The Side Hustle Show Ep. 724: The Path to $250k+ Per Year – The State of Solopreneurship in 2026

Date: February 23, 2026
Host: Nick Loper
Guest: Adriana Tika, founder of Adrianatica.com, owner of digital marketing and copywriting agencies, creator of the Strategic AF Newsletter

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the findings of "The State of Solopreneurship in 2026", a comprehensive report compiled by guest Adriana Tika. The conversation covers critical marketing channel strategies, timelines for achieving significant solopreneur incomes, and the real-life challenges behind scaling a solo business beyond $250k per year. Nick and Adriana focus on actionable insights for side hustlers and solopreneurs—no hype, just mature, data-driven advice on what's really working and what's changing in the solopreneur economy.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Owned Channels vs. Borrowed (Relationship) Channels

• Defining the Terms (00:31 – 01:34)

  • Owned Channels: Platforms you control, e.g., an email list. “You own the access to your audience...you can deepen those relationships and build trust and credibility.” – Adriana (00:53)
  • Borrowed Channels: Social platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook), where access is mediated by algorithms.
  • Adriana is critical of the term "owned audience": “I know a lot of people use the term owned audience. I don't like that term because you don't own the audience, you own the access to them.” (00:53)
  • Algorithms in social media continue to change, making it risky to rely solely on borrowed channels.

• User Behavior and Strategic Shifts (02:34 – 04:28)

  • Even if LinkedIn drove most revenue for respondents, most plan to double down on owned channels moving forward (email, communities, podcasting).
  • “People have started to figure out that social media will not work as well in the long run, and so they decided to double down on platforms that they have control over. And this, to me is very interesting and possibly a sign of maturity from the cohort that answered my study.” – Adriana (02:34)

2. The Evolution of the Marketing Funnel: Attention as a Loop

• Attention is Not Linear (04:28 – 05:26)
  • Customers may discover you, forget, rediscover, and only much later buy; thus, attention is “a complicated loop.”
  • “I recently wrote a newsletter issue about how attention is no longer a straight funnel, but rather a very complex and complicated loop.” – Adriana (04:28)

3. LinkedIn as a Primary B2B Revenue Driver

• Why LinkedIn Works for B2B (05:26 – 06:45)
  • Respondents skewed B2B, so LinkedIn naturally dominates.
  • B2B sales are easier on LinkedIn because user expectations align: “If you go on LinkedIn, you expect to see business content, and when people's expectations are met, they are more likely to decide to buy something.” – Adriana (05:39)
  • In contrast, business offers interrupt consumer-focused networks like Instagram/TikTok.

4. B2B vs. B2C – Profitability and Sales Cycles

• Shorter Sales Cycles in B2C, Higher Profits in B2B (07:03 – 08:29)
  • B2B is often more lucrative as business owners expect to invest in growth.
  • B2C can be easier to access decision-makers, but typically commands lower price points.

5. Email – The Top Conversion Channel

• Email’s ROI for High-Ticket Services (08:38 – 11:06)
  • Adriana: “Over 80% of my clients tell me that I found you on social media but bought from you because of your emails.” (08:38)
  • Longer-form emails allow more nuance, personality, and direct relationship-building.
  • Welcome sequences can be personalized based on user needs, using a ‘choose your own adventure’ approach.

6. Growth Timelines and The $100k/$250k Milestones

• Three Years to $100k Profit—Data-Driven Reality (11:07 – 13:32)

  • It typically takes three years to reach $100k in profit as a solopreneur.
  • “Making over 100k is very, very rare under three years.” – Adriana (11:42)
  • The handful who get there faster usually have prior experience or transferable leverage.

• Relief in Realistic Expectations (13:32 – 14:06)

  • “Most people breathe a sigh of relief...it's supposed to be hard.” – Adriana (13:32)

7. Monetization: The Primacy of Services

• Why Services Dominate Solopreneur Revenue (16:28 – 18:19)

  • Services (done-for-you or agency) remain the main path to $250k+.
  • “People will always pay more for you to take a problem off their plate than for you to teach them how to do it.” – Adriana (17:03)
  • Passive digital products (courses, ebooks) require massive audiences to rival service revenue.

• The "Ladders of Wealth Creation" Pathway (18:19 – 19:34)

  • Starting with freelancing/services gives insight into real customer problems, which can later inform product creation.

• Building Product Ideas from Service Experience (19:34 – 21:13)

  • Direct client interaction points to product-market opportunities.
  • “You don't have to guess. People can tell you directly what type of products they would buy.” – Adriana (19:34)

8. Product Validation and Pre-Sales

• Adriana’s Approach: Live Workshops before Full Courses (21:22 – 23:42)
  • “I first sell it as a live workshop and then...sell it as an on-demand product. But I can validate with a live product.” – Adriana (21:22)
  • Example: "Audience Accelerator" workshop started live, proved demand, then became a course ($100 for workshop, $200 for on-demand course).

9. Audience Size – Smaller Than You’d Expect

• Newsletter Size: Less Than 500 Subscribers for Most (24:31 – 25:30)
  • High incomes do not require huge lists; depth and targeting matter more than raw numbers.

