Does the true Internet fastlane exist?

[Vampyre]

Hey guys,

I am an Internet guy . I definitely had some good ideas, made some good cash in the past but still - everything I did was just a good paying job for me, so nothing fastlane. Though, after reading TFM a long time ago I was searching for the true Internet fastlane business. Not specifically an idea, but how it would look like in general.

Pretty much everything I have looked at was not totally corresponding with the five commandments of fastlane, CENTS - or at least violating one of those:

- Internet Marketing/Affiliate Marketing? Violates the commandment of Entry.
- Building a SaaS app/Membership site? Violates the commandment of Time.
- Selling a Product/Service? Violates the commandment of Control.

The only things I could come up with were a Marketplace Site (like Envato, Fiverr or Freelancer.com) or an Affiliate System (like Clickbank, JvZoo).

So my question is: Is the true fastlane (identified by CENTS, the five commandments) only possible in the offline-business world? And if not, can you name examples of fastlane businesses online?

 

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[GreedyBGoode]

- Building a SaaS app/Membership site? Violates the commandment of Time.
- Selling a Product/Service? Violates the commandment of Control.

SaaS/Membership site - my view is that it shouldn't violate commandment of time if it is becomes passive income and you no longer need to put in time to reap the benefits using a money tree system. of course, we cannot discount the fact that we need to put in significant amount of hard work and time in the beginning (the Process)
e.g. paid membership site for learning how to code - continue by expanding your curriculum via staff and hiring managers to manage the process

Selling a product/service - doesn't violate commandment of control when it is YOUR product and service. this is could be looking for something on the market but doing it better and blowing the incumbent/competition out of the water.


Wouldn't a quick example of a Fastlane business be Limos.com (MJ's business describe in TMF )?

 

[tafy]

How is SaaS not fastlane @Vampyre ?

Maybe you should do some research?

 

[Vampyre]

How is SaaS not fastlane @Vampyre ?

Maybe you should do some research?

Research .. yes probably

Anyhow, in my opinion SaaS takes some time. There will be constant updates, it would need some PR, and of course support for the customers. The first customer can't do this and this, the second customer doesn't know how to right click etc.
Of course it is possible to pay someone / hire a VA to do the basic support tasks but I think this whole SaaS thing will still take a few hours a month to manage.
You are right, its not slowlane, but in my eyes not 100% fastlane either. (Again, maybe just a very high paying job).

Moreover I see some violation of control in my eyes. Where do you get the customers from?
a) organic traffic - so you are dependent on Google
b) paid traffic - you are dependent on the network

Or do I get it wrong - isn't this a control violation? You also could probably say that if the customers are paying monthly, you could do a few campaigns once and then just keep your customer base.

What do you think?

 

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[Vampyre]

SaaS/Membership site - my view is that it shouldn't violate commandment of time if it is becomes passive income and you no longer need to put in time to reap the benefits using a money tree system. of course, we cannot discount the fact that we need to put in significant amount of hard work and time in the beginning (the Process)
e.g. paid membership site for learning how to code - continue by expanding your curriculum via staff and hiring managers to manage the process

Selling a product/service - doesn't violate commandment of control when it is YOUR product and service. this is could be looking for something on the market but doing it better and blowing the incumbent/competition out of the water.


Wouldn't a quick example of a Fastlane business be Limos.com (MJ's business describe in TMF )?

Like above mentioned, if I sell something I somewhere need to get the customers from. So I would be dependent on those factors - wouldn't I?

Thanks

 

[adoredunchin]

What do you expect? Getting free money from people? Fastlane doesn't mean easy money.
You work your a$$ off to create value to people and get something from it in return.
And if you do it right you don't need to work anymore like some people here in the forum.
Of course you need to get it to the customers, but guess what you can hire people.

 

[MayaMagpie]

Like above mentioned, if I sell something I somewhere need to get the customers from. So I would be dependent on those factors - wouldn't I?

If you argue like this, nothing could be ever fastlane... I think what the control commandment means is that you can't be solely dependent on just one company/service or similar. You have to get your traffic somewhere. If it's not google, then it can still be bing, yahoo or whatever is out there. If your paid network goes belly up, there are more to choose from.

