Urban Tastebud built an affiliate site on buying-guide listicles

After seeing Buzzfeed list articles succeed, the founder wrote every Urban Tastebud post as a listicle. One post on the 5 best gluten-free subscription boxes later turned out to earn affiliate commissions. At that point the whole site probably brought in $1,500 to $1,800 a month. The founder now reports $51,000 a month at a 72% average net profit.

By Race to Scale Desk, edited by Lila Odinaev. Published 24 Oct 2026. How we work

What they ran

Inspired by Buzzfeed list articles in the mid-2010s, the founder wrote all of Urban Tastebud's content as listicles. The site began with subscription box pages and a few gluten-free and vegan shopping guides. One early post ranked the 5 best gluten-free subscription boxes, and he published it and moved on. Titles are still numbered lists, and the posts carry affiliate links.

What happened

After a few months of long listicles and Pinterest images, traffic reached hundreds of visitors a day. The gluten-free post later turned out to earn affiliate commissions, at a time when the whole site probably brought in $1,500 to $1,800 a month. In his Starter Story interview, the founder says the business makes $51,000 a month at a 72% average net profit. He says it has been profitable for 9 years. Most traffic comes from Google search, with about 12% from Pinterest.

What the account does not show

All revenue and margin figures are self-reported by the founder. The source gives no per-article or before-and-after baseline, so the $51,000 cannot be credited to listicles alone. The current homepage shows a shift from subscription boxes to theme-park trip planning, and the account does not say which topics earn the most.

Questions

Can listicles drive affiliate revenue for a small blog?

At Urban Tastebud, one list post on gluten-free subscription boxes later turned out to earn affiliate commissions, at a time when the whole site probably brought in $1,500 to $1,800 a month.

How much does Urban Tastebud make from affiliate content?

The founder says the business makes $51,000 a month with a 72% average net profit, figures he reports himself.

Where does traffic to a listicle affiliate site come from?

Urban Tastebud gets about 12% of its traffic from Pinterest, and most of the rest comes from Google search.