The Saturday Solopreneur Newsletter Vol 01 2022

VOLUME
01
H1 '22
Justin Welsh
THE SATURDAY
SOLOPRENEUR
Tips to launch, grow, and monetize your
Internet business
Justin Welsh — The Saturday Solopreneur
Table Of Contents
About The Newsletter 3
TSS #001: It Doesn't Hurt to Ask (for more sales) 4
TSS #002: Specificity Means More Sales 6
TSS #003: Remove Complexity From Your MVPs 8
TSS #004: 4 Content Styles That Drive Meaningful Followings 10
TSS #005: Simple Outsourcing to Free Up 15+ Hours Per Week 15
TSS #006: The Myth of the "Masterclass" 19
TSS #007: 5 Tools for Better, Faster Content 22
TSS #008: Maximize Your Online Income With a Creator Funnel 27
TSS #009: How I Added 44,716 Twitter Followers in 18 Weeks 31
TSS #010: 6 Steps to a $90,351 Online Course Launch 37
TSS #011: The System Behind 9 Twitter Threads With 6M+ Impressions 42
TSS #012: My Favorite Copywriting Formula (that anyone can use) 47
TSS #013: How I Turned My Weekly Workflow Into $3,771 Recurring 51
TSS #014: 4 Tips to Convert Visitors Into Sales 54
TSS #015: How to 5x Your Hourly Rates In 4 Simple Steps 58
TSS #016: The Anatomy of a Viral LinkedIn Post 61
TSS #017: 5 Ways to Accelerate Your Newsletter Growth 66
TSS #018: 4 Steps to 1,000 True Fans 75
TSS #019: Most Social Profiles Aren't Very Good. Here's How to Fix Yours 79
TSS #020: 4 Copywriting Mistakes That Kill Your Content 87
TSS #021: 4 Side Hustles to Earn $100,000+ 92
TSS #022: 5 of My Favorite Tools for Online Business Growth 96
TSS #023: 5 Questions for Endless Content 102
TSS #024: How to Build Relationships With the Biggest Creators On SM 109
TSS #025: Make Your First $1 on the Internet 115
Two Ways I Can Help You 121
The LinkedIn Operating System Course 122
The Content Operating System Course 125
The Monthly Templates 128
justinwelsh.me —2—
The Newsletter
Every Saturday morning, The Saturday Solopreneur newsletter delivers 1 actionable tip to
launch, grow, and monetize your internet business in less than 4 minutes.
This ebook is Volume 1 and contains every newsletter delivered in H1 2022.
You can join 115,000+ subscribers by filling out the form here.
About Justin Welsh
Over the last decade, I helped build two $50M+ ARR companies, teams of 150+ people, and
raise over $300M in venture capital.
Then, in 2019, I burned out.
So, my wife and I quit our high-paying jobs and decided to completely redesign our lives with
more intention. We bought a house in the Catskill Mountains in NY and drove across the
country to begin our new lives.
Now I run a boutique advisory firm for entrepreneurs and create digital products for creators.
When I'm not advising and building products, I'm an angel investor, a mentor to entrepreneurs
in LATAM with 500 Startups, and an LP at GTM Fund, a rolling fund investing $4 million per
year into early-stage B2B SaaS companies.
About the eBook / Affiliate Disclosure

This ebook is a compilation of Justin Welsh's newsletters; slightly edited for formatting only.
All non-newsletter content, including course reviews, has been collected voluntarily and
credited to the contributor.
This ebook contains affiliate links, which means the link owner may receive a commission if
readers make purchases using these links.
TSS #001: It Doesn't Hurt to Ask (for more sales)

Jan 08, 2022
This week's tip: Don't underestimate the number of times you need to "ask" to make a
sale
One of the key mistakes I see solopreneurs making is their hesitancy to ask for the business.
The idea that you will somehow make a living passively is wishful thinking.
IMO, you should be spending between 10% and 20% of your time creating content that makes
an offer and asks people to respond.
That offer should be to spend money with you.
Let me show you the difference between days where I ask, and where I don't:
You can see from above that an average "ask" day will lead to between $10k and $20k in sales,
while passive days are around $2,500.
A 5x to 10x difference.
But more than just making more sales, you're also pushing people closer to a purchase, slowly
over time.
I recently received this comment from Scott Bair who shows you the power of continuing to
sell on a regular basis.
Scott had been considering a purchase for over a year, and finally, he decided to buy. He just
needed a weekly reminder from me.
How many Scotts are out there waiting to buy your product?
TSS #002: Specificity Means More Sales

Jan 15, 2022
This week's tip: When selling products or services, specificity is your friend.
Online products and services come in all shapes and sizes.
From $50/hour consulting to $2,500 "Masterclass" style digital courses.
I've found that the most successful solopreneurs position their product or service to solve a very
specific problem.
A problem you've learned about when talking to your prospects and customers.
Once you understand that problem, I recommend helping them get from point A to point B
easily, quickly, and affordably.
Point A→ Point B
But, it must be clear to your prospective customers, exactly what they'll get.
And this can often be captured in the hero image of your product/service website, where you
describe the benefits.
Let's take a look at two examples:
Bad example: Learn how to invest in the stock market
Better example: Learn how to make your first stock market investment in less than 3 minutes
(with zero fees!)
The better example tells people:
What they'll accomplish: Make their first stock market investment
How long it will take them: Less than 3 minutes
Objection handler: With zero fees!
My favorite example of this comes from Harry Dry's Marketing Examples website where he
breaks down JobBoardSheet.
Check it out:
Is your online product or service nebulous, or very specific?
If it's the former, try this formula:
Step 1: Explain the benefit your customers receive

Step 2: Explain exactly how you create that benefit
Step 3: Handle the most common objection in the copy
TSS #003: Remove Complexity From Your MVPs

Jan 22, 2022
This week's tip: Reduce complexity when shipping an MVP product or service
When you have an idea for a new product or service, the best way to go to market is with an
MVP (minimum viable product).
While this is common at most companies, it should be a process that you follow as a
solopreneur as well.
Here are the things that matter when launching your MVP:
A landing page: A simple place to learn about the product or service and to understand
the benefits of buying it.
An offer: An offer is a way that prospective customers can actually purchase the product or
service. Some common examples are one-time payments, a payment plan, or a subscription.
A CTA: Your CTA (or call-to-action) should be a simple button that allows users to
submit their payment information.
That's it.
To see an example of how I ship MVPs, let's look at an idea I had called CreatorSites.
With CreatorSites, I wanted to prove or disprove a hypothesis that I had: that people would pay
$149 for simple one-page websites.
So I bought a domain name on Google ($12), built a simple landing page on Carrd ($19), and
used a Gumroad (2.9%) purchase widget to facilitate transactions.
In one day, I sold 4 sites for $596, spent just $31, and moved a little closer to proving my
assumption true (I shut down this idea for other reasons).
So, skip the expensive logos, brand colors, style guide, and fancy website.
Start by proving that people will actually buy your product or service.
Get shipping. You can always complicate things later.
TSS #004: 4 Content Styles That Drive Meaningful Followings

Jan 29, 2022
This week's tip: Understand what content powers solopreneur business
Social media content can be one of the most powerful and valuable tools for building revenue
in your online business.
Even if you don't have a service or product to sell now, you should always be building a
following in anticipation of having one in the future.
In order to effectively build a following that will purchase from you, you should consider
following these 4 rules of content:
Let's break each of them down, and provide some examples of great content.
Content style 1: This person teaches (or educates) me
I've found that the easiest way to show off your expertise is by teaching prospective followers
and customers how to do something.
When teaching or educating, it pays to really dive in tactically. This helps show the reader that
you're truly a master of your domain, rather than providing high-level fluff.
Someone who does a great job of this is Dickie Bush. As a successful writer himself, Dickie
pulls the curtain back on long-form writing for his audience through educational threads.
justinwelsh.me — 10 —
Here's one of my favorite examples of him teaching his audience something extremely tactical
related to writing effectively:
Content style 2: This person entertains me
Teaching your audience is helpful, but if you hammer your audience with facts and teachings
100% of the time, you run the risk of boring them.
Once you bore your audience, you get tuned out. This is where entertainment comes in.
If you learn anything from this issue, it's that education and entertainment rolled into one (i.e.
"edutainment") is the most powerful combination in content.
Someone who is extremely entertaining is JK Molina.
I don't agree with everything he writes or Tweets, but that's sort of the point. With
entertainment comes edgy content, and with edgy content comes a more close-knit tribe.
Here's one of my favorite examples of him entertaining his audience:
Content style 3: This person makes me think
Outside of teaching and education, there are the philosophical pieces of content that we all
know and love.
Philosophical (or thoughtful) content doesn't teach, nor does it entertain. But it should leave
your audience with the reaction, "wow, I've never thought of it like that before..." or "woah, what a
great way to describe that..."
The content writers who do this incredibly well are people like Naval or Sahil Lavingia.
Here are a few of my favorite examples of philosophical or thoughtful content that really made
me stop and think:
Content style 4: This person understands me
Last, but certainly not least, is content that is high on empathy.
Content that reaches out to your audience and says, "I understand what you're going through"
or, "you're not alone in that experience".
Empathetic content draws your audience and readers in closer and greatly humanizes an
otherwise inanimate social media profile.
The best at this are people like Amanda Goetz, who runs a DTC brand called House of Wise.
Here is one of my favorite examples of nailing empathy by showing she understands her
follower's wants, needs, and desires.
If you're interested in building a step-by-step system for creating high-quality content at scale,
in 50% less time, join 2,200+ students in my self-paced course, The Content Operating System.
Inside, you'll learn the 9-step process I use to generate one newsletter and 6-12 pieces of high-
quality content each Monday.
See you next week.
TL;DR
4 types of content builds a following:
1. This person teaches me

2. This person entertains me
3. This person makes me think
4. This person understands me
That's about it.
TSS #005: Simple Outsourcing to Free Up 15+ Hours Per Week

Feb 05, 2022
Today's tip: How I outsource repetitive, non-strategic work to support agents.
As a solopreneur, it's critical that you spend your time focused on the most strategic areas of
your business.
When you outsource effectively, you free up a tremendous amount of time.
You also avoid costly "context switching" (our tendency to shift from one unrelated task to
another), which turns 5-minute distractions into 30-minute distractions.
Unfortunately, so many people are caught up in the day-to-day minutia of their business, that
they never stop to apply this effective process.
Everything about your online business feels important
When you're running your own business, every little issue can feel like it's the most urgent
matter of the day.
Have you ever found yourself spending a lot of time:
Answering emails from random "brain pickers"?

