WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.460 Today, I wanna talk to you about intentionality. 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.835 And as I was trying to think of the perfect analogy for this, a 3 00:00:08.835 --> 00:00:12.514 few crossed my mind. Is it like playing 4 00:00:12.514 --> 00:00:16.050 a poker game where you have a limited amount of chips and you need to 5 00:00:16.050 --> 00:00:19.890 increase those chips and win more hands to make it to the end of the 6 00:00:19.890 --> 00:00:22.800 game? Kinda. 7 00:00:23.625 --> 00:00:27.145 Is it like going to a grocery store except you don't 8 00:00:27.145 --> 00:00:30.765 have a shopping list, and you're just wandering 9 00:00:30.825 --> 00:00:33.940 around hoping you get everything you need. 10 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:38.640 Yeah. That's pretty close. But I settled 11 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.215 on an old standby, getting in a car 12 00:00:42.435 --> 00:00:46.035 and driving someplace. Maybe you know the 13 00:00:46.035 --> 00:00:49.875 destination. Maybe you even have done the drive before and you think you know 14 00:00:49.875 --> 00:00:53.540 it. So you decide to not 15 00:00:53.540 --> 00:00:57.320 put on the GPS, and you end up wandering 16 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.805 around. That road that you thought you could take was closed. 17 00:01:01.344 --> 00:01:04.864 There's construction in another place. You took a wrong 18 00:01:04.864 --> 00:01:08.710 turn, and you end up wasting time 19 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:12.645 and resources, gas and wear and tear on the car, 20 00:01:13.365 --> 00:01:17.125 when you could have had a clear plan? You could have 21 00:01:17.125 --> 00:01:20.884 turned on the GPS. You could have known exactly where you 22 00:01:20.884 --> 00:01:24.650 were going. You could have known the traffic that you 23 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:28.250 would have avoided. And, yes, even 24 00:01:28.250 --> 00:01:31.995 with the GPS, you may not make it to your destination when you think you 25 00:01:31.995 --> 00:01:35.135 will. Maybe you get a flat tire. 26 00:01:35.995 --> 00:01:39.710 Maybe bad weather means you have to turn around. Or the 27 00:01:39.710 --> 00:01:42.910 first leg of the journey took a lot longer and you need to stop at 28 00:01:42.910 --> 00:01:46.565 a motel overnight. But the GPS gives 29 00:01:46.565 --> 00:01:50.165 you the best chance of making it to your destination as 30 00:01:50.165 --> 00:01:53.945 efficiently as possible. It gives you that intentionality. 31 00:01:55.160 --> 00:01:58.140 And that's what I wanna talk to you about today. 32 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.920 See, my yearly theme is the year of control, and one of 33 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.255 those tenants of control 34 00:02:06.915 --> 00:02:10.675 is control over my schedule, which means I need to 35 00:02:10.675 --> 00:02:13.175 make sure I'm spending my time right. 36 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.520 And I've been thinking about how I can spend 37 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.240 my time right, how I can be more intentional. And I think it really comes 38 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:24.584 down to a few things. I'm time tracking more. 39 00:02:25.205 --> 00:02:28.745 I have decided what my high leverage tasks are. 40 00:02:29.605 --> 00:02:33.160 I'm gonna talk about the difference between goals and values. That's gonna be a little 41 00:02:33.160 --> 00:02:37.000 bit of in a mousse bush for next week's episode with Tanya Alvarez. I 42 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.555 thought it was really good, and I wanna give you a little preview. And then 43 00:02:40.555 --> 00:02:44.394 I'm gonna talk about how all of these things led 44 00:02:44.394 --> 00:02:48.110 me to the decision to kill my membership and why 45 00:02:48.110 --> 00:02:51.570 that's actually the best thing right now for my business. 46 00:02:53.390 --> 00:02:57.155 Then in the pro show, I'm going to answer the question, 47 00:02:57.455 --> 00:03:00.815 why does this even exist if I'm killing my 48 00:03:00.815 --> 00:03:03.875 membership? And I'll give you some more concrete 49 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:08.110 data on what I've learned time tracking. So I really 50 00:03:08.110 --> 00:03:11.709 hope you enjoy this episode. My goal is to grow my 51 00:03:11.709 --> 00:03:15.465 business this year, and I need to be more intentional 52 00:03:15.525 --> 00:03:19.125 if I'm gonna hit the goals I want. Stick around and 53 00:03:19.125 --> 00:03:22.584 listen. I'd love to hear your feedback. 54 00:03:23.190 --> 00:03:27.030 You can get all of the show notes for this episode over at 55 00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:30.870 how I built dot it slash 408. But for now, let's get to 56 00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:33.215 the intro and then the episode. 