How to Make $10,000/Month (even if you’re broke)
In this episode of the Growth Stacking Show with Dan Martell, the focus turns to building profitable online businesses and acquiring revenue-generating skills. Martell explores various business models like product, agency, consulting, and SaaS - detailing their income potential and operational advantages.
The conversation then shifts to mastering in-demand skills like coding, video editing, copywriting, chat-based sales, and AI automation. Martell provides insights into pre-selling techniques, enhancing operational efficiency through simplification and AI integration, effective time management, and strategic delegation. If you're looking to increase your income and build a thriving online venture, this episode offers practical strategies to develop the right skills, optimize processes, and allocate resources for maximum impact.
This is a preview of the Shortform summary of the Mar 15, 2025 episode of the Growth Stacking Show with Dan Martell
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1-Page Summary
Business Models and Revenue Streams
Product Businesses Offer High Margins and Sell Without Inventory
Martell highlights product businesses as a lucrative model, involving selecting a popular product, adding a twist, and selling online via drop shipping or e-commerce - allowing high margins without holding inventory.
Agency Models Yield 60-70% Margins With Productized Problem-Solving Services
Agency models also provide substantial margins by finding customer problems, developing service solutions, selling these services, and outsourcing the work, according to Martell.
Consulting Yields 70-80% Margins By Leveraging Expertise
With margins of 70-80%, consulting leverages expertise to diagnose issues, offer strategic guidance, and become a trusted advisor, Martell explains.
SaaS Can Achieve 80-90% Margins By Repeatedly Selling Software
Martell notes the high profitability of SaaS, with potential 80-90% margins from developing software once and repeatedly selling it with minimal costs.
Developing High-Value Skills
Learn Online Coding For In-demand Six-figure Jobs
Martell advises learning to code online, citing it as his own first six-figure skill and projecting its continued high demand for tech jobs.
Video Editing: Valuable as Media and Video Content Explode
With video content booming, Martell points to strong demand for skilled video editors.
Copywriting: Crafting Compelling Content to Drive Revenue
Martell emphasizes the critical revenue-driving role of persuasive copywriting skills in business communications.
Chat-Based Sales Skills in High Demand for Personalized Interactions
Martell highlights the growing need for chat-based sales expertise to drive revenue through personalized digital interactions.
AI Can Future-Proof Careers as Businesses Adopt AI Tools
Martell suggests mastering AI automation to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and future-proof careers.
Pre-selling and Customer Acquisition
Martell stresses the importance of understanding your audience, identifying their problems, communicating your value proposition clearly, and getting comfortable with upfront payments for successful pre-selling.
Operational Efficiency and Automation
Streamlining the Core Offering Enhances Customer Experience
Focusing on simplifying the core offering ensures seamless, scalable delivery and an optimal customer experience, according to Martell.
Designing For Customer Success Ensures Quality and Referrals
Developing with the end user's desired outcome in mind enhances satisfaction and generates valuable referrals, Martell advises.
Incorporating AI Into Workflows Can Enhance Efficiency
Martell advocates leveraging AI to automate tasks like intake, communication, and payments, increasing efficiency and freeing time for higher-value work.
Time Management and Delegation
Audit Calendar to Identify Outsourceable Time-Consuming Activities
Martell recommends auditing calendars to pinpoint activities that could be delegated or automated to improve productivity.
Documenting Processes Enables Efficient Delegation and Scale
Creating detailed process documentation and playbooks allows others to be trained on time-consuming responsibilities for effective delegation.
Reinvest Time and Resources Into High-Leverage Activities
Martell advises reallocating time and funds saved through delegation and automation into high-impact areas like marketing, sales, and team-building.
1-Page Summary
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Product businesses may face challenges with quality control and customer service when not managing inventory directly.
- Agency models often involve significant client management and project variability, which can affect margins.
- Consulting requires a consistent pipeline of clients and can involve significant non-billable hours, reducing effective margins.
