Have you been wanting to build your own 6- to 7-figure business…
…But are afraid you need the perfect idea, a huge audience, or to quit your job first?
Here’s the truth:
You don’t. And I’m proof.
I built my first online coaching business to six figures WHILE working a busy 9-5.
After I turned in my notice, I built my current business to $1.1 million in sales…in less than a year.
In the decade since then, we’ve grown to eight figures—while helping 3,500+ clients through my coaching programs and digital courses to build their own dream business.
But first, I failed. A lot.
And those failures taught me what actually works.
In this article, I’ll share my exact path from zero to 7 figures—and the steps you can start using today, even if you’re starting from scratch.

Because yes, you can build a profitable business – even if you’re incredibly busy and don’t have a business idea yet.
Maybe you’re exactly where I was: making good money at what you thought was your dream job. But there’s that nagging voice in your head asking:
“Is this really it?”
You know you’re capable of so much more. You know building your own business could transform everything—your freedom, your income, and your sense of purpose.
That’s exactly how I felt when I started my first online business.
At the time, I was managing millions at a hot New York tech startup. On paper, I’d achieved everything my Asian immigrant parents had hoped for—but something was missing. I was still just trading my time, and life, to build someone else’s dream.
But like you might also be feeling, I couldn’t just up and quit!
Yes, I was busy and didn’t feel like I had time to build a business on the side — but I’d also worked too hard to risk my career.
So I got strategic. I knew that my business needed to be:
- Scalable without consuming all my time
- Low cost to start and run
- Highly profitable from day one
- Built on my existing skills
- Flexible around my schedule
- Meaningful and impactful
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An online coaching business checked every box. As you’ll see, it’s one of the few business models that doesn’t require:
- A huge social media following
- Complex technical skills
- Tons of startup capital
- 60-hour workweeks
And no, you definitely don’t need to be a “natural-born entrepreneur” either.
As an introvert with zero entrepreneurial role models growing up, I used to doubt I had what it took. But by taking one step at a time, I was able to build a business faster than I had dreamed possible.
In the end, my path to seven figures came down to five key decisions that not only built a million-dollar business in under a year but also created true freedom – what I call a Freedom Business:
Decision 1: Finding your perfect business idea (using a surprisingly simple formula)
Decision 2: Building a profitable business fast with coaching
Decision 3: Scaling with your first online course
Decision 4: Expanding with your second online course
Decision 5: Using momentum to grow past $1 million
Let’s start with Decision 1…
PS: Want to get started even faster? I’ve condensed the most important steps into a 10-minute video that shows you how to launch your own business in just 24 hours.
Step 1: Finding the right business idea
Getting started and figuring out my business idea was the toughest part. I wasn’t sure what I could offer, and it took a few attempts before I landed on the “right” idea.
Attempt #1: Choosing a business idea that seemed “easy”
My goal was to leave my job as quickly as possible, so choosing the “easiest” business idea felt like the right move. (Spoiler: it definitely wasn’t.)
For me, that meant teaching people how to use Microsoft Excel. I’d seen several six- and seven-figure businesses offering consulting or courses on Excel, and I thought, “I do this every day at work, and I’m good at it. If they can do it, so can I.”
As it turns out, there are no “easy” business ideas. 🤷🏻♀️
Because I was so focused on finding the quickest way out of my job rather than building a business that solved a problem, I set myself up for failure. I skipped researching my market and my customers entirely.
Worse, I expected instant success, which left me unprepared for the inevitable setbacks every business faces.
I had no plan, no clear idea of who my audience was, how to connect with them, or what products they’d even want.
Hardly surprising, I couldn’t find a single potential client.
On top of that, I completely overlooked the fact that I spent my entire workday in Excel and had zero interest in spending my free time…thinking about Excel.
Without even realizing it, I’d set myself up to spend all my time on the most boring part of my day job.
Working on my business felt like such a chore that I kept putting it off, to the point where it took me over three weeks just to write a single blog post for my personal site.
