Newsletter #2: The $50,000 Freedom Secret Most "Successful" Marketers Will Never Discover

Imagine running an entire 7-figure business without a single employee.

There are no morning commutes to an office, no employee training sessions, no performance reviews to conduct, no team meetings that drag on for hours, and no "showing face" at the office every morning.

Just maximized profit and total freedom.

This is precisely how I've structured my business after discovering what I call the "Operation Zero Employees" system. And today, I will reveal the three core components that make this possible.

When I started my online journey in 2003, nothing was going for me. I was a door-to-door greeting card salesman from a small island in Malaysia called Penang. I didn't speak English well, had no technical skills, and my first webpage looked terrible.

It took me 8 months to make my first sale online. But I persisted.

Since then, I had spoken in 11 countries as an internet marketing authority, authored three best-selling books, trained thousands of students, and became a ClickBank Platinum Partner for seven consecutive years.

But despite this "success," I found myself trapped by my own business. I had employees, an office, and all the headaches that came with them. That's when I asked myself: "How can I scale smaller and yet make more profit?"

The answer became Operation Zero Employees—the system allowing me to eliminate all employees while increasing my profits within 60 days.

I started building my digital businesses 2 decades ago, but only created Operation Zero Employees in 2015. When I implemented this system, I eliminated all employees from my business within 60 days.

Most entrepreneurs would assume my profits would drop. Instead, it’s the other way round.

Why? Because I wasn't paying salaries, office space, and all the other costs that come with employees. More importantly, I wasn't wasting time managing people instead of growing my business and spending more time on marketing.

The difference in my bottom line was over $50,000 in the first few months alone.

So what makes this system different from all the "automation" and "systems" advice you've heard before?

Most business systems fail because they're just collections of tactics without a strategic framework.

They're like trying to play a song by randomly pressing piano keys without sheet music. You might produce some sounds, but it's unlikely to create music anyone wants to listen to.

A true system is:

• Repeatable (works consistently)

• Scalable (can grow without breaking)

• Transferable (doesn't rely exclusively on you)

That's exactly what Operation Zero Employees provides. And it all starts with understanding the three core components that make this possible.

The Triad Components of Operation Zero Employees

Three core components make this system work:

1. OPERATION - How you operate your business

2. AUTOMATION - What can and must be automated

3. CAMPAIGN - How to launch profitable campaigns

Let's look at each of these in detail…

1. OPERATION: Internal & External Business Operations

The Operations component forms the foundation of the Operation Zero Employees system and represents a complete paradigm shift in how you think about your business.

Internal Operation: This focuses on your own mindset and business framework.

In a traditional business, the mindset is often:

• How can I hire people to help my business grow?

• How can I manage employees efficiently?

• How can I create a hierarchy that works?

Under the Operation Zero Employees model, the mindset shifts to:

• How can I empower others to become entrepreneurs while we grow together?

• How can I create systems that don't require employees?

• How can I develop a business that delivers freedom first?

External Operation: This focuses on how your business interacts with the market.

This includes:

• Building your personal brand rather than just a company brand

• Focusing on serving your market rather than just earning from them

• Understanding that the market determines your success, not your personal preferences

• Building deep rather than wide in your market approach

The Operations component isn't just about day-to-day processes, it's about creating the right ecosystem. This mindset shift allows you to build a business that inherently doesn't need employees to function effectively.

In the upcoming newsletters, I’ll dedicate an entire issue to go deep on it.

2. AUTOMATION: The Moving Parts That Can Be Automated

Automation is critical to running a business without employees, but most entrepreneurs get it wrong. They try to automate everything, which leads to a complex, fragile system that actually creates more work.

The key is to identify what can and must be automated:

What Can Be Automated:

• Email marketing sequences

• Customer onboarding

• Basic customer support (FAQs, common issues)

• Content distribution

• Sales funnels

• Payment processing

What Must Be Automated:

• Lead generation

• Follow-up sequences

• Transaction processing

• Product delivery

• Basic reporting

What Should NOT Be Automated:

• High-level customer interactions

• Strategic decision-making

• Content creation (though parts can be systemized)

• Relationship building

Automation is a form of leverage that allows you to do more with less when implemented correctly.

3. CAMPAIGN: How To Launch Profitable Campaigns

The final component is your campaign strategy. This is how you make money in your business.

In the Operation Zero Employees model, we focus on three types of income-generating campaigns:

Income Today Campaigns: These are designed to generate immediate cash flow.

Examples include:

• Flash sales

• Limited-time offers

• Special promotions to your existing audience

• Affiliate promotions

Income Tomorrow Campaigns: These create ongoing, recurring revenue.

Examples include:

• Membership programs

• Subscription services

• Continuity products

Income Millionaire Campaigns: These build your long-term assets.

Examples include:

• Building your email list/database

• Developing your personal brand

• Building assets like a software product that can be sold entirely

A well-structured Operation Zero Employees business balances all three campaign types to ensure you have immediate cash flow, consistent monthly income, and long-term wealth building.

The Knowledge-Based Industry: The Perfect Fit

The Operation Zero Employees model works best with knowledge-based products. Here's why:

1. Highly Lucrative: Digital products have virtually no delivery cost, creating extremely high profit margins.

2. Subjective Pricing: Unlike physical products, knowledge products aren't tied to commodity pricing. Their value is based on the transformation they provide, not production costs.

3. Emotionally Rewarding: There's nothing better than receiving messages from customers whose lives you've changed.

4. Automated Fulfillment: Digital products can be delivered instantly without any manual intervention.

In my years of building online businesses, I've discovered that selling information products— courses, guides, memberships, and training—is the most profitable and freedom-creating model available.

The Secret That Top Entrepreneurs Understand

Here's what the most successful entrepreneurs understand that everyone else misses:

The real secret lies in mastering just two things: building your database and building your brand.

Everything else – the products, the marketing tactics, the sales strategies and so on are just vehicles to achieve these two objectives.

When I built my own multi-million dollar business, I focused on these two elements above all else. I knew that with a strong brand and a responsive database, I could generate income whenever I needed it.

For instance, if you build your brand, even ChatGPT will know your brand. I asked ChatGPT, who is the top internet marketing guru from Malaysia:

@patricchan

The Top Internet Marketing Guru From Malaysia and Pioneer In The Whole World. While people use AI to beautify themselves for credibility, ... See more

Look at someone like Gary Vaynerchuk. For years, he created content for free, building his brand and audience (his database). When he finally launched NFTs (VeeFriends), the news reportedly that the project had reportedly made over $50 million in the launch.

It wasn't magic; it resulted from years spent building his brand and database.

Your Action Step

Now that you understand the three core components of the Operation Zero Employees system, I want you to take a concrete action step:

Audit your current operations and identify at least three tasks that could be automated.

These could be:

• Email follow-ups

• Customer onboarding

• Content scheduling

• Payment processing

• Reporting

If you're just starting out, identify three processes you want to have automated from day one.

Remember, the goal isn't to eliminate all human elements from your business – it's to eliminate the need for employees while maintaining (or increasing) your profits and impact.

What's Coming Next...

In the next newsletter issues, I'll explore the component of Operation more thoroughly. You'll discover how to structure your business for zero employees while delivering exceptional value to your customers. And get paid.

Until then, focus on identifying those automation opportunities in your business.

To your success,

Patric Chan
Creator of "Operation Zero Employees"