- SaaS businesses may have high margins but also require substantial upfront investment in development and ongoing costs in customer acquisition and support.
- Learning to code online is valuable, but the tech industry can be volatile, and jobs may be subject to offshoring or automation.
- Video editing is in demand, but the field is competitive, and technological advancements can change required skill sets rapidly.
- Copywriting effectiveness can be difficult to measure, and the field is subject to changing trends and market saturation.
- Chat-based sales skills are valuable, but the rise of AI chatbots could automate many of these interactions, potentially reducing demand for human operators.
- AI skills are important, but there is a risk of overspecialization if the technology or tools become obsolete or change significantly.
- Pre-selling requires a delicate balance to ensure customer expectations are met, and upfront payments can add pressure to deliver on promises.
- Streamlining the core offering may overlook the need for customization or personalization that some customers may desire.
- Designing for customer success is important, but it can be challenging to predict all user needs and ensure quality across diverse customer bases.
- Incorporating AI into workflows can improve efficiency, but it also requires careful implementation to avoid errors and maintain customer trust.
- Auditing calendars to identify outsourceable activities assumes that all tasks can be effectively outsourced, which may not be the case for specialized or sensitive work.
- Documenting processes for delegation assumes that the processes are stable and that the documentation will be effectively used by others.
- Reinvesting time and resources into high-leverage activities is strategic, but determining which activities are truly high-leverage can be complex and context-dependent.
Actionables
- You can explore dropshipping as a business model to sell products online without holding inventory, which involves partnering with a supplier who will handle the storage and shipping of products for you. This way, you can focus on marketing and customer service, while the supplier takes care of the logistics. For example, you could set up an online store that sells niche products like eco-friendly home goods, where you market the products and manage sales, and your supplier ships orders directly to customers.
- Develop a specialized online course to share your knowledge and skills, which can be a form of productized consulting. Identify a topic you are knowledgeable about, such as basic home gardening or beginner yoga, and create a structured course with video lessons and downloadable resources. This allows you to leverage your expertise and potentially reach a global audience without the need for one-on-one consulting time.
- Automate repetitive tasks in your daily life using simple AI tools to increase your personal efficiency. For instance, you could use an AI-based scheduling tool to manage appointments or a language processing AI to draft and summarize emails. This not only saves you time but also gives you a firsthand understanding of how AI can streamline workflows, which is a skill that's increasingly valuable in the job market.
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Business Models and Revenue Streams
Entrepreneurs have various business models to choose from, each offering different revenue streams and margins. The choice of model can have a significant impact on the potential success and profitability of a business.
Product Businesses Offer High Margins and Sell Without Inventory
Product Businesses Involve Finding a Popular Product, Adding a Unique Twist, and Selling It Online Through Drop Shipping or E-Commerce
A product business entails selecting a popular product or widget and selling it with a distinctive angle. This model is perfectly suited for online retail through drop shipping or broader e-commerce platforms, allowing businesses to sell without maintaining physical inventory, which in turn helps in achieving high margins.
Agency Models Yield 60-70% Margins With Productized Problem-Solving Services
Agency Models Help Entrepreneurs Find Customers, Sell Services, and Outsource Work
Agency models are appealing due to the substantial margins they provide, typically between 60 to 70%. Entrepreneurs can identify common customer problems, devise a packaged service as a solution, sell this service, and finally outsource the delivery of the work. This model is valuable because it productizes problem-solving into a scalable service.
Consulting Yields 70-80% Margins By Leveraging Expertise for High-Value Analysis and Recommendations
Consulting Uses Expertise to Diagnose Issues, Offer Strategic Guidance, and Become a Trusted Advisor
Consulting is another preferred model because of its high-profit potential, with margins ranging from 70 to 80%. Professionals with specialized knowledge and exper ...
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Business Models and Revenue Streams
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Drop shipping is a retail method where the seller doesn't keep products in stock. Instead, they transfer orders to a third party who ships the products directly to the customer. This model reduces upfront costs and allows for remote management of the business.
