Ever been lured in by the dream?
The passive income one. The "set it and forget it" digital product that prints money while you sleep.
I was.
I spent hours devouring YouTube videos, buying courses, and believing the hype. But then I noticed something…
If these "gurus" were crushing it with their own digital products, why were they wasting time teaching others?
Lightbulb moment.
The people making the real money weren't selling digital products.
They were selling courses about selling digital products.
I'd been duped. Or at least, I didn't have the whole picture.
Fortunately, Nathan Barry's pivotal 2019 blog post illuminated it for me.
Sidenote: If you don't know Nathan Barry, he's the head of Kit.com — the email platform designed for creators, and also how I'm sending this email to you. 😉
That blog post changed my entire outlook on generating income online.
You see, most people (including me) think they should jump straight to creating digital products before they're ready.
And that's why they fail.
Here's the real path.
1️⃣ Trade time for money — An hourly job or salary (we all start here).
2️⃣ Turn your skills into a service business — Freelancing, consulting, or an agency.
3️⃣ Productise your service — Offer systemised, repeatable packages or deliverables.
4️⃣ Then— and only then — sell a digital or physical product — Provide someone a solution or result they can achieve on their own (without being tied to your time).
When I stopped chasing shortcuts and built in the right order, my business finally had a breakthrough year.
I took my freelance services (stage 2) and turned them into productised services (stage 3).
And for the first time, my business hit $200K+ (all while travelling).
The "passive income" fantasy is a trap.
The real game is much simpler.
You just need to follow the path.
Mamba