Despair

[Chuferd]

Do you mind my asking how you made it?

 

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[Chuferd]

Thats very kind of you to go to all that trouble. I really am just totally lost. My site is a joke and there is no monetizing potential in it at all. that's just it I have a bad idea and there is really no way to execute it. So I'm back at square one. What kills me is the enormity of ideas. There are so many. where to start. I see my city wasting everything. All over town is trash and going green is supposed to be the big thing right? Well I saw what I perceived to be a need. I have cancelled this site twice and each time I brought it back up because the need IS there. There is a list of materials on the materials page and I could still add at least 20 more things that are now recyclable. There are buyers worldwide on Scrapmonster.

 

[Chuferd]

Do you mind my asking how you got rich?

 

[Mike39]

Thats very kind of you to go to all that trouble. I really am just totally lost. My site is a joke and there is no monetizing potential in it at all. that's just it I have a bad idea and there is really no way to execute it. So I'm back at square one. What kills me is the enormity of ideas. There are so many. where to start. I see my city wasting everything. All over town is trash and going green is supposed to be the big thing right? Well I saw what I perceived to be a need. I have cancelled this site twice and each time I brought it back up because the need IS there. There is a list of materials on the materials page and I could still add at least 20 more things that are now recyclable. There are buyers worldwide on Scrapmonster.

If you want to be an entrepreneur you can't let any failure make you feel like your in despair, your in the business of 90% failure and 10% success, if you can't handle the heat, maybe a nice accounting job at a bank All it takes is 1 success, just ONE. That one life changing idea/business could be your next venture, but if you give up now you will never know if that could be the one. Execute, fail and try try again, eventually, with the experience you gain each time you will find the winner, its just a matter of DOING vs. DREAMING, the past is the past, learn from your mistakes and throw all the bad out the window, it's done, over, your a new man, wiser! that's just my .02. I hope you get back on the horse and take another shot at it!

 

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[PatrickP]

Do you mind my asking how you got rich?

Who are you talking to?

To give you some encouragement I was your age, I did have some money BUT I was in a job with an absolutely HORRIBLE boss. I was living in a single wide trailer in FL with no heat and no A/C. There was a hole in the floor where the mosiquitos would get in and bite us all through the night.

I started a business and here I am not yet 50 and a multimillionaire.

Have faith my friend.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Thats very kind of you to go to all that trouble. I really am just totally lost. My site is a joke and there is no monetizing potential in it at all. that's just it I have a bad idea and there is really no way to execute it. So I'm back at square one. What kills me is the enormity of ideas. There are so many. where to start. I see my city wasting everything. All over town is trash and going green is supposed to be the big thing right? Well I saw what I perceived to be a need. I have cancelled this site twice and each time I brought it back up because the need IS there. There is a list of materials on the materials page and I could still add at least 20 more things that are now recyclable. There are buyers worldwide on Scrapmonster.

Sounds to me like you are getting stuck where most of us have gotten stuck--that doesn't make you stupid or incompetent, it makes you normal. Here's some lessons that I've learned along the way, that perhaps will help you realize you aren't alone:

1. No one starts at the finish line. This is this trap that a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs fall into. My guess is that most of us have been brought up in an employee mindset, where when you show up you get paid. When you start out as an entrepreneur most often you don't get paid just for showing up. There is a gestation period for any idea that you are implementing. It takes time to develop and refine your skills. Keep in mind that when anyone starts something new, we start as beginners. This is true for business, cooking, weight training, writing, you name it. Becoming an expert in an area takes time.

2. Find a mentor, practice and take personal judgment out of the equation. The only way to shorten the curve between being a beginner and being competent is to find a mentor and to practice, ask questions and stay curious and non-judgmental about your results. Kinda like Edison and the light bulb--it took him over 1000 attempts to develop a light bulb. He didn't view his failures as a personal reflection of his competency, he learned something each time he went at it, applied when he learned from each failure and then moved forward.

3. Ask a better question. I totally get the being down on yourself and on your idea, but that line of thinking really isn't productive. Perhaps examine the situation from another angle. Ask yourself what is working and what isn't and WHY.

4. Make small changes in the direction you want to head. There is a concept called Kaizen which is all about the power of small changes. For example, when MJ created this forum, he didn't start off with a meetup and a book and mods and everything you see here. It all grew organically out of need and member feedback. At times he had some feedback from members about certain features they'd like to see on here, and he'd add it. If those features weren't being utilized, he'd prune them off, now he has a well-shaped money tree with no extra branches that are taking up time, space or energy.

