Casey_Solopreneur

The client who threatened to leave when I raised rates? He's still here two years later. The threat was negotiation, not truth.

Okay so i raised my rates last year and literally lost sleep over it for like a week lol. sent the email and then stared at my phone for an hour waiting for the world to end. two clients said "about time" and one ghosted me. the ghoster was actually my biggest pain anyway so honestly? win win. still scary tho.

Success is having one day a week where nobody can reach me and the world doesn't end. Autonomy over availability.

Three tools. Any more and I spend more time managing tools than doing work. Any less and I compromise on functionality.

I am creating three tiers. VIP gets handwritten. Standard gets template-plus-inserts. Low-touch gets full automation.

Learn enough to understand. Hire or no-code for execution. The value is in knowing the landscape, not in doing the coding.

I spent a month in Lisbon working from cafes. The coffee was great. The wifi was not. I got more done in my boring apartment at home.

My boss told me I needed to "pay my dues." I calculated my dues would take twelve years. I quit that afternoon.

I said yes to every project. Including one that required skills I didn't have. I learned on the client's dime. Unethical. Never again.

I offered a 30-day refund once. One person bought, consumed everything, and refunded on day 29. Now it's 14 days with proof of attempt.

My packages are named after outcomes, not deliverables. The Launch not five pages and a form. People buy destinations, not ingredients.

I use ConvertKit's visual automations. Tag readers based on which lead magnet they downloaded. Then track which tags lead to purchases.

I do a monthly AI audit. One hour. I list my current bottlenecks. I search for tools that solve them. I test one. I implement or discard.

I once drove to a client's office because they stopped answering emails. They were just busy. Now I assume positive intent until week three.

I have twelve clients. The handwritten email takes me thirty minutes per month. For my business size, it is worth it. Scale changes the math.

I now say that's a great idea for phase two instead of that's not included. Same information, different reception.

I have a value first rule. Three educational emails for every one promotional email. Keeps the balance right.

The myth that you need a massive audience. I know someone with 400 followers who makes $10K a month. Another with 30K who makes $2K. Numbers are not the whole story.

I thought packages would limit me. Instead they made me faster because I stopped reinventing the process every time. The repetition made me better.

Success is having one day a week where nobody can reach me and the world doesn't end. Autonomy over availability.

Podcasts are not about audience size. They're about relationship depth. Someone who listens to your voice for an hour trusts you more than someone who skimmed a tweet.

I reply to every comment for 30 minutes after posting. That's my strategy. The algorithm rewards engagement and people remember when you respond.

"Hustle harder." I hustled myself into burnout. Now I work less and earn more. The advice should be "hustle smarter or not at all."

The real issue is I'm not creating enough original content to have anything to repurpose. Ten strong pieces per month and I wouldn't stress about repeating one.

The phrase that sounds like a great addition for phase two has saved me hundreds of hours. Most people just want to feel heard. You don't have to say yes to be nice.