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When everything is slow

So summers for me are always slow. I do not complain about it. I enjoy this time in a way. I am free. On holidays. Don’t have to run around sorting out a million things.

This year was pretty brutal in terms of revenue. Everything that has been taking off or started to take off has slowed down. So if you are experiencing the same thing, you are not alone. If you are doing great, good for you 🙂

My KDP income shrank to double digits. There are many reasons for that. But the main one that put me off was an email that said that I had used some photos that are not mine, and someone else is claiming them. That really shocked me, I was extra careful about that and only used Shutterstock pics to be safe, and yet. I did reach out to Shutterstock, and they were very helpful. Thankfully, I had the purchase and image ID number information. That cleared it pretty quickly. I don’t know if the person who claimed it was his photo was legit. I never contacted him and only communicated with Amazon. Amazon froze my account in the meantime for several weeks. Was I worried? No. I knew I had done no wrong. Was I angry? Yes, you bet. I knew I just had to wait for everything to blow over. Soon enough it did. The account was reinstated, and only the product with the image that was disputed stayed shelved. After all this, only an unpleasant aftertaste was left. I have no interest in growing on that platform, and basically not doing anything with it for now.

My Etsy shops are not doing great. I do get visits only thanks to social media and some limited advertisements. I scaled down the Etsy Ads, and it resulted in fewer visits/orders. The digital products suffered the most; there is almost no organic exposure on Etsy at the moment. Will I close my shops? No. I give them more love than my Amazon accounts. Love it more because the products are closer to my heart. But yes, Etsy sales are not phenomenal either.

As I mentioned, on social media, the organic reach has halved, and I have a really hard time getting it to the previous levels. It might be because of the AI influx, it might not. I have noticed that all platforms, including YouTube, aggressively push their own “promote” button. And that does not work for me, as I am holding on to using ads. My experience is that ads help, but it is not a save-all. If you start using them, the platform will always push you to keep on using them. And for me personally, ads mostly increased visits/likes, but not the sales as such. I know that there are many methods for using ads, but I am not that sophisticated in marketing, even after all those years. I think, if I worked in a corporation and was “trained” there, I would be better at advertising, or perhaps not 🙂

What am I doing now? Well, I am carrying on with my solopreneurship because I worked on it for so long, I still enjoy it, and I have not gotten to the point where I think it is completely pointless. At this point, it is not bringing me the retirement I was hoping for when I started many years ago.

I always end with some action points in my posts, but honestly, this list might seem a bit lame to you 🙂

Looking at everything that is still working, double down on that
Cutting out anything that is not effective (ads, platforms that are failing)
Simplifying systems, posting less, being more targeted
Doing less. Yes, doing less. Having had burnouts before, I have learnt my lesson.

So that is all for today, dear friends 🙂

And what about people

And what about them? This might be a very unusual post, but it might be useful to someone who is like me.

I was always torn between two feelings with regard to social media:

I disliked the fact that people, I do not particularly like and they don’t like me, will be looking at my social media for different reasons – boredom or curiosity (the better reason), hunger for information, reason to have more information (although useless – hahaha), having a laugh (not too bad), or have a reason to dislike me even more. Partly, it is my mistake, I do not share my private life unless I trust someone. I basically keep to myself, and I understand that people will wonder – what is she up to? What is she hiding, right? And the truth is – nothing. I just don’t like to trumpet everything to everyone 🙂 So yes, this feeling always stopped me from going full-on with media. I am aware that there are people who, no matter what you do, will find a reason to dislike you or even hate. So that is one feeling I have. On the other hand…

I always loved sharing my writing and thoughts, especially with people who are on the same wavelength. It is a magical feeling, something deeply human about it. And this is what social media can do. It is its good side, so to speak. You find your peeps even if you thought there couldn’t be anyone who would be like the same thing or be interested in the same stuff. So this feeling reeled me in, and eventually won. Because I am an optimist by nature, I believe that you will connect with more people who are good rather than with people who are not particularly nice.

(These times are quite chaotic, and there are times when I wonder if there is a point to social media at all. It has been so divisive and dividing recently, rather than connecting and warm.)

