On Starting A Remote Work Blog After Selling A $100K Finance Blog
Hey there! My name is Todd Kunsman and I am the founder of Remote Work Junkie. An online community for remote job seekers and employers hiring remotely to get tips, and guides, find and post remote jobs, build better remote teams, and more.
This is my second content website business and I launched it in mid-March 2022, after a few months of working on the idea and building it.
Previously, I founded Invested Wallet in 2018, a personal finance website for beginners and beyond. It was acquired in June 2021 for mid-five figures. And in total for the three years, I owned that site and sold it, I made over $100k – all as a side project while working full-time.
As of writing this, Remote Work Junkie has made a few grand.
Maybe not that exciting right!? Well if you know content sites, these can take time (especially as a one-man show!). And it’s exactly what happened with Invested Wallet as well for the first few months, but then quickly started ramping up income.
However, with Remote Work Junkie, brands are getting interested in various sponsorships and I will be applying to a premium ad network when the web traffic is at the required amount to be accepted. I also have a third-party remote job board built-in, which can also add another stream of revenue as the site picks up more awareness.
Right now, my focus is on building great content, getting the attention of the right people and companies, and building a trusted community for those interested in remote work and remote jobs.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I’ve been interested in building websites since college. And I wanted to create websites that were not only helpful to audiences but could also generate income for me.
My first stint was a music blog I created in 2010, where I learned a lot about digital marketing. It’s how I ended up in my marketing career today in tech, as I did not attend school for marketing.
I was hesitant to start an LLC and begin treating content like a business. I figured it would be too difficult. Then, I realized much of that was not very challenging at all. And I would have missed various opportunities both financially and professionally had I not just jumped in and got started.
The music blog never really made me money, but it did get some good attention. At its peak, I was getting around 40,000 monthly pageviews. Eventually, I gave it up and life got busy. But I still had the “entrepreneurial itch” that I just needed to scratch. Sorry, for the lame analogy here. However, it was true!
Fast forward to 2018 and I was eager to take my marketing learnings over the past few years and make content websites a legit side business. I started a single-member LLC and got to work on building great websites that would generate income.
As mentioned earlier, I sold my first legit website from this business in 2021. I knew that the next project I created and worked on would be in a remote workspace. Why? Well, I’ve been working remotely full-time since 2017. I'm very passionate about it and have various insights from my years of working and hiring remotely.
I find it challenging to work on projects that I’m not knowledgeable about or even have a passion for. There are many industry categories that a content website may be easier to build, but the topic is of no interest to me.
Additionally, remote work has become so popular and is here to stay. Even prior to the pandemic, it was becoming more common.
But the pandemic also gave the world a reset and the way we work has shifted. Many people and companies have little to no experience working from home, so it can be a major shock.
Lastly, most remote work websites out there are really focused on the job board and then some helpful content. I wanted to be content first, with the job board as the secondary feature. There are tons of remote job boards out there, it’s a tough niche to compete in.
But the content/media side seemed to be lacking. Sure there are a few sites out there writing about remote work content, but none really stood out to me. So I took this as a challenge for myself and knew this would be a great category for me to focus on.
Naturally, I do want to turn Remote Work Junkie into a one-stop community for everything remote work, beyond helpful articles and guides.
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.
Over the years in marketing and creativity, I’ve found a process that works well for me in building quality-looking websites.
While you may consider this a blog, it’s important to build it with professionalism and treated it like a business. It helps attract sponsors and readers sooner, while you wait for Google to catch up and index your content.
I work with a designer and developer to help with everything but here is my process for starting a new site.
Ideation. What is the website about? What is the mission? Who are my target audiences? How will it earn income? What will the expenses be? Understanding all this is helpful in creating a plan for the website. It also helps me create the name.
Layout. While I cannot design well in computer programs, I’d say I have an eye for visuals and good designs. In this step, I lay out the pages in a Google doc with formatting, copy, how I envision each page layout, examples of sites I like, etc. I include as many details as possible and comments for the designers I work with.
