Prank Potato Parcels Produce Promising Profits

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Welcome friends, listeners, community. Got an amazing story for you today. We could call it how to make $80,000 sending potatoes in the mail. True story, just like every story on the program. I love working inside a school because I hear about all kinds of stuff I never would have imagined or could have believed in some ways.

So first of all, can you really do that? Can you send a potato in the mail? I'm not talking about like putting a potato in a box, you know, and sitting it in the mail. Can you send a potato in the mail just by itself? It turns out you can, as long as it has proper postage.

You can put a stamp on a potato and send it in the mail. But how do you go from there to the $80,000? Well, that's what this story is all about. A college student draws inspiration from Reddit to create a virally successful side hustle that's anything but small potatoes. In fact, it's Spudtacular.

He ends up selling his project for a large profit and moves on to another. So stay tuned for all the details. The official title is "Prank Potato Parcels Produce Promising Profits." [Music]

From an early age, Texas-based Alex Craig had big entrepreneurial dreams. As a college student, he had been part of several startups with Promise, but they never took off. Post-college, he did what millions of graduates do every year, he went and got a nine to five job.

This corporate life is where Alex found himself in 2015. He spent his days as a software development representative, but his entrepreneurial streak lingered within. Like many of us, Alex didn't actually have his nose to the grindstone nonstop for eight hours a day. He spent a fair amount of time checking in on social media and browsing the internet. One of his daily visits was to Reddit.

And on one particular day, Wednesday, May 13th, 2015, to be precise, the top post of the day was an image of a potato with a stamp on it. The image was titled, "I Delivered a Potato Today." That post had over 2 million views in less than four hours. And while the vast majority of those people simply saw a potato with a fun story, Alex saw an opportunity. He thought, "What if mailing potatoes to your friends through the mail could become the next internet trend?" He was thinking of other ridiculous, yet successful business ideas he'd seen, like the viral glitter bomb sensation that allowed people to send an envelope full of glitter to their friends or their enemies. Alex's idea was simple.

For $9.99, just 10 bucks, he would send potatoes, complete with a handwritten anonymous message to the person of the customer's choice. If all went well, potatoes by mail could have its moment of fame and bring fortune to him. Now, while he was convinced of this outcome, not everyone shared his enthusiasm. When he talked about the idea for potato parcel with his girlfriend at the time, she said what a lot of people would probably be thinking. You will not sell a single potato, and this is the stupidest idea I've ever heard.

Alex didn't disagree that it could be a stupid idea, but he was undeterred. He started working on the website that same evening, and 24 hours later, potato parcel was online and open for business. He immediately went back to the original Reddit post, which was still popular, and posted a link to his new project. On the second day that the project was live, Alex got $2,000 in orders. So maybe it wasn't such a stupid idea after all.

He was excited, but he also needed some supplies, including stamps, markers, and of course, potatoes. So over the next few weeks, he acquired his inventory and settled into a routine. The orders would come in, and Alex would leave work and spend his evenings inscribing messages, packing up and then mailing his potato parcels. Profits were growing, peaking at around $10,000 a month. That's right, $10,000 a month just mailing out potatoes, but he also knew that fads could have a short shelf life.

He thought that the idea had the opportunity to be a viral sensation, but the window was narrow. So that's when he leveled up by sending cold emails to all of the local TV stations. One of them responded and said their correspondent would be there that evening for an interview. Alex decided to make the interview a memorable one. He raced to his barber to create a hillbilly alter ego.

The interview featured Alex in a plaid shirt, cut off shorts, and his new self-described redneck haircut. The interview was a hit. He took the footage and used it for Facebook ads and other marketing. The local news story also caught the attention of national media, and soon potato parcel was featured on shows, including Steve Harvey, Good Morning America, and Ellen. Not surprisingly, Alex was inundated with orders.

Over the next six months, he would sell thousands of potatoes and earn $40,000 in profit, one potato at a time. But that's not all. He was also thinking about his exit strategy and how to sell the business from the very beginning. He did that because the projects he modeled his idea from, including that Glitter Bomb project, had been sold to larger companies or entrepreneurs. So soon after the media blitz, Alex listed potato parcel on a website called Flippa, where businesses are bought and sold.

He got some interest, but the first offer was super low, so he refocused on continuing to grow. When another offer came in for $42,000, he decided it was time to take the money and run. This left Alex with over $80,000 in profits for just over six months of part-time work and all from a potato and a pen. He's since launched a digital agency to help companies with their viral marketing. His clients include NBA teams and huge brands like Sony.

He's also written an e-book, "The Potato Playbook," all about creating an idea that goes viral. [Music]

So Alex outlined three factors for selecting a good viral product. If you're out there and you're like, man, I want to send potatoes through the mail and make $80,000, but that idea is already taken. So what else could I do? Well, he's got these three factors.

There are three questions you can ask yourself. First of all, how large is the audience? It might be a ridiculous idea, but is it still an idea that a lot of people would pay attention to, like a Glitter Bomb through the mail or a potato through the mail? Second, does it have a significant profit margin? Potatoes are pretty cheap, right?

You can buy a potato for almost nothing and then resell it for, I think in his case, $10. If not, don't go there because that's not your best opportunity. Glitter is also cheap, right? Basically almost nothing for a startup cost. And the third factor, perhaps the most important one, he says, is this product shareable?

Is it something that people will share, tweet, post to Instagram about? Or if you're going for absurdity, is it so absurd that it's notable? Like again, sending potatoes through the mail. So for him, for Alex, the potato parcel checked all of those boxes. And that last one in particular is key because there are a lot of good products or well-intentioned products that don't get viral attention.

He even says, you know, think about charities. There are lots of wonderful charities everywhere, but they don't get featured on Steve Harvey or Ellen, but potato parcel was. So that element of absurdity with a large audience, a significant profit margin, something that is silly, but also attention getting. So some tips for you there if you're out there trying to create the next viral success. If not, I hope you enjoyed the story because I thought it was pretty cool to learn about a guy who makes $80,000 sending potatoes in the mail.

You never know what's gonna come out next and maybe it will be your idea. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, including links to Alex's ebook, "The Potato Playbook" and anything else I mentioned will be at sidehustleschool.com/984. Thanks so much, my friends. I'll be back again tomorrow.

Be sure you're subscribed. My name is Chris Guillebeau and this is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.