Sidewalker Attempting to Escape

[jockinbox]

When I said I did 67 steps within a week, I meant, the first time I did it. I've done it probably over 5 times.

Finding the angle, as in providing value that the other stores arent giving the customers, info/guides on the products, better customer service, etc. Right?

Yup it can be anything, think outside the box.

If I'm selling iPhone 5 covers for $1 each and making 17 cents each how would you compete with me?

Bundle it with a screen protector sell for 5 bucks make $3
Move vertically by doing different phone models/bundles

Sell it in retail level for 20 bucks make $19

Make an ecommerce store and sell for 10 and make 9 but have a "lifetime guarantee" the chances they break 9 covers is slim

The product does NOT matter. Once you master an angle you can do it with any product.

Like Bruce Lee says "I'm not afraid of the guy with 1000 different kicks, I'm afraid of the guy with 1 kick practiced 1000 times"

Such a shame, I've gotten so much out of Tai and I'm only on day 10.

 

[jockinbox]

Thanks for the comment, i've read your writing on here, good stuff, definitely someone to watch on this forum.

Interesting you say all that, I don't want to get into detail about how much self development is such an enormous part of my life now. But ill just say I've read many self improv books, i got into it a 2 years ago.

1 year ago my mind set was the opposite of what it is now, i had no clue making any real money was possible, started out with rich dad poor dad. Changed everything.

Moreover, I read the miracle morning a while ago. I get up at 4am everyday and do a 2 hour routine. Sleep is at midnight, I never go out, I dont care about fun, no time for it now, I dont watch tv, paying down my credit card debt. That leaves me with a couple hours in the morning and an hour or 2 at night after working both my jobs, to work on a business.

I did Tai Lopez's 67 steps in less than a week. Every video. ( thats how obsessed I am with learning about life / self improvement ) However, I dont have any actual RESULTS from any of it yet. I know more than most people about life and money, thats about it. It's time I start the process.

I've been researching for a niche the past hour, haven't found anything yet worth further researching.

When you find this niche, and you get a product in it and the math works and it's all awesome and you make some profit, then what?

Cool, you made some cash

It's not going to last forever, eventually people will come and copy that niche.

The product is NOT the answer
The niche is NOT the answer

The answer you seek is the angle.

If you have a unique angle, no one can compete. When you have this angle you move vertically (scale) until you hit a wall.

Then you move horizontally (different niches) meanwhile you perfect your angle.

Redo Tai Lopez 67 steps, take all 67 days. Write daily notes.

 

[Deon]

Well yeah... Finding a need, and finding a want are used interchangeably in these books... nobody's talking about needs as in things people need in the absolute; Seeing an angle can be:

1. offering better customer service...
2. making the product easier to use...
3. making it cheaper with the same quality...
4. offering better quality but more expensive...
5. making it more convenient to order/obtain...
6. making it look better...
7. making it smaller if the other product is too big...
8. making it bigger if the other product is too small...
9. remove toxic material (for example BPA) from a product that traditionally uses it...
10. marketing an organic/natural version of a product that's usually not sold organic...
11. take some technology that is applied to something and finding ways it can be used somewhere else...
12. making something that doesn't break as easy if the other product used to break easily and people complained about that...etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc

 

[jockinbox]

If I wasn't thinking bigger I would have opened a 401k a few days ago when it was presented to us at my job. Alls I'm asking is if the process I said above is correct for the most part, you really don't know if the product will be good until you actually order it and try to sell it, right?

yeah but thats not what I am referring to

lack of capital is another obstacle you need to face, not just give up because of it

do you think everyone who had a good idea always had money in their pocket to make it happen? please

you started this thread October 9th of 2014, it took you 3 months to find a product, order it and sell it, and then you GAVE UP because the MOQ was too high

whats your plan? spend 3 more months looking for another product that will work & hope the MOQ is low enough?

You realize you are dealing with China and they make their money in QUANTITY, they make a penny per item. They live off selling hundreds of thousands.

