1. You are not starting a business; you are "alchemy"
If you think that starting a one-person company means just registering a business license, renting an office, getting a few clients, and making some money, then you are destined to fall into endless busyness and mediocrity.
A true one-person company is an alchemical process.
It is not a linear transaction of exchanging time for money, but rather transforming your unique value into an energy system that can automatically attract, convert, and amplify.
The core of this system does just two things:
- Make your work unparalleled.
- Ensure everyone knows you are doing this work.
Sounds like nonsense? No.
The vast majority of people spend their lives oscillating and exhausting themselves between these two tasks.
Either they bury themselves in hard work, creating exceptional products that no one cares about;
or they market every day, flooding social media, but fail to deliver real value, ultimately collapsing their credibility.
True experts turn these two tasks into a single action.
2. "Doing good" is not about effort, but strategic minimalism
In an age of information explosion, "doing good" is no longer about "doing a little more," but rather "doing 90% less."
You must ruthlessly eliminate all actions that do not generate compound interest.
1. Choose your "unique battlefield"
The most fatal illusion for a one-person company is "I can do everything."
You cannot.
You must answer one question:
"If the whole world could only remember one thing I did, what would it be?"
It is not "design," not "writing," not "consulting"—these are too broad.
It must be specific to a highly segmented scenario:
- "Helping tech startups write product introduction pages that keep investors awake at night"
- "Creating a 7-day morning ritual course for women over 35 to eliminate anxiety"
- "Using AI tools to help e-commerce owners triple their product description conversion rates"
The more specific, the more irreplaceable.
When you become a king in a very small battlefield, everyone outside that battlefield will actively look to you.
2. Define the three dimensions of "doing good"
"Doing good" is not a subjective feeling, but a measurable, replicable system.
- Results are verifiable: Did clients really make money, save time, or solve pain points by using your service?
→ For example: "Clients save an average of 20 hours/month," "Conversion rate increased by 47%."
- The process is replicable: Can you turn successful experiences into SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)?
→ For example: A checklist, a template library, a set of automated tool flows.
- The experience can exceed expectations: Does the delivery process make clients feel "overvalued"?
→ For example: Including an industry insight report, a free review meeting, a handwritten thank-you card.
Remember: Clients will not pay for "your hard work"; they pay for "results + experience."
3. Replace "task thinking" with "work thinking"
Most people see work as "completing tasks": finishing drafts, creating graphics, attending meetings.
Experts see work as "creating works."
Every delivery is a showcaseable piece of art.
A PPT is not just a pile of information, but has narrative structure, visual rhythm, and emotional guidance.
A consultation is not just a Q&A, but has an opening, twists, climax, and action list.
A piece of copy is not just selling products, but telling a resonant story.
When you hold yourself to the "work" standard, your "doing good" will inherently carry a viral gene.
3. "Being known" is not about flooding social media, but building "attention compound interest"
99% of people misunderstand "marketing."
They think "being known" means posting on social media, running ads, or finding KOLs.
Wrong.
True "being known" is about making others come to you.
It is about establishing an "attraction field".
And the fuel for this field is all the byproducts generated when you "do things well."
1. Content is product, product is content
Every time you "do something well," you generate three things:
- Results (client success stories)
- Processes (your methods, tools, thoughts)
- Insights (patterns you discover, counterintuitive viewpoints)
These are your best content.
- Client cases → can be turned into a "client story" series
- Methods and tools → can be turned into a "toolbox" or "template"
- Thoughts and insights → can be written into "in-depth articles" or "short video scripts"
You are not "creating content"; you are "mining content."
Your work is a mine.
2. Choose the right "attention leverage": platforms determine fate
A one-person company without a budget for ads must rely on leverage platforms.
When choosing a platform, only look at two criteria:
Are your target clients active here?
Does the platform reward "long-term value content"?
For example:
- If you serve corporate clients → Zhihu, WeChat Official Accounts
- If you create lifestyle products → Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Video Accounts
- If you create technical tools → technical communities
Do not spread across all platforms.
Concentrate your firepower to be in the top 10% on one platform, which is more valuable than being in the 90% on ten platforms.
3. The "three-stage rocket" model of content
Your content must be designed as a self-amplifying system.
Stage One: Daily content (fuel)
- 2-3 short pieces of content per week: insightful quotes, tool recommendations, client feedback screenshots, snippets of work processes.
- Purpose: Maintain presence, filter like-minded individuals.
Stage Two: In-depth content (engine)
- 1 long article/video per month: systematically sharing your methodology, case breakdowns, industry insights.
- Purpose: Establish professional authority, become an "information node."
Stage Three: Product content (converter)
- A free guide, a template, a low-cost course.
- Purpose: Convert attention into private domain users (email lists, WeChat groups).
These three levels of content are interconnected, forming a flywheel:
Daily content drives traffic → In-depth content builds trust → Product content converts → Acquire real clients → Generate new cases → Feed back new content
4. Make clients "传播节点" (传播节点 means "传播" is "spread" and "节点" is "node")
The best advertisement is spontaneous sharing by clients.
How to achieve this?
