Notes from Chris

Episode 1821

Many of us can’t imagine a life without bread, pasta, and pizza. The majority of eaters out there don’t consider gluten-free as a viable option.

Adding to the challenge, many alternative recipes get a bad reputation as being a poor substitute for foods we love. Enter Addison Labonte—today’s featured side hustler–who decided it was time to make gluten-free cooking approachable, fun, and most importantly, delicious, for everyday home cooks.

A marketing analyst by day, in 2018 Addison had the idea to start an online food photography and recipe blog. A few years earlier, she had gone gluten-free to address some medical issues. As she got used to her new diet, friends and family enjoyed her reports on what she was whipping up in the kitchen. Presto! The ingredients for a food focused blog began to blend together.

Though she was confident in her abilities to cook healthy and delicious recipes, Addison admits to not being computer savvy. She could write recipes, but didn’t know where to start to get her content online. So, she hired an agency to set up her blog, which she called Organically Addison.

To build her audience, social media (mostly Instagram) became her gluten-free bread and butter. And to grow that audience, Addison put on her analyst hat—because that’s what she does for her day job. Rather than just “try everything,” Addison choose to measure what worked and what didn’t.

How did it work out? Well, by consistently posting eye-catching photos and a new weekly recipe, Addison’s blog viewership grew and she was able to monetize it within the first year of launch. Through just a few different advertising channels, she’s taken an initial investment of $1,000 and turned it into a recurring $5,000 a month business.

As for what’s next, she’s content with keeping her main job while working on her blog. She loves the balance and benefits she gets from doing both. In a way, it’s like having your gluten-free cake and eating it too.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Hungry to learn more? Check out Addison’s website, OrganicallyAddison.com and follow her on social @organicallyaddison.

SEE ALSO:

• Plant-Based Lebanese Food Goes Online: As her health improved, this Aussie of Lebanese heritage started converting meat-based recipes to vegan equivalents. She’s now sharing her recipes with the world.
• Plant Ahead: Healthy Food Blog Sprouts Membership Service: A Canadian Communications Officer and lover of plant-based food starts a meal prep service, earning $2,000 in monthly recurring revenue within her first three months.
• Engineer Beats Wildest Eggspectations With Recipe Blog: A Minnesotan software engineer turns healthy recipes into an online business that has over three million website visitors a month.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution,

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