The Five Areas Framework: How To Focus On What Matters Most In Your Business
And a free ebook to help you use this framework starting today
Hi,
Welcome to another issue of Course Builder's Corner.
I'm excited to share that Profitable Playbooks is now available for download. This isn't just another collection of business tips—it's the result of months spent interviewing 23 successful creators who've built sustainable, profitable writing businesses.
Inside, you'll discover proven strategies for
growing your audience,
speeding up content creation (including some creative use of AI),
monetizing effectively,
building genuine relationships,
and maximizing your content's reach.
Each interview reveals specific tactics these creators used to generate real revenue from their writing.
Go here to get your copy, or read on to learn a framework that will help you select the best strategies from the book to grow your business.
The Five Areas Framework: How To Focus On What Matters Most In Your Business
Here's something I see all the time:
A creator with 10 subscribers gaining one or two more each month obsessing over monetization strategies, while someone with 1,000 engaged followers gaining 20-30 new subscribers daily is still trying to "perfect" their content creation process.
Both are spinning their wheels, and both are making the same fundamental mistake.
They're focusing on the wrong area of their business.
Everyone tells you to "focus," but nobody tells you what to focus ON. After interviewing 23 successful creators and more than doubling my own list growth by focusing strategically, I've identified five key areas where creators need to direct their attention—but here's the catch: you can only focus on one at a time.
Let's get started.
The Five Areas (And Why Order Matters)
Most creators try to do everything at once. Content creation, audience building, monetization, relationship building—it's overwhelming and ineffective.
Instead, think of these five areas as a progression. These are the exact categories I used to organize Profitable Playbooks, with each area featuring interviews from creators who've mastered that specific aspect of building a profitable writing business.
I'll list some contributors to Profitable Playbooks as examples:
1. Content Creation First, you need to know how to create content efficiently. If it takes you two hours to write a short LinkedIn post, you're not ready for audience growth yet. Masters like
use AI strategically to improve their writing, while has systematized content creation to the point he could write one newsletter a day for 30 days.2. Maximizing Content Value & Reach Once you can create content, you need to get it seen.
’s content flywheel approach and ’s strategy of treating every piece of content as a reusable asset are game-changers here.3. Growing Your Audience Faster Now you're ready to focus on growth.
became the content people subscribe to by being authentic, while built 48,000 Substack subscribers by consistently showing up and building community from day one.4. Building Trust & Relationships With an audience comes the need for deeper connection.
‘s "building in public" approach creates transparency that builds trust, while ’ identity alignment strategy helps readers see themselves in your philosophy, creating deeper bonds than surface-level engagement.5. Monetizing More Effectively Finally, you convert that trust into income. Whether it's
’s high-ticket coaching, ’s Kickstarter campaigns ($125,000+ per year), ’s mini-courses, or ’s digital community strategies that ensure people actually learn and implement what you teach, you need systems that actually convert.The Stage-Specific Mistake
If you have 10 subscribers and you're reading monetization advice, stop.
You need audience growth, not conversion optimization. Focus on learning from creators like
, who started with one chat reply in her first week and built from there, or , who went from zero to Substack Bestseller in six months.But if you have 1,000 subscribers and you're still obsessing over content creation techniques? You might be ready to monetize.
My Personal Example
Earlier this year, I was trying to do everything: get new coaching clients, create new courses, grow my audience, build relationships. I was making progress on none of it.
So I made a decision: I'm going to focus ONLY on growing my email list.
That's why I started the Profitable Playbooks project—interviewing successful creators to build my own audience while learning from them. I put blinders on. No new clients. No new courses. Just audience growth.
The result? I more than doubled my list growth, and subscribers are growing every single day. Once I have enough of a flywheel in place, then I'll move on to focusing on monetizing that audience.
The Business Turnaround Story
I saw this principle work dramatically at the Lefkoe Institute, where I work. Before the founder passed away, we were stuck in a boom and bust cycle—great months followed by terrible ones, with no predictable pattern.
After he passed away, we finally applied focused thinking. Instead of trying to do everything at once, we tackled one area at a time.
First, we focused on completing unfinished product lines to better serve our existing customers. Once that was handled, we spent two years focusing solely on one thing: figuring out how to better convert leads into new customers through consistent content creation and refined launch models.
The result? We grew the business income by five times from our lowest point and broke the boom and bust cycle for good.
The lesson? Pick one area. Get really good at it. Build systems and routines to maintain it. Then move on to the next area.
How to Choose Your Focus Area
Ask yourself:
Struggling to create content? Start with area 1 (Content Creation)
Creating content but no one sees it? Focus on area 2 (Maximizing Reach)
Getting views but not growing followers? Time for area 3 (Audience Growth)
Growing followers but they don't engage? Work on area 4 (Trust & Relationships)
Engaged audience but no sales? Move to area 5 (Monetization)
Your Next Step
Once you know which area to focus on, here's what I recommend: go deep on that one area for at least a month, maybe two or three months, before moving on.
In Profitable Playbooks, I've organized all 23 creator interviews into these five areas. Once you identify your focus area, you can dive into that specific section and choose the strategies that make the most sense for your situation.
For example, if you need to focus on monetization, you can study:
Russell Nohelty's Kickstarter approach
Chris Stanley's mini book strategy
Sinem Günel and the Write Build Scale team's coaching methods
Karen Cherry's subscription model
Landon Poburan's subliminal selling system
Pick one approach. Go deep. Build your flywheel. Then move to the next area.
The book isn't just a collection of strategies—it's your roadmap for knowing which strategies to focus on when.
Still here? I love that.
Which of the five areas do you think you need to focus on right now? Hit reply and let me know—I read every message and your answer might spark my next article.
The man the myth the legend
Appreciate your hard work Rodney 🎉🔥
Hey Rodney, just downloaded the PP!
I’m thinking of creating a course this summer, so hopefully going to read it first before I get started. Great work 👏🏽