I Make $5M/Year With 3 Businesses | Starter Story

July 6, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Tim Stoddard runs three businesses that will generate roughly $5.2–5.5 million in 2024. The core is Stadzi Internet Marketing, an SEO lead generation agency doing about $2.5 million. From there, he built Recovery Local (a parent company owning several addiction-treatment lead generation sites) and acquired Copyblogger, the long-running content marketing resource. His strategy is not to build a single giant company but to assemble a portfolio of cash-flowing assets that eventually do the hard work for him.

From a blog to a business

Stoddard started from a difficult place. He grew up blue-collar, had a drug problem, and got sober. Six months into recovery, a mentor gave him a subscription to Success Magazine, which included a CD interview with Seth Godin. Godin's advice was simple: start a blog, tell nobody, and write every day. Stoddard did exactly that on a free Blogspot account. People in recovery found his writing and related to it. He had no idea how they were finding him, so he started researching — and discovered SEO.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:24) **From Solopreneur to Portfolio Builder** - Tim Stoddard introduces his three main businesses: Stadzi Internet Marketing (SEO agency, ~$2.5M), Recovery Local (lead gen for addiction treatment), and Copyblogger (content education), with a total portfolio projection of $5.2-5.5M for 2024.
2 (03:01) **Origin Story: Sobriety, a Blog, and Discovering SEO** - Tim describes his blue-collar upbringing, his drug problem, and how getting sober led him to start a blog on Blogger after hearing Seth Godin's advice.
3 (05:27) **The One-Keyword-at-a-Time SEO Strategy** - Tim explains his methodical approach to lead generation: rank for one specific keyword (e.g., "drug rehab marketing") and write one article at a time.
4 (06:31) **Pros and Cons of the Agency Model** - Tim calls agencies the best business to start because they require no upfront capital and become profitable with the first client.
5 (07:05) **Three Rules for Closing Deals** - Tim shares his sales framework: ask questions to uncover pain points, get the price out of the way early to avoid "I'll call you back," and always ask for the deal.
6 (08:06) **The Acquisition and Investment Portfolio** - Tim lists his investments and acquisitions, including Moving Local, Stem Cell Authority, Capa (AI SEO tool), Sparkloop (email growth), Your Boulder (newsletter), Digital Commerce (SEO agency), and Hay Creator.
7 (09:29) **Pros and Cons of Running Multiple Companies** - The main con is mental overhead and the desire for simplicity. The pro is the excitement of new ideas and the ability to compound wealth through cash-flowing private investments.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Tim Stoddard

Show Notes

I Make $5M/Year With 3 Businesses

This is the breakdown of how Tim Stoddart makes over $5M/year with 3 businesses.

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