My digital portfolio 💡

Key takeaways

Build on your knowledge/ experience: Turn a skill you learned into a product. Start with what you already know and can actually teach based on your own experience and business proof (wins and mistakes) and turn it into a process or a methodology.

In my case, I learned to self-publish on Amazon and created a self-publishing e-guide.

Market while you create: Test the demand live with your audience to get feedback and adjust in the moment. I’m a fan of serializing my content on Substack before turning it into a stand-alone product. It also helps you gain paid subscribers.

→ Serialization On Substack To Boost Your Earnings (Video)

Repackage the format: The same content packaged as a course has a higher perceived value than an ebook. Start with an entry-level product and elevate it to a premium offering. Through trial and error, I discovered that people are much more willing to pay a higher price for a course than a digital guide, for instance.

→ Launch a Digital Course on Gumroad (Course)

Build a 360 launch strategy (pre-and post launch). Create a simple sales funnel to automate sales. Even big creators run campaigns and funnels with lead magnets, email sequences and a journey.

→ Series to create a sales funnel

Collaborate to scale: Guest Posts, joint webinars and lives (like this one) and podcast appearances accelerate reach much faster than working in silo. In fact, 50% of my work today is based on partnerships with other creators.

→ 6 Collaborations to fire up your Creative Business

If you are serious about growing your digital portfolio, don’t miss out on my exclusive Substack Series (Paid Subscribers):

Create Your Funnel To Make 1,000 US$ With Your Digital Product in 30 Days.

If you like video format, you can subscribe to my new YouTube channel and get all the videos in your inbox.

And if you want personalized help, upgrade to Founding Member and book your 1:1 session to build a strategy for business 🌳🍋

This session is FREE and it would be amazing if you could share it with others. It takes 5 seconds and it would really help us 🙏🏼

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Today I joined Substack Bestseller and Ghostwriter on a live session where we talked about growing your writing-speaking business from scratch and the transition from corporate to mompreneur.

We had 80 viewers and even a live prize on the spot: an annual suscription to The Lemon Tree Mindset 🌳🍋

Congrats 🎊

To keep it fair, I’ll give away a second annual subscription to those who watch the replay and participate offline.

💡 What’s one small action you’re taking right now to turn your creativity into a lifestyle?

🎖️ Please write your answer in the comments below and I’ll announce the winner on Sunday 18 January.

Leave a comment

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Watch the session

Grab your favorite drink and watch the 41-minute recording for motivation, mindset and strategies to grow your own creative business.

What we cover:

About “creative power”: How you can turn an idea into a business without the traditional gatekeepers and hurdles - publishers, investors, intermediaries, an office space…

Balancing strategy and mindset: Why creators need to use both sides of the brain and fuel their creativity while developing strategies and systems to grow a sustainable business (and keep your sanity).

The reinvention from corporate girl into speaker/ writer/ coach: what you take, what you leave behind (hint: big titles and big ego) and how to find confidence to build your own thing and follow your own calling.

Misunderstandings about community: A large audience doesn’t equate to a community. It’s not about big numbers but about an engaged and committed tribe. Depth over volume and connection over transaction.

Strategies for multipassionate creators: How to prioritize and decide where to focus your time and energy and how you to make a bigger impact (hint: building a connected digital ecosystem).

The (raw) truth about being a mompreneur and growing a business during “stolen moments.”

Reframing monetization as creators: from guilt to confidence and from leading with price to leading with value and serving others.

What I would do differently if I could go back to day one (golden tip to accelerate your growth).

How to turn your life lemons into opportunities for connection and growth. People are not looking for polished facades but for real people with real stories. Your imperfection is what keeps you human and relatable. Don’t be afraid to share the chaos, the mess and the flops. Real connection is built backstage.

Thank you , , , and many others for joining us live!

Remember to drop your comment below to participate in the contest!

This session is totally FREE. It would be amazing if you could help us share it and support our work as independent writers 🙏🏼

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

Check out Amy’s new book: Write For Money & Power. She just launched it today!

What’s happening at The Lemon Tree Mindset:

• MasterMind on Collaboration for Premium Members on 19 January 8pm EST/ 20 January 8am London:

  - Find out the best ways to collaborate in the digital space in 2026

  - How to incorporate collaboration into your creator strategy (cadence, type..)

  - Learn best collab practices from other creators

  - Pitch your idea and find potential collaborators live!

Upgrade now 🌟

• FREE webinar on the LinkedIn-Substack Flywheel with

19 January 8am London - 4pm Hong Kong - 7pm Sydney

Sign up here for FREE.

See Subscription Options 🌟

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What does it take to become one?

That’s exactly what I talk about in this 45-minute chat with , author of 6 novels and 2 story collections, winner of multiple literary awards, and Substack Bestseller for her publication, The Caffeinated Writer.

If you are an author, aspire to write a book, or want to take your writing career to the next level, grab your favorite drink and watch the replay.

What we talk about:

- From childhood dream to successful author: how a girl with zero literary connections became a NYT bestselling novelist.

- Normalizing rejection as redirection and the humble beginnings.

- The random way she got her first novel published without an agent.

- The importance of building relationships in the industry: independent booksellers, fellow authors, local literary scene (and how bringing brownies can help ;)

- Why starting local (San Francisco for Michelle, Hong Kong for me) is still the #1 secret to breaking through.

- The surprising truth about the New York Times Bestseller list: why volume isn’t enough.

- Book festivals & literary fairs around the world: how to get invited (and sometimes even paid to fly!) to Singapore, India, Bali, and beyond.

Check out 10 literary festivals that sponsor travel expenses.

