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

[TropicalGuy]

I replied to your pitch with brutality sir (good thing you are planning on stone fortifications, btw). I like the way you think.

My emails are a matter of public record: Dan@LifestyleBusinessPodcast.com ; Dan@TropicalMBA.com

Robots respond.

Been thinking a lot about this. I just sent an email to your 'lifestylebusinesspodcast' address. Subject Line: Podcast Angle Idea Smackdown.

I tried to PM it but it was over xxxx characters... and I don't want to post it here and draw attention away from the value you're offering others. Thanks a lot for your help thus far! I had a sleepless night thinking about podcast topics and angles.

 

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[JasonR]

Dan,

Here is something I'm sure many are wondering. Do you recommend learning to code (not just HTML/CSS, that's easy, but PHP, etc.)?

 

[Eos]

Thanks again Dan.

Just listened to your Podcast and made notes on EverNote - willing to share them with anybody who doesn't have the chance to check it out but listen up fastlaners IT IS GOLD.
I especially like the part about showing you're a magic maker to your mentor and using their knowledge to catapult your success.
Just to scale back a bit.
As a student, and therefore not yet in an industry would you suggest trying to make as many high level relationships as possible across a number of industries e.g. with RE investors, tech startup guys & internet marketers or focusing on the one industry that you're leaning towards the most and moving forward with that?
Also what is your opinion of having your mentor as an angel investor in your business?

I tried something like this idea and although there was a lot of interest, I found myself being a low-paid baby sitter. Tons of problems as a biz model so I'd skip it if it's your first big run. I actually was email recently from a start-up doing exactly this (and they hand raised a seed round!), and I explained the same to them.

You'll find entrepreneurs through their Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Forums, etc. The good ones won't be seeking free work or apprentices because they are very busy and they pay people to work for them. The biggest mistake people make when people decide to take this advice is they don't understand how hard it's going to be. This is both the hard and important work in business-- building high level trusting relationships. I'm sure that's part of the reason there is no good push-button service for it (that I know of). I talked a little bit more about this yesterday:

Episode #136

 

[TropicalGuy]

If you are thinking about learning to code, check this great book out (it's a really fun read as well):

Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4, 732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software: Scott Rosenberg: 9781400082476: Amazon.com: Books

There was a point in my business (2009, I think) where I was so frustrated with my PHP developers that I thought I'd just sit down and learn how to do it myself. I read that book and spend a weekend thinking about it, at the end I decided against it for a bunch of reasons. The main ones revolved around finding skill-areas I could focus on and become excellent at.

I don't think learning to program could ever hurt-- I'm all for learning just about anything-- but I made the strategic choice to develop other skills, like speaking, writing, sales, leadership and business strategy rather than throwing myself at software. My impulse to learn software was to "fix a weakness" which I generally think you should seek to double down on the stuff you are already strong at.

Anyway, that's all to say-- it's a highly personal decision. How do you want to spend your time over the next 5 years? What kinds of things do you want to be doing. If that's building software, go with it!

Dan,

Here is something I'm sure many are wondering. Do you recommend learning to code (not just HTML/CSS, that's easy, but PHP, etc.)?

 

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[TropicalGuy]

At the beginning you'll likely only have the time/resources to help one person move their business forward. Chose your target wisely and give them your all. If things don't work out you'll have trained at incredible heights, and you'll be able to use that know-how to get the next thing.

+1 for your mentor giving you start-up cash, that's what happened in my case.

Thanks again Dan.

Just listened to your Podcast and made notes on EverNote - willing to share them with anybody who doesn't have the chance to check it out but listen up fastlaners IT IS GOLD.
I especially like the part about showing you're a magic maker to your mentor and using their knowledge to catapult your success.
Just to scale back a bit.
As a student, and therefore not yet in an industry would you suggest trying to make as many high level relationships as possible across a number of industries e.g. with RE investors, tech startup guys & internet marketers or focusing on the one industry that you're leaning towards the most and moving forward with that?
Also what is your opinion of having your mentor as an angel investor in your business?

