If you want to make more money as a driver, it pays to diversify. I’ve been saying this for a while, but today I have an interview with Hamed Yazdi, a driver who made thousands of dollars referring other drivers. The most surprising thing? Even after he was dropped by Lyft, he still kept hustling. The story of this tenacious hustler below!
If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.
Intro
- Over the past few years, I’ve seen drivers hustle in really creative and persistent ways
- You probably know that driver referrals are a good way to generate extra income, but a few years ago, driver referrals were even bigger than they are now
- Today I’ll be talking with Hamed Yazdi, who not only used driver referrals to grow his business but has also leveraged that knowledge to start a new business as well
Interview with Hamed Yazdi
- Hamed Yazdi’s background is in engineering, and when not working at his day job, he runs a fleet of 6 cars through Turo. He also runs his own business and has a busy family life.
- Actually got started with Uber and Lyft when he and his wife were looking to save for a down payment on a house; gave 150 rides and ended up making $100 an hour with sign up bonuses, driving, and referral bonuses
- Realized driver referrals could be the key to making more money
Driver Referral Strategies
- Key is to establish trust with the people you’re referring – it’s not like putting up a billboard
- Hamed created a YouTube video to show what he made and showed the math to make rideshare driving work – this helped convince people to sign up to drive
- Hamed and his partners referred 5,000 drivers in one year
- Since Hamed referred people in-person, he could also help answer their questions realistically
- You can refer people anywhere – get creative! Gas stations, big events, anywhere where Uber/Lyft drivers hang out
Lyft Ambassador Program
- Started referring so many drivers, Lyft had trouble processing them
- Lyft invited Hamed to the local office and invited him to become an Ambassador to help with coaching new drivers
- Tried to make it really easy for drivers to join Lyft – would do mentorship sessions right there so drivers wouldn’t need to do any extra work
- Obviously, huge referral bonuses didn’t last forever
Diversifying Your Income
- One big thing Hamed learned from this experience is to diversify your income: when driver referrals started declining, Hamed started referring passengers
- Has moved on to the fleet business, specifically with Turo
- Working on developing a new website for his Turo business
- Started doing vehicle inspections in California
- It’s not easy to diversify your income and scale your business, but you have to be persistent
Outro
- A lot of drivers tend to look at referrals as a zero-sum game, but as Hamed says: Lyft and Uber are recruiting new drivers all the time. Why not get your piece of the pie?
- Also important to always be creative if you want to stay one step ahead and continue making good money – can’t get complacement
- Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and you can always contact me if you have questions – I like to hear from you all!
Show Notes
- Turo
- My Shared Economy site
- Rideshare Mechanic
- Subscribe to iTunes and never miss an episode!
- Connect with me on Twitter
If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.
