welcome to a new week of the programme and also in all new topic, something we have never before considered in more than one thousand and seventy episodes. That topic is carnivorous plants. Yeah, that's right, everybody's got a thing and that thing can be monetize on this story. I pay pal employed his childhood obsession with carnivorous plants into an online resource. He then income with a marketplace that doesn't leave anyone out at the end of the episode are also give you some apps on engaging with a micro community so glad you're here my name is critical about this is of school and the story is coming up after this message from our sponsor. David Several takes his hobby seriously, he's a supper

and it doesn't do anything halfway, frigates interested in something it becomes an obsession, I've always been business minded even from a young age. In fact, his very first sight assault was selling fuck em on cards to fellow students. In elementary school around the same time, he was obsessing over picket you, he discovered carnivorous plants. These are planted, obtain or nutrients by trapping insects, and sometimes small animals instead of from soil. Most famous, of course, is the Venus Flytrap, but there are hundreds of other species whose interests began when a friend brought went to school is a science fair project that same day, David begged, his mom you're, taking to the nursery, so he could get his own He was instantly hooked over the years. These fascinating plants became one of David sure passions. He dedicated himself to learning everything there is to know tat. He could grow many different types, sure that Venus plied trap was the most popular, but he also ventured into son dues, pitchers cobra lilies and dozens of others that most people have never heard of

Community of growers help David Foster is hobby. She got a little older. He d, ten local, meet ups to learn more from experienced members within that group. He would sell or trade drawings of plants to obtain species he desired, but didn't get half in time. It became a true love affair between David in these misunderstood eating shrubs it was a love but didn't Wayne Overtime Passport. A twenty seventeen. David was doing some online research regarding the plants, but he noticed it was hard to find useful information tips on how to grow the plants, what sort of nutrients they preferred and what climate they liked were severely lacking. At the time, David was working remotely as a product manager for Paypal, gaining technical knowledge and ability to work. Remote were huge perks of the job. You decide to use his technical prowess to create an online resource, something easy to digest info about everything related to all different species of carnivorous plants. You register the domain

never a plant resource dot com and it cost him almost nothing, since he did all the work himself he's only costs were for that domain. In sitting around a hundred dollars total. He spent the next several months pulling the site with content whose goal is to make this only resource. Anyone would need to learn about the topic, a sort of Wikipedia for carnivorous plants, something so useful that Himself, with reference it when needed a place to devour anything necessary to become our carnivorous expert essential.

We're very few Quadi resources online. For this topic, Google began to reward David for his efforts and regarded him with traffic through their search engine. On top of that growth, the online carnivorous black community, such as it was, I help spread. The word that David's resource was the place to go. Data puts a success down to the size of the community. As he says, niche communities are small by definition and word travels fast in those small communities. They will share on Facebook groups in forums and recommend the site to like minded France. The site kept growing into twenty eighteen by a problem. Emerging davits work life, his whole team. It pay pal, lost their jobs due to a corporate restructuring, rather than jump straight back into another job. David have the luxury of taking a bit of time to explore opportunities. One of those opportunities was expanding, his beloved resource site and turning it into a true side, hustle, something that would just be a hobby,

would also make money. But how did you do that? You that he didn't want to spam is audience with product reviews. You thought they might lose faith in him if he did so in steady, opted to try and create a marketplace somewhere that anyone and everyone interested in carnivorous plants could come to buy and sell their plants and related items to test this concept. He again uses technical knowledge to install some marketplace. Software and the site. Start he went all the way back to his childhood roots enlisted some artwork foresail. It would be a good way to test the software, as well as the interests of his fellow play.

Others were they devour the idea of a marketplace or regurgitate it turned out. It was the former he quickly sold something to the site. Consider the concept validated and end of the day with a happy dance now that he was confident, people would actually purchased at this sight had to come up with a business model and united on a commission based structure. Work like this. The marketplace would function like a miniature ebay. Users could list things like artwork seeds, growing supplies, Anna plants themselves for sale, business could then purchase the items from one another and in exchange David would receive a small fee, while those mafias can really add up, because in twenty nineteen, so far, David's marketplace has generated over thirty thousand dollars, and sales is on track to earn commissions and others

thousand dollars is confident that number will only grow in twenty twenty again, as is often online marketplace, focused on carnivorous plants from childhood, haughty, two and now successful side. Business David story is proof that, with a little effort and a lot of passion, anything grows right. As promised. I got some tips here on engaging with a micro community. These come from David by the way I really crochet David, helping us out with the story telling us all about carnivorous plants When I learned something new just about every day here at least a couple times a week that, unlike while I had no idea, this was a thing, but it is a thing just, as I said at the top is a thing that can be monetarist just like most topics: Hobbes passions and interest. Ok, so Steps here, first of all, he says I remember that engaging with a community means that your hopping onto a two way street reverie rico-

you have of your members. They'll have questions and request for you. Treat everyone is you what a friend the apathetic responsive, enthusiastic and helpful, just as you would hope, a frame would be for you. So many community members have answered my questions in the past that I see it is my responsibility to pass on that kindness help everyone he reaches out to meet, to learn and grow literally and figuratively to the best of my abilities, and next this is interesting. He says limit your customer. Can we

patient touch points the scientific color intuitive, because you may think you should be everywhere. Your customers are at all times, but for me, going deep on a few channels has worked better. Limiting myself to a few popular options, forces me to communicate more effectively the last more timely responses and reduces the switching costs associated with jumping back and forth between channels. This isn't an excuse to neglect new important platforms, but rather a guideline to keep from getting distracted by every shining object. I think that is really interesting. We could do a whole, extended kite or long form episode just on those two things. So I hope somebody out there who is interested in a micro community, some kind of niche topic, some kind of wild and crazy thing that nobody else understands what you know. There's a community out there that is interested. You can serve as an expert authority in up they'll. Think about that how to engage.

Also limit your customer communication touch points lots of stuff today, lots of coming up. Inspiration is good, but inspiration. What action is better days show notes, including all the links you could ever need for. Carnivorous plants are at sight of school dotcom, slash of one zero, seven three, so one thousand and seventy three days so much realistic I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Priscilla, though this is cited. Small. From the onward projects.