$1 Million Selling Thin Pillows on the Internet

Hello Moneymint fans,

Welcome to all the new members who've joined us this week! Thank you for being a part of Moneymint.

In today’s edition, we’re diving into some innovative money-making ideas that you can draw inspiration from—or even adapt to suit your own ventures here in India.

Stay tuned, stay inspired, and let’s make money together!

The Story of Spencer Haws $1 Million Pillow Business

Can you make $1 million selling pillows online? Spencer is doing just that! Let's find out how he's achieving this and making a lot of money.

He couldn't find the perfect thin pillow. He loves super thin pillows for sleeping. The thinner, the better.

He searched online and in stores. Nothing was quite right. So, he decided to make his own thin pillows.

He found a manufacturer on Alibaba. He got many samples. He became the "thin pillow guy".

He listed his pillows on Amazon. He optimized the title and description for SEO. When people searched for "thin pillow", he wanted to be the top result. There weren't many competitors back then.

In the first month, he sold $4,399 worth of pillows. All the sales came from Amazon organically.

He kept investing in the business. He ordered larger quantities of pillows. He created a website about pillows. He got traffic from Google by ranking for thin pillow keywords and more.

At first, his entire marketing strategy was Amazon and Google SEO. It worked very well.

He sold over $1 million worth of thin pillows. Most sales came from Amazon and Google.

The pillow business was always a side project for him. He decided it was time to sell.

After all expenses, he was making about $15,000 per month. He sold the business for $425,000 on Empire Flippers.

Want to see all the details? Check out his new YouTube video about this $1 Million Pillow Side Hustle 👇

How Her Failed Startup Sparked a $40K/Month Business

Cecilia Razak's first startup had a team of nearly 100 people. Then COVID-19 hit and the company went under.

Her first company was doing $60k monthly recurring revenue and growing fast (on track for over $1m annual recurring revenue in 2020) but they relied on in-person operations and within a few weeks of the pandemic their revenue dropped by almost 90%. No, really, here’s a graph.

After that, she had to close the company. But during that difficult time, a new idea was born.

Now, Cecilia and her cofounder are making $40,000 MRR (monthly recurring revenue) with a team of just two. Cecilia Razak is the founder of Slides With Friends, it is an interactive presentation builder. It enable teams to come together in groups to learn, connect, and communicate.

Cecilia had no formal business education when she quit her advertising job to launch a tech startup. Her cofounder and husband, Mason Hipp, taught her a lot about running a business. She also learned by reading and meditating.

Despite the challenges, their first startup grew to almost 100 people operating in several cities. Then the pandemic caused a 70% drop in revenue and the company had to shut down.

Communication breakdowns also contributed to the startup's demise. As the team grew and went remote, alignment with the company mission suffered. This impacted work quality.

Cecilia and Mason learned valuable lessons about team alignment, training, and communication. These insights influenced their new product, Slides With Friends.

Slides With Friends was created out of necessity. They needed it to run remote onboarding and training sessions. It also enabled social gatherings during quarantine.

The interactive presentation builder allows teams to connect and communicate in groups. Users can create slide decks and let audiences participate by sending responses.

After validating the idea with PPC ads, Cecilia and Mason focused on Slides With Friends full-time. They now have $40k in monthly recurring revenue.

The freemium model works well for Slides With Friends because the product markets itself when customers use it for events. Paid annual subscriptions are available for larger use cases.

SEO-driven content marketing is their main growth driver, accounting for about 70% of conversions. Keyword research targets low-funnel search terms that indicate purchase intent.

As Slides With Friends scales, Cecilia and Mason are investing in new acquisition channels and growing their team. Entrepreneurship is about experimenting, iterating, and trying again.

Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make an impact:

1. Put People First: Always think about your users first. Everything you do should be centered around them. This isn't easy, but it's essential to understand your audience to succeed. Knowing what people need and want helps you create products that solve real problems. Expect challenges and setbacks, but don’t let them get you down.

2. Create Kind Code: Use your understanding of people to create technology that benefits users. Avoid manipulative practices that only focus on growth or profit. Instead, design systems and user interfaces that truly help your users. While it's important to stay profitable, don’t rely on harmful tactics like addictive features or misleading algorithms.

3. Focus on Community: Use technology to bring people together and give everyone a voice. Build something that benefits the community as a whole, not just individuals. Ensure your tool is inclusive and promotes equal opportunities.

4. Know Yourself: Understand your purpose and why you're working hard. This clarity will make your product better and your path easier to follow. You can’t create something positive without knowing your direction.

5. Broadcast Your Purpose: Clearly communicate why you're doing what you're doing. Be honest with your users about your goals and how you aim to achieve them. This transparency should extend to your team as well.

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