Operations & Your Own Time

Question 9: Operations & Your Own Time

The operational reality of running HuntingLife. I know you're running this largely solo with a contributor network and a few key vendors — what I want is the actual mechanics. Walk me through your week on HuntingLife: hours, what you're spending them on, the parts of the business that consume the most time without generating proportional value. Who's doing what on the contributor and vendor side, and where's the friction?

Specifics:

Who handles the operational lift outside Pro Staff?

Publishing wire content, managing the 3 affiliate networks, running social, advertiser inquiries, producing the magazine. Any of it off your plate today, or mostly landing on you?

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Outside of Pro Staff contributors, who's handling the operational lift — publishing the wire content, managing the affiliate networks (3 of them), running the social channels, handling advertiser inquiries, producing the magazine? Any of this off your plate today, or is most of it landing on you?

Magazine quarterly cycle — who owns it end-to-end?

Per rate-card schedule: Spring close Jan 15, materials due Jan 31, live Feb 28. Four production crunches a year. You, a designer, a print broker, an editorial team-for-hire?

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The magazine is on a quarterly editorial cycle (per the rate card schedule: Spring close Jan 15, materials due Jan 31, live Feb 28). Four production crunches a year. Who owns magazine production end-to-end — you, a designer, a print broker, an editorial team-for-hire?

Vendor and platform surface area — the time leak

SEO partner, 3 affiliate networks, 3 ESPs, WordPress stack maintenance, social posting — one person managing all that. Where's the most consistent time leak in your week?

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The SEO partner from Q1, three affiliate networks, three ESPs, the WordPress stack maintenance, the social posting — that's a lot of vendor and platform surface area for one person to manage. Where's the most consistent time leak in your week?

What you enjoy vs. what feels like dragging a sled

Sound off on both. The honest answer matters more than the polished one.

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Sound off on the parts of the business you actively enjoy vs. the parts that feel like dragging a sled. The honest answer matters more than the polished one.
And the gut-check

If you could hire two senior people tomorrow with no salary cap, what would those two roles be — and what would you take off your own plate first?

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