Advice needed on my business

[freelancedev]

Have you read MJ DeMarco's book, "The Millionaire Fastlane "? If not, get a copy as soon as you can. Most of us here have read it. It will answer a lot of the questions you have about your ideas, business, etc.

A lot of the guys who have posted here are offering you valuable advice. I see a common thread in all of it, too.

I've read it but not recently. Maybe I'll re-read it, but I've recently bought a few other books (lean startup, zero to one etc.) which I thought may help me out.

 

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[RogueInnovation]

I've read it but not recently. Maybe I'll re-read it, but I've recently bought a few other books (lean startup, zero to one etc.) which I thought may help me out.

I've found that silicon valley-ish "startup" culture creates good simplistic models that helps you X-ray vision through businesses you see, but also on the negative side of things discourages finding "ORDINARY" business market opportunities.

MJs book, is mostly about finding ANY vehicle that isn't slow and that won't ever get you there, the down side of it, is you have to take a lot of things on faith if you don't already have a fix on the details of structuring things.

So... while learning about the lean method, I'd say, try to pull away from the temptation of being snooty (liking only marketting and web apps) about market opportunities.

Head towards a solid middle ground where you have a fast vehicle but ALSO many OPTIONS around you that aren't nested within places you'll never gain control. So regular market opportunities those guys don't touch.


Its just common sense what I'm suggesting, but people get blinded to it as an option just because they follow the herd a bit too much.
Try to think of fastlane vehicles everywhere, and look through lean models that can make them possible.

Personally I focus on control scale and time. And I solve needs by just perusing through the right meeting points of different markets, and consider entry as whether its plausible or not or worth my time.


YOU are chasing low barrier to entry fields, and doing nothing else, you gotta quit that.
Look at the right markets (with xray vision if you can get it) and find control scale and time... THEN, pick ones that meet need and entry.

Its a more solid way to scan and find things.

 

[freelancedev]

I've found that silicon valley-ish "startup" culture creates good simplistic models that helps you X-ray vision through businesses you see, but also on the negative side of things discourages finding "ORDINARY" business market opportunities.

MJs book, is mostly about finding ANY vehicle that isn't slow and that won't ever get you there, the down side of it, is you have to take a lot of things on faith if you don't already have a fix on the details of structuring things.

So... while learning about the lean method, I'd say, try to pull away from the temptation of being snooty (liking only marketting and web apps) about market opportunities.

Head towards a solid middle ground where you have a fast vehicle but ALSO many OPTIONS around you that aren't nested within places you'll never gain control. So regular market opportunities those guys don't touch.


Its just common sense what I'm suggesting, but people get blinded to it as an option just because they follow the herd a bit too much.
Try to think of fastlane vehicles everywhere, and look through lean models that can make them possible.

Personally I focus on control scale and time. And I solve needs by just perusing through the right meeting points of different markets, and consider entry as whether its plausible or not or worth my time.


YOU are chasing low barrier to entry fields, and doing nothing else, you gotta quit that.
Look at the right markets (with xray vision if you can get it) and find control scale and time... THEN, pick ones that meet need and entry.

Its a more solid way to scan and find things.

You're right, I am chasing low barrier to entry fields which are competitive. But I'm just not sure where else to start. Marketing was all I wanted to do and I never had a plan B. How do you know which markets are the right ones and do market research?

 

[RogueInnovation]

You just study EVERYTHING. You start light at first. But just sheer quantity. And taking time to sit and tilt your head and find peculiar or interesting things in the world around you.

 

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[freelancedev]

You just study EVERYTHING. You start light at first. But just sheer quantity. And taking time to sit and tilt your head and find peculiar or interesting things in the world around you.

I've been doing a lot of research and thinking over the past few weeks about about what has been said in this thread and trying to take on a different approach to things. I've actually cancelled a lot of my financial commitments for my previous business model, freeing up capital to pay off my debts and start working on other ideas.

I'm still really struggling with ideas, but have been exploring different avenues for where I can go with things and wanted to bounce some ideas around in here to see if I'm along the right lines.

My first idea that I've come up with is a niche site related to a software suite. This mac app has lots of prospects wanting to learn how to use it, and I think I could build a website which garners attention in that little niche but I'm unsure of how I would monetise the traffic.