- How publisher advances work for authors and how she got an advance of…125K US$ (!).

- Economics: brutally honest talk on tiny royalties and why Substack is changing everything.

A down-to-earth chat with practical tips you won’t find in any “how to get published” manual.

We left this session 100% FREE to support our community and peers because it’s a tough world out there and authors support authors ❤️

It would be incredible if you could help us share it with your network ✨

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Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

The theme for December at The Lemon Tree Mindset is inspiration and I’m thrilled to bring you interesting voices and fresh perspectives from my community!

In case you missed the previous stories:

📝 A Guest Post by my Founding Member : From Misfit To Amazon Bestseller

🎬 A live session with Substack Bestseller on growing a 7-figure business as a ghostwriter (35-min recording)

Ready to turn your Substack from a hobby to a sustainable business?

Upgrade now to watch the recording of my Substack Live Series: 4 sessions to help you grow, scale and monetize your publication:

• Session 1: Getting the basics right (28 min)

• Session 2: Tools to grow organically (36 min)

• Session 3: Scale with collaboration and community (40 min)

• Session 4: A roadmap to gain paid subscribers (45 min)

79 US$ only for an annual membership = 1 coffee a month ☕️

*** PS: prices go up on January 1st ***

Upgrade now 🌟

My creative journey started when I was unemployed during the pandemic in Australia. Back then, I had no clue what I was doing, but I planted a seed, and that’s exactly how every new path begins: with a tiny seed, a baby step.

It’s been 3 years and guess what…I’m still figuring things out. But today, I have a business that gives me purpose. I write, turn ideas into books, keynotes and courses, test, fail, experiment and keep moving forward. And I even have my little creative corner now!

This week, I read somewhere that life’s purpose is finding purpose in your life. I couldn’t agree more.

And mine is to help you turn your creativity into your lifestyle: write that book, launch that course, get on camera, do the thing!

I’m biased but I truly believe that the world would be a better place if every one of us spent less time complaining and more time creating. So let’s create…

Every month, I choose a theme for The Lemon Tree Mindset. It helps me stay focused and gives my writing a creative North Star. And December is all about inspiration.

As we are preparing for the new year, I want to bring you new voices, inspiring stories and trailblazers to help you break ceilings and boundaries and reach new heights.

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Ditching Hollywood

I have a pretty cool lineup of talent and we are kicking things off in style with , in this live session about building a writing career.

Amy started hers as a screenwriter in Hollywood, but she became disillusioned with the shrinking writer’s rooms and small paychecks. She pivoted into full-time freelance writing and built a seven-figure business as a memoir ghostwriter, author, and Substacker.

Amy’s leading publication, Make Writing Your Job, is a Substack Bestseller with over 1,500 paid subscribers - yes, paid - and is generating close to 200K US$ in annualized revenue. Talk about inspiration.

The software for building an empire

If you want to take your writing and creative career to the next level, I encourage you to listen to this chat and take notes action.

We talk a lot about the mindset, the software.

If you want to grow 2X, you need a change in processes.

If you want to grow 10X, you need a change in mindset.

As writers and creators, the hardest part is to unlearn: ditch the narrative of the starving artist, stop charging peanuts for our creative work and no more waiting to be discovered while we put our heads down…

I used to think that I had to charge my fees for one hour of work, but I unlearned that old narrative that didn’t serve me and today I charge for the value I deliver in one hour.

Charge for time → Charge for value

In her new book, Write for Money and Power, Amy talks openly and apologetically about this: how to value yourself and your work first because if you don’t, who will?

The hardware

But a good operating system is not enough: you need the hardware, the strategy.

How to laser focus and be crystal-clear on who you are writing for, what they need and how you can help them.

And just like a good Hollywood movie, once you nail the main character, and you know exactly what they really want, the story flows.

What I love about this story is that once upon a time, Amy was the underdog too: struggling to make a living from writing but she was able to rewrite her script.

Her strategy is simple: no gatekeepers and full agency over her work and her life:

She self-publishes all her books on her terms.

She decides who she works with as a ghostwriter.

She has a business that requires no permission.

Agency is the SEO keyword here.

I was super inspired by Amy’s story and we decided to keep it FREE so that you can all benefit from this amazing seed 🌱

If you enjoyed the conversation, please pass it forward: comment, share, support our work so that we can all keep growing our lemon trees 🌳🍋

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Thank you , , , , , and 60+ others for tuning into our live session!

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

Feeling inspired to grow your community and go from a hobby to a sustainable business?

Check out my exclusive Substack Live Series: 4 videos to help you grow, scale and monetize your publication (paid subscribers)

Upgrade now 🌟

Spoiler alert: this solopreneur business is bloody hard, and if you are trying to find a magic fix to make 6 figures quickly, this is the wrong session.

Natasha asked me very direct and thought-provoking questions and we addressed topics that are often uncomfortable and controversial, such as not making enough to pay the bills when you are starting, writing to the void, and deciding when to give up and go back to the 9-to-5.

If you are up for a hot session that will make you reflect, reassess and take risks, now we’ve got you.

Subscribe now

This is what you can expect in these 55 minutes:

The reality of book publishing

Book royalties pay peanuts (technically 8% of peanuts) but you can leverage books to elevate authority and create opportunities beyond sales.

Traditional publishing, especially with a major house, acts as a third-party endorsement. It has allowed me to speak at international literary festivals (many exclude self-published authors), secure higher-paying corporate gigs, and attract coaching clients who see the book as proof of expertise.

I also share how I landed a book deal with a major publisher (Penguin) without an agent and tips to pitch for The Anti-Procrastinator.

