The 2015 Fastlane Meetup Pre-Plan Discussion (formerly B&P)

[Red]

I'm going to put together a spread sheet of contact info of all attendees/presenters. The submission of their contact information will be volunteer, but in the past, most are good with it.

and btw.... WHERE THA LADIES AT?!?!???


We need more estrogen up in here. Seriously, @ChickenHawk @yveskleinsky @Jill @AroundTheWorld @bensonj @Nadia @Mrs. BRKb @Lauryn @Determined2012 @AnneC @NicoleMarie @LisaK @Mattie @cautiouscapy @britnidanielle @AubreyRose @COSenior consider this your formal invitation to come out of hiding & make some noise.

 

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[cautiouscapy]

Hi @Red, thanks.

I've been lurking here since the thread started, believe me; apologies for not actually "Showing up".

@FionaS has already posted on this thread, I know she's watching it too.

I am not sure panels need preparation, necessarily, but it probably does need a good moderator. If the panelists are cooperative then they can volunteer to answer a question, and if another panelist feels the need to expand on a point or add to the first panelist's answer, they can?

I've seen this work well with 4 panelists who just turned up on the night, each with different experience relevant to the topic. Mind you the moderator was excellent at his role.

Perhaps some of the "expertise clusters" on this forum can self-organize panels? I can see that some of you are well aware of each other's expertise areas.

 

[Vigilante]

If @ChickenHawk will present, that alone will be worth the cost of the flight + the hotel + the conference ticket.

You've been promising us an INSIDERS call or a B&P spot for months. Years. Time for you to step up to the plate, kid.

 

[ChickenHawk]

If @ChickenHawk will present, that alone will be worth the cost of the flight + the hotel + the conference ticket.You've been promising us an INSIDERS call or a B&P spot for months. Years. Time for you to step up to the plate, kid.

Awwww...I don't know what delights me more -- your confidence in my presentation abilities or the fact you called me kid. Thanks so much for that! I was looking at this event longingly, but I'm almost certainly going to have to pass, along with the INSIDERS Call option, for about six to nine months at least. We decided to build a house, and it's proving all-consuming financially and time-wise.

But you know what was awesome beyond belief? To buy a six-figure bluff lot with cash, thanks to self-pubbing.

Happily (or unhappily, hah!) I'm still making plenty of mistakes in the self-pubbing biz, which I think will offer some good lessons-learned when I get around to presenting. So hopefully, the longer I wait, the better it will get.

 

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[Red]

Awwww...I don't know what delights me more -- your confidence in my presentation abilities or the fact you called me kid. Thanks so much for that! I was looking at this event longingly, but I'm almost certainly going to have to pass, along with the INSIDERS Call option, for about six to nine months at least. We decided to build a house, and it's proving all-consuming financially and time-wise.

But you know what was awesome beyond belief? To buy a six-figure bluff lot with cash, thanks to self-pubbing.

Happily (or unhappily, hah!) I'm still making plenty of mistakes in the self-pubbing biz, which I think will offer some good lessons-learned when I get around to presenting. So hopefully, the longer I wait, the better it will get.

So what I just read was:

"I would be delighted to present in 2016, as my presentation will be full of wonderful & insightful information for any & all aspiring authors. I look forward to meeting you all & extolling my vast knowledge in PowerPoint format. Until then."

 

[RElifestyle21]

There are not a lot of real estate people on the forums. Should I just bow out now?

I am waiting to buy my ticket and you are one of the main presentations I am interested in seeing. Please do not bow out.

Also I feel real estate is great for all the fastlaners to know in order to diversify their portfolios once they reach the success they are working towards.

 

[Milkanic]

Looking forward to seeing the full lineup. I'd be open to being on a panel for programming/sass/marketing automation if there is interest.

Also, I suggest using a site like https://www.eventbrite.com/ or creating a separate event website for attendees, tickets, agenda, etc. Should make planning/communication a lot easier and I'd be willing to do or help out with this.

 

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[Red]

Also, I suggest using a site like https://www.eventbrite.com/

Thanks for the suggestions, @Milkanic -I'll check this out...

 

[Guest12120]

If there is an Amazon panel I might be able to add some value to it.

I started my business (selling only on Amazon) a month after last year's B&P, first sale 4/23, it became my only source of income in May, now I'm on pace to do comfortable 6 digits a year in sales.

 

[LightHouse]

If there is an Amazon panel I might be able to add some value to it.

