Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Why competition is a good thing
1.1k Plays6 days ago
In this episode of General Musings, I dive into the world of content creation and that familiar doubt we all face when looking at a saturated market. Here's the truth - having competitors actually validates that you're onto something worthwhile. I talk about why you should embrace your unique perspective and how to define success on your own terms, whether you're starting a podcast, launching a product, or exploring any creative venture. Remember, you don't need to dominate the entire market to build something meaningful - sometimes the perfect niche is waiting for exactly what you have to offer.
Here's the post I mentioned: https://bsky.app/profile/spannersready.bsky.social/post/3lbrk4d5rbs2a My primary YouTube channel where I teach frontend development, with a strong focus on CSS: https://youtube.com/@kevinpowell
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'General Musings'
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello my front-end friends, and welcome to my podcast General Musings. My name is Kevin, and this podcast is somewhere where I talk about whatever is front of mind for me in any given week, usually in some way that's related to front-end development. Last week I talked about the importance of just getting started and not worrying about the polish on things, just like go and make content and all of that.
Overcoming Market Saturation Fears
00:00:20
Speaker
And after I finished recording that episode, I saw a post on Blue Sky from a host of an F1 podcast that I listened to called Missed Apex. And in it, he was talking about content creation. So it was kind of funny just because it was sort of content creation related, that other one. And it was literally as soon as I finished writing or recording that episode that I saw it. And in his post, he mentioned how a lot of people don't make content because the topic they're in, they feel like the topic that they're interested in is already too crowded, right? It's everything these days is already a saturated market. Why should I go in and get into that world? Because there's already people doing that. And actually, the way he phrased it a little bit was better. So I'm going to read directly from his post. and I'll link to it in the description ah below as well. So his name is his name's Richard, but he goes by Spanner's on on social media and in his podcast. And what he said was, I've heard a lot of people being put off making content because of a crowded market.
00:01:14
Speaker
You're not going to be the top podcast or channel in your field, but you don't need to be. The beauty of this game is that you can find a percentage of people that really connect with what you do. The big players are good for you. They grow the total market. They bring in people and a small number of them will find you as well and want you what you're specifically offering. If someone doesn't like what you do, then recommend them another podcast in your field for them to try. Don't try to change to fit them.
00:01:43
Speaker
I really love that
Creating Despite Market Saturation
00:01:44
Speaker
message. For me, I thought it was fantastic, but I also think it doesn't only apply to content creation because I hear things coming up a lot of the time where developers have an idea for something and they don't create it because there's already companies doing that, right? have Whatever the idea is, or oh this would be a cool thing a cool product or a cool thing that I want to do.
00:02:05
Speaker
ah look there's already like six other websites offering that or six different products that are already doing that. So I'm not going to bother. If anything, that's proof of concept that it's a good idea because there's already other people doing it and making money from it. So that's how I see it personally.
Building a Personal Course Platform
00:02:19
Speaker
And again, why are you doing it? I think is a big part. But like, I mean, as as a really quick example here, I've started working on my own course platform. I've been talking about that a bit recently because I'm putting a lot of time into it. So it's very front of mind for me.
00:02:33
Speaker
And I started doing that because I'm not happy with all the other ones out that are out there and there's a lot of them out there. The problem with all those other ones, and they're really good products. Most of them are fantastic, but they all force me to make compromises in how I'm working. Nothing is exactly how I want it. And for a lot of that, it's actually really frustrating for me. And because I'm a developer, I can solve that. I can just make something that works exactly how I want it to work. It's a lot of work though. So like that's the balance is, is it worth all the time and effort I'm putting into it instead of the compromises that I've had to put up with.
Measuring Success in Personal Projects
00:03:09
Speaker
And after.
00:03:10
Speaker
doing years of courses right now I've decided like for a long time I was like no it's not worth it I'll deal with the compromises and this more and more and more frustration building up I've decided it is worth it right and I think part of it does a big part of it is that balance of is it worth it and how you're measuring the success of whatever you're creating right So if you're creating a service ready to sass and for you, success is selling it for seven figures or more, then chances are it won't happen. And yes, it's very hard to do. Not saying you can't, lots of people out there do it. So if that's your plan, go for it, but do a lot of research into how to create a sellable product.
00:03:49
Speaker
and put all the work into it and everything, and it can definitely pay off. But success could also mean like you just have a cool product to put on your CV, and that's it. You made this cool thing, it works, it serves you, and then you're happy. I built another thing, I think I've talked about it before, where it's for bouldering and just tracking my sessions. There was an existing one that was part of this bigger thing and I didn't want all the fluff. I just made this simple thing that I can do on my phone in like 30 seconds after each time I go, just to keep track.
00:04:16
Speaker
of every one of those sessions I'm doing. And for me, like that was a win. It makes my life easier. I like it. It didn't take me long to put together. No one else uses it. It's just for me. But for me, that was a win. It was worth the time and everything that I put into it. And it could be potentially something that I built out into something bigger in the long run, but that's not why I'm doing it.
Learning Through Custom Solutions
00:04:37
Speaker
but And then obviously for my course platform, it's a bit different.
00:04:41
Speaker
Because their like success is, does it work for my students? And does it give me something more custom and better to work with than all the other options that were on the market? And because I'm building it unique for me and exactly what I need, then yes, it's doing exactly that. Plus, I have the benefit of learning a lot along the way.
00:04:58
Speaker
So there was a lot of benefits in me in doing it, even though it's something that already exists that's
Defining Personal Success
00:05:03
Speaker
out there. In terms of for you, this could be for anything, right? It could be starting a blog, a YouTube channel, a podcast, your own product, whatever it is. But just before you start it, ask yourself, you know, what does success mean if I do this and be realistic with it what it is? And as long as you think that, yes, I can achieve that because if you if you something that's unachievable, you probably won't continue with it. Whereas if you think that the success you can like, whatever you're like, this would mean it's successful. I get 500 views on a YouTube video that could be success. For me, 100 views when I started my channel was like, holy cow, this is amazing, right? There's more people watching this video than when I was teaching in the classroom. So that was successful to me. So if something like that is success, then you could achieve that with a realistic goal and you're going to feel motivated because you've gotten that success.
00:05:51
Speaker
So I think that's the really important part there. And not having to be, like Richard said in his post, like the you don't need to be the top dog. You don't need to be the biggest channel out there. whatever it is that you're doing, the most popular blog, the most successful product, you can have your little niche and be super successful as whatever it is you're doing with that niche. And I think that's just really important to remember and don't get dissuaded because you have a cool idea that you want to do. And so don't get dissuaded because you have a really cool idea that you really want to create, but you're just like, ah, someone else has already done it. Right. So go and build that awesome thing. And once you've done.
00:06:24
Speaker
Let me know about it and share it with the world so we can all see how awesome it is.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:06:29
Speaker
And that's it for this week. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, don't forget to make your corner of the internet just a little bit more awesome.