This week we’re going over my 4-step plan for what I’d do if I had to start completely over from scratch in business.
I’m pretending that I have a full-time job with only 1-2 hours to work on business each day and that I have little-to-no startup money to invest. My business contacts have disappeared and I have no email list to speak of.
This is a fun and challenging exercise that I hope will help those starting their entrepreneurial journey get clear on first steps in online business. And if you’ve already started a business you might find some holes in your existing way of thinking – or, find inspiration for where you might take things.
But before we dive in fully…
Step 0: Start With The End In Mind
Before jumping into Step 1 of the plan, let me run you through a little exercise. Ask yourself…
What do I want my business to look like AFTER it’s up and running smoothly? How will I know it’s successful?
Most newer solopreneur’s don’t take a moment to define exactly what they want – which is understandable because you often don’t know what’s possible. So the default desire normally becomes “freedom” (which is too nebulous and not easily defined) or they’ll say “something that’s going to replace my current income and reduce work hours.”
Now, even though I’m starting from zero in this made-up scenario, I’m blessed with experience.
I know:
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Specifically what business models I like
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What’s actually possible with the business models I like (because I’m living that now)
In other words, I have a very clear picture of what I would want a business to look like… and that just so happens to be the type of business that I’m running now in 2024.
For this exercise, here’s what I’ll want my business to look like AFTER it’s setup and mostly automated. This will NOT be what the business looks like on day 1:
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I want to own and manage a mailing list
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I want to create digital products (courses preferred) and/or sell affiliated products
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I want to have a small team of me & 1 virtual assistant (& a reliable stable of contractors when needed)
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I want to write for 1-4hrs (at most) per day with extended weeks-long breaks possible.
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I want to earn multiple 6 figures with 7 figures in reach (through better systems, additional creative work, etc)
Along the way towards this goal I might have to take different routes/detours or use “bridge” products or services to get to my final destination.
For example, I’ve done one-on-one copywriting coaching at times with the CopyHour business. Coaching is a good income earner and lets you understand your audience at a deeper level, but long-term, I don’t want my time to be so wrapped up in product delivery.
If you’re following along, you might have slightly different wants and desires and that’s fine. I suggest you write down what you want and use it as your goal post. The simple act of writing out what you want from a business will put you ahead of 95% of new solopreneurs.
Again, I have a decade of experience, so I know what’s actually possible and real. Your initial desires might feel like a fantasy, but that’s fine for now. You can always adjust later.
With the end in mind, let’s move to Step 1 of my 4-part plan for starting a business from zero.
Step 1: Learn To Write Copy
Of course I’d say this, but it’s 100% the truth and I wish to this day that someone gave me this advice when I was starting out after college in 2008.
If I was starting over from scratch, the very first thing I’d do would be to dedicate 3-6 months to learning how to write copy.
I wouldn’t quit my day job and I’d only modify a few behaviors to cut down on unnecessary activities.
For 3-6 months I’d commit to waking up at 5am (and actually for me, this means committing to going to bed by 9pm). You might find it easier to eliminate watching TV at night.
I’d find a way to carve out 1-2 hours of free time each and every day.
Then I’d dive head first into copywriting for that short 3-month burst.
Before I tell you exactly how I’d “learn copywriting” let me tell you why and show you why defining your end goal above was such a useful activity.
If I want a business where I’m running a mailing list selling digital products what will I need?
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Landing pages (opt-in pages) to gather email addresses
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Emails to send
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Sales pages to sell my products
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Some form of traffic to send to my landing pages (paid traffic or affiliate traffic).
Surprise! All of these things require copywriting skills.
If you are a solopreneur running an online business and you’re NOT actively learning copywriting, you are screwing yourself over and leaving money on the table.
Now, the previous sentence might sound a little aggressive as advice, but I’m not saying you must learn aggressive direct response copy.
The type of copywriting that I’m teaching (and learning to write) these days is better defined as “writing in a way that makes people want to follow and buy from you”. I want my copy to be written across all mediums in a way that makes you say, “God I love this person and I want more from them”.
(If you’re new to the copywriting world, you might not realize how big of a departure this is from traditional industry advice.)
So, how would I learn copywriting if I was starting over from scratch?
I’m obviously biased, but the fastest and best way to “hard-wire” world class copywriting into your brain is my flagship copywriting course, CopyHour.
Enrollment opens once every quarter – and the next launch just so happens to be next week starting September 9th.
CopyHour is built on “the handwriting exercise” which you can read about for free here on the Gary Halbert Letter.
This exercise works wonders – but I don’t recommend you try doing it yourself…
Because, frankly, it’s hard.
CopyHour breaks it down into simple-to-use, tiny chunks – and strategically walks you through the fundamentals of world class copywriting while you do it (plus it goes well beyond the old letters Gary mentions).
I’ve run CopyHour for more than 10 years and my students have generated over $800mm with their copy since finishing it.
So if you want to get world class at writing copy that makes people say, “God I love this person and I want more from them”…
I highly recommend you enroll next week.
Alright, promo over.
If you want a mini copywriting lesson showing you how I’d write a simple sales letter…
I wrote a free 6 part series to my newsletter a while back on exactly that subject. I walked through writing a sales letter for a (fake) product from beginning to end. Here are all 6 parts:
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To recap:
If I was starting in business from zero, the first two things I’d do would be to:
- Clearly define what I want my business to look like AFTER it’s setup and running smoothly.
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Keep my day job but dedicate 3-6 months to learning copywriting.
Now, all this said, you don’t have to wait around for months and do nothing else business-related while you wait for your copywriting skills to level up.
You can also start doing what I’ll show you tomorrow – which is Step 2 of this 4-step plan.
We’ll talk about that tomorrow.
— Derek