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Stop Building Passion Projects (Build Painkillers Instead) · Plan Like A Boss | Planning, Productivity, and Strategy for Entrepreneurs

• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: You build something you absolutely love.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: You poured your heart into it.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then you launch it and nobody buys.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: If your offer is a passion project, meaning it's primarily interesting to you, it's going to be a very long and expensive road to profitability.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And well, you deserve better than that.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Plan Like a Boss.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Tanya Lawson.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if this is your first time here, I am so glad you found us.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we talk about building a creative business that actually works, not one that just feels good on Instagram.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we're going to get into something I see trip up creative entrepreneurs constantly.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I see it because I personally lived it for way too long.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be talking about the difference between building a passion project and building something the market is actually going to pay you for.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And before you get defensive, because I know some of you just had a little knee-jerk reaction to that, I'm not telling you to abandon what you love.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So stick with me.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: We've been sold this story.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, it's a pretty good story.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: The story goes something like, follow your passion and the money will follow.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that story is totally wrong, but I do think it is dangerously incomplete.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what the passion trap actually looks like.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: You build something you absolutely love.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: You poured your heart into it.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: You create all the content about it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: You built a course around it.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Then you launch it, and nobody buys.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then you start feeling confused because you work so hard, because you love what you made, because you got amazing feedback from all of your friends.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the truth nobody really tells you in a straightforward way.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: The market does not owe you revenue just because you worked hard.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: The market pays for one thing and one thing only: solutions to problems that feel urgent.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: The market doesn't pay for interesting, it pays for relief.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: If your offer is a passion project, meaning it's primarily interesting to you, it's going to be a very long and expensive road to profitability.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And well, you deserve better than that.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start by getting really specific about why this happens.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting content gets lots of views.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting products get saved and interesting ideas get, oh, that's so cool in the DMs.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: But profitable things get purchased.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And those two categories do not automatically overlap.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: When you build something from a passion first standpoint, you often end up with a product that teaches people something really cool, but doesn't fix anything that was actively hurting them.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your own buying behavior for just a second.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: When did you last spend money quickly without overthinking it?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: My guess it's not because you found something incredibly fascinating, but probably because you had a problem that needed fixing.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you had a flat tire and you went to have it plugged.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you couldn't get it plugged, so you had to buy a brand new tire.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're perfectly willing to spend money when it's fixing something that is stressing you out or costing you time or money.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: People buy from their pain stack that pile of things that is actively causing friction in their life or their business.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if your offer isn't in that pain stack, it becomes a maybe later.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe later, it doesn't pay your bills.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about what I like to call the vitamin versus the painkiller framework.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to keep this framework in mind every single time you're developing a new offer, a new product, new content, anything.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: There are vitamins out there, and then there are painkillers.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, vitamins are good for you.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: People know they should take them.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: But if they forget for a week, honestly, life goes on, no big deal.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Painkillers, on the other hand, if you need one and you don't have it, you're going to find one.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: You will go to three different stores, you will borrow one from a neighbor, you will do whatever it takes.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Most passion products are the vitamins.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're nice, they're good, but nobody is losing sleep over whether or not they buy them.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Painkillers solve something that actively hurts.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And in business, hurts looks like I'm losing money because I don't understand this, or I'm wasting time doing this manually every single week, or I don't know how to do this and it's costing me clients.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: So the question you need to ask about every single thing you create isn't, do I find this interesting?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's is this a vitamin or is it a painkiller for my audience?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because vitamins are nice to have, but painkillers equal buy it now.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And look, vitamins can work, but they require a much longer sales cycle.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: They require a lot more trust and a lot more content.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Painkillers, on the other hand, people will find you.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: They are actively out there searching for relief.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you actually find the painful problems that are worth solving?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is exactly what I want you to do.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: First, I want you to go to where the complaints are.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, go to Reddit threads, Facebook groups, your email inbox, your DMs, anywhere your ideal client is venting.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: What do they keep saying?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: What comes up over and over again?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Second, I want you to look at what people are already paying for.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not what they say they want, but what they've already opened their wallet for.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: That is your clearest signal.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Third, I want you to pay attention to the problems people feel embarrassed about.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: These are gold.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: If someone feels a little ashamed to admit something isn't working, that emotional charge means they really, really want it fixed.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And they will pay to fix it privately.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, ask yourself, what problem do people bring to meet over and over again?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Not just in a professional context either.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: In life, the things your friends, your students, your followers keep asking you about, that's a signal.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's a painkiller waiting to happen.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I need to have a real talk with you here because there's a reason a lot of creative people resist this.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: It can feel like if you build something purely because the market needs it rather than because you're obsessed with it, you're somehow selling out.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're trading your creative soul for a dollar.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I hear you, but I want to push back on that gently.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Being good at something and getting paid well for it is not selling out.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's sustainability.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's what lets you keep doing the work.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's also this other thing that shows up: a fear that if you solve practical problems, your work will be boring, generic, that you'll lose what makes you you.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that fear is completely understandable, but it's not the only option.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to choose between personality and practicality.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's a false choice.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Which brings me to the next thing I want to talk about.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: How to keep your personality while increasing necessity.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Here is the shift I want you to make.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, how do I build something I'm passionate about?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Ask how do I solve a real problem in a way that only I can.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Two totally different questions.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Same person, completely different outcomes.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Your personality, your voice, your lens, that is your unfair advantage.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's what makes your painkiller different from every other painkiller on the shelf.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's the reason someone buys from you and doesn't just Google the problem.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it this way: two people could teach the exact same SEO strategy, but one of them teaches it in a buttoned-up corporate tone.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And one of them, hello, teaches it in a way that makes it feel like we're just two friends at a coffee shop figuring it out together.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: The same information, but a very different experience.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Your personality is not in competition with market demand.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your personality is the delivery mechanism for the solution.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Solve the problem, but be yourself while you do it.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the whole game.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: This practical problem-solving approach gives people a reason to buy.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your personality gives them a reason to buy from you specifically.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And when you nail both, that's when things really start to move.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So let me bring this full circle.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Choosing to build something the market actually needs is not selling out.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Creativity aimed at demand is simply strategy.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And strategy is what turns a passion project into a real business.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to be interesting and essential.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to be creative and solve real problems.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: These things are not opposites.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: The shift I'm inviting you into is just this.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Put market demand in the driver's seat and let your personality ride shotgun and then watch what happens.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of strategy, if you want to make sure your business is bringing in revenue month after month consistently, I've got something I would love to invite you to.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: On March 27th, I'm running a live workshop called Revenue on Repeat.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this workshop is not another one of those webinars that's offering you ridiculous promises like hit seven figures next month.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But in this workshop, we are going to be talking about why your income feels so unstable.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to actually map out your current revenue system and then build your first revenue structure.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you're going to walk away from this workshop with clarity and action steps that you can start taking to build out consistent revenue right now.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's hands-on, it's live, and it's designed for creative entrepreneurs who are tired of guessing and they're ready to build something that works.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: The link to grab your spot is in the show notes.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been feeling stuck or like you've been building in the dark, I genuinely think this is going to be for you.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode resonated with you, I would love it if you would give us a review on your podcast platform of choice and drop a comment and let me know what is the one painkiller that you think you can solve.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, keep planning like a boss.