57 00:03:35.595 --> 00:03:39.295 Hey everybody and welcome to How I Built It, the podcast 58 00:03:39.355 --> 00:03:43.069 that helps busy solopreneurs and creators grow their 59 00:03:43.069 --> 00:03:46.829 business without spending too much time on it. I'm 60 00:03:46.829 --> 00:03:50.485 your host, Joe Casaubona, and each week, I bring you 61 00:03:50.485 --> 00:03:54.245 interviews and case studies on how to build a better business through 62 00:03:54.245 --> 00:03:57.450 smarter processes, time management, and effective 63 00:03:57.670 --> 00:04:01.350 content creation. It's like getting free coaching calls 64 00:04:01.350 --> 00:04:05.005 from successful solopreneurs. By the end of each 65 00:04:05.005 --> 00:04:08.705 episode, you'll have 1 to 3 takeaways you can implement 66 00:04:08.845 --> 00:04:12.540 today to stop spending time in your business and 67 00:04:12.540 --> 00:04:16.320 more time on your business or with your friends, 68 00:04:16.380 --> 00:04:19.680 your family, reading, or however you choose 69 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:21.760 to spend your free time. 70 00:04:24.335 --> 00:04:27.935 Alright. Welcome welcome everybody. Thanks so much for being 71 00:04:27.935 --> 00:04:31.715 here. I'm excited to talk about this because it's 72 00:04:32.210 --> 00:04:35.830 not something I have spent a lot of time on 73 00:04:36.530 --> 00:04:40.370 which is a little wild to think about considering I've 74 00:04:40.370 --> 00:04:44.135 been in business in some way, shape, or form 75 00:04:44.275 --> 00:04:47.495 for 24 years. 76 00:04:48.810 --> 00:04:52.650 And, yeah, I know. I was in high school, and sometimes I 77 00:04:52.650 --> 00:04:56.170 was gainfully employed. I was in college and grad 78 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.765 school, and it was all usually pretty low 79 00:04:59.765 --> 00:05:03.465 stakes. I had a pretty rude awakening 80 00:05:04.460 --> 00:05:08.000 at the end of the pandemic and through maybe mid last year 81 00:05:09.020 --> 00:05:12.715 where I thought that my business 82 00:05:12.935 --> 00:05:16.235 skills, like the things that helped me in web design, were 83 00:05:16.295 --> 00:05:19.595 immutable, we'll say. And I could just 84 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:22.940 change my niche from WordPress developer 85 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.960 to podcaster, and I'd have no issues, 86 00:05:27.960 --> 00:05:30.845 which is wild. Right? There's, 87 00:05:31.784 --> 00:05:35.544 you know, there's a reason that certain authors can only write certain books 88 00:05:35.544 --> 00:05:39.220 or certain actors can only be in certain 89 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:42.740 types of movies. But that's what I attempted to do, 90 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:46.365 and it bit me pretty 91 00:05:46.365 --> 00:05:50.125 hard in the butt. Now I bounced back last 92 00:05:50.125 --> 00:05:53.900 year, and I'm happy to say I didn't fold my business, and I'm 93 00:05:53.900 --> 00:05:56.320 still happily self employed as a solopreneur. 94 00:05:57.580 --> 00:06:01.040 But I didn't wanna make those same mistakes going into 2024. 95 00:06:02.205 --> 00:06:04.785 And so at the top of the show, I talked all about intentionality. 96 00:06:06.125 --> 00:06:09.825 And there's a few ways that I'm being more intentional 97 00:06:11.390 --> 00:06:15.150 starting with time tracking. I've always danced around the 98 00:06:15.150 --> 00:06:18.990 idea of time tracking. I like the idea of it, but 99 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:21.875 I never kind of built in the proper 100 00:06:22.815 --> 00:06:26.175 habits to do it. And I decided 101 00:06:26.175 --> 00:06:29.800 to really make a concerted effort starting in 102 00:06:29.940 --> 00:06:33.560 November, December. So I configured 103 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:37.505 my Stream Deck to have all the right buttons. I have a bunch 104 00:06:37.505 --> 00:06:41.125 of time tracking widgets on my various 105 00:06:41.185 --> 00:06:44.790 devices, so it's very hard for me to 106 00:06:44.790 --> 00:06:48.330 forget to time track. I'm using 107 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:52.310 Timery, which is an iOS app and then, Mac app that sits 108 00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:55.975 on top of Toggle because Toggle's 109 00:06:55.975 --> 00:06:59.335 apps are not very good, and Timerys apps have 110 00:06:59.335 --> 00:07:02.695 shortcuts. And so for example, when I enable 111 00:07:02.695 --> 00:07:06.540 certain focus modes, I can start certain timers. 112 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:11.000 Or when I open Ecamm Live, I start 113 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.745 the recording timer. When I open Logic Pro, I 114 00:07:14.745 --> 00:07:17.005 start the podcast production 115 00:07:18.185 --> 00:07:22.025 timer. All these things that I could do thanks to shortcuts and 116 00:07:22.025 --> 00:07:25.320 and Timery. And it's been really eye opening 117 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.380 because I know roughly how much I wanna make per 118 00:07:29.380 --> 00:07:33.135 hour. And so if I'm time 119 00:07:33.135 --> 00:07:36.915 tracking, not even aggressively time tracking, just kind of 120 00:07:37.295 --> 00:07:40.435 loosely tracking the amount of time I spend on stuff, 121 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.980 I can determine where I'm spending 122 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.835 my time appropriately. And 123 00:07:48.835 --> 00:07:52.515 so one big question again, I'll dive deep into these reports in in the 124 00:07:52.515 --> 00:07:55.955 pro show. But one big question for me 125 00:07:55.955 --> 00:07:59.090 was, are LinkedIn Learning courses 126 00:07:59.710 --> 00:08:03.490 worth it strictly from a time 127 00:08:05.295 --> 00:08:08.195 to upfront dollar investment. 