i always wished that people who made content online would just skip the BS and stop acting like they’re not trying to take my money.
so i’ll get straight to the point:
this newsletter is free and always will be.
but
to be able to create as much stuff as i’d like to, i also need to make money.
so how do i plan on making enough money to do this for a living?
i’m glad you i asked.
how i plan on making money
i drew up a 3-tier system with a free, affordable, and expensive option:
free newsletter subscribers
if you want to start your week off right, you can subscribe to get some morning wood every monday - 100% free.
paid subscribers ($10/month or $100/year)
bonus content (extra newsletters when i have enough good stuff, bonus videos)
ask me 1 question per month about anything - i’ll answer it as best as i can
the ability to send me feedback to help make this even better
more benefits that will become available as this blog grows
founding members ($500/year)
just to be clear, i think you’re crazy or rich or both if you give me this much money
right off the bat, you’ll become a priority of mine
obviously, you’ll get all of the benefits that paid subscribers have, but with one big bonus: we can chat as often as you’d like (within reason ofc)
i don’t expect many of you to take this option, so i can promise that those of you who do will get my full attention and effort
other ideas
as helpful as my videos and emails can (hopefully) be, there’s a certain level of depth that i’m not sure yet if either can offer.
at some point, i’d like to start working closely with people (i hate calling it coaching) to help them stop feeling stuck and start actually building a life they can feel good about. i’m already doing it for a handful of people for free right now, but there’s gotta be a better way than 1-on-1 zoom calls.
maybe a cheap monthly cohort?
idk. it’s all still a work in progress. i’ll update this once i have some clarity.
my “funnel”
my basic philosophy on getting people to give you money is simple:
give people really good free shit
exceed their expectations
1% of them will want even more
give them more in exchange for money
so how do i give people really good free shit?
well the chances are, you found this newsletter in 1 of 3 ways:
another newsletter
a friend recommended it
i can control each of those 3 things by doing the following:
make really good youtube videos consistently
make really good newsletters consistently
make really good newsletters consistently
see what i mean about it being simple?
the plan is the easy part. actually doing it has been 3+ years in the making.
my financial goals
one day i’ll make this it’s own designated article, but here’s the gist of it.
i have 1 financial goal right now, and it’s to be able to do this for a living while still contributing to my savings.
luckily, i tracked every penny i’ve earned and spent for the last 5 years, so i have a pretty good idea of how much “a living” truly is.
right now, $2000/month would be plenty.
i expect that number to rise - despite my efforts for it not to - but for now, i think it’s a fairly reasonable goal.
at $10/month, i’d probably pocket ~$8 per paid subscriber. that means it would only take 250 paid subscribers to meet my goal.
wtf who put this button here?
lol no pressure at all though, genuinely.
almost everything i make will be free. you don’t need my help, you probably just need to stop consuming content and actually do something with your life.
things i think i think
since i’m new to this content creation (ew) stuff, i’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to do it in a way that makes me money without feeling/being icky.
1. i’m not taking sponsorships
this was a tough choice, because even though they pay really well ($20+USD per 1000 viewers isn’t uncommon) and wouldn’t take too much extra work on my part, i simply don’t want my reputation tied to anybody else’s.
i know there are reputable, ‘low risk’ companies out there that probably wouldn’t burn me, but i always think about that one Warren Buffet quote:
“it takes 20 years to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to ruin it.”
waking up to the news one day that a product/company i endorsed is actually super evil is not a cost i’m willing to pay for an easy paycheck.
there are other reasons why i’m not doing sponsorships, but being trustworthy and always having my audience’s best interests in mind are at the core of it.
2. i’d rather just give everything away for free
this is probably bad business practice, but i can truthfully tell you that i’ve never paid money for any form of information online. that includes coaching, courses, books (allegedly), or anything like that.
why?
because a lack of information isn’t the problem. filtering through and implementing that information is.
that’s why i keep coming back to this idea from Alex Hormozi:
“give away the secrets, sell the implementation.”
i’m happy to give away all of my “secrets” and the implementation for free, but the latter generally needs a level of depth and personalization that newsletters and videos can’t really accomplish.
that’s why anything i sell will pretty much always be some different version of: “give me money and i’ll personally try to unfuck your life.”
3. i might be wrong about literally everything
i’ve strongly considered the possibility that everything i think i know about this industry is backwards and none of my plans will work.
i also know that, as a rule, humans tend to overestimate how much they’ve changed in the past, and underestimate how much they’ll change in the future.
so this is basically a disclaimer that i'm probably delusional, things will change, and i should’ve just started an OnlyFans instead.
in the off-chance that all this stuff does work out, though - i’d be pumped.
thanks for coming along for the ride.
~ liam (: