The Best Way To Start Your One-Person Business
In the last ten years, I’ve started seven businesses.
In the last ten years, I’ve started seven businesses.
Most of them failed.
Seven businesses! Phew. That’s a lot of trial and error.
I wish I understood what I wanted earlier, but it turns out, “What do I want?” is the most difficult question ever.
To help you save years of soul-searching and professional struggles, let me tell you the three ways to make money online and a little bit about each.
This will help you get some perspective.
#1: Work for clients
You offer services to clients. This offers an easy, no-cost entry but is hard to scale.
That’s where I started, offering coaching and then copywriting.
#2: Work for customers
You sell products, physical or digital. This requires some investment — time, money, or equipment — to create or purchase the products you will sell.
Five years ago, I decided to sell a journal for drafting a novel. I spent $1000 and failed miserably (I still use most of the journals myself).
Of course, I’ve also failed at selling e-books and courses. I’m versatile like that.
#3: Work for audiences
This is relatively new and very exciting. You can now get paid to create content as long as you can attract massive audiences.
You can do that on various platforms, including YouTube, Medium, Substack, and even IG and Facebook, which started paying their content creators.
Where to start?
These income streams aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they stack very well to help you build a small empire.
But if you’re just starting out, it’s good to know where to start.
So I’ll tell you.
Start with #3.
Even if you want to work with clients eventually, or if you’re already selling to customers, make a U-turn and devote as much time & energy as possible to #3.
Amassing an audience means building a solid foundation for your business, which translates to long-term security and growth.
When I first started my one-person business, I focused on making money ASAP. The more, the better.
I didn’t know how to make it other than to offer services, so I put my coaching & copywriting offerings anywhere and everywhere.
For years, that was all I focused on. Silly, silly Maya.
The problem with this is I didn’t have a business. I had a job working for Fiverr. And let me tell you, Fiverr is a demanding employer. My income still varies from $1K to $10K per month, and there’s not much I can do about it.
I don’t want this to happen to you. It sucks being out of control, and that’s not what having a one-person business is about.
One of the best ways to build a stable business is to start with building your audience. To do this, start producing content.
Share free, useful content for as long as possible. Then, when you’re ready, start monetizing.
Here’s why you should start with content.
- Content engages people. Few people care about what you sell. Many people may be interested to hear what you have to say. Then, if they like that, they will be willing to buy from you.
- You can reach your audience for free. If you consistently put yourself out there and offer people the option to subscribe to your e-mail list, some will. Treat them like gold.
- You can even get paid. Years ago, people created content for the sole purpose of attracting attention. Now, multiple platforms offer payment for content creators.
- You can do it on your own terms. Ideally, you’d have some schedule — posting twice a week, for example. Besides that, you have all the freedom in the world: topics, platforms, frequency, length, and style. You can be fully you.
If you consistently create helpful content and start an e-mail list so you have instant & free access to your audience, this will build up your one-person business like nothing else.
If you need help starting or growing your one-person business, join the One-Person Business Success newsletter here.
