[Transcript starts at 0:40]
Hello, hello, hello. My podcast people and thank you for joining me for another episode of my favorite podcast. If you tuned in last week, then maybe you noticed the intro was different, that little part, I don't know. I had a brain fart and I didn't realize until afterwards and I was like, that felt different.
Because it was different. Uh, but either way, we're back in business. Uh, this is episode 668. We're talking about online business and whether or not it feels like it's pushing a boulder uphill both ways. Walk into school and back home uphill both ways. If you're listening, tuning in, watching the Sunday that it drops, it is Monday, May 9th.
Happy Pride Month y'all. All the gay things. Happy pride month. Uh, today we're talking about again, online business and how it can feel, uh, for many people akin to walking to school and home from school, uphill both ways in the snow, right? That constant slog, that relentless relentlessness that there can be.
Uh, I wanna offer a validation. I wanna offer up some action items, but first. The Life in Biz updates, you know how it is. So life updates leaving tomorrow for a trip to Vegas. We're gonna go see Kenny Che, the atmosphere. Uh, l and I were going with Coach Steven and his wife Nani New life. Nani. They don't listen to this podcast, but congrats to you two.
Um, the recap of that will come later. By the time that this drops, I will have already gone. But you know, I recorded in the fu in the past. I will release it in the future. It's a whole thing. Um, summer has been summering. May, gray June gloom, they're not really doing their things, which is great 'cause people aren't complaining so much.
And then we have like a five seconds of it and people lose their shit. But, um, the weather's been amazing, honestly. Uh, so I, we live here and pay a million dollars. I'm still working out about five times a week. I do have a back thing going on that just like came outta the blue and it is definitely nervy and I will die in the hill that I almost sound like I will die.
Not because of the back pain. I will die on the hill. That physical therapy is the best first career. Like I know what's going on. I'm not like freaking out. I know how to treat it. It's, it's shitty. I've had a history of like, SI joint, L four, L five stuff kinda goes in my leg. Like the referral pattern is very typical.
Like I know what's going on. Um, but I don't know what happened. 'cause like nothing happened. I wasn't like, oh, I dove weird. It literally just kind of like came on gradually and now it's here. Um, but. I prd my, uh, leg press today. I actually had a really good leg day, so I'm still lifting, lifting five times a week.
I only did four last week. Um, a little bit of a busy stuff happening right now. Um, and also just resting but busy 'cause we did more volleyball and it just, rest is important. Um, but. Speaking of rest, not getting it because likely planning, uh, that last minute trip, toad, I, I think I've brought that up and the thundercats are go, it's a green light.
Kim is in the qualifier. So we are trying to figure that out. And it is a big lift, it's a big trip. Um, and it's the end of July. So yes, that is what's going on in the life side of things. But Yolo right one, one point in time, uh, you know what you folks know, I love Jill. And at one point in time I was trying to plan a trip.
This was, this was many years ago, and I was nervous about spending the money on the trip and Jill said, you know, she's like, one of the things that Danny J taught me is that a closed fist doesn't let out any money, but it also doesn't let any in. And I was like, this is true. This is true. This is very, very, very true.
And like, yes, you can be cynical and be like, but what about, but like you just, for me, just sitting with like, just the way it hit, I was like, you're right. And that's where I'm at with this trip, right? Where it is going to be expensive. We're gonna use a lot of points for it. And it's gonna be a lot, just a lot.
It's like energetically and it's a lot, but like the world is burning down right now and I'm trying to figure out what I wanna be doing in business and. It's kind of, it's not even so much like yolo. It's like, hey, this side of things is important for that side of things. So we'll keep you posted with that.
Um, biz updates. First off, I had my first chat, GBT ah, fuck you moment. Um, I was using conversation mode, which is really cool to me. It doesn't speak nearly as fast as I do. Um, but you can ask it to like be brief with this responses. Um, but I was using conversation mode and I was using it to record an outline for this episode, this outline right here while I was walking.
And I learned that it doesn't generate or save a transcript when you're in. Conversation mode. And so it didn't do it and it was like seven and a half minutes of talking and it didn't do it, you know, live and learn. Um, I still fucking love it. Um, and definitely the supports and ties into my feeling and my teachings of do not record things directly to the internet.