After a month of working on this business, I realized it wasn’t going to work—for all the reasons I just mentioned—and started searching for the next idea.
Luckily, I learned from my first attempt and actually researched my market and customers this time.
Unfortunately, despite those efforts, my second attempt was also doomed to fail…
Attempt #2: Choosing a business idea I was good at, but didn’t enjoy
Your business idea doesn’t have to be your life’s passion, but it should be something you enjoy. That’s a lesson I overlooked with my next attempt.
When I went back to brainstorming what I could offer, I realized people often asked me about my career—how I switched industries, negotiated a six-figure salary, and landed a managerial role at such a young age.
And just like that, I had my second business idea:
Career coaching.
This time, I took a smarter approach. I did market research and spoke directly to the people who’d been asking me for career advice to understand their challenges and career goals.
At the end of each conversation, I asked a simple question: “Would you be willing to pay for help to get a better job or salary?”
Out of the five people I asked, two said yes. I offered to coach them for a small fee—$300 for a month of coaching with weekly calls—because I wasn’t comfortable charging people I knew. (I seriously undercharged, but hey, I was officially in business!)
Things were going well—until I hit a major roadblock.
I realized I absolutely hated giving career advice. Every time I helped a client, all I wanted to say was:
“Forget chasing your career! In a few years, you’ll probably feel like me and want to do your own thing.”
It didn’t sit right with me, and I knew I couldn’t keep spending my time helping others climb a path I no longer believed in.
Attempt #3: My last and final attempt: A profitable business idea I actually enjoyed!
After two failed attempts, I was feeling pretty discouraged, wondering if I’d ever find a business idea that truly worked for me. I also doubted whether I had any other “sellable” skills to offer.
Fortunately, I did. And I figured it out thanks to a chance conversation.
I had hired a copywriter to help me create content for my career coaching site, and out of curiosity, I asked her where she found most of her clients.
“Facebook groups,” she said.
At the time, Facebook groups were growing fast. But I was completely oblivious to the fact that they would be a good place to find clients.
So, intrigued to learn more, I asked for her favorite group and immediately joined it. As I browsed through the posts, something stood out: there were tons of questions about how to manage paid advertising.
That’s when it hit me—I was in the perfect position to help. My day job at the time was in digital advertising, and I spent my days managing and analyzing ad campaigns.
And that’s how my third business idea was born: digital advertising consulting.
💡Quick note: While Facebook groups aren’t as trendy as they were back then, the strategy I used works even better today.
Whether your clients hang out on LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, or Instagram, there’s a place for your offer. And don’t limit yourself to just social media either–WhatsApp, Discord, and niche online groups are also communities you can use to start your business.
As you’ll see, the same steps I took to build my business work on any platform. (Not to mention that thousands of my clients have used them on various platforms–and even offline–to successfully start their businesses.)
Step 2: Building a profitable business FAST with coaching
When I launched my business, I was starting completely from scratch. I didn’t have a following, any brand recognition, or even a shred of social proof—no endorsements, client success stories, or anything to prove I was “legit” and worth hiring.
Because of that, I knew my first offer had to do two things:
- Build social proof for my business
- Generate as much upfront revenue as possible so I could reinvest and grow faster (more on that later)
It also needed to be something I could build relatively quickly—without spending months building an audience or investing tons of money before making my first sale.
And that’s how my first “product” came to life: coaching.
I knew coaching would allow me to help my clients achieve fast, tangible results—building social proof for my business—while also maximizing my revenue upfront because of the premium I could charge for one-on-one attention.
Having figured out where my audience hung out, I started spending all my free time in Facebook groups. During lunch breaks, evenings, and weekends, I shared valuable content and answered as many questions as I could about advertising.
That’s how I landed my first client.
A woman I’d been helping for free—answering her questions about how to set up a basic advertising campaign—asked me how she could work with me. When I quoted her my price—$5,000 for six months, based on my hourly salary—she didn’t even hesitate.
