7 business moves I made in January


Before we dive in:

One of the best newsletters I've read:

"Growth in Reverse" by Chennel Basilio.

Each week she provides incredible tactical breakdowns for how to build your business and newsletter. She put together an epic database of 75 growth levers you can use right now to scale.

It's a great read.

Last month I announced I would get back to writing monthly business reports.

But I soon hit friction.

Usually we'd create a series of graphs and run through the full shebang. But it felt overkill for each month.

Instead, I'm going to try something new.

The in-depth reports will be quarterly. But each month I'll check in with a snapshot of how business is going.

Let me know if you enjoy.

Results

7 moves I made

1. I started my first book!

I've always wanted to be an author.

But I'm 4 years into writing and I still haven't written a book. There'd always be another business project to complete. I said I was too busy, but actually I was too scared. Scared of failure, uncertainty, judgement.

But you don't get what you want from life by giving in to fear.

My rule: I must write my book 90 minutes every morning. 6-7 days a week. Excited to see how it develops.

2. AI-ifying my business

Ignoring AI is like ignoring the discovery of electricity.

I was about to hire someone to build AI assets for my business. But I realized that the best person to build these products is me. I get to learn and win.

Some things I built:

  • An email editing coach (Following Magnetic Emails principles)
  • A launch idea generator and email planner
  • An email repurposer (Claude will write a social media promotion post, short and long-form content in my voice, and suggest subject lines)
  • A ‘10x agency’ business consultant (for thinking through problems, finding blind spots, growing balls)

The process has been slow but fun. Once I'm happy with the output, I'll share them with you.

But it's not just robots I've focused on.

3. Working closer with my VA

I hired my VA from Somewhere last year. She's been fantastic. But I've been a lazy leader. I would just fire tasks at her without strategy.

In January, we:

  • Introduced a systemised weekly check-in
  • Created a dashboard to assist with priorities
  • Improved our communication (especially how I delegate)

This has led to a big boost in motivation and execution, and she's becoming more autonomous.

4. Became more intentional with goal setting

I became a digital nomad in September.

The first half of the trip was fun. I intentionally ‘let go’ to prove I could enjoy life without always pushing for progress.

My realisation? I f*cking love progress.

And I'm a huge fan of strategic execution. This year I set a goal in 4 domains:

  • Business
  • Balance
  • Brain
  • Body

I broke these down into 90-day, 30-day, weekly, and daily actions. It's been a blast. I recorded a video sharing how you can do the same here (plus how to journal).

5. Launched two high ticket offers

If you followed me for a while, you know I'm a fan of a freedom-first business.

But freedom is not about a lack of commitments. It's about committing to things you love. At the end of the year, I reflected on what energizes me (aside from writing).

My answer surprised me: live calls.

I feel stupid for not realizing this sooner (please think more). I launched two high-ticket offers:

  • A yearly 1-1 mentorship
  • A small group coaching cohort to build digital products

The start has been great fun. It was nice to see slots get snapped up too. A nice reminder that writing is how you build relationships at scale.

6. Coaching bonanza

I'm a firm believer that those who keep learning keep rising.

But I'm finding business books less exciting these days (I’m obsessed with reading spirituality/human conditioning and fantasy fiction).

So I hired three coaches:

  • Craig Shoemaker. A wizard at creating high-quality courses. Also a fantastic guy to bounce ideas with.
  • Jordan Parker. Jordan is helping me with automations, data, and optimization. But both him and his partner are fantastic sources of knowledge on a broader basis (they helped with my VA process).
  • Olly Richards. I finished my 12-month business coaching with Olly in September. Renewing for 2025 was a no brainer.

I never used to believe in coaching. But it's a fun and effective way to learn.

7. Affiliate launch

I started the year promoting one of my favourite courses, Copyhour.

The promotion took six hours to prepare and grossed $6758. A good win-win-win (for me, you, and my friend Derek Johannson—who writes fantastic biz-related emails).

Affiliating is a fantastic way to increase your revenue without increasing workload. The key is to only promote products you love. Long-term reputation is more important than short-term revenue.

How can I help you?

As you can see, it's been a busy month. But I also decided to increase the content I'm creating—which means more emails.

We're halfway through the Magnetic Writing Manifesto series.

But what would you like to hear?

Which points stood out to you most? I'd be happy to explain more.

Otherwise, have a fantastic month ahead.

Kieran

Kieran Drew

On a mission to become a better writer, thinker, and entrepreneur • Ex-dentist, now building an internet business (at ~$500k/year)

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