You’re Not Broke, You’re Untrained
50 money drills for people who sell online
Sound familiar?
You have read everything about making money online. You are still not making any.
None of that means you are broke. It means the one skill that turns attention into payment has never been trained. This book trains it: fifty short drills, in order, each ending with three things to do today, plus a 90-day plan and a log to keep the score.
The courses didn’t work
You bought them, watched them, agreed with them, and nothing changed, because watching is not training.
Three projects, none finished
A newsletter, a shop, a channel. Each one got a quarter of you, and a quarter of you is not enough for any of them.
Nobody is buying
You post, and it is quiet. You make an offer, and it is quieter. You have no idea which part is wrong.
You hate selling
Asking for money feels pushy, so you don’t ask, and then you wonder why people who are worse than you earn more.
The book
A training manual, not a theory book.
Until you can sell and communicate, no online business belongs to you yet. Not the course, not the newsletter, not the consultancy. You can build the page and film the videos, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred you will make nothing, because the skill that turns a reader into a customer was never practised. Selling is a skill like any other, and skills are built by drills.
Part I trains the mind: one project, the long game, subtraction, head-down work, the calm seven-step day, following before inventing, doing the reps, cutting the noise. Part II trains the words: the daily swipe file, writing to be read, writing in series, telling your story, recording, filming, the short ebook, the long post, speaking to a room, and judging everything by results. Part III trains the offer: teaching what you know, the free first chapter, the price ladder, small orders, paid communities, apprentices, cohorts, coaching, urgent problems, accountability groups, local leads and reactivating your list.
Part IV trains the team: sharing the money, dividing the work, the first hire, building the company, your core skill, one entrance, and systems that run without you. Part V trains the trust: releasing value, making customers glad they paid, honest proof, looking the part, handling public criticism, and turning your name into the machine. Three appendices turn it into ninety days: the plan, eight copy-and-paste templates, and the drill log.
Who it is for
Anyone trying to earn online by selling what they know: coaches, teachers, consultants, writers, creators, freelancers and small service businesses, especially the ones who have tried, stalled, and suspect the problem is not the idea but the selling. If you hate selling, this book is for you more than anyone.
What changes after you read it
Four things you will be able to do by next week
Pick one project and stay with it
One sentence with a customer in it, written on the wall, a “Later” sheet for every new idea, and the three-year rule that stops you switching.
Study a market and write into it
The daily swipe file: fifty pieces of your market’s selling material, five lines on each, until the structure of persuasion is part of how you think.
Build an offer people climb
A free first chapter, a nine-dollar taste, a starter, a core, an advanced rung: a ladder that turns strangers into customers one fair step at a time.
Share money so others build with you
Why forty percent of a big pie beats all of a small one, how to divide the work into four narrow jobs, and how to train a first hire by collecting before writing.
Inside the book
Five parts, fifty drills, ninety days
- ITrain the mind: focus, patience and the habit of doing the work (drills 1 to 13)
- IITrain the words: the swipe file, writing, audio, video and talks (drills 14 to 24)
- IIITrain the offer: lessons, ladders, communities, apprentices and urgent problems (drills 25 to 37)
- IVTrain the team: sharing money, dividing work, the first hire and systems (drills 38 to 44)
- VTrain the trust: giving first, honest proof, looking the part and handling criticism (drills 45 to 50)
- +Appendices: the 90-day plan, eight templates and the drill log
Show all 50 drills
- 01One project, written on the wall
- 02The long game
- 03Subtraction
- 04Guard the project that feeds you
- 05Head down
- 06The calm mind: seven steps
- 07Follow first, invent later
- 08Do what you know
- 09One move, ten thousand times
- 10Do the reps
- 11Positive energy is a sales tool
- 12Pay for advice
- 13Cut the noise
- 14The swipe file
- 15Write to be read
- 16Write in series
- 17Tell the story
- 18Record it
- 19Film it
- 20The short ebook
- 21The long post
- 22Speak to a room
- 23Fewer, better
- 24Results-only marketing
- 25Teach what you know
- 26Give the first chapter away
- 27The ladder
- 28Small orders, many of them
- 29The paid community
- 30The apprentice
- 31The cohort
- 32Coach the game
- 33The urgent problem
- 34The accountability group
- 35Sell attention to local businesses
- 36Reactivate the list you already have
- 37A product you can describe truthfully
- 38Share the money
- 39Divide the work
- 40The first hire
- 41Build the company
- 42Invest in your core skill
- 43One entrance
- 44Systems that run without you
- 45Release value
- 46Make them glad they paid
- 47Honest proof
- 48Look the part
- 49When they attack you
- 50Your name is the machine
Why you are untrained, not broke
Here is the most useful sentence I can give you, and I am going to give it to you before anything else: until you can sell and communicate, no online business belongs to you yet. Not the course, not the newsletter, not the consultancy, not the shop. You can buy the domain and build the page and film the videos, and ninety-nine times out of a hundred you will make nothing, or lose money, because the one skill that turns attention into payment has never been trained.
People call this being broke. It is not. It is being untrained, and the difference matters, because training is something you can do starting tomorrow morning. This book is not a theory book. It is a manual of fifty drills, the way a coach hands a player a sheet of exercises rather than a lecture on the history of the sport.
Get the book
Start training this week
The complete PDF
US$39.99One payment. PDF, yours to keep.
All fifty drills, the 90-day training plan, eight templates and the drill log. 127 A4 pages, typeset to read on a tablet or print. Delivered by email.
Buy the bookBook + 45-minute call
US$239.99
The PDF plus a private call with the author to choose your one project, build your price ladder and set your first ninety days.
Book the callSeven-day guarantee
If the first week of drills doesn’t change how you work, reply to the delivery email within seven days and the price is refunded. Keep the PDF.
Both options are sold through Payhip’s secure checkout. The PDF downloads instantly; after buying the call, you pick a time on the booking calendar.
When you want a second opinion
Work directly with the author
Ludovic Chan has spent more than 25 years in business and consulting, and has built and sold more than a dozen companies in Hong Kong, Canada and Japan. If you want help choosing your one project, building your ladder, or turning a one-person income into a company, start with a short email.
Before you buy
Questions readers ask
Do I need an audience already?
No. The drills start from zero: the swipe file, publishing where readers already gather, answering questions in public and giving away a first chapter are all ways of building an audience from nothing. Part III is what to sell it once it exists.
Is it only for coaches and course sellers?
No. It is for anyone who earns by selling what they know online: consultants, freelancers, writers, creators, teachers, small service businesses. The offer drills cover lessons, communities, apprenticeships, coaching, urgent-problem services and selling leads to local businesses.
Does it work outside the United States?
Yes. The platforms and methods are international, and prices are shown in US dollars as examples only. Where a drill touches advertising, reviews, data or employment rules, it tells you to check the law where you live.
Why US$39.99 for a PDF?
Because one nine-dollar sale a day from the ladder in drill 27 pays for it in a week, and because it replaces the courses you have already bought and not acted on. And if the first week of drills doesn’t change how you work, you get your money back.
Is this the “be shameless” kind of hustle advice?
No. The introduction says plainly what the book leaves out: faked proof, copied writing, bought reviews, spam, miracle products and the rest. Where a trick has an honest twin, the honest twin is a drill. The honest version is slower for ninety days and faster for the rest of your life.
Can I get help with my own project?
Yes. The book-and-call option includes a private 45-minute call with the author. For bigger plans, Solid Base House also offers fixed-fee business advisory.