One Step Closer: Escape the Hourly Grind with a Product Mindset + This AI Tool

If your business relies on your daily presence, it's time for a change. Learn how the product mindset can set you free; full members get an AI tool to help you productize your existing services.

Welcome to One Step Closer, a no-fluff series to help you take small, intentional steps toward a location-independent life—without burning out or starting over.

Photo by Daria Mamont on Unsplash

It sneaks up on you.

You’ve built the thing you set out to build: a roster of clients, steady work, maybe even some industry cred. But somewhere between juggling deadlines and chasing invoices, a quiet truth creeps in: this isn’t sustainable.

You’re not burned out exactly, just… maxed out. Every dollar is tied to your time. Every project is another plate spinning. And you start to realize that if you stop, even briefly, everything stops with you.

For me, it hit sometime in year seven of juggling freelance writing contracts. I was booked solid and had a team of writers and editors working with me, invoices were rolling in, but something wasn’t sitting right.

I had built a business, yes. But it was a business that entirely depended on me being at my desk, delivering on deadlines, and constantly replenishing the work pipeline.

One missed email, one sick day, one client ghosting on a payment, and the whole thing wobbled.

That’s when I began to see the difference between two types of offerings: income versus infrastructure.

I didn’t just need more clients. I needed something more strategic… a repeatable deliverable I could package and sell by design, not by hour.

Shifting to a Product Mindset

It started with an audit that incorporated some strategic value: instead of “10 hours of writing,” I began offering a “Content Audit + Recommendations + X deliverables” package; a fixed-scope product built on a proven process.

It’s not a physical product, but a defined deliverable that I could sell again and again.

That step alone freed me from the “we pay $X per hour for writers” box. I offered clarity, value, and predictability instead of time with a stopwatch.

Next came a toolkit: everything clients need to run content smoothly—brand guidelines, style and workflow templates, editorial calendars. Suddenly, the service component was an optional add-on, not the whole offer.

From there, I’ve written books, created courses, and built publications and communities. Each piece layered on top of the last has given more more freedom and a foundation that doesn’t waver whenever I need a day (or a week) off.

We’re not talking about building an empire overnight. But if every dollar still depends on your time, it’s time to think differently. Shifting to a product mindset helped me escape the client hamster wheel and build stability, and it starts with just one step.

Full subscribers - keep reading for more info and exclusive access to our AI Product Mindset Coach.

This custom tool helps you explore ways to turn your services into simple, repeatable offers by asking the right questions about your audience, value, and delivery method. You’ll receive format suggestions and pricing ideas tailored to your own business model.