How To Never Have a Boss

Part of the reason I became a solopreneur in my 20’s was having a couple of bad bosses.

This plus the allure of time freedom, money while you sleep, and owning 100% of my business.

Here’s the bad news when you tell your boss “I quit”.

You’re the boss now.

And if you thought your old boss was bad, you may be worse.

Reset your brain

You’re going to have to break the habits you’ve formed since elementary school and your day job.

You have a lot more potential than your teacher and boss lead you to believe.

I myself am ordinary, in fact I don’t even own a cold plunge and prefer getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night.

I’m married with 4 boys under the age of 14 coaching soccer games on the weekend and earn enough money to live a life on my terms.

I do what I want, when I want, with who I want.

The path isn’t as complex as you’re making it out to be to live this kind of life by earning internet dollars.

Start with writing

Start with writing upon waking. Studies confirm you’re far more productive and you’ll have less excuses through the day to skip it.

Look for inspiration from writing that already has validated ideas and reach. If you see a post like this that resonated with you, make your own version of it with your unique take.

If you see content you disagree with then make your argument for the otherwise and package it in a way that will make it easy for your reader to understand.

Study how the posts, newsletter, blog, or publication is structured with line breaks, bullets, lists, and pacing then play around with your own.

Save the ones that work in templated form so you can jumpstart your next piece of content.

The secret to growth

Your energy should be spent getting your content in front of people and getting your content shared by others with larger audiences.

This is the single greatest principle is audience growth on social media and beyond.

1. Write to persuade

Why the hell are you writing if it doesn’t get people to take action. How do you do it?

Your writing must have structure to move people to action. You can barley get someone to pick up lunch for you so use a framework:

Hook: Craft an opening line or premise that immediately grabs attention and piques curiosity. Stop wasting time with nothingness.

Problem: Identify a specific, relatable problem or struggle your audience is facing. Use their language so they feel the pain.

Solution: Tell them how you made the problem go away in your unique and in an actionable way. Do it from a strategic lens more that tactical.

Benefit: Explicitly state the desirable benefit or transformation your audience will experience by following your advice. Make it good enough to taste.

Trust: Don't be afraid to take a polarizing stance that goes against conventional wisdom. Double down on any contrarian takes.

New Not Better: Provide a fresh way of looking at a familiar idea or challenge that forces your audience to shift their perspective. No one wants better, they want new and different.

2. Attract Attention

Having great content is the starting point, but it's meaningless if no one sees it.

The real magic happens when your free, valuable content gets shared and talked about on X and LinkedIn.

Show up consistently where your people are, leading with value way before you try to promote anything. (More details to follow in the traffic section)

3. Feedback loops

• Use analytics to understand what content resonates most

• Survey readers to learn their biggest struggles/questions

• Look at comments/reactions to identify knowledge gaps

Continually improve based on what data tells you your audience most connects with and wants more of.

These feedback loops will move you from guessing in the early days to knowing what your audience needs.

4. Extend your best content

• Expand your best posts into videos, podcasts, or even books

• Build courses or paid products diving deeper into key concepts

• Collaborate with others on posts or interviews

Don't just move on to the next content piece. Extract maximum value from your highest-performing material.

Don't be afraid to rebrand, repackage, and re-promote what already works.

A winning Tweet can become a longform newsletter, then a podcast interview and eventually a course.

This is the secret of great creators.

Make your ideas spread

Replies: I drop replies on X/LinkedIn from a handful of people I jive with.

Most people think it has to be this Dalai Lama level value every time.

Stop being a damn robot and say it in a way you would if you were in person. Watch your favorite podcast host and watch how they respond and ask follow up questions.

If you’re forcing shit and being obvious about getting people to “click the link in your bio” you’ll repel people.

Quote Posts: Seriously under utilized and an instant way to get more eyeballs on your posts. I like to use these as writing prompts while engaging in meaningful conversations.

That’s what this is, a conversation… If you’re here to game the algorithm then you’re going to lose.

Reposts: When you finish writing a post ask yourself: Would I re-share this with my audience if I hadn’t written it?

If the answer is no, then keep writing until it is worthy of a share.

Ask why would they share, will this licit discussion, and challenge existing ideas?

1:1 DMs This is hugely underrated. Each week, I'll go through my followers and anyone who engaged with my recent posts.

I'll DM 10-15 of them, complimenting something specific I appreciated about them, asking questions to learn more, and naturally working in a share of my latest content.

It's not pushy if you've taken a real interest in them first. I've made so many great connections this way that turn into opportunities down the road.

The common thread?

I'm not just spraying my content around recklessly. I'm intentionally engaging with my target audience however I can - through insights, shareable content formats, omnipresence, and real human interactions.

It's a hell of a lot of work, but that's what it takes to build a real audience from the ground up as a solopreneur.

TL:DR

• Ditch old habits, you're the boss now as a solopreneur.

• Write compelling content that hooks readers and challenges conventions.

• Share valuable content consistently where your audience is.

• Repurpose and extend your best-performing content across formats.

• Intentionally engage your audience through replies, quotes, reposts, and DMs.
  

The internet game is not zero-sum. You can win at this with unlimited upside. This game is about the freedom to do what you want, when you want and with who you want.