Tomorrow is my birthday

I have a story for you.

A quick story for you.

11 years ago, I quit my job to become a life coach. I got certified, paid for a website, for good headshots—I did everything right.

And what did I get?

In one year, I got, like, 4 clients, who paid me peanuts.

But I was determined not to have a boss ever again.

So I found weird random writing jobs and created a profile on websites like Freelancer and Fiverr. I became a blogger, recorded video answers to questions about relationships, coached people who hated their jobs…

What was my expertise? Everything, so nothing. It was so confusing.

Then Fiverr exploded and I put all my focus there. Freelance copywriting.

I decided to become an expert in something and went all in on copywriting: courses, books, rules. Studying like crazy. I used my coaching skills to ask the right questions and quickly understand any business in any industry.

But I charged so little that I had to take on a ton of clients to make decent income.

A few years in, I burnt out and gave up. Like, closed down websites, profiles, terminated contracts, just couldn’t do it anymore.

That’s when my husband stepped in.

As someone with business experience, he showed me by example how to get organized, confident, and good at setting boundaries. Together, we turned my copywriting practice into an agency…

And then closed it. Again.

Wasn’t my thing. I hated being in meetings all day long: with clients, employees, leads… I’m an introvert, plus I never really wanted a big business.

Finally, I understood what I wanted to be: not necessarily a coach and not necessarily a writer. A solopreneur.

That’s when I discovered Medium. My third month on the platform, I made $1200, but that wasn’t the best part.

I started reading about all those successful solopreneurs who charged more, or sold products, or made money just writing about what they knew.

Medium changed me by opening my eyes to what was possible. It seemed like the opportunities were everywhere, I just never noticed.

And it made me confident. I saw not everyone knew what I knew.

A bit after that, I got my first 5-figure copywriting client: $12K for a website.

Then I got a few more big-tciket clients. Everyone just said yes to me when a few years earlier, the world seemed like one giant NO.

Medium was going well. Fiverr was booming, even though I’d raised my prices. I barely ever take on an order under $500-$1000 these days. I got featured in Business Insider and Metro UK.

Last year, I built digital products for the first time ever. I only did 4 mini products, all priced under $50, and earned $1700 with almost no effort at all.

We just got a new Tesla. Our kids go to private school. I travelled to 5 different countries last year, including taking my mom to Rome to celebrate her beating cancer.

The year is just starting, but if things are going as they’re going now, my business will make over $200K this year, with almost 0 expenses.

And let me remind you, I’m doing this as a non-native writer, typing on my laptop from my home in Bulgaria. No fancy degrees, no connections, no nothing.

It’s still hard to believe I’m here. Suddenly, it feels like anything is possible.

The reason is, I understand solopreneurship now. I get it. I know what I need to do to get what I want.

All I need to determine is what I want. Because I don’t want to be working all the time, so I’m smart about prioritizing my dreams.

I’m turning 38 tomorrow, and I was thinking, man, if I only knew back then what I know now. All this time wasted, burnout, stress, mental health challenges, money issues—it was all because I had no idea how to build a solo business.

I had no idea what a solo business even is.

And if I can spare you that part, or help you go through it faster, I want to do that.

So, for this weekend only, I’m running a deal.

Get access to everything in Smarter Solopreneurs—learn how to build a solo business and what kind of solo business to build—with 30% off, forever.

Instead of $129 for the year, you’ll pay $90. Instead of $12.90 per month, you’ll pay $9.

But you only have until the end of the weekend to decide.

I don’t run discounts often because I don’t think they’re fair to my full-price subscribers.

So if you think this will happen again soon, it won’t—probably not till Black Friday.

And if you’re not ready, that’s fine too. Sometimes we need to go our own way, experience our own pain, before we’re ready to say yes.

In any case, thank you for being here.

Keep at it!

Maya