In this Level Up Creators livestream, Director of Operations (host) and CEO Amanda Northcutt discuss how creators and thought leaders can build sustainable recurring‑revenue businesses by deliberately choosing the right clients. They introduce the “North Star” document—a concise, purpose‑driven statement that captures a creator’s why, personal point of view, and long‑term vision—and explain how it feeds into the MRR Method onboarding, including the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) survey. The conversation emphasizes aligning values and energy with clients, using intuition and concrete pre‑qualification steps to spot red‑flags such as discriminatory language, values mis‑alignment, or desperation. Amanda stresses that disqualifying a lead, even when you need business, is empowering and essential for a solid business foundation, likening it to ensuring a house’s structural integrity before building further. Practical advice is offered on vetting, the importance of saying no, and how these practices prevent burnout and create “MRR earning machines” for creators.
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And Amanda of Level Up Creators and Level Up Creator School. I'm our Director of Operations and Amanda Northcutt is our CEO. Today we are talking about finding the right clients for you. And we're so glad to spend a few minutes of your day with you. And if you have questions at any point in time, drop them in the chat and we are happy to answer those. If you have not met us yet, there are 2 ways that we help thought leaders and creators like you build rock-solid recurring revenue businesses. The first is Level Up Creators. This is our done-for-you white glove consulting firm. And the second is Level Up Creator School, where we help a global group of thought leaders build businesses through a done-with-you model. Creator School includes access to our consulting team and our methodology in a way that used to be reserved exclusively for our consulting clients. Okay, let's jump right in. First of all, what does a North Star mean in business? And why is it so important for creators and thought leaders to have one?
So if anybody is familiar with Simon Sinek's work, he's been super popular for like 10 to 15 years. But his whole thing is know your why. Why are you doing what you're doing specifically in your business? Obviously, this is great for your life as well. But we're all searching deeply for meaningful work that matters. We want to get up and go to a job Or have a company that is like, I could not imagine myself doing anything that is more exciting, fulfilling, meaningful, will leave a legacy, will help create generational wealth for my family. Like, this is how I feel about our little company. And so we want everybody to feel that way, because about half of the population hates their job. And so that really sucks. And so this North Star document is It's a very, very important sort of cornerstone document in the MRR Method. So for our Accelerator participants, they have been through our onboarding process; they've received an extremely comprehensive, like 40-page audit, like, here's what is going on in your business. And then the North Star document is this 2-, 3-page document that encompasses why you want to be in business doing what you are doing, or in this case, like what we are building on your behalf. And so the intent is for us during the onboarding process to really aggregate and filter and encapsulate in this North Star document exactly what our Accelerator participants and other clients want to do going forward and why. And so it is the unique possibility or vision that each of our clients sees, that through the activities of their business over the next decade, we're going to like bring that vision to bear; we're going to make it a reality. So it's the the long-term, what's the unique possibility or future that I see for my little pocket of the world or the internet, and why I'm going to show up every day and do it. We all know about creator burnout and how hard this can be to get yourself out of bed and be motivated. And so this document explains why you're doing what you're doing. And then we also inject a little personal element into these North Star documents that are, that's separate and distinct from what I used to do. Consulting for like Silicon Valley businesses, for instance. And that is we inject a POV, a point of view. And so that's very personal information about— we're drawing a direct line from each individual's unique experience and wisdom and knowledge and expertise to the business that they're creating. So these businesses that we're building at Level Up Creators, it's not just to make a quick buck or to game the system to do whatever it takes to make money. It's like we're taking these all the financial considerations into account. And we're building like MRR earning machines for our creator clients. And but that's only half the equation because everybody has like a financial set point. There's only so much money you can make that will continue to make you happier. Things only make you happier for a short amount of time. It's really the bigger stuff, lifestyle architecture and things like that, that in the long run matter. Once you've hit that financial set point, It's, it's the other half that matters. And that's what we want to, that's what actually gets you out of bed in the morning, like not your stuff or your money, honestly. So that's all big, big parts of these documents.
And there is an overlap in North Star documentation and the kind of client or content that you want to put out. Have you ever come to a situation where you were working for maybe a person or a type of client? that drains you? And how do you inject that into a North Star document of your ideal client fit?
