This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up? Welcome to Zydesil School of Greetings. Thanks for tuning in today. It's just so exciting to make this podcast for you. I heard from a listener the other day who has been listening since episode number one.
That was 2,450 episodes ago. So big shout out to our long time listeners. Of course, I'm happy if you just discovered the podcast last week, but it really is special for those who've been following for a while. So thanks for being part of my world all this time. And today we're gonna hear from Dylan from Asheville, North Carolina.
He's a vintage vinyl enthusiast. Lots of people have record players these days. Obviously vinyl has had a huge resurgence. There are a lot of online and offline retailers. Dylan is thinking of starting a monthly subscription box.
We've talked about subscription boxes a number of times about what makes them work well, what makes them not work well sometimes. Like not everything is a good fit for a subscription. But when it can work, it's amazing 'cause you have recurring revenue. You're building customers over time. So Dylan has tuned to Zydesil School to see if this might be a good idea.
Let's drop the needle on it and explore the potential of the vintage vinyl voyage. Can I sell a vintage vinyl subscription? That's the topic. Wanna give you a quick sponsor message here and then we'll hear from Dylan. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Dylan from Asheville, North Carolina.
I came across Zydesil School while searching for ways to make money for my passions. Over the years, I've amassed a collection of vintage vinyl records from garage sales and estate auctions. I'm thinking of introducing a vintage vinyl voyage subscription box for fellow music enthusiasts. Each month, subscribers would receive a curated selection from a particular era or genre. Do you think there's an audience that'd be nostalgic or curious enough to subscribe to such a service?
[Music]
Hey Dylan, definitely a big market these days of audiophiles and music enthusiasts or people in general who are just nostalgic for the physicality and the unique sound quality that vinyl records can bring. So it is a big market. I would just encourage you to do some research before jumping in. Sometimes I encourage people to jump in and other times it's good to just look a little bit at the landscape and see what else is out there. This might actually be more of a passion project than a major money making venture, which is okay.
It's totally cool. I just tend to advise people on like here's the project that's going to be the most profitable, right? But of course there are other considerations. So I would look and see like what else is out there? There are so many retailers and services catering to this market, including some startups or just bigger brands, companies that have some investment capital.
I'm seeing ads for this on Instagram a lot. It's a bigger business than it was at one point, which is good because the market's bigger, but it's also like, you have to think if I'm going to have a subscription box for vinyl, how am I going to really build a customer base? You need to get to a number of recurring customer payments that is sustainable. That number could vary of course, but there is a number somewhere. And to build that subscriber base, it's going to help to be seen as an authority or curator in some way.
So you might also, as part of the research, join relevant forums, communities on platforms like Reddit or Quora. That could be one lead generation tool and such. I just think like let's spend some time seeing what else is out there trying to figure out what will be unique or interesting about this idea if you want it to grow into a truly money-making project. And if you don't care about that, or if that's not the primary goal, then you could just jump in and experiment. Check out Crate Joy.
We've talked about Crate Joy a number of times, cratejoy.com. There are so many subscriptions there, and they do help to a certain extent at least, promote a subscription. If nothing else, they have a built-in process that you can jump in and use and start doing your fulfillment. Dylan, I think it's a cool idea. I would just do a little bit more research, check it out, decide what your goals are.
But of course, whatever you decide, I'm cheering you on. Listener's cheering you on as well. Let me know what's up. sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year.
I've been on book tour, but of course the podcast comes out every day. I'm so happy to be able to make it for you. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
