Hi friend,
I've made a living writing online for 5+ years.
What you see from creators is the stuff that's working.
I fail, and fail so often. I sometimes don't talk about it at that moment. And sometimes I do, because I like showing both sides of a coin.
Today, I'm going to tell you 7 money mistakes I've made since going solo, and what each one taught me.
Followers and monetising are separate skills!
Mistake 1: Chasing views
4.79 million views on LinkedIn. 0 clients.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine got 70,000 views and landed a $2,000/month client.
Another friend was at 25,000 followers and getting frequent brand collabs with one of India's leading companies (Amazon's competitor).
Views don't promise sh!t.
When people tell me they can't convert LinkedIn content into clients, I open their profile. It doesn't even mention their services sometimes (!!!!)
Fix your header. Write a crisp 'about'. Make it obvious what you sell before you chase another viral post.
Mistake 2: Thinking a big list means sales
I launched two group coaching programs that never worked out.
One of them went out to an email list of 15,000 people. Not a single sale.
A product isn't valuable because you think it is. People don't put their money on you because you think it's good. It has to solve a problem. And solve it damn well.
Now I test everything for free in exchange for feedback first. Social proof drives sales.
I also sell in DMs more than my email list.
(You can get more details in my LinkedIn Monetisation Workshop recording.)
Details of my consultation or my flagship program, Authentic Influence, are something nobody can find on the internet 🤫 It's with a few because it's for the select few.
Mistake 3: Thinking I needed more likes to charge more
Some of my posts with under 300 likes bring people into my $3,000 program.
All of my 5-figure months came from LinkedIn posts with under 500 likes. Looks terrible for a profile with 200K followers, I know.
The people who actually pay you rarely like or comment. They're your passive audience. They read, and then they DM.
So, would you rather have 2,000 likes or $2,000?
Mistake 4: Buying courses I never opened
The last two courses I spent $$$ on are still unfinished. "I'll open them someday."
Someday never comes.
Buying courses isn't the mistake.
When my in-hand salary was a little over $600, I spent $300 on a course. It made me $3,300 in 6 months.
Now I only buy what I use. I recently bought a $2000/year community membership because people there make $50K/m and there's so much I can learn from them!
If you can make 2x back, it's an investment. Not an expense. But only if you actually apply it.
Mistake 5: Haggling on every brand deal
Every brand deal used to turn into a back-and-forth.
The fix was: a public price list.
You do away with haggling. Brands who don't want to pay the listed amount can walk out.
I hardly know folks who have a public price list, btw :)
Mistake 6: Chasing people who lowball me
One year, I left $5,000 on the table.
Agencies kept making me chase them, going back and forth, negotiating 90% below my rate.
I left my job so I don't have to work with people I dislike. Why would I start now?
I don't work with brands unless they pay 100% in advance now.
Mistake 7: Holding on to my bestseller
I killed my flagship course after it made $70K.
Remember Mistake 4? I wasn't the only one with unfinished courses hehe. People stopped buying products they never opened, and started paying me $2,500 for services instead.
I had to change as the market was changing.
The internet is an extremely dynamic place. Everything changes often, and FAST.
Your bestseller last year doesn't owe you a place this year.
Another example: Between 2021-23, I had lots of passive income via ebooks and courses. Now I hardly sell my products because people are back in the office and want to pay a premium for one's presence instead.
Finally
Do this by:
- Audit your profile. Does it say what you sell in one line? If not, fix that before your next post.
- Test before you charge. Run your next offer free for a few people, take feedback, collect social proof. Then price it.
- Finish one course you own. Before you buy the next one. Implement one thing from it this month. Keep investing in yourself, but not all at the same time!
- Make your prices public. A price list does your negotiating for you.
- Be aligned to your values. Don't stoop low by saying yes to everything!
- Observe and change. The creator economy is too dynamic, change is the only constant.
All the best!
Love,
N