When I was just getting started, I looked at attention as my friend.
I wrote content every day before I even had a business, just to find my voice.
I started on LinkedIn.
I shared my thoughts & observations about building a SaaS unicorn as the CRO.
Today, my little one-person business crossed $3M in revenue.
It took 1,187 days, I ran zero ads & operate at a 94% margin.
Here are the 20 steps of my wild & strange journey:
Hope it's helpful to someone.
[🧵 thread]
When I was just getting started, I looked at attention as my friend.
I wrote content every day before I even had a business, just to find my voice.
I started on LinkedIn.
I shared my thoughts & observations about building a SaaS unicorn as the CRO.
Inside all of that noise was some signals.
Sometimes I bombed, and sometimes I struck a chord.
The more I looked at what resonated, the more I doubled down.
This allowed me to understand what people cared about.
So, I kept writing & talking about it.
My experience building SaaS was resonating. So I began creating more and more content about that.
Founders sent me DMs asking questions.
I responded to every single one.
Once I had prospects in my funnel, I started consulting.
Inside your customer base is more signals.
What are the commonalities between the customers you love & those who love you?
Mine were early-stage SMB SaaS in the healthcare space. A space I was experienced in & loved.
That became my ideal customer.
With a well-defined niche, some happy customers, and testimonials, I 2x'ed my rates.
I started creating more content that was even more targeted. This led to more conversations with ideal-fit prospects.
I said no to any company outside of my niche.
With new rates, I could have worked the same and made 2x as much.
Instead, I chose to work 50% of the time and make the same.
I used that extra time to figure out how to scale income that was more automated.
My goal had always been to get my time back.
Something really interesting happened.
In an attempt to find common problems to productize, I started rereading my LinkedIn DMs.
I had some repetitive questions about SaaS sales, but I also had an inbox jammed with questions about LinkedIn itself.
I had organically grown to 20k+ followers on LinkedIn & people wanted to know more.
I had a hypothesis that this would be an easy info product I could create & sell.
I put together a short course for $50 (more on price later) & wrote posts about it.
I put the product for sale on Gumroad on April 16th, 2020.
In the first month, I made $10,482.
I was shocked.
I now had my first digital product, but it was in a totally different niche than my service business.
Honestly, this confused me.
Over the next 15 months, I sold about $75k of the course.
I posted about audience building on LinkedIn and found other ways to continue to land consulting clients. (VCs, news sites, blogs, SaaStr, etc)
Even though it felt confusing, I continued to run with it.
After the course was outdated, people started asking for a new version.
I rebuilt the course, but this time charged $150.
The earlier $50 price was my "trust tripwire".
I charged $50, delivered 100x worth the price, and built trust w/ a loyal customer base.
With 100% of my LinkedIn content focused on audience growth, and a product directly related to that content, sales took off.
My previous course grossed $75k in 15 months.
The second version has grossed $186k in 3 months.
Next up...
At the halfway point of my course, people are encouraged to leave a testimonial and sign up for an affiliate program.
I built the same automation at the conclusion of the course.
I now have 800+ affiliates that have generated $110,000 in revenue.
As sales picked up, my interest in consulting faded.
I was doing $2k per day in info products and wanted to run with that.
I opened a private community for creators and charged $199.
Those who completed my course were prompted to join.
I loved my community but realized that it didn't work with my personality.
It was a $15k MRR business, but I felt like I had to be "on" 24/7.
That wasn't the life I wanted to build.
15 months after starting it, I made a decision to shut it down.
With way more free time now, I decided to start Tweeting.
Using what I knew about growing on LinkedIn, I was able to hit 75k followers in about 6 months.
This provided a new channel to build more stuff.
So I did.
I was doing a podcast with @dickiebush and @nicolascole77 about how I built a system for writing content.
The 500+ people on the call seemed to be amazed by it.
That led to my 2nd course, The Content Operating System.
I noticed that each week I was spending time creating content templates for myself.
What if my audience wanted those too?
I tested it as a $9 upsell on each course.
8 months later it has 1,700+ subscribers.
Almost $14k MRR from something I was already doing.
In January of 2021, I launched my newsletter, The Saturday Solopreneur.
