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The 6-Step Framework That Made Me My First $1 Online
Programmed for Profit - Read time: 6 mins
Adam Shilton
March 21, 2025
If you’ve ever been told you couldn’t do something. This one’s for you.
Quick one before we start - If you’re a long time subscriber who missed last week’s update. Read it here.
Onwards!
When I was young I was told by a career advisor that I should forget becoming a Music Composer.
He said something like:
“That will be too hard. Pick a different career”.
I’m sure you’ve faced something similar.
Don’t apply for that job
Don’t start that business
Don’t launch that product
I hate it when people talk like this (especially if they’ve never ACTUALLY tried themselves).
I feel like I’ve spent my entire life trying to prove people wrong!
Some might say this isn’t ‘healthy’. But you’ve got to get drive from somewhere i guess?
You can’t do a whole music tech course in a year → Did it
You can’t make any more money at your age → Did it
You can’t do big deals with your experience → Did it
You can’t start a business without savings → Did it
Today we’re looking at the framework I used to make my first $1 online.
This is the same framework I presented in the TEDx talk I gave, July 24 which you find here.
I did it as one person. But the same principles apply if you’re:
Looking to grow your personal brand
Looking to launch a new product
Looking to grow your business
This framework revolves around 2 concepts.
Buyers Journey (sometimes called lifecycle stages if you use a system like HubSpot)
Trust building
Buyers’ Journey
Here’s a quick definition of the Buyer’s Journey courtesy of Notion AI.
“The Buyer's Journey represents the stages a potential customer goes through before making a purchase decision. It typically starts with the awareness stage, where they first recognize they have a problem or need. This is followed by the consideration stage, where they research and evaluate different solutions. Finally, they reach the decision stage, where they choose a specific solution and make a purchase. Understanding this journey is crucial for businesses to create targeted content and build trust at each stage, ultimately guiding prospects toward becoming customers.”
They key takeaway here is ‘Alignment’.
Don’t try to sell something to someone if they don’t realise they’ve got a problem
Don’t try to educate someone when they’re ready to make a purchase decision
You wouldn’t jump on a tyre kicker with a ready-to-sign car lease deal
You wouldn’t get someone to watch a video who’s holding a credit card at checkout
Meet them where they are.
Trust Building
Quick thought experiment.
Who is more likely to buy from you?
A) Someone who’s seen 1 of your posts and 1 of your e-mails
B) Someone who’s read 30 days of your content and 12 hours of video / podcast content
Pretty obvious, right?
Recently, I’ve chatted with 2 successful Founders with solid content strategies.
Will Barron - Founder @ Salesman.com
Will’s got the no.1 most downloaded sales podcast in the world.
By the time his podcast listeners contact him, they’re ready to buy.
Jacob Bank - Founder @ relay.app
It’s a similar story for Jacob.
He’s super focused on Education. And rightly so, as people want to understand AI Agents right now.
He’s filling that knowledge gap.
He said something to me like:
I’m not focused on selling relay right now. I’m focused on teaching as many people about AI Agents as I possibly can.
And guess what.
When people want to deploy AI Agents. Where do they go?
Anyway, how about that framework…
The Framework
NOTE - The quotes are excerpts from the TEDx talk.
Create
“Get used to writing, start with text content, and then move on to more visual designs that'll capture more attention using tools like Canva or Figma.”
In the TEDx I was talking specifically about social media design. But creation also applies to:
Books
Podcasts
YouTube Videos
The point is, to start building trust, you need to create something of value.
The best formats right now are. Educational (learn from me) Contrarian (agree or disagree with me) Stories (empathise with me)
Don’t overcomplicate it. Talk about what you know. In your own voice.
In line with the buyers journey. If you’re meeting people at the beginning of their journey through your content. It’s best to talk about challenges, so you can later position yourself as a solution to those challenges.
Pro tip - Use AI for help with ideation. “Help me generate ‘x’ ideas on topic”
Promote
“Pick a platform that suits your content style, and promote yourself through social media. Post something every day you enjoy talking about, or are skilled at, and start building a following. Be authentic, be bold, be you.”
My platform of choice is LinkedIn.
For Will, it’s his Podcast and YouTube.
Don’t try and master all of them. Grow one before moving onto the next.
Capture
“Start funnelling your followers to a landing page where you can capture their e-mail addresses. You can even start doing this before you've got a newsletter or anything to send them.”
Build trust online.
Sell offline.
Essentially, you want to move people off your platform onto a list that you own ASAP.
If LinkedIn blows up, you still need something to show for your efforts.
Pro tip - Use lead magnets to increase sign up conversions. People are more reluctant to give away e-mails nowadays. ‘Join my list and receive [insert valuable resource]’, will always work better than ‘Join my list’ alone.
I use HubSpot for my landing pages, but tools like Kit and Kajabi will also work.
Nurture
“Nurture your subscribers offline and build trust using newsletter platforms like Beehiiv, Substack and ConvertKit.”
What you’re reading right now is this stage.
You might be at the beginning, or in the middle of your journey with me.
Either you’re struggling to grow your business or your brand.
Or you’ve tried learning from other’s and it’s not worked.
Either way, my words in my newsletter are my way of proving to you that I know my sh**.
This is how I continue to build trust.
Product
“Create a simple digital product. It could be a text guide created in Google Docs, or a video course recorded using PowerPoint and Loom.”
If you’re a small business, you’ll likely already have a product.
If you’re a solo business, it’s easy to create one.
I made my first $1 online with a ChatGPT for Finance eBook.
It doesn’t have to be flashy, but it does have to be valuable.
Payment
“When the time is right, direct people to your checkout page where they can buy your product using a platform like Gumroad.”
I mentioned Gumroad, because it’s low lift.
But most platforms now offer payment gateway integrations.
Again, I’m now using HubSpot which gives me gated payment pages.
The last word
The process we’ve just look at is the full cycle for a simple digital product.
If you sell more complex products, the call to action at the end of your journey might be:
Book a meeting
Join our event
Whatever action you want people to do.
This process is also heavily content focused.
(we will look at how to sell without content in future newsletters)
Either way, they key is to capture attention the attention of an online audience., nurture your audience offline, and guide people to a product / payment page when the timing’s right.
That’s all for now folks.
Until next time.
Adam
P.S - When you’re ready, here are some other ways I can help you: