This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Let's talk today about the power of thinking small. The power of thinking small. Isn't that why you listen to this podcast? You wanna get motivated to do something small, right? Well listen, nothing wrong with having a big dream, but sometimes a big dream can be overwhelming and you're like, how do I package that?
What do I sell if you're trying to create a product, let's say. So actually thinking small can be very productive in terms of leading to your income generating project, helping you make more money, helping you go from one thing to another. So that's what we're gonna focus on in this listener question. Our caller today from Vancouver, Canada draws on a lot of experience in production, in branding and more. She's got 20 years of experience and she now wants to strike out on her own, but she feels overwhelmed by all the options.
In fact, she says she might be her own worst client. We'll see if that's true. I don't think so. I think she just needs to maybe find the right focus. So let's see if we can do that.
Detailed question and my answer coming up. Thank you for tuning in today. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Sheri from Vancouver, Canada. I'm a long time fan of yours and I'm grateful for all the amazing and informative content you put out there for entrepreneurs like me. Thank you so much.
I'm a freelance graphic designer, which is already sort of a side hustle, but I've wanted to develop a more passive side of my business for a while now and you are inspiring me to act. I have more than 20 years experience in the industry and I've produced many different kinds of projects. Campaigns, branding, publications, packaging, signage, and even merch. I enjoy the variety and probably couldn't pick a type of project I like more than others. But as far as a passive side hustle goes, I'm thinking digital products would be a good fit.
I feel confident I can create great products for download, but how do I pick a niche? I've done some exploring and found there is a lot of competition. It seems like every possible idea is already out there and those top players are doing a great job. I mean, they're including things I may not have even considered. So how do I find a digital product niche that hasn't already been done to death?
It's easy to work on a project for someone else. I guess I'm my own worst client. Help. - Sherry, thank you so much for this wonderful message. Thanks so much for being out there.
I am excited for you. I feel like this is a good problem to solve. I feel like you're ready to make a change and you've already done some research. You know a lot, right? You have all these qualifications.
If anything, you know, all of this expertise can be a bit of a barrier. It's just a little bit of a constraint because you're so good at so many different things, it's hard to choose, right? There's a lot of things you could do, which is a problem. So that's why I said in the introduction, maybe the lesson is thinking small. And in this situation, how does Sherry, how does anyone find the niche as Sherry mentioned?
So she said something about digital products. She said, I'm thinking digital products would be a good fit. I'm confident I can create great products for download. So there are a lot of different kinds of digital products. I'm not sure entirely what she's thinking, whether it is, you know, an audio book or something on Etsy or something else entirely perhaps.
I would say, you know, of all the different ideas, of all the things you spot, just choose one. And don't think about how you're going to scale it. Don't think about how you're going to turn it into a sequence of things. When you see something and you think I could do that, you know, you might identify a few things like that. Pick one of those things and figure out everything you need to do to get it to market.
There's probably going to be a sequence of steps. It's not complicated, but there are a number of things you have to do. And as you go through that process, you'll gain some familiarity and it will help you then do the next one. And at some point you will want to probably specialize and pick that niche and build out that sequence of things. But at first you need to get comfortable with building.
And I would say build small, build small. Don't try to do everything. Sherry, I wish you well. I'm excited to hear what you come up with. Listeners, if you want to check out Sherry's website, it is white design with a hyphen.
So white-design.ca, white-design.ca. And if you've got a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We will continue to feature them every week, along with updates from listeners as they launch their projects. I am cheering you on wherever you are in the world, whatever you're up to. I hope you'll come back tomorrow.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
