Monetization is the *final* phase of a project

Your passion is what you want to spend your time doing and not some random vision written on a blackboard in the sky that you somehow need to “discover”.  

Ask yourself what you love doing day in day out, because ultimately this is your passion.

If you pick your industry based only on how much money you think you can make, then you can expect to always be chasing the money.

If you take the time to align your day-to-day passion and your skills, you will flat out make the rest of the process much easier.

Work out what their biggest pain is.

Again, most people do this the wrong way. They think “who is most likely to pay me the money”, and even if they aren’t in the market they want to work with, they push on anyway. 

Think of a character that represents the people you want to work with (your avatar) and design your offering for just that person. Give them a name, and describe every detail of their pain, their fears, their hopes, their current situation… down to even the more tangible aspects of their lives like where they shop and their educational backgrounds. 

This will allow you to hone what you have to offer precisely to what they want, and this will form the basis of your marketing messaging when you talk to them.

Create a plan around how you are going to connect with them.

Create a database of people you can email (or snail mail) and build up a relationship with them. This is your audience. Make sure you have an easy way to be in touch with them so that you can communicate about your product or service before it’s even ready. 

Never leave the scene of learning something new without taking a new action. It’s time for you to declare which action step you’re going to put some attention onto and why.