How I built €10K months - and how you can too
When I started my business, €10,000 a month seemed like a dream.
Now, after hitting multiple 5-figure months, I’ve discovered what truly matters to be able to hit that milestone - and what doesn’t.
Today, I’m sharing the step-by-step blueprint I wish I had when I started.
Let’s dive in.
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The 3 main components
To make €10,000, you need to have the 3 following components well understood:
1) Offers
2) Lead Generation
3) Sales
These combined will help you reach the €10k milestone.
I'll go through each in a bit, but first I want to make sure you take into count 2 more things...
Lifestyle design
Before you decide what you'll sell...
Make sure to design a dream lifestyle for you.
And then align everything according to that.
Too many start a business and become a slave to it.
Too many optimize just to make money and forget to enjoy life.
Don't be one of these people.
Personally, I've made sure I can run my business anywhere as long as I have an internet connection.
Why?
Well, because I love to travel.
If I had clients I had to serve in person in my hometown for the rest of my life... how would I travel a lot?
The same thing applies to client photography jobs... personally, I rarely do any myself.
Why?
Because I don't want to be "controlled" by clients.
I'm not saying every client will control you, there are some great clients too...
But many don't allow you to unleash your whole creativity.
So, I wanted to make sure I can take photos that I want to take, and anywhere on the planet.
Around this, I started to build my business around it.
So... what is the kind of life you ideally want to live? What does it include - and what does it not?
Get clear on that, and then come to the next steps.
Establish a business
In order to make the most money, you must have a business.
The fact is that the business owners always make the most money.
If you're in a 9-5, you're 100% getting less money than the owners of the company.
That's just how it is.
But don't see the word "business" as more complicated than it is.
Business is simply people giving you money in exchange for something.
That's it.
Of course, in some countries, you might not need to register a business immediately.
But I bet in most countries you need it when you'd scale to €10,000 per month.
So, that's an important step to take...
But you might be able to start without registering a company.
Now, let's get to the more interesting stuff.
Offer
Your offer is simply what you present to the world.
It's the thing you'll give in exchange for money.
For me, that's helping photographers live a life of freedom to scale their businesses and attract clients using proven social media systems - without spending all day online.
For you, it can be taking photos for a company, as an example.
Or if you want to live a lifestyle like I do, then you could teach a skill of yours, and charge for that.
There are a few important components to an offer, which are important to understand.
We'll go to them in a bit, but first, let's pick something to sell.
What to sell
What do you think, is it easier to get to €10,000 by selling €37 ebooks, or by selling €1,000 offers?
You might think €37, but when we do the math...
You'd need 271 people to buy your product that month to get that.
Is it impossible?
No, of course not.
But it's harder to get, especially when starting out.
What I'd suggest, is to figure out as valuable transformation as you can provide for someone.
Then do it with a discount, or for free, at the start to gain some proof you know your stuff...
And then raise your prices.
That's exactly what I did too at the start.
I got my friend OJ Perry as my first social media coaching client, helped him get results, and now my prices are more premium... and continue rising over time.
Then make "not so many" sales per month, and you might hit the €10k.
10 x €1,000 deals.
5 x €2,000 deals.
2 x €5,000 deals.
1 x €10,000 deal.
(It sounds simple, but yes, it's not that easy to do in reality.)
So, figure out a valuable offer... but before that, you must decide who you're selling to.
Who are you targeting
Who you target determines the price and the value of your offer.
A company struggling with social media strategy might happily pay €10,000+ for a strategy generation.
But a hobbyist photographer probably won't spend €10,000 on an ebook about camera settings.
So decide who you are targeting.
Who can you bring the most value to?
Once you have this nailed down, maximize your offer with the help of Alex Hormozi's offer formula below.
The formula
These factors combined will make your offer as strong as possible:
1) Dream outcome (Adds value)
Get clear on what the dream outcome is for your client.
Paint a picture of that for them.
The greater the outcome, the easier it is to sell your offer.
2) Perceived likelihood of achievement (Adds value)
Maximize their chances of success.
Make them feel more certain they'll achieve their dream outcome.
You can do this by showing proof you know your stuff, or by offering a guarantee.
3) Time delay (Removes value)
Minimize the time it takes for them to get the outcome.
The larger the time delay, the less valuable your offer is.
(With some offers, this can't be minimized a lot, because some things take time.)
4) Effort & Sacrifice (Removes value)
Minimize the effort & sacrifice needed for them to achieve the dream outcome.
So, combine these 4, and you'll have an amazing offer in the end.
After this, put this all into one sentence to clearly communicate it to your prospects.
Next up, you need leads.
Leads
Leads simply mean a potential customer you're allowed to contact.
Leads are Instagram followers, email addresses, people you know... and so on.
If you don't have leads, you won't make sales.
Leads are an extremely important part of this all.
Because, if nobody knows your offer exists... how will you make money?
But now you're asking Hugo, how do I get leads?
Well, there's 4 different ways:
1) Warm outreach
This means, reach out to those you already know... and ask who do they know who could need your offer.
2) Cold outreach
This means, reaching out to people who don't know anything about you.
So cold emails, cold calls, door-to-door sales (yikes) and so on.
(Cold outreach is by far the method I dislike the most, but it's effective.)
3) Paid ads
Paid ads are a great way to reach people, even though some preach they're dead.
They're not dead, but you must of course have:
Great Ads
Money to allocate for them
Because when you first launch ads, you'll lose money for some time.
So when you're starting out, unless you have a lot of capital and you're great at making ads, it might not make sense to start with this.
4) Content
Make content online.
I reach 800,000+ views per month on average.