- E-commerce platforms are online marketplaces where businesses and individuals can buy and sell products or services. These platforms facilitate transactions, provide a digital storefront for sellers, and offer various tools for managing sales and inventory. Examples of e-commerce platforms include Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, and Shopify. They play a crucial role in enabling online retail and connecting buyers with sellers in a virtual marketplace.
- Productized problem-solving services are standardized solutions to common customer issues, packaged as services for sale. Entrepreneurs identify recurring problems, create a structured service offering to address them, and sell this solution to clients. By productizing services, businesses can streamline delivery, scale operations efficiently, and provide consistent value to customers. This approach helps in systematizing problem-solving processes, enhancing customer experience, and ma ...
Counterarguments
- Product businesses may face intense competition, which can drive down margins and make it difficult to maintain a unique twist or selling proposition.
- Drop shipping can lead to longer shipping times and potential quality control issues, which can negatively impact customer satisfaction and brand reputation.
- Agency models, while potentially high-margin, can suffer from inconsistent revenue streams and may require a constant effort to find new clients and manage outsourced work effectively.
- The success of an agency model is highly dependent on the quality of the outsourced work, which can vary and may not always meet client expectations.
- Consulting businesses may struggle to scale as they are often reliant on the time and expertise of a limited number of individuals.
- High margins in consulting can be offset by the cyclical nature of the work and the need to continuously secure new projects and clients.
- SaaS businesses, despite their potential for high margins, require ...
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Developing High-Value Skills
Martell underscores the importance of developing high-value skills to achieve economic success, pointing to coding, video editing, copywriting, chat-based sales, and AI automation as key areas for career growth.
Learn Online Coding For In-demand Six-figure Jobs
Coding: A Valuable Skill in Tech-Driven Industries
Martell reflects on his personal journey, sharing that his first six-figure skill was learning to write computer code. This skill, he testifies, has made him successful in his endeavors and remains highly valuable in tech-driven industries. He emphasizes that coding is one of the most in-demand skills, projecting that it will be critical for earning a six-figure income by 2025. Martell advises aspiring professionals to tap into the online tools and resources available, which make learning to code more accessible.
Martell underscores that as companies integrate technology into their products and services, coding becomes increasingly essential. By learning to code, individuals can establish themselves in high-paying, tech-centric roles within various industries.
Video Editing: A Valuable Skill as Media and Video Content Become Ubiquitous
Demand for Skilled Video Editors Rises Due to Explosion of Video Content Creation
Martell suggests that contemporary companies are poised at the intersection of products and media, fueling a surge in demand for video editors. This trend is so prevalent that even his 12-year-old is editing videos for friends' YouTube channels. He showcases this as an example of a skill that is marketable and can be acquired through self-education.
Copywriting: Crafting Compelling Content to Drive Business Revenue
Valued by Companies and Entrepreneurs, Strong Copywriting Involves Persuasive Communication and Storytelling to Generate Sales and Engage Customers
Copywriting is touted by Martell as a critical skill that drives business revenue. Strong copywriting, he notes, captures the ability to communicate persuasively and tell compelling stories, both of which are essential for engaging customers and generating sales.
Chat-Based Sales Skills in High Demand for Personalized Digital Interactions to Drive Revenue
...
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Developing High-Value Skills
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- While coding is valuable, not everyone may have the aptitude or interest in tech-driven industries, and there are other paths to economic success.
- The market for coding and other tech skills can become saturated, potentially making it harder to secure high-paying jobs without specialization or advanced expertise.
- Video editing is in demand, but the proliferation of user-friendly editing tools could lower the barrier to entry and reduce the need for professional editors.
- Copywriting effectiveness can be subjective, and not all businesses may value or require advanced copywriting skills.
- Chat-based sales may not be suitable for all types of products or services, and some customers may prefer traditional sal ...
