Most of the people we meet who want to start a blog or podcast or business either have no idea how they’re going to make money or they’re too confident in some vague, doubtful scheme for revenue.
This is fine. It’s how I got started — vague, hopeful schemes. And, to be honest, it’s where I expected most people to start because you learn so much along the way.
But I’ve changed my mind. In the past year I’ve seen how valuable it can be to learn from someone else’s path (even from afar). When you have a little clarity and vision about how you could get started making money your path is more directed, there’s more clarity and focus.
So we created an email series to help people move from “I want to be an entrepreneur” to “I have a real business idea.” (You’ll get that email series free when you signup here.) A major part of that series became understanding 10 business archetypes, knowing how they work, what the differences are between them and who you can watch and learn from.
In this episode of the podcast we share those 10 business archetypes with some colorful commentary. For many, forcing themselves to choose from this list (even though it is not comprehensive or mandatory) leads to clarity and some new ideas about how to grow into the next stage of their business.
I hope you have a similar experience. Enjoy!
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“10 Business Archetypes: How to Choose a Business Model That Makes Sense (and Money)”
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The 10 Business Models
As I mentioned above, this is not a comprehensive list. Your business might fit comfortably into one of these buckets. It might not. This is all for the exercise of making some decisions, getting some new clarity and finding who out there you can learn from (even if they’re in a totally different industry).
I’ve added the timecode for each so you can re-listen to bits and pieces. But do give the whole conversation a go… there’s a lot to pickup from the 10,000 ft. view.
1. The Teacher (11 min) — the teacher researches specific topics, tactics, and strategies to help her customers solve specific problems. Rather than delivering them through freelancing or traditional books, the teacher uses digital products like ebooks, courses, and membership sites. Examples of teachers include Marie Forleo, Nathan Barry, and Jordan Harbinger.
2. The Thought Leader (13m) — The thought leader focuses on spreading ideas and sharing new research through public speaking and books. You can find her on the public speaking circuit or in a local bookstore for a book tour. Examples include Josh Shipp, Brene Brown, James Clear and Josh Kaufman.
3. The Mediapreneur (17m) — the mediapreneur can take many forms, including podcaster, newsletter curator, or food blogger. What ties them all together is their source of income from affiliate marketing, advertising, donations and sponsorships. In other words, they make money from their content. Examples of mediapreneurs include Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas and David Siteman Garland, Brain Pickings. The audience is the product. Good notes in the conversation on this one.
4. The Freelancer (25m) — the freelancer uses her skills to help others build their businesses. Common freelancing skills include web design, web development, social media, photography, copywriting, and business consulting. Sometimes freelancers will team up with other freelancers to form an agency or firm. Examples of freelancers include Paul Jarvis, Amy Porterfield, and John Jantsch.
5. The Coach (31m) — the coach unlocks the potential of individuals. She uses the tools of listening, questioning, and guiding to help her clients reach their goals. This differs from the freelancer in that she exclusively works with individual clients. Examples of coaches include Jenny Blake, Natalie Sisson, Jerry Colonna and Peter Shallard.
6. The Artist (37m) — the artist sells his paintings, photography, comics, apparel or sculptures directly to his customers. These “products” don’t systematically teach things, but, rather, represent creativity, beauty and/or emotional power. Examples of artists include Hugh MacLeod and Austin Kleon.
7. The Maker (42m) — the maker is a craftswoman/man. She makes jewelry in her workshop. He makes furniture in his wood shop. She creates monogrammed linens in her spare bedroom. They use ecommerce platforms to sell their wares directly to customers. The maker differs from the artist in that he makes functional products rather than art. Examples of makers include Lamon Luther, StudioNeat and Andreea Ayers.
8. The Curator (44m) — The curator is much like the maker. However, rather than making and selling her own goods, the curator buys and sells goods from other makers through storytelling and ecommerce. Examples of curators include Need Edition and Kaufmann Mercantile.
