Joined FL in late 2007 w/10K+ in CC Debt. Now biz averages 170K/month. AMAA

[TropicalGuy]

Biz averages 170K/month, started in late '07 with 10K+ in CC Debt. AMAA

Hey all, I was re-reading MJ's book this morning because I'm trying to write one of my own (pro tip: don't re-read MJ's book if you want to write one of your own… it'll be tough to match it…) so in a fit of procrastination I came over the the forum and decided I'd see if I can help anyone here.

So, you might be wondering what my business does. We do a lot of stuff. Here's some examples:

• We make portable bars. (Check out one we made for Adam Carolla).
• We make cat furniture.
• We podcast about it / We blog about it.
• Handful of other niche sites that sell various products / services / and some custom manufacturing.

Now we have 15 employees and I've been basically a full time digital nomad since 2009. (I have a 50/50 business partner, @AnythingIan… he thinks I'm working on a book right now

So a few things about my story:

• I didn't go to a fancy school. (Almost failed out of high school, went to Clemson in South Carolina because it was warm and they let me in).
• I didn't have any money. My dad works in a furniture shop and my mom is a secretary. We got student loans so I could go to college.
• Nobody in my family has any money.

But I knew I wanted to be rich and have personal freedom. So some strategies that worked for me (and these are very broad and long term strategies), YMMV.

• (this was an accident) Get a job working for a small business entrepreneur. Most people who hate their jobs work them and then come home and try to side hustle. This is a sub par strategy because most of your best energy is being spent in the slow lane trajectory. Better to find a job that teaches you fast lane skills and builds fast lane relationships. Many of the relationships I built in that small biz job I still have today, and my old boss became my first investor. Ever hear the adage your employer is your first client? It's true. Live it. Another thing to consider: if you can't evolve and build your job to give you more freedom, money, control etc, GET OUT and use it as a litmus test for your ability to change organizations. If you can't do it in the framework of somebody else's company, it could be even more difficult to do it on your own. Rambling now…
• Get good at building relationships with people who are powerful. The art of seduction and the art of power are good books here. YOU CAN NEVER BE NEEDY. That's tough when you've got needs You must build a compelling expertise that inspires curiosity in powerful people. Have your own personal black box. Something that when rich powerful people meet you, they are like "that person is on to something." You must also believe that you are on to something, because when you meet those powerful people you'll be giving them stuff and not asking for anything.
• Learn to lead. Leading means deciding what to do and asking others to join you. Do often. Rinse. Repeat.
• Get ready for a total life transformation. I've never met a hyper successful entrepreneur who didn't spent the majority of their best energy thinking about biz-related projects and information. This isn't a side gig, this is the main event. If you aren't prepared for that, probably best to try to maximize your savings, get a fun hobby, and hang with your bros. Speaking of which…
• Ditch your bros. Or whoever in your life is holding you back. MINDSET and RELATIONSHIPS are everything. They will evolve fast if you do, so be prepared to have a whole new set of friends when this transition is over. I'm sure you've heard-- you are the average of your 5 closest friends? If you find yourself in a situation where you are lecturing everyone in your life about the benefits of entrepreneurship, you are in the wrong room.
• Work with what you have--expertise is everything. I own a manufacturing company because I spent my teenage years working in factories, then college years working in warehouses, which got me a job working with a small manufacturing company. I didn't decide to start some "web app" on the side, I went with what I knew because I couldn't afford (at the beginning) to do anything else.
• Read more books than anyone you know. Simple strategies like this work well for me. I didn't have money. I didn't have a powerful family or any successful friends, so I READ THE SHIT out of some books. BOOKS are FASTLANE. Also podcasts helped me a lot too, that's why I started one.

Ok, I'll stop ranting. If you think I can help you ask a question and I'll give you my answers! Best of luck in your entrepreneurial journey.

Final message: 5 years ago I was broke, desperate for more freedom, and felt bad when I had to ask my boss to let me leave the office to get a dentist appointment. I said F*ck that, dedicated every moment in my life since then to fixing the situation and now I can be anywhere, make way more money than a freakin' dentist, and get to do what I want. Like hanging out in this forum trying to light a fire under your a$$. My life isn't perfect, but it sure is fun.

Ask me almost anything!

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Great post buddy!

Quick question, are your businesses all online ?? I mean, do you run e-eCommerces or do you run offline businesses and just have a few sites?

If you do run online businesses then, maybe you can share how you take a site from A to Z (especially the Z part - generating traffic that converts).

Thank you kindly.

Cheers.

First thing first: if you don't have a phone number on your website, you are leaving it on the table.

Not only because the phone is the best way to convert sales, but outside of in-person meet-ups, it's the best way to get to know your market.

That's all to say I don't make much of the distinction between online and offline. If I owned a laundromat, for example, I'd have a kick a$$ website for it! (I'd also serve cocktails, but that's another story).

I might frame it up as selling bits vs. selling atoms.

Also, while I'm on a roll: a "market" shouldn't be confused with a demographic. "Cat owners" are a demographic. They aren't my market. "People who buy cat furniture" are a market. I know it seems academic, but the distinction can prove useful. As a marketer, you aren't seeking to reach certain demographics, you are seeking to reach certain cash-flows.

Ok... so traffic. I actually don't frame it up that way. "Traffic" is a word I only use in the framework of online opportunities (buy traffic volcano!) or vanity (my personal blog receives 24,000 unique visitors a month-- what does that mean? jack shit!)

Strategically, and as a business owner, I'm seeking "leads." Where is my market? How can I reach them? How much is it worth to me to get somebody on x mailing list? What is the potential lifetime value of a customer? How much am I willing to spend to get somebody to buy? What are the best types of customers? Should we ask for phone numbers on that opt-in so we can follow up on the phone? Should we throw a meet-up so we can get our leads in a room? Should we go to a conference?

