Priorities

Daily exercise from How to Draw Almost Every Day.  I'm finally reaching the point where my drawings don't look like I was practicing while flying over the Rockies.

One of the most - if not the most - difficult things to do as a self-employee is to decide what tasks I should prioritize on any given day.  This pops up in the regular work world as well, since just about everyone is charged with working on several things at once, all of equal top priority.  However, in those situations, someone in proximity (virtual or otherwise) tends to yell the loudest, instantly shuffling your priorities appropriately.

But, even among entrepreneurs, I'm a bit of an enigma.  When I started out, I had a very basic idea of what I wanted to do, but absolutely no business plan to achieve it, or recognize its failure and move on.  Instead, I had the equivalent of healthy seed-round funding to get me started with no glossy-eyed capitalist holding fistfuls of dollars to guide me along.  This was a blessing and a curse, because feedback is a gift, that's why they call it the present (or something like that.  You can take my word jumble and make your own viable business metaphor as appropriate).

Since I lack that external feedback, I'm at the mercy of my own scheduling.  On any given day, I've got the following work that I need to prioritize:

• Consulting work from Doctolib
• Adding content to Exhibit Meh
• Building in premium content capability for Exhibit Meh
• Pursuing alternate business ideas identified by Google Gemini
• Writing a blog post

Of course, all of these priorities can get re-shuffled when I need to lug 243 lbs of couch up several flights of stairs (luckily, not all 243 lbs at once) and assemble it, providing instant clarity on my priorities.  Barring such a once-in-a-decade event, though, the first priority is blindingly obvious at this juncture - concentrate on my consulting work for Doctolib.  I've got a contract to perform work for them and am getting paid to perform that work, so it seems more than reasonable that's the first task I should concentrate on.

From there, though, decisions become much more fluid.  From a monetary standpoint - the only standpoint that matters to single-business-minded individuals like myself - nothing else emits a strong signal to say "work on me, because I will earn you money."

If I start by focusing primarily on tasks that I've built a process for and have an audience for, I can choose between the blog post here option adding more content to Exhibit Meh.  If I'm further filtering by choosing specifically among revenue-generating streams, I'd have to choose Exhibit Meh, because it's technically the only one of solo ventures to make money outside of consulting.  

However, I've never attempted to monetize this blog in any fashion and, outside of LinkedIn, it's definitely where my largest audience resides, so it's possible I'm leaving money on the table by not attempting to shake any of you down for a buck.  If you're white-knuckling your way through the next sentence or two thinking "Oh, God, I don't know if I'm going to be able to afford such top-tier content if Todd charges for it," then relax.  I do plan on adding a donation button to the blog at some point, but I don't plan on paywalling any of my content.

If I look at the newer tasks on my docket, then I've got the option of building in premium content capability to Exhibit Meh or working on a completely new business venture (currently offering a landing page package to small businesses).  Exhibit Meh hasn't really made money, but it is a business I'm comfortable with from both an execution standpoint and a potential business model standpoint (I think I've got to put in a bit more effort on marketing and content before writing it off as a viable business model).

On the other hand, Gemini swears up and down that, for the revenue I'm looking to make from a landing page business - $18-$24K - I'm positioned well to get started on it as a new business venture.  It also adds a fresh offering to my portfolio and is likely to provide the most new content for the blog as an added bonus.

With all this in mind, how, then, do I order my priorities?

• As previously discussed, consulting for Doctolib preempts any other work.  It's the closest facsimile I have to a full-time position at this point, so it should occupy the top slot.
• Writing blog posts here.  This doesn't necessarily preempt other tasks (and, indeed, I'm writing this first draft while watching the Cubs in their first playoff appearance in 5 years), but I don't want to let my weekly (ish) posts atrophy.  This blog serves multiple purposes: it gives me a consistent forum for expressing my thoughts (and subsequently helps me organize them as well), it helps me stay engaged with a grassroots audience, and it serves as a feeder for maintaining a LinkedIn presence.  Though it doesn't generate revenue directly, it does help support any other revenue-generating ideas I may have.  And it's something I look forward to writing most weeks.
• Adding content to Exhibit Meh.  As with my blog posts, this doesn't necessarily preempt other tasks.  Given that it has generated some revenue and has generated positive reviews from the small audience that's viewed it, it's still worth investing time in from a business standpoint.  What will likely change is my posting frequency.  I started out writing about 2 pieces per week, but will throttle that down to a piece every week or two to allow me to invest time in some of the other tasks listed.  Of course, if there's a change in page views or (hopefully) revenue, then I'll readjust my priorities accordingly.
• Building premium Exhibit Meh content capability.  I like this option because it's well-defined.  I need to write one or two sample premium posts and create a call-to-action soliciting interest in premium content.  If I get 25 people interested in the possibility of additional content, I'll start building in further capabilities.  If I don't, I can sideline this as a revenue-generating idea.
• Pursuing the landing page idea.  This requires the greatest effort with the least known increase in revenue or market share, so it's something to pursue after I've accomplished (or scheduled) all of the above tasks.

Until next time, my human and robot friends.

P.S.  My drawing skills are getting better, but I'm still not at the point where I can easily link the subject matter (or at the very least the title of the blog post) to a representative illustration.  I hope to be there soon!