Helping someone find their username or password?
Explaining where to find something in your product?
Going back and forth trying to schedule a podcast or event?
Of course, these are important things to address. But they can be managed by someone who
isn't the strategic force behind your business.
Here's a 5-step plan for outsourcing non-strategic tasks (and saving 15+ hours per week).
Step 1: Audit what distracts you the most
Identify what distracts you the most.
I’ve started paying close attention to distractions to understand when I was most distracted, by
what, and how often.
I keep a running tally each week to make sure I'm identifying any new distractions that have
crept up.
Awareness is your first step.
Step 2: Record videos to “show and tell” how you solve each issue
A lot of people audit their time. But few implement systems that allow someone else to step in
and help.
Remember that your outsourced helpers may not have the background to understand what
they’re solving and why.
So it's important to record a granular video where you walk through every single step.
Share your videos with a few people who have no context, and see if they can complete the
tasks you teach on video.
Step 3: Store the videos in a process document on Notion or

GDrive
Once you have your videos recorded, upload to GDrive or a Notion page with additional text
instructions.
The most common instructions I store in text form are things like:
Email templates to respond to prospects and customers.

Username and passwords for accounts they'll access. (note: create roles where your helper is
not an admin)
Links to other resources to support their work.
Step 4: Teach someone on Fiverr or Upwork to follow your

process
When your processes are recorded and documented, it’s time to hire your helper.
I've used many different services before: Fiverr, Upwork, PHOnlineJobs, etc. It matters less
about where you look and more about how you train people.
My favorite way to train someone is to take an actual distraction and hire someone to follow
my instructions. Once you work with someone 3-5 times, you get a good sense for how you
like working with them.
Step 5: Route these emails to your new support agent
Once you find a helper, simply reroute common support emails you get by creating a
secondary email address (inquiries@, help@, support@, etc.) that is sent to your new support
person.
I recommend a weekly catch-up with your helper to prevent any confusion on their end.
Congratulations, you just freed up 15+ hours of your time to be more strategic.
TSS #006: The Myth of the "Masterclass"

Feb 12, 2022 / Read time: 2 minutes
I'm going to come right out and say it: I don't believe high-ticket online courses are the
best option for 99% of people trying to earn money online.
From Sam Ovens and his "$20M funnel" to Dan Lok's "Wealth Triangle", we've been
inundated with sharply-dressed bros, renting out private planes and skyscraper offices,
delivering $2,000 "masterclass" style courses to the gullible masses.
So, what's a new creator to do?
The unfortunate answer is that most people replicate what they see.
They create an online course, spend 50+ hours making it, and then price it at $897 or even
$1,200+.
After all, It took 50 hours. Not to mention that expensive camera and lighting rig you bought.
And your time. Oh my goodness, the time you spent. Your time is valuable! Just like Sam and
Dan's.
Here's what usually happens next:
You get some visitors to your landing page

A few people put the course in their shopping cart
Nobody buys. Boo-hoo.
You don't have the social capital to support a high-ticket item.
99% of people who are creating courses online haven't built an audience that is highly engaged.
They certainly aren't ready to spend nearly a thousand dollars with you.
You can see this playing out in the numbers. Last year, CEO Sahil Lavingia wrote that
Gumroad creators had amassed $142M in revenue.
With 46,000 creators on the platform, that's an average of $3,000 per. But the median was
actually $70 per year. The top 10% of creators took home nearly 92% of the earnings. (source)
That means the average creator on Gumroad didn't have enough social capital or good enough
distribution to make even $100.
Forget $897. And definitely forget $1,200.
Instead, build your revenue by starting with a "trust tripwire".
A "trust tripwire" is a low-cost product that is intended to do 4 things:
Allow customers to make an impulse buy

Provide 100x in value vs. what customers paid
Build a high level of trust to impact future product sales
Generate word-of-mouth sales because of the sheer quantity.
I suggest you price your trust tripwire below $100.
The future is $50, not $1,500.
Don't be fooled by what you think you see. There are fewer and fewer Sam Ovens and Dan
Lok's entering the online course world today.
Instead, there are more folks like Daniel Vassallo, Arvid Kahl, and myself.
We're all part of the top 10% of Gumroad creators. We all price our products between $10 and
$150.
This is how I've sold over $1,000,000 in courses at an ARPU (average revenue per user) of
$130.25.
My flagship course, The LinkedIn Operating System, has 9,100+ students, and at least 6-10 of
those students are saying something incredible about it online every single day.
That's the power of high quantity & high quality!
So, here's my parting advice for new course creators:
Keep your course between 45 and 60 minutes.

Focus on high-value information, not production value.
Make sure your customers achieve one very specific outcome.
Use automated systems to turn everyone into an affiliate for word-of-mouth.
Thousands of happy customers + word-of-mouth chatter + motivated affiliates = a scalable

course business.
TSS #007: 5 Tools for Better, Faster Content

Feb 19, 2022
It's nearly impossible to build a business online if you can't attract attention. And one of the
best ways to attract attention is with high-quality content.
I should know. I've spent the last 3 years writing daily, racking up over 100M impressions
across Twitter and LinkedIn.
Even with a solid writing habit, I still find myself looking for inspiration and ideas every single
day.
So here are my 5 favorite tools for a daily dose of content inspiration.
Best social media publishing tool: Hypefury
Hypefury is my publishing tool of choice for social media because it comes with built-in
content inspiration that is proven to attract readers.
I simply select the topic of my choice, and the software surfaces hundreds of examples of high-
quality Tweets. These Tweets are generally in a format and structure that is pleasing to the eyes
and to the mind.
I can click the "re-use" button and start with a proven format to share my thoughts confidently.
Best long-form publishing tool: Typeshare
Long-form content is about organizing a lot of information into a very digestible package.
Typeshare is my secret weapon for writing this weekly newsletter.
The software comes with built-in essay templates from proven writers like Nicolas Cole and
Dickie Bush.
These templates help me take the thoughts in my head and organize them effectively for my
weekly readers.
If you're writing regular blogs or newsletters, I highly recommend Typeshare.
Best Google Chrome plugin: Twemex
Sometimes, I'm browsing Twitter and I come across a piece of content that's especially well
written.
With Twemex, I can click on the handle of the user who wrote it, and instantly see their top-
performing Tweets of all time.
This is a great way to find inspiration, and also see what formats or structures have worked best
in the past.
Best native LinkedIn tool: LinkedIn Save
If LinkedIn is your platform of choice, there is a "save" functionality that a lot of people don't
know about.
When you're scrolling LinkedIn and come across a piece of content you want to remember,
you simply click the three dots in the top right corner and select, "save for later".
Want to access your saved posts? Simply visit and bookmark this URL.
Best native Twitter tool: Twitter Blue
If you're like me, you probably bookmark a lot of Tweets. The problem with bookmarking is
that there was no real way to organize the content that you saved.
Until Twitter Blue arrived.
Twitter Blue is a premium Twitter subscription for only $2.99 per month. There are a bunch
of really interesting features, but my favorite feature is the ability to organize bookmarked
Tweets by folder.
I've created numerous folders including, "Style Steals" where I save Tweets that catch my eye
and have clean and interesting formats.
TSS #008: Maximize Your Online Income With a Creator Funnel

Feb 26, 2022
In order to make money as a creator or solopreneur, you need a well-constructed "creator

funnel."
A creator funnel is a simple journey that your online audience goes through, increasing the
chance that they become a customer with each step.
Back in 2019, I started my online business without a funnel and saw relatively mediocre results.
Fast forward 3 years and my business is 5x bigger and runs through an intentionally designed
creator funnel.
I want to share mine with the hope that it helps you.
A great creator funnel begins with getting discovered
In order to build a successful creator funnel, you must first get discovered.
If nobody finds your thoughts or ideas, none of the other parts of the funnel matter. Learning
to stand out online is part of modern marketing.
The easiest way to get discovered is to create value where people are already consuming.
There are four types of content that generally "add value" and therefore have positive results:
1. This person teaches me

2. This person entertains me
3. This person makes me think
4. This person understands me
If you're still struggling to understand what it means to "add value", here's a great explanation
from Daniel Vassallo (from his private community, Small Bets).
Once you understand the skill of creating value, you should distribute it to places where people
are already consuming: Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, IndieHackers, etc.
I choose to publish 2x daily on LinkedIn and Twitter, where I'll do 160M+ impressions in 2022.
After being discovered, building trust is critical
Once you've been discovered, it's important that you move your audience from thinking, "this
person is familiar" to "this person is someone I trust".
When I use the word, "trust", I mean they trust in your expertise. They trust that you know
what you're doing in your field of choice.
To deepen that trust, use longer-form content to show your expertise:
Newsletter
How-to guides
Step-by-step videos
For my creator funnel, I move people from Twitter and LinkedIn to my weekly newsletter.
My goal is twofold:
1. Show people how I think at a deeper level (trust)

2. De-platform my closest followers to my email list and off of social media.
Remember - it's critical to "own" your audience (email list) vs. "rent" your audience (social
media).
Deep relationships take trust to the next level
Once trust is built, you can begin establishing true relationships.
True relationships are about access. A "behind-the-scenes" glimpse at how someone thinks,
acts, works, etc.
It's much easier to invite someone into this phase of the funnel once they fully trust your
expertise and knowledge.
My relationship builder is my private community. 600+ motivated creators on Slack, sharing

best practices, doing monthly AMA's with me, and even in-person meetups in cities like New
York, San Francisco, London, and Lisbon.
They join to deepen their relationship with me and our other motivated members, all focused
on the same goal: growing their business.
Relationships are much easier to monetize
Think about the journey someone takes to join a community. They:
Discover you
Build trust through high-quality content
Invest in a long-term relationship through community
Once someone has come this far, they are highly likely to want more of what you create. This
is where monetization is easiest.
Not only are these your closest followers, but they are also a captive audience. You can reach
out directly via your community.
No algorithm to beat. No open rates to worry about. No competition.
Just a captive audience of likely buyers.
This is where you can get creative. Offer up courses, cohort-based coaching programs, SaaS
platforms, etc.
Congratulations! You're ready to build your own creator funnel.
TL;DR
TSS #009: How I Added 44,716 Twitter Followers in 18 Weeks

Mar 05, 2022
In a noisy world, attention is your best friend. It can literally power your entire online business.
In the last 18 weeks, I’ve added over 44,716 new Twitter followers using a simple 7-step
process.
Now I want to share the journey (and the steps I took) so you can replicate them.
If you can get this system right, you’ll grow on Twitter. And with Twitter growth comes
massive opportunities: a better network, better jobs, podcasting and speaking opportunities,
monetization, etc.
Unfortunately, most people stumble around Twitter for years and can’t figure it out.
Why?
No process.
You cannot grow predictably on Twitter without a process
When I see people starting out on the platform, they are just screaming into the void without
any real strategy.
They aren’t consistent.

