How to Build Your Ultimate Lifestyle Business (in Less Than 2 Hours Per Day)
A simple guide for creative solopreneurs.
Building an online business is a dream for most creative people.
Unfortunately, the plethora of:
- conflicting advice,
- complex business models,
- and time-consuming activities,
required to get one off the ground – and make it profitable – keep most people in a state of perpetual limbo.
Circumstances don’t change and dreams stay dreams.
Luckily, I stumbled upon a process so simple I believe my 68-year-old mother – who has never turned on a computer – could replicate it in just a few hours.
If you’ve been struggling to generate an online income from your creative endeavours, follow this plan for 6-months and watch how things change:
1) Choose a Creative Outlet
Writing.
Videos.
Podcasting.
Memes.
It doesn’t matter what creative path you choose, consistency is the name of the game.
Personally, I enjoy blogging right here on Medium.
I might post a tweet once or twice a month over on Twitter, but the inconsistency isn’t moving any levers. I may as well delete my account because it’s such a non-factor in producing any measurable results for my business.
Choose a single creative outlet like YouTube, Instagram, Medium, etc. and get serious for at least 6 months.
Don’t split your attention between different social media channels.
Stay focused on mastering one.
Success will come.
2) Create Magnetic Content
Consistently create content to attract your ideal audience. Post at least 1–2 times per week. More if possible.
Success online is completely dependent on VISIBILITY.
If people don’t see your content, you won’t grow. And if you don’t grow, you don’t have a business.
That’s why your primary objective as a creator is to master the art and science of capturing attention.
If you’re a writer, that means crafting curiosity-driven headlines.
If you’re a YouTuber, you need to understand what makes a good title and captivating thumbnail.
Learn how to pull people into your orbit and use your content to dispense valuable and actionable information your audience can immediately use.
Build an Atomic Newsletter
Each piece of content you create should link to your newsletter.
Owning your audience will:
- make growth on other platforms easier.
- give you a direct line of communication with your biggest fans.
- make monetizing you knowledge infinitely easier.
Having a distribution mechanism in place to ensure your audience receives your content isn’t just smart – it’s necessary.
You can’t rely on social media algorithms to show your content on a 24/7 basis, especially when you’re competing for attention with so many other creators.
By sending subscribers a link to your most recent article, video, or podcast, you stay in control and stay at the top of their minds.
Solve Problems, Sell Solutions
When I decided to leave the world of freelance copywriting and online consultancy behind, I faced a few problems.
Problem #1:
I knew how to cold email prospective clients and sell my services. I also knew how to create profitable campaigns and get results for my customers.
But I didn’t know the first thing about audience building and newsletter growth.
I had the gist of it.
Create content, offer a lead magnet, and build a list. However, I didn’t have an efficient system that generated predictable results.
I’d get 1 or 2 subscribers per day if I was lucky. Now, I have a system that brings me hundreds of new subscribers each week:
And generates hundreds of dollars a day:
I took my 20 years of online marketing knowledge, researched new areas of interest I was ignorant about, and refined my approach toward audience building.
In other words, I solved one of my biggest problems and shared the solution with others who were also facing that same problem.
Problem #2
I didn’t want to be a slave to my business.
My entire purpose for creating an “ultimate lifestyle business” was to gain time freedom.
If I couldn’t replace my freelancing income in less than two hours a day, the business wouldn’t work.
As my income continues to grow, and I scale back my freelancing business, I could theoretically increase the amount of time I spend creating content and accelerate my growth.
But, that defeats the purpose.
I don’t want to replace my newly gained freedom with more “work” that requires my constant attention.
The time constraints of getting sh!t done in 2 hours or less increased my efficiency.
I automate repetitive tasks, eliminate unnecessary ones, and will delegate any in the future that require more time than I’m willing to invest.
The Atomic Newsletter System allows me to solve both my biggest problems while increasing my income month over month.
When you solve your most pressing problems, systematize your process and share it with the world.
It doesn’t matter what the problem is either. People will pay for access to your solution if it will help them too.
Reduce, Refine, and Repeat
Automate, delegate or eliminate any repetitive tasks that don’t move the needle in your business.
You should be constantly looking for aspects of your business that can fit into one of these three categories.
Automation tools like Zapier can save you hours each week.
If you have a small budget, websites like Upwork and Fiverr can be used to outsource things like design and data collection.
And platforms like Typeshare can eliminate the need to individually redistribute content across multiple platforms.
One of the main objectives of your business should be to reduce the amount of time required to run your business.
By refining your system, you reduce your workload and create the time freedom necessary to enjoy your life in a way that gives you an unending amount of content to share with your audience.
The crux of any successful online business boils down to the effectiveness of the systems you implement.
If your solo biz requires more than 4 hours per day to run, your system is massively inefficient. Aim for 2 hours or less.
Keep plugging away and experimenting with different solutions until you can whittle everything down to its most essential tasks.
If your business isn’t simple, it isn’t worth building.
About The Author
My name is Evan. I’m a happily married father of three boys who likes to drink black coffee and read Jack Reacher novels. I also love everything about newsletters!