“I’m in,” she said.
Encouraged by this first sale, I started pitching my offer more frequently—only to hear the same response over and over: “You’re too expensive.”
I quickly realized why landing my first client had been so easy: I’d spent so much time and effort helping her. By the time I shared my price, she already understood the value she’d get compared to the investment.
But when I started pitching without offering any value first, my audience couldn’t see past the price because they didn’t yet understand the impact my advice could have.
So I went back to what had worked: offering free guidance before pitching my services.
However, I knew working for free indefinitely wasn’t sustainable, so I tested a new approach: offering one-time, 30-minute free sessions. During these calls, I’d answer questions about advertising or review someone’s campaigns in detail for 30 minutes.
To promote these sessions, I posted in the Facebook groups I was part of, using a template like this:
- Start with an attention-grabber, like a question addressing a key pain point or goal.
- Introduce the free 30-minute session right away, noting that spots are limited and first come, first served.
- Highlight two to three challenges clients typically face and how I could help.
- Include a strong call to action, such as “Comment or PM me to schedule your call.”
- Briefly introduce myself to establish credibility.
At the start of each call, I set expectations by saying:
“The goal of this call is to answer your #1 question about your advertising campaign. If you get value from it and it feels like a good fit, I’d love to discuss how I can continue helping you achieve even better results. Does that sound good?”
This way, we were both clear on the goals for the call.
After I had delivered on the free guidance I’d promised, I’d wrap up by asking:
“Do you feel you got a lot of value from this call? If so, what stood out to you? I know your goals are to [specific goal], and considering how much we accomplished in just 30 minutes, I’d love to help you even more. Would you like to hear about how we could work together?”
If they said yes, I’d present my one-on-one offer.
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In addition to offering these free sessions, a few key strategies helped me build momentum quickly during this phase:
1. Start with what you know
I see this all the time – entrepreneurs trying to build businesses around their “passions” when they don’t know the first thing about the industry.
Now, don’t get me wrong—doing what you love is great. But here’s the thing: success often starts with leveraging what you already know.
Take it from me.
The reason I was able to quickly build trust with my audience through my free work, and thus grow my business quickly, was because of my ability to deliver real results for their Facebook ad campaigns, developed from my job experience.
2. Be consistent
When I was starting out, I didn’t just show up once and hope for the best. I was in Facebook groups multiple times a day—answering questions, sharing insights, and when it made sense, offering paid coaching on advertising.
Consistency kept me visible and top of mind for potential clients. By the time they booked a free 30-minute session with me, many would say something like, “I’ve seen your posts and can tell you really know your stuff.”
3. Be human
When I first started putting content out there, I thought it was all about the information. The more I shared, the better my posts would perform—or so I thought.
That’s why I used to write long, dry posts like this:
Not surprisingly, they barely got any engagement.
But as I experimented with different approaches, I realized that people don’t just want information. They want connection.
So, I switched it up. I started sharing stories, throwing in pop culture references, and making my posts shorter and more conversational–and my posts took off:
4. Adapt to market demand
When I kept hearing, “You’re too expensive,” I realized I had two choices: I could stubbornly stick to my pricing and wait for the right client to say “yes,” or I could lower my price to meet the market where it was.
Lowering my coaching fee wasn’t an easy decision. It meant earning less per hour than I had in my 9-to-5. But I saw the bigger picture: reducing my price would help me land more clients quickly, build credibility through social proof, and position myself for long-term success.
So, even though a lot of people say you should never lower your price, I chose to prioritize growth over short-term profit. I offered a new three-month one-on-one package for $1,500.
The result? Within weeks, I landed two new clients.
Once I had the testimonials and confidence I needed, I was able to raise my price back up to $5,000 and never had to drop it again.
🚀 Result: Within 4 months, my business had grown to $106,000 in sales.
Step 3: Increasing my income with my first online course
After maxing out one-on-one clients, I knew I needed to change something.
