How to find a high MRR niche (even for a broke audience!)

I grew a community for broke freelance writers to $40K MRR.

Now that I've sold that business for life-changing money (back in '21), I've had time to reflect. And the big question is: How was this possible?

All the marketing goo-roos tell you, "Don't sell to broke people."

Yet, that's exactly what I did. Because I WAS a freelance writer, and they were my people. And I knew they needed help earning a real living.

There were other communities for writers back when Freelance Writers Den launched in '11, sure.

But there wasn't any other one like mine. The others were all kum-ba-ya and pat you on the head for making $10 an article on a content mill. Or helping you write your novel.

Mine was the only one that took freelance writing seriously as a career that could pay well. And taught you the business discipline to run this like a BIZNESS. That SAW your pain at being a starving writer and said, "You can earn a good living at this."

Also, I did a pre-launch survey, so I knew the price point that would work for them: $25 a month. I never raised it (though there were upsells).

I began with my case study on how I ramped my writing income to $100K during the '08-'09 downturn. That was my proof case that I knew things, and that this COULD be a good living.

And it rolled from there.

Another plus for me: I'd spent 12 years as a staff business reporter, talking to business owners, watching them succeed and fail. So I had some biz savvy from that. I could see most writers didn't even THINK of themselves as a running a business! So bringing that business discipline and attitude was game-changing for many.

I love the 'teach people how to make more money' space because the ROI is so obvious. (The other reliable wins are making people feel better about themselves or helping them SAVE money. And if you can hit all three, you go HUGE.)

My members stayed for years and years, because investing $300 or so a year that made you thousands more? Obviously worth it. By the final years, we had 1500 paid members. In all, about 14,000 writers used the platform to learn about growing their income.

To boil it down, the elements that made it possible to earn well, overcoming the low-income status of many of my members, were:

✅ High-value information and insights they can't get elsewhere

✅ Staying low-ticket and affordable

✅ The 'I will show you how to earn more money' promise

✅ Strong proof case that I had already become a six-figure freelance writer and knew my stuff

✅ Secret sauce of having talked to many business owners and knowing biz fundamentals

What are the elements that make your community a must-have for your target audience? What unique help do you offer they can't get anywhere else?

If you need to develop a stronger offer, let's discuss below!

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