They don’t share valuable information.
They don’t spend time networking with people.
They don’t use tools to make Twitter growth easier.

I’m going to share how you can avoid these traps and follow a better plan.
Here's how step by step.
Step 1: Build your publishing habit
You cannot grow on social media if you don’t publish. And publishing is like a muscle that you
must build.
On October 26th, I started building my publishing habit by using a formulaic approach.
Each morning, I Tweeted “Happy {Day} to X". Here's an example:
I had 2 simple goals:
1. Build my publishing muscle.

2. Put my name & face in front of people daily.
By using a formula, I made it easy. This is a simple way to get that muscle built.
Step 2: Educate your audience
The problem with using formulas is that after a while, your audience gets less value from them.
So if you’re pumping out a daily Tweet in the morning and expecting to grow...
Not so fast.
You’ll need to show your audience that you’re worth following.
So each afternoon, I started sharing tips from my journey.
Topics include:
Audience growth
Service businesses
Building info products
Using social media effectively
I pretend that I'm writing to help one single person learn how to do something important.
Here’s an example of a tip that resonated with my audience:
Step 3: Leverage threads for accelerated growth
After a month or so, people got familiar with my name and face each morning, and came to
expect a nugget of help each afternoon.
That helped me grow slowly and steadily, but I wanted to pour more gasoline on the fire.
I had a hypothesis that showing the audience more of how I think more would foster a
connection.
So, I started writing Twitter threads. This allowed me to show a much deeper knowledge of
particular subjects in a format that was more likely to get retweeted (and therefore, go viral).
My goal is to walk someone step-by-step through something critical in solopreneurship. Here’s

an example:
Step 4: Build an engaged ecosystem
Too many new Twitter users come onto the platform and start rapidly producing content.
The problem is they forget that growth is largely due in part to being “social”. It’s social media
after all, isn’t it?
My goal was to establish relationships with people with a similar follower count. This reduced
the likelihood that I would get “big-timed” by someone with 10x the followers of me.
The other benefit of forming relationships is growing together. The same people you chat with
at 5k followers will be your friends and partners at 50k followers.
The journey is just easier together.
Step 5: Comment underneath large accounts
While you might worry about getting “big-timed” by larger accounts, you can still participate
in meaningful conversations underneath their Tweets. This is one of the easiest ways to get
your name, face, and thoughts in front of a lot of people.
I like to set up notifications for large accounts that are relevant to the space I'm in
(solopreneurship) and leave comments when they Tweet something that resonates with me.
This is a great way to pick up additional followers and attention. Check out this simple one-
word reply that got me 6.7k impressions. Pretty powerful for a 3-second action.
Note: You are much more likely to get traction by leaving more thoughtful comments than this
particular example.
Step 6: Analyze and Pivot
After executing the 5 steps above, I started to analyze what was working and what wasn’t
working.
For example, my morning Tweets (Good morning to X) we’re getting less and less traction. I
really wasn’t enjoying writing them either. That’s a good sign to do something different.
At the same time, my afternoon tips were getting more traction and I really like sharing things
that help other creators and solopreneurs.
So, I eliminated the morning platitudes and replaced them with additional tips, observations for
my audience, or offers to help answer questions.
Almost immediately, the traction went back up.
Don’t forget to analyze and pivot.
Step 7: Improve your inspiration with tools
Now that my account was humming, I needed to streamline the process I followed to create
and distribute all of this content.
So, I sought out the best tools available for content inspiration.
Remember: tools matter once you get your process down. They are much less important
when you’re just starting to figure everything out.
I wrote an entire newsletter about the 5 tools I use to streamline my entire process.
You can find those here.
TSS #010: 6 steps to a $90,351 online course launch

Mar 12, 2022
Today, I’m going to walk you through how to presell an online course before you even start
building it.
The reason that preselling is so critical is that it helps validate that people actually want what
you’re building.
Here’s what happens when you don’t presell:
Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence.
So many people I talk to spend countless hours and dollars building their online products
without ever validating that people have an interest in buying them.
Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you.
Instead, I want to walk you through the 6-step process I used to create $90,351 in presales
before even launching my course.
Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Choose a topic you could easily talk about for 30 minutes
Online courses should be about transferring your specific knowledge to the student.
If you can’t talk about a topic for 30 minutes, unprepared, you probably don’t know enough to
sell a course.
For example, my first course was how to grow on LinkedIn.
I knew everything I had done, and I could easily sit with someone and guide them through the
entire journey.
No research, no reading other people’s takes, no stealing content from blogs, etc.
This is how you should think about picking your topic.
Step 2: Create course benefits and outcomes
Once you choose a topic, so many people start building out the product. Please don’t do this!
I know you’re excited and dreaming of passive income while you sip margaritas on the beach.
But I promise you that creating course benefits and outcomes is a step you can’t afford to skip.
Here’s what you want to clearly define:
1. What specific problem will you be solving?

2. What are the benefits and outcome(s) a student can expect?
3. Create an outline for your product that helps solve #1 and delivers #2.
4. Keep it short: consider helping them reach their outcome in less than 45 minutes.
Step 3: Create a presale promotional plan
Once you have features and outcomes down, it’s time to create a promotional plan.
I recommend starting with how long your presale will be available - 14 days? 30 days?
I presold for roughly 30 days because it gave me a little more time to drum up interest.
Next, decide what channels you’ll use to promote it:
1. Social media
2. Your email list
3. Any community you’re in
Then, sketch out your promo content:
1. Announcement
2. Reminder
3. Last call
Make sure your promo content answers this question: Why should someone buy this course
now, during my presale?
All of your content must highlight the answer to this question.
Step 4: Build out your product in Gumroad
Once you have the first 3 steps completed, the hardest parts are done. Now it’s time to build
out your product in Gumroad. I choose Gumroad because it’s fast, cheap, and easy.
Choose your product name, description, and price to get started.
Then head over to Canva to build out a nice product image that represents what people will
get when they buy.
Make sure you include an automated email (available via Gumroad workflows) that lets people
know when you’ll deliver the finished product.
Step 5 (optional): Build a landing page in Carrd
This step is optional, but I love building out a robust landing page using Carrd.
Carrd is a simple one-page website builder that costs $19 per year. Yes, you read that right. Per
year.
The benefit of choosing to use Carrd is that you can build out a professional-looking landing
page that helps improve conversion.
Here’s what a landing page should include according to Harry Dry of MarketingExamples.com
Step 6: Execute your promotion plan
Ok, you’re finally ready to execute your presale promotion plan.
Start by including the link to the landing page in your social profiles. Add it to:
The featured section of your LinkedIn profile

The website link on your Twitter profile
Any Instagram or YouTube accounts you use
Then it's time to announce on social, your email list, and via any communities that you’re a
part of.
Your first post is the announcement post, where you talk about the benefits and outcomes, plus
answering the question, “why should someone buy this course now, during my presale?”
At the midpoint of your launch journey, you can use a reminder post, and then close it out
with a “last call” post.
TSS #011: The System Behind 9 Twitter Threads With 6M+ Impressions
Mar 19, 2022
Today, I'm going to share the process I use for writing my most popular Twitter threads.
I've written 9 Twitter threads that have been seen 6.037M times, and been saved to Readwise
over 1,000 times. According to them, that makes me (currently) the 43rd most saved thread
writer of all time. (Update: Now 23rd!)
And that's just in 17 weeks of being truly active on Twitter.
Writing high-quality Twitter threads is the fastest and easiest way to pick up new followers
who are interested in your expertise. And with interest in your expertise comes email
subscribers and customers.
Unfortunately, most people are writing extremely messy, difficult threads.
Writing Twitter threads is about the format as much as the

information.
Here are the most common mistakes I see when looking at messy threads.
Lacking a good “Hook Tweet”.

No "headers" on the "body" Tweets.
Way too wordy, and no white space for reading.
No clear call-to-action or call-to-conversation at the end.
Much like everything I write about, the key to overcoming these problems is having a clear
system for writing threads.
Here's my system, step by step:
Step 1: Start by writing the body of the thread
The body of the thread is the information you're attempting to convey.
If you're not sharing anything of value, even the best "hook" won't get people to engage,
comment, and Retweet.
Remember, that scrolling a long thread is tiring, so the format is everything. Because of that,
the body should be written in a specific way to make it very easy to read.
Each "body" Tweet should:
Have a header
Include enough white space to make it easy to read
A header simply tells the reader what to expect in the Tweet they are reading.
White space is the space between lines so that it's easier on the eyes.
Here's an example of both:
Step 2: Write out the CTA (Call-to-action) next
So many people write good threads and then forget to tell the reader what to do at the end.
What a waste!
Think about the possible actions you can take at the conclusion of your thread and tell the
reader exactly what they should do:
Follow you.
Join your email list.
Sign up for a live event.
Read another thread you wrote.
Buy a product that is relevant to the thread.
Here's an example of how I end my threads and ask people to follow me, which is the metric I
care about most right now.
Note: I also share my email list in case someone wants to take that next step.
Step 3: End your writing process by creating your "Hook Tweet"
We're at the last, but most critically important step of writing Tweet threads.
The "Hook" Tweet.
This is the first Tweet in your thread, and it makes or breaks your entire thread.
Without a good hook, nobody stops to read. And if people don't read it, they don't engage,
comment and Retweet it. Ouch.
I've generally found 3 ways to open your thread with a good "hook" that works for me.
They are:
Tell people what they'll get, & address an objection
Use eye-catching numbers
Use juxtaposition (comparison)
And that's it.
TL;DR
Step 1: Write the body using headers and white space.
Step 2: Use a specific call to action to tell readers what to do.
Step 3: Write compelling hook lines by using my recommendations.
TSS #012: My Favorite Copywriting Formula (that anyone can use)

Mar 26, 2022
In today's issue, I want to show you my favorite copywriting formula.
If you can master this formula (and anyone can) you'll unlock human emotions that will help
your content reach hundreds of thousands of people.
The problem is that most people don't write copy using proven formulas or systems.
Your content isn't resonating because you don't have a formula for unlocking human emotion.
If you don't understand how human emotions work, it's tough to write great content.
I struggled to write effectively for the first 6 months that I published on social media.
I didn't have a system