Actionables
- You can start a side project that combines new skills with your current interests to create a unique offering. For instance, if you enjoy cooking, you could learn basic coding to build a simple app that pairs wine with recipes, or use video editing to start a YouTube channel showcasing your dishes. This not only helps you practice and improve your high-value skills but also gives you a project that could potentially generate income.
- Engage in skill-swapping with peers to mutually enhance your high-value skill sets without monetary investment. Find someone who wants to learn a skill you possess, like cooking or basic photography, and in exchange, they could teach you coding, video editing, or copywriting. This barter system allows for hands-on learning and networking with others who have skills you want to acquire.
- Create a personal learning roadmap with milestones that align wit ...
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Pre-selling and Customer Acquisition
Targeting the Audience and Identifying Their Problem for Effective Pre-selling
The key to successful pre-selling is understanding who your potential customers are, what problem your product or service solves, and how you can get in front of them. This knowledge is essential for generating pre-sales and validating your offering before you invest resources in development.
Communicating Value Proposition and Benefits Key to Closing Pre-sale Agreements
Creating a compelling pitch that showcases your product's unique value is crucial for convincing customers to commit before it's fully built. Understanding how to communicate the value of what you're selling and giving demonstrations that impress potential customers can convince them of the product's necessity.
Getting Comfortable With Upfront Deposits for Successful Pre-selling
Martell advises entrepreneurs to sell before building ...
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Pre-selling and Customer Acquisition
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Pre-selling is the practice of selling a product or service before it is officially launched or fully developed. It helps validate market demand, secure initial sales, and gather feedback for product improvement. By engaging in pre-selling, businesses can reduce financial risks, build customer interest early on, and tailor their offerings to meet customer needs effectively. This approach also allows entrepreneurs to test their ideas, refine their value proposition, and establish a customer base before investing heavily in production or development.
- Martell's advice on selling before building emphasizes the strategy of securing sales commitments from customers before fully developing a product or service. This approach helps validate market demand, reduce financial risks, and ensure that resources are allocated efficiently based on confirmed interest from potential buyers. By focusing on pre-selling, entrepreneurs can gather valuable feedback, refine their offerings, and establish a more solid foundation for their business ventures. This proactive method encourages entrepreneurs to prioritize customer needs and market validation early in the product development process.
- Requesting financial commitments before final delivery means asking customers to pay for a product or service upfront, before it is fully completed or delivered. This approach helps validate customer interest and commitment, provides financial security for the seller, and can be a strategy to gauge market demand ...
Counterarguments
- While understanding the target audience is important, it's also crucial to recognize that customer needs can evolve rapidly, and relying solely on initial research without ongoing feedback can lead to misalignment with the market.
- Communicating value proposition is key, but it's equally important to ensure that the product actually delivers on its promises post-launch to maintain customer trust and satisfaction.
- Demonstrating a product's unique value is beneficial, but overemphasis on uniqueness can overshadow the practical benefits and usability of the product, which are often more important to customers.
- Requesting upfront deposits can be effective, but it may also deter potential customers who are risk-averse or skeptical of paying for a ...
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Operational Efficiency and Automation
The existence of operational efficiency and automation in business has become paramount in enhancing customer experience and the scalability of operations.
Streamlining the Core Offering Enhances Customer Experience and Operational Efficiency
Focusing On Essential Elements Ensures Seamless, Scalable Delivery
For companies to ensure seamless and scalable delivery, the key is to simplify their offer to its purest form. By not adding any extras that may complicate the core offering, businesses can provide a straightforward service or product that is easy for customers to understand and use, thus enhancing the customer experience.
Designing For Customer Success Ensures Quality and Reliability
Developing With the End-user's Desired Outcome in Mind Enhances Satisfaction and Referrals
Engineering products or services with the end goal in mind is crucial for customer satisfaction. This approach guarantees that, upon using the service or product, customers achieve their desired outcome. Satisfied customers are more likely to become repeat buyers and are a valuable source of referrals.
