The Unconventional RD

What The Unconventional RD does

The Unconventional RD is a bootstrapped digital education business that teaches food, nutrition, and wellness professionals how to build and grow online businesses through SEO, content marketing, and email systems. Founded by registered dietitian nutritionist Erica Julson and based in Los Angeles, California, the company operates as a solo-founder venture with 1-10 employees and has been active online since 2010, with the formal business entity dating to 2017.

The company's product portfolio centers on the Search Savvy membership, supplemented by standalone courses (SEO Made Simple, Make Money Blogging, Email Marketing Magic) and the Functional Nutrition Library. The technology stack is a standard content-publishing and membership architecture: WordPress as the CMS, LearnDash for course delivery, MemberPress for membership access control, Kit for email marketing, and Stripe for payments. Pricing ranges from $390 for individual courses to $995 for the bundle, with the membership operating on a recurring subscription model.

The Unconventional RD has built a 16,000+ member Facebook community and a 6,000+ subscriber newsletter, with 1,000+ paying customers served cumulatively. The business model combines one-time course sales, recurring membership subscriptions, and affiliate revenue. The founder publicly states seven-figure lifetime online revenue and has explicitly positioned the brand as "anti-AI-slop," instead teaching clients how to optimize for AI visibility (AEO) alongside traditional SEO — a positioning pivot made visible across recent content and product pages. No external funding has been raised.

Name

The Unconventional RD

Legal name

The Unconventional RD, LLC

Website

https://theunconventionalrd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Unconventional RD is a bootstrapped education business founded by registered dietitian Erica Julson that teaches food and nutrition professionals SEO, AEO, and content marketing for online business growth. It offers the Search Savvy membership plus standalone courses and serves 1,000+ paying customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Search Savvy Membership (Recurring Subscription): The flagship Search Savvy membership provides evergreen access to all training programs, live monthly calls, and a community of 1,000+ food and nutrition pros. Renews monthly or annually at the then-current price. This is the primary recurring revenue stream.
2. Individual Course Sales (One-time): Courses such as SEO Made Simple (50% off flash sale for $195, normally $390), Make Money Blogging, and Email Marketing Magic are sold as one-time purchases or in bundles ($995 for all three). The SEO Made Simple course was previously available only inside the membership, now offered a la carte for the first time in nearly 2 years during Black Friday 2025.
3. Affiliate Revenue: The company earns affiliate commissions by recommending third-party tools (Kit, TubeBuddy, LearnDash, MemberPress, Creative Market, WP Rocket, and others) through blog posts, newsletter, and Black Friday deal posts. Commissions are disclosed transparently.
4. Free Content / Community: Free blog content, newsletter (6,000+ subscribers), YouTube channel, podcast, and Facebook group drive audience growth and brand authority. These channels support conversion to paid programs and affiliate revenue but do not directly generate revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Unconventional RD teaches SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) to food and nutrition professionals through a flagship recurring membership (Search Savvy), three standalone online courses (SEO Made Simple, Make Money Blogging, Email Marketing Magic), and a separate nutrition membership (Functional Nutrition Library). The business is supported by a free newsletter, a podcast, and a free Facebook community that together drive 16,000+ community members and 6,000+ newsletter subscribers into paid programs.

Product overview

The Unconventional RD is an education and training company for food and nutrition professionals, operated by registered dietitian Erica Julson. The company offers a platform-plus-community architecture centered around its flagship Search Savvy Membership, which bundles all training programs (SEO Made Simple, Email Marketing Magic, Make Money Blogging) with live monthly calls and a members-only community. Additional offerings include a free newsletter (The Candid Creator Newsletter with 6,000+ subscribers), a free Facebook community (16,000+ members), a podcast, and the Functional Nutrition Library membership. The company specializes in teaching SEO, AI visibility optimization, and digital marketing strategies specifically tailored for dietitians and wellness professionals building online businesses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Search Savvy: Flagship membership program for food and nutrition professionals to learn SEO and AI visibility strategies. Includes all trainings, live monthly calls, and community of 1,000+ members.
• SEO Made Simple
• Make Money Blogging
• Email Marketing Magic
• The Functional Nutrition Library
• The Candid Creator Newsletter
• The Unconventional RD Community
• TURD Podcast