I didn't understand the psychology
I didn't know anything about copywriting
Because of that, I dreaded writing each day. I stared at a blank screen, and then sloppily threw
together some messy content.
When I finally pressed "post", all of my worries came true. Nobody read it. Nobody engaged.
Nobody cared.
That sucks.
Let me show you an easy trick to help solve these problems.
It's my variation of PAS (problem/agitate/solution) called PAIPS.
1. Problem
2. Agitate
3. Intrigue
4. Positive Future
5. Solution
Step 1: Highlight something painful or problematic
The first line of this piece of content highlights a painful problem that many people in my
audience are experiencing. They feel taken advantage of at work.
This line is intended to do 2 things:
1. Elicit a strong emotional response

2. Get the reader to the next line
Then...
Step 2: Agitate the problem aka "turn the knife"
People often write about problems or pain, but they forget the most critical part: agitation.
Hammering the problem home gets under the reader's skin and makes them...well...agitated.
Once someone is agitated, they are much more likely to be open to a solution.
Here's how I went from problem → agitation in this piece of content.
Step 3: Introduce something intriguing to catch the reader's

attention
Ok, we've introduced a problem and we've agitated our audience. The next step is to introduce
something interesting or intriguing.
Something to get the audience to say, "Wait...what's that?"
In this particular piece of content, I introduce something called the Creator Funnel.
My goal is to get the audience to lean in with interest and carry them through the rest of the
content.
Step 4: Paint a positive picture of the future if they follow the

intrigue
Now that we have the audience's attention, I work to paint a picture of what a positive future
would look like if people followed the intriguing Creator Funnel.
You can see that here:
Step 5: Present your solution
The audience has experienced pain and agitation, been presented with an intriguing option,
and we've painted a vision of the positive future.
The last step is to introduce our solution into the equation.
In this particular instance, the solution was my newsletter, and my intention was to drive
subscribers. You can see that here:
And that post ended up with 276,798 impressions, 1,646 engagements, 371 comments, and
drove 600+ new subscribers to my email list.
Mission accomplished.
TL;DR
1. Pain
2. Agitate
3. Intrigue
4. Positive future
5. Solution
See you again next week.
TSS #013: How I Turned My Weekly Workflow Into $3,771 in

recurring income
Apr 2, 2022
In today's issue, I'm going to show you how I combed through my weekly workflow to find
over $3,500 in monthly recurring income hidden right under my nose.
Once you can learn this process, you'll start to see additional income opportunities almost
everywhere you look.
Money here. Money there. Money everywhere.
The biggest problem is that everyone is moving so fast, that they never stop to examine the
opportunity.
Slow down and be cognizant of your weekly value
Think about the recurring tasks on your calendar that are related to your career, side hustle, or
even hobbies. There's income in there.
Do you write weekly?

Do you project manage weekly?
Do you create automation weekly?
Do you document processes weekly?
If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions (or many other examples) you can easily turn
this into recurring revenue.
It just requires that you pay attention to how you spend your time and create a rigid process.
Here's how:
Step 1: Check your calendar for routine knowledge creation
Part of creating recurring revenue is to find knowledge you share or value that you already
create on a routine (not sporadic) basis
For example, part of my content creation process is curating high-quality styles, formats, and
structures for Tweets or LinkedIn posts. Then, I turn them into templates I can use.
This is literally something I'm already doing to help with my own content. And after talking to
a few creator friends, they were blown away by the templates I was creating.
I had a hypothesis that this was something I could offer at a low cost to other creators.
Hint: share what you do with other people in your field. If they think there's value, so will
many others.
Step 2: Create a cadence for capturing knowledge
Once you identify weekly recurring knowledge, you need a rigid cadence and process for
capturing the knowledge consistently.
If you're going to productize it for recurring revenue, you can't miss or be willy-nilly. You
must deliver consistently.
For example, I started by strictly scheduling the time to find and create new Twitter/LinkedIn
templates.
Every Monday at 1:45 pm, I spend 30 minutes finding great content online. Then at 2:15 pm, I
spend 30 minutes turning them into templates I can use and reuse.
Step 3: Repurpose into an affordable recurring revenue model
Once you have a rigid cadence for capturing your knowledge, you need to take it to the next
level by creating a cadence for productizing the knowledge.
I decided to turn my templates into a subscription for creators who are looking to improve
their content game, and The Monthly Templates were born.
On the 13th of each month, I spend 30 minutes putting these fill-in-the-blank templates into
an email for members, adding color commentary, showing examples, and categorizing them by
content "emotion" or "style".
I've seen people on Twitter just copying and pasting Tweets and selling that for $500 or
$49/mo. I wanted to do this 10x better for 5x cheaper.
So I created a product that I price at $9/month and gives creators a stress-free way of writing
high-quality content at scale.
Step 4: Turn your own problem and solution into sales copy
The best part about selling work you're already doing is that you know exactly why you're
doing it.
You know the problem it solves. You know how your solution works. You know how it feels
to have the solution in hand.
Use the problem to create great awareness marketing and the problem & solution as copy for
your landing page.
The goal? Find other people with that exact problem who need your specific solution.
Ta-da. Recurring revenue.
TL;DR
1. Observe your schedule for recurring knowledge

2. Create a strict cadence for never missing
3. Create a cadence to productize them
4. Use problem/solution to sell
Update: As of July 11th, 2022, this is now a $10,287 MRR product that requires one simple
email per month.
TSS #014: 4 Tips to Convert Visitors Into Sales

Apr 9, 2022
If you want to make more sales online, you need a compelling landing page.
Over the last 2.5 years, I've sold over $2M in services, products, and community online.
And I've built every landing page myself.
While the typical eCommerce website converts from 1% to 2%, my conversion rate from
visitor to purchase is around 3.6%.
Here are 4 simple landing page tips to increase your sales.
Tip #1: A Clear And Intriguing Header/Subheader
Whenever someone visits your landing page, the first thing they'll see is the hero section.
You want to make sure this section is extremely clear. Readers should be able to understand
exactly what outcome to expect from using your product.
I use the header to establish that outcome in clear (not clever or cute) language that is firm and
direct.
Outcome: Grow & Monetize Your LinkedIn Account.
I use the subheader to establish credibility and answer the question, "Ok, but why should I trust
you?" I like to use big numbers that catch the reader's attention.
Credibility: The exact system I use to go from zero to 190k followers and $1.7M+ in income
with no paid ads.
Tip #2: Above the Fold Humanized Social Proof
The next thing you need to improve conversion rate is instant social proof.
Far too many people bury their ratings/reviews/testimonials below the fold.
I like to put the rating of my products above the fold and add a human element by using
headshots of real, happy students. This makes it more real.
The closer to your CTA (call-to-action) the more likely someone is to click on it.
That leads me perfectly to the next tip.
Tip #3: Make it Easy to Buy!
I've visited way too many landing pages where I can't actually figure out how to get started.
I have to watch some video, or click on a menu, or scroll down...all to find the "Buy" button.
What a terrible mistake.
If someone is ready to make a purchase, make it easy. I like to use big, bold buttons that tell
people exactly what they'll get when they click them.
Again, no cutesy language. Just clear.
If someone isn't ready to buy, make sure that you give them the option on every single section
of your page. My average landing page has 8 CTAs on it.
Tip #4: Use "Curtain Language" to Entice.
I use a copywriting technique I've decided to call "curtain language".
This language refers to enticing the reader by suggesting there are secrets inside of the course
(there are) and if they want to know those secrets...
They just need to peek behind the curtain.
Here are a few examples:
Uncover the 3 traits you need to grow an audience of raving fans...

Learn the number one problem with all LinkedIn profiles and how to get past it…
Use this method to create weekly income without turning off your audience...
Re-program how you create content to crush "writer's block" forever…
Good curtain language tempts the reader to pull out their credit card and make a purchase.
They just MUST know what's inside.
And that's it for my 4 tips for today.
TL;DR
Tip #1: A Clear And Intriguing Header/Subheader

Tip #2: Above the Fold Humanized Social Proof
Tip #3: Make it Easy to Buy!
Tip #4: Use "Curtain Language" to Entice.
TSS #015: 4 How to 5x Your Hourly Rates In 4 Simple Steps

Apr 16, 2022
In this week's issue, I'm going to show you how I went from charging $250 an hour to $1,250
an hour in my SaaS advising business.
If you follow this blueprint, you'll increase the chances that you can dramatically raise your
rates over time.
Unfortunately, most people are so busy running the day-to-day of their business, that they
never stop to examine how they can improve their efficiency.
Your rates won't raise themselves. You need a plan.
Outside of missing a plan, most people who run service businesses don't collect feedback from
customers, adapt their business model, leverage testimonials, or have the confidence to ask for
more money.
While all of these are challenges, there's good news too.
I have a 4-step plan that you can follow to raise your rates and improve your business.
Here's how step by step:
Step 1: Collect feedback
An important part of this process is having a two-way feedback loop.
That means you're going to be collecting feedback from your customers but also being honest
with yourself about your own business.
Start by regularly asking your customers the following questions:
Where do they get the most value from your business?

Where do they feel like your business could improve?
What do they wish they could get more of?
Don't overcomplicate this. Send them a simple survey or schedule a call and ask.
Once you have some customer feedback, it's time to have an honest conversation with yourself.
What do you enjoy most about your business?