'cause if they just go away, they just go away. Um, but. We live and learn, right? It's fine. I redid it and here we are recording. Um, and yes, I'm still absolutely in love with it, but I'm also still planning on running some sort of training. I don't know, I don't know yet and I've been talking with it a lot about what to run and, um, I don't know yet, but I will do something.
So again, that link to join, uh, the interest list, it'll be in the show notes. No obligation. It's just if you wanna stay in the loop and you're like, yeah, I think I would like to learn something from you Maestro about using Chacha. Bt it will only be for Chacha. Bt it's the only one that I use. Um, get on the interest list.
Uh, next thing for the business, I'm dropping new Pride swag this year. I'm still working on the logo at this moment in time. It is June 2nd. I'm still working on the logo because it's sat at the last minute. I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do it. Um, which means that you won't receive the swag till like the end of June, but like, let's have pride all year because what the fuck is happening right now?
What is going on? The worst things are going on, so let's, let's fucking offset it with some pride. Um, so hopefully by the time this podcast drops, the link to purchase should be live. Fingers crossed. Um. So if it is, then it'll be in the show notes. If it's not, then just keep an eye out on social media. Um, DM me if you're not seeing it, and I'll let you know what the, what the deal is with that.
But I'm doing it. I am doing it. I didn't do anything last year. I'm doing it this year. It's needed, it's necessary. Times a million. Um, but speaking, circling back, speaking about not recording to the internet, the first call for Press Pub. Wow. The first call for press publish is tomorrow. Super excited about it.
Did they outline everything today? And I'm excited. Like it's cool to be able to teach this stuff to people and they're gonna have podcasts, like they will be launched. Um, it's nice to have, you know, a, a de like a tangible thing. It's not like tangible, but like a, a thing concrete evidence of like, oh, you, you made this.
So I'm excited for that. Um, and I'll report back next week, but let's hop into the main topic for today, which is online business and whether or not it is akin to walking to and from your destination uphill both ways. Right? So this, this episode and this topic's inspired by a, a question from. My dope homie and the Dope Mafia moderator ewe, and she had a convo with a fellow business owner, and the topic came up that that business owner brought the topic of how online, online business can feel relentless.
It can feel like constant pushing. And you know what? She's not wrong. Not wrong at all. If this is how you feel, I want to validate that feeling right. Of note. I am not validating or trying to say that it should. Feel like you're constantly being beaten down and like you're forever having breakdowns and like you can't breathe.
Like that's don't stop. If that's how you feel, leave, go get a, go to a different job. It shouldn't feel like that. But when you work for yourself and you are in the service industry, as as we are right of on service industry, side of online business for, for the most part, if you're not selling something and you're not working, you're not making money, which means if you need to make money.
It can feel like you're constantly pushing. Very valid. I think I actually brought this very topic up a few years ago in an episode because my girl, Bonnie, uh, Carole, Bonnie brought it up and the word that she used was incessant of how you're just like constantly having to like, think of something, create something, and ideally if you're doing the same um, offerings, it becomes a little bit easier.
But like, you still have to sell them. You still have to, you know, talk about them and, and, and, and push them and market them and message them like it is always something, right. So, something I do wanna highlight here is the fact that money, well it is, money is how Making money can and will absolutely change your feelings about this, right?
If you work your ass off and you make money and you're tired. You will feel tired, but it'll feel worth it if you work your ass off and you don't make any money, or you don't make as much as you think you should, or you don't make as much as you want to, as much as you need. It feels like a slog, right? It is very fucking real, and this is the part of business that is super important.
But it's out of your control. Right? Which is demand. The ammonium amount that's in your control is whether or not you decide to continue within this niche. 'cause you've decided like, yeah, I'm gonna keep with it until, you know, because the demand is there. I'm gonna, I'm gonna put push through until I, I breakthrough, but.
It's also out of your, out of your hand. You really can't create demand. You can try, but ah, it doesn't really work that way. Right. So to shift the, the tone of this convo, 'cause that's a little bit of like me, weep, wmp, I wanna share you have's question directly, which was, what are your favorite strategies, beliefs, thoughts, et cetera, that support you and your business to feel less like pushing shit uphill and more like satisfying effort.
