How to Grow a Business Garden
š Table of Contents
š Background
Iām going to show how I was able to build a portfolio of creative businesses by utilizing digital leverage. The main idea is to utilize different forms of leverage strategically (time, money, audience) at different times to achieve asymmetrical results.
Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links, so you if you purchase using them I may get a small commission.
šÆ Results
A small portfolio of businesses that generate +$250k/year
Can sustain this lifestyle by working 5-10 hours/week
~15% of my income comes from digital products
š§ Skills Required
Creator business skills (packaging your services, pricing, etc.)
Basic understanding of social platforms (ie. LinkedIn, Twitter)
Basic understanding of web design (Squarespace makes this easy)
Intermediate creator skills (copywriting, design, branding)
š§° Tools & Equipment
A personal and/or business website (Squarespace)
Equipment to offer your services (ie. a Photographer needs a camera)
Social media platforms for content distribution (Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram)
Phone or Camera Gear to create content
Virtual Meeting software (Zoom, Google Meet)
CRM to manage clients (ie. Honeybook)
š Process
Iām sure youāve heard the term āmoney treeā. Weāre going to take this a step further and plant a ābusiness gardenā. The benefit of a garden is that youāll have multiple plants that can bear fruit; diversifying your risk and allowing you to scale your time/money disproportionately.
1. Plant the first seed š±
The first step is to start a business where you can earn a high income without spending 40-60 hours/week running it. The best business to start first is a high-ticket service business.
There are many benefits to this type of business. First, itās easy to start, and you donāt need many clients to make a great income. Second, itās ultra-low-cost to run since there are no physical products or fulfillment. Lastly, you donāt need to be an āexpertā to be successful. You just need to focus on providing as much value as possible to your customer.
You can take many different paths here, including 1-on-1 consulting, graphic design, website building, etc. Example: I started a video production company because I was interested in creating videos (I was probably watching too much Peter McKinnon). However, unless youāre already running a video production company, Iād recommend starting something easier, such as a consulting business.
The biggest con with this business model is youāll be trading time for money, butā¦ the money you earn from this business will be significant enough to fund your other business ideas. If done correctly, this first business can be your āinvestorā for future projects & initiatives.
2. Build a website & newsletter š¬
Your website is important because itās the primary place customers will learn about what you offer. It doesnāt need to be fancy; use a template from Squarespace and build a page that covers:
Who you are
What you do, who you work with
Examples & Client Testimonials
Newsletter Opt-in
Contact form
Every creator will tell you their email list is their most valuable asset, so start collecting emails as soon as possible. The easiest way is to start a newsletter, which allows you to build relationships with people interested in your services (even if they donāt buy from you). I personally use Convertkit for this, but you can use whatever tool works best for you.
3. Get Your first few clients š
You will get your first few clients via your network. Tell friends, colleagues, LinkedIn, etc. Youāll also want to post content on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). The goal is to get as many people to know about what youāre doing as possible and, every so often, remind them that you exist.
You can also try cold outreach, where you reach out to your ideal client via email and pitch them your services. This worked well for me in the early stages of running Brand Storiesā¢.
Tip: If you want to improve your response rate, use a tool like Loom to record a quick 2 min personalized intro and talk about how you could help them, including examples. This personalization will stand out and make a great impression.
4. Solve Big Problems š
Your biggest goal in business is to solve your clientās biggest problems. Listen when they speak about their challenges. The more value you can provide, the happier theyāll be, which means less churn and more referrals.
Every client should leave you a testimonial. Youāll use these on your website as social proof to increase your boost conversion rate (and charge higher rates). I use Senja for this because it makes it 10x easier.
The goal isnāt to have as many clients as possible. Itās to have fewer clients that pay more. It will take a bit of time to get this right, but as you raise your prices youāll begin earning more money (with less time spent).
Example #1: I started a photography side hustle and started charging $150/hour. Over time, I was able to improve our strategy and collect enough testimonials, and we now charge $650/hour.
Example #2: I honed the strategy in my video business to only offer three different types of videos. This specialization meant we could execute those videos better than our local competitors. This, combined with SEO and social proof, allowed us to increase our pricing from $1500/project to ~$8,500/project.
5. Plant your next seed (Money leverage) š±
Now that youāre earning a decent income without sacrificing 40 hours/week, you can re-invest that time/money to build more scaleable offerings. The step has three main benefits:
Youāll earn more money
Youāll spend less time
Youāre able to serve a bigger audience
Example: Letās say youāre a consultant doing 1-on-1 calls for $250/hour. Maybe you could host group calls where each person pays $100/hour instead. That way the client is still getting value while paying significantly less. You could host 10 people per call, earning you $1000/hour.
There are many ways to approach this, but the main idea is to do something valuable that scales. For this, youāll need to have a higher volume of clients coming in, so youāll need to adjust your acquisition strategy. If you have a large audience you might be able to rely on that, but I chose to invest in SEO instead (which was a great decision in hindsight).