At the same time, my business was evolving in a new direction. As it had grown, I’d begun to attract aspiring entrepreneurs who wanted my advice for building their own businesses.
So I took the logical next step.
Taking everything I’d learned about the online business world over the past year (and a few other businesses I had worked on a few years earlier), I created a product that could help more people without requiring more of my time: a seven-week course called Your First Paying Clients.
Here’s the process I used to successfully launch my first course.
1. Start small: Build a bite-sized first course
When you’re creating your first digital product, don’t fall into the trap of trying to build a massive “everything-you-need-to-know” signature course. Instead, focus on something smaller—a course that covers just a slice of your expertise.
Why? Because a smaller course sets you up with a triple-win:
- It’s easier to sell. Less commitment = lower barrier for buyers.
- It’s easier to create. No all-nighters trying to teach everything.
- It’s easier for students to implement. Quick wins for them = glowing testimonials for you.
My first course was exactly that: a straightforward seven-week program designed to help my students land their first paying clients as a coach or consultant. Nothing fancy, but it delivered results.
When it came to pricing, I didn’t overcomplicate it.
A quick Google search showed four main pricing tiers for online courses: under $500, $1,000, $2,000, and $2,000+. I went with the under $500 tier to make it easy to sell but priced it at the top end—$497—to maximize revenue.
2. Engage directly with your audience
At the time, my email list was tiny—fewer than 300 subscribers. On paper, my course launch should’ve been a flop.
But I had a secret weapon: social media communities. Specifically, in my case, Facebook groups. I’d already seen how powerful they were for building relationships, so I created my own group to sell my course.
What’s more, I was very strategic about how I used my group:
1. I ran a live five-day challenge
The challenge was simple but effective.
Each day, participants completed prompts designed to help them land their first paying clients. The tasks were fun and easy, which kept people engaged.
To add a little extra motivation, I introduced a points system where participants earned points for completing each day’s task.
2. I led by example
I responded to every post and comment during the challenge. This wasn’t just about being polite—it was about setting the tone.
My active participation encouraged others to join in, creating a super-engaged group by the end of the challenge.
3. I built trust
By the end of the challenge, participants weren’t just engaged—they appreciated what I had to share. They’d gotten real value from the challenge and were excited to see what I had to offer next.
4. I opened the doors to my course
At the end of the challenge, I announced the launch of my course and shared the sales page. I kept enrollment open for two weeks, during which I stayed active in the group, using multiple strategies to promote the course:
Social proof:
I welcomed new students into the group and shared why they’d joined.
Personal outreach:
I invited group members to schedule calls with me to discuss whether the course was the right fit for them.
I ended up having 30 calls during those 12 days. Every single person who signed up for the course did so after one of these calls.
3. Invest to grow: Spend money to make money
When it comes to selling, there’s a general rule: you can expect a 1–3% sales conversion rate for your audience. In simple terms, for every 100 qualified people, you might make one to three sales.
I set a goal of 10 sales for my course. Using a conservative 1% conversion estimate, that meant I needed an audience of at least 1,000 people.
But the problem was: my email list at the time had fewer than 300 people. I needed to find 700 more, and fast.
That’s when I turned to paid ads.
One lesson many new entrepreneurs overlook is this: nothing is truly free. Whether it’s time or money, everything comes with a cost.
In my case, I didn’t have a lot of time, but I did have income from my one-on-one work.
So, I took $2,000 of what I’d earned and invested it in Facebook ads to grow my audience. Those ads were designed to drive sign-ups for my five-day challenge, and they worked—I added 500 new people to my email list almost immediately.
I don’t have the original ads from that campaign, but here’s an example from a similar one I ran later:
The ad linked to a simple sign-up page, where people could join the challenge.
4. Overdeliver on your promises
Many new entrepreneurs think the hard work is done once the launch ends. But the truth is: to keep that sale—and turn happy customers into repeat buyers—you need to deliver and overdeliver on what you promised.
