Discover My Journey: From a Casual Shutterbug to Earning Over a Million in the World of Photography.
ONLINE BUSINESS
Turning My Photography Hobby Into a $1,138,610 Adventure
By Marc Andre
Anyone familiar with my blog knows my love for side hustles as a way to earn extra income. I initially started with a design blogging side hustle in 2007, which led to me quitting my full-time job after a year and a half of hard work. But that’s old news. The story I want to tell you now happened a few years later.
While running my design blog, I began exploring photography, a potentially pricey hobby with all the equipment involved. In 2012, I wanted to upgrade my gear, but dropping $5,000 seemed excessive. In response, I started a photography-related side hustle hoping maybe I could earn that $5,000.
Surprisingly, I’ve been able to transform my photography hobby into over a million dollars. Here are few things this incredible journey has shown me:
1. The power and potential of a good side hustle
2. You don’t need to be an industry expert to earn money
3. It’s essential to take action and start your side hustle
I had relatively little photography experience in 2012, just a beginner figuring things out. Though it may seem predictable to assume that I did professional photography gigs or sold my snaps on stock photography platforms, none of those are true. My primary income didn’t come from selling prints or running workshops either.
Instead, I made majority of my income by selling my digital products on a photography blog that I started, and of course, a few affiliate promotions.
The timeline overview:
– I launched my first photography website in fall 2012.
– Second website followed in fall 2014.
– By early 2015, the third one was up and running.
– In 2016, I decided to sell the first two websites for $500,000.
– In 2018, the third website was sold for $216,000.
By the end of it all, I grossed $1,138,610 once all associated expenses were deducted.
So how did I manage to convert my hobby into a sustainable income stream? Here are some steps:
1. I spotted an opportunity in selling downloadable photography-related products.
2. Driven by my dream and this possibility, I acted and created my own products for sale.
3. Then, I set up my website.
4. From there, I began reaching out to potential partners who could promote my products to their audience and share the revenue.
5. Having done a few successful initial promos, I decided to ramp it up and created more products.
6. To build up my email list, I created freebies and generated traffic on my site.
7. I leveraged other websites to link back to me, increasing traffic and sales.
8. I started publishing content on my blog to attract more traffic.
9. Riding the success wave, I launched two more sites over the next years.
10. Ultimately, I sold off the sites for a hefty sum.
If you don’t currently have a side hustle, I urge you to start one. It’s incredibly rewarding to work on something you thoroughly enjoy.
In case you’re interested, I’ve prepared a step-by-step guide on starting a blog. Check it out!
Also, consider exploring these investment platforms:
Public, Moomoo, Webull
These platforms offer services like commission-free trades of stocks and ETFs, AI monitoring, free investing courses, extended trading hours, and much more.
Check them out and see if they are right fit for you!
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