It might take a few tries to get this seed to grow, but remember - you can always rely on your first plant (financially) if any of these other seeds donāt work out. Youāre not giving up on the first thing; youāre using it to fund your exploration of new things.
Example: In my case, I started a dating profile photography business and scaled it to 10 locations across North America by bringing on incredible dating photographers. All team members besides me are contractors, which offers a greater level of flexibility both for the company and the individual.
Naturally, my revenue per shoot went down, but now I was able to serve 10x as many customers without sacrificing my time. When this happened, I didnāt need to go back to video production (as it requires a lot of time to fulfill video projects), but I still keep that business running in case I want/need to pick up some extra work.
6. Plant infinity seeds (Time leverage) šŖ“
Now that we figured out how to serve more people with less time, itās time to break the bond between time/money completely. Weāre going to do that by re-investing our time & money into building infinitely scaleable products.
Instead of solving bigger problems, weāre going to focus on smaller problems that:
Are experienced by many people
Donāt have a great solution already
Donāt require a human to solve
Can be sold for much less money
Whatever you create should still provide crazy value. The best products produce a win/win scenario. A win for your customer because it solves their problem at a fair price and a win for you because it generates revenue.
These opportunities can be difficult to find, and they usually only become apparent when youāve been working in an industry for a few years. It might even be a problem you solved for yourself like it was for me.
Example: I couldnāt find any good website designs for my video agency, so I built one myself. Other videographers began asking if I could design their websites, too. If I said yes, it would take 30+ hours per project (which wasnāt a good use of my time). It would also be very expensive for the business owners.
Instead, I converted my website into a template and sold it for $150. This way, they could still get a great website, but for a fraction of the price. And because itās a digital product, it requires zero fulfillment on my end. Whether five people buy it or 5000, it doesnāt take any of my time.
7. Find your MVA šÆ
Once you have all your seeds planted, you need to water them. But instead of watering each plant individually, youāll focus on a single high-leverage activity that waters them all simultaneously. This is called your Most Valuable Action. And for most people, this action will be to grow their audience.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
You donāt need a large audience to monetize. Iāve made ~$35k so far this year from my digital products, with an audience of less than 2,000 people. Thereās a concept called ā1000 true fansā which I think is spot-on. You can change your life with a small, dedicated community.
The larger your audience, the more leverage you have. We can estimate what my digital product income could be with an audience of 50k. As your audience grows, you also start to unlock more opportunities such as affiliates, brand deals & sponsorships.
And if you have multiple products/services, the scalability multiplies. For example, if someone buys my website template:
I make $149 from the initial sale
I also get an affiliate bonus from Squarespace ($49-$149)
They might also purchase my SEO course ($249)
They might also hire me for 1-on-1 consulting ($249)
Total Potential: $996
8. Water your garden (audience leverage) š¦
Disclaimer: Iām at this stage myself, so my experience is limited. But from everything Iāve learned on this subject, the best way to grow your audience is to provide tons of value.
The most valuable thing you can do is grow your audienceā¦ but how?
Genuinely connect with people. Donāt look at this as āI need to be popular with a bunch of followersā. Instead, think of it like growing your network. Youāre looking for interesting people like yourself who you can genuinely connect with.
Show, donāt tell. Show people what you do and how you do it. Invite them into your world and teach them everything you know. Break down your ideas, systems, and processes. Donāt be afraid to share your secrets. Build genuine connections. Take an interest in people. Cheer them on and help them whenever you can.
Donāt be a salesmen. Donāt try to convince people to buy your products. People hate being sold to. You know it, I know it. Instead, focus on helping people. The more value you put into the world (without any expectations), the more it will come back to you. I guarantee it.
š« What Didnāt Work
Unrelated Niches: I picked two niches that donāt share a common audience (dating photography and video agency owners). This made it difficult to scale both businesses, as I had to take time away from one to work on the other.
Too technical: I launched two products that, in hindsight, would have done better if they were easier. SEO isnāt everyoneās cup of tea.
Spreading too thin: If you try to do everything at once, youāll burn yourself out. Pacing yourself is really important. Try to remember itās a marathon, not a sprint.
ā ļø Risks & Pitfalls
Diversification: While expanding product offerings can lead to growth, it can also divert time away from your core offering. Make sure you never drop the ball on your clients.
Burnout: In 2021 I burned out and was forced to take time off. However, this caused me to rethink my business strategy, which is what lead me to steps #5 and #6.
Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is risky no matter what. But with all the layoffs weāve seen over the last two years, I now think itās no less risky than having a job.
š Key Takeaways
Digital Leverage is about working smarter, not harder
If you try to build everything at the same time, youāll burn out
Instead, prioritize strategically so you have enough time, money & energy to build them
Start with high-ticket services to buy yourself time
Then build scaleable offerings to increase revenue while further reducing the time invested
Lastly, invest in infinitely scaleable products (digital products, courses, templates, etc.)