I made it my mission to go above and beyond for my students. Here’s what that looked like:
- Private Facebook group: I created an exclusive group for my students and showed up every single day during the seven weeks of the course, answering every question and offering guidance.
- Personal email support: I personally responded to every student email, making sure they felt supported and got the clarity they needed.
Because of this hands-on support, my students achieved incredible results.
Which leads me to the final step…
5. Upsell with intention and trust
Two weeks before my course ended, I started reaching out to my students individually. The goal? To schedule one-on-one calls to discuss their results from the course and what they wanted to achieve next.
On those calls, I kept it simple. I asked if they were happy with their results (spoiler: they were) and what their next big goal was.
Unsurprisingly, most of them said they wanted to land more clients.
That’s when I shared how I could help them take that next step—either through my $5K one-on-one coaching program or my upcoming, more comprehensive course, which would launch in two months.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t use high-pressure tactics or fancy sales strategies. I didn’t need to. The relationships and trust I’d built over the course of seven weeks did all the heavy lifting.
So, at the end of the course, five out of the 16 students decided to take the next step with me:
- Three enrolled in my $5K one-on-one coaching program.
- Two signed up for the more comprehensive $3K course I was planning to launch two months later.
This added over $20K in additional revenue—all because I added in an upsell.
🚀 Result: My first course launch brought in over $30,000—$8,000 from initial course sales and $20,000+ from upsells after the course wrapped.
Step 4: Scaling my business with my second online course
By this point, I’d crossed six figures in my business and was ready to scale faster. With my first course launch under my belt, I felt confident enough to set an ambitious goal: a $100,000 launch.
But I quickly realized something: hitting $100K with a $500 course meant getting 200 clients. Assuming a 1% conversion rate, that would require an email list of 20,000 people.
With just over 1,000 subscribers on my list, I knew that approach wasn’t going to work.
The solution? A higher-priced product.
That’s how my signature course, Employee to Entrepreneur, was born—a comprehensive program teaching everything I’d learned, tested, and done while working with one-on-one clients.
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I stuck to the same core principles that worked for my first course launch, but I also leveled up my strategy in a few key ways to double my total sales within weeks:
1. Focus on value, not price
When pricing a course, it’s easy to default to the “industry standard.” For high-end courses, that’s typically $2,000. But I didn’t let that dictate my decision. Instead, I asked myself what felt right—and landed on $3,000.
This wasn’t a deeply scientific process. I spent about five minutes jotting down price points and picked the one that felt best.
From there, I shifted my focus entirely away from pricing and zeroed in on delivering exceptional value.
Here’s how:
- Content: I carefully mapped out every step my students needed to take to transition from employee to entrepreneur, starting from scratch. The result was a comprehensive, step-by-step system covering everything from gaining clarity to scaling a business with one-on-one clients.
- Ease: I knew firsthand how limited time and energy can be for employees trying to build a side hustle. So, I designed the course to be as easy to consume and implement as possible. Most videos were under 10 minutes, and each lesson came with a clear, actionable to-do list so students always knew their next step.
- Support: I went all-in on supporting my students. Once again, I was active daily in the students-only Facebook group, answering every question. I also hosted a six-hour group implementation day midway through the course, where I reviewed students’ websites, marketing plans, and sales strategies. This not only held them accountable but ensured they were set up for success.
By focusing on creating an unparalleled learning experience, I received incredible feedback from students—feedback that validated the effort I’d put into making Employee to Entrepreneur a game-changer.
Lesson learned: Pricing matters, but value matters more. When you obsess over delivering results, the price becomes secondary to the transformation your course provides.
2. Know your numbers
To hit my $100K goal, I needed to grow my audience, and at the time, paid advertising was the fastest way to do that. But before diving in, I worked backward to calculate exactly what I needed:
- At $3,000 per sale, I would’ve needed to make 33 sales to reach $100,000.
