Hey Reader,
If you’re on this list, I’ll bet you find sales uncomfortable, pushy, or overwhelming. The mere thought of selling gives you hives because you associate it with icky sales tactics to convince someone to buy.
And so you think, “I’ll just create LinkedIn content, and the leads will come to me.” (But then they don’t).
Or that you decide to just take what you can get, accepting every referral no matter how little they pay or how misaligned the work.
And so the feast-or-famine roller coaster continues.
You think your only option to get off the struggle bus is by doing something you hate, becoming someone you’re not, or investing tons of money so someone else does it for you—especially because that’s what all the hustle bros and gurus are telling you.
(Pssst…it’s not)
The Solo CEO Offer Validation System
My approach to validating (and selling) your new offer is a little different.
No hard sales.
No cold outreach.
No asking for the pitch.
No spamming in the DMs.
No building fancy funnels.
No hiring sales teams.
It’s deceptively simple and lets you just have conversations with people who already know, like, and trust you. Not to pitch them but to educate them on what you’re doing.
It’s a way to co-create an offer that resonates, builds trust, and almost always leads to your first sales.
Before I dive into the whole explanation, let me explain how I developed this approach.
Asking for Advice vs. Asking to Pitch
Years ago, I worked with the CEO of a very successful software development agency that had built over 600 tech products. They’d become such leaders in the space that they launched an investment arm, building discounted products in exchange for equity.
This move made him suddenly have a vested interest in helping his clients raise venture capital. Being a pretty smart, systems-oriented thinker, he and his team put together some strategies to help his founder clients conduct investor outreach.
When they first started conducting outbound trying to get pitch meetings with investors, they’d only have a 5-10% success rate at booking a meeting. Worse, when the investors weren’t interested in the startup, they’d give vague, thoroughly unhelpful reasons why.
- You’re too early
- The industry isn’t our focus
- The timing just isn’t right
Eventually, however, they stumbled upon a method that changed everything.
They stopped asking to pitch and started asking for advice.
They’d send an email to the investor asking for a 15-minute call for advice. And they’d include 2 attachments.
- One sheet that had the high-level overview of everything you’d include in an entire pitch deck. Value prop, ideal customer, Total Addressable Market, GTM strategy, Team, etc.
- A 1-2 page document with the founders’ take on the industry. They’re point of view about where the industry was heading and their startup's role in this direction.
This simple shift turned that 5% response rate into 40-50%. Plus, they were getting detailed, constructive, and actionable feedback, which they’d quickly incorporate before sending it out again.
They started landing bigger investments in a faster timeline.
I love this whole approach because it’s perfectly aligned with my thinking. I’ve long said that if you want someone to do something for you, don’t ask them to do it. Ask for their advice on how you can do it.
Worst case: They give you advice.
Best case: They suggest they do it for you (thinking it was their idea).
Using Advice to Validate Your Offer
This is the approach we use in The Solo CEO. After helping a solopreneur craft a compelling, high-value, high-ticket intro offer, they begin to conduct feedback outreach with their network.
So far, nearly every student who puts in the work sells their first offer this way. And usually far faster than they think.
The process helps them:
- Refine the offer to maximize its appeal to their ICP
- Reconnect with key influencers in their network and industry
- Quickly sell and validate their new offer laying the foundation for long term growth
What’s pretty amazing about this approach is that there is no real “selling” involve. No pitching or convincing. Just education, collaboration, and mutual wins.
If you’ve never tried an approach like this, I highly encourage you to explore it and see how it works for you.
Or if you want some help developing the offer and then selling it through network validation, hit reply or apply to join The Solo CEO, and let’s talk. We can get you there in 6 weeks or less.
In love and growth,
Kasey
Ready to evolve from solopreneur to Solo CEO?
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