*UnPhiltered is the brief history of my writing life: how I went from English teacher to writing coach, author, and Bitcoin writer.
Here is a list of work-related things I never thought I’d do:
- Create video courses
- Build a website (or six)
- Host a podcast / livestream
- Hire an assistant (+ fire an assistant)
- Sell products and services on Zoom calls
- Become a social media influencer (sort of)
- Help dozens of clients get published or promoted
- Run a paid community with 100+ members (not OnlyFans)
After all, I was just a lowly English teacher.
Before 2019, I wrote lesson plans, taught classes, and marked homework.
Well, after switching to online classes offering writing help, I began to learn more about how coaching differs from teaching and how digital businesses differ from teaching via online platforms.
I learned that a coaching session has no fixed price.
Value is completely subjective.
Everything depends on framing, strategies, and results.
I was liberated from the idea that my time was worth 10 Euros an hour, or 20, or even 250!
All of the items on the list occurred within three years or so. They were terrifying and difficult at first, but practice makes better, and once you get more comfortable with each process, it’s like riding a bike.
To improve more quickly, I took courses on marketing and business management, read a ton, joined helpful online communities, posted daily on socials, and, most importantly, I got used to failing fast.
The benefit of an online coaching business is that you start with a laptop and very few overheads. The only investment you make is your time, so you need to adapt quickly and test the market a lot.
I never thought I’d enjoy making videos, penning articles about language, and spending so much time on LinkedIn. But I did. My posts got millions of views (combined), and I attracted a little army of followers.
Being my own boss was scary and rewarding in equal measure. The highs are 10 times higher than when you are working for someone else; the lows are devastating (more on this in a future chapter).
What I loved most was the actual coaching: getting on weekly calls with clients, giving advice and learning from community members, editing great work, and getting messages about struggles and successes.
The problem with a coaching business is the ‘business’ part. You spend 90% of your time doing marketing, sales, and admin, and only 10% doing what you love.
How did my own writing fit into all of this?
- Growing my skills in content writing — course materials, articles, and web copy.
- Using LinkedIn as a creative outlet — writing funny slideshows about badgers and awful corpo influencers.
- Continuing my narrative writing — I prepared to publish my second book of short fiction.
More on my second book next time…
Have you started a digital business?
What did you love/hate about it?
#unphiltered
Catch up with earlier chapters of UnPhiltered here on StackerNews or on Substack.
Always get some cool insights from those posts, thanks Phil! Do you still do coaching as well or are just focused on writing these days?
Yes! I love being my own boss and working on stuff I actually care about. Of course, running a one-man operation also means I have to do all the backend stuff I don't really like that much, basically what you said here:
Overall, it's been insanely challenging & I'll likely have to pick up a day job again to actually be able to pay my bills. More details about this (ongoing) journey: #1343896
I also put out a book of my own last year (#1074789) and while I wasn't betting on putting the food on the table from the proceeds, the overall experience is similar to the gift card business... a lot of efforts in promotion, admin, networking, etc. with little to no results in terms of creative output or monetary income.
In either case, I'm glad to have accepted the challenges, faced them, and I'm constantly learning a ton from this whole experience.
Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you can make sense of my journey - it's never a linear path. In amswer to your question, I don't coach much now, but I still love it, and would not close the door on helping others.
Digital businesses give us the opportunity to be sovereign, and that is truly amazing. If you just focus on that, you are living a fulfilling and rich life.
Add to that you wrote a book. Amazing. Publishing your truth is and important proof of work that should make you feel proud.
Keep going with your biz. As it is connected to bitcoin,you are on the right path for sure.
Sovereignty is the goal! Thanks for the encouragement, it's highly appreciated 🙏
Some might consider maintaining an SN territory a business -- and in the capacity that the goal is to return some sort of profit, then I might agree. There's something unique here though, where my success is directly related to the success of the site. I quite enjoy that. It is very much a hobby of mine, and one to which I would love to devote more of my actual time and energy (and not just satoshis).
I've also begun a journey of sharing my love of tea with bitcoiners. I quite enjoyed setting up the wordpress site, and being able to accept payments without the need for an intermediary (a feeling which if I could bottle and sell, I totally would!)
Both are works in progress, and each a separate (?) attempt at cultivating a small niche in bitcoin land. I'll continue both so long as they continue to interest and engage me in what little free time I have.
Bitcoin + niche is the way to go. I believe it will shape the next 20 years of content, community, and startup.
What is your opinion on tea with milk?
I'm a Brit, but I only like green tea (plus mate and herbal teas).
For me, tea with milk is nauseating!
I don't hate it, but i prefer my tea straight.
Herbal is good. Green too, but i find its a bit more temperamental to brew.
it shows how much can change when you bet on yourself and keep going.