When I first started making videos on YouTube, I was obsessed.
I wasn’t very good, but I was obsessed.
And that obsession is what led me to find a niche I truly enjoyed, connect with people I liked, and build a business that supports my family.
All because I started with what I loved.
Most of us look for opportunities in the market by chasing what’s hot right now—crypto, AI, DTC e-commerce.
But those opportunities are often built on guesswork rather than a track record we can actually see.
When we start with what we love, we’re working from lived experience.
So if you want to build something that lasts, something you can do for a long time, and something other people want, start with what you’d do even if you weren’t getting paid.
Audit your interests
Every one of us has a variety of interests.
I certainly do. I love the outdoors, music, business, entrepreneurship, technology, self-improvement, martial arts—the list goes on and on.
Not all of those things will lead to a business, but some of them could. For me, some of them have. And for you, it’s likely the same.
DuPree X was built around me exploring these things in public, on YouTube. In my first year of making videos, I was all over the place (in some ways, I still am), and it was only in hindsight that the pattern of marketing emerged as a thread worth pulling on.
So my recommendation to you is to do the same.
Create what you enjoy. Do it in public. And keep at it for a while.
Don’t be afraid to be cringe or completely without a niche. Just make things and learn along the way.
Explore every interest you have and share it with others.
Eventually, you’ll find the overlap between what you enjoy, what you’re good at, what people will pay you for, and what the world needs.
That overlap has a name: ikigai.
Work to learn, not to earn
My most productive periods as an entrepreneur have always—always—been the ones where I was working to learn, not to earn.
The enthusiasm that comes from learning shows up in everything you create.
If you’re having fun, people can feel it. If you’re not, they can tell. They may not be able to say why. They just know.
Fortunately, when you start with the work you’d do even if you weren’t getting paid, the odds of enjoying the process are higher. That doesn’t mean you won’t hit seasons of boredom and disillusionment, though. If you’re building a business from your work, those seasons are just part of it.
The important thing to remember is that learning is your way through. You have to have the courage to explore.
But what you learn next should grow out of where you are now and point toward where you want to be.
So don’t torpedo what you’ve built. Thoughtfully determine what you want to tackle next and take your audience (and your customers) with you.
The process is the point.
Putting it all together
Too many people live online without earning anything from it, even though they want to.
For many of them, social media stays a hobby when they want it to be a business.
I truly believe we all have something to offer the world with our creative gifts, and we should use them to solve problems for other people in ways that enrich and empower.
I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather see a creator build and sell something of their own than only promote someone else’s brand.
So if you want to earn a living doing what you love, start with the work you’d already do for free.
Explore every aspect of it in public, check the comments for signals, and use that feedback loop to solve other people’s problems.
We all have something we love that we could use to help other people.
The only question is: when will you begin?
P.S. If you want to see 20 ways to make money from music, watch this week’s video on my channel.