Incorporating AI Into Workflows Can Enhance Efficiency and Allow Time for Higher- ...
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Operational Efficiency and Automation
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Clarifications
- To streamline their core offerings, businesses can simplify their products or services to focus on the essential features that provide the most value to customers. This involves removing any unnecessary complexities or features that may confuse or overwhelm customers. By refining their offerings to the most critical elements, businesses can create a more straightforward and user-friendly experience for their customers, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Designing products or services with the end-user's desired outcome in mind means creating solutions that directly align with what customers want to achieve. By focusing on meeting the specific needs and go ...
Actionables
- You can streamline your daily routine by identifying and focusing on the most impactful tasks. Start by listing all your daily activities and then rank them based on their importance and the value they add to your life. Eliminate or delegate tasks that don't contribute significantly, allowing you to operate more efficiently and free up time for personal growth or leisure.
- Enhance your personal efficiency by adopting a simple AI tool for task management. Explore AI-driven apps that can prioritize your to-do list, schedule your appointments, and even suggest the best times for productivity based on your habits. This integration of AI into your personal workflow can reduce the time spent on planning and increase the time available for high-value activities like learning a new skill or spending time with family.
- Improve your decision-making process by considering the desired outco ...
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Time Management and Delegation
Effective time management and delegation are key strategies for improving productivity and scaling business operations.
Audit Calendar to Identify Outsourceable Time-Consuming Activities
Professionals should systematically review their calendars to pinpoint activities that consume considerable time but could be outsourced. Through delegation and the use of technology, productivity can be significantly improved.
Improving Productivity By Delegating Tasks and Using Technology
Tasks identified as outsourceable can be delegated to other team members or external services. Likewise, technology can be leveraged to automate processes, leading to more efficient use of time and increased productivity.
Documenting Processes and Creating Playbooks for Low-leverage Tasks Enables Efficient Delegation and Scale
For delegation to be effective, documenting processes and creating detailed playbooks is essential. These resources serve as guides to train others to handle time-consuming responsibilities.
Systematic Workflow Recording Trains Others For Time-Consuming Responsibilities
Clear and systematic recording of workflows ensures that others can easily be trained to take on tasks. This preparation is crucial for efficient delegation and allows businesses to scale by freeing up valuable time for key personnel.
Reinvest Time and Resources From Delegation and Automation Into High-Leverage Activities Like M ...
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Time Management and Delegation
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Counterarguments
- Delegation requires finding competent individuals or services, which can be challenging and time-consuming in itself.
- Outsourcing can lead to a loss of control over the quality and timeliness of the outsourced tasks.
- Not all tasks are suitable for automation; some require human judgment and creativity that technology cannot replicate.
- Documenting processes and creating playbooks can be resource-intensive and may not always capture the nuances of certain tasks.
- Systematic workflow recording might not be feasible for dynamic or complex tasks that require adaptability and on-the-spot decision making.
- Reinvesting in high-leverage activities assumes that these areas will always yield the best returns, which may not be the case in every market or business situation.
- ...
Actionables
- You can streamline your daily routine by mapping out your entire day in 30-minute blocks and color-coding them based on activity type, such as work, personal, or leisure. This visual approach allows you to quickly spot patterns and time sinks, making it easier to decide what to delegate or automate. For example, if you notice a large chunk of time is spent on repetitive tasks like email sorting, consider using an email management tool or hiring a virtual assistant to handle this for you.
- Develop a personal "standard operating procedure" (SOP) for tasks you perform regularly by recording a video of yourself completing the task, then transcribing it into a step-by-step guide. This can be done using your smartphone to record and a free transcription service to convert the video to text. Having an SOP makes it easier to hand off these tasks to someone else, as they'll have a clear guide to follow, ensuring consistency and freeing up your time for more strategic activities.
- Create a "time reinvestment plan" ...
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