WordPress Developer. I’m also good at navigating and managing WordPress, I even know HTML/CSS decent too. However, putting together a website off the final design is also not something I know how to do well. But I work with a fantastic developer who can bring the vision to life.
Testing/QA. Once everything is complete from the developer side, I test every link and page via page speed tests, mobile, Google Core Web vitals, etc. I’ll send any feedback and adjustments to the developer before we complete the project.
Each project's costs depend on the amount of work, edits, and customizations needed. For Remote Work Junkie, it had cost about $6,500 in design/developer fees to get complete. This was also funded from my previous website sale, so I had some money to work with. Additionally, I will most likely recoup those costs back in my first year.
Now you could bootstrap this a bit more, as there are tons of WordPress templates (both free and paid). However, I prefer to be more customized to ensure the site stands out as more than just a blog. I want it to be legit and professional right from the start!
Describe the process of launching the business.
Once the website is complete and in good working order, I start to add content. Before I completely launch the site publicly, I like to have 10-20 posts or guides already queued up.
This started with my breakdown of categories and making sure to have a handful of guides or articles for each.
The reason for doing this is because I want people to have something to check out once they land on my site (strong first impression) and for search engines to start crawling my content.
I could outsource the content, but I like to remain lean on spending money. Plus, I enjoy writing, so I do this myself as well. Down the road, I may start to outsource some content.
And this is also when my marketing mindset kicks in. I have now started working on a launch plan. Now prior to this, I already had a splash landing page to capture some emails and social channels running to start building some momentum.
It’s important in my opinion, no matter when you officially launch, to start posting content from socials, capture emails, and build some momentum for your launch. It can give search engines time to recognize your site ahead of time and gives you a small audience to work with already.
You don’t need to know everything or have all the answers, but we live in a time where you can find step-by-step processes online. And if you make mistakes, that’s okay! It’s a great educational tool for your future endeavors.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Being visible where the audience is. This included launching Remote Work Junkie:
Product Hunt - I’ve never had a ton of success launching on Product Hunt, but you should still do it for visibility and the backlink. Plus, you never know if your idea takes off! You can see my Product Hunt campaign here.
Indie Hackers - Great community for those building products, websites, etc. I’ve been documenting my journey and sharing about my project. This has not only helped from an SEO standpoint, but building awareness for the website when there is not much Google love happening yet. Here are my Indie Hacker profile updates.
LinkedIn - If your audience is B2B or SaaS, then you need to be on LinkedIn. Utilizing this channel should be a combo of your personal brand and company page you create. It quickly become my #1 web traffic channel and how I get the brand in front of people that could be sponsors or listing remote jobs.
Twitter - This channel is hit or miss for me, it’s more about conversations and community than sharing links. But I do it all. It’s slow growth, but still a valuable channel.
Reddit - Oh how I love Reddit! The community of subreddits can be brutal, but once you figure out the process, it can generate some serious traffic and awareness. The key is not spamming links, but actively helping others and creating conversation.
Newsletter - Everyone should always create a newsletter list that you can send content. Not only to drive traffic but as it builds various companies will pay good money to sponsor and get in front of this audience.
PR - I always do a press release launch and then typically 1x per quarter if I have something juicy to share. Visibility and backlinks again are the reason why. And it doesn’t have to be overly expensive either.
SEO - My bread and butter with content websites, where the bulk of traffic eventually will come from. There is way too much in explaining the process of SEO, so maybe I can write something again around this topic.
Many of the above items take time to build brand trust and awareness. But the three channels that have worked well particularly for me on this project (until SEO kicks in): are LinkedIn, Reddit, and Indie Hackers.
LinkedIn has led to the majority of traffic as the site and content ar very orientated to professionals. Building my company page and utilizing my personal page has helped drive paid partnerships and web traffic.
This paid partnership below stemmed from a LinkedIn DM from someone at the company, because they saw my content on the platform.
Reddit can be a tough place to win, but if you consistently provide value without being too self-promotional, you can see results.
