This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, thanks for tuning in. It's Chris Guillebeau, your host of "Sidle School." Today's episode comes to us in this segment known as Failure Friday. Failure Friday, a collection of short stories about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure, all of the things that go wrong. I have really enjoyed working on this segment. You get to hear all sorts of stories from all different perspectives, all different side hustlers, sometimes some well-known entrepreneurs or authors of, as I said, not a big success, not the time they made a lot of money, but the time they often lost money or the time in which they discovered their business model really needed some significant tweaking.
Or sometimes it's more than a tweak. Sometimes their business model ends up being flawed, basically. So you go through these experiences and you have to ask, okay, how do I regroup? What did I learn? What am I gonna do next, basically?
And so, as I said, it's interesting to kind of dive into the stories because this is where the learning is, you know? And as you go through things in your life, I encourage you to ask, okay, what is the learning here? How am I going to apply this to hopefully improve my business or my side hustle, but also just to be a better person? So without further ado, today's short story features John. John wanted to start a coupon directory website.
I think in the archival history of side hustle school, we've had at least a couple of stories, case studies about coupon websites. You know, if you're searching for a coupon code or discount code for merchant, do you ever do that when you go to like checkout and they're like, do you have a discount code? And you're like, I do not, but let me find one. Well, there are a bunch of sites that have the business model of essentially providing those coupon codes or discount codes and then getting paid through affiliate commissions. That's the short version of how the business model works.
So John wanted to do that and let's hear how it turned out. All right, handing it over to him. [Music]
My name's John and I've always been a bit of a bargain hunter. I love finding deals and discounts, even on stuff I don't actually want to buy. So when I was looking for side hustle ideas, I decided to take my passion to the next level and start my own online coupon directory.
I was convinced there were others like me who wanted an easy and convenient way to find the best deals. I put together a website and a database of coupons and discounts from various retailers and businesses. I also created a system for users to submit their own coupons and deals and a way for businesses to advertise their promotions on my website. I was excited to launch my business and help people save money. I worked hard to promote the site coupon companion and get it ranking high on Google search results.
I focused on SEO techniques like keyword research, backlinks and content optimization. I also ran online ads to attract more visitors to my website, though I didn't have a large budget. It was all starting well. My website was getting a lot of organic traffic and I was slowly beginning to make some money from advertising and affiliate commissions when people used the coupons I linked up. I felt like I was on the right track and my business was gonna be a success.
But then Google decided to change its algorithm and my website search rankings took a nosedive. Suddenly the site wasn't getting any organic traffic or at least very little and I wasn't making any money. My business had lost its main source of income and I was in trouble. I tried to adjust my SEO strategy to adapt the new algorithm but it was too late. The site wasn't able to recover and I had to close it down.
It was a painful experience and I felt like I had wasted all my time and money. But as I look back on my experience, I've learned a valuable lesson. I learned that relying on one source of traffic or income is risky and that it's important to have a diversified strategy. I also learned that the online world is constantly changing and that it's important to stay updated. Like there are forums where people discuss Google algorithm changes and if I'd paid closer attention, I might have been better prepared.
In a way, I feel like my business was a bit like a coupon. It expired too soon but I'm gonna take the lessons I've learned and apply them to my next venture. I'm gonna keep looking for new opportunities and deals and hopefully next time, I'll make sure it's a coupon that never expires. [Music]
John, thanks so much for the story. Sorry to hear about the loss of coupon companion.
Definitely a good name but this is a crowded field, a crowded field with lots of people, even some corporate entrants like big companies that have built websites in this industry because there's a lot of money in it or there can be at least. But as I said, it's pretty saturated now. So definitely hope you apply those lessons to your next venture, John and listeners. Thanks for being out there. Hope you enjoyed this one.
If you've got a question or an update for us about your side hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Oh, and I almost forgot to say, never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. That is in fact the theme of Failure Friday. So pretty important to put that in but it sounds like John is regrouping and moving on. So I encourage you to do that as well whenever you have an experience that is less than optimal.
All right, that's it for today. More in the next episode. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