Are there commonalities among your favorite clients?
What part of your business gives you the most energy?
What do you look forward to on your calendar?
What do you dread on your calendar?
Step 2: Iterate
Once you’ve collected feedback, it’s time to iterate.
You want to expand the parts of your business that you enjoy and find ways to eliminate (or
delegate) the parts that you don't.
Your goal is to find the intersection of what you enjoy and what your customers want
or need.
That’s where the magic happens.
And often it will end up being a stripped-down version of your business.
This gives you the opportunity to niche down and go deep on a very specific offering.
Side note: Make sure you reevaluate your social profiles, website, and copy to reflect this new,
more niche offering.
Step 3: Leverage testimonials
Often you can raise your rates simply by having a more niche offering. But you're much more
likely to succeed if you have testimonials from customers in that niche.
Ask previous or current customers in that niche for a testimonial. Here's how:
If a customer has expressed gratitude for great results, ask them to submit a short testimonial
in writing or video.
Formally request a testimonial from a customer after they’ve achieved a specific result from
your partnership.
Someone might email you, Tweet, or write something nice on LinkedIn about your
business. Reach out to them, thank them for the kind comment and ask them if they would
mind expanding on it for a full testimonial.
Step 4: Increase your rates
By this point, you should have a more enjoyable, focused business with testimonials from your
ideal customer.
This is a great time to raise your rates. Most consultants and coaches I talk to could easily
double their rates if they went through this exercise, but they are often too nervous to actually
raise them.
Keep in mind that if you double your prices and your win rate drops by half, you’re still
making the same amount of money servicing half as many customers.
Same money, half the work. Now that's an efficient business.
TSS #016: The Anatomy of a Viral LinkedIn Post

Apr 23, 2022
In this week's issue, I'm going to break down the opening to my most successful LinkedIn post
of all time.
If you've been on LinkedIn for a long time, you've watched the platform morph from a
professional "resume" site to a place where creators are building 7-figure businesses.
If you're on Twitter, but not LinkedIn, you'll be interested to know that people like Sahil
Bloom, Nicolas Cole, Dickie Bush, and Jack Butcher are actively producing content there
daily.
But writing on LinkedIn is much different than writing on platforms like Twitter. And when
creators start writing, they often hear crickets.
On February 21st, 2022, I sat down to write a LinkedIn post with the sole intention of seeing if
I could produce something viral.
Note: My goal is never to go viral. But I thought it would be fun to try, and see what I learned.
In today's issue, I'll show you how I thought about constructing the post and the results.
Let's dive in.
Start by thinking "How can I stop the scroll?"
One of the significant differences between LinkedIn and Twitter is how content comes across
in your feed.
On Twitter, it's mostly short Tweets of 280 characters or less. That means you can skim your
feed and pick up Tweets that are interesting or relevant to you pretty easily.
LinkedIn, however, has a 3,000-character limit, with 210 of those characters appearing "above
the fold" (what I'm referring to as the "opener").
After reading the opener, people choose whether to click the "see more" button, or keep
scrolling for different content.
Below is a picture of the space "above the fold" with the "see more" button encouraging people to
continue reading.
That means a LinkedIn post is a lot like a Twitter thread. You have 210 characters to get people
interested in the rest of it.
To ensure that people read the opener of your LinkedIn post, I'd recommend using 3 short
lines, with spaces, as it provides a format that's easy to read.
You can see I used this formatting in the post below. 3 written lines, 2 lines of space to create
easy readability.
But lines and spaces don't make a post go viral. The written content does. Let's take a look at it.
Line 1: The scroll-stopper
The first line is more important than 95% of the rest of the post. It must be excellent if you
want people to read your LinkedIn content.
So for the first line of this post, I chose what I call a "relatable enemy" and then "threw rocks" at
it.
My hope was that the reader would stop scrolling to join me in throwing rocks at an enemy
they can very much relate to.
For example, I know a of my audience doesn't like their 9 to 5 jobs. So I chose The 9 to 5 as the
relatable enemy in this example.
Next, we need a negative word to get the audience leaning in, in glee. Here's what I came up
with:
The {{RelatableEnemy}} is {{Negativity}}
The 9 to 5 is getting pummeled.
This line should elicit a positive response from the crowd because we're talking negatively
about a relatable enemy.
Line 2: Flip The Script
Once I have the reader past the first line, I need to take that positive feeling the reader has and
accelerate it by painting a picture of life without the "enemy".
Life with the hero!
So, I flip the script.
I choose the hero (the opposite of the enemy) and tell them that the hero is gaining ground.
You see this a lot in politics when a political candidate starts by telling the crowd their
opponent is weakening (like our line about The 9 to 5) and then flips the script to talk about
how their own candidacy is gaining ground.
This usually whips the crowd into a frenzy. I'm doing the same here.
The {{Hero}} is {{StrongPositiveStatement}}
The great resignation is growing faster than ever.
Line 3: Gasoline + Teaser
The last line in your opener must take the frenzied reader and hook them into clicking "see
more".
So I pour gasoline onto the fire by telling the crowd that "I love it".
That I love seeing their enemy get beat down. That I relish the weakening enemy in favor of
the strengthening hero. That we're all crushing the enemy together and gaining ground.
And after pouring gasoline, I lob a simple teaser question, "Why?".
And I {gasoline}. {TeaserQuestion}?
And I love it. Why?
At this point, we've tarnished the crowd's enemy, championed the hero, and whipped them
into a frenzy.
The question "Why?" is simply used to get them past the "see more".
And it worked.
This post has 4.766M impressions, 50,583 engagements, 1,444 comments, and has been shared
1,589 times.
I turned this opener into a template that I can use a reuse often:
The {RelatableEnemy} is {Negativity}
The {Hero} is {StrongPositiveStatement}
And I {Gasoline}. {TeaserQuestion}?
For every post that I create that performs well, I analyze the post, turn it into a template, and
reuse it multiple times.
Note: If you're interested in growing an audience on LinkedIn, networking with other

creators, and using the platform to build some extra income, check out my course, The
LinkedIn Operating System. It has over 11,200 students rating it 4.98 out of 5 stars.
Thanks for reading. See you next Saturday.
TSS #017: 5 Ways to Accelerate Your Newsletter Growth

Apr 30, 2022
In today's issue, I'm sharing 5 simple ways that you can increase your number of newsletter
subscribers.
I've gone from 0 to 21,163 subscribers since I launched my newsletter publicly on January 25th.
That's roughly 235 subscribers per day for 90 days.
But this isn't my first attempt at growing an email newsletter. I tried a year and a half ago and
grew to only 8k subscribers in those 18 months.
So, what changed?
I started using multiple approaches to capture potential newsletter subscribers everywhere that
I'm active online:
Twitter
LinkedIn
My personal website
Now, I want to share the five approaches that have worked most effectively, plus one bonus
that I'm excited to try in the future.
Let's dive in.
1. Revue to newsletter export from Twitter
Last year, Twitter acquired the newsletter platform Revue. This allows people to start a
newsletter on Revue and easily embed it on their Twitter profiles.
But many people miss this massive opportunity because they don't use Revue for their
newsletter.
For example, I use Kajabi to run my newsletter, but I can't feature that on my Twitter profile in
the same fashion as a Revue user.
Good news! There's a simple workaround.
I created a duplicate newsletter with the same name (The Saturday Solopreneur) on Revue and
then integrated it into my Twitter profile.
Each Saturday morning I export my Revue subscribers into Kajabi before my newsletter goes
out.
Note: You used to be able to automate this with Zapier, but it looks like Revue has recently changed
its API access, so my Zap was automatically turned off.
So far, that's helped me capture 1,814 subscribers directly from my Twitter profile.
2. Use Hypefury autoplugs
Hypefury is a publishing tool for your social media content.
One of my favorite features is their "autoplug" feature. This feature automatically adds an extra
Tweet onto an already high-performing Tweet to plug my newsletter.
It's pretty simple.
You just choose the number of engagements needed on a Tweet and Hypefury adds the
autoplug, which you can customize. You can see I've chosen 800 engagements.
So whenever a Tweet reaches 800 engagements, Hypefury automatically adds another Tweet
to the bottom and plugs my newsletter.
Here's an example:
So far, my plugs have 167.5k impressions and have generated over 1,570 new visits to my
newsletter page.
3. Put it in your LinkedIn Profile 2x
If you're active on LinkedIn and you want to collect newsletter subscribers, make sure you're
sharing your newsletter URL on your LinkedIn profile in two places.
1) Your "Featured" section
To add it to your featured section, you simply head to your profile, scroll down to your
featured section, and click the plus button. Next, click "Add a Link".
Note: Don't click "Add a newsletter" as that's for LinkedIn Newsletters only.
Simply paste in your newsletter URL and you're done.
The image that they pull through is whatever image you have attached to that page of your
website.
2) Your Profile header
This is in beta, but many users just received access a few days ago, and can now feature their
website at the top of their LinkedIn profile.
You simply head to your profile, click the "edit profile" pencil and scroll down to the bottom.
If you see a "website" section, you can add a website link and link text to showcase your
newsletter.
You can't measure exactly how many newsletter subscribers you get from these two sections,
but with 50,000 profile visits each month, I can hypothesize that a big chunk of subscribers
come from here.
4. Leverage the LinkedIn First Comment
LinkedIn has a reputation for throttling content that includes links to outside websites.
The workaround is to call attention to the first comment, and then plug your newsletter there.
I love using a tool called Publer.io, which allows me to write my content, but also the first
comment. I can choose what the comment says, add my newsletter URL, and even add an
attention-grabbing picture.
5. Clean up your mobile site
Most sites that I visit on mobile make it very difficult to subscribe to a newsletter because they
are crammed with way too much information.
My mobile site looks entirely different than my desktop website and it's focused on being clean,
minimal, and moving the reader to subscribe to my newsletter.
I make it easy to subscribe to my newsletter in 2 places on my mobile website.
Here's what my mobile website looks like:
6. Install compelling exit pops
This last option is something I'm excited to try. Why?
Because I've read about the effectiveness of compelling exit pops written by people like Harry
Dry, who runs the excellent site, marketingexamples.com.
An exit pop is simply a pop-up that encourages readers to enter their email address if they start
to move their cursor towards closing the window.
You can see how Harry jams his exit pop with compelling information that makes it almost
impossible to skip.
This is something I plan on testing on my website in the very near future.
That's all for today!
5 ways to accelerate your newsletter subscriber growth (plus one bonus).
TL;DR
1. Export from Revue

2. Hypefury autoplugs
3. Add it 2x to your LinkedIn profile
4. LinkedIn first comment
5. A better, cleaner mobile site
6. Compelling exit pops
TSS #018: 4 Steps to 1,000 True Fans

May 07, 2022
In today's issue, I'm going to tell you how I would go about finding 1,000 true fans if I were
starting from scratch.
Building an audience of raving fans is the key to unlocking internet revenue, but when you
start from zero, it's incredibly hard.
But, if you can figure out how to nail the 4 points below, you'll be well on your way.
Unfortunately, so many creators and entrepreneurs fail because they never even create a plan.
They simply produce content daily, never get traction, and then eventually quit.
You need a growth plan to find 1,000 fans.
A real growth plan is about the actual "how" behind achieving your audience goals.
No more creating random content that gets no engagement, or spending hours building
products that nobody buys.
If you can create your growth plan and execute against it, you'll finally achieve the results
you're looking for.
Here's how step by step:
Step 1: Think Like a Niche Streaming Service
In 2021, big streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu saw their market share drop from 65%
to 48%.
Meanwhile, niche streaming services are growing at more than 2x the rate of the major players.
Why?
Because niche content resonates.
And when it comes time to create your content online, it's critical that you focus on helping a
very specific person looking for very specific advice.
You can't just "help small businesses". You're much better off helping "SaaS companies in the
finance vertical, below $10M in revenue".
The more helpful your content is to a specific audience, the more likely they are to find your
"signal" in a world of generic "noise".
Start by creating your very own niche "streaming service" for the right audience to consume.
Step 2: Become a Category Pirate
If you nail a niche, you're likely to have a small group of people who come along with you on
your journey.
But, later down the road, it becomes more and more difficult to create meaningful content if
you only share obvious strategies and tactics that people can learn anywhere.
You don't want to blend in. You want to stand out.
And the easiest way to stand out is through non-obvious content. Non-obvious content is all
about bringing a brand new thought process to your niche. Something that makes you
radically different than others.
I talked to Nicolas Cole, author of the Category Pirates newsletter to get his take. Here is what
he had to say:
“Becoming a happy, independent, profitable creator (a “Category Pirate”) is 100x easier when you
become known for your unique perspective inside of your niche.
Through this lens, you don’t need everyone in the world to care about who you are and what you do.
You just need a small pirate ship of folks who agree with your unique perspective — and that’s more
than enough for you to get paid to do what you love every single day.”
Remember, that if you just say what other people are saying, you become a commodity.
Have a unique viewpoint in your niche.
What is something everyone believes to be true, that you don't?

