Hi friend,
As you know, I’ve been writing my own business playbook for 5 years now.
No one handed it to me. I built it one experiment at a time.
(Highly recommend experimenting!)
Pivoting and doing things that made sense to me.
It’s exciting, but it also comes with a responsibility.
You don’t have a playbook, so you become the playbook.
Not following someone else’s rules means you have to keep testing your own limits. And honestly… I don’t mind it.
Some things are a hit, some miss. The good thing: I can always go back to what works.
That’s the beauty of solopreneurship.
So here are 3 ways I stopped playing by the rules and made 2025 my most profitable year yet.
(Between April - October 2025 alone, I surpassed my whole income of 2024!!)
And decided to go ahead with a mini-retirement :))
1 / Writing To Solve A Problem
Listen, we all love likes. I know what performs and what gets thousands of likes. But this year, I decided to stop chasing vanity metrics.
I started writing to solve problems for a specific person.
Which meant less personal content with pretty pics. More informational stuff.
For a bit, my reach tanked.
The numbers that used to be the norm for me became rare. Only a handful of my posts crossed 2K likes.
The funny part is: $5-figure months became consistent.
I wasn’t reaching a lot of people, but I was reaching the right ones.
People who bought from me. All because my content solved their problem.
2 / Stopped Optimising For The Algorithm
This year, I decided the algorithm isn’t my boss.
I refuse to let it dictate my creativity.
The purpose of having my own platform is to use my power to write what needs to be written.
There were times I posted in formats knowing they wouldn’t perform. The posts that actually bring me clients aren’t the ones that go crazy viral. But they reach who they need to reach.
It’s content that maybe 1,000 people read, but 10 act on. I’ll take those 10 people over 1,000 passive scrollers any day.
So yes, I respect the algorithm, but don’t obey it.
I’d rather be exclusive and profitable than loudly irrelevant.
3 / Saying No
After all this talk about income, I’ll admit:
Nothing beats going to bed with a clear conscience and my peace intact.
This year, I said no to about $5,000+ worth of brand deals. That’s good money for maybe two hours of work.
But some deals just don’t align. Some are blatantly against my values.
And some brands just don’t have a sense of boundaries.
And I play by:
If it makes you second-guess your values, it’s too expensive, no matter the number.
I’d rather make money practising what I preach than pretending to be someone I’m not.
So, instead of dealing with the friction of all that… I say NO. It makes room for HELL YES.
By having standards, I attracted brands that are already aligned.
Now, I have a challenge for you…
This week:
Question ONE thing you’ve been doing the same way for too long.
Maybe because it’s:
- How it’s always done
- How you were taught/advised to
- A best practice
Just ask yourself if there’s a counter way to do it. One that could give you better results.
Who knows? You might get on something way cooler or grow in a way you never expected.
You never know what’s on the other side until you try.
I’m glad I did.
Love,
N