How to actually turn a writing business into a profitable one

Reality check: most writers don’t make money from writing. What?!

Yep, monetization often extends past writing into courses, webinars, or coaching. Writing alone rarely makes for a sustainable income.

My public-speaking keynotes and workshops for Fortune 500 companies (e.g., UBS, S&P) generate the largest checks $3,000–$5,000 per session. Digital courses on Gumroad repackage my newsletter content into scalable products ($88–$100+), while one-to-one coaching provides personalized high-ticket revenue.

Your book or newsletter serves as the entry point for readers to discover you, but you grow a business by building an ecosystem with layered offers that go beyond writing.

Use your writing as the gateway and the foundation to go deeper.

If you want to grow, collaborate

Subscriber growth accelerates through partnerships (lives, Guest Posts, webinars).

After a year of slow growth, I shifted from solo posting to intentional collaborations: Guest Posts, Substack Lives, marketing affiliate and cross-promotions. These expose my work to new audiences and networks.

I’m a triathlete and I always follow the “together we run further” proverb in sports, in business and in life.

Look within your community and find partners to collaborate. It’s less draining and more fun (like today!).

The answer is in a diversified portfolio

Natasha asked me this question,

“Is it possible to have a sustainable writing business?”

Long-term sustainability demands a growth mindset because you have to see abundance to be able to create abundance.

Most creators only see meaningful results after 1–2 years. Many have given up by then. I earned almost nothing in the first three months and only covered bills after six but I kept going because I believe in what I’m building. It took two full years to approach corporate-level income (some months), and even now it fluctuates.

A single stream (e.g., paid subscriptions at 2–3% conversion) can hardly turn into a sustainable business, so the answer is not doing more but adding layers of active and passive income. In my case, B2B speaking, digital courses, coaching…

How to organize your time: do less but do it better

Productivity is an equation of input first, output second, but we often forget about the input and self-care becomes an afterthought.

We are not machines.

Focus on the input: what do you need to be at your best?

Look at your current lifestyle and patterns: how you sleep, your exercise routine, your off-screen time…all of that indirectly impacts the quality of your work.

Bad input → bad output

Set boundaries and say no to the things that drain you so that you can dedicate your energy to tasks that add value to your dream business and life and to the people you care about.

When you set boundaries for your time and your mental space, you are protecting your work but also your people and yourself ❤️

Subscribe now

Upgrade now 🌟

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

For more resources to help you grow your digital business, upgrade now to unlock full access to: Lives & Webinars, Substack Bestseller, Authors VIP Corner and more.

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into our live session!

And if you are ready to launch your digital course, check out my new online tutorial, The Gumroad Academy: a simple framework to guide you from zero to launch.

I want to launch a course 🚀

The reason is public speaking: I’m delivering 2 workshops for a law firm and can’t wait to visit the place where I lived in my 20s as an intern working for the Spanish government.

And as the topic of October is public speaking to boost your creative business, I want to encourage you to find new ways to connect with your community and humanize your content with your unique touch and personality.

So… why not go live?

Before you say that it’s not for you, hear me out.

I started doing lives on Substack in January 2025 and it was a game-changer, both for my creative business and for my personal development. It also helped me gain new subscribers (free and paid).

What’s better, throughout the process, I discovered that I have FUN connecting with my community in the spot: I greet viewers, answer questions and push myself to serve my people in new ways that take me out of my comfort zone.

Below are 5 takeaways from the sessions (25 minutes) to help you create an engaging live session that attracts new subscribers - and perhaps even paid ones.

This session is for paid subscribers but you can enjoy a FREE preview and upgrade to watch the full recording and access my entire digital library:

30+ actionable videos (short and sweet) to grow and monetize your writing business:

🎬 Becoming A Substack Bestseller

🎬 Collaboration Strategies For Writers & Solopreneurs

🎬 How To Build A Writing Business [Without Selling Your Soul] with

🎬 How To Grow A Profitable Gumroad Business with

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Upgrade Subscription 🌟

1. Mindset matters: Show up as your authentic self

As an introvert and a creator with a Spanish accent, I never imagined I’d be hosting live sessions one day. Yet, I’ve discovered that approaching live streams with a growth mindset and positive attitude makes all the difference.

It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being real and helpful. When I shift my focus from me and how I sound to my community and how I can help my audience, I feel much more confident and relaxed.

Use your fears as a stepping stone. I still get nervous before every session, but I’ve come to see that fear is just the beginning of courage. Embracing that moment helps me focus and grow each time.

Positive self-talk is key: tell yourself you’re here to share your genuine experience, not to be an expert or lecture anyone. Authenticity lands more than perfection ever will.

2. Be Strategic: Plan with purpose

Having a clear plan turns a daunting session into an engaging experience. I don’t script my sessions, but I focus on one core message that I want my community to walk away with.

Think about your audience:

What are their goals and challenges?

How can you help them go from A to B?

What are some tips that can help them succeed?

For me, each session is an opportunity to help my community move from confusion to clarity and action, whether it’s about growing their business, public speaking, or publishing books.

Whether you go solo or with a buddy, make sure you have a framework to guide you.

Here are some simple and effective structures I have used in the past to keep the session clear and on point:

• Listicle: 10 tips to achieve x, 10 frequently asked questions…

• Before-and-after: share the journey step by step (e.g. how to have a successful book launch)

• Key pillars: this session for instance, is structured into 3 main parts:

  • Mindset

  • Strategy

  • Tips

Find a framework that feels right and go with your intuition (but please don’t have a script!)

3. Practical tips and tech

Before

Set a positive intention for your session: What does success look like?

