Latest / Solopreneur Sessions with Fexingo: One-Person Businesses, Freelancing, and Independent Work / How a Solopreneur Built a Business on One Freemium Model
Transcript
- Lucas: If you've used Notion for more than about twenty minutes, you've probably stumbled across a template that was either free or had a 'Pro' paid version. And you might have wondered — can you actually build a real business just by giving away a free template and hoping people upgrade? Luna: It sounds almost too simple. But there's at least one solopreneur who turned that exact model into a six-figure recurring revenue stream. Lucas: Exactly. Thomas Frank — yeah, the same guy who built a huge audience around productivity and Notion tutorials on YouTube — he created a free Notion template called the 'Ultimate Brain.' And he offered a paid Pro version with more advanced features. That freemium model became the core of his business. Luna: And I think a lot of solopreneurs hear 'freemium' and assume you need millions of users for it to work. But Thomas's story shows you can start small and still make it profitable. Lucas: Before we dig into the numbers, I want to mention something briefly. If you've found value in these conversations — maybe you've tried a new pricing model or rethought how you acquire customers — and you'd like to support the show staying ad-free, you can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep these episodes coming without any sponsors. No pressure at all. Luna: Yeah, it really does help. And now back to Thomas and his freemium playbook. Lucas: So Thomas launched the Ultimate Brain template in mid-2022. The free version included a clean task manager, a notes database, and a basic project tracker — genuinely useful. The Pro version added things like automated recurring tasks, custom dashboards, and integrations with Google Calendar and Todoist. Luna: What was the price point for Pro? Lucas: He went with a one-time payment of $39 — not a subscription. Which is interesting because most freemium models today are subscription-based. But Thomas said he wanted to lower the barrier for people who were skeptical about yet another monthly fee. Luna: That makes sense for a template. People are used to buying software once. But how did he get the word out? Lucas: He already had a YouTube channel with about 2 million subscribers focused on productivity and Notion. He created a detailed walkthrough video showing exactly how to set up the free template, and then he mentioned the Pro version at the end. The video got about 800,000 views in the first month. Luna: So the YouTube channel was the distribution engine. But the template itself had to be good enough that people actually wanted to upgrade. Lucas: Right. And that's the key. The free version wasn't a crippled trial. It was genuinely useful. Thomas has said that he deliberately made the free template something you could use indefinitely without ever paying. The Pro version just saved you time and added convenience. Luna: I think that's a really important distinction. A lot of freemium products fail because the free version feels like a demo. You're constantly reminded of what you're missing. Thomas's approach was the opposite — the free version was complete, but the paid version was for power users. Lucas: Exactly. And the conversion rate reflected that. Within the first six months, Thomas had about 50,000 downloads of the free template. Of those, roughly 3 percent upgraded to Pro. That's 1,500 sales at $39 each — so about $58,500 in revenue. Luna: And that's just from one YouTube video and organic word of mouth. No ads, no paid promotion. Lucas: Right. And the revenue kept growing as more people discovered the template through Notion's template gallery and through search. By the end of the first year, Thomas estimated he had crossed $120,000 in total Pro sales. Luna: That's impressive for a single product. But I imagine the challenge is that a one-time payment model means you have to keep finding new customers to maintain revenue. Lucas: That's the trade-off. Thomas has talked about this. He eventually added a subscription option for the Pro template — $5 per month — which gave users access to ongoing updates and new features. That shifted some of the revenue to recurring, but the bulk of his income was still from one-time purchases. Luna: So the freemium model worked because of three things: a genuinely useful free product, a clear upgrade path that added real value, and a built-in audience on YouTube. Could a solopreneur without an audience replicate this? Lucas: I think so, but you'd need a different distribution strategy. You could leverage Notion's own template marketplace — that's free and has organic traffic. Or you could create a free template and then offer it in exchange for an email address, building a list that you can market to later. Luna: That's a good point. The template itself is the lead magnet. And the Pro version is the offer. It's almost like a classic email funnel, but without the emails. Lucas: Exactly. And one thing I love about this model is that it's low overhead. Thomas didn't need a team. He built the template himself, recorded the YouTube video himself, and handled customer support through Notion's comment system. His only real costs were his time and the Notion subscription. Luna: Which is a great example of a solopreneur business with high leverage. One product, one distribution channel, and a clear monetization path. Lucas: And the lesson for anyone listening is: if you have a skill that can be turned into a digital product — a template, a spreadsheet, a design asset — consider the freemium model. Give away something genuinely useful, and let the power users pay for convenience or advanced features. Luna: I think the key is to avoid the trap of making the free version too limited. If users feel like they're being nickel and dimed, they'll just leave. But if they feel like they're getting a gift, they're more likely to become paying customers. Lucas: Thomas put it well in an interview: 'The goal is not to sell the Pro version. The goal is to make the free version so good that people want to support you.' And that mindset shift is really what makes the model sustainable. Luna: So for solopreneurs thinking about this, what's the first step? Lucas: Pick a platform that already has a marketplace or a distribution channel. Notion, Canva, Figma — they all have template ecosystems. Then build something that solves a real problem for a specific audience. And then decide what the paid upgrade will be. It could be more templates, customization options, or even a consultation add-on. Luna: And don't forget to track your conversion rate. Thomas's 3 percent is a good benchmark, but it can vary wildly depending on the product and audience. Lucas: Right. The important thing is to start. You can always iterate on the pricing or the features later. But the freemium model is one of the few ways a solopreneur can build a business with almost zero upfront cost and a lot of upside. Luna: I think that's a great note to end on. Next episode, we're going to look at a solopreneur who built a business on a single affiliate link. That should be interesting. Lucas: Yeah, that one surprised me too. See you then.