In an ideal world I'd come up with a course or a monthly subscription product to sell to visitors, but I'm not really sure what sort of course I could build from it or whether it would sell. The obvious answer in my minds is to chuck up a landing page for a simple how to guide and see if it converts via google adwords to validate the idea, but there is plenty of free how to advise out there so I'm talking myself out of it in my head before even looking into it.

For the purposes of this post, I'd say the software is similar in nature to something like photoshop. I'm sure there are great photoshop courses out there which people sell, maybe something niche specific like "how to use photoshop on your wedding photography business" or something like that, but for this specific piece of software I imagine that the audience is likely to be students (who have no cash). Maybe I'm over thinking things.

Other ideas I'm looking into are Amazon related. Everyone and their dog seems to be selling things on Amazon these days, and I'm considering sourcing some products from China and starting to sell on there. I'm also looking into the idea of building amazon affiliate sites but this violates one of the 5 commandments (don't relinquish control) from Millionaire Fastlane and is very similar to what I've been trying to do and failing with so far with my other SEO stuff.

 

[Member]

You should look into ways of doing idea validation.

Landing page and payment, but don't process the purchase, just tell them it's not for sale yet.

etc.

 

[freelancedev]

You should look into ways of doing idea validation.

Landing page and payment, but don't process the purchase, just tell them it's not for sale yet.

etc.

For my first idea I'm not sure it's the sort of thing people would buy straight away without at least a little bit of social proof from a successful blog.

 

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[tycoon7]

Lots of gold in the thread.

 

[Shdreams]

I still live at home with my parents and I detest the slow lane job which I work at.

That whole line is filled with Opportunity & And fear of discomfort. Minimal Expenses, Maximum profit, Even in the slow lane man. I forgot to add, I despise any and all ads at all times. Any chance your promoting to the wrong crowds?

 

[Deleted20833]

What you're going through is what kept me from making money for at least 2 years online

YOU NEED TO HAVE A BUSINESS MODEL

Don't just do things to do them...that's how I've wasted a bunch of my time also

Do things that will drive your BUSINESS SYSTEM...which is my brief overview of a very basic business system

Demand For Product X Effectiveness Of Sales Promotion X Quality Of Prospect X Efficiency Of Media To Reach Prospect
= # Of Sales

Hope that helps

 

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[freelancedev]

OK so another update to this thread. Hope you guys don't mind me bumping this self-pitying nonsense.

I feel a lot better about myself than I evidently did when I first started this thread. I've all but stopped wasting my money on this lead generation stuff (save a couple of the sites that are actually doing ok). I was getting into a really toxic mindset with it all and felt like I needed a change. One good thing to come from my experiences is that I got a job interview at an internet marketing company. Slow lane I know, but would be enjoyable for me and also a great learning experience which pays more than my current employer, so win-win all round.

I've been thinking a lot about business still and it remains my primary goal/focus in life. I've been reading a lot of books as doing my research and have come up with a few different ideas but want to really focus in on one and make it my 'one thing' (can you tell that the last book I read was "The One Thing"? lol).

My ideas:
- A niche marketing agency for a specific industry that I've chosen. This would leverage my SEO experience although the company wouldn't offer ONLY SEO, but also other different forms of marketing.
- A photography equipment rental service. Would need to buy the equipment for this but there is a little niche market where I feel that the competition is not that great
- A fitness course for a sport that I enjoy.
- An ecommerce store - I've spent some time going through some of the material at ecommerce fuel and have identified a number of niches I like the look of, but there is competition here and I'm not sure whether I would be able to effectively 'beat' the competition.

All of the above ideas have been validated in a way by the fact that there are people searching for keyword phrases related to the products/services on google. I would be able to leverage my SEO abilities to rank on page 1 for some of the keywords as my main marketing strategy.

I want to choose one approach and really drill down into some deep research on the niche and get stuck in to making it happen. I know no one can make the decision for me, but just looking for some pointers.

 

[Roli]

My ideas:
- A niche marketing agency for a specific industry that I've chosen. This would leverage my SEO experience although the company wouldn't offer ONLY SEO, but also other different forms of marketing.
- A photography equipment rental service. Would need to buy the equipment for this but there is a little niche market where I feel that the competition is not that great
- A fitness course for a sport that I enjoy.
- An ecommerce store - I've spent some time going through some of the material at ecommerce fuel and have identified a number of niches I like the look of, but there is competition here and I'm not sure whether I would be able to effectively 'beat' the competition.

All of the above ideas have been validated in a way by the fact that there are people searching for keyword phrases related to the products/services on google. I would be able to leverage my SEO abilities to rank on page 1 for some of the keywords as my main marketing strategy.

