On this week’s Area of interest Pursuits podcast, Nick Grey and I talk about turning private passions into sellable companies, the trust-building energy of books, and the fashionable position of non-public web sites in web optimization and repute. This atypical interview challenges customary advertising and marketing concepts and explores unconventional paths to authority.
The primary half adopted a well-recognized path: Nick shared how he constructed Museum Hack from informal museum excursions for buddies into an organization that bought for hundreds of thousands. The second half become a back-and-forth dialog about private web sites, authority, entity readability, and what enterprise house owners could also be lacking after they focus solely on their firm web site.
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How a Passion Grew to become Museum Hack
Nick Grey did not got down to change into a museum entrepreneur. He moved to New York Metropolis, began visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, and commenced displaying buddies round for enjoyable.
The Met gave him loads of materials to work with:
- 2.7 million sq. ft of house
- Roughly 50 acres inside Central Park
- Sufficient scale to really feel overwhelming to informal guests
- A repute that might intimidate individuals who didn’t see themselves as “museum folks”
Nick wasn’t educated in artwork historical past. He had by no means been a tour information. That grew to become a part of the benefit. As a substitute of designing excursions for artwork lovers, he constructed excursions for individuals who thought museums have been boring. He centered on tales, gossip, cash, romance, rivalry, and the unusual particulars that conventional excursions typically skip.
How Charging Modified the Product
At first, Nick gave excursions to buddies. Then, buddies referred different buddies. A weblog wrote about his excursions, calling them among the finest issues to do in New York Metropolis, and greater than 1,000 folks wished to affix.
That demand pressured a tough determination: cost cash or maintain treating it like a interest. Nick began small, someplace round $19 or $29 per individual. On the primary paid tour, he gave everybody their a refund as a result of he loved the expertise a lot.
Charging nonetheless proved to be among the finest enterprise selections he made. As soon as folks paid, they handled the expertise with extra respect. A number of pricing particulars stood out:
- Museum Hack excursions later bought for $79 to $99 per individual.
- The corporate focused folks keen to pay for experiences, resembling live shows, Broadway reveals, sports activities, and different metropolis actions.
- A normal museum tour may cowl 5 or 6 items per hour.
- Museum Hack excursions coated round 15 items per hour.
- The tempo, humor, and storytelling made the product really feel completely different from the beginning.
That positioning mattered. Nick wasn’t promoting entry to the museum. He was promoting a extra entertaining option to expertise it.
The Enterprise That Scaled Past Nick
One of many hardest elements of any personality-driven enterprise is getting the founder out of the supply position. Nick confronted that drawback early.
A pal informed him the enterprise may by no means scale as a result of Nick was the product. As a substitute of accepting that, Nick employed individuals who may carry the expertise’s power. His hiring technique was uncommon:
- Stand-up comedians
- Broadway actors
- Freelancers are used to versatile work
- Folks may wish to seize a drink after the tour
That call helped Museum Hack develop past one information and one metropolis. The primary growth was Washington, DC, partly as a result of it was shut sufficient to New York to handle.
The cities that labored finest had two traits: giant customer demand and a deep freelance labor pool. New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all had folks with aspect gigs, efficiency backgrounds, and versatile schedules.
How Museum Hack Labored With Museums
Museum Hack began as a renegade tour firm, which meant the museums did not sanction it. That created stress. Museums typically tried to close the corporate down. Nick and his staff needed to work round guidelines, cope with uncertainty, and discover methods to maintain excursions operating.
Ultimately, the connection grew to become extra cooperative. If Museum Hack bought a $79 tour, it will cowl the complete museum admission worth for every visitor, which is usually round $25. That made the worth clearer:
- Museums obtained ticket income
- Guests got here who won’t have visited in any other case
- Museum Hack dealt with the visitor expertise
- The tour firm saved management of its distinct type
It was not a friction-free mannequin. But the association confirmed how an organization can shift from an outsider to a income accomplice when incentives are aligned.
Nick’s Eventual Exit
Nick by no means anticipated to promote Museum Hack. It was labor-heavy, uncommon, and never the type of clear software program enterprise many consumers chase.
The corporate grew into a number of cities and reached many hundreds of thousands in income. Nick stated he labored exhausting to show it right into a $5 million to $10 million firm, but he couldn’t break by means of the $3 million in annual gross sales.
By then, he had labored himself out of day by day operations. His management staff was operating the corporate and ultimately approached him with a suggestion to purchase it.
The deal used full vendor financing, which is not widespread. In Nick’s case, the consumers put down zero {dollars} and paid him from the corporate’s income over time. That construction labored due to belief:
- The consumers have been already operating the enterprise
- They knew the numbers
- That they had a deep firm context
- Nick believed they have been dedicated to retaining rising it
He bought the enterprise in 2019. Then COVID hit, museums shut down, and the corporate’s income went to zero.
The brand new house owners pivoted into distant team-building experiences. Nick described that painful restart as a blessing as a result of it pushed the enterprise towards higher margins and a extra worthwhile mannequin.
A E book Constructed a Completely different Type of Asset
After promoting Museum Hack in 2019, Nick launched The two-Hour Cocktail Social gathering in 2022. He had wished to put in writing a ebook for branding causes, but he wished it to be greater than a thought-leadership challenge.
He wished a tactical, workbook-style information for internet hosting small gatherings. His specialty was occasions for 15 to 25 folks, and the ebook gave him a option to train that components at scale.
