I’ve decided to invite you behind the curtain. Sure, it may not be an extravagant curtain, but it is a curtain nonetheless.
If you are reading this you probably know I talk a lot about online business and generally building things online that one might be passionate about.
I wanted to build my own online platform dedicated to helping others build their online business.
That is where Crazy Dad Life has evolved to after starting as a simple dad blog. I wanted to create my own digital products and be someone that would teach you how to build your own online thing – and hopefully make a business out of it.
But recently I’m finding myself pivoting (again), or at least thinking about it, in some way. Yes, I still have a passion for teaching folks how to pursue their passions online, but the market is just a little bit crowded. There are literally thousands upon thousands of people talking about building online businesses and entrepreneurship. Almost to the point where it’s getting a bit ridiculous.
Given this crowded market, and the difficulty of standing out in the crowd, I’ve been debating whether I want to pivot to something else. The problem is, I truly love talking about entrepreneurship and really want to serve as an evangelist to those other parents out there that have no idea this stuff exists. The possibilities are endless, but unfortunately too many people don’t even know they exist.
Basically, I want two things. I want to build my own business and I also want to teach others how to build theirs too.
The good thing is I may have found a solution for both – and it doesn’t involve me having to build my business around the “online business” market specifically. But, it does ultimately still serve as a step toward my goal of building my own online business, about online business, that hopefully helps you build your own online business.
Does this make any sense?
So here’s the deal.
I’m building an online business – in a completely different market. I won’t be building an online business about online business. I’m building something completely different and plan to share the journey as a case study for the Crazy Dad Life community.
My goal is to let my effort to stand up this business serve as inspiration and also as a guide for you to do something similar. At least that is the theory.
What It Is
I’m currently working on a side project with my brother-in-law. It is a basketball training program that will have online and offline pieces to it. In addition to in person training sessions and camps, there is the opportunity to expand our reach and offer online products as well.
It’s a good match for me for a couple of reasons. One, I get to actively apply everything I’ve learned and know about online business. Two, if there is something else I love besides entrepreneurship, it’s basketball.
From the business standpoint, it’s really starting to gain some momentum. I say this with the full understanding that the project has been flailing for quite some time.
We both have a lot going on in our lives, professionally and personally. This means the business has often been neglected. We have had our moments where we crank through planning and start to move forward on particular tasks, but far too often we find ourselves wrapped up in the daily grind and nothing really takes root.
Recently, I’ve been trying to push harder to make it a reality. As such, and due to the nature of the Crazy Dad Life platform, I wanted to share with you what I’m doing.
Consider it a peek behind the curtain of the birth of an online business. There will be failures There will (hopefully) be successes. I’m hoping more of the latter.
Maybe putting it out there to the world on here will help spur action. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll find myself more driven to execute if I’m being held accountable here.
Background
There have been many times in the past that I have sat down with my brother-in-law and explained the potential for his business, hoping he would take the ball and run. It was always something I envisioned for him, not me.
For some reason though, the launch of that business never really happened. Maybe he just didn’t know where to start. Maybe he was “too busy”.
Recently, I decided to take the wheel and really start to drive this thing toward fruition. With that, I’ve also decided to play a bigger role in the business. He was definitely happy I jumped in with both feet.
His background is in coaching. He has a tremendous network of connections from top high schools to major D1 programs. He has trained numerous players over the years at the high school level that have gone on to play in major college programs and even the professional ranks (nationally and internationally). So, he has what we would call in the online business world, a certain level of social proof.
This has given us a leg up in the process. It’s much easier taking that offline expertise and moving it online than it is to simply start fresh with no network to back you up.
Over the last Christmas break, we sat down again and started mapping things out. I really wanted to see it succeed.
There were things I needed him to do…
- Provide blog content regularly
- Think of product ideas
- Engage more with his online community
- Post more on Instagram
- And of course run the actual training sessions with the kids (and he does this ALL THE TIME)
In turn, I was going to take over everything digital.
- I redesigned the website
- I built out the mailing list infrastructure
- I branded all social channels and set up automated tasks between them
- I updated his blog environment and set up backups and other operational needs
- I set up Facebook ads and grew his audience
- I created graphics for upcoming training sessions and used those to drive traffic
Basically, I became the online person and he continued to serve offline demands.
The relationship was set, the business was put on a path toward success, and we were inspired.
Progress to Date
Fits and starts.
That is how it has been over the months since Christmas. We were doing really well during that time and driving quite a bit of traffic to the site. I had done keyword research and we posted an entire series of posts dedicated to that one keyword.
Our traffic increased and our mailing list started to grow.
But life happens and momentum feigned.
But, we’re back at it again. One of the things I wanted to do was start meeting up more regularly so we could keep the momentum going and the planning on point. It seems each time we meet there is an extra level of energy that transfers to the days immediately following.
Over the last several days I’ve been concentrating on making the website more “professional”. Giving it that look and feel that exudes confidence. Clean and crisp design. I moved away from heavy blacks and made white the dominant color.
Our target audience includes not only kids but also their parents. There is no way of avoiding that. With that, we need to make sure the website looks legit and professional.
All that has happened to date is too much for this single blog post. But, I will try to cover more of what is happening going forward.
At this point, I just wanted to let you know what I was up to and where I was going from here.
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