Turning a Silly Joke About their long hairs idea → $100k/Month

🏖️ Creative Entrepreneur fun one-liner:

Why did the entrepreneur always carry a flashlight? To highlight new paths in the dark!

Onto Today’s story….

Chris and Lindsay started a side hustle creating hair ties for men with long hair.

The ideas seems almost silly, but they are making over $100k/Month.

Here is how they did it.

Chris Healy and Lindsay Barto were running a successful digital agency, building websites and providing services like,

email marketing and social media management for clients.

But they always felt their agency was just a means to an end, a way to pay the bills while they searched for their true passion.

One fateful day in April 2014, the duo was driving back from a client meeting when inspiration struck.

Both Chris and Lindsay had been growing their hair long, for the first time and,

they started to notice there was something unique, about being guys with long hair.

They experienced problems, like not knowing how to deal with it, or what products to use.

When they started tying their hair up, they found that the hair ties available were of poor quality and, were designed, marketed,

and sold almost exclusively to women.

The idea was funny, punchy, and a bit ridiculous...but for them it was a perfect idea.

They wanted to see if their product would be liked by other long hair people.

So they decided to shoot a funny video showing their struggles.

Within just 10 days, they filmed an entire humorous commercial, for their imaginary product line.

They started showing the commercial privately to friends and family and, a few others with long hair.

The initial feedback was resoundingly positive.

Beyond laughs at their antics, the struggles shown in the video truly resonated, with the long-hair male community.

That's when it dawned on them, that they needed more than just a funny video, they needed an actual business!.

And so, The Longhairs was born.

Chris and Lindsay committed to building a brand around their motto, to "celebrate, educate and advocate" for men with long hair.

They worked nights and weekends creating a logo, crafting their message, and began building a website ,while continuing to run their agency.

They knew that they need to first educate their target market.

So, early on, they made a commitment to publish original content once a week:

videos, articles, tips, and tutorials.

While still running the agency to make ends meet, they began to build a following.

At first, they had very few readers, but over the first year,

they started gaining traction with web traffic, blog comments, email subscribers, and social media, all the while pursuing the development of their first product.

They never missed publishing a blog post every week.

This proved to be the single biggest game-changer for them, steadily driving an increasing volume of traffic, to their website through organic search.

As tens of thousands of web users searched Google and YouTube for phrases like “awkward stage hair,” and, “how to tie your hair for men,” they found The Longhairs.

Developing a quality manufactured hair tie, proved more difficult than expected.

But they figured it out.

After multiple rounds of samples and rejects, Chris and Lindsay finally launched "Hair Ties for Guys" in December 2015.

They invested over $10K and 1,000 hours that first year without earning a cent.

But their obsession drove them forward.

The first year sales was slow but it was encouraging for them.

They sold between $1K - $2K per month, but within that first year, they fulfilled orders to all 50 states in the US and 50 countries around the world.

All this came from the users who came through Organic search,through their SEO blog posts.

“The story of The Longhairs is content, the foundation of our brand.” says Chris.

They started projecting their website, as a community for men with long hair.

They also started printing physical referral cards and started distributing them.

The referral cards showed that there is a community for men, with long hair and it was their website - thelonghairs.us

Family and friends said they wanted to hand them out as well, so they gave them too to distribute.

They also included a pack with every order for fans to share.

Word started to spread and website traffic increased.

By 2020, they were making $50k/month.

They also had a lead magnet on their website called Long Hair Quick Tips.

Once they got the email addresses, they sent good tips and articles about long hair care.

Chris and Lindsay built traction by relentlessly focusing on SEO, and community engagement.

They slowly started doing Facebook and Google Ads and saw good traction and they continued to do it.

Chris says…

Deep down we are a community,

a fraternity, really, and that’s what makes us different, from any old hair tie company.

A huge break came in the form of ABC’s Shark Tank.

Chris and Lindsay landed a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban on the show.

While not a magic bullet, the publicity provided a welcomed boost.

Sales and website traffic continued to increase.

They started to release more products like shampoo, conditioners, brushes, headbands and hats.

Chris says…

“At the end of the day it’s not rocket surgery: drive targeted traffic to a free content opt-in, triggering an automated email flow to nurture leads, and convert subscribers into customers.”

“Our secret then is not in the formula; it’s in the execution, the result of showing up every single week,…

…continuously refining, improving, tweaking, and re-doing it all over again until it works.”

Now, The Longhairs is generating over $100K/Month.

Chris says…

“The most important thing we’ve learned is showing up, doing the work and figuring it out. “

The Longhairs story illustrates that with obsession, grit and vision, you can grow a side hustle into a thriving full-time business and community.

10 reasons why they succeeded

1. Idea from personal problem

• Chris and Lindsay's idea of hair ties for men with long hair seemed almost silly initially.

• But it addressed a real problem they and their long hair community faced.

2. Unique way of validating the idea

• Within 10 days, Chris and Lindsay filmed a funny commercial for their imaginary product line.

• The video authentically depicted their target community's hair struggles.

• Positive feedback showed demand for more than just the video - it validated the business idea.

3. Committed to publish a blog post every week.

• Early on, Chris and Lindsay published original long hair tips/tutorials weekly.

• This built The Longhairs' reputation as experts on an underserved topic.

• It steadily drove search traffic as people found their content helpful.

4. Obsessed with providing the best product.

• Chris and Lindsay were uncompromising on their hair tie quality - rejecting multiple samples.

• They invested over $10K and 1,000 hours before finally launching.

• Their obsession reflected their commitment to their customers loving their product.

5. Started small

• For the first year, Chris and Lindsay put in the money while still running their other business.

• They started slowly with $1-2K in monthly sales to validate demand.

• This allowed them to get traction before going big.

6. Leveraged zero cost marketing

• Chris/Lindsay focused heavily on SEO and publishing helpful content.

• As people searched for long hair topics, they found The Longhairs organically.

• This became their #1 traffic and growth channel for their business.

7. Viewed themselves as community builders

• They positioned themselves as a community being proud of their long hair.

• They encouraged discussions and engagement beyond merely selling products.

• This helped create loyal fans of the brand who often came back for more.

8. Enabled customers to spread the word.

• To speed up word-of-mouth, they printed physical referral cards.

• Early customers wanted to share them with friends and family.

• This sparked organic community growth.

9. Provided valuable tips and information to their customers

• From the start, they shared hair care advice through their newsletter

• This helped build trust and prepared potential customers to consider future purchases.

10. Created more complementary products

• After success with their core hair ties, they launched additional haircare products.

• New products like shampoo and conditioners helped meet more customer needs.

• Since their customers already trusted them, they readily bought the new products.

Hope you enjoyed the story and their success tactics.

Keep Zoooming!

Yours "Build your Biz with almost no risk" Vijay Peduru