9. The Engineer (51m) — The engineer uses her technical skills to build tools for others. She focuses on solving problems through technology. Examples include Studiopress, Buffer, ConvertKit and Gumroad.
10. The Retailer (53m) — the retailer is an entrepreneur who has been around the block and sees an opportunity to lead his industry into the digital age. He is a real estate agent, coffee shop owner, or insurance broker who sees the power of the web to grow his business. Examples of these are a little bit harder to find. Chase’s wife’s Portland real estate team is one we mention.
What else? — Are there others you see as a different business model? I’m curious to hear what you think.
The Questions
1. If you had a magic wand and you would immediately have a successful business, which business model above would you choose? Removing all the obstacles, which one feels like the best fit for you?
2. Who in the same business type as you could you observe and watch and learn from? How would they plan your next business moves? Who are the people in business you admire?
3. Let’s say in 10 years you’ve successfully combined 3 of these business models. Which ones do you want them to be?
Show Notes
Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss — “Why put in the effort to explain why it isn’t a fit, if they haven’t done the homework to determine if it is a fit?”
Reboot: Reboot your Leadership. Reboot your Life. — “We believe that in work is the possibility of the full realization of human potential. Work does not have to destroy us. Work can be the way we achieve our fullest self.”
Learn how to set goals that actually stick!
The Top 10 Mistakes in Online Business
Every week we talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. We spend time with complete newbies, seasoned veterans, and everything in between.
One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses. Newbies love to learn about mistakes so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about what they wish they had known when starting out.
These conversations have been fascinating, so we compiled a list of the 10 mistakes we hear most often into a nifty lil' guide. Get the 10 Most Common Mistakes in Starting an Online Business here »
I’m a blend of thought leader and advisor but I’ve presented differently over the years depending on my stage of business. When I first got onto the Internet (in the age of dinosaurs) I was told to be an educator. Back then there wasn’t a lot of competition. Today, I find there is a lot of noise…so I tend to follow those who give the best info. Right now at the top of the list is James Clear. Of course there are others on the list but he tops it based on the quality of info.
Awesome, Diana! JC is a big inspiration to me as well right now.
We’re big fans of James around here :). Hope this was useful for thinking about your business!
Great stuff guys as always! The podcasts are always fun and informative.
Never really thought of myself as a teacher in terms of blogging and selling ebooks more of just trying to share something of value that will help others.
Archetypes give you differentiation, platform, and messaging to kick-start your business. I enjoyed your interpretation of archetypes applied to internet marketers. Thanks Vince!
Glad you enjoyed it, Vince!
Answers for me:
1) No 1 (Teacher – selling ebooks, micro-courses) as the main focus possibly combined with a little no 4 (freelancing) and/or 5 (coaching)
2) Chris Guillebeau, Leo Babauta and Tim Ferriss have been big and positive influences for different reasons.
3) Same answer as no 1. I’d like the focus of what I do to be writing based (eproducts that help others) but also have the flexibility and freedom to explore freelancing/coaching options. Fame definitely doesn’t interest me but being known for helping others in some way does.
Good stuff, Carl. Those three guys have meant a lot to me over the years as well.
Good work, Carl. Let us know what questions you have as you dive in to build the business!
This was VERY helpful. Like Chase, I’m an enneagram type 7 so i basically exhale new ideas and get excited about anything new. Looking at business models this way will really help me focus. Similarly writing out “job descriptions” for the businnes ideas (including pros and cons) has helped. If you ever expanded on this I’d suggest adding personality fit, pros/cons, and some kind of revenue factors (ie. faster/slower, ranges for how much, etc).
And great recommendation to follow people from each group. I just set up a Feedly this week with categories to do just that.
Who are your people in the Feedly, Joel?
