The concept is pretty simple. To build a successful business you have to be consistent with how you show up. I get that. You get that.
And that feels like it’s easy to do at the beginning but at some point a lot of us hit this rough patch where we don’t want to show up. There are different reasons for this but there is just no desire to do it.
So we go searching for motivation. Sometimes it comes in the form of the landlord banging down your door. Other times you just find that spark again.
But trying to build a business like this isn’t ideal. There are people who seem to be robots and can show up every single day without fail no matter the circumstances. They’re hard-wired to do that.
What happens if you’re not built like this?
Shit Business Advice
For decades there has been some common business advice that has completely fucked over a lot of people. Because they listened to it they stood no chance of even getting off the starting line.
I have no doubt that you’ve heard some of this advice before.
- Follow your passion
- Find a problem someone has and solve it
- Pick a niche
- Look back at the things you’re good at and go from there
On the surface, none of this advice is bad, but a lot of it assumes you have some pieces already in place. For example, when people tell you to follow your passion, that requires that you have a passion and you know what it is.
That worked in the 17th Century when you were either a farmer or blacksmith, but it’s different today because there are a million different things you can do which also means there are a million different things you haven’t done or know about.
Another problem is that the people who give this advice are ones teaching you how to make money. The advice works perfect for them but how many of them grew up with a passion for teaching others how to make money?
None of them.
But you’d be surprised how easy it can be to become passionate about something once there is a good chunk of money coming in because of it.
Do you see where I’m going here? If you start with the wrong piece of advice it just leaves you feeling like you’re crazy and that you need to figure out your life.
If I was only helping people in the how to make money niche, then my life would be infinitely easier because I’d just tell you to find a gap in the market (like email marketing with only gifs) but not everyone wants to be in that niche.
I’ve helped people in niches like Knitting, Donkey Training, Kids’ Activities, and other ones that you don’t usually hear about. And the question I always ask myself is why did it work for them and not others?
To answer that we’re going to have to dive into my mind and see what patterns emerge. This might be a little bit scary but if you hold my hand you’ll be fine.
Strategy vs Drive
All of my teachings start with a strategy. Starting with a strategy allows you to choose whatever tactics you want that fit you. For example, The Pocket Business Framework is a strategy.
- Get them to notice you
- Get them to pay attention to you
- Get them to trust you
- Convert that trust into money
There is nothing about how often you should post on Instagram or how many emails you should send. It’s a universal strategy where you get to pick the tactics to make sure you have a chance of making the strategy work.
But some of us have to go deeper because understanding what we’re supposed to do in our business doesn’t mean we know why we’re creating a business.
Finding Your Why: Another Confusing Thing
I love Simon Sinek. He is hands down one of my favorite speakers and his book, Find Your Why, set the tone for how I run my businesses.
But it does present a problem.
You might not know your Why. No matter how many different exercises you do it’s just not there. So if you don’t know your Why you’re pretty much stuck if you think it’s a requirement for starting a business.
But the people who teach you dropshipping sure as hell don’t have a Why. They just saw a way to make money dropshipping and decided to teach others.
So maybe you just have to suck it up and do whatever it takes to make money.
Just kidding! You know I’m not going to let you go down that route.
Do you want to know the curious thing about dropshippers? They don’t build long-term businesses. They either burn out, get bored, or things fall apart.
The drive is gone in them.
So the question I’m wondering is what drives the successful people and how can that be used to build a business that makes you all of the money that you want? Because some of us want more than just a successful business. It has to be something we enjoy or else we will never get to the levels we want.
How do you make that happen?
We’re going to get there in a second, but before we do we have to look at one more thing real quick.
99% of the Content Sucks
This is a big problem for people who want to build something. Their content isn’t good enough. And it doesn’t matter how many courses, templates, or VAs they hire, it’s not going to get better.
More and more people want to make this thing work for them, which means there is more competition for attention. You have to create content that is so good they can’t ignore you.
But remember there is a huge caveat here. People in the how to make money space (yes, I include myself whenever I mention this) have an advantage. We are in a niche that everyone in the world has interest in because everyone wants more money.
So there is a good chance I can find someone’s attention.
But what if you love jazz and you want to talk about jazz. What do you do then?
You have to create content that is so interesting that it attracts people to you. Even those who didn’t know they had an interest in jazz and know nothing about it.
Plus, you have to do it long enough to where you give yourself time for people to find you.
Can You Manufacture Passion?
A big reason why a lot of the content sucks is because the people creating it aren’t passionate about it. At least, that was my first theory.
Because whenever I come across someone who is passionate about what they do I can immediately tell. You can probably tell as well. It becomes infectious.
It’s almost impossible to create amazing content over long periods of time without having a love for it. But then that brings us back to the beginning and what if you don’t have a passion? Are you screwed?
Well, I wouldn’t be writing this damn essay if I thought you were.
I do think there is something that we all have in common that can drive us to building a successful business.