If you REALLY have a product that you can make money off that easily it shouldnt be a problem for you to find money

remember, INVESTORS ONLY MAKE MONEY WHEN THEY INVEST

trust me I dont know a single old fart with 30k in CD's that is happy making less than inflation

Common man get creative, start F*cking reading, start learning from the F*cking geniuses who have gone before you

We can put a guy on the F*cking moon but you cant figure out how to pull this shit off?

You honestly arent trying hard enough

 

[The Grind]

I've been reading the forum for a while.

Decided to chose e commerce. I've read business books and the forum, knew nothing about e com until a few days ago. Read Bio's ama thread. Read some more, the more I read, the more confused I get, people contradict what someone else said which makes you more confused and makes you research and read more, its a never ending spiral actually. In reality, I can read 24/7 but wont learn anything until I do something.

Step #1 is researching to find a potential product to then research some more about the product, do some math, then contact a manufacturer to try and order samples.

I'll be updating this thread every other day minimum. I can't see me typing much when I update as It will likely take me a while to actually get something done. I've already been researching, really not having much progress, I feel like I don't know what I'm looking for. Niche, thats about it, with not 50 other competitors on Google.

One thing I will say though, I won't quit on this thread, I can't quit. I work 60 hours a week now, 7 days a week, making 10 bucks an hour, If I don't start a business and start learning soon, Ill be here in 20 years, still making 10 dollars an hour, a cog in the machine.

With that being said, hopefully someone gets a minimum amount of value from reading the progress I'll be making.

 

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[jockinbox]

Step 1 is habits

Whatever habits made your a sidewalker, unlearn those first

No tv
No dinner dates
No credit cards

Debt is only acceptable if it helps you make more money.

Affirmations, twice a day
"I 'your name' will succeed"

Start reading 20 minutes a day

Also, check out Tai Lopez 67 steps. Best 6 bucks I ever spent

We'll talk about step 2 when and if you return

 

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[Davo]

I'm not ready to start learning and start a business because I don't have 100$?

There's a bit more to it. The idea when starting up is to be a sponge and take in as much info as you can, as fast as you can without letting yourself get stopped or slowed by walls (some self created).

Your mindset has to shift to become efficient (with cash & time) and also to solve problems for yourself and others.

Do you have $100 to spend on INSIDERS right now? No

Can you sacrifice something this week to get you that $100? Possibly (e.g. don't buy coffee and lunches)

Can you hustle on CL and make $100 THIS WEEK so you can get INSIDERS by the weekend? Possibly - by flying through RichKid's thread

Getting INSIDERS will make you realize that it's part of the process. It's not an end goal, it's just part of becoming an entrepreneur. You take a calculated guess on risk vs reward and then take action.

If you subscribe and you realize the info isn't that great, that's fine - you only lost $100. If you do find it amazing and soak up even more info in there, you've just sped through in a few days what could have taken weeks/months/years to find.

I'd rather find out asap rather than waiting a few weeks/months to find out.

 

[Get Right]

LOL

@The Grind - there is an "ignore user" button. I would recommend using it when people post stupid remarks like this.

 

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[jon.a]

He has a point that I should stop posting until I take action. I've been researching, technically thats taking action but at the same time I have accomplished anything. No results. No progress.

Showing up is 80 percent of life.
—Woody Allen (I don't really like him)
You have shown up.

 

[Kid Money]

Let me make this really easy for you. I'm going to tell you EXACTLY how to supplement your income and QUIT your job (once you're off and running of course)

You make $600 before taxes per week right?

3 things you need. A car, drivers license and basic knowledge about phones/electronics. That's it. Let not complicate.
Here we go:

Get on Craigslist.
1-Buy an almost flawless iPhone 5s from someone you can negotiate down that needs to buy xmas presents this season.
2-sell it on eBay for 75-100 profit.
3-take that money and snowball it.

DONE! You just made $75-100 in about 30 minutes. Do that for 30 minutes 6 days a week. You just replaced your slave wage 60 hr income for 3 hours per week.

Now here's where I'll need you to use your vision. There are things called iPads, iphone 6's, samsungs, tvs, laptops, ETC.!