Tactically-- we've done it all-- remarketing, PPC (full time consultant monitoring ads), SEO, blogging, podcasting, conferences, cold calling, direct snail mail, ya know...

Anyway, that's just to say 'traffic' doesn't mean much. I own a membership site with over 500 members and it wasn't an issue of "traffic." I developed relationships with those people by Skyping with them, helping them, calling them, and traveling to meet them, both 1:1 and at conferences.

PHEW. What's the answer? How do you get traffic?

You don't. You get customers.

....

/RANT OVER

....

So, if you want to get traffic....

Find out what articles are viral or popular in your marketplace and write another article that "piggybacks" them.

It's really easy to siphon traffic off of already popular stuff. "Sell what they are buying." If everybody on the webz wants to talk about "x," write about x. They sure as hell don't want to hear about your product!

In the parking industry, way back in the day, we created an online directory from them to list their companies. Nobody wanted to hear about our cool products, but they sure as hell wanted to hear about how they could get more biz. That got us in the door and developing relationships. 3 years later and a few handfuls of those people spend 5 figures annually with us.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

This was our first product.

It was also our first mistake: we thought this shit was a clever idea.

Clever ideas are for rich dudes with too much spare time. This product is funky and more importantly, DOES NOT SOLVE A PROBLEM.

Here's a product that is the same price that sells 3-4X as many units: Buy Modern Cat Litter Box Hiders at Modern Cat Designs

This product solve a problem that our target market was having, thus we can get more profit and more sales.

So first mistake is make products that solve problems.

Second is make sure your partnerships are "planned for success." So many small businesses get jacked up out of the gate due to bad partnerships. We get poor cues from watching the start-up scene-- like "i'll give my tech guy 20% and so on."

Small biz is going to war, so don't partner with somebody who's not your brother. At the beginning I have 33% of the co away for money. This was a terrible decision. I never considered what it might feel like to write 33% check for somebody who did nothing. So my friend calls this "failing to plan for success." A lot of ppl say stuff like... yeah I'll get this site running and make an extra 4K a month. Really? Pull together a spreadsheet and 'plan for success.' At 4K income, do you have an accountant? Do you have a CSR? What's your rent? What about insurance? inventory? And so on.... If you've got a 33% partner who has built you software or wrote a check 3 years ago while you are slogging away at the phones, you will either 1) hate that guy or 2) want to stop working. You'll want the opposite-- somebody who is 100% focused and continually motivating you the whole time.

FINAL MISTAKE: not getting into high quality and intimate mastermind settings ASAP. These groups are like rocket-fuel for small businesses.

Great insight, thanks for sharing!


What was your first product?

How did you decide on that product?

What were the top 3 mistakes that you made on your journey, that you learned the most from?

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Cheers! We try to compete to have the most expensive price in every market!! We are always really worried about margin pressure. We seek small niche markets and always want to be the premium supplier. We are too small to compete on price. We will not get into a market if our GROSS margins will not average 50% (EDIT: 50% would be the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM WE'D ACCEPT... I'd suggest aiming for your landed cost to be at least 25% of your retail price), especially for anything sub $300USD) Just a rule of thumb. Most of the times our margins are much better.

We have the best price by trying to have the best products-- we do that by talking to our customers more, having excellent customer service (and mining our leads for their needs) and building in solutions to their problems into our products. We love value adds that don't cost us a lot of money, like our custom signage and LED process for our portable bars brings a ton of value to our clients but doesn't cost us a ton to execute.

Nice thread!
What are the profit margins for you china made products? Do you try to compete on price or do you try to build premium products/brands which you sell at premium prices? If so how do you do it?

Thanks

 

[TropicalGuy]

Thanks for joining us

Do you mind sharing your favorite books with us?

Thanks and have a great time over here!

Cheers. Here's a short list and a link to a blog post with a crap ton of others. I'm working on compiling them all by the end of January into a master list sort of like Derek Sivers did.

1. The 4 Hour Work Week
2. Getting Things Done
3. How to Get Rich
4. Maverick
5. The Art of Seduction
6. Good to Great
7. The Ultimate Sales Machine
8. Getting Real
9. The No BS Guide to Direct Marketing
10. Purple Cow
11. Dreaming in Code
12. The 80/20 Principle
13. Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
14. The Power of Habit : Why We Do What We Do In Life and in Business

What Kind of Person Reads 14 Books a Month? (Link to my blog).

 

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[TropicalGuy]

I mentioned some above, here's a counter intuitive answer: I should have made more mistakes. I f-up all the time. I'm willing to put my ideas out there and push them to a fail point. Most of the products we've launched have failed. Don't get attached to your business conception!

Other stuff:

-Should have hired an accountant earlier.
-Should have focused on having clear processes in place earlier, especially when hiring people.
-Don't hire people to build your business, hire people to run your business.

Thanks a lot!

Can you tell us some of your biggest mistakes on your way to success?

Much appreciated, thank you

 

[TropicalGuy]

I work so intensly sometimes... that my brain just feels CLOGGED. I can no longer concentrate and need to take an hour long nap to get back into the groove of things. This slows down things and ruins my sleep schedule... but if I want to get any solid work done I need the nap.

Give your "im not a doctor" disclaimer if you want, but I know you're personally interested in 'smart drugs.' wondering if you take anything or reccomend anything for concentration.

Great question. I can preface this by saying I've been seeking a push-button cure for years! I even went to a Psychiatrist one time to try and get a prescription for Adderall (failed!).

So far, aside from the :ahem: hard stuff, Modafinil is the best 'push button' solution I've found.

If you are well rested, and take 200MG of the modaf, when you've got a clear idea of what you've got to do, it can keep you off distracting websites for a few hours while you focus in on your task. It doesn't tweak you out or feel "druggy" like Adderall or similar stimulants.

BUT let me say this.... reluctantly... the normal difficult stuff works better than any drug.

