I spent $141,382 on this

$141,382.

That’s how much I’ve invested on my education in the past 3 years.

And no, not with college.

At the age of 23, I made the decision to invest in people who had done what I actually wanted to do in life.

Not a professor who learned from a textbook.

That single decision is the reason I went from a broke kid working as a Domino’s pizza driver to building a 7-figure personal brand and traveling the world.

But let’s be honest…

You’re probably thinking, “Well that’s great for you, what about me?”

So that’s why in today’s newsletter, I’m going to reveal the most valuable lessons I learned, so you can build a 7-figure creator business.

I’m going to cover the 5 key pillars for success:

1. Personal branding

2. Performance and Productivity

3. Marketing

4. Sales

And the 5th (and arguably most important) pillar I’ll reveal at the end.

The Key To Growing Your Personal Brand

So the first pillar responsible for building a successful creator business is Personal Branding

Now, you’ve probably come across one of my mentors on one of the social media platforms.

Dan Koe.

Early in my social media journey, I hired him as my 1 on 1 personal branding mentor.

I even lived with him for 5 months, so I got an even deeper understanding of his philosophy.

And my big takeaway was that growing a social media following isn’t about the content.

It’s about the person behind the content.

So, most people are just spewing facts about niche topics.

And that’s fine, but if people really just wanted facts, they’d Google it.

People are on social media for entertainment and connection.

So if you really want to grow an audience on social media, you need interesting things to say AND you need to build a connection with your audience.

And that comes from sharing:

• Your experience

• Your opinions

• Your stories

When you get your audience invested more in who you are than what you say, you can talk about anything and sell anything.

And you do this by standing out.

Everyone is saying the same thing in the same way.

If you want to grow on social media, lean into what makes you different.

List out your unique hobbies, opinions, and experiences.

Use these as the basis for content creation and branding.

If you can’t think of anything that makes you unique, ask your friends and family.

And if they can’t think of anything, go out and do more interesting stuff.

How To Become a Productivity Machine

So when I hired my performance and productivity mentor, Leon Castillo, I was struggling to focus and get into a workflow.

I’d was addicted to checking my phone and would constantly get distracted.

But once I hired my mentor, he showed me that everything we do is a system. But our self-perception is the core of that system.

Now, all the productivity gurus out there are touting the same stuff:

• Use a to-do list

• Set specific goals

• Avoid multitasking

And that’s all fine and dandy, but it’s useless if you don’t adopt the identity of a high-performer.

Take Alcoholics Anonymous as an example.

They have such a low success rate because they literally get their members to constantly call themselves addicts.

They view themselves as addicts, so their default behavior is to use drugs.

That’s why before you try any productivity tips, you need to sit down and write out what you want from life and who you need to become to get there.

Then, going forward, you become hyper-intentional with the labels you place on yourself.

If they don’t serve you and where you want to go, you do not use them.

Instead, you stack small wins and use those experiences to reinforce the identity of a high-performer.

Then you’ll find the habits and behaviors will fall into place.

How To Sell Without Being Sleazy

Before I hired my sales mentor, David Mendes, I would shit my pants on sales calls.

I’d get so worked up in my head on what to say and how to say it.

Hell, I would even physically shake before sales calls because of the adrenaline.

I was too focused on myself.

And that’s what my problem was.

I thought sales was about selling myself and what I had to offer.

But sales is about who you’re trying to help.

So the biggest shift my mentor made for me was putting the focus on the prospect.

I stopped talking so much and instead, I asked questions.

In fact, 80% of what came out of my mouth on sales calls were questions.

Because I’m not a mind reader, and I’m willing to bet you’re not either.

So when you ask questions, you’re learning about the other person’s pain points and goals.

And the more you get the prospect to talk about them, the more they realize they’re not where they want to be and they need your help.

Then when you go to tell them more about what you have to offer, you position your product or service as the perfect solution to their problems and desires.

This also takes a ton of pressure off yourself because you’re not focused on yourself, but what the prospect is saying and how you can help.

But it all comes down to shutting up and listening.

How To Get People To Buy Your Stuff

Everything you do in life is marketing.

The content you create, the clothes you wear, even your Tinder profile.

Everything you do says something about you.

And when it comes to online business, it isn’t as simple as slapping a price on a product or service and watching the dollars roll in.

It starts with understanding the person you’re trying to serve.

Most people don’t even ask themselves what the goals or pain points of the people they’re trying to help are.

Think how crazy this is…

People will spend months building out content or a business they have no idea if people even want it.

Then when they go to market their business they can’t get anyone to buy.

Or if they create content, they can’t get anyone to follow.

That’s wasted time, money, and energy that could have been easily avoided if they spent a few days doing market research.

And this can be as simple as going to ChatGPT, specifying your target audience, then getting it to list out their biggest pain points and desires.

Or even better, actually talk to the people you’re trying to help and what their challenges and goals are.

From there, you craft your product, service, or content around solving their pain points.

Great marketing is a result of understanding your customers on a deep level.

When you do, the words you use and how you use them become 10x easier to create. And as a result, you attract more people and make more sales.

It’s so simple but so few actually take the time to do this.

The Most Important Thing I Learned This Year

So a few months ago, I flew to a retreat in Costa Rica to do ayahuasca.

If you don’t know what ayahuasca is, it’s the final boss of psychedelics.

And no, I’m not gonna go into some ‘woo woo’ law of attraction type stuff.

But doing ayahuasca was one of the most profound experiences of my life because it allowed me to close the loop on a ton of childhood stuff.

I felt all the emotions I had as a kid

The feelings of low self-worth, the humiliation of being known as “the fat kid”, watching drug addiction slowly kill my mom.

I realized it was a gift.

So aside from tripping balls and feeling like a potato at times, a reoccurring theme came up.

“Lead with your heart.”

And what that means is being open about sharing your vulnerabilities instead of trying to appear perfect.

Because in today’s world, there are a lot of macho tough guy alpha male acts making you feel like trash if you don’t have everything figured out.

Then they pitch you on a course.

Now, I’m not saying be a little pussy.

Quite the opposite.

There is strength in talking about your story, struggles, and failures, but doing it in a way where you don’t play the victim.

Going viral is cool and all…

But it doesn’t compare to the feeling when someone messages you after putting out put out a piece of content and they tell you ‘Hey man, I’m going through some stuff and this really impacted me. Thank you.’

When you share your vulnerabilities and show you’re not a victim.

You not only empower yourself, but you give power to others who are going through struggle.

You give them the courage to face it head on.

And this is what builds an authentic connection with your audience and those around you.

Vulnerability is the key to leadership.

Now, I know it can feel overwhelming with all the information out there.

One person tells you do X, the next tells you to do Y.

The truth is, it’s going to take time, consistency, and experimentation to find your groove.

But if you stick to the path of learning and applying, over the course of 6-18 months, you’ll transform your life.

Much love and happy Thursday.

Your Canadian friend,

Dakota “Learning Is Kewl” Robertson

P.S.

After months of being closed, I’m opening up my ghostwriting program, Growth Ghosts, in early January.

In it, I’ll show you:

• How to grow on X and LinkedIn by thousands of followers

• How to build your own social media and/or newsletter ghostwriting business

• How to make your first $10,000 with ghostwriting in 6 months (guaranteed)

And a bunch more I’ll reveal later ;)

But…

I’m limiting spots to 100 people.

Once spots are filled, I’m not opening up the program for 3+ months later.

So, if you want to be placed on the waitlist and get priority access, click the button below.