My categories definitely aren’t perfect, but if it’ll help for others to see who I’ve added here goes in no particular order:
General Business – Seth Godin, Marie Forleo, Mitch Joel, Joe Pulizzi (Content Marketing Inst.), Bryan & Jeff Eisenberg
Indieprenuers – Fizzle!, Scott Dinsmore, Michael Hyatt, Patt Flynn, Derek Halpern, John Lee Dumas, Neil Patel
Productivity – Back to Work, Zen Habits
Social Media – Mari Smith, Amy Schmittauer, Social Media Examiner, Social Media Explorer, Amy Porterfield, Ryan Hanley
Writers – Jeff Goins, Copyblogger, Ann Handley, ProBlogger
When I set this up I focused on what the main “topic” they cover to see who would be most helpful (Writers for me), to look for trends across the sites, and learn how to stand out.
Thank you Joel that was helpful. Do you know if you can post or share directly to a WordPress site from Feedly? I use buffer to post to my Facebook and Twitter account.
Coach Kip. I’m not sure. I just started using it, but I did notice that you can share posts to OneNote, Evernote, and social sites like Facebook.
Love it, Joel! We’re contemplating making a full course out of this material, complete with business sketch templates, interviews with examples, and some of the skills/personality/talents necessary to make it. Thanks for the great ideas!
Holey Maloney! This episode was just what I needed right now. I only yesterday realised that I hate blogging. I’ve been doing it for over 4 years, starting new blog after new blog and thinking that was the only path to online success. I’ve come to realise that creating a physical e-zine with a print run is a much better format for me. I’m a maker, not a mediapreneur.
You’ve saved me once again Fizzle men! Once again.
We try m’lady.
http://i.mtrfl.co/coolguys-rocker.jpg
Love it, Andrea. Please be sure to let us know when the first edition is released!
1. Artist
2. Don Hertzfeldt. A guy who makes animated movies… Whatever he feels like.
I am not sure animation would be the only thing I want to do, but he has an amazing audience that keeps him in business… He released a book recently.
3. Artist, the teacher, and The Mediapreneur.
I am already trying to work that way with http://www.compulsivecreative.com/
I get to make my art while teaching others my process and sharing cool stuff other people are doing… It is a work in progress. However, I feel like this is my ticket to being a full-time online entrepreneur.
Wow, just watched a couple of Hertzfeldt’s animations. Wild!
He is also famous for refusing to do commercial work… He has had large requests from brands like Pop Tarts.
Here is his reason why (this comes from blog somewhere)
i am often asked why i don’t do commercials or ad campaigns or music videos and why i’ve turned down small fortunes from the corporate universe in favor of just carrying on with my own things. i like to take walks. i like hiking in the woods around here and climbing the foothills and exploring the coast. it clears my head. i find new things. it’s something i’ll probably always enjoy doing.
so somebody comes along and says hey, i hear you like to take walks. how about i pay you to walk? you just have to walk around my house in circles for eight hours a day wearing a sandwich board that has a picture of my product on it. no, i’d rather just walk through the woods and explore my own places out there, thanks. but what difference does it make? as long as you’re walking, why not make a lot of money from it at the same time?
because money’s not the reason i take walks. it doesn’t really factor into it. i take walks because i enjoy doing it. it’s something i’d do if i was rich and it’s something i’d do if i were poor. i guess maybe someone might pay me to walk around in the woods someday but i’m gonna keep doing it anyway.
1. Teacher/Thought Leader/Coach
2. James Clear (just discovered him), Marie Forleo and Nikki Elledge Brown
3. Teacher/Mediapreneur/Curator
I really enjoy you guys…the information you share is outstanding. I really feel like I can make my online biz successful so thanks!
Thanks Courtney!
Thanks Courtney :)
Great episode guys. Seriously. This one belongs in the Fizzle Hall of Fame™.
For me, I would go with:
1. Artist
2. Teacher
Over the last three to four months I decided to be the Teacher, because I didn’t honestly believe that I could put food on the table as the artist. So essentially, I decided I had to subsidize my “art” with “product”. But somewhere along the way I came to believe that, in fact, I *could* make a living as an artist. The audience showed up. So now I’m doing both.