This isn't exactly fastlane but you can easily make $1000 week if you apply yourself and learn about certain things.

This is for a beginner but who cares. Take 6 months flipping and reinvesting your profits and while you are at it you will have a crash course on selling, buying, negotiating, dealing with negative people and the good feeling of taking X and making Y for a profit. I am 1000 percent positive anyone can do this. Even if you only make 25-50 on each deal.

So here's your plan:

Start by doing this on your free time. Take that money and invest it back and keep turning it. I am confident that you will have a $5k nest egg after 6 months. Take that and invest that into something that will make a profit. Walahh you're a millionaire after a few years. What's the worst? You lose your job and are still broke? You need to realize at this point you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Get motivated and get pissed off. Take action. No excuses. Best of luck to you buddy!

Cheers!

 

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[The Grind]

Products came today, 110 pieces. Got american boxes this time which look great. This shipment looks a lot better than the sample order. I've got a good supplier.

Been researching cameras and lighting equipment, have camera picked out, looking at lighting equipment. Wont have the money to order them until the end of the week.

I'm in this market for the long haul, got a solid first product. After a few sales will be looking for more products. Brainstorming brand names, need to get logo and name established, the brand name is super important, may take a while.

 

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[Entrepreneur99]

@jockinbox Ah I think I understand. So you're saying the OP should stop focusing on finding a product which nobody else has yet found and instead find an already good and proven product, and make it more useful (NEED) by adding something to the deal or the product itself? i.e a USP?

 

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[ljb7]

I'm not ganna proceed with this product, just reviewed all the data again, its only getting a couple hundred clicks a day ( im using market samurai ). Theres 40 other people on ebay selling the exact same product and I have no idea what kind of value I could provide to the item. Read vigilantes thread and

listened to his podcast ( which is excellent ). He says to find a product that doesn't exist here in the USA yet, which confuses me further, so I'm back to researching for a better product / niche using market samurai or find something that doesn't exist here yet. At least I learned a couple things.

You're right - with 40 other sellers it probably isn't worth it.

However, you can add value... Post #58 on this very same page gives you some ideas to start adding value... But use your imagination - find an ANGLE!!!

Keep looking, if you're reselling on eBay and Amazon then you'll just need to keep plugging away, finding potential products, crunching numbers. That's how it works in importing - especially when you are a beginner. Find one good product and then find 10 more... it's all about SCALE.

You'll become better and better at finding profitable products and as an added bonus you'll be developing fastlane skills while doing it!

You don't need to find a product that hasn't been introduced to the Western market. That'll be hard - and it'll be even harder if you haven't even made your first buck yet! Yes - finding a product that hasn't been introduced can be great! But if you do, you may start thinking about building a business around it and similar products to it. That's a completely different ball game.

Anyway - while you're on your path of becoming a successful importer, you may even find a great product that hasn't been introduced to the Western market by chance! That's what's happened to me, and I'm currently receiving samples for it as we speak. But I'm also receiving samples for three other products as well at the same time! There's no point putting all of your eggs in one basket this soon.

Good luck and I hope you keep at this long enough to give yourself a chance. A lot of people quit so soon because it all seems so tedious. BUT, once you get that first sale, once you make that first ounce of profit - your hunger will grow. And it'll keep growing every single sale after that.

 

[jon.a]

See ya Tuesday.

 

[The Grind]

Step 1 is habits

Whatever habits made your a sidewalker, unlearn those first

No tv
No dinner dates
No credit cards

Debt is only acceptable if it helps you make more money.

Affirmations, twice a day
"I 'your name' will succeed"

Start reading 20 minutes a day

Also, check out Tai Lopez 67 steps. Best 6 bucks I ever spent

We'll talk about step 2 when and if you return

Thanks for the comment, i've read your writing on here, good stuff, definitely someone to watch on this forum.

Interesting you say all that, I don't want to get into detail about how much self development is such an enormous part of my life now. But ill just say I've read many self improv books, i got into it a 2 years ago.

