Forget about complicated funnels. Follow this simple 4 step blueprint
Solopreneurship is the new fast track to freedom.
But it can also be a one-way ticket to Brokeville if you do it wrong.
I’ve been working full-time since 2014, and let me share the simple game plan I’ve been following to build a $10,000/month, quite content, empire.
And the best part? You can implement this even if you’re juggling a 9-to-5.
1. Find an open wound
Following your passion is BS.
Your passion alone won’t pay the bills. The reason? Humans are selfish jerks. They only care about themselves, not your hobbies.
Instead, identify a painful problem that your audience is desperately looking to solve. Where there’s a problem, there’s money. Simple as that.
Imagine you’ve clocked two decades in Human Resources. You’ve seen it all: the tears, the joy, the bizarre exit interviews, and the office romances gone wrong.
Instead of broadly discussing “Effective Team Management,” dig into a pressing problem many companies face, such as “How to Retain Top Talent in a Remote-First Environment And Avoid Leaving For One Of Your Competitors.”
Now, that’s painful. Who wants to let their best workforce leave them for a competitor?
You’re not just another talking head. You’re solving a desperate problem – an open wound that many HR departments are tearing their hair out over.
List down three pressing problems your expertise can solve and start creating content around them.
If the problem you’ve chosen is really painful, then you’ll attract clients like a magnet.
Never create your product first (but do this instead)
Too many experts get this backward.
They think about a course they can create. As a result, they spend 6 months doing research and another 6 working on it.
When it comes time to launch: kick in the balls.
Nobody’s buying.
As a result, they end up frustrated and jumping from course to course to find a magic bullet that doesn’t exist to 10x their course sales overnight. Shrieks.
Forget about that. The first thing you should build is your audience.
The “If you build it, they will come” mentality is as outdated as bell-bottoms. You can’t just create a course and expect an audience to magically appear. That’s like fishing in a swimming pool—pointless and slightly embarrassing.
Instead of locking yourself in your basement to create a course or a coaching program – build your audience first.
Pick a medium you enjoy creating, whether it’s text, audio, or video.
Then, understand the modus operandi of the platform you’ve chosen. On social, it’s much more about interactions than posting 10 times a day. On platforms like YouTube or for SEO, you want to identify keywords first.
Then, start publishing daily content. Make it a daily habit. Stick to it for 6 months. And once you start getting some traction, start thinking about the product.
Audience first.
3. Throw away the middlemen
Followers are fool’s gold.
All those vanity metrics are as useless as Monopoly money. Why? Because you don’t own that audience. One algorithm tweak, or a fascist moderator and you’re gone.
Cancel culture is real.
Lord Zuckerberg Or King Elon Don’t give a damn about your solopreneurial dreams. They’re too busy building metaverses, launching rockets to Mars, or whatever the hell they’re onto these days.
The only way to own your audience is to build an email list.
It’s the bedrock of your empire. It’s like owning the land you build your house on. No landlord coming around to collect rent or evict you. It’s yours, and that’s powerful.
If you have no list, you have no business. So start building your list from day one.
4. Build your ethical money-bribe
Hope isn’t a strategy.
You can’t just cross your fingers and hope people will throw money at you because you’ve been publishing helpful content.
Instead, you need to come up with an ethical bribe so that people can send you money. You need an offer: A crystal-clear proposal that solves a problem and has a price tag.
Your free content is your storefront, but your offer is the cash register. The problem is that too many creators shy away and think that making offers is dirty marketing.
Get this out of your head.
If you’re not making offers, you’re essentially running a charity, not a business. And let’s be honest, you’re not here for philanthropy; you’re here to help but also monetize your expertise and live the internet lifestyle.
As an example, I deliver a ton of free content on this platform, my blog, my emails, my YouTube videos…
However, I always throw a pitch in there: whether it’s to join my list or buy my courses. 80% of my content educates and entertains. 20% is a soft-pitch to invite you to go deeper down the Giaro rabbit-hole.
Make an offer, or enjoy being broke.
Build your own content money machine
All this won’t happen overnight.
Now you understand how real money’s made with content creation. Forget about platform money, sponsors, or other methods.
Identify a problem. Build an audience. Grow your list. Create a product.
Rinse and repeat.
Want to monetize your expertise with online content? Get my free email course below: