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The Wellness Creator Podcast is your go-to source for expert insights and actionable tips in the evolving world of health, wellness, and spiritual-based business. Join us as we explore proven online growth strategies, chat about current trends, and interview fellow wellness creators who’ve managed to turn passion into profit by helping people live better, healthier lives.
Jeni (00:00)
Hello and welcome to the Wellness Creator Podcast. In today's episode, we are going to actually be answering some questions that we received in YouTube comments about what to do if you are a multi-passionate entrepreneur or human. How do you sort of integrate that into your marketing or your business?
Sandy (00:18)
Yep. Super common question. So two people asked it. So he thought let's do a whole podcast on it. So let me just give you a sense of what they're asking. So one viewer said she just started a wellness page, but she also wants to publish something about first time mothers. And do I do that on the same sub stack or a different sub stack? And then a second viewer wrote having more than one sub stack is not advisable.
⁓ What if I have completely different topics? So we really want to, and that's, we've heard that over the years. So I think it's worth just sort of really diving into an understanding the motives behind it and giving you some clear ideas on how to handle it.
Jeni (00:59)
Yeah, and I'll also just provide the background context that we had another podcast that's sitting on hold right now called And She Spoke for years and years that was really about this idea of being multidimensional. So I think perhaps some of these questions are also grounded in the fact that people know that we see ourselves as multidimensional, which I think also gives us some credibility in answering this question, because we made a very distinct choice in how to handle this ourselves.
Sandy (01:28)
That is true. That is a really good point. We have a thousand different things. Like I think literally a thousand different topics that we're like, let's talk. No, it does not fit into this podcast. Let's talk. No, Jenny, it doesn't fit into this podcast. it is that like discipline and restraint that makes this successful because otherwise it's just a confusing pot of mess for the listeners. Right.
Jeni (01:34)
Yeah. Yeah.
I'm
I know,
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and I think as an entrepreneur, like we're kind of more like this than other people like you go and start a business because like You want to go do this new thing that doesn't exist or that no one else is doing quite like you and so like you're just always like We caught we talked about it We used to say like rose colored glasses like we just see the world with all this opportunity all the time So like my gosh I want to start a YouTube channel about X or Y or a sub stock about a or B like every day like I have
Sandy (02:00)
Yes, true.
Jeni (02:22)
probably five urges a week to go start another thing. Like for real, even having done this for what? Well past a decade. So just know that it's normal, like to feel this need to like start lots of different things or have lots of different interests that you see opportunity in. Yeah.
Sandy (02:41)
Right. So
let's just bring this to really simple terms and what are the questions? ⁓ like what's the core question that people who have this, like, I want to talk about this, this, and this, what's the core question they need to ask themselves?
Jeni (02:56)
Like, what is your goal? Like, what is the goal behind it? So you can have all those desires and interests, but like, how is that connected to a business or a goal for making money? And like, I think this is a different question. Some of us were raised in the early days of the blogosphere and everyone had personal brands and personal blogs and that was really normal. So.
Like when I was blogging circa 2010, 2011, 2012, it was really normal to like talk about anything like, oh, I'm pregnant, I'm gonna document my pregnancy or I'm into crafts or baking or health or running marathons or whatever it is. like, I'm a whole person and my brand online and my business and blogging was a business back then because it was ad revenue based. Like you could do that. Like that was a suitable business model.
We are now in an era where that's a lot harder. I think some social media influencers can get away with that, but like creator businesses, no, you have to have focus. So I think if you're like, I wanna do this and this and this, great. Like maybe you have some hobbies or a personal blog that's not a business, but if you want to make money strategically as a creator, then we've gotta like think through that process a little bit.
