Hey — It's Jay!

The other day I received an email from my 7th-grade teacher. She wanted to know how life's been in high school and that she missed me in her classes. It made my day.

So a challenge for you: What relationship have you let die due to being “too busy”, and how can you make their day?

Okay, now on to today's piece.

Estimated read time: 5 min

But before we begin... a message from a friend:

I've always been a self-sufficient person.

As a kid, I didn't like being told what to do. I would prefer to be by myself, in my little world: thinking, dreaming, and scheming about what tomorrow would bring.

So naturally, discovering the one-person business model appealed to me. "I can get paid to work on myself, share what I learn, and not have to answer to anyone?" It sounded too good to be true.

Well, almost 2 years later, I can confidently say, it isn't too good to be true. Because I'm living it. I've grown an audience of 150k+ people, created several digital offers, and now have a business model set up where the more I write, the more I earn.

The Power of The Internet

A few decades ago, the best way to create a better life for yourself was to follow the default career path.

Go to school. Get good grades. Get a safe job. Work for 40+ years. Retire.

There's nothing wrong with that path. In fact, if that's what you want... then great. The point I'm trying to make is this:

Most people go through their entire lives without ever asking, "What do I truly want?" And to me, that's the enemy: Conforming without ever knowing why.

Because of the internet, anyone with a phone and wifi connection can learn, build, and evolve themselves online. Anyone can turn themselves into a business.

You don't need hundreds of employees working for you. You don't need to build the next billion-dollar business. You don't need permission from anyone but yourself.

About the only thing you do need is the desire to start and the persistence to keep going. That's it! Can you feel my excitement?

There has never been a better time in the history of humankind to be an entrepreneur.

So how do you start?

The Foundational Skill

Start with writing. Why writing? Because writing is the foundation for communicating on the internet. Everything, and I mean everything, starts with writing:

• Blogs• Books• Tweets• Cold DMs• Sales pages• Video scripts• This newsletter

But on a deeper level, the act of writing forces you to clarify your thoughts. Writing exposes the gaps in your knowledge and logic. It pushes you to see alternate perspectives and predict counterarguments.

Writing is self-improvement in disguise.

"But Jay, what do I write about?"

Anything. Literally anything. But I understand that's a cop out answer. So let me give you 3 potential solutions:

1. Write to solve problems

Useful writing starts with a problem. Then throughout your writing, you guide your readers (and yourself) to the solution. Here's a quick template:

1. What's the problem? (What)

2. Why does it matter? (Why)

3. What do most people get wrong? (Wrong)

4. How do you achieve that solution in simple steps? (How)

The more essays you write, the more problems you solve. Eventually, you solve so many problems, you begin to see patterns, and as a byproduct become a clearer thinker.

2. Write to your former self

Oftentimes, you don't know what to write about because you don't know who you're writing to.

If you're unsure who you're target audience is, just write to yourself 2 years ago.

Kieran Drew calls this "Serving Your Shadow". You don't have to be an expert to write an essay, you just have to be 1-2 steps ahead of your former self.

Here's a quick template:

1. I used to think X. (before)

2. But after going through ABC. (bridge)

3. Now I think Y. (after)

4. Here's what I learned: (lessons)

Think of your writing as giving advice to your former self. The goal is to save them the trouble of going through all the trials and tribulations you had to go through.

3. Write to explore new ideas

Many people think you need to have ideas before you write. But in reality, you write to discover ideas. Writing isn't just expression, it's exploration. As you write, your mind forms connections between seemingly unrelated things to form a sentence.

With each sentence you write, you venture further into the unknown. You take yourself on a journey of discovery, and in turn, your audience as well. Does that make sense? In essence, you learn with your audience. Here's a great example of writing to explore by Julian Shapiro.

Okay, let's pause.

Let's take inventory of what we've covered so far: The power of the internet, why you should learn writing, and what to write about. But how do you monetize your writing? How do you start your solo writing business?

7 Steps to Start Your Solo Writing Business

1) Pick a topic to write about

It can be anything. Preferably, a topic you can't stop thinking about. But start broad (you can always niche down later).

Next? Immerse yourself in that topic. Follow The DRIIP Method and gain a basic awareness of your topic.

2) Audit your content diet

We've all heard the cliche saying, "You are what you consume." But that applies to what you consume mentally as well. Just as an athlete watches what they feed their body, the best writers have a tight filter of what they let in their mind.

If you want to think differently, you have to consume differently.

My quick rule is this:

• Long-form > Short-form• Timeless > Timely• Books > Scrolling

Guard your mind at all costs.

3) Build a note-taking system

Your notes are the foundation of your writing. This newsletter itself is the byproduct of the countless notes I've taken over the past 2 years. If you come across something interesting, write it down.

Your system should contain 3 parts:

1. Quick capture (Can you quickly write it down?)

2. Categorization (Can you organize your notes?)

3. Ease of application (Can you actually use your notes?)

Are you reading something every day? Are you taking notes of what you learn every day? And are you writing every day? If you're not, then don't ask me how to be a better writer. Do the work.

4) Sign up for a writing platform

Don't overcomplicate this step. Pick a platform and start writing. I use Beehiiv because it allows me to archive my newsletters so I can share them with those who have questions.

Do your own light research but don't get stuck on this step. Onward.

5) Learn how to network

Writing is only half the game. The other half is distribution. If no one sees your writing, you won't grow. As a one-person business, you are the entire marketing and PR department.

I won't go too in-depth about networking because I already wrote about it here. But here are 3 quick tips:

1. High value people attract high value people

2. Give without expectations

3. Shoot your shot

6) Study marketing and sales

In step 1, I said you can write about anything. That was only half true. You can write about anything... so long as you study marketing and sales so you can build a business off of it.

Being "passionate" is not enough. You have to understand what captures attention, why people buy, and how to apply psychology to your business (I'll dive deeper into this topic in a future newsletter).

7) Learn how to multiply your content

The difference between traditional writing and digital writing is leverage. What does that mean? It means you can write once, but distribute infinitely. I wrote this newsletter last night, but you (and thousands of others) are reading this right now.

Then, I "multiplied" this newsletter by breaking it up and distributing it on exploration platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

That attracts more people to my newsletter creating a flywheel effect. The more I write, the more people I attract. The more people I attract, the more people see my offers. The more people see my offers, the more I earn.

This is the concept of the one-person business model: Become valuable, share free knowledge with the 99%, and make a living from the 1% who want to dive deeper.

And the longer you write online, the faster it all compounds.

(btw you can get my Content Multiplication System for $45 off using code: TWITTER30)

Last Words

I want to end with a disclaimer: This path isn't for everyone. I don't know who you are or what stage of life you're in. Maybe you joined this newsletter out of curiosity. Or maybe you know me personally.

What I do know is this: The world is changing. You've felt it. I've felt it. And no matter what we do... change will happen. You can choose to hate it, ignore it, or capitalize it. The only thing you can't do is prevent it. It's happening.

If you do want to build a sovereign one-person business that allows you to get paid to self-improve and help others, then stick with me.

In the coming newsletters, I'll deconstruct EVERYTHING about this business model, from the personal side: lifestyle design, holistic health, and perspective changes. To the business side: stacking skills, crafting offers, and positioning.

Jay "Change Is Coming... Are You Prepared?" Yang

LAST WEEK'S FEEDBACK

JAY'S PICKS: 🔥

• 🐦 Everyone is gambling by James Clear

• 🎙️ Billy Oppenheimer on The Danny Miranda Podcast

• 🎥 How to get your ideas to spread by Seth Godin

• 📝 Change of Scenery (I love these lil parables)

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