Here's a list of stuff that works better than Modafinil:

*not eating carbs, sugars, or other crap (+ not drinking). 80/20, this is the fastest and easiest way to get more working hours IMO.
*taking naps! - you nailed it, I do it too, almost everyday.
*15 minute workouts. not enough to exhaust you, but get the brain back in shape quick.
*not doing shit you hate to do. try to build your biz around what you love to do if possible.
*keeping in mind that returns on productivity tweaks are linear, whereas mindset tweaks can be exponential. one guy takes a bunch of pills and coffee and works for 14 hours. I read a book and implement a strategy that rethinks our biz before I fall asleep. Who wins?

... i know what you are going to say....




the guy who does both.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Hmm... that's a tough one. IF you don't have expertise here, your best bet is to leverage somebody else's. In other words, you'll want to white label or re-position an already great product for a new market (or put a new logo on something sweet and sell it into a new market). For example I met a guy the other day swimming in new loot he made from taking a successful supplement product and putting it in spanish language packaging. (He doesn't even speak Spanish!).

Once you've got your product selected, the best bet is to have an agent in China doing Q/C for you. We pay our sourcing office 5% of total invoice for the services. The market rate is 5-15% of total FOB invoice.

Also another question. If you are importing HIGH quality products how do you make sure that your products are really made out of high quality? Especially if you are not an expert at manufacturing. It seems like ether you need a lot of money and pay professionals in china to make sure everything is fine or you need to be an expert yourself.
As an example i do know how to import stuff from china so i could import cat products but only products that are already made. How could i go about creating a premium cat product brand like you did? Assumed you don't have any knowledge in product design and manufacturing overall. Can this be done, even without flying to china? Could you just tell a manufacturer to build a hole new product for you and making sure it's high quality without risking a lot of money?

Would be cool if you could give us some information about it. Because importing and selling cheap/unbranded stuff is easy but building a new brand with high quality products seems to be very hard without any education in the industry.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Okay ... so you are a successful entrepreneur living Bali Indonesia.

I'd love to know more about the English-Speaking community where you live. Who are they? Why are they there? Where do they come from? Fastlaners ... Slowlaners ... Hippees ... Retirees ... ? Do you live in a predominantly English speaking community (sort of like a reverse Chinatown)? How did you decide where in Indonesia to live? And who (from the Western Hemisphere) do you see most actively trying to market its goods and services to your demographic?

Give as a window into your world (if you don't mind) ... curious.

Sure!-- this is one of my favorite topics. So before I begin, I should probably mention that if you want to get 30+ minutes of info on this topic (and that's just the start!), you can check out this podcast and blog post:

TMBA20 – What Is the Best Place in Southeast Asia for Internet Entrepreneurs?
Why I am Living in Bali, Indonesia

I've also attached some photos onto this post that are sort of taken from everyday life here in Bali. (On one pic you can see my business partner @AnythingIan hanging out with @TommySchultz). The photos are from just around my house (minus the Starbucks shot) and are of representative of what it might look like in a neighborhood that I live in (you can Google "Seminyak"). The Starbucks / temple juxtaposition is particularly apt when talking Bali.

Southern Bali is an extremely cosmopolitan place-- much more so than many of the places I've lived in the US. There are people from all around the world living and traveling here. Everyone in the heavily traveled areas speaks English. Lots of the expats are internet entrepreneurs, adventurers, or people who have one way or another "made it" or retired.

It was expats, just as much as the excitement of the countries and travel, that have drawn me to this lifestyle. Expats are a rare breed-- part adventurers, dreamers, and often entrepreneurial (outside of folks with multi-national corporate gigs in city centers, they have to be entrepreneurs... jobs aren't an option).

There's also the issue of access. If you live in Bali and have an income of, say 40K a year, you'd have a villa, a maid, a gardener, maybe even a driver. You could go out to eat every meal, and travel often. For example, I'm staying in a luxury hotel in Jakarta right now for 50 bucks a night. My plane ticket here cost $60 bucks. Check out the photo I attached of a lunch I had at a sheeshy beach club overlooking the ocean with a huge infinity pool just a 5 minute walk from my house... cost me 8$ for that fancy chicken and I got to watch the waves as I ate it.

Before I wrote this post, I was on Google chat with a friend who I'm meeting up with on an island in the Philippines in a few weeks to hang and talk business. Once we made the arrangements, I sent an email to 3-4 other friends and told them about it. The chances they'll come join us are very high (This is part of what I love about the lifestyle... back home, getting people to do anything feels like pulling teeth). Some of these guys are ballers, but some just have solid businesses making a good living... but here in SEAsia, they live lifestyles reserved for folks making BIG bucks in the US-- access to industry leaders and government, travel, staff, travel, free time, etc.

I've found that even in the entrepreneurial class in the US you don't see that kind of mobility and adventure and "hang out" culture and I always miss it when I'm home visiting my parents and friends.

Anyway, I can elaborate on specifics if you like.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Hi Dan a simple but question but would be something really beneficial to me.
If you could visit your 16 year old self and give him 5 pieces of advice that you considered to be conducive to becoming a better entrepreneur/ fastlaner what would they be ?

Hey Hassan... that's a tough one! Here's a shot at it:

The biggest thing I'd want to impress on little-Dan would be on the issue of social pressure. I suffered from massive amounts of well-meaning social pressure. Example: I would take career advice from "uncle" type figures who had worked for 30-40 years at jobs they just tolerated. These uncles were running low on their retirment savings and basically getting by on social security. Despite their dismal situation, they still saw themselves in a good spot to be doling out career advice.

Most people, probably to no fault of their own, are probably using you in a complex game of ego validation rather than giving out advice that would empower your truest inclincations. In short: don't take advice from people who aren't in the position you want to be in (or who have some insight into that position, as many authors do).

