Justin Welsh worked as a tech executive for a decade. He got burned out, walked out and now he runs a 10 million-dollar online business with zero employees. His overarching goal was to redesign his life and be intentional in what he did. Surprisingly, he has built his businesses with no code.
Justin has always been a solopreneur right from the beginning. He has tried his hands in several one-person businesses. Among these are the following;
- Boutique advisory firm for early-stage Saas entrepreneurs.
- Building digital information products for creators and solopreneurs like himself.
- Runs a private community for creators and mentos entrepreneurs in LATAM via the 500 Startups mentorship program.
The meteoric rise in revenue and success of his online venture after leaving his paid job is a testament to his tenacity and continuous engagement with his followers. Equally important, are his social media skills, and a never-say-die attitude to entrepreneurship.
Starting from scratch
Justin was recruited by a company that made no revenue. Therefore, it fell on him to grind the extra mile to place it on a path to profitability. As a result, he immersed himself in his paid job like a man possessed to drive two companies past the $1B valuation and managed to raise over $300 million in venture capital.
But this came at the expense of his health. He had reached a breaking point. A massive panic attack almost killed him, and he felt he was empty and no longer getting satisfaction from his work. He therefore packed his bags and left for home. Never to return.
After his recovery, he pondered the vast potential that exists online to share knowledge, skills, and expertise with others and be paid while doing it.
That is how he identified a niche, built a website, and started creating content relevant to the needs of his audience.
Today Justin runs his own multimillion-dollar business and teaches people how to make money online through his very popular site by the name Justin Welsh. It is here that he shares his journey from burnout at the tech company where he worked to run a 10 million-dollar online business with zero employees.
Portfolio of Products
Justin’s call to leave employment led him to an amazing journey to build a multi-million dollar one-person business from scratch. He therefore developed several revenue streams through his online business;
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Sells courses.
The courses focus on how to use LinkedIn effectively to build a business.
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Newsletter.
Through a locked-in network of 200,000 + readers and growing at the rate of 12,000 subscribers per month, Justin sells sponsorships through the newsletter to companies that want to get in front of their customers with great success.
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Subscription Email.
Through this paid community, he shares copywriting techniques for writing better copy on social media.
Justin’s targeted audience is entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, creators, and freelancers. In general, the aim is to help them build their content system.
Zero Employees
One of the baffling things is that he runs a 10 million-dollar online business with zero employees and zero advertisement revenue. The business has grown in leaps and bounds over the years from gross revenue of $1.7 million in 2022 to its current $10 million with only his wife by his side.
And he incurs no advertisement costs. He just wakes up and shows up online for only two to three hours to activate his network on Twitter and LinkedIn. And what takes him to these two social media sites? Three things;
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Discovery
He wants to reach out and be discovered by new people who would benefit from his content and earn him revenue in return.
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Building trust, credibility, and authority.
Justin has created content continuously that responds to the unique needs of his target audience, and he says trust and credibility come from consistency. Additionally, it comes from showing people how your brain works and that is through longer, detailed, and in-depth content through the newsletter and the guides produced in the content.
To help drive his reach and engagement, Justin uses Twitter and LinkedIn to move people onto his website.
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Presentation of an Offer in support of his 10 million-dollar online business with zero employees.
Once he has people on his online site, he presents an offer, that is his newsletter, courses, and engaging content through email.
In a nutshell, Justin makes 2 to 3 social media posts a day, sends out a long-form newsletter and then presents his portfolio of products.
Tools that he uses to help him deliver on the requirements of his online business.
Because he has no staff, Justin mostly uses several online tools to organize his work effectively for delivery to his audience.
- Hyperfury: the cloud-based Twitter post-scheduling tool for businesses that allows one to create content for tweets and schedule them for automatic publishing at future dates or times.
- Notion: The tool that allows you to stay organized with all of your ideas in one place. It blends all your everyday tasks into one, making workflow easy and enjoyable.
- Trello: the tools allows you to freely ideate, plan, and manage.
- Kajabi: to streamline payments and marketing automation among others.
How does he find content that has enabled him to run a multi-million dollar online business with zero employees?
Consistent content creation is heavy-duty work and Justin has put in the extra effort and burnt the midnight oil to churn over 4500 content posts. This is no mean feat. Besides, there are other life milestones to respond to in addition to his family. Justin finds his content from numerous sources as follows;
- He watches several YouTube channels relevant to what he does with a particular focus on popular videos. He opines that if it is popular on YouTube, then it is going to resonate very well with his audience.
- Subscription to a lot of aggregator newsletters where he picks ideas and gives them character fit for his audience.
- Podcasts
- Walking: During his leisurely walks to keep fit, Justin never stops thinking of his business. Whenever he is walking, he says things pop up in his head and he notes them. He also uses his phone to capture things wherever he goes which forms part of his content.
He says that a content creator should always be cognizant that ideation is around you all the time and you need to keep track and capture them.
Lessons in Business from the man who runs a 10 million-dollar online business with zero employees.
Justin has noted picked a few lessons on his way to phenomenal success which he shares for the benefit of those who have a fire burning inside;
- Use tools, systems, and processes to make things easier for you so you don’t toil too much.
- Set a long-term goal.
- Pick a niche and give it a laser beam focus.
- Write about your learning.
- Be a hypothesis-driven creator.
- Create lots of noise when starting so people know your idea or product.
- Keep writing.
- Business is like a Marathon. The longer you stick around, the less crowded it gets.
The number one piece of advice he gives to new entrepreneurs is to JUST START! Starting teaches you a hundred more times than anything ever will.
START-LEARN-TRY.
He adds that you need to start a side project, build it to 60% of your salary then go all in. Finally, he says that the only way to learn fast is still the old way we were taught in school;
- Make a hypothesis.
- Test it.
- Use what works and then do it.
- If it doesn’t work, eliminate it.
Conclusion on how He runs a 10 million-dollar online Business with Zero Employees
In conclusion, Justin Welsh’s inspiring journey from a burned-out employee to financial and personal freedom is worth tons of lessons. It is a testament to the limitless possibilities for entrepreneurial innovation and success in the digital age.
Through strategic vision, a dogged determination, and a commitment to his audience he has transformed a one-man operation into a thriving $10 million online business.
His story of online business acumen is an example of the boundless potential that exists on the internet. It is testimony that one can attain personal and business success online even without the traditional structures of business like a team of employees.
In summary, It is never too late to follow your passion and with focus, you can achieve anything you fiercely commit to. It proves that in this digital age, the requirements for a startup may just be a few hundred dollars, a laptop, an internet connection and the right mindset.
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