Starter Story - $10K/Month taking pictures of dogs

Dear starters,

Pat Walls here, creator of Starter Story. 

As you know, every Thursday I send you an email highlighting the best stories that we've published on the website. A bite-sized summary of the most interesting experiences that starters have shared with us.

I hope you enjoy it!

And remember that as a newsletter subscriber, you are eligible for a very special deal to enjoy unlimited access to our Ideas database. Join us now and get Starter Story Premium for $79/year, a 45% discount from our regular price. That’s just $1.71 per week, an absolute no brainer investment in your business.

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The $5M/year LinkedIn marketing automation tool

Even though for some LinkedIn may look like this outdated and weird social network where boomers share memes and professional achievements, it is a gold mine for B2B marketers. A database of hundreds of millions of people who have cataloged themselves by skills, position, industry, etc. A dream come true!

Leveraging that amount of information and processing it to your own benefit can be hard (because it is). That’s why when Will started working on scrapping data from sites such as Yellow Pages and Yahoo! noticed that there was a much bigger interest in the data from LinkedIn. He read the signals and started coding what is now Dux-Soupa, a tool that helps business owners and sales & marketing professionals accelerate business growth by generating more leads with LinkedIn.

Currently, they have over 70,000 people using their tool and yearly revenue of nearly $5 million. Amazing success!

A similar thing happened to Arthur, who landed in Australia after graduating and found that it was a real challenge to engage with all the startups' CEOs in Sydney, and ask if they’re hiring for one reason: It’s was a repetitive process.

After searching how could he automate that process, discovered a dodgy tool to send bulk invitations on Linkedin with personalized messages. There was something but it could be done better. Now ColdInbox is a $35K/mo tool that allows you can quickly send automated LinkedIn messages that convert high value-prospects into leads and then customers.

Jake’s path was a little different, he started offering LinkedIn marketing services and after some time, using some custom code, Airtable and Zapier, he productized those services. Within the first 2 weeks, he closed $12k of MRR by selling to people within his existing network. That was rapid validation! Today Lead Cookie averages between $45k-70k every month. As an owner, Jake only spends 4-8 hours per week on this company.

Bonus: Want to get started with LinkedIn advertising? Here’s everything you need to know.
 

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$10K/Month taking pictures of dogs

Puptrait is the business started by J.B., a mixed media artist from Maryland. His first win was of course coming with such a great name mixing the words “Puppy” and “Portrait”. Naming your business is very hard and also key and this guide can help you if you’re in that process.

J.B. is a huge proponent of local search optimization. One of the most underutilized resources most local businesses and service providers have at their disposal.

While everyone seems to understand the importance of foot traffic, despite it being nearly impossible to objectively measure. Many businesses treat Google Maps as an afterthought. Even though that’s the first place anyone with commercial intent seeks out a local service provider. 

Regarding PPC, they are currently bidding on two dozen Exact Search Keywords, but are using over six hundred Negative Keywords to refine their audience. This can go a long way towards keeping both the CTR and Relevancy scores high.

If you’re surprised that a pet photography studio can make so much money, you haven’t been paying attention. People are spending more and more on their pets, and that’s why we often feature stories from starters in this space:

• At 22, Kyle threw away his 2 engineering degrees and started his own $1.75M/mo pet supplies e-commerce business.
• Lucas and Riley make all-natural dog treats. A business that generates $15K/mo.
• Sarah makes a living ($4,5K/mo) painting custom watercolor pet portraits.
• Michael and Erin started a $30K/mo CBD products line that dogs love.

“Treat people with respect. Always. Whether they are your customers or your staff. Put yourself in their shoes, even if you can’t initially begin to comprehend their point of view. If they are unhappy, find out why. Empathize with them.”

Write better email subject lines

As you know, at Starter Story we’re much more than interviews with founders. Today I’d like to share with you a little something that I’ve been working on.

If you're looking to boost your email open rates and increase sales, your email subject line is the first (and most important) step in achieving those goals.

It's critical to craft a catchy email subject line that will get you the traffic and conversions you deserve. I've put together a list of 290+ email subject lines.

Some are proven examples from other successful campaigns, and some are creative ideas to inspire you. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Starting a $20K ecommerce during lockdown

Adam runs Vintage Vegan Candle Co. They make homemade soy candles and diffusers from his home in London. What initially started as a bit of a hobby and an aim to make $7,000 in their first year has led to a fast-growing business that has generated over $20,000 in the first 10 months.

After 15 years working as a lighting technician and programmer for the theatre and events industry, industries that were profoundly hit by COVID with many theatres remaining closed since March 2020. So in April he started to learn how to make candles and now he makes themed collections for Halloween, designed with horror comic art from the 1950s and based on the 1920s prohibition of the USA, creating alcohol-scented candles named after cocktails that were offered during this period.

Starting a candle business is a great idea for many reasons:

1. You can start making candles from your own kitchen
2. The initial investment can be very low
3. They’re a great gift
4. Your home will smell amazing 

D’Shawn started Southern Elegance Candle Company and went from $20K/mo when we first spoke to her, to $100K/mo just one year later. This is one of our most-read stories of all time, go check it!

Who's hiring

• Hairstory ($30M/Year Hair Care Products) Head of Marketing and Product Manager.
• Ora ($21K/Month Project Management System) Junior Frontend Developer and Sales.
• Laxis (Next Generation AI meeting assistant) Engineer, Designer, Growth Marketer and Community Manager.
• Rejoin Media ($100K/Month Portfolio Of Web-Based Businesses) Experts in podcast growth and eCommerce.
• House of Leaf & Bean ($30K/Month Organic Restaurant and Cafe) Store Manager and Sales Rep (Jacksonville, FL)

NEW! Find more opportunities from fellow starters in our new job board.

Thanks for reading!

Pat

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I really appreciate you sharing and spreading the word. It really means a lot!

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