I want to choose one approach and really drill down into some deep research on the niche and get stuck in to making it happen. I know no one can make the decision for me, but just looking for some pointers.

I've just been reading over your thread, your postings and the answers that you've been getting and (maybe I missed it) I don't see anywhere where you say why you wanted an internet marketing company.

As someone who gets about 3 emails a day from internet marketing companies, I can say that 99% of the ones that I have come across are crap and seem to have got into it because they believe there is money in that industry; which there may be, I don't know. But if someone is selling me the fact that they can get more hits on my site or followers on twitter and they don't seem to be able to do this for themselves.

Also is internet marketing one of those weird industries that only exist for the people within the industry. I have owned websites since 2010 and I have never once put the words "internet marketing" into Google and I bet this is the same of a lot of site owners, yet the term is a high value, high search term. Is it just being searched by all the internet marketeers out there?

As for your ideas they are all quite different but it's a case of asking yourself some questions

So your niche internet marketing agency - Why would you stick at something which by your own admission has not been successful? - Depending on the answer to that question; have you learnt anything from your current business that will help you in this new direction?

Why are you going into a specific niche industry? (I'd expect answers along the lines of "because of my experience with..." "because of the edge that my association with so and so will give me..."

Why would anyone use you and your company?

Photography Rental - Why this industry? Why are people going to use you? Is that niche going to make enough money to sustain you. - Have you got some instant customers you can get the ball rolling with?

A fitness course for a sport you enjoy - This sounds like a desire to pursue a hobby/dream rather than a business (plus do you really want to sell your time in this way?)

e commerce store - Your lack of confidence regarding "beating the competition" suggest's to me that perhaps internet marketing is not your thing. If there are indeed a number of niches, then surely your internet marketing experience should help you here, no?

Number one questions for these or any other future ideas are; does anyone need this shit? Who need's this shit? How am I going to get this shit into the hands of the people who need this shit, before my competitors do?

 

[Tyler Ellison]

My ideas:
- A niche marketing agency for a specific industry that I've chosen. This would leverage my SEO experience although the company wouldn't offer ONLY SEO, but also other different forms of marketing.
- A photography equipment rental service. Would need to buy the equipment for this but there is a little niche market where I feel that the competition is not that great
- A fitness course for a sport that I enjoy.
- An ecommerce store - I've spent some time going through some of the material at ecommerce fuel and have identified a number of niches I like the look of, but there is competition here and I'm not sure whether I would be able to effectively 'beat' the competition.

So you're looking to choose one. Have you examined each against MJ's 5 Commandments of the Fast Lane? Here are my thoughts.

1) I don't recommend anybody to do an agency if they want the fast lane. Nowhere in MJ's book does he recommend opening a company as a service provider that depends mostly on yourself.

2) You say this is a 'little' niche market. That means weak scale. You could scale it by using "II" as discussed in the book I guess though, but the barriers to entry may be too high for you due to costs.

3) Fitness course - This one makes the most sense to me. Selling information about something you're actually knowledgeable on is a product that won't cost anything but your time to develop and can be sold with small startup expenses. Information marketing is a huge, internationally scalable business model. You can divide the information into multiple products with increasing value and make each customer worth hundreds of dollars.

4) Lack of focus here, sounds like money chasing. It would make sense to develop this as an outgrowth of the fitness course. You would teach people what they need in the information product, then direct them to your ecommerce store to buy what they need to get the results they want with the information you teach.

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

You're all over the place, buddy.

Clarity is power. Figure out what YOU want -- stop asking a bunch of random strangers what you should be doing with your life and start asking yourself.

P.S. I've been a private marketing consultant now for the past 4 years because I love it. But I've read 100 books on copy, 100 books on marketing, 100 books on sales -- I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn form Jay Abraham and Chet Holmes -- and then I spent time learning "internet marketing" (which is actually not different in any way, shape, or form) from the gurus like Kern, Burchard, Deiss, etc. etc. etc.

P.P.S. You don't just create a "marketing agency" out of thin air. It's a real business and you aren't going to get anywhere thinking you can sit in your underwear and browse reddit and facebook (not that you do -- just common among anyone who says they are getting into "internet marketing").

 

[xuyigang]

I want to preface this by stating that this is absolutely not intended as a pity post or negativity. I'm in a very difficult spot at the moment, and I feel like this community is one of the few that would fully understand my situation.

