Government Lawyer Lands Whale of a Side Gig

Notes from Chris

Episode 1550

By day, Pete Robbins is your average government lawyer, toiling away as one of thousands of federal employees in the Washington, DC area. By night, he’s one of the most prolific and well-known writers in the world of professional fishing.

Pete has managed to do what many people dream of doing—he turned a lifelong passion for fishing into a lucrative side hustle. By starting with a simple blog on a well-known fishing website and leveraging the many connections he made through his writing, Pete has been able to earn tens of thousands of dollars in income, gifted fishing gear, and free travel.

It all started way way back in 2004. He’d been writing for free for a friend’s fishing website and was able to get on a boat as a passenger during a fishing competition. From that experience he sold his first article for $400 and realized that writing about fishing could be a money making endeavor.

Pete kept casting out his line and hooking new gigs time after time after time. Eventually, he enlisted the help of his wife and a graphic designer to create his own website, HalfPastFirstCast.com.

It’s still a side hustle, but it now brings in at least $40,000 in annual income, with a high of $63,000 in earnings in 2019. One way Pete has reached that level of earnings is through leveraging as many connections as possible. As he tells it, that $40,000 doesn’t come from one or two clients but from lots of little jobs. For instance he ghost-writes the monthly columns of six different professional anglers for a major website for $150 each, which nets him $10,800 annually.

Besides leveraging his connections, hooking those small fish in order to catch the big ones, Pete learned early on that in order to grow his writing career he needed to stand out from the pack. As he tells it, “The fishing industry is very insular. Most of the writing fits within narrow guardrails. While I'm cautious not to pick unnecessary fights, I'm also not afraid to express my opinion, even if it's an unpopular one.”

But I’m sure that if you asked Pete what the biggest benefit that has come out of his side hustle, he’d point to his wife. Remember that first article he sold for $400? Well at the time he was dating his girlfriend Hanna, and while he had saved $1200 for an engagement ring so that he could propose to her, he needed a bit more and was struggling under the cost of living expenses in the pricey DC market. That first paycheck for his writing made him realize that he could turn his passion for fishing into real money, which he could then trade for something even more important.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Pete and Half Past First Cast at www.halfpastfirstcast.com.

SEE ALSO:

• “Ordinary Dude” Creates Meditation Books for Men: A long-time fan of meditation writes and publishes guidebooks for “ordinary dudes”— complete with a beer can on the cover.
• Data Scientist Starts Science Fiction Magazine: A Colorado scientist publishes a science fiction magazine and builds it to a sustainable income of $1,800/month, funded largely by his readers.
• Equine Lover Makes $5,000; Stables Business to Change Horses in Midstream: A former NASA employee with an unbridled enthusiasm for horseback riding changes her hustle strategy and proves she’s no one trick pony. We’re not horsing around!

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,