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Justin Welsh
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Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 80 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
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How Justin Welsh Grew

Courses and resources for aspiring solopreneurs

How did Justin Welsh grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

Justin Welsh grew his business primarily through organic social media content, especially on LinkedIn where he built a large following by writing about his journey and posting daily. He also grew his email list by funneling traffic from LinkedIn and Twitter to his newsletter, which helped build trust with his audience. His growth was supported by SEO improvements and word-of-mouth referrals from course participants and an affiliate program.

Channels

27 channels · grouped by how Justin Welsh grows

  • LinkedIn

    · 5 mentions · 5 sources
    “most of my strategy is to show up on two platforms every single day, two to three times a day. And those platforms right now are LinkedIn and Twitter.”
    high
    Show 4 more quotes
    “I have built a large following on social media, with 380K followers on LinkedIn and 330K followers on Twitter.”
    high
    “Starting LinkedIn content in August 2019, growing to 600K+ followers.”
    medium
    “What really drives his biz is his massive social media following, boasting 380K fans on LinkedIn, 330K on Twitter, and a 100K strong weekly newsletter called ‘The Saturday Solopreneur.’”
    medium
    “I started writing about my journey building PatientPop on LinkedIn, the social platform where my prospective customers were hanging out.”
    high

  • Organic social media

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “This was achieved through 100% organic social posting on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram, writing my newsletter, and with SEO.”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “I bounce ideas off of a great group of online friends from both Twitter and LinkedIn. We jump on a Zoom or meet out for a beer and just chat through the issues or challenges we’re facing.”
    medium
    “Welsh focused heavily on content creation to drive traffic, posting on LinkedIn every day for nearly four years. This discipline earned him over 600,000 followers across LinkedIn and Twitter, which in turn funneled customers to his courses.”
    medium

  • Email List Growth

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “Justin Welsh built a one-person, content-powered business to $10M cumulative revenue in ~5 years 9 months, relying on a trust-building newsletter.”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “He runs up to two ad spots, both at $3k/issue.”
    medium
    “My products have been rated 4.98 out of 5 stars with over 1,000 testimonials.”
    medium

  • Affiliate program

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “I have developed a portfolio of one-person internet businesses that generate a combined annual revenue of over $2 million. My core business is focused on creating knowledge products that help entrepreneurs and solopreneurs leverage social media to grow their businesses.”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “The rest of my income comes from course sales, coaching, newsletter sponsorships, affiliate deals, and more.”
    medium
    “I help people take the skills that they have, identify those, and turn them into income”
    medium

  • Twitter

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “My secondary channel is Twitter, where I started writing daily in October of 2021, and I post 2x to 3x daily.”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “Justin decided to add Twitter to his playbook. He’s now clocked in over 500 straight days of posting, boosting his follower count from 8K to 325K in just 16 months. Twitter isn’t as good with stats as LinkedIn, but Justin figured out he snagged a whopping 198,410,000 impressions on Twitter in 202...”
    medium
    “I started on Twitter in 2021. I’m currently roughly 900 days in, posting daily.”
    high

  • SEO

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “This was achieved through 100% organic social posting on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram, writing my newsletter, and with SEO.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Most of my strategy is to show up on two platforms every single day, two to three times a day. And those platforms right now are LinkedIn and Twitter, and the way that I do that is sort of a few different things...”
    medium

  • Inbound

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “Welsh generates millions of social media impressions without paid ads, showing the power of content-driven marketing.”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “No ads, 90% margins.”
    medium

  • LinkedIn outreach

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “My primary channel has been LinkedIn since 2019, where I've grown to over 230,000 followers over the last 3 years.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “That's why I spend most of my time growing a top of funnel audience on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.”
    high

  • Word of mouth

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “With over 11K students in my course, I’ve enrolled a lot of them into my affiliate program.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Welsh’s organic growth is fueled by his daily social media content and word-of-mouth referrals from course participants.”
    medium

