What Started as a Joke Turned into $40K/year

There are certain types of stories that I am drawn to. One type involves regular people who have an idea and have it blossom beyond their wildest dreams. I recently found one about a woman who created website as a joke.

Imagine her surprise when she started receiving emails from people wanting to order products on her site.

What is she selling? Assorted sizes of tumbleweeds.

Linda Katz finds her tumbleweeds right outside of her house and she is making thousands of dollars a year as income from them.

…the orders just kept coming — an average of 15 per week. Though sheâ€™s coy about her annual income from tumbleweed wrangling, she says it is over $40,000 a year.

[Via People of the Web Story (warning - a video will start right after the page loads)]

I imagine the press her company has received lately will help bring that income up a little bit. Even if it stayed at $40K/year, that’s pretty good money from something that started out as a joke!

Posted by Tricia on November 28, 2007 at 10:31 PM in Making Money | 17 Comments »
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Minimum Wage responded:
Posted: November 28th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Okay, I give up, why would anyone BUY a tumbleweed?
10kportfolio responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 12:50 am
That is amazing, I hope her profits keep coming in! I am thinking of selling rocks….what do you think?
~Dawn responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 12:51 am
I would have to agree Tricia, those types of money making endeavors are very inspiring and help me keep my own eyes open to the possibilities.
Mrs. Micah responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Maybe I should catch and sell DC businessmen. Oh wait. Bad idea. No tumbleweeds here, unfortunately.

That’s really awesome for her. Lol
arduous responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 7:27 am
I’m at a loss too. Why do people buy tumbleweed?
Tricia responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 7:41 am
10kportfolio – when you said rocks, the first thing I thought of are pet rocks and how popular they were at one time.

I don’t have any tumbleweed around me, but if I have a need for one, I know where to go now. I’m not sure what I would ever need one for, though…
Jennifer responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Well, good for her. That is great…
little_earth responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I’ve been on a site that sold origami boulders (paper wads balls)… They swore it wasn’t a joke, you’d get a little certificate of authenticity, a stand for it, and there was a haiku or proverb or something inside, but he warned you couldn’t open it up to see because it would ruin the integrity of it.

And people buy tumble weeds for decoration, silly as it may seem. And probably not a good idea because it spreads the seeds and continues the migration of those awful weeds (there are at least 3 I can name that are considered ‘tumbleweeds’ and there is another one that is native).
bluntmoney responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Oh my god. I seriously had this idea several years ago and didn’t go through with it because I figured it would be illegal to export weeds. (Russian thistle.) Guess I should have done more research
used vans girl responded:
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
It’s a great idea I’m sure my dad who was a huge western fan would have loved to be the proud owner of a genuine tumble weed. I think the idea is great good luck to her business!!
danielle responded:
Posted: November 30th, 2007 at 7:17 am
I think they probably buy it for decor purpouses. Otherwise, I can’t think of a reason, either.
The Friday Gathering for 11/30/2007 | Gather Little By Little responded:
Posted: November 30th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[...] Blogging Away Debt – What Started as a Joke Turned into $40K/year [...]
Keiichi responded:
Posted: November 30th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I’m going to steal her idea and sell some pine cones!!! oh wait… I think people already do that

This story is pretty amazing though. Only if one of my jokes would cash in 40k/yr!
Weekly Roundup: Pen Name | My Dollar Plan responded:
Posted: December 1st, 2007 at 8:44 am
[...] What Started as a Joke Turned into $40K/yearÂ @ Blogging Away Debt [...]
LC responded:
Posted: December 1st, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I think that she actually was setting up a fake website to learn HTML and then she actually got orders
Linkin Park responded:
Posted: December 10th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Someone please tell me why I would buy tumbleweed? How did she even start this website? This goes to show that money can be made from almost any venture. Her joke turned into 40K a day and yet some serious business people donâ€™t make that. With all this publicity, she had better hire people to collect tumbleweed for her.
money news blog Â» The Friday Gathering for 11/30/2007 responded:
Posted: December 10th, 2007 at 10:33 am
[...] Blogging Away Debt – What Started as a Joke Turned into $40K/year [...]