No Such Thing As Easy Money - Even In The Feet Pic Market
*An article that may or may not examine a popular fetish
< 4 minutes reading time
There we sat, our Friday morning mastermind, in a bustling, posh Japanese patisserie, my hair still wet from the morning shower I almost skipped due to spending my wee hours obsessing over my new Facebook ads, which became the springboard for our discussion topic.
Everyone is building multiple revenue streams; we've mastered our client services and are looking for ways to grow our incomes and serve our audiences without working on 1:1 projects. Seems like a no-brainer.
After approximately 13 minutes of me expelling my ad "expertise," hard-won after a full 72 hours in the trenches, I finally took a breath and ended with, "Sometimes I wonder if there's a market online for photos of my troll feet..."
The unexpected non-sequitur nearly caused Mariana to choke on her $7 Americano. "What?"
Me: Well, you know there are all those women selling pics of their feet online and making extra cash. I mean, my feet are kind of big (I wear a size ten sneaker), and they're pretty thick and athletic looking...
Mariana (always supporting me): You have great feet! They're always pedicured and look clean; I feel like that's the main desire...right?
Our eyes meet across the table, and we crack up hysterically. But that didn't stop us from drawing "feet" parallels to our existing businesses for the remainder of our meeting.
Now, I'm sitting at my laptop Carrie Bradshaw-style, oof, asking the same question you're thinking right now,
"Are feet pics the gateway to easy money?"
Never one to let a stone go unturned, once in the privacy of my own home, I kicked off my Hokas, reclined in my favorite chair, and dove head-first down the rabbit hole to find out if I'd been sleeping on an easy revenue stream.
**My knowledge of the feet pic industry is limited to a documentary I watched during the pandemic and what I was able to find out in front of the paywall of several websites.
The outcome? A little shocking. See, to make it in the competitive feet pic market; you must do more than take pretty (or odd) photos of your feet.
You'll have to:
Attract your ideal clients. Use clear and engaging photos/videos. And enhance your visuals with a well-crafted story that connects you to your audience to build qualified followers quickly.
Never rely on your selling platform to market for you (Your website, Etsy, or cough, OnlyFans). You must drive traffic to your content. People can only buy what they are aware of. And it takes a lot of traffic to convert looky-loos into buyers. Of course, highly specialized niches command higher conversion rates.
Nurture relationships with anyone who engages with your paid or free content. Get to know what your top clients really want from you and consider creating custom solutions. Then refine those custom solutions for your greater audience to elevate your market position.
Consistently deliver high-quality products to keep your audience committed to your brand, especially in a subscription-style model/membership. Consistency + Quality is the winning formula for routine sales.
Know your competition. Not because you need to follow what they do or keep up, but to identify any holes in the market. Also, awareness of your competition and industry peers can open the door to networking and collaboration. Aren't four feet better than two?
Create a distinctive brand. Look, most people have feet. They are everywhere. The market is saturated. So savvy footrepreneurs know they must find a way to stand out in a sea of soles. The brilliant ones know that your unique brand voice often emerges with time, and refining your messaging elevates your product/service in your market.
Sigh... Well. It seems like making an income from something that sounds as easy as selling feet pics will require the same effort, skills, and motivation I'm currently leveraging in my business. And you probably are too.
So, I've decided that swapping out my active work hours to concept and produce attractive feet pics isn't the fastest path to diversifying my income.
A new revenue stream of any kind isn't something you can produce simply by tapping your heels together three times.
But, most people selling the idea of passive income oversimplify the effort, learning curve, and mindset shifts required to get it right. None of us built our businesses overnight, so why do we get caught up in believing the path is easier for someone else?
I'm not known for my patience, but I make all my business choices with deep intention. And, if you intentionally pursue progress - one step at a time, and kick those shiny objects down the road, you'll always get ahead faster.
So, let me have it -
Would you rather stage photos of your bejeweled toes in a tub of green Jell-O or pursue a part of your business that is a natural extension of what you already do - either providing a new solution to your existing audience or creating a new audience for your current offer?
Whatever is next, let's work on it together (even if you choose to enter the feet pic market, let's make you the biggest seller of feet imagery of all time).
What do you need in your business right now?
🏆 More clients?
💰 More money?
💡 A new offer?
🔥 Elevated brand messaging?
⚡️ Consistent content creation?
😰 Don't even know, but feel stuck?