And the reason I love this question, two reasons. One I love Youwe, and two, is because it has the answer or at least part of my answer. Baked into it. Right? And that, that is acceptance, right? The question within that question, it outlines that you know, and states that you know that effort is required, right?
That last part, it says that support you and your business to feel less like pushing shit uphill and more like satisfying effort, right? It acknowledges that effort is. Required the ask is how do you generate satisfaction instead of feeling like you're, you know, walking uphill both ways. So my answer here, three parts.
First part is an acceptance piece, right? Accept that online business requires continued effort and the results will not always be commensurate with the effort, right? Eight hours of work does not guarantee eight hours of pay, especially if you're, you know, doing backend work and the like. If you know that you personally want, uh, you know, that kind of one-to-one effort to income ratio, you're better off getting a traditional job working for someone else.
Zero shade. Zero shade. Part two is know yourself and how you operate. Are you more of an in interval person? Right. That Tabata style, you go hard, you rest, you go hard, you rest. That's Jill, right? Although Jill will be working hard, hard all the time, but like she, that's how she exercises too. Or are you more about kind of consistent pacing?
That's more about me. I like this effort here all the time. Right. There can be sparks where you're like, ah, at the beginning of this I gotta like, kind of like have that activation energy, but then it's like, it's pretty steady. You're probably gonna wanna lean into that for your business, which will also tie into how you launch.
Perhaps if you're more like me or you're more about that consistent pacing, then you then you're more about, you know, smaller, lower effort launches and doing more of them as opposed to, you know, two major big all effort launches. Right. The second part of this, knowing yourself and how you operate, is also understanding that seasonality is real, right?
And nature teaches us this, right? Think about what happens in the winter, the fall versus the spring and summer, right? If you've been in business for at least 18 months, you've experienced this firsthand where there's more action in the spring and the fall, and there's less action in the winter and the summer, right?
So you, you gotta take that into consideration when you're planning out your own work and, and your own push periods. And then you mix that in with your own preferred style. Right. The last thing here about seasonality is understanding how it affects income. I, I hear people talk about, I've seen it in the space talking about 10 k, the goal of 10 k months, which one gives take a really long time if we ever get there.
Um, but what might be more realistic, and it's something that Jill and I talk about with our, with our, um, folks we work with, is planning, trying to look at income. If you're gonna plan and look at it based on quarters. Especially in this online business game because there are this kind, it's, I don't wanna say feasts and famine, that sounds so bad, but there's like higher periods and lower periods for income.
And so yes, it could be 10 K months, but that would be 60 K across six, six months. Or you know, you could have like a quarter that you do 40 k. I know these are big numbers, but they're also real numbers, right? But you have a quarter that you do 40 K and then the next quarter, maybe you only do 20 K, but you still end up with that 60 K overall.
Like that can be a lot more realistic. Um, yes, that predictable recurring revenue is kinda like the holy grail, but memberships are tough. And I've done a million episodes about why you should not start one. I, so the third part here about. You know, turning this feeling and generating satisfaction instead of having it feel like you're, you know, constantly walking uphill both ways.
Uh. Is to continue to search for and lean into joy. I think you folks already know what I was gonna say it, and hopefully not. You're not rolling your eyes too hard, but it's the fucking truth, right? Of course, you're gonna have to do some shit that you don't wanna do and that you don't love, especially in the, the building phase of your business in the early on phases or if you're just like building something within the business.
But hopefully you like, hopefully you still like it, but you know, to me, the goal, if you're building a business, you're running your own business, you have your own business, is is to do it. Build the business behind shit you enjoy doing, right? Services you enjoy offering things you enjoy, teaching problems you enjoy solving, right?
If you hate it, even if you're making money. It's eventually gonna feel relentless. It's gonna feel like you're, you know, walking uphill both ways. Yes, the money will probably hold you over for a bit, and that's something to think about if you're like, transitioning what you wanna be doing and like trying to transition into what you wanna be doing.
Like maybe you're like, ah, what I'm currently doing, I don't love, but like, the money will sustain you and also need money to like live. Um, so yes, the money can can tide you over for a bit, but if you really don't like it, eventually you're gonna be like, no, this, this ain't it. Right. So no, I'm definitely not saying monetize everything that you're good at or look to.
