The 10-Year Overnight Success

Business Brain Episode 617 for Casual Friday, January 24th Macintosh Computer Introduction Day 2025 greetings folks and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take some ideas, we crunch them, we dissect them, we use them to tune our business brain so that each and every one of us gets to keep on or start or enhance living our charmed lives. Our sponsor for this episode is shopify.com businessbrain. That's where you can go to sign up for a $1 per month trial and you can upgrade your selling today. Keep that charmed life going. Here in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave.

Hamilton and out here in California, I'm Shannon Jean. I love Shopify, man. Same super, super empowering, easy to set up. They just super incredible for entrepreneurs that especially if you're just getting started, want to experiment even if you're not like, well, and then have it. Have the capacity to just ramp up to the moon. Yeah, you're. You don't have to switch. It's awesome. I love it.

Yeah, it's great.

It's really. Yeah. Very cool.

I was, I was shoveling snow, Shannon, ahead of heading out to Los Angeles where I will be when this episode releases. Actually, I'll be in Anaheim most of the time. I don't have to specify that, but with everything that's going on now, I.

Think I was just. That was gonna be my next question. Where in LA are you?

Exactly. Which is why I, I proactively answered. Yep.

Yeah.

So Anaheim should be okay. If it's not, obviously I won't go. But shovel and snow. And I was thinking about this, this conference that I'm going to. It's the N A M M NAM conference. North American Music Merchants is the name. It is the sort of hub of the music industry, if you will. All kinds of people go there. The people who make instruments and software and hardware for musicians. Musicians go. There's bands playing. Some bands that you've heard of. Most bands you probably haven't, but lots of musicians that you've heard of and then all of like the front of house engineers that mix all the band.

Like you've definitely the business of the business.

The business of music, right? Is here. Yeah, exactly. And I was thinking about this. I, I was invited to attend as press because. As media, because of my gig Gab podcast. And I was thinking, well, that's pretty cool. Like I've always, obviously I've always been a fan of music. I've been a musician for as long as I can remember. I've always been in sort of my corner of the music industry, but to be recognized by the more and more of the industry itself and invited into being a part of that. And it's not just NAMM that invited me. Like there's tons of vendors there, they're super happy that I'm going to be there and you know, inviting me to their events and parties and you know, those sorts of things. It's like, look what I've done. Like I, I said to myself, you did it again. And what I meant by that was I did this in the, in the Apple slash tech industry and, and now here I've done it again. But what's. What most of the industry doesn't quite see is how long it took because that's right, Gigab, the show that, that sort of, that I, that has this presence for me, I mean, it's a show I created, co created, has is in its 10th year. Exactly like Business Brain. In fact, ironically, it started on literally the same day that Business Brain did, but it went for nine years in one format with a co host and my co creator, Paul Kent. He wound up leaving the show because his schedule got too difficult to be a part of it on a regular basis anymore. It got really stressful for him. And there were times, I mean, Covid was a time where we could have easily been like, well, there's nothing to talk about as a work, might as well pull the plug. We didn't. There were other times where, like I said, our scheduling was difficult to make happen. Would have been super easy to pull the plug. It was even discussed. We didn't. And that bullheaded persistence let me get to year 10 where I suddenly had to figure out what else to do with the show. And so I started bringing all these people in and I found, oh my gosh, like I can do that. I can bring in someone like Buck Dharma, the guy who co founded, you know, Blue Oyster Cult or I mean, you know, all the drummer from Train I had on. Sure, I'm pulling out names that might sound familiar, but I've also got people that are equally, or perhaps even more valuable to our listeners that would also not have spent their time with me if the show didn't have some level of cachet. Right?

Yeah, that's right.

And that cachet doesn't happen without the prior nine years worth of work. And so it's this thing that appears, and I totally understand why it appears this way. I take no resentment or I have no negative feelings about it, but it seems like wow. That's overnight success. And it took 10 years. And I know that this is a thing we all know sort of from a catchphrase thing. It's like, oh, overnight success takes 20 years. In this case, it took 10. But what I love about this is I have the receipts. You can go back and look at exactly what it took to get here. And I'm hoping that that can be inspiring to someone to say, oh, wait, it does pay off. You have to put in the time, you have to put in the work. And as I was thinking about that, Shannon, I thought about a parallel path that happened literally alongside me with that, and it's you. We started this show the Same day almost 10 years ago. Almost exactly 10 years ago, in fact. And by. Off by one month, and we did this. You. You were all. I think you were always an influence. You always had the influencer creator thing inside you. You were doing a lot of that with your newsletter at Tech Restore and all that.

Right.

