If I lost it all today, here is exactly how I’d make $50k/month ASAP (using Substack).
No audience, no budget, no connections, no hustle. Just a laptop, a newborn, and a system.
Little drama queen moment here: If I woke up tomorrow and my Substack was gone > my 70,000 subscribers, my email list, my Stripe account, my reputation, my noon nap time > I would be pissed.
BUT.
I would not be panicked.
Because I know exactly how to rebuild a $50k/month business in 12 months or less. And I know how to do it without hustling 12 hours a day, without cold calling, and without selling my soul to the algorithm.
And no, I’m not gonna tell you to hustle more or “find your niche”. And I’m definitely not gonna tell you to sell cheap offers first. Please!
(BTW, if you voted 1 - I have no idea what to sell - I demystify exactly that for you in this 2 days live bootcamp, this week.)
This is the strategic, efficiency-obsessed, “newborn-proof” blueprint I’d follow if I had to start AGAIN from absolute zero today.
Here is the reality:
In the last 14 months, I went from running a small 5-figure branding agency on LinkedIn (grinding for every client) to:
Launching a massive e-learning business (How We Grow Academy).
Founding a B2B SaaS company (EVAA).
Angel investing in other founder-led businesses.
Monthly partnering with brands.
Generating $50k+ months while raising a newborn.
I didn’t do this because I’m a genius. I did this because I stopped trying to be a “Freelancer” and started acting like an “Owner.”
If I had to do it all over again—starting from scratch with $0 in the bank—I wouldn’t waste time trying to “go viral.” I wouldn’t waste time building a logo.
I would follow this exact 4-Phase Framework.
Whether you are a freelancer stuck at $5k months, a corporate refugee, or a new parent trying to buy back your time, this is the roadmap.
Phase 1: The “SMPV” Audit (Don’t Guess, Align)
Most people stay broke because they build a product they like, instead of solving a problem the market has.
I don’t believe in market saturation. I only believe in opportunity.
When a market looks saturated, it just means there is demand. The question is: Can you position yourself as the obvious choice?
To do that, I would immediately run myself through the SMPV Framework (Skill, Market, Problem, Value).
1. Skill (What am I good at?)
When I started, my skill was Branding and Writing. That was my “Zone of Genius.”
Ask yourself: What comes easy to you that looks hard to others?
2. Market (Who has money?)
I looked around. I saw Freelancers, Coaches, and Solopreneurs struggling to stand out.
Constraint: I only target people who have money to spend. Selling to broke people is a charity, not a business.
3. Problem (Where is the bleeding neck?)
This was my big aha moment.
Initially, I thought their problem was “I need a pretty brand.”
I was wrong.
I listened deeper. I polled my audience. Their actual problem was: “I have content, but I have no sales. I don’t know how to monetize.”
If I had stayed in “Branding,” I would be broke. I shifted to “Monetization,” and my revenue exploded.
4. Value (The Outcome)
I stopped selling “Design.” I started selling “Systems to turn readers into revenue.”
The value wasn’t the deliverable; it was the Financial Transformation.
Need some extra help figuring this out? Here’s my go to prompt for finding out where to start from:
Act as a market research analyst, I can get [ideal client] [result]
want you to analyze the Substack, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn landscape and broader online demand to identify: Who specifically needs my services (target audience personas with demographics, job titles, pain points, and goals).
What market segments are most attractive on Substack (e.g., corporate wellness, founders, executives, remote workers, new parents).
What urgent problems they have that I can solve. How to position myself to be most appealing to them (messaging, offers, and content themes).
Phase 2: The “Trojan Horse” Service (Cash Flow)
If I had $0, I wouldn’t start by building a course. That takes too long.
I need cash now.
I would go to Substack Notes (or LinkedIn). I would find 10 ideal clients (Founders/Creators).
I wouldn’t send a “Hey, let’s connect” message. That screams rookie.
I would do the work for them, for free, first.
If I wanted to sell “Monetization Strategy,” I would:
Audit their newsletter.
Find the 3 biggest leaks where they are losing money.
Record a 5-minute Loom video fixing it.
Send it to them with: “Hey, I love your work. I noticed you’re leaving money on the table here. I made this video to show you how to fix it. No strings attached.”
The Math:
Send 20 of these a day.
Get 3 people on a call.
Close 1 person at $2,000 for a “Done-For-You” fix.
3 clients = $6,000/month.
Boom. I have replaced my corporate salary. I have breathing room.
And more importantly: I have paid proof that my system works.
Phase 3: The “Wealth Multiplier” (Stopping the Trade)
Here is where most people get stuck. They get to $10k/month doing services, and they burn out.
They hit a ceiling because they are selling Time.
I have a newborn. I don’t have time to sell.
So, I have to switch from Service to Product.
The Transition:
I would take everything I did for those 3 service clients—every template, every script, every strategy—and package it into a System.
The Service: “I will write your sales emails for you.” (1:1)
The Product: “Here is the exact framework to write sales emails that convert.” (1:Many)
This is how The Money Map in the How We Grow Academy were born.
I didn’t invent them in a lab. I extracted them from my service work.
Now, instead of charging $2,000 to one person, I can charge $500 to 100 people.
That is $50,000.
And it takes me the same amount of effort.
But this is just the setup.
The real money—the “Legacy Wealth”—comes in what happens next.
If you want to know exactly how I layer in SaaS (Software), Angel Investing, and Brand Partnerships to turn that $50k into a self-sustaining empire...
And if you want the specific 12-Month Timeline (Month by Month) of what I would do to go from 0 to $1M...
Below, I am breaking down exactly how to pre-sell a course that doesn’t exist yet (The “Ghost Sell”), how to transition from Service to SaaS without knowing how to code, and the exact script I use to get equity in other companies.
