🏴☠️ The Whistle, the Workhorse, and the Whale
Back To BlogUnconventional Entrepreneur
Shannon Jean
Your business is in trouble if you're trying to win on price alone.
Discounts and deals can be useful for sure; they can bring people in. But if all you do is attract bargain hunters, you're stuck in a losing game.
Thats where the Whistle, Workhorse, and Whale strategy saves the day.
The Whistle: The Hook That Pulls Them In
This is your foot-in-the-door offer. A no-brainer deal that gets people to pay attentionand more importantly, take action.
They come for the deal. You make sure they stay for the real value.
Examples:
- Free trials that make you sure youll cancel (you wont)
- Carpet cleaners offering Three rooms free!
- Netflixs budget-friendly, ad-supported plan
- Lego mini-figure packscheap, collectible, and strangely addictive
But heres the thing: Whistles dont pay the bills. They just get people through the door. Enter the Workhorse.
The Workhorse: Your Money Maker
This is your bread and butterthe product that keeps the lights on. If your Whistle did its job, customers naturally land here.
Examples:
- Starbucks' regular coffee and lattesnothing fancy, just steady sales
- Lego classic setsparents buy them, kids love them, repeat forever
- Netflixs standard subscriptionthe real cash cow
The Workhorse is solid, but the real fun (and profit) happens when customers upgrade to The Whale.
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The Whale: Big Ticket, Big Profits
Not everyone will go for this, but the ones who do? Thats where things get interesting. This is your luxury, premium, I cant believe people pay for this offer.
Examples:
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery$20 for a cup of coffee, and people love it
- Legos Millennium Falconbecause regular bricks arent enough
- Netflixs 4K premium planbecause standard definition is a crime
- Deep cleaning services that go beyond basic dustingfresh, spotless, and worth every penny
Each step feeds into the next. Whistle grabs attention. Workhorse builds trust (and revenue). Whale takes things to another level.
Now, think again about the post you just read
Its my Whistle. Youre here.
If this got your attention, imagine what my Workhorse and Whale can do for your business.
One of my favorite moments is sitting around a campfire, sharing stories.
A few years ago, I was at one with a small group of entrepreneurs. No filters. No posturing.
Just real talk.
One guy was stucktoo many ideas and no clear path forward. Another felt like an outsider, watching others succeed while he kept spinning his wheels. Someone else had just landed a big win, but no one in his life truly understood what it meant.
By the time the fire burned down, something had shifted. The guy who was stuck had a plan. The outsider realized he wasnt alone. And the one with the win finally got to celebrate it with people who got it.
That night stuck with me. Because every entrepreneur needs a space like thata place where you can drop the mask, ask the hard questions, and get real answers.
Thats exactly why Im creating the UE Community.
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Think of it as our campfire. A place to talk through challenges, share wins, and connect with people who understand what youre building. A place where you dont have to figure it all out alone.
Inside, youll get:
- Weekly calls where we work through problems together
- Exclusive content and resources to sharpen your edge
- 24/7 access to UE Chat, where the conversation never stops
If that sounds like something you need, pull up a chair. Lets talk.
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Have a great week!
Shannon
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