How do I begin with the end in mind?

2 replies
I listen to a lot of podcasts and one of the more common things people wish they had known when they started is that they knew where they were heading from the beginning. I'm not sure how to plan around this.

Right now I run an engineering blog with a subscriber list of about 900 and I get 5-10 new subscribers a day. I have a book on Kindle and Gumroad and I'm developing an app. I try to publish 1-3 blog posts a week. That's where I am.

Where I want to be is this. I really like engineering. I like designing and building all sorts of things from lamps to motorcycles. The end I want to be at is one where I can just hang out and build stuff all day. So my goal with the blog would be to provide me a passive income that can afford me that.

I have no idea how to connect the two. I have found through this blog that I honestly don't like writing that much so the idea of blogging for a few years to gain momentum is not very appealing to me.

I have started to interview founders of tech startups and that has been really interesting. I turn our interviews into articles which have done relatively well. So one idea I have is to start a podcast where I interview these companies and create other various content from the interviews. Again, I'm not exactly sure how this will work except for hoping that people like it and in turn, I will sell more books/apps/advertising.

I could create online courses/YouTube videos on how to build some of the things I build. This is far more time consuming than blogging/podcasting and I don't know if I have the viewership yet to make it worth it.

It seems that in today's becoming-an-entrepreneur world, the way to succeed is to publish mass amounts of valuable content as often as possible for as long as possible until enough people start to notice. Several of the more popular writers I follow on Medium, for instance, publish 2-3 times a day. As an engineer, I'd prefer to work smart not hard.

So given my viewership and goals, what would be some good steps I could take right now to move towards them?

Thanks!
#begin #end #mind
  • Profile picture of the author TrickyDick
    Originally Posted by Jeffsg605 View Post

    I listen to a lot of podcasts and one of the more common things people wish they had known when they started is that they knew where they were heading from the beginning. I'm not sure how to plan around this.

    Right now I run an engineering blog with a subscriber list of about 900 and I get 5-10 new subscribers a day. I have a book on Kindle and Gumroad and I'm developing an app. I try to publish 1-3 blog posts a week. That's where I am.

    Where I want to be is this. I really like engineering. I like designing and building all sorts of things from lamps to motorcycles. The end I want to be at is one where I can just hang out and build stuff all day. So my goal with the blog would be to provide me a passive income that can afford me that.

    I have no idea how to connect the two. I have found through this blog that I honestly don't like writing that much so the idea of blogging for a few years to gain momentum is not very appealing to me.

    I have started to interview founders of tech startups and that has been really interesting. I turn our interviews into articles which have done relatively well. So one idea I have is to start a podcast where I interview these companies and create other various content from the interviews. Again, I'm not exactly sure how this will work except for hoping that people like it and in turn, I will sell more books/apps/advertising.

    I could create online courses/YouTube videos on how to build some of the things I build. This is far more time consuming than blogging/podcasting and I don't know if I have the viewership yet to make it worth it.

    It seems that in today's becoming-an-entrepreneur world, the way to succeed is to publish mass amounts of valuable content as often as possible for as long as possible until enough people start to notice. Several of the more popular writers I follow on Medium, for instance, publish 2-3 times a day. As an engineer, I'd prefer to work smart not hard.

    So given my viewership and goals, what would be some good steps I could take right now to move towards them?

    Thanks!
    You need to step back for a moment...

    When starting any real business, you need to push the boulder to the top of the hill to get it rolling down the other side. In your case, that means being interviewed, interviewing others, creating videos, creating "How To" PDFs, offering courses and Consulting.

    Working "smart" is avoiding all "time vampires" and focusing on building your content. I'd suggest avoiding all forums, social media and all other things that take away your focus.

    There are very, very, very few real "solopreneur" businesses that are 100% passive that require no additional investment or management. As Dan Lok said, "You think your business is passive. While you're doing nothing, your competitors are passing you by." If you check Dan out, he has tons of content... and some interesting YouTube videos.

    My advice to you would be... Ask your list what they want. With 900 people, you'll get some feedback. Give them what they want.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffsg605
      Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I'll keep on doing what I'm doing. Maybe the idea is more to expand on what's working and ditch what's not. The interviews are good and I'd like to make courses.

      Thanks again.
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