If I could start over my 9-5 prison break, this is how I'd do it differently

Hey friend,

After missing in action for a whole year, I pulled a rabbit out of the proverbial hat last week and magically reappeared in your inbox.
Missed last week’s letter of apology?
Tune into the highlights of my 2023, catch up here.

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Investing the most precious of resources known to man. Time.

In collaboration with these Creative Flow Inducing Tunes:

TLDR;

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll look at why I’d start my solopreneurial journey differently and give you an actionable roadmap I’d follow.

Regardless if you’re already leading a creative business or eager to kickstart one.

When you design it in the “correct order”, you experience unimaginable levels of freedom and joy.

While doing meaningful and fulfilling work, and avoiding unnecessary stress and burnout. Because you didn’t unintentionally build another full-time job for yourself.

The internet is exploding with business coaches and marketing gurus and you’re still early. The creator economy is predicted to double in size to $ half a trillion by 2027.

That’s great news.
And it comes at a price.
The price of generic advice and silver bullet solutions.

To make matters worse, the rise of AI-generated content is flooding your feed.

You already see it.
Perhaps you tried some of this advice yourself.

Truth is, there’s no 1 way of building the life of YOUR dreams.

If the consultant/coach/course creator/guru is any good, they’ll give you the prescriptions and strategies for implementing their process. And offering support to make sure you act and remain accountable.

But here’s the problem.

No surface-level strategy or tactic will ensure you break your familiar pattern.

What worked for them might not work for you.

And when you don’t see immediate results it’s the quickest way back to old patterns.

This is the secret:

It’s not about the business.

Not your business model.
Not your strategy.
No your tactic.
Not a thing.

It’s YOU.

This is what I learned from years of trial and error on my entrepreneurial journey.
Especially in the past 2+ years of building conscious creator communities and educational platforms.

This is how I’d do it if I had to start from scratch.

P.S.
The irony of me handing you a strategy while saying it’s not the strategy is not lost on me.
Here’s the key difference.
It’s the sequence.
It starts with the step that 99% of internet advice overlooks.

Step 0: Know thyself! AKA get clear about YOU

This could be a no-brainer for you but I often see people lacking awareness about the importance and impact of this realization.

One of the main reasons for my deep dissatisfaction with each Corporate role I ever played was feeling out of place.

Like an alien.

Quarterly planning and strategizing to make our stockholders richer was never a motivating factor for me.

No performance reward, bonus, or commission scheme.

What I dreamt of (and was scared shitless to act on) was deeply fulfilling work.

I yearned for freedom from the soulless routine.

Daydreaming of sharing my “weird” obsession with:

• The Socratic Method and Philosophy

• The Occult, Magick, and Ritual Psychonautics

• Ancient Civilizations, History, and Jungian Psychology

• Esoteric Traditions, Astrotheology, and Archetypal Models

• Visions of a Consciously superior and evolved Human Civilization

You know. The casual Monday Morning Chat.
Minus my colleague’s puzzled face and the uncomfortable silence that follows.

I don’t think I have an Iota of patience for one of those conversations where I have to explain/convince someone about the basic building blocks of the existential predicament and where our commonly held cultural assumptions miss the mark.

I think you get the point.

You have to get CLEAR about what fills your cup. And equally, so what drains it?

This is the secret: Find your Tribe!

How do you know you found them?

On your first Zoom call, you feel like you’ve known them forever and can’t stop talking about all of the wonderful things you’re excited about neither can they.

Step 1: Join a Mastermind / Private Community

When you’re clear about your values, interests, and the type of people who leave you better than they found you. Recharged and energized after a conversation.

It’s now time to put your researcher hat on and find groups, paid or free communities, and masterminds that you naturally gravitate toward.

Chances are, you’re already a member of many but never considered your source of income could be connected to the things you’re naturally curious about.

PRO TIP

Paid communities would be my preferred choice because of the higher quality connections of members more committed to the cause.

SAGE-LEVEL TIP

Focus on 1 or 2 groups max.