The monetary aspect was much less engaging. Nick spent about $60,000 on top-level design, structure, and publishing assist. A number of ebook particulars stood out:
- It took about 5 years to put in writing and launch
- It was self-published
- Nick wrote it with assist from a staff of writers
- The design and structure have been main investments
- The direct monetary ROI was not the principle reward
The ebook constructed belief in a means paying homage to podcasting. When somebody spends hours together with your concepts, they type a deeper connection than they may from a brief put up or social replace.
LLMs Modified the E book Query
Nick additionally mentioned whether or not enterprise nonfiction books nonetheless maintain the identical worth within the age of LLMs. That query issues for entrepreneurs who’re interested by writing one.
A ebook can nonetheless construct authority, create connection, and provides folks a structured option to spend time together with your concepts. The tougher query is whether or not a ebook is the very best format immediately. Different codecs could compete for consideration:
- Weblog collection
- On-line programs
- Brief movies
- Podcasts
- Electronic mail newsletters
- AI-assisted studying paths
Nick stated he was completely satisfied he wrote his ebook when he did. He was much less sure he would select the identical route immediately if he have been evaluating it to newer codecs.
Private Web sites Grew to become the Subsequent Enterprise
Nick’s latest challenge is PersonalWebsites.org, a service that builds and manages private web sites. His primary provide is round $29 per 30 days.
This ardour comes from his personal expertise. Nick has had a private web site for 25 to 26 years, and he credit it with serving to him meet folks, create relationships, and form how he seems on-line.
The argument is straightforward: folks Google names. In addition they ask AI instruments about folks, corporations, founders, service suppliers, and potential companions. A private web site provides somebody a spot to inform that story immediately. Use circumstances embody:
- Enterprise house owners who desire a profile past the corporate web site
- Professionals who wish to personal their title on-line
- Dad and mom who desire a primary public presence
- Founders who could promote an organization sometime
- Patrons reaching out to enterprise house owners
- Audio system, authors, consultants, and operators
Nick careworn that this is not about burying adverse search outcomes. It is proactive repute work, centered on giving folks a reputable supply about who they’re.
How Jared’s Web site Grew to become A part of the Interview
The interview took an sudden flip when Nick pulled up JaredBauman.com and gave a form reside critique. That shifted the dialog from a regular interview into one thing nearer to the outdated Area of interest Pursuits information episodes.
Nick favored that Jared’s web site included robust images, a speaker spotlight reel, endorsements, testimonials, and authority indicators. He additionally steered breaking the location into extra pages. His essential suggestion was to create extra “floor space” across the individual:
- A separate about web page
- A contact web page
- A photograph web page
- Devoted pages for talking or media
- Extra indexable pages tied to the title
The purpose wasn’t to show a private web site right into a second firm web site. It was to offer serps and AI programs with extra structured indicators in regards to the individual, their work, and their relationships with different entities.
Nick’s Tackle How Private Web sites Help web optimization and GEO
The dialog moved into web optimization, GEO, AEO, and the position private web sites can play in serving to machines distinguish between folks and types. On this context, Jared Bauman, as an individual, is one entity, whereas 201 Inventive, as a enterprise, is one other.
That separation issues when founders and firms are intently tied collectively. Many native companies blur the road between the proprietor and the corporate, making it tougher for Google and AI programs to inform who’s who. A private web site might help make clear:
- The individual’s profession historical past
- The individual’s present firm
- Previous ventures
- Podcast appearances
- Talking expertise
- Associations, training, and public work
- Hyperlinks between the individual and the enterprise
Nick shared that his staff migrated about 80 private web sites from WordPress to a static setup utilizing Payload CMS and Astro. Their PageSpeed Insights scores elevated from round 87-88 to round 99.
That technical enchancment issues as a result of private web sites are sometimes easy. They are often fast, static, clear, and simple for serps to course of.
Nick’s New Enterprise Is Rising
Nick described PersonalWebsites.org as being a couple of yr into the enterprise. He in contrast it to Museum Hack in its early part, when he spent years experimenting earlier than treating it as a bigger firm.
On the time of the interview, he had round 80 purchasers and was doing roughly $3,000 to $4,000 per 30 days. The enterprise remains to be discovering its sharper market focus. Doable buyer teams embody:
- Actual property professionals
- Attorneys
- Medical doctors
- Enterprise consumers
- Enterprise sellers
- Native enterprise house owners
- Professionals with public reputations
Nick desires the service to stay private whereas additionally exploring methods to make it extra scalable. That stress mirrors the identical subject he confronted with Museum Hack: how do you develop one thing with out shedding the standard that made it work?
Remaining Ideas
This episode began with a extremely uncommon enterprise story, moved into the worth of books, after which become a reside dialogue about private web sites, authority, GEO, and the way folks present up on-line.
Nick Grey’s profession has a transparent thread by means of all three tasks. He takes issues that really feel neglected, resembling museum excursions, small gatherings, and private web sites, then makes them extra helpful, extra enjoyable, and simpler to behave on.
The largest takeaway is that non-public repute is turning into a extra seen enterprise asset. Whether or not somebody is promoting an organization, constructing authority, profitable native purchasers, or attempting to make sure AI instruments describe them precisely, proudly owning a transparent private web site could change into far more necessary than many individuals assume.
