Stack Your Skills, Boost Your Income: How to Reach 6-Figures as a Coach in 2024
Full-Stack Creators are the New 6-Figure Coaches.
Living by a new set of principles. Maximizing profit, minimizing expenses, and building a business that supports our life is no longer hyperbole — It’s reality.
In this guide, we’re going to discuss:
What a full-stack creator is.
How to become one.
And how they are putting more cash in the bank than people making $50,000/Month.
Let’s dive in.
Becoming a full-stack creator.
From 2003 till 2014 I worked as a full-stack web developer.
The term “full stack” has origins in web and software development. Referring to:
“the entirety of a computer system or application, comprising both the front end and the back end.”
When building a website or software application there is always a front end and a back end in the finished product. This requires two people with skill sets that specialize in each. Someone who’s “full-stack” can do both.
I first heard the term full-stack creator from Dakota Robertson.
Just like its origins of being multi-disciplinary, Dakota refers to a full-stack creator as someone who:
Builds a social media following.
Stacks online skills.
Productizes their knowledge.
You stack multiple marketing skills that are required to grow your business. Becoming a multi-disciplinary creator. A Swiss army knife.
I attribute most of my success in business to having a broad range of knowledge, expertise, and skills. While this has made it impossible to get a real job, it’s made me a linchpin in growing my business and helping many coaches grow theirs.
Specialized skills are excellent for 9-5 jobs or service-based work but make it difficult to build your own product.
The “jack of all trades or master of none.”
An adage used to refer to the lack of specialization in a negative context. I believe the narrative is changing in 2024. People are beginning to see this as an asset.
The current state of entrepreneurship is built in skill-specific silos.
You become a personal trainer.
You learn web design.
You become a copywriter.
You learn to run ads.
This siloed nature leads to siloed and dichotomous recommendations for building your business.
The ad people say you need to run ads.
The email people say you need to build a list.
The organic/content people say you need to build an audience.
Except…
Being a personal trainer doesn’t mean you know how to get clients.
Running ads doesn’t mean you can sell to your list.
Sending emails doesn’t mean you can build a social following.
Growing on social media doesn’t mean you are building your email list.
Stacking skills allows us to build a profitable business with little to no overhead while maximizing our freedom and happiness.
Diversified skills become the foundation of your business.
The key word here is “business.”
This might not be needed if you’re working a full-time 9-to-5 job.
But when the conversation changes to building a business and productizing your knowledge. That’s when the need for the other skill sets becomes a priority.
I know numerous A-list expert copywriters with no social media following. No email list. And they struggle to build one.
Their focus was only on their craft. They are amazing at writing. But their path skipped the other skill sets. This served them well in 9-to-5 jobs or providing that singular skill/service to their clients.
Here’s the kicker…
Most of those same copywriters are now trying to build social media followings and figure out ads because their priorities have shifted. They want more freedom, autonomy, and leverage in their business.
This requires new skills.
The broader your skill set the more leverage you have.
To sell you need an audience.
To own your audience you need a list.
To grow/scale predictably you need paid advertising.
To productize your knowledge you need skill-specific expertise.
When you stack these you gain control of your business and its growth.
This is when people begin to delegate, outsource, and hire teams.
I have nothing against this.
But I am pro solopreneurship for very specific reasons. Namely profitability, control, and quality of life.
Outsourcing can be expensive. And knowing what to outsource is difficult.
Becoming a full-stack creator is one of the best ways to build a lean business without any overhead.
It becomes less about how much you make and more about how much you take home at the end of each month.
In 2018, my gym was pacing $500,000/Year in sales.
But after paying our team, lease, cleaners, business loan, and misc expenses there wasn’t a single penny left to pay myself.
Since closing my gym I’ve had the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of dozens of businesses.
Here are some facts that may startle you:
People making $50,000/Month but can only pay themselves $7,000/Month.
People doing multiple 5-figures who haven’t paid themselves in months.
People making $100,000 in revenue with a 5% profit margin living their lives one month away from not being able to pay their employees.
This is why I’ve shifted everything back to solopreneurship.