- Assuming a 1% sales conversion rate, that meant I’d need an audience of 3,300 people.
- Factoring in that it would cost about $3 to acquire a new subscriber, I estimated I’d need to spend $10,000 on ads to add over 3,000 people to my email list.
So, I took the leap. I invested $10,000—10% of all the revenue I’d made up to that point—into Facebook ads focused on driving sign-ups for my pre-launch challenge.
And I added nearly 3,000 new subscribers to my list.
It was a big, calculated risk, but it paid off. Without taking the time to run the numbers, I wouldn’t have had the clarity or confidence to make that investment.
3. Go deeper, not broader
For my second launch, I didn’t start from scratch. Instead, I decided to build on the success of my first course. This approach came with two key advantages:
- Instant credibility: My new course included all the content from my first course, which allowed me to leverage the existing testimonials and results from my previous students. This added an immediate layer of trust and credibility to the new offer.
- A better product: By expanding on an existing course instead of creating something entirely new, I could focus my energy on improving and enhancing the content. The result was a more comprehensive, polished product that offered even more value to my students.
This decision allowed me to provide a better experience for my clients without the stress of starting all over:
🚀 Result: Ultimately, I had made $101,000 from 33 sales during this launch.
Step 5: Using my momentum to grow to over $1 million
By this point, I’d hit nearly $300K in sales—a fantastic first year by any standard. But I couldn’t help asking myself: Why stop here?
I decided to set an audacious goal: a million-dollar launch. Not because I needed to, but because it felt like an exciting challenge. With my signature course and two successful launches under my belt, I knew the foundation was solid.
The plan? Relaunch my existing course, but this time, go bigger and better.
Here are the top three strategies I used:
Spoiler: I didn’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, I doubled down on what I already knew worked and optimized it for scale.
1. Breaking the launch into three phases
For my third launch, I divided the process into three clear phases:
- Pre-launch
- Live challenge
- Launch
Here’s how I approached each phase in detail:
Pre-launch
In my first two launches, I kept it simple: I ran a live challenge and announced my course at the end.
But for this launch, I took a different approach by spending significantly more time priming my audience before the challenge even began.
Two weeks before promoting the challenge, I started sharing strategic content across posts and emails. These stories focused on how I’d made over $100K in coaching sales before leaving my job, while also weaving in more personal elements of my journey—things I’d never shared before.
This content resonated deeply with my audience. It connected with their challenges and aspirations, building excitement and emotional investment in my course.
By the time the challenge officially launched, my audience was more engaged and ready to act than ever before.
Live challenge
For my third launch, I refined my live challenge based on what I’d learned from my two previous ones. This is what I did differently:
1. Increased the challenge length
Previously, my challenges were five days long. This time, I extended it to 10 days to give participants more time to implement the prompts and see tangible results.
While the extended length felt a bit long for me personally, it had a significant upside: participants had more opportunities to experience small wins, which built trust and confidence in me as a coach.
For example, one challenge prompt was to pitch a guest post, and the extra time allowed many participants to see results before the challenge ended:
2. Mentioned my course during the challenge
In my earlier challenges, I avoided mentioning my course, thinking it might come across as too “salesy.” But this led to confusion—many participants didn’t even realize I had a course to offer!
To fix this, I started introducing my course as early as day four of the challenge. These mentions were short and subtle, included in the daily emails, and designed to build anticipation without being pushy.
3. Added daily video livestreams
With livestreams gaining popularity, I saw an opportunity to connect with my audience in real time. I added one-hour daily livestream trainings that expanded on each day’s challenge prompt.
This added a personal touch, increased engagement, and accelerated the relationship-building process. It also allowed participants to ask questions and feel more connected to the process.
4. Stuck with what worked
I kept the strategies that had been effective in previous challenges, like personally responding to every participant, using a points system to motivate completion, and keeping prompts simple and fun.
The results spoke for themselves: this 10-day Weekend Empire challenge brought in over $100K in sales on the final day alone when my Employee to Entrepreneur course opened for purchase.
