Dear Friend & Subscriber,
I've made a lot of mistakes as a Creator. My biggest one was trying to start an online business too early in my journey.
Many new Creators do not understand the difference between a personal brand and an online business.
- Personal Brand: Your digital presence, credibility, and community
- Online Business: Something specifically designed to earn you money
There will be overlap. Your personal brand will heavily impact your online business. But they are still distinctly two different areas of focus.
New Creators should not try starting an online business.
To have a successful business, you need to solve a specific problem. To have a specific problem to solve, you need to have a clear niche and audience willing to listen.
The reality is, most Creators don't have either when starting. It may be possible to start a business without an audience, but you will definitely need a niche.
That’s much easier said than done.
This is the mistake I made. I wanted to create an online business as soon as possible, so I obsessed heavily over finding a niche just so I could start selling something.
But finding your niche is hard. It requires you to say no to ideas that may have potential.
When starting out, it's important to experiment.
What you think will be your niche may not work at all. And what you think nobody will care about can be successful.
If I could go back in time, I would tell myself not to worry about the money. Double down on personal branding.
The online business will reveal itself through that.
Best,
Maneetpaul Singh
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I post a new essay every day, but to prevent spamming your Imbox I only choose to email a few of them each week. Here are my previous HEY World posts.
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