The SEO Marketplace - here goes nothing...

[snowbank]

So we sent him an email saying that I was very interested - still no reply yet but hopefully that will possibly give me a lead there.

You're thinking like an internet marketer, not someone who wants a mentor. If you're just fishing for "leads" you're going to get a 1% conversion rate. If you want a mentor, YOU need to add value to them, not the other way around.

Make sure he's the guy who you want to be mentored by first, and if he is, do things to make his life easier, and show you are an asset to his life. Don't worry about what he's going to do for you right away. It will come if you have real value. Again, make sure he's the right person first.(don't just go with someone cause they're a millionaire, it doesn't mean as much as you'd think)

He's not in my location, but if there was a real opportunity I would 100% jump for it and move to where he is

First, opportunity is everywhere, but it's not going to come to you. Think about it like this. The more successful an entrepreneur is, if they decide to keep scaling, the more responsibility they will have on their plate. How many of those entrepreneurs have things in their life that they wish someone else could take care of so they could focus on the things that make them money. You should fill that void for them. A byproduct of that is you being around them as they're figuring things out/executing and seeing how they become successful, and most importantly why they do the things they do that create the success for them.

Also, if location isn't an obstacle, it'll be easy. However, you are in school, correct? What is your location? If I know someone where you are I will contact them for you.

But seriously, I have no idea how to get in contact with someone who (#1) is an entrepreneur worth learning from and (#2) would be willing to let me hang along.

#1 is easy. #2 changes from you hanging around to you adding value once you realize that's what would make them want you around. Specific example: You obv know MJ. What is MJ doing right now? Selling books. What if you figured out a way to bring a ton of buyers to MJ and just handed them to him on a platter, and didn't ask for anything. Well, 1, you are going to stand out, because people don't do stuff like that. 2, he is going to see you have the ability to add value to his life, because he doesn't have time to reach every single person out there. That's just a random example but you can easily get a hold of any entrepreneur these days, so it's just a matter of finding out what you want to do, and doing it.

You have great potential as a mentee because you have skills that a lot of entrepreneurs either don't have, or don't want to deal with- you could set up their websites, help them with IM related things with their businesses, etc... A lot of people who would love mentors are just like, "I wanna be rich" but they don't actually have anything of value to bring to the table. You actually do.

Tips: If you do find a mentor, do NOT flake on them. Pour 100% into it and it will pay off. Myself and others I know have attempted this with some people before and often times they just end up flaking out because A. they're not being paid, and B. the excitement of having someone who can help mentor you wears off after a while, so you need to make sure you're committed. If not, you'll look worse to them than if you never did anything for them at all.

Any hint at the elements that I'm missing?

If it was 1 or 2 things I could try to break it down for you, but it's basically everything. Not saying that to deter you, it would just take a substantial amount of time to explain how to successfully launch a company like that when there's so many aspects.

Also, since I've chatted with others about doing this same exact model, would feel a bit strange about putting other's ideas out in the open since they've happened in private conversations.

It doesn't have so much to do about this specific idea, as it does your ability to execute each and every aspect of a business that it would take to make it successful, which is why I suggested the mentor. The idea is fine, but lots of ideas are fine. It's knowing how to execute every piece of a puzzle that takes someone from idea stage to making a lot of money stage.

to narrow it down, would marketing be the problem?

one of them. read all my posts on the forum because a lot of them have to do with starting a biz/marketing.(and/or berating people for being lazy) Then you will have a substantially different set of questions than "how to start a company". After you do that, if you have questions you feel need answering I will do a 10 minute skype call with you.

[gabrielpark]

WarriorForum is a toilet where failed marketers flush their only viable target customers (gullible newbies a six-year-old could pitch) down the bowl $7 at a time...

Lol, warriorforum is a great place to market "information products" to other marketers, but that's all it's good for. BHW is the one of the best forums in every respect, while Wicked is a good spot to network. If you really want to sell on BHW you need to do more than a BST thread... you need a solid signature and good visibility/involvement on the forum befor you launch, and a banner ad wouldn't hurt, too. Start adding "friends" on those forums, also.




Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

[bernieshawn]

You're thinking like an internet marketer, not someone who wants a mentor. If you're just fishing for "leads" you're going to get a 1% conversion rate. If you want a mentor, YOU need to add value to them, not the other way around.

Make sure he's the guy who you want to be mentored by first, and if he is, do things to make his life easier, and show you are an asset to his life. Don't worry about what he's going to do for you right away. It will come if you have real value. Again, make sure he's the right person first.(don't just go with someone cause they're a millionaire, it doesn't mean as much as you'd think)



First, opportunity is everywhere, but it's not going to come to you. Think about it like this. The more successful an entrepreneur is, if they decide to keep scaling, the more responsibility they will have on their plate. How many of those entrepreneurs have things in their life that they wish someone else could take care of so they could focus on the things that make them money. You should fill that void for them. A byproduct of that is you being around them as they're figuring things out/executing and seeing how they become successful, and most importantly why they do the things they do that create the success for them.

