We live in an interesting world where things both suck and are great at the same time.
It’s great because we have access to almost unlimited resources. It sucks because those unlimited resources aren’t being used to make things better for all.
As technology improves, companies are finding fewer reasons to keep people around. Why continue to hire people when you can overwork a few and make the same amount (or even more) of money?
This leads to this weird phenomenon where companies are always hiring but never hiring. Where the job openings page is filled with roles but layoffs continue to happen.
This is going to lead to a new Future Economy where people have to become their own companies. We’ve already seen this partially fulfilled with the introduction of the gig economy.
But the gig economy doesn’t let you thrive, it merely helps you to survive. To thrive in the Future Economy you’ll need to become either a Blacksmith or a Monk.
The Blacksmith or The Monk
You need to think of a world where there are no salaries. Instead, you control how much money you make and in that case, you need to think of what you can offer that people will pay for.
Blacksmiths are the ones that make the tools and Monks are the ones who teach you how to use them.
You can be a Blacksmith, Monk, or both.
But why would you want to be those things? Because you know those are the two categories at the top of the salary food chain. People are constantly looking for ways to learn something or how to make something easier.
The cynical person will say that I must be talking about teaching people how to build a business and I’m not specifically talking about that but that is one path.
Our most successful Odd Noodle students don’t have anything to do with money. At least not directly. Instead, they teach people some of the following things:
- How to create freezer meals
- How to lose weight as a woman over 40
- How to deal with Hashimoto’s Disease
- How to make wonderful 3D objects with a Cricut
- How to take care of donkeys
Monk.
But there are also Blacksmiths.
- Budget planners
- Freezer meal guides
- Workout plans
- Sewing patterns
- Website templates
The list goes on and on. Why? Because people aren’t just about money but money is the main issue until it’s not.
And that’s the problem with the current space of building an online business. It can feel like the only way to build an online business is to talk about how to build an online business but that just seems like the popular thing because everyone wants to do it.
If you’re teaching people how to keep donkeys then yeah, you may follow some online business gurus, but there isn’t an urge to teach people how to build an online business. You want to teach them about donkeys.
What About the Jester?
What if you don’t want to be a Blacksmith or Jester? What if you want to be a Jester? Someone who entertains.
By all means go for it. It’s a little bit of a harder path because now you’re dealing with people’s tastes.
Every day, people wake up looking for solutions to problems and this is why Blacksmiths and Monks will always succeed in the economy.
Not everyone is looking for what the Jester offers although if some people catch on to it, they can go bananas. Think about the Fantasy writer who writes progressive fantasy on Royal Road and makes money through Patreon.
You might be surprised how many people are making over $10,000 a month from subscriptions from people who want to read the next chapter in their online novel.
But guess what? The Jester can also be a Monk or a Blacksmith.
The fantasy writer can teach others how to write fantasy or they can create Notion templates to help with worldbuilding.
The artist who claims it’s too hard to make money as an artist needs to stop seeing themselves as only having the potential to be an artist. Maybe they don’t want to be a Monk and they don’t need to be a Monk or Blacksmith full-time and they won’t have to be.
But would they rather have their future controlled by someone else or take it into their own hands where they can decide how hard they go into one thing or another?
Eat the Whole Animal or Sell the Sawdust
Instead of trying to explain this concept, it will be easier to show you.
I want to publish some fantasy books, but I don’t know anything about writing. So what do I do?
I set out to learn about writing, but instead of simply learning about writing and worldbuilding, I write down what I learn and create a resource around it. This is how you end up with a site on worldbuilding.
So as I continue to learn how I can build an amazing world that I call Myth Dawn, I document everything so that I have a resource that can draw people in that I can leverage later. This will come in the form of educational materials and tools to help others build worlds.
And if you think this sounds difficult then here is the simple marketing plan.
- Talk about what I’m building at Myth Dawn and show it.
- Everything that I learn write a blog post around it (or you could create YouTube videos, either way, you want long-form content).
- People begin to see that I’m not someone who is just talking about these things from a philosophical angle. I’m doing them which pulls them in further.
- Show them I have resources that can help them.
And that’s it.
Everything that I do in my journey of publishing fantasy books is used in some way to continue to build the business to generate more money to allow me to write more fantasy books.
Monk, Blacksmith, and Jester.