However, if you promote just one affiliate product and the vendor decides to kill it, then you have to find something completely new, and if you built your business around this one single product, you're screwed.

That's why it is fastlane to have your own product. You can do whatever you want.

 

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[sle3pyguii]

Research .. yes probably

Anyhow, in my opinion SaaS takes some time. There will be constant updates, it would need some PR, and of course support for the customers. The first customer can't do this and this, the second customer doesn't know how to right click etc.
Of course it is possible to pay someone / hire a VA to do the basic support tasks but I think this whole SaaS thing will still take a few hours a month to manage.
You are right, its not slowlane, but in my eyes not 100% fastlane either. (Again, maybe just a very high paying job).

What do you think?

Every business requires sales/marketing, maintenance, and support to grow and survive. Whether it can be scaled is another question, but there's no business that can be set to auto-pilot from day one. You need to first build and scale your business to the point where auto-pilot is actually an option. That's the hard part, which is what most people don't want to try...hence the slowlane.

 

[GreedyBGoode]

Like above mentioned, if I sell something I somewhere need to get the customers from. So I would be dependent on those factors - wouldn't I?

Thanks

I think the one point missing is that you can't really force people into buying (explicitly) so there will always be need for marketing/advertising. But even then, you can hire an advertising/marketing expert run campaigns/customer acquisition to sell your product (human resource money tree).

 

[Vampyre]

Oh, I see. I think I missed the point that I need to put in a lot of time first, and then slowly automate until it gets fastlane. Thanks! It seems so basic but somehow I always thought that if automation isn't possible from day 1 (or day X, after you have built and setup everything) it wouldn't be fastlane.

 

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[GreedyBGoode]

fastlane is not get rich easy but getting rich quick is possible!

 

[pickeringmt]

@Vampyre I think the error here is that you are looking at doing everything yourself.

From that perspective, there could be no fastlane. The idea is to build a brand with a product or service, not a one person business where you do everything. That would only hurt your business.

The point is to give other people slowlane opportunities to build your fastlane - win / win.

 

[mustang1]

I know this is not strictly what the commandment of time is about, but when it comes to time, you can think of this like that:
In slowlane, with 1 hour of your work you always earn (roughly) the same $ amount, whereas in fastlane, your hourly can be growing tremendeously. I bet you would enjoy spending a few hours of marketing weekly to get new clients.
Also, don't forget about a huge potential of selling a semi-automated business in the future.

 

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[Justin.p]

Wouldn't the easiest way to explain true fastlane be that time invested gives an exponential rather than linear return. If you are just creating a high paying job for yourself - you will have to keep working for that high salary - and each action you take each day is responsible for generating a fixed amount of value - even if that value is really high like $10,000/hour. The day you stop making that effort is the day you stop getting paid. OTOH with fast lane working 12 hour days instead of 8 hour days may result in your company's growth trajectory shooting up exponentially which means the 4 extra hours each day were worth more - even if that worth doesn't become obvious until you have an exit event.

So in other words working really hard is fastlane if a portion of the work is towards a goal of automation or scaling or outsourcing or any activities that displace your own personal time and effort from the business and leave it up to processes or management

Hence Internet Marketing/Affiliate Marketing - SaaS app/Membership - Product/Service could all be slowlane if an entrepreneur doesn't make the additional mental effort to begin extracting himself and remains 100% hands-on

Slowlane: Bust your a$$ starting a family restaurant and run it until you pass it onto your children in old age. This is at best a high paying job.
Fastlane: Bust your a$$ starting a family restaurant (same!) but take the additional mental effort to build a brand, a menu which is a unique selling point, image, and businesses processes which are repeatable. Get out of the restaurant you built and begin opening several more as a chain. Etc. Abstracting and moving up your effort scales into a bigger and bigger effect. 100 chains now open you have an exit event and get an exponential return on your efforts.

 

[Coalission]

However, if you promote just one affiliate product and the vendor decides to kill it, then you have to find something completely new, and if you built your business around this one single product, you're screwed.

That's why it is fastlane to have your own product. You can do whatever you want.