Products and services

• Search Savvy Membership
• SEO Made Simple
• Email Marketing Magic
• Make Money Blogging
• Functional Nutrition Library

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,000+ paying customers served across programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit)coreTechnology or Integration · 25 November 2025Kit is the email marketing platform used to send newsletters and marketing emails to subscribers. The company actively promotes Kit as the recommended email platform for students inside its programs and participates in Kit's affiliate program. Available at 60% off for the first 3 months during Black Friday 2025.
• LearnDashcoreTechnology or Integration · 25 November 2025LearnDash is the WordPress plugin used to create and deliver online courses. The company uses LearnDash to run all of its course programs on its own website (theunconventionalrdbb.com), with courses available at 30% off during Black Friday 2025.
• MemberPresscoreTechnology or Integration · 25 November 2025MemberPress is the WordPress plugin used to run the membership site (Search Savvy). Available at up to 70% off during Black Friday 2025 — described as the largest discount offered all year.
• TubeBuddyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 25 November 2025TubeBuddy is a YouTube keyword research and optimization tool recommended inside the Search Savvy membership. Available at 30% off plus a free course ($150 value) during Black Friday 2025.
• StripecoreTechnology or Integration · 25 November 2025Stripe is the third-party payment processor used to handle all purchases, installment plans, and billing. The company never stores full card details; Stripe handles card data under its own privacy policy and is PCI-DSS certified.
• Creative MarketminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 25 November 2025Creative Market is a marketplace for design templates, fonts, and graphics recommended for customizing course materials, social media content, and digital products. Available at up to 30% off during Black Friday.
• Facebook (Meta)coreTechnology or IntegrationFacebook/Meta hosts the company's free community (The Unconventional RD Community, 16,000+ members) and the private students-only community. The Meta pixel is used for advertising analytics. Facebook's terms and privacy policy govern community participation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Semrush: Leading SEO and digital marketing platform with Semrush Academy content and blog educating marketers on SEO, content, and AI visibility — comparable educational mission at much larger scale across all verticals.
• Yoast: WordPress SEO plugin company with an extensive blog and Yoast SEO Academy teaching SEO to content creators and site owners — comparable SEO education function with deep overlap in the WordPress/content creator audience.
• HubSpot Academy: HubSpot's free online training platform offering courses and certifications on inbound marketing, SEO, content marketing, and sales — comparable online education business model for SMB marketers at vastly greater scale.
• Ahrefs: Major SEO platform with an extensive free blog, YouTube channel, and Ahrefs Academy teaching SEO broadly to marketers — comparable SEO education function but at massive scale and as part of a broader SaaS toolset rather than a niche.

Others

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Email marketing platform for creators that operates its own educational content, podcast, and creator economy resources — adjacent peer as a technology partner of The Unconventional RD and an overlapping audience (creators selling digital products).
• Teachable: Course creation and selling platform serving the same creator economy customer base (course creators, coaches, experts selling digital products) — adjacent peer as enabling infrastructure rather than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Food Blogger Pro: Online education platform specifically teaching food bloggers how to build, grow, and monetize food blogs via courses, webinars, and a member community — the most direct vertical peer given shared food/nutrition content creator audience and SEO/monetization focus.
• Melyssa Griffin: Long-running founder-led education business teaching course creation, audience building, and email marketing to solopreneurs and small business owners — comparable in business model, course/membership structure, and target creator economy customer.
• Pinch of Yum: Food blog that built a significant online education business (Photo Recipe Plugin, Food Blogger Pro co-creation) teaching bloggers how to create content, plugins, and digital products — directly comparable founder-led monetization of a niche food content audience.
• Boss Project: Founder-led online education business teaching female entrepreneurs how to build and sell courses, memberships, and digital products — comparable in offering structure (courses + membership + community) and target SMB/individual customer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@theunconventionalrd
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheUnconventionalRD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-unconventional-rd
• Instagraminstagram.com/theunconventionalrd
• TikToktiktok.com/@theunconventionalrd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Unconventional RD