Solopreneurs are quietly making money

During the lockdowns people became obsessed with succulents and making sourdough bread.

30 year sourdough pros made it look easy and fun.

What most found out was their bread sucked and the work wasn’t worth the bread.

If you’re like me you tend to idealize things:

• Work

• Lifestyles

• Relationships

• Living location/accommodations

There may be no greater idealization that happens in the “work for yourself” category. For many it sounds like a fairytale, too good to be true, and impossible.

I used to think this way because everything I was trying ended up costing me money.

Is it possible you’re just over complicating things?

I’ll let you in on my little secret

The sourdough pro knows more than he revealed in the 20 minute video. He probably got you 70% of the way there, and that’s what most of the content you’re consuming will do.

It’s your job to close the 30% gap in knowledge that separates you and the pro.

When I was in my early 20’s I was working at a marketing agency selling SEO and PPC. I had very little knowledge about what I was actually selling beyond what the other sales bros taught me.

I found a natural interest in the marketing and started to ask questions and do my own research about ‘how to rank on Google’. Our fulfilment team laughed when I asked and told me they didn’t really know and most was outsource overseas.

Reading blogs back then revealed boring advice about meta titles. I even got in an argument with Tim Ferriss on Twitter about his claim that SEO didn’t matter and all you needed was really good content.

The insider

There was a VP at the marketing agency who actually knew how SEO worked and I would harass him for information. He was reluctant to share much of anything. He was holding SEO courses at a local college and I decided to pay and attend.

After three nights of boring lessons he pulled out and old wrinkled paper and said:

“I have a friend who basically ranks for anything he wants and I asked him what he was doing. I put it all on this paper.”

He then proceeded to share tactics and processes to rank websites that I had no idea about. Everyone in the room was writing furiously to document everything he said.

Making breakthroughs

This lead me into a different path that opened up a network of people, forums, masterminds and information that the 1% were using.

The next year I made my first million in 6 months.

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant became good friends because of their love of the game.

After Michael retired he was asked “Is there anyone in the league now that could beat you?”

Michael replied, “I don’t think I could lose, other than Kobe Bryant because he steals all my moves.”

Hiding in plain sight

You see all these "pros" online making it look easy - posting about their amazing workspaces, flexible schedules, and the big bucks they're raking in.

But when I tried to emulate them, it didn’t work out. It was like being given a recipe with missing ingredients.

I've come to realize that the true "pros" are actually holding back a lot of the critical knowledge and insider tactics that separate the amateurs from the masters.

Just like that marketing VP who had the secret sauce for ranking websites, the real experts tend to guard their most valuable strategies closely.

So how do you bridge that gap?

It starts by shedding the idealized notions and being willing to do the hard work. You can't just passively consume content - you have to proactively seek out communities, forums, and masterminds of experienced solopreneurs.

Stop stopping

Develop a mindset of continuous learning and iteration. Your path is rarely a straight line to success - it's full of twists, turns, failures, and breakthroughs.

The most successful solopreneurs are the ones who are perpetually curious, willing to experiment, and able to adapt as conditions change.

And perhaps most importantly, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty and put in the work. There's no magic shortcut or secret trick to solopreneur success. It requires discipline, perseverance, and a willingness to do the unglamorous grunt work that the "pros" tend to gloss over. But if you're able to push past the idealization and do the hard yards, the rewards can be truly life-changing.

The business that earned my first million lost money for the first three months before I dialed in my ads, funnel, and retention.

The bottom line is that being a successful solopreneur isn't about finding some elusive hack or trick.

It's about systematically closing that knowledge gap, developing the right mindset and habits, and putting in the consistent effort over time.

It may not be as sexy or easy as the fairy tales make it out to be, but for those willing to do what it takes, the solopreneur life can be an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling path.

TL:DR

• Avoid romanticizing the "work for yourself" lifestyle - the reality is often much harder.

• Seek out the insider tactics and processes top solopreneurs use, rather than just surface-level advice.

• Join communities, forums, and masterminds of experienced solopreneurs to accelerate your learning.

• Cultivate a mindset of continuous learning, testing, and adaptation to changing conditions.

• Be willing to do the unglamorous grunt work consistently over time rather than searching for shortcuts.

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.