10. Lead Magnets: Workshops and Newsletter-Centric Offers

• High-Quality Lead Magnets / List Building (26:00 – 27:24)
  • Paid or free workshops yield high-quality leads.
  • “If you want to go for volume, create a killer lead magnet...If you want to go for depth, get people to subscribe for your thinking, for your point of view, for your big idea.” – Adriana (26:54)
  • Oftentimes, simply asking people to “join the newsletter” (without a freebie) results in higher-quality, more engaged subscribers.

11. The Comeback of Blogging and SEO

• Future Channel Investment (27:49 – 29:54)
  • Many plan to spend more time on blogs/SEO/YouTube, seeking evergreen, long-form touchpoints for deeper relationships.
  • Attention long-term may shift back towards trusted, search-driven content—even amid AI-influenced search changes.
  • “It speaks to the need for deeper relationships, the kind you create with long form content.” – Adriana (28:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Surviving the Hype:
  "I was enraged with all the survivorship bias you see online...everyone makes six or seven figures. Everyone got there in three months or less. And I knew from my clients, I knew from my own business, that is not the case.” – Adriana (11:42)

• On the Nature of Attention:
  "Attention is no longer a straight funnel, but rather a very complex and complicated loop." – Adriana (04:28)

• On Service-Based Monetization:
  "People will always pay more for you to take a problem off their plate than for you to teach them how to do it." – Adriana (17:03)

• Validation from Real Clients:
  "Over 80% of my clients tell me that I found you on social media but bought from you because of your emails." – Adriana (08:38)

• On List Size:
  "Most people had less than 500 subscribers. ...If you sell services...you don't need that big of an audience because everything you sell is priced higher." – Adriana (25:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:31 — Definition of owned vs borrowed channels
• 02:34 — Why solopreneurs are shifting to owned channels
• 04:28 — Attention as a looping journey, not a funnel
• 05:39 — LinkedIn’s dominance and platform expectations
• 08:38 — Email as primary driver for high-ticket sales
• 11:07 — Three-year journey to $100k profit (“thousand-day principle”)
• 13:32 — Realistic encouragement to hustlers in the “slog” phase
• 16:28 — Monetization realities: services vs. passive income
• 19:34 — Services as R&D for future products
• 21:22 — Live workshops as product validation
• 24:31 — Most lists under 500 subscribers; service revenue still strong
• 26:00 — Lead magnets that build trust vs. those that drive volume
• 27:49 — The cyclical comeback of long-form channels (blog, YouTube, SEO)

Round Two: Business Idea Donation (32:05)

Internet Anthropology Newsletter

• Adriana’s suggestion: Create a newsletter focused on researching and explaining internet trends and creator history, like “internet anthropology.”
• “If you like to do research, go for it and send me a link to subscribe because I'd like to read it.” – Adriana (32:05)
• Monetization could combine paid subscriptions, consulting, or voluntary donations.

Round Three: The Triple Threat

1. Marketing Tactic Working Now (35:56)

• Peer Partnerships & Cross-Promos: Recommending each other’s newsletters/resources for deep audience fit, not just surface-level swaps.
  • “We recommend each other’s newsletters. …It does work on depth and on audience fit more than anything I’ve ever tried.” – Adriana (35:56)

2. Tool Recommendation (39:19)

• Circle: Adriana runs her new community, “The Council,” on Circle for its strong user experience and built-in features.
  • “If you're building a community or thinking about migrating a community, give Circle a chance. …I just love it.”* – Adriana (39:19)

3. Favorite Book (41:43)

• “Content Simplified” by Lee Densmur
  • “It’s a book that I recommend to any marketer or content marketer…because it essentially has everything you need. It’s like a manual.”* – Adriana (41:43)

What's Next for Adriana? (42:22)

• Growing her private community, The Council (starts at $500/year), focused on practical implementation, accountability, and action (e.g., a newsletter growth bootcamp).

“Implementation is what actually moves the needle. So the Council is the corner of the Internet I've built to help people get stuff done with my help and with the help of their peers.” – Adriana (42:41)

Actionable Takeaways

• Prioritize owning your audience: Invest in your email list and platforms you control.
• Expect a multi-year journey: Most take 3+ years to replace their day job income.
• Start with services: Higher ticket, easier to validate, and critical for uncovering future scalable product ideas.
• Use content loops, not funnels: Stay present via multiple touchpoints; buyers may take years to convert.
• Lead magnets and engagement: Workshops and “subscribe for my thinking” offers drive depth.
• Smaller, targeted audiences can be lucrative: You don’t need a massive list to hit high-income milestones if you sell higher-priced services.

Links & Resources Mentioned

• Adrianatica.com
• Strategic AF Newsletter
• Book: Content Simplified by Lee Densmur
• Circle.so (community software)

For More

Check out the full State of Solopreneurship report at Adrianatica.com, and subscribe to Nick Loper’s Side Hustle Show for more actionable entrepreneurial wisdom.