This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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What if the key to disrupting an established market was simply offering better design? That is exactly what Julie Wilder discovered when she transformed the astrology calendar industry with a modern aesthetic that attracted customers who had never considered buying astrology products before. And it worked really well. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about how she did it, how it might work for you with some other market, some other market product service.
Welcome to Side Hustle School, Chris Guillebeau here. This is the weekend workshop segment. It's all about helping you learn the key steps to a new side hustle, one step or concept per week with activities, examples, and more. We're gonna use the book "Side Hustle" from idea to income in 27 days as our text. That book is available wherever books are sold.
And for the first half of the year, we went through the 27 steps in the book. Now in the second half, we're looking at some more detailed case studies so you can understand how people apply this framework and how you might apply it for yourself. So let's talk about idea and discovery for Julie. Julie Wilder spent over a decade running an organic restaurant, which was a rewarding but exhausting role that left little time for her creative passions. One of those passions was astrology, which she had studied for years and used to create personal calendars.
Now there's one thing that she noticed as she kind of got into this industry, which was that most astrology calendars featured outdated, mystical designs. Just imagine like flowery fonts and what she considered to be overly feminine aesthetics. She knew that many people were curious about astrology, but put off by this design. So she was like, "What can I do here?" As she researched the market, she found it dominated by three longstanding players who all used the same aesthetic. Their designs appealed to longtime astrology enthusiasts, but they alienated a growing demographic, which would be people who might be interested in astrology, but were seeking more modern stylish products.
So Julie was like, "This is my opportunity. "I want to create a disruptive astrology calendar "with a unisex gender neutral design "that would appeal to modern buyers." So she invested in some quality materials, professional printing. She thought a lot about what she wanted this to look like and feel like and what the experience would be. And then she got to work and launched this astrology calendar. Let's take a quick little break and we'll talk about the launch, the outcome, the results, and how you might apply this same approach to a different market.
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All right, welcome back to part two. Julie launched the calendar on Etsy, where a design forward consumer has already appreciated unique handcrafted products. And she marketed it by highlighting the aesthetic innovation rather than just the astrological features because she's trying to reach people who are new to this market. And her timing in doing this was ideal because interest in astrology was rising, consumers were looking for products that blended wellness with better design. Social media was also helpful, customers were sharing images of the elegant calendar, which fueled organic visibility.
Her first batch sold out quickly, brought in just over $5,000, essentially proving her theory that a lot of buyers were purchasing their first astrology calendar because they were finally drawn to the design. So Julie's product had unlocked demand from an underserved audience. And from there, she just kept doing more. She did annual releases. She developed other designs.
She grew the product line organically through word of mouth and seasonal anticipation. This became a pretty successful business for her, which she is still operating today. I was just looking at the website. I think she's rebranded the name, perhaps, Spiral Spectrum. Go to spiralspectrum.com.
You can learn more about Julie and her work and see all the cool products. So what might you do if you wanna do something like this? Again, different market, different product, most likely. But basically, you take this design forward disruption model, you identify a product category where the design or the approach or the presentation, whatever it is, hasn't evolved with the modern world. And you validate that untapped consumers are interested but deterred by outdated aesthetics.
You redesign the product with both function and fresh appeal in mind. And then you position it as inclusive and accessible, meant to attract new customers, not just existing ones. And you could do this with all kinds of products, hobby or craft products, meditation tools, maybe to stick to the astrology theme, tarot or oracle decks, but it could be many other categories as well. The whole point is noticing something that's a little bit outdated, but there's a rising interest in what could we do with that? There's all kinds of stuff you could play with.
Design disruption works best when the aesthetics are stuck in the past, but consumer preferences have shifted. And Julie's journey from restaurateur to calendar creator proves that these overlooked problems can lead to powerful ideas. So she did it, she crushed it. What about you? Where in your world does something feel dated despite growing interest in the category?
That might be your next opportunity. As always, it's better to have a simple idea. You can start right away than a brilliant idea that never launches. I hope you'll take action today. I hope you'll do something to get closer to a goal that you believe in.
And I thank you so much for joining me. New episodes out every day. Always completely free. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