5. Get clarity. There is a lot of space outside the box, and it's easy, and again probably normal, for your thinking to want to explore all that space of what's possible. When you have a framework for what kind of idea you want to grow, the enormity suddenly isn't so enormous. Back to the gardening analogy, it's like when you realize you want to take up gardening. You go into a nursery and are overwhelmed with all you see. Different plants with different heights, shapes and colors for different zones, and it's overwhelming. Granted, it can be fun to go into a nursery to become inspired or to dream of what's possible, but no actual gardening will happen in there. When you get clear on what kind of "plant" is right for you, then it becomes a hell of a lot easier to go straight in and pick up a red geranium--you don't get distracted by everything else.

6. The difference between a need as you perceive it and a monetizable need. There are lots of needs out there, but unless people are willing to pay for them they are more of a "nice to have". What we think people need and what they need are often two very different things. This is probably the hardest and easiest part of being an entrepreneur. Hard in that so many of like to be creative thru our entrepreneurial endeavors, and in order to sell to the masses, you have to get your own thoughts out of the way and give people what they want. The easy part here is that you really don't need to be creative, you just need to learn to identify a need, listen to what people want and then give it to them.

You are working on a project that involves recycling scrap material. I'm sure if you've talked to people about what you are doing they'll all agree that yes, recycling is important. Honestly, everyone is going to say that recycling is important, just like everyone is going to say that balancing their checkbook and eating healthy is important...and how many people actually do? Look around your area or online at what people are actually paying for, what is a reasonable industry for you to break into, and what skills you'll need to develop. Perhaps there is a monetizable need for recycling--maybe a place to start would be with your city? I dunno. Keep asking until you get the answers that will give you clarity as to what to do with your idea.

Hang in there, and continue to grow your skills. If you do, you will be in a different place a year from now, and you will be amazed at how far you've come.

Keep in mind that here's how the real road to success actually looks:

 

[InMotion]

If you need a brilliant idea now to get rich then im totally F***ed :smx8:. Not a single one of the millionaires I know personally had anything close to a good idea.

 

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[PatrickP]

If you need a brilliant idea now to get rich then im totally F***ed :smx8:. Not a single one of the millionaires I know personally had anything close to a good idea.

How did all those millionaires you know make their money/start their business?

 

[InMotion]

Begged, borrowed, and stole.

 

[PatrickP]

I was being serious. I was trying to think what sort of businesses a person could have which made them millionaires and yet they had nothing close to a good idea.



I am wondering if you have spoken to them about this and they said they never had a good idea or just by observing their businesses?

Thanks

 

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[InMotion]

How did all those millionaires you know make their money/start their business?

I guess it depends on what we are defining a good idea. If its any idea that gets you rich is a good idea, then I suppose, some had good ideas and I retract my statement. Perhaps none of them had anything close to "original" ideas would be better stated.

Its was always being done somewhere else was my point.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Im going to give you some sucky advice

stop trying to make a ton of money fast

get your site up.
get some traffic,
clean it up.
fix 1 damm thing at a time.
it will take a while. probably quite a while.

the money comes to those how consistently move towards a massive goal, by tiny little steps.
you build a 10M dollar company
by breaking things, F*cking up and keep going, and making 1 dollar
then another

then more.
and you get better over time. you find NEW opportunities, you find NEW pivots to more profit,
you eventually look up from this long, boring slog, through the marshes of despair, and find your self on firmer ground,
then on hard ground, and you gain speed, gain traction, and boom it speeds up,.

its like 10 years to overnight success.
you'll never make it the whole way, if you keep up the attitude. and misdirect yoru mental energy into anguish. whine for a bit, bitch about life not giving you what you want.

then stop.
just F*cking stop.

and go do 1 thing that moves you forward towards 1 sale.
and another

good luck
Z

 

[Amail]

Any update?

 

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[mayana]

Not a single one of the millionaires I know personally had anything close to a good idea.

Lol... love it.

 

[Chuferd]

I have continued to work on my site and update my blog. More better edited videos are to come.

 

[Chuferd]

I am coming to find out that this is more of an endurance race than a sprint.

 

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[Deleted5250X]

I have 3 of those same whiteboards, I use them all the time.

My take is your trying to get people to walk around and pick up cans, the people that are willing to do this aren't going to be looking for it on the internet, especially if no one does it. Where I live there are recycling centers for cans and bottles.

My advice to you is get a box of large plastic bags from walmart or costco and go where people are who have time and are looking for some extra cash. My guess is its gonna be mostly low income and street people. I'm not sure if there are still physical locations for welfare offices, but if there are post up outside with your bags and a large Sign, "Work Outdoors, Get Paid Daily". Your target is going to be people who like to hang out on the street or in parks.

Here's What You Do: They will come up to you and ask what the deal is, probably ask you if its a scam. The people who ask if its a scam, those are the people you have the highest chance of converting to collect cans, because they like the idea but have been scammed before. Your next step is to close them.

In order to close them you need to memorize a script, here's a sample.

