This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey friends, welcome to Side Hustle School. I just noticed as I started to work on today's episode, it is in fact episode 3,400, 3,400. We've been going for, well, approximately exactly 3,400 days. I'm so grateful to be able to make this show for you. Thank you for being out there.
Today, without further ado, we're gonna look at a New Jersey blog, a blog that grows to 25 plus team members. Now you might think a blog, that's like an old school business model. Is it even a business model today? That's just a little hobby. Well, you know, as you're gonna hear, this New Jersey school counselor turned blogger now has six employees, 20 contractors.
She's been through a lot of changes over the years. Her name is Jennifer. And this is, by the way, a Throwback Thursday episode where we take a look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. So let's go to Jennifer in Hoboken, New Jersey and hear a bit more about her business, what has changed along the way, and how might this get you thinking about your first or your next side hustle idea? That's what we're all about here on the podcast.
I'm gonna pass the mic to Jennifer. I'll come back at the end to close us out. [Music]
My name is Jennifer Drupuka. I am from Hoboken, New Jersey. And I run the website, which was a side hustle and now is a full-time hustle called Hobokengirl.com.
It's a lifestyle media site. And it was episode number 902. It started as a blog and I and my team write about all different types of news, lifestyle events, and happenings in the Hudson County, New Jersey area. We're a hyper-local media site. I started as a school counselor in a public school and I had moved to Hoboken, New Jersey.
My grandparents had textile factories in Hudson County. So I did know the area. And when I moved there after college, I just fell in love with it. And I said, you know what? I really want to explore this neighborhood.
I loved to write. I had been, I'd started in eighth grade. I started a school newspaper just on my own accord. So I'd always been a little bit into that aspect, but I just started to, I bought a domain, started social media platforms. It was right around the time when Facebook, Twitter, all of that came out.
So it was a really perfect serendipitous time to start. Lots has changed as it always does in the media world. So when I was featured, I had already left my job. I was a school counselor. And then I took my Hobokengirl experience and said, you know what?
I'm going to try my hand at the magazine world. Obviously that kind of is a shuttering world as it continues on, but media is still booming. And so I worked at Brides Magazine at Conde Nast for two years. And then from there, I took my experience and said, you know what, I'm going to do this on my own. And I took Hobokengirl full time.
We now have a team of six employees and about 20 freelancers. And yeah, I mean, so much has changed. We started a podcast in August of 2019, which is taking off. It's nothing compared to Side Hustle, but we have usually around 1,000 downloads per episode, which is pretty good for a local production. I would say the biggest challenge I have is just trying to have off time.
I'm the head of the ship. And as an entrepreneur, we always wear so many hats-- side hustle or full time hustle. And really in the digital age, there just is in a lot of downtime. And there really aren't working hours anymore, it feels like. So that has been something that I've really been trying to work on.
I actually think that I've tried to pick one day where I take off fully and just don't look at anything. And that's helped a bit. But that is a big challenge. And then growing our team, just figuring out what is really necessary to have an extra person doing versus myself or someone else. So it's been a lot, but it's all good challenges.
They're just figuring out what works best for our team and for our growth. The biggest advice that I would say-- and there are a couple of things-- consistency. So when I started, I saw lots of blogs out there that were doing similar things. And just not in my area, but just in general. And I think that when you are wanting to write, consistency is the biggest thing.
Hosting daily, writing, not stopping. Not saying, oh, I'm getting married, so I'm going to stop. Or, oh, I'm having a baby, so I'm going to stop. Yes, of course, those are big life events that, of course, need attention. But making sure that it is incorporated into everything that you're doing and just continuing on with it.
Even if it's just a plan that you make of a few days a week that you know you're posting, make sure to do it. That was something with Hoboken Girl that I always did. And it grew to be something that people looked for. Instead of just, surprise, I have a new post up. It was, oh, four or five days a week, this is happening.
And now, we have three or four articles a day that go up seven days a week. And I think the other big thing that is so important for anyone, whether it's in social media or on a media site, is engagement with your platform. I see a lot of businesses, a lot of media companies that share tons of amazing content, but you never see them ever responding to their followers or readers. And I think that that is what really separates a brand that has a community engagement versus not. We always respond to our DMs.
We handle any type of questions. I actually have someone that I pay part time to specifically comment and DM people when they've reached out to us. So I think that's crucial. And then the last thing, be flexible. That just is a broad thing.
But when it comes to something like starting a media site or starting a blog, think about things like TikTok. 10 years ago, we would have never heard of TikTok. But now, it's here. Embrace it. Try it out.
When I first started, Instagram wasn't even a big thing yet. I said, oh, you know what? I'm going to just try this platform. And now, Instagram brings us the most of our readers and engagement to our site. So just be open to change.
We tried Snapchat. Snapchat seems to have fizzled. So you just follow it. But always, always be open to those new experiences. [Music]
Awesome, thanks so much, Jennifer.
I was just taking a look at hobokengirl.com. I remember when I first saw this website many, many years ago and it's still going. There's all kinds of articles all about Hoboken, New Jersey. And if you're like, well, I don't care about that. That's not where I live.
The whole point is a location-based, very specific kind of blog or directory, some kind of online resource, can be a very valuable business model, a sustainable one, one that goes for years and years. So if you're ever interested in that idea or that business model, it is a good one to look at and to see how she has focused on all types of content. It looks like it is advertiser supported. I think she's got some events and maybe some products as well, doing a few different things. And it's just great to see how she has evolved along the way.
All right, listeners, thank you so much as well. Thanks for being out there. As I said, for 3,400 episodes, some of you have been around for a long time and I really appreciate that. If you're new, that's cool as well. We are a community.
We are all about helping people do more of what is important to them. So that's why I'm bringing you episodes every single day, seven days a week. Subscribe, follow wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
