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What It's About
Seeing a lack of good tasting gluten-free food, this blogger creates and shares her own recipes.
Business Model
Blog
Skills Required
Writing & Marketing
Complexity
Low
Profit Potential
High
Words of Wisdom
Addison shares a fun life pro-tip: “Life is too short. Never quit your daydream!”
Fun Fact
Addison is not only a health-conscious, gluten-free chef. She’s also a former Division 1 soccer star, which she says is by far the most challenging and fulfilling experience of her life. Apparently, she doesn’t have an off switch because she’s also completed two full marathons as well!
Notes from Chris
Episode 1821
Many of us can’t imagine a life without bread, pasta, and pizza. The majority of eaters out there don’t consider gluten-free as a viable option. Adding to the challenge, many alternative recipes get a bad reputation as being a poor substitute for foods we love. Enter Addison Labonte—today’s featured side hustler–who decided it was time to make gluten-free cooking approachable, fun, and most importantly, delicious, for everyday home cooks. A marketing analyst by day, in 2018 Addison had the idea to start an online food photography and recipe blog. A few years earlier, she had gone gluten-free to address some medical issues. As she got used to her new diet, friends and family enjoyed her reports on what she was whipping up in the kitchen. Presto! The ingredients for a food focused blog began to blend together. Though she was confident in her abilities to cook healthy and delicious recipes, Addison admits to not being computer savvy. She could write recipes, but didn’t know where to start to get her content online. So, she hired an agency to set up her blog, which she called Organically Addison. To build her audience, social media (mostly Instagram) became her gluten-free bread and butter. And to grow that audience, Addison put on her analyst hat—because that’s what she does for her day job. Rather than just “try everything,” Addison choose to measure what worked and what didn’t. How did it work out? Well, by consistently posting eye-catching photos and a new weekly recipe, Addison’s blog viewership grew and she was able to monetize it within the first year of launch. Through just a few different advertising channels, she’s taken an initial investment of $1,000 and turned it into a recurring $5,000 a month business. As for what’s next, she’s content with keeping her main job while working on her blog. She loves the balance and benefits she gets from doing both. In a way, it’s like having your gluten-free cake and eating it too.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Hungry to learn more? Check out Addison’s website, OrganicallyAddison.com and follow her on social @organicallyaddison.
- Plant-Based Lebanese Food Goes Online: As her health improved, this Aussie of Lebanese heritage started converting meat-based recipes to vegan equivalents. She’s now sharing her recipes with the world.
- Plant Ahead: Healthy Food Blog Sprouts Membership Service: A Canadian Communications Officer and lover of plant-based food starts a meal prep service, earning $2,000 in monthly recurring revenue within her first three months.
- Engineer Beats Wildest Eggspectations With Recipe Blog: A Minnesotan software engineer turns healthy recipes into an online business that has over three million website visitors a month.
Quote of the Day
"put something into the world that you feel genuinely passionate about and proud of. If you are not passionate about what you are contributing to the world, you can't reasonably expect that others will buy into it either."
—Nico Millado #SideHustleSchool