Your going to be soliciting them, if someone ask you whats it about here's what you say.

Script:
Pull a Recycling Kit (Garbage Bag, Glove, and Fliers) out of your bag.

Them:"What's this about"

You: "This recycling kit I designed (try to make it funny so they laugh) so that you can make enough money to buy that lear jet you've been wanting (Whatever Seems Funny, but is clearly extravagant).

Them:Hmm

You:"Here take a look at this article there is Thirty Five Million Dollars (Make Sure to Emphasis this point) worth of aluminum cans we throw away each year."

(Here's where you make another Joke): "I wish I could afford to throw away the $35 million dollars, but that would only leave me with $17 million in the bank, and I wouldn't be able to afford this bicycle I road over here" (Make it work, just make it extravagant)
(Article Posted Below)

Them: lol

You: "Take that recycling Kit, get it filled up with cans and bottles, (Insert Joke Here, eg. Have your kids do it, Have your mother in law do it, have your dog do it) and bring it back here tomorrow or the day after, My Pick up times of 11-12 and 6:30-7:30 are on the flier.

Common Objection: Oh I don't have the time
How to Overcome: "Perfect, me to I'm not gonna go collect cans, I'm gonna kick back and drink an ice cold beer (insert beer, drink, or soda of choice) while I watch the NBA final, and thats whats so great about this recycling kit.

Ask: What's your favorite beer.
Them: Bud Light

You: Oh no, well I'm a coors light man, but I'm gonna let it slide just this time. (Be Funny About it)
I'll tell you what just keep the bag under the sink, or even better in your mother in laws bedroom (be funny). When your watching (insert event) and you have your feet kicked up and you finish your beer, first of all have your kid or (wife girlfriend, etc..) bring you a new Bud Light (insert there beer here) give them that empty can and have them go through it in the bag you set up in your mother in laws room.(Keep Being Funny) Now that's what I call passive income, it couldn't get any better than that.


Here's how to prep:
Take your Black Trash Bag Fold it up Real Nice so its small and compact, but clean looking, not crumpled, then take 2 plastic gloves put the plastic gloves on the bottom then your folded bag then your flier on top and rubber band them together, but make sure you use really thin rubber bands as anything thicker will ruin your flier.

Your going to need to decide on a pickup location for the cans. You can either give them an address for where you live, but my recommendation is set up a pick up location that is in a semi-busy area where you will get noticed. Choose 1 hour in the late mourning from 11AM-12 and One hour in the evening 6:30PM-7:30 PM. Tell people these are the times to drop off the recyclables.

On your flier make sure you put the price there receiving for the cans, the pickup location and time. Make sure to put a phone number on there so they can contact you with any questions. Make sure you get the flier made and get out there, don't spend more than an hour making it, it needs to be real simple. Write the prices on a napkin if you need to it doesn't matter. My suggestion is decide on a price per filled up bag, or a price per can/bottle, don't do weight as it makes people seem like they have to get a lot more to get any money. My Suggestion is "Bring this Bag Back Full of Can's and Bottles and I'll buy it off you for $5" (or however much you decide)

Print this article out at the bottom and bring it with you, if you don't want to do more than one copy, just put it in a plastic sheet, so that you can hand it to people while your chatting them up. Make sure the Title stands Out, Print it in Black and White and then Highlight the Title.
Also Highlight 2 lines below

“There is a robust market for returned glass. We are hungry for all the cullet we can get.”
“It’s $35 million worth of metal”
" They have glass recovery rates of 64 percent versus states without bottle return requirements, such as Indiana, which tend to average about 12 percent, according to the Container Recycling Institute."

Indiana Recycling Coalition - Home

You can go door to door with this script with these tools, knock on doors, talk to every single person who will listen. I think the first step is you need to get out there and you'll learn from questions people have, what information you'll really need to put on your website, I'd say the website comes later, in my neighborhood recycling companies are dropping off fliers and knocking on doors every week, and I'm in california where everyone recycles, I pay for my recyclables to get picked up on a weekly basis.

Hope this is some help.

 

[EastWind]

I have continued to work on my site and update my blog. More better edited videos are to come.

How are you going to monetize your website?

 

[Chuferd]

How are you going to monetize your website?

I plan on opening a yard that accepts the items on my materials page. I am currently lining up buyers for the materials I will collect. So the website is not the monitizable asset.

 

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[Chuferd]

I understand completely. I've been trying to hit homers without ever getting a single. Thank you very much. Over the last month since writing on here that I was in despair, I have concentrated on just bringing in a little extra cash at a time. I dug up almost 400 extra bucks just off craigslist ventures, selling pallets, and scrap metal.