1 year ago my mind set was the opposite of what it is now, i had no clue making any real money was possible, started out with rich dad poor dad. Changed everything.

Moreover, I read the miracle morning a while ago. I get up at 4am everyday and do a 2 hour routine. Sleep is at midnight, I never go out, I dont care about fun, no time for it now, I dont watch tv, paying down my credit card debt. That leaves me with a couple hours in the morning and an hour or 2 at night after working both my jobs, to work on a business.

I did Tai Lopez's 67 steps in less than a week. Every video. ( thats how obsessed I am with learning about life / self improvement ) However, I dont have any actual RESULTS from any of it yet. I know more than most people about life and money, thats about it. It's time I start the process.

I've been researching for a niche the past hour, haven't found anything yet worth further researching.

 

[Deleted2BB3x9]

Hey TheGrind

Keep pushing man, don't let what other people say let you down. I had a lot of trouble at the beginning too. So just keep moving forward, don't get bummed out. Btw go reread jockinbox's advice, you may not understand it now, but you'll get it eventually.

The first thing you need to do is to change your mindset. Stop looking for a product that will "make you rich". You need to start thinking about other people and how you can help them, AKA adding value.

I think MJ has done a terrific job doing that, he's only in it for you. Look at this forum, this is by-far the best online community ever... You can literally talk with millionaires all over the globe, and get their advice... This forum is full of value (people helping people)! And you don't think you can help MJ out by giving him 100$?
Look at everything he has given you!

When you stop focusing on the money, and your selfish desires, you'll understand what entrepreneurship is all about... It's about people helping people... When you buy that INSIDERS subscription, you're not just helping MJ... You're helping yourself!

 

[Deon]

I googled "how to find a product for e commerce" and such, read all those posts, and am going about it that way. I didn't say I was surprised I didn't find a niche in a half hour, I was surprised to find out it takes WEEKS to find one.

If you've read TMF or any other business book, including good copywriting books... you know you should be looking for a NEED. Not "how to find a product for e-commerce". A need can be an unsatisfied need (no product solving it currently), or something that's already selling a lot (proving there's a need) and making it better, or selling it cheaper under your own brand.

 

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[ljb7]

Thanks for the suggestion, I got my email template from startupbros. I was able to open a chat with one of the manufacturers I contacted, just asked him if he received my email, he said "you know the past 3 days are our weekend". Haha, lesson learned that they dont do business over the weekends.

I got 2 replies today. One of replies is much more thorough than the other, if he calls me or just continues to email me and wants more specific information on me, how do I make it seem like I have a full operating business when I have no business, no EIN, no legit company name, no logo, nothing.

Also, there are others selling the exact same product on ebay /amazon etc. putting my logo on the packaging makes the product mine right?

Good for you on taking action and getting replies!

Yes, most legitimate manufacturers don't tend to respond too much on the weekend.

Firstly I'd recommend you try out the template I mentioned above - see for yourself which works better.

The answer to your first question is to fake your own empire!

• Think of a name and tell them your company's name is xxxxx (I'd just make sure the name you use isn't registered already). You don't need to register a company to do this either! As long as you're just telling these suppliers it's all fine.
• Craft a basic Wordpress site all about your company - It doesn't need to be amazing, just gives you some validity!
• Get a logo made on fiverr - There are plenty of great logo makers on there - if you don't want to do this you can just make your own.
• Get a business number that redirects to your mobile to appear even more genuine, there are numerous websites that offer monthly subscriptions for a very low price

In answer to your second question, no, putting a logo on the packaging does not make the product yours. Branding a product will add value, it gives you a chance to put an identity behind your product instead of just buying an unbranded product. If you decide to do this, good for you! But just know that people will still be selling the same product, just without your packaging.

The people selling the unbranded version will most likely undercut you on prices as well, but if your brand conveys genuine trust and quality and you find something that truly differentiates you from the crowd, you will be able to charge a higher price and get the majority of sales. Now I haven't branded a product before so I'm not the best person to get advice from, but there are a lot of great threads on here that will help explain all that.

Hope this helps!

