From the moment you leave your mothers' belly, the conditioning starts.
Your parents, siblings, teachers, peers, trainers, etc. They are all influencing you and your beliefs.
If everyone around you tells you that without a degree you're a failure, then that's what you'll believe. It's unnatural to go right when the majority goes left or to believe X if everyone else believes Y.
I first noticed it in primary school, whenever I got a different answer from the other kids, I didn't want to tell people the answer I got... Fear kicked in.
"What if I'm wrong"
"I must be wrong since everyone else got a different answer"
Much to my disappointment when I found out that my answer was correct but I chose to follow the majority.
But back to the main argument, conditioning.
We don't understand the world as young kids, we trust what authority figures tell us and that formulates our belief system. (Until we have new information that can challenge those beliefs.)
And yes, if these authority figures have beliefs that are false, they transfer them onto you.
My family members are all highly educated in the school system-- grandparents, parents, sister.
I still remember the pressure I felt when my grandparents came to visit, they always wanted to check my scorecard to see what grades I finished with each year...
Good grades = Money
Bad grades = A shower of disappointment
It was all conditioning, my own family made me believe that I'm a failure if I don't get good grades and honestly, I don't blame them...
Why?
Because I realized, they didn't know any better.
They truly believed that a person without a college degree was doomed to fail.
And since I didn't know any better, I believed it and most people still do.
Most people think that they are doomed to fail if they don't get a degree...
And I'm not surprised why, this system has ruled for hundreds of years. You go to school, get good grades, get a job and continue to live feeling like you were meant for more... The "more" never arrives. This is considered normal in the society.
Last year I asked some of my classmates what they plan on doing after high school and I only got one answer...
College. College. College.
(P.S. I don't see a problem with going to college if that's something you truly want and you have a solid reason for wanting to go there)
And so when I asked "why" they wanted to go to college, these were the answers:
"Uh, I'm not sure"
"My parents force me to go"
"Because that's the only way to succeed"
"Because most my friends are going so I will too"
It surprises me that people still see college as a necessary part of 'success'... It's not like social media came to the picture and completely changed what is possible for a single human to achieve without a degree.
And so people will waste 3 years getting a degree they don't give a fuck about because they were conditioned to think... No degree = Failure
Result:
They get the degree, end up in a job they hate and wonder where it all went wrong.
Not that it surprises but I only know a set few people who are genuinely happy in their 9-5 job and for them, I am happy.
I'm all about living life doing the things you want.
I don't have a problem with 9-5 jobs, I have a problem with wasting your life doing the things you don't want to do...
If you enjoy your 9-5 job, I'm happy for you-- But that's not the case for 85% of people.
Most people desire a more fulfilling job. A job that gives them the freedom to do whatever they want.
I see it on a daily basis around me, most of the adults I know work a 9-5 and they have absolutely no freedom in their life.
They have to work X amount of hours each day.
They have set amount of days they can take off each year.
They can't choose what they work on, projects are assigned to them.
But with the fast rise of social media over the past 10 years, new possibilities have opened up.
Possibilities to earn a living solving your own problems and pursuing your own curiosities...
This was not possible 20 years ago and the landscape of this business is still fairly new. Most people don't even know about it.
It is the one-person business model.
In a one-person business, you are your own boss.
The one-person business philosophy
In a one-person business, you build an audience of likeminded individuals with similar goals and interests as you. Likeminded, because these are the people you can help the most and people who are most likely to buy from you.
Since they have similar goals, they face similar problems as you and you can help them solve these problems.
Solve your own problems and sell the solution.
You attract likeminded people by writing content to your past self.
Ask yourself:
What problems did I face and how did I overcome these problems?
What lessons have I learned that could be of value to others?
What mistakes I made that I could've avoided?
In other words, you create content which you would've wanted to see. (That's a rule of thumb in business by now... Create the thing that your past self desired.)
You are unique but your problems are not.
Now, just because I shat on the education system does not mean that education isn't important.
Quite the opposite, it's extremely important but what matters is the education itself. You need to educate yourself on the topics that can make you money and improve the quality of your life.
In a one-person business, start by picking one skill that you can monetize.
Skills like:
There are a few others but pick one you're good at or one you enjoy doing. (You can always get good at it with time)
One thing to mention: in a one-person business, you are every department. Compared to an ad agency for example, where you have the marketing guy, the design guy, the sales guy, etc...
In a one-person business, you have to be them all. You are in charge of the sales, you conduct the marketing and you create the designs...
So overtime, you need to learn the evergreen skills alongside the monetizable skill.
The evergreen skills
Writing, marketing and sales.
Understanding the fundamentals of these skills will make the process of growing and monetizing your business a lot easier.
Just like you need to study the alphabet to write, you need understand writing, sales and marketing to make a business work.
I learn every morning for 1 hour. This habit alone will take you places most never reach.
This is where the magic happens. Our content is what attracts customers and builds our following... Building an audience is a 11/10 on the ROI scale.
If you have your own audience, overtime you build so much authority that you can make any business work.
