How Jonathan and Ashley Longnecker transformed their love of off-grid living to create an 80K+ subscribers YouTube channel and creative online businesses |

Discover how Jonathan and Ashley Longnecker grew their YouTube channel, launched an online community, and then monetized their videos in the process of building an off-grid desert homestead.

Ashley and Jonathan Longnecker from the Tiny Shiny Home have no fear of the thrill of adventure. After years of traveling full-time in a updated Airstream together with their four kids and their four children, the Longneckers set out to plant roots on a beautiful piece of property in Arizona and are currently building a sustainable off-grid homestead.

However, getting here wasn't an easy task.

It took the Longneckers years to create the well-known name they are today, as well as overcoming the difficulties of growing an audience and making items that were a hit with their followers. They also discovered that it's possible take a risk and deliberatefor your business to get the momentum it needs.

The end result was that Jonathan and Ashley have created an online venture which allows them to be a team as well as connect with nature and continue to learn every day. Here's how they did it.

Journey to living life off-grid

Before forming tiny Shiny Home , Jonathan and Ashley were interested in the field of entrepreneurship. They studied business opportunities including designing t-shirts and refinishing furniture, and blogging in hopes of showing their children the world one day.

Then in 2015 The family of six decided to shake things up. They decided to sell their home and put their belongings in an RV then set out on the open road full-time to travel. They recorded their travels via their blog to have a journal that they could look back at.

Although the family loved exploring different places, they soon realized that they did not like staying in campgrounds. They were squeezing against neighbors and craved more space and tranquility.

"We were captivated by the beautiful natural areas with a quiet atmosphere and didn't have lots of people around," Jonathan recalls. "That's how we got into boondocking, which is where you camp off-grid without any connections. It's like camping completely in the wilderness."

"The Airstream had solar. It was extremely low-power. The vehicle had Internet and cell boosters. We added big tires to it to allow us to go places that didn't have flat roads. The Airstream was designed as a whole to accommodate our families and boondocking since there's not a lot of Airstreams that are designed for more than six persons."

Once finished, their unique Airstream comprised of elaborate fold-down bunk beds as well as a desk that was standing since Jonathan worked remotely as a web developer.

With the right set of wheels and a car, the family was able to spend the next few years traveling across the globe, and they knew their days of traditional suburban life were over.

"It really ruined us," Jonathan explains. "We were unable to return to an area that was a subdivision. We wanted wide, open areas and stunning views. We also fell into a love affair with the concept of being more sustainable."

The Longnecker's following number grew and followers commented on how much they enjoy watching the family's adventures. News newspapers picked up the Airstream renovation story, and even though they were not making any money at the moment, they began to question if they had been doing something truly special.

Creating the first online course

"We have spent a lot of time in writing the course and filming it. We were filming in multiple locations, like South Dakota and Yellowstone," Jonathan states.

"We created the elements with our hands and even composed music for it. We went all-in on that course and spent way long hours on it."

Course launch day arrived however, even though they had invested so much effort and thought into the product, it wasn't the success they had hoped it would be.

"We did not have the crowd to promote the course," Jonathan elaborates. "It was not because we weren't doing good stuff. We did not have the audiences and recognition that would have helped us move the needle the course's sales."

The Longneckers did not realize the fact that their followers were focused on a different issue which was: the Airstream.

"We spent so much energy designing the boondocking course as well as trying to sell it," Jonathan reflects. "And throughout, I think we completely missed the boat that the vast majority of visits to our site were to the Airstream renovation."

It was time to change direction.

The best content, as well as formulas for product creation

In order to determine their next steps for the future, the Longneckers engaged a business consultant. They were advised by the coach to focus on topics people were already looking for and used their site's traffic as a guide.

"We discovered that this article was the most popular webpage on our site, so we tried to find out how we could turn that post into a paid resource without spending six months working on it."

The team created an cost calculator for download that contained everything they purchased during their remodeling. People who landed on the page can purchase the cost calculator and use it to plan their own Airstream remodeling.

This was the winning formula for the Longneckers.

The family now, each time it produces a large amount of content for free and then creates a corresponding paid product to launch simultaneously. This allows interested followers to gain knowledge, as well as a new income stream for the Longneckers.

While all this was happening, the family decided that it was the right time to set down roots. They discovered a plot of land in Arizona that they could build their dream on-grid desert housestead with plenty of space to create, build and enjoy.

On the farm , the family spent the day building earthbag homes and installing solar panels and caring for their animals. They were blessed with a new piece of land, lots of ideas, and a growing to-do list.

The new chapter began for the family as did the beginning of a new phase for their business.

The growth of an audience on YouTube

Presently, Tiny Shiny Home is home to more than 80K YouTube subscribers. the videos they upload get millions, sometimes thousands of views.

The extra eye-balls make the digital content more lucrative, and YouTube is the primary driver of their website traffic.

"Based from our investigation we found many homesteading-related channels that seemed to be really successful," Jonathan says. "With the homestead, we're all in the same location and have many different projects to work on It makes sense to put our money into YouTube videos."

During their first year at their farm the couple made one short video per week but didn't see any growth at all.

"We made a few dollars by using YouTube. As we approached the close in the calendar year, we looked at the amount of time we put into it, and we were forced to decide."

They'd had a website and family brand for eight years and they were earning revenue, but not enough to make it a full-time income. Jonathan was still working with web development clients, but the family longed for more time to focus on their property and their small Shiny home.

"We had the skills to create content. We were able to create blogs and videos as well as snap pictures," Jonathan remarks. "But there was something that we were missing which was preventing us from growing. It seemed as if we discussed this idea every year but there was no movement."

