Don’t think you can make passive income from goats?
You gotta listen to Deborah Niemann!
She shares how she didn’t make any money from raising goats or even writing books about raising goats!
She only starting generating passive income by raising goats when she discovered selling online courses about how to raise goats!
Her story is such an authentic example of what it really takes to get a business off the ground. It takes time, dedication, lots of experiments and patience!
Deborah began her solopreneur journey when she and her family desired living a healthier lifestyle by moving to the country to grow their own food.
She now writes, speaks, and creates online courses as The Thrifty Homesteader to help others learn from her experiences.
Lot of great lessons in our conversation including:
- The many iterations she went through to finally discover how to earn money from raising goats and it wasn’t what she thought when she started!
- Why creating online course content for a university setting is so different from creating online courses for the general public.
- Why it’s so important to start building your community the moment you decided to start your business.
- How Deborah merged her journalism skills from her previous career with her newly acquired farming skills to create her business.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Tell your story
- Self-direct your learning
- Reframe your mindset
- Build your community
How Deborah Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: Around 6:00 am
- Core work activities + habits: 1) Be on Facebook for her business. 2) Working on her email list and figuring out how to grow it.
- Ideal work environment: In her office, using Inbox Pause to avoid getting distracted, with a quiet atmosphere, plenty of sunlight, and a clear workspace.
Inspirational Quotes
“I figured out every way to not make money before I hit on the one that did.”
“Everyone knows something that makes them an expert.”
Coaching Advice
To start becoming more aware of your curiosity or to experiment with it, Deborah suggests the following:
1) Just start asking ‘why’ all the time.
2) Approach things like a 4 year old might and if you don’t know something, keep asking about it.
3) Think about your early life and things that you were originally drawn to when you were a kid.
Resources + Bonus Materials
Related Episodes
Building A Family Business From Goat Milk Soap With PJ Jonas (139)
Creating Online Courses Through Iteration With Maya Gaddie (068)
Connect With Deborah