Roberto Blake: From Self-Taught to a Self-Made Six-Figure Entrepreneur

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1984, Roberto Blake's journey demonstrates the power of creativity, passion, and an entrepreneurial spirit. As a self-taught creative, Roberto developed a vast array of skills ranging from illustration and coding to social media marketing and content creation.

• Has made over half a million on Kajabi through coaching and digital downloads
• Helped thousands of creators scale their businesses
• Built his membership on Kajabi to avoid percentage cuts that other platforms have

Embarking on a career as an in-house graphic and web designer at the age of 22, Roberto eventually left his corporate life to become a full-time freelancer and creator in 2013. He then started his self-titled YouTube Channel, Roberto Blake, where he has since grown an audience of nearly 600,000 subscribers and amassed more than 38 million views. As a public speaker, he has shared his expertise at major industry events such as HOW DESIGN LIVE, Social Media Marketing World, and VidCon.

Through Awesome Creator Academy, founded in 2017, Roberto coaches content creators on monetization strategies and personal branding, empowering them to thrive in the Creator Economy. His first self-published book, Create Something Awesome: How Creators are Profiting from their Passion in the Creator Economy, was published in 2022 and has since achieved best-seller status on Amazon.

Keep reading to explore Roberto's inspiring journey. His story encapsulates the essence of a true creative entrepreneur, showcasing just how far passion, determination, and a willingness to share one's knowledge can lead.

The Challenge: Turning skills into six figures

In his 9-to-5, Roberto found himself spending 40 hours or more each week servicing clients who lacked the very technical expertise he possessed in abundance. He began to recognize the value in the problems he solved for these six-figure-plus earners and realized he could build his own fortune in fewer hours than he was working every week for somebody else.

He started a blog and YouTube channel and even started answering questions on Yahoo Answers (similar to Quora) in his area of expertise. As Roberto’s reputation grew, so did his interest in monetizing his abilities. He wanted to build an efficient digital product platform to leverage his growing social media presence and share his expertise with a broader audience while taking the fruits of his labor further.

One of the main challenges Roberto encountered was finding the right platform to monetize his knowledge. "I didn't immediately go into digital products or digital downloads. I went into one-on-one coaching with Kajabi and into group membership with Awesome Creator Academy." Roberto needed a reliable solution that could help him transition effortlessly to selling digital products without sacrificing quality.

The Solution: Creating digital products with Kajabi

Roberto chose Kajabi to offer his coaching services, membership program, and, eventually, digital products. He recalls, "I moved to Kajabi with Awesome Creator Academy in late 2017. I want to say it was November or December, so realistically you could say 2018." Through Kajabi, Roberto managed to create and sell various digital products, leveraging his tech expertise to help novice entrepreneurs thrive in their respective niches.

Kajabi provided a seamless way for Roberto to create, market, and sell his digital products with ease. Using the platform, he launched his first digital product, the YouTube Starter Kit, that includes more than 100 Photoshop templates for $99. It was a perfect way to help customers without the technical know-how to benefit from his skills and expertise through comprehensive and easy-to-use tools.

The Results: New products and growing revenue

The results of using Kajabi for Roberto's digital products have been impressive. The YouTube Starter Kit alone has generated over "$140,000 or more in revenue as a standalone product with one-on-one coaching," according to Roberto, and other product lines and coaching services have further increased his revenue streams. Using Kajabi has allowed Roberto to expand his offerings and tap into new markets, ultimately paving the way for further growth in his business.

He’s also been an early adopter of the AI trend, developing Creator Prompts, which are essentially AI tools for creators. “For under $10, we give people over 200 custom ChatGPT prompts around content creation and different categories of content creation, including free access to lifetime updates of the product.”

As Roberto continues to innovate and evolve his products, Kajabi has remained the platform of choice for his endeavors. The overall experience has allowed him to build a stable and successful digital product ecosystem that opens up opportunities for future expansion. Reflecting on the benefits of Kajabi, he says:

“The community behind Kajabi — the course instructors, the membership leaders, the people making the digital products, and also the product team itself that builds the tools in Kajabi — all of these people play a role in my success.”

Roberto’s journey with Kajabi shows exactly how entrepreneurs can capitalize on their unique skill sets and drive success while offering valuable solutions to their clients.

Diversify your revenue and own your destiny

Roberto’s journey leveraging Kajabi to diversify his creative career stands as an inspiring testament to the power of ownership and diversification. Foreseeing a bright future, Roberto plans to explore deeper into the possibilities of Kajabi, predicting a phenomenal growth in his already flourishing business.

“We're going to step into courses now, and we think that it's going to double - if not triple - the annual income of what’s already a six-figure business built on the backend of Kajabi."

Reflecting on his success, Roberto proffers valuable advice for fellow creators. He emphasizes the importance of diversifying platforms, avoiding over-reliance on platforms’ algorithms, and retaining control over personal brands. Importantly, his strategy champions working with platforms that aren’t going to take a huge percentage of your revenue right off the top. “I believe in using platforms like Kajabi to build your memberships so you’re getting more than 90% of your revenue rather than splitting 30% or even 50% of it with a platform,” he says.

Roberto's innovative use of Kajabi underscores Kajabi’s belief that creators need to control their destinies including their creative processes and revenue streams. For Roberto and others taking bold strides in the creator economy, a bright future lies ahead. Sign up for a free trial and find out firsthand how easy it can be to diversify your creator career like Roberto.

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