Path and Points to Ponder
Things are indeed in a state of flux and challenging times are ahead. It feels like I am alone in this, just guessing and groping around in the dark, but that is not true. That email I just read from Rob Walling was telling; with all of the knowledge that he and his team has about SaaS, the ground is shifting under them and they have to figure out what to do. I am not alone.
I don't have any influence over the forward movement of AI. It's overwhelming to think about and there is temptation to deny it all and just bury my head in the sand. But that is the worst possible response. Though success is not guaranteed, I will increase my chance of it by facing this wave head-on, fully admitting it is coming, and coming very fast.
Some points:
(1) Though revenue from Udemy is slowly falling, there is still income. That income, combined with that from plcdojo, can potentially keep covering expenses. That gives me an important buffer, and I am fortunate to have that buffer. How long it will last I do not know.
(2) There is evidence that new courses can give a temporary boost to revenue. However, it seems that new courses will either add very little or not at all to recurring revenue. In fact, it is very likely that there will be very little long term effect of these new courses to curtail the gradual month-to-month fall in revenue. This means that I have to set my expectation of the effect of new courses appropriately.
(3) The next question is this, what will be my new/additional source of income? I am slowly collecting email addresses and slowly adding content to my website (very slowly). These maybe are "true fans" that I have developed trust and authority with. How does this tactic translate into sales? Because if none of it translates into sales, then it makes no sense to do it. I need to find something to sell to them that can't be supported on Udemy, but rather through my own site. Any sale would be significant, even if it is to one person.
(4) Should I start very slowly looking to pivot out of the content/software field? To do something totally and completely different? To do something that is indigenous to T&T? Could I possibly leverage the email addresses from FT to build a business? Should I get a part-time job maybe some form of lecturing? Is that even possible/practical?