 

[Jdp5h]

Get good at building relationships with people who are powerful. The art of seduction and the art of power are good books here.

First of all, thanks for your story. Do you mind telling me who wrote these two books? There are multiple books with the same titles and I'd like to make certain.

 

[TropicalGuy]

First of all, thanks for your story. Do you mind telling me who wrote these two books? There are multiple books with the same titles and I'd like to make certain.

Yeah sorry here's the links:

Amazon.com: The Art of Seduction (9780142001196): Robert Greene: Books
The 48 Laws of Power: Robert Greene: 9780140280197: Amazon.com: Books

 

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[Eos]

Cheers, certainly helps the decision making process having the advice of successful guys here on the forum. +Speed

At the beginning you'll likely only have the time/resources to help one person move their business forward. Chose your target wisely and give them your all. If things don't work out you'll have trained at incredible heights, and you'll be able to use that know-how to get the next thing.

+1 for your mentor giving you start-up cash, that's what happened in my case.

 

[supervagabond]

Hey Dan, Happy New Year!

Amazing insights thank you for sharing your experience!

- So you're an avid book-reader, how do you retain all the important information, insights and action points of any book you read ? Do you have a clear SOP on this ? You mentioned in the LBP that you're reading kindle books on your computer because it's easy to make highlights. What do you do with these highlights then ? Do you store them and review them sometimes ? What other actions help you "apply" the books you read ?

- I'm in Shanghai working for my mentor in his new venture - I wonder, when do you know you should move on to the next thing ? Like, how long to work in a small business and what matters the most during this time ?

Cheers,
Valentin

 

[OXVO]

Hi Dan,

Recent fan of the LBP and TMBA and really interested in your advice although you'll see why I am different from
the others shortly and why your advice is of great curiosity ... I have created a visual design and web development company
with a partner (same vision, grew up together, get along well). After obtaining an associations degree in visual communications
and graphic design (waste of time in my opinion) right after high school, I was able to start generating upwards of $500+ monthly (No partner yet) from various local (important at the this point in the story but not in the end) and online clients.

After a little over 2 years I weened off the local clients who although provided 40% of the income were pretty much a major
headache and cause me to be less productive and less happy. Dropped them, marketed via twitter very hard and pretty
effectively (moderately) because even at times with an uncomplete website/portfolio I was still getting inquiries for work and
landing projects between $200-350 on average and the occasional $500 big fish (altogether most jobs taking about 20 hours
or less to complete for web projects). After a year I fell back for awhile and my client based disappeared.

Fast forward to today ... My partner is almost at the same level as I am I would say and we work together well (I prefer not
to work in solitude its depressing and the chemistry and bouncing ideas keeps me at my most productive level). We work non
location based and live near each other although we easily work via skype or google hangouts and I have built an admin area
on our server in which we post job details, deadlines, clients, handle invoicing (built it inhouse and intergrated really well
for us with charts of most valuable clients). What we are looking to do is continue building and developing custom web solutions for clients but we are seeking more interesting clients as well as clients who feel we would really be an asset too. We consider ourselves entrepreneurs at heart and we do have other plans that we are going to take action on in the future. At this point we wish to build the visual design and web development company to the point where we are landing upwards of 1k-5k per web development project. Eventually we wish to hire a few employees to handle the work as we take on other ventures.

Grass roots social marketing and referrals have kept me afloat all this time even after a hiatus I am always positive and able
to pull clients again (new but now we must 100% try to retain all clients especially big fish). How would you suggest Dan that
we go about seeking out larger clients and more interesting clients to work with ? Most of our past clients have been music
related and small-medium business related. We are looking to differentiate our client base.