But doing this on a weekly basis certainly is at least part of, and perhaps an important part of the path that led you to becoming a content creator, a coach. All of the things that have blossomed for you in the last year that.

Yeah.

People who don't know this backstory think overnight success. Look how. Look what he did. He just launched and did this thing. It's like. Well, did he, though?

He didn't know.

I know, right? Yeah, exactly.

That's right. No, no, I mean, I think this show has got. Helped me to get more comfortable talking about these concepts. It helped me get more comfortable talking about my successes. It certainly helped me get more comfortable talking about my failures.

Yeah.

And it also helps use to this day, helps me flush out ideas, flesh out.

We also flush them out.

Flush. We flush them too. Yeah. Flush out ideas and things that have become part of the lexicon of my life, you know, like mistakes or tuition or this or that and. And all kinds of concepts that we've discussed between ourselves and with. With other people and guests that have come on the show. And I believe. Yeah, I don't think it would have led me. It led me to be more. Much more comfortable becoming a content creator. Because I've been sharing for 10 years.

Yes.

Right. And now when I went on X last year and started in January, I was just another level of sharing and it. I had a massive head start on someone that was just.

Starting out. That's the thing.

So it became another form of telling stories and all this kind of. And I'll just share. I'll be transparent. Build, build in public.

Wait to be transparent because I want you to share how much you've made from this. I also have some anecdotes to share that I think will be inside about you. You might have some about me. I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But yeah, we've got more to share. All right, folks, look, it's a new year and let's be honest with each other like we always are. How many of us spent the holidays daydreaming about launching our next big idea? Right? Maybe you've been stuck on the what ifs, what if it doesn't work? But better yet, what if it does? That's where our sponsor, Shopify comes in. I use Shopify for merch with two of my businesses. And let me tell you, it's so easy to. It feels like cheating in minutes. You can create your store with customizable templates, no coding required. Shopify handles everything. Shipping, taxes, payments, and even connects all your social channels so you can sell everywhere your customers are scrolling. And here's a wild part. If Shopify were a person, I'd put it in charge of my calendar because it's that efficient. Don't wait another year to act on your idea. Established in 2025. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com businessbrain all lowercase go to shopify.com businessbrain to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com businessbrain and our thanks to Shopify for sponsoring this episode. So people who listen to this show, Shannon, know you as a very candid person. You are happy talking about your mistakes. You know that they have value, that you know that they are tuition. And that is true. I don't mean to refute that at all, but I want to highlight how much of an evolution that actually is. Because you talk about your million dollar mistake and people can go back and listen to this story and you said to yourself at the time that it happened, you weren't going to let this define you. It turns out you did let it define you, but in a positive way.

Yeah, right.

I am pretty sure that the repercussions from that mistake were happening either in real time or just had happened to you when we started deals on the web. Is that right? Oh, would have been 2001, right around that time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's. That's right.

I did not hear you and I were business partners. We were starting a business. We were talking Every single night. It. You know, we. This was our thing. We would get together. I would do the programming, you do the other parts of it. We did all our things. We really got to know each other very, very well, shared a lot of stories we had. Our sons were basically being born about the same time. It was. Yes, all that stuff. We became very close. It wasn't until we started doing this show that I heard that story.

I couldn't tell it then, man.

I know.

It was too raw. It was too raw.

I get. No, I totally get it. But when you first told me the story, I was like, oh, that's interesting. And then a few days later, I'm like, wait, I knew him, like, when this happened to him. And I remember a couple years later, I had a legal thing, and that's when you gave me advice. You're like, dude, whatever. You can get this out of your way quickly because lawsuits are like spiders, that. That phrase. But it. It. You know, I put it all back, and in hindsight, I could connect all the dots. It was like, oh, my God, he was going through a ton, and he just. You couldn't talk about it. Like, you need it. You probably needed to very badly, but you could. You just couldn't do it. Your ego gets in the way.

I mean, I was. Oh, I was ashamed. Exactly. It was shame that kept me. And that's just why I talk to so many entrepreneurs now and tell them, you know, like, hey, you need to connect with, you know, it. It's bad for your. Everything in your life when you go through these things, even, you know, whether, you know, it doesn't matter who made the mistake or what happened or whatever. And when you're in those situations that it's this massive ball of negativity weighing down on you, learning how to get through that and to carry the weight of those things as you get to the other side. You know, it. It did led me. It lead me to one of my other lexicon, you know, statements, is the right spouse as a force multiplier? Because with my wife was. You know, helped me get to the other side and really kind of that, okay, you screwed up. Get back in the game. Keep going, and. And not let it stop you. So, yeah, it's. This show is very cathartic in the sense that over time, I became more comfortable. Like, okay, I can talk about it. And, yeah, you know, I want to.