What is something nobody in your niche is talking about, that they should be?
What are the biggest mistakes people are making, that they are oblivious to?
Why are you someone worth following when others aren't?
Step 3: Tell a story worth following
If you get niche and become a category pirate, you'll probably succeed at growing your fan
base. But nothing helps pour gasoline on that fire like a backstory that resonates deeply with
your audience.
I call this building a better backstory.
Much like the founder of a startup company, you need a story that compels your audience to
follow you. They need to literally see themselves in you.
The story can't be made up or fake. It should be your real story but stitched together in a
fashion that makes it easy (and exciting) to follow along.
There's a formula for doing that.
Feel free to steal my 7-step process to create yours.
Step 4: Do unscalable things
With a tight niche, unique perspective, and compelling story, you'll make significant progress.
But the idea that you can just put this all on autopilot (especially early on) couldn't be further
from the truth.
In the beginning, you're going to need to do a lot of things that don't scale.
Here are some of the things I've done:
1. Published daily to social media, often 2x-3x per day.

2. Replied to every comment, every morning for over an hour.
3. Responded to 85%+ of the DMs I received on LinkedIn and Twitter.
4. Commented on 10-15 people's content every morning for over a year.
5. Attended over 300 Zoom meetings with my followers in my first 2 years.
I cannot overstate how important it is to be everywhere when you're just getting started.
A lot of people refer to this as simply "creating value", but there needs to be a deeper definition
of how to do that.
I think Daniel Vassallo captured it best when he stated it like this:
If you can nail these 4 things, you are absolutely on your way to 1,000 true fans.
TL;DR
1. Think like a niche "streaming service"

2. Become a Category Pirate
3. Tell a story worth following
4. Do unscalable things
TSS #019: Most Social Profiles Aren't Very Good. Here's How to Fix Yours
May 14, 2022
In order to grow a meaningful audience online, it's critical that you give people a reason to
follow you.
I've spent the last 3 years growing past 315,000 social media followers on Twitter and
LinkedIn. At the same time, I've watched other people write content every single day and
struggle.
One of the main reasons is that they don't make a compelling case for why someone should
follow them. What a wasted opportunity.
There is no objectively "right" way to design your social profiles, but I want to share how I
think about it.
Here's my 4-step checklist below to make sure you're giving your readers a reason to hit the
"follow" button.
Let's dive in.
1. Use your banner real estate wisely
The very first thing people see when they hit your Twitter or LinkedIn profile is your "banner"
image.
Because it's such a large piece of real estate, it's important to understand how to use it.
Unfortunately, so many people use it to share a picture of their city skyline, their logo, or some
picture they downloaded off of Unsplash. None of those things are actionable.
This is prime real estate. Use it to achieve a specific outcome:
Build brand awareness

Drive newsletter sign-ups
Send people to your website
Sell a digital product or service
Get them to follow you on social media
I know you see a lot of larger accounts use some hip, interesting picture that means nothing,
but they can afford to.
They already have brand recognition.
When you're just starting out, it's important to be clear, not clever.
Austin Belcak is a perfect example of someone using the banner image extremely well, calling
people to sign up for his Dream Job System Podcast.
2. Your headshot is the first trust builder
When you first look at someone's profile, you make an assumption about what type of person
they are just by looking at their headshot.
Is this the best way to judge someone? Of course not. Do we do it anyway? Absolutely. It's
human nature.
Headshots are meant to evoke a feeling:
Kind
Tough
Playful
Powerful
Empathetic
Professional

Your headshot should align with your brand. I sourced a specific photographer and paid good
money to get the headshot I wanted because it was important for me to evoke a feeling of
confidence.
It's one of the best investments you can make.
3. Your tagline is the "why", not the "what"
If you have a clear banner and a great headshot, you're ahead of about 50% of the profiles I see
on social media.
But, your "tagline" is often a make-or-break moment.
The goal of the tagline is three-fold:
Tell people who you are

Tell people what you do/who you help
Tell people what they should expect if they follow you
Who you are: I love the idea of claiming a category or becoming known for one specific thing.
David Perell does this really effectively, becoming known as the "Writing Guy".
What you do and who you help: Nobody needs to know that you're a "Director of Marketing"
or "Account Executive" or "Software Developer". None of those things are helpful to the
reader. Alex & Books is clear and to the point. He helps you "find amazing books & develop a
reading habit."
Tell people what they should expect if they follow you: This is your opportunity to spell
out exactly what people should expect if they hit the follow button. So, again, be clear. I tell
people exactly what to expect when they follow me.
4. Show people how you think at a deeper level
If you have a smart banner, a solid headshot, and a clear tagline, you'll probably earn a lot of
followers from your content.
But one of the most overlooked ways to increase your chances is through showing off your
expertise at a deeper level.
On Twitter, you can do this with your pinned Tweet. On LinkedIn, you do this through the
Featured Section of your profile.
This is a great place to tell your story (pinned Tweet) or show off your newsletter or projects
(featured section on LinkedIn).
For example, I use my pinned Tweet to tell the story of building my one-person business past
$1M. It gives people a deep sense of who I am, and what I'm building.
And because it has over 7,000 engagements, it also has an element of social proof to it. Bonus!
On LinkedIn, Madeline Mann uses the featured section effectively to host workshops and live
webinars to learn more about her products and services.
She drives people there through her content and then converts them into customers.
TL;DR
1. Banner image to achieve an outcome

2. Headshot to evoke a specific type of emotion
3. Tagline to clearly state what you do and who you help
4. Show off your deeper expertise through pinned Tweet & featured section
TSS #020: 4 Copywriting Mistakes That Kill Your Content

May 21, 2022
In January, I wrote a Twitter thread that was pretty popular, racking up over 9,700
engagements.
It's my 2nd most popular Twitter thread of all time.
Interestingly enough, I had published the exact same thread 2 months prior and it received less
than 5% of that engagement.
I took a look at the two threads side-by-side and it became pretty evident why one worked and
one didn't.
The opening Tweet on the failed thread was riddled with bad copywriting.
Bad copywriting kills good content
Copywriting is part art and part science.
The art comes from understanding why some content resonates, and the science comes from
observing what you've already written.
If you don't spend time studying copywriting and analyzing your previous content, your
writing will likely never take off.
To give you a jump start, here are 4 common copywriting mistakes, and how to fix them.
Let's dive in.
Example #1. An uninteresting opening line
When writing for social media, 95% of the success comes down to the opening line.
I often refer to it as the "scroll-stopper", meaning it's intended to get people to stop scrolling
and pay attention.
Here are 4 simple ways to write a killer opening line:
Example #1: Make it dramatic
Example #2: Use a polarizing statement
Example #3: Start, but don't finish, an interesting story
Example #4: Share a big accomplishment that reels people in
#2. Poorly designed formatting
People often say, "Content is King and format is Queen."
I'd argue it's often the reverse. If people can't easily digest your content, then it's highly
unlikely that they'll actually read it to completion.
Here are 3 common formatting mistakes I see:
Example #1: Not utilizing white space
Example #2: Using hashtags instead of writing like a person
Example #3: Not understanding where lines break
#3. Using complicated jargon or sophisticated grammar
People love to show off their sophisticated grammar. It makes them feel smart and it's great for
impressing the easily impressed.
But for writing? It's Kryptonite.
Your readers should be able to read and fully comprehend what you've written. If they can't,
you risk losing them.
Would this post keep your attention?
#4. Pointing fingers rather than alleviating blame
Lastly, nobody wants to feel bad about the situation they're in.
That means, you never want to blame your reader for their current predicament. It's always
someone (or something) else that is keeping them from realizing their dreams.
Here are a few examples of "throwing rocks" at an "enemy', instead of your reader.
Example 1
Bad: "Your poor diet can lead to being overweight. Here's how to change it."
Good: "The processed food industry benefits by keeping you overweight. Here's how to fight
back!"
Example 2
Bad: "If you want to get promoted at work, you're going to need a plan."
Good: "Most corporations lack well-defined career paths. Here's how to get promoted at work,
even if your company career pathing stinks."
And those are the 4 most common copywriting mistakes I see creators making. I hope this issue
helps you solve some of them (or at least be more cognizant!).
TL;DR
1. An uninteresting opening line

2. Poorly designed format
3. Complicated jargon
4. Blaming your audience
TSS #021: 4 Side Hustles to Earn $100,000+

May 28, 2022
In today's issue, I'm going to share 4 different side hustle ideas that you can build to earn
$100,000 or more.
Given that we're likely headed into a recession, there has never been a more critical time to
build up your personal brand and head to the internet to make some extra income.
But, what is the best side hustle for you?
I'll walk you through 4 of my favorites, talk about the pros and cons, and share some helpful
information to help you get started.
Let's dive in.
1. Build a service-based business
A service-based business is generally built by trading your time for money.
Common examples are coaching and consulting businesses like what Marcus Chan is building
on LinkedIn.
Why I like a service-based business: Generally easier and lower cost to get started, plus you
can likely charge 3x to 5x what you make (hourly) at your 9 to 5 job.
Cons: Difficult to scale unless you hire a team (or outsource) and move into more of a CEO
role.
How to get started:
Step 1: Pick a skill you know cold

Step 2: Talk about it every day online
Step 3: Offer to help a few companies for free
Step 4: Track all of their meaningful improvements
Step 5: Build out case studies based on improvements
Step 6: Get a few really good testimonials for your website
Step 7: Ask for intros to other similar companies & start charging money
Step 8: Simultaneously, share the case studies and testimonials on LinkedIn
If you follow this, you'll have 2 client pipelines: LinkedIn + referrals.
Easiest tech to use to get started:
Website: Carrd
Payments: Stripe
CRM: Airtable
2. Create a digital course
A digital course is a great way to make extra money by sharing knowledge that you have, that
other people want.
Common examples are courses that I sell, like The LinkedIn Operating System or The Content
Operating System.
Why I like digital courses: People can purchase the courses 24/7, plus you have the
opportunity to create a nice affiliate program that drives even more sales.
Cons: Requires quite a bit of traction around one topic on social media. Most people try selling
courses way too early, instead of focusing on building their audience first.
How to get started:
Website: Carrd
Payments + Course Hosting: Gumroad
3. Build a paid community
An online community is generally hosted on platforms like Slack or Discord (synchronous) or

