I actually chuckled reading your checklist and #9: You love your passion more than paying your bills on time.
As a mature-age millennial, I do hold out hope that my zone of genius can align with profit. I’m just not that damn passionate about any one thing (which dilutes your efforts, and as much as I loved Range by David Epstein, it seems that experts do truly win over generalists in the market).
Right now I’m playing in the “Good enough work but it pays the bills” space, which I know I should be grateful for (given the market and everything you share here), yet there is always that tug to nudge in/align closer to great work.
I hear you on the "good enough work that pays the bills" space! It's so tricky to know when to pause some of that to free up the time to pursue new/different activities to "nudge in" (love that term!) to even more aligned work. Knowing you, you will absolutely figure this out in no time flat!! It's been amazing watching you build these last few years; if you can do your own full-time thing starting out in this wonky economy, you can truly do anything :) You got your business owner black belt early in the journey!
15. A grounded financial and business literacy framework so you’re able to prioritize the right investments and not fall for high-ticket “investments” that promise to help you succeed without any of the other 14 items.
Yes!! Such a good one! I think I’m also missing an item for luck . . . 🍀 Just one of 16, but still, it counts! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours today Jessica!! I’m so grateful to have you here reading and commenting 🙏🍁❤️
The podcast listener distribution pics are a really powerful graphic on how heavily concentrated listeners are to a limited number of very popular podcasts. Although maybe one question is where does one want or need to be on the graph? The idea of the 1000 "true fans" was floated around the internet for a while to capture the concept of a breakeven/enough of the audience to be sustainable. Sounds like its feeling quite the rollercoaster at the moment but maybe this phase and the forthcoming quiet sabatical also has some amazing insights and secrets yet to be revealed.
Thanks as always for your sharing - super helpful to others in small business / self employed.
Thank you Scott!! I was just thinking this piece (or a future one) needs an examination of the 1,000 true fans. Tara’s piece that I linked to does a great job of that. I’ve been so fortunate to have just about that number for many initiatives (the ones who are truly engaged), and yet it depends on the outlet.
For example, to your question about podcasts, Pivot gets 1,500 - 3,000 downloads per episode (that’s in the wide bucket of top 0.5%). At a $25 CPM per ad, that could yield $300 per episode if six ad insertions (aka fully booked out, which is rare) which would just about break even with production and software costs. I would even be happy with that, except both ad agencies I wanted to work with rejected me! Not enough downloads to make it worth it for them 🤪 (And then they take 30% too).
So I think the 1K true fans depends what arena you’re playing in :) 1K paying Substack subscribers, on the other hand, would be $5K/month minimum - pretty epic!
I had a read of Tara's piece (and then a few more from Tara - great cross sharing! thanks). It's a really crucial point you raise about the $ per "fan" or equivalent. We had a similar discussion within a sports coaching network I'm in. It was based on the question "How much should you pay for a burger?" The idea behind the question is that under some circumstances the perceived value of what is being bought and the expectations of the same person can be radically different based on so many variables.
Thank you Jenny, as I’m in the thick of pivot, free time, and deep listening, trust, alignment this is good and thought-provoking as always--thank you! I am curious about #15. I do always appreciate the bigger flow that keeps calling me and arranging and organizing itself. I’m so aware of the multitude of generational voices and mindsets--sometimes they all play in me. And yet, truly, there is inherent wisdom and gift in our daring, our courage, our yes, and no. Our own decjj Ohara toon from truth and soul. You’ve surely been an inspiration and guide to me for many years now--thank you. And I trust whatever is brewing in you is continued depth and what the world needs, and what you, Michael, and Rhyder most need for a beautiful, meaningful life. I’m thankful for you on this chilly, snowy Thanksgiving weekend evening, from way up north. 🫶
Thank you for such beautiful words and reflections, as always Pegge! I'm so grateful for you, and it's so true that we have many generations of voices/mindsets (along with societal programming) that plays a role in our sorting through the thicket of all this to find our true north. Good thing you're already living in such an exquisite sanctuary way up North!
I actually chuckled reading your checklist and #9: You love your passion more than paying your bills on time.
