Why I'm Documenting How I Build (And What I'm Actually Learning)
A while back I told myself I would have a solidified passive income stream by 45… well I’ll be 45 in 4 months and its not looking like I’ll meet that goal. That’s not unusual, I’ve got plenty of started projects that are unfinished at the moment, ask my wife, she probably has the list on her phone right now.
I was fortunate to meet my wife and we (in a short span) had not one. not two. but three kids within 4 years. People sometimes do a double take when we tell them. 3 under 3 was a tough period of no sleep and no routines. We’re coming out of the fog a bit now with a 3,4 and 5 year old. They are the priority but through the toddler phase I learned that you can do a lot in a day even if it’s constantly being interrupted.
During Covid I got obsessed with NFTs, it combined design and development which perfectly fit me and I was intrigued because I had the skill set to not only design characters, but also use code to use the designs to create 1000s of characters with different traits. Non Major Golf was born. It has iterated many times since, but I’ve always been someone who need a tangible project to aim my efforts at in order to actually learn. Theory is great, but practice is where the real learning happens. Ive got a full time job and a family but those who are obsessed with learning figure it out on nights and weekends.
As we enter the age of AI, how does one learn when things are changing pretty much daily. Companies are asking their employees to adopt AI, but that’s so broad and in my field as a creative where do you even start. If you’re algo is locked into Ai like mine is, you may be thinking no jobs are safe, lay-offs are coming, or you’ll be living underneath a bridge by the time the leaves fall (I live in Michigan).
I’ve been talked off the ledge by my wife, but that possibility is still in the back of my head. A new thing to obsess over for a bit, sign me up. And for the most part, the things I’ve seen with AI amaze me. I was using ChatGPT for a few months and decided to ask it to give me a list of strengths and weaknesses, gotta say it was pretty spot on. I have a rare combo of design skills in addition to front end development capabilities but my main problem is that I jump from thing to thing and try to do everything myself. I have a senior skillset but operate as a beginner. That may be tough for some people to hear, I began to realize I needed to focus.
I’ve never stopped building, and that’s been my whole life, so I’m finally accepting that as just part of who I am. What’s changed is that I decide to start documenting the process. I think the ultimate learning comes from building a brand from scratch, so that’s what I’m doing. Non Major Golf has stood the test of time, well I’ve used it the past five years as my sandbox and now it’s my muse for AI. It supercharges learning and it’s like having a (fill in the blank) mentor at your disposal.
Can I build a brand from scratch with the help of AI? We’re gonna see, and I’m going to document. Not because I want to, I’m actually an introvert, but because documenting gets me closer to my audience and I think that will be valuable in an artificial intelligence dominated world.
When you build something, you naturally start with what you know. I immediately built a Shopify site and started with the logo. I bought a used heatpress and designed a few shirts that I thought would sell like hotcakes (Dad humor). I even bought a sewing machine and cobbled together some waxed canvas pouches because every golfer needs a new valuable pouch from a brand they’ve never heard of. Boy was I wrong. I’m one of those weird types who likes the journey over the destination and luckily thinks everything is a learning experience. Since then I’ve taken a step back and really started to invest in understanding what brand building looks like. The strategy, the audience, what does outreach look like. All these documents I’ve created over the years, I am now understanding what the briefs were built from. There are no short cuts I guess.
You know what they say, those who can’t do, teach… With zero sales and no following after ‘building’ for a couple years, I’m certainly not ‘doing’. All jokes aside, I do think the world is changing more than people realize and if I can help others be prepared even just a little bit, happy to do it, even if it goes against my entire personality profile.
Using my ‘brand’ I’m able to (with the help of AI) brainstorm, collaborate on brand positioning, discover my brand voice, setup email sequences, landing pages, SEO and so much more. I think AI has given me a confidence and I no longer think, if I just had a copywriter or a digital marketing mentor. Now can work through it. Hopefully others will find value as well. Writing will most likely be the medium of choice, but I’m going to try to talk on social as well. Another step in the growth.
I’ve committed to my accountability partner, okay it’s Claude, to focus on a 30-day sprint that includes writing blog posts, talking to camera and launching some meta ads. I’m documenting to see what kind of traction I can get with the hopes of launching a product when the leaves fall (I live in Michigan). Id like to see if social content plus blogs plus paid can get a group of people I’ve never met to buy something I’ve created. The learnings will be intense, the timing will be tough, I think my kids are starting soccer this month. I think as you get older you realize you have something to offer the world, maybe this is my thing. Or will this end up like those kettlebells in the basement, just collecting dust.
I think this might stick though.
What can I say, I’m a forever learner, I like to challenge myself to see if I can do different things. I walk around thinking about how I can make products better. That bank app could use a better User Experience, that graphic would look better on a five panel hat instead of six, and why can’t they figure out how to keep the excess toothpaste in the kids toothpaste tunes
Follow along if you’re into a creative parent trying to figure it out.