 

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[miked_d]

Went to order 10 pieces after I sold the 1 sample, supplier gets back to me days later and says the MOQ is 1500-2000. Completely out of the question for me. Theres only a couple suppliers for this specific product and they never responded to me.

Guess I'm back to researching and finding a product.

Ask for a test order of 250. Offer to pay more. If that is too much, look for some traders that will do smaller quantities (if the numbers still work). Keep selling stuff from the traders until you can reach the manufacturers MOQ.

Contact the other manufacturers again. Use a different email, different name and different message.

 

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[The Grind]

Been selling the samples, getting a sale every couple days. Got 2 sales today. Feels great going home ( from kicking a** at work ) and packing up 2 boxes to ship out tomorrow.

I'm now a believer I can make money from nothing.

I put in very little effort to put the ads up on ebay. And I'm STILL getting sales.

 

[The Grind]

Read my previous posts makes me sick honestly, such a fool.

Anyway, here is a real post.

My slowlane job is hammering some perspective in my head that I will be a slave to someone else the rest of my life unless I change it.

The slowlane story is worth telling,

I used to be a telemarketer at a very large home security system business. One of ADT's top competitors. The pace has 4 owners, Only saw 1-2 of them at work everyday. I lasted 4 months, you make 1 mistake on the phone they fire you, because they can, new reps tend to do better than ones that have been there for a while because of the initial enthusiasm of getting a job.

That was a while ago, I'm a better salesman now, I found a job selling the exact same thing at a different location, only it was a startup. Small office, only a few reps. There is a guy who "manages" the place who is there everyday and work directly with him, but he doesn't own the business, come to find out, the real owner is the SAME guy who actually started the large corporation that I was at for 4 months. The 4 owners that own it, were hired by the guy to build the company. Then he started this company, same product, same everything really only a different business name, still not sure why hes building another one. He comes to the office once or twice a week, you would never know he was rich by looking at him, if you met him you might guess it, but he doesn't drive to work in a ferarri or wear 10k suits. But he probably has 80 million in the bank.

After studying the fastlane for a while and then actually seeing it in person and seeing a fastlaner on a regular basis is quite amazing. Also, the guy is "handing over" the business to the guy who manages it now in 4 years, so he will be the next millionaire. Also, im the managers right hand man now, I was promoted quickly to closer, now closing manager. so we are "building" the company from the ground up and its likely ill end up making 200k a year.

I would be a fool to "quit my job and start a business" because this is a very unique opportunity. However, I'm still going to be working on creating my own income through entrepreneurship. I work 9-930 Monday-Saturday and work another job Sat and Sundays as well. Right now I'm just not making much. It's "slow" and will be for a couple months,

Thought that was an interesting story, it also gives me ideas for a "vendor" business. I worked other sales jobs. Small marketing business's that sell a large company's product. Like verizon, direct tv. I'm not sure how it all works, I tried researching it, couldn't find any solid answers. The owner I suppose calls direct tv and says, "hey I want to sell your product". Basically being an offline affiliate, rents an office, hires salesman, trains them, goes door to door or telemarketing, makes a sale, and makes commission. The owner seems to make 2-3 times more commission then the rep makes. Something I'm interested in the future.

Now about the progress. Spent all my cash on my first bulk order after selling 10 samples. I ordered 100 pieces, my supplier just emailed me with tracking number and said she shipped me an additional 10 pieces for free! Very odd to me I still can't believe they are just giving me free product.

They should arrive this week or early next week. I still need to buy a camera for less than 200 and need to buy lighting equipment to make some decent pictures. Will be selling on Ebay, I haven't looked into selling on amazon at all yet, as I heard you can't mess around on amazon, if you get a bad review as the first comment they will ban your account. I'll look into it though.

With these products, its a whole category of products, I just picked one variation and tried it, the goal with this is to private label, brand it, open a store, and scale from there. It seems like it would take a very long time to actually get enough different products and inventory to open a private store. I'll get there.