This is pointless, because if you have your own product, and your supplier decides to steal your idea and run with it or goes belly-up, and you didn't have a backup plan, you're also screwed, but with a lot more money and work invested. Or how about if your product just flatout doesn't work, or doesn't sell? Affiliate marketers have other products in the pipeline, proven products, what do you have? A failed business venture, and while you lick your wounds and recover to try again, affiliate marketers already switched out their links and are still making money from other products.

Walmart doesn't depend on their own products, but you think they're sweating bricks if Ped Egg wants to pull their product from their shelves? There's another product dying to take it's place, so go ahead. That's where your power lies as a well diversified and prepared affiliate. Go ahead and let the vendor kill it, downtime will be a day at worst if it happens while I'm at the casino or something.

Absolutely any "benefit" you can give to having your own product, or any "downside" to affiliate marketing, I can counter. Affiliate marketing/distribution is absolutely fastlane, and it doesn't violate control as long as you diversify the way you should if you had your own product as well. Affiliate marketing presents much, MUCH less risk than starting your own product.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Does the true Internet fastlane exist?

Not with how you have interpreted it. It sounds like to me you're looking for "get rich easy" or "start a fastlane easy" -- seriously, it doesn't exist.

Initially in any startup process, not just online/mobile, but offline, the Commandment of Time merely means that you earn income 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Income is severed from your time by virtue of creation. It merely means that money is no longer attached to a direct trade of your time. That DOES NOT mean you can sit on the beach and drink margaritas all day.

The Commandment of Time is often last to be filled. I spent 7 days a week, sometimes 12-14 hour days creating my system. Time freedom in the sense you are defining it didn't come into play after YEARS. Did you read that? YEARS. This forum actually now is a great passive income system and also hits the Commandment of Time. But again, it took me YEARS of time investment into the system.

If you're not willing to invest TIME into your system, probably more-so than a regular 9-5 job, you're probably not cut out to make it happen. So yea, a true Internet Fastlane does not exist, LOL.

 

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[MayaMagpie]

This is pointless, because if you have your own product, and your supplier decides to steal your idea and run with it or goes belly-up, and you didn't have a backup plan, you're also screwed, but with a lot more money and work invested.

Not what I meant. I meant a product that you created yourself and tested for profitability. Sure, there is always a risk involved and you can turn affiliate marketing into something fastlane-ish, I'm not arguing with that. I said if you build your business around "one single" affiliate product, then you could get screwed.

 

[Coalission]

Not what I meant. I meant a product that you created yourself and tested for profitability. Sure, there is always a risk involved and you can turn affiliate marketing into something fastlane-ish, I'm not arguing with that. I said if you build your business around "one single" affiliate product, then you could get screwed.

Got it, I'm just saying for real affiliates the "product" isn't the product, distribution is the product. The golden egg is the distribution system and processes in place to move units out the door, regardless of the product.

So it's just weird when people single out affiliate marketing for being one of those things where you can be screwed if you put all your eggs in one basket, when that applies to pretty much every business. I was listening to an interview yesterday on another site about a guy who had his product in Walmart, was making a ton of money, and then Walmart sent him a letter saying that they would no longer carry his product, they were going direct or whatever it was. He had to fire like 40 people, at the age of 26.

He depended on one distributor, and he got burned. Happens everywhere in business, as well as in affiliate marketing.

 

[Boo Blizzi]

Dude if you read the book, you will remember the story about Chuma and Azur. One dude was using brute strength to build his pyramid, while the other was working hard on a system he could leverage to build his.

His work was front loaded, but once it was cranking, he knocked out his pyramid with relative ease and was able to enjoy the rewards in the end. So if you think about building your fastlane biz in these 3 steps, it will make more sense:

1. work hard planning the system
2. work hard implementing and operating the system
3. kick back and enjoy the fruits of the system now that all the kinks are worked out

 

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[Esquire]

- Building a SaaS app/Membership site? Violates the commandment of Time.

Well ... I will say this ... it's a BITCH.

I've learned that much.

Spent a full year in site development ... another six months in live beta (more development) ... and only now can I (finally) turn my full attention to marketing.

18 months ... just to get to the starting line ... and I know the marketing side ain't going to be a walk in the park either.

