A Challenge: One Week to Make $100 Online

If you haven’t made any money working for yourself yet, don’t fall into the “all-or-nothing” trap.

I don't want you start off with a big plan to make $500,000.

That’s like wanting to lose 100 pounds in January. The goal is too big, and we get discouraged too quickly.

I’m here to tell you “all or nothing” is the worst way approach a new online business. And instead, I want you to think about this question:‍

What would I do if I needed to make $100 online in the next 7 days?

You probably already know what you would do. So go do that thing.

Here's what I would do:

Step 1: Find and understand prospective customers

Start by looking at your current network, using platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to find people talking about your area of passion and/or expertise. Don’t start pitching, selling, or asking people to schedule a call with you so you can ‘pick their brain’. People are busy.

Instead, jump into conversations that are already happening, and ask questions like, “What's the biggest challenge you’re facing with regards to XYZ?”

You’re not trying to solve their problem right here and now. You’re just trying to gather pieces of data that help shine a light on consistent, common problems among your prospective customers.

Step 2: Create a presale landing page + lead magnet

Once you know the big problem you can solve for your prospective clients, set up a simple landing page that offers a solution. The easiest thing is to find a software that offers landing page templates so you don’t have to start from scratch.

I use Kajabi’s native landing page builder (examples shown below). And there are many alternatives out there (Carrd, ConvertKit, etc) Choose what you know how to use, and get started.

Your whole goal with your landing page is to clearly communicate how you can solve the problem you just learned about. And your landing page should offer a simple lead magnet — something useful that offers immediate value in exchange for an email address.

Personally, I love a short video explaining how I’d approach solving part of the problem. This could be as short as ten minutes.

Step 3: Create content about it

Content is your best friend when it comes to driving traffic to your new landing page.

In my opinion, LinkedIn is the easiest place to get started. Add the link as a custom CTA on your profile, put it in your featured section, and add it to your posts, too. Your goal isn’t to become a millionaire right now. It’s to drive enough people to your landing page, so you can start collecting data.

If you haven't mastered LinkedIn yet, watch my 75-minute video course that has created more than 50 LinkedIn Top Voices, and helped me be named the 4x #1 Global LinkedIn influencer on Favikon.

On Twitter, link to your new landing page in your bio, drop it in a pinned Tweet, and auto-plug it at the end of each Tweet that reaches a certain number of likes.

Step 4: Drop them in the funnel

Once prospects start showing interest, it's all about guiding them through a funnel.

And your lead magnet is just the beginning.

Now that you’ve captured a prospect’s email address, you can guide them to a purchase.

Through a series of emails, you should aim to provide more value, show off your expertise, share testimonials, and gradually introduce your offer.

Again — no hard selling should happen in your email funnel. You just want to help people see how their big challenge can be solved with your offer.

Step 5: Measure everything

You can't improve what you don't measure.

So keep an eye on how many people visit your landing page, how many download your lead magnet, the metrics on each email, and (of course) the number of purchases that come through.

I take a look at my dashboard regularly to make sure the open rates, click through rates, unsubscribes, and net revenue are all moving in the right direction.

You can also look at individual emails to see trends. Is your email series 7 emails long, but 90% of purchases are happening on email 4? Maybe your series could be shortened.

Is there an unusually large number of unsubscribes on email 3? Inspect the content to find out what’s turning people off.

Data tells you a lot about what’s working and what isn’t.

Step 6: Adjust

Your final step is all about optimization.

Based on the data you collected, you can start to tweak your messages, your landing page, and your email sequences.

Maybe your lead magnet needs to be more compelling, or the email follow-ups need to be more personalized. Continuous improvement should be your focus at this point.  

Your goal is to make your funnel as efficient as possible, successfully turning prospects into happy customers.

It’s That Simple

If you follow this plan, you drastically increase the likelihood that you can make $100 in a week.

And aside from the money, you will have laid the groundwork for a scalable, profitable online business.

Remember, it's about taking small, actionable steps. Not trying to lose 100 pounds in January.

Start simple, learn from your process, and grow from there.

Happy growing, and see you next week.

Note: If you follow this, make the $100 (or anything), shoot me a note. I'd love to hear about it.

P.S. This is a small sneak preview of my flagship course, The Creator MBA. 14 Chapters and 111 Lessons of instructional video that will teach you how to build a lean, profitable internet business (even if you're just starting or don't have an idea).

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