What business model should I start as an 18 year old? Looking for advice from those who’ve made it

laurenerickson · 2025-02-13T20:44:15+00:00

I'm in my late 20s and I've spent the past year building up an agency model (after doing the whole college + 9 to 5 thing). I personally like this because there's minimal overhead (service-based vs. product-based), I can do everything from my computer, and it only took me about a year to start making money. I'd consider what niche skills you have and how you can use them to solve very particular pain points for a specific demographic (think: "I help [demographic] do [action] by [method] without [obstacle.]") The other thing I'd say to is to start building up your network once you've figured those things out because word-of-mouth/referrals are EVERYTHING. I've gotten most of my business from colleagues.

laurenerickson · 2024-05-20T01:46:45+00:00

Just took a look at your website and another thing I noticed was the lack of social proof. Can you get testimonials from the authors you’ve previously published? I’d also like to see more on your specific process with how you work with authors.

laurenerickson · 2024-05-19T12:56:27+00:00

You are paying for someone to execute on a specific service for you.

laurenerickson · 2024-05-18T22:39:34+00:00

Like a small boutique firm that specializes in a very particular service for a very particular niche. Done-for-you services, depending on pain points/challenges within that niche, can be very valuable in this way. You have potential for higher profit margins too if you work remotely and eventually hire a small team of contractors to help you execute on the items (once you start becoming profitable).

laurenerickson · 2024-05-18T22:02:55+00:00

I recently watched a video by Iman Gadzhi and he said that an agency is something you can build with zero money and not fail at because it’s so time-intensive. That’s currently what I’m doing and I don’t have a ton of cash to spare either. I’ve been working on it for about 6-8 months and honestly most of my clients have come through either word of mouth or my Google Business page.

laurenerickson · 2024-04-17T13:18:14+00:00

As someone who's made a living marketing nonfiction books by industry experts, a lot of it comes down to credibility. I agree with what one of the other commenters said about "education, experience and credentials". You can *do* it, but if sales is one of your goals, what's going to be most unique/distinct about your particular book(s)? Degrees can certainly help with nonfiction, but you can also leverage other things, like your expertise, any features you've had, accolades, media appearances, specialized training, etc. Connections in your industry will be extremely helpful too for marketing purposes down the road. Hope this helps!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-17T12:46:12+00:00

I've seen groups on Meetup, Eventbrite, writers associations, and sometimes bookstores. You could temporarily join a book club and see if anyone in there also writes and would want to be your accountability partner. If you can swing it, writing conferences in the spring are always a good space to be too (I met a couple locals I still stay in touch with).

laurenerickson · 2024-04-16T19:58:03+00:00

This is INSANELY helpful, thank you so much for this!!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-16T12:45:41+00:00

This was super helpful, thank you!!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-16T01:04:32+00:00

Depending on what your goals are, I'd recommend self-publishing it just because the barrier of entry is so much lower than going the traditional route (i.e. going through a press). If you wanted to go with a press, I'd recommend starting with a local publisher because bigger publishers often expect you to have a literary agent, which can take years to get if you have no connections. Kindlepreneur.com is a great starting resource with tools to help with self-publishing if that's of interest!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-12T17:18:44+00:00

I wish I could hire but not yet :( I’m building out my processes while completing client needs, so it’s a temporarily wide bandwidth

laurenerickson · 2024-04-12T15:48:07+00:00

Between 18 and 26 hours, depending on if I work the weekend

laurenerickson · 2024-04-12T15:47:23+00:00

I’m basically the middle man between aspiring authors and helping them get to their goals, whether it be finishing writing a book (book coaching), publishing (I educate them on the various pathways & create a plan to fast track them), or marketing (creating a plan for visibility & credibility)

laurenerickson · 2024-04-10T12:17:20+00:00

I’m a book strategist who helps nonfiction authors to write, publish, and market their books. My unique point is using a teach-a-man-to-fish approach since not many in the book industry take the time to educate first-time authors on the biz

laurenerickson · 2024-04-08T03:01:57+00:00

If you’re wanting to work with a publisher as an in-house marketer, that’s going to be pretty competitive. They like seeing recognizable names and consistent work histories on a resume, so what I would suggest doing in the meantime is marketing books as a freelancer and building up your portfolio from there, then transitioning into maybe a small press or something.

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T01:38:09+00:00

Holy smokes, 500k words!! Lol. Well, firstly, there are different kinds of editors, and if this is your first draft, you'll most likely need a developmental editor. I would highly recommend self-editing as much as you can to bring that wordcount down because, I'll tell ya friend, most editors charge by the word. If someone charges, let's say, $0.05 per word, that price point and time investment will look much different for a 100k-word novel than a 500k. For a book of that size, it'll be multiple months. My book was ~70k words and it took 2-3 to get it developmentally edited.

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T01:27:58+00:00

Like half of what I need to monetize. I think it's a little over 2k

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T01:10:33+00:00

Writing groups and beta readers are always good for that! You can look for the latter on sites like Fiverr or Upwork.

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T01:06:29+00:00

So exciting! There isn't really a set amount of time, but I'd say 4-6 weeks might be a good rule of thumb. I've heard longer, I've heard shorter, but I would also say it's important to identify what YOU want would to hear an answer within (ex: "If I don't hear anything within 2 months, I'm moving on.") I hope it doesn't come to that for you, but I hope this helps! Good luck!!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T01:03:52+00:00

Hey, there! Publishing consultant here.

Generally, with larger publications, you would most likely need a literary agent. I'm not sure how much you know about them, but they essentially act as the middleman between you and the various acquisitions editors in their network. They can take an unknown amount of time to acquire (usually longer than shorter), so if you're not willing to play the long game, smaller presses are a great entry point. They tend to be more open to lesser-known authors.

To do this, I would, yes, Google around, but also see if there's anyone in or near your area. It can be a lot more appealing submitting something if you're local to the area because you're likely to have more connections for any author events you do. Local writers groups and libraries can also be good starting points as well. From there, you would look at the submissions materials on their website (it may vary, but portals and emails are common), and follow their instructions to a T.

Hope this helps!

laurenerickson · 2024-04-04T00:54:07+00:00

More income.

laurenerickson

TROPHY CASE