You know, if you're good at it, you should monetize it. No. Or if you enjoy it, you should monetize it. No, no, not at all. But if you are starting your own business or you have your own business, if you're doing your own thing, it should be behind something that you enjoy. Simple as that. Of note, that thing that you enjoy can and probably will change.
You folks are experiencing this with me for first time firsthand, right? Like, I typically get about five years out of my interests and then it's like, okay, I'm onto the next thing. Um, and my next thing I definitely, it's, it's ai, but hopefully you get at least five years out of the thing that you love doing.
Some people get way more like, I'm, I'm looking and thinking about my girl Courtney Conley Gate happens. My, she's fucking still talking about fe, she was just on diary of a CEO. That that video has a million downloads or a million views on YouTube like. And it's, she's been doing this forever. She loves feet.
She fucking loves it. Amazing. So if that's you, amazing. If it's not you and you know that you kind of go through, through like your like seasons of things, you're just like, Hey, that's, I'm done with that. Hopefully, you know, fingers crossed you can get at least five years outta something and I say five years.
'cause you gotta have long enough for you to break through the trust barrier with people, right? You gotta be into this thing long enough that you can get results from people, get the trust from, from them, and then, you know, they'll, they'll go in the new direction. With you. Right. But those are the three things as it relates to turning, uh, you know, the slog into something that is fulfilling.
Um, but the goal today is, is the goal today was, was to talk about online business as it's often viewed as walking uphill both ways, and that kind of relentless feeling of. Of pushing I and the reason I that I brought it up was, was for three. Three, three reasons, right? The reason was for three reasons.
The reason I brought it up, three things. One, I wanna validate you if you feel like this. Yes, you're not alone. Two, I wanted to discuss the very, very real impact that money plays in this and how it relates to you feel about how you feel about your business. And then three, offer up some action items for turning that slog into satisfaction.
Right? And those three things, again, one is acceptance, two, knowing yourself, and three, continuing to search for and lean into the joy. If you're feeling like it is uphill both ways, I'm gonna encourage you to take this summer and take this time moving forward to do some reflecting. And yes, part of that reflecting may be market analysis to determine the financial feasibility based on demand.
Like we are entering a tough time, an economic tough time. Uh, people are still buying things, but like there's uncertainty, like what the fuck is happening with the government? What's going on with the United States when there's uncertainty, people hold on to their money, they hold onto things. Of course I'm doing that besides this schad trip, right?
But like, people aren't as frivolous and just as you know, free with their money. So take that into account as well, right? When we're looking at this kind of, uh, market analysis. But I'm going to plug it again. Yes, use chat a PT to do this reflecting and this market analysis and talking and, and, and brainstorming.
I am, I'm not trying to come off as like bullish about it, um, but I just have found so much value and when I say that I'm gonna back it up, I'm not trying to be like, oh, if you don't use it, you're gonna be behind and like, you're never gonna be able to catch up. Like, it's nothing about that. I don't wanna be like fatalistic or extremist or anything like that.
I've just found so much value in using it. And y'all know that when I find something that I'm, that I val, that I believe in, that I'm using, that's helpful for me. And I vet it. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna share it with you. So that's me sharing it with you again. Once again, the link is in the show notes. If you're, if you want to join the Chacha BT interest list, um, if you want help, I get it.
'cause you go to the page and it's just like a blank prompt box and you're like, what the fuck? I get it. I wanna help you out. But also just go and try it out. Just go have a conversation with it. If you can have a conversation, you can use Chatt BT. I'm not trying to gatekeeper or anything like that. If you can hold the conversation and have a conversation, you can use Chatt BT and it can help you, right?
So if you want to learn more, go try it. If you want me to help you get on the interest list. And that's all I got. If you got questions, comments, concerns, addition, subtractions requests, anything. You know what to do, shoot me a dm. Love hearing from you. Shoot me a, uh, a text, 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5. It will be green, but it is me, is my side line as always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you.
If you're watching, hopefully you can see that's Rupert in the corner. He's been here the whole time. Didn't even care. Doesn't even care. Alright, I'm gonna wrap it up here again. Endlessly, endlessly, endlessly appreciative. Until next time, friends. Maestro Ow.
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