Hey Reader,
I apologize, I am a day late this week. I've been dealing with some illness, so I am playing some catch up. But I wanted to share some valuable takeaways from this chat I had with Dani Zacarias from SendOwl. I think you'll find it valuable.
There’s a weird phase every EDUpreneur goes through.
You’ve got ideas. Maybe a book or a course. Maybe a podcast or a product. Maybe something half-built sitting in your Google Drive that you swear you’ll “finish soon.”
And then you get stuck somewhere between “I think this could work…” and “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Recently, I had a conversation with Dani Zacarias from SendOwl about this super common, and often frustrating, place we can find ourselves in. Our chat didn’t dive into theory or the latest trends. Rather, we shared what we’re both seeing from creators trying to build something real.
So, I wanted to share the key things I took away from that conversation.
(Listen to the whole conversation on our podcast.)
Most People Are Chasing the Wrong Target
There’s this default assumption in the creator world that success = big numbers.
Six figures. Seven figures. Massive audiences.
But the creators who actually build something sustainable tend to start somewhere much simpler: Asking themselves, “What does my life actually need?”
Dani shared an example of a creator who worked through this backwards:
- Defined the lifestyle he wanted
- Calculated how much money that lifestyle required
- Then built a business model to match
This might sound obvious, but it’s not. I could go on for days sharing all the conversations I have with people fixated on hitting a million dollars in revenue before considering anything they’ve done successful.
The truth is, a lot of people pick their business model and set their targets based on other people’s opinions or needs, and then try to force their life into it.
That’s how you end up killing yourself trying to grow a business you hate…because someone on YouTube said you should.
“The Hard Part Should Be Yours”
This was one of those lines that just stuck with me. Dani dropped it as we were chatting about AI and its impact on creators.
The truth is, AI is everywhere right now. And it’s not going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great in a lot of ways.
It’s helping creators and business owners with a lot of things, like:
- coming up with content ideas
- writing product descriptions
- exploring different marketing angles
- market research
Here’s the catch, though. If you let AI do the thinking, you become interchangeable.
The creators who win are the ones who use AI for the grunt work, but keep the strategy, voice, and perspective for themselves. Because that’s the part people actually care about.
Nobody subscribes to you because you can summarize a blog post into a few bulleted lists. They stick around because of how you think, how you explain things, and how you connect dots they didn’t see.
If you give that away to AI, you’re on your way to becoming just another tab they can close.
The “Tool Trap” Is Real (and Annoying)
Let’s talk about tools, because this is where people quietly waste months of their life. Trust me, I see it all the time…and I’ve done it plenty of times.
The mistake usually isn’t choosing the wrong tool. It’s not comparing your options deeply enough, committing too early, and then getting stuck with a tool or platform that doesn’t work with you and where you’re doing.
The reality is, most platforms look the same on the surface. They all promise:
- “all-in-one”
- “simple”
- “everything you need”
Until you’re three weeks in and realize it doesn’t actually do the one thing you need it to.
By then, you’ve already spent hours (or days) uploading products and building workflows, and now you’re stuck in sunk-cost purgatory.
A smarter approach is to narrow it down to 2–3 tools, test the same workflow in each of those tools, and then make your decision.
Yea, it’s more work upfront, but the “easy” tool early on often becomes the painful bottleneck later. The “complex” tool early on, might be the thing that saves you a migration nightmare later.
So we kind of need to pick which pain we want to deal with.
EDUpreneurs Don’t Have a Skill Problem
They have a mindset problem.
Educators are actually built for entrepreneurship:
- they communicate clearly
- they adapt fast
- they care deeply about outcomes
- they solve problems every day
But they also carry something that works against them: A service-first identity that makes selling feel…well…gross.
Charging money feels like “taking” instead of helping, or worse yet, “betraying” the profession.
That’s the real barrier. It’s not skill, or knowledge, or passion, it’s that mindset.
It’s one of the hardest things EDUpreneurs need to get through - shifting their mindset from “I help people” to “I help people AND I get paid for it.”
Until that clicks, everything is going to feel harder than it needs to be.
Start Before You’re Ready
This advice continues to live on, showing up in almost every “how to get started” list. The reality is, it refuses to go away because most people refuse to follow it.
The creators who actually succeed? They put things out early.
They publish things that aren’t polished and aren’t perfect, but they’re out there for people to see, test, and provide feedback on.
Ironically, what we often see is the things we overthink the most usually perform the worst. And the things we publish quickly tend to get traction.
So the better approach looks like this:
- create something small
- put a price on it
- get it out there
- get feedback
- improve it as you go
Get it out there. You can fix and improve it later.
Dragging it out for six months doesn’t make it better. It just delays that learning.
Content & Email Still Win
Everyone wants a new strategy. The hottest new trend that’s working.
What we’ve found, though, is that most new and innovative advice is just the same old advice in new packaging.
The reality is, the best approach for most people is still:
- Create content
- Build an email list
- Provide value consistently
- Sell when it makes sense
That’s it.
Email isn’t dead. I know, you’re inbox has a million unread or deleted emails in it, but it still works. It just requires clear subject lines, consistency, and delivering what your audience needs and what you promised them.
Not tricks. Not gimmicks. Just being someone worth opening.
Trust still matters. Maybe more than ever.
You Don’t Need to Do This
This part doesn’t get said enough, but a lot of people need to hear it.
Entrepreneurship is not required. And it’s not for everyone.
If you love your job, have financial stability, and don’t want the extra pressure, then it might not be the right time for you to start something.
You’re not “missing out” if you choose not to start something. You’re actually making a smart decision.
But if you feel that itch, that “there might be something more here” feeling, then it’s probably worth exploring.
I just don’t want you to think it’s going to be easy.
So Where Does SendOwl Fit Into All This?
At some point, we all stop thinking, and start selling.
That’s where tools like SendOwl come in.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to sit here and tell you its the “magic solution.” There isn’t one. There is no one thing that just makes things work. But there are things that help, and I think SendOwl is one of them.
It can give you the infrastructure that helps you:
- sell digital products
- deliver them securely
- and keep things simple behind the scenes
That’s not everything you’ll need to worry about, but it’s going to save you a whole lot of time and head aches.
About SendOwl
SendOwl is a digital delivery platform that helps creators sell and deliver digital products from anywhere online. It’s built to handle payments, secure delivery, and product management without overcomplicating things.
You can check them out here: https://www.sendowl.com/
*Affiliate link. We may be compensated.
I hope this helps.
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~ Jeff
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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