I started an online marketing business in 2013 with the intention of making it big and taking over the world, with all the enthusiasm of someone who was wet behind the ears in the entrepreneurial world. I sold almost every possession I have to fund my start up and even got a job so that I could continue to fund my venture.

Two years later, I am still very far from success. I've made some money online (I'd estimate around £2500) but spent closer to £20,000 (yeah really stupid, I don't need reminding of this). Anyway, it leaves me in a really tough position where I'm leaking money through expenses to do what I do at a rate of knots but not really bringing anything in.

The majority of the £2500 I have made was from banner ads about a year ago (may I add that this was revenue and I was never profitable with the ads I made), and had not made money for a while until recently making a pitiful £25 through a website.

When my banner ads proved to be fruitless I changed my focus to SEO, first starting to get clients which I struggled with so I switched to building "pay per lead" sites with the aim to rank highly on google and sell the leads to local businesses. I've learned to be ok at SEO but the process is very slow and I've not made much money from my websites, still very much unprofitable.

All of this would be well and good in a different scenario. If I had started building "pay per lead" sites back when I first started building the business I may not be as pessimistic as I am now, but I just feel like the cold harsh truth is that I'm going to find it very difficult to make this business work now, if it does work I'll be waiting a long time.

My personal life has taken a real hit and I'm losing the will to live any more. I've given up a lot; my social life and all of this money, to try and make things work, I still live at home with my parents and I detest the slow lane job which I work at.

I wouldn't mind working a slow lane job along side my business if it was something I enjoyed and which allowed me to move out, meet women etc. I've even got a degree so feel I should be able to get something I don't hate so much but it seems the only jobs around where I live are call centre customer service jobs, just utter rubbish.

I'm losing my train of thought a little now and not sure where I'm going with this post, but the bottom line of it is that my unsuccessful business has turned me into a manic depressive with nothing to live for and I just don't know what to do anymore.

Sorry if that was a bit heavy, here is a cute kitten to lighten the mood

Learned a lot from this discussion, A1roller thank you for starting this discuss with actual example from your business. I believe many shares the same feeling with you.

 

[freelancedev]

I have an idea for a product which seems to be in demand. It is a more sturdy version of an already existing products, but due to the nature of the way these products are designed, I believe it would require a complete redesign to make it more sturdy. How can I come up with a design when I have no idea about mechanics/engineering? I can't even picture something in my head that might work but am confident it is possible.

EDIT: Just realising there is already a company doing this, just one though. Not sure whether it is worth competing. It's really difficult to come up with a unique idea that isn't being done yet!

 

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[freelancedev]

OK I actually found a supplier on alibaba selling something very similar to the one company I've seen who offers this type of solution. Not sure how I feel about this. If I was going to sell this on amazon and an ecommerce store I think I would need to check that there are no patents that I would be breaching first of all.

The company who are already selling are selling at what is quite a high price point for this item. I could under cut them at a medium price point but that seems like a dangerous game and could result in a race to the bottom. Again, not sure how I feel about this, but seems like there would be money to be made.

I could start out on amazon but there is a lot of competition of people selling cheap flimsy versions...

 

[Josh]

OK I actually found a supplier on alibaba selling something very similar to the one company I've seen who offers this type of solution. Not sure how I feel about this. If I was going to sell this on amazon and an ecommerce store I think I would need to check that there are no patents that I would be breaching first of all.

The company who are already selling are selling at what is quite a high price point for this item. I could under cut them at a medium price point but that seems like a dangerous game and could result in a race to the bottom. Again, not sure how I feel about this, but seems like there would be money to be made.

I could start out on amazon but there is a lot of competition of people selling cheap flimsy versions...

You shouldn't fear competition. If there is no competition there is no demand.

You have a background in SEO, it is the same thought process here. Conduct an analysis and decide whether or not you can rank for your intended keywords. What you are looking for is:

- Primarily FBA/Merchant sellers (hard to compete versus Amazon).
- High sales to review ratio (there is software that can scrape this data ie. JungleScout).
- Ability to add value and differentiate your product.
- Can you bundle your product with something useful?
- Can you make an improvement (can be as simple as a color change)?
- Can you source the product cheaper and outcompete other sellers on price. (Be careful not to initiate a race to the bottom and cut into everyones margins)
- Can you make your product listing more attractive than your competition. (Better copy, better images etc.)

Don't worry so much about competition. Just be better than them.