This is related to my second point: I would have sent Dan a copy of Derek Sivers' article about speed limits. There are a lot of things I wanted to do when I was 16 that I didn't because I acccepted that I wasn't "ready" yet. Again-- a bunch of adults were trying to make their lives easier by telling me to relax. Giving advice feels good. It makes you feel in control. Always ask yourself why is this guy giving me advice? What are his true motivations?

Because of all this "advice" I was firmly of the belief that I couldn't do anything "real" until I graduated college. 8 years later. Absurd. Even when I graduated college and got a job in a business, I was still looking for people to validate my dreams and inclincations. I had submitted to all the good advice and had been trained to follow the posted speed limits.

I'm confident that I had been hanging around people who had done "real" stuff with their own lives I would not have received such guidence, but I instead allowed myself to be subjected to high school teachers, guidence councelors, and careerists who thought they had a firm idea of how reality worked.

Thirdly, I would have told Dan that he's right about the book thing-- they are awesome-- and that they will be his ticket out of central Pennsylvania. He should try and read more of them.

Fourth, I'd tell Dan that his student loans can be differed or managed to the point where mowing a few lawns every week will pay the minimum amounts (so don't get a full time job to pay them!). Aside from that I'd stress the importance that he never use a credit card or take on debt for anything except for investments in business (and only then with great caution, buting asssets like a cash flow business, an important domain-- not opportunities, staff, or other BS). NO DEBT.

Finally, I'd tell him to buy a domain called "Facebook.com" and track down this guy Zuckerburg.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Hey! Thanks for the question.

9 times out of 10 the desire to get things "perfect" has nothing to do with the marketplace-- it's emotional resistance. You'll need to know if your current mental challenge is because of your own fear or because you're the next Steve Jobs demanding perfectly rounded iPhone corners or whatever.

I'm a big fan of READY. FIRE. AIM.

Entrepreneurs have conversations with marketplaces. They ship and iterate. They get the market's support in the form of feedback and cash flow, and use those resources to become better.

My sense is that a lot of people who have hung around me would have felt uncomfortable with how fast I put stuff out. They think I'm being crazy, or irresponsible, or uncouth or similar.

An interesting story came back to me the other day-- a friend from a past life happened to visit one of my first employers. One of the top paid sales people who works there asked about me.... what's Dan up to? My friend bother explaining saying a throwaway "he's living in Bali doing internet stuff..." but her response was interesting (and obviously this is paraphrased).

Yeah... Dan was an interesting guy. He was always having these ideas and just doing them... like his whole idea about ecommerce... he just threw up the website before we were even ready!!!

Apparently she thought this was a bad thing.

Apparently, she still has a job.

I noticed one of the books on your recommended reading list was "How to Get Rich" (Felix Dennis). I've read that book (and most others on your list) but I would like to ask you about that one, as its lessons have been both a blessing and a curse.

One of the key concepts that stands out (in my mind) when I think of that book is the emphasis Felix places on the speed and effectiveness of an idea's execution.

As you will recall, Felix notes that the fortunes are rarely made by those who create a concept ... but (rather) by those who act quickly and efficiently to roll out a better product. He emphasizes the importance of speed and efficiency mindful that the competition will take measures to counter or imitate your success. He argues, in essence, to saturate the market quickly before the competition has time to react. He then (of course) goes on to review numerous examples of this concept in action.

One one hand, I have heard time and again of the importance of taking action NOW ... and then adapt to challenges later. Picture a little devil on my left shoulder speaking this "act now" mantra into my ear.

On my right shoulder, however, a little angel (Felix) is telling me the opposite: "Forget taking action now. Get everything perfect first. Speed and Execution is far more important in the big-picture than taking action too slow or too soon."

My gut tells me Alex is right ... but waiting until everything is "perfect" has its risks too -- delay to market and failure to launch.

So what do you think ...? How have you striken a balance? I covet your thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[TropicalGuy]

Hey ! Yes, I think you should get a job with a successful entrepreneur. MAKE SOMEBODY ELSE RICH. That's what entrepreneurship is all about. Serving others. Once you do that for one person (or for 5, or 10, or 100) you'll have your ticket. Coding is great but it'll take years to develop. Same thing with entrepreneurship.

I call working for entrepreneurs "training at altitude." Flipping products on eBay for 3 years on your own would teach you what working for somebody like me or MJ would teach you in 3 months. So don't be shy to get a job and work hard for a few years.

Caveat: I wouldn't just get any job. Here's the approach I'd take: TEDxCMU -- Charlie Hoehn -- The New Way to Work - YouTube

Hey Dan, do you have any tips for an aspiring 19 year old entrepreneur that has little money in his bank account (about $120.00), and no college education? I want a better life for myself, I've worked 3 jobs that I've worked hard at. I just found out that I don't like the fact that I'm making somebody else rich, while I can do the same thing for myself at a young age. I've read MJ's book and it really motivated me to get my a$$ up and do something. So I started learning to code a few months ago, but I'm kind of thinking it's not fastlane enough. And that a business could possible be the way to go. But with little resources, and little cash, I have no idea where to start, and what niche to pick.

My parents are definitely NOT wealthy. I was thinking of reselling products on eBay, but eBay is already heavily saturated. I'd appreciate some feedback from ANYONE at this point. I WAS interested in the SFM marketing system with Stuart Ross, but I don't believe Affiliate Marketing is fastlane enough for me. Thank you in advance for any responses.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Speaking of books getting you ahead in life, WOW this one is amazing:

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Hey Jason I actually struggled with this at the beginning too, like how on earth do people pull this stuff out of their asses? Ian my biz partner is one of those guys who goes to the gas station and has 10 ideas on products that would improve it.

5 years later I do the same thing, I think it's a muscle somewhere-- but what I've learned is this: do what you are already doing. What are you already buying and using? Can you copy and improve it? Distribute it to a new market? Who doesn't know about it? And so on...

