The easy part is over. Come up with an idea. Make a website. Post to social media. Tell your friends and family. Now what?
I am super stoked to be here, two and a half months in. I dove in head first and am letting inspiration drive me. I love television, movies and puns. And I love laughing with folks that I love and ultimately that’s what this is about. Sharing a laugh or a smile.
As much as this is meant to be a fun hobby, I do want to keep in mind that it is also intended to function as a business. Ahead of me is a myriad of ‘to do’ options:
optimize the website, build an automated email marketing campaign, invest in some sort of micro influencer marketing, start engaging more with other like minded brands and individuals to learn and grow a network… It’s a lot, especially for a hobby.
I’m butting up against my first real obstacle: My own self-doubt. It’s amazing how quickly my mind can go from “that’s a great idea!” to “what if I run out of ideas?” or “everybody else’s ideas are better”. But I’ve read the blogs and the listicles and this is the step where the author says “Be patient and consistent”.
I’m rationally aware that any success takes time to grow and build. It’s the navigating that is daunting. Like floating around on a vast ocean with nothing but a sextant, except I grew up in the nineties so… how the hell do you use a sextant?
I will be focusing first on learning how to engage in the online community via social media and optimizing my website next. Of course I’ll be coming up with new tee shirt ideas along the way but that’s the easy, fun part. Growing the business is the challenging bit; the unknown bit. I am grateful for all those blogs and listicles because I see how easy it is to get sucked into the doubt and I know it’s just one of the symptoms of growing a side hustle.
So thanks to all those who’ve gone before me. All the wagoners who braved dysentery, wolves, broken wagon wheels and still made it to the west. I salute you.