Most people don’t think they have the skills to start a business. Our social media feeds are flooded by the top 1% of creators and entrepreneurs, and it’s made everyone think, “How can I compete with that?”
The truth is that four secrets separate those who succeed from those who don’t.
First. No one started out as an expert, they learned along the way.
Second. The most successful people stacked multiple skills throughout their lives that collided to create their business model.
Third. Everyone has shiny object syndrome, successful people know how to use it to their advantage.
The last secret. The most successful people are the ones who embrace their creativity.
Let’s start with shiny object syndrome. Does this sound familiar?
- You’re doom-scrolling through Youtube, Instagram, Or TikTok and you come across something that you immediately want to try. It could be croqueting, filmmaking, photography, or something crazy like downhill mountain biking.
- You obsess over that thing day in and day out. You spend too much money in a short period, and all of your free time is spent on practicing the thing.
- After a few weeks, months, or years, you lose interest in the thing. Then, every piece of equipment you bought collects dust in your attic, and you only see it when it’s in the way of your Christmas decorations.
- You start something new and the cycle repeats.
We live in a world of dopamine addiction and distractions. It sounds bad, but what if you could turn it into a superpower and use it for good?
By good, I mean starting a business to make money doing something you love.
You’re Actually An Expert
In 1989, economists Martin Weber, Colin Camerer, and George Loewenstein published a phenomenon known as The Curse Of Knowledge. The short version is we assume others know just as much about a topic as us, in fact, because social media only shows us someone else’s highlight reel, you probably think that everyone else knows way more than us.
If you don’t think you’re an expert, you’re wrong.
You might not be the best app developer in the world, the best at croqueting, or the best cook, but because you obsessed over the thing for so long, you know at least 20% more about it than the average person. That 20% is all you need to start a business or stand out among the rest of the candidates for your dream job.
To you, the knowledge and skills you gathered might seem like second nature, but to a beginner, you seem like Einstein when he wrote the theory of relativity on a chalkboard for the first time.
Generalists Will Always Win
Unfortunately, now that AI is taking over the world, no one can afford to be a specialist. Becoming a generalist is the only way to become irreplaceable. Just like Charlie Bucket’s dad had to learn to fix the robot that took his job screwing caps on tubes at the toothpaste factory, you have to learn how to combine all of your skills to create an irreplaceable brand.
One of my best friends is one of the most qualified Google SEO experts in the world. Years ago, when we started working together, he raised my business’s Google views by 200%, got my shop to the number one spot in search, and taught me everything you could know about the Google algorithm. But, because he knows AI will replace specialists like him, he’s pivoted his business before it comes after his job.
He’s taken all of his unparalleled knowledge of SEO and combined it with his knowledge of web design, writing, and sales to create a new search engine that will change how businesses are discovered online. Because he’s decided to become a generalist, he will be a millionaire within two years, I would bet money on it. He wouldn’t be able to do that without years of skill stacking.
This is the same reason Apple dominates the market, while other brands are spending all of their time trying to be the best, Apple takes a different approach. They aren’t the best at anything, but they do so many things well enough that you know you’re getting a complete experience when you buy their product.
So, how do you become a generalist? Well, you already are, and with my 5-step process, you can start building your brand around what makes you unique.
- Decide Who You Want To Be
- Define Your Brand
- Create Content
- Become a teacher
- Monetize
Step 1: Who Are You?
Here’s what I want you to do.
Grab a random piece of paper and a pen and write down the following:
- Write down every interest you’ve ever had.
- Pick three that stand out. The ones that get you the most excited. The topics that you could talk about forever. For me, these interests are creativity, human development, and digital business. These are your pillar topics.
- Google basic questions that beginners might have, the ones with the most views are the ones you’re going to solve. Your business will be built on selling the solution.
Step 2: Define Your Brand
I’m not talking about building your landing page, making a logo, or anything like that. I’m talking about figuring out what you want to be known for.
The biggest creators all have a word or phrase that they own.
When you think of Justin Welsh, you think of solopreneur.
For Casey Neistat, the word would definitely be vlogging.
And when I see Kieran Drew on X, I think about high-impact writing.
Choose the word that you want to own, then link your top 3 pillar topics to that word or phrase, and you have the foundation for your brand.