128 00:08:08.655 --> 00:08:11.155 Right? And for those who don't know, 129 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.260 LinkedIn Learning was lynda.com. 130 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.960 Lynda.com used to be a book publisher. And so all of 131 00:08:19.960 --> 00:08:22.735 their course instructor 132 00:08:23.675 --> 00:08:26.895 payment plans, I guess, their compensation 133 00:08:27.035 --> 00:08:30.510 packages are based on that where you get a certain amount 134 00:08:30.510 --> 00:08:34.270 upfront that's called an advance, and then you get royalties after 135 00:08:34.270 --> 00:08:37.674 that advance is paid off. And so if you're 136 00:08:37.674 --> 00:08:41.454 lucky, the course that you put out will 137 00:08:41.755 --> 00:08:45.560 pay back the advance, and then you'll start making royalties. 138 00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:49.320 And you can choose to get a lower 139 00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:53.225 advance because that means that you'll start generating 140 00:08:53.225 --> 00:08:57.065 royalties faster. I found that for the 141 00:08:57.065 --> 00:09:00.365 courses I was developing, my preference is a higher upfront 142 00:09:02.170 --> 00:09:05.689 advance. And so I know how much my advance 143 00:09:05.689 --> 00:09:08.910 is and time tracking the last two courses, 144 00:09:09.425 --> 00:09:13.105 I determined that, yes, if if I just get the advance, 145 00:09:13.105 --> 00:09:16.485 it's actually worth my time. And so the royalties 146 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:21.120 are gravy. They're just extra. Now I will say that most of my 147 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.800 courses aren't generating the royalties I 148 00:09:24.800 --> 00:09:28.014 hope they would. I had a couple of courses when I first started that were 149 00:09:28.014 --> 00:09:31.635 very popular that made up for the lion's share of my royalties. 150 00:09:32.495 --> 00:09:36.300 And so, you know, I've made some decisions around that to 151 00:09:36.300 --> 00:09:39.520 not do any LinkedIn Learning courses for the rest of the year 152 00:09:40.140 --> 00:09:43.845 unless the next couple of courses I release, right, the ones that 153 00:09:43.845 --> 00:09:46.505 I just wrapped on, unless they really start generating royalties, 154 00:09:47.685 --> 00:09:51.225 it's it's not worth it from me from, like, a mental health 155 00:09:51.365 --> 00:09:54.800 or kind of focus point of view, if that makes 156 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:58.480 sense. Like, yes, the LinkedIn Learning courses, if 157 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.015 we're strictly doing, like, hourly rate, how much it takes me how much time it 158 00:10:02.015 --> 00:10:05.714 takes me to make the course against my hourly rate, 159 00:10:06.015 --> 00:10:09.670 yes. Yes. It makes sense. But from the intentionality 160 00:10:09.890 --> 00:10:13.490 point of view, I'm spending time on the LinkedIn Learning courses that 161 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:16.790 aren't necessarily podcasting based. 162 00:10:17.665 --> 00:10:21.505 And so that's taking away from other podcasting based things I could 163 00:10:21.505 --> 00:10:25.185 do. So I've I made the decision to not do 164 00:10:25.185 --> 00:10:28.839 those anymore. But it was that was one 165 00:10:28.839 --> 00:10:32.540 exercise that was really eye opening for me. I I thought for sure 166 00:10:33.319 --> 00:10:36.985 it definitely wasn't worth it for me to do the courses. And it 167 00:10:36.985 --> 00:10:40.585 turns out, if I'm just looking at how many 168 00:10:40.585 --> 00:10:44.105 hours I'm spending versus how much I'm getting paid, then, yes, it it definitely is 169 00:10:44.105 --> 00:10:47.040 worth it. But from other aspects, it's not necessarily. 170 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:52.220 So I won't, again, I won't dive into all of this here. I'll I'll save 171 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:56.035 that for the pro show. But tracking everything 172 00:10:56.095 --> 00:10:59.714 from my contract 173 00:10:59.855 --> 00:11:03.630 work to producing this show and my other 174 00:11:03.630 --> 00:11:07.389 show to writing and then the 175 00:11:07.389 --> 00:11:10.935 kind of management side of the house, I'm 176 00:11:10.935 --> 00:11:14.075 learning a lot about how how I'm spending my time, 177 00:11:14.855 --> 00:11:18.320 how much time I'm spending on things. And it's it's 178 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.000 pretty clear, like, when I have an unproductive day and 179 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.675 why I had an unproductive day. And so using 180 00:11:25.895 --> 00:11:29.735 this data, I can take control 181 00:11:29.735 --> 00:11:33.255 of my schedule and structure my days in a 182 00:11:33.255 --> 00:11:37.100 way that assists me in being as productive as 183 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:40.780 possible for the amount of time that I 184 00:11:40.780 --> 00:11:44.584 want to be productive. And this is even more important as we 185 00:11:44.584 --> 00:11:47.704 go into the summer because my wife and I made the decision not to send 186 00:11:47.704 --> 00:11:51.519 our kids to summer camp because summer 187 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:55.060 camp is getting pro almost prohibitively 188 00:11:55.680 --> 00:11:59.495 expensive, and we both can have kind 189 00:11:59.495 --> 00:12:03.175 of flexible schedules. Right? She's she's a nurse, and she 190 00:12:03.175 --> 00:12:06.889 makes her schedule. And so she's maybe picking up an a couple of extra 191 00:12:06.889 --> 00:12:10.589 weekend days, and I'm I've decided I'm not gonna work a full week, 192 00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:15.535 by day. And we are getting an assist from family. 