Starving Artists, Content Monsters, and Creating Sh*t Nobody Asked For

Cutting out 80% of the unpaid hours you're working

Getting paid for your work is very different from creating shit to sell.

That deceivingly simple distinction is why it’s been so hard for us solopreneurs, power couples, and families in business to make a reliable income online.

Think about your income like an artist – that’s essentially what we are as creators.

They get paid (primarily) in 1-of-2 ways:

1. They’re paid for the commission of their art, meaning they’re paid to create it. 👈 GETTING PAID FOR THEIR WORK

-or-

2. They create uncommissioned pieces that they later try to sell in galleries, shops, and online stores. 👈 CREATING SHIT TO SELL

When I put it like that, right?!

Most of the courses we’ve bought, programs we’ve joined, and guru we’ve looked up to… have indoctrinated us to the most complicated, expensive, time-consuming way to make money – the “create shit to sell” model.

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The “create shit to sell” model requires that decisions be made that we have no business making (yet).

We’re expected to know WHAT we want to be when we grow up before we’ve had time to mature into WHO we’re going to be when we grow up.

The model isn’t setup for us to experiment in any way, shape, or form, so we end up married to these disastrous decisions that were never right for us, while feeling like we have to make this shit work because that’s what we “said” we wanted.

We just want to write… or record podcasts… or make videos… and get paid for that shit… but we can’t because we’re buried under a whole bunch of work that “has to come before” we can get paid – ironically, for something other than our work.

The writing… podcasts… and videos… suddenly become “marketing,” and now we need a whole other full-time job, “sales.”

We need the team… the storefront space… the inventory… the packaging… the delivery vans… the whole fucking infrastructure.

Now, “the artist” (YOU + me) is not only on the hook for the specialized work, but we also own + operate all the galleries, shops, and online stores ourselves, too.

THE INDOCTRINATION:

Give your art away for free, and “commissions will hire you for $1000’s” to teach them how to do it themselves. NOW, you can scale your art… that’s something new + special that the internet makes possible. We want to help you master your “art” (writing, podcasting, videos) SO YOU CAN sell the crap outta your shit.

Following the “create shit to sell” model is always going to require us to maintain TWO full-time jobs because the part we don’t love (owning + operating the galleries, shops, and online stores) is actually the only part that pays us.

80% of the unpaid hours we spend on our businesses are spent creating (or learning how to create) shit nobody asked for.

Ok, fine, I pulled that stat out of my ass, but I bet it’s pretty damn close!

👉 We create lead magnets no one asked for…

👉 We create events no one asked for…

👉 We create launches no one asked for….

👉 We create email sequences no one asked for…​

👉 We create products, programs, and services nobody asked for…

👉 We create MORE products, programs, and services so we can offer MORE options… that nobody asked for.

All while the work we love + want to be doing gets farther + farther away from us.

This is just what happens when you strip exploration + experimentation out of the process for people whose idea of “living the dream” is owning a “hot dog cart” kinda part-time business.

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To bring simplicity back into our businesses, we’re going to have to stop CREATING shit nobody asked for, and focus on EVOLVING into who we want to be.

For us, this is about getting paid to do the work we love, so that’s the only starting place we need.

What is that for YOU?

Writing? Podcasting? Video? Combo?

Do that… consistency. Whatever that looks like for YOU.

Write… podcast… make videos… do the ordinary work you love.

Not because you want to sell shit or because it’s attracting leads, but because it’s the work you want to get paid for! ​

And you WILL get paid for it… but first, you need time to experiment, space to pause + reflect, and kindreds to make it less scary, painful, confusing, and overwhelming.

Reallocate your time from creating shit (nobody asked for) to working on what you really want to be paid for.

If that’s writing, WRITE. If that’s podcasting, PODCAST. If that’s making video. MAKE VIDEOS.

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TRUTH: Creating content is not a marketing activity; it’s a full-fledged income.

Wrap your overstimulated noggin’ around that. 🤯

The idea that keeping the content monster fed somehow drives sales is a boiling pot of steaming hot horseshit that we can thank for the 1000’s of hours of unpaid work we’ve normalized in our businesses.

Content marketing just happens to pair nicely with the “squeeze’em dry” approach in the “create shit to sell” model.

Take the “marketing requirement” out of it, and what’s left is a newsletter + community.

Something someone ASKED for… and a place to create the habit of being YOU… and getting paid for it.

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There’s nothing more “hot dog cart” than that.

It’s the kinda content YOU want to create, on the schedule YOU want to keep, giving to people who HAVE asked you for what you’re creating.

It’s being able to easily and simply turn on a paywall for the work you love doing without needing a whole other full-time job to make the actual money.

Your newsletter + community is where you’re going to have the freedom to experiment + evolve into what you really want this to be.

Experiment with subjects, formats, and ideas – have fucking FUN!

Be brave enough to start important conversations.

Prioritize the connections that come out of those conversations – and P.S. never utter the word “leads” again.

Evolve in real-time as you figure out what works for YOU + what doesn’t.

Build your community – people are going to love watching YOU figure this shit out without the perfection… or bells + whistles.

Think out loud in your state of confusion.

Ask questions you don’t have answers too.

Celebrate people who are inspiring you.

Get 1% better at a time.

And guess what’s going to happen that’s never happened before??!

You’ll be making the impact, money, relationships, and community that you want doing ONE ordinary thing you love… in less than 30 hours a week, with all the time, internet, and financial freedom you’re craving.

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The more I dive into Substack, the more I see how perfect it is for building our “hot dog carts.”

I’m crushing so hard on their Notes feature that I created a whole month-long experiment around it for us, and it’s in full swing as you read this!

THE EXPERIMENT:
What would happen if we spent the month double-dog daring each other to be so honest it kinda hurts?

We’re about to find out!

Monday-Thursday, throughout October, I’m dropping a new chat thread with a double-dog dare we can all do on Notes, and then asking everyone to drop a link to their Note, so the rest of us can go shower it with love.

EXAMPLE: I double-dog dare you to tell me something so honest it kinda hurts, or I double-dog dare you to tell me one dirty little secret you’ve been keeping from the internet.

No promotions. No backend offer. No time-consuming commitment.

Just a bunch of hot dog cart-lovin’ fools healing their nervous systems, growing their Substacks, and rebuilding their confidence after years of toxic internet indoctrination.

If this sounds like your kinda October, you should be part of this group experiment + growth initiative! 🌭🌭

This experiment is for paid subscribers only.

The investment = $15/month or $130/year.

Just click this fancy button 👇 and choose which plan makes the most sense for YOU!

I hope you’ll be a part of this.

This drastic change in approach we want to make is going to be a lot easier for all of us to adopt if we do it together, sharing our experiments, inspiring our evolution, and encouraging our exploration.

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To doing the ordinary work that’s going to make our lives + businesses EXTRAordinarily rewarding,

Dre ‘President of The Notes Fan Club’ Beltrami

​This Hot Dog Cart-sized initiative is so important, I would la la looove your help getting it into more of the hearts + minds who need it. If you have enough in your social tank, would you forward this to any friends or loved ones who need this permission slip (if you're on email) or restack it for your readers (if you’re on Substack)?