"No One Knows the Digital Business Model"
It has been hard for content creators to know how to sell their recorded and digital content. Sam started out with print books and speaking engagements in the 2000s and shifted across multiple new technologies since 2004 as they became available. Going from blogging to podcasting to creating a meditation app. This year he goes back to the written word in the form of Substack as it provides a way for authors to get paid like they do with books.
I have been intrigued at how he can go between running a podcast and curating a meditation app. I suppose he has the help of a team who make their own content and help with technical services. Yet I'm not sure of too many people who seem to take on such a wide swath of different tech at the same time to deliver content. It would seem that doing more of one thing would mean needing to cut back at something else but, apparently, hiring through enough paid subscribers allows him to keep spreading outwards.
I find that to be such an inspiration. He starts out as an author that gives some talks and later on becomes quite an entrepreneur creating meaningful job openings for other people. This has made me think about how I can evolve my work process too so that I can run multiple sites and grow into doing it a natural pace instead of the overloaded schedule I have now. I have three personal websites so it is about time that I create opportunities for others by spreading some of that work around. I don't do the kind of work that only one person should do anyways as I keep streaching out of the work I was trained to do.