193 00:12:16.715 --> 00:12:20.475 But I know I'm gonna have fewer hours 194 00:12:20.475 --> 00:12:23.990 over the summer to work, and 195 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:27.829 that intentionality is going to be really important to me. 196 00:12:28.690 --> 00:12:32.290 Because I know if I know I only have, let's say, 197 00:12:32.290 --> 00:12:35.995 24 or 30 hours I guess 30 is almost a full 198 00:12:35.995 --> 00:12:39.134 work week anyway, but let's say I have 26 hours. 199 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:44.620 I know the I will know by that point the best way for 200 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:48.465 me to spend that time. And so that's the 201 00:12:48.465 --> 00:12:50.565 first part of taking control of my schedule. 202 00:12:52.545 --> 00:12:56.330 The other part of that is 203 00:12:56.330 --> 00:12:59.710 determining what my high leverage tasks are. 204 00:13:00.010 --> 00:13:02.990 And so I will talk about that in a minute. 205 00:13:03.555 --> 00:13:07.235 First, I do want to take a break to hear 206 00:13:07.235 --> 00:13:08.855 from our sponsors. 207 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.520 Okay. And we're back. So 208 00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:19.905 what are high leverage tasks? I'm sure, if 209 00:13:19.905 --> 00:13:23.745 you've listened to I mean, if you've listened to this show, you'll know the 210 00:13:23.745 --> 00:13:26.725 high leverage tasks. There's also the idea of the product ladder, 211 00:13:27.790 --> 00:13:31.569 where there are certain things you do that are definitely worth your time 212 00:13:32.029 --> 00:13:35.675 from, again, from an info, from an income or 213 00:13:35.675 --> 00:13:39.355 mental health point of view. Right? And so, like I said, I could 214 00:13:39.355 --> 00:13:43.195 keep doing LinkedIn Learning courses, and I know that, you know, it takes me about 215 00:13:43.195 --> 00:13:46.370 20 to 24 hours to produce a LinkedIn Learning course 216 00:13:46.830 --> 00:13:50.670 based on the hourly rate. I know that the royalty they pay me is 217 00:13:50.670 --> 00:13:54.425 worth it for just those costs. But I 218 00:13:54.425 --> 00:13:58.025 also know that there's a lot of stuff around 219 00:13:58.025 --> 00:14:01.430 that which makes the 220 00:14:01.430 --> 00:14:05.269 actual project not worth it for me. So when I'm doing a LinkedIn 221 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:08.790 Learning course, if I'm trying to get it done in 24 in in 222 00:14:08.790 --> 00:14:12.615 20 hours, that's basically all I'm doing for 223 00:14:13.075 --> 00:14:16.915 10 days to 14 days. Because I'm writing 224 00:14:16.915 --> 00:14:20.220 scripts, I'm taking breaks, I'm thinking through stuff. 225 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:24.760 And so the actual work is not is not the only, like, brain like, 226 00:14:24.760 --> 00:14:28.535 you know, if I track 20 hours, I'm spending more 227 00:14:28.535 --> 00:14:32.315 than 20 hours in in brainpower. Right? And then I 228 00:14:33.095 --> 00:14:36.750 switch my computer to the recording setup that works 229 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:40.190 best for LinkedIn. I have to set up LinkedIn's recording 230 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:43.730 stuff. And so my computer is basically unusable 231 00:14:43.790 --> 00:14:47.525 for 1 or 2 days because that's all I'm focusing 232 00:14:47.585 --> 00:14:50.785 on. And then after I ship the course, you know, I have, like, that work 233 00:14:50.785 --> 00:14:54.545 hangover. Right? And I'm not I'm not picking on LinkedIn for any reason except for 234 00:14:54.545 --> 00:14:58.350 it's a it's a big task. Like, it's a big project. I just 235 00:14:58.350 --> 00:15:02.030 finished one. But this could be any project that takes a lot of your 236 00:15:02.030 --> 00:15:05.834 time. Right? And so anyway, I have that work 237 00:15:05.834 --> 00:15:09.595 hangover, which basically kills a day 238 00:15:09.595 --> 00:15:13.269 or 2 for me while I try to switch back 239 00:15:13.269 --> 00:15:16.629 into, like, a completely different context that's not LinkedIn Learning 240 00:15:16.629 --> 00:15:20.415 instructor. And so and that's really important, by 241 00:15:20.415 --> 00:15:24.255 the way. Like, I'm glad I do that because when I'm in that 242 00:15:24.255 --> 00:15:27.610 mindset, it makes it helps me deliver the best course 243 00:15:27.610 --> 00:15:31.209 possible, the best raw video for the 244 00:15:31.209 --> 00:15:34.670 editors to make their lives easier and my producer's life easier. 