A simple flight and travel deals idea → $70k/Month

Hello Rebels

🏖️ Fun one-liner:

Why do entrepreneurs love magic tricks? Because they specialize in turning the impossible into the possible!

Onto Today’s story….

Garth Adams, did many side hustles. Most of them failed, but one worked.

He expanded that idea to flight and travel deals called I Know The Pilot and is now making $70k/Month.

Here is how he did it.

Garth Adams has been programming in some form since middle school.

Once he got a job, he was always working on his "side hustles" - creating sites and promoting them through SEO.

He created a few puzzle websites, but they didn't work out much.

One of his most promising ventures was IWantThatFlight.com.au, a flight comparison site similar to Skyscanner and Kayak.

which he successfully carved out a profitable niche in before the competition arrived in Australia with their big marketing budgets.

As the sole provider for his family with two young kids,

Garth felt immense pressure to turn his business around when traffic and revenue began to decline,

due to the competitors' extensive marketing efforts.

Determined to find a solution,

Garth spent 18 months dedicatedly reading case studies on successful startups,

showcasing his persistence and willingness to learn from others' successes.

At this time, he noticed that people were sharing cheap flight deals on shopping websites.

He tried posting those flight deals himself on IWantThatFlight.com.au,

but while some performed well initially,he was ultimately at the mercy of the deal sites' whims and algorithms.

After another five months of careful contemplation,

Garth decided to start his own flight deals site from scratch, separate from IWantThatFlight.com.au.

IKnowThePilot.com.au began as a WordPress site, and he built it quickly in just two weeks with a lean budget of only $400,

Garth focused on the deals rather than the tech, and from day one, he strategically hooked up a Mailchimp email list to the site,

hoping to build an engaged audience by allowing subscribers to receive emails a few times a week with the regular deals he planned to post.

As he started getting lots of traffic and serious traction,

he automated much of the deal creation process and sent emails automatically upon deal creation, streamlining his operations.

However, he had to switch email providers to lessen the cost, showcasing his adaptability and focus on cost-efficiency.

For the launch of IKnowThePilot.com.au in 2015,

Garth took a consistent and strategic approach, focusing on implementing some form of marketing every day,

rather than relying on occasional huge campaigns.

He recognized his limitations, self-aware that he was a skilled programmer but not necessarily a creative marketer.

To gain exposure, he added links to IKnowThePilot.com.au in the deals he was already posting on other sites,

starting to get regular but small bursts of traffic that way.

He also hired marketing freelancers to complement his skill set.

Over the next 6 months, he tried various marketing channels like Google Ads, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and of course, more SEO efforts.

The freelancers were not very expensive,so he could keep costs down while experimenting with each channel.

Unfortunately, none of these marketing efforts initially met his expectations.

But luckily, one freelancer came through with effective strategies, and they were able to start growing the business successfully.

This freelancer still works with Garth to this day.

To attract and retain customers, IKnowThePilot.com.au implemented a valuable strategy,

allowing subscribers to choose how often they were contacted,

with options for daily or weekly email summaries of new and current deals, catering to their preferences.

This customer-centric approach paid off, as subscriber numbers continued to increase steadily.

Once he knew how to make one niche website work successfully,

Garth diversified his income streams by starting other niche sites like sudoku.com.au, leveraging his expertise in a scalable manner.

Now he is making $70k per month.

Garth says..

"Marketing is everything! Before you build, be very clear on how you are going to market it.

Don't just build it. They won't come."

4 reasons why he succeeded

1. Started as a side hustle

• Garth worked on creating websites alongside his day job.

• He created puzzle websites and a flight comparison site called IWantThatFlight.com.au.

• Pursuing side hustles allowed him to explore different business ideas without risking his primary income.

2. Dedicated time to learning from others' successes

• When faced with declining traffic and revenue, Garth spent several hours reading case studies on successful startups.

• Once he found the lessons, he implemented them and saw his business grew.

3. Focused on consistent, daily marketing efforts

• For the launch of IKnowThePilot.com.au, Garth implemented some form of marketing every day.

• He recognized that focusing on daily, incremental marketing can lead to sustained growth and momentum over the long run.

4. Leveraged what he learnt

• Once Garth knew how to make one niche website work successfully, he started other niche sites like sudoku.com.au.

• He leveraged his expertise to start more businesses and diversify his income streams.

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Hope you liked the story and the tactics which made them successful.

Let the good times roll for you!.

Yours “Rooting for your success” Vijay Peduru