I Have to Be Getting Close...

[ColtonJD91]

Update 9/20 - I stuck to my plan of having a reformatted game plan by the 20th. I spent the last few day playing around with WordPress and brushing up on my development skills to see if I could create a site that would support my new business model. Things are looking good.

What's up guys. I used to post on here fairly often, and fell off the face of the Earth (well, not quite). Well, I'm back here to begin the final push to success. Here are the updates for me over the last 9 months or so:

What's Happened:

1. I quit my job. I had a nice cushy government job with 0 long term risk. At 22 years old, my slow-lane friends/family were all so proud I had found such a great gig.... and they were equally shocked when I quit. I ended up joining a small start - up online marketing firm here in Las Vegas doing sales and marketing. Equity isn't involved... but I didn't need it. Learning first hand from entrepreneurs that have done what I've always dreamed of doing has been invaluable. As much as MJ's book did for me in terms of vision and motivation, these guys have done for providing skills and confidence. Making a move to start my own venture went from an Evil Kenevil monster truck jump to a skip over a pond. If anyone has an opportunity like this one, I recommend taking it.

2. I read... A Lot. Between books, podcast, articles, and everything in between, I have devoured information. Specifically in the field of Marketing and Sales. MJ has taught me that Marketing is the Queen in the Business world's game of chess and I bought it and have gone all in. In my current position, I run multiple marketing channels, promotions, sales contests, affiliate programs, and just about anything else that has to do with helping money exchange hands. For the first time ever, I feel capable of running something successful.

3. I networked. One big plus of knowing a local entrepreneur is you get to know who they know. I went from some schmuck with no connections to someone with potential partners a phone call away.

Here's what NEEDS to happen:

1. Develop the site:
Basic site is in place. Domaim registered. I want to get it live as soon as possible. Jan. 1 is the goal.

2. Attract "sellers":
My business model requires a group of dedicated sellers. I have to figure out how to get over the dilema of brining in sellers before buyers to hold the buyers attention, or do both simultaneously.

 

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[jockinbox]

What's up guys. I used to post on here fairly often, and fell off the face of the Earth (well, not quite). Well, I;m back here to begin the final push to success. Here are the updates for me over the last 9 months or so:

What's Happened:

1. I quit my job. I had a nice cushy government job with 0 long term risk. At 22 years old, my slow-lane friends/family were all so proud I had found such a great gig.... and they were equally shocked when I quit. I ended up joining a small start - up online marketing firm here in Las Vegas doing sales and marketing. Equity isn't involved... but I didn't need it. Learning first hand from entrepreneurs that have done what I've always dreamed of doing has been invaluable. As much as MJ's book did for me in terms of vision and motivation, these guys have done for providing skills and confidence. Making a move to start my own venture went from an Evil Kenevil monster truck jump to a skip over a pond. If anyone has an opportunity like this one, I recommend taking it.

2. I read... A Lot. Between books, podcast, articles, and everything in between, I have devoured information. Specifically in the field of Marketing and Sales. MJ has taught me that Marketing is the Queen in the Business world's game of chess and I bought it and have gone all in. In my current position, I run multiple marketing channels, promotions, sales contests, affiliate programs, and just about anything else that has to do with helping money exchange hands. For the first time ever, I feel capable of running something successful.

3. I networked. One big plus of knowing a local entrepreneur is you get to know who they know. I went from some schmuck with no connections to someone with potential partners a phone call away.

Here's what NEEDS to happen:

1. Create a social / online presence. For my business venture to work, I;m going to need leads. Lots of them. One thing I have learned about marketing is that, at the end of the day, you can only experiment with different variables when you have subjects. I have created a blog type site and intend to utilize Twitter, Linkedin, and a new Podcast to get people interested in what I have to offer. I feel this will be the first test of my new marketing skills. Right now I plan to hand out a free guide on email marketing based on what I've learned in exchange for people joining my list.

2. Monetize my list. My goal is to build a strong presence that generates targeted leads. These leads will either by sold (with permission, of course) or used in another venture I build from the ground up.

I'm very open to any criticism, suggestions, or back patting (although I don't deserve any yet.) As a community, I have a few questions I'd like to toss out:

1. Anyone Interested in Doing a PodCast with me? I'd happily take care of the dirty work. I've got a domain, have enough WordPress and PodCast knowledge to lay down the site, can market it. All I would need from you is knowledge and a weekly commitment. The show would run either 30mins or an hour and would essentially be a tear into big companies who are doing their marketing all wrong.