When I say we do visual design and web development work it ranges from :

- graphic & print design (design only, no printing)
- html, css, php web design & development
- wordpress design and development
- custom admin dashboards for clients to increase their productivity and view their data
- design for apparel (design only, no manufacturing)
- landing pages
- music album artwork
- event advertisements
- and more you can understand the gist

And we are focused on the fact that we really do increase sales for clients as well as their overall brand image and appeal.
Design plays a very large role in success moving fully into a digital age as well as building tools and resources that allow clients
to do their job better, faster, and more productive.

I have probably babbled and sound all over the place but I assure you I am a very intelligent individual and have been able
to generate clients sucessfully and satisfy them as well. I really feel with the right push in the right direction I will be able
to fully self sustain and live an LBP lifestyle and do the work with the larger important clients that we seek.

Appreciate it all Dan, knowledge is priceless. Appreciate the other questions and responses as well !

- A 24 year old with great potential seeking guidance.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Hello you classy mo-fo you.

Hey Dan, Happy New Year!

Amazing insights thank you for sharing your experience!

- So you're an avid book-reader, how do you retain all the important information, insights and action points of any book you read ? Do you have a clear SOP on this ? You mentioned in the LBP that you're reading kindle books on your computer because it's easy to make highlights. What do you do with these highlights then ? Do you store them and review them sometimes ? What other actions help you "apply" the books you read ?

First off-- I'm always slightly turned off by this whole "it's not reading books that counts it's applying them." I think in many ways that's true-- your soul becomes what you regularly and all that, but I think reading books and learning of new things in the world is a worth act in and of itself. I read novels, articles, business books, history books, books about science-- you name it-- and I'm not always that concerned about how they "apply."

With my Kindle highlights I'll occasionally drag them onto my computer and drop them into my "book" evernote folder. In my book evernote folder is all the research information I'm using to write my next book. Then sometimes quotes will make their way over to my "blog" folder where they will get purposed into some kind of blog post or podcast rip sheet.

In that sense I'm following my overall content SOP: read anything you want, but produce consistent art.

"Voracious input, focused output."

That constantly changes. The past month has been F*cked for me because I'm trying a new creative format (a book). My goal is to have a "book" process in place so it can easier next time around. Then I'll have 4 modalities for expression: blog, podcast, lecture, book.

I noticed a lot of my favorite content people take this approach: Hitchens, Carolla, Ferriss. You take whatever it is that you are interested in at the time (passionate about!) and you focus it into your art or business (and our businesses are our art).

WOW that's a hippy dippy answer. YMMV!

- I'm in Shanghai working for my mentor in his new venture - I wonder, when do you know you should move on to the next thing ? Like, how long to work in a small business and what matters the most during this time ?

Cheers,
Valentin

When your mentor is no longer getting your best energy and you can no longer give it to him/her. That's the one thing you can't renew-- don't waste it.

 

[TropicalGuy]

Yo! Congrats on your success for far-- it sounds like you are on the right track and your thoughts are generally in the right direction. I also appreciate you listening to our stuff.

If you want to get bigger clients you'll need to laser target your message: short and benefit driven.

I just read your post but I can't pass on your message. That's a huge problem for your marketing.

Hey Dan... You might not know me, but my small web design firm does the impossible: we help national level musican's make money with cutting edge social media tactics.

So next time I meet a musician who am I going to think of?

And so on...

Hi Dan,

Appreciate it all Dan, knowledge is priceless. Appreciate the other questions and responses as well !

- A 24 year old with great potential seeking guidance.

 

[OXVO]

Excited to read this right before bed. Thanks again Dan for taking the time.

Really glad to have found resources and people such as yourself. I approach the business as an entrepreneur more than a creative and I think your right. Once I laser target my marketing I should see an effect as long as we continue to stand out and provide results.

Going to get to work ! Your a mentor from afar in my eyes and a positive motivator.

Would love to get in a master mind group.