It's tough to dream up a product out of the blue and get it to market. Instead get a job working for a small product firm where that type of behavior is normal.

Are you currently buying any online services? SEO copywriting? Does it solve all of your problems?

Does my podcast solve all of your problems? Isn't there something it's not doing that the world would find useful?

How about this forum?

And so on....

Look at what is already in your hands and uplevel.

Thanks for this thread. I actually listen to your prodcast, and you guys know your stuff. Thanks for doing this!

The only question I have for you, is how do you find the ideas for your products? That's something I seem to struggle with.

 

[TK1]

I agree.

That's a mistake MANY new businesses make.

Their first homepage is a page that doesn't answer in a few seconds what the site is offering, so the user has to click through the navigation to find out more.

Then there is some page like the one TropicalGuy mentioned that answers all the customer has to know.

Your first home page has to answer all the most important questions for the visitor WITHOUT having to click through etc. The more time passes by that makes your visitor think, the higher the rate of people leaving your site. You have to visit a site and think "Oh, nice, I need that!". Build your site the way your perfect customer understands directly what your offer is, what seperates you from the competition and make it easy and fast for them to buy. Less is more.

Right now your site needs WAY too much thinking, clicking, browsing searching. I would delete like 50% of all the content on it.

- the navigation has way too many options for the beginning - all those strange names when you have the mouse over the menu "gallery". The menu gallery has SEVEN links to other pages. Which potential customer is going to browse through 7 sites and buy?

- I would change the name "gallery" into "SHOP OUR PRODUCTS" or just "Browse", "Buy Art" etc.

- the "product" site needs to be your first basic homepage site. This site has to give every site visitor the feeling "Oh nice, that's what this is about".

- the SIZES menu and site is nice, I like this. Good job! (I would personally have this page linked in my left sticky social media buttons menu and call it something like "How big is my product" Sticky social media buttons menu?? Read the next..)

- Add a sticky social media button menu - visit for example TropicalGuy's website and see the left menu to share his blog posts: Episode #136

- think in general about sticky menus: Sticky Menus Are Quicker To Navigate | Smashing UX Design

- the opt-in form for users to enter there e-mail adress looks ugly and like it's out of place. I would have an opt-in form in a hello bar, maybe think about using a footer sticky bar: Web Toolbar - Get More Clicks with the Hello Bar Notification Bar

- your footer looks not finished, because a footer like this should be completely filled with links etc. to look 100% professional. I would either drop the footer or fill it up by the time with all important pages.

- drop the twitter box 'latest tweets' - or put it into the footer (I would drop it, I think people who buy art for hundreds and thousands care more about professional stylish look and feel than your latest tweets).

- the long, long copy text on your main page looks ugly formated. I don't think anybody will read it really...
very important: don't write a long text etc. describing all your benefits etc. BUT list them with checkmarks like this one: http://www.aspenheating.ca/images/benefits-list.jpg

- use a coupon like this one: http://www.canvasartdesigns.com/skin1/images/BF2012v4.jpg

- think about your most important claim you make and put it right on the top of your page next to your logo etc. See like zappos does it: Shoes, Clothing, and More | Zappos.com "FREE SHIPPING AND FREE RETURNS - 365 days a year"

- overall your website needs to motivate me to browse all your art right after I am on your site, I buy because of look and feel. You need to communicate more with pictures than text, because your customers are design interested - take a look how apple does it.

PS: Read the book "Don't make me think" by Steve Krug

PPS: How I would do a site like this.
#1 TOP - Sticky navigation bar with 3-5 menus - only like "Shop Art" "Questions? Contact us?", cart-my account and search form.
#2 main content page = all your products
#3 FOOTER - sticky navigation bar with "About" "FAQ" and opt-in form to get user e-mails.
#4 LEFT sticky menu with social icons.

List of sites I like and would learn from in your business field:

Box - Signs | Shop DapperFrog.com
Poster, Kunstdrucke und Leinwandbilder bestellen bei ARTFLAKES. Rechnungskauf, schnelle Lieferung und Zufriedenheitsgarantie. - ARTFLAKES.COM (my favorite one)
Wall Art | Canvas Art | Posters, Panoramic Photos | Great Big Canvas
EUROGRAPHICS - The World of Pictures: Home (one of the biggest art dealers in germany, you can find their products in every home improvement store in the country)
Canvas Wall Art & Canvas Prints - iCanvasART.com

Good luck mate, I hope you will be a success story over here

Yo Mark looks slick... I'll assume this is a new business?

This website looks like the landing page of a biz that has "made it" and decided to go out and get a website.

At first I didn't scroll down and I was confused as to what you guys did. Then I went down and managed to put it together. Your guarantee is the info that jumps out to me the most... instead I'd look for a headline that pulls in your ideal client.

I'm much more of a direct response guy when trying to get traction with new products. Are you familiar with Dan Kennedy? His "NO BS Guide to Direct Marketing" is the shiz.

Check out this website: DropDeadCopy.com

Very different biz, but in less than 3 seconds you can pretty much figure out exactly what he does.

I think you can do the same and still keep the sweet-looking design.

I actually like the apporach you are taking here: Canvas Art Print much better for your front page. If you led in with the key value proposition (or the key question in your prospects head)... I'm not sure what that is:

Looking for high quality artwork for your home that won't break the bank?
Pixel prints uses state-of-the-art matte printer widgets to print your art on real canvases.
AND we ship everything in 24 hours and guarantee everything. If you don't like it, send it back.

::: off and running with sweet looking iPad-esque long form sales page with alternating photos of product:::

Balla!

 

[TropicalGuy]

This is good stuff here.

When starting out, how important do you feel having a good looking website is?
Do you recommend throwing a site up, and sorting out the details w/ time...or would you start w/ a hired designer etc...?