You want to show up consistently. The level of energy you bring to the space will directly reflect the depth of connections you’ll be able to cultivate.

Quality over Quantity any time.

My friend George (with whom we share 2 such communities) says it best “Relationships beat Algorithms”.

• Start connecting over group and 1:1 Zoom calls. I’d aim for 2 calls per week minimum.

• Start cultivating depth instead of breadth of relationships.

• Listen attentively and lead with curiosity

• What common pain points and aspirations emerge?

• What are they saying (Get into the habit of writing it down in their exact words)
  I use Notion as my 2nd Brain and store every conversation and idea there.

Step 2: Build a Hypothesis and Experiment

• In a few weeks, you’ll gather a treasure trove of actionable insights

• Match your skills and experience with the biggest pains/hair-on-fire problems and desired outcomes

• If you haven’t solved that problem yet, get cracking.

• You don’t need everything figured out before getting started. It’s a common trap you’d best avoid.

• You’ll develop new skills and fuse your existing ones in unexpected ways

• Document the journey and synthesize the process for overcoming the problem

Step 3: Start a simple service business

• Reach out to your communities and network offering the solution and run them through the process in exchange for feedback and testimonials

• Use the data to refine the process and build a simple landing page

• Record a 45-minute video documenting a step-by-step process for a narrow problem (Like the simplest first step in a longer journey from A to B)

• Plug it into the landing page in exchange for an email.

• Create a cal.com or calendly.com booking link and plug it into your social media profiles with an invitation to your 1:1 service sessions

• Create a learning feedback loop and document major milestones and challenges your clients go through during your consultation/coaching sessions.

• Start a weekly newsletter/podcast and share about your learnings and obstacles you helped your clients overcome

• Repurpose the weekly newsletter/podcast content into short form and start building an audience on your chosen social media platform.

Summary

• Join a Mastermind

• Build a Hypothesis

• Start a service-based business

• Start a (weekly) newsletter/podcast

• Distribute repurposed long-2-short form content on socials

Want to Dive Deeper?

If you're ready to take your purpose-driven business to the next level and build an online ecosystem that supports your dream lifestyle, consider working with me 1:1.

I’m currently available to take on 1 more client so if that’s you, I’d love to chat and explore potential collaboration. Book a 45-minute call on my calendar.

If you’re starting from ZERO,
These are your next steps

Ready to architect a purpose-driven creative business?

Here's what to do next:

1. Identify and join a community aligned with your values (paid or free)

2. Write a stellar intro post and slide it into the comment sections to start building relationships

3. Make it a habit to move the conversation into DMs (Pro tip, use voice or video) and start scheduling 1:1 Zoom calls

4. Don’t try to sell anything for god’s sake, lead with curiosity and learn about what common challenges and aspirations emerge

5. Clarify your skillset or how you overcame this challenge and record a 45 min workshop with a step-by-step process

6. Offer it to the community and to those you have talked to already in exchange for feedback and testimonials

7. Build a simple scheduling link and start offering 1:1 coaching calls

A side note:

If you made it down here it could mean a few things.

1. You loved reading this, know me personally, and/or know why you got this email.

2. You have NO CLUE why this got into your inbox and wonder “Who is this guy?”

Before I dropped off the digital edge for a whole year, you either did a course or a mastermind, joined one of my events, or signed up directly for the newsletter.

I have no love for SPAM (unwanted email or canned food-like substances) and despise spammers. If this affair is about to become yet another unopened weekly in your inbox, do us both a favor. Know that I love you still and unsubscribe.

Let me get clear about my metaphysics.
Creativity is to being human as an apple is to an apple tree.

All esoteric pursuit leads to the conscious realization of your creative self-expression.
Business is a vehicle to get you there faster than it takes a Tesla to go from 0 to 100. :)

If what got you here was your interest in personal development, the esoteric, and the occult, and have ZERO appetite for being a so(u)lopreneur or esoteric entrepreneur. Know that I love you and smash that unsubscribe button below :)

See you next weekend.
Keep an eye out for (⚡️in the subject line )

In Your Creative Corner,
Aleksander Brankov