Is Canada the Answer?

The timing of the Longshoremen strike has been fortuitous for Liz Picarazzi and Citibin.

Good Morning!

Here are today’s highlights:    

• How a pandemic pivot saved a travel-product website.

• The Sill, which helped make house-plant stores cool, is leaving brick-and-mortar behind.

• Gene Marks says small businesses shouldn’t be too quick to give up on remote work.

• Suddenly there are a lot of For Sale signs in Tampa.

SELLING THE BUSINESS

Tom Wahlin managed to sell Pack Hacker despite a 60-percent drop in traffic: “In May 2015, Tom Wahlin was a New York City-based design manager for Apple. The pay was great. The benefits were great. The team was great. But he was feeling burned out. ‘I put in my notice and planned to travel the world for a year or two to figure out what was next,’ he said. As he prepared for his trip, he ordered 10 of every travel product — everything from backpacks to packing cubes to toiletry bags. He tested each, settled on his favorites, sold the rest and boarded his flight. While traveling, Wahlin published an article on Medium: Everything You Need to Travel the World in One Backpack. ‘This post went a little viral, and I knew I had something,’ he said.”

• “The Pack Hacker website grew to feature packing lists, travel guides, gear reviews, and more. Readers could find everything from an Earth-friendly sustainable packing list to the best travel sling bag to the 14 best water bottles for every trip. Each month, the site lands more than 4.5 million unique visitors, according to Pack Hacker’s media kit as of March 2024, four months post-sale.”

• “Pack Hacker made money through affiliate marketing, meaning when readers clicked on a product link, Pack Hacker made a small commission. It also made money through brand partnerships, offering sponsored content including videos, articles, and more. Pack Hacker also offered a Pack Hacker Pro membership, which cost $60 a year and included entry to the Pro Community, exclusive content, ad-free browsing and access to a deals vault.”

• “The membership launched in June 2020 after months of planning. But travel had halted due to the pandemic, and Pack Hacker took a hit. The site’s traffic, clicks and conversions dropped 60 percent within two weeks in March 2020, Wahlin shared, and he was forced to reduce the team’s hours.”

• “Over the next year, the team adjusted its content strategy and wrote about remote work strategies, staycations, and even work-from-home gear. ‘We pivoted enough of our content over the next year that we were able to repair the damage and even our revenue about a year later,’ Wahlin said. ... At sale in 2023, the team consisted of five employees, who worked from Detroit, and six contractors. Revenue was 7 figures, Wahlin shared.” READ MORE