My favorite example of this is Becky and Chris. If you’ve never heard of them, their channel is one of my favorites on Youtube. They use this strategy so well that it’s built their channel to 380,000 subscribers at the time of writing this.
Chris is a radiologist who spends his spare time flying helicopters and building drones. Becki is a graphic designer with over a decade of experience in branding and interior design. They make videos and short films about their interests and expertise, camera equipment, branding, and adventures. On paper, these are unrelated topics, and they are in some ways, but the way they’ve packaged their content is genius.
- They’ve combined all of these interests under one umbrella, “How to be a filmmaker and get paid for doing what you love.”
- They’re letting people see their authentic selves.
In a world full of AI-generated garbage, authenticity is the new digital currency.
Step 3: Create Content
You’ve heard that a million times. But that’s because it’s true.
For people who haven’t thought about starting a business before, creating content sounds terrifying. But in the digital age, if you want to turn your passion into a business, you have no choice.
And here’s a tip. People don’t want generic how-to content, they have AI for that. They want authenticity, if you can’t give them that your genius business idea will never be anything more than that list of interests you have sitting on your desk.
If I had to pick one kind of content that anyone can start making today, it’s writing. Whether it’s on X, Medium, Substack or LinkedIn, literally anyone can start writing with no prior knowledge or extra equipment. You could actually start writing on any of these platforms from your phone.
This next point is something I can’t stress enough. When it comes to making content, you have to be willing to be bad at it before you can make anything good. Joey Cofone once said something that changed the way I look at content forever.
I’ve been trying to make content for a long time, and with every attempt, I’ve stacked up skills that I can use to create better content in the future. I started with anime fan fiction when I was in middle school. Then I tried making Call of Duty commentators like BlameTruth or Hutch, then it was video game reviews, movie reviews, live-streaming, and content not too different from what I make now without the necessary experience to back it up.
Don’t be afraid to be bad in the beginning, practice will make you better.
Step 4: Become A Teacher
The best form of content is educational content. You can write about anything you want, you just need to make sure that it’s something that provides long-term value for your audience.
There are 3 rules to follow in your writing.
Rule 1: Your content should always be centered around a pain point.
This article is no exception. The pain point I’m trying to address is that everyone wants to make money doing what they love, but most people don’t know how to get started.
Rule 2: Always be authentic
I constantly think about the threat AI poses, especially to writers, but there’s a way to not be replaceable.
AI can’t do is tell your personal story or share your personal experience. AI can’t be you, and that’s your advantage.
Stories and metaphors are the best way to teach. Donald Miller covers this in his SB7 framework.
“A character has a problem and meets a guide who can give them a plan that calls them to action that helps them avoid failure and ends in success.”
Quality content always follows this framework. You are not the hero of the story, your reader is the hero and you are the guide.
Rule 3: To teach, you have to keep learning.
Teaching is just an extension of learning. You consume content daily. Stop consuming only for entertainment and start giving the valuable information you find to other people.
Step 5: Monetize
After you’ve nailed down your creative process and started building an audience, the next step is to learn how to monetize your content so you’re protected if your 9–5 job gets replaced by AI.
There’s brand deals, affiliate marketing, and selling your time or service for money, but in my experience, creating a product that can make passive income is the best option.
Specifically digital products, because unlike physical products that have to be maintained consistently, digital products are a passive form of income. The work is front loaded. Once you make the product and post it on your site, all you have to do is mention that product to your audience, and you’ve got a consistent stream of income.
Here are some ideas for digital products you can make today.
- Templates for Notion, Notability, or my new favorite second brain app for writing, Kortex. My Kortex creative ecosystem template will be available soon and walks you through the entire creative process for writing a newsletter, Youtube video, shorts, and over 20 pieces of content for X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads in less than 10 hours.
- Courses are another great example. I know, they have a bad reputation, but they are a great way to provide an immense amount of value. Create a step-by-step course using a platform like Kit or Stan teaching people a specific skill, charge a reasonable amount of money for it, and the right people from your audience will invest. I’m building one right now as a companion to my Kortex creative ecosystem template to teach people how to not only use the template but also figure out exactly what they should be making content about to build their personal brand.
I’ll be making plenty of content on how to monetize your creativity, but while I work on that, you should watch this video from Struthless, and maybe even read his book. He’s a master animator and artist who turned his passion into a force to be reckoned with in Australia, I’ve learned more from him than almost any other creator on the internet.