I'll be the first to admit ... I'm exhausted. Building a profitable membership site is proving MUCH harder ... and much more time consuming ... than I thought.

I suspect there may be a hint of truth in your premise.

Building a membership site ain't Fastlane early on ... that's for damn sure.

And in a strange way ... that's comforting.

Knowing that it IS so unbelievably hard ...

But ... I believe in what I am doing ... I know it can be done ... and will do whatever it takes ...

Journey of 1000 steps.

But god DAMN ... it's hard.

 

[Kyle Tully]

Spent a full year in site development ... another six months in live beta (more development) ... and only now can I (finally) turn my full attention to marketing.

Are you talking about a SAAS or a content-based membership site?

 

[Esquire]

Are you talking about a SAAS or a content-based membership site?

I own a niche dating site.

 

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[chrischapman]

What really hit me in TMF was the comparison to the fastlane business to a money tree. I also heard elsewhere the comparison to a rocket.

They both take a lot of energy, time and dedication to get started, but the work is very much on the front end. There is a significant initial investment. This fact represents a significant barrier to entry.

In think and grow rich, the chapter on persistence emphasises that the greatest successes are gained AFTER the point at which most men would normally quit. I was talking to the financial controller at work today and he was saying that most small businesses fail because cash flow problems force an early exit.

An internet business - with low overheads (hosting, domain name, maybe a few other small costs) - allows you to keep the business going long enough to realize the fruits of you labour. That is of course provided you keep the hard work going, capital is not a major obstacle in many cases.

What people have been saying here is true, fast money is possible - easy money less so. The fastlane is all about FAST money - hence FASTlane. It certainly is not called EASYlane for obvious reasons.

 

[Vigilante]

That DOES NOT mean you can sit on the beach and drink margaritas all day.

Damn it @MJ DeMarco now you tell me.

 

[Gale4rc]

Research .. yes probably

Anyhow, in my opinion SaaS takes some time. There will be constant updates, it would need some PR, and of course support for the customers. The first customer can't do this and this, the second customer doesn't know how to right click etc.
Of course it is possible to pay someone / hire a VA to do the basic support tasks but I think this whole SaaS thing will still take a few hours a month to manage.
You are right, its not slowlane, but in my eyes not 100% fastlane either. (Again, maybe just a very high paying job).

Moreover I see some violation of control in my eyes. Where do you get the customers from?
a) organic traffic - so you are dependent on Google
b) paid traffic - you are dependent on the network

Or do I get it wrong - isn't this a control violation? You also could probably say that if the customers are paying monthly, you could do a few campaigns once and then just keep your customer base.

What do you think?

I think you should throw out everything you think you know about business and re-learn EVERYTHING.

Constant updates - What product in the world doesn't get updated? WTF you think apple would be if they just stopped with their first computer? Or Microsoft just stopped at their first software.

It would need some PR - If you're betting any business growth strategy on PR you're already setting yourself up for failure... you know nothing jon snow.

Customers don't understand.. They're too much work - THEY'RE THE ONES PAYING YOU!- If you can't make them happy with an intuitive/great product your product wont make money anyway.

You don't have to be dependent on any network, you use them to your advantage and build a sustainable growth strategy through outlets available.

I honestly don't even know why I wrote this post though, with your mindset you wont even be on the forum for another week.

 

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[Mattie]

Fast lane, don't drive to fast or you might have a collision. Unless you're an expert driver. From what I've seen on this forum a lot of trial and error, making improvements along the way, money lost in the process with no results at times, and other times excellent results. If I've learned anything in life is that everything is a process, learning an adventure, and experience is a good navigation tool. Successes and failures. Failure is a must even if you drive to fast and lose control. At least you learned from the lesson. If you jump off a bridge before you know how to swim, I guess you learn you sink and drown, or learn to swim. Even wine can taste bad if it's not properly made.

 

[RogueInnovation]

That DOES NOT mean you can sit on the beach and drink margaritas all day

Damn it @MJ DeMarco now you tell me

Thats some hard work right there though
I mean all the lifting, there are like 20 lifts each drink
Its brutal

These people will never understand hard work