Government Lawyer Lands Whale of a Side Gig

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

What's up, what's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. So glad you're here. In today's story, a lawyer and longtime angler turns his passion into serious money, writing about the world of professional fishing.

Freelance writers and anybody out there who likes the idea of being a freelance writer, getting paid to write articles, pay attention to this. There are a lot of lessons in this story, from how to stand out to how to pitch packages to potential clients, so that you're not constantly chasing one-off assignments over and over. And this is known as the freelance writer's curse. It has led to burnout for many, many people entering the profession, not to mention some who've been doing it for a long time. Constantly chasing and pitching those one-off assignments can be exhausting, okay?

Sometimes it can't be avoided, but wouldn't it be better, if you're going into that profession or if you'd like the idea of trying it, wouldn't it be better to know upfront how you can avoid it or at least perhaps create some recurring revenue? Because if you have that recurring income, then you can also be pitching some single articles, but just having that foundation is so much better. So that's what this guy's been able to do. He's doing well for himself. I'll tell you exactly how it works.

The story is called "Government Lawyer Lands Whale of a Sidegig." That story's coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]

By day, Pete Robbins is a government lawyer, twirling away as one of thousands of federal employees in the Washington DC area. By night, he's one of the most prolific and well-known writers in the world of professional fishing. Pete has managed to do what many people dream of. He turned a lifelong passion for fishing into a lucrative side hustle.

By starting with a simple blog and a well-known fishing website and leveraging the many connections he made through his writing, Pete has been able to earn tens of thousands of dollars in income, gifted fishing gear, and free travel. How is this possible, when did it get started? Well, for that, let's go back to 2004. Pete had been writing for free on a friend's fishing website, was able to get on a boat as a passenger during a fishing competition. From that experience, he sold his first article for $400 and realized that writing about fishing could be a money-making endeavor.

He began writing for an influential industry website, pitching the idea of what he calls a Seinfeld-esque blog about nothing, but with a focus on fishing. At first, the pay wasn't great, but the website had more than 100,000 Facebook followers, and that exposure landed him a gig writing for Bassmaster.com, the global authority on bass fishing. From there, he began to get more press releases, along with more invitations to events. Pete kept casting out his line and hooking new gigs, time after time. Eventually, he enlisted the help of his wife and a graphic designer to create a website, HalfPastFirstCast.com.

It's still a side hustle, but Pete's writing now brings in at least $40,000 in annual income, with a high of $63,000 in 2019. One way Pete has reached that level of earnings is through leveraging as many connections as possible. As he tells it, that $40,000 doesn't come from one or two clients, but from lots of little jobs. For instance, he ghostwrites the monthly columns of six different professional anglers. He gets paid $150 each for those, which nets out more than $10,000 a year.

In listening to their stories, so that he can ghostwrite their columns, he's often able to come up with additional ideas for articles to pitch to other publications. He also then meets their sponsors, and those sponsors sometimes ask Pete to do some writing for them. Meanwhile, gear companies send Pete thousands of dollars worth of equipment to review and test, and fishing lodges and expedition companies reach out with offers of free travel. In fact, he estimates that he gets between $10,000 and $20,000 in comp travel every year, in addition to another $10,000 to $20,000 in free fishing gear. When it comes to his clients, he also operates a bit differently from other freelance riders.

So pay attention, here's some good lessons. Rather than having to endure the feast and famine lifestyle of constantly pitching to new clients, Pete estimates that at least 80% of the writing he does is regular work built on ongoing relationships that he has nurtured and grown through his nearly 20 years of writing about fishing. He offers packages to his clients, and agreed upon number of articles, advertorial pieces or press releases, whatever they need, in exchange for upfront or quarterly payment. Pete values his time, and would much rather spend his weekends casting a line than chasing individual invoices. Besides leveraging those connections, hooking those small fish in order to catch the big ones, Pete learned early on that in order to grow his riding career, he had to stand out from the pack.

As he tells it, the fishing industry is very insular. Most of the writing fits within narrow guardrails. While I'm cautious not to pick unnecessary fights, I'm also not afraid to express my opinion, even if it's unpopular. A lot of the attention Pete has gotten, and subsequent writing jobs or invitations to competitions, has come from poking the bear just a bit. He recalls once writing about why professional fishermen should unionize, but said that he thought their political prejudices meant they probably never would.

The reception to that column was largely negative, but it also brought him a good amount of attention. So perhaps the lesson is don't be afraid to poke the bear. At the end of the day, you cast your line onto the water and hope something bites. Pete kept casting line after line, and eventually reeled in a part-time profession. One that by his estimates will allow him to retire in as little as six years, so that he can travel the world doing more fishing and more writing.

All the connections he's cultivated over his two decades of writing have led to countless opportunities. In fact, he was even recently elected to the board of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. And as a side note, I now have a new goal myself. But I'm sure if you ask Pete about the biggest benefit that's come from his side hustle, he would point to his wife. Remember that first article he sold for $400?

Well, at the time, he was dating his girlfriend, Hannah. And while he had saved $1,200 for an engagement ring so that he could propose, he did a bit more, and was struggling under the cost of living expenses in the expensive DC market. That first paycheck for his writing made him realize he could turn his passion for fishing into real money, which he could then trade for something even more important. [Music]

Pete has some advice to pass on, especially to any aspiring freelance writers out there. He says, "Have trust in your process.

Every time someone told me that my writing didn't fit the mold of what was expected, that's when I've gotten attention." He also says, "Unless more money is your only goal, pick a side hustle that involves some cause or topic that you love." I know it sounds cliche, but if the only time you have to work on it is eight to 11 at night or weekends, if it doesn't drive you every day, you're going to quit. I have a friend who developed video games for a living, retired with millions at 34 years old. If they never paid him a penny, he would have been doing the same thing. That inspires me. Thank you so much, Pete.

That inspires me too. I appreciate you letting us share your story with our audience. Keep casting those lines out. Listeners, you too. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better.

Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1550. That's correct, 1,550. If you've got a comment or question for the show, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you'll come back tomorrow.

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the Onward Project.