Launch
For the launch itself, I incorporated lessons from my first two launches and made a few strategic adjustments:
1. Extended the course availability
In previous launches, the course cart was only open for two weeks. This time, I extended it to six weeks to see if this shift would increase sales.
2. Introduced a webinar series
To keep the six-week launch period engaging and fresh, I hosted a series of four webinars. Each focused on a different topic to highlight elements of the course:
- How I built a six-figure business before leaving my job
- How to run a webinar
- How to build your email list
- How to successfully conduct a sales call
These webinars kept my audience interested throughout the launch and allowed me to address their questions and concerns in real time.
3. Highlighted more social proof
By this time, I had more success stories from past students, which allowed me to showcase additional testimonials.
I even hosted a live student Q&A session with five former students to answer common questions about the course.
Here’s my exact launch calendar that summarizes what I did and when:
- April 2: Started Weekend Empire Challenge
- April 12: Employee to Entrepreneur course available for purchase
- April 20: Webinar 1
- April 27: Webinar 2
- May 12: Webinar 3
- May 16: Webinar 4
- May 22: Cart closed
2. Taking a calculated risk for a big potential payoff
I knew that to hit my goal (I was aiming for a $1 million launch), I would need to invest about $80K into building my audience via paid advertising. It felt incredibly scary, and I found myself often questioning my sanity during my launch, but once again, the potential payoff outweighed the risk.
That said, I’ve always been a believer in taking calculated risks.
I wasn’t about to gamble with an amount I couldn’t recover from. To minimize the potential downside, I broke my $80K budget into phases, allowing me to adjust and optimize along the way.
Phase 1: Challenge sign-ups ($30,000)
My business credit card had a $30K limit, so I spent that upfront on driving participants to my challenge. This ensured I’d have a solid audience foundation right from the start.
Phase 2: Webinar sign-ups ($50,000)
The remaining $50K was allocated to driving sign-ups for the four webinars in my series. However, the spend wasn’t evenly distributed—I front-loaded the budget to maximize exposure early in the launch. This gave participants more time to consider enrolling in my course.
Here’s a breakout of how I spent my advertising budget:
- Webinar 1 sign-ups: $20,000
- Webinar 2 sign-ups: $15,000
- Webinar 3 sign-ups: $10,000
- Webinar 4 sign-ups: $5,000
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3. Leveraging existing assets
One of the keys to my success during this launch was maximizing the value of assets I’d already created. Specifically, I leveraged my first course, Your First Paying Clients, in two strategic ways that significantly boosted sales:
1. Fast-action bonus
With a six-week launch period and the Employee to Entrepreneur course not officially starting until the end, I anticipated that students who purchased early might lose momentum while waiting for the course to begin.
To address this, I offered Your First Paying Clients as a fast-action bonus to anyone who purchased during the first two weeks of the launch. This gave them immediate access to actionable content to “jumpstart” their progress.
The results were better than I’d imagined.
Many students started implementing the bonus course and seeing results before Employee to Entrepreneur even began.
For example, one student landed her first-ever paying client—a $2K deal—just from the fast-action bonus!
While I can’t quantify exactly how much this social proof boosted sales, it created excitement and increased student engagement well before the main course started.
2. Downsells for additional revenue
With a $3,000 price tag, I knew Employee to Entrepreneur would be out of reach for some of my audience, whether due to financial constraints or perceived risk. For those who couldn’t enroll, I offered Your First Paying Clients as a downsell.
Positioned as a “smaller bite” to help them get started, this downsell was available for four days after the cart for Employee to Entrepreneur closed. It provided an entry point for people to see results in their business and begin building a customer relationship with me.
This downsell brought in an additional $20,000 in sales, proving that offering tiered options can help capture a broader segment of your audience.
🚀 Result: By the end of my third launch, I had increased my sales by 800% compared to my previous launch and generated over $800K in sales, crossing the million-dollar mark within just 11 months of my first sale.
