 10–18 minute monologues, viewers encountered sameness and over-familiar beats.
Audience time moved to short-form video. TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts trained people to snack on ideas in 30–120 seconds, pulling attention away from lecture-length talks.
Platform competition. The creator economy now offers countless expert explainers, podcasts, and niche channels that deliver the same “idea hit.”
Important context: a dip in search interest does not mean the organization is failing. TED remains a strong business that continues to draw sponsors and premium attendees, but the cultural moment where a TED talk was the internet’s default “big idea” format has passed.
FLAVOR FUSION
🍿🥣 Imagine warm nights on a skyline terrace, classic movies on a big inflatable screen, and a neon cereal bar serving sugar-dusted nostalgia. Guests buy a ticket that includes a lounge chair and one custom cereal bowl.
They build it like an ice-cream sundae: half Cinnamon Toast Crunch, half Cocoa Puffs, topped with marshmallows, sliced bananas, peanut-butter drizzle, and a choice of milks from whole to oat to chocolate.
🪩 The vibe is 80s and 90s throwback. Box art on the walls, vintage ads looping pre-show, trivia for prizes, and soundtrack interludes between trailers.
Pre-portion toppings, batch chilled milks, and use QR codes for ordering so runners deliver bowls without long lines. Bundle sponsorships with cereal brands and neighborhood apartments, sell blanket rentals, and offer monthly passes.
The hook writes itself. Big screen above the city. Saturday morning, but at night.
Most coverage tells you what happened. Fintech Takes is the free newsletter that tells you why it matters. Each week, I break down the trends, deals, and regulatory shifts shaping the industry — minus the spin. Clear analysis, smart context, and a little humor so you actually enjoy reading it.
🧃 QUICK SIPS
📚 Must-Read: A free 43-page guide to getting more done at work.
📈 Trending Story: Are we tired of Chipotle?
💬 Found on LinkedIn: America's top startups, by city