Connect 5 minutes before the livestream to check your setup (camera positioning and angle, lighting, sound, uncluttered background). That small preparation makes you feel more in control.

During

Greet viewers as they join, invite participation and do quick summaries to keep everyone engaged as viewers will join throughout the session. Treat it as a friendly chat rather than a broadcast.

Keep your sessions concise: I aim for 25-30 minutes to stay focused and energized. Longer often leads to me rambling, losing concentration or going flat.

Closing

Do a final recap to let viewers process the content and end with a clear call-to-action. Whether it’s inviting people to subscribe, check out a course, or join an event, take it as an opportunity to keep the conversation going.

Never lead your audience to a dead-end street!

4. Maximize impact

Live sessions aren’t just a one-time event that finishes when you press the stop button: they can add ongoing value for your community.

I love turning my live sessions into bite-sized snippets for social media: short clips, quotes, or bullet point summaries. Substack makes this really easy with clips you can share directly from the recording after the live session.

With just one click, you can create a mini-video (ideally 60 seconds max) and turn it into a Note.

I also send a Video-Post to all my subscribers after the session with a summary (just like this one) so those who prefer reading still get value.

My paid subscribers get access to the full recording, which adds exclusivity and incentivizes upgrades (examples above).

Explore Premium Subscriptions 🌟

5. Embrace the journey

Honestly, I still get nervous before every live but you have to show up to build confidence. There’s no proxy for practice.

Action always precedes confidence.

You can start by partnering with others and experimenting with different formats. The key is to test, learn, and enjoy the process.

Remember, courage is on the other side of fear and instead of asking what’s the worst that can happen, focus on what’s the best that can happen?

If you are ready to take your writing business to the next level and use the power of public speaking to grow your community and create new income streams, you will love my Creator Starter Bundle: 2 courses in 1 for only 158 US$++ (save 78US$).

• How To Win On Substack: strategy to grow and monetize your publication (88US$++)

• Speak To Scale: Your blueprint to add public speaking to your strategy and get paid to speak (148 US$++)

Creator Starter Bundle 🎯

Upgrade now 🌟

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Today, I went live with from The Irresistible Writer to talk about how to build a writing business that’s sustainable, profitable and above all…fun!

We both began our journeys on Medium 2+ years ago from zero and had a tough start (sounds familiar?) Yet we kept going, pivoted and grew our own communities. Today, we each have a digital ecosystem with multiple income streams and the Substack Bestseller badge 🌟

Derek went from 5 days in his corporate job to 3 and now 2.

I do this for a living, all while looking after my girls and training for triathlon.

In this session, we share our own mindset shifts, strategies and practical tips for growing a community and turning your writing hobby into a business you love.

This 38-minute session is especially valuable for anyone wanting to grow long-term, build a community, and turn their creativity into a business and a lifestyle.

Here are my top 5 takeaways from our chat with actionable steps you can start using today.

The recording is for our paid subscribers but you can enjoy a FREE preview.

You can unlock access to 40+ recordings with digital strategies by upgrading your subscription today.

Upgrade now 🌟

1. From broadcasting to connecting

Community building is about two-way engagement. Instead of broadcasting your newsletter to subscribers and punching out “content” every week, invest in creating genuine connections with your people and build trust because trust is the foundation of any business.

Grow a community, not a newsletter. 

2. From isolated work to an ecosystem

Building a writing business isn’t just about publishing articles; it’s about creating an ecosystem where every piece is interconnected and works as an amplifier.

Your Posts can be repackaged and turned into a stand-alone digital guide.

Your Masterclass session can be recorded and sold as a replay on demand.

Your 1:1 coaching can turn into a cohort or group coaching.

Everything you produce can be repurposed to target different audiences (B2C → B2C) or leverage different formats (newsletter, videos, live training…). Doing so creates energy and reduces your workload, while continuously engaging your audience in different ways to cater to all preferences.

Connect the pieces to create an ecosystem .

3. Shift from price to value

Many creators undersell themselves because of fears or limiting beliefs about their own worth or experience, yet the focus should not be on the price you charge but on the value you deliver and the transformation you enable.

Charging higher prices (based on the value you provide) not only aligns your business with your worth but also creates less burnout because you’re focusing on quality, not quantity.

Evolve your mindset from price to value and from transaction to transformation. 

4. Diversify your income streams

Both Derek and I have expanded into multiple revenue streams beyond writing (courses, cohorts, Mastermind, speaking gigs, corporate offerings…).

This diversification helps create stability and financial resilience, as you don’t rely solely on one type of income. It also reduces the pressure of having all your eggs in one basket and allows you to explore new initiatives, pivot and course-correct.

Test and experiment to diversify your income streams. 

5. From scarcity to abundance

Generosity, an abundance mindset and helping others are key.

Find ways to connect with your readers: send personalized messages, engage in comments, and answer questions thoughtfully. The fuel of your community (and your business!) is the people behind it, so share the love and give first.

You can create opportunities to collaborate (like this live!), engage, co-create and let people in your community grow and shine with their own light.

Fuel your community through connection and collaboration.

The secret

The secret to creating a sustainable writing business is creating an interconnected ecosystem: content, community, and products that reinforce each other.

Stay authentic, focus on long-term relationships, and prioritize impact over volume.

Your business will grow steadily and healthily without sacrificing your well-being.

This session is packed with action items that work. I encourage you to watch it and start applying these strategies to turn your passion into a long-lasting, fulfilling business!

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into our live session!

Check subscription options 🌟

Subscribe now

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

If you are ready to turn your hobby into a business and are serious about creating your ecosystem, check out my special Creator Starter Bundle:

2 courses in 1 to grow your Substack community and boost earnings with the power of public speaking.

