Caleb Wojcik: Tasting the Fish and Taking the Time to Get Good

In this episode we're going to hear from a guy who has made the indiepreneur jump several times. In fact just recently before we recorded this episode he left a company he co-founded to start all over working for himself.

The man in question is, of course, Caleb Wojick from DIYvideoguy.com.

Caleb is one of my favorite people and over the last few months since we recorded this conversation has become a friend. He's helped me through a ton of stuff and this episode is a bit of a break from the norm in that it's literally packed from start to finish with great insight into how to make a living doing your own thing.

Caleb teaches creatives how to make better web videos and makes videos for start-ups and solopreneurs.

Here are some of my favorite bits from the show:

On Producing Content and Building an Audience

“Everything I do starts with writing, so the more I write, the more I can produce. If I just sit in front of a microphone and have a topic, that’s really hard.”

“The first thing you need to do is grow an audience and that has to be on a specific topic and it just takes time. And until you have an audience of people who care about what you’re saying, it’s going to be hard to make money.”

On Finding Your Thing and Getting Good At It

“It been over 10 years of me searching for this thing. I was just searching and searching. And I still don’t know what this will look like in 10 years. I think that you eventually learn that you have fall in love with not knowing what’s going to happen.”

“You don’t have to decide you’re entire life today, but you can decide what you’re going to do with your life right now and focus on that.”

“If you commit to something for long enough, you’re going to get good at it.”

“I think a commitment to improvement is key to [success].”

On Self-employment and Continually Improving

“If you aren’t question what you’re doing with your life, I think that you’ve gone into this lazy, lackadaisical, non-caring mode. And I think you need to question what you’re doing. Not to the extent of depression and anxiety, but to wake up in the morning and think, how am I feeling, how am I doing, how am portraying myself to my audience and is there anything I can improve on.”

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned over the past three years of working for myself is that you can work the burnout schedule, but eventually you hit a wall. So for me I had to learn how to recharge.”

“The whole idea of committing yourself to something for a long time has greatly influenced my current path of getting better at stuff.”

“Spend less time planning and more time doing stuff. And doing stuff publicly. Share the kind of things you’re making. It’s important to plan stuff out, but unless you starting doing stuff, you’re not going to get better at it.”

As always, I had a great time talking to Caleb. Enjoy the show!

Show Notes

Min 35:54: As an indiepreneur, how do you figure out what “work” leads to money and what doesn’t?

Min 38: What it’s really like to to be self-employed.

Min 48:46: Where to start when you’re trying to create a content-based business.

Min 54:44: How do you know what to pursue when you enjoy many different things?

Min 62: How to constantly be improving.

Min 64:42: What are the biggest obsta