Asking Entrepreneurs How To Make $1,000,000

Summary

This video transcript features successful solopreneurs sharing insights on their journey to earning significant income through various online ventures. They discuss strategies such as leveraging skills, creating digital products, and utilizing affiliate marketing to achieve financial success. The solopreneurs emphasize the importance of self-identified skills, the power of digital platforms, and maintaining work-life balance without compromising on quality of life. They also highlight the challenges of solo entrepreneurship, including burnout and the need for continuous learning and adaptation.

Takeaways

• 💼 Solopreneurs are increasingly successful online, with some making millions in commission without traditional employment.
• 🔢 A 25-year-old solopreneur made 14 million dollars in commission last year, emphasizing the potential income of this career path.
• 🕰️ Solopreneurs value their freedom and flexibility, often working on projects they enjoy and having more control over their time.
• 📈 The key to becoming a successful solopreneur is identifying and monetizing one's skills, often through digital platforms and services.
• 📚 Self-publishing can be a significant income source for solopreneurs, as it allows for higher profit margins compared to traditional publishing.
• 🔑 Affiliate marketing is a primary income stream for many solopreneurs, involving promoting other companies' products for a commission.
• 🚀 Growing a personal brand, such as a YouTube channel, can be leveraged to create revenue through various digital products and services.
• 💡 The future of work may involve more individuals solving their own problems and sharing the solutions, which can be monetized online.
• 💡 Solopreneurs often face challenges like burnout and the need to balance work with personal life to maintain a sustainable business.
• 🛠️ Tools and software are crucial for solopreneurs to manage their businesses efficiently, with some preferring all-in-one platforms like Kajabi.
• 🌐 Having a personal website is essential for solopreneurs to showcase their work, sell products, and establish an online presence.

Q & A

How much did Alex make in commission last year?

Alex made 14 million dollars in commission last year.

What is Alex's age and what does it signify about solopreneurs?

Alex is 25 years old, which highlights that young solopreneurs are increasingly successful online, earning substantial income.

What is the average income for solopreneurs mentioned in the transcript?

The average income mentioned for solopreneurs is roughly 1.7 million dollars.

What is the main advantage of being a solopreneur according to the transcript?

The main advantage is having more free time to work on things they like and live their life on their own terms.

What is the trick to making a million dollars as a solopreneur as suggested in the transcript?

The trick is to identify and monetize one's skills effectively, using platforms like the internet to reach a wider audience.

What was Alex's biggest money maker last year?

Alex's biggest money maker last year was his self-published book.

How much more money can one make by self-publishing compared to traditional publishing according to the transcript?

One can make about seven or eight dollars per book with self-publishing compared to one to two dollars with traditional publishing.

What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?

Affiliate marketing involves selling other companies' products to customers without ever touching the product. You create ads and landing pages, send traffic to a website, and earn a commission for each sale.

What are the main income streams for a solopreneur as described in the transcript?

The main income streams include affiliate marketing, digital courses, subscription emails, newsletter sponsorships, and occasional one-on-one coaching.

What is the solopreneur's stance on hiring employees?

The solopreneur prefers not to hire employees, instead using contractors and freelancers for specific tasks, valuing the freedom and control of a one-person business.

What was the biggest challenge faced by the solopreneurs in starting their businesses?

The biggest challenges included walking away from traditional jobs, dealing with burnout, and overcoming doubts and the fear of being alone in their ventures.

What advice do the solopreneurs give for avoiding burnout?

The advice includes focusing on quality over quantity of work, taking care of personal health, and ensuring work aligns with personal enjoyment to prevent overworking.

What is the recommended approach to starting a one-person business and making a million dollars as quickly as possible?

The approach involves identifying and monetizing existing skills, finding the right customer intersection for a service business, creating digital products, and starting a subscription model, with persistence and continuous learning being key.

What software tool is essential for a solopreneur's business according to the transcript?

Kajabi is mentioned as an essential tool for website management, email marketing, and course hosting.

What is the role of Twitter in the solopreneur's business strategy?

Twitter serves as a platform for testing ideas and making connections, acting as a lab for business strategies.

What is the future of one-person businesses according to the insights in the transcript?

The future of one-person businesses is expected to involve more high performers leaving traditional companies to work independently, leveraging powerful tools for greater control and variety in their work.

