Losing your job sucks, especially when it’s your only revenue stream. How do you de-risk the effect of a job loss? Have a job NOT be your only revenue stream. How? Have a side hustle. What? Have a side hustle. No, I heard you the first time, but what’s a side hustle? Makin’ a li’l money on the side. Cool… so what are you gonna do, and how do you decide which of your ideas to tackle first? Let me show you my thinking.
Let’s start with some grand guiding notions I settled on a few months back, shared here in an abbreviated form. I may share how I got to these, and why this approach, in a future post.
- vision: express yourself, like a bad-ass
- mission: create & share, inspire & ignite
- strategy: follow gut, live responsibly
I consider ‘ScrumOfOne’ a revenue-related product: while it may not directly give me revenue now, it’s a relatively significant time-sink and an avenue towards sources that I believe will result in revenue. (If I could only monetize all the times my daughter tells someone, “GUESS WHAT!?! I’m four-and-a-half,” I could fund her mango habit. And mine.) Plus, I put time into it, so I should clarify some product guiding notions for ‘ScrumOfOne’.
- for: my outlandish & silly story-telling
- clearly: my steez & personal utility (journaling) (solidifying & clarifying of thought)
- joy: autotelic (I enjoy spending the time doing this) & enjoy the process (there is joy in creating this)
Brainstorming can be fun. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with for revenue stream options.
- part-time Agile Coaching
- Agile fashion
- Patreon
- Agile for X
- ScrumOfOne blog
- ScrumOfOne podcast
- ScrumOfOne book
- ScrumOfOne class
- guest blogging
- Scrum Master mentoring
- AgileNeighborhood with paid access
- reviewer / proofreader
That’s 12. OK. How do I analyze them, let alone prioritize them? In thinking through a li’l Lifestyle Design, a couple of guiding long-term goals come to mind.
- goal of passivity: have a number of passive revenue streams
- goal of activity: do a variety of fun & interesting things, with my skills & passions, every day
Categorizing can be fun. I now look at the 12 options through the lens of the 2 goals, tagging an option with (p) if I deem it a source of passive income, and then tagging an option with (1) if I could do it myself, or (2) if it required one other person.
- part-time Agile Coaching
- Agile fashion (p)
- Patreon (p)(1)
- Agile for X (p)(2)
- ScrumOfOne blog (1)
- ScrumOfOne podcast (1)
- ScrumOfOne book (p)(1)
- ScrumOfOne class (p)(1)
- guest blogging (2)
- Scrum Master mentoring
- AgileNeighborhood with paid access (p)
- reviewer / proofreader (2)
Better visualizing the categories can be fun.
- (p)(1)
- Patreon (WIP)
- ScrumOfOne book
- ScrumOfOne class
- (1)
- ScrumOfOne blog (WIP)
- ScrumOfOne podcast (WIP)
- (p)(2)
Agile for X
- (2)
- guest blogging (WIP)
reviewer / proofreader
- (p)
- Agile fashion
AgileNeighborhood with paid access
- (null)
- part-time Agile Coaching
Scrum Master mentoring (WIP)
You’ll noticed I prioritized the categories: I prefer to invest in options that are more fully within my control, specifically my ability to put in the effort. You’ll also notice I crossed off some options: I prefer to invest in options where I see a decent return on investment. This last bit was hard, but made easier when looking at my prioritization of the categories. This doesn’t mean I won’t pick them up later: this exercise is to see what I’ll work on next. You’ll further notice I added ‘(WIP)’ to a few: these are the options I currently have in progress. Noting what’s in progress helps with the prioritization of the options.
The categorization & other analysis thus inform the prioritization of the options – here’s my backlog, folks!
- ScrumOfOne blog
- Patreon
- guest blogging
- ScrumOfOne podcast
- — — —
- ScrumOfOne book
- Agile fashion
- ScrumOfOne class
- part-time Agile Coaching
You’ll noticed I’ve added a line in the middle. Towards focusing my work in progress, the options above the line are what I’ll tolerate working on at the same time, getting through to significant states of ‘done’, or sustainably folding into my system of habits.
Look at that backlog. So what does that all mean? It means:
- ScrumOfOne blog: keep regularly blogging here
- Patreon: my Support link is now live
- guest blogging: keep regularly blogging here
- ScrumOfOne podcast: get to regularly releasing, focusing in the short-term on improving quality of style and quality of content
- ScrumOfOne book: start this once the above is sustainably flowing
Now you know what I’m doing at 4:30 am. So when is the book coming out? I’ll only start after I’m happy with the system I’ll set up for regularly podcasting. But won’t working on a book be, like, way more fun? I know, trust me, I already have an outline, but I want to be disciplined with sticking to the Agile ideas of focusing on flow and reducing work in progress. And you really think these will make you money? I really think I’ll have fun. But didn’t you start this post being motivated to make a li’l money on the side? Yes, and I believe if I “do a variety of fun & interesting things, with my skills & passions, every day,” then I won’t hate myself as I work towards other revenue streams. So you’re actually being motivated by not hating yourself?
…
Now you know my inner monologue at 4:30 am.