Revenue Rulebreaker produces stories and events about how solopreneurs actually make a living online.
Here we cover hard won wins from lovable underdogs—not blowhard outliers who build their business on personality, unearned money or cons. We examine repeatable practices for business building and we revel in lifestyle tales that feature the unconventional ways internet entrepreneurs live and work.
We're here to surface unheard stories that you can actually apply to your own business. But Revenue Rulebreaker stories aren't just straight forward blogs. We're here to offer commentary on how you might think about trends like AI and paid newsletters and we're here to offer a respite from the bullshit firehose that is the social media feeds.
Sign up to the newsletter to get new stories every Sunday and Thursday. You'll also get our Tuesday community edition. Newsletter readers sometimes get free stories that are paywalled on the site too.
Here's three good starter stories:
"Who can we trust about AI?" by me (Lex Roman) from our Thanks, I Hate It column. Everyone is spouting opinions about AI's utility, likeability, and inevitability, but where are the voices bringing thoughtful analysis about what's going on below the surface with artificial intelligence?
Lex Roman
"I refuse to shrink my life to run a successful business" by Leo Aquino from our Work Styles column. Leo Aquino shares their non-negotiable expenses that the business must pay for and why sacrificing yourself for your business may not be the right move
Leo Aquino
"Google doesn't care about your website. Should you still care about SEO?" by me from our Thanks, I Hate It column. Google's new default AI experience changes how you show up in the search engine, forcing small business owners to decide whether or not it's time to get on board with the bots
Lex Roman
Become a paid subscriber to get access to all the good stuff
Most stories on Revenue Rulebreaker are paywalled—especially the ones that reveal specific revenue advice or the juicy details inside someone's business. That's because we are primarily reader-backed to stay editorially independent.
My paid subscribers are known as Legends. They are part of a network of 350+ creative entrepreneurs who benefit from free promotion in my newsletter, curated mixers, collaboration invites and visibility in our directory plus they can read all paywalled stories. Learn more about why you might wanna be a Legend and join us! It's $99/year.
Two of our best stories only Legends get access to...
"How to grow — and own! — your email list as an author" by M.G. Herron from our Page Earner column. Amazon isn't going to help you find your audience. M.G. Herron walks us through how to grow a mailing list of book buyers from scratch.
M.G. Herron
"I thought paywalls were unethical. This is why I started paywalling." by Kaitlyn Arford from our Recurring Revenue column. Kaitlyn didn't want to charge her readers, but as her publication grew, she realized the alternative was much worse.
Kaitlyn Arford
Find more stories on our Topics page.
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Who's behind this project?
It's me, Lex Roman. I’ve been an entrepreneur for 7 years. When I started I thought my only two options for running a business were start a software company or run a consulting business, so I chose the latter. Two years in, I was itching for another business model.
Over the last several years, I've made money in all kinds of ways: from clients, memberships, subscriptions, digital products, sponsorships, events, speaking, writing, and licensing.
I love the freedom that working for myself has given me and I love understanding how other people make the money that leads to that freedom but I think a lot of the stories out there gloss over important details. So here, at Revenue Rulebreaker, I ask a lot of questions and I dig a lot deeper than your typical business blog so you know what you're getting into when you chase after something.
Read more about me and the origin of Revenue Rulebreaker on our About page.