Selling 3.0: Where creators become entrepreneurs

Hey! It’s Vikko.

A few weeks ago, I caught myself almost doing it again.

Building in silence.
Polishing a product in isolation.
Perfecting the delivery before anyone even asked for it.

I was slipping back into what I now call:

Selling 1.0.

The old way.
The safe way.
The way that feels productive… right up until launch day… when nobody buys.

Today, I want to break down a better way.

A system I call Selling 3.0: and why it’s the only form of validation that actually matters.

💥 First, let’s talk about Selling 1.0

This is where most creators start.

• You spend months building

• Tweak until it feels “ready”

• Wrap it in a fancy launch page

• And hope the sales come in

But Selling 1.0 is built on assumptions.

You think:

“If I make it good enough, people will buy.”

But you’re solving a problem that may not even exist…
For an audience that never asked for it…
In a format they didn’t need.

This isn’t validation.

🔥 Then comes Selling 2.0: The Illusion of Interest

You’ve grown a bit. You’ve learned to test the waters.

You post a teaser.
You drop a poll.
You ask: “Would anyone be interested in this?”

You get some likes.

A few 🔥 emojis.

Maybe even a “this is sick!” reply.

So you build it.
Launch it.
And… crickets.

Why?

Because Selling 2.0 is built on signals.

• Likes = surface-level curiosity

• DMs = polite conversation

• Engagement = dopamine, not dollars

You still built first.
You still hoped.
And you still got ghosted.

💰 Then there’s Selling 3.0 (where everything flips)

Selling 3.0 isn’t about validation.

It’s about proof.

Not engagement.
Not interest.
Not intent.

It’s: "Here’s the offer. Pay now if you want in."

And when someone pays you… before the product even exists…

They’re not doing it to be nice.

They’re saying:

• “I have this problem.”

• “I believe you can solve it.”

• “I trust you enough to pay now.”

That’s the deepest psychological buy-in you’ll ever get.

It’s also the only one that matters.

🧠 Here’s why Selling 3.0 works

It forces truth early.

You’re not collecting compliments.

You’re collecting commitment.

You’ll know within 7 days whether your positioning is clear, whether your offer is relevant, whether people care enough to put money behind it.

Pre-selling isn’t just a tactic. It’s a test of:

• Trust

• Clarity

• Relevance

• Urgency

• Positioning

You can’t fake it.

You either sell or you don’t.

And that’s why it works.

✅ Recap: Selling 3.0 vs the Old Ways

If you’re stuck right now, wondering if your offer is “good enough”

Or asking, “How do I know people will actually buy this?”

Here’s your answer:

You don’t build. You pre-sell.

And when someone pays before you build…

You’re no longer guessing.

You’re not hoping.

You’re walking in with proof.

To your growth,
Vikko

P.S.
I’m helping a few people validate and pre-sell their first digital offers — no funnels, no fake urgency, no building blind.

If you want help turning your skills into an offer people pay for up front, reply “Pre-Sell” and I’ll walk you through the process.

Let’s stop guessing.

Let’s sell it first.