Notes from Chris

Episode 690

Time and time again, Rachel Ingram and Laura Gill would hear their family and friends complain about the cost of decorating their homes. They would set a budget, but always end up blowing past it. The friends felt that with a bit of searching, they could have beautiful statement pieces and stay in budget. They began to scour the internet for the best deals they could find. Their Pinterest boards were unmatchable.

Along the way, they experienced a newfound sense of empowerment: not only were they finding amazing deals, they were making their homes their own. Rather than buying an entire room design out of a magazine, every corner of their living space was intentional.

Then, around the end of 2017, they began chatting about sharing all of their finds and ideas with the world. They knew that what they considered to be a fun hobby was frustrating and difficult for others. Plus, they had already accumulated a database of valuable tips and less expensive “look-alike” items over the years.

Six months later, they were still confident in their idea, so they decided to invest a whopping $46 into making it a reality. They spent $10 to purchase a domain name. Then, they spent another $10 because that first domain name didn’t exactly work out—more on that in a moment. With their official title, Follow the Find, they invested their last $26 into a Squarespace website.

But how would they make money?

They committed to posting on Instagram at least once a day, every day. As their audience grew, they began to consider affiliate partnerships. If people were purchasing items because of their work, they should earn a cut! But Rachel and Laura quickly realized that creating those partnerships was easier said than done.

When they applied to join the programs, they were rejected again and again. Even Amazon (which has very low requirements) removed their associate’s account twice. According to them, Follow the Find didn’t have enough original content on their website. Up until that point, they only included the same images on their website that they had on their Instagram account.

Even though Rachel and Laura knew that the brands could trust them to make sales and continue running Follow the Find, they had to do something to prove it.

To change it up, they added more content, including an About Page, a Tips and Tricks section, and a list of all of their favorite stores to shop for and what kinds of products they buy at each one. As that content and their followers grew, they finally began to score those affiliate partnerships they craved. This August, Follow the Find brought in $127. The next month, they reached $916. Then last month, they pulled in $1200.

This kind of business model probably won’t make you rich, but as an entry point, it’s worth looking at. They’re also gaining a lot of experience—and instead of paying for these lessons, these lessons are paying them.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Follow the Find: Checkout Rachel and Laura's inspiration turned to action at their new website
• Follow the Find on Instagram: Follow Rachel and Laura's journey as they grow their business with the help of Instagram
• Squarespace: the webplatform Rachel and Laura used to create their website

SEE ALSO:

• Soccer Fan Plays the Odds; Earns Affiliate Commissions: A British soccer—er, football—fan sets up a blog that refers visitors to bookmakers. He gets paid for every referral, making this a project worth betting on
• Designer Earns Extra $5,000/Month Posting Logos on Instagram: After first rejecting Instagram as being “only for selfies,” a Sri Lankan designer starts a popular account that earns steady affiliate commissions
• Nomadic Designer Profits From Writing About Life in a Bag: When a designer quits his job at Apple to travel the world, he realizes that his nomadic lifestyle hacks are a hot topic—and a profitable one, too

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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