Hi friends,

I remember, just after my divorce, how scared I was. 45-years old, raising my 13-year old daughter. I felt "old", "done", and honestly like "why bother".

Thank God I didn't let those emotions stick around very long. I put my head down and focused on what mattered, and everything began to change.

Today, I'm on track to earn around $450,000 for the year. I don't have a boss, I don't have a calendar full of appointments, I don't have a task list, and I work in my pajamas. At nearly 55, I'm very happy with what my content creator business looks like.

I'm grateful to share the strategies that run this business. You might pick one idea as a side hustle, or go all in.

Either way, I hope you enjoy!

~ Lori ❤️

What I Published

✍️ On Substack​
I used to think growth meant adding more. Now I measure success by how much I can remove without losing the income, or the freedom.

​Read the Article​

🎥 On YouTube​
In this video, I share my simple, low-friction YouTube workflow for solo creators over 50, showing how I publish consistently, leverage ChatGPT for content ideas and custom thumbnails, and build a system that generates $20K/month.

​Watch the video​

​

📝 The Academy​
Just before I left for Alaska, I held a 2-hour Paid Newsletter masterclass. It was a hit! I showed the viewers how I became a best seller on Substack, and added five figures in annualized revenue just this year.

It is a pay per view for non-coaching clients but includes the Substack 101 guide, the two-hour video, and my notes.

​Get the masterclass​

What I'm Testing

The other night, I said to the universe (yes, I talk out loud to the universe) "Hey Universe, I don't need my old school "blog" anymore now that I'm on Substack.

I know you always give me ideas, and I'm always listening. Show me what that asset should become.

The next day, I woke up with a vision.

I sat down at my computer and opened Claude Cowork, and told it my vision for my blog. "No more blog", it typed. "I want video first, modern design, CTA's. User friendly, Skimmable, Looks great on a mobile. No wall of text".

And within a few minutes Claude had designed exactly what I knew my "blog" was to become.

The pages looked more like landing pages. Something simliliar to Elementor, in my opinion. They were on-brand, beautifully designed, and better than I imagined.

Then, I asked Claude if it could add a form so someone could subscribe for the video notes. Within a few minutes, Claude had used my email program KIT (I included my affiliate link which benefits me, no extra cost to you) to create the form.

I asked it to create a 3-email sequence. It did that. I asked to to create a 2-3 page beautifully branded PDF with the notes of the video, and it did that.

It set it up in kit to deliver the notes.

I mean.. what???

I saved it as a skill and am now redesigning my entire "blog" website based on this new strategy.

So, that was Wednesday! 😉

Ballen Academy

I have a group coaching program for people that want to make money doing some of the things that I do. The group is most excited today about Youtube and Substack, although others are doing Amazon, TikTok Shop, Pinterest, Blogging, Podcasting and more.

The group has asked me to show them how I use Claude which then uses Descript to edit my videos (since I despise editing videos).

They have also asked me to show them how I use Claude to create the new website pages I talked about in the "What I'm testing" section.

You can join in and be on that call on Thursday at BallenAcademy.com.​

---

From the Library