And Indie Hackers, a community of those building products. It’s been a way to start documenting my work but also driving additional awareness to the website and job board.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
As of writing this, I’m going in just my fourth full month of Remote Work Junkie being live. In the content/blog world, it can take months before revenue is truly coming in.
However, I have had a few affiliate sales, a paid brand sponsorship, and a paid job listing, and will be getting into an ad network in the coming weeks. By the end of the year, I'll break even with the money I put into building this custom website.
Of course, things could ramp up in the next few months, so potentially to make more than what I put into it.
But I know, in the the months ahead, I’ll be able to continue to grow the revenue. I also think this site will do much better than Invested Wallet down the road. The traffic, quality, and my approach are even better after learning about the mistakes I made on that financial website.
Eventually, I plan on introducing other revenue streams like an ebook and potentially merchandise (like shirts and stickers). But that won’t be for a while yet.
In month three, the site generated over 46k pageviews, 200+ free job seeker accounts created, and over 1600 job applications. Was an insane month, considering how new the site was. But through social media, communities, and creating a site that was visually appealing, it’s quickly building trust.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
After building three websites over the last few years, the thing I learned most is the need for creating a business plan. A website/blog might not sound like it needs one, but if you want to earn money and grow, it’s a necessary step.
And because of doing this, my sites have improved right from the start. I avoided mistakes and wasting time, and instead can generate opportunities for myself much sooner.
Can you build a successful website or blog without treating it like a business from the beginning? Absolutely. But it takes way longer and you’ll find yourself making mistakes that also could have been avoided. That’s exactly what happened with my music blog because it was my first venture and had no clue what I was doing.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
I actually don’t use a ton of tools to help with the online business. But a few that have been essential for different purposes include:
WordPress: Personally, still one of the best content management systems out there. It’s easy to learn and build so many styles of websites.
Mailchimp: I’m not ready to pay for an email tool, so I use Mailchimp to get started. It’s very easy to use and connect to your website. Eventually, as the audience reaches the free limit, I’ll upgrade to a paid plan.
WP Rocket: A page speed plugin, but one of the best to help ensure your site is optimized and loading quickly. It doesn’t solve all issues of a slow site, but it sometimes can. If anything, it will take you to the next level of faster load times.
Semrush: Since I’m in the content business, SEO and keyword research is a huge part of what drives success for Remote Work Junkie. There are a few tools out there in the space, but I enjoy Semrush.
Niceboard: Instead of building a custom job board for Remote Work Junkie, I looked for a unique third-party platform. That’s when I discovered Niceboard! It’s pretty powerful and lets you customize the board to your brand.
QuickBooks: I pay for Quickbooks online, to better manage expenses, and income, and handle invoices for paid sponsorships. This tool is especially important if you ever plan on selling something. I want to easily have my finances, like profit & loss statements accessible.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I listen to a variety of podcasts and read quite a few books, but below are some that were and are valuable to me in my entrepreneurial pursuits.
Books
Podcasts
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
I think one of the cliche and common answers to this question is to “just start,” but it’s so true! And I’m going to lead with this as well. For a long time, I was hesitant to start an LLC and begin treating content like a business. I figured it would be too difficult, didn’t know where to begin, and I was just plain hesitant.
But when I took the leap to get more serious, I realized much of that was not very challenging at all. And I would have missed various opportunities both financially and professionally had I not just jumped in and got started.
You don’t need to know everything or have all the answers, but we live in a time where you can find step-by-step processes online. And if you make mistakes, that’s okay! It’s a great educational tool for your future endeavors.
My other tip is to be detailed about your plan. I created a simple Google Document where I outlined everything about why I’m doing this, what the need is, how it would help others, and how it could impact me.
By having these items written down, I was able to better visualize the site and stay organized. I believe had I not done that from the start, it could have taken much longer to get ramped up and I would have made more mistakes. So I always recommend documenting your process and everything you need to do before you do anything else.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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