Paul has a 6 month runway before he has to find another job. He really doesn’t want to find another job.
Instead, he’s got a blog and a product — both already out on the market — that he wants to grow to support his family.
So the question we get into today is: what should he do next?
Corbett has some very strong opinions about it.
If you like this business breakdown episode, you may also like the episode where we break down Mary’s business.
Enjoy!
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“Paul has a 6 month runway. He *really* doesn’t want to find another job. What would you do?”
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Paul’s Links
Learning to See — Live a more creative life with a drawing practice habit
Creative Triggers — Practice Community
Show notes
Free 5 weeks of Fizzle for Podcast listeners
Finding Your Voice — The Fizzle Show 001
““How few people can I influence and still be doing this tomorrow?” ~ Seth Godin”
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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 love this episode and love what Paul is doing over at Learning to See. I find it relatable to hear where he is compared to where I am. Hope to hear more case studies with specific advice.
I don’t like the term “Freedom Number” either. I prefer “Survival Income” or something like that.
I”m really glad this was useful to you too Jason.
I have no idea what to call that number, but I know what it will mean to me when I get there. I’ll have to go out and get drunk and get a tattoo or something.
A Tattoo would be great. Any ideas on what you would get? :)
Thanks so much for this. I count myself extremely lucky to have had three such perceptive, wise and supportive people pick through what I chuck out there and show me so many ways to make it work better that my head is spinning – in a good way. In an excellent way.
So much of what you said made sense to me as soon as I heard it. But you’re right, it’s much harder to see those things when it’s your own thing. I’d encourage anyone out there who’s struggling to build their own thing up like I am to get some other opinions on what you do. Don’t be shy of sharing the numbers. The feedback you get will be much better if you do.
I hope this has been as helpful for anybody else who’s in this situation as it has for me. With everything here and the incredible support I’ve had from the Fizzle community, I’m much more sure of my way forward now.
I thought it was a truly great discussion – and I hope you guys do a lot more of these! My big takeaway – banish the make believe world where our hero [or heroine] hits upon the perfect thing that solves every issue and instead break it down – do three things a day that directly influence your core goal of getting more sign-ups to the thing you already have that’s making money. As Chase [via Maya Angelou] said “just do your work”.
Mine too. And: Stop tinkering with the thing and get out there and sell it!
This is a great website, and awesome blog Paul!
I like the idea of an MVL Number- “Minimum Viable Life”
Thank you Jordan!
I like that direction, I like minimum viable something. I don’t want my life to be minimum though…how about MVI – minimum viable income, or MVB – minimum viable buck? :)
Hi Shawn! In fact, yes, we have a whole course devoted to helping you find a great topic and idea for your business. It’s called Choosing A Topic.
How about calling the freedom number “bail money” and how much it costs to “post bail”
This episode was super helpful!!! I really liked the part about being strategic when it comes to outreach. I struggle with guest posting because it’s such a small payback when you only get a little line at the end but I think really tying your post together with your offer and driving them to a landing page or a great offer is the way to go. It was great hearing different approaches from the three of you as well. Good Luck Paul:)
Instead of ‘freedom number,’ how about a ‘no shit number.’ It’s the number where you won’t shit yourself every month when the bills come due. You also won’t take any shit from any boss, because you can support yourself.
Just listened to this podcast and do wish you Fizzle guys and gals would put in a running list of events in the show notes with specific times of major aha moments. Sometimes I don’t get to listen to all the show and I’d like to skip to the juicy stuff.
That said, if I was Paul I’d be just as confused after listening to the show. Here’s my take on what should happen, based on what was discussed.
Leverage your existing blog, with a call to action to tell new visitors you have more. If you aren’t happy with a banner on the main page then at least consider a soft sell in your ‘About’ page.
For a soft-sell banner on your main page you could have a link to a ‘learn to draw in one minute’ video on your membership site. Surely, there is something you could quickly teach in a minute.
You should have enough organic traffic coming through for your blog looking at your numbers, so just choose the top 5 posts getting the traffic and place a small ad on them.
Finally, there is likely to be a number of people on your list who are thinking of joining your membership site, so one tactic is to announce the price is going up (say $25 month) and anyone who joins before a particular date gets grandfathered into the lower price, until they quit their membership.
This helps with retention of existing members and might just remind those on the fence they should join now.
Once the price is up a little, you’d also have a little more breathing room to establish an affiliate programme.
Also, I’m not seeing anything on your site relating to facebook, so you definitely need a fan page for a base, and to be honest, your target market probably all live on facebook so it’s even more important to flex your muscles in that space.
Good Luck.