With my 32nd birthday around the corner, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. For starters, I’ve realized how much time I’ve wasted letting perfectionism run things. For nearly a decade now, I’ve been learning and planning to build an online business. But the real reason it’s taken so long to finally get the balling not just rolling, but going full blast is that I was suckered into thinking that I had to do the following: choose a niche, become an expert, create a strategic marketing plan, etc.
And while doing those things can be helpful, I can say from experience now, that they only add to the obstacles I was allowing to get in my way.
But no more. I’m done rolling over and overspending on underwhelming digital products that are designed to make me believe that I need all these things before I can get started. I finally learned the true way to be successful. And while this may not come as a surprise to a lot of people, nowadays, it was a big shocker for me.
Instead of continuing to get lost in the planning and learning phases. I’ve decided to stop acting like I have to get a Ph.D. in online business in order to actually produce things that other people will enjoy.
The Keys To Success:
The keys I’ve discovered are simple, but can be hard to implement if you’re anything like me. Introverted. ADHD. Chronic Imposter Syndrome. Recovering Perfectionst.
Key 1: Be willing to create crap. Over and over and over again.
Key 2: Be willing to learn as you go. It’s okay to not know everything up front.
Key 3: Just upload/publish whatever makes you happy. The algorithms don’t care about what you post, they care about how often you post and how much engagement your posts get. (This is how influencers get so big, so fast. Quantity over quality.) I’m not saying to post trash. I’m just saying to be okay with doing Key 1 and letting your content improve over time.
Key 4: Don’t let go of your boundaries, no matter how much you can profit.
Key 5: If you hate what you’re producing, switch gears, don’t be afraid to take a break, regroup, and be willing to lose momentum to find the new spark of inspiration.
That’s it. At least, so far. I’ve realized that by not overthinking things so much, I am more likely to produce something I actually enjoy creating. If I don’t enjoy the process, then what’s the point? The whole reason to become a content creator and build an online business is to experience freedom. Right?
Well, how can I have that freedom if I’m constantly putting myself into the boxes that society and gurus say I should be in?
Stop Procrastinating and Just Do It.
The point here is to stop getting in your own way. Just do it. Just get started. Stop waiting for the perfect timing. Don’t be afraid to be inconsistent. Just click publish a few times a month and see what happens.
That’s what I’ve decided to do since I know that creating a publishing schedule doesn’t work for me. No matter how hard I try, my brain is not capable of sticking to a set schedule. I have to fly by the seat of my pants. And if that’s you too, that’s okay. Be okay with not being normal. Whatever normal is anyways.
A Few Tips For Getting Started
Blog posts don’t have to be 1,500 words or more, unless they just end up that way, without much effort.
Youtube videos don’t have to be more than 8-minutes long. I say at least 8-minutes because that’s the minimum you need for youtube to count it towards your minimum uploads for future monetization purposes.
Don’t waste your time trying to grow on platforms that won’t pay you for your work at some point. Only branch out to those platforms if you actually find that they will be a helpful traffic source to your primary platform, the one that’s actually got the potential to make you money.
Brand sponsorships are not a good source of income until you have at least 100k subs on youtube with a consistent 25-50k views per longform video.
Focus on uploading what you would want to see published. And focus on monetization methods that you have full control over: your own products, merch, membership, commissions, online services, etc.
Keep It Simple
That’s it.
You can stop waiting to live your life.
You don’t have to be an expert. You just need to have things you can’t stop sharing about. Whether it’s sourdough bread, antiques shopping, videos of your cats wrestling, your love of graphic design that isn’t AI based. Whatever the case may be, to name a few, if you love it enough that you can’t shut up about it (could be a million things, the more the better), then you’ve got content to publish.
No need to niche down.
No need to study something specific, unless that’s part of your passion.
No need to spread yourself over 10 platforms.
Focus on one or two. Make sure they are ones that can earn you money once you qualify for their partner programs.
Choose Platforms You Can Monetize
Youtube and Spotify both have partner programs that you can qualify to apply for.
You can use Fourthwall, Patreon, Substack, or any other number of membership platforms to help you create a consistent source of income from fans.
Fourthwall lets you create and sell print on demand products. So you can build up an entire merch shop or even a gift shop. You can also create memberships and share exclusive content. They don’t charge a membership fee to get started, but do take a percentage of your sales when you’re a free account user.
Patreon is also free to use. Offers print on demand integration, as well as memberships and exclusive content options. Similarly to Fourthwall, they take a percentage of your sales.
Substack is specific for writers, but also has a video and podcasting option now. So they’re trying to create their youtube/blog combo.
Spotify now has video upload options too.
Basically, the sky’s the limit. Just pick one or platforms. Learn everything you can about how they work to start making money from just publishing a few times per month. Start posting. And see what happens.
Closing Thoughts
I hope this was helpful in some way. If so, like, comment, subscribe for more keeping it real content. The transcript for this video can be found on my blog. Link in the description below.
I use Fourthwall. But I’m not trying to advertise it with this video. If, however, you want to learn more about it, you can click my link in the description and if you decide to use it, I’ll receive a few perks at no extra cost to you.
Support this channel further through my links or don’t and just subscribe and watch my videos. That’s more than enough support.
