1/ They wrote for a few weeks
One of them is only 6 weeks into writing online!
The other one has been writing but is finally consistent. She's now applying the strategies we discuss every week at Authentic Influence.
This means - start writing now. It only takes a few weeks to get attention.
It's faster if you learn strategies from me 🤓 Okay, I'm being narcissistic now, let's move on.
2/ Most people don't do this
I remember back in 2023, one of my friends was impressed with me running Summit 21, a cohort-based course that always sold out. He says he wants to conduct something similar, and I told him to go ahead, but do the first cohort for free.
He said, "I know my shit, Niharikaa. I'm not investing so much of my energy for free."
I told him it's important and that I also conducted the first cohort of Summit 21 free of cost.
3/ Here's why it matters
Doing the first round of a course or consultation calls for FREE makes you win. Because:
- You understand your audience's challenges
- People pay for solutions, which is why that's imp
- You get social proof (testimonials)
All of this helps you make money in the long term.
Amongst these two women, one took 20 free calls and the other one took five.
One of them already got her FIRST PAID CALL, and the other is creating her booking page.
Which brings me to...
4/ How do you execute this?
Well, simple steps.
- Create content around your expertise
- Mention in the end that you're open to helping people with XYZ issue
- Speak to them for free for 15 minutes
- Understand their challenges
- Collect a testimonial
- Take feedback and improve
Once you do this with 5-20 people, you can charge money.
5/ How will you charge money?
The first is the mental aspect of it. If you think you cannot make money, you won't. Simple.
Coming to the technical aspect...
Create your offering on Gumroad or Calendly.
Gumroad takes 10% of earnings, which isn't bad at all considering how
- It is easy to make your page
- It doesn't require coding
- You can ship asap
Calendly is $10/ month.
Note: I do not recommend Topmate anymore, because they have an illegal loophole. I brought it to the Founder's notice nearly a year ago, and they told me they'll work on it, but they don't seem to care.
If you're in India, you're not liable to pay GST for foreign transactions. But Topmate doesn't provide you with FIRC, so you have to pay 18% of GST, which is completely illegal.
I know most of you right now neither have GST nor foreign clients, but soon you will, and then you'll be stuck. So it's better not to start in such a place.
Gumroad is 100x better.
6/ How do you do this alongside your 9-5 job?
So when you're doing a job, others cannot know that you're earning from another source. But in this economy, can you really rely on one income source?
Do this instead:
- Put a Google form in your LinkedIn 'featured' section
- This is also incredibly helpful from a data POV - you have your audience's challenges, goals, and everything else in one Google sheet
- Make sure you ask for their email as well as their LinkedIn URL
- If they fit the boat, DM them with your [chargeable] consultation link
This way, you aren't public about earning online. But you're giving so much value with your content that people reach out to you in DMs and fill out your form anyway.
Start already, because the creator economy rewards action, not overthinking.
If they can do it, so can you.
I'm excited to see you win! :)
Love,
N