Sup.
I’ve noticed an alarming number of online creators dropping out because they haven’t made a million bucks yet.
When I talk to them, it always leads back to the same problem: they have no offer.
All they do is like, post, comment, and engage—day in and day out.
No wonder people get burnt out.
Today, I’m gonna share my method for carving out a viable offer so that the attention you get from shitposting memes can at least be funneled somewhere.
Before we jump in: I’d like to quickly announce that I’ll be running the second Solopreneur Bootcamp in early February, 2025. If you need a system to grow and monetize your social media audience, this is for you.
It’s still early days but I just wanted to plant that seed of awareness :).
Alright, let’s get on with the show.
Self-Productization: Carving An Offer Straight From The Brain
First, let’s start with the basics.
An offer is what you give in exchange for value.
It could be anything. A piece of content is technically an offer—it initiates an exchange of value (laughs for likes).
Even telling your kid to clean their room so they can get a lollipop afterward is an offer.
All we humans do is make offers to get what we want (while mutually benefiting the other party).
When one party is the clear beneficiary, that’s when things move towards coercion.
Your core offer is what you give that brings in the most value—your flagship product or service that makes you the most money.
Your irresistible offer is what you give that’s too good to refuse.
A person can have 100 offers in front of them, all pitching the same thing (like the food at a buffet). The one with the highest perceived value wins.
If you’re starting from zero, the aim is to craft an irresistible offer first, then build your product second.
That way, you’re prioritizing people’s demands and getting them results by fulfilling those demands.
This also gives you direction from a product development perspective.
I cannot stress how important it is to get this right.
If you skip steps (because you’re in a rush to become an overnight success), you will waste time and energy building something nobody cares about.
I’ve done this, and it is a painful process.
How To Do it: The Four Ps
Problem. Person. Process. Package.
Those are the four P’s, in that order.
For those serious about getting results, I’ll drop a link to the worksheet at the bottom of the page so you have something tangible to work with.
This is going to be highly prescriptive and not your usual blog-style, you’ve been warned.
Step One: Figure Out The Problem
Every solution is motivated by a burning problem.
The more problems we solve at the primitive level, the more problems are revealed at the spiritual level (see Maslow’s Hierarchy).
What does that mean for the entrepreneur? Dollar signs.
Complaining about problems is a poor man’s mentality.
If you’re serious about making it work, problems are the only thing you should think about.
Here are three ways I go about identifying my burning problem:
- Past Pain: Think back to a moment of pure desperation. What problem did you desperately need to overcome? That transformation is valuable to others.
- Present Proficiency: Don’t underestimate your current skills. Even if they seem basic, someone two steps behind would pay to know what you know.
- Future Fantasy: Big goals reveal big gaps. Those gaps are problems shared by millions, and they’re often worth solving for a profit.
In short: Identify a problem rooted in your past, present, or future aspirations. That is your starting point.
Step Two: Figure Out The Person
Once you’ve figured out the problem you want to solve, the next step is to identify the person who’s going through the storm right now: your ideal customer avatar.
“Anyone who’d pay me” is not good enough.
You need to be crystal clear on exactly who you’re helping so you know how to make their eyes light up.
Here’s how:
Define 5 key descriptors: age, gender, profession, pain, and personality.
The best part is you already know what these descriptors are, since you’re solving a problem from your own perspective.
In other words: you are the customer avatar—the version of you who desperately needed help.
Fun fact: When building my solo-starter and solo-creator courses, my profile was based on a past version of myself: Male, late twenties, office job, hates corporate life and the thought of working in a cubicle until 65, independent, etc.
Step Three: Figure Out The Process
Once you have your problem and your person down, the next step is clarifying your unique process.
Your process is just the step-by-step method you took to get from A to B.
That’s it. We do not want to complicate this.
At its core, every product or service is just a sequence of steps to help people overcome their problem.
