How To Make $1,000 Extra With Facebook Each Month

Today, I have a fun interview to share with you that will show you how to make extra money running Facebook ads for local businesses. I recently had the chance to interview Bobby Hoyt. Bobby is a former high school teacher who paid off $40,000 of student loan debt in a year and a half….

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: June 13, 2024

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Today, I have a fun interview to share with you that will show you how to make extra money running Facebook ads for local businesses.

I recently had the chance to interview Bobby Hoyt. Bobby is a former high school teacher who paid off $40,000 of student loan debt in a year and a half. He now runs the personal finance blog Millennial Money Man full-time, as well as a digital marketing agency for local businesses that he started in 2015.

Yes, this is a skill you can learn!

Last year, business owners spent over $358,000,000 per day on Facebook ads.

If you are looking for a new business or even just a side hustle so that you can learn how to make extra money, learning how to make money running Facebook ads for local businesses may be something that you want to look into.

In this interview, you will learn:

  • How Bobby started making money through running Facebook ads;
  • Why small businesses want Facebook ads;
  • How a person can find their first Facebook ads client;
  • How much you can make doing this type of work;

And more!

Bobby has been seen on CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Reuters, MarketWatch, and many other major publications.

One last thing before we head to the interview on how to make money running Facebook ads for local businesses. Bobby has a free webinar (you can sign up here). His webinar will teach you how to start this business even if you’re brand new, how to find clients and more. Check out the interview below for more information.

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1. Can you share your story and also tell us how you started running Facebook ads for clients?

Sure! At this point my story is getting more and more complicated, but I’ll filter it down to the important parts.

Just a few years ago, I was a high school band director that wasn’t quite happy with my career path. It’s not that I didn’t like teaching part of my job or the kids, but I felt trapped. Like a lot of teachers, I was really struggling with the idea that I would never really make a lot of money, and I definitely didn’t feel like I was being paid enough for how hard I worked (band directors regularly work 70-80 hours per week).

I also had $40,000 of student loan debt coming out of college, which didn’t help. Between that and my teaching salary, I was feeling trapped.

So I decided to live as far below my means as possible (up to and including renting a 10×10 bedroom from my in-laws and driving a crappy car with no power locks or windows), and threw everything I could at the loans.

18 months later, I had paid off the entire $40,000 of student loan debt!

But… I still had the job I didn’t like haha. So I started blogging, eventually created Millennial Money Man, and got SO passionate about working online that I walked in one day and quit my job after making a cool $3 in display ad revenue.

It wasn’t exactly the smartest move and I don’t recommend that anyone quits their job the way I did, but at the time I felt like I could “make it” with M$M and was willing to take a shot on it.

After I quit, I got scared. Not going to lie. I loved running the blog and it was growing, but I wasn’t bringing in enough money. In fact, I wasn’t bringing in any money at all.

That’s when I started looking for other ways to make money while the site caught on, and I eventually ended up connecting with the jeweler that made my wife’s engagement ring.

He needed someone to help run their website, create content, and run Facebook ads.

I was desperate, of course, so I started working with him and learning how to run ads for local businesses. The money was solid for the amount of work it took, and I picked up a few more clients which allowed me to make money while I continued growing my “full-time” gig.

Related: Want To Make Money From Home? Here Are 17 Of The Best Online Jobs

2. I keep hearing that “Facebook is dead?”

You can hate Mark Zuckerberg all you want – but this just isn’t true.

Facebook ads are the most effective local lead generation strategy for brick and mortar businesses, and when you add in the fact that Facebook also owns Instagram (which is wildly popular and is quickly becoming popular for local business lead generation), that won’t be changing any time soon.

3. Do small businesses really want Facebook ads? Why would they pay for a service like that? Can’t they just do it themselves?

They really do want Facebook ads, and it isn’t hard to see why. The only thing that business owners need more than extra hours in the day, are more customers and clients walking in the door.

Local businesses use Facebook just like the rest of us do, and they’re constantly seeing their competitors successfully use Facebook ads to bring in leads for their business. They hear about how effective Facebook ads are and they want that for their business.

The problem is that Facebook doesn’t exactly make it easy for business owners to run ads effectively on their own.