I was determined to deliver one piece of actionable advice each Saturday AM that could be read in 4 minutes or less.
In the last 11 months, I've grown it to 60k+ subs.
With over 60k subs, I can charge for each issue to be sponsored.
I have 2 slots per issue, per week, that sell for $1,250.
Now each weekly newsletter is paying $2,500, and people are getting their brand and business in front of a ton of readers.
Products: $1.54M
Consulting: $1.17M
Community: $130k
MRR: $84k
Sponsorships: $76k
1. I no longer do anything SaaS-related.
2. I don't do any paid advertising of any kind.
3. I don't have any employees, but I do have a wife that helps me stay very organized.
If this was helpful, feel free to give me a follow.
If you have any questions, ask away.
Happy to give out as many helpful tips as I can muster today.
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed this thread:
1. Follow me @thejustinwelsh for more of these
2. RT the tweet below to share this thread with your audience https://t.co/3nU9Ig5rpi
Today, my little one-person business crossed $3M in revenue.
— Justin Welsh (@thejustinwelsh) November 7, 2022
It took 1,187 days, I ran zero ads & operate at a 94% margin.
Here are the 20 steps of my wild & strange journey:
Hope it's helpful to someone.
[\U0001f9f5 thread]
More from Justin Welsh
Most people suck at building relationships online.
It's always:
- Help me!
- Can I pick your brain?
- Will you like my Tweet?
A terrible approach.
Here's how the top accounts on Twitter build real relationships:
🧵
To start, trust me when I say this:
Your online network determines your level of success on platforms like Twitter, and largely in your business.
The bigger and stronger your network is, the more likely you are to be successful in whatever endeavor you choose.
Here's what you'll learn in this thread:
1. Creating a digital "first impression"
2. Using a value-driven approach
3. Combining specificity with support
4. Making relevant intros
5. Using DM's effectively
6. An example of this in action
Let's go ↓
Create a clear & compelling profile
To build strong relationships, you need to give people a reason to be interested in you.
Start with a clear and compelling profile.
This is your "digital first impression", just like a first impression
Your profile cheat sheet:
- Banner: Show off your brand
- Headshot: Clean and polished
- Bio: What are you doing & what can people expect?
- Pinned Tweet: Provide deeper context on your journey
Answer this: “What am I doing that's interesting enough for someone to follow me?”
It's always:
- Help me!
- Can I pick your brain?
- Will you like my Tweet?
A terrible approach.
Here's how the top accounts on Twitter build real relationships:
🧵
To start, trust me when I say this:
Your online network determines your level of success on platforms like Twitter, and largely in your business.
The bigger and stronger your network is, the more likely you are to be successful in whatever endeavor you choose.
Here's what you'll learn in this thread:
1. Creating a digital "first impression"
2. Using a value-driven approach
3. Combining specificity with support
4. Making relevant intros
5. Using DM's effectively
6. An example of this in action
Let's go ↓
Create a clear & compelling profile
To build strong relationships, you need to give people a reason to be interested in you.
Start with a clear and compelling profile.
This is your "digital first impression", just like a first impression
I hesitate following people who don\u2019t have a description in their bio or no profile picture.
— Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) December 20, 2020
A good bio is a strong signal. With little effort, it\u2019s an invitation for the curios to connect.
If you want to build relationships on Twitter, put effort into this first impression.
Your profile cheat sheet:
- Banner: Show off your brand
- Headshot: Clean and polished
- Bio: What are you doing & what can people expect?
- Pinned Tweet: Provide deeper context on your journey
Answer this: “What am I doing that's interesting enough for someone to follow me?”
How to build a $1,300/month side business for $19.
Here's the entire 17-step business plan for you:
1. Clean up your Twitter profile to reflect what you do for people.
2. Create daily content that talks about one challenge you solve.
3. When people ask questions on your Tweets, DM them.
4. Ask them if they'd like to talk for free, to see if you can help.
5. Do 15-20 calls to better understand how to solve their problem.
6. Create a process you can walk people through in 60 minutes.
7. Then go to Carrd and build a simple personal website for $19.
https://t.co/5cR1y1mToD up a free Stripe account and create a paid service
9. Title the service "From X to Y in 60 minutes"
Example: "From clueless to writing your first line of code in 60 min."