Yes. Because that's a great word, to energize. We work with people who energize us and that we really love and have a great deal of affection and liking for, honestly. We have personal relationships with our clients that matter a great, great deal to us. And interestingly enough, the ICP is being delivered like this week; that, that comes next after the North Star document. But yeah, we're trying to make as good of a match as we feel we have with our clients, we want our clients to have with their customers or clients, right? And so it's this sort of virtuous cycle of us setting the example for how to do this. And then we have this MRR Method methodology where we can then— Right. Give that to our clients. So they, yeah, the North Star document helps us unlock who is the person that's going to be the best match, right? Like all of our creator clients have a very unique thing that they are bringing forward and offering. They're bringing forward solutions to very specific, painful, pervasive, urgent, expensive problems. And so who is the best match for them, both on a like personality and values match, who also has those problems, right? So we're creating this problem-solution match very, very skillfully and strategically. So yeah, that's— the audit helps us understand what's going on. The North Star document helps us understand the why and the unique possibility that the creator sees. And then we've got all these little steps, like we have ideal customer profile version 1 is going out this week as our survey questions and voice of customer interview questions. Because for every document we produce and everything that we say, hey, we think you should do this and go this direction, We validate because we're not working in the dark, just like our entire project with Amanda Goetz. It was all very much in public because we believe that is how you build the best and most successful businesses. It's not a guessing game, right? It's very methodical.
And for you, have you ever had like an, oh my gosh, I'm talking to the wrong person moment in business? And what kind of like set those triggers off of like, okay, this person is not the right person that I want to, like the right kind of client, or how did that go about?
Oh, for sure. Uh, it's been a minute since I have, um, been in that situation because when you learn something new, you do something different. And so, um, I figured out how to sort of maneuver and call the inbound leads that were coming to me and make sure I'm doing like proper prequalification steps and stuff like that, uh, which were helping of our Accelerator clients do right now from like a quick wins standpoint is make sure you are not giving your time over to the wrong person. But when you are on those Zoom calls, or, you know, emailing back and forth, or if you have in-person meetings, right, we all have strong intuitions, right? We're not talking— our audience are 35 to like 65 years old. And so by then, you've got a lot of intuition, intuition developed, and you understand what your core values are, who who you are. And so we sort of intuitively know, oh, this might be not the best situation. Like, I'm kind of seeing some like red flags here and some language that doesn't align with my values or belief system. And I don't think that's going to be a great fit. And it's really important to be honest with yourself in, with yourself in those situations, especially if you're like, I really need a client. I really need to close the deal. Let me tell you that the trouble that that client may bring is going to be far more painful and have far-reaching consequences to deal with than it would to do the process right and attract the right people to you. And desperation, whether it's in a personal or professional relationship, is like a repellent, right? These are like the magnets that— so that's, that's not a good way to approach sales. And we make sure that our clients don't end up in those situations.
What's one red flag that instantly tells you a client is
Well, for me, or just general advice?
Try to make it general. I think general advice.
Okay. Um, man, I don't know if I can. I'm wondering, can you answer that question? Do you have an answer? No? Because I'm sitting here thinking, like, if someone, uh, gives off, like, a racist, sexist, homophobic xenophobic vibe, anything like that, that conversation's over for sure. We have tremendous values misalignment, and you're not someone that I'm going to help be wildly successful. And so I think it's, it's casual phrases that—
Yeah.
Yeah, that show it's casual on the other person's part, and they don't really think anything of it and maybe assume that you're aligned with them. But if they say things or you know, are telling stories in a— and you're like, oh my God, this is not the person that I want to be involved with. Or yeah, so just values misalignment, any body language, phrasing, specific words, intonation, like those are all things to be looking out for when you're vetting a potential client, for sure.
Yeah. Okay, so how— hmm, hold on, let me see. One last one. Any, any parting shot on finding the right fit and, um, being brave and bold enough, uh, in the words of Jenny Wood, um, brave and bold enough to disqualify somebody even when you really need the lead? Give me a parting shot in that.
Yeah. There's nothing more empowering in a business or a personal transaction than to be able to say no. And I'm not saying to go be a jackass or like, no, I don't need you or anything like that. Like don't treat people poorly. But when you hold the cards in a negotiation, you know you hold the cards in a negotiation when you can say no and live with yourself after that. And every no gets you closer to a yes. And if you don't know why you're doing what you are doing, or what solutions you're able to provide for a unique pocket of the internet, you've missed some really, really foundational pieces in your business. And those things don't just fix themselves. Typically, when you miss things foundationally, think about building a, building a house, right? The the problems actually compound and get worse and worse and worse when you continue to build on a foundation that is built incorrectly, or, you know, the engineering wasn't done properly or whatever, and starts sinking and cracking, and your house goes like this, and the walls and the studs and the sheetrock and everything just like goes to crap in your brand new house. And so you have to take the time to get the foundation right, or nothing else after it Will be.
Yeah. Cool. Well, thank you guys so much for joining our live stream. Be sure to follow us for more tips and insights on building a successful recurring revenue business. Until next time.