2. What's the FastLane INSIDERS Like? I think I'm going to buy regardless, but would my question happy butt be a nuisance there?

3. What am I Doing Wrong? I plan to post regular updates here as I progress. Please tell me where I'm taking the left that should of been a right.

Current Goals:
-To have the email marketing freebie and 20 articles on the blog by the end of September.
-Build 500 twitter Followers by the end of September
-Find a Podcast partner by the end of September

Anyways, this has gotten long. So the domain for the blog is coltonjdale.com. Not much there yet, but I plan to rachet it up. For anyone interested in the podcast. The intro video of me talking about one of the products for the start up I'm working for will be swapped out for the podcast one we start rolling out episodes.

Started off so good and then...

 

[ColtonJD91]

Started off so good and then...

You mind if I ask where you feel I dropped it?

 

[Guest24480]

I'm no expert but I think you may be doing this backwards. What have you done that you can offer to others from your blog?

I learned this the hard way too, trying to start a blog right away seemed like the best option but in truth I was taking the easy way out. I purely didn't have anything of value to contribute to people through my blog. Why would people pay for that?

You're running a marketing blog? What have you done with marketing that you can offer to others besides read about it and "devour information". Have you put it into action and yielded some sort of result?

You're saying your first test of your new marketing skills is to start a marketing blog?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I would reevaluate if I were you before you make the same mistake I did. Hope this helped.

 

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[jockinbox]

You mind if I ask where you feel I dropped it?

Sure

Here's what NEEDS to happen:

1. Create a social / online presence.For my business venture to work, I;m going to need leads. Lots of them. One thing I have learned about marketing is that, at the end of the day, you can only experiment with different variables when you have subjects. I have created a blog type site and intend to utilize Twitter, Linkedin, and a new Podcast to get people interested in what I have to offer. I feel this will be the first test of my new marketing skills. Right now I plan to hand out a free guide on email marketing based on what I've learned in exchange for people joining my list.

2. Monetize my list. My goal is to build a strong presence that generates targeted leads. These leads will either by sold (with permission, of course) or used in another venture I build from the ground up.



The flaw is that you are starting a project to "make money"
The "value" you are going to give is email marketing, and then you say you plan to sell it

LOL

I've bought REALLY GOOD email list for cheap. You can't compete with the big boys there

Besides any good email marketer worth his weight in salt knows better than to sell it, trust me I know a thing or two about sales/marketing

I'm not a big blog person, although the blogs I do read, all have a post saying "not to blog for money"

There's a graveyard full of bloggers that couldn't hitch it off.


In essence, the business model you described goes in a circle

 

[jockinbox]

I'm no expert but I think you may be doing this backwards. What have you done that you can offer to others from your blog?

I learned this the hard way too, trying to start a blog right away seemed like the best option but in truth I was taking the easy way out. I purely didn't have anything of value to contribute to people through my blog. Why would people pay for that?

You're running a marketing blog? What have you done with marketing that you can offer to others besides read about it and "devour information". Have you put it into action and yielded some sort of result?

You're saying your first test of your new marketing skills is to start a marketing blog?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I would reevaluate if I were you before you make the same mistake I did. Hope this helped.

Beat me to it! lol

Rep +

 

[ColtonJD91]

I'm no expert but I think you may be doing this backwards. What have you done that you can offer to others from your blog?

I learned this the hard way too, trying to start a blog right away seemed like the best option but in truth I was taking the easy way out. I purely didn't have anything of value to contribute to people through my blog. Why would people pay for that?

You're running a marketing blog? What have you done with marketing that you can offer to others besides read about it and "devour information". Have you put it into action and yielded some sort of result?

You're saying your first test of your new marketing skills is to start a marketing blog?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I would reevaluate if I were you before you make the same mistake I did. Hope this helped.

That post was an eye opener. My logic was basically, build the list and meet people -> share my knowledge (more on this in a second) -> decide either to offer something of value or offer the list to someone that could.

