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Congrats Christopher! Seems like a really smart small win. And youāre really quite good at podcasting so thereās some real value there.
Great job!
Thanks, Kalen.
Now Iām taking another hard look at SmallSpec, see if I can get THAT project rolling again!
At first my thinking was:
āWhy heās so happy about that? Heās slow with his main product, and now he took even more time to release something that is not even helping him to reach out to the prospects of the SmallSpec. What a waste of time and a creative way to procrastinate!ā.
But if it is to overcome a writerās block, I guess it is fine.
Well, gee, I sure am glad itās āfineā with you. Just last night, I was unable to sleep, consumed with thoughts of āIām so happy to finally have a product out the door, butā¦oh, man, what will Vlad thing of this?!?ā
Come ON, dude. 
My goal with SmallSpec was to diversify away from my revenue being 100% dependent upon the āwork an hour, bill an hourā consulting model - hell, thatās the goal of pretty much every consultant who wants to do a product, and itās understandable.
SmallSpec began to drag, badly. Iām glad I had the good sense to change tack and attack that goal from another angle, instead of behaving as though I were somehow obligated to do SmallSpec and nothing but SmallSpec, simply because thatās the first product I announced. I suspect that this is where a lot of aspiring founders struggle; I was certainly circling that particular drain for a long while.
So, what you refer to as āa waste of time and a creative way to procrastinateā, I refer to as āa more immediate and direct path toward my stated goalā. Temporarily shifting my energies to launch RECORD & RELEASE is the precise opposite of procrastination & wasting time; it is an investment of time in a more expedient path to recurring non-consulting revenue.
The product - be it software, a book, or anything else - is not the goal; the product exists only in service of the goal. Otherwise, the product is useless.
Iām officially putting you in my journal as my first hater. Congratulations! 
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Letās be practical about this and evaluate the outcomes.
You say that this is a path to non-consulting revenue. Then we should dismiss those 2 requests for podcast consulting. Makes sense? Because consulting, podcast-related or not, cannot bring money while you sleep.
Then we have two positiive things left:
- $600 in direct sales
- An audience of people interested in creating podcasts
Direct Sales
$600 are $600. Letās assume it grows to $3000 over the book lifetime. That would be roughly a half-week of consulting vs, I believe, 10(?) days it took to write a book.
If the numbers above are correct, it is not practical to try and build a number of small products to replace the consulting income. The investment (lost opportunity) is actually bigger than the profits.
New Audience
The number of people who wants to start podcasts, I believe, if rather small. It is a hard work, and most people understand that. I might be wrong, of course, but it seems that the podcast movement is close to its saturation point.
The audience is also not directly overlapping with the primary product, SmallSpec, so it doesnāt help that product.
The only way that new audience could be useful, I believe, if, instead of SmallSpec, you make a new product for podcast authors.
This is quite an emotional reaction. Whatever.
Iām just trying to apply your experience to myself and donāt see it working. Then Iām trying to measure its value for you, and also donāt see it working.
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And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we canāt have nice things - very few people are able to forego making it all about them, and instead simply be happy for someone else having a win. 
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Not quite sure why youāre insisting on making it personal. 
P.S. Iām actually rooting for SmallSpec, but indifferent to podcast making.
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Christopher got 2 consulting leads without even trying. Thatās worth $$$ as he can always let others do the actual work later if this stream of leads expands further. And if there are patterns in the leads itās an opportunity for productized consulting.
Thereās just so much more to an asset (like a book or app) than just the money it brings. Also, with proper marketing this book can do much more than 3K lifetime.
When you are being accused of time wasting and procrastination, itās hard not to take it personally.
Letās keep it constructive and friendly people!
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@Christopher I can relate to your excitement over shipping! Like you, I have been working on a project with a large scope and with time I just lost momentum. The list of things left to do felt overwhelming, having to juggle that with freelance work was difficult.
About a month ago, I put the project on pause and decided to execute on a much smaller idea. I havenāt been happier working on a side project in a long, long time. Thereās liberation in moving quickly, having a shorter roadmap, seeing the shipping date moving closer and closer each day.
I personally try to optimize for happiness as opposed to money. Yes, making income from my own projects is a part of what makes me happy, but I am not making decisions solely on the amount of income. At this point I make more freelancing, but oh boy does it make me miserable. My advice is to not add Vlad to a list of haters, but rather realize that he was likely coming from a different perspective and value set, and thatās okay. His argument is logical if you try to optimize solely for earnings.
Thereās value in training your brain to think of yourself as a person that ships things. With each product released, no matter how small, you will add to your confidence, train your āshippingā muscles, and bring yourself closer to the SmallSpec launch, if this is still what you want to do.
Good luck and congrats.
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Congrats on having the vision and courage to take a detour, irina!
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Iām just happy you have a win, Christopher. Enjoy the journey. We canāt make everybody happy. Itās beyond our control.
Congrats Christopher! Iām so with you on your small beginning to the greater things. I did a very similar thing in 2013, and I never regretted devoting the time to a book (hereās an encouraging post-mortem). Itās a stepping stone to your authority, as you mentioned #1!
Make sure to run a deal or even a few on your book, itāll bring a lot of exposure and some extra cash.
Good luck with SmallSpec!
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Jane! I read that article already - in fact, your admonition to āpractice marketing in your own sandboxā is what led me to get more serious about using my own podcast as a guinea-pig for learning how to market w/email.
Thanks for chiming in! I love your blog and I appreciate the advice.
Jane, some great advice there. Especially the part about doing a lot of promotion doesnāt mean a lot of sales, but no promotion will mean poor sales.
You can break your back on promotion, and get pennies in return. Marketing is hard, man.
If someone has any marketing snake oil, Iād be happy to buy.
Than you Shantnu! If only there was true marketing magic, thatād be a bestselling piece of SaaS 
Whenever people have to take any action, a conversion rate applies (dividing the number by twenty, optimistically). Weāre passive lurkers by nature.
One of the latest books I read is The Brain Audit by Sean dāSouza and I swear by his principles why customers actually buy!
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Oh Christopher, thank you, Iām so glad some of it was helpful!
Keeping up with that habit of shipping, Iām joining Amyās Ship by September challenge, maybe youāre ready for your next big thing too?
My next big thing is: continuing to push on my current thing! I suppose I could tie that to Amysā September challenge, but Iām already in motion with my plans.
I have audio & kindle versions of the book on deck. I just about have details finished on done-for-you productized consulting for podcasters. Iām creating some video content. Next I need to bundle stuff up into tiers and start doing ārealā marketing, outside the confines of my existing audience. Probably going to try FB ads first.
So, yeah, I have a next thing. But itās an extension of the current thing! Iām convinced that - marketed correctly - this podcasting product has legs. Maybe not life-changing legs, but āput some money in my pocket and help me upgrade my primitive-ass marketing skillsā legs.