Starter Story - $25k/month with open-source project?

Dear starters,

Pat Walls here, creator of Starter Story. 

As you know, every Thursday I send you an email highlighting the best case studies that we've published on our platform. This is 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 our limited time offer 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.

Father & son make $840k/year bagging protein powder

First story this week: Marc, a father & full-time doctor, wanted his son to become a better athlete...

So, in his kitchen, he experimented with protein powder formulas until they found one that worked - then they took that formula, built a brand around it, and turned it into a $70k/month business.

My take: They built a strong brand, have great packaging & design, and have a great "story" around their brand. Worth a read if you're building a brand, too.

Read the full story.

$48k/year ultra-niche newsletter [just started]

Casey makes $4k/month with his newsletter for "sneaker flippers" - it notifies readers when retailers have new "drops".

And he only started 6 months ago! This one is worth a read if you want to learn more about how to monetize a newsletter or email audience.

My take: Casey was able to monetize quickly because he is helping other people make money! (flipping sneakers). People will pay for your product if the cost justifies the benefit in raw dollars. Reminds me of another profitable newsletter we interviewed.

Read the full story.

200+ ways to get more customers

We've interviewed thousands of founders, and in every interview, we ask them: Specifically, how did you grow your business?

We took the data from every interview and built out our Growth Database - 200+ unique ways to get more customers and get the word out on your brand.

Just some examples:

• Going viral on Quora
• Using Twitter advanced search to find customers
• Optimizing your site for Voice Search
• and 197+ more

We break down each method, show you real-world examples, and tell you how to get started.

Access the growth database.

$25k/month with open-source software

We just interviewed John Leider, who started Vuetify, an open-source user interface library.

John tells us how he generates $25k/month through a combination of digital products and through Patreon and Github supporters.

My take: It is amazing what people can build in the open-source development ecosystem. John is cultivating a community that organically spreads the word about his product.

If you're interested in some other open-source success stories: $30k/month open source CRM or TailwindCSS's multi-million dollar open source project.

Read the full story.

$102k/year solo blogger

Ricardo started six-figure blog The Modest Wallet as a solo founder and has no employees.

And he only started two years ago. All of his revenue comes from affiliate commissions.

My take: I'm biased, but blogging is the fastest way to make money online, and it's a great "first" business to start. It's low risk, low cost, and it's relatively straightforward on how to get financial freedom with your own blog. See 40 more bloggers making up to $2M/year.

Read the full story.

Most popular stories this week

Here are the top 10 trending stories this week...

1. $144M/year selling beer koozies

2. Framing tweets is a $300k/year business?

3. These guys remove junk & make $18k/month

4. 15 pandemic-friendly Business ideas for 2021

5. 100 profitable business ideas for SOLO founders

6. $17K/month selling tiny bricks?

7. 20 subscription box business ideas you could start

8. $300k/year wedding photobooth business...

9. $25k/month selling protein pancakes

10. 48 business ideas with high profit margins

Looking for a job, or some work on the side?

Get your feet wet before you take the plunge into founder life.

Many of the companies we interview are hiring in operations, design, marketing, engineering, and more...

Check out our jobs portal for all new opportunities - new jobs are added every day!

💰 Start a profitable business?

Learn from real people sharing real stories. The struggles, the wins, the good and the bad. 

How do people get inspired and find great business opportunities? How do they get their 10 first clients? What challenges do they face at every stage and how to overcome them?

Get unlimited access to 2,000+ case studies, 3,000+ business ideas and 200+ proven growth strategies for $79/year (just $1.51/week) using the code "JULY21". This is the best deal we've ever had.

​Or, get even more with our Premium Plus membership for $199/year and you will additionally gain access to the Lean SEO course (sold separately for $249) where I share how I've grown Starter Story to over 1M+ monthly visitors.

(all of our plans are billed yearly)

Thanks for reading!

Pat

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