Happy Sunday!

The weeks seem to be flying past at the moment, and this week is the very last week of my daughters full time schooling life! 😮

I can’t believe when we set off on our adventures all those years ago she was only 4 years old. Where has the last 14 years gone?

I wonder where we’ll be 14 years from now…

Who knows, maybe hiking in Peru, backpacking in India, cage diving in South Africa. The world is our oyster!

But in the meantime I have lots to share with you this week, so let’s crack on!

1. Travel Trivia - a town with only a one lettered name!

2. How to build a $5M solo business in just 4 years

3. 14 Travel Mistakes from 14 Years on the Road

4. March Survey Winner

Let’s go…

Travel Trivia!

Which country is home to a town with a name that's only one letter long?

This might seem like a typo, but it's a genuine place not only known for its historical significance and stunning natural beauty, but also as a prime spot for witnessing the Aurora Borealis. 

(answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

Mini Mastery - How Justin Welsh Built a $5M Solo Business in 4 Years

Justin Welsh is a remarkable example of how one person can build a thriving business from scratch in just four years. As the former Chief Revenue Officer of a successful SaaS company, he is now one of the most well know creators in the LinkedIn/X space.

In the last 4 years he’s built his solo venture to over $5M in revenue.

Here’s how to build your own solo creator enterprise following in his footsteps;

Step 1: Create Noise, Find Your Voice, and Double Down on What Resonates

Justin began by consistently creating content on LinkedIn, sharing his thoughts on building successful SaaS companies. He focused on finding his unique voice and attracting attention to his ideas.

As he monitored his audience's response, Justin identified the topics and formats that generated the most engagement and doubled down on those areas.

Your Actionable Step: Create content regularly on a platform that aligns with your expertise. Experiment with topics and formats to find what resonates with your audience.

Analyze your content's performance and focus on creating more content that aligns with the themes and styles that generate the most engagement.

Step 2: Build a Service Business Around Your Expertise and Define Your Ideal Customer

With a growing audience, Justin began offering consulting services to SaaS companies. He identified the common characteristics of his most successful clients and narrowed his focus to early-stage SaaS companies in the healthcare industry.

Your Actionable Step: If the idea of one to one coaching floats your boat, identify the skills and knowledge you can offer as a service to your target audience. Analyze your client base and identify the characteristics of your most successful and enjoyable working relationships. Use your content to showcase your expertise and attract clients.

Step 3: Increase Your Rates, Optimize Your Time, and Explore Scalable Income Streams

As Justin gained experience, built a well-defined niche, and established a growing reputation, he doubled his consulting rates, focusing on providing exceptional value to his clients.

To further optimize his time and income, he reduced his consulting hours and invested in developing scalable income streams, such as digital products and courses.

Your Actionable Step: As you gain experience and deliver outstanding results, increase your rates to reflect the value you provide. Be selective about the clients you work with and look for ways to optimize your time.

Consider developing digital products or courses that can scale beyond one-on-one services, creating passive income streams that allow you to work smarter, not harder.

Step 4: Listen to Your Audience, Identify Pain Points, and Test Your Product Ideas

Surprisingly, Justin discovered greater demand from his growing audience for information about growing a presence on LinkedIn, rather than building a SaaS business.

To test his theory, he created a simple LinkedIn growth course and trialled it at a low price point of just $50. The course generated over $10,000 in its first month, validating the demand for his expertise in this niche.

Your Actionable Step: Engage with your audience and listen to their needs and challenges. Look for common pain points that you can address through your products or services and be prepared to pivot if your audience is guiding you in a new direction.

Develop a minimum viable product to test the market demand, set a competitive price, and monitor your audience's response. This approach allows you to validate your product ideas and ensure you're creating solutions that your audience truly needs and is willing to pay for.

Step 5: Iterate, Expand Your Product Line, and Build an Affiliate Network

Building on the success of his first course, Justin continued to create and launch new digital products, expanding his offerings and increasing his prices. He gathered customer feedback and iterated on his products, ensuring that he was consistently providing value to his audience.

To further expand his reach and generate additional revenue, Justin leveraged affiliate marketing, encouraging satisfied customers to promote his products.

Your Actionable Step: Once your product is live and selling, gather customer feedback and iterate on your offerings. Expand your product line with complementary products that serve your audience's needs, and don't be afraid to increase your prices as you add more value.