Facebook, Circle, or Mighty Networks (asynchronous).
Common examples are communities like Small Bets by Daniel Vassallo.
Why I like paid communities: Building a space where people of similar interests can
congregate drastically improves your brand, builds trust, and deepens relationships. This helps
grow your audience and build your business. If you get community right, it's the most
powerful of these 4 side hustles.
Cons: The hardest to start, scale, and make successful. An incredible amount of work, that is
underestimated by nearly 100% of community creators that I talk to.
How to get started: Read this article about building an MVC (minimum viable community)
by Rosie Sherry.
It's a great read on everything you need to consider to pre-launch your first community.
Without taking these important steps, you'll likely fail when it comes time to actually put the
community together and charge for it.
Community CRM: Outseta

Community hosting: Luma
Community chatter: Discord
4. Create a subscription email
A subscription email is any paywalled information that you deliver on a regular basis via email
to your customers.
A common example is my subscription, The Monthly Templates, which now has over 1,450
customers.
Why I like subscription emails: The scale is incredible. As the customer base grows, the
work effort generally remains the same, meaning that you make a lot more money without
much extra work.
Cons: High churn if you don't deliver value every single time.
How to get started: Read this article by me to learn how to build a subscription product or
read this article from Ghost to learn how to start a subscription newsletter.
Subscription product: ConvertKit

Subscription newsletter: Ghost
TSS #022: 5 of My Favorite Tools for Online Business Growth

Jun 04, 2022
In order to run a high-growth online business, you'll eventually need to invest in some
software.
If you're anything like me, finding the best tools to do exactly what you need can be time-
consuming, frustrating, and expensive.
After a few years, my technology stack was growing and growing, and so were the costs to run
my business.
Recently, I've pared down my tech stack and now spend about $899/month to run my entire
business.
Here are 5 of my favorite tools I've recently started using, and their costs.
1. My all-in-one online toolkit: Kajabi
I recently moved my entire business to Kajabi and I'm absolutely loving it.
Here's why:
It's the only tool I've found that brings every piece of my online business (My website, email,
funnels, courses, events, coaching, affiliates, automation, subscriptions, etc.) under one roof.
I was getting really tired of trying to jam a bunch of technology together with complex Zapier
integrations.
While it's not perfect, it's the best tool I've found to streamline my technology and reduce
costs. Highly recommend it if you have an online business and want one place to manage
everything.
Price: $199/month
2. Understanding my website traffic: Fathom Analytics
I hate Google Analytics.
I find the U/I to be clunky, and the reports confusing. Setting up custom reports and
dashboards is way too complicated.
I moved to Fathom Analytics because it's easy enough to understand yet it allows me to go
deeper into my analytics without being confusing.
It's gorgeous, takes about 30 seconds to set up, and gives me the full picture of who's visiting
my site and how they are behaving.
Price: $12/month (Billed at $140 per year)
3. Collecting testimonials to improve sales: Testimonial.to
Testimonial.to is my secret weapon for continuously improving the conversion rate of my

landing pages.
I simply embed the collection widget into my Kajabi courses and emails, and users can instantly
record a video or leave text testimonials with star ratings.
Once I review the testimonial, it literally takes one click to add it to my landing page in real-
time.
It's the best social proof tool on the market.
As my testimonials grow, my sales grow. A steal.
Price: $60/month
4. Maximizing Twitter growth & relationships: BlackMagic Sidebar
I started using BlackMagic Sidebar about 6 months ago to get a full-picture view of how I'm
growing and utilizing Twitter.
It's 100% my favorite Twitter tool at the moment.
Here are some of the ways that I use it:
Twitter Growth: I track how my tweets perform over time, use it to understand why/when a
tweet takes off, and view the people who make the biggest impact with comments and
Retweets.
Twitter CRM: I take notes on accounts, set reminders to reply to DMs, and view my past
interactions with people for context.
Relationship building: My favorite feature is my ability to engage with my favorite accounts

using what I call "Hyper-response". I've created a short video here to show you how I do it.
Price: $16/month
5. Learning from other business builders: Trends.co
Technically, this last one isn't a "tool" or piece of software.
Trends.co is a team of entrepreneurs, analysts, data scientists, and journalists who obsessively
track up-and-coming trends, new industries, and interesting ideas.
I leverage Trends to understand what the market is looking for, how other digital
entrepreneurs are growing their business, and to connect with like-minded people.
Their breakdown of Sahil Bloom's growth from zero to 500k Twitter followers in one year
through templatization was the inspiration for putting together my own Content Operating
System.
I've been a happy and loyal subscriber since.
Price: $25/month (Billed at $299/year)
TSS #023: 5 Questions for Endless Content

Jun 11, 2022
In today's issue, I'm going to show you one way to create 5 pieces of content from 1 idea.
If you can learn to implement this technique, you'll immediately see a few benefits:
More content
Faster content
More diversified content
Content that makes sense together
By following this 5-question process, you're more likely to stay consistent and on message.
Unfortunately, most people don't have a system for squeezing out different content from one
idea. Because of that, they talk about several ideas and confuse their readers.
They end up saying 1,000 different things, 1 way. You want the opposite.
Learn to say 1 thing 1,000 different ways.
The best creators on the internet are able to take their content and push it through a number of
different lenses to make everything seem "new".
Today, I'll show you an exercise that you can go through by asking yourself 5 different
questions:
What can I teach someone?

What did I observe during the journey?
How is this different than what others say?
What tools or lessons can I share in list form?
Why did all of this happen?
I'm going to show you how I wrote 5 Tweets in two days, all based on one idea, and then
published them over the course of 7 months.
Let's dive in.
Question 1: What can I teach someone?
My favorite content is educational.
People love to learn how to tactically do something they've always wanted to do.
Many people come to me and ask, "How did you build out your business over the last 3 years?"
So, I started by writing my flagship Tweet thread, which breaks down how I did it over 14
steps.
Question 2: What did I observe during the journey?
After writing "step-by-step" content, I like to think through all of the interesting observations
I've made during that journey.
One observation I had was that a lot of solopreneurs were attempting to build online courses
before they even worked with clients.
So, I decided to share an observation about how I believe it's better to build a service business
first. So, next came this Tweet:
Question 3: How is this different than what others say?
Observations are one thing, but presenting a contrarian viewpoint is another way to stand out.
This is often called creating "non-obvious" content.
Most content that you read online is super obvious. "Sales is hard", "Networking is good",
"Treat people nicely", etc., etc., etc.
If you want to stand out, try bringing a contrarian viewpoint to the table. And to do so, you
don't need to say "unpopular opinion". You can just state your viewpoint.
One of the most common pieces of advice is to go "all-in" on your business. To not have a
"plan B". I flip this because it's what I believe in:
Question 4: What tools or lessons can I share in list form?
Sure, building my business past $1.3M was an interesting story, but what were some things
related to that build, that I could list out for my audience?
The first thing I thought of was the different tools I use to support my business.
And since the first Tweet thread did well, I used a similar opening Tweet but listed the tools
instead.
Then I updated the revenue number before publishing.
Question 5: Why did all of this happen?
The last question I ask myself is not how I did it, what tools I used, or what I observed,
but...WHY did this all happen?
The answer for me is a pretty simple one: I started writing online.
That led to another really simple, short Tweet thread about how I write online.
And that's it.
TL;DR
5 questions to ask yourself around 1 idea:
1. What can I teach someone?

2. What did I observe during the journey?
3. How is this different than what others say?
4. What tools or lessons can I share in list form?
5. Why did all of this happen?
TSS #024: How to Build Relationships With the Biggest Creators On Social Media
Jun 18, 2022
In today’s issue, I’m going to show you how to build real relationships with people you admire
on social media.
To start networking like a superstar.
Trust me when I say this: Your online network determines your level of success on platforms
like LinkedIn and Twitter, and largely in your business.
The bigger and stronger your online network is, the more likely you are to be successful in
whatever endeavor you choose.
Unfortunately, 95% of people that attempt to build relationships online are focused only on
themselves.
This mindset leads to the most common form of poor outreach: The “brain pick”.
Relationships aren’t about what you need. They must be mutually beneficial.
Think about the math behind the “brain pick” approach.
For example, I have 350,000 followers across LinkedIn and Twitter.
If just 2% of my followers reached out with a brain pick request, I’d have 7,000 DMs, and
saying yes to a 15-minute call would mean spending 1,750 hours on Zoom.
I’d have to work 219 consecutive days for 8 hours per day, just doing “brain picks”. Impossible!
That’s why this strategy never, ever works. It’s why you’ll nearly always get ignored by busy
people.
Let’s discuss a much better method.
Start by presenting yourself in a clear and compelling fashion
To begin building strong relationships, you need to give people a reason to be interested in
you.
The easiest way to do that is to create a clear and compelling social media profile. This is your
digital first impression, just like a first impression offline.
Take it from Arvid Kahl.
Here’s a quick cheat sheet:
Banner image: Represent your brand.

