About Nicholas Robb
Hi, I'm Nicholas Robb, an award-winning designer turned solopreneur. I help designers become solopreneurs and build a lifestyle business which gives them a life with wealth, freedom and purpose. I write about solopreneurship, and helping creatives build a 6 fig lifestyle business.
How I designed my life
Like many, I mostly define myself by what I do day to day. I call myself a designer. To some, this is just a job title, but for me it encompasses my approach to life: always creating, always learning,Β always with intention. I believe you are what you do, but this is open to change over time. So here's what I'm focussing on just now...
Here's how I choose to spend my life just now...
Design Hero
Design Hero started as a one person business and grew into a multi award winning micro agency. I help entrepreneurs across the globe launch succesful startups that make a positive impact on the world. I run Design Hero as a lifestyle business, which feeds my lifestyle and allows me freedom to explore other things.
Education
Recently I've been involved in education, talking with teachers and aiding in curriculum at schools, guest speaking for the BBC and other media. I also coach other creatives on how to build a 6 figure lifestyle business using the methods, tools and systems I use in Design Hero.
Building things
My wife and I love a project. This year we are renovating the house, building my garden office, cultivating a beautiful garden space.
Table of Contents
Over 3 years I was fired from my job, turned my freelance sidehustle into a 6 figure agency, Doubled my income every year,
and reduced my workload to 4 hours a day.
I mostly did it by reading, implementing and copying other people much smarter than me.
Over 3 years I was fired from my job, turned my freelance sidehustle into a 6 figure agency, Doubled my income every year,
and reduced my workload to 4 hours a day.
I mostly did it by reading, implementing and copying other people much smarter than me.
Solopreneur [noun]
an alternative to the traditional 9 to 5 or venture-backed entrepreneur
An entrepreneur who works alone, “solo,” running their business single-handedly. They might have contractors for hire, yet have full responsibility for the running of their business.
About Page
From fired to 6 fig freelancer
series of sucky jobs
DH matched my wage
Getting fired
DH income doubled year on year
So Design Hero was ticking along.
So enough is enough.
Now
Public Speaking
I talk about growing a solo business
- freelancing
- work-life balance
- lifestyle design
- automation
- systemization
- design
- Web development
- solopreneurship
- solo businesses
- digital marketing
- personal branding
- business growth
- killer offers
- audience monetization
- niche
Your outputs are only as good as your inputs.
I'm always reading...
Didn’t enjoy it
π΄ wired for story
π΄ Laws of human nature – robert greene
π΄ 48 Laws of power- robert greene
π΄ Extreme ownership
π΄ The creative act – Rick Rubin
π΄ Essentialism
On my List
What’s our problem – Tim Urban
Love People, Use Things
Psychocybernetics
Buy Back your Time
Flow
break the twitch – anthony ongaro
Write useful books – fitzpatrick
good to great – jim collins
the flinch – julien smith
lost connections – johann hari
do the work – steven pressfield
willpower – roy baumeister
Sell like crazy- Sabri suby
24 assets – Dent
oversubscribed – Dent
The magic of thinking big David Schwartz
Write Useful Books: A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction
Write to sell – Andy Maslen
What’s Our Problem?
storytelling edge
Zero to sold
The minimalist entreprenuer
The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing
Good ‘uns
π’ Build a Second Brain
π’ Exactly what to say
π’Β The happiest man on earth
π’ The Obstacle is the way – Ryan Holiday
π’ A guide to the good life : the ancient art of stoic joy
π’ Key person of influence – Daniel Priestley
π’ Hell yeah or hell no – Derek Siverts
π’ Anything you want – Derek Siverts
π’ Clear Thinking
π’ Thinking Fast and Slow- Daniel Kahneman
π’ Ikigai – Garcia & Miralles
π’ Surrounded by bad bosses
π’ How to Live – Derek Siverts
π’ Pricing creativity – Blair Enns
π’ The paradox of choice Barry Schwartz
π’ Free time
π’ Negotiation strategies for reasonable people
π’ Company of One – Paul Jarvis
π’ The One Thing
π’ The 4 hour workweek – Tim Ferris
π’ The subtle art of not giving a fuck
π’The million dollar one person business
π’ The art of saying no – damon zahariades
π’ Win without pitching
These will change your life.
π A little Happier – Derren Brown
π 4000 Weeks – Oliver Burkeman
π Deep work – Cal Newport
π Hyper Focus – Chris bailey
π Surrounded by Idiots
π The Daily Stoic
π Atomic Habits – James Clear
π Do Pause
π The 80/20 Principle: More with Less – Richard Koch
π $100m offers – Hormozi
π $100m leads – Hormozi
π The compound effect – Darren Hardy
π Bootcamp for the brain – derren Brown
π Mistakes were made but not by me – Elliot Aronson
π Feel-Good Productivity – Ali Abdaal
π The Art of Focus – Dan Koe
My writing...
Life by Design β Ongoing
Simple systems and strategies you can use right now to redesign your life, and build a profitable lifestyle business that puts freedom first.
The Stoic Solopreneur β in progress
Daily snacksize strategies for wealth, freedom and purpose as a solopreneur. Compiled from over 15 years of building a multi award winning micro design agency for startups,
1 Min Marketing Wins β deceased
A Collection of deep-dive marketing case studies and examples to help small business owners supercharge their success online. No longer writing as my audience shifted to solopreneurs.
How Architecture shapes narrative in Virtual Environments β published
A study of how architecture can to be used to shape an evocative narrative within a digital space through the medium of videogames.
Sustainable society: a case study on Mars β published
This book is about an investigation how a closed loop society on Mars might function, in response to predictions about the world in the future
One Million Martian Migrants β published
A follow up to "sustainable societies": A graphic novel which tested my speed sketching ability by speculating on a Martian settlement with 1 million inhabitants.