Stop Looking for Inspiration if You Want to Win
The answer to the problem may not be more creative ideas but a focus on growth.
Do creative people talk about inspiration too much?
I’m posing this question because it’s a noticeably slow news week, and I’m finding it difficult to find stories to share on the Friday edition of this publication.
I’m scouring all my creative resources looking for new ideas and stories around entrepreneurship that have the potential for creative pursuits, but coming up short this week.
There are plenty of stories being told. Still, most are more aspirational or inspirational, typical for many sites that cater their content toward artists, designers, and other maker types.
It makes me wonder why we don’t hear more success stories and winning strategies from people lower on the ladder because we spend too much time looking at pretty pictures of other people’s work.
For example, James Jean is someone I see creative publications talk about often. He’s successful enough to be known, but I’m sure he still has to grind to maintain a particular lifestyle. He hasn’t reached the level of F*ck You money like his contemporaries, Murakami, Choe, or Ai Wei Wei.
Nobody in art journalism is talking about that grind, though. They don’t talk about the work Jean put in for years to get where he is now or his plans to reach his contemporaries. We’ll see plenty of pictures of his art online, the finished work that inspires us to want to make our own, but aside from lessons on brushwork and color, what else can we extract from those canvases?
I like looking at pictures of beautiful art as much as anyone, but what if that distraction is what is keeping us from growing our business?
The next time you’re scrolling through Instagram, double-tapping every image out of habit (even the ads), note how many, if any, of those posts talked about what an artist did to win. You don’t have to do that because I already know the answer, and you do too.
In contrast, if you spend time in different content categories (finance, fitness, writing, sports, content creation, etc.), you’ll find people talking about how they want to win and their strategies to make it happen. If there’s anything aspirational in that content, it’s related to better performance and not just more beautiful versions of itself.
Instead of doom scrolling through social media, we scroll through Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Business Insider to find lessons or parallels that help us visualize how successful businesses grow.
That may sound ridiculous to some, but nuggets of information in those stories can be extracted for our benefit. It doesn’t have to be one of those sources if the topic doesn’t speak to you. It could be as simple as finding others that are successful in some niche group or hobby you’re interested in (besides art), figuring out how they are winning, and then exploiting that for your gain.
Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about, an idea I might not have come up with if I hadn’t been reading The Hustle and watching Codie Sanchez videos.
Gas Fueled Entrepreneurialism
Ten years ago, I was employed as an art director for one of the largest magazine publishers in the country. They specialized in enthusiast media, mostly automotive-related titles. At the time, I worked for a motorcycle magazine called Street Chopper.
In that organization, Rick (not his real name) was the editor of one of the muscle car magazines. Rick also had a side hustle, a website where he sold vintage racing placards and merchandise. He did well with the site but needed to lean into it more to replace his main income.
I was laid off in the summer of 2013 because they sold the company's motorcycle division to another publisher. Within three years, nearly the entire catalog of magazines was sold off or discontinued. Like many others in the company, Rick was an accomplished photographer and writer passionate about hot rods, but now he was a man without a country.
You would think with how the internet has changed and Rick having the skills to create epic social media content, especially with his extensive list of contacts in the industry, he’d be able to create a massive following and send that following to his online shop, but you’d be wrong.
I saw on LinkedIn recently that Rick and a handful of others from the old company have started a new magazine company…a print magazine company…doing the same thing as before. Lessons from the past were not well received, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this new company were shuttered within the next 18 to 24 months. I wish them luck because they’re going to need it.
Money Left on the Dashboard
Go to Instagram and search #musclecar, #hotrod, or #customcars. You’ll find tens of thousands of posts from thousands of accounts featuring some of the coolest cars on the planet, some of which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers.
That could have been Rick or any of the dozens of ex-editors from our former company (It could have been me if I was into cars as much as them). These are not dumb guys (a little greasy but not dumb), but none of them were able to rewire their brains for social media after being in print publishing for so many years.
Interestingly, some of the biggest car-related Instagram accounts have yet to capitalize on their success, with no links to online shops or other revenue-generating opportunities. My only guess is that they are only in it for the clout, which is a HUGE missed opportunity.
Three Ways to Win
If I was more of a car enthusiast like Rick, I could visualize three ways to use my knowledge, skills, and back catalog of photos and videos to turn a side hustle into a main hustle.
