What it’s about
Millennials are constantly in the news these days. One day they’re spending too much money on avocado toast, the next they’re not spending enough on dryer sheets and “ruining” the laundry soap industry.
The 21st century can be a harsh world for millennials, but Daniel DiPiazza has figured out some key steps to starting and growing an online business you and others will care about.
His company, Rich20Something, provides tools and courses that teach millennials (and millennials at heart) how to thrive in a seemingly broken system where it’s hard to get ahead financially and make an impact.
In this interview, Daniel talks about the important skills you can gain from freelancing, why everyone needs a creative outlet, and why you should build your own platform.
Takeaways
It’s never too late to start a business or try something new
When you picture a millennial, you might picture someone fairly young, but according to Daniel, it’s not just 20-something’s. To him, millennial, as far as the term goes, isn’t as much of an age demographic as it is a cultural time period.
“If you’re working in 2017, if you’re actively part of the global economy, you’re a millennial. You have to learn to use the internet intelligently, learn to protect your time. Lots of millennials are learning how to start businesses, because it’s not restricted to a certain age.”
Because we are expanding our lifespans, and people are living longer, happier lives, Daniel believes strongly that it’s never too late to try something new or to start a new business.
Freelancing helps build core entrepreneurial skills
If you’re looking to get into a field you have some experience in, Daniel suggests giving freelancing a try. “Freelancing is so important because you have to learn so many core skills that freelancing is an entry point into.”
Freelancing allows you to build something from nothing, acquire clients for little-to-no money, find your skillset, and learn how to work with different personalities. It can also help you understand the basics of customer satisfaction, delivery time, and teach you how to be more productive and efficient in business.
If becoming an entrepreneur is a dream of yours, start freelancing.
You need to build your own platform
Daniel published his first book this year with Penguin Random House – Rich20Something: Ditch your average job, start an epic business and score the life you want. It might surprise you to know that publishing companies expect the author to come up with a plan and a platform for marketing their own book (who knew?!).
Social media might seem like a go-to for marketing your product or your personal brand, but Daniel strongly suggests using it as a distribution arm of your platform, not your whole platform.
Because you don’t own the social media platform, you also don’t control it. It can be affected by algorithm changes and ads, and you have no say in it. This can affect your reach and engagement.
“That’s why you have to focus on building long form content that’s going to last and that stays indexed, so podcasts, blogs, and YouTube.”
Express Yourself Creatively
Whether you’re a server or a doctor, everyone needs a creative outlet because everyone has something to express.
“I think that everyone needs to have a creative outlet where they’re at least cataloguing the things that are interesting to them and talking about the things that are interesting to them. It’s important to have a place to create something. That’s the point of being here,” says Daniel.
Developing a craft is also important because of the skills that come with learning and creating - perseverance, facing challenges, exposing yourself to new things that come from creating; - all skills that also prepare you for entrepreneurship.
Dig your well before you need it
Five years from now, you don’t want to look back and say “I should have started [fill in the blank] five years ago.” No one wants to live in the past, and to prevent that from happening, Daniel says you need to dig your well before you need it.
“You have to start now so that five years you will be thankful that you did it. Yeah, you’re going to suck. There’s no prerequisite around putting out good stuff in the beginning.”
Daniel believes a lot of people with creative ideas avoid trying because they can’t replicate what’s in their head and get frustrated by that. He suggests forcing yourself to keep producing work, because it’s the process, the iteration, and the reiteration that will make you better.
Show notes
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