Strategic, actionable and fun.

🔥128US$++ for 2 courses (instead of 236 US$)

🌟 100+ students and 5 stars on Gumroad

Prices go up tomorrow (again).

I want the bundle 🌟

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Today I hosted a live session with , Founder of The Solopreneur Code, a Substack publication with 4K+ subscribers.

And I had 8 new subscribers within 5 minutes! That’s the power of speaking in public and the benefit of putting yourself out there.

Anfernee is one of these low-key guys who is silently killing it in the solopreneur world with 20+ digital products on Gumroad and a rock-solid strategy that he openly shares in this session.

The coolest thing about this collaboration is that we actually met in person in June when I traveled to Singapore to launch my new book, The Anti-Procrastinator. Talk about community!

Back to Gumroad, I’m also bullish on it. I’m not affiliated but it’s a platform that’s helping me build a digital ecosystem and a profitable business that generates passive income every month.

This year alone, I’ve published 3 digital courses, and my plan is to keep launching 3-4 courses a year.

Personally, I’ve chosen to focus on courses because they are easy to create, more effective than ebooks or guides and the perceived value is higher, which justifies a higher price point.

My Gumroad Library 🎓

In this 32-minute session, I first give an overview of Gumroad as a marketplace and then both Afternee and I share our personal journeys and strategies for growing a business on the platform.

Each of us uses a very different approach because in the creator world, there is no one-size-fits-all. You can create your own recipe and that’s the fun part.

Some takeaways from today:

1. Start small and create fast: have a bias for action

2. Don’t guess: test, prototype, validate and then build

3. Build an ecosystem: don’t create products in isolation

4. Create a journey for your readers with lead magnets and a funnel

5. Leverage your community (from subscribers to Gumroad clients)

6. Find collaborators and make a bigger impact (affiliate marketing)

If you want your inbox to start getting some Gumroad love, let’s get you started!

Subscribe now

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

If you want to take your creative business to the next level, I’ve got you:

🎬 Webinar: Business Strategies for Authors (Paid Subscribers)

🗓️ 17 Sept 8.30pm EST || 18 Sept 8.30am Hong Kong

✔️ Tips for getting a deal with a publisher

✔️ Building your author brand

✔️ Maximizing Amazon KDP and becoming an Amazon Bestseller

✔️ Creating a 360 book launch (before and after launch)

✔️ Monetization: turning your book into workshops and talks

Upgrade to join 🌟

🎓 Digital courses on Gumroad for writers & creators

🎯 How To Win On Substack: A Masterclass to grow and monetize your publication

🎙️ Speak To Scale: Boost your business with public speaking

*** Discounts only until 30 September ***

Public Speaking Course 20% OFF 🎙️

Substack Course 25% OFF 🎯

Here is the replay from the webinar on Public Speaking Strategies for Writers & Creators.

Whether you are a creator, an author, a solopreneur or you are just figuring things out, public speaking can and will boost your visibility, enabling you to reach more people, strengthen your community and create new income streams.

As an author, speaking at literary festivals and book launches can help you find new readers and fans, sell more books, and build your brand.

As a creator, speaking on podcasts and live sessions will connect you with new and existing audiences, enabling you to explore new ways to collaborate with others.

As a community host, hosting your own webinars and group sessions will elevate and enrich your offer, opening new opportunities for monetization and strengthening your relationship with your members.

As a solopreneur, speaking at conferences and delivering webinars and speeches to businesses will give you authority and credibility in your field and open up a new income stream in the B2B space.

Personally, speaking in public has opened incredible opportunities such as traveling to India and Singapore to present my new book, The Anti-Procrastinator (Penguin Random House), grow a community of 11K+ subscribers and and monetize my publication, turning it into a Substack Bestseller with 250+ paid members.

Now I’m doing it all over again in Spanish, at El Limonero, with 1,900+ subscribers.

Getting on stage has also allowed me to create a new line of business as a public speaker, selling workshops and keynotes to global organizations and building my brand one stage at a time.

The possibilities are endless, and it’s up to you to create them, but you have to put yourself out there and leave your fears behind.

I only started speaking in public in my 40s as an introvert with zero experience and a lovely Spanish accent 😉 If I can do it, you can do it!

This webinar gives you a blueprint on how you can get started, how to build a strategy to incorporate public speaking into your digital business/ content strategy and how to scale and get paid to speak.

It’s practical, it’s action-oriented and it’s based on first-hand experience by Claude Veronica.

Ready to speak to scale?

If you’d like to watch the replay and access 20+ recordings, you can upgrade today before the prices go up on September 1st.

Subscribe now

Upgrade my lemonade 🍋

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

92 students have enrolled in my Substack Course and the reviews are muy buenos!

If you want to grow your publication, create a community and get paid for what you do, check it out.

Videos, real examples and exercises to help you win on Substack.

🌟 5 stars on Gumroad: check the testimonials here.

Paid subscribers can become marketing affiliates and earn 40% commission on sales ❤️

Check out my Substack Course 🎓

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You can check my public engagements on my website. Pinch me moment: I actually get paid to do this!

Today’s session is totally FREE and if you’d like to know more about how to incorporate public speaking into your digital strategy and how to land paid engagements, you will get value out of my webinar this week:

🎬 Webinar on Public Speaking Strategies for writers & creators (Paid Subscribers)

26 August 8pm EST || 27 August 8am Hong Kong

A 60-min session to help you incorporate public speaking into your business strategy:

✔️ Speaking on podcasts and live sessions

✔️ Hosting paid webinars & masterclasses

✔️ Building your speaker brand

✔️ Finding paid speaking gigs

To join the webinar, you have 2 options:

Purchase a single webinar: 39 US$

Purchase your seat 🎬

Or become a paid subscriber and have unlimited access to ALL the webinars and 20+ replays.

