Stronger Together: How "Just Like Oma" Evolved Into a Family-Run Business
Reading what I wrote almost seven years ago, I'm amazed at how much has changed. Back then I honestly thought I could handle almost everything myself. If something broke, I'd fuss with it until it worked again (chuckle). And for a long time, that approach served me well.
In my "home office" (aka kitchen) where the Just Like Oma journey began.
From "Do-It-Yourself" to a Family-Run Enterprise
Gradually, though, things grew. I started hiring our family, one at a time, some part-time, others full-time. We went from three websites to eight. From one published book, we're now at 10 premium paperbacks and spiral-bound books, plus 14 ebooks.
Self-publishing is now a strong income pillar, and print-on-demand lets our shop run without us handling inventory and shipping.
Traffic has been an uphill climb. HCU didn't do much damage at first, but updates from Google, Facebook, and Pinterest kept shifting the ground. Then on December 12, 2024, a Google update hit, and Google traffic dropped just over 50%.
A "Tempting Offer" and a Defining Decision
About two weeks later, a company reached out wanting to buy my site, www.quick-german-recipes.com.
The Google update in December 2024 hit our organic traffic hard. After the buyout phone call we doubled down on rebuilding... and it has paid off!
I declined their offer, even though it was genuinely tempting. They came back with a 50/50 partnership offer and a detailed plan to bring the site back and make it better, starting with moving it to WordPress.
I listened carefully and took notes. In the end, I still declined. But it changed my perspective. If they could see recovery potential in my site, then with the right help, so could I. The site didn't need new ownership. It needed dedicated pro help, so I hired my own SBI! Pro full time.
That Pro is my son, Mike. He's our behind-the-scenes tech lead and the one who can see solutions before the rest of us even see the problem. He led a full revamp of the recipe site, including reorganizing over 600 recipes onto new tier-2 pages and so much more.
Just two examples of how Mike revamped the site and its 600 recipes: He added the option to toggle between English and German recipe names and implemented a "fading" captions effect.
Every recipe has been touched multiple times, and many still need a proper update. Using SIR (Search Intent Report) has been a big help.
Editor's Note: Search Intent Report (SIR) is one of Solo Build It!'s specialized AI assistants, called Tai Agents. SIR evaluates whether an existing page truly matches the user's search intent, and provides concrete ways to improve the page if it doesn't.
Integrated into every step of building your online business, Tai Agents are designed to help you think, analyze and execute at a level that simply wasn't possible until now.
Learn more about the Tai Agents here.
As part of our site overhaul, Mike self-coded new recipe cards to look modern and improve monetization. They're designed to place high-value ads right where visitors land after clicking 'Jump to Recipe,' which has been a great boost for our Mediavine ad revenue.
Google traffic has not simply "bounced back." It keeps fluctuating, and this overhaul is a huge, time-consuming undertaking. It has only been about a year, yet we've made sweeping changes that were long due.
The encouraging part is that overall rankings have improved. And with AI now dominating so much of the recipe space, the goal is to make sure readers can hear a real person behind the recipes, and that the content truly helps.
Building a "Multidimensional Presence"
Ken's book, Make Your Site WIN (Again!), gave me clarity about the why and the what. His statement "A website should only be considered as a part of your overall presence - a multidimensional presence" really landed with me.
For us, that "presence" has also meant newsletters. In 2024 we worked our way up to daily newsletters, and that became a reliable way to drive traffic.
Later, when inbox standards tightened, I cleaned my list (it was around 60,000 at the time) to keep it healthy. Now my daily emails go to about 37,000 actively engaged subscribers, with about a 50% open rate.
Today it's truly a family team. My granddaughter Lydia and daughter-in-law Sylvie help with proofreading and editing. My son Eran runs Tour My Germany, German At Heart, and the Just Like Oma Shop with Mike.
Our family team, all working together on growing our brand and business.
German At Heart is still in its infancy, but Eran has a real passion for sharing German heritage and creating resources people can actually use and happily pay for.
Eran also handles most of our social media. He tracks trends and tests what's working. Sometimes we hit a stride, then the platforms change, and we adjust again. We're not giving up on regaining the reach we had in earlier years.
Eran's new passion project - his "German at Heart" website.
The "Just Like Oma" Hub: Stronger Than a Single Traffic Source
Mike also built and runs the Just Like Oma hub, www.justlikeoma.com, with navigation that lets readers land on the site they want in one click. Now the Just Like Oma family of sites is wider than a single traffic source. Each site has a clear purpose, and they support each other.
Our ministry sites are still going strong too, now in German, English, and Portuguese.
And since I'll soon be 76, we're working on positioning JLO without me at the helm, even though I'm not ready to retire just yet.
Key Lesson Learned: The Power of Investing in Professional Help
If I can pass along one thing, it's this: if you believe your site has potential and you're willing to invest in it, do it.
For the first 13 years I only hired an SBI! Pro when I was desperate, a couple of hours here and there. That wasn't a wise business decision.
It took the December 2024 drop for me to realize I needed proper help for things I'd let slide. After talking with my boys and seeing their vision, I invested and hired my own Pro. You may not be able to do that, but please use the Pros sooner, and more than I did.
Both Eran and Mike come up with "aha" lightbulb moments regularly, and I often tell the boys that I'm just hanging on and enjoying the ride. Much better than that proverbial rocking chair.
And yes, on the horizon, we're planning something really new and very, very exciting.
Gerhild Fulson
https://www.justlikeoma.com
https://www.quick-german-recipes.com
https://www.germanatheart.com
https://www.tourmygermany.com
https://shop.justlikeoma.com
https://www.gottes-wort.com
https://www.apddeus.com
https://www.godsword4today.com
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