With very rare exceptions-- for example an iOS application (a product who's value proposition is inseparable from it's UX) just toss it up.

Your value proposition is way more important. ALL of our sites looked like crap when we first started (try Archive.com if you want to have some fun!). If you start to make some loot, that's when you can invest in optimizations. 80% of the game is getting right value proposition in front of the right people.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

I've noticed that most of your products seem pretty large so I was wondering how you deal with logistics for your target market? Do you have enough product produced to fill a container and then have it shipped to the U.S? Do you have a warehouse and employees in the states to handle incoming products and outgoing orders?

We have a sub-leased warehouse in Temecula, CA. We import 40' containers through LA then truck down to the warehouse. Right now we have 3 guys in the warehouse, but we started with 1 guy (for whom it was a part time job), a $500/mo space in somebody else's glorified garage, and putting our goods Less than Container (LCL) containers. So we basically did everything as cheap as humanly possible and asked for a lot of favors along the way. IF you have small products and want to use our space for a few months, my guys like to work overtime, so maybe there is something that can be worked out during your boostrap phase. No guarantees, but potentially could work. We work with some T-shirt guys that use our space in the evenings. My email is Dan@TropicalMBA.com

I've half-assed attempted to import products to the U.S but doing it while working a hellacious schedule in Afghanistan was nothing but a logistical money wasting nightmare. I'm curious to know how you've set this all up.

Did you start with small items by air or did you go "all in" from the start?

Do you ever target the local economy that you're living in?

Half-assed is tough man! Gotta find a way to get your time back if possible. I would start with Air if you can! We started with LCL, and my mantra (since I mostly live in Developing countries) is NEVER do local business Most of our customers are in the US, although we do ship our bars worldwide.


Thanks!

 

[TropicalGuy]

Cheers I saw your last thread looks like you are on the right track.

Couple ideas-- this party doesn't exist. You need to throw it. A good structure is 3-7 people, with a clear game plan. e.g. weekly phone call, 1 hour, 1 person on hot seat every week, once a month invite a guest, must show up, must be honest, non-compete, etc.

You'll need to go out and hustle up your attendees. You are going to want people who have similar types of businesses and can compliment each other. You'll want to have people apply. A lot of people want this, and leaders are scarce, so I bet if you start one you'd get ppl. to apply.

I'd actually start right here in FL Forum.

"My Name is Easy "The Money" Street And I'm Starting a Private Mastermind Phone Call

I'd love if 3-4 FL forum members would meet with me every Wednesday night to talk business. Here's the requirements...

Please PM with your details.

Voila!

Thank you for posting your story. Very awesome to read! Your life sounds like what I'm working for. You are spot on about books. Even a 1% profit increase gleamed from a book translates to big money as the scale grows. I think your amazon purchase history is definitely correlated to your success in life.



I've done my best to design my business for success. Do you have any recommendations for groups or clubs to join for this kind of mastermind setting or where do you find them? I've always believed in the value of surrounding yourself with people smarter than you are, but finding these people, with a fastlane mindset, is a challenge.

 

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[100k]

Also another question. If you are importing HIGH quality products how do you make sure that your products are really made out of high quality? Especially if you are not an expert at manufacturing. It seems like ether you need a lot of money and pay professionals in china to make sure everything is fine or you need to be an expert yourself.
As an example i do know how to import stuff from china so i could import cat products but only products that are already made. How could i go about creating a premium cat product brand like you did? Assumed you don't have any knowledge in product design and manufacturing overall. Can this be done, even without flying to china? Could you just tell a manufacturer to build a hole new product for you and making sure it's high quality without risking a lot of money?

Would be cool if you could give us some information about it. Because importing and selling cheap/unbranded stuff is easy but building a new brand with high quality products seems to be very hard without any education in the industry.

Check out this video I was watching the other day!

It kicks a$$!

[video=youtube;3AA5lLmRqWc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AA5lLmRqWc[/video]

 

[TropicalGuy]

Sure... it took what felt like forever. Even when we had some success and sales, we had more problems. Like -- we have to hire somebody to do all this customer service. Or: we have to spend all of our money to buy more products! We had to learn about the #'s, watching our inventory turns, and taking big money risks (for us, especially at the time, any money was a big money risk).

I think one of the baked in advantages for us was that we weren't doing software or information products or blog blog blogging. We were building hard goods products that solved a problem for people. Shitty parking equipment? Buy mine. Hate carpeted cat furniture? Check out my cool cat furniture.

No product = no conversation. No information. No money.

Once we decided on our first products, we pushed as hard as we could to get some market assurance they'd sell from our photoshop mock-ups (landing pages with PPC campaigns) and on the development side with suppliers to deliver a workable prototype. Once we got something half-sellable, we got a loan and orded a less than container load first order run. We made just enough money on some sub-par quality stuff to order our second round. Most important thing was that we had customers, and we were in business.

1) Get in business. 2) STAY in business. 3) Keep innovating.

It takes a long time to pay off, generally. Our first 2-3 years were very, very difficult. Constant hustle and cash constraints. Hence the 1,000 Day Principle. Full time focus past your first invoice for 1,000 Days, and that's pretty much what it takes from what I've seen (and in my position I get to see 100's of businesses annually). That's 1,000 days till you come up for some air and make some decent money. That's just the beginning...

I have seen some wizards do it faster

Also, small point but, you aren't trying to build something for yourself.

Holy crap, I somehow almost missed this thread, good thing I found it though!

Awesome intro and I love your eagerness to tell it how it is!

Perhaps you can shed a little more light on how the beginnings of your business were? I mean was it pick a product and it blew up over night or what? Just like many others on this site I'm pretty clueless but working on some deals to try to bring some value to a market and build something for myself. It's great to hear about other's first steps as I'm taking mine.

Thanks for your willingness to share with us!