Your turn!
We’ve covered a lot in this article and as you’ve seen, my success wasn’t about trying a bunch of flashy strategies. Instead, it came from doubling down on a few key, timeless fundamentals that work on any platform and in any niche.
These are:
1. Solve a problem
Every successful business exists because it solves a problem that people are willing to pay for—big or small.
Even in a crowded industry like the “I’ll teach you to build your business” space, I found my way in by identifying a gap in the market.
When building my first online business, I had to invest in multiple courses and coaches to piece together learning all the essential skills — like running sales calls, setting up my site, growing my email list, hosting webinars, and writing sales emails.
So my solution? Was to create the comprehensive program I wished I‘d had. One that would save my clients the time, money, and frustration of piecing everything together like I did.
The biggest takeaway being: You don’t need to solve a brand-new problem.
In fact, there’s no such thing as a truly “new” problem. Success lies in solving an existing problem — better, faster, or cheaper than what’s already available.
Start there, and you’ll be on solid ground to build a thriving business.
2. Build relationships with your customers
As you’ve seen, building relationships was central to my success. Through free content, live challenges, livestreams, and free offers, I focused on creating genuine connections with my audience.
The strategies themselves I used weren’t the reason I succeeded.
Take paid advertising, for example.
It’s just one way to build your audience–and there are plenty of others. (These days, I’ve personally shifted to focusing on organic growth and SEO as they’re much more profitable and sustainable in the long run.)
The reason it worked so well for me was that I built trust with my challenges, livestreams, and overall content.
Skip the trust-building step, and everything crumbles: engagement plummets, interest vanishes, and sales dry up.
This relationship-first approach allowed me to overcome what could have been major hurdles: no brand recognition, no social proof, and only average sales and marketing skills when I started. By prioritizing connection over flashy tactics, I was able to build trust and grow my business, even from scratch.
3. Deliver an unparalleled customer experience
Making the sale isn’t the finish line—it’s the starting point. To keep your customers and turn them into advocates, you need to deliver an exceptional experience from day one.
In my first course, I went above and beyond by offering personal email support—something that doesn’t scale but helped me create a loyal client base. That investment in my students’ success paid off.
To this day, the experiences my students have had in my courses make them my best advocates. They recommend my courses without me even asking.
Lesson learned: When you make your customers feel valued and supported, they’ll not only stick around—they’ll become champions for your business.
4. Perfect one product before moving on to the next
If you take away nothing else from this article, let it be this: focus on perfecting one product before creating another.
I spent a year refining my course:
I started with one-on-one work to understand my clients’ needs, then created a small test product (Your First Paying Clients), and finally expanded it into my signature program, Employee to Entrepreneur.
Even after launching Employee to Entrepreneur, I continued improving it with every iteration until it became the best it could be (and this took a few years)–thanks to it, I built a sustainable business that has grown into an eight-figure business.
What’s the next step?
To build my dream business, I went through several business attempts, learned to overcome doubt and fear, and worked my way through a lot of trial and error. But by following the principles I’ve outlined—starting with coaching, and then scaling strategically—I was able to build my business so quickly.
And it all started with me deciding to finally take action.
The thing is:
I firmly believe that anyone can build their dream business…as long as you’re willing to put in the work.
Contrary to what a lot of people say (and as you’ve seen so far), you don’t need 👇
- A huge audience (I made my first $20,000 online without a single “follower”!)
- A perfect business idea (you just need a sellable skill)
- Years of experience building a business (my first clients came from simply being helpful)
- To quit your job right away (I built my foundation while working full-time)
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What you do need is a proven system and the willingness to take action.
On the other side is everything you’re dreaming of—the freedom, the impact, the ability to live life on your own terms.
So, ready to make this the year you finally break free and build your own successful online business?
💡I’ve created a FREE proven blueprint to help you take that first step to a profitable six-figure coaching business. (Thousands of people have used these strategies to get started.)