You mentioned Maria Popova from Brain Pickings and she is a huge inspiration. I’m a tinkerer, explorer, trier of new things and breaker of rules. I love learning and exploring ideas. I’m essentially a 7-year-old in a 35-year-old body. ;)
My ultimate goal is to generate a fairly passive income through products so that I can spend the majority of my time doing the “artist” stuff without the pressure turning it into a business.
As Seth Godin said on a recent episode of my show (The Gently Mad), it’s a great blessing when your work (the think you most want to do) and your job (the thing that pays the bills) are the same. But it doesn’t always work out that way and sometimes it’s *necessary* that they’re different. At least for a time.
Love it, Adam. It’s been fun to see you start making big moves toward this already.
Amazing. You’ve started something incredibly helpful here. I’ve worked with personality profiling and archetypes for 20 years, but NEVER seen it presented in terms of ways to generate income. Brilliant. This is definitely thought leader stuff and simply MUST be worked up more! Personally it brought a huge amount of clarity to why I’ve been frustrated as a freelancer and helped me zone in, in terms of who I follow and research.
Thanks, Merilyn! We’re already looking at ways we can expand on this and continue to make it useful/relevant to our readers and customers.
Guys, this was seriously one of the best episodes of the show. I agree with Adam: my vote to select this one to the Hall of Fame!
I’m actually just brainstorming ideas for my second guide in my movement and I was thinking of creating a “How to work independently” guide. So this way of making archetypes will help me perfectly in order to explain the possibilities to my audience. Thanks for sharing this ideas out.
For the questions mines would be (as of now):
1. Freelancer where I can design or do anything creative as my will, where I wouldn’t have to mind about the income, just about the quality and impact of the thing I’m making.
2. AJ Leon is one of my inspirations on that, then Paul Jarvis and Chase Wardman Reeves (that sounds so pro). Chris Guillebeau more into the teaching and adventure style.
3. I’d like to have a mixture of freelancer, teacher and maker (and more if possible!). That way I can do awesome creative projects, teach (and help) lots of people and create amazing art stuff.
Cheers, friends!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sergio! Looking forward to seeing you continue to grow your business.
This was a great show guys…. What struck me was the confusion caused by inadvertently becoming too many of these business types at once! Focusing on an a specific business models and getting that right should be the initial focus. Adding revenue streams or business types can come later.
1. Magic wand – Teacher
2. Who in the same business type – Fizzle, Frank Kern, Lynda.com
3. Teacher, Freelancer, Engineer – deliver self-produced content (Teacher), deliver freelance services (Freelancer) to help others develop online training programs, host a platform (Engineer) that manages the content for any organization / content expert …
Thank you for reminding me of Frank Kern for another person to watch and study.
I loved this episode. I’m going with 1-curator, 3- add teacher & mediapreneur
2- I am still working on but this has given me so much more focus in my search. I have a much better idea of what type of site to find and model after, and possibly contact the site owner for advice. Thanks again
Glad to hear it was helpful, Daryl!
This one was so good, it hurt. It hurt so bad, it was good.
1) Thought Leader. I love sharing ideas. I love big ideas, and I think that what I’ve got to say could be pretty meaningful to people.
2) I’ve been reading a lot of Chris Brogan lately. Really into some of his stuff, especially fascinated as he has transitioned away from “social media guru” to “generally wants to make you a better person/business owner” guy. Love lots of his stuff.
3) Thought Leader/Teacher/Coach. If I could spend the rest of my life helping people think more boldly about their work, teach them how to do that, and then “walk with them” while they do that, AND get paid to do it – whoa, buddy! Dream. Come. True.
Good stuff, Kevin. Hope it provided some clarity for you! Let us know how this changes things in your business.
How about a Hunger of freelancers?
Love it! That’s a great candidate.
This might get lengthy because this episode got to me right at the right time. I have been an on again off again internet entrepreneur mostly focusing on Flipping sites, helping others build an online presence, and curating content.