What is the recommended fastest way to reach a million dollars according to the solopreneurs?

Affiliate marketing is recommended as it requires less startup capital and offers a predictable way to generate income with the flexibility to adjust ad budgets as needed.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Success Secrets of Solopreneurs

This paragraph introduces Alex, a 25-year-old solopreneur who earned 14 million dollars in commission. It discusses the rise of solopreneurs on the internet, their ability to earn significant income while maintaining free time and independence. Alex shares his journey and the strategies that contributed to his success, emphasizing the importance of identifying and monetizing one's skills, the role of self-publishing in generating income, and the power of affiliate marketing as a primary income source. The paragraph also touches on the challenges faced by solopreneurs, such as burnout and the struggle to identify their skills, and offers advice on overcoming these obstacles.

05:01

🚀 Overcoming Challenges and Leveraging Tools for Solopreneur Success

This section delves into the personal experiences and strategies of solopreneurs, focusing on overcoming challenges like burnout and finding the right path. It highlights the importance of wisdom and learning from those who have achieved the desired lifestyle. The speaker shares his transition from a startup executive to a solopreneur, emphasizing the need to recalibrate and prioritize personal fulfillment over constant work. The paragraph also discusses the use of various tools and platforms, such as Kajabi, Final Cut Pro, and Twitter, to support the solopreneur journey, and the significance of having a personal website for business growth. Additionally, it outlines a stepwise approach to building a successful one-person business, from identifying skills to creating digital products and subscription services.

10:03

🌐 The Future of Solopreneurship and Strategies for Scaling

The final paragraph explores the evolution of solopreneurship, particularly in the context of the pandemic and the creator economy. It predicts an acceleration in the trend of high performers leaving traditional jobs to pursue independent work online. The speaker shares insights on the potential for increased competition and the need for companies to offer attractive packages to retain top talent. The paragraph also discusses the importance of not plateauing too early and the benefits of having powerful tools that allow one person to have significant leverage. It concludes with advice on the importance of learning from successful individuals and productizing solutions to specific problems as a path to achieving a million-dollar business.

Keywords

💡Solopreneur

A solopreneur refers to an individual who works independently, often running their own business without a team or employees. In the video, solopreneurs are highlighted as individuals who have achieved significant financial success and personal freedom by leveraging the internet. Alex, mentioned in the script, is an example of a successful solopreneur who made 14 million dollars in commission.

💡Commission

Commission is the payment made to a person for a sale or deal they facilitated. In the context of the video, Alex, a solopreneur, earned 14 million dollars in commission, indicating that his income was based on a percentage of sales he generated for products or services he promoted.

💡Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where an affiliate promotes another company's products and earns a commission for each sale made through their referral. The script explains that one of the solopreneurs makes a significant income from affiliate marketing, selling other companies' products without ever touching or shipping the products themselves.

💡Digital Products

Digital products are items that are distributed and consumed in a digital format, such as ebooks, online courses, or software. The video discusses how solopreneurs can create digital products to monetize their knowledge and skills, turning them into a source of passive income.

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel is a platform where individuals or entities can upload and share videos. In the script, one solopreneur mentions that they have grown their YouTube channel to 600,000 subscribers and are now helping others do the same, which has become their main source of revenue.

💡Self-Publishing

Self-publishing is the process of publishing a book without the involvement of a traditional publisher. The video script mentions that one solopreneur made significant income from self-publishing a book, earning more per book than if they had worked with a traditional publisher.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often caused by excessive and prolonged stress. The script discusses the challenge of burnout faced by solopreneurs, particularly those who have a tendency to overwork and fill their time with work, leading to a need for recalibration and focus on personal well-being.

💡Freelancers

Freelancers are self-employed individuals who offer their services on a project-by-project basis, rather than working for a single employer long-term. The video mentions that solopreneurs often work with freelancers for specific tasks in their business, allowing them to maintain a lean operation without full-time employees.

💡Content Creation

Content creation refers to the process of producing various forms of content, such as articles, videos, or graphics, for online platforms. The script emphasizes the importance of content creation, especially video content, for platforms like YouTube, as a means to build a business and generate income.

💡Online Store

An online store is a virtual marketplace where goods or services are sold over the internet. The video script suggests that having a website for an online store is essential for solopreneurs who are selling merchandise or digital products, as it provides a platform for e-commerce.