1. Start from Scratch
Post to social media several times a day, focused exclusively on one category of cars. Go to as many local meetups and car shows as possible (there’s a TON in Southern California), sharing everything on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Grow the following and point everyone to my merch shop.
Cons: This is the long-game strategy. It will take a lot of work to get the wheels rolling, but car enthusiasts are passionate people, and with tenacity, you could grow an account reasonably quickly.
2. Partner With an Existing Account,
Find a large account that doesn’t have any online shop links. Let them create all the content while you make all the merchandise. You agree to a specific revenue split and settle up at the end of each month.
Cons: Once they see the merch sales opportunity, they may turn around and start their own shop, cutting you out completely. Make sure you hold onto that domain.
3. Buy the Account
This one takes guts, and it’s a strategy I’m sure very few people ever consider, but it is possible to buy a social account that is well-established and growing but hasn’t hit the 6-digit mark of followers yet. You could even set up the deal with seller financing, paying the seller monthly over a set period with low or no interest and encouraging the seller to stay on for a few months while you get your footing. Then you start integrating your own content and begin introducing the product designs from your new shop that has a mix of branded merch and enthusiast-related products.
Cons: Not for the timid. This doesn’t need to be a big-baller play, and you may not need to come with tons of money (if any), but that is a possibility. Getting into the black on the balance sheet may take a while, but if you’re a hustler, you can make a good living from a passionate user base.
Steal This Idea
I started this concept in last week’s update, and believe it could be ongoing, so let’s try it again. Assuming buying an account isn’t a viable option, and I have no content yet, these are all I would do if I chose Option 1 above.
Go to every car show, club gathering, or parking lot known to have cool vehicles around and take pictures and videos of everything. Start stacking up the content show; you can share it multiple times daily on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit (One of the best platforms for niche content).
I’m a competent photographer but not excellent. I wouldn’t wait until I was good, though. I would learn as I go, using the opportunities as on-the-job training.
I would also follow and interact with similar accounts as much as possible. Don’t spam; appreciate and become an active (not annoying) member of the community.
Use other people’s content when necessary to fill gaps by sharing posts in conscientious ways. No stealing other people’s content without permission or credit. Keep on the side of good karma.
When I hit 10,000 followers on any platform, I’d make my first shirt, something clever and relatable to the community. I would wear that shirt to shows and events, and when people ask about it, tell them to find me on [insert social platform here].
Set up a Shopify account, a Printify account, and a way to get people onto my email list. I use that first design for a shirt, mug, and one or two other products to have something on the front page.
I would run a giveaway telling everyone that I would give away X amount of shirts to people who subscribe to the email list and then give them away. Anyone who gets a shirt and shares it on their social accounts while tagging me gets a sizable discount on future purchases.
As the account grows, create 3 to 4 more designs and put them on products that make sense. Not all designs should go on all products. I would make some designs exclusive to higher ticket items like hoodies, blankets, and other things that car people might use.
Lather/rinse/repeat. I would show up at more shows and talk with people man-in-the-street style. Share some of those interviews immediately via stories, and then do supercuts later.
I would also go back and share older content again. There will be tons of new followers who have yet to see the old stuff. When I find specific types of content/vehicles getting more attention, I share those things more often.
Over time, as the accounts grow in popularity, fans will clamor to have me share their vehicles. They will do some of the heavy lifting for me, and I’ll reward some of them with fun stuff like stickers, keychains, etc.
Eventually, sponsors and advertisers will come calling, and I would indulge them, but only if the partnership made sense.
I wouldn’t oversaturate the shop. Instead, I would keep to a few designs for a while and only offer new designs as limited editions for specific events or collaborations. If a design isn’t working, kill it and try a new one.
Most importantly, have fun. If it’s not fun, I won’t want to keep going. Continued appreciation for the niche is essential to success.
The best part is if I am doing well, the accounts are growing, I’m selling tons of products, and I am ready to move on; I can then sell the business to someone looking for Option 3.
And I could take what I learned and apply it to a new project. As long as there are rabid fans of a particular hobby, there will be an opportunity to grow a business around them.
What hobby or passion project would you like to turn into a side hustle? Drop a note in the comments.