Theres so many things I want to start, the live rent free gold thread, I want to start doing, not enough capital to be able to do that yet though, I want to start an information business and email marketing, I like copy writing. I want to start a business like the one I work for now.

I hope I have enough room for the products, my avatar is my entire room =P

 

[jon.a]

@biophase has as great step by step thread.

 

[tafy]

As soon as I make $100 in a business, I'll buy an INSIDERS subscription.

This is why you are not ready for the fast lane yet.

 

[merc]

I think there's a valuable lesson that can be learned here. To be an entrepreneur you must be able to accept criticism... especially if it is coming from someone who is successful. It may be tough to accept but if you can't live by this simple rule your just a wantrepreneur.

 

[Guest]

Well yeah... Finding a need, and finding a want are used interchangeably in these books... nobody's talking about needs as in things people need in the absolute; Seeing an angle can be:

1. offering better customer service...
2. making the product easier to use...
3. making it cheaper with the same quality...
4. offering better quality but more expensive...
5. making it more convenient to order/obtain...
6. making it look better...
7. making it smaller if the other product is too big...
8. making it bigger if the other product is too small...
9. remove toxic material (for example BPA) from a product that traditionally uses it...
10. marketing an organic version of a product that's usually not sold organic...
11. take some technology that is applied to something and finding ways it can be used somewhere else...
12. making something that doesn't break as easy if the other product used to break easily and people complained about that...etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc

This is the kind of gold post that makes a thread worth it! Taking notes.

 

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[Member]

This is how I think about finding a product (note to The Grind - I'm not a successful entrepreneur yet either).

If you are familiar with sales and copywriting...

When you are writing copy or selling a product, what do you WISH you could tell your customer without lying?

What are the things that if you told your customer your product could do for them... they would buy INSTANTLY.

Obviously as a copywriter and a salesperson you aren't allowed to actually say these things - you would be lying about the product and your customers would be hugely dissatisfied.

BUT... you don't have a product yet do you?

So, that actually gives you a HUGE advantage.

To create a business you have to first find a market (the people who are going to buy your product). They have a common dissatisfaction, and they are looking for help. They may want to be happier, healthier, sexier, more free time... or for really specific examples we all experience:

I need my house cleaned. may translate to "i'm an embarrassed bachelor who's dates always make fun of him for the state of his apartment" or "i'm a single mother that works all day and can't find time to spend time with friends, take care of my kid, and keep my house clean". Could you bundle house cleaning with making dinner?

I need someone to make me thin. may translate to "i'm overeducated on diet and health, but my willpower sucks" or "i follow every diet to the letter, but i never look the way i want" different markets... different common dissatisfactions and different solutions...

You find the group of people with a common need, a common problem, a common dissatisfaction with where they are and a COMMON PLACE THEY WANT TO GO.

Your skill at copywriting and sales is what helps you with understanding that. All you do is get inside the head of your customer. Listen to their pain points and suffering and figure out "what are the things that i can tell them... that would make them buy my product INSTANTLY".

And then you make the product.

This is the "angle". Any market can be a great market, but not all solutions are equal because not all entrepreneurs have the sales skills and copywriting ability that you do. That skill is what is going to help you understand your customer and offer the solution that makes them open up their wallet.

 

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[ljb7]

Found a product to try, emailed the few suppliers that sell it on Alibaba, been waiting 2 days for replies.

If you aren't getting replies it's most likely because of your opening enquiry.

There are a number of good posts on here about how to craft a good opening message to potential suppliers. Here's one: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...products-and-selling-critiques-welcome.54380/

Do what's suggested and you'll get replies almost every single time.

 

[Ejohn10286]

This is a very good and encouraging thread.

Eric

 

[The Grind]

Ordered 5 more samples of a different version of the product. Much cheaper price than the other one, 40% of the price.

I think the first company was a trading company that's why. I doubt I'll make anything on those. We'll see, lesson learned though.

Emailed 2 companies, got 2 responses, placed 2 orders. I took more action in 1 day that I have my whole life.

Just spend all my cash though =P

 

[miked_d]

This website will help change the background.
http://fotofuze.com/