Why I hated making $50K/month

Most people think scaling your business means:

• Working 80-hour weeks.

• Going David Goggins Mode and sacrificing your social life.

• Becoming a stressed-out zombie who runs on Red Bull.

But what if I told you that's complete bullshit?

What if scaling to $50K months actually required LESS of your time, not more?

In this newsletter, I’m gonna expose the biggest limiting belief keeping you stuck at $10K-$20K months.

When “Success” Feels Like a Prison Sentence

In 2022, I hit my first $50K month with my ghostwriting business.

I should've been popping champagne and flexing on Instagram.

Instead?

With every new client I took on, my anxiety skyrocketed like Bitcoin in 2021 (except my anxiety didn't crash afterward).

I felt trapped.

Sure, I wanted to make more money…

But as my list of clients grew, my stress grew (and my free time shrunk).

My worst fear was not being able to deliver quality work and getting bad results for my clients.

So I overcompensated by pouring endless hours into each project.

My calendar looked like a game of Tetris on nightmare mode.

My personal life?

Hahahahahahaha…what personal life?

It got to the point where I hoped potential clients wouldn't sign with me.

Let that sink in.

I was actively hoping to NOT make money.

I knew I needed to make a change (or I’d need to develop a serious cocaine habit to keep up).

The Moment Everything Changed

So essentially, I just found a local dealer and started doing a buncha blow and working more.

Boom. Problem solved. End of newsletter.

…okay, joking.

So when I started in online business, there was a guy making like $100,000 a month with his agency.

And he shared his #1 piece of advice that always stuck in the back of my head:

“From the start, you NEED to make systems for everything you do.”

When I first heard that advice, I thought “Yeah, good advice, but I’ll worry about that when the time comes. I just need to land more clients.”

Well, I finally felt enough pain to understand the importance of his advice.

So after 6 months of paid consulting from an expert (and $20,000+ later), I finally developed a system.

One that I use to manage 40+ ghostwriting coaching clients and help run a $50K/month ghostwriting business.

• Without sacrificing the quality of client work.

• Without wanting to blow my brains out from stress.

• Without adding a ton of more time with each new client.

And best of all, it allowed me to focus on the high ROI tasks that helped me work ON my business, not IN my business 24/7.

I’ll break it down in simple terms for you…

My Stupid Simple 6-Step Scaling System

1) List Out ALL The Tasks You Do Regularly

Sit down and think of all the task you do on a:

• Daily basis.

• Weekly basis.

• Monthly basis.

• Yearly basis.

2) Note Which Tasks Drain Your Time And/Or Energy

Doesn’t matter if it’s a little or a lot, just note which ones.

3) Make a Video SOP

SOP = Standard Operating Procedure.

(Just a fancy word for a step-by-step guide).

Record a video of your screen and do the task.

As you’re doing the task, state in the video:

• What the step is.

• Why it’s important.

• How to do it (in simple terms).

Repeat for each step of the task.

4) Add Your SOPs To a Folder

In Google Drive, create 4 folders.

• Operations (tasks for keeping your team and backend organized).

• Marketing (tasks for attracting clients).

• Sales: (tasks for pitching and closing clients)

• Fulfillment (tasks for delivering on your service).

Then upload the related SOPs to the correct folder:

5) Delegate

Most business owners hold the limiting belief, “I’m the ONLY one who can do the task right.”

But the funny thing is, ~80% of your tasks can be delegated to a virtual assistant for like $100-$500 a month.

You just need to train them properly.

And since you’re a giga-genius high IQ individual, your SOPs will be kickass and easy to follow.

All you gotta do now?

Get your assistant or team member to do them.

Once they complete the task, 1 of 2 things will happen:

1. They’ll do an amazing job and not require guidance (unlikely, and that’s okay).

2. They’ll need more guidance and feedback.

All you gotta do is get them to repeat the task and give them feedback until they can do the task at ~80% of your capability.

Remember: You’re aiming for competency, not perfection.

6) Repeat

Once they’re competent at one task, get them to learn another.

Then just continue to process.

Sure, it can be time-consuming in the short term.

But trust me…you’re going to save so much damn time in the long term.

That’s time you can use to:

• Take on more clients.

• Spend time with family.

• Finally start that feet pic side hustle you’ve been thinking about.

The Truth About Scaling Past $30K/Month

Here's what most business owners don't understand:

• You don't need to work harder.

• You don't need to sacrifice more time.

• You don't need to accept more stress as "just part of success."

You just need to build systems that work hard FOR you.

Without systems, your business is like trying to fill a bathtub with water while the drain is open.

You're constantly pouring in effort, but you're never getting ahead.

With systems, you finally put a plug in the drain.

Every drop of effort you put in stays there, building up over time.

Your business becomes an asset that grows WITHOUT requiring more of your time (and sanity).

Hope this helps.

Your Canadian friend,

Dakota “Systemize Til’ I Die” Robertson

P.S.

If you're a ghostwriter currently stuck at $10K-30K months…

Or a 9-to-5 worker trying to get to $10K/month…

And you want the plug-and-play system we use to run our $50K+ month ghostwriting business:

This is part of what I teach in my coaching program, Growth Ghost.

And it’s why our members can get results like this…

If you’re interested in learning more, click here: [link]

Personal Update

I went surfing last weekend (and failed miserably).

Now I’ve decided to jump out an airplane with a friend this weekend.

If I never post another newsletter again, you now know how I died.

Links Of The Week

• How I helped Fernando hit $30K/month with ghostwriting [YouTube Video]

• Overcoming loneliness as an entrepreneur [LinkedIn Post]

• What it’s like in the day of a life of a ghostwriter [LinkedIn Post]