- Joseph Feliciano (CT, USA)
Twitter : @OXVO

Yo! Congrats on your success for far-- it sounds like you are on the right track and your thoughts are generally in the right direction. I also appreciate you listening to our stuff.

If you want to get bigger clients you'll need to laser target your message: short and benefit driven.

I just read your post but I can't pass on your message. That's a huge problem for your marketing.

Hey Dan... You might not know me, but my small web design firm does the impossible: we help national level musican's make money with cutting edge social media tactics.

So next time I meet a musician who am I going to think of?

And so on...

 

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[eronline]

Hey Dan-

Thanks for all your wisdom! Could you give a bit more detail on what you have your contractors look for? Or do you just say "Find me the email address for 100 ___ owners?"

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.

 

[TropicalGuy]

The key thing when contracting is that you do it yourself first. It'll be industry specific. Is it possible for you to spend 4 hours pulling together 25 prospects? If so, how did you do it? Write it down exactly. Then you can hire for it. There isn't a simple answer, it's hard work.

Hey Dan-

Thanks for all your wisdom! Could you give a bit more detail on what you have your contractors look for? Or do you just say "Find me the email address for 100 ___ owners?"

 

[eronline]

Four hours. 25 prospects. On it.

Thanks!!!!!

The key thing when contracting is that you do it yourself first. It'll be industry specific. Is it possible for you to spend 4 hours pulling together 25 prospects? If so, how did you do it? Write it down exactly. Then you can hire for it. There isn't a simple answer, it's hard work.

 

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[TropicalGuy]

Cheers! Love the action taking. Also the next mistake people often make is contracting out the first contact as well. What could be more important!? Make sure when you contact these folks that you personalize your approach and respect their time. If you find an approach that works, again, write it down. Then others can do it.

Four hours. 25 prospects. On it.

Thanks!!!!!

 

[OnePerCent]

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

 

[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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[suxes2005]

Dan, you're such a nice guy and I love reading your blog.

MJ as well is going places as his book is one of the best that has helped my destiny.

My book is also coming out soonest and MJ contributed to it in great measures.

Sheyi

 

[Hassassin]

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 ?

 

[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]

Thanks for that Sheyi! MJ's book has been an inspiration to me as well.

Please send me a copy of your book when finished (or link to Amazon).

Thanks!

Dan, you're such a nice guy and I love reading your blog.

MJ as well is going places as his book is one of the best that has helped my destiny.

My book is also coming out soonest and MJ contributed to it in great measures.

Sheyi

 

[eronline]

Two hours - 17 names and emails - repeatable process.

Thanks for the kick in the a$$, man!

Cheers! Love the action taking. Also the next mistake people often make is contracting out the first contact as well. What could be more important!? Make sure when you contact these folks that you personalize your approach and respect their time. If you find an approach that works, again, write it down. Then others can do it.

 

[TropicalGuy]

Yeah buddy you got it.

Two hours - 17 names and emails - repeatable process.

Thanks for the kick in the a$$, man!

 

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[steelrat]

I just got to podcasts #49 and #50, on how to start up and sell a product (information or physical). So dense with value it should have a few planets in orbit around it. I look forward to your casts every week, thank you Dan and Ian!! Yeahh buddy!!

 

[TropicalGuy]

I just got to podcasts #49 and #50, on how to start up and sell a product (information or physical). So dense with value it should have a few planets in orbit around it. I look forward to your casts every week, thank you Dan and Ian!! Yeahh buddy!!

Haha ZING. Gonna put it on this week's show.

 

[Esquire]

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!

 

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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!

 

[Esquire]

Ready. Fire. Aim.

Interesting .... never heard it phrased like that before. Hmmmm ...

Well ... as Dan Kennedy says ... when you are not sure what to do ... look around at those who are more successful than you ... who are doing what you wish to be doing ... imitate their actions and habits ... then figure it out the "why" later.

So if that's part of your formula for success ... I will have to afford its consideration substantial weight.

Thanks for your feedback. I value your opinion.