 

[TropicalGuy]

I follow this advice: I forget where I got it but I call it "MIT" = "most important task." You want to move your biz forward in some way everyday. For my team members I call it "TWIB" or "this week's big initiative" so weekly they are responsible for reporting on that.

Outside of that it's a really difficult question to answer. I think the biggest thing is to focus on the practice of entrepreneurship. If other entrepreneurs aren't excited to hang out with you, you should ask yourself why.

I love this quote recently pulled out by Paul Graham:

"You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. " Robert Pirsig

In other words, the practice is more important than the object. Find a way to become an entrepreneur. Hang out with us. Befriend us. Do projects with us. Eventually.....

If I didn't get at it, feel free to ask again

Happy new year !

If you allow I have another question for you:

Jason Nazar talks in this video about the one most thing founders need to focus on in their business.

The One Most Important Thing in Your Business

Specifically in your business, what were the most important things (not only the first one after starting your biz) you've done over the years for your business that you know had the biggest impact?

Thanks a lot, I think the community appreciates your effort over here very much :eusa_clap:

 

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[TropicalGuy]

I think it was more like a bunch of little shifts and gradually changing my habits (daily actions) to be more entrepreneurial. In we are talking habits, the most important move I ever made was quitting my job-- thereafter my best creative efforts (and most productive 20 hours every week) would be spent building assets that I would own. It's stuff like that that can seem less impressive on an intellectual level (it wasn't like a big mindset breakthrough) but the simple act of owning my daily work probably was the most profound move I made.

Intellectually, it probably was reading the 4 Hour Work Week. Before that book I figured out things I wanted to do-- say travel long term-- and then I'd look for institutions to opt-in to that would allow me to do that. Say, join the Navy or teach English in South Korea. After reading that book, I felt like I had the permission slip to just write down exactly what I wanted, and then go write my own script. Create my own reality. There were many things percolating before that, but that's the moment the hammer fell.

Hi Dan just a question.
What was your exact moment of shift, recognizing to be broke and then taking strong action?

 

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[TropicalGuy]

I read your article and listened to the Podcast, Dan. I found them both interesting and enlightening ... Thanks!

Part of me thinks it would be fun to walk in your shoes ... the other part of me thinks there is so much to see, do and enjoy here in the USA ... I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to that question, but (regardless) I certainly enjoyed the insight. The only people I (personally) know who have traveled a similar path are vagabonding hippie-musician types ... so to get the perspective of an entrepreneur was refreshing.

I know what you mean. I have seen these types and avoid them at all costs

First: Might you tell us about the tax benefits (and pitfalls) of living abroad? I assume you do not pay state income tax to your last state of residence (am I correct) ...? And I assume you pay the same Federal income taxes, right ...? I thought I heard somewhere once that if you live overseas for a set period of time you get some sort of exemption (not sure) ... I suppose you must know the answer to this. And do you have to pay any sort of income tax to your host nation as a year-long resident ...?

The tax benefits are potentially massive, but difficult to qualify for. If you can establish a foreign tax home (relatively difficult, and potentially expensive if it's in a place like Europe!), OR you can qualify for the FEIE by staying out of the US for 330 days a year, you can qualify to receive your first 97K of annual income tax free (mostly). You still have to pay some basics like social security (I think).

Second: I do not know if you are single or married ... but insomuch as there are a whole bunch of single guys on this site ... what's your take on the singles scene there? If you are a single entrepreneur who likes to get laid (and often) ... how does Bali (or anywhere else you've lived) compare to your experiences in the states? An adventurous sex life is very important (to me) ... and I am sure it is for many others. ( Hey ... what's the point of being a successful entrepreneur if you can't somehow parlay that into great sex ...? )

Since this is a business forum, speaking in purely market terms, your type is much more in demand here in SEAsia... and by a much bigger target marketplace to boot. Just by getting on a plane you could easily see a 5x upside.

Third: I am jumping head first into the Adult Entertainment industry (as an entrepreneur). I know Indonesia has some insane and draconian laws on the books ... would you be comfortable running a hardcore sex site from a computer in Indonesia? In other words ... would I be busting out in a cold sweat waiting for the authorities to crash down my door ...?

I would worry more about the US. I'd set up the business in a friendly jurisdiction and wouldn't have any problems with managing it from my laptop.

Fourth: Crime and corruption. What can you expect overseas ...?

Thanks!

The digital nomad credo is : though shalt not do local business!!!!

Violent crime is very low here, generally your biggest worry is transportation-- i.e., crashing your motorcycle and having some sketchy hospitals stich you up. Corruption is pretty petty and not really a big deal for me or my friends.

Expat pro tip-- 1) If you find yourself in trouble, ALWAYS pay the first guy. The more guys that get involved, the harder it is to get out. and 2) NEVER demand the embassy. US embassy will help you in SUPER serious jams, but they won't be quick about it. Getting the embassy involved only insures that you receive due process. Due process in a place like Indo might be exactly what you want to avoid-- e.g. 6 month trail.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I think your product is very important. Let's say you ship it to 5 people. Are those 5 people going to sell it (or mention it) to the next 5? If you are still the development stage I would consider baking in a 'viral' element to your products.... something remarkable.... something worth sharing and talking about.

I think this is one thing that is entirely underestimated by entrepreneurs.

if you don't have a phone number on your website, you are leaving it on the table.

Indeed, I found a tel # will increase conversions.

Thanks for sharing your experiences "AMA" style.

 

[TropicalGuy]

Hi,
Nice post. I'm going to start listening to your podcast more. Here's an excellent question (if I do say so myself, lol) - what does your day look like in terms of the daily habits and routines you've established for yourself? (ex. 9am-10am listen to morning inspirational audio, 10am-11am work on revenue generating activity 1, etc etc).