But if I am looking at social without any emotion, just with pure logic, did it help me in any way to advance? And the answer will have to be, yes. It enabled me to pursue my hobbies, turning them into mini-businesses. It helped me to learn and grow. And, I did connect with some lovely people.

On the other hand, it also ate so much of my free time. I will never get that back (I am limiting my time in a more efficient way now). And it did make people laugh behind my back (but so what, right?), people judging, feeding their curiosity, and whatever.

In all, however, the positives outweigh the negatives. I am carrying on with it all. It is a part of my social story now. Digital footprint, if you like. Documenting how one person is building a one-person business. If nothing else, isn’t that enough? It is for me. I know that now.

I hope this will help you to keep on going, especially if you have similar thoughts to mine.

Have a great spring, dear friends, and make it a productive one 🙂

Creating in the unsettled times

Let’s not go all doom and think about what the real point is in creating today. The times are really strange, to say the least. Not mentioning the AI, the society’s ethos in general is simply weird. Many things we hear and see seem unreal.

Is there any point to creating a one-person business in these post-modern times? To put it simply, I think we should not give up. But we likely have to pivot, reframe, transform, and even drop certain aspects of our creative process. What can be offered to the current society?

I think there is going to be a great hunger for anything that is human-produced, that is genuine, not faultless, built on lived experience. Can you address the problems of modern life and offer a viable solution? The problems I see around and that need to be addressed are plenty, for example, feeling of isolation, loneliness, no agency, and no meaning. You can still build your one-person business if you offer strategies that solve these issues or if you can lead individuals/communities in a meaningful way. You can still build your one-person business if you provide an explanation of the changing world, help to make sense out of it, and show how to live in it in a meaningful way.

The world of work is changing; there is no doubt. The one-person business model is changing with it. I do not have a crystal ball, but what is still valuable is our specific lived experience, specific story, and perspective. So let’s go with that until the fog lifts, and we can see more clearly.

One thing I have to mention here. You have to look after yourself. You need to continue building yourself up – your energy, physical health, and mental health. It is the cornerstone of a one-person business now AND in the future.

Have a great week, dear friends 🙂

P. S. Some ideas and current topics:

Human to human connections
Information overload
Simplifying life
Lack of focus
Short memory span
Polarization/Disharmony
Tiredness, burnout
Inability to think critically
Lack of leadership
Moral compass

My Q4 and going forward

In my past posts, I have been complaining about my low sales during Q4, while everyone else is having the best time of the year. This time, it’s different. No, my sales did not skyrocket, but I am choosing a different mindset. No more moaning (yes, I could do that and start with how AI messed up everything for me) and no more being the “victim” (the algorithm does not like me, stuff).

I suppose I am growing up. Realising a few things about solopreneurship.

Yes, it is very “solo”. You have to do everything yourself.
It is slow, very slow.
You need to learn all the time.
You need to adapt all the time.
You need to persist, be consistent, and show up again and again.
You are the main motivator, investor, and auditor.
It is not “one job”, but several bundled up and done together.
You will not see any reward for a long time (or at least it feels like a long time for you)

So, after several years, I have made some small breakthroughs. I have got consistent traffic (albeit small) to my Etsy shops and Social media, and I have made some sales in Q4. Yes, it is a trickle. But where there is a trickle, there can be a stream. This year, I have been focusing mainly on setting systems and collecting data. That should be a good and healthy springboard to 2026.

Also, if you know me by now, I do have a shiny object syndrome, and I am constantly testing new things on the side. It keeps the boring and mundane more exciting. I am seriously looking into Facebook, which I have been rejecting and avoiding religiously for many years (my mindset stopped me there), and I will give more time to Substack as it has so much potential, especially for local community building. Did try Threads briefly, but will probably give them a miss, as I feel that most of it is just shouting into the void.

My steps I will be focusing more on are as follows:

Following the data from Q4, doubling down on what worked.
Simplifying processes, are the systems working?
Can I use AI and where to save my time?
Trying Facebook/Substack, while dropping Threads
Prioritizing my health, doing less if possible.

I hope you all will have a fabulous 2026, dear friends, and that you will stay on the solopreneur journey 🙂

P.S. This blog is still going to be about the same thing. A super ordinary person, trying to become independent and self-employed based on what can be learned from mostly freely available resources. Is it achievable? And will I find out the answer in 2026? 🙂

Why mistakes are good

I know, it is getting boring – AI this and AI that. But I hope you remember my argument why being human online is important. And I have a little proof to back it up today.