Also, if location isn't an obstacle, it'll be easy. However, you are in school, correct? What is your location? If I know someone where you are I will contact them for you.



#1 is easy. #2 changes from you hanging around to you adding value once you realize that's what would make them want you around. Specific example: You obv know MJ. What is MJ doing right now? Selling books. What if you figured out a way to bring a ton of buyers to MJ and just handed them to him on a platter, and didn't ask for anything. Well, 1, you are going to stand out, because people don't do stuff like that. 2, he is going to see you have the ability to add value to his life, because he doesn't have time to reach every single person out there. That's just a random example but you can easily get a hold of any entrepreneur these days, so it's just a matter of finding out what you want to do, and doing it.

You have great potential as a mentee because you have skills that a lot of entrepreneurs either don't have, or don't want to deal with- you could set up their websites, help them with IM related things with their businesses, etc... A lot of people who would love mentors are just like, "I wanna be rich" but they don't actually have anything of value to bring to the table. You actually do.

Tips: If you do find a mentor, do NOT flake on them. Pour 100% into it and it will pay off. Myself and others I know have attempted this with some people before and often times they just end up flaking out because A. they're not being paid, and B. the excitement of having someone who can help mentor you wears off after a while, so you need to make sure you're committed. If not, you'll look worse to them than if you never did anything for them at all.



If it was 1 or 2 things I could try to break it down for you, but it's basically everything. Not saying that to deter you, it would just take a substantial amount of time to explain how to successfully launch a company like that when there's so many aspects.

Also, since I've chatted with others about doing this same exact model, would feel a bit strange about putting other's ideas out in the open since they've happened in private conversations.

It doesn't have so much to do about this specific idea, as it does your ability to execute each and every aspect of a business that it would take to make it successful, which is why I suggested the mentor. The idea is fine, but lots of ideas are fine. It's knowing how to execute every piece of a puzzle that takes someone from idea stage to making a lot of money stage.



one of them. read all my posts on the forum because a lot of them have to do with starting a biz/marketing.(and/or berating people for being lazy) Then you will have a substantially different set of questions than "how to start a company". After you do that, if you have questions you feel need answering I will do a 10 minute skype call with you.

Yeah, I'm in school in Charlotte, NC. It's kicking my butt now, mainly because I'm just not focused - the further I get with school, the more I realize that it's not really helping me. I think I can count on one hand the number of very useful things I've learned in 4 years of college so far.

My plan up until a couple weeks ago was to hurry up and finish school ASAP. Then, get a decent job after that and try to launch a business in my spare time.

Then I realized that #1 you have to put up or shut the hell up. What is waiting until school is done going to do? All it's going to do is waste time until then and, if I do happen to get a 'decent' job coming out, it's going to eat up my time working 40+ hours a week. Maybe I'll have a little more money to work with, but I'll have much less time. Which is more valuable to a start-up - time, right? Especially if you don't want to give up equity for funds.

Even though so far all I've proven is that I don't know what the hell I'm doing, at least I'm in the game. I felt like I would learn the most if I just put myself out there, started something, and then tried to figure out where I went wrong (unless I was successful). Actually, if you look at it that way, if I messed everything up then I should be able to learn how to do everything right, if I can learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, 1 more question about the mentor thing. Logistically, what's the best way to find possible mentors? Look around town for businesses that seem like they're pretty fastlane and shoot the owner an email or call him/her?

[bernieshawn]

Trying to update this thread buy either my computer or this forum hates me! It won't let me post

Update:

I redesigned my lead capture page. The first one really sucked. I think this one's better but it's still not perfect.

I tried about 10 times to post a link to the page but for some reason this forum doesn't like it and the post doesn't go through. Maybe if I post it like this it'll work: theseomarketplace.com/competitive-term-ranking

If you have any feedback, don't hold back... rip it to shreds!

Going to run some Adwords traffic to it to see if there's any interest (aka opt-ins). If there is, then I'm going to finish designing the back end and go forward with it.

[Gymjunkie]

Insert some graphics into the main site. At least one picture, professional looking probably. The design of you sign up form won't really matter if you presell them well on it on the main page and convince them they need the quotes from you!

Trying to update this thread buy either my computer or this forum hates me! It won't let me post

Update:

I redesigned my lead capture page. The first one really sucked. I think this one's better but it's still not perfect.

I tried about 10 times to post a link to the page but for some reason this forum doesn't like it and the post doesn't go through. Maybe if I post it like this it'll work: theseomarketplace.com/competitive-term-ranking

If you have any feedback, don't hold back... rip it to shreds!

Going to run some Adwords traffic to it to see if there's any interest (aka opt-ins). If there is, then I'm going to finish designing the back end and go forward with it.

[snowbank]

Which is more valuable to a start-up - time, right?

knowledge

[snowbank]

Especially if you don't want to give up equity for funds.

You shouldn't need to give up much equity for funds with this business. However, you shouldn't be opposed to giving up equity just for the sake of not giving up equity. At the stage you're at, if you had someone who really knew their stuff team up with you and take 50% or 75% of the business or whatever, and the business was 5-10x as big, you make more and learn more.