Sandy (04:11)
Yeah,
because we've said this from the very beginning that if you are, if you're, if you're saying, yes, I want a business, I want to make a profit of business. I want to make some money. You have to be clear to your audience and that clarity will result in revenue. If you just want to have a side. Substack where you, you know, talk about whatever's on your mind and you're just kind of, it's like some creative outlet for you, then go ahead and you know, you can have that.
freedom of expression and that flexibility to jump around topics. But if you go to make a course or a, you know, some kind of digital, offering the audience is going to be confused. They might find you interesting, you know, like, she talks about all these things. But if, if you ever change and try to sell something, I think then you're, you're in the category of confusion.
Jeni (05:01)
Yeah, and you just won't have enough people with that specific interest in the digital product you're creating to make enough money from it. Because people might be following you because they love your travel vlogs or they love your recipes or whatever. And then you make a product on one of those things. if you make a recipe book, for example, the travel vlogging audience is not probably not gonna buy your recipes, right? So you have to think about like, why is someone gonna read my blog post, watch my TikTok?
Sandy (05:08)
Right.
Jeni (05:30)
watch my YouTube video, like what is in it for them? And then you have to think like 10 steps down the line. Like eventually I'm gonna monetize this and make something to sell them.
Sandy (05:41)
Yeah.
And I think to... ⁓
There's so much when you start an idea like you were describing, like you do a hundred times a day, you're so excited and you want to like serve everybody and help everybody. But once you get going, if you've literally got two YouTube channels or two sub stacks, give it six months and you're like, my God, because you've got to be creating content for both of those things, obviously, but also like promoting and marketing it. And you've just doubled your work. You've literally doubled your responsibility to get this out into the world. And I think.
Like think from one of these questions, like they are definitely not thinking about that. ⁓ like the amount of work and it's easy to get excited, right? But, ⁓ but I will say to Jenny that we're talking for this advice is really for like early days. You know, if you're just starting how to think this through, I do think you have some more wiggle room when you have a bigger audience, like you're well known for this thing, or you are a thought leader in this topic. And then if you want to talk about your travel to Europe,
or document your whatever that's not related to your business, that's fine because people already know and understand you and you kind of got this sort of, you know, tangent that you've gone on and the audience will accept that and will not get confused by that.
Jeni (06:59)
Yes, yes, I think it depends. Like if it's somehow familiar or like relevant to them in some way. I do think and have seen people who have established audiences start to take on new content that maybe is more controversial or like really sort of out there compared to what they are typically known for. And you can actually lose your audience, like lose a sizable chunk by doing that. And we saw a lot of that over the last.
Sandy (07:15)
Yeah. Yes.
Yes.
Jeni (07:28)
five years. So
Sandy (07:29)
Yes.
Jeni (07:29)
I do think like that's just one little thing to put in the back of your mind is like, just cause you have the audience, like you can't, you just want to be strategic about the information that you share. And maybe it's worth it to you to be able to speak your truth and still like the cost of losing some fans, subscribers, customers, whatever is worth it viewers. And maybe it isn't. like just worth thinking, like thinking ahead. I think that that for me,
Sandy (07:55)
through.
Jeni (07:58)
the answer to this whole question boils down to just like thinking ahead and not making a decision like in the moment when you feel that like spark of inspiration. And I do also wanna say Sandy, like even a personal blog or a personal TikTok or what a personal YouTube channel, like a vlog, whatever, that's still work. and even if you're like, I'm not even gonna do this to monetize it. I just feel like I want to do it.
Sandy (08:20)
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Jeni (08:25)
Think about the opportunity cost of you not taking that time to invest in the thing that you do want or need to make money from, right? Like that's the other thing that we've seen a lot of in our many years in business is like everything has an opportunity cost. Even if you're like, ⁓ it's fine, it's just my side gig. Well, it's not, it's maybe not fine.
Sandy (08:35)
Yeah.
Right. Yeah. I think people forget like how much work it is to build anything new, you know, whether you're a course or starting a new Tik TOK account, whatever, or a new sub stack. Like it's so exciting. I get it. It's so exciting to start something new and you're just full of ideas, but then it kind of comes crashing down, you know, within weeks and months of just like how much work this is. So yeah, please think about that. So we have a little decision, decision filter that we created. So, um, let's say your goal is to create.
is to make money, then we want you to ⁓ niche down, right? 100 % no, that is not debatable. You niche down, you talk deeply about one topic. ⁓ If you want to build just a personal brand and money's not on the table, then again, you have more ⁓ ability to experiment and blend into a couple different topics.
