This 20-Year-Old Creator Makes $20,000/Month Selling Free Templates
Here’s how to copy his business model
Today, Easlo is one of the biggest creators in the productivity space.
But, just 2 years ago, he was a 20-year-old college student selling free minimalist templates on his Gumroad store.
And, earning $20,000/month for his efforts.
Here’s how you can copy Easlo’s business plan. It may not be easy — but, it is incredibly simple…
Who is Easlo?
If you’ve ever stepped a digital foot into the underground world of “X” (formerly Twitter), you’ve likely seen millions of iterations of the following productivity advice:
- Use Notion
- Time block
- Set a schedule
… etc., etc., and so forth.
One creator, in particular, has capitalized on this trend — combining minimalism with simple productivity advice.
Meet Jason Chin, known in the digital world as Easlo:
With the simple moniker of “productivity meets minimalism”, Jason built an entire business around “helping people get productive and organized.”
With no employees — or, physical products.
Instead, he sells Notion templates, which he can build once and sell infinite times. And, without having to store inventory or worry about transporting physical products.
This is essentially the crux of the digital products space. And, why Notion has become such a popular niche for digital creators.
In the summer of 2021, after graduating high school, Jason began sharing minimalist Notion templates with his growing Twitter audience. Using the popular free e-commerce platform, Gumroad, Jason began receiving tips as high as $100.
It was at this point, Jason saw potential in Easlo becoming a real business. Speaking to Business Insider, Jason outlined how simple the transition between free to paid was,
“Gumroad made it easy to switch from free products to paid ones. I just changed the price from $0 to whatever I was setting it as. The paid template was profitable immediately, as it brought over $3,000 in the first month.”
It was from there, he began creating new templates and sharing them on Twitter as well as Product Hunt.
What is Notion?
If you’ve never heard of Notion, it’s a popular note-taking and productivity app used by writers, creators, and entrepreneurs across all niches.
Essentially, it’s an amalgamation of:
- Slack
- OneNote
- Google Docs
- Google Sheets
… and, many more.
It’s particularly popular amongst creators because it embraces the endowment effect — the psychological phenomenon in which people place a greater value on something they’ve built.
In the past 5 years, Notion has become synonymous with 2 things:
- Gumroad
The combination of high-traffic potential on Twitter combined with a free and easy-to-use e-commerce platform (such as Gumroad) makes selling digital products a great starter business.
In any niche…
How can you copy this business?
Without learning Notion.
I love keeping things simple.
Whether it be diet, exercise, or monetizing an online business, I feel the best way to achieve your goals is by breaking them down to be as simple as possible.
➡️ If you want to lose weight, exercise more.
➡️ If you can’t stop eating, cut out processed foods.
And, if you want to start an online business, find a problem — then, offer a solution.
It’s this basic principle Jason used to earn over $239,000 in his first year selling digital products.
Here’s Jason’s 7-step roadmap to selling digital products…
Note: I’ve adapted Jason’s Tweet thread (seen above) to appeal to any product you’d like to sell, as you may have no desire to use or sell Notion products. 💡
Step #1: learn a skill
The first rule of business is to fulfill the needs of your consumer. In other words: find a problem and offer a solution.
Whether it be helping others stay organized, get rich, find love, or make more money, everyone on Earth has something to teach. And, therefore, something to sell.
If you’re not sure how you can provide value, there are endless resources available online.
As Jason writes (quoting another popular creator, Naval):
“Free education is abundant, all over the internet.”
Step #2: offer a free solution
One of the unwritten rules of the internet is that you must give 90% of your content away for free.
Luckily, the other 10% is infinitely scalable.
One of the best ways to build trust with your audience is to create a free product. It doesn’t have to be fancy or take hours to make. Personally, my first freebie was a 30-Day Journaling Guide:
Although nothing spectacularly innovative, it offers beginners a structured path to build a journaling practice. Although free, it helped me build an audience to which I eventually launched my first and second paid products.
If creating the artwork for your product page feels daunting, you can always hop on a freelancing website, like Fiverr, to commission a logo or piece of cover art.
Anything to keep your momentum going.
Step #3: learn in public
One of the fastest-growing online trends is transparency.
People love to peek behind the curtain and appreciate those who are honest about their journeys.
You don’t have to have all the answers.
In fact, most people appreciate hearing that you don’t. Because… well, nobody does.
Sharing your growth in real-time builds a closer connection to your audience. As Jason writes,
“Actively participate in communities on Reddit, Discord, or Facebook groups. Grow your brand by building genuine connections.”
If you want an expedited path to growing an online audience, reaching out to creators or booking consultations with industry pros can help smooth your learning curve. Fiverr Pro, for example, is a great place to network with trusted talent.
Affiliate disclaimer: use code ‘HUDSON’ at checkout to save 10% on your first (or next) order.
Step #4: soft launch your product
One of the most underrated steps in any online endeavour is to simply get started.
In my writing community, I offer DM coaching. And, I’m amazed at how many people message me with high-level questions about branding and marketing.
Before ever posting a piece of content online.
It’s human nature to overthink.
But, one of the best ways to understand what value you can provide your audience is to release a free product. If you’re not comfortable launching it just yet, message creators you trust and ask for feedback.
Or, open up a beta program, offering your product for free in exchange for feedback.
👉 I recently did this leading up to the launch of my most recent product: the Writing Dashboard. And, helped me make invaluable tweaks before releasing it to the public.
Step #5: launch your product
Launching a product can feel daunting — I know this from personal experience.
But, after having a few launches under my belt, I can safely say it’s a lot simpler than it appears. Although it can be valuable to make an event out of your product launch, it’s not necessary.
Especially, if it causes you to procrastinate.
At the end of the day, launching a product is as simple as sharing it with your audience. If you’ve been updating them on your journey, they’ll know what you’ve been working on.
And, will be excited to buy whatever you’ve made.
Step #6: grow your audience
Once you’ve launched your product, the hard part is done. What follows is the never-ending journey of listening to feedback, improving, marketing, and growing your traffic.
There are tons of great platforms to grow an online audience. But, Jason shares his top traffic sources as being:
- TikTok
Once your landing page is live, everything you post online becomes an advertisement for it. As you get better at positioning its value, your earnings will begin to scale.
Step #7: sell your experience
Once you’ve built an audience and put a product out in the ether, monetizing it is really a rinse-and-repeat process.
Listen to feedback, make tweaks, and continue adding value.
Jason, for example, started with a free Finance Tracker before eventually scaling to his flagship product, The Second Brain.
As Jason recommends, package templates together, gather feedback from testers, and focus on creating a nice landing page.
But, perhaps most importantly, “Sell a product you would pay for.”
Final advice: keep things simple.
Modern humans have an inherent need to complicate things.
But, if you’re looking to take action toward a specific goal, it’s important to keep things simple.
So, to summarize:
- Find a problem, offer a solution
- Play to your strengths. If you find yourself procrastinating certain tasks, there’s nothing wrong with asking (or hiring) help
- Put it out before it’s ready. The sooner you show your product to others, the more feedback you will receive. And, the better it can become.
Finally, pick a product you’re passionate about. If you don’t love it, how can you expect your audience to?
Hi, I’m Hudson. I write about living healthier, happier, more mindfully… and sometimes business. To see my stories pop up on your feed, I’d love for you to follow me (Hudson Rennie). And, to have stories sent directly to you, subscribe to my newsletter.👇
✍️ And, to learn how to make money as a writer, you are cordially invited to join Writer’s Hub. 💸