Here’s the normal progression for small business owners that attempt to use Facebook ads:

  1. They see the “boost post” option on their Facebook page
  2. They hook up their business credit card and boost a post
  3. They waste money because boosting a post isn’t the correct ad type to run for local businesses
  4. They give up and decide that Facebook doesn’t work

It’s unfortunate, because if they just used the correct ad types they would actually be able to generate tons of leads for their business. Instead, then get frustrated and give up.

That, or they just don’t have time to learn how to run ads effectively or even make time to focus on the ads. Even in my own business, there are plenty of times that I outsource tasks that I either a) don’t have time to do, or b) have no interest in learning.

You can help solve both of those problems – you can bring them tons of new customers and increase their monthly profits, while also taking a big task off their hands so they can focus their time on other things without stressing about their marketing efforts.

That’s why there’s such a market for ad managers. You can go in, run the correct campaign types for business owners, help them generate new business, and charge great money for the service because you are increasing their profits.

4. Is this side hustle hard?

No, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t work involved. We teach our students literally everything that they need to know to be successful with this side hustle, from creating the ads, to finding the clients, all the way down to the nuts and bolts of billing their clients.

If someone is willing to put in the time to dig into the course material, then we do everything we can to help them succeed in the private coaching and support group that’s attached to the course.

The course itself is structured in a logical, step-by-step way and uses “over the shoulder” style videos, so students can literally see our screens as we create the ads and talk them through the process.

When it comes to actually running the side hustle, it only takes a few hours per week to run ads for a client. The beautiful thing about Facebook ads is that once you set them up, they essentially run on auto-pilot.

Sure, you’ll need to make small changes from time to time, but the reason this course has worked so well is that it’s truly designed to be a service that is provided in your spare time to bring in an extra $2,000+ per month.

But it can go well beyond that! We now have students who are making $5k, $10k, and more each month. It’s more than a side hustle course – you can literally make enough to quit your job!

5. How can a person find their first Facebook ads client?

We understand that the idea of trying to find clients is hands down the most intimidating part of starting this side hustle, which is exactly why we spend so much time on client acquisition strategies in the course.

Luckily there are plenty of simple ways to find clients online, even if you’re an introvert or are brand new to the online business world. We provide training on 9 different ways to get clients using a variety of methods and social media platforms. We have effective strategies using Facebook groups, LinkedIn, email, YouTube, and Upwork just to name a few.

All of these methods can be used to find clients without paying for advertising. It just takes some time, effort, and a little courage to put yourself out there. We’ve found that some of our students are very introverted, and some are extroverted, so we made sure to include strategies that will be for all personality types.

Our biggest advice when it comes to client acquisition is to focus on one or two of the strategies that we teach, and then go all in on those.

Our students tend to gravitate to different strategies, but we’ve found that the ones who stay focused and put the work in using the strategies that appeal to them most are the ones that stack multiple clients (assuming they want more than just one).

It’s also important to note that we don’t just give you the strategies and send you out into the world on your own.

We help our students strategize client acquisition in our coaching and support group.

Let’s say you reach out to a business owner and want a little help formulating a response to something they say to you. All you have to do is post your situation in the group, and we will tell you exactly what to say to get their business.

We really do everything we possibly can to help our students get clients, which is a large reason our students have been so successful since we launched it in 2018! And we’ve had over 4,000 students go through the course.

6. How much money can you make doing this type of work, and how many hours does it take per week?

The going rate for Facebook Ad management is $1,000 – $1,500 per month, per client. Now I know that sounds like a ton (and it is), but you have to think of this from the business owner’s perspective:

If you could pay someone to give you a steady stream of customers to your business, would you? Especially if the leads were affordable, and you made way more money from the new customers than you were paying for the ad management?

It’s really a no-brainer for a lot of business owners.

The other factor is that while $1,000 is a lot of money, it’s usually not an arm and a leg for an established small business owner. Many times, their rent alone is several thousand dollars per month!

So when you look at the $1,000/month per client we recommend charging from the business owner’s perspective, it makes a lot more sense.

7. Is there an opportunity to grow this side hustle into a full-time business?

I love this question, and the answer is absolutely! In fact, during our last launch someone asked this exact question in my Facebook group and our students chimed in with some incredible responses.

Check this out to see what I mean:

How To Make $1,000 Extra In Your Spare Time With Facebook


The course was initially designed to just be a side hustle, but we’ve had quite a few students take it full-time and leave their day jobs.