There are four parts to this:
a) Define a clear promise
Turn the problem you identified in step 1 into a clear and concise promise.
Something that communicates exactly what they’re going to get when they buy your thing.
Here’s a formula I like to use:
I Help [Ideal Customer] Get [Dream Outcome] in [Time-Frame] Without [Specific Pain]
Start with the boring but clear promise, and make it sexy later.
b) List steps
Literally write down every single step your customer needs to take to achieve that promise.
Example:
Write a blog in 2 hours:
- Step 1: Pick a topic
- Step 2: Outline page
- Step 3: Bad first draft
- Etc.
Start with the big, overarching steps that cover a wide area. Each of those “umbrellas” will have a set of smaller, intricate steps that form the backbone of your product.
This process takes time, even for experts. But remember—you only have to do this once. Build once, sell twice.
c) List objections
For each step, write down the objections your prospect might have.
Why? Two reasons:
- So you can solve the problems people actually care about and pay for.
- So you have a blueprint for what you need to solve.
Anyone can write a list. Few take the time to understand what people genuinely fear.
This is what unlocks the value of your offer, and distinguishes it from the rest.
Here’s how I do it:
For each step, write objection based on these four value drivers.
Example: “Step 1: Pick a topic”
1 – Speed → “It’ll take too long; I overthink…”
2 – Difficulty → “Sounds too hard; I don’t know where to start…”
3 – Likelihood → “I won’t be good at it; I lack creativity…”
4 – Experience → “It won’t be fun; my heart won’t be in it…”
Just to re-iterate, on it’s own, telling someone to “Pick a topic” has no perceived value.
But telling someone how to do it faster, easier, more enjoyably, and that their likelihood of success is high—is what makes it valuable.
THIS is what makes your offer irresistible.
d) List solutions
Now that you’ve got a bunch of objections, solve them :).
You do this by taking the objection, and reversing it.
Example:
- Objection: “Picking a topic takes too long.”
- Solution: “How to pick a topic in 3 simple steps…”
Even if the actual time doesn’t change, breaking it down into smaller steps shifts the perception that it’s “too hard” or “too long.”
This is copywriting 101, where perception > reality.
Repeat this for every objection, and eventually you’ll have a fat list of benefit-rich solutions.
These are the deliverables that will form the foundation of your product.
If you say you’ll help people “pick a topic in 3 steps,” then you need to deliver on that promise.
Sounds like a lot of work? Yep. Welcome to business.
Step Four: Figure Out The Package
Okay, you’ve got the solutions—now it’s time to clarify how you’ll deliver them.
Here’s how I “package” my solution using these five key considerations:
1 – Personal attention: what level of attention are you going to provide?
Are you delivering to a large audience? a small group? one-on-one?
2 – Effort level: what level of effort is expected from them?
Is it a done for you (DFY); done with you (DWY); or a do it yourself (DIY)?
3 – Support level: what type of support will I offer?
In-person? On zoom? By phone? Through messaging?
4 – Consumption format: how will they consume what I provide them?
A written course/PDF/Google Doc? Video demonstration? Through audio recordings?
5 – Response time: how fast will I respond to their inquiries?
Around the clock? During office hours? Within 1 hour?
Map out all the different ways you could deliver your solutions to your customer, then trim it down to what’s feasible for both of you.
Develop the necessary materials to deliver your promise, slap a compelling name on it, and voila—you have your minimum viable offer ready to be shipped.
This process might feel overwhelming and a bit tedious. But remember: you only have to do it once.
Most businesses don’t go through these lengths, and that’s why most are average.
If you’re serious about kickstarting your busines journey the right way—use the Solo-Starter Systems and get your first offer out asap.
Thanks for reading.
— Mat
P.S. I’ll be running the second Solopreneur Bootcamp in early February, 2025. If you need a system to grow and monetize your social media audience without all the fluff, this is for you. It’s still early days, so this is just for awareness.