Say you start a software company without an audience (a one-person business), the only way for you to get customers is either ads or cold outreach...
With ads and cold outreach, most people who see the ad or message, don't know you, don't trust you and therefore, will not buy...
With a one-person business, you can use the traffic it generates to fuel your software company. And people will buy because they know you and trust you thanks to your one-person business.
Building a one-person business allows you to, overtime, start any business you want and make it work. (Not that you need to do that, that is a bonus)
Back to the main point, creating content...
So what do you write about?
Since this business is based around you, you talk about the things that interest you.
We separate these topics into 3 broad categories:
1/ Money related interest
This is a broad interest that can make you money, for example: online business.
After you pick your first broad interest, deconstruct that into other interests. For example: marketing, sales and audience building. If you want you can keep deconstructing to have more pillars to write about. For example: email marketing, sales calls and content strategy.
Make sure to pick interests that excite you or just make sense to you. Money related interest is a must because 99% of people on Earth want to make more money. If your content can help them do that, it will skyrocket your authority.
2/ Something that sparks your curiosity and makes you excited
This can be anything and only you know what it is.
What do you like to learn about? What topics could you talk for days about? What books do you like to read?
For me it is spirituality and human nature. I like to learn about humans and understand why people do what they, etc.
Now, follow the same process... Deconstruct.
3/ Personal development
For the third broad interest I have put personal development. To me it just makes sense. Every sensible human is on a journey to become their best self... So it wouldn't make sense not to talk about your development in a one-person business.
Also, since most people are on a mission to improve and that it is a lifelong journey, this type of content resonates with a lot of people... Allowing you to build a bigger audience fast.
Same process, deconstruct. For example: mindset, philosophy, productivity and focus.
Now that you have your 3 broad topics that interest you, start writing content about these topics.
From personal experience:
Anything that can help other people is worth posting. Notice how all of it is based around you and your interests... You write about topics that you like and attract people most likely to buy from you. Win-win situation.
Who are you writing for?
You are writing content for your past self because that is the person you can help the most and have the most experience with.
Understand that you as a person are unique but your problems are not. So if you write content solving the problems you faced, you attract people similar to you who are a few steps behind you... What does that mean? It means that you can help them solve these 2 steps for money.
With first free resources and then paid solutions.
Quick conclusion:
Write content about your 3 broad interests that you deconstructed.
Write content for your past self, anything that would have helped you in the past is worth posting as content. (Mistakes, traps, advice, insights, etc)
Understand, that you don't need to be an expert to earn money online. Understand, that there is always someone who is 2 steps behind you who needs your help.
I signed my first consulting client for $50, I had barely a months' worth of experience and 150 followers... Yet I still managed to close a consulting client.
If you can help someone overcome real problems in their life, there is a person 2 steps behind you who is willing to pay you money to solve that problem.
There are many ways you can monetize your one-person business, in this letter I will cover two of them.
1/ A service offer
With a service, there are 2 routes you can take:
Both work, no doubt about it, but I recommend people go the consulting route. (This is just a recommendation)
Why? Because it takes less time, gives you more freedom and still allows you to earn the same amount of money.
With done for you, you don't get to choose what you work on (clients give you a project), when you work (clients want the work done in a timeframe) and it takes more time and effort to complete.
With consulting, you can just create an offer including 4-6 calls and you teach people how they can do it themselves... (You choose what type of consulting, you choose when the calls take place, etc) That gives you more freedom.
So instead of creating websites FOR people, you consult people on how they can create a website on their own.
I offer one-person business consulting. (You can basically consult people on anything: bad habits, performance, funnels, marketing, etc)
Create an offer including 4-6 calls and price it between $400-$1000. Of course the price varies a lot depending on your skill level. If you know you are more on the beginner side, start low and increase the price as your skill level increases.
2/ A digital product
The end goal is to build enough leverage so that you can stop doing client work entirely. For that, we need a product. With a service, the earning potential is capped with time, it stops selling the moment you stop working. With a product, you don't need to work for it to sell. (Yes, you put in the time to create it but after that you don't)
This is where the term "earn money in your sleep" comes from. A digital product can sell even if you are sleeping and it is a must if you eventually want out of client work.
Of course, don't set unrealistic expectations. This takes time to achieve, that's why everyone starts out selling a service so they can gain experience and still make money.
Now, don't wait years to create a product. In all honesty, if you can solve a problem people have right now... Create a product solving this problem. You can't improve what doesn't exist. Get a product out there and let the improvement begin.
How to create a product?
The easiest way to go is to create the product you would've wanted to buy (or bought).
Remember, your problems are not unique, if you had this problem, others do as well. Now just create a product solving that problem.
Package it up nicely so it's easy to consume, make it as valuable as you can, create a landing page, put a price tag on it and start selling.
Pheew, this was the longest letter I've ever written... So far. Expect some more long-form fire in the future.
With that being said, my consulting program is open for enrollment.
If you want to build a one-person business and hit your first $3K in the next 90 days, just reply "interested" and I'll send you the details.
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