💡Creator Economy

The creator economy refers to the ecosystem of independent content creators who leverage digital platforms to produce content, build an audience, and monetize their work. The video suggests that the creator economy has been enabled by the pandemic and will continue to grow, offering more opportunities for individuals to work independently.

Highlights

Alex, a 25-year-old solopreneur, made 14 million dollars in commission last year.

Solopreneurs are increasingly successful on the Internet, earning more with more free time.

One website and one tool can provide everything needed to build an entire business for free.

Self-publishing books can yield higher profits compared to traditional publishing.

Affiliate marketing is a significant income source for solopreneurs, involving selling other companies' products online.

Synthesizing solutions to personal problems and sharing them can be a main source of revenue.

The breakdown of a solopreneur's income streams includes digital courses, email subscriptions, and sponsorships.

Having zero employees and utilizing contractors and freelancers is a common practice for solopreneurs.

Solopreneurs value quality of life and avoid making life harder by doing things they don't enjoy.

The challenge of walking away from a traditional job to start a solopreneur business can be significant.

Burnout is a common issue for solopreneurs, especially those with perfectionistic tendencies.

Finding mentors or apprentices with the desired lifestyle can accelerate the learning process for solopreneurs.

The key to making a million dollars as a solopreneur is persistence, finding work they enjoy, and continuous experimentation.

The pandemic has shifted perspectives, enabling more people to work independently in the creator economy.

Solopreneurs can have greater leverage thanks to powerful tools available for independent work.

Top performers are increasingly leaving companies to start their own ventures on the Internet.

Solopreneurs recommend starting slow and focusing on learning in the early stages of their business.

Having a website is essential for solopreneurs selling merchandise or digital products.

The future of solopreneur businesses may involve more competition but also greater opportunities for leveraging technology.

