Enough small talk - Let’s do business.
Here’s how I’m battling my fear towards selling online.
I want to make money online.
Bold, I know. But with that statement, comes freedom.
It’s that same freedom that’s behind that statement in the first place. I used to think I was money hungry for having that desire. But oftentimes, our desires covers up our needs.
The desire for making money online, generally stems from wanting a greater sense of freedom in our lives. Back in the day, one stream of income was enough to secure you a good lifestyle.
But COVID-19 and general cost of living, has wiped that reality away for most people. Layoffs, firings and increasing costs have shown that multiple income streams is basically essential.
Job security is no longer guaranteed in any given 9-5. You can’t be sure that the job you work right now will be available for you tomorrow. It’s a scary realisation, one that we often like to avoid.
So what’s the solution?
Whilst multiple streams of income is the ideal approach on paper, it’s not the ideal approach for most people. It takes a lot of time, and it’s understandable that most people aren’t too keen on it.
Some people may decide to optimise their 9-5 so that future layoffs don’t leave them destitute. Others may prefer to take matters into their own hands, building small projects that bring in income they can directly control.
Whilst the 9-5 optimisation route works, it’s success rate is industry-dependent. High-paying fields like tech and finance will provide more freedom for people in comparison to other areas.
However, the side hustle realm appears to be fairly exciting. It’s not got any income guarantees compared to a 9-5, but paired with one, it provides a nice area to work to your fullest and pursue something creative.
That’s what I’m going to do.
I really like the idea of a hybrid lifestyle: full-time job + part-time business. As a young person, I’ve got a fair amount of time on my hands too, which makes building side projects easier.
On paper, at least.
In reality, my ambition is so huge I struggle to channel it in any one direction. I find myself being increasingly inspired but defaulting to writing a post on Substack or maybe composing a new music track.
These aren’t bad things, but it begs the question: why do I feel so out of control when it comes to starting a new venture?
A few things are at play.
Commitment issues. In a full-time commitment, there are external deadlines that you have to meet. This gives you something to work towards. In a personal venture, those deadlines aren’t external but rather internal. You have to hold yourself accountable to meet them. I’m not the best at that.
Overthinking. At some point in my life, overthinking lead to a good solution. Because of that, I have a habit of spamming overthinking to solve every problem, when sometimes it’s best to address it at a high-level. Not every problem requires deep intellectual thoughts, or rather, a think piece.
Perfectionism. I like things to be packaged well, and to look nice. I like giving off the impression that I know what I’m doing. But no one really knows that. My writing may give the impression of that, but behind the scenes I’m still wondering what this Substack is even about.
Not trusting the evolution process. The implementation of an idea rarely matches the original idea exactly. That evolution process from idea to final product, needs space and time. Oftentimes I expect myself to know what I’m doing before I start, meaning that I don’t give myself the room for things to grow into something better than I originally planned.
With these issues covered, here’s one thing I’m going to do to address each one.
#1 - Small Bets
The best way to build greater commitment to yourself is to start small. Commit to doing one small task. Overtime, your commitment to yourself will grow and you will be able to rely on it for bigger projects.
My action step: I’m going to commit to writing on this Substack once a week, without fail, for at least 10 weeks. Starting with this entry.
#2 - 2-minute rule
Many problems have a clear solution that don’t require deep thought. But as I’m very used to deep thought, I have to set a strict rule on how long I can think about a problem.
My action step: I’ll set a timer for 2 minutes and come up with a quick solution that I can quickly implement. 2 minutes is enough time to get at least one idea, and it’s short enough to prevent any overthinking.
#3 - Do rough work
I’ve seen the benefits of writing something over nothing. As they say, done is better than perfect. I want to apply this to this Substack in particular, and focus less on trying to perfect my writing but more on putting in the reps and improving just one thing.
My action step: My current improvement area is with my use of images. A lot of my posts are written well, but I don’t use images in the best way. I’ll start with using stock photos where I can, to keep the process as simple as possible.
#4 - Adapt and marinate
I wrote about this last week, it’s such a good mantra to approaching evolution. I’m going to allow myself to let things breathe, even if they don’t fit the original idea that I had for said thing.
My action step: I’ll allow myself to revamp how I present my content online. I recently updated my welcome post to reflect the new shift in the Substack. Things like this gives me breathing room, to not feel restricted by what I initially set out to do.
Ok so, where’s the selling at?
You’re right. Most of these issues don’t focus strictly on the main fear I have towards selling online.
But these issues are fairly fundamental to any given project.
If I can’t commit to small bets, I’m going to struggle with big ones
If I continue to overthink everything, I’m going to stress out when I build my side project, whatever that will be.
If I expect perfection, I won’t be able to create anything!
If I don’t let my creations breathe, I’ll keep shoving my abilities into a box.
Addressing these issues will make selling easier. But sometimes, it’s nice to throw yourself into the deep end too.
So, I’ve turned on paid subscriptions!🎉
I don’t have anything additional to offer to paid subscribers apart from my gratitude. It would mean a lot if you subscribe :)
I decided to turn them on because, I didn’t see the point in waiting. No arbitrary moment would suddenly make me feel confident in turning them on.
I may get a few paid subs. I may get zero. But at least with them on, I’m not stopping people who would have subscribed but didn’t have the option to.
Let this motivate you to take the first step in whatever venture you’re pursing. Don’t wait for things to be perfect, just get started and set yourself in motion.
Love your dedication to imperfection! It's an important step that I also struggle with.