Thank you , , , , , and many others for tuning into our live video.

Feel free to drop your comments and questions in the comments or the group chat!

Check out my Substack Course 🎓

If you’re feeling stuck in your creative journey and your growth is slowing down or stagnating, it’s a sign that it’s time to think differently, take risks and try new things.

In January 2025, I did…

I launched my MasterMind sessions for my Founding Members and it was a game-changer. It allowed me to connect deeper with my subscribers and get a better understanding of their pain points and challenges.

No personas or avatars. Real issues from real people, you know.

It also enabled me to find a new way and fulfilling way to monetize my work, as MasterMind sessions are perceived as high-value and many creators are looking for a sounding board where they can connect with peers.

Above all, having a MasterMind allowed me to humanize my community by being closer to the people.

You can take a look at the previous one here:

🎬 MasterMind on Community Building (exclusive for Founding Members)

These sessions are now part of my strategy and ecosystem and a key component of my paid offer.

In this live session, I share frameworks, tips and things I learned (the hard way) to help you get started and set you up for success if/ when you decide to launch your own MasterMind.

In this 20-min video (short and sweet!), I do a 360 overview:

- What is a MasterMind.

- How it can transform your business and your community

- My monetization strategy

- How to set you up for success (before and during)

- Your role as a moderator

- Pitfalls and things to avoid

- How to get started

I hope it encourages you to try something new, whether it’s a MasterMind, your first webinar or a live session and you use the power of public speaking to boost visibility, grow your community and make a bigger impact.

If you’d like to know more about how to incorporate public speaking into your business/ creator strategy, check out my next webinar:

🎬 Webinar: Public Speaking Strategies for writers & creators (Paid Subscribers)

26 August 8pm EST || 27 August 8am Hong Kong

A 60-min session to help you incorporate public speaking into your business strategy:

✔️ Speaking on podcasts and lives

✔️ Hosting webinars & keynotes

✔️ Building your speaker brand

✔️ Finding paid speaking gigs

To join the webinar, you have 2 options:

Purchase a single webinar: 39 US$

Purchase your seat 🎬

Or become a paid subscriber and have unlimited access to ALL The Lemon Tree Mindset webinars and 20+ replays.

Previous webinars 🎦

Subscribe now

Thank you , , , , , and many others for joining the session!

Check out my Substack Course 🎓

Read more

When was the last time you collaborated?

When is the next time you will collaborate?

If you are not 100% sure, there’s work to do.

“Together we run further” - African proverb 

My career as a writer and creative solopreneur started to grow exponentially once I invested in collaboration in a deliberate and strategic way.

It led to frequent podcast invites, becoming a Substack Bestseller, partnering with top creators, co-authoring 2 books and generating passive income thanks to affiliate marketing.

In this video, I focus on collaboration strategies for creators who want to accelerate their growth through win-win partnerships.

I address some key questions from my members:

- Mindset and tips to get started

- How to find collaborators when you have a small audience

- How to pitch effectively to other creators

- Cadence, types and elements of successful collaborations

- Best practices and tips to create and maximize impact

- Substack-specific collaborations

In 34 minutes, we focus on Mindset, Strategy and Tactics to help you think outside the box, try new things and find your next collab.

All the examples I share, from Guest Posts to joint webinars, roundtables, podcasts and affiliate marketing are based on first-hand real experience.

It’s proven.

It works.

And you can apply it too.

Subscribe now

You can upgrade now to watch this session and all my premium webinars:

🎬 Becoming a Substack Bestseller

🎬 Getting Published by The World’s Top Publisher With Penguin Random House

🎬 How To Grow A Thriving Paid Community

Thank you , , , , , and 50 others for tuning into my live video!

Subscribe now

And if you want to build, launch and monetize your first digital product, my creator’s cohort is launching on August 13th.

And I have great news: 50% OFF for the first cohort. 10 spots only.

Get ready to build your first digital product by collaborating with other creators and me!

Check out The Lemon Tree Cohort 🌳🍋🎓

Read more

Now, I’m getting ready to launch my first one in August. And I’m excited to tell you all about it in this live session with my Founding Member and friend , from Author Circle.

Cohorts are a powerful way to help you achieve your goals because you work hand in hand with a group of peers, keeping each other accountable and motivated along the way.

Whether you are considering joining one to boost your writing business or launching your own, this session will give you some food for thought.

What we covered:

• What’s a cohort and how to set it up for success

• How it can help participants achieve goals

• Role of a cohort in a creator strategy

• Introduction to both Neera’s and my own cohort

Subscribe now

The Lemon Tree Cohort 🌳🍋🎓

The Lemon Tree Cohort opens its doors on August 13th and my vision is very simple: 10 - 4 - 1

10 creators.

4 weeks.

1 product.

My goal is to bring 10 creators together for 4 weeks to help them create, launch and monetize their first digital product.

It’s based on my experience and strategy growing a digital library and publishing 4 books (one with a Big Five).

My new course How To Win on Substack in 2025 just made 3,000 US$ in a month and I’m already working on the next one.

I’m heavily investing in a digital portfolio to generate passive income and I want to help you build yours.

Each week focuses on one topic and is supported by Zoom calls, group chat and assignments to get momentum.

You leave the cohort with a clear strategy to launch your first digital product and a group of peers to keep you accountable.

If this sounds like you, you can check out the 4-week program here or send me an email to ask questions.

Ready to invest in your digital portfolio?

