Video summary

The Credit Card Side Hustle No One Talks About

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Business overview (Go Somewhere / Colin Stroud)

  • Founder: Colin Stroud runs Go Somewhere, a credit card rewards consulting + trip planning business.
  • Positioning:
    • “travel agent for people with points”
    • Help business owners create credit card strategies
    • Then book trips using the resulting points
  • Business model: two paid offers (flat-fee pricing; mostly cash revenue)

Offers / pricing (clear packaging)

1) Business owner consulting package (core offer)

  • Price: $875 one-time
  • Delivery:
    • 75-minute consult call (discovery/strategy session)
    • Analyze personal + business spending
    • Produce an optimized credit card rewards strategy
    • Implementation support via email/text
  • Includes next trip planning:
    • Client returns in ~3 months with a destination request
    • Consultant finds the deal and supports booking (points used by client)
  • Operational note (time allocation):
    • Time per client can vary; trip support can be light or a major time sink.

2) Trip planning service (self-serve inbound)

  • Price:
    • $50 deposit to start
    • Then flat fee between $200–$500 depending on scope
      • Economy is cheaper than business
      • Large families cost more
    • Typical average: $300–$400
    • Complex multi-city: $500–$600
  • Inbound acquisition:
    • Website form (“free to fill out”)
    • Paid deposit only if they want help

Target customer + qualification (ICP)

  • Best fit: business owners spending high monthly amounts
  • Explicit threshold: at least ~$20,000/month in spend
  • Why this threshold:
    • Reduces need for “churning” multiple cards
    • Enables using fewer cards with higher earning efficiency

Go-to-market strategy (Inbound via LinkedIn content + proof)

  • Historically ~100% inbound/organic
  • Primary channel: LinkedIn
    • Posting cadence: 1–2 posts/day, 6 days/week
    • Claim: clients “show up in inbox every single day”
  • Referrals exist “now some,” but initial traction was driven by LinkedIn.

Metrics, revenue, profit, and trajectory (explicit numbers)

Revenue / growth timeline (given)

  • March 2024: $1,000 first month
  • Oct 2024: performance implied as strong (he said quitting made sense after doing well in October)
  • Nov 2024: $13,000 that month
    • Quit job end of November
  • 2025 (first full year):
    • Gross revenue: $231,000
  • 2026 YTD (as of April 30, 2026):
    • Revenue: $89,000 year-to-date
    • Intention: on track to surpass 2025

Costs / expenses (explicit)

  • Estimated ~$40,000 expenses out of ~$231,000 revenue (for the 2025 period referenced)
  • Expense drivers:
    • Software subscriptions (example: ~$100/month)
    • Travel
    • Contractors (largest cost)
  • Team/contractor structure:
    • Trip research outsourced to two hires
    • Described as ~90% of trip research workload handled by those two contractors

Profit margin (inferred from his statement)

  • Interview suggests almost all profit earlier on.
  • Later notes expenses of ~$40k vs ~$231k revenue, implying strong overall margin, though net profit wasn’t explicitly computed.

Scaling constraints and operational ceiling (stated)

  • Consulting (one-on-one) “doesn’t scale” personally
  • Scaling target is the research service
    • Currently managing 35 active trips
    • Belief: could reach ~100 trips/month
  • Ads:
    • Claims zero Meta/Google ads so far

KPIs and unit economics mentioned (practical, business-specific)

  • Consulting price point: $875
  • Trip service fees: $50 deposit + ~$200–$500 (typical $300–$400)
  • Affiliate income: earns ~$400 per premium card sign-up (no CAC/LTV provided)
  • Revenue mix shift: affiliate links + newsletter/social become increasingly important over time

Strategy framework implicit in his “points earning optimization”

Even without formal terms like OKRs/Lean, the approach functions like a rewards optimization “playbook”:

  • Avoid “hacking/churning” framing (compliance considerations)
  • Focus on credit card strategy and maximize earning rate, not perks
  • Choose fewer, better-suited cards for high spenders (instead of “7 cards”)
  • Use earned points to capture higher-value redemptions (flights/hotels)

Core decision rule: “Stop focusing on perks; focus on earning”

  • Daily instruction to business owners:
    • Compare points-per-dollar (earning rate) rather than lounge/insurance benefits
  • Example logic:
    • Someone getting 1 point per $ vs potentially 2x–3x+ based on category strategy

Deal-finding tech/process

  • Uses seats.aero to search across programs
  • AI-assisted tooling helps operationalize research workflow, but:
    • human strategy/voice + deal curation remain central
  • Mentions:
    • custom CRM/dashboard
    • AI-supported pipeline for ~35 active trips

Concrete case studies / outcomes

Case 1: Parents (private medical practice) → strategy + points yield → travel outcome

  • Starting situation:
    • Father used a local bank 1% cash-back card on ~$40,000/month spend
  • Intervention:
    • Implemented Capital One + Chase (50/50) strategy
    • Added a temporary Chase personal-card offer that doubles points
  • Outcomes:
    • Well over 1 million points in the first year
    • Redeemed for a ~$9,000 resort trip
      • Cap Cana, Dominican Republic (oceanfront/butler), described as low/no out-of-pocket
    • Later planned:
      • business class flights to Europe
      • cruise trip

Case 2: “Build in public” viral post (validation before full launch)

  • After starting LinkedIn posting:
    • Spent ~5 hours researching/trying to find a complex routing/deal
    • Got close enough to speak with an agent; did not book
  • Posted anyway:
    • Post reportedly reached ~100,000 impressions
  • Result:
    • “Few bookings”
    • Mostly validation, not claimed as major direct revenue from that post

Client behavior insight

  • Some clients pay $875 but may not take a trip immediately
    • Impacts time ROI
    • But the “consultation value” is partly independent of trip completion

Actionable recommendations given to listeners

  • Education first: help others go from “zero to one”
  • Practice by:
    • researching and “mock booking” trips up to the stage where payment would happen
  • For business owners:
    • Rebuild card strategy around earning rate
    • Use tools for faster deal search instead of manual searching across many airline programs
  • Redemption psychology:
    • Warns against hoarding points
    • Argues for earning and burning (points devalue over time)
  • Suggested tools/resources:
    • seats.aero (deal search + AI assistant via API)
    • The Daily Drop (newsletter/free course mentioned)

Scaling playbook (what he’s doing now)

  • Build delivery capacity by:
    • hiring contractors for research labor
    • using a custom CRM/dashboard to manage multiple active trips
  • Go-to-market:
    • keep publishing on LinkedIn (inbound engine)
  • Future growth lever:
    • consider Meta/Google Ads once processes are streamlined
  • Execution priority:
    • consulting doesn’t scale; the research service does

High-level note on AI usage

  • AI is used mainly as infrastructure/tools (hosting research workflow; tools + dashboards).
  • Differentiation stance:
    • human strategy + human voice
    • AI search tools can generate best-case scenarios that don’t reflect real-world constraints

Presenter / sources mentioned

  • Presenter interviewed: Colin Stroud (Founder of Go Somewhere)
  • Host / interviewer: Chris (referred to as “Chris” in sponsor/read copy)
  • Tools/resources referenced:
    • seats.aero
    • Claude (Anthropic) / ChatGPT / Gemini
    • Beehiiv (sponsor mention about MCP integration)
    • The Daily Drop (newsletter/course)
    • The Points Guy
    • Frequent Miler
    • One Mile at a Time
    • Kara and Nate (context for The Points Guy’s network)

Original video