Most folks building an audience as a side-hustle or solopreneur know about building a Sales Funnel.

But there's something important that MUST come BEFORE your Funnel: the Sieve.

The Sieve is a method to quickly sort folks who ARE interested in what you do from those who AREN'T.

Why is a Sieve important? 

Without one you'll find lots of people in your funnel who aren't REALLY interested in what you do... and are never going to be more than "browsers."

This means you'll end up wasting time and resources on people who are never going to buy what you sell.

The most EFFECTIVE Sieve I know is to get really clear on what you do- and do not- offer, in the plainest, most frank language you can come up with.

The goal is to use your copy to help your visitors determine quickly if they're a "hell yeah," or "no thanks" on what you do.

Remember, build a Sieve AND a Funnel.

If you don't, you may have impressive vanity metrics such tons of followers or a big mailing list... But you'll end up with very few buyers.

It's always better to find a few who are REALLY into you, vs. lots who could take you or leave you.

The Importance of Creating "The Sieve" in Building A Loyal Following

You can burn yourself out stacking up all the "things you HAVE to do" to be successful. 

But if you start by mastering just ONE thing: the CENTRAL skill or task of your craft...

And only divide your attention when you absolutely HAVE to work on the next step, you'll find:

💡You become REALLY GOOD at the most important skill in HALF the time as those who attempt to multitask.

This is because multitasking doesn't work! Dividing your attention between a bunch of tasks means you'll do them half as well, and will take twice as long to complete them.

💡 Half the steps you THOUGHT you needed are unnecessary.

There's a WORLD of difference between "theoretical" and "practical" and you will only discover the practical steps you need to do by ACTUALLY working on your craft!

💡 When you resist taking on more steps until you HAVE to, it will act as a forcing function and ensure...

The new task will naturally be the NEXT most important step in your journey.

Now get REALLY GOOD at this new thing before adding another step.

Master One Skill At A Time For Faster Success!

💸 You used to have to pay big bucks to get access to media resources for your content...

These days there are so many free resources it doesn't make sense to pay money... Especially if you're new on your content creation journey.

You'll want to keep this list handy!

🖼️ Free vector and raster image resources:

https://unsplash.com/
https://pixabay.com/
https://www.pexels.com/
https://www.freeimages.com/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photographs
https://www.vecteezy.com/
https://www.freepik.com/

📽️ Free video footage resources:

https://www.vecteezy.com/free-videos
https://www.pexels.com/videos/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Videos https://pixabay.com/videos/ 
https://www.videvo.net/

🎥 Free motion graphics resources:

https://www.videvo.net/free-motion-graphics/
https://pixabay.com/videos/search/motion%20graphics/

🔊 Free audio resources:

https://freesound.org/browse/
https://www.freesfx.co.uk/
https://sonniss.com/gameaudiogdc
https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCU4nY2LpvE6br7il0EPxtrA/music
https://soundbible.com/
https://www.soundeffectsplus.com/
https://www.soundgator.com/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Audio_files

💡 Some things to note:

✅ This isn't a "comprehensive" list... Merely the services I have used!

✅ If you're reading this in the future some sites may no longer be around.

✅ A web search of "free <whatever> resources" will get you where you want to be!

✅ Most of this content is truly free. When in doubt read the license!

✅ Some sites mix free/paid content but they usually provide a way to view JUST free content.

✅ Unless stated, you don't HAVE to give credit, but it's nice if you can! (I'm terrible at this. Don't be ME!)


✅ Some sites may require you to register in order to be able to download, or at the highest resolutions. 

✅ Registration usually unlocks lightboxes. Which are super handy. In general I recommend registering!

✅ For most resources, modifications you make are totally OK!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/jaylance/MnNw0Gc

Free Media Resources for Content Creation

💰 Most creators are sitting on a goldmine of social media content they aren't taking advantage of.  

Repurposing content is an underused strategy to grow, market yourself, and share your work.

Here are 3 simple ways you can repurpose your writing to grow your audience:

🪙 Writing ➡️ Audio

If you have a computer and a microphone, repurposing your writing can be as simple as reading them out loud.

Get in the habit of writing in a similar way to how you speak so you don't have to do any rewriting. Your writing will already "sound like you."

🪙 Writing ➡️ Video

You can transform articles into scripts- the roadmap for making videos. 

Creating videos can be as simple as taking the audio you created and adding free stock footage... Or as complicated as a fully produced professional video.

Your ambition is the limit!

Many writers do this and people simply don't notice. Once you see it happening, you'll notice it everywhere! 

♻️ Short writing gets longer. (Articles ➡️ Books) 
♻️ Long writing gets shorter. (Articles ➡️ Tweets) 
♻️ The format gets changed. (Writing ➡️ Memes, Instagram posts, etc.)

Of course this is just the beginning of ways you can reuse writing you've already completed.

Using these tactics it is possible to take writing you've already  completed and expand its reach, all without having to do much new work  at all.

Unlocking the Goldmine: Repurposing Content for Growth

"You overestimate what you can accomplish in a day. But underestimate what you can accomplish in a year."

One of the traps I constantly find myself in as a Creator is deciding when it's time to "do work," and when it's time to "evaluate how well the work is doing."

It's easy to think "the performance of the work doesn't matter... My job is simply to make work."

That's a fine theory, and I have no doubt some Creators (who are much better at it than I am) are able to completely separate their work from the results.

Not me, though. 

I'm a basket case. I constantly battle thoughts in my head of how I can do the work differently, or better, or faster, or more "efficiently."

Here are five simple questions based in gardening l ask myself when I struggle with wanting to mess with the process:

🌱 Are you planting seeds?

Planting seeds = creating content.

This is the most important activity. Not planting means it is 100% certain nothing is growing.

