Most creators and online writers are on the wrong path.

Not because they're dumb or lazy but because they don't have a clear vision of what they're building.

They create some content here, post a few pieces there, and switch strategies every few weeks.

They chase trends, follow generic advice, and copy others.

And then they're surprised that their efforts don't pay off.

In the worst case, they end up with a business they don't even enjoy running.

I see it all the time: Writers who love creating but end up burning out because they built a system that forces them to publish daily to survive.

Creators who want freedom but structure their business in a way that ties them to a strict content schedule.

Entrepreneurs who want simplicity but overcomplicate everything with a dozen unnecessary offers.

The solution to this self-imposed hamster wheel is clarity and most importantly, a clear vision.

As Simon Sinek famously stated over a decade ago, you have to start with why.​

Without a why (aka your big vision), you don't know where you're heading, why it's worth going, or when you've actually arrived.

When you know what your dream business looks like, you can build with intention instead of drifting off in the wrong direction.

This is exactly what we're doing behind the scenes of Write • Build • Scale this week.

Our co-founder Jari is visiting us in Vienna for an extended weekend of workshops, brainstorming, goal-setting, and delicious Austrian food.

Our primary goal is to find a common denominator that helps us define specifically what kind of business we want to build and run over the next 3 years.

This kind of exercise is hard when you do it alone, but it's 5x harder when you have to align three people's ideas, visions, and wishes.

That's why we're well-prepared.

Instead of leaving anything to chance, we used AI and our imagination to enter this workshop with as much clarity as possible, and I hope that our process can be useful for you as well.

Evaluate Your Tasks

We started by creating a spreadsheet with all the different tasks that we have to complete in the business, including things like:

• Strategic planning & goal setting
• Content planning
• Content creation
• Tasks related to the different platforms we use
• Newsletter: writing, promoting, admin tasks,..
• Coaching (1-on-1, group sessions, hot seats,..)
• Launching (planning, project management, reviewing,..)

This is just a tiny excerpt of over 100 individual tasks that we came up with.

Next, each of us evaluated each item on the list based on:

• How much we enjoy doing it
• How good we think we're at it

This helped us see what each of us should do more or less of.

Through this process, it became clear to me that I personally want to spend way more of my time writing long-form posts (for Substack & Medium,) and that I shouldn't do any sales outreach or calls because I suck at them and don't enjoy them.

If you're a solopreneur, your list might consist of way fewer than 100 items, but you'll inevitably have to do some things you don't love doing.

This is also true for us as a team of three.

It's not about completely eliminating annoying tasks but about making sure you minimize them so you can spend the majority of your time doing things you enjoy and are good at.

Define Your Dream Business

Now comes the part that will actually help you build a business you love to run.

For this, we did two things:

First, we fed ChatGPT all the available information about our business and asked it to create three variations of what the business could look like in three years.

This led to three distinct options.

I'll emphasize again that it's crucial to do exercises like this if you're a solo player because your time is limited.

I talk to so many creators and writers who have absurd expectations because they don't have a clear image of what they want to build and what the realistic numbers behind their dream business could look like.

Dozens of writers, for instance, tell me that they don't want to sell high-priced courses or offers.

They also don't want to write for clients.

They just want to sell ebooks or templates for $10.

But they barely have a few hundred or thousand followers, which means the math doesn't add up if they want to make a full-time living through their work.

Getting paid to do cool stuff on the internet is no rocket science, but it follows certain rules and principles.

Yes, you get to decide what you do more or less of, but ultimately, you have to do money-making activities if you want to, well, make money.

The following exercises can help you clarify what your ideal business could look like so you can avoid running in circles (or building something you don't actually enjoy):

1. The Ideal Day Exercise

Ask yourself: If my business was exactly the way I wanted it, what would my ideal workday look like?

• How many hours would you work?
• What type of tasks would fill your day?
• Who would you interact with?
• Where would you work from?
• What would you NOT be doing anymore?

Write it out in detail. If your current business structure doesn’t align, you’ll know what needs to change.

2. The 'Hell No' List

Sometimes, it’s easier to define what you don’t want than what you do. Make a list of everything you never want your business to require:

• Do you hate back-to-back calls? Structure your offers differently.
• Do you despise social media? Find a growth strategy that doesn’t rely on it.
• Do you want freedom? Avoid a model that demands constant maintenance.

Your ‘Hell No’ list will keep you from making decisions that trap you in a business you hate.

3. The Future Vision AI Prompt

If you need help visualizing your dream business, try this prompt in ChatGPT:

The more information you initially feed into the AI tool, the better the outcome will be.

Use the response to fine-tune your own vision.

Build With Intention

Your dream business won’t happen by accident. It’s built step by step, choice by choice.

Take time to reflect.

Get clear on your vision.

And then start making decisions that bring you closer to it.

Otherwise, you might wake up one day realizing you built something you never even wanted.

Or you realize that you're only drifting farther away from your goals because your daily actions don't align with your goals.

Reply to this email if you have any questions about our process or if you'd like me to send you the worksheet we used to define our dream business vision.

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Big love from my screen to yours,
Sinem

PS. Here are 3 simple ways you can make more money through your content.​