I Don't Dream of Labor

Hey honeys and hustlers,

Everyone is motivated by money until they have enough to make space for meaning. Dan Koe tweeted this and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. In our capitalistic society, income and impact are in many ways linked. In order to help others to our full capacity, we must first help ourselves. The audience, community, and products model (ACP model) that Greg Isenberg is a big proponent of, has three steps to profitability:

• you provide your audience with free value by writing or sharing your expertise online

• you build affinity with your audience by providing an exclusive experience not available on social media (i.e. Discord, an email newsletter, a private or paid community, community events, etc.)

• you build products your audience likes, wants, or needs which are determined through direct interaction with them

In effect, you are making money and positively impacting your community by speaking directly to a niche audience that you’ve curated over time through your content (yes, I know that word is controversial but hear me out). There’s a small problem with this: expertise comes from experience. The ACP model doesn’t work if you can’t sustain yourself at the beginning without the help of your audience. And “beginning” could mean years. Think about how long your favorite writers, podcasters, and YouTubers were creating and sharing work online before they truly started making money from their work (answer: a long time in many cases).

Being an entrepreneur for many is about realizing a dream and making a career from something they’re passionate about or highly skilled at. Owning a for-profit or non-profit business without wanting to rip your hair out and get a day job means, at its core, that you must be making enough money to sustain yourself. “Enough” means a different amount to different people. For me, “enough” means having the money to have options. Choice freedom if you will. The option to decide

• how I spend my time

• what projects I work on

• when I work (I played hooky to go watch some films last Friday)

• where I work (currently writing this from the comfort of my bed)

• who I want to work with

When I set out to write this, I wanted to answer the question: Is entrepreneurship a dream career? Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, and if you don’t “dream of labor” then this probably isn’t the best career for you. But if you want the opportunity to decide what your life and impact look like outside of work, this is one of the best ways to do that. You’ll never be satisfied in your career if you equate something worth having with something that is easy to attain. I think many times, when I’m speaking with people who want to follow a similar path, one of their main concerns is the uncertainty of cash flow over time. Followed closely by how long it takes to go from being a part-time entrepreneur (having a side hustle) to being a full-time entrepreneur. I can share my journey and many other founder profiles all day long but I can’t truly predict that for anyone. However, there are ways to build security in your business:

• having retainer clients

• diversifying your income streams

• having a consistent marketing and sales process

• knowing what your time, products, and services are worth

The worst and best advice I have is this: worry less about how long it takes to achieve the relationship you want with your career. The time will pass anyway. Focus on building a foundation for something you’d be excited and proud to work on for years to come. If you do this, there will come a time when the money is sufficient enough that you will be able to focus on other things – things that truly matter to you. And that’s when things get fun.

Catch me on What Is My Brain?

🎙 I spoke with Zlatko Bijelic, the host of What Is My Brain? podcast, about all things media. We talked about our experiences running media companies. I shared some of the original film projects I’m working on, the creative development behind this new season of Honey & Hustle, and I even got some ideas about some products I’m building for y’all. It’s not often that podcast conversations are a two-way street, so this was super fun to record. Zlatko released this entire season of 10 episodes like a Netflix show and dropped every episode all at once. I can’t lie and say I wasn’t interested in being a part of this experiment because it’s something I’ve thought about doing but was secretly curious if the YouTube algorithm would hate me for it (sue me, I know that shouldn’t be the main determining factor but it is!). You can watch the episode on YouTube, listen to it on Spotify, or tune in on Apple Podcasts.

P.S. I’m working on some founder profiles. Without saying names, which would you be most interested in reading?

I hope you have a good week, on purpose.

Please Hustle Responsibly,

🤙🏾✨

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