In an older version of my coaching business, I was very gung ho about creating all kinds of information products to supplement my one-on-one coaching.
I actually enjoy content creation so making the products was fun. However, and this is the heart of what I learned, creating a product, promoting it, and setting up the infrastructure to support sales takes time, lots of time.
Looking back I would have been better off spending my time cultivating my network and doing other activities that contributed more directly to my business.
The other issue people seem oblivious to is that most information products, etc. make very little money. They are essentially loss leaders, a way for folks to "try you out" and a huge percent of people never even open the product after they buy it.
Folks always want to write a book. But books don't make much money unless you have a huge following and good ways to promote it. If your book helps you get high paid speaking gigs and other opportunities, great but very, very few authors get to this space.
Biggest lesson I learned was to make sure I have a very sound strategic reason to add another item that I'll have to put effort into creating and selling. Time is our scarcest resource and we need to be very thoughtful about how we use it.
I would so like to have multiple streams of income. My biggest issue is that I am so busy with my primary career. It's hard to put too much time into others. I am a senior psychotherapist. I have to work a lot to make a living and support my business
So true and helpful! Every additional revenue stream means learning a completely new skill set and investing tons of time and energy.
I'm grateful that today I have a focused strategy on Substack that works for me and my subscribers. It's not about a million online platforms, and I'm not even making that much income directly from paid subscribers. From a business standpoint (besides that I believe in my work!), most of my online content is a means for people to get to know me and then book foraging walks in Israel's natural world, which is an awesome and meaningful gig that's getting more traction every month.
And now that we've got a ceasefire with Iran (let's hope it holds!), and we're starting to peek out from our bomb shelters (it's been tough...), hopefully tourism and outdoor activities will be back full force soon!
I love your strategy, Shmuel, and your passion for Israel's natural world shines through in everything you do, glad you are enjoying it in real life, instead of from behind a computer screen.
Totally agree Karen.
In an older version of my coaching business, I was very gung ho about creating all kinds of information products to supplement my one-on-one coaching.
I actually enjoy content creation so making the products was fun. However, and this is the heart of what I learned, creating a product, promoting it, and setting up the infrastructure to support sales takes time, lots of time.
Looking back I would have been better off spending my time cultivating my network and doing other activities that contributed more directly to my business.
The other issue people seem oblivious to is that most information products, etc. make very little money. They are essentially loss leaders, a way for folks to "try you out" and a huge percent of people never even open the product after they buy it.
Folks always want to write a book. But books don't make much money unless you have a huge following and good ways to promote it. If your book helps you get high paid speaking gigs and other opportunities, great but very, very few authors get to this space.
Biggest lesson I learned was to make sure I have a very sound strategic reason to add another item that I'll have to put effort into creating and selling. Time is our scarcest resource and we need to be very thoughtful about how we use it.
Thanks for this great reminder! There is a lot of pressure to DO ALL THE THINGS. But, like you said, you don’t HAVE to....
I would so like to have multiple streams of income. My biggest issue is that I am so busy with my primary career. It's hard to put too much time into others. I am a senior psychotherapist. I have to work a lot to make a living and support my business
So true and helpful! Every additional revenue stream means learning a completely new skill set and investing tons of time and energy.
I'm grateful that today I have a focused strategy on Substack that works for me and my subscribers. It's not about a million online platforms, and I'm not even making that much income directly from paid subscribers. From a business standpoint (besides that I believe in my work!), most of my online content is a means for people to get to know me and then book foraging walks in Israel's natural world, which is an awesome and meaningful gig that's getting more traction every month.
And now that we've got a ceasefire with Iran (let's hope it holds!), and we're starting to peek out from our bomb shelters (it's been tough...), hopefully tourism and outdoor activities will be back full force soon!
I love your strategy, Shmuel, and your passion for Israel's natural world shines through in everything you do, glad you are enjoying it in real life, instead of from behind a computer screen.