It happened to me on three platforms, within a span of a few months. I was invited to be a part of a smaller community, or I was asked to take part in beta testing. Namely, these platforms are Etsy, Pinterest, and Canva. I have been using all of them for years.

Do I have any advantages because of that? To be honest, no. At least not at the moment, but I can tell that big platforms want to connect with real people and create little communities that they can rely on. Maybe a shift?

So I hope this little post motivates you to keep on going, just as wonderful and just as human you are….

How I do it:

I basically write as I speak. Using Grammarly here and there.
I do not aim for perfection.
I write about my own experience.
I use my own thoughts and ideas, not ChatGPT
I am legit and truthful across the platforms (often confused with authenticity)

Have a great autumn, dear friends 🎃

Is the solo-preneur route still worth it?

So many things have happened since my last post. And it really felt glum.

Not only AI creations everywhere, but also tariffs, the cost of living, and blah, blah, blah. I was really feeling that there is no point continuing the solo entrepreneur way, no matter how glamorous it sounds 🙂 My social media presence was stagnant across the board, probably the lowest it has been.

So, what is the situation now? It is getting better; views and visits have increased slightly, but that is to be expected, as autumn has always been my best season.

I am going to restructure my media, staying faithful to Pinterest and YouTube, and doing very little on Instagram.

Pinterest – not growing, there was a significant dip, but it is getting better now, so I am keeping it

YouTube – I realised a long time ago that it pays very little in my niche, but the real value is brand awareness and links to the shop/services, so yes, I am keeping it

Instagram – is the weakest link, very little value for me personally, I know some people swear by it

The time and energy I save by this, I will redirect to Facebook. Yes, Facebook. I just want to try to see if I can really reach my target audience there.

And Substack. I heard a lot about it. I like the community aspect of it. It seems to be less toxic than other media, and it will push me to write more regularly.

But to answer the question above, for me at the moment, I am grateful to have a job that I enjoy and that gives me time to build my side hustle. I have accepted that I might be one of the people who tried to be an entrepreneur but never achieved it. Something is comforting in this knowledge. Will I keep on trying? Of course, I will.

Have a great autumn, dear friends 🍀

Is there any point in staying creative?

I have been asking myself this. I have lost many views on Pinterest and YouTube since my last post. The accounts are literally getting choked by the amount of “other content” that appeared in massive amounts. So what am I doing about that? Let’s call it weathering out the storm.

For my mental health’s sake, I look at my analytics only once a day, usually in the morning. I keep on with my posting schedule – for the sake of consistency, but I streamlined it a bit. I do not give it more time than before, actually, I give it a little be less of my time. I changed a few things – from generic to super specific and very authentic.

The data is still not in, so I cannot tell at this point if it is working. I am spending more time on AI – educating myself as much as I can (but not becoming sick of it). And looking for ways to automate what I can. My main question is: What is the advantage of these times? Not many people are able to give me a clear picture. Usually, it is just a fragment of their view and their reality. But it does seem that the internet as we know it is changing.

I am relying on something that always worked for me – creativity, authenticity, directness, and a small circle of friends/community members. Is this a good strategy? Ask me in five years 🙂

What I am doing now:

Revising my goals
Streamlining/changing social media (Substack maybe?)
Figuring out how to use AI in my systems
Learning more about AI and how it disrupts the internet world

Have a great summer, dear friends 🍀

“Do What You Can” Strategy

Recently, I have been overwhelmed more than ever. Yes, it is caused by the AI avalanche, and I have written about it in my previous post. And will not mention it here again. It’s more about the feeling I have when summer creeps in, seeing everyone on holiday, chilling, and relaxing. It is the time when I recap the Q1 and Q2 (they are almost always slow and laborious). I always try to figure out what I am doing wrong and what I can do better, and it is always about doing more. And that is exhausting.

Recently, I have had enough posts and videos coming across my desktop with titles like these: Do less, to achieve more! Discover the slow-living lifestyle! Stop trying so hard! So I thought to myself, why don’t I try, at least for a while, to do less? I do not have to be on every social media ten times a day, I do not have to have ten research tools, and I do not have to have a new product every week.