If you really want to express these two areas, these two sides of yourself or these two interests, then consider two separate spaces. But as Jenny just said, really think about how much work this is going to be and is it sustainable for you in the long term? And think about creating a clear editorial calendar so you know what you're doing when.
Jeni (10:04)
Yeah, or if it's just like even, hmm, I really want to learn this one skill and I want to do it in public and I want to have a community around it. Maybe that's just something you're doing for six months and you're capping it at the end and saying, OK, for the next six months, I'm going to learn woodworking and I'm going to document that journey on Substack or YouTube or whatever. And like, that's the goal. And whatever I'm planning on it, ending in six months. And this is my like project that has this container.
Sandy (10:10)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yep, that's.
Jeni (10:30)
Like I think that that's another way to kind of give yourself
a playground without the stress of like, what the heck, this is gonna just go on and on forever and I'm committed to it. And it also sets that expectation for your audience, right? I think you have a chance to build a real community for a specific thing, for a specific period of time.
Sandy (10:48)
Yeah.
And the other thing is I know we're saying keep it separate, but there is maybe an option where you can blend. Like if you want to do like this lady that asked us about a sub stack on wellness, but then she wants to talk about first time mothers. Well, maybe that is a blend that works because they, do overlap first time mothers do need wellness, but it's that that is your, that's what we're talking about niche down. Like take your expertise and interest in a side topic.
And like the worst thing to do in my opinion is to write a wellness blog. Like nobody's, nobody's going to that. Right. But if you do wellness plus first time mothers, now you've got a very specific audience who will see themselves in your writing and your message. And then, you know, that becomes different. So I just want to distinguish that, like maybe you can blend and that's your like special sauce ⁓ versus having two separate things.
Jeni (11:22)
Yes, general content. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think that that's so true and especially in an age of AI where TragiBT or other AI tools are going to beat you at anything general. Like they're gonna be able to answer or create content around general topics better than any of us at this point, like they already can. So like your real gift is specificity and like sort of going down wormholes that are like super, super interesting to this tiny subset of people in the world.
Like that is where the money is, right? So when Sandy's saying niche down, when you're saying that Sandy, like I just want people to know like the further down the wormhole, the more specific you can be with your content. Like the more true excited fans you're gonna have for that content because like, thank goodness someone is finally making something about like hydrangeas growing in Alaska. Like thank goodness because like I've waited my whole life for this, right? Like.
Sandy (12:38)
Right.
Jeni (12:42)
That's what you wanna get is that like that's not a common thing they're gonna see from anyone else.
Sandy (12:47)
Correct. Yes.
Jeni (12:49)
what do you recommend for someone when they're just like really at the place where they're in this decision process? They're thinking about starting a new business and they've got to like pick a path.
Sandy (13:01)
Yeah. Yeah. Pick that path. Pick that lane. Stick to it. Build an audience with that topic. Get their trust. Set yourself up as a thought leader, grow your audience, and then you're going to have a way to make money. And then you can veer off that later once your audience is larger.
Jeni (13:18)
Yeah, and I want to say like we teach a specific tactic for how to do that called sleuthing that's available in the online courses and coaching products that we've created over the last 12 years. So for those of you who are listening to this, who are established clients and listeners of ours, you know how we teach you how to kind of hone in on that topic to begin with. ⁓ The other thing that we recommend is like
If you have an audience already, generally, like say you've been blogging about, I don't know, going through your yoga teacher training programs and your advanced training programs and you're sort of like a few years into your teaching career and you've built a bit of an audience on say Instagram, like you can then go to those people and, you know, post a survey or a poll, which is sort of building on sleuthing also to get feedback on like what kind of content they want more of.
or what direction you should take that work moving forward. Say you're evolving personally into the next phase of your business or your own work. You don't have to decide alone, I think, is the key to this. And maybe you shouldn't, in most cases for a business, decide alone in a vacuum. We really want this to be sort of a collaborative process. And then that, again, takes the pressure off of you to know all the answers.