Curiosity is the lust of the mind.
— Thomas Hobbes
We Are All Curious
I’m not saying we are all curious about the same thing, but there is something that you are curious about. Something that makes you go, “I wonder…“.
And I think that is a great starting point for a business. But to relieve the pressure you don’t have to think of it as a business. It’s just you following a trail.
Take me for example. I’m curious about what it takes for one person to build a business that makes 7-8 figures a year in any niche that they want. So every day I wake up and pull the string a little more to see where it takes me.
It’s the only reason why I’m writing this essay because my curiosity drives me to think about this stuff non-stop which leads me down new paths that others have yet to explore.
Check out this video by Gawx. By no means do I think great content always has to have this level of editing, but if you go through his early content you can sense the curiosity in it.
I wonder what it would look like if I spraypainted my house? I wonder what it would look like if I painted my Nintendo Switch?
And here’s the beauty of it. Even if you’re reading this essay and thinking that you have no idea what you’re curious about that’s okay because spend the next couple of days going about life and something will pop up.
So what does this have to do with business?
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.
— Walt Disney
The Curious People Create Better Content
If you look across all topics, every niche, you’ll see a common theme and that’s the fact that people who continue to grow and learn always create better content.
It’s why we walk away from a lot of the gurus that we used to follow. They stopped evolving. They stopped being curious. Their message stayed the same and we outgrew it.
They stopped being curious because it made sense to stay still and make the money they make.
Go on a journey and document that journey. That’s the simplified game plan.
You do that for long enough and you’ll win. But the problem is that almost nobody does it! They sit around thinking about what kind of content they should create and end up stuck or creating content that is no different than 1000 other pieces out there.
On September 1st (by the time you read this, it might have already started), I’m starting my journey to making $2,500,000 in 12 months. I’m going to share what I’m learning, what I’m doing, and what is happening.
If I’m consistent with the sharing then how does that not work out for me?
I don’t have to wonder if it will be a success because I know it will be. People will see my curiosity through the content I create, which will ignite their curiosity. This creates a nice cycle of things that build momentum.
Momentum leads you to create better content.
But if I’m being honest, so far I’ve been beating around the bush. You can’t be randomly curious. You do need direction. You know how the gurus tell you that you need to focus on one problem, one solution, and one audience? That can be easier said than done.
And here I’m telling you to be curious but that can feel pretty random.
We need some type of direction. Some minimal structure to see where to go.
You Need a Curious Hypothesis
Looking across not only my own successful businesses, but those of my clients and students, I’ve noticed something. They are all trying to prove or disprove some hypothesis.
In case you aren’t sure what a hypothesis is, here is the definition:
a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
Here is an example. Let’s take a look at one of my brands, Talented Underachiever. I could use a lot of the typical exercises to find a direction for it, but what if I asked a question.
Can anyone learn how to be the smartest in the room?
That’s an interesting question and maybe you can see how it becomes a great starting point. But now we need to turn it into a hypothesis.
I believe anyone can become the smartest in the room, no matter their background.
Now, this is how I’ve chosen to word the hypothesis. You might go in a different direction but looking at my hypothesis you start to see how it can lead me down many different paths.
The Hypothesis Evolves With Your Business
The great thing about this technique is that it evolves with you. As the world changes, there become more things available to either prove or disprove your hypothesis. This gives you more things to explore.
Here are some paths I could explore that I’m coming up with off the top of my head.
- Can you master a topic solely through YouTube?
- What is the best way to take notes so you retain more information? Are you supposed to retain information?
- How do you unlearn what you learned in school? Was there anything you should retain?
- What makes some people appear smarter than others? What do we view as intelligence? How can I attain those qualities?
- How many books should I read in a year? Is it more important to focus on the quantity of books or the quality?
All of these could turn into fascinating pieces of content, and they all start with a question. How often do you ask yourself a question that pertains to whatever your business is about?
While I can talk marketing until my head pops, that doesn’t mean I want to. In fact, I stopped talking about it for two whole years because I was sick of it. But that’s because I approached it through the lens of a topic (online marketing) instead of a Curious Hypothesis.
Now, I simply ask myself a question and I go exploring.
Can one person with ADHD and three kids make $10,000,000 online in a single year?
This helps me create content that differentiates itself from the crowd because people don’t think this way about business.
But in a world that is constantly evolving, this is how you evolve with it or even better this is how you pull your market forward.
How do you lose when that is your approach?
You Can’t Ignore the Tactics
Here’s the catch. You can’t simply follow this strategy without using the right tactics to get someone’s attention. This is the trap that a lot of creatives fall under.
They’ll follow their curiosities, but when they present the content, it’s not great. You still need to become a great communicator in some way. You still have to play the game.
I can’t tell you how many ideas I’ve put out that have gone unnoticed simply because I didn’t have some type of hook or visuals to grab people’s attention. Even the structure of this essay is important.