Exceed expectations in delivery: Give an extra 10%. For example, if you promise a 3-day delivery, complete it in 2 days; if you promise a 5-page report, provide 7 pages plus a voice interpretation.
Design "shareable moments": Include "social currency" in your deliverables—
For example: "This is the third blockbuster project I collaborated on with XX," "Clients say: This changed my way of working."
Proactively request sharing: After the project ends, send a sincere message:
"If this result helps you, feel free to share it with friends who might need it. Thank you for your support."
4. Turn "doing good" and "being known" into the same action
This is the highest principle for a one-person company.
You do not need to "do well first, then promote."
You need to achieve: every time you "do well," it automatically brings "being known."
Scenario 1: You completed a brand consulting project
- Traditional approach: Post on social media "Project successfully completed! Thank you for the client's trust!"
- Expert approach:
- Write an article titled "How to Help a Cold-Start Brand Find Differentiated Positioning with 3 Questions"
- In the article, omit the client's name but showcase the thought framework and result data
- After publishing, message the client: "This is my summary of our project; do you think I missed anything?"
- Once the client agrees, the article becomes your "proof of capability," automatically attracting similar clients
→ One delivery generates a viral piece of content, bringing in new clients.
Scenario 2: You designed a set of high-conversion posters
- Traditional approach: Post the image with the caption "New work, please like"
- Expert approach:
1. Create a 1-minute video:
"Why is the click-through rate of this poster 60% higher than competitors?
→ Showcase design logic: color psychology, visual guidance, copy hooks
2. Post it on Xiaohongshu/Video Accounts
3. Pin a comment: "If you need this poster template, comment 'template,' and an automatic download link will be sent"
→ One design turns into teaching content, accumulating private domain users.
Scenario 3: You wrote a viral article
- Traditional approach: Just repost it on social media
- Expert approach:
1. Extract "reusable frameworks" from the article
(e.g., "5 Structures of Viral Headlines")
2. Create an infographic and publish it on "Zhaopin"
3. Write an email to subscribers:
"You may not have noticed, but there is a hidden model behind this article..."
4. Package the model into a 9.9 yuan mini-course to test market response
→ One article splits into multiple content products, validating the business model.
5. The "double helix" operating system of a one-person company
Integrating all of the above, you will have a self-operating system.
Dan Koe calls it the double helix model
[Do things well]
↑ ↓
Generate content ←→ Attract clients
↓ ↑
[Let everyone know]
- Internal link: Every time you "do well," it generates content material.
- External link: Every time you "are known," it brings new clients and feedback.
Double helix intertwines and rises: Quality improvement → Influence expansion → Higher quality → Greater impact
How to start this system?
- Start with a "minimum perfect delivery"
Find a client you are most confident in and complete a service to "work-level" standards.
- Immediately turn it into content
Write a review article, shoot a tutorial video, create a template.
- Publish it on your main battlefield platform
Add tags, interact proactively, and collect feedback.
- Use content to attract the next client
When someone comments "I need this too," you know the system has started.
Repeat, optimize, amplify
Every three months, iterate your service products and content strategy.
6. Beware of three major traps
Trap 1: Pursuing "perfection" and not daring to publish
"Let me optimize it a bit more," "Let me get a few more client cases"…
Perfection is the enemy of action.
Publishing is evolution.
Your first piece of content may only have 100 views, but it is the first atom of your system.
Without it, there is no chain reaction.
Trap 2: Indulging in "being liked" and not daring to be unique
Always wanting to please everyone, content is bland, and viewpoints are ambiguous.
True attraction comes from sharpness.
Daring to say "this is not for everyone" will instead attract those who truly need you.
Remember: being deeply loved by a part of people is far better than being lightly liked by everyone.
Trap 3: Separating "doing things" from "spreading"
Working "seriously" during the day and "painfully writing" at night.
Change your mindset: writing, shooting videos, and sharing are part of your work.
Just like a chef not only cooks but also plates, photographs, and writes menus.
Spreading is the final step of modern value creation.
7. Conclusion: You are not alone; you are a "person + system"
The deepest misunderstanding of a one-person company is thinking that "one person" means fighting alone.
No.
When you build the "double helix system," you are no longer one person.
You are:
- A craftsman: Polishing works with extreme focus
- A content engineer: Breaking down works into shareable modules
- An influence architect: Building bridges of trust with content
- A system designer: Making everything operate automatically and continuously amplify
True freedom is not time freedom, but "system freedom."
- When you sleep, your content is driving traffic;
- When you serve clients, your cases are accumulating;
- When you review and summarize, your influence is spreading.
Doing things well and letting everyone know has never been a choice.
They are two sides of the same coin.
One side is internal skill, the other side is external manifestation.
When you practice internal skills to the extreme, external manifestation will come naturally.
And when you start to manifest externally, internal skills will continue to evolve through feedback.
Finally, Dan Koe leaves you with a saying:
"Do not be a content creator; be an alchemist of value.
Your work, your thoughts, your failures and successes are all raw materials.
Refine them into gold, and then let the light naturally shine in."
Starting today, activate your double helix.
You are not starting a company.
You are creating a self-growing organism.
It is small, but complete.
It is simple, but powerful.
It is you.
And the world will eventually see it.