Sandy (14:31)
Yeah.
Yeah. Collaborative with
your audience. And we've done this in live coaching programs that we've run in the past. And people who do this and go do have an audience or have a decent sized list. And they go and ask the answer back is always like way simpler, way easier than that teacher ever thought. They were just complicated and advanced. And it's like, I just need time with you. I just need like, I'd love an hour a week to be able to ask my questions. Like it always.
shocked that the, the, our clients doing those, this kind of work about, that's all they want. I can do that. You know, but if you do it by yourself, guaranteed you'll make it way more complicated than it needs to be.
Jeni (15:16)
you'll overcomplicate.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's just our human brains thinking that we need to make things harder than they are. Yeah.
Sandy (15:21)
Yes.
Yeah. Okay.
So just to wrap this up. don't overthink it, right? What, what is that first thing that you want to do? What's that first decision? Go with that. You can always change later.
Jeni (15:37)
Yeah, yep. And you also don't need to monetize everything that you care about. And in fact, like, if you're like, I am all in on this hobby, and I'm committed, and I really want to do this in public and build community around it, like, you also don't have to decide right now. Like, you can go spend a couple years building a platform around something that you're super passionate about, and then decide if you want to, like, take the time and the energy to monetize it into something or not. Like, I just think...
Sandy (15:41)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jeni (16:07)
Most people who are probably listening to this are really looking for ways to make money. And so we just like, don't do that if you need money right now. I guess like, you know, like be strategic with your time and your energy. like, that that's just the one thing I think so many people who we've coached and taught interacted with who run programs and teach on our platform over the years, like they, they don't
Want to give anything up and the truth is like the kind of hard truth is that when you are starting a new business that's like Raising a newborn like you kind of have to put some other things on the back burner while you get that business off the ground So like that's the you know, we're saying all these things like yeah go do this and don't monetize it But like the truth is if you're looking to make money, which I know the economy is a little wobbly right now like don't listen to that advice. Okay, like
Sandy (16:39)
Mm-hmm.
Jeni (17:07)
Go strategically pick, like find something that your audience needs and build content around that and then monetize that, like do that.
Sandy (17:17)
Yeah. And don't hold onto this perfection. Like this is what I've decided. This is what I'm doing. You can just soft launch it, you know, and see how it lands and just give yourself the grace to be like, okay, that wasn't quite right. Or I've got to make these tweaks. Like you can change it and you can turn it off if you need to. Right. So just one topic, launch something, test it, and then make new decisions from there.
Jeni (17:41)
Yeah, I mean, this is like, I feel like we're kind of a broken record on this. We've been saying this over and over, but I think part of it is that, you know, this is counterintuitive for a lot of people. So that's why we have to say it over and over and we have to say it to ourselves even. So like, this is just like, trust us. We've made a lot of money in business in the last decade plus, and we've helped other people make a lot of money in business.
Sandy (17:58)
Yeah.
Jeni (18:09)
We've seen what works and where people kind of fail and burn out. And like this tactic, just what we recommend because it's what works.
Sandy (18:18)
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So for any of the listeners out there, if you have a story where you've started to businesses on two different topics, or you've had different interests with two YouTubes, two YouTube channels, two YouTube channels or sub stacks, share it with us. We'd love to hear how it went, what decisions you had to make. ⁓ or maybe it worked. Maybe it worked fine. We'd love to hear that too. So drop us a note on YouTube, on, ⁓ Instagram, on TikTok. are everywhere. We'll see it. All right. Thanks.
Jeni (18:46)
All right, thanks everybody. We'll see
you next time. Thanks, Sandy.
Sandy (18:48)
Bye.