I've been feeling a little uncomfy.
August was an intense month. My editor and I set a deadline to finish the draft of my book proposal by September, and we had to work that around speaking commitments at CEX, a fishing trip with my dad, and my regularly-scheduled publishing.
Not to mention trying not to stick my wife with all of the childcare!
It was intense, but it worked out. After a down June and July, August was our best financial month of the year, thanks in part to the forced structure of all these commitments.
But something has been bothering me – the business feels behind.
Over the last five years, the business has averaged 75% growth year-over-year.
But if we look at the first 8 months of this year, revenue is trending behind last year's figures. I'm spending less time on audience development, posting way less on social, and the things I'm spending my time on don't seem to be having a clear impact on revenue.
Am I self-sabotaging? Coasting? Burning out?
None of those things.
The business had a great year in 2024 – its best ever. But I felt like I was hitting a ceiling on what the business in its current form could do. To simply do more of the same would likely lead to burnout, and the benefits would be marginal.
To move forward, I needed to first go backward.
Slingshot Seasons
Every year, I share an updated version of this graph showing year-over-year P&Ls for the business. And every year, I'm asked about the backward trend of 2019, when revenue decreased 25%:
The most common questions are:
- What happened?
- How did I have the confidence to keep going?
Here's the truth: I wasn't happy with my business. I had grown revenue substantially from 2017 to 2018, but I was doing almost exclusively client services, had no time to build the business I actually wanted, and I hated it.
I decided that I would:
- Stop freelancing almost entirely
- Begin building my first self-paced course
- Double down on my group mastermind program
I decided to forego near-term revenue in order to give myself the time and space to build the future of the business. I knew that meant revenue might go backward before it went forward again – but I was willing to take that risk.
It's like a slingshot. For a slingshot to function, you need to pull the object being thrown backward to create the force that will eventually propel it forward.
So 2019 was a slingshot season. 2025 is a slingshot season, too. We were bursting at the seams and running on brute force. With a new baby in tow, things just weren't sustainable. Plus, I had a gnawing desire to place renewed emphasis on writing – and where would that time come from?
I've made a lot of decisions this year that seem to be at odds with the bottom line – major investments that have a much higher cost than payoff so far.
But there's a method to my madness...
Building my home studio (4 months)
We finished the build on my home studio at the beginning of March. But there were months of planning and prep leading up to that point – most of the gear was bought over Black Friday 2024!
This has made video production much easier, faster, and more enjoyable. All of my calls have leveled up, and I have a dedicated workspace I genuinely enjoy using. My time working is more efficient, higher quality, and more enjoyable.
Investing more into YouTube (8 months)
Since the channel began, Conor has been the everything-man: ideation, scriptwriting, packaging, editing – it was all on him. This meant Conor became the bottleneck to our output. At the start of the year, I elevated him to a producer role so we could hire more editors and work on multiple videos in parallel.
The problem is that it's taken a long time to find the right fit. Our output hasn't increased substantially yet, but costs have. We've trialed more than a half-dozen new editors, and over the last two months, we've found a few who worked well within our system. It looks like we may be turning a corner.
My personal time commitment has decreased, and video quality has improved – now we need to get into a faster flow. We're ramping up short-form at the same time, so our output should increase very soon.
Reducing the number of partners we work with
I continue to tighten the scope on who Creator Science partners with in terms of sponsorship, brand deals, content, and affiliates. In the immediate term, that means leaving revenue on the table – but it also reclaims some of my team's time.
We hope that by explicitly endorsing all of our partners, we will increase trust, purchases, and the overall campaign sizes of the few partners we do select.
Writing a book proposal (5 months)
I've aspired to write a book for my entire adult life. Going all the way back to the beginning of my newsletter in 2017, it was largely an effort to 1.) practice writing and 2.) develop an audience who cares to read it.
But dreams without action are just hope. I found a topic I was curious about, tossed it around for a few months, and decided it had a lot of potential. I interviewed a few developmental editors and hired the best fit. We began writing the proposal the first week of April and just turned in the first draft to my agent.
Planning an in-person event (6 months)
Rather than produce a new product to start the year, I wanted to focus on further enhancing the member experience of The Lab. I believe our favorite communities won't be either in-person or online; they'll be both.
We hosted our first Offline event for The Lab in June before Craft + Commerce. We learned a lot about the structure, planning, costs, etc. so that we can spin these up faster in the future...but these aren't money-makers. We try to keep these events as cost-effective for members as possible as a membership benefit.
Building a mastermind program (2 months)
To improve the online experience of The Lab, we decided to develop a mastermind matching program (at no additional cost). In April, we matched ~70 members across 10 groups, and those groups all met consistently.
It was a major process breakthrough that achieved great success without requiring facilitation time for me or my team.
***
None of these projects has had a noticeable impact on the bottom line (yet). But what we've achieved is:
- Increased potential for output
- Better experiences for our members
- Reduced my personal time
- Progress on a potentially business/life-changing project
Better membership experiences mean both increased retention and increased member attraction. This will lead to bottom-line impact – in fact, The Lab has continued to grow.
If I decide to proceed with traditional publishing, the business could recognize some revenue in the form of an advance this year. In any case, this is a multi-year bet on book sales, speaking, and licensing.
I'm also in the early stages of developing two new offers. I'm not yet sure whether either will release this year (or at all), but I'm testing and validating.
***
I don't know how long this slingshot season will last – I'm still pulling the stone backward. But this season is a choice.
A reasoned bet.
If you're in your own slingshot season, I'd love to hear the move you're making.
