How to Start a Local City Guide
Remember that moment when someone asked you for a restaurant rec and you spent 20 minutes explaining why this one cafe is different from every other cafe in town?
Yeah, that's the moment people think, "Wait... I'm actually really good at this."
So what happens next? You think about starting a city guide. But then the questions hit. How do you actually build one? What platform do you use? How much does it cost? Do you need followers? And the big one: will anyone actually care?
Starting a local city guide means building a platform—website, social presence, and community—that positions YOU as the go-to voice for what's actually worth your time and money in your city.
It's not a side hustle or a blog. It's a real media business with real revenue potential. And the path to launching one depends entirely on whether you build from scratch or start with a fully built platform.
Most people try the DIY route. They pick a platform like Squarespace or Wix, design their own site, and start posting. And about 40% of them stick with it. The rest? They get three months in, realize how much work it is to do it alone, and go quiet.
That's not a judgment. It's just a pattern.
Here's what actually matters when you're starting a city guide.
What Actually Happens in Your First 90 Days
Let's be honest about the timeline.
Week one: you launch. Your site is live, you've got a handful of posts, you're proud of yourself. It feels real.
Week two: you start showing up. Farmers markets, restaurant openings, gallery events, the new coffee shop. You're gathering stories, taking photos, meeting business owners. This is where it starts to feel like work.
Week three: businesses notice. One boutique owner asks if you'd feature them. A new restaurant DMs asking if they can sponsor a post. You're getting actual interest.
By month three, if you've stayed consistent, you've got partnership offers, press trip invites, and a waiting list of people who want to be featured. You've become someone.
But here's what the timeline hides: those 90 days are the hardest part. You're building the site, sourcing the content, growing the following, AND learning how to talk to businesses all at once. Solo. With no playbook.
That's why the path you choose in the beginning matters way more than people think.
The Two Paths: Build From Scratch vs. Launch Fully Built
Path One: Build It Yourself
You pick a website builder (Squarespace, Wix, Showit, whatever). You design the site. You create an Instagram account. You write the about page. You figure out what to publish and how often. You reach out to businesses. You fumble through the first few months.
Cost: $15-50/month for hosting. Time: 40-80 hours before you even launch. Then 10-15 hours a week to run it. Risk: High. You're doing it alone, so if you get stuck or burned out, there's nobody to course-correct you. Payoff: Full ownership, no middleman, you keep all revenue.
Path Two: Launch With a Fully Built Platform
You get a website that's already designed and branded. Content foundation already in place. Playbook from someone who's done this before. A community of other editors doing the same thing in their cities. Monthly support calls.
Cost: Typically $5,000 upfront + $400/month for a year, then the choice to stay in the network or go independent. Time: You launch live in week one. You're showing up and building relationships from day one, not building the site. Risk: Lower. You've got structure and accountability built in. Payoff: You own your guide, you keep your revenue, but you're not starting from zero.
(Neither path is objectively better. But they attract different people.)
Path One works if you're extremely self-motivated, you've got a ton of time, you love design, and you're okay fumbling through the first six months alone.
Path Two works if you want to skip the trial-and-error, you want someone who's done this to show you the way, and you're willing to pay for structure.
The people I see succeed fastest? They pick based on their actual life, not their fantasy self. The person who says "I'm going to build this myself!" but works 50 hours a week and has two kids? They usually stall in month four. The person who takes the fully-built path and shows up consistently? They're the ones telling their friends in month three that this actually worked.
Why Most DIY City Guides Stall (And How to Avoid It)
Here's the pattern I've watched since 2019 (when I started Laguna Beach Living, which is still my full-time business):
The guides that stall have one thing in common. They all go quiet for four months. Not because the idea is bad. Not because their city doesn't need one. Because the founder lost momentum somewhere between month two and month five, and there was nobody there to remind them why it mattered.
It's lonely to build something by yourself. It's even lonelier when nobody's checking in on you.
The guides that don't stall have someone or something forcing them to stay accountable. Could be a co-founder. Could be a community of people doing the same thing. Could be monthly check-in calls where someone asks, "So what are you publishing this month?"
That accountability isn't a luxury. It's the difference between the guides still going and the ones gathering dust.
If you're going the DIY route: set external accountability. Tell someone what you're doing. Join a local business group. Post your plan publicly so you can't quietly ghost it.
If you're going the fully-built route: show up to the community calls. Read what other editors are doing. Actually use the playbook instead of reinventing the wheel.
Either way, the guides that win are the ones that stay.
How Much Does It Actually Cost?
DIY: $15-50/month ongoing, plus the cost of your time (which is thousands if you value your hourly rate).
Fully built: $5,000 upfront + $400/month for year one. After year one, you can stay for $97/month for community and ongoing support, or leave and keep everything you built. That upfront cost includes a fully designed, branded website and launch playbook. Most people spend 40-80 hours building that themselves.
Both require the same thing: your actual time showing up in the city. That part is free and non-negotiable either way.
FAQ
Do I need to be a writer to start a city guide?
No. Half the best city guides I know didn't consider themselves writers before they started. They just loved their city and showed up. The writing part comes from doing it, not from having a credential first.
How many followers do I need before I start?
You don't need any. But you DO need to know locals who trust you. A follower and a trusted person are completely different things.
Can I actually make money doing this?
Yes. Real money. Not passive income, but active revenue. Sponsored features ($500-$3,500 per post), partnerships with restaurants and hotels, affiliate stuff, press trips, real business deals. The editors in the City Living Network average $2-10k/month once they're 6+ months in. But it takes consistency first.
Is it too late to start a city guide in 2026?
No. The market isn't saturated. There are thousands of cities in the US that don't have a trusted local voice yet. Your city probably needs you more than you think.
What if I start and hate it?
Then you've built something, learned new skills, and met your community. That's not a failure. That's a year well spent. (And if you went the fully-built route, you own what you built and can keep running it solo, or step back. The business doesn't disappear.)
Ready to Start?
If you're thinking about starting a local city guide, the first step isn't picking a platform. It's deciding: do you want to build it yourself, or do you want a fully built platform you can launch into?
I HAVE A THING FOR YOU.
If you want to see exactly what it looks like to start a city guide—real timelines, real revenue numbers, real stories from editors in 25+ cities—grab the free "5 Steps to Becoming Your City's Go-To Guide" playbook. It answers every question you're probably asking right now (Is my city a fit? Do I have to be a journalist? How much time does this actually take? How do people actually make money?).
It's free and zero-pressure. Just real answers.
Hey! I'm Lindsay, founder of City Living Network. I started Laguna Beach Living in 2019 just to write about my own town, and it became my full-time income. Now I help women in 25+ cities build their own guides and become the person their city asks for everything. If you want to know what the path actually looks like, grab the playbook above. And if you want to see what a fully-built city guide looks like, check out the guides we've launched.
P.S. The guides that succeed fastest are the ones who stay consistent for 90 days, no matter what. Pick your path, stay committed to the timeline, and show up. That's it.
