Not everyone feels the need to monetize their passion projects—but what if you do want to? We’re talking a little more specifically about how to monetize passion projects and what to consider when you are trying to monetize.
Emily Thompson 0:02
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Kathleen Shannon 1:07
Hey boss, did you know that we're always hosting live hangouts boss webinars in person meetups and vacations. We're also creating a lot of content over here at being boss and we don't want you to miss out on a thing. The best way to stay updated is by joining our newsletter list. Just go to www.beingboss.club where you can learn more about our in person and online events, sign up for our newsletter and never miss out on a thing. Alright, Caitlin, what do you have for us today?
Caitlin Brehm 1:38
This question comes from Reagan Reagan says I'm emailing to ask that being boss create an episode on how to monetize a passion project. This comes out of the episode with Laura Tremaine, a question you asked one of your guys in Toronto, the live guest in Toronto described her side project that she was going to devote so much time to over the next decade. And she didn't need it to generate income. But you asked whether she wanted to spend that time on a hobby, or in a business, which she didn't want it to be a hobby, she wanted it to be a business. And then with Laura, you spoke about how Emily and Kathleen are always looking for ways to monetize and Laura wasn't necessarily for her projects. But you both made it sound like you monetize as easily as you breathe. So how do you actually do that? Getting more specific,
Emily Thompson 2:25
I love that you monetize as easily as you breathe,
Kathleen Shannon 2:29
I know, I'll take that as a compliment, right?
Emily Thompson 2:31
I take that as a compliment. Because it's kind of true. I feel like I could monetize about anything. Um, and I think the thing that you have to do is determine if it solves a problem and who will who is willing to pay for it as a solution to that problem. And sometimes it's not the person that you think, for example, we started the podcast thinking that the problem it was solving was more direct to the consumer. But the problem that it solves is actually tends to be helping some brands get in front of the people who are listening to the podcast. So you have to think about you have to think about what problem you're solving and who's willing to pay for that solution. And once you can figure those things out, it's about packaging it up to them in a way that they'd be willing to buy without a little bit more info. That's vague as hell I know. But that's where it starts.
Kathleen Shannon 3:27
I can get really specific, because I'm actually working on a passion project right now. So I am recording a podcast with my siblings, and it's really self indulgent. And we're not solving anybody's problem. And for me, that's what defines a passion project. For me, it's almost, or at least these days, something that is non monetizable. But of course, my brain started just like breathing, figuring out ways to make money off of this thing. So just right out the gate. And you guys, this is still really super fresh, it's not even released. It's not even a thing that's in the world yet, I started thinking about how could we make money off of this. So one, I thought it could help bring my brother's personal brand to the forefront, and he could start getting more gigs out of the thing. So that's the first way that we can monetize is by pitching his services as a sideshow freak, if anyone's looking, and then in case, maybe he is solving some people's problems by swallowing a sword, or hammering a nail into his head, or breathing some fire. So that's one way we thought of it. And that's you know, even with being boss starting off as essentially a passion project. We thought that we would monetize that by selling our own individual services through braid creative and indicia typography. And as Emily described, we were able to shift that pretty quickly to monetize in our own way. I've also been dealing with this passion project now that we have the experience of writing book and getting an agent it could turn into a book one day. So I'm really what I'm doing is just exploring all the different ways that this platform could expand into either a service, or a product, or something that we're able to sell. So for me, it's really just attaching the offering to the project itself. And I think that otherwise, it really does just come down to what is it that you want people to do next. So you have this passion project, it's gaining attention, I almost even think about l Lunas 100 day project. So l Luna is an artist that started 100 day project, and it's blown up on Instagram. And it totally started as a passion project for herself. And it's the quintessential passion project where she's doing one thing and committing to one thing every single day. So like a hand lettering project, or a painting project. And I've seen lots of artists jumping in on this 100 day projects on Instagram. So how would she monetize this community effort? Well, she went on to write a book about it. And so I keep pointing back to book things right now, probably because that's where our heads are at. But it doesn't necessarily have to be a book, she could have coached someone through how to do 100 day project, she could have created an ecourse around it. So just start thinking about all the different platforms and ways that you can deliver on this passion project in a way that makes money. I guess, maybe we're so in it, that we're having a hard time seeing exactly the creative process that goes into monetizing. So, Caitlin, is there anything that you see in me and Emily, that we're somehow missing whenever it comes to monetizing?
Caitlin Brehm 6:39
No, I think you explained everything really well, it just basically comes down to people are asking on how to do it. And there are three basic ways that you've outlined. One, you either use whatever you're doing to point attention towards something else that is already making you money. So that's the book deal that's using it to market your one on one services, or what have you. That's using it as a marketing tool. So it won't directly make money, it'll point you towards something that is making money to, you're using it as a place for other brands to come in and pay you for that audience that you are attracting. So you aren't necessarily selling anything except exposure to your audience. And in order to do that, in order to get the sponsorships, you need to have a pretty big audience or make it worth it somehow, and engage the audience for those sponsorships. And then three, you're using that passion project to establish a business model. So that's creating the course out of it the ecourse, the one on one services that are based on that business model. So it's pretty much comes down to how much work do you want to put into this thing to develop beyond what you've already been doing? And then it depends on your audience.
Emily Thompson 7:53
We should, yeah, we should have you sum up all of our hobbies, we do what's called the show notes. This is why Caitlin is here, guys. She just did that beautifully. There you go. And you're totally right, it all depends on how far you want to take this thing. Each one of those steps is like the next level of involvement, whether it's just gonna be something you do on the side to support the thing that you're doing for real, whether there's going to be something that you just sort of have someone scoot in and pay you money to help you keep it going. Or if it's something that you want to turn it into a full fledged business model that you're going to pour lots of time and energy into. I think that's a beautiful way of looking at it, you get a gold star.
Kathleen Shannon 8:34
I do want to just reiterate that passion projects do not start out as something that you monetize. The whole point of a passion project is that it's more of like that hobby vibe to it or that spirit of curiosity and exploration. It's not necessarily about monetizing out the gate. Again, Emily and I can't help but when a monetize things right out the gate, that feel free to just experiment and get curious and oftentimes, the solution to monetizing will show up on its own people will start asking if they can give you money. And this is exactly what's happened with most of our passion projects is that we were able to solve a problem before we were ever selling that solution. People just started wanting to give us money. Before we even had an offering then we developed an offering around it. So feel free to just give yourself the space to not monetize for a minute.
Emily Thompson 9:28
It's beautiful.
Kathleen Shannon 9:29
Thanks so much Reagan. Hey, boss want even more actionable guidance from me and Emily, we're taking our expertise in branding, marketing and building profitable businesses to the being boss clubhouse. The clubhouse kicks off with a two day online retreat followed by a year of support and community. We've helped our clubhouse members get focused double their revenue, launch their dream offering and market themselves like a boss. Learn more at www.beingboss.club/clubhouse again, That's www.beingboss.club/clubhouse.
Emily Thompson 10:06
Did you like this minisode Be sure to check us out on our website at www.beingboss.club. There you can find more from being boss including our full episodes minisodes and blog posts. And while you're there, be sure to sign up for our mailing list so that you can get access to behind the scenes and exclusive content from Kathleen and myself to help you be more boss in your work and life. Do the work be boss
