Happy Monday! 

Welcome to the second week of "Escape Money X". 

We're working together to take you from "I'm building a personal brand on X" to "I'm building a fulfilling business that will leave a lasting impact". 

Over the past few weeks, we've spoken a ton about how Money X is a death spiral for so many creators. If you're not convinced, then check out my Last Rant on Money Twitter. 

And if this is the first article in the Escape Money X Series, teleport back to last week and start by finding your mission.

This week - we're refocusing on the "business" part of building a business. So many Twitter Growth/Personal Brand gurus have you focus on building a huge following and writing content. Very few of them actually help you focus on building a business. 

So that's what we're going to do today.

TLDR: Building an online business with a personal brand is the same thing as building a brick and mortar business. It's just cheaper and more scalable. So - to build a business, start thinking like one.

Did You Know: Every week - I provide an accompanying workbook with this newsletter. It will help guide you through each week so that this newsletter doesn't get added to the pile of advice you already have - but instead that you take action. 

Get this week's workbook here.

Building a Business Online = Building a Business IRL

I’m going to let you in on a little secret that the personal branding / twitter growth / solopreneur gurus don’t want you to know.

Building a business online is the same thing as building a physical business.

And they don’t want you to know because you just might remember that you already know how to build a business. And if you already know how to build a business, maybe you wouldn’t:

1. Spend all day on Money X getting confused by their contradictory advice.
2. Get excited by every little giveaway that x, y, or z is offering.
3. Purchase their coaching cohort for $3000.

I’m not knocking the hustle. I just see it for what it is.

I’ve spent the past 6 years of my life in Corporate America at the Director level. And that title comes with a lot of people trying to sell you things:

• Consulting
• Software
• SaaS
• Advice
• Coaching

And once you join enough of those sales calls, you learn a second secret:

Most people make simple things complicated. And business is simple.

Notice that I’m using the word simple. Not the word easy. There’s a reason for that. They’re different words.

• Going to the gym every day is simple.
  • You wake up.
  • You get clothes on.
  • You go to the gym and work out.
  • You go back home.
• Going to the gym every day is not easy.
  • You get sore.
  • Your body doesn’t want to.
  • You didn’t sleep enough.
  • Your diet needs to change.
  • You need to stop drinking.
  • etc.

The act of going to the gym every day is simple. You know exactly what you need to do. But to make a habit out of it – there are a number of challenges you will have to overcome. And overcoming challenges is perceptually difficult.

Business is the same type of thing.

Super simple, but perceptually difficult.

Let’s simplify it.

A Certified MBA in 1 Minute.

I’m not going to talk about the future of work. I’m not going to throw you acronyms to make myself sound smart like SaaS, B2B, B2C, PnL, COGS, or wtf ever. Nope – let’s make this super simple.

A business sells a solution to a problem that people have and are willing to pay to solve.

That’s it.

Now let’s break that sentence down into the three things a business needs:

• A problem.
• A Solution to that Problem.
• People, with money, who are willing to pay for that solution.

If you don’t have these questions answered, you might be building a hobby, creative outlet, or a non-profit. But you’re not building a business.

And now that you’ve read that – it feels obvious right? Was your first reaction “fucking, yeah – duh dude, I already knew that”. That would have been mine.

And you’re right. If you take nothing else away from this newsletter issue, remember this:

You actually already know how to do this. You already understand business. People are just trying to profit by making you feel like you don’t.

You’ve got this.

Unlock Your Solo Business with One Question.

Now – let’s move to taking some mfing action.

Before you answer this question, do whatever helps you clear your mind. Meditate. Go for a walk. Throw back a shot or two (idk).

And then for ten minutes, erase everything you’ve learned about online business. Don’t worry – it’ll be there when you get back.

Now, ask yourself this question:

If the internet didn’t exist, and I was building a business in the physical world:

What would I be focused on right now?

Sit on it.

And write down the next three steps you would take.

—

Now look at the actions you’re taking on a day to a day basis. Do they match up with what you’re currently doing?

Take Action

Now that’s a great question to unlock your real next steps.

But – if you’re looking to set the foundations of your business, there’s a bit more to think about.

For instance:

• How much money are you looking to make?
• How many clients would that take?
• How many clients can you handle?
• etc, etc, etc.

If you’re the type that would like to have a little planning than just three bullet points, this week’s workbook dives into some more details to set your intentions.

You can download that here.

Until next week!

Toodles,

Josh