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What It's About
A local travel blog takes off, becoming a leading resource for all things Hoboken.
Business Model
Blog
Skills Required
Research & Content Writing
Complexity
Low
Profit Potential
High
Words of Wisdom
Jennifer said anyone who wants to work their way into a local community should live there (or spend a good amount of time there) and be consistent with what they're doing to cover it.
Speaking of consistency, navigating the waters of a 20+ person team gets tricky—that’s why Jennifer plans a monthly content calendar (2-3 articles daily, 7 days a week) of all topics to be covered.
Fun Fact
Hoboken is part of New Jersey’s Gold Coast—a span of waterfront that sits along the Hudson River, providing its residents with stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. It’s also only a single square mile with 50,000 residents—yet has the most bars and restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city!
Notes from Chris
Episode 902
Jennifer Tripucka is the founder and Editor-In-Chief of the lifestyle website, Hoboken Girl. It covers all things New Jersey, with a hyper-focus on Hoboken and Jersey City. The blog tackles everything from the best brunch spots to vintage Hoboken boutiques to parenting tips for new moms … and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As she puts it, her team lives, breathes, eats, and drinks Hoboken and Jersey City lifestyle topics. What started as a personal blog has grown into a six-figure business with over 20 contributors, and an audience of over two million readers. How did she do it? It started with a steamy love affair … with the city of Hoboken. Jennifer moved there over 8 years ago (her grandparents had businesses in Hudson County NJ) and became enamored with the place. While sitting home one New Years Eve with then-boyfriend (now husband) in 2012, Jennifer confided she wanted to explore more of her local community—and wound up buying the domain HobokenGirl.com that night. It started as a passion project to chronicle her adventures around Hoboken, from a female perspective. She wrote about the things women would be interested in and discovered there weren’t many sites around with a female voice. Her idea was to bring a fresh spin to her local blogosphere while sharing things that residents would enjoy. Fun stuff like local events, things to do, culture and community … and all with a humorous tilt. Since then, Hoboken Girl has been steadily growing in the low six-figure range. The blog makes money through sponsored posts, brand and media partnerships, dedicated emails, and product advertisements. She’s hired several part-time team members as well as 20 freelance writers who contribute to the site. What started with a couple of blog posts a week has turned into this garden state media juggernaut. In January 2017, Jennifer left her day job (with Brides Magazine) to pursue Hoboken Girl full-time. What’s next? Jennifer has picked up another side hustle as a consultant in social media strategy and management. She’s also working on creating a podcast called Tea on the Hudson.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Hoboken Girl: Learn more about all that Hoboken has to offer over on Jennifer's website!
- WordPress: Jennifer used WordPress to set up her blog, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes
- Speech Pathologist Sells Turkish Tea Towels By the Seashore: When her day job no longer provides her with joy, a speech pathologist creates an online store that helps others make every day more like the weekend
- Beer Blogger Crafts Side Hustle from Craft Beer: An Austin transplant begins writing about the city’s many craft breweries, and it quickly becomes more than a hobby. She now earns a third of her income from the project
- Tech Employee Gets Paid to Visit Napa Wineries: This Bay Area transplant started blogging about Napa wines as a creative outlet, but she soon discovered that valley wineries were willing to pay for exposure
Quote of the Day
"I think the key to any side hustle is to consider it your other job, and get in a routine with it, not a ‘when I feel like doing it’ attitude. Be fully immersed. The longer you go in between, the less important it will be."
—Jennifer Tripucka #SideHustleSchool