I want to make it clear we have taught each other that lesson. Like, I did not come into this, you know, I'm sure I Am not fully psychologically developed. And I certainly didn't come into this show nearly as developed as I am now. This show I has been. I've always said to people, if you want to learn the most about me, listen to this show.

Because this show is the one, same.

With me, where it's the most raw and open.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because a lot of times we come in and we don't have a topic and like, what do you want to talk about? Well, there's always stuff going on around you that you're just like, oh, let's talk, let's do some business therapy and let's talk about X and let's talk about.

Sometimes our business therapy is very overt. We say, I have this thing going on.

Yeah.

And sometimes listener Terry has a problem.

Yeah.

And listener Terry sometimes might be asking for a friend.

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And so I, I tell people that I have this for all my coaching clients. I always say this. I have an exercise, just one page a day. You need to write one page a day. And I only have one rule is you have to share it with somebody. You could share it with me. You can share it with wife, your girlfriend, a kid, any. A business partner, whatever it is, you can share it online. You could put. Post it in a post. But it's the same concept I learned on this show. One of the biggest lessons that I learned from you, Dave, is consistency. And I'll never forget when we first started this, you're like, okay, here's the deal. We have to start recording and we have to show up at the same time and we have to do it at the same time every week so people know what's to expect. And, and you know, I'm kind of this pirate entrepreneur that just. Whatever, let's go. But learning that, like, oh, and then learning later that, you know, most podcasts don't make it through 10 episodes. Right. 99% of them, or something like that.

Oh, it's a huge number. Yeah, it's the, that's the majority. Correct.

Yeah. And this is episode 617.

To me, when I, when I see somebody say that. And it is true, like the stats, you don't have to massage the numbers terribly to get to that. The stats say that most shows die before they hit double digit episode numbers. And to me, I didn't know that when I started because that wasn't known. It was a long time ago. But now that's the kind of, that is the kind of thing that would fuel me. It's like, wait, all I have to do is make it to 10 episodes and I'm in the 1%. Yeah, that's easy. That's easy. But you're right, as, as the pirate entrepreneur and many podcasters, all of the ones that I talk to are pirate entrepreneurs. And I, I just tell them, look, it's great that your life doesn't have to exist on a set schedule, but here's the thing. As soon as you want to start having an audience that, that sticks with you, they're going to rely on you. And so they do have lives that revolve around schedules, so you have to deliver for them.

Plus, I have, I have episodes. I, I go to refresh the POP my podcast app, and I'm like, where is it? Where's the one I listen to every.

Day at 10am that's the thing. Right, right.

Yeah, yeah. And, and I think that, you know, also thinking of it as a business is a very important concept, is when I start things, I'm starting a company here. Yeah. We have an llc. We're starting a business. I'm not saying that, oh, I'm going to start this business and this is how revenue is going to go and it's going to keep going up. It doesn't work that way.

That's not what I think of when I start a business. I'm like you. I think of the logistics, the infrastructure.

Infrastructure. And part of that is consistency and building and also developing best practices and learning and documenting and capturing data about what works. And I've done the same thing with my content business that I started. And it is a business. I have an assistant now. I'm just hiring a new bookkeeper slash data person to help me. So we're building out this team. That is because you're taking it seriously. And, and it's, it's. That's how you turn something, you create something from nothing is. Is that's what's happened. And I'll share with you. Yeah, consistency. I didn't monetize this business until late July, almost August. And I've got, I'd say three or four different revenue stacks in this business so far. I, I get paid to post on X. I get monetized. It's not a lot, but it's probably. They just sent me a 1099 and it. Eighteen hundred dollars for.

Since six months, essentially.

Six months. Okay. Okay. And I get paid for. I have subscribers on X that generates about $7,000 a year.

Okay.

I have guides. Yeah, I have guides that I created that just people are like, I need to know how to do this. How do you grow on X? How do you, you know, how do you buy stuff from Costco liquidation auction? So I create these little guides and I sell them on gumroad. And that this in the last six months has generated $6,800 revenue.

Okay.

And I, I book phone calls and help people with coaching.

Coaching.

And I have a coaching. I have a couple programs. So since late July, I just got all my stuff together to hand out to the, to my accountant. It's about $26,000.

Amazing. And yeah, here's the thing, folks. 26,000 seems like it. I don't know what that seems like to you.

Yeah, some people it's like, oh my gosh, that's a ton of money. To the other people are like, dude, that sets nothing.

