The Passive Income Lie

In partnership with

Hey, Coach Will here…..

As you work on perfecting your "set-it-and-forget-it" masterpiece in your basement, remember that many smart solopreneurs are quietly earning over $50k by truly serving their clients.

Keep going—success often comes with persistence and dedication!

Ouch, right?

Here's where it gets interesting...

➡️ What's Inside This Week

• The Fantasy That's Bankrupting You - Why passive income is the entrepreneurial equivalent of a lottery ticket.

• The AI Gold Rush Trap - How to use AI as rocket fuel, not autopilot

• The Opportunity Massacre - What you're losing while chasing unicorns

• The Leveraged Income Revolution - The real secret to sustainable wealth

• Your AI-Powered Action Plan - a 4-week blueprint to actual revenue

• The 24-Hour Revenue Test - Know if your idea will work before building it

Here's the data that'll make your stomach drop: 90% of online courses make less than $1,000 in their LIFETIME. Not per month. Total.

The average course creator?

Spends 3-6 months and $5,000+ building their "passive empire" to earn... $2.08 per hour.

Congrats, you just paid yourself less than a 1950s paperboy.

Meanwhile, ConvertKit's Creator Economy Report dropped this truth bomb:

Creators who actively engage with their audience every week make 3.5 times more than the "set and forget" crowd.

Those beach-laptop gurus?

They've got teams of 5-10 people running their "passive" business while they snap photos between Zoom calls.

The real money?

Solopreneurs embracing "leveraged but engaged" models are banking $10K-$50K months with just their expertise and a calendar link.

The plot twist nobody sees coming...

🔥 The Fantasy That's Bankrupting You

Every passive income guru is selling you the same poisonous dream: Create once, profit forever.

Here's the brutal truth they won't tell you—they're making their "passive" income from YOU buying their course about passive income.

It's a pyramid scheme dressed up in beach photos and laptop lifestyle promises.

Your brain's loss aversion is the real villain here.

You're so terrified of missing the "perfect passive system" that you're ignoring the money-making opportunities screaming at you RIGHT NOW.

It's like starving at a buffet because you're waiting for the perfect meal to appear.

The real kicker?

While you're hunting unicorns, your competitors are building actual businesses with actual customers.

But wait, it gets worse when you add AI to the mix...

⚡ AI Gold Rush Trap

"AI changes everything!" you cry.

"Now I can automate EVERYTHING and truly be passive!"

Wrong. Dead wrong.

AI isn't your golden ticket to laziness—it's your performance enhancer.

Think of it like this: AI is the difference between a Ferrari and a skateboard, but YOU still have to drive.

No one's giving you a self-driving money machine.

Here's what AI actually does:

• Writes your emails faster (but can't build relationships)

• Creates content at scale (but can't ensure it solves real problems)

• Automates repetitive tasks (but can't make strategic decisions)

• Speeds up production (but can't care about your success)

AI is your co-pilot, not your replacement pilot.

Use it wrong, and you'll crash faster than ever.

🎯 Leveraged Income Revolution

Forget passive. Think LEVERAGED.

Here's the mindset shift that changes everything:

• Passive mindset: "How can I avoid work?"

• Leveraged mindset: "How can I make my work count for more?"

The entrepreneurs making real money aren't sleeping on beaches—they're building systems that amplify their impact.

They're not escaping work; they're making work meaningful and profitable.

Real wealth comes from:

• Solving bigger problems for more people

• Building systems that amplify your expertise

• Creating products that genuinely transform lives

• Using technology to scale your impact, not replace your involvement

You don't want to escape work—you want to make work that matters.

🤖 StartSmart™ AI Toolbox

Copy this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or your favorite AI Tool for immediate results:

You are a strategic business advisor specializing in digital product creation. I need help creating a high-converting product that generates real revenue.

My situation: I'm a [your expertise] expert who wants to stop chasing passive income fantasies and build leveraged income. My ideal client is [describe them] and their biggest pain point is [specific problem].