I'm definitely humble enough to admit I'm wrong if that seems to be the consensus, but let me add this. I have run multiple marketing campaigns successfully for the start - up I mention. My claim to fame would be a marketing campaign the increased one brands revenue 100% in 3 months on 300% ROI for the campaign. I suppose my logic was to create something to share this knowledge for free and go from there (I'm not in the business of selling marketing knowledge, as I think there's just to much out there).

Would there be a way to monetize THAT skill off a system like this, or is this a back to the drawing board situation? For whatever reason I feel writing that eBook and selling it would never work.

 

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[ColtonJD91]

Sure

Here's what NEEDS to happen:

1. Create a social / online presence.For my business venture to work, I;m going to need leads. Lots of them. One thing I have learned about marketing is that, at the end of the day, you can only experiment with different variables when you have subjects. I have created a blog type site and intend to utilize Twitter, Linkedin, and a new Podcast to get people interested in what I have to offer. I feel this will be the first test of my new marketing skills. Right now I plan to hand out a free guide on email marketing based on what I've learned in exchange for people joining my list.

2. Monetize my list. My goal is to build a strong presence that generates targeted leads. These leads will either by sold (with permission, of course) or used in another venture I build from the ground up.



The flaw is that you are starting a project to "make money"
The "value" you are going to give is email marketing, and then you say you plan to sell it

LOL

I've bought REALLY GOOD email list for cheap. You can't compete with the big boys there

Besides any good email marketer worth his weight in salt knows better than to sell it, trust me I know a thing or two about sales/marketing

I'm not a big blog person, although the blogs I do read, all have a post saying "not to blog for money"

There's a graveyard full of bloggers that couldn't hitch it off.


In essence, the business model you described goes in a circle

Thanks! I replied Homzee as well, but I also wanted to share some of my insight on this. Some of the affiliate bloggers working with the start-up I'm employed at bring in MONSTER commission checks. I think this may have swayed me into thinking it could be done easily.

With that being said, I was hoping to create a funnel more like MJs for Limo.com. Collect and the immediately sell the lead. Maybe that isn't as realistic as it was in the early 2000's.

I guess I'd be interested in your opinion as well; Back to the drawing board, or is there a funnel here that could work?

 

[theag]

I dont get it. What exactly are you doing? You say you're not in the business of selling marketing knowledge, but then you have a marketing knowledge blog. Makes no sense.

I would ditch the blog and build a real business.

 

[ColtonJD91]

Thanks for the brutal heads up guys. If you all don't mind I'm going to retract part of that game plan and hit the drawing board.

 

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[ColtonJD91]

Well, I caught a spark and started working. I added this to the first post but thought I would post it here for anyone who cares:

"I have my idea. I started building out a site using WordPress. Hit a road block tonight and realized WordPress just isn't there when it comes to supporting the site I want to build. The only feature I really need is the ability to embed PDF or some other DRM type file to a page in a readable format and allow users to ability to bookmark where they're at for later reference.

Once I prove to myself I can make that happen, I think I can lay the framework down for a model that creates value. The big question is to learn the needed programming skills myself myself or pay someone to do it. I'm leaning towards learn, but the task seems a little daunting for the moment."

 

[gostorm21]

Hit a road block tonight and realized WordPress just isn't there when it comes to supporting the site I want to build.

If you're serious and have $100 to invest, I can't recommend Optimize Press enough. I already promoted it on someone else's thread but it's just that good. It takes WordPress to a whole new level and gives you tons of ways to monetize your idea via thorough execution.

Check it out: http://www.optimizepress.com

And if you're interested, don't bother going above the basic package. It's completely unnecessary. Best of luck to you!

 

[ColtonJD91]

Decided to come update this thread while waiting for a domain transfer. The blog idea has been scratched and I now have something I think creates real value.

I'm sure I'll catch some heat for this... but I'm hesitant to post the idea here. I know ideas are a dime a dozen, but I recall some incidents where forum members outright stole someone's market / work (I vaguely remember the Guille suit niche being one of the victims).

My question is this: Am I safe to outright post the entire business model here for critique (which I really value from you guys) or is there still a level of risk involved that I give a future competitor a head start. If there is still an issue with idea theft, is the INSIDERS forums a better spot to maybe pay up and transfer this thread to?

Thanks guys.

 

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[ColtonJD91]

Update 9/24: Been working on this a lot. I estimate that the site will cost $500 and require about 100 hours of work to get live. I've set a goal of January 1 as the day I go live.