How much would that cost in ads?
Well, it depends on a few things... but it could be on the range of $40,000-$80,000.
Yep... quite a bit.
But you can get this FOR FREE!!
Of course, building good enough skills for content creation can take time, especially without guidance...
And getting all the strategies correct, among other things...
But once you have that nailed down... making content is so powerful.
Think about it, with content you can reach a lot of people at once (same as with paid ads).
Other outreach is 1-1.
So with a bit of extra effort, you could reach thousands instead of 1 potential customer.
Now, I help people install systems for social media success, and get them a clear plan for it all... and get more leads.
If that interests you, you might be curious how exactly I can help you.
But before learning the details of my Social Media Accelerator, take this quiz here.
So, now there are 4 ways you can go ahead with.
All are great ways. :)
Bonus - Email list
I'd highly recommend building an email list.
An email list is the most valuable marketing asset.
You can build it through paid ads, sure.
But also through content.
That's probably how you ended up here. :)
I might have given something free for you, and you joined.
Now I can send cool emails to you.
And if you find my free stuff cool, you might consider my paid stuff too.
That's the marketing side of everything.
So, give people free stuff, and onboard them onto your list.
You'll always be able to be in contact with your list, unlike in social media, the algorithm might not distribute your content to your liking...
And you could get banned... but your email list can't.
Alright, so now you have leads, but you must know how to sell to them.
Sales
First, you must understand:
Selling isn't a bad thing. It's a good thing.
Now, selling can be a bad thing...
Such as if you're selling vitamins to a grandma and they don't know what they're buying.
That's not cool.
But, if you're proud of your offer, it's a disservice to the world if you DON'T sell it.
If you have something that could help someone... isn't it fair to let people get access to the help?
I think it is.
Sales is overall a huge topic.
Honestly, it's mind-blowing how much goes into it all...
But start learning these things:
1) The sales process
Learn the sales process from the beginning till the end.
How this looks like will depend on who you're selling to, and how big of an amount we're talking about.
Generally, if you're selling something small, you can just sell it through a page online.
But if it is something more premium, it's good to be on a call to go through all the details.
This way you can help the prospect make the right decision for their own future.
(This said, it's possible to make deals via messages, it's just harder.)
When you understand the sales process, you'll appear more confident.
And the more confident you are, the more likely it is you'll get the deal done.
2) Ask questions & close the deal
Your job is to not tell prospects things.
Your job is to ask them questions to understand them better.
Selling comes down to them feeling understood.
When this is the case, how are you supposed to sell them anything if you don't understand them?
So, ask a lot of questions.
What questions to ask?
Shortly: Ask questions that help you understand their situation.
Be like a doctor.
Once you understand them, you can offer them your solution... IF it fits them.
Don't offer them medication before you know what they need.
3) Make them happy
Many people see the process ending when they've made a sale.
But that's just the start.
You must make your clients happy... of course.
If you'd abandon them... they'll talk sh*t of you, and that'll spread around.
The good news is, that if you do the opposite... you make them VERY happy... they'll spread that around too.
For example, one of my earlier students started preaching my social media coaching around, and more and more heard from it.
I got an extra multiple thousand this year from a single customer who found my stuff through this student.
So, make people happy. That's your obligation, but it can bring you more business too.
Have conversations
Now that you have your offer, leads, and sales knowledge in place, it’s time to connect with people.
Talk to them.
Get to know their goals and challenges.
Offer value where you can - sometimes that’s a helpful insight or advice, even if it’s for free.
Conversations like these are where real opportunities begin.
They’re not about only “making a sale”.
They’re about seeing how you can genuinely help someone achieve their goals.
And if your expertise aligns with what they need, you can explore how your offer might support them even further.
The more conversations I’ve had, the more I’ve realized their importance - not just for growing my business, but for understanding my audience better.
Whether it’s in person, on Zoom, or through DMs, the key is to listen, provide value, and build trust.
For example, earlier this week, I sent you an email about your 2025 goals.
My goal was simple: to understand what you’re working toward.
For those who replied, I shared insights custom to their goals - and in some cases, I can offer ways my services to help take things further.
At its core, this process is about showing up and being present.
Talk to people as much as you can, and let those conversations guide you toward where you can offer the most value.
Aim to not let DMs or comments be left unanswered.
That's often where meaningful things can start.
Next steps
Cool, so we've gone through the offers, leads and sales today... and through the importance of conversations.
In a nutshell, this is what has allowed me to reach the 5-figure months.
To recap:
Have an offer that people want.
Have people who want the offer.
Have knowledge of how to sell the offer.
You can sell it to people after you've understood their situation through a conversation.
Often, what's the most important part of this is leads.
Because even if your offer is not the best, or your sales skills aren't top-notch...
The more leads you have coming in, the more chances you have to sell your offer.
That's where the power of social media comes in.
That's where you can reach a lot of people.
But it's easier said than done, of course.
Trying to figure this out alone can take years and years.
That’s why I created the Social Media Accelerator: to help photographers grow their businesses, build strong personal brands, and make selling easier with the power of social media.
I'm only starting with TWO more of you this year... so if you're interested in learning more about how I can help you scale your business and succeed on social media...
Take this quiz first, and let’s go from there.
Talk soon,
Hugo
P.S. If you missed my latest appearance in a Live Broadcast with Glyn Dewis... make sure to check it out.
We talked about social media, the healing power of photography, how I plan my photography trips and so on.
P.S.S. If you've not taken my free social media success quiz, you can do so here.
It'll help you see how likely are you to succeed on social media with your current skills.
And, you'll learn how to improve your score.
So, take it here, my friend.