7-step solopreneur strategy

Find Your Superpower newsletter 076

Read time: 5 minutes

Topics covered: Income diversification, small business owner, solopreneurship

In December 2022, I unveiled my top-secret pet project called Find Your Superpower, as part of my larger mission to help everyone discover the most empowered version of themselves.

I believe that when we lean into our unique skills and strengths, we create extreme value. We transform into superheroes—the most powerful and authentic version that we could be.

It’s been 2.5 years since I started my solopreneur business and here’s my seven-step strategy to how I built it.

1/ I set rules and boundaries for my side hustle

Given that I already run a full-suite STEM communications agency, I decided early on that my side hustle would be a solopreneur gig, with one employee... AKA me.

Here’s the key parameters I set for my side hustle:

- I had to be able to do the job in less than two days a week
- It would be a fully remote business and delivered virtually 
- Instead of payroll, I would work with collaborators to expand my reach
- There would be few to no upfront costs to starting (<US$1-2K)
- It would grow organically and slowly; there would be no rush to scale
 

2/ I defined my niche and mission

I decided that Find Your Superpower would be an exclusive community of growth-minded professionals and entrepreneurs.

Why? I had already been serving them at Asian Scientist Magazine and EcosySTEM Asia for years.

Some of you may not have known me until more recently, but in 2018 alone my team and I threw 14 in-person events... yes, 14 in-person events catering to hundreds if not thousands of people.

In those days, nothing was done virtually.

As an entrepreneur of more than 13 years, I know this community of STEM professionals, small business owners, solopreneurs, coaches and speakers very well.

Many of them have been beneficiaries of my support over the years, and I knew they would reciprocate the favor to help me get started.

3/ I started building my community by offering free value on LinkedIn and email

If your business is targeted at professionals, executives, decision makers, C-suite management, investors, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and all kinds of VIPs, LinkedIn is undisputedly the best place to find them.

To day-trade attention, I launched a free weekly newsletter, also named Find Your Superpower, which you are reading right now.

On LinkedIn and email, I now have >41K subscribers with an open rate of 50-60% (significantly higher than the average email open rate of 22%). 

You are reading newsletter 76. 

I have shown up over 76 weekends faithfully and reliably, rain or shine.

I have shown up 76 times, week after week, offering free value in my content, in hope of building up trust virtually with you.  

4/ I created a low-ticket offer to give new customers a low-risk option to working with me

This next step is crucial, so listen carefully.

When the timing is right, you would create a cheap digital product to allow prospective customers to work with you in a safe and nearly risk-free manner.

Anywhere around USD$50-150 should be acceptable. For that matter, a free product may not necessarily be better than an inexpensive product, as people may devalue your product if it is free. Food for thought, huh!

You may wonder if you should be giving away your best stuff at this stage. The answer is… YES!

Your inexpensive product has to be incredibly valuable, or your potential customer will not part with thousands of dollars for your high-ticket offer.

In my case, I started small. My goal was to help executives and business owners shift mindsets and rebrand themselves on LinkedIn. 

I tested the waters by launching my first online masterclass on LinkedIn branding, aptly named Find Your Superpower, and later my second online masterclass on mindset, LinkedIn Success Mindset.

Both I DIY-ed with help from others. Together, the masterclasses grossed a surprising US$50,000 to date (and counting). 

I was heartened that people were interested in my ideas about combining an abundance mindset with focused action to achieve professional success.

PS: I have a masterclass sale going on here.

5/ I built a tech stack to run it all

Solopreneurs need simple SaaS solutions to survive solo and stay successful.

Ahh... I simply love alliteration!

I would like to introduce you to the tech stack behind all of this.

After months of Googling and trying all kinds of platforms, I settled on Kajabi. Initially, I was dissatisfied by the pricing of US$1,400-1,900 per annum, which seemed a little steep to me. During my 14-day trial, I even thought that Kajabi had too many features, as I merely wanted to start an e-newsletter and an email database.

But as my solopreneur business grew beyond a weekly newsletter service, I realized I needed all these additional features:

- a no-code website builder to build www.julianachan.org to host my courses
- a payment gateway connected to Stripe or PayPal to seamlessly run my course sales
- a platform to stream my on-demand video and e-book courses to customers
- community circles to host my group coaching cohort

I quickly realized that Kajabi was saving me loads of money. Had I run my courses, group coaching and newsletter in a patchwork of 4-5 different platforms, each costing approximately $50-100 a month, it would be far more expensive (and complicated) in the long run.

6/ I created a high-ticket offer (and soon, a mid-ticket offer)

The core services I provide are keynote speaking, moderating industry panels, corporate training on branding and content strategy and 1:1 coaching for VIP clients.

Towards the end of 2023, I decided to create my first scalable high-ticket offer: my flagship six-week Find Your Superpower LinkedIn Bootcamp. 

Cohort 1 (February 2024) sold out very quickly, with FAANG and Big Four participants joining alongside solopreneurs, coaches and independent consultants. 

Four (!) sold-out cohorts and ~160 clients later, I think I have found myself a business model.

But no good entrepreneur ever stops innovating: in 2025 I am launching a mid-ticket offer to allow me to work with more of you in a more affordable manner and over a longer period of time.

7/ I built an infinite loop to create a consistent revenue stream

There are many books on the subject of customer retention, but they all pretty much say the same thing… your customer has to come out on the other end with exactly what you promised you will help them achieve... and then some.

If it is done correctly, your former clients will refer you to new clients. I have hundreds of named client reviews here.

Discovery calls that originate from referrals are the best kind of discovery calls to make as you have already been social-proofed by someone they trust and work with.

To continuously surprise and delight my clients, I launched last Thursday the public sales for my inaugural annual summit called Find Your Superpower Summit 2024.

My goal? To bring all of my clients, friends and industry mates together for an end-of-year meetup.

To end 2024 on a strong note:

- I have invited my mentors to inspire us with big ideas for life and work
- I have engaged expert coaches to take us on a journey of self-discovery
- I have opened my Rolodex and private high-value network especially for you 

All of my mentors, teachers, friends and clients are coming to support me and network with one other.

You coming?  

PS: save 25% off your Summit ticket with SUPERPOWER25 until 30 September 2024 (Monday)

Thanks for reading issue 076 of my weekly Find Your Superpower newsletter.

For those of you who are new to my newsletter, Find Your Superpower is subscribed to by 41,000+ people, and discusses the following three goals: (1) Making a career transition, (2) Professional branding on LinkedIn, and (3) Reinventing ourselves for the future of work.

PS: Follow our new Find Your Superpower LinkedIn page!

PPS: Save 25% off your Summit ticket with SUPERPOWER25 until 30 September 2024!