Bought all the WP plugins I needed to build it out so I don't use it as an excuse to stop working.

For my model, I'm going to need to attract "sellers" before I can bring in customers. I wounder if there are some good examples of how eBay or kickstarted or some other similar site tackeled this problem.

More to come soon.

 

[ColtonJD91]

Had an idea last night to solve the chicken before the egg issue with my business model. I'm going to run monthly competitions that reward the most active "seller" with a $100 cash prize or some other type of relevant reward. Hopefully this can keep sellers around until my marketing efforts kick in.

Anyone ever run a promotion like this before?

 

[The-J]

The blog idea has been scratched and I now have something I think creates real value.

Good. Blogs suck at making money.

Your job now is to validate it quick. Get the site built QUICK. Just a simple landing page with an opt-in will do. Doesn't have to be WordPress. Look at QuickMVP and LeadPages, they're pretty cheap for what they can do.

Look into paid traffic, as well.

Good luck

 

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[Determined2012]

@The-J Hey! What are you working on now?

 

[merc]

Update 9/24: Been working on this a lot. I estimate that the site will cost $500 and require about 100 hours of work to get live. I've set a goal of January 1 as the day I go live.

Bought all the WP plugins I needed to build it out so I don't use it as an excuse to stop working.

For my model, I'm going to need to attract "sellers" before I can bring in customers. I wounder if there are some good examples of how eBay or kickstarted or some other similar site tackeled this problem.

More to come soon.

If you estimated that the site will require about 100 hours of work to get live, why is your goal set until January to launch? That should be around 2 weeks of work. 3 months to get a MVP up with a simple wordpress site does not sound like a great use of time if it does not succeed.

 

[ColtonJD91]

If you estimated that the site will require about 100 hours of work to get live, why is your goal set until January to launch? That should be around 2 weeks of work. 3 months to get a MVP up with a simple wordpress site does not sound like a great use of time if it does not succeed.

Thanks Merc,

I should go back and update that. The-J recommended doing an MVP launch as soon as possible and I'm taking his advice. I'm going to put something up today and see if I can collect 50 conversions before I put in to much work.

I'll post soon with the information.

-Colton

 

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[ColtonJD91]

Good. Blogs suck at making money.

Your job now is to validate it quick. Get the site built QUICK. Just a simple landing page with an opt-in will do. Doesn't have to be WordPress. Look at QuickMVP and LeadPages, they're pretty cheap for what they can do.

Look into paid traffic, as well.

Good luck

[Closed]

Going for 50 conversions in 2 weeks on a $60 budget.

 

[ColtonJD91]

Got 700 impressions with roughly 10% clicking through to buy the unfinished product. Very weak response rate on the ensuing page requesting emails though.

Any think that's a red-flag? I personally would be turned off if I found out the offer was fake and then asked for an email, but maybe I should be listening?

Best,
Colton

 

[theag]

Make it look like its a multiple step order process and email + name are 1st step. then on second step tell them out of stock, you will be notified when back in stock + 5% discount (so they arent pissed off).

must look real or it wont work.

 

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[ColtonJD91]

Make it look like its a multiple step order process and email + name are 1st step. then on second step tell them out of stock, you will be notified when back in stock + 5% discount (so they arent pissed off).

must look real or it wont work.

It's a digital offer, but I still like the idea of Step 1: Enter email.

I did pivot last night to building out the site as I personally feel the clickthrough rate validated enough for me to invest my own time outside of work.

Going to tweak the landing page and let it run with no new marketing while I'm working.

 

[ColtonJD91]

Update 10/14: So I am planning to hold a contest to bring in my "sellers". The deadlines I am holding my self to are having enough "sellers" by December to support the business based on my assumptions and enough "buyers" by January to start deciding what direction to take the offering.

I'd like to reiterate, if anyone has experience building a marketplace, I would be very interested in probing you brain. Also, if anyone has some advice on hiring a developer, I can definitely foresee that being a huge step in success.

Quick shout out to everyone that has brought me this far. I feel very confident about achieving success based on the framework of knowledge through this venture and anything outside of that will be drawn up as a plus.

 

[ColtonJD91]

Hey,

Ya'll talked me out of a poor model in the past, so I thought I would post here just to let you know I am moving forward on a new idea I think is a bit more compliant with your points. Here's the thread if you are curious - Destroy my site/model/idea

 

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