  • Press

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “I started producing free articles, guides, and a weekly newsletter that has over 60 issues to date. Organic traffic went from being negligible to driving over 45K new website visitors in 2022.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “I worked with my buddy, Brendan Hufford, to drastically improve the SEO of my website.”
    medium

  • Newsletter

    · 1 mention
    “He funnels LinkedIn/Twitter traffic to a 175K+ email list...”
    medium

  • Podcasting

    · 1 mention
    “Afternoons include precise 4 PM parent calls, Peloton or yoga, cold showers, and journaling; evenings wind down with healthy dinners alongside his wife, more reading, meditation, tea, and bed by 9:45 PM—prioritizing balance over rigid hustle.”
    medium

  • Lead generation

    · 1 mention
    “According to the interview he did with Noah Kagan, of the $1.7m he’ll do in revenue this year, ~$30k will come from affiliate deals.”
    medium

  • LinkedIn Content

    · 1 mention
    “To find clients for my consulting business, I started writing about my journey building PatientPop on LinkedIn, which was an unconventional platform for sharing advice and thought leadership back then.”
    medium

  • Yelp

    · 1 mention
    “When my business started growing, I wanted... a blog, a newsletter, email automation, email triggers, one-click upsells... I moved to Kajabi and had all that stuff under one roof.”
    high

  • Business cards

    · 1 mention
    “I chose LinkedIn because back in late 2018, I was writing about SaaS healthcare businesses. So I created content for LinkedIn every day.”
    high

  • Video content

    · 1 mention
    “He sells 2 courses on Gumroad for $150/ea.”
    medium

  • Website User Experience

    · 1 mention
    “The Content Operating System, takes students behind the scenes of my content creation process, sharing the exact system I use to write a weekly newsletter and 6-12 high-quality pieces of social media content in just a few hours.”
    medium

  • Direct sales

    · 1 mention
    “He’s not into dropping dough on paid ads, but he’s totally down for spending on stuff like: A total brand makeover and web development: 50K big ones SEO strategy & tactics: A hefty 75K”
    medium

  • Partnerships

    · 1 mention
    “I’ve invested in four strategies that have helped me grow this business YoY. Strategy 1: Grow LinkedIn Traffic.”
    high

  • Referral Program

    · 1 mention
    “With over 11K students enrolled in his course, a whole bunch of them are part of his affiliate program. Loads of students, plus a generous 35% affiliate fee, has been Justin’s secret sauce to 'swarm the market.'”
    medium

  • Customer retention

    · 1 mention
    “the one-click upsell, a feature he was excited to incorporate, swiftly transformed into a $22K Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) product”
    high

  • Search engine marketing

    · 1 mention
    “And I make sure those articles are SEO-optimized, again for top-of-funnel discovery.”
    high

  • Pinterest

    · 1 mention
    “Justin Welsh built a one-person, content-powered business to $10M cumulative revenue in ~5 years 9 months, relying on daily LinkedIn/X posts.”
    high

  • Pinterest ads

    · 1 mention
    “In 2023, Justin Welsh will do ~$1.7m from his solo creator business… About 76% of that comes from sales of his courses ($150/ea.) The rest is a mix of consulting, ads, and affiliate/subscription sales All of this is powered by his LinkedIn, Twitter, and newsletter”
    medium

  • Business cards

    · 1 mention
    “In July of 2021, I pre-sold the idea of the course 30 days before I planned to take it live. I built a simple landing page on Carrd...”
    high

  • Welcome Email

    · 1 mention
    “Additionally, my weekly newsletter, The Saturday Solopreneur, has 80K subscribers.”
    medium

How 2,669 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — Justin Welsh’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    58% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    57% ◀
  • Email
    47% ◀
  • Community
    33%
  • Content/Inbound
    31% ◀
  • Partnerships
    30% ◀
  • Paid ads
    24%
  • Events
    24% ◀
  • Press/PR
    18% ◀
  • Outbound/Sales
    16% ◀
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    8%
  • Brand Authenticity
    2%
  • Product expansion
    2%
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