245 00:15:35.265 --> 00:15:38.065 And, you know, if it takes me a day or 2 to get out of 246 00:15:38.065 --> 00:15:41.825 that mindset, then then so be it. Right? Because I I wanna produce the 247 00:15:41.825 --> 00:15:45.519 best course possible. But that's not necessarily 248 00:15:45.579 --> 00:15:49.180 high leverage work. Right? Just like, oh, I can do, like, one off 249 00:15:49.180 --> 00:15:52.800 coaching calls or free discovery calls. Free discovery calls is another thing 250 00:15:53.735 --> 00:15:56.315 that I'm eliminating 251 00:15:59.095 --> 00:16:02.830 because none of the free discovery calls that I did last year led 252 00:16:02.830 --> 00:16:06.670 to any appreciable work. And it led to more 253 00:16:06.670 --> 00:16:09.085 wasted time where people would book a free discovery call, 254 00:16:17.770 --> 00:16:21.450 share that in a future episode. But 255 00:16:21.450 --> 00:16:23.710 that's not high leverage work. Just like, 256 00:16:25.755 --> 00:16:29.355 you know, doing workshops is not high 257 00:16:29.355 --> 00:16:33.195 leverage work for me. Doing, like, one 258 00:16:33.195 --> 00:16:36.860 off coaching calls may not necessarily be 259 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:40.460 high leverage work for me. Live streams may not be high 260 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.360 leverage work for me. So 261 00:16:44.805 --> 00:16:48.645 I wrote down everything I do, everything I offer. I 262 00:16:48.645 --> 00:16:51.785 created my product ladder. Right? The product ladder is 263 00:16:52.880 --> 00:16:56.320 membership that starts at $7 a month. I have 264 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.160 automation templates on sale for $39. I can sell 265 00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:03.965 workshops at $99, miscellaneous courses for anywhere from 266 00:17:03.965 --> 00:17:07.405 47 to, like, $200. I have the 267 00:17:07.405 --> 00:17:11.080 playbook for $397, one off 268 00:17:11.080 --> 00:17:14.680 coaching calls, planning sessions, done for 269 00:17:14.840 --> 00:17:18.484 my done for you podcast launch service, and 270 00:17:18.865 --> 00:17:22.484 my coaching program, which is, like, $2,000 271 00:17:22.865 --> 00:17:26.244 a month. I looked at all of these things, 272 00:17:26.530 --> 00:17:30.290 and I determined what what is my high leverage work? What is 273 00:17:30.290 --> 00:17:34.130 the work that gives me the best bang for my 274 00:17:34.130 --> 00:17:37.975 buck, right, or the best bang for my time, really. 275 00:17:39.955 --> 00:17:43.555 And it's the coaching, and it's the done for 276 00:17:43.555 --> 00:17:47.019 you launch, which roughly aligns to a certain amount of 277 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:50.779 coaching. Like, it's basically the same hourly rate. The planning sessions 278 00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:54.475 and the coaching calls, they're good as well. 279 00:17:54.475 --> 00:17:58.315 They're they're good lead ins to the bigger program. So I'm gonna keep 280 00:17:58.315 --> 00:18:01.810 those. But those are the high leverage things. The playbook is out 281 00:18:01.810 --> 00:18:05.650 there, and it's for sale. But 282 00:18:05.650 --> 00:18:08.870 it's not something that has been worth me actively 283 00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:12.825 updating. And it hasn't been something that 284 00:18:13.684 --> 00:18:16.745 is worth me marketing at this point. 285 00:18:17.525 --> 00:18:20.909 Same thing with the miscellaneous courses. I was 286 00:18:21.129 --> 00:18:24.669 kinda trying to do, like, a land grab and and go for, like, the cheaper, 287 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:28.970 someone who wasn't ready to spend, like, $500 with me, but maybe they spend $50 288 00:18:28.970 --> 00:18:32.765 with me. And I realized that those people are not ready for the high leverage 289 00:18:32.765 --> 00:18:36.545 work. Right? And so all of this 290 00:18:36.605 --> 00:18:40.340 led me to determine that starting 291 00:18:40.340 --> 00:18:44.039 in March, right, actually, this month as this episode comes out, 292 00:18:44.419 --> 00:18:48.225 I'm really gonna focus on on promoting my coaching program and my done for 293 00:18:48.225 --> 00:18:51.825 you service because that's the high leverage work, which 294 00:18:51.825 --> 00:18:54.965 means I'm killing my membership. 295 00:18:55.710 --> 00:18:59.470 And by the time this episode comes out, my members who were part 296 00:18:59.470 --> 00:19:03.285 of, the the membership will know this. 297 00:19:03.845 --> 00:19:07.305 A couple of them have churned out already, reasonably so, 298 00:19:08.165 --> 00:19:11.800 because it hasn't been a focus of mine. And so 299 00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:15.400 if you don't know, the way my membership worked was this. It was 300 00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:19.620 the pro version of the show, right, ad free extended episodes and bonus 301 00:19:19.620 --> 00:19:22.605 episodes of this show, a weekly newsletter, 302 00:19:23.945 --> 00:19:27.645 any live streams. And at the higher level, 303 00:19:28.490 --> 00:19:30.910 there would be workshops. Right? 304 00:19:33.050 --> 00:19:36.065 But I spent 305 00:19:36.845 --> 00:19:40.525 too much time writing 306 00:19:40.525 --> 00:19:42.545 those extra newsletters. 