Now I am ready to get serious and due to some personal circumstances I need to create a better income than I am earning as a teacher and coach. So here are my answers:
1) If I was instantly successful I would probably be categorized as a teacher, that is by far my strength and what I enjoy to do, however it may look a lot like a Coach (hello Coach Kip) and a thought leader at times.
2) I see Pat Flynn, You all at the Fizzle Show, Darren Rose, and a couple of others to be similar to what I want to accomplish. I am not sure who exactly has the same vision as me so I will be searching them out.
3) I know the combination for me is the Teacher, the Coach, and the Mediapreneur. I am just not exactly sure how to combine these with the domains and ideas that I already have.
Thank you for a great show I think that this is really the information that I need to make some significant changes in how I do things and take a long lasting approach that will lead to better income and more opportunities.
Glad to hear it was helpful, Kip! Let us know as you continue to make progress and pivot to a more sustainable model for you :).
Those are some hard choices even though you’ve lined up the options so fantastically clear!
1. Engineer. But I also want to make something that helps coaching and teaching people something nice that they really need – not as in want, but really really need maybe even without knowing it. I also want to show them things in the world that are awesome, and if they build something themselves, I want to show them how to improve that to be as awesome as some of the stuff in the world that I can see is really good. So what does that make me – a TeOachMaNeeRatorKer or just indecisive maybe. I think this is really hard.
2. I have NO idea, but you don’t see many TeOachMaNeeRatorKers these days. Maybe DIY.org? It is such a cool site for kids and their parents. Its like online maker-geek-scouts, and my boys and I like it a lot! Maybe also LittleBits.cc
3. Engineer, maker, coach. In 10 years I’ve probably gone from the Engineer and morphed into the Maker, while coaching others to use my products to make great stuff themselves.
1.) Freelancer and teacher. I think the two go hand in hand. As a freelancer you would obviously want to become a master of your work. Once you are proficient in it, teaching others, I believe, is the next step towards learning from your students and educating them in a mutual interest.
2.) First of all, I admire my wife. She is a passionate photographer and loves creating art in the form of photos and the emotions of her clients. I am just beginning to enter into videography and learning from Caleb Wojcikz videos has been beneficial. I admire his ability to speak to beginners and experts alike. There are a few other videographers I follow that excel at putting their clients personality into everything they do.
3.) In combining three of the archetypes I would love to be a freelancer who teachers others and is considered a thought leader. I believe that I, although I’m only 24, have experience many trying times which shaped me into quite a well rounded individual willing and able of sharing my stories to other and letting them know they aren’t doomed to cubicle farm forever…no matter their age or circumstances. To allow people the ability to look past tomorrow and be motivated to work towards a meaningful goal and life, at any age.
Thanks again guys. I love being involved with the Fizzle community!
1. Coach
2. Bryan Harris – http://videofruit.com
3. Teacher, Coach, Thought Leader.
I truly believe we have components of all of these in us, those 3 just seem the easiest way to help more people.
A group of Freelancers is called:
A Fizzle of Freelancers.
I liked this wisdom nugget from the episode:
This was an AWESOME show! I had my partner listen to it as well to help us determine how much on the same page we were with our business. Just a few weeks ago, we found that we had a bit of an “identity crises” meaning that she was seeing the business moving one way and I was seeing it moving another. No wonder we were stuck for a while!
So here are my answers:
1. Mediapreneur
2. Pinch of Yum – Great course on Fizzle by the way! I’m more than halfway done.
3. Teacher, Mediapreneur, Maker – I was torn between Maker and Artist but the phrase “functional products” made me choose maker.
Thanks again for an informative and entertaining show!
Hey Guys! This one was epic. Seriously belongs in the hall of fame.
1. Teacher
2. Coach
3. Artist/Engineer
Barrett, I’ve basically been doing parts of everything instead of focusing on one. See here http://www.zachluz.com….what would you say it is now?
This:
https://hbr.org/2015/01/what-is-a-business-model?utm_campaign=Socialflow&utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet
Another set. Really, really cool.
