This is where I started out. Includes Guild Design, Ready to Use Guild Recipes, a Permaculture Yearly Calendar, and a plant database so you can plant that comfrey next to that apple tree.
The best testimonial I ever received was from Jason Snyder from Doomer Optimism:
“Shout out to Thriving the Future, relentlessly upbeat and practical, all about making your life more resilient and regenerative, doesn’t get involved with Twitter drama.”
Wow. Jason gets it. And has described my Brand very well.
You ask yourself: “Why are you doing this?” or “Why do you want to do this?” (if you are starting something new).
You keep asking “Why” until you run out of answers.
Why did I start the podcast? It was 2021 and everything was negative. My friend Perpend and I were having conversations that focused on Thriving: building community, homesteading, growing your own food, building skills. Those topics stood the test of time. You can listen to the early episodes and they are still fresh. They are evergreen.
What specific problem does Thriving the Future solve?
When I asked my members in the TTF Community Telegram group what topics they would want to hear, it was:
“Include more success stories from homesteaders”
“Talk about your favorite garden tools”
“Do episodes with Unpopular topics or takes”.
All good suggestions. Except I have exhausted my homesteader guests. And “homesteading” is falling out of favor.
Plus Thriving the Future is more than just homesteading.
What problem am I trying to solve?
Believe me – I can do Unpopular Takes. At least 75% of my tweets I start to write and then I delete them because they don’t align with my positive solutions brand, that brand that Jason so aptly described in his shout out testimonial.
Unpopular takes get Clicks and Likes, but not customers.
So far I have talked about the “What”. But how about the “Why?”
For me, I do this podcast because it allows me to talk about topics that I want to talk about or I am trying to learn more about (like Permaculture/Regenerative land design or consulting or building a tree nursery).
It helps me to build community…both friends and contacts. We share seeds. They may send someone my way to buy a tree.
I have built new skills – like WordPress, marketing, and building community. These are new skills. They take work.
But ultimately a podcast is a business, as I get into shortly. It is a lead magnet that drives into other businesses or side hustles.
Where do we go from here?
Reality Check. Doing a podcast is great until at the end of Year 1 when your hosting doubles. And at the end of Year 2 it doubles again.
It has to be run as a business. But people see podcasts as just entertainment.
That e-book or course that everyone sells on “How to Make Money Online” says: “Create content, get a mailing list, sell to that mailing list. Get those 1000 fans. Convert a portion of those fans to customers.”
A podcast is either entertainment, or it is a lead magnet. It should drive to your other Offers. But what if people don’t want your offers, they only want entertainment?
Let’s go beyond just entertainment. Are you my customer?
What products could help you design or live a (more) intentional life? What products are you interested in that I could include as affiliates?
Homesteading or permaculture course? (so far there is little to no interest in these)
Garden tools? (the feedback I get so far is that it is either “its too expensive” or “I already have that tool”).
What Side hustle stuff would you like to see?
Or is it other stuff?
What is my Offer?
Grow Nut Trees is my main source of side hustle income. But it’s not much, and it is only seasonal.
Thriving the Future Podcast does not make enough money to cover hosting, plugins, and Zoom licensing fees. It takes a lot of trees sold to pay for podcast hosting.
Most of the professional advice that I have received on how to grow your podcast focus on how save time (“use this AI tool”) require additional monthly charges or tools.
I tried starting a Patreon but people would buy one month, download the extras from a guest like Cyprian, and then cancel their subscription. I made $15 total.
This month someone has been ordering things on Amazon after using one of my links. Everything ordered within 24 hours of clicking a link on the Stuff page gives me a cut. This month the Amazon revenue was over $1000 (Thank you). But Amazon only pays 1-3% on most things, so my cut was <$30 (Doh! Not going to get rich being an Amazon Affiliate.).
What you can do:
If you like this content and the podcast, here is how you can support the podcast and my Thriving empire of side hustles:
Shoot me a tip on Venmo or CashApp @ThrivingtheFuture.
OR – click on one of the Amazon links on the Stuff page and then buy your other stuff that you want. Anything you buy on Amazon for 24 hours will give Thriving the Future a credit (a Piece of the Action).
Buy comfrey crowns or cuttings on Grow Nut Trees. More trees will be available in Sept.
Go to my other site AllGardenAdvice.com – Gardening Ideas and Tips, and check out the articles and stuff.
Opportunity Cost is a Reality Check
Because here’s the reality check – if the podcast doesn’t make a difference, if it isn’t solving your problems, if it doesn’t make money and break even, I have to look at spending my time and money on something else. Sorry, but that’s reality, and Opportunity cost is a reality check.
