Notes from Chris

Episode 128

Whenever possible, you should choose a side hustle that you'll have fun working on. It shouldn't be something you would consider a chore, but rather something you look forward to, either at the end of your workday or early in the morning, or whenever you’re able to squeeze it in. In today's story, an event planner in Boston, Massachusetts named Chris Damianakos finds a way to capitalize on fun by turning a passion for scavenger hunts into a six-figure scavenger hunt hustle called Cashunt.

As a passion project, Chris created an elaborate, 6-hour-long scavenger hunt for his friends and family. They absolutely loved it, and a friend of his that was in marketing couldn’t stop talking about what a great side hustle this would be for him.

Over the next few years, Chris kept advertising in newspapers, since this was a side hustle and he wasn’t dependent on the income he had fun making the game as epic as possible. Those first few years he designed a fully interactive game that used the city of Boston as the board. Players start off with a comic book that has some initial challenges in it and have to decide as a team how they’re going to get the most points before the two hours are up.

His players loved it and for the next few years Chris put on more and more scavenger hunts and saw his revenue increase steadily, solely through word of mouth and newspaper advertisements. Four years after starting, his income was up to $30,000. And in 2006 his business started to really take off even more, but not because of anything he directly did. Review sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp had gained some momentum and he was getting excellent reviews, furthering his word of mouth business in a more technological way.

As of 2017 he’s making well over six-figures, has one other full-time employee working with him in Boston, and facilitators in five cities, with plans in the works to expand further. Oh, and he’s still having fun.

Cashunt really started to take off around the time that Tripadvisor and Yelp started becoming more popular, and these kinds of review services are essential strategies to take advantage of with this kind of project. You can’t opt-out of it because they will create listings and people will review you anyway, so you might as well actively participate and encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews.

If you actually do a good job and have satisfied customers, this will end up being free marketing for you since a lot of people use those sites when looking for things to do.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Cashunt: Learn more about Chris and his adventures in scavenger hunts on his website!
• Yelp & TripAdvisor: Two popular customer review platforms that helped Chris grow Cashunt

SEE ALSO:

• Homemade Gin Kit Sells 75,000 Units: After encountering a roadblock trying to start their own distillery, two friends create a side hustle that allows others to make gin in the comfort of their own home—and it's a huge success!
• Renegade Museum Tour Guide Earns $2 Million: A man in New York City proves that with enough passion and innovation a side hustle can thrive in museums

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

Yours in the revolution,

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