307 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.220 And producing the show, yes, but that's different, and I'll explain that in a second, 308 00:19:49.080 --> 00:19:52.875 and figuring out what the workshop's gonna be. And where like, what's 309 00:19:52.875 --> 00:19:55.934 the platform I'm going to sell my membership on? 310 00:19:56.715 --> 00:20:00.289 Do I wanna use WordPress? Maybe I should use Substack or I sell over 311 00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:03.809 here. I also sell in Thrivecart. Like, that was 312 00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:07.029 taking up so much unnecessary mental energy. 313 00:20:07.625 --> 00:20:11.165 Right? And I talked about in a in a previous episode my be everywhere strategy. 314 00:20:11.785 --> 00:20:15.580 That was an incredible failure. Like, I'm I'm 315 00:20:16.120 --> 00:20:19.880 barely 2 months into it, and I can already tell you, like, it was a 316 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.560 terrible idea. And the reason it was a terrible idea is because I was 317 00:20:23.560 --> 00:20:27.335 trying to copy somebody who's who is a creator, who's 318 00:20:27.335 --> 00:20:31.095 much, much bigger than me. Right? It's, I 319 00:20:31.095 --> 00:20:34.470 would never try to run track because I like Usain Bolt. 320 00:20:35.090 --> 00:20:38.630 Right? I would never try to swim because I like Michael Phelps. 321 00:20:39.795 --> 00:20:43.635 I'll never try to sing because I like Taylor Swift. Those 322 00:20:43.635 --> 00:20:46.855 things are not in my skill set, 323 00:20:47.475 --> 00:20:50.870 and they're not. I'm not built for those things. 324 00:20:51.730 --> 00:20:55.490 So the fact that I was trying to copy CGP Grey just 325 00:20:55.490 --> 00:20:58.495 didn't make any sense. Right? He has, like, a team, and it's worth it for 326 00:20:58.495 --> 00:21:02.335 him to be everywhere and diversify, because 327 00:21:02.335 --> 00:21:05.550 his income, like, really relied on YouTube, and he didn't like that. 328 00:21:06.030 --> 00:21:09.790 That doesn't make sense for me. Right? And I learned that. And, 329 00:21:09.790 --> 00:21:12.770 like, my my conversation with Natalie Luthier 330 00:21:13.815 --> 00:21:17.655 helped that as well. Right? And at I I think I gave the impression 331 00:21:17.655 --> 00:21:20.055 at the end of that conversation that I was gonna go all in on Substack 332 00:21:20.055 --> 00:21:23.770 and what I really came away with. Thanks to that conversation and 333 00:21:23.770 --> 00:21:27.610 the high leverage work and my Electric City Mastermind, which is 334 00:21:27.610 --> 00:21:30.650 a bunch of friends of mine. Shout out to them. We meet every couple of 335 00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:34.275 weeks. All of that was like, hey, 336 00:21:34.275 --> 00:21:37.955 Joe. You're spending too much time on this membership, and it's not 337 00:21:37.955 --> 00:21:41.750 paying dividends for you. And it probably 338 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:45.650 won't. Like, I read an article that I'd like to do a a longer 339 00:21:45.650 --> 00:21:49.355 piece on that a small 340 00:21:49.414 --> 00:21:52.635 dollar substack membership 341 00:21:53.654 --> 00:21:57.414 with a massive audience, those are all the top earning 342 00:21:57.414 --> 00:22:01.000 substacks. The low like, the 343 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.760 small audience high dollar memberships don't do well on 344 00:22:04.760 --> 00:22:08.205 Substack. And I'm not saying there's not space for those. I'm 345 00:22:08.205 --> 00:22:11.505 exploring that this year as well. I I mentioned that in podcast 346 00:22:11.565 --> 00:22:13.345 Advent. But 347 00:22:15.620 --> 00:22:19.220 the way I positioned it was not the 348 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:22.760 right way to position it. I think Alexian Flippo from PodMatch 349 00:22:23.935 --> 00:22:26.595 is positioning a high dollar membership 350 00:22:27.855 --> 00:22:31.535 the right way. They're different things. Right? Molly Patterson, a 351 00:22:31.535 --> 00:22:34.850 couple weeks ago, talked about this. Right? 352 00:22:35.230 --> 00:22:38.990 You're you're either doing, a one to one business or a one to 353 00:22:38.990 --> 00:22:42.645 one or a one to many business, and those are 354 00:22:42.645 --> 00:22:46.425 different things. And you can't run them the same way. 355 00:22:47.845 --> 00:22:51.620 So all of that is to say that, yeah, I'm I'm killing the 356 00:22:51.620 --> 00:22:55.380 membership. Everything except for the pro version of this 357 00:22:55.380 --> 00:22:58.360 show. And the the reason for that, 358 00:22:59.685 --> 00:23:01.925 I guess I said I would talk about this in the pro show, but it 359 00:23:01.925 --> 00:23:05.765 feels very relevant right now. So, the reason for that is 360 00:23:05.765 --> 00:23:09.420 that it's low effort still. Right? I 361 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:13.100 talk with a guest for a little bit of extra time, and 362 00:23:13.100 --> 00:23:16.535 then everything else is done in editing, which my editor 363 00:23:16.535 --> 00:23:20.235 does. So I don't, 364 00:23:21.335 --> 00:23:25.060 you know, I don't think that that's a very low effort for me, 365 00:23:26.020 --> 00:23:29.460 and it does offer a an additional way for people to support this 366 00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:33.000 show. So it's not fully reliant on sponsorship 367 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:36.905 