What It's About
An accountant hatches a media empire centered on eggs.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Lisa has shares some great advice about monetizing a blog, “Diversification is key! Don’t rely on one revenue source. And it's important to write about something you really care about. It’s easy to get burned out writing about the same topic year after year.”
Fun Fact
A 2015 study showed that 93% of the 150 most populated cities in the United States allow backyard chickens. [Source]
Notes from Chris
Episode 1800
Lisa Steele was bored after leaving her accounting job on Wall Street. Her husband was in the Navy and had recently been stationed in Florida, which led Lisa to make a big change as well. That year—2009—she bought some chickens to raise in her backyard. The next year she started posting photos on Facebook, sharing stories about her backyard flock. People loved learning how to raise chickens, but Lisa noticed she was answering the same questions over and over. So in 2012 she started a blog called Fresh Eggs Daily. When someone on Facebook asked a question, she’d write an answer and post it online, along with a link to her blog where the post would remain available for years to come. When she learned she could earn money selling ads on her blog, that changed everything. Lisa began reaching out to some brands she liked to see if they wanted to advertise. She started charging $10 a month for an ad. Over the years she added more sponsors and raised her rates as her blog traffic grew. Today, the least expensive ad on her blog costs more than $400 a month. Now brands contact her instead of the other way around—and she’s very picky about who she works with. Her first posts continue to be some of her most popular topics because they answer the most common questions about raising chickens. Things like healthy treats, how to raise baby chicks and what is molting? One of her posts about how to figure out how old store-bought eggs are went viral and was mentioned on Dr. Oz as well as in Cosmo. So what about the money? Well, get this! Lisa earned $23,000 that first year… and now a decade later she’s on track to gross $1 million, netting about $500,000 in profit. Where’s the money coming from? Her ad revenue is her best earner, but she also sells a product line on Chewy and Amazon. She’s an Amazon affiliate and does sponsored posts. Last but definitely not least are the royalties from the six books she’s written so far about raising poultry, including a children’s book and forthcoming cookbook. It’s been a fun ride for Lisa, who now gets recognized on the street thanks to a local TV show she was featured on for a couple of years. This side hustle allowed her husband to retire early from the Navy, making her the main breadwinner for their family. Going forward, she wants to bring her expertise to a national TV show. She still has the first dollar she earned framed and hanging in her chicken coop.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Want to master your own finances? Learn more about Morgan and her course at, MasterYourFinanceTtoday.com and follow her on social @masteryourfinancestoday.
- Saddles for Pet Chickens: Get Ready to Wing It!: How a woman created a specialized product business in a very unconventional industry with almost $0 in manufacturing costs.
- Rent the Chicken! An Egg-Cellent Idea Clucks Into Cash: Yes, really: this Pennsylvania couple rents out 2,000 chickens to people interested in urban homesteading. It’s a side hustle worth clucking about!
- Product Manager Profits From Carnivorous Plants: When a PayPal employee turns his childhood obsession with carnivorous plants into an online resource, he earns an income with a marketplace that doesn’t leaf anyone out.
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