I started my business (selling only on Amazon) a month after last year's B&P, first sale 4/23, it became my only source of income in May, now I'm on pace to do comfortable 6 digits a year in sales.

Was it inspired by B&P? If so that is awesome and testament to the potential of coming to meetups lie this and conferences in general.

 

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[Guest12120]

Was it inspired by B&P?

Yes. I also received some invaluable advice that helped me get the business going from @1step that I met at B&P. So you have inspiration and the power of a network in one




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gary]

I've been nothing but a lurker since I joined the forum a few years back, but I will attend. This is right up my alley. I've facilitated numerous executive networking retreats and meetings and believe in the power of creating meaningful biz relationships face-2-face. Where else does this type of expertise on so many different topics come together to purposely educate each other? I don't know of any.

This is Exciting.

 

[LightHouse]

Yes. I also received some invaluable advice that helped me get the business going from @1step that I met at B&P. So you have inspiration and the power of a network in one

awesome, good story for Cancun in November?

 

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[Guest12120]

awesome, good story for Cancun in November?

Most definitely! I already got my ticket. Can't wait.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jill]

If you're selected to speak then you're guaranteed a ticket & it will be at half price.

Hmmm...... This almost makes me want to ratchet up one of my businesses... so I can justify speaking about it... so I don't have to pay attention to the ticket sales schedule. Strange motivation, perhaps. But I can't miss B&P... or whatever it's called now. It's my tribal meeting.

 

[thorn]

I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and offer to speak. I have two possible areas that I could possibly offer value on.

The first option would be about offline product/service businesses. I started and ran a custom electronics company for almost 10 years and could speak on the following topics

1. Getting started in the service industry- defining your role in the market you choose
2. Client - What makes a good client and where to find them. What types of clients should you target.
3. Competition - Identifying and embracing your competition
4. Protecting yourself - Insurance, Taxes, Lawyers and Accountants
5. Working with vendors and Sales reps - where to look and how to make them take you seriously
6. Service - What makes a good service plan and what your customers expect
7. Retail store fronts - do you need one and do the costs justify the benefits
8. Employees - when does it makes sense to hire and fire
9. General things you can do to set yourself apart from your competition. Best practices in the service industry.
10. Getting paid - How and when do I bill my clients. Do I use terms or financing. Doing percentage payments
11. Creating your brand - How to appear professional from day 1
12. Scaling the business - Can you turn a brick and mortar store like this into a fastlane business?
13. Exit Strategies - How and when to get out

That said I realize offline businesses aren't all the craze right now and may not be an ideal topic of discussion for an event like this. However, I just wanted to offer this up and let you guys decide if it could add any value.

The other option I was considering speaking about was my more recent foray into ecommerce and selling on Amazon. However, I see a lot of great names offering up their knowledge on this topic and don't feel that my experiences so far could stand up to some of the more experienced Amazon sellers.

That said, if you guys ultimately decide to create an ecommerce/Amazon panel I could potentially offer some value there. Having gone through @Eskil and @1step 's course on Amazon selling, I could sit on the panel and offer perspective to those considering Amazon coaching and training, how it affected me and where I saw the value of the training program. I wouldn't necessarily speak on the specifics the training, but more generally on the value, costs and benefits of incorporating a training program into your growth strategy.

Also, if a panel is ruled out and you still need an Amazon seller to speak, here is what I could offer up...

1. Selling on Amazon - What to have in place or consider before getting started
2. Finding your product
   1. What tools are available to help you
   2. What criteria can you use to define a good product
   3. How “niche” should you go
   4. Is a lot of competition a good thing?
   5. What is considered a good price point for a product
3. Very basic tips for those sourcing products from China
   1. How do you pay suppliers and what do the payment types mean (Western Union, TT, Paypal, etc.)
   2. MOQs
   3. Sample Orders
   4. Communicating with suppliers ( email/skype/phone, etc. )
4. Preparing your listing
   1. What makes a listing stand out
   2. Creating the listing...use the spreadsheet or use the wizard?
   3. Product descriptions
   4. The type of content that can get you in trouble if you put it on your listing
5. Prepping your product for shipping to Amazon
   1. Understanding barcodes and Amazon’s expectations
   2. Product Photos
   3. Inspecting your products from your vendor prior to shipping them to FBA
   4. How to package your products
   5. Planning for shipping costs
6. Getting your first sale
   1. Amazon PPC - what is it and how does it work
   2. The importance of product reviews
   3. Good and Bad ways to get Amazon reviews
7. Sales Tax, Sales Tax, Sales Tax - Understanding your obligations as an Amazon seller

Well, that's what I have to offer. Thanks for reading.

