The Catalyst, the Vehicle, and Your “Best Offer” Sequence

Now it’s time to see that Personal Enterprise Growth Framework explicitly applied in a real-world scenario.

We’re now on the 12th lesson of the Personal Enterprise Accelerator. We’ve covered the fundamentals and introduced you to the Personal Enterprise Growth Framework, which guides you through how to apply those fundamentals.

Now it’s time to see that framework explicitly applied in a real-world scenario. Because this lesson assumes you’ve absorbed everything that’s come before, here are the previous 11 lessons for easy access if you’ve missed anything:

1. The Rise of 7-Figure Small

2. The Mentor Mindset That Builds a Successful Location-Independent Business

3. Media, Not Marketing: The Brand Strategy that Attracts Your Ideal Audience

4. The “3P” Framework for Strategic Thought Leadership that Builds Your Business

5. Attract Your Perfect Prospects by Developing an Audience Archetype

6. The Magic of the Minimum-Viable-Audience Milestone

7. How to Build Your Email List

8. From Inspiration to 7-Figure Education Brand

9. How to Attract an Audience While Turning a Profit in 2025

10. Mentoring the Different Phases of the Buyer Journey

11. How to Attract “Problematic” Prospects

Ready? To execute on your own audience-first business-building strategy, you need these three critical elements:

1. The Catalyst: An “event” to which you drive traffic.

2. The Vehicle: An email newsletter that nurtures the broader audience.

3. The Sequence: A series of emails that presents your “Best Offer” to the most motivated prospects.

For this lesson, let’s return to the fictionalized narrative format we used for Sally and Jen. This time our subject is Matt, a freelance writer who wants to move away from client services in a smart, strategic way. 

Meet Matt: Freelance “Content Writer” 

Matt has been out on his own for three years after starting his side hustle as a freelance writer. He’s done okay for himself but definitely has figured out the limitations of his current business model and positioning. 

While he doesn’t hate working with clients, he imagines himself with a scalable product-based business. He’s tired of clients devaluing his writing in favor of generative artificial intelligence and haggling over his fees. He’s accepted, though, that this isn’t going to change — he’s the one who needs to change his business to get the compensation and respect he deserves. 

Matt recently discovered the Personal Enterprise Growth Framework, and it immediately got his mind working on how to pivot his approach, attract an audience, and build the kind of business he wants. He knows he has content marketing expertise and can write persuasively, but this framework gives him the confidence to charge what he’s worth in the marketplace. 

First, he decides to reposition himself away from “content writer” and into something that will allow him to command premium fees. He also realizes it’s a good idea to move away from being a generalist service provider and instead specialize in a specific industry. 

Matt feels that the direct-to-consumer (DTC) market is a great match for his skill set and interests. He’s created content and written copy for a few startups in the industry and decides to dig in deeper. 

After rigorous research into the broader industry and the primary pain points for founders and growth companies alike, Matt positions himself as a digital marketing strategist for DTC brands. After all, once someone understands digital marketing fundamentals and the specific problems an industry faces, they are an expert. 

The Catalyst

Before he went out on his own, Matt had the foresight to learn as much about content marketing, copywriting, and conversion as he could. He knew early on that just “stringing together words” wouldn’t get him where he wanted to be in the age of AI. 

Even though he wasn’t active way back when, Matt knows a bit about the evolution of content and email marketing. Before 2010, a marketer could give away a free report or email course, and it would be regarded as a true incentive for the target audience. 

Eventually, though, these items became run-of-the-mill “lead magnets” that became expected instead of special. While they were fine for converting organic traffic (especially during the “golden age” of social media), things changed once social media became pay-to-play. Savvy digital marketers wanted their advertising outlay to promote something more substantial and convert at cheaper rates.