Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In 2016, I followed every marketer’s advice and created a funnel that led to an online course. I spent thousands of dollars and worked long hours to make a few hundred dollars.
Around the same time, an entrepreneur asked me to ghostwrite his book, and I convinced him to let me hire a writer and publish it myself. I made $25,000 from a quarter of the work I put into creating these online courses.
From that day on, I poured my energy into a side hustle publishing authority building books for entrepreneurs. Today, Legacy Launch Pad employs a team of writers, designers, and project managers, has published over 50 books, and has generated seven-figure revenue.
But finding the right company was only the first step. Below are five of the greatest lessons I’ve learned.
Photo by Legacy Launch Pad
Do every job yourself before delegating it
While doing everything yourself is intimidating at first, and delegation is crucial once the business is established, giving too much power to the wrong person at the start means you don’t have enough power. A few years after starting my company, the first team member I hired tried to sabotage the company and sue me. Even though her plan backfired, I realized that I had given her too much control without knowing enough about the details of her actions.
Help the right person (or people) for free
Giving your product to an influential person can be game-changing. Over 70% of our clients were referred by a friend who is a major mastermind because I surprised him early on with a book we compiled from hundreds of newsletters he had written. He was so excited that he ordered hundreds of copies to give to everyone in his group and began recommending us to all members.
Don’t post or promote until you know your customer
Social media and podcasts can seem like a waste of time—and they are if you can’t figure out what they’re supposed to do for you. When we are clear about who we serve and what they want, we can do whatever we do. I would advise every entrepreneur to fill out the phrase “We serve.” [types of people] so that they can… [whatever it is they’re hiring you for or buying from you].” Remembering this phrase before taking any promotional action will help you and your business continually build authority. After a while, you will no longer need to remember your message because following that message will be organic.
Be more exclusive
While not every company has control over who uses or hires them, the higher you set your standards for customers, the better those customers will be. When we first started, we worked with almost anyone who wanted to hire us. Then we learned that non-entrepreneur clients were the most demanding, while our highly successful entrepreneur clients were the most grateful and easiest to work with. So we started defining qualifications for anyone who wanted to work with us: they either had to be referred directly by a previous client or go through an application process.
Support your team members’ passions
In the age of side hustles, it’s unrealistic to assume that your team members are as committed to your company as you are. Encouraging them to pursue what they’re passionate about will increase their enthusiasm for working for you because they won’t feel like their passions are being stifled. If you don’t know what they’re interested in, offer to pay for a course they’d like to take and see if they’d like to share what they’ve found with you and the rest of the team. It will reinforce everything they’ve discovered and probably help you learn something new too.