This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
CityScape's art earns passive income every day. That's what we're going to hear about today on Side Hustle School, and this is Throwback Thursday, our weekly segment, also known as Where Are They Now, where we take an in-depth look at somebody whose story has evolved since we first featured them. So, hey, welcome. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Thanks for tuning in wherever you are in the world, whatever you're up to. I hope you are taking some steps to do more of what's important to you.
And the way that we look at that through this daily podcast is the lens of economic empowerment, making extra money. You know, that's good, extra money without quitting your job. Let's see, let's see. Last week, we heard from the owner of Ebony's Essential Oils. She has built her side business to more than $2,000 a month. Today, in our latest feature,
we're going to hear from a Shopify seller who earns passive income. I think I mentioned that. It's important. Passive income. He earns it every day, in fact, from sales of his city art prints.
So he's going to tell you how much, he's going to tell you how he decided on pricing, how he figured it out, how he markets the business without using social media. That's probably important because people are always wondering about, you know, how to manage social media and how can I be on six different accounts. And I'm posting all the time, but nobody is watching and, you know, all these kinds of problems. So in some cases, for a lot of businesses, at least it's not necessary, right? So I always like to find examples that highlight that.
Anyway, what has happened since we first met, this is Scott. What's happened since we first met Scott? Sorry, lots of names here in the mix. Let's hear directly from him. I'm going to come back at the end with a quick wrap up. Hello there. My name is Scott and I'm the owner of a Shopify store called
CityScapes Art. It's a business I started out of my deep affection for CityScapes and urban panoramas. Today, my little corner of e-commerce brings in more than $20,000 a year in almost totally passive income. I'm originally from Seattle, a city known for its vibrant arts culture. And this undoubtedly kindled my passion for art. I moved to San Francisco for work. And while I loved my new city,
I found myself longing for a piece of home. Hence the hunt for a Seattle skyline poster, which surprisingly turned out harder than I thought, at least in the style I preferred. The search opened my eyes to a gap in the market. High quality, affordable city art posters. So I decided to go for it. I reached out to local artists and graphic designers, many of whom were
friends or acquaintances. Together, we created a unique series of city posters that we priced at $40 each. The cost of production averaged around $10 per poster, providing a healthy profit margin of 75%. Sales in the beginning were modest. I knew I had to drive more traffic to the store, but was keen on avoiding social media platforms. I decided to focus on email marketing instead,
a tool often underutilized in the age of Instagram and Twitter. I created a biweekly newsletter that showcased new designs, featured artists, and included fun competitions. It wasn't long before I saw the payoff. My subscriber list grew, and with it, my sales. This taught me a valuable lesson. In a world focused on social media, never underestimate the power of a good
old-fashioned email. However, reaching out to my immediate network was not enough. I wanted to draw in organic traffic. That's where SEO came in. After hours of research and learning, I began optimizing my Shopify store with targeted keywords and started a blog. I wrote about the history of
different cities, artist interviews, and the stories behind our designs. The outcome was rewarding. The organic traffic to my site increased, and the orders came in steadily. The success I experienced reiterated the importance of SEO in an online business. I don't plan to rest on my laurels, though. I aim to expand my collaborations with artists
and offer a wider range of city posters. I also intend to leverage email marketing further, since that's what worked the most so far. Reflecting on my journey, the significant takeaways would be this. Carve out your path, even if it doesn't follow the standard norms. Not everyone needs to rely on social media marketing. Discover what suits you best and run with it. And always
remember, patience and persistence are the keys to building a business, one step at a time. That's it for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a fresh batch of Tokyo posters to upload. Happy hustling. Awesome. Thanks so much to Scott for sharing those updates with us.
Cityscapes Art on Shopify. I think he also sells on Etsy as well. I'm not sure about that. But anyway, the business seems to be going well without social media. I love it. Let me know
what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives. We have more than a thousand stories. We do this every Thursday. If you've got an update for us about your hustle as well, sidehustleschool.com/questions. This has been episode 2364. Thanks for tuning in. I'm going
to be back tomorrow. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