Transcripts

this is Alex

and he's a solopreneur how much did you

make last year 14 million dollars in

commission how old are you 25 and these

solopreneurs are taking over the

Internet earning more money seven

hundred thousand dollars roughly 1.7

million have more free time and then I

start living more of my life so now I

have a lot of free time I only like

working on the things I like doing and

have no employees I have zero employees

and today four of the greatest

solopreneurs break down how they became

successful for people aspiring become a

solopreneur how do you make a million as

fast as possible it's crazy to me me to

think that literally one website one

tool you can learn everything you can

Implement everything it has everything

you need to build an entire business

that's crazy and it's free and share

their most valuable secrets so if

there's any trick to like trying to make

a million dollars as a solopreneur it's

if someone asks you what do you do for a

living how do you answer this I I suck

at that question a lot like yeah I used

to just be like I'm an internet person

because I didn't really know what else

to say to that question but it's pretty

simple like most people have skills they

struggle to identify their own things

that they're good at and so I help them

identify those things just develop those

things and then take them to the open

market and monetize it the biggest Money

Maker for me last year was basically my

book uh when you self-publish you can

make a lot more money than if you work

with the traditional publisher I'm

making about seven or eight dollars a

book compared to like one to two dollars

if you're a traditional publisher and

how many of them so I sold 10 000 in the

first year and then then 10 000 in the

last hundred days what are your income

streams and how do you make your money

as a solo printer my main income comes

from affiliate marketing a lot of people

don't have Clarity what it is but

affiliate marketing is essentially you

as an affiliate sell products of other

companies to customers you never get in

touch with the product we never see the

products you don't get it shipped at

home nothing you just create ads on the

internet

um landing pages are usually given to

you so you send the traffic to a website

that's it and then you get paid a

commission for every sale you generate

how do you currently make your living as

a one-person business there's a couple

different ways overall summarize with

the word synthesizing so I think that

the future of work involves solving your

own problems and then sharing the

solutions so the biggest problem that

I've solved now is growing my YouTube

channel to 600 000 subscribers so I'm

helping other people do the same that's

my main source of Revenue at the moment

what is the breakdown of your current

income streams my business will likely

do between 2.25 and two and a half

million in 2023 about 70 of that will

come through digital courses 10 to 15

percent of that will come through a

subscription email that I have another

maybe 10 maybe a little less will come

from newsletter sponsorships what's left

another ten percent eight or ten percent

left in there we'll come through a bunch

of different ways it'll come through

affiliate Partnerships it'll come

through occasional one-on-one coaching

so you're a solopreneur Justin does that

mean you have zero employees yeah I have

zero employees and I use contractors and

Freelancers uh to do tasks in my

business but I have no employees the

only person that is around full time is

my wife are you planning on hiring

anyone I've thought about it I have no

aspirations to like build a business at

this point I want to know how to do

everything I've taught myself everything

of everything I do I even know how to do

my taxes my accounting I know how to

write I know how to produce and publish

a book if I need to get it done and I

want to do it in my way I could just do

it whatever decided to not hire any

people there's no need we don't have any

office we don't have any employee we do

work with some Freelancers every now and

then just to alter some stuff I did have

a company where we had 18 people we were

generating good numbers but there was

just a it was a job for me because I had

to manage all the people like 15 hours

per day and then I switched to this

model right now affiliate marketing and

then I started Living more of my life so

now I have a lot of free time and I love

to skydive I love to travel the world

why would you make your life harder by

doing things you don't like this much

everything I do should increase my life

quality and not necessarily my bank

account what was your biggest challenge

in starting a successful one-person

business and what tip do you have for

others to overcome that challenge you

faced I was working in strategy

Consulting for nine years and I think my

biggest challenge was actually just

walking away I didn't have really any

active support to take a different path

and I felt very alone I think my biggest

challenge early on was finding people

doing things that they cared about and

living courageously what was your

biggest challenge in in your whole

solopreneurship journey burnout I was a

former startup Executive before I was

ever someone who you know wrote content

on the internet I burned out of that job

because I generally am like half

perfectionistic Tendencies I tend to

view open gaps in my calendar as like

opportunities to push my business

forward which is against the Mantra that

I I want to talk about right like I want

to use my time to do things that I enjoy

but my inclination as a person is to

fill those times with work so As I Grew

my solopreneur business I I made a

mistake I filled those gaps often with

like work and work and work and work and

work and then I had to take a step back

as I was starting to burn out for the

second time in my life and say like wait

a minute you're just rebuilding the same

thing you built as a startup executive

and you're going to burn out again and

at that point I kind of recalibrated

refocused on what was important to me

and started really filling those open

times with hikes and things that I enjoy

good question I think the the biggest

problem is a lack of wisdom I think if

you know the path then you just take one

step after the other and you follow it

but so many doubts come in when you're

questioning if this is the right thing

we waste so much time doing the wrong

thing so the easiest way to overcome

that is to find people that have the

life that you want to have and learn

from them in any way you possibly can

whether that's being an apprentice from

them if you can if not consuming all of

their content I got stuck in a loop

where the heart where I folded the

harder I work the better results again

which is true in many ways but don't

forget to you know take care of yourself

so sleep Health have time to think and

work so don't sacrifice your life over a

goal because it's you're gonna push the

goal far away my results started coming

in when I had this internal shift into

like you know what I'm gonna start

working 15 hours per day I'm gonna work

four hours per day and see what's

happening I started making less

decisions and the decision quality

increased and better results came away

if you could pick one software tool to

use for the rest of your life what would

