Are you a burned out and underpaid service provider wondering if this is what self-employment really looks like?
A coach that feels like your clients are the boss, and you’re pretty convinced that even though the money might be coming in, you actually want to work less while earning more?
A blogger who’s been doing this for years and yet hasn’t reached their big income goals?
Or maybe you’re an aspiring business owner struggling to create their first digital product and not knowing how to sell it and build systems that work for you…
I’ve been there. And here’s the story of how I got out of this trap and reclaimed my freedom.
About Me
Hey you!
I’m Lidiya Kesarovska, and I’ve been in business for 7 years now. I’m the founder of Let’s Reach Success, creator of Bold Business School, and I help people build value-driven online businesses so they can serve their purpose and live their best life.
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How it started
To get to know me better, I want to take you back to 2014-2015 when I was still living with my parents, and was expected by everyone to do a masters and follow a clear career path. But I was already miserable living by their standards, so continuing this (and God forbid, entering the corporate world) was out of the question.
My online hobby (starting a blog to write about topics I’m passionate about, such as personal development) had turned into something more – a possibility to become my own boss and play by my rules.
I had started earning money by writing articles for clients (using my blog posts as my portfolio). This wasn’t anything I had experience with, but my vision for a better future (with total time and location freedom in it) was guiding me.
Earning my first $100 felt unreal. Then, it was a matter of repeating the process.
After some time (meaning, a lot of confusion, sleepless nights, bad clients, and unpaid invoices), I had a real thing going on – I was a freelance writer earning a regular income from my laptop. That was my first taste of the self-employed life (or so I thought).
I was also growing my blog on the side and started monetizing it. The 2 income streams combined helped me save some money and have trust in the process (and an income to live off of), which was all I needed at the time to leave my home country, move to my favorite city in Europe (Amsterdam) and start a new chapter.
So far, so good. But then all the challenges of being a service provider hit me even harder.
My days weren’t that enjoyable anymore as I was constantly doing client work, answering unrealistic expectations, negotiating my rates (and ending up being underpaid), fearing clients will leave if I ask for more, working more hours than I wanted to, and constantly having to look for new clients.
I wasn’t at peace, I wasn’t in control of my time, and it was as if my business was running me.
I had to admit it: I didn’t have a real business at that time.
I was legally self-employed, but my clients were making most of the decisions, and I was exchanging time for money. That wasn’t scalable, it wasn’t the best way to use my time and skills, and it definitely wasn’t fun.
And if you’ve ever been in a similar situation, you know how that feels…
the next stage
Fast forward to 2018-2019, I had completely replaced my freelance income with my blog income.
No more clients to answer to and pitches to make. No more invoices, low rates, third-party platforms to rely on, and never again would I have to write an article that someone else will own. I was out of the rat race!
I was made for the blogging world!
I learned the ins and outs of the industry, monetized my blog Let’s Reach Success in 4 different ways (mostly, passive income), reached $5K months while working minimum hours, and didn’t even feel like I was working most of the time.
My email list was growing, the blog reached 1 million page views per year, and I even got to interview self-made millionaires on my blog and share their story.
Good times! But then, I wanted more.
Turned out, not all months were $5K months. Even the passive income streams required consistent attention. The traffic depended on Google algorithm changes. Trends in the industry were changing too often.
And once again… I started dreaming about more freedom and profit, but with ease and flow.
Little did I know that at the time I was already into my current business model – a digital product business. One of the 4 ways in which I monetized the blog was by selling digital products (eBooks, printables and a course).
However, I just had the products and shared them with my audience every now and then, linked to them from posts, etc. Sales were coming every now and then but there was no real engagement, the students didn’t experience a huge transformation, I didn’t identify as a course creator, I didn’t create life-changing programs, and I had never officially launched anything.
Then, I started exploring that business model, and a few things stood out:
- The digital products industry is booming.
- So many other people out there were doing this, and so many of them were once service providers, bloggers or coaches who wanted more freedom and a scalable business.
- There’s never been a better time to start a digital product business.
- You can create a profitable business around 1 offer/program.
- Others are making millions from 1 course, by launching it over and over again.
It became clear to me: digital products are the most effective way to have unlimited freedom and income, while providing epic value at the same time.
That’s when I decided that my new goal is to transition from a blogging business to a digital product business, and that meant leaving behind the blogging activities (even if it meant leaving money on the table) and fully stepping into my role as a course creator.
Over the next 2 years:
- I completely re-designed my first signature program (a blogging course teaching people how to start, grow and monetize a blog from scratch)
- Created more courses
- Partnered with other reputable course creators and participated in bundles
- Welcomed thousands of students into my free courses, and hundreds into my paid ones
- Got amazing feedback from my students and that made it all worth it
- I was named one of the top course creators and experts to watch in 2021 by Yahoo! News and Yahoo! Finance
- I took courses and learned from the best of the best in the industry when it comes to email marketing, launching, and creating and selling courses
- I first did everything the wrong way, analyzed what happened, learned from it, and then started helping others do it in less time and without the confusion.
That’s my story, and that’s why I’m here today. Because I know what it feels like to exchange time for money, to think you run a business but to have your business run you. To not be able to scale, to not have automations and systems in place.
It’s exhausting and it’s not sustainable.
If you’re tired of being paid by the hour, working with clients, waking up early to be on a call, creating all this content and maybe even releasing offers but not having any big wins yet, or just feeling like all this online business thing isn’t for you…
I can help.
I created a very special program that’s made exactly for you, and it teaches you how to:
- grow an engaged audience when just starting out
- Write compelling copy
- Create a digital product people love in a short amount of time
- Make an irresistible offer
- Plan and execute your first launch
- Make repeat sales
- Automate and grow the business.
Your next step
Introducing Bold Business School
An expansive and empowering business program that supports you through shifting your beliefs, growing your audience, making email marketing work for you, creating a sales funnel, designing your signature course and turning it into a magnetic offer that you launch strategically.