Take Big (and Joyful) Action To Grow Your Business

We see successful solopreneurs and sometimes assume that it was “overnight” success, because they make their business look effortless. The reality is different. My own journey, and the journeys of most successful solopreneurs I know, have involved a lot more consistent effort than seems apparent.

There’s the necessity of taking a LOT more actions than most people realize.

Lasting success isn’t built on fleeting bursts of inspiration or frantic hustle. It’s built on consistent, purposeful action, taken day after day. This is where joyful productivity comes in. We can transform the necessary “work” into an opportunity for growth, a chance to infuse our actions with our values — and to practice the skills that will not only grow our business, but also our character. It’s a chance to get really good at what we uniquely do.

This isn’t about mindlessly grinding; it’s about building momentum, one joyful step at a time.

What follows are some examples of plans for consistent action.

Alex Hormozi’s Action Plan

Alex Hormozi, a highly successful entrepreneur known for his practical advice, recommends dedicating at least four hours per day to promoting your business.

What a reality check!

Four hours of focused marketing is more than many soulpreneurs allocate in an entire week.

What he suggests doing in those 4 daily hours:

1. Warm Outreach: Connecting with people who already know you or have shown interest in your work, to see if they know someone who might benefit from your offerings. (And I’ll add: let each message be infused with your heart, not just your request.)

2. Creating Content: Sharing your expertise through various channels — blog, video, podcast, social media, etc. — to attract and nurture your ideal audience. (I’d add: let each piece of content be a practice of expressing your energy signature.)

3. Paid Advertising: Strategically using paid ads to amplify your content and reach. Best done after organic validation. (Think of paying for ads as a way to invest in the ministry of your message, reaching a lot more people than you could otherwise.)

4. Cold Outreach: Connecting with people who don’t know you. (Hormozi recommends this, but I do not. More on an alternative approach below.)

The key takeaway here isn’t the specific time commitment, but the underlying principle: Quantity often leads to quality. It’s through consistent action, through putting in enough “reps,” that we gather data, refine our approach, and create truly impactful work.

The “100 Reps” Rule

The principle of consistent action isn’t just about marketing; it applies to skill development in any field. Consider these examples:

• MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson): The world’s most popular YouTuber advises aspiring creators to begin by making at least 100 videos before expecting traction. Each video you make should be a learning opportunity, a chance to experiment and improve. He doesn’t even consider someone to be on the YouTube path unless they’ve published at least 100 videos.

• Gary Vaynerchuk: This business and marketing guru emphasizes the sheer volume of outreach. He suggests sending thousands of DMs to potential customers or collaborators. Even though I don’t recommend this approach of contacting strangers, I still take inspiration from the encouragement to take massive action — and simply how many people must encounter your business before you make a single sale.

• Faith Teo’s 100 “Garbage Offer” Challenge: Faith is a friend and reader of my blog from whom I heard about this “garbage offer” challenge. She committed to creating 100 offers, no matter how imperfect each one was at first. I love that playful approach to overcoming perfectionism and taking consistent action. By creating offers consistently, she provided a lot more opportunities for ideal clients to work with her.

Mastery comes through repeated practice and iterative improvement. Each attempt, even if imperfect, builds your skills and brings you closer to your goals.

Netcaring: Authentic Connection

While massive action is important, how we take action matters just as much. Instead of cold outreach, I advocate for “Netcaring” — a practice of connecting with people authentically and building genuine relationships.

The core idea is to send at least 10 Netcaring messages per day to warm or lukewarm contacts (people you’ve interacted with before). These messages should prioritize building rapport and offering value, rather than immediate self-promotion.

Here’s a simple framework:

1. Genuine connection: Acknowledge something specific about the person or their work.

2. Offer value: Share a resource that you think they might enjoy, genuinely offer to be helpful, or simply express appreciation.

3. Open a conversation: What are you genuinely curious about regarding them or their work today? Ask that question, or if it feels appropriate, welcome them to schedule a call with you to reconnect.

You can count replies to your outreach as part of your 10 daily messages.

If and when they offer to support you, here are some ways they can help:

• Do a market discovery call with you.

• Give you feedback on an offer of yours, that you believe may be relevant for people they know.

• Ask for an introduction to someone in their network that could be good for a market discovery call with you.

Netcaring is about connecting with others from a place of service and genuine interest. If you don’t sense their interest in supporting you (yet), still continue to reach out to them occasionally if you want to nurture the relationship. You’ll be remembered as one of few who do keep in touch with people!

The 111 Formula

For a comprehensive annual plan, I teach my students the “111 Formula.” It is taught more deeply in my BizPlan course, but you are welcome to try it on your own, by experimenting with the following…

• 40 Content Experiments (Stage 1 Content): Try a wide variety of content formats and topics to discover what resonates with your audience. Check out the 3 Stages of Content Creation if you aren’t familiar with it.

• 20 Market Discovery Conversations: Deepen your understanding of your ideal clients’ needs and desires.

• 20 Collaborations with Colleagues: Can be something as simple as interviewing each other about your respective work.

• 10 Stage 2 Content Pieces: Take the best of your Stage 1 content, lightly improve and distribute it even further.

• 10 Gentle Launches (or Service Announcements): Practice sharing your offers in a light, authentic way.

• 6 Joyful Productivity Skills: Focus on developing one skill at a time (e.g., energy reboots, HAT manuals, CCC), stacking them, gradually, for cumulative impact. To learn and practice these skills in a community, join the JoyPro Club.

• 5 Client Case Studies: Showcase your clients’ successes to clarify your strengths and attract ideal clients.

These 111 actions can be spread over 12 months, or accelerated to 6 months for faster growth. The key is consistency and a commitment to continuous improvement. The focus is on joyful action, not frantic hustle.

The Long Game

The stories of “overnight” successes often mask years, even decades, of dedicated work and personal growth.

• Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours: This iconic album, one of the best-selling of all time (and still beloved by millions), came after 15 other albums and more than a decade of consistent effort.

• Samuel L. Jackson: He spent over 20 years honing his craft in theater and minor film roles before his breakout performance in Pulp Fiction at age 46. He is now one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

• Vera Wang: She began designing wedding dresses at the age of 40 after careers in figure skating and journalism. Today, her name is synonymous with high-end bridal fashion and she has built a global brand.

These examples demonstrate that lasting success is rarely instant. It’s the result of consistent effort, learning from setbacks, and a willingness to evolve. The small, purposeful actions you take each day, infused with your values and a commitment to growth, compound over time to create remarkable results.

The core message here isn’t about blindly following any particular formula. It’s about embracing the principle of consistent, strategic action, and doing it in a way that feels aligned with your values and brings you joy.

Reflect on your own business:

• What actions align with your strengths and offer the greatest potential for impact?

• How can you increase your “reps” in those areas, while maintaining a sense of balance and well-being?

• How can you view each action as an opportunity for personal and professional growth… for joyful productivity?

By dedicating yourself to taking a lot of action (infused with your values and as a practice of skill-development) — you not only increase your chances of success but also create a more fulfilling and sustainable solopreneur journey!