Also – thanks for the shout-out
I think I brought the word ¨wantrepreneur¨ into Corbett’s life, when I emailed him my feedback about the site. I’m honored to have semi-inspired part of this historic FIzzle podcast, even if just in my mind.
This was a great episode. You guys are really inspiring. So here are my answers and whys.
1. At first, with the magic wand, I thought I’d want to be a Thought Leader. But as I began writing out why I’d be a Thought Leader, I realized, like Chase was telling Barrett, as the life coach, I think I’d just like to be a Thought Leader. That’s how I want to see myself, but I believe that doesn’t exactly line up with who I am. So I would actually be a Coach. I’m good at listening, asking questions to provoke thought in others, and guiding those people toward their own goals.
2. I’m in the same boat as Daryl is below, I didn’t realize I was more of a coach, I was really leaning toward Thought Leader, as something I want to be, but again I don’t think it fits my skillset right now. But I feel like I know what to look for in order to get a better understanding of the business model that fits me. You guys talked about the Jerry Colonna podcast Reboot. I think this is someone I will start following closely. After, listening to this episode, I went over and subscribed to his podcast, and I’m looking forward to listenting and learning more about him and what he does.
3. In 10 years, I’d want to combine the Coach, the Teacher, and perhaps finally, the Thought Leader. Coaching will likely be my bread and butter, just becuase this is where my innate skills are. Teaching I think is something that will flow from my coaching. The more people I coach, the more I will be able to pin-point specific but common problems that I will be able to help people with. And the Thought Leader… just sounds so cool.
Thanks again for this episode.
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Bummer… I’m a 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. Was a 4, but fortunately I gave that up!
I think I will have to listen to the podcast, rather than just read the article!
Maybe this explains my sleepless nights. How does one shut off a mind that is a creative vulcano?
“How does one shut off a mind that is a creative vulcano?” Long runs? Meditation? Drugs!?
Hello.
Nice concept, but what “business archetype” would a novel writer or self-publisher fall in?
1. Freelancer (At first I though teach and coach, but I really need to have a ‘physical product’ delivered even if it is just a website to someone)
2. Kia Miller (Yoga) + Rav Berg
People, company I admire: Lush, Zen Habits (Leo Babauta), House of Working, AirBnB
Well, that’s the difficult part, next step… because I love yoga, but I am degree as Industrial, Interaction and UX designer. And maybe, I would feel complete if I could someway deliver something related, but Design and Yoga are very abstract, and I don’t consider myself an expert in anyone of those areas, but I know that what I already know is much more than the knowledge of a lot of people especially here in Brazil, and I should make money from it. I think I should start deciding what Skill I will offer to my clients Ex.: create Small WebSites, or create a ‘yoga process experience to lunch a product’? hahaha… Too much abstract yet… ;/ HELP!
3. The curator, The maker, The artist
I just listened to this episode again, for the 3rd time. Fizzle is one of the only podcasts where I’ll listen to the same episode multiple times (mostly because I learn something new and hear it from a different perspective each time but also because of the jokes… oh the jokes.)
Back to the show. In first listening, I honestly couldn’t decide which of these I am or would want to be if I had the magic wand. But in listening again I think I’ve finally figured it out. What I want to be is the maker. What I think I’m good at and the best way to share my knowledge/experiences is to be the teacher. I can hear Chase saying “I want to create the things” and I want a team to work with to share those things (through courses, ebooks, a membership site with forums, etc.). Like what you guys do at Fizzle! But a different industry. :)
Now to find my people…
Interesting info. Thanks guys! I have a blog (www.lessformore.life) about simple living, downsizing, etc. I’ve added a partner and we are currently transitioning to monetize the blog by offering services to help busy professionals calm the chaos in their closets and cabinets. We will help them discard excess and mindfully organize what’s left. What archetype is this? Coaching?
That’s a cute personality test, but for business value and consultancy, this is as shallow as a desert spoon.