This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Do you have imposter syndrome, analysis paralysis, or do you just feel stuck? I assure you that variations of these themes and issues are probably a good 20% of the questions I hear when I'm speaking at an event, either an in-person event or a virtual one, and probably in my inbox as well. What's funny about this is everyone thinks they're the only one. Everyone thinks they are unique. Well, I have news for you.
You are still special. You are unique, but you're not special or unique because of this. If you struggle with any of those things, you're definitely not the only one. So in today's episode, after having some experience with these challenges himself, today's listener has a podcast and wants to create a fear journal to help other side hustlers navigate the journey. Interesting project, but should he start all over with a new brand and website or try to integrate them?
Also, before we jump in, I was thrilled to see that my longtime friend and colleague in the onward project Gretchen Rubin has been nominated for a Webby. A Webby is probably the most prestigious online award. It really is like the Oscars, the Grammys, whatever you want to think of it as for online projects, including podcasts, websites, blogs, et cetera. So her show has been nominated, happier with Gretchen Rubin. If you want to join me in voting for her, just go to vote.webbyawards.com.
Then you want to click on podcasts, click on general series. There's a whole bunch of categories. You do podcasts, general series, health, and wellness. From there, you will see happier with Gretchen Rubin. Click that little vote button.
You can see she's actually crushing all the other competitors. To be fair, she probably wouldn't say it that way herself, but I'm saying that because I'm proud of her. I think it's amazing and well-deserved. Again, that's vote.webbyawards.com. Here's a message from our sponsor.
And then let's talk more about imposter syndrome. [Music]
Hi, this is Cody Howard from Boise, Idaho, and I've been listening to this show since the very beginning. It's exciting to say. My recent side hustle is the Route podcast, where I speak creatives, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders about finding the path to a more fulfilling life. It actually took me around 18 months of analysis paralysis and getting over the fear of failed past projects to record the first episode and actually get something out there.
But what I've discovered throughout this process, it's actually very common for people like me who are wanting to start a project or a side hustle, and I'm now working on a fear journal to help ambitious people gain perspective on their fears and move from that place of analysis paralysis and into action, which leads me to my question. So my question is, because I do not have a large audience or authority in the space, is it better to create a separate site and brand altogether for the direct-to-consumer products or fear journal and keep it separate from the podcast or combine them from the start? Thanks for listening, and I can't wait to hear your input. Keep up the great work, everybody. - Cody, what's up, man?
Thank you so much for listening from the beginning. Wow, that was 1,222 days ago. Amazing. Congratulations as well on getting over the fear of failed past projects. Indeed, you are not unique in that way.
As I said, pretty much everyone struggles with this one way or another. I certainly have. So the fear journal sounds like an interesting idea. Definitely seems like something for anybody with a creative project, actually, not even just entrepreneurship, side hustling, but anybody who has a dream and wants to make something, like we all struggle with these kinds of issues to some extent or another. So as for this question about whether you should create a separate site and brand, or essentially integrate them, combine them.
So I think there's not a right or wrong answer necessarily. Even if you made a separate brand and website, I assume you would promote the journal on the podcast, which you should. But my inclination, actually, based on what you say, is that it's better for you to do that second option and combine it from the start. And the reason is because you say you don't have a large audience, but presumably you're trying to grow an audience around the podcast. So why not tie them together somehow?
In fact, why not involve the listeners in the creation process? Tell them your vision, share the story as it evolves, and then if the Fear Journal is successful, well, it's now linked to the podcast, which is not a bad thing at all. And if it's really successful, then it can go off and become its own brand, which is also an ideal outcome. So it just seems easier to me that way, doing the integration up front than trying to build two separate brands from the ground up at the same time. So that's what I think.
Let me know how it goes. I would love to see this Fear Journal whenever it's ready. Okay, listeners, do you have a question? Come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll be featuring them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects.
As mentioned, this was episode 1222. We're gonna keep rolling tomorrow, so be sure you're subscribed. Thank you so much. My name is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