Implement an affiliate program to incentivize customers to promote your products, providing resources to help them succeed. This approach allows you to scale your business, reach new audiences, and generate additional revenue streams.

Step 6: Build a Community (or not) and Reinvest Your Time

Justin created a private community for creators, charging for access. Despite its success, he realized it didn't align with his desired lifestyle and decided to shut it down.

After closing his community, he reinvested his time and energy into expanding his reach by growing his Twitter following to 440,000 within two years, creating opportunities to promote additional products.

Your Actionable Step: Consider building a community around your products or services, but ensure it aligns with your desired lifestyle. If you find that a particular venture doesn't suit your goals or values, don't be afraid to pivot and reinvest your time and energy into exploring new platforms and expanding your reach.

Apply successful strategies from one channel to new channels and audiences, continuously adapting and growing your business in a way that aligns with your vision.

Step 7: Add Monthly Recurring Revenue Streams and Start a Newsletter

As part of his own content strategy, Justin was creating content templates, which he realized could also be valuable to his audience. He offered them as a $9 upsell, generating nearly $22,500 in MRR within 8 months.

Additionally, he launched The Saturday Solopreneur, a newsletter delivering actionable advice in a concise format. He grew it to over 180,000 subscribers and monetized it through sponsorships.

Your Actionable Step: Identify tools, resources, or services you use that could be valuable to your audience. Offer them as low-cost, subscription-based upsells to generate monthly recurring revenue.

Consider starting a newsletter to share your expertise, build direct relationships with your audience, and provide consistent, actionable value. As your newsletter grows, explore monetization opportunities through sponsorships, affiliates, or collaborations.

By diversifying your income streams and nurturing a direct connection with your audience, you can build a more stable and profitable business.

Justin's revenue summary (cumulative for the last 4 years):

Products ($3.11M),

Consulting ($1.17M),

MRR ($310k),

Sponsorships ($280k),

Community ($130k).

Key Takeaways:

• Consistently create valuable content

• Identify what resonates with your audience

• Build a service business around your skills (optional)

• Focus on your ideal customer

• Explore scalable income streams (digital courses, products, even ecom)

• Listen to your audience and address pain points

• Test and validate more product ideas

• Iterate and expand offerings based on feedback

• Leverage affiliate marketing

• Reinvest in expanding your reach

• Add subscription-based upsells

• Start a newsletter and monetize when ready

Building a successful solo business takes hard work, persistence, and adaptability.

But by following Justin's actionable steps and adapting them to your unique skills and audience, there’s no reason why you can’t also create a multifaceted business that generates substantial revenue and aligns with your desired lifestyle.

Hope this helps!

Read Justin’s full thread of how he built his business here.

 😎

14 Travel Mistakes From 14 Years on the Road, the Time I Met Mark Zuckerburg on the Great Wall of China and more…

Here’s what’s new (or updated) on the blog this week;

Trivia Answer

If you guessed "Å," pronounced similar to 'aw' in English, you’d be correct!

Located at the southern tip of the Lofoten Islands in Norway, just above the Arctic Circle, it’s a charming village steeped in Norwegian fishing history. Despite its compact size, Å is surrounded by dramatic landscapes, including towering peaks, deep fjords, and remote beaches. Plus it’s an ideal location for viewing the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) during the colder months.

Described as ‘a well-preserved, quaint village with picturesque settings that seem to have leaped straight out of a postcard’, it sounds like a place for my bucket list!

Survey Winner

Congratulations to Laura Buoni for winning this months $25 Amazon gift card!

You’re card will be sent directly to your email Laura, thanks for taking part.

If you’d like to help me shape my brand moving forward and tell me what content is important to you, please click here to complete a short survey and be entered into the monthly draw to win a $25 Amazon gift card! (Next draw April 28th)

That’s All Folks

That’s it from me this week. I hope it’s been useful! Next week I’m going to be sharing the 7 Habits of Highly Effective 50+ Nomadic Solopreneurs so keep your eyes out for that!

Make sure to come and connect on the FB Page, have a fabulous week, live your best life and as always get out there and make it happen!

Jo 😊 

P.S. Please help me to understand your goals and wishes better and ensure I’m creating content that supports your journey, by completing this 2 minute survey. You’ll also be entered to the monthly draw to win a $25 Amazon gift card! (You can also participate anonymously if you prefer)