As a mature-age millennial, I do hold out hope that my zone of genius can align with profit. I’m just not that damn passionate about any one thing (which dilutes your efforts, and as much as I loved Range by David Epstein, it seems that experts do truly win over generalists in the market).
Right now I’m playing in the “Good enough work but it pays the bills” space, which I know I should be grateful for (given the market and everything you share here), yet there is always that tug to nudge in/align closer to great work.
I hear you on the "good enough work that pays the bills" space! It's so tricky to know when to pause some of that to free up the time to pursue new/different activities to "nudge in" (love that term!) to even more aligned work. Knowing you, you will absolutely figure this out in no time flat!! It's been amazing watching you build these last few years; if you can do your own full-time thing starting out in this wonky economy, you can truly do anything :) You got your business owner black belt early in the journey!
15. A grounded financial and business literacy framework so you’re able to prioritize the right investments and not fall for high-ticket “investments” that promise to help you succeed without any of the other 14 items.
Yes!! Such a good one! I think I’m also missing an item for luck . . . 🍀 Just one of 16, but still, it counts! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours today Jessica!! I’m so grateful to have you here reading and commenting 🙏🍁❤️
I’ve been obsessed with both Annie Duke and Morgan Housel’s books lately where luck is so key!
The podcast listener distribution pics are a really powerful graphic on how heavily concentrated listeners are to a limited number of very popular podcasts. Although maybe one question is where does one want or need to be on the graph? The idea of the 1000 "true fans" was floated around the internet for a while to capture the concept of a breakeven/enough of the audience to be sustainable. Sounds like its feeling quite the rollercoaster at the moment but maybe this phase and the forthcoming quiet sabatical also has some amazing insights and secrets yet to be revealed.
Thanks as always for your sharing - super helpful to others in small business / self employed.
Thank you Scott!! I was just thinking this piece (or a future one) needs an examination of the 1,000 true fans. Tara’s piece that I linked to does a great job of that. I’ve been so fortunate to have just about that number for many initiatives (the ones who are truly engaged), and yet it depends on the outlet.
For example, to your question about podcasts, Pivot gets 1,500 - 3,000 downloads per episode (that’s in the wide bucket of top 0.5%). At a $25 CPM per ad, that could yield $300 per episode if six ad insertions (aka fully booked out, which is rare) which would just about break even with production and software costs. I would even be happy with that, except both ad agencies I wanted to work with rejected me! Not enough downloads to make it worth it for them 🤪 (And then they take 30% too).
So I think the 1K true fans depends what arena you’re playing in :) 1K paying Substack subscribers, on the other hand, would be $5K/month minimum - pretty epic!
I had a read of Tara's piece (and then a few more from Tara - great cross sharing! thanks). It's a really crucial point you raise about the $ per "fan" or equivalent. We had a similar discussion within a sports coaching network I'm in. It was based on the question "How much should you pay for a burger?" The idea behind the question is that under some circumstances the perceived value of what is being bought and the expectations of the same person can be radically different based on so many variables.
Thank you Jenny, as I’m in the thick of pivot, free time, and deep listening, trust, alignment this is good and thought-provoking as always--thank you! I am curious about #15. I do always appreciate the bigger flow that keeps calling me and arranging and organizing itself. I’m so aware of the multitude of generational voices and mindsets--sometimes they all play in me. And yet, truly, there is inherent wisdom and gift in our daring, our courage, our yes, and no. Our own decjj Ohara toon from truth and soul. You’ve surely been an inspiration and guide to me for many years now--thank you. And I trust whatever is brewing in you is continued depth and what the world needs, and what you, Michael, and Rhyder most need for a beautiful, meaningful life. I’m thankful for you on this chilly, snowy Thanksgiving weekend evening, from way up north. 🫶
Thank you for such beautiful words and reflections, as always Pegge! I'm so grateful for you, and it's so true that we have many generations of voices/mindsets (along with societal programming) that plays a role in our sorting through the thicket of all this to find our true north. Good thing you're already living in such an exquisite sanctuary way up North!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Jenny ❤️
Thank you so much Mari! Happiest start to the holidays to you and yours as well!