it be it would have to do a lot of

things so I would say kajabi I currently

use kajabi for my website my email

marketing my course hosting everything

any video editing tool key nowadays is

content so even for YouTube you need to

create a good ad a good video that sells

so Final Cut Pro that's what I use

nothing fancy right Twitter yeah Twitter

is where I just test out a lot of ideas

and make friends my lab say YouTube both

YouTube as a consumer and as a producer

has literally everything you need to get

to a million dollars it's crazy to me to

think that literally one website one

tool you can learn everything you can

Implement everything it has everything

you need to build an entire business

that's crazy and it's free and do you

have your own website it's Justin

welsh.me yeah it's funny how everybody

mentions a different tool but nobody

mentions the fact that every single one

of them has their own website and I mean

it makes sense to have one if you're

selling merch or digital products you

need a website for your online store

even I'm working on my own website at

the moment because I want to launch a

course and a newsletter real soon and

because I have almost no experience

building websites but I also don't want

to pay a lot of money for someone else

to build it I'm using hostinger today's

sponsor and I'll be honest guys I've

never thought that for the cost of about

one coffee per month not having to write

a single line of code I could build my

own homepage that looks like this in

just a few hours hostinger truly is an

all-in-one platform it's optimized for

WordPress it's Sao friendly you get a

free domain name and you even get an own

SSL certificate which basically means

you get this cool little thingy next to

your website URL which basically means

your website is safe against hackers and

cyber criminals and whatever and if that

wasn't enough if you click on the link

in the description or if you select this

one and then scroll all the way to the

bottom and apply the discount code

stefanovic you get an additional 10 off

from the price I'm telling you if you

need a place to Showcase your portfolio

start an online Shop create a side also

or build your newsletter like I'm doing

then you need to check out postinger.com

Link in the description now back to

something I wanted to ask you if you had

to start a one-person business from

scratch today and you want to make a

million dollars as fast as possible what

would you do so I think there's a

stepwise approach to it which is number

one you identify the skills that you

already have and you take them to open

market in the form of a service business

Once you turn it into a service offer

and you have some money coming in the

next thing that you want to figure out

is the intersection of customers you

like working with and customers that

like working with you and once you find

that exact specific intersection you can

raise your rates choose only to work

with those customers and take all of the

knowledge that would be helpful to

customers outside of that ideal customer

and put it into a digital product so now

you've got two revenue streams a service

business and a digital product if your

digital product is growing and pretty

soon you'll have you know a few thousand

students inside of a few thousand

students are probably people who will

pay you an additional amount of money

per month to get more detailed you know

tips and tricks and things like that so

start a paid newsletter subscription so

now you got a service business a course

business you have a subscription

business but I think the hardest way to

do it is with one offer I think what

I've seen over and over again is it's

like the 9th or tenth or the 11th thing

that people try that explodes and

basically the only thing that gets you

there is just not quitting so my key to

making a million dollars as a

solopreneur is like not quitting finding

work you like doing and just keep trying

stuff right and I think the third one is

really hard because you need to leave

space so that you can continually keep

growing and experimenting to find like

the next thing right you don't want to

Plateau too early and in fact I don't

think you ever want to Plateau yeah I'm

sort of Designing my entire life around

not ever creating a job for myself

making a million dollars is great but

I'm time rich and experienced Rich I'm

spending time how I want to spend my

time what would be the fastest way to

get to a middle according to you the

same way that got me to a million my

first million in profit which was

affiliate marketing bill

um it doesn't require too much startup

Capital but with money with someone you

can spend in ads and it's not like you

waste the money completely because you

generate sales and just to that because

it's the most predictable way to

generate income you can stop your budget

any any day you want there you see it's

not performing we can address if it's

making money double the budgets every

day until you start spending around

thousands of dollars a day the best way

to go fast is to start slow and in the

early stages the most important thing is

that learning instead of earning

probably it's closest to something like

a permissionless Apprentice where you

find someone that has the life that you

want you help them for free and you try

to become their apprentice and if you

can do that you can really speed up the

learning process and along that process

what will end up happening is that

you're able to solve a specific problem

and then if you productize the solution

to that problem and then you bring it to

more than just one person you can do

that to get to a million dollars how do

you see the one person business evolve

in the coming two to three years where

do you see opportunities and chances for

everyone else I think the pandemic

shifted people's perspective the Creator

economy has enabled more and more people

to do work on their own I think it is

going to continue to accelerate the

tools and software and things you can

use to do things on your own now are so

powerful if you're in a full-time job

that sucks because you're hyper

specialized and you don't have a lot of

span of control over what you're doing

and you don't get to work on a wide

variety of things but if you just go out

and work on your own you can have the

upsides of ownership and responsibility

I see it being a much bigger opportunity

for high performers what I'm seeing

right now I think will be accelerated

which is I am seeing more and more of

them get to the top of their profession

look around and realize that a lot of

people around them are miserable and

that that's got to be a pretty

eye-opening experience happened to me I

think we're going to see an acceleration

of top performers and companies leaving

to do their own thing on the internet

and I think companies are going to be

are going to have to put together some

pretty creative packages to get top

performers to stay I think that there's

two things one there's going to be more

competition because the barriers to

entry are now even lower but two life

person businesses will look more like

two people businesses and two people

will look more like one people or person

and that one person can have a far

greater leverage than before thanks to

these powerful tools if you want to

check out how I became a solopreneur you

might want to check out this video