Here are a few other stories from some of our other $5k Club Members (our $5k Club is for students who have 5 or more clients paying $1k per month – it’s a big deal in our coaching community when someone achieves this):

  • Jacob has made over $250k since taking the course five years ago, and he consistently makes $8-$13k per month.
  • Paul, who specializes in Facebook ads for orthodontists, is one client away from making $10k per month.
  • Kathrine left her job and was able to support herself and her children after a divorce using what we teach in FBSH
  • Jason and Candace were able to build up enough income to allow Candace to leave her teaching job and become a stay at home mom. Now they are working on replacing Jason’s income.
  • Graham paid off $20k of debt in his first year and now runs his agency full-time from the comfort of his home.

8. What exactly are people going to learn from your course?

The course teaches you how to create profitable ads for local businesses so that you can start making an extra $2,000+ per month on the side, even if you have no marketing or technology background.

Inside you’ll learn:

  • How Facebook Ads work, so that you will be prepared for any questions from prospective clients, and will be able to confidently share your new expertise with clients
  • To create profitable ads for local businesses, with step-by-step video walkthroughs so that you know exactly what settings to choose and buttons to push to get the best results
  • Strategies for troubleshooting problems with ads, and exactly what steps to take to overcome those issues and improve ad performance
  • Unique methods for targeting the right potential customers for your client, so that they make more money and refer you to other businesses
  • Our top three strategies for finding your first Facebook ad management clients, so that you can start making money as soon as you complete the course
  • Systems and templates for tracking results so that you can show your clients exactly how much money you are making their business – when clients understand the results you’re getting, they’ll want to keep you on payroll forever! (Some of our clients have been with us for years for this exact reason)
  • Ins and outs of running a Facebook ad business, so that you can get better results for your clients and work fewer hours.

You get lifetime access to the course for just $397. Just to give people a little perspective, Facebook training courses like this typically go for $1,200 or more.

But I wanted to do something different. Mike and I understand how difficult it can be to create a successful side hustle, but we also know how life-changing it can be.

I have so many readers that ask me for legitimate side hustles, so we decided to price this course so that it was accessible to as many people as possible.

And since you can earn more than double the investment with your first client, we think it’s a pretty sweet deal.

But when you join you’re going to get more than just the course…

You’ll also get access to our coaching and support group where students can ask questions, get troubleshooting advice on their ads, and help them put out any fires that might come up with their clients. Membership in the support group is paid, but we give everyone who joins the first month for free to make sure they get all the help and support the need to be successful when they start. After that it’s only $47/month afterward. And of course, the group is totally optional, you can leave at anytime.

But think of it this way – you can get the course plus nearly a year and a half of support for the amount you can earn in the first month working with ONE client.

Please click here to check out the free training Bobby put together and learn more about the Facebook ads course.

What do you think of this Facebook side hustle idea?

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Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

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  1. How much money does a person need when they’re starting out for the 1st
    time running Facebook advertising?

    1. Hey! Outside of the course, you don’t actually need to spend any additional money to get started with this service.

      All of the campaigns can be created for free through Facebook’s ad manager.

      The client is responsible for the ad spend – not you. We typically recommend about $15/day in ad spend for local campaigns on top of your retainer for the service.

      That might sound a little steep, but you’ll find that most local business owners are used to covering the ad spend for their ads.

      Now we do recommend that you pick up a fewpieces of software like Clickfunnels and Zapier after you get clients and have money coming in. They will allow you to run additional ad campaign types and generally just make your life a little easier. But they aren’t required to get results for clients.

      Hope that helps!

      1. I may look into trying my hand at running Facebook ads in the near future as I’m doing an experiment right now on Microsoft Bing ad network promoting affiliate links directly as PPC paid ads. Thank you for letting me know. 🙂

  2. This is an interesting side hustle I never even considered. Love it!

    1. Glad you like it! It’s been a huge hit so far, and we even have a handful of students that have made it into our $5k club ($5,000 or more per month in client work)!

  3. How do I hire one of these people cause my business desperately needs some good Facebook ads. I was the business owner who threw up an ad and got nothing!

    1. Victor Shaffer

      Hi Patty – I am currently enrolled in this course and working my way through it. I would love to discuss your business more and see if I could be of service.