Please provide:
1. A compelling product name that triggers urgency
2. 7 core modules with emotional hooks for each title
3. 3 irresistible bonus modules
4. 10 potential upsell ideas
5. 5 scarcity-driven launch strategies
6. A complete 7-email sales sequence

Format your response as a detailed action plan with specific examples. Make this outline so valuable that someone would pay $500 just for the strategy.

Pro tip: Bookmark this prompt and use it whenever you need to transform your expertise into revenue-generating products.

⚡ 15-Minute Quick Win

Smart Action: Run the 24-Hour Revenue Test

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Tools Needed: AI (ChatGPT/Claude), Simple landing page builder (Carrd or Lovable)

Expected Outcome: Know if your idea has legs before wasting months building

Time Investment: 30 minutes to set up, 24 hours to get results

Here's your brutal reality check:

1. Use AI to write a landing page for your product idea (15 min)

2. Create the page using any simple builder (10 min)

3. Share with 100 people in your network (5 min)

4. Count how many click "I want this" or give their email

The math that matters:

• Less than 10 interested? Kill the idea immediately

• 10-20 interested? Refine and test again

• 20+ interested? BUILD NOW. You've got a winner

Why this works: If people won't even click a button for your free product concept, they sure won't pay money for the finished version. This test has saved entrepreneurs thousands of hours on dead-end products.

🛠️ Tools That Work

Quick note: Some links below may earn us a small commission if you decide to try them out. We only recommend tools we actually use and love.

This week's game-changer: Deadline Funnel

What it does: Creates authentic urgency without the fake countdown timer BS.

Why Coach Will recommends it: I've tested every tool out there. Most are either too pushy or too complicated. Deadline Funnel hits the sweet spot—it creates real deadlines that actually expire, forcing fence-sitters to make decisions.

Best for: Solopreneurs ready to stop leaving money on the table

Getting started: Start with their evergreen campaign template

Pricing reality: $49/month (pays for itself with one extra sale)

Integration factor: Works with everything from Kit (ConvertKit) to ClickFunnels

Learning curve: 2 hours to set up your first campaign

Alternative Options:

• Budget option: Use calendar invites with manual follow-up

• Enterprise option: Highlevel, Keap, or ActiveCampaign's built-in features

📊 StartSmart™ Pulse

💬 Join the Conversation

Hot Question: What "passive income" advice have you followed that completely backfired?

Share your story—we've all been there, and your experience might save someone else from the same mistake.

Join the StartSmart Exchange Community here, where solopreneurs share real strategies and support each other's growth without the passive income BS.

I personally read every response and often feature the best insights in future newsletters (with your permission).

🎯 That’s a Wrap!!

Here's What Matters (And What You Need To Do Right Now)

The Hard Truth: "Passive income" is complete BS.

Smart people build LEVERAGED income instead—where your effort pays you 10x more, not where you disappear entirely.

Your Mission This Week: Run the 24-hour revenue test on whatever idea is rattling around in your head. Stop planning, start proving.

🔥 What You Can't Afford To Forget:

✅ Ditch the passive dream, embrace leverage: Make your work worth more instead of trying to escape it entirely

✅ AI amplifies, it doesn't replace: Use it to multiply your impact, not to check out completely

✅ Validate first, build second: 24 hours of real testing destroys 6 months of wishful thinking

✅ Tools that work: Deadline Funnel for real urgency, ChatGPT/Claude for rapid execution

✅Do this tomorrow: Block 30 minutes and run your revenue test—your future self will send thank-you cards

🚀 Stop reading. Start testing.

Remember, you're in charge! Think Big, Play Smart, Win More!

-Coach Will

P.S. Seriously, run that 24-hour test RIGHT NOW. I've seen too many brilliant entrepreneurs waste months on ideas nobody wanted.

😭 Are you drowning in newsletter chaos? Yeah, me too. Then I found Meco - now ALL my newsletters live in one gorgeous app (totally free). Finally, hit inbox zero → Try it Here!

Start learning AI in 2025

Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.

It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.

Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.

Sign up to start learning.

DID A FRIEND FORWARD YOU THIS NEWSLETTER?

First, give them a BIG thank you!

Then, subscribe here for your free weekly dose of StartSmart™ Life Hacks! Until next week, remember: In a world of complicated choices, be the obvious one.