Engineer Makes $80,000/Year Handing Out Free Maps

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Let's talk today about a former sound engineer from Texas with an $80,000 a year side hustle handing out free maps. These maps go to hotels, which then give them to their guests. And he, this hustling engineer that is the subject of our case study today, he gets paid by advertisers. And by doing so, he's built a diversified income. He gets paid from a lot of different businesses.

So if some disappear or don't have money for ads or otherwise just drop off the map or something, he's got plenty more. He also has his eye on taking his idea nationwide by allowing people to franchise the model. Have you ever lost your way while looking for the fine dining of Outback Steakhouse or TGI Fridays? Some of my favorite restaurants. Let's not forget IHOP, Applebee's, there's so many others.

If so, put a pin in it. We'll be back at the proper latitude and longitude right after this shout out to our sponsors. Stay tuned. Story is called, engineer makes $80,000 a year handing out free maps. [Music]

When you stay at a hotel in an unfamiliar city, how do you know where to eat or go shopping or maybe even where to go relax at a nearby spa?

Now, sure, of course, you could look up possible restaurants or shops surrounding the hotel on your phone, but that takes time. It can also be confusing trying to figure out where the place is located. Wouldn't it be easier to have the restaurants and businesses located close to the hotel, all mapped out in one place? Well, that's where Front Desk USA Maps comes to the rescue. These color maps are easy to carry and easy to use when exploring area businesses surrounding your hotel.

The maps are custom drawn specifically for a particular geographic area. So they are super local to the immediate area surrounding the hotel. They're provided to all hotels in an area at no cost, so they can be made available free of charge to the guests as well. And these maps are the creation of Tom Schott, who was working as a sound engineer. He grew up in a family-owned media company.

He had an interest in print media and advertising, and he believed that hotels have an endless need for visitor info available for their guests. He and his wife now publish maps in the Houston, Beaumont, and Lake Charles, Texas area, currently issuing seven maps. So how does Tom make money giving free maps to hotels, which then give them free to guests? Well, he makes money by selling advertising space. Area restaurants and other businesses purchase the benefit of having their ad displayed on the maps.

According to the Front Desk USA website, their maps are the go-to info guide for city visitors. One area map is typically distributed to 20 to 30 hotels, and thousands of hotel guests view their maps each day. This buys area businesses exposure to customers. Hotels benefit by giving their guests info to the number one question they are asked, which is, "Where's a good place to eat?" around here. Each letter size map contains space for 18 ads.

It's printed once or twice a year. Each ad generates about $700 a year. That works out to $10,000 plus per year per map. And now that Tom and his wife are publishing seven maps, their income is approximately $80,000 per year from this side hustle. Not bad, right?

All they need to do is get more maps, and they can just keep ramping that up. And of course they're working on that. Front Desk USA maps also runs ads for other businesses in addition to restaurants. They highlight shops, pharmacies, hospitals, in addition to area attractions, museums, golf courses, amusement venues. They can all become known to consumers via these maps.

Over the years, this map publishing marketplace has become even more than just a side hustle for Tom and his wife. It is in fact a main source of income since it's doing so well. They still have to work, but they like having the ability to decide when their time is spent working. They also have some control over the income because if they put more time and effort into selling map ads, the more money they can make, right? And Tom's new focus is helping other people build their own map publishing business in other parts of the US.

So he's offering the project on a franchise model. He's working on getting other people in other locations, selling ads and printing maps. For someone with sales experience, he believes it is the perfect side hustle. He's gonna take care of the map design office work, leaving side hustlers the ability to focus on building relationships with their local businesses. And at least for him, for Tom and his family, this project has allowed them to map out their own success story.

Congratulations to Tom and his wife, Brownie, on building this very successful side hustle that is kind of recurring income with those advertising partners. Those restaurants are still around. People are still checking into hotels. And yes, a lot of people do use phones and other devices, you know, figure out where to go. But it is just simple to check into the hotel and be given a printed map.

It just kind of helps you make some quick decisions. You know, often when you're traveling, you don't necessarily wanna think about where's the best possible restaurant. Sometimes, especially for business travel, you just get into the hotel and you wanna find something easy. Well, this map is gonna help you do that. When I first talked about this story many years ago, I mentioned that this does kind of require a sales role in terms of going out to these businesses, building relationships, getting to know people, trying to get commitments and such.

So some people are gonna be really good at that. Other people probably want to choose a different side hustle. Like I am not a natural salesperson. I would not want to be calling on my local IHOP for anything other than pancakes. Personally, you don't wanna force yourself into doing something that feels unnatural.

You wanna figure out what is the best way to play to my strengths. I think that is just such a core thing that's so important. It's gonna help you be more successful and to just feel more purposeful in what you do. But there's lots of different things you can do. So you don't have to force yourself into something you don't want to.

Okay, I'll leave you with that today. Inspiration is good. Inspiration with action is so much better. Thank you for listening to Side Hustle School. We've got a whole collection of stories, archival case studies, questions and answers, and so much more, sidehustleschool.com.

3,200 plus episodes available for free download and streaming. That's it for now. This is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]

- From the Onward Project.