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
A Twitter audience is a massive asset.
I've added 37,196 followers in just 14 weeks.
Here are the 7 simple things I did:
🧵
1/ Built my publishing habit
In late October, I committed to publishing daily on Twitter.
I started with a "Happy {Day} to X" Tweet each AM.
I had 2 simple goals:
1. Build a habit of posting each day.
2. Put my name & face in front of people
2/ An educational tweet each PM
Each afternoon, I share a lesson from my solopreneur journey.
Topics include:
- Audience growth
- Service businesses
- Building info products
- Using social media effectively
I pretend I'm writing to help ONE
3/ A step-by-step thread once weekly
Weekly threads power my growth.
I gained thousands of followers by sharing detailed threads.
My goal is to walk someone step-by-step through something critical in
4/ Engage with 5-8 interesting people each week
Make it a habit to build connections.
Here are some smart folks I've chatted with, just to jam out:
@ecomchasedimond
@JamesonCamp
@Nicolascole77
@OneJKMolina
@TheDanKoe
@dickiebush
@landforce
@aaditsh
It's "social" media.
I've added 37,196 followers in just 14 weeks.
Here are the 7 simple things I did:
🧵
1/ Built my publishing habit
In late October, I committed to publishing daily on Twitter.
I started with a "Happy {Day} to X" Tweet each AM.
I had 2 simple goals:
1. Build a habit of posting each day.
2. Put my name & face in front of people
Happy Monday to everyone learning about business by starting one.
— Justin Welsh (@JustinSaaS) December 13, 2021
2/ An educational tweet each PM
Each afternoon, I share a lesson from my solopreneur journey.
Topics include:
- Audience growth
- Service businesses
- Building info products
- Using social media effectively
I pretend I'm writing to help ONE
After 22 months, I crossed $500k in course sales.
— Justin Welsh (@JustinSaaS) January 14, 2022
- 12 months to make the first $100k
- 10 months to make another $400k
All without running a single advertisement.
Ask me anything.
There's plenty I don't know, but I can give you my perspective \U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/ydMjdP7Lpd
3/ A step-by-step thread once weekly
Weekly threads power my growth.
I gained thousands of followers by sharing detailed threads.
My goal is to walk someone step-by-step through something critical in
I made $0 online in 2019.
— Justin Welsh (@JustinSaaS) January 26, 2022
3 years later:
- 100M+ impressions
- $1.7M in online income
- 4 successful revenue streams
What changed?
I started writing online every day.
Here's my simple 4-step process.
[Short \U0001f9f5]
4/ Engage with 5-8 interesting people each week
Make it a habit to build connections.
Here are some smart folks I've chatted with, just to jam out:
@ecomchasedimond
@JamesonCamp
@Nicolascole77
@OneJKMolina
@TheDanKoe
@dickiebush
@landforce
@aaditsh
It's "social" media.
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.
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One of the most successful stock trader with special focus on cash stocks and who has a very creative mind to look out for opportunities in dark times
Covering one of the most unique set ups: Extended moves & Reversal plays
Time for a 🧵 to learn the above from @iManasArora
What qualifies for an extended move?
30-40% move in just 5-6 days is one example of extended move
How Manas used this info to book
Post that the plight of the
Example 2: Booking profits when the stock is extended from 10WMA
10WMA =
Another hack to identify extended move in a stock:
Too many green days!
Read
Covering one of the most unique set ups: Extended moves & Reversal plays
Time for a 🧵 to learn the above from @iManasArora
What qualifies for an extended move?
30-40% move in just 5-6 days is one example of extended move
How Manas used this info to book
The stock exploded & went up as much as 63% from my price.
— Manas Arora (@iManasArora) June 22, 2020
Closed my position entirely today!#BroTip pic.twitter.com/CRbQh3kvMM
Post that the plight of the
What an extended (away from averages) move looks like!!
— Manas Arora (@iManasArora) June 24, 2020
If you don't learn to sell into strength, be ready to give away the majority of your gains.#GLENMARK pic.twitter.com/5DsRTUaGO2
Example 2: Booking profits when the stock is extended from 10WMA
10WMA =
#HIKAL
— Manas Arora (@iManasArora) July 2, 2021
Closed remaining at 560
Reason: It is 40+% from 10wma. Super extended
Total revenue: 11R * 0.25 (size) = 2.75% on portfolio
Trade closed pic.twitter.com/YDDvhz8swT
Another hack to identify extended move in a stock:
Too many green days!
Read
When you see 15 green weeks in a row, that's the end of the move. *Extended*
— Manas Arora (@iManasArora) August 26, 2019
Simple price action analysis.#Seamecltd https://t.co/gR9xzgeb9K
The entire discussion around Facebook’s disclosures of what happened in 2016 is very frustrating. No exec stopped any investigations, but there were a lot of heated discussions about what to publish and when.
In the spring and summer of 2016, as reported by the Times, activity we traced to GRU was reported to the FBI. This was the standard model of interaction companies used for nation-state attacks against likely US targeted.
In the Spring of 2017, after a deep dive into the Fake News phenomena, the security team wanted to publish an update that covered what we had learned. At this point, we didn’t have any advertising content or the big IRA cluster, but we did know about the GRU model.
This report when through dozens of edits as different equities were represented. I did not have any meetings with Sheryl on the paper, but I can’t speak to whether she was in the loop with my higher-ups.
In the end, the difficult question of attribution was settled by us pointing to the DNI report instead of saying Russia or GRU directly. In my pre-briefs with members of Congress, I made it clear that we believed this action was GRU.
The story doesn\u2019t say you were told not to... it says you did so without approval and they tried to obfuscate what you found. Is that true?
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) November 15, 2018
In the spring and summer of 2016, as reported by the Times, activity we traced to GRU was reported to the FBI. This was the standard model of interaction companies used for nation-state attacks against likely US targeted.
In the Spring of 2017, after a deep dive into the Fake News phenomena, the security team wanted to publish an update that covered what we had learned. At this point, we didn’t have any advertising content or the big IRA cluster, but we did know about the GRU model.
This report when through dozens of edits as different equities were represented. I did not have any meetings with Sheryl on the paper, but I can’t speak to whether she was in the loop with my higher-ups.
In the end, the difficult question of attribution was settled by us pointing to the DNI report instead of saying Russia or GRU directly. In my pre-briefs with members of Congress, I made it clear that we believed this action was GRU.
