Two demons will always be on your way, young online creator. Here is how to use them.
As I started creating online… it felt like I had only two options: get as much money as possible from the crowd, or follow my passion and be poor.
You just started your online creation journey? Do you feel overwhelmed by the creator’s space on the Internet?
👇 This is your demons’ tale.
Demon #1 says: “milk the crowd”
To milk the crowd, build a “how-to engine”, put a picture of your successful self on your website, and sell your courses to become rich. Quick.
Get-rich-quick schemes are not very far in the creator economy. Thousands of online courses are available. The promise to get rich without really working (because you are passionate), churns out millions of $. Why cannot you get a piece of the cake?
Cynical or pragmatic? Many seem to follow this path. My goal here is not to dunk on anyone. Let’s focus on something far more important.
The problem is this inner feeling of senselessness. I feel empty inside when projecting myself in those shoes. I believe I am not the only one. I believe that if I had not that feeling, I would rush to build my online course and get some serious bucks.
But, for better or worse, I am not made this way.
Demon #2 says: “embrace your passion, divorce your money”
This demon tells you passion will make you poor.
He tells you: “Do not care about what people say. Focus on yourself. Do not listen to all cranky bastards who are so jealous of your online work (blog, podcast, whatever) and freedom of thought. Feedbacks are shitty, because people do not understand you. You are convinced that your online work is awesome.
But why does nobody see it as you do?
Those are the expressions of your two little demons. We tend to name those greed and pride. They do not deserve it.
The mother of demons is paralysis by overthinking.
How to cope with these 3 demons?
Look at them.
They are no demons. They are living needs inside of you, desperate to be heard. You silenced them so well, they are fighting each other for your attention. This inner fight overwhelms you and results in paralysis. Or in cynism, where you lose opportunities… and you friends.
But you want to get paid for your work.
You want respect. And you need money for growth.
Making dollars in the Internet is an effective way to see whether you head in the right direction or not. The feedback loop is fast with a paying customer. Trust him to be harsh with you when you are under your promise, particularly if you made him pay >1000$. Trust him to be your best marketer if you did it right.
You cannot begin a proper online creator’s journey without listening to those voices.
Acknowledge those needs and their intensity. This will calm them. It is the very condition for creativity.
In short: trust your demon#1: he is the money manager, but he is no artist. Trust your demon#2: he is your artistic talents’ bandmaster. He needs silence to express himself. Together, demon#1 and demon#2 are a terrific team. They will make you climb the online creation mountain, and thrive.