But I'm in the middle side hustle. Yeah, it's a side hustle for you right now. Who knows what it's going to become? But that's right. But also that is the, the culmination. I mean certainly we make money doing this podcast too. However, for, for this business of yours that is the culmination of I'll say at least 10 years of.

And probably 20, 25 years.

Right? Yeah, exactly.

You're pushing all this and you're just.

Now like the tip of the iceberg is starting to break through from the revenue side. 10 years to overnight success, folks.

Yeah. And this is my two week experiment.

Right.

Concept. I know the experiment to like will people. Are people interested? Okay. I started with 541 followers in January of last year and I have almost $34,000. 34,000 followers.

You don't get a dollar per follower. That'd be nice.

That would be great.

You're a little shy. You're about 80 cents a follower, man. Yeah, that's right.

That's right. So okay, that, that people will listen to you. Okay, check that box. And then now how do you do this? And well, would people actually pay for something? That's crazy. Who would pay me for this? Okay, try that. That's something now, you know, so you just keep kind of experimenting and leveling up. Experimenting. When I turn on subscriptions on X, I'm like, who's going to subscribe to my content on X? Well, 108 people have subscribed in the last. I just turned that on a couple months ago, so. Right. And so you don't learn unless you're. We did the episode on Wednesday about writing, writing the wave, getting Involved in trends. If you're not in the water, you will never catch the wave.

Oh, a Shannon Jean phrase, folks, right there.

You have to be here learning, figuring out. I started the subscribers because I want to host a community. Right. I want to build a community of entrepreneurs that want to learn about reselling liquidation auctions.

That's your thing.

Yep, that's my thing. So I'm like, well, I'm going to charge, you know, it's only five bucks. I call it the $5 mastermind. So I've learned how to manage over 100 people in this community and what they expect from me and how I interact with them. And now next this week, I'm launching that community that's going to take it to another level. And I just wouldn't have had the knowledge of how to do it had I not done this quote, Dave's two week experiment. If you don't know what that is, maybe he'll put it, you got to go back at Businessbrain show and search for, just search for experiment. You'll find the episode on that. It's tremendous. So the key here is just getting involved and getting.

If I may, you.

Tell me the key.

Yeah, because I get to watch you do it. The key is twofold. One is be willing to do the work and want to further things, but that, like, everybody's willing to do the work if there's payoff on the other end. The, the thing that always impresses me about you, and it's certainly true here, is you've had plenty of success. You could certainly sit and rest on your laurels and say, hey, I'm, you know, you could rest on your ego. I don't want to say you could rest on your ego, but you don't. You come in, you came into this with full beginner's mind. You're like, hey, I, I'm an idiot with this. I'm gonna make mistakes. I, I, and it don't, please don't take that the wrong way.

No, no, I totally make it all the time.

But that's the thing is you come in with like, all right, well, I'm a, I'm a blank slate. I'm going to screw this up. I'm going to learn, I'm going to try things, I'm going to fail. I like to fail, like all those things. And, and that is, that is your superpower and it is something you've leveraged yet again here.

Yeah. And I, I did a post earlier this week. I found this great phrase and it was up on a billboard in the side. On the side of a building and it said, don't call me lucky. I have failed more times than you have tried.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

And. And that. That post. 2.6 million people saw that post. It's ridiculous. And so I think I earned $100 from X.

100 bucks. That's it.

Yes, exactly. And so. But yeah, it's.

I don't be too proud. I say it's that your ego gets out of the way. It. And it does, but it's the pride. Like, your pride is. You definitely are a proud person and should be like. And deservedly. I don't want to say should be. Sure, deservedly. But you. Your pride isn't wrapped up in what you have done in the past. It's wrapped up in what you're currently doing and learning about. That's all of that.

And I've learned so much, and it's crazy.

You're a sponge, man.

It's amazing. And I will tell you, one of the really interesting things that I've learned, and I think it would be a good topic for an episode next week, is don't confuse what you're selling with the delivery system that you're using to reach your customers. And it's there. I didn't really understand the concept, but now I. It's like smashed me in the face last week. It's amazing.

Yes.

So come back next week and listen to us as. As we break that down.

Yes. I love it. Oh, yeah. I've already started making notes about Good. What that actually means. So.

Yeah. Yeah.

Perfect. Feedback at BusinessBrain Show. Send in your stuff. We've got. We've got some time allotted next week to answer some of your questions, so send them feedbackusbrain Show. And if you have an extra moment after you send in that feedback, go to BusinessBrain show review. We would absolutely love to hear your reviews and see them on Apple podcasts and Spotify and all that. Means a lot to us. Thanks for hanging out. Keep living that charm life. We'll see you next week.