 

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[Vigilante]

I wanted to throw my hat in the ring and offer to speak. I have two possible areas that I could possibly offer value on.

The first option would be about offline product/service businesses. I started and ran a custom electronics company for almost 10 years and could speak on the following topics

1. Getting started in the service industry- defining your role in the market you choose
2. Client - What makes a good client and where to find them. What types of clients should you target.
3. Competition - Identifying and embracing your competition
4. Protecting yourself - Insurance, Taxes, Lawyers and Accountants
5. Working with vendors and Sales reps - where to look and how to make them take you seriously
6. Service - What makes a good service plan and what your customers expect
7. Retail store fronts - do you need one and do the costs justify the benefits
8. Employees - when does it makes sense to hire and fire
9. General things you can do to set yourself apart from your competition. Best practices in the service industry.
10. Getting paid - How and when do I bill my clients. Do I use terms or financing. Doing percentage payments
11. Creating your brand - How to appear professional from day 1
12. Scaling the business - Can you turn a brick and mortar store like this into a fastlane business?
13. Exit Strategies - How and when to get out

That said I realize offline businesses aren't all the craze right now and may not be an ideal topic of discussion for an event like this. However, I just wanted to offer this up and let you guys decide if it could add any value.

The other option I was considering speaking about was my more recent foray into ecommerce and selling on Amazon. However, I see a lot of great names offering up their knowledge on this topic and don't feel that my experiences so far could stand up to some of the more experienced Amazon sellers.

That said, if you guys ultimately decide to create an ecommerce/Amazon panel I could potentially offer some value there. Having gone through @Eskil and @1step 's course on Amazon selling, I could sit on the panel and offer perspective to those considering Amazon coaching and training, how it affected me and where I saw the value of the training program. I wouldn't necessarily speak on the specifics the training, but more generally on the value, costs and benefits of incorporating a training program into your growth strategy.

Also, if a panel is ruled out and you still need an Amazon seller to speak, here is what I could offer up...

1. Selling on Amazon - What to have in place or consider before getting started
2. Finding your product
   1. What tools are available to help you
   2. What criteria can you use to define a good product
   3. How “niche” should you go
   4. Is a lot of competition a good thing?
   5. What is considered a good price point for a product
3. Very basic tips for those sourcing products from China
   1. How do you pay suppliers and what do the payment types mean (Western Union, TT, Paypal, etc.)
   2. MOQs
   3. Sample Orders
   4. Communicating with suppliers ( email/skype/phone, etc. )
4. Preparing your listing
   1. What makes a listing stand out
   2. Creating the listing...use the spreadsheet or use the wizard?
   3. Product descriptions
   4. The type of content that can get you in trouble if you put it on your listing
5. Prepping your product for shipping to Amazon
   1. Understanding barcodes and Amazon’s expectations
   2. Product Photos
   3. Inspecting your products from your vendor prior to shipping them to FBA
   4. How to package your products
   5. Planning for shipping costs
6. Getting your first sale
   1. Amazon PPC - what is it and how does it work
   2. The importance of product reviews
   3. Good and Bad ways to get Amazon reviews
7. Sales Tax, Sales Tax, Sales Tax - Understanding your obligations as an Amazon seller

Well, that's what I have to offer. Thanks for reading.

How much business are you doing on Amazon, and how much (if any) can be specifically related to the paid training program you found here through the forum ad?

 

[thorn]

How much business are you doing on Amazon, and how much (if any) can be specifically related to the paid training program you found here through the forum ad?

Great question. The short answer is I am doing very little in sales..right around 1 sale per day. Prior to the training I had zero experience with any ecommerce at all, so 100% of the sales are a result of the training. I realize my sales numbers may invalidate me immediately. However, allow me just a little further explanation/justification...

About 3/4 way into the process I pivoted when we found a new product with much greater potential. I started with the development of that product and it will be launching very soon. However, based on the progress made on the first product, the decision was made to follow it through to completion and use it as a teaching aid for the training. I plan to continue to support it for the customers that made purchases, but not develop it any further or order reorder further inventory at this time. The reasoning is that I feel the potential behind the second product offers a better opportunity for branding, growth and expansion in a growing marketplace. Overall it is much stronger direction and 100% of my time has been shifted to that.

