I often wonder whether building any kind of new style business is even possible these days…or rather a business that is trying to be different from all the rest.
I have tried various ventures over the years and whilst some have been creatively successful, they were by no means commeercially so. I have been doing a lot of research for months on online marketing, digital communities and online video growth but still my efforts are less than spectacular.
I think I’ve wathed every self help video a ton of times over and have implemented the advice…even taking online course to help me nail down exactly what I supposed to be doing. I think I have finally mastered the background stuff. All the nuts and bolts that could make a channel and website business become a going concern, but still the front of house is far from complete.
Whilst there are undoubtedly successful people of YouTube and the social media platforms that earn a lot of money, there are also millions of people around the globe trying to amke this social media and youtube thing work for them too…but are failing miserably at the same time.
With nearly 1000 videos and blog posts to my name you might think that I would have gained traction by now and gathered an impatient audience who are salivating for me to get on stage, but alas my most respected and welcome 200+ subscribers, who whilst maybe devoted followers, will not yet be able to lead the charge for me into the online business battlefields.
As a creative person, whether it written pieces, audio, video or graphics…I have always predominantly worked for my own pleasure. I simply enjoy doing what I do whether it earns any money or gains an audience. The actual process of writing and making creative content is what I enjoy…and that is the perfect place to start and continue with…but it sure would be nice to become discovered too.
Like the struggling artist, I have a clear idea of what I want my online business to become but these inital steps are cumbersome as I navigation the torrents flowing over slimy rocks. There is so much advice out there, some of which is conflciting too, so I’m neveer quite sure which is the best way to approach something.
Perhaps the content I am producing still isn’t good enough or even appealing. Perhaps my style and deliveery is not conducive to buidling a following…or perhaps I’m just too old for all of this…or maybe not?
When you’re desperate to take this ‘thing’ to the next level but you’re just failing to launch in the first instance, this is where the self doubt can become overwhelming too. You wonder why this is so, when so many other contemporaries are doing so well and the quality for their work is even more mediocre than your own creations.
At some stage you hit the wall and it seems nothing you are doing seems to make any difference. Yes of course you could try to throw money at it to improve quality of your output but you also counsel yourself to not over reach with a futile investment if the main problem is yet to be improved…and that problem could be you!
Yes, this is hard to admit at times, but possibly just being yourself isn’t what is required or just ins’t working. Whatever is in play at the moment, possibly it is just the wrong move from the dusty playbook that really should be stashed in the ‘old ways’ library.
Self doubt and loathing looms large in these early attempts and throwing in the towel would seem like the correct method and the right thing to do…but there is something that prevents you from taking the easy road paved with pain and dejection. It is the willpower to continue on regardless and to not give in until this awkward puzzle is solved once and for all.
This is how I regard YouTube and Websites…they are a problem yet to be solved and they puzzle me daily. Social media is a painful place to waste too much time on, so a strategy is required that make your social media work for you rather than the other way around.
This is not an indication of defeat, for I among bending my knees slightly, planting my feet in the sand and going on the offensive. I shall continue until it stops being fun for me to produce the content that I would like to watch or read. This is the marker that has been tossed to the ground…watch out YouTube…I’m coming!
Well, my chest is puffed out now and yours should be too. We should keep telling ourselves that we can do this, no matter how deluded we may sound because giving up now would just be giving in too early and you’re never quite sure what you can learn today or tomorrow that might just give you that HIT that you need to propel you into the stratosphere.
Deluded? Possibly so! But what the hell, there’s no harm in giving the lazy donkey a damn good thrashing before the jig is up. Onwards!
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