Returning to the Simple Act of Sharing

1. Starting a Blog

In the beginning, I only wanted to have a blog.

To practice my writing, to tell better stories, to express myself.

If somehow I attracted readers, I could make an impact on people’s lives.

While I was seeking a suitable topic, I became greedy.

I turned to the idea of selling what I know or creating e-courses.

So, my blog turned into a profit-seeking knowledge-commerce venture.

2. Sell My Knowledge for Profit

I bought a book titled?“How to Get Paid from What You Know.”

I started answering the questions and following the action plans in it.

Pretty soon, I was diving deep into my past experiences, things I knew, and what I could still do.

I spent hours synthesizing my notes to narrow down a direction I could pursue.

I also started talking to people I knew, asking them questions, finding out what they needed, and so on.

A customer survey, so to speak.

3. They Want Something Else

Through hours of conversations, I got something not what I expected.

None of them were willing to pay a cent or even showed interest in reading or taking my courses.

They prefer AI.

One prefers to figure out things with AI.

One prefers to use AI to create a pitch deck.

One prefers to use AI to help craft a winning business plan.

But what they want is something else—something they’d be willing to pay for.

At least, they would share profits with me.

That is, someone to oversee, coordinate, and follow through on a business project.

They don’t want to pay for?knowledge;?they want to pay for?execution.

And I said YES. I will co-develop the businesses they want to build.

4. Doubt Starts Creeping In

I begin to doubt my chances to earn profit out of knowledge-commerce business.

I started to think that I had only read about the successful ones.

They are the tip of the iceberg.

I suspect 80% of knowledge-commerce owners didn’t make it.

And I only see the 20% who did.

So, I decided to speculate my possible future with three sci-fi-inspired approaches.

“If this goes on,” “If only,” and “What if.”

If this goes on...

Since all of them mentioned about AI. I'll use AI as basis.

If knowledge is only a prompt away,

it increases the supply of information,

makes more information accessible for free,

and leads people to be less willing to pay for knowledge,

causing more reliance on AI.

And then the cycle repeats.

If only...

If only I could get paid for what I know,

then my knowledge would become my intellectual property.

Then I could scale and make a profit.

Then I could escape the 9-to-5 job.

Then I could feed my family.

What if...

What if I use my knowledge and skillsets to help my friends’ businesses thrive?

What if I owned a share of of every business I helped build?

What if I repeated the same method again and again to more friends?

Then I could scale and make a profit.

Then I could escape the 9-to-5 job.

Then I could feed my family.

5. Back to the Beginning

If I don’t need a knowledge-commerce venture, what about the blog?

It goes back to where I started—starting a blog and deciding on a topic.

And then, I remember a short story:

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking, a blog by?John P. Weiss.

In it, there’s a poem.

It goes like this

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

—by Emily Dickinson

I’ve decided to blog about something meaningful in life—

without hoping to make a buck.

I want to share life experiences and bits of wisdom

with whoever encounters my writing—

like the one you are reading now.

Like a message in a bottle.

To whoever comes and picks it up.