I just registered the domain "imposter.dev" and was setting up a to-do list of all the things I needed to do so I could get this effort off the ground.
It was mind-numbing. Also incredibly unsatisfying, and self-defeating.
I was struggling with things like:
- What platform should I use? An all-in-one or separate services?
- Should I do big courses, or little ones?
- Wordpress or Webflow or Framer for the main site?
- Roll my own thing?
I'll stop there. It makes my head hurt. So I gave up, again.
And Then I Watched a YouTube Video
I like watching YouTube in the afternoons, which is where I keep up with most tech things. Yesterday, I watched Nathan Barry (founder/CEO of ConvertKit) interview Aaron Francis, who just launched his course High Performance SQLite:
The interview was amazing, and featured Aaron detailing how he made $125K in a single month on launch. That's an incredible number, and for such a niche topic!
I made $180K in a single month once as well. It was back in 2012 when I ran a holiday sale for my site, Tekpub.com. I put it on Twitter, where I had about 20,000 followers, and the sales went off.
Back to the interview. I found myself nodding along with so many challenges that Aaron faced during the launch! The need for marketing, gaining trust, and putting in the time. You get stressed out, aren't sure what you're doing, and have to ask your friends and family to give you extra space so you can deliver. This isn't about hustle culture - it's just what happens.
The one trick that Aaron used to get himself through this launch was to do everything in the open. In fact, he did his site launch LIVE on YouTube! It's over 2 hours long, but really fun to watch these guys go through the process:
Let's Go. It's Open. It's On.
This has inspired me. I have this idea, you see, where I want to "niche down" and focus my efforts on an audience that I can help the most. I'll get into that in a later post, for now, let's just say I have an idea.
I want to build that idea in the clear. I am ditching my plans, entirely, and just going for it.
What does that look like?
Today I set up this Ghost site, and my plan is simple: build my idea in the open, be perfectly transparent, and talk about what's happening every step of the way.
I have founded four businesses over my career, three of which did pretty well. I sold one of them (Tekpub.com) and almost sold another with my business partner until the DotCom Bust happened.
The point is: I've been down this road. I know how to build a content business, I know how to market as well. I know how to create YouTube videos (it's what I do for Microsoft currently) and I know how to create online courses. I've done OK, but I would like to do better.
And I want to take you with me.
Over the next few months, I will need to:
- Come up with a marketing plan (audience, etc)
- Create a YouTube channel
- Create the content (I already have an outline and script)
- Feel the pain as I grow, or crash
This is all going to happen on nights and weekends as I have a full-time job that I like. I'll post as often as I can, and probably make some videos along the way. I have this site set up as a newsletter which I will keep entirely open, so if you want to follow along, sign up below!
Until next time...
A Hui Hou!