How To Position Your Substack Publication To Add $2-5k (Recurring) To Your One-Person Business.

Hint: ‘writing well’ isn’t the only thing you need to

I was skeptical of Substack.

When I first joined the platform in June 2023, I didn’t see what the fuss was about. It seemed to lack basic features. And the user experience wasn’t great. It felt clunky and was a ghost town.

But Substack surprised me.

I came back to the platform in July 2024. They added incredible features such as DMs and Notes and made the overall user experience better. I started to use the platform more. Understood the philosophy behind it. And did my research on the Founders.

I’ve been converted. And I was too quick to judge. My bad.

With Substack, I’ve taken my one-person business to the next level. I’ve built a new distribution channel, created an owned audience, and built a complete sales and marketing funnel on the platform.

I’ve gone from $9-18k in the 7 months on the platform.

Here’s how to add $2-5k to your one-person business with Substack.

You have a superpower.

What is it?

Writing.

You can communicate effectively. Influence. Persuade. Change the minds of people around the world through the use of words. That’s amazing.

But you’re misusing the power.

You think it’s just a tool. Something that everyone can do. A task that ChatGPT or Deepseek can execute. Or insert whatever AI tool is making the headlines.

You don’t understand the power you wield.

But with any superpower, it’s not enough to have the skill. Writing is a great start. Even Tony Stark had to learn hard lessons about emotions, psychology, and human life before becoming Iron Man.

Open your mind beyond writing.

I’ll challenge you to learn about sales, marketing, and psychology. If you can’t handle this. Click off now. You won’t like what’s coming next.

But if you’re ready. Let’s start.

Get super-duper clear on this…

If you write for everyone, you write for no one.

Don’t try to be Mr Everything to Everyone. You’ll quickly become Mr Nothing to Nobody. You’re not picking a niche. You’re picking a person. A dream customer that you would love to work with.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• What type of person could you work with all day?
• Who are the people you enjoyed working with in the past?
• What problems have you solved for yourself that other people want?

Describe this person to me in detail:

• What age are they?
• Where do they live?
• What are their goals?
• What are their aspirations?
• What do they hate about their current reality?
• What does their day-to-day look like?

This step is extremely important.

Get painfully specific about your dream customer. The front-loading of thinking will save you time and effort down the road.

Trust me, I had to learn this the hard way.

My first one-person business was a procurement consultancy.

(random, I know).

I’d partner with construction and infrastructure companies to help them win more government work. In most countries, the government is the largest procurer of construction services. If you wanted to build a road, rail, school, or hospital, you had to win government contracts.

Most construction companies were terrible at this.

I saw a gap in the market. I used my writing skills to ghostwrite their tenders.

While the business made good money, and I managed to sell the company, I didn’t enjoy working with this type of customer. They weren’t creative. They didn’t like that I worked remotely. They wanted me in person when my job could be done remotely.

This customer type contradicted my lifestyle and business goals.

It was only a matter of time before the friction would cause a rupture. Over time, I stopped enjoying the work. I grew tired of their limited mindset. I wanted to work with people who were creative and adventurous and saw the world the way I saw it.

Don’t make my mistake.

I ran this one-person business for over 2 years. If I had interrogated myself earlier, I would have realized what type of business I wanted to build and saved myself from the pain.

Now, I’m clear on who I want to serve.

My ideal customer:

• Aged between 28 - 49 years old
• Married / Serious relationship with kids.
• Solopreneurs, digital nomads, and one-person business owners.
• Background in a white-collar job such as tech, consulting, and banking.

Everything I write about aims to speak to my customer’s pain points and aspirations.

In many ways, these people were me just 3-4 years ago. Dreaming of starting a business or scaling their existing one to finally quit their 9-5 job and enjoy a life of autonomy.

So tell me, who are YOU writing for?

Now, pick a painful problem.

“I just like to write, not solve problems.”

Wrong. Your writing is always solving a problem.

Whether that’s entertainment, information, or knowledge.

Every piece of writing is solving a problem.

There are three eternal problems every human wants to solve:

1. Health.
2. Wealth.
3. Relationships.

If you can solve all three, you could be considered ‘happy’ as a by-product.