Grab your seat now ✨

The Lemon Tree Cohort 🌳🍋🎓

Do you have a real connection with your subscribers or are they silent readers?

Are you going deep with your members to understand what adds value to them?

In today’s 60-minute webinar, we covered some of the real and uncomfortable challenges many creators face when they are trying to grow, scale and build their community:

• How to craft a compelling value proposition to attract the right people.

• Effective channels to get insights and feedback from your members.

• Ways to use the Group Chat to create engagement, connection and collaboration.

• Hosting/ co-hosting webinars and MasterMinds for your community.

• Monetization strategies to generate recurring revenue, paid events and passive income.

This session is for you if you are ready to build a 2-way street community with the levers of connection, collaboration and innovation and is 100% based on my experience growing my lemon tree.

You can upgrade now to access it and all my webinars on digital strategy.

Subscribe now

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

If you want to build your community with a clear growth and monetization strategy, join 60+ students on my course 5-star course, How To Win on Substack in 2025

🎬 15 interactive modules with videos and exercises.

• Free subscribers: 25% OFF until 30 June

• Paid subscribers: 40% OFF until 30 June

*** Also available in Spanish ***

Get 25% OFF 🎁

Subscribe now

Read more

It was only launched a few weeks ago and it’s killing it on Substack. But it’s not only a newsletter…

10K Secrets is actually a co-authored book where 15 Substack creators share their unique strategies to reach 10K US$ months with frameworks, examples and actionable tips.

And I’m super excited to be one of them.

10K$ Secrets for FREE

The beauty of it is that each of us has a very different way of monetizing our work based on our passions, our strengths and our preferences:

Some use webinars.

Others sell digital products.

Some use the power of brand deals.

My strategy is to create 5K+ US$ keynotes and workshops for corporates.

In this live session with , I share my journey and the business strategy behind my high-value offer.

What we talk about:

• The challenge: I was creating more and more but I wasn’t getting the results.

• The tipping point: When the pain of staying the same overwrites the pain of ditching your comfort zone.

• The mindset: Why so many creators are afraid of charging a high price for their work. What’s holding us back and what we need to move forward.

• The strategy: Creating prototypes before building the full product. Don’t launch the entire course/ keynote/ product: do a proof of concept and test it out first.

• Becoming marketable: How you can use your unique story to stand out and build your brand.

• Landing my first client.

• The results: closing 10K US$ months and building a digital ecosystem with multiple income streams that allows me to work around my life and not the other way around.

I’m currently in Sydney and last week I delivered a keynote for a major bank. Now on holidays on the Gold Coast with my family.

This stuff is real and you can check my previous events here.

Get your free copy and read the full chapter.

Inside, you’ll find:

→ The strategy each creator crafted.

→ The systems they used.

→ How to adapt it to your own business.

Want real stories, practical strategies, and proof that there’s more than one way to succeed?

10K Secrets 💎

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

If you are interested in building your digital ecosystem, I’m here to help you:

👩🏻‍💻 NEW: Substack Masterclass: a digital course to grow and monetize your publication

🎓 Book your session for your 1:1 strategy call (1 hour)

🎯 Become a sponsor to reach 9,500+ readers

Discover the Substack Course

Subscribe now

This Masterclass is ideal for writers and creators who want a strategy to grow and monetize their Substack.

We cover the following:

• The mindset to win on Substack

• Common pitfalls to avoid (why you are not growing)

• Pillars to gain subscribers and build your community:

  • Notes people love

  • Collaborations with other creators

  • Recommendations

• How to build an effective marketing funnel:

  Awareness → Engagement → Conversion → Loyalty

• Monetization strategies: When to use the paywall?

• How to build an offer with Services, Community and Personalization

• Tips for sales and marketing - even if you hate selling 😉

• Questions from the participants:

  - How to engage with imported subscribers who are not on Substack?

  - When to use the paid chat vs free chat?

  - How to get Recommendations without asking?

  - Tips to write engaging Notes

Premium members have access to ALL the webinars.

Check out some here:

🎬 Interview with Penguin Random House: How to land a publisher deal.

🎬 Personal Brand Tips for Writers & Creators (FREE)

🎬 Self-Publishing on Amazon

🎬 Boost your Productivity with Notion

Read more

Think about your favorite coffee shop.

Why do you recommend it?

What makes it special?

It probably has great coffee but I bet there’s more to it than just a good flat white.

And it probably has to do with people.

Whenever I recommend something, whether it’s an airline, a restaurant, or an Uber driver, I always think about people and how they make me feel.

My favorite coffee shop in my neighborhood in Hong Kong is called Oola. I always take my friends there because they treat us well. They are friendly, they serve great food and they give me free cookies with my cappuccino. I love cookies.

At the end of the day, people recommend people and it’s the same in the digital world.

I recently celebrated 5,000 subscribers…from Recommendations alone. That’s over 50% of my total audience.

Many subscribers asked me how to get Recommendations effectively and I decided to go LIVE to give my answer and share my experience in 21 minutes.

The truth is, in 2 years, I have never asked for one single Recommendation, not even a “swap.”

So how does this work?

A lot of it has to do with the compound effect - the longer you are in the platform, the more others recommend you because the system is smartly built that way to boost growth from within.

But a lot of it has to do with collaboration: I often approach others to ask for a recommendation collaboration. That’s the secret right there.

If you want to grow in a sustainable way, without pods and boosts (not a fan), the most effective way is to join forces with others to create more value together.

If you do that consistently, recommendations (formal or informal) become a by-product. This is platform-agnostic and I’ve experienced it on LinkedIn, Substack and in life.

What goes around comes around.