While the person making $50,000/Month may sound more impressive than someone pulling $16,000, they might take home over $10,000 compared to their $7,000 without any stress, overhead, or a team to manage.
The full-stack (solo) creator.
This scales as you, yourself, and your skills scale.
If you’re making $5-, $10-, or even $20,000/Month that doesn’t mean you can’t ascend to or past $50,000/Month.
Creators like Dan Koe and Justin Welsh pulled 7-figures as solopreneurs.
It simply shifts a new set of values to the forefront.
My values are rooted in:
Maximizing profit.
Minimizing expenses.
Maximizing quality of life.
Maximizing autonomy and fulfillment.
Instead of stroking my ego about revenue numbers while chatting with the boys while at the Chandelier Bar. I’m living a stress life I love while stacking profits.
Outsourcing and building teams have a cost.
Financial cost.
Employees, contractors, and software cost money.
Agencies often charge $10-$20,000/Month just to run your ads.
Mental cost.
Hiring is a skill set. Managing people is a skill set.
And as you grow in this way there is a hidden cost — You are no longer doing what you once loved doing. You’re no longer a personal trainer, web designer, or copywriter. You’re a manager with a lot more stress and responsibility.
Becoming a full-stack creator is one of the best ways to build a lean business without any overhead.
It’s not that you have to do it alone.
It’s a mindset or philosophy about business growth where you prioritize profitability, simplicity, and quality of life.
You can pick and choose when and where to invest (delegate) from the viewpoint of your philosophical approach to business.
But you do have the ability to learn the required skills.
The full-stack creator doesn’t strive for perfection.
Good enough is sufficient.
You don’t need to be the next Mr. Beast to produce good videos.
Nor become Alex Hormozi to make sales.
Become Gary Vee to post on social.
Or be a wordsmith to send emails.
It’s not about mastering all of the skills.
Reserve that for your specific craft, things you enjoy, or have a desire and passion to master. Instead, understand what’s required, and slowly stack the skills over time.
The compound effect of consistency outpaces skill.
The skills you should start stacking: Audience building and Client acquisition.
There are two primary skill sets:
Audience building.
Client acquisition.
Then you can sprinkle your unique recipe of skills that align with how you wish to grow your business.
If you want to take a deeper dive into audience building you might find this helpful:
The skill of audience building.
You cannot sell something without a ‘someone’ to sell it to.
It may sound obvious but it’s oddly overlooked and undervalued.
Audience growth can fall into 2 primary buckets:
Organic.
Paid.
These can be done online, offline, or through partnerships as I discuss in other articles.
Social Media.
Podcasting.
YouTube.
Blogging.
Those are often the most traditional activities we think of and are often referred to as “Organic” content creation within digital marketing.
We can also buy our way to growth through paid advertising.
Facebook ads.
Instagram ads.
TikTok ads.
LinkedIn ads.
Google ads.
Etc.
Instead of building our audience and getting attention through posting content, we can plug some $$ into the social media machine and instantly get in front of people.
As I’ve spoken about previously, content creates the best ads. So in the beginning it’s best to start with organic, and when you start with ads, amplify your best content, this puts you in the best position for success.
We use these platforms to build an audience.
Then we use our audience to acquire clients and customers.
The skill of client acquisition.
Audience acquired. Now we can sell our product or service.
Phone call.
Google doc.
Direct messages.
Email marketing and newsletters.
Sales pages.
Funnels.
Paid ads.
Selling begins with putting a sales message in front of someone.
There is a range of complexity and you can choose where you’re at on your journey. Some require more manual effort and some add more automation and leverage.
It can be as simple as a phone call or dm conversation. And this can range to a fully built-out sales page, sales funnel, and Facebook ad campaign.
They all work.
Once you have a product or service. An offer. A sales vehicle. You can choose your journey.
Hint: Start simple and manual before looking to automate.
Deplatform your audience and build your list.
Your email list is the only “asset” you own.
Social media platforms are controlled by someone else. We’re at the liberty of their changes, algorithm, etc.
They give us the luxury of building and selling to our audience on their platform. But as we grow it’s important to maintain control and deplatform these prospects to our email list — A place we own and control.
Email has become one of the most profitable client acquisition tools in recent years.
To build an email list we need an audience to invite to join our list or we need to run paid ads. That’s why we lead with audience building.
Lead magnets.
Newsletters.
Two primary ways to get people to join your email list.
Bringing people one step closer. Shifting them from a prospect to a lead based on the actions they’ve taken and their expressed desire to solve a problem (that you can solve).
Your email list is more intimate than social media.
Research has shown that it takes a frequency of ~2 touchpoints per week for ~6 months to build an authentic friendship (IRL). This is what we architect through email. 1-2 touchpoints per week and with time we engineer a bond.
That’s why this has become a profitable marketing channel.
One that doesn’t risk account bans or algorithm changes affecting our ability to reach our audience.
Consistency > Everything.
This is where the magic happens.
Consistency is like compound interest for your business.
The monk didn’t obtain enlightenment for a month. It took 20,000+ hours.
Mr. Beast didn’t make videos for 1 year. It’s been over 10.
I won’t master writing in 6-months.
Or be fluent in Spanish after 129 days.
Success through consistency compounds over time.
The goal is simple: Don’t stop.
Align your actions with your values. Do things you enjoy and have fun along the way. We’re not about the hustle and grind as full-stack creators. We’re built based on a different set of principles than most.
(If you’re looking to increase your consistency, you may find this article helpful)
Reaching “Critical Mass”
It takes a lot of effort to start. This is inertia.
Over time (Consistency) we begin building momentum.
Over time we can hit a point of Critical Mass where the effort required to maintain becomes easier.
As your audience grows, your brand grows.
As your brand grows, your conversion rate increases.
As your audience, brand, and list grow, you generate more sales.
When people invest money long enough. The interest they’ve earned begins to generate them money. This is the point of Critical Mass for a creator.
Results compound.
We first need to start. Then keep going. And be patient while our compound interest grows.
Apply your unique gift and desire as a filter to get started quickly.
Creation can take various forms.
Audience building and client acquisition can be done in various ways giving you the freedom to experiment.
Choose a medium.
Choose a platform.
Publish.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Nothing is fixed and you can change it anytime.
Mediums:
Writing.
Video.
Images.
Speaking.
If you find yourself drawn to one more than another start there. Each will preference its way to a specific platform to publish on.
I love to write.
I write a weekly newsletter on Substack (a platform for writers). I also write daily on LinkedIn. Over the years I’ve become more advanced and have started to repurpose content but when I started my goal was only to write 1 weekly newsletter.
You may love to speak and interview people… Podcasting may be for you.
You may naturally crush it on video… YouTube may be for you.
It can be easy to overthink.
Start as simple as possible and build consistency.
With time you can begin to build your list. One step at a time.
My downfall became my superpower.
I used to struggle because I wasn’t a specialist.
I’d spent hours scouring job boards and looking at all the specialized requirements I could not meet.
3-5 years of experience in Google Ads.
3-5 years of experience with Hubspot.
3-5 years working with SaaS companies.
3-5 years working with DTC brands.
All things I’d done once or twice but never as my “full-time” job to accumulate 3+ years of experience.
My experience was in being an entrepreneur and figuring shit out.
With time, and a considerable amount of self-reflection I realized this was my superpower. I was a full-stack creator.
I changed the narrative around what I previously thought was “lack” and unearthed it as a superpower and added it to my “stack”.
I believe you have superpowers.
I hope that you can allow yourself to see them.
Landon “full-stack” Poburan.
PS.
If you’re looking for a guide or mentor on your journey to building a business that supports your life — I’d love to see if I can support you. You can fill out the short form to see if it is a good fit: https://landonp.com/contact/
PPS.
You may find this guide on using social media to build your personal brand helpful on your journey:
Love your article. I have finally found value in something read in an article wise/format. (Not a course or a book or podcast). Very educational and informational. And very well constructed, with all the insterted links, went through all and saved them. Very good work!