I am not embracing the slow living lifestyle, yet, or hiring a van and going off to the mountains, no. But what I am doing is reducing the clutter, streamlining, and sticking to a very simple process. Actually, creating processes and structures that are basic and not overbloated – and take less time. So that is my summer plan. I call it “Do what you can strategy” while staying sane, not burning out, and fairly happy. Is it too much to ask? There is a fear, I admit that by doing that, I will miss something, I do not know what it is exactly, just feels strange. I somehow feel guilty by doing less…

And yes, it is nothing new. The saying: work smarter, not harder, comes to mind. We all have heard it. But how? I am doing this in my typical amateurish way:

Looking at everything, every task I do regularly.
Can I simplify it somehow?
Can I drop it completely?
Making a new visual workflow based on those three points above.
Putting a time limit on the new tasks/assigning a day
Reducing posting frequency on SM

Questions I have: Will this change anything? How will it show on my results? I am giving it 3 months, which will get me through Q3, and then I can decide for Q4 if I am going to stay with it or go back to my old ways.

So that is my summer, dear friends. I hope you all are having an awesome time and getting closer to your successful solopreneur dream 🙂

Why I am writing as a human

This is going to be a very short one, but maybe a valuable one. I have noticed the shift in search and how you get discovered. I struggled for years with SEO—doing it but not really, and if I am honest, mainly failing in it. And now, finally, things are shifting. AI is the new search engine—and it thinks and searches differently.

AI figures out very quickly what is written by AI, or with the great help of AI – and discards it. O.K., it will not be discarded if you have social proof, like lots of engagement and reviews. But who has? Even the big names in the industry are having AI-created comments, bot subscribers, and so on. We can all see it and spot it (for now). Even if we don’t spot it, the A.I. will.

Anyway, what I am trying to say here is, don’t be lazy and don’t take shortcuts. Your human voice, style, and experience will become increasingly valuable. Even if it does not look like it now, weather it out.

So that’s all from me for now, my friends, have a great week 😊

P.S. I always like to update my posts so you can see how my thinking evolves over time. My own personal feeling atm is that I prefer real people in life and online. I am not excited about following an AI influencer. Of course, I am not the targeted demographic, but still, something inside me tells me that people will prevail. I do prefer advice or a real cook, real plumber, or real baker. I know they have perfected their craft, tested it, and are showing me what they know. That is a whole package, real value. The storytelling is valuable, too, but I do not need to hear everyone’s story. Sometimes I just see the background, the dog on the sofa, the blooming garden behind the window, showing me a glimpse of this person’s life. AI personalities will have to work very hard to make up for this, creating an interesting and relatable context.

Currently, I feel there is too much AI, but I think it will subside, same as you have a sugar craving, have that big piece of cake, and then, just not be able to eat another slice. And no, I don’t think that AI will disappear, it is here to stay. But it will evolve and streamline. Social media is bloated with AI content, will it survive? I don’t know. It seems to me that comments from bots don’t add any value. An alternative may emerge and be more balanced. My advice would be to stay human.

What is Q2 and Q3 good for?

To put it simply, it is a grind. Setting up systems, batching, and outreach. The only thing I enjoy about it is thinking about new products and creating them if there is any time left.

Outside of that, I try to catch up on learning, as learning never stops. At the moment, I am deep down the AI road. Not using it much, yet. But I will end up using it for sure, especially where it can save me time.

I could write this post with AI, but I did not. It goes against what I set up to do here. So I would rather write in my imperfect way. I do believe that authenticity is a special currency and will be more valuable in the future. People will be hungry for human-made content, human-made stories. It is obvious. Same as you keep on eating chocolate cake every day – one day you just don’t want it and you crave something very ordinary like a freshly baked bread. But that is not what I wanted to write about.

So what am I actually doing during Q2 and Q3.

Revising my strategy
Revising the systems I have set up and improving them
Preparing new products for Q4
Learning new things and catching up with the market trends

I know, it is not that exciting, but it has to be done.

Have a great week, and stay productive, dear friends 🙂

P.S. I am not writing about the world economic situation on purpose. As a solopreneur who has been through many up and downs, the only thing I will say is – ‘Stay calm and don’t lose your focus.”