This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Each of us has a story. Each of us has a story that we are writing both for our own lives, an internal narrative of who we are, what we hope to become, all the things that we hope to do, as well as an external story of how people see us and how our lives intersect with others. And over time, we are constantly filling out this story, this narrative. It's almost like a journal that unfolds, you know, page after page, and you have the choice, you have the ability to write whatever you want on today's page, whatever you want for yourself, whatever you want in terms of how your life intersects with others. And one of the reasons I make this podcast is because I believe so much is possible.
I believe there is a side hustle opportunity for everyone. And I've seen over and over how that can lead to so much more. It's not just about, you know, one little project that makes some money or something. It's what does that enable you to do? How does that open your eyes to see, oh, there is so much more possibility than I thought before.
And so I really encourage you today, as we begin this episode and this story, which I'll tell you about in a moment, I just encourage you to think, what is the story that I am creating today? And what changes do I want to make? Because, you know, you're not just the writer, you're also the editor of your story. So if you want to go back and change something, not only is that okay, not only do you have permission to do that, it actually might be one of the smartest things you could ever do. Because oftentimes, our story writing is kind of on like an autopilot.
And if we step in and say, actually, I want to have more control over this direction, it can lead to us being happier. It can lead to us being more fulfilled, more productive and just more intentional overall. So that's my encouragement to you as we begin today's episode. Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
In today's story, a Disney superfan goes from writing about the happiest place on earth. At least that's what they call it. Disney is really good at marketing. She goes from writing about that in just her notebook, a private notebook at age 10, to sharing it with the whole world as an adult a decade later, earning $1,000 a month in extra spending money along the way. The story is called "Lifelong Superfan Gets Paid to Write Disney Block." She's also booking tours, but I'll tell you about that in the story.
It's coming up in just 30 seconds. Becky Guenther has always been passionate about Disney. Ever since she took her first trip to Disney World when she was 10, she fell in love with a theme park and started saving money to go back. In fact, she began writing her own personal guidebook and itinerary. She kept returning over and over throughout the next decade and even chose Disney World as the location for her honeymoon.
Since so much of her life was connected to this happy place, Becky decided she would share her passion publicly. Fresh out of grad school, she had just gotten a job as a children's librarian. The work was ideal and was what she wanted to do, but the salary was fairly low and she had student loans to repay. She'd already been writing for other websites on all things Disney and realized it could make a lot more sense if she had her own platform that she could control. With these two reasons in mind, Becky started her blog, "Disney in Your Day." Now, this was back in 2013 when there weren't nearly as many blogging resources as there are now, so Becky had to figure out how to set up her own platform.
She kept it simple using WordPress and a $5 a month hosting package. That was her total startup cost, $5 a month. Next, she continued writing for other sites, but used those articles to sprinkle in links to her own site. This helped Disney in Your Day get off to a good start, avoiding the obscurity that many blogs remain stuck in. Of course, having a blog and making money from it are not the same thing, and monetizing a blog can be challenging.
In Becky's case, she started with using Google AdSense, a common way for blogs or websites to make money a few years ago, and it's still possible now, just less common. Almost immediately, she began earning $25 to $50 a month from those ads. Adding in affiliate programs brought it to $100 a month, which was a start. Although the time she invested into the site was not commensurate with the income she was making, the writing and creative process was something that she enjoyed, so it didn't feel much like work. Still, increasing the income generated by her blog was a problem that she was stuck on for a long time.
What really tipped the scales was when Becky decided to venture into planning and running Disney-themed tours. Having given out a ton of travel advice and helping people book trips to Disney World, she realized that a lot of people had ultra-specific questions that she couldn't answer individually. Many of her readers had also told her that she'd make an excellent travel agent, so when she saw that an agency specializing in Disney tours was accepting affiliates, she immediately applied and was hired on the strength of her expertise. This was a part-time and contract basis, so Becky had to bring in her own clients. But thankfully, that was something she could do, having already established her authority on her site, and with many of her readers interested in what she was offering.
Income from planning and giving tours has since become the site's number one source of revenue, even as she does this on the site. Over the past seven years, Becky has seen a number of things change. For example, her biggest source of traffic is now from Pinterest, no doubt due to all the pictures that one could find at Disney. She's also since set up her own Etsy store, or she sells some of her merchandise, and which also brings visitors to her site. For someone who launched a blog on a $5 a month hosting plan, Becky's Disney side hustle has paid off, bringing her at least $500 every month from ads and another $500 or so from tours.
And remember, this is a topic in industry that's close to her heart. It's not her full-time job, but it's a very frequent part-time passion. Without blogging about Disney, she would not have become a Disney travel agent and gotten exclusive access to different VIP events. It's a dream come true for a super fan. Becky's advice for those who want to build a business while holding down a day job is to embrace constraints.
As she puts it, "If I had all the time in the world, I could never do anything." The key has been to figure out what's important and what she's good at, and to ignore everyone else giving her well-meaning advice. Before we wrap up, I've got some more comments from Becky on time management specifically. I really like that point about constraints, so we asked her if she could get more specific with us. And she said, "Well, I learned to prioritize what was most important to do, and I focus on those things every week. I have daily and monthly checklists that help keep me focused.
And related to time management is the fact that it always feels like there is more to do. I can write several articles a week. I can have a bunch of back-and-forth emails. I can write my email newsletter, do more marketing, etc. And then as you try to read and learn more, it's like, "Oh, you should be on Instagram five times a week." Or, "Here's a new social platform you need to learn right now to keep up with younger people." So the key for me has been to figure out what's most important, what's most relevant, and what I'm best at.
As much as people push video content, it's just not really my thing. I do a video once in a while, but it's not part of my regular routine, and I'm okay with that. It helps me manage my time if I prioritize what is effective and not stress about doing everything just because other people are doing it. I love that. I hope you take it with you today as well, in addition to thinking about what kind of story do you want to write and share.
And remember, you can edit that story at any time. Also consider if you can not stress about doing everything just because other people are doing it. All right, that's it for today. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including links to Becky's blog, anything else I mentioned in the episode, will be at sidehustleschool.com/15691569.
If you've got a comment or question for the show, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. And of course, do come back tomorrow for an all-new episode. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