      1. Nice Victor!

  4. Amrita

    Is this course of any help to non residents of USA? Would one be able to get clients living outside USA?

    1. Hey there! Yes, you can run Facebook ads outside of the US. In fact, not only do we have students from all over, but two of our paid FB ad experts in our coaching and support community are from other countries as well! Tanya is from the UK, and Ben is from Canada.

      Many of our client acquisition strategies are 100% online (Upwork, Linkedin, and our FB group method to name a few), which will allow you to work with clients all over the place. “Local”, for the purposes of our course, doesn’t mean local to you. It just means local businesses that people commonly use every day in their area, like dentists, chiropractors, real estate agents, etc.

      In fact, Mike (co-creator of the course) lives in Texas and works with businesses on four different continents.

      Hope that helps!

  5. Traber Schroeder

    Sounds too good to be true. Most of these kinds of pitches are. What aren’t you telling us? What hidden costs in either time or financial outlay exist? Is there any kind of money back guarantee if the course doesn’t deliver?

    1. It takes time, of course. It is a business. Is that what you’re asking?

      1. Traber Schroeder

        If I’m working 60+ hours a week, living frugally, and still need extra income to meaningfully pay off debt, what can I rationally expect from this guys’ course? More blogging proto-pablum and fluff (5 great tips to drive success) or actual meaningful content?

        Does the promoter have a money-back gaurantee if I’m not satisfied with the content or it’s effectiveness? ~$400 isn’t chump change unless you have a million dollar blog, so what gaurantee do I have that I’m actually going to get something substantially useful from that investment?

        Could just be a scam to get desperate in-debt chumps to pay up.

        1. Hey Traber! I’m actually taking this course myself. I wouldn’t waste my time taking a course if I didn’t believe in it. Bobby knows what he’s talking about and I think he has a lot to teach.

          1. Traber Schroeder

            The difference is that $500 is a drop in the bucket for you, but for many of us it’s a substantial investment.

            I want proof. I want a written money-back guarantee that the spend is worth it.

            Until I see that, this is just another sales pitch.

            If you finish and post your results both before and after the course demonstrating that income, maybe I’ll believe it.

            1. Sorry, I just realized I had this post mixed with his other course. I’m taking his Facebook ads course for bloggers, to improve my blogging income and traffic – https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2019/01/how-one-blogger-grew-his-blog-to-over-2-million-visitors-in-a-year.html.

              I will be posting my results once I finish the course and apply his methods.

            2. Colleen Wetteland

              Traber, did you ever get an answer to your money back guarantee question? I would like that guarantee too! And for the ad course.

        2. Colleen Wetteland

          Traber, apparently not (although I get why they are saying this. I too wish there was some sort of guarantee) from their website: Earnings Disclaimer

          Every effort has been made to accurately represent this product and its potential. Even though this industry is one of the few where one can write their own check in terms of earnings, there is no guarantee that you will earn any money using the techniques and ideas in these materials. Examples and materials are not to be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of earnings. Earning potential is entirely dependent on the person using our product, ideas, and techniques. We do not purport this to be a “get-rich scheme.”

          Any claims made of actual earnings or examples of actual results can be verified upon request. Your level of success entertaining the results claimed in the course materials depends on the time you devote to the program, ideas, and techniques mentioned, your finances, knowledge, and various skills. Since these factors differ according to the individuals, we cannot guarantee your success or income level. Nor are we responsible for any of your actions.

          Any and all forward-looking statements here or on any of our sales material are intended to express our opinion of earnings potential. Many factors will be important in determining your actual results and no guarantees are made that you will achieve results similar to ours or anybody else’s, in fact, no guarantees are made that you will achieve any results from our ideas and techniques are material.

  6. Wilfrtied

    Facebook ads are definitely very controversial…FB is convoluted and can act tricky and snippy at times…but it is still a toll that should be in everyone’s tool box!

  7. Matthew Reif

    This is so cool Michelle! I never thought of making money through Facebook. Are there any startup costs for this? What kind of technology would I need to get started?

  8. Charles C Kluger

    How dependable is this? I’m honestly really interested but it seems too good to be true. I’m having a hard time keeping up with tuition and rent for school so I need a side gig to help out. My current job is not cutting it.