My Quiet Way to Secretly Win (in business & life)

It’s not often I get sucked into a reality show…

But this winter out on eastern Long Island has been a slog.

I’d already decanted all of my coconut sugar and almond flour into jars. I’d read through my TBR pile. I stared at my mom’s knitting pile and dreamt of being someone who could figure it out.

So when I was watching the Emmy’s and saw a reality show called The Traitors won an Emmy, it caught my attention.

Growing up, I was obsessed with The Real World and Road Rules — not exactly “Emmy award winning television.”

Desperate one day when it was already dark at 4:45pm, I flipped Traitors on.

I was hooked. Who’s a traitor and who’s a faithful? How many times will Alan Cumming say murrrr-derrrr in that delicious Scottish accent?

I won’t spoil any seasons for you (have you watched?! Tell me!!) but what I can spoil for you is this:

The people who win it aren’t the loudest.

They’re not the ones causing the most drama or throwing themselves in front of the camera.

They’re the ones slowly, quietly working in the background to build relationships and a long-term plan.

You know what that reminds me a whole lot of?

Building a successful online business.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve never been the loudest, trendiest, or most dramatic (at least online!) person in the biz.

I’ve slowly chipped away behind the scenes, building my business to a multi 7-figure one in 2019 and kept it that way every single year since.

The cool club never invited me to join. No one ever knew how much I was making behind the scenes. I never got the secret mastermind or big podcast invite.

So maybe that’s why it came as a surprise to some when a month ago, I had a 4-day over $500,000 launch.

📚 You wouldn’t be surprised if you read my book. (Get it at Bookshop or Amazon).

Because in it, I teach you exactly how to plan a launch like this (and build an email list and audience full of people to sell to —which is what you really need.)

You also wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve been around here — because I’ve been having multi-6-figure launches for years. (I had a $375k+ launch just 3 months before the $500k one).

Not saying any of this to brag.

I’m more of the self-deprecating type, but my mindset coach, Jen, tells me it isn’t as cute as I think it is.

My point is:

You feel like you need to do something big and dramatic to be successful in your business…

Or even that success itself is something big and dramatic: huge revenue numbers, big team, large following…

But it’s actually the quiet work behind the scenes that no one applauds you for that will make you successful.

And guess what?

​
If you start tuning out the loudest, most dramatic people in this industry —

You get to decide what success means.

It’s not necessarily $10k months. It’s not 10k followers. It’s not selling 10k books.

That’s like assuming that outfit that looks amazing on her will look the same on you. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.

Maybe it’s not the outfit that you like. Maybe it’s how confident she looks in it.

I think it’s why so many people write to me telling me they’re envious of my business.

It’s not because I make the most money, sell the most books, or have the biggest audience.

I hope it’s because I show that my successful business isn’t my life… and then actually live it.

My business is just a sliver of it.

I live a little, quiet life full of spontaneous walks to our beach, savoring that first sip of coffee each morning without thinking about my to-do list, and my refrigerator full of art from my nephews and the neighborhood kids.

So maybe I could win Traitors? (I’d 100% have to be a Faithful because this Philly-face is incapable of showing every thought that passes through my mind).

If so, I’d do it the way I know how: laying low and being myself.

If you’re more of the “OK, Sam — just tell me how you actually pulled off a $500k launch” type —

Good news:

Today’s episode of my podcast, On Your Terms®️, is a full-launch breakdown.🎙️Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Substack→

I answered Liliette’s question about where to start with growing her audience, Ruth Ann’s question about Meta ads, and Ariel’s question about how someone without a team can run a successful launch.

I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told the hundreds of people blowing up my DMs, inbox, texts, etc. asking me “how’d you do it!?”…

🤓 Read my book ($17 here→, or $27 here→)

then,

🎧 Listen to Episode #281 of my podcast, On Your Terms®️ ($0) on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or Substack→

I’d love to break it all down for you 1-on-1…

But I have to get back to watching Traitors. (And living my little life.)

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🔗 Links You'll Love

🎬 Gillian Perkins is hosting a free live workshop called “From Zero Content to Paying Members: A Realistic Membership Content Plan" for anyone who wants to create a membership that brings in consistent income! Sign up→ ($0)​

❓Have a business, marketing, or legal question you want me to answer in a future issue of Sam’s Sidebar or on my podcast, On Your Terms®️? Send me a text, voicenote, or video→​

📖 What a 3am rabbit hole in the Peruvian Andes taught me about rest, creativity, and letting this year actually be what I said I wanted it to be. Read my Substack→ “I Wish I Never Told Anyone About My Gap Year”

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