Sometimes planting is the wrong activity, but those times shouldn't be based on a whim or my worries.

🌱 What season are you in?

Being a Creator has seasons just like gardening. What exactly those seasons are will depend on your medium, but it's important to know 2 things:

🌻 What ARE the seasons in your specific medium?
🌻 Which season are you currently in?

🌱 What should you be doing in THIS season?

Every season has activities that don't happen in other seasons. You don't plant at the same time you are harvesting.

Figure out what this season's activities are and do those things to the exclusion of other activities.

🌱 When does the next season start?

In a garden seasons don't last forever, and it is the same with being a Creator. 

Energy levels aren't infinite, so knowing what comes next (and when) is important so you how long to keep up the activities of your current season.

🌱 Are you trusting the process?

If you're constantly looking ahead you're not spending your best energy on the activities of RIGHT NOW.

Energy is not unlimited, so give yourself the best chance for each season to be a success by putting it into the present activities.

TL;DR - 5 Questions based in gardening to help clarify your efforts as a Creator:

🪴 Are you planting seeds?
🪴 What season are you in?
🪴 What should you be doing in THIS season?
🪴 When does the next season start?
🪴 Are you trusting the process?

The Balance of Creating and Evaluating

💡 As a Creator, finding your unique voice is vital to attracting and growing an audience.

👉 Many already-successful Creators don't ACTUALLY know what makes them successful, so the advice they give often isn't that helpful to someone just starting out.

🤨 Because they don't actually know, they offer advice about things they THINK are helping them grow:

👉 Their specific niche
👉 The timeliness of their information
👉 The value of their content
👉 Etc.

The work is a necessary PART of the equation. But it isn't the whole thing.

😲 What many successful Creators don't realize is a LOT of their success really comes from something else entirely: their Internet Persona. (AKA: their IP.)

👉 The reason they don't realize this is they were lucky enough to show up to the internet party with one of two things:

1️⃣ - An "instant celebrity" IP that resonated with folks right out of the gate. 

OR

2️⃣ - Enough persistence in their efforts that over time they stumbled onto an IP that began to resonate with an audience and they grew from there.

🤔 Here's my question:

😬 What if you aren't an "instant celebrity" and you don't have the months or years to discover an IP that resonates both with you AND with the audience you want to serve?

🤩 There is a way to speed up the process and find your ideal IP. Want to know how?

💡 It's a combination of 3 distinct and NECESSARY components:

👉 Your content
👉 Your visual aesthetic
👉 Your personality

When you get this mix right you'll be able to:

👉 Grow an audience to serve who can't WAIT to hear from you.
👉 Transform an audience into FANS who will follow anything you choose to do.
👉 Show up AUTHENTICALLY while also maintaining healthy separation from your real life.

Unlocking Your Unique Voice as a Creator

For Creatives the ONE thing that separates pretenders from professionals is ALMOST ALWAYS:

Process. 

What is Process? 

It's the REPEATABLE steps or actions you take when creating things.

Boring? Nope!

Process is what you use when uninspired, or the muse doesn't "show up."

Lack of inspiration is where amateurs quit, but professionals lean into process and get it done anyway.

The thing that frustrates many amateurs is:

A process doesn't GUARANTEE success... 

But it does make success WAY more likely, and helps stack the odds in your favor.

Process Is The Thing Your Creativity Is Probably Missing.

Future Guilt sucks as a motivator.

You know: 

"On your deathbed will you regret doing/not doing <<whatever>>?"

"What bad habits are you teaching your child by playing video games in front of them?"

"Don't you want to live for something better?"

"Should you be eating that?"

The GOAL of inducing guilt like this is to elicit an emotional response which (hopefully!) motivates you to take action and change something.

The PROBLEM is:

Emotions are a lousy way to make lasting change, because over time, emotions fade and become less potent motivators.

As emotions stop "moving the needle" and inducing change, guilt becomes a crutch you have to return to again and again.

Now you're stuck in a cycle where you need MORE guilt to get the same level of motivation.

Sounds a lot like addiction, doesn't it? But it can get even worse.

Guilt as a motivator can also be really DANGEROUS.

Once you're twisting the screws of guilt it's an easy "slide to the right" from guilt to shame... And on the other side of shame is... self-hatred. 

Never a good method for bringing about change!

Whether you're coaching someone else, or YOURSELF, guilt is a bad habit to get into.

Fortunately the solution is simple... good habits, good process, good consistency of action.

Combine that with grace, flexibility and forgiveness.

You know, be a HUMAN to others. And yourself!

"Future Guilt" Sucks As  A Motivational Tool...

"If you want to be successful, work your 9 to 5, but then go all in on your 5 to 9."

Sorry. No.

If you want to be successful, go all in on your 9 to 5 AND go all in on your side hustle... but only for a couple hours each day.

Why? 5 reasons:

1. If you're not giving your day job your BEST efforts while you're there, you're just stealing... and thieves are not going to have the kind of successes they think they will have.

2. It takes a village! The people you currently work with can help you... Or not.

3. There are ALWAYS lessons from your "day job" which will apply to your "side hustle." Always.

4. If you wrap your whole identity and all your free time into the "side hustle" you WILL neglect things that are IMPORTANT not to neglect. (Sleep and perspective among other things.)

5. Constraints are your friend. If you think you have 8... 10... 12 hours to work on your "side hustle," you are going to waste a TON of time. What would you work on if you had exactly TWO hours and not one second more?

That's what you should be working on.

How To Think About Your Side Hustle

Why is a Sieve important?

Without one you'll find lots of people in your funnel who aren't REALLY interested in what you do... and are never going to be more than "browsers."

This means you'll end up wasting time and resources on people who are never going to buy what you sell.