 

[Chuferd]

I think I have isolated the problem. Absolutely no one I know wants to be rich. They are all fully content to sell their minds and bodies for the weekend. I can honestly say that I am on an island and my enthusiasm is met always with jeers. I keep saying to people that the reason the rich are rich is because everyone else thinks it's impossible or they are content with working. I am not trying to get to a place where I don't work. I don't even want to be rich for the show of it, all I want is the security so I can pursue some worthwhile causes as my work.

 

[coffeerefill]

Well, since everyone else is content with the slowlane thing (no big deal, their choice) that leaves you and us here at FFL to be the circle of folks who have like-minded goals.

And I just want to say congrats for taking some action and making changes. I know it's not easy when your mind is screaming the opposite of what you want.

 

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[miked_d]

I looked at your first post where you said 42 was too old. I am 41 and just getting (re)started. I felt like that was a challenge!

Suggestion - focus on one type of recyclable that you already have a buyer for. Looks like you made some money off pallets. Continue that. Become the "pallet guy".

 

[GlobalWealth]

its like 10 years to overnight success.

awesome. speed+++

 

[GlobalWealth]

I think I have isolated the problem. Absolutely no one I know wants to be rich.

Fantastic. You have identifies one of your problems. We all suffer this at some point in our lives. There have been some interesting discussions on this forum about this topic specifically.

It is quite interesting to read them as the ones that always seem to defend their 'friend circle' and are unwilling to upgrade are the ones that perpetually complain about a lack of success.

Surrounding yourself with success-minded, driven, positive people is imperative. A rising tide lifts all ships.

Now what will you do to upgrade YOUR friend circle?

 

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[Enki]

lol,

I come along a year later after OP here. And I run the same woe is me bullshit and wonder why I feel like everyone attacked me (Hindsight I see there were no attacks just my warped filters). The difference this in my mindset since joining this forum is almost tangible.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I come along a year later after OP here. And I run the same woe is me bullshit and wonder why I feel like everyone attacked me

I think I remember your intro ... you really come a long way since then.

 

[randomnumber314]

1) Search the term "ASAP"on your local Craigslist for anything less than $100. This will turn up folks desperate for money, or sick of listing their stuff. When reviewing the ad, make sure they're trying to sell ASAP, and they sound desperate.

Your attitude is toast - you need a win.

Here's some easy marching orders that will get you a win.

1) Search the term "ASAP"on your local Craigslist for anything less than $100. This will turn up folks desperate for money, or sick of listing their stuff. When reviewing the ad, make sure they're trying to sell ASAP, and they sound desperate.
...

Dude, this isn't a fast lane most likely, but holy crap is this a gold nugget. I will probably start doing this, too, on the side just for some lunch $$.

 

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[Enki]

Dude, this isn't a fast lane most likely, but holy crap is this a gold nugget. I will probably start doing this, too, on the side just for some lunch $$

Remember you will get told to "F*** Off" most of the time. You have to pick up the phone over and over again. It takes persistence.... I made 70 calls before I got someone to accept my offer.

 

[Young-Gun]

Can I make a gentle suggestion?

I believe you are being too introverted in your attempt to create a profitable business.

I'm an introvert myself. Prone to self-doubt and running through a million hypotheticals (some good, some bad.) I could see you doing the same things in your posts.

And the final thing, I notice a lot of "scatteredness" in your approaches and writing style. Maybe I see that because I'm ADD.

What helps most to beat all of this at once, I think, is get out there and ask people questions.

Ask many people many short, pointed questions.

Example - stand a bit outside a busy cafe on a nice Sunday day. Ask 30 couples what sort of annoyance (they will say "YOU" but push past it, plan to make a joke about it and really GET THEM to think of something that's not been perfect about their romantic day out) they've encountered this morning and take notes. If you get chased off by security, if you annoy a few people, so be it. Go somewhere else at that point and repeat.

I have no idea what those couples would say to you, but I bet within half a day you have 2-3 possible ideas for a cheap product or service you could offer.

There's always the classic: DOG-WALKING business. Main expense is just insurance. Training is pretty effing easy.

All I'm saying is, no need to reinvent the wheel on your first success. Do something that other people have already proven.

If you want to get innovative on your second business, you'll have the time and money to do so.

You have plenty of time. I'm constantly angry at my dad (66 years old) sitting around, he's been complaining for eight years that he's so busy yet I never see anything he's actually doing besides puttering around and doing the most basic of home tasks and life tasks!

Even if you're not great at it, 8 years is more than enough time to learn a niche and build a profitable small or medium business in it. IF YOU HUSTLE EVERY DAY.

It's not about how much time we have LEFT. It's about how much we're doing every DAY!

MAN the more I write to you the more I'm mad at you! You've got half your freaking life left! By the time you're my dad's age you could be the CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation! HUSTLE!

It's not some QUALITY you lack. None of us are special! Who will HUSTLE the most?????