My Biggest Lesson Doing a $10K in 30 Days Challenge

2 points by michepriest 3 years ago | 4 comments

After getting laid off for the third time I decided I had enough of building other people’s dreams. I was going to go out on my own. The problem was I didn’t know what to build.

After a year of learning to build no-code apps, produce podcasts, create online courses, ebooks, e-commerce, and even learning how to create illustrations I was nowhere close to figuring it out.

Many solopreneurs want the autonomy of being self-employed, but the ramp up is brutal. I decided to do a $10K in 30 days challenge to see if I could figure it out.

It’s day 29. I’m at $3,646.57 with $23K in the pipeline. Two major meetings got rescheduled. It’ll take a miracle to make it, but with the internet you never know.

My strategy (below is my Hail Mary):

Come up with a variety of products/services at varying price points. I asked, what if I sold:

1 - $10K item (corporate workshop), 10 - $1K items (illustration packs), 100 - $100 items (info products/courses/coaching snacks), 1000 - $10 items (e-commerce)

Get the word out through sales (reach out to 50 people/week), social media, and podcasts

What actually happened:

50 outreaches/week was too many. 20/week is intense but doable

Launched 7 products (find most on Gumroad under michepriest)

Dropped the ball on podcasts

I sold a mix of everything except the corporate workshops.

My biggest lesson:

Reaching out to 100 people led to opportunities I could never have imagined.

1 potential license deal for my micro-coaching service Unstuck in 15 where I get people unstuck with 3 questions in 15 minutes

1 pack of Unstuck in 15 gift certificates for corporate gifts

3 collaborations for online courses

1 illustration pack which could end up being a long term contract

1 Upwork gig consulting on two AI products

Second biggest lesson:

Put as many buy button on the internet as possible and have big ticket items

Bonus: I learned what I want to offer that people actually want, who I want to serve, and got over my fear of publishing.

My Hail Mary:

Reach out to 100 connections in one day with an offer I believe they will find valuable

If you have any ideas for how I can earn $6,353.43 in sales in one day, I’m all ears. Whether I hit the target or not doesn’t matter. I’ve already won, but it would be fun to do so.

_the_inflator 3 years ago |

I wish you good luck with your services. However, "where I get people unstuck with 3 questions in 15 minutes" sounds brutally fishy. Psychologists struggle with this for decades, and it is evidence based work they do. ;)

michepriest 3 years ago | |

Thank you. I’m happy to share more information. It’s a framework that’s been developing organically tying in my work/life experience and masters research.

There are 3 ways people get stuck. 1. Trying to force an outcome on one solution. 2. Thinking in the binary with option A and option B. 3. Too many options.

Once the pathway to being stuck is identified, there are 5 categories of questions that get people unstuck. 1) Widen the lens - explore all of the options 2) Missing data - people can get stuck when they don’t have enough information about their options 3) Risks - When people know their options and the details but haven’t considered all of the risks 4) External factors - usually disagreeing with an authority figure such as investors, stakeholders or parents and partners 5) Internal factors such as lacking confidence

The constraints of 3 questions and 15 minutes forces me to ask high caliber questions. I don’t need to know the answer. I just need to figure out the questions to ask. You may not reach a decision, but you will have clarity on the next steps

groffee 3 years ago |

It's bad enough seeing this kind of spam on Twitter, we don't need it here too.

michepriest 3 years ago | |

It’s an experiment. Many people are trying to figure out a way to make a living that doesn’t require giving our time away to someone else. As much as I’m sharing ideas, I’m looking for ideas for how to stay self employed longer so I can support and be there for my family. My mom lost my dad, and my children lost their dad. No employer would have given me/will give me the time off I need