Hey, Reader —
Have you ever pinned your self-worth to a single number?
Mara did. She wasn’t new to baking, and she’d built a loyal market following. But still, every week, she let one number decide if she was a failure.
Each Saturday, Mara rolled into the farmers’ market before sunrise. She displayed warm sourdough. Rosemary focaccia. Cinnamon raisin loaves. Every loaf reflected the precision and care of a serious professional baker.
And every Saturday at noon, she judged her entire business by one thing:
How many loaves sold?
If her table was empty by 11 a.m., she felt unstoppable. If she hauled too much bread home, she questioned everything.
It was all-or-nothing, week after week.
One summer morning, things changed. After letting out a long sigh and feeling depleted, a neighboring jam vendor she’d chatted with for months asked her a simple question:
“Why are you only tracking the results you can’t change?”
Mara blinked.
The jam vendor pointed to her empty trays. “That’s your score. But your week was decided by the seeds you planted, and the signals you sent, long before today.”
For Mara, that perspective shifted everything.
She began tracking:
- Seeds: new recipe tests, early prep, vendor conversations
- Signals: posting her weekly menu, offering pre-orders, improving her display
- Scores: Saturday sales (which she still noted, just without the emotional whiplash)
Week by week, her confidence steadied. Foot traffic picked up. Pre-orders increased. And before long, the score finally caught up to the work she had actually been doing.
A Simple Reframe: Seeds → Signals → Scores
While Mara’s story is a composite, it blends real experiences and familiar patterns I’ve seen in so many solopreneurs I’ve worked with. It reflects the struggles and frustrations that come up most often.
So when I came across this framework, it immediately clicked with what many solopreneurs go through. Once you understand it, you’ll see why. Here are the parts:
1. Seeds
The small actions that start everything: drafting ideas, beginning conversations, testing, exploring, and making tiny improvements. These are the early, quiet moves.
2. Signals
What you send into the world: publishing, sharing, showing work, asking, offering, and reaching out. Signals create visibility.
3. Scores
The numbers that arrive later: revenue, subscribers, inquiries, conversions, and referrals. (Economists call these lagging indicators, a pretty good name for past data.) Scores tell you what happened, not what’s coming.
This is the rhythm of a solo business:
Seeds feed signals.
Signals shape scores.
Once Mara looked at it this way, she realized her sales problem stemmed from something much earlier. She had a visibility problem rooted in her seeds and signals.
This model isn’t just a productivity trick. It’s also a way of understanding how your business becomes known.
- Seeds build Visibility.
They shape what you’ll soon be able to share, such as ideas in motion, experiments, and early thinking.
- Signals create Credibility.
Publishing, offering, and outreach are what show people you’re here for real.
- Scores reflect Authority.
They’re proof of traction in reach, referrals, and sales, and they show that your work is recognized and trusted.
Most solopreneurs obsess over scores. Top-tier solopreneurs design stronger seeds and send more consistent signals.
A Lightweight System
To keep this simple (and to make consistency easier), try this:
Each week, choose one of each:
- One seed you’ll plant this week
- One signal you’ll send
- One score you’ll look at (briefly, without spiraling)
That’s it.
Three small actions. A full week of clarity. A rhythm you can sustain.
The seeds and signals you choose this week shape more than your to-do list. They shape momentum.
What will you plant this week?
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Here are some other fun things I found to share with you this week:
🔵 Skip the $200 headshot with Nano Banana
Polished headshots help solopreneurs look credible, but they’re not always in the budget. Google’s Nano Banana (See last week’s issue) offers a fast, affordable alternative. AI Weekly shares a prompt that creates a professional headshot for your solo brand.
🔵 Copyright-safe music for creators who stream
For solopreneurs using livestreams to show their work or host sessions, Streambeats offers a simple, affordable music library: $4.99/month for unlimited tracks across one Twitch and one YouTube channel. Clean permissions, predictable pricing, and no copyright drama. Thanks to Cat Mulvihill for the tip. |
🔵 Cut the guesswork from choosing your next book
Book.sv analyzes the books you’ve read and suggests what to pick up next. The online app focuses on widely-read titles, with a separate Intersect feature for more niche matches. Give it at least three books, and it delivers a surprisingly solid reading roadmap. |
Until next week: Stay small. Play big.
Terri
P.S. When you’re ready for more, here are a few resources from the Solo Business School:
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Authority By Design is a registered trademark, and Content Velocity and Working Solo are trademarks, of Make International LLC. Issue #092.
