Hey —
John here.
Quick thing before today's move. We crossed one thousand subscribers this week. If you've opened these emails, replied, forwarded one, or told somebody about The Money Move — thank you. You helped get us here.
Reply KNOW and tell me one thing people already ask you for help with. I read every one.
Four-minute read.
If you're trying to figure out this online-income thing without blowing up the life you already have, you're exactly who I'm writing this for.
The New York Fed's latest Survey of Consumer Expectations found unemployment expectations rising while confidence in finding another job has fallen.
You don't need another job to apply for.
You need another way to earn.
The quick version:
You probably don't need another skill.
You already know something useful.
Find one small problem you've already solved.
Find one person who has it.
Get one yes before you build.
Then turn what you know into something useful they can buy.
Some teams never seem to stop moving. They're on Attio, the agentic CRM.
It’s your always-on revenue engine: agents and workflows build pipeline, chase every buying signal, and move deals forward alongside your team.
Teams like Parallel, Turbopuffer, and Wordsmith build on Attio. Are you one of them?
What's happening right now:
More people with full-time jobs are looking for another way to earn.
Upwork's 2026 workforce research found a rising share of full-time employees surveyed were considering freelance work compared to the year before.
But here's the part I care about. Generic AI output is getting cheaper. Real knowledge still matters.
So don't sell AI. Use AI to help package something useful you already know.
That's today's Money Move.
You already have inventory:
Not boxes. Knowledge.
Your job taught you things. Your kids taught you things. Your mistakes taught you things. Your hobbies taught you things.
Somewhere, somebody is struggling with something you've already figured out.
A warehouse worker may know how to survive the first month on third shift.
A single mom may have a Sunday system that saves every school morning.
An office worker may have an Excel tracker everyone keeps asking for.
A recent grad may know how to move apartments without losing the security deposit.
You're not looking for your life's work. You're looking for one useful shortcut you've already earned.
Why would anyone pay you instead of asking ChatGPT?
Good question.
ChatGPT can make generic. Your experience makes it specific.
If your product is something anybody could generate with one thirty-second prompt, don't build it.
But if it contains the mistakes you made, the shortcuts you learned, examples you've lived, and details only someone who's actually done it would know — now you may have something.
Find the buyer before you build:
This is the part I don't want you skipping.
Don't spend Saturday creating a PDF nobody asked for.
Start with one problem you've personally solved. Then find one person currently dealing with it. A coworker. Someone in one online community you already use. Another parent. A former colleague.
You don't need five platforms. You need one real person with the problem.
Tell them what you're thinking about. For example:
"I put together the system I used to survive my first month working nights without wrecking my sleep. Would something like that be worth twenty dollars to you?"
Don't ask if they like your idea. Ask whether they'd pay.
And don't rely on Mom saying yes. One yes from someone with the actual problem is the signal.
The better play:
Your first product could be a checklist, a tracker, a worksheet, a template, or a short guide.
Don't worry about page count. One useful page beats ten pages of filler.
Test the first version around nineteen to twenty-nine dollars. Not because that's the perfect price. Because right now we're answering one question:
Will somebody pay for what you know?
One nineteen-dollar sale won't change your life. But it changes the question.
From: "Can I make money online?"
To: "How do I make the second sale?"
That's progress you can build on.
The math that actually works:
Keep the target small.
Five sales at nineteen = ninety-five. Ten = one hundred ninety. Twenty-five = four hundred seventy-five.
Not quit-your-job money. Good. That's not today's goal.
Today's goal is proving you can create one dollar online that didn't come from your paycheck. Then you improve it. Raise the price if the value supports it. Find more people with the same problem. Maybe create the next product.
Proof first. Scale later.
The 3 prompts:
1. FIND WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW (run first)
Interview me about my work, hobbies, family responsibilities, problems I've solved, and things people ask me for help with. Ask one question at a time. When you find a possible idea, challenge me to provide evidence that people actually have this problem. Reject anything generic enough to recreate with one simple AI prompt. Every sentence must earn its place.2. SHRINK IT (run second)
Here's the problem: [PROBLEM]. Help me find the smallest useful product I could create from my real experience. Choose the simplest format. Then write two sentences I can use to ask someone with this problem if they'd pay nineteen dollars for it before I build anything.3. BUILD IT — ONLY AFTER ONE YES (run third)
Someone said they'd pay for this: [PRODUCT]. Help me build the smallest useful version. Use only the experience and information I provide. Flag anything generic, unnecessary, or outside my actual knowledge. Do not invent expertise.The Cashflow Check™:
This one got smaller after running it through the Cashflow Check.
The course didn't make it. The membership didn't make it. The fifty-page ebook didn't make it.
One useful download did. And even that doesn't get built until somebody wants it.
That's the version worth testing.
This weekend:
Tonight: Write down three things people ask you for help with.
Tomorrow: Pick one. Find one person with that problem.
Saturday: Ask if they'd pay for your solution.
If no: Don't build it.
If yes: Use Claude or ChatGPT to help you create the smallest useful version. No website. No logo. No weekend lost choosing fonts.
Find the buyer before you build the product.
“You don't need another skill. Package the one you already earned.”
Build one useful thing.
— John
The Money Move
@hustlepreneur.ig · theweeklymoneymove.com
See you next Thursday.