Inspired by the need to build their own home and create content on behalf of Tiny Shiny Home, they decided to make a big splash.

"2021 was the year we thought that if intending to complete this task then we had to create some thing crazy."

The family was building an solar shed construction and decided to commit to creating a YouTube channel every day over the course of 30 days to show their progress.

"The initial 30 days that of doing it and we noticed lots of interest," Jonathan explains. "People were like, 'Oh, amazing that you're doing this every day. I want to see how far you get.'"

Completely completing construction projects and making, editing, and uploading videos is an immense amount of work but consistent posting resulted in increased subscribers, more likes and feedback. Their community of fans grew.

"We became an integral part of their routine every day. They could wake up, drink their cup of morning coffee, then sit down and play Tiny Shiny Home."

Following the growth of their channel during the first thirty days, they created daily videos for another thirty days, then another 45 days. In that period it clicked.

"We have gotten the YouTube algorithm to work in our favor since we were uploading many times, which helped us move towards the correct direction."

But there was one more action that brought things to the next step. The Longneckers discovered that other homesteading YouTube channels had the most views on longer, full-build videos. People enjoyed watching projects through from start to finish therefore they decided to give an attempt.

The team gathered hundreds of video clips they'd filmed while building the solar shed , and then made an two-hour film that portrayed the entire project . The process took one whole month, but it paid off.

"That film exploded. It's received 2.9 million viewers. That super grew the number of subscribers we have and created real revenue," Jonathan says.

This was an exciting win for the whole family. from then on they've been working on improving their content creation cadence for long-term sustainability.

The majority of their content is project updates and content about living on the farm. Since these videos are released each day, they're edited less and appear more like updates from friends.

20percent of their videos are longer SEO-optimized full-build videos packed with education content. These videos take more time but bring in the most revenues and help in helping new viewers discover the site.

"Now with a number of those bigger videos, every time we upload another one viewers on allour videos go up due to the fact that YouTube has been recommending more of everything," Jonathan observes.

"It's similar to the saying "The rising tide raises all boats.' And the more boats we have, the further the tide appears to be going."

Supporting fans through community memberships

Initially, the Longneckers resisted the idea, even though their followers were requesting ways to help them.

"Neither of us is a salesperson. We don't like self-promotion. We probably didn't like it for a long time since we weren't a fan of soliciting people's help," Jonathan says.

"We had already spent so much time making content. We were scared about launching a community, we wouldn't succeed, and there would be no sign-ups either, or we'd make too many commitments and be unable to meet our commitments."

However, their customers kept asking for help, and with the assistance from their business coach they designed a simple group of support that would not create an insurmountable workload.

It was possible to pay anywhere between $3 and $50 per month to get a few simple rewards. However, this was mostly meant to allow followers to show their support.

"While the community offers number of advantages, it's just a way for people to support our family," Jonathan shares. "The bulk of our time will be directed to YouTube and is a public platform. However, people are aware of the effort it takes and would like to contribute to its success."

Jonathan and Ashley didn't need to make an elaborate pitch to users to sign up to their community. As they'd established solid foundations through many years of consistently posting top-quality content, members were looking for it themselves.

Help for fellow creators

A decade-plus of experience as creative entrepreneurs The Longneckers are experts on a thing or two about managing an online-based business. The advice they offer fellow creators? Trust that the process takes time, diversify your income streams and platforms, and make sure you are a good ambassador for your fans.

Success takes time

It's okay to take some time to achieve your objectives as a creator.

"It took us an entire eight years until we got to that point... But we kept learning and applying them to the next phase until we reached exactly where we wanted to be."

Do you remember the course that the Longnecker first taught about boondocking? While it wasn't a huge seller when it launched it was able to utilize the course in order to obtain an important brand alliance several years after.

Bottom line: take your time learning as much as you can make the very best piece of possible work, and be sure to enjoy your journey on the journey. You never know where you'll end up.

Diversify your sources of income and don't depend upon a single source of income

It is essential to diversify your income streams as a writer. It is also important to change the platform you are using to connect with your target audience particularly if you rely on those platforms for revenue.

Social media platforms can change the rules in a heartbeat. They get the final say over what you can share and who will see the content.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket." Jonathan recommends. "That's why we don't only produce videos, but also create products that go along with them, our community, and other sources of income that we control."

"Your website is the hub, and the rest of your company must be spokes. The spokes can make a whole business from one spoke, however, you don't know when it's likely to occur."

Do your best to please your viewers.

Finally, leading with credibility and trust has made a difference in helping Jonathan and Ashley build the brand that they are to this day.

For years, they gave their insights and created interesting content to their followers regardless of whether they earn any money directly. Their generosity and positive brand voice created lasting connections with their loyal customers.

"Goodwill is a topic keeps me coming back for," Jonathan notes. "I find that so many companies make use of the opportunity. There's much to be said for the public's opinion. We hope people get a good experience when they think about our brand."

Jonathan and Ashley mention that you don't have reinvent the wheel in order to create trust with your followers. You must be yourself, produce the highest quality content for your followers, lead by being honest and open, and have fun while doing it. The world will see.

Staying in touch with the Family of Longneckers

Today, the Longneckers have been working on projects on their property, and are sharing the progress they've made on their YouTube channel , website  as well as their social media profiles.

They provide a range of digital and on-line classes , as well as an online community where members can support their activities.

Through constant learning and listening to their customers and expanding their services, Jonathan and Ashley have built a business that lets them be able to do the things they enjoy most: building their dream desert house as a whole family.

We're excited to see what they do next.