This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Consider your surroundings. What is your neighborhood or city or region known for? Perhaps the key to finding your next side hustle could be found in those surroundings. Over the course of more than 600 episodes of this daily broadcast, I've brought you a number of stories of people doing things like hosting an urban hiking tour in San Francisco. Somebody who gets a pilot's license and leads people on aerial tours.
Somebody doing cycling tours in Canada. Maybe cycling tours somewhere else. A walking tour of the nation's capital. But also, in addition to tours, more creative expressions of finding inspiration in your surroundings. Such as in episode 4.95, a metal detectorist who gets paid for finding lost jewelry.
Or episode 284, the dessert goals team creates sweet success. That was a pair of friends who put on an event focused entirely on dessert. Hmm. Well, if you are just tuning in or just joining us, my name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. Every single day, a different story of somebody who creates additional income for themselves without quitting their job.
Not trying to have a huge startup, just trying to create a bit more freedom for themselves. Perhaps a creative outlet. And in fact, today we'll look at a San Francisco tech employee who starts a blog about Napa wines. And she does this merely as a creative outlet at first, but soon discovers that valley wineries were willing to pay for exposure. In her first year of doing this, she's earning up to $2,000 a month.
And of course, doing it part time, fitting it in around her job and the rest of her life. Before we dive in, here is a quick thank you to our sponsor. And then I'll tell you about this tech employee who gets paid to visit Napa wineries. [Music]
When Kristen Dussell first set her eyes upon Napa Valley's lush vineyards, it was love at first sight. She couldn't believe how beautiful it was, not to mention how delicious the wine could be.
She dreamed of one day moving there after graduating from university. And that's what she did. She earned a degree in marketing and moved from Minnesota to San Francisco to work for a tech company. She liked the job, and she also liked being so close to wine country. She began visiting wineries on the weekends and soaking up all the knowledge she could.
She was a fascinated learner, but sometimes it was just downright intimidating. The people she was interacting with at those wineries were seasoned sommeliers. The disconnect between the casual and enthusiast wine lover was clear. Sometimes painfully clear. Kristen wanted to close the gap, not only for herself, but also for other millennials.
So just last fall, she realized the way to do it was through a wine lifestyle blog. Kristen had no idea how to blog. So the first thing she did was Google how to buy a domain. It's not that complicated. A few dozen articles and YouTube videos later, she had the makings of her own website coming together.
She invested $400 into a camera and another $400 into a lens, as well as a $10 a month Adobe Lightroom subscription. And then came more YouTube videos. She learned everything she could about shooting and editing and all for free. December, 2017, Kristen launched her site, winecountrychick.com and published her first post, a review of Mum Winery in Napa. She published several more posts that month and made sure to stay active on social media.
It quickly became clear that Instagram would have the most engagement for her brand since the market was so visual. So she focused on that. She followed big names in the fashion and food industry to learn from their style. They posted frequently, favored certain kinds of photography, and published lots of Instagram stories. So naturally she started doing that too.
By early 2018, Kristen had amassed a following of 3,000 people and it was growing faster and faster. In March, a local wine brand messaged Kristen and asked about the possibility of a sponsored post. She couldn't believe it. Somebody already wanted to pay her for exposure. She quickly agreed, celebrated with a glass of wine, what else, and a couple of weeks later, she had made $175 for something she would have done for free.
This opened up a whole new world. The blog was just a creative project at first, but from now on, she wouldn't just get to write about great wineries. She might actually get paid to do so. Kristen started to think of ways to reach out to wineries, but before she could send her first pitch, she received one herself. It was from yet another winery looking for a partnership.
They had found her on Instagram, and a few weeks later, she got another email. Somehow these wineries were finding her and coming to her directly. What she needed to do is make sure she was providing good value for those clients and growing community. She invested more time into refining her photography skills, interacted with wine lovers on Instagram, and published more posts. Around six months in, Kristen noticed a big pattern staring her in the face.
Her most engaging content was highly personal. Her Instagram community clearly favored images and articles where Kristen herself was a big part of them. Her followers didn't participate because they wanted to see pictures of wine glasses and vineyards. They engaged because the woman behind the camera was someone they could relate to, and her journey was one they could join in on, even remotely. From then on, she started including herself in the photo shoots as much as possible.
Brands kept reaching out, and for the most part, partnerships went off without a hitch. One exception coming up in a moment. Wine Country Chick had its first $1,000 month in July, and acquired its 10,000th follower. But July was also when Kristen came across a major challenge, her first picky client. That client will go unnamed, but what happened was she conducted a full photo shoot, spent hours styling the images, editing the photos, and creating blog content.
She even spent a significant money herself for photo shoot accessories, cheese and fruit, and so on. She sent in the photo set thinking they would love it, but they emailed back the next day and said they weren't impressed. In fact, they wanted a completely different photo shoot. This was more than a full day's work, and she didn't have time to do another complete photo shoot on top of her full-time job, so instead of whining about it, she put on her negotiator cap. Kristen offered to spend more time styling and editing the photos differently if they'd be willing to take another look.
Thankfully, the brand agreed with this, and liked the second set much better. Disaster averted. Through this, Kristen learned that she has to be very upfront with clients about deadlines and the scope of work when negotiating partnerships. This thoughtfulness usually impresses clients, and it helps give both parties a chance to manage expectations. She also learned that she needed to say no more often than yes.
It's not a good idea to partner with every brand, not all wines are good, and not all wineries are right for her audience. She also has a busy day job, so this project has to fit in around those commitments. These days, right around the one-year point, Wine Country Chick is generating between $500 and $2,000 a month, depending on her commitments for the day job. Kristen's 16,000 Instagram followers are highly engaged. She's thrilled that she's built a profitable hustle in less than a year, starting from scratch, Googling how to buy a domain and learning photography, and she loves that she's helping others explore their passion along the way.
Kristen is living her Napa dream. [Music]
Awesome, congratulations, Kristen. WineCountryChick.com sounds fun. We have looked at the role of personality a few different times throughout different episodes. I think especially when it comes to mediums like blogging, where there's this intimate connection between you and the reader, or platforms like Instagram, your followers want to know about you.
It's true that the world of wine can be overwhelming or intimidating, which is the stated goal, but there are lots of ways that people can learn about that. Kristen's readers are interested in her perspective and her experiences, not just the knowledge itself. On her website, she does a really good job making her visitors feel at home. Just a really small touch that I thought was good. On her about page, she has a disclaimer, which you have to have on your website if you're using affiliate links.
She says, "This blog uses affiliate links. When you make a purchase with some of the links on my site, I'll earn a small commission. I'm so grateful for your support." And the reason I like that is, okay, you have the disclaimer, which you have to have, but that last line, "I'm so grateful for your support." It just kind of creates this relational connection. And that's just one little thing throughout the whole website and through her Instagram posts and everything else she does, you can see the continuity of this attitude and perspective. In fact, Kristen mentioned that herself.
When we asked her if she had any advice for people who wanted to do something similar, she said, "My advice is to put yourself out there. They want to see the face behind the camera and the business. You will be surprised by how many people will respond positively and feel connected to you and your brand, but you have to show up." Showing up is good. I hope you enjoy this episode. We're gonna link up everything mentioned in the show notes.
Those show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/662. Before I go, I wanna give a shout out to my friend James Clear. He's got a new book out called "Atomic Habits." If you have struggled with habits, either breaking a bad habit or starting and maintaining a positive habit, James has a lot to say about that. I've been carrying this book around with me this week and I am enjoying it. So check it out, "Atomic Habits" by James Clear.
Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back again tomorrow with another story. Don't forget to subscribe. Tell your friends, it's free. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School.