That said, I still think it's pretty cool that I am getting 1/sale a day with doing nothing more than using the techniques taught by Eskil. Especially since 3 months ago I had no idea where to even start. I have not done really any advertising for it, other than a little Amazon PPC, and we did not focus on developing a strong product launch during the training. The product is also competitively priced in a highly competitive niche and the sales are coming in organically just through the optimization techniques used to create the listing.

This is also why, if you look at my outline, I don't go into things like driving traffic or how to generate sales. I am definitely not qualified to speak on those topics yet and maybe 2016 will be a better venue for me. My current outline on Amazon sort of of stops at "getting your first sale," which I feel a ton are trying to do right now. Up to that point I feel I have a pretty solid idea of what to do. It's also why I mentioned I would be a better fit on a Amazon panel as opposed to flying solo. Especially when compared to some of the others offering up to speak on this category.

Sorry, I didn't want to turn this into a progress post, but based on the question I did want to offer full disclosure in case I am being considered.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[1milclub]

I would like to join this year. About the comment that 100 people show interest and only 50 join, the only thing concerns me is it will be in February and it is a snow season on the East coast. Hope there are no flight cancellations!

In fact, we want my kids (14/10) to think in 'fastlane' terms - so my wife is also interested to join but will see if we are lucky to get two tickets ...

Is there a way to get text alert when the tickets sale start (if I PM the phone number)? May miss it since I do not have constant access to email.

 

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[PSDSH]

I'm launching my Kickstarter campaign Tuesday Sept 30, if it goes well I'd be happy to share on the subject. If however I crash and burn fugettaboudit!

 

[1milclub]

My current outline on Amazon sort of of stops at "getting your first sale,"

Don;t want to divert the main topic of this thread - but would be helpful to know ...

Bryan,

Is your current product branded or modified from any other current product found in the marketplace? That 1 sale/day is especially good to see if you have more competitors.

 

[Red]

Submissions continue to roll in & you guys are not going to make this easy! Five more days to throw your hat in the ring, thanks again to all who have put together presentations, can't wait to sit through the full-blown live presentations. So. Much. Good. Information.

 

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[thorn]

Don;t want to divert the main topic of this thread - but would be helpful to know ...

Bryan,

Is your current product branded or modified from any other current product found in the marketplace? That 1 sale/day is especially good to see if you have more competitors.

So yes and yes. I sourced and branded a product found on Alibaba and did some VERY minor modifications to help it stand out a little. A search on Amazon for my main keyword reveals at least 100 competitors selling what most would view as a VERY similar product. Someone with a bird's eye view would probably say all 100+ sellers are selling the same product.

I won't derail any further, but I do have some details in my progress thread HERE, if it helps.

 

[Red]

LESS THAN 48 HOURS TO GET YOUR SUBMISSIONS IN!

Deadline is 11:59pm on Tuesday, Sept 30th, 2014 (tomorrow night).

Let me know if you have any questions & please submit presentations to FastLaneMeetup2015@gmail.com.


Thanks, guys & gals!

 

[Eskil]

Submitting mine today..

EDIT: Done!

 

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[Vigilante]

I'm launching my Kickstarter campaign Tuesday Sept 30, if it goes well I'd be happy to share on the subject. If however I crash and burn fugettaboudit!

Keep in mind that if you crash and burn, you still come out with war scars. Scar material is tougher than regular skin. Good luck!

 

[RHL]

For the submissions, were you looking for a detailed outline or the entire powerpoint approximately as it's going to be delivered?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

For the submissions, were you looking for a detailed outline or the entire powerpoint approximately as it's going to be delivered?

Outline suffices.

 

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[Mr_Candyman]

I would have loved to come, it must be a really interesting and enriching experience, It wouldn't be a smart move from me to go to this meetup this time, but If I miss the 2016 edition, I will regret it !

Work and see !

 

[Bill Crane]

I'm launching my Kickstarter campaign Tuesday Sept 30, if it goes well I'd be happy to share on the subject. If however I crash and burn fugettaboudit!

I know you are launching tomorrow, but I would recommend reading this article ASAP and see if anything will help you out. Kickstarter is more about networking in the early stages than product. Later it can gain momentum based on the product.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/12...ys-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/