Management Consultant Creates Astute Traveling Videos

Notes from Chris

Episode 777

Ernest Shahbazian loves to travel hack. When off on an adventure he’s always on the lookout for the best deal. To get there, he often uses credit card rewards points to get discounts on flights. In that respect, he isn’t special—there are a lot of people doing the same thing. That’s why, when it came to starting a side hustle, he wasn’t instinctively drawn to something travel related. Why add one more anonymous voice to a crowded marketplace?

But, while working his day job as a management consultant, he was inspired by a co-worker to just try. It was the catalyst to begin the side hustle trip of a lifetime.

One day, Ernest and that colleague were chatting over lunch. The guy was interested in learning more about earning credit card reward points but didn’t have time to read long blog posts to learn. He explained to Ernest that he’d much prefer to watch videos about it, but there were no good ones out there. He suggested Ernest do something about it.

At first, Ernest was skeptical. It was already 2016 at this stage and surely there'd be plenty of video content out there about reward points. But, after searching YouTube, he agreed with his colleague. What was out there wasn’t very good, and he could do much better.

So he packed his bags and decided to get started. His journey? Create a YouTube channel for the astute traveler. Offering travel advice, reviews and of course, tips on earning rewards. He decided to call the project Trip Astute. The mission was to help people maximize their travel experience.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor are YouTube channels.

He committed to posting a new video every week and improved along the way. A few months later, he was more comfortable in front of the camera, the quality of his videos was better, and he became much faster at editing each video.

By the six month point, he’d reached 1,000 subscribers and felt like he’d hit cruising altitude. It was now that Ernest decided to invest more heavily in his own website. For every video he posted, he created a page on his own site. The idea was, he’d pick up more traffic through Google and eventually have more opportunities to monetize.

Currently, Ernest is earning about $1,000/month from his efforts. He has big plans, including a goal to reach 50,000 subscribers. In addition, he hopes to partner with brands to create sponsored videos as a way to attract more revenue.

Most importantly, Ernest plans to put a lot more work into his own website. He understands that YouTube, while amazing, is a platform not under his control. By focusing on his own site, and building an audience there, he won’t be at the whims of any algorithm updates or changes that he can’t control.

Long term, he’s hoping Trip Astute can become his full-time gig. For that to happen he wants to be generating $5,000/month consistently.

Right now, Ernest is continuing to enjoy the journey.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Trip Astute: Follow Ernest's journey yourself over on his website, and check out his YouTube channel!

 

SEE ALSO:

• "Cheap Plane Tickets" Site Becomes Million-Dollar Hustle: How a Washington, DC political analyst used research skills to help travelers save money while attracting 275,000 email subscribers and making more than $1M
• Avid Travelers Turn Finding Deals Into Vacation Planning Side Income: A couple in Washington, D.C. convert their passion for travel into a side hustle planning all-inclusive surprise vacations for those who lack the time to do it themselves
• Nomadic Designer Profits from Writing About Life in a Bag: When a designer quits his job at Apple to travel the world, he realizes that his nomadic lifestyle hacks are a hot topic—and a profitable one, too

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

Yours in the revolution,