money. So, you know, again, 368 00:23:36.905 --> 00:23:39.805 I've reached out to the members. Anybody who's on that 369 00:23:40.425 --> 00:23:43.900 anybody who is on, like, the the $10 a month plan plan who is getting 370 00:23:43.900 --> 00:23:46.620 all the extras, like, I just dropped them down a few bucks to the $7 371 00:23:46.620 --> 00:23:50.275 a month plan for just this show. So 372 00:23:50.355 --> 00:23:53.815 they'll continue to get this show. Anybody at the $25 a month level, 373 00:23:54.355 --> 00:23:58.035 I basically told them what was happening. I dropped them to $7 a 374 00:23:58.035 --> 00:24:01.760 month and then I made it 375 00:24:01.760 --> 00:24:05.280 right however they felt fit, like either a refund or I gave them access to 376 00:24:05.280 --> 00:24:07.140 a different thing. And so 377 00:24:09.375 --> 00:24:13.215 this was not, an easy decision because I really wanna make my membership work, but 378 00:24:13.215 --> 00:24:16.915 I also know that moving into March, 379 00:24:17.530 --> 00:24:21.370 I can better focus on my goals. Right? And I 380 00:24:21.370 --> 00:24:25.210 think I I tease this in the reverse way, because I just talked 381 00:24:25.210 --> 00:24:29.035 about killing the membership. But I had a great conversation with Tanya 382 00:24:29.035 --> 00:24:32.555 Alvarez that's coming out next week as you hear this, so it'll be episode 383 00:24:32.555 --> 00:24:36.309 409, where she she tells us the difference 384 00:24:36.309 --> 00:24:39.690 between goals and values. And, 385 00:24:40.230 --> 00:24:43.510 you know, I always thought one of my goals was spend more time with my 386 00:24:43.510 --> 00:24:47.285 family, But that's really a value. I value 387 00:24:47.345 --> 00:24:50.005 time with my family, and my goals need 388 00:24:50.825 --> 00:24:53.605 to adhere to those values. 389 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.000 And doing the membership and the LinkedIn learning 390 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.600 courses and and kind of that hustle of, like, anything that'll get me to a 391 00:25:01.600 --> 00:25:05.355 certain monthly amount, That's what 392 00:25:05.355 --> 00:25:09.115 I was doing, and that didn't adhere to the values because there were times when 393 00:25:09.115 --> 00:25:11.995 I had to work on a Saturday to get the LinkedIn learning course just off 394 00:25:11.995 --> 00:25:15.650 my plate. Or there were times where I had 395 00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:18.530 some downtime, and I fell into a rabbit hole of, like, oh, should I use 396 00:25:18.530 --> 00:25:22.205 this platform for the membership? What am I possibly gonna talk about? And that 397 00:25:22.265 --> 00:25:24.685 stole time away from my family. 398 00:25:25.865 --> 00:25:29.545 And so bringing all of this together, the time 399 00:25:29.545 --> 00:25:33.140 tracking, what I know is my high leverage work, 400 00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:37.520 thinking about my goals and values, and killing 401 00:25:37.520 --> 00:25:40.445 my membership and deciding not to do the LinkedIn learning courses anymore, 402 00:25:41.385 --> 00:25:44.905 I have made so much space in my 403 00:25:44.905 --> 00:25:48.620 month to focus on bringing in more coaching 404 00:25:48.620 --> 00:25:52.300 clients and doing more done for you work. And it's already paying 405 00:25:52.300 --> 00:25:55.660 off. I'm still doing the rss.com evangelist stuff. Like, that 406 00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:59.065 is good high leverage work for me, 407 00:25:59.065 --> 00:26:02.905 and it keeps me really connected to the podcast community. I love 408 00:26:02.905 --> 00:26:06.560 what they're doing over there. And so it it makes 409 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:10.320 sense for me to do that as well. I'm still doing coaching 410 00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:13.600 for Justin Moore. I don't know if I've ever officially announced that, but I'm a 411 00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:17.285 brand deal wizard or a Wizards Guild coach for Justin Moore. 412 00:26:17.825 --> 00:26:21.585 And I'm still doing that because it's in my 413 00:26:21.585 --> 00:26:24.900 wheelhouse of helping creators 414 00:26:25.040 --> 00:26:28.560 get sponsors, and I'm bringing my expertise to that. And those are both really 415 00:26:28.560 --> 00:26:32.180 smart, things to do. And 416 00:26:32.875 --> 00:26:36.715 the rest of the time, I'm really gonna focus on the done for you 417 00:26:36.715 --> 00:26:40.075 clients and the coaching program because those are my high leverage 418 00:26:40.075 --> 00:26:43.870 work. And so because I need 419 00:26:43.870 --> 00:26:47.710 to give you actionable advice, I'm going to challenge 420 00:26:47.710 --> 00:26:51.145 you to think of these things or 421 00:26:52.085 --> 00:26:55.705 maybe write down these things. May cons consider this stuff. 