People always talk about tactic, but it's rare when you get an glimpse of the mental mindset and habits someone has deliberately installed.

haha gogiver a great question indeed. Here's the my daily framework. I travel every 30 days so I have separate routines for being on the road, but when I'm at home in Bali here's what I aim for:

• 7:45 AM - Wake up. Take shower. Two table-spoons of coconut oil. Drive bike to cafe, always in spare time listening to audio book or podcasts.
• 8:30 AM - Decide most important creative task for the day (often consider it the night before). Generally will lock myself out of my computer using Mac Freedom for the first 60 to 90 minutes of everyday.
• Most important tasks would generally be: writing blogs, podcast notes, lectures, my book, procedures, reports, policy emails, or important posts for my forum.
• 9:45 AM - Freedom turns off I will focus on clearing my inbox using GMAIL shortcuts and years of honed GTD techniques.
• 11AM - 2PM - Generally when all my phone calls are scheduled. Team members, business partner, and interviews.
• 2PM - 6PM - "Screw off and exercise." Eat. Get a massage. Go to a pool club, get in the pool, walk to the beach, take a nap (at least 3 days a week), read books. For exercise (generally around 5PM) I'm into Yoga, running, basketball, and Foundation type stuff to undo all the "sitting posture" damage I'm doing.
• 6PM - 7:30 - get showered up, quick food and back to the cafe for the second round of creative work. From 7:30 to 9:00 I'll try to get some more writing done, same as my initial creative block. I find I'm most creative at the beginning and end of days.
• 9PM onward - Meet up with friends for food and drinks. I love to hang out with people at night and talk. Most evenings I'll meet with somebody to talk about something.
• Bed by 12:30 - 1. Generally read before bed.

 

[Jake]

Awesome.

I don't know anything about you or TropicalMBA but what you guys are doing sounds pretty f'ing great. Anyways..

I've noticed that most of your products seem pretty large so I was wondering how you deal with logistics for your target market? Do you have enough product produced to fill a container and then have it shipped to the U.S? Do you have a warehouse and employees in the states to handle incoming products and outgoing orders?

I've half-assed attempted to import products to the U.S but doing it while working a hellacious schedule in Afghanistan was nothing but a logistical money wasting nightmare. I'm curious to know how you've set this all up.

Did you start with small items by air or did you go "all in" from the start?

Do you ever target the local economy that you're living in?

Thanks!

 

[TropicalGuy]

Yeah we use a lot more old school hustle techniques here. We've got huge prospect spreadsheets pulled from industry publications, trade show attendee lists, and online research carried out by contractors.

We didn't get into this industry b/c of customer demand (like many gurus suggest), instead we asked ourselves what we were good at ( in our case big metal B2B stuff), and then asked what would be a good market to bring those skills to. We saw a lot of people being successful with portable bars, and though we could bring something unique and sustainably different to the market, so we went!

What a fun way to procrastinate.

How do you find prospects for your portable bars?

Advice I hear everywhere is 'go where your customers hang out' or 'go to where they hand out ONLINE'. But it's not like potential customers all happened to join a 'we might need portable bars' mailing list or all attend the 'somebody please sell to us portable bar conference.'

 

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[TropicalGuy]

This is awesome I listen to you guys on the regular. My question is that... one of you guys are in Asia most of the time and the other is usually back home in United States. So my question is if you didn't have a partner back home, what big differences would that make on your business? Do you think you'd be just as successful?

btw the podcast where you exposed how Hong Kong corporations don't have to pay taxes for sales outside of Hong Kong blew my mind, I moved here recently !!

King that is so rad-- I LOVE Hong Kong, hope you are digging it too.

Also thanks for listening to our podcast, we love doing that.

IF Ian did not want to hang out in San Diego and manage the day to day of the product business, we probably would have sold it and focused on opportunities in Asia. Ian didn't want to do that because I don't think he saw (at the time) how he could add value in Asia, unless he moved to China or something and that wouldn't have been much fun. That's no longer the case as our team in SD is fully trained and high level and we no longer need to be there. That wasn't the case in 2009.

It's really tough to say where we'd be-- for me my "made it" moment was when we bought out our 3rd parter-- the one who was a great guy but didn't share our values-- in Dec 2010. Since that moment I've had complete and utter freedom (as much as one can have) in terms of how I spend my time and what projects I engage in. That is success to me, I just mention how much money we are making so other people will listen to us ! There' something to be said about believeing that the journey you are on is valuable to others, eventually, if you are right, value gets translated to money.

 

[DeletedUser2]

FINAL MISTAKE: not getting into high quality and intimate mastermind settings ASAP. These groups are like rocket-fuel for small businesses.

awesome stuff.

this. right here.

has helped me more times than I can count.

Mentors, masterminds, accountability groups. all good



Z

 

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[TropicalGuy]

As with most things, I think for us it was putting ourselves in a situation where our communication was of some consequence. That's one of the great things about business-- your customers will hold you responsible for your shortcomings and then you can improve.

For Ian and I our education started with micro-analyzing our dealmaking emails to ensure no errant word would destroy the deal.

We also did many cold approaches at trade shows and made a ton of cold calls. We'd sit down after and develop our strategies.

Then we decided to start a podcast in part because we thought it would be a great skill to have-- presenting, speaking, entertaining. By making it public we were accountable and had to improve... plus we had the added benefit of feedback from people who knew more than us.

(If you haven't yet listen to LBP#1, it sucks major monkey balls).

To sum: the framework and consequences of your communication matter a lot. That's why I love writing sales letters and asking people to do stuff. You'll get the feedback right away. The best feedback is always gain by watching people's feet, not their mouths.

Question,

In one of your podcast that you did a while ago you and Ian were discussing how in the beginning you weren't good at communicating. This was the podcast where you also mentioned George Orwell's Essay "Politics and The English Language."

Either I never finished the podcast or just can't remember what you said helped to make you a much better communicator but would love if you could let me know what helped make you a better and more confident communicator. Thanks in advance.