10. Open up a free Calendly and create the same exact event.
11. Open up a few slots outside of your 9 to 5.
12. Add a "Buy" button to your Carrd page.
13. Redirect it to Stripe checkout.
Here's the entire 17-step business plan for you:
1. Clean up your Twitter profile to reflect what you do for people.
2. Create daily content that talks about one challenge you solve.
3. When people ask questions on your Tweets, DM them.
4. Ask them if they'd like to talk for free, to see if you can help.
5. Do 15-20 calls to better understand how to solve their problem.
6. Create a process you can walk people through in 60 minutes.
7. Then go to Carrd and build a simple personal website for $19.
https://t.co/5cR1y1mToD up a free Stripe account and create a paid service
9. Title the service "From X to Y in 60 minutes"
Example: "From clueless to writing your first line of code in 60 min."
10. Open up a free Calendly and create the same exact event.
11. Open up a few slots outside of your 9 to 5.
12. Add a "Buy" button to your Carrd page.
13. Redirect it to Stripe checkout.
More from Startup
Today's thread is on the affiliate business model. Many years ago, I used to be an affiliate marketer. If there is any way to get schooled in marketing, becoming an affiliate marketer is probably the best way.
What is affiliate marketing and why should you care?
Read on >>
1) Affiliate marketing is selling products or generating leads on behalf of other companies and getting paid a commission for those products.
2) Some notable examples you've seen before:
NerdWallet - you read their articles on best credit cards. You click on a link to one of those cards. You fill out an application. They get paid for delivering that lead to the cc company.
3) In https://t.co/kSfWS69ybp - same thing. Any of their financial products -- you fill out an application, and https://t.co/mCrBT43mOj gets paid for that.
But the affiliate revenue model applies beyond financial services products.
4) Wirecutter -- you see a neat product they review or talk about. You click through and buy.
Wirecutter gets a cut of that transaction.
What is affiliate marketing and why should you care?
Read on >>
1) Affiliate marketing is selling products or generating leads on behalf of other companies and getting paid a commission for those products.
2) Some notable examples you've seen before:
NerdWallet - you read their articles on best credit cards. You click on a link to one of those cards. You fill out an application. They get paid for delivering that lead to the cc company.
3) In https://t.co/kSfWS69ybp - same thing. Any of their financial products -- you fill out an application, and https://t.co/mCrBT43mOj gets paid for that.
But the affiliate revenue model applies beyond financial services products.
4) Wirecutter -- you see a neat product they review or talk about. You click through and buy.
Wirecutter gets a cut of that transaction.
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1/Politics thread time.
To me, the most important aspect of the 2018 midterms wasn't even about partisan control, but about democracy and voting rights. That's the real battle.
2/The good news: It's now an issue that everyone's talking about, and that everyone cares about.
3/More good news: Florida's proposition to give felons voting rights won. But it didn't just win - it won with substantial support from Republican voters.
That suggests there is still SOME grassroots support for democracy that transcends
4/Yet more good news: Michigan made it easier to vote. Again, by plebiscite, showing broad support for voting rights as an
5/OK, now the bad news.
We seem to have accepted electoral dysfunction in Florida as a permanent thing. The 2000 election has never really
To me, the most important aspect of the 2018 midterms wasn't even about partisan control, but about democracy and voting rights. That's the real battle.
2/The good news: It's now an issue that everyone's talking about, and that everyone cares about.
3/More good news: Florida's proposition to give felons voting rights won. But it didn't just win - it won with substantial support from Republican voters.
That suggests there is still SOME grassroots support for democracy that transcends
4/Yet more good news: Michigan made it easier to vote. Again, by plebiscite, showing broad support for voting rights as an
5/OK, now the bad news.
We seem to have accepted electoral dysfunction in Florida as a permanent thing. The 2000 election has never really
Bad ballot design led to a lot of undervotes for Bill Nelson in Broward Co., possibly even enough to cost him his Senate seat. They do appear to be real undervotes, though, instead of tabulation errors. He doesn't really seem to have a path to victory. https://t.co/utUhY2KTaR
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 16, 2018
