This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up everyone? It's Chris Guillebeau, your host of Side Hustle School. Thank you for being out there. Thank you for being awesome. Thank you for listening.
And thank you for doing something for yourself. That's what this whole project is about for 1253 days and counting. Just trying to share stories of people who are investing in themselves, doing whatever they can to create freedom and options in the form of a side hustle, an income generating project. Not just a hobby, not just the gig economy, but something you can do that's actually going to bring in real money over time. Okay, so today, what if you start publishing a blog and then realize you don't actually love writing?
Might there be another way to communicate and share the inspirational stories you hope your readers will connect with? That's what today's listener slash caller is wondering about along with the ever important question of monetization. Now, I always think this is so important. Think about your monetization on the front end. Think about it before you start writing or whatever it is you're going to do.
It is something that's going to evolve. It will change, et cetera. It will grow, hopefully. But it really is good to start with a specific idea when it comes to revenue, as opposed to just saying, "Well, I'll figure that out later." Okay, so we'll look at that in this context. How can I share inspiring stories without writing?
Let's hear from our caller after this message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hi, Chris. This is Shanice from Clinton, Maryland. I've been listening to your podcast for about three years. After about six months of starting my blog, I'm beginning to realize that I don't enjoy writing as much as I do.
However, I do love hearing so many inspiring stories and my readers do too. Is there another way that I could continue my blog and continue sharing these stories to help women who want to start a business without writing so much? Or is there another way to share their stories in my blog? Also, I haven't figured out how to monetize yet. Any suggestions?
Thank you, Chris. And I look forward to hearing from you. - Hey, Shanice. Thank you so much for listening. And thank you for the great question.
We actually talked about this on my YouTube Live channel a while back, but I'll give some more info here. And by the way, everyone go check out her site. It is She'sMakingMoves.com. Okay, so what if you like blogging, but you don't like writing, or you like sharing the stories at least, but you're finding that you don't love the writing as much? Well, the short version is, you know, yes, there might be some other mediums.
You're listening to one right now, for example. In addition to podcasting, there's also video webinars or group calls like Zoom or long form social media. So there are lots of different ways to share inspiring stories. Now do keep in mind that to do these things well, there's usually some preparation and writing involved. With this show, for example, I spend a lot more time preparing and writing than I do actually recording.
So not everything is improvised. You know, there's a lot of work that happens before we get to that stage. But the point is there are, of course, other mediums. Now, as for monetization, I think that's actually the more important consideration here. One thing I mentioned when we talked about this on YouTube is that the middle portion of her homepage is better than what's at the top.
At least I think so, but in this case, I'm pretty sure. Because at the top, you know, her website is She'sMakingMoves. So the top has a message about how She'sMakingMoves as a mother. And in the middle, if you scroll all the way down, it's quite a ways to scroll. You get to the middle, it says, four mothers who want to launch a business but don't know the first step.
All of a sudden there, that's the benefit. That's the primary benefit. When I see that, I'm like, oh, this is much clearer, you know, what it's about and who it's for. There are a lot of inspiring stories linked throughout the page. And then there's other posts with them.
I think the question is, how do those stories help with this mission? You want to make sure that there's a direct connection here. These inspiring stories that Shawnee shares should connect directly to the benefit she provides. And when you think about monetization, well, you know, as mentioned earlier, it's good to think about it on the front end, but looking at it here, I think, you know, the clue or the link to monetization is right in that promise. The promise is for mothers who want to launch a business but don't know the first step.
So I guess my question is, what actually is the first step? What is the first step that she's going to show her ideal customers, her people who are coming to your website, reading these stories? What is that first step? How do they access that first step? What kind of training is she offering, et cetera?
By focusing more on that, I think this project is going to get a lot clearer and ultimately will have more of an impact. So thank you again, Shawnees, and thank you, listeners. If 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. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
