This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey, what's up? Welcome to a brand new week. Hope you're doing well. It is a brand new week and it's also almost the 1st of June. For those listeners who are joining me in real time, here we are approaching the middle of 2021.
Of course, if you're listening later, hopefully most of this content will still be helpful to you. That's how we design the show. But wherever you are in the world, whatever time it is, whatever date it is, I often feel like I am making this show for myself and I don't mean just because I like to talk about these things, but because I have been through a lot of these experiences that listeners are bringing up to me. Like a lot of listener questions I get are issues that I have dealt with in different ways. And so I'm like, oh yeah, I remember dealing with that or maybe this is something that I'm a little bit stuck on at the moment as well.
So what are some creative approaches that others have used to kind of navigate this process? And when I tell the case studies, of course, I'm also like, wow, I'm learning through this. Like it's pretty cool to hear how so-and-so has been able to figure this out. So thank you for being part of that. Thank you for helping me make this show for myself and for you.
Now, today's caller has a lifestyle site that started out well, but she can't seem to get past an early stage plateau. What should she do? Now, this is very common. This is common in so many projects. Like you get a little bit of traction, you're like, this is awesome.
And then maybe you get some more traction and that's even more awesome. And then you're like, okay, third time, we're gonna really grow here and then you don't. You're just kind of, as I said, stuck. And so you keep doing the things that brought you to the point of initial success and you realize that those same things aren't taking you to the next stage of success. So it can be a little bit disheartening or frustrating or you're just kind of like, I don't know what to do.
Like I'm willing to work here, but I don't quite know what to work on. As I said, common issue, common problem. So let's talk about it. My lifestyle site is stuck at a plateau. That is the listener question.
It's coming up along with my answer in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Ashley from Lincoln and I've been listening to the show for a couple of years. I've been trying to grow a lifestyle directory and resource site for a while. And at first it was amazing. But now I find I'm just going through the motions and not really looking forward to spending time on it.
Does this just mean it's time for something else? My hang up is that I haven't really built the site to a point where I could sell it. So I hate the idea of just closing it down or letting it sit there without anything happening. What should I do? Thanks for your advice.
- Hey Ashley, thank you for the call. Thank you for being out there. And congratulations on building your lifestyle directory and resource site. Listen, when it comes to that point of being at a plateau and feeling like, well, I'm not quite sure, where to go from here, I've been there, right? I've been there lots of times in some ways I feel like I'm there now in different ways.
Like I can build things to a certain level and then I'm like, oh, I'm not sure what happens next. But since this podcast is not about my existential crisis or crises, I do have some experience with these things. And so I put together three tips. All right, so I think the first thing you do in this situation, whether it's Ashley or someone else is you identify the core problem. Like why are you just kind of going through the motions and it's not growing?
Is it a source of traffic, for example? Like if you just have one source of traffic and you have a low priced product, let's say, and your funnel only has a small number of people at the bottom, then you're not going to grow. You're just going to be spinning your wheels, essentially. So what is the core problem? Number two, make sure you are actively working on business development.
Lots of times we get in operations mode and don't leave any time for growth. So spend time on growth. In the Throwback Thursday episodes that we have, conveniently every Thursday, this is something that our case studies tend to mention. They often say things like, oh, I got really busy in my business, just kind of doing stuff, and then I realized I wasn't actually tending my business or making it grow, and then that also led to me feeling a little bit disillusioned. Like I was not looking forward to spending time on it the way that I was in the beginning, which is when I was growing the business and starting new things.
So make sure you're actively planning to spend time on tasks that are exciting and hopefully also grow your business. And then number three, and I think Ashley identified this well, it's okay to ask yourself if it's time for something new. You may find yourself more re-energized simply by saying, okay, I need to actually start a new project. What is my next thing? And just because you haven't built your site or your business to the point where you can sell it, that's not reason enough to just keep going with something that isn't working or doesn't actually bring you a lot of joy.
So I think it's very important to pay attention to profit, but I also think it's very, very important, ultimately more important to pay attention to what brings you joy. So identify the core problem, make sure you're actively working on business development, not just operations, and ask yourself if it's time for something new. I'll leave you with that today. I hope it's helpful. Listeners, if you have a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions.
We will continue to feature them throughout the year, going into the new month and beyond, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. Hope you'll come back and join me tomorrow. You can follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