Your writing needs to be solving one or more of these eternal problems.

Why?

Because:

People don’t care about your writing.

People want their problems solved.

You need to make your writing clearly solve a problem.

Look at this article as an example. It’s crystal clear that I’m solving a wealth problem. I’m helping you add $2-5k to your monthly recurring revenue. Simple. Clear. And straightforward. There is little room for confusion.

In sales, clarity is king.

A confused mind doesn’t buy. Ambiguity slows down the sales process. If you have to explain your offer, it’s too complicated. Simplify.

Now, combine your dream customer with a problem you solve.

Start with answering this:

I help [DREAM CUSTOMER] with / do / add [ETERNAL PROBLEM].

For me, I help [solopreneurs] add [$2-5k to their monthly recurring revenue].

We will come back to finishing this sentence next.

Embrace your uniqueness.

I’ve created a market in the most saturated niches on the internet.

• Self-improvement.
• Business.
• Money.

There are a billion and one people talking about this.

But how do I manage to stand out?

By being unique. I’ve solved problems in my life uniquely and in a specific context.

Embrace them.

Most people don’t need more information. In the world of AI and the internet, we are drowning in too much information. Our problem is information overload. Not information-scarcity.

People need help with curation and context.

In my world, I improved my life, created a business, and made money online by focusing on writing and marketing. I’ve now turned these two things into my unique mechanism:

• Limitless Writing System.
• Perfect Your Positioning.

Other people have achieved a similar result, but have used different methods. And that’s fine. Each to their own. But there will be a segment of the market that is attracted to my method. My way of doing things.

People don’t buy products. They buy philosophy.

People don’t buy coaching. They buy the coach.

My book coach,

Veronica Llorca-Smith

, does this perfectly with the

The Lemon Tree Mindset ????

She employs a visual metaphor. Backed by natural science analogies. That perfectly illustrates her business and writing philosophy.

So, to stand out, you need to be authentic.

Embrace how you solved your problem. Slap a compelling name on it.

And use it to finish this sentence:

I help [DREAM CUSTOMER] with / do / add [ETERNAL PROBLEM] by [UNIQUE MECHANISM].

For me, I help [solopreneurs] add [$2-5k to their monthly recurring revenue] by [Limitless Writing System] & [Perfect Positioning].

Create a realistic offer.

I might lose most people here.

Why?

Well, we are now in the realm of sales and marketing.

Whenever most writers hear these words, they tune out. It’s like whispering Voldemort at Hogwarts.

But once you’ve got your customer, eternal problem, and unique mechanism, all you need to do is package this into an offer for someone to buy it from you.

There are only three ways you can package an offer:

1. Done-For-You (DFY) - Most expensive
2. Done-With-You (DWY) - Moderately priced.
3. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) - Cheapest option

You can get hybrid offers, but let’s keep it simple.

I’m going to use my offer as an example:

1. DFY: I will create all the sales and marketing processes for you.
2. DWY: I will coach you through weekly Zoom calls to support you.
3. DIY: I will give you access to my resources to do it yourself.

The more access you give someone to you, the more you charge.

And that’s pretty much it.

Now, add a timeline.

I suggest 8-12 weeks.

Let’s finish our sentence:

I help [DREAM CUSTOMER] with / do / add [ETERNAL PROBLEM] by [UNIQUE MECHANISM] within [TIMELINE]

For me, I help [solopreneurs] add [$2-5k to their monthly recurring revenue] by [Limitless Writing System] & [Perfect Positioning] in [12 weeks (or less)].

Boom. You’re ready to go.

Don’t overcomplicate your offer.

Over the next 3-4 weeks, I want you to…

• Create a customer avatar (give them a name).
• Pick a painful problem to solve.
• Align the painful problem to an eternal market (health, wealth, relationships).
• Understand how you have uniquely solved the problem.
• Create an?irresistible,?realistic offer for your dream customer.

It’s only a matter of time before you land your next 2-3 clients.

Need more help?

?? Craft your Perfect Positioning to unlock $2-5k in monthly recurring revenue (without sales calls or paid ads) in your one-person business.

Start here → https://stealmydurians.com

Some cool people I’ve helped: