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From Domino’s Delivery Driver To One of The Top Uber & Lyft Drivers

As you guys know, I’m a part-time driver based out of Los Angeles.  And although I have spent countless hours driving, taking rides as a passenger, reading, writing and podcasting all about rideshare there’s still a lot that I don’t know.  One of the biggest reasons why I like to bring on multiple contributors and have guest posts from time to time is to make sure that I cover all the bases.  There are a lot of people who are doing some pretty cool things when it comes to rideshare and a majority of them aren’t out there broadcasting it like I am.

If you’ve ever gone onto a rideshare forum or two, you know that there is a lot of negativity out there.  I get new drivers all the time that ask me about this and I always tell them that there are a ton of successful people out there in the rideshare industry that are really killing it but they’re just not talking about it.  Fortunately for you guys, I love helping other drivers out and I love finding drivers and contributors who feel the same way.

That’s why I’m always looking for new bloggers, new writers and basically anyone that can bring a different and fresh perspective.  By the way, feel free to e-mail me if you think you’re that person 🙂 [Read more…]

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RSG012: Leveraging Rideshare To Promote Your New Business

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A lot of people judge their rideshare driving success by how much money they make.  And while I agree that money is definitely an important part of rideshare, I think drivers also need to take advantage of the networking opportunities that are out there for the taking.  If you were to stop someone on the street and start talking to them, they’re probably not going to be very willing to help you out.  But as soon as that passenger gets into your car, there is an instant connection and sense of trust that is instilled between the two of you.

I have met some amazing people while driving and I’m always looking for ways that I can help my passengers and also for ways that they can help me.  Today on the podcast, I interview four drivers who are doing just that.  In addition to being drivers, today’s guests all have their own side businesses that they are able to promote while driving.

The goal of today’s podcast is to really get you guys thinking about ways to leverage your rideshare driving opportunities.  Sure it’s fun to drive people around and talk to them but what is your longer term goal for rideshare and life in general?  I’m a huge fan of starting your own business and working for yourself but it’s definitely a lot harder than working a regular job for someone else.

All of the things you guys love about rideshare: the flexibility, setting your own hours, working for yourself, etc can be had with your own business though.  And I think the combination of being a rideshare driver and having your own side business is something that sounds very appealing.  So I hope you enjoy this podcast and feel free to leave a note below if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

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Are Uber Drivers Really Rated Lower During ‘The Party Hours’?

If you’ve been following this site for any reasonable amount of time, you’ve probably realized that I’m all about maximizing my opportunity as a rideshare driver.  You don’t make any money when your car is empty so it’s important to think about ways you can drive as efficiently as possible.  Don’t get me wrong, I love driving, but there are other things that I would rather be doing with my free time.  So with that in mind, I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder.

And although there are lots of great times to drive in cities across the country, as a general rule of thumb, you can’t really go wrong working the party hours (around 10 pm – 3 am on Friday/Saturday nights).  Demand will almost always exceed supply (especially when the bars close) and you should spend less time waiting around for requests and more time driving around and making money. [Read more…]

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Is Lyft Doing More Than Uber To Help Out Its Drivers?

Even though Uber is the big brother in the rideshare game, competition is a good thing for passengers and drivers.  Today, RSG contributor, Scott Van Maldegiam takes a look at some of the recent changes Lyft has made to enhance the driver’s experience.  I think 2015 is going to bring a rash of positive changes as TNC’s duke it out for driver loyalty.  We’re already starting to see some of those and so far things are looking good!

I have been thinking about writing this article for some time now.  For those of you that drive for Uber and Lyft, you probably understand why.  Both offer very similar services yet there are some major differences between the two.

Passenger Wait Times

I have been noticing for some time that Lyft passengers are generally ready to go while UberX passengers always make you wait a bit longer.  I have a couple of theories why this might be the case.

–Theory #1: Since Lyft starts the ride 1 minute after you click that you have arrived, I figured riders might be motivated to get outside ASAP so they don’t have to pay for those extra minutes.  In talking with customers though, most customers had no idea that this was the case, but didn’t really care since they were on time anyway.  So, with that small sample of people, it didn’t seem that this was the root cause.  Which got me thinking about another possible reason… [Read more…]

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The Rideshare Guy 2014 Year in Review

With 2014 coming to a close, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have supported my site over the past 7 months.  This will be our last post of 2014 but trust me when I say we have some very big things planned for 2015.

I started this site all the way back in May in order to empower drivers to earn more money by teaching them to work smarter, not harder.  I would have been happy if my articles and podcasts helped a few hundred people but they ended up reaching and potentially helping tens of thousands of drivers.  That was and still is pretty cool.

To be honest, it has been a lot of work though.  And there have been times where I was pretty sick of driving and writing about driving and talking about driving.  But every time I get an e-mail from a fan thanking me or a comment on one of my articles saying how useful a certain post was, that gives me the motivation to push through those feelings of exhaustion and continue doing what I do best!

Thanks to you guys, The Rideshare Guy has become one of the top influencers in the rideshare space and we have gained some awesome publicity through media outlets like the New York Times, CNET, Forbes, VICE and Yahoo Tech just to name a few.  The end result of all of this is that my articles and podcasts will help even more drivers out there.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say that that feels pretty good but I really do like helping people and I like knowing that I’m making peoples lives better.

It obviously hasn’t been all me though.  Scott has been a big help with his insightful articles and Jack has also consistently contributed some pretty awesome and often hilarious Friday News Round-ups.  We’ve also had some great guest posts by The Black Car Guy and The Rideshare Chick that I know a lot of you have appreciated.  And last but not least, my virtual assistant Marie has done a great job taking care of a lot of the back end stuff.

I’ve got some pretty big plans for the site in 2015 but the core message won’t ever change.  I’m still going to do everything I can to help you guys be better drivers, live more fruitful lives and have a little fun along the way.  That has been my goal from the start and I don’t intend to let anything get in the way of that.

Before I take a two-week hiatus for the holidays, I wanted to leave you with plenty of material to keep you busy though.  I know there are a lot of new readers who probably have missed a lot of this content and even if you’ve been here since the beginning it’s always good to brush up on this stuff. [Read more…]