Where to get started?

Unlike what most people think, you don’t need a big audience to get people to collaborate with you.

I often partner with writers and creators who are smaller in terms of audience size because I enjoy their work, we have built a relationship, and I want to support them. I love bringing a new skillset or perspective to my community and this is what it looks like in practice:

- A Webinar by on Notion to help you boost your productivity.

- A Guest Post by on reinventing herself at 50+.

- A Guest Post by on becoming a destination writer in Jamaica.

Vice-versa, I’ve also collaborated with creators and solopreneurs who have huge footprints online, way bigger than mine. In January 2025, I interviewed Ruben Hassid, an AI expert with 500,000 followers on LinkedIn, on his journey as an entrepreneur, giving him exposure to a brand new community on Substack.

In a recent Post, I featured 4 Substack Bestsellers, some of which have 40K+ subscribers and they were keen to contribute.

The secret is to think win-win-win:

• You

• Your collaborator

• Your collective audience

People often fall into the trap of equating their value to their number of followers or subscribers, and while having a large audience is a great asset, you have so much more you can offer:

- A unique skillset that can complement someone else’s (like Alberto’s knowledge of Notion).

- An inspiring story worth sharing (like Desiree’s reinvention).

- A cool lifestyle that other writers might be interested in (like Kristi’s journey).

- Life achievements (like my Founding Member who has been an Amazon Bestseller 39 times.)

All of these things have VALUE and people would love to learn about them (and even pay to gain those skills!), yet we often take our knowledge and experience for granted.

“It’s not a big deal.”

Well, for some people it is a big deal, so do an inventory of your skills and life experience and find your better half in the digital world.

What collaborations work better?

Read more

In this 60-minute Masterclass, Personal Brand Strategist Petra Zink shares with us her 5 systems to create, grow and scale.

This session is a gold mine for creators and entrepreneurs who want to develop a strategy for content creation and become relevant in their space.

Petra doesn’t give you a cheat sheet or a template to write Notes or Posts that go viral.

She shares a framework to help you frame your work strategically, looking at your brand from a 360 view: value proposition, messaging, visibility and scalability.

And she does so by building on the Big 2025 Trends:

1. The Golden Age of Personal Brands

2. Digital-First decision making

3. Content creation in the attention economy

4. Value shift from doing the work to winning the work

5. AI-driven leadership

In this session, you will discover:

- The type of content that helps you build both trust and authority with relevance.

- How to leverage different formats to attract, engage and convert.

- Tips to stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a Category of One.

- Strategies to scale by tapping into the power and networks of others.

- Importance of a having a consistent image across all touchpoints.

- How to dial up efficiency through systems, frameworks, and scalable solutions.

This session is for Paid Subscribers but you can enjoy a free preview and upgrade if you would like to full lemonade.

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

Here are some resources you might like to help you build your content and monetization strategy:

🎬 Build your Brand with Your Passion (LIVE with )

🎬 How To Build Your Funnel & Ecosystem (Webinar)

🎬 A Chat with Penguin Random House (Interview Chat)

🎬 Becoming a Substack Bestseller (Webinar)

Leave a comment

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Whether you like writing about gardening, religion or cooking, it’s possible to grow your audience around what you love and monetize your passion.

In this 35-minute LIVE session we talk about:

• Connecting your work with your passion and your values

• How to be a mulitipassionate creator and bring together different worlds

• Tips to create genuine content to build trust with your readers (consistency and relevance)

• Strategies for monetization starting with connection

• The journey toward becoming Substack Bestsellers and the patience game

• How to find your voice and become a Category of One

• Examples of Bestsellers who don’t write about Substack

Here are some of the examples of Substackers we mentioned during the call:

🍋 has over 4K subscribers and her Substack Girlfriends is a Bestseller that brings together Catholic women who want practical ideas, wisdom, and encouragement as they seek peace, balance, and joy in daily living.

🍋 from Normal Island News has over 27K subscribers and her Substack Bestseller focuses on politics and satire.

🍋 has 461K subscribers and her Substack What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking makes 15K US$ per recipe. Yummy!

If you enjoyed this session, you can browse through my Substack Section Webinars & Interviews 🎬 to find other Lives, webinars and videos.

Subscribe now

In this Substack LIVE (37 minutes), I joined to talk about personal branding, this month’s topic.

We provide actionable tips that work for writers and creators like yourself to help you build your name and be known for what matters to you. The final goal is not to go viral but to communicate and create content strategically to attract your ideal reader and speak their language.

This session is FREE but we promise you some yummy lemonade:

• Branding story behind The Lemon Tree Mindset

• The importance of core values to define your brand

• Defining your value proposition and your audience

• How to remain authentic and connect with your audience

• Tips to build your brand effectively (BTS, organic keep-it-real content)

• Leveraging marketing and visual assets (pictures, imagery, colors…)

• Tips to optimize your profile when you are starting (picture, bio…)

• Taking risks and trying new things: webinars, lives, new formats, etc.

• How to find your cadence for content creation

We hope you will find it useful and feel free to ask your questions in the comments or chat!

Lemons & Lemonade 🍋

If you want to build your brand as a writer, creator or solopreneur, you will love next week’s Masterclass.

My guest, Petra Zink is the CEO of ImpaCCCt and top personal brand strategist on LinkedIn who works with top executives and founders to help them build authority and influence. She’s also a Keynote Speaker, author and the founder of The Trusted Authority Podcast.

She uses a 5-systems framework to help people build their personal brand based on the 5 top trends in 2025.

This session is exclusively for Paid Subscribers and I will share the recording and a FREE preview afterwards.

Subscribe now