I can’t simply write down all of my thoughts and publish it. I have to think about the headings, highlights, lists, and quotes that continue to keep your attention.
There is The Game of Attention that we all have to play if we want to make money with our curiosities. But too many people start with the tactics and either burn out or don’t understand why things only work for a short period of time.
If you start with your own Curious Hypothesis then you have a great foundation to build from. But let’s see if we can break this down into steps to see how it might look in real life.
Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.
— Leo Burnett
The Curious Hypothesis Framework
Before we being there is some criteria that we must adhere to or none of this works.
- The end result must be enjoyable by you
- The end result must be desirable by your audience
- The end result must make you the money that you want
- The end result is scalable and helps you continue to grow along with your business
Step 1: What’s the Question?
First, we need to find the question we are asking. What things pop up into your mind that you try to answer yourself.
When you’re reading other content online what questions do you ask? I like watching The Hoof GP. It’s fascinating to me.
A question I might ask is if a 40+-year-old man with no experience with large animals learn how to do this. A simple enough question that doesn’t feel like a business yet.
But it’s important that I’m really curious about this because otherwise I’m wasting my time. In this case, I’m not curious about this but let’s stick to this example.
Step 2: What’s the Answer?
This is the most fascinating step to me because it’s where so much amazing content can take place.
I don’t know the answer to the question so I have to research and do stuff to find out. This is my journey and as long as I document it then I’m going to have content to show the world.
Notice that none of this is relying on me being an expert. It doesn’t require me to lie or make up stories. I simply show what is happening.
But again, I have to do so in a way that pulls people in. We won’t talk about that in this essay, but it comes down to understanding what people are looking for and, in general, getting better at marketing.
Step 3: What’s the Curious Hypothesis?
There are a couple of options that can happen before you get to this step:
- You realize you don’t really care about the answer to the question so you go and do something else. There is nothing wrong with that. You don’t know what you don’t like until you come across what you don’t like.
- You find the answer and the next question doesn’t come to you. You feel as though you have fulfilled your curiosity around this and you move on. Again, this is great!
- You find the answer and want to do more.
It’s the 3rd option that is a trap because we can easily fall into a loop of just talking about the same stuff over and over again. Some people have no problem doing that. I can’t, so we have to find a way to do this without feeling like it’s too much of a boring routine.
This is where you can ask more questions and continue to explore or you can develop a Curious Hypothesis. This becomes the North Star for your business.
For this example, let’s say that I believe if I can get 100 people to learn how to trim cow hooves (or whatever it’s called) then they’ll find true happiness because they aren’t finding it in the 9-5.
Now everything that I do for my business revolves around this hypothesis.
- What type of content can I create that will encourage more people to want to pursue this profession?
- What offers can I create to help them out?
These questions are important for this niche because not many people know about hoof trimming. It’s not the Desired Outcome that they wake up with. This means I know I have to create content that draws them in but also content that lets them know that this is a path that is available to them.
Step 4: Was I Right or Wrong?
If I do get 100 people and they all prove to be the happiest people in the world then I can go hunting for my next hypothesis. It might start off by trying to answer questions again and that’s okay because I love doing that.
But what if I’m wrong. What if I get 100 people to pursue this career and only 20 of them are happy?
This is exciting because now I need to dive into WHY the 80 who were unhappy were unhappy. This is more content to explore. This is more new thinking to be done.
Money Is Important
A lot of this is woo woo stuff. Not everyone needs to adapt this mindset but there are a lot of creative people that absolutely need it.
Because if they continue to chase random things then the only thing that happens is they look back to see a trail of unfinished projects and untapped potential.
But you also can’t just show up sharing random things. You can’t just create something and expect people to buy it because there is some passion behind it. There are strategies that you need to implement and tactics that can make them all work.
You need to make money.
I don’t create to make money. I make money to create.
This only works if you can build a successful online business. That’s what Full Stack Engines is all about.
However, as we’ve been talking about there has to be something that drives you. Something that you’re excited about doing every single day and for me, it’s the Curious Hypothesis and the questions that come along with it.
I need answers and hunting for those answers allows me to show up every single day doing what I enjoy.
It’s very hard to lose when you play that game.
What Are You Known For?
If someone isn’t making money then you can easily ask them a question where you won’t get an answer.
What are you known for?
It’s hard to be known for something that people want and not make money. The more you’re known for something that people want, the more money you make.
This is why the gurus like to harp on niching down or solving a single problem. The advice makes sense, but that doesn’t mean it works in our heads.
This framework helps to solve that problem because you don’t have to decide what you’re known for. Instead, you follow the questions that make you curious and people begin to see you for that one special thing.
Just as long as they aren’t wildly different from each other. For example, you don’t start by asking if you can grow mushrooms in your closet and then decide to switch gears later and ask how you write a book all in crayon. I mean, you could do that but you shouldn’t expect the same audience to follow along.
So instead of worrying about what you’re going to be known for become more concerned with what questions people know you’re trying to answer.