422 00:26:56.804 --> 00:27:00.470 What is your high leverage work? You don't 423 00:27:00.470 --> 00:27:04.150 need to have 4 or 5 424 00:27:04.150 --> 00:27:07.289 or 7 or 12 months worth of time tracking data 425 00:27:07.625 --> 00:27:11.325 to understand that. If you're doing stuff 426 00:27:11.625 --> 00:27:15.225 and it takes you an hour and you're getting paid a $100 and you wanna 427 00:27:15.225 --> 00:27:18.910 get paid $200, then you know that's not your high leverage work. 428 00:27:19.770 --> 00:27:22.590 What's the stuff that comes easiest to you 429 00:27:23.770 --> 00:27:26.510 that people are willing to pay you the most for? 430 00:27:27.675 --> 00:27:31.295 You know? I think in Maggie Patterson's episode, 431 00:27:31.515 --> 00:27:34.875 we talked about seemingly this 432 00:27:34.875 --> 00:27:38.540 myth that everybody, every creator, every 433 00:27:38.540 --> 00:27:42.380 solopreneur, every business needed to start a 434 00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:45.995 membership or a community. And I've learned 435 00:27:46.535 --> 00:27:50.375 that, no. No. You don't. If you 436 00:27:50.375 --> 00:27:53.990 don't have a massive audience, then a membership 437 00:27:54.050 --> 00:27:57.430 is probably not the right thing for you, to be honest. 438 00:27:58.450 --> 00:28:01.810 It could be. It has to be very high dollar, though. And at that 439 00:28:01.810 --> 00:28:05.645 point, it's almost like a one to one business, right, versus a one to 440 00:28:05.645 --> 00:28:09.405 many business. So this is advice I 441 00:28:09.405 --> 00:28:12.169 got over and over again. My friend Austin Church said the same thing. Like, Like, 442 00:28:12.169 --> 00:28:15.529 you know, he's like, you have a list of at the time, it was a 443 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:19.370 1,000 people. He's like, you're not gonna make any money, selling 444 00:28:19.370 --> 00:28:23.065 somebody a $10 a month product. You 445 00:28:23.065 --> 00:28:26.125 need to sell them a $10,000 product or a $10,000 446 00:28:26.425 --> 00:28:30.059 service. Right? Then only 10 of those people on 447 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:33.740 your list need to buy it for you to hit a 100 k. And 448 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:37.340 so I have, I have an income goal in mind. I know how much I 449 00:28:37.340 --> 00:28:40.815 need to make per month. And focusing on my high leverage 450 00:28:40.815 --> 00:28:44.655 work, I know exactly how many of things those 451 00:28:44.655 --> 00:28:48.190 things I need to sell. And most importantly, it's 452 00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:51.790 attainable. So that's what I would challenge you to do. Make a 453 00:28:51.790 --> 00:28:55.235 list of all the all the ways you make money, all the 454 00:28:55.235 --> 00:28:58.935 products, all the services. If you have a membership, 455 00:28:59.075 --> 00:29:02.775 if you have a sponsorships, write those down. 456 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:06.260 Then honestly give it a grade between, 457 00:29:07.760 --> 00:29:11.360 let's say, f up to s. Right? Like the s tier 458 00:29:11.360 --> 00:29:15.095 style. How much effort are you putting into 459 00:29:15.095 --> 00:29:18.795 those things? You want the inverse 460 00:29:18.855 --> 00:29:22.570 of amount of money it makes versus effort. That's your high 461 00:29:22.570 --> 00:29:25.950 leverage work. Then you consider, 462 00:29:26.330 --> 00:29:30.085 okay. I want to make x amount of dollars per month. I need to 463 00:29:30.085 --> 00:29:33.465 sell this many of this product and this many of this service 464 00:29:34.325 --> 00:29:36.505 every month to hit that goal. 465 00:29:38.760 --> 00:29:42.280 And I think you'll be happier with your 466 00:29:42.280 --> 00:29:46.025 business. You'll have that intentionality. You'll have 467 00:29:46.025 --> 00:29:49.665 the GPS guiding you, helping you 468 00:29:49.665 --> 00:29:53.345 avoid the traffic jam that is shiny object 469 00:29:53.345 --> 00:29:56.680 syndrome, having you avoid 470 00:29:56.980 --> 00:30:00.760 the closed road that is product that nobody except you wants 471 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:04.015 to get to your destination that is your income goal. 472 00:30:05.135 --> 00:30:08.835 Alright. That's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening. 473 00:30:09.375 --> 00:30:12.655 If you are a member, stick around because I'll I'll give you the real since 474 00:30:12.655 --> 00:30:16.370 I gave away why the membership still exists. I'll 475 00:30:16.370 --> 00:30:19.650 give you my actual income goals and and what high leverage work is gonna get 476 00:30:19.650 --> 00:30:23.345 me there, And then I'll dive a little bit more into the time tracking side 477 00:30:23.345 --> 00:30:26.945 of things, which I'm staring at right now. I'm looking at my teleprompter as if 478 00:30:26.945 --> 00:30:29.585 my video is on and it's not, and I'm just staring at my time tracking 479 00:30:29.585 --> 00:30:33.210 graphs. So if you want to become a member, you can 480 00:30:33.210 --> 00:30:34.750 head over to howibuilt.it/408. 481 00:30:39.335 --> 00:30:43.015 That is where all the show notes exist for this episode. And 482 00:30:43.015 --> 00:30:46.794 there'll be a join the membership button where you can 483 00:30:47.050 --> 00:30:50.810 get ad free, extended, and bonus episodes. If you're 484 00:30:50.810 --> 00:30:54.545 listening in Apple Podcasts, you can you can just 485 00:30:54.545 --> 00:30:57.905 become a member in Apple Podcasts, so you could subscribe right in the app. 486 00:30:57.905 --> 00:31:01.605 So I hope you do that. I would really appreciate that support. 487 00:31:02.130 --> 00:31:05.890 Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, get out 488 00:31:05.890 --> 00:31:07.750 there and build something.