Headshot: Clean, polished, and professional.
Bio: What can someone expect? Why should they follow you?
Pinned Tweet: A thread that provides deeper context on who you are.
Featured (LinkedIn): Link to your website or resources that tell people more about you.
Glance over your own social profiles and ask yourself:
“If I came across my own profile, would it be clear what I do, and would I be interesting
enough to follow?”
If the answer is no, rework it.
Create a value-driven relationship approach
When you reach out to someone, imagine that you are one of those 7,000 people reaching out.
So, how can you differentiate yourself?
You need an approach that is focused on providing value upfront without the expectation of
immediate return.
There’s no “right” way to do this, but here’s an example of how I might approach it:
A relevant, specific compliment: Reach out and tell the person something they’ve done that
you specifically enjoy.
If you liked a specific podcast or article, tell them why you liked it, and what impact it had on
you.
Give them a soft “out” i.e. “No need to reply, just wanted to share how it impacted me”.
Permissionless support: Permissionless support is when you support someone without asking
their permission. It’s extremely powerful.
You could write a blog post about them, share their content in your newsletter, or create a
visual that supports their written work.
The latter is exactly what Sachin Ramje did with me on Twitter.
He took one of my Tweets and created a beautiful visual that he shared with his audience.
Since he's a visual designer, he leveraged his unique skills to help start a relationship.
We’ve had a much more meaningful relationship ever since, and I’ve been a supporter of his
work on Twitter (and vice-versa).
Introduce them to a meaningful connection: The most powerful way to build a

relationship is to connect two people who can help one another.
Keep an eye out for your favorite creators asking questions on Twitter or LinkedIn.
If you can help someone solve a problem with a connection, you leapfrog hundreds of other
people trying to build that relationship.
Here’s a perfect example of Terry Rice reaching out to me after learning about a project I was
hoping to kick off.
If you’re looking for an excellent primer on how to use DMs to build relationships online, read
this Tweet thread from Dan Koe.
An example of this in action
One of the strongest online relationships I’ve formed over the past 3 years has been with
Austin Belcak. We first exchanged messages in July of 2019 as up-and-coming creators.
Here’s how the relationship started and blossomed:
2019: Austin DMs me and tells me I’m posting on LinkedIn wrong by putting links in my
posts. (Thanks, Austin!) He also shares a PDF on copywriting that he enjoys.
2019: I reach out to Austin and ask how I can support his business, and we agree to a
regular Zoom cadence to chat.
2020: I’m a guest on Austin’s LinkedIn Live event.
2020: We exchange LinkedIn recommendations.
2020: Austin intros me to a great podcast I become a guest on.
2020: After learning Austin loves beer, I send him some local IPAs from Nashville.
2021: Austin is a guest in my private community for a presentation.
2022: We’re discussing doing business together.
It’s been 3 years since our first DM exchange, and we’ve supported each other’s growth in
many, many ways.
This is a really good example of building an organic relationship over time, and how you can
work with people to grow together.
And believe it or not, we’ve still never met in person.
That’s all for today.
TSS #025: Make Your First $1 on the Internet

Jun 25, 2022
In today’s issue, I’m going to share how to make your first $1 on the internet.
You might be asking yourself, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a dollar”, but that’s not entirely
true.
Making one dollar on the internet changes your entire mindset around building income. Once
you realize you can make $1, you know you can make $10. If you can make $10, you can
make $1,000.
And so on.
The challenge is that most people will never make their first $1 online because they are too
focused on how to make $1,000,000 online.
Start with $1, then worry about $1M.
Here’s how to simplify, focus, and create a tactical plan to succeed.
Be aware of these 4 major challenges
When I do 1:1 coaching sessions with people, they often face 1 of 4 major challenges when it
comes to monetizing:
They don’t understand people’s problems

They have grown zero social media audience
They don’t have a collection of interested people to sell to
They overcomplicate the process, especially the technology
If any of these sounds like something you’re going through, then read on.
Step 1: Talk to people to understand their common problems
Too many people are quick to launch a brand, course, or service around a problem they haven’t
validated as being extremely painful.
Remember: everyone has problems. But people pay to solve the most painful ones.
Those problems generally fall into 3 categories:
Health (get fit)

Wealth (make money)
Relationships (fall in love)
Look at the skills you have picked up over the course of your life and professional career.
What can you help people achieve? Who is 2-3 years behind you on their journey?
Find those people and talk to them!
Find out what is keeping them from their goals. Once you’ve talked to 30-40 people, you’ll
probably start to hear the same common problems over and over.
Put together a simple but unique solution that you believe can help people overcome these
problems. That solution can be as easy as a short coaching program, a 7-day email course, or an
eBook.
Next, you’ll need to make people aware that you exist and can be helpful.
Step 2: Grow a small audience around solving that problem
Once you understand people’s most painful problems, and you have a solution to solve them,
you need to generate awareness for yourself as a potential problem solver.
So start creating content online, every single day that shows off your expertise.
Look at the number of people who have built huge income streams around being known for
solving one very specific problem.
I want a better job (wealth): Austin Belcak

I want to unlock my potential (health): Dan Koe
I want to write better emails (wealth): Cold Email Wizard
I want to learn to attract women (relationships): Kamilla the Dating Coach
They’ve always stayed on message and on topic. Their content helps people solve these
problems.
If you want a deeper look into growing an audience, here’s a thread I wrote that teaches you
the 8 types of content you can use to grow a close-knit audience:
Step 3: Build a small email list of interested people
Once you create content around solving a specific problem, you’ll attract a small audience. But
an audience is a finicky thing. Because you’re always at the mercy of each social media
platform’s algorithm.
That’s why I recommend building a small email list of interested people. A really simple way to
do that is to offer something valuable in exchange for their email address.
That can be a lead magnet like a checklist or worksheet, an ongoing newsletter (like this one),
or you could build free guides (like these) and turn them into PDFs.
You want to make sure that whatever you offer, it’s directly related to the problem you’re
solving.
Here’s are 5 golden rules for creating your first lead magnet:
Step 4: Use the easiest, cheapest, most familiar tech stack
Once you have a great lead magnet, you need to offer it somewhere.
This is the part that trips up 90% of people I see trying to make income on the internet.
Don’t overcomplicate this.
Use a website builder like Carrd and create a simple landing page. When people enter their
email address, deliver the lead magnet.
Once you have a few hundred emails, send an email out to people offering your unique
solution that we discussed earlier.
(Note: You can choose to leverage an expiring discount to create urgency, should you want
to.)
If people want to pay, make it easy. Have a buy button in your email that sends them to a
Stripe payment link or Gumroad payments page.
If you offer a service, redirect them after payment to a Calendly link to book time with you.
If you sell a product, deliver the product via email or host it on a platform like Gumroad.
If you think it needs to be overly complicated, look at how Sally Wong is making money
online.
She tweets about drawing Notion avatars to her audience, features a pinned Tweet about
making her first $1 online, and occasionally shares a link if you want to buy.
The link has zero complications. It's just a form with 2 questions and then a payment portal.
No fancy technology. Just easy peasy!
To Conclude:
This is just one of many ways to earn your first $1 on the internet, so feel free to pick out
things you learned in this issue and apply them to your unique situation.
If you already have a nice following on social media, you can eliminate step 2 and simply start
talking to your audience to understand their common problems.
Sometimes, you don't need a lead magnet and instead can simply promote your product or
services directly on Twitter or LinkedIn.
It's up to you to get creative, and I hope this issue has given you something to think about in
your journey.
Well, that's all for today. 4 steps to your first $1 on the internet.
Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. If you're still looking for traction in your business, I'd recommend starting with an affordable
course:
→ The LinkedIn Operating System: Transform your LinkedIn profile into a lead generation
machine with The LinkedIn Operating System. This comprehensive course will teach you the
system I use to grow from 0 to 420,000+ followers and $4M in income on this untapped
platform. Join 14,000+ students.
→ The Content Operating System: A multi-step system for creating a high-quality

newsletter and 6-12 pieces of high-performance social media content each week. Join 6,000+
students.
2. Promote yourself to 120,000+ subscribers by sponsoring my newsletter (Booked out 6

months)
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Part 1: Introduction
Welcome
My Journey
Part 2: The Foundation

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Your Persona Build
Trait #1: Backstory
Trait #2: Polarization
Trait #3: Short Stories
Part 3: Content Creation

Path #1: Leading Your Audience
Path #2: Discovering For Your Audience
Path #3: Reporting To Your Audience
The New & Improved Content Matrix
Rapid Content Iteration
Daily Content Workflow
Copywriting 101
Using Analytics to Repurpose
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Finding Relevant People
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The Profile Funnel
The "Hero" Section Of Your Profile
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Who, specifically, is this course for

The Content OS is for creators and entrepreneurs who want a more reliable system for creating
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Who should NOT buy this course?

If you already have a framework for creating a high-quality newsletter, LinkedIn and Twitter
content each week, this course is probably not for you.
This course is focused on building a content system to produce quality content, faster. It's a
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Is this a copywriting course?

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What You'll Learn Inside of the Course
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Ideate
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As Seen On
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VOLUME

This ebook is Volume 1 and contains every newsletter delivered in H1 2022.

About Justin Welsh

Then, in 2019, I burned out.

About the eBook / Affiliate Disclosure

TSS #001: It Doesn't Hurt to Ask (for more sales)

That offer should be to spend money with you.

TSS #002: Specificity Means More Sales

Online products and services come in all shapes and sizes.

From $50/hour consulting to $2,500 "Masterclass" style digital courses.

Let's take a look at two examples:

Bad example: Learn how to invest in the stock market

The better example tells people:

What they'll accomplish: Make their first stock market investment

How long it will take them: Less than 3 minutes

Objection handler: With zero fees!

Is your online product or service nebulous, or very specific?

If it's the former, try this formula:

Step 1: Explain the benefit your customers receive

TSS #003: Remove Complexity From Your MVPs

Get shipping. You can always complicate things later.

TSS #004: 4 Content Styles That Drive Meaningful Followings

This week's tip: Understand what content powers solopreneur business

Content style 1: This person teaches (or educates) me

Content style 2: This person entertains me

Someone who is extremely entertaining is JK Molina.

Here's one of my favorite examples of him entertaining his audience:

Content style 3: This person makes me think

Content style 4: This person understands me

Last, but certainly not least, is content that is high on empathy.

See you next week.

4 types of content builds a following:

1. This person teaches me

That's about it.

TSS #005: Simple Outsourcing to Free Up 15+ Hours Per Week

Today's tip: How I outsource repetitive, non-strategic work to support agents.

When you outsource effectively, you free up a tremendous amount of time.

Everything about your online business feels important

Have you ever found yourself spending a lot of time:

Answering emails from random "brain pickers"?

Step 1: Audit what distracts you the most

Identify what distracts you the most.

Awareness is your first step.

Step 3: Store the videos in a process document on Notion or

Email templates to respond to prospects and customers.

Step 4: Teach someone on Fiverr or Upwork to follow your

Step 5: Route these emails to your new support agent

TSS #006: The Myth of the "Masterclass"

So, what's a new creator to do?

Here's what usually happens next:

You get some visitors to your landing page

You don't have the social capital to support a high-ticket item.

Forget $897. And definitely forget $1,200.

Instead, build your revenue by starting with a "trust tripwire".

A "trust tripwire" is a low-cost product that is intended to do 4 things:

Allow customers to make an impulse buy

I suggest you price your trust tripwire below $100.

The future is $50, not $1,500.

That's the power of high quantity & high quality!

So, here's my parting advice for new course creators:

Keep your course between 45 and 60 minutes.

Thousands of happy customers + word-of-mouth chatter + motivated affiliates = a scalable

TSS #007: 5 Tools for Better, Faster Content

So here are my 5 favorite tools for a daily dose of content inspiration.