[bernieshawn]

You shouldn't need to give up much equity for funds with this business. However, you shouldn't be opposed to giving up equity just for the sake of not giving up equity. At the stage you're at, if you had someone who really knew their stuff team up with you and take 50% or 75% of the business or whatever, and the business was 5-10x as big, you make more and learn more.

Well I would be open to a partner.

Insert some graphics into the main site. At least one picture, professional looking probably. The design of you sign up form won't really matter if you presell them well on it on the main page and convince them they need the quotes from you!

I had the same thought... looking through some stock photos right now.

[bernieshawn]

Quick update...

Well, I have been unable to get enough companies on board for the service that I wanted to release next (that I've spend the last couple months working on). I've contacted 50+ companies and they all either didn't respond, or asked for more info and didn't respond after that.

Don't really know what to do now, I've run out of companies to contact, and even if I did have more to contact, I don't know how to do it, because what I had been doing obviously doesn't work.

This idea is pretty much dead at this point...

[bernieshawn]

Time for an update I guess, not sure if anyone's actually reading this.

Actually, first, if a mod happens to read this, can you change the title of this thread, please? Let me know or PM me or something.

Anyway, I think I'm getting hit in the head by process. I feel exactly like the 3rd paragraph on page 11 of TMF. I know the way to the Fastlane, but can't do anything about it. It makes sense, but at the same time it doesn't make sense "for me" if that makes any sense. Too many 'senses'. Sorry. Anyway...

Ok, actual progress updates:

-Looking back at my last update, I managed to overcome the problem of not having companies to work with to send leads to by joining some affiliate programs. Not the greatest option, didn't do it by choice, but it's better than nothing I suppose.

-I have also done a lot of work on the site itself. I redesigned the home page to reflect the main point of the site and I think it looks great. That doesn't mean anything in terms of its success, but at least I think it looks good.

-I've been testing out landing pages, but don't have much good traffic to really get good measures (see below about traffic).

-I built an affiliate program for the site. Just in case I get to the point where I could actually recruit affiliates. Actually, if you are an affiliate, I'll pay $15 per lead. I'll pay even more, actually, if you actually generate some.

-SIDE NOTE: Building an affiliate program is REALLY easy (well, doing the tracking stuff is, which is the main part). All you have to do is place a cookie and then check if an affiliate cookie exists when a sale or lead is made. The hardest part is just generating the reports, which still isn't really that hard. If you're having an affiliate program built for your site, DO NOT pay a lot of money for it. It's really easy. You could probably do it yourself in a day.

However, back to my site, I'm still not sure if this is worth pursuing at this point. This idea seems stupid and I absolutely hate it right now. Is that normal? Part of me feels like it might be ... you love your idea when you first think of it, then start to actually work on it and start to like it less and less (unless it's an overnight success). By the time you're struggling with it, you hate it.

Generating quality traffic has proven to be a nightmare. Harder than other verticals. Microsoft Adcenter is awful, Adwords is even worse (in this niche). Or, that's my experience so far. But then again, your dog could probably market with PPC better than me, so that might have something to do with it. I have also bought some banner space with mixed results, mostly bad. One had a very high CTR (2%... for a banner ad!) but it didn't convert. Others have had a lower CTRs (actually not lower, seriously awful) but actually yielded a couple leads. Others have been a complete waste of money. If you sell ads on your site and your average CTR is .00002%, you need to be shot.

So, I have managed to generate about 20-30 leads. None have converted after that. Some of those leads didn't seem very serious though, I would estimate that only about 10 of those were actually good quality.

I've been thinking about this whole thing and doubting it more and more. Is this bringing the world value? Is there a need for this? I'm starting to think "no".

I feel like I'm coming to an auction armed with a bag of dirt to sell. Not valuable, not filling a need, not going to be very successful.

I don't want to let something go that could be successful if given more time, work, and patience, but at the same time I don't want to waste time and money on something that's just stupid.

It wouldn't be so bad if I had the "idea bug" problem that a lot of you guys seem to have, but I'm the opposite. I don't come up with many ideas. So I don't have another idea to work on and put into action, which sucks. I don't have anything else to work at, no ambition. I mean, I have ambition, but no vehicle to take me there at the moment. Nothing worthwhile to put my time and energy into. Nothing to dedicate myself to.

And that's where it hurts. I mean, I want to get to the point where I don't even care about this, because I have something better to work on. But for now, it's all I have and that's why it's hard to let go.

I'm just going to step back for a while, maybe waste some more money on ads, focus on college, and try to come up with a better idea. One that serves a need. I'm starting to try to think ahead. It's not easy. I think you have to let ideas come to you, not try to think of ideas.

The good thing about stepping back for a while is that other than hosting and a domain, I don't have any other costs yet (aside from marketing, which I can start or stop whenever I want). So, I can let it run for a while without taking it down.

I wouldn't mind working for free for someone on a mentor basis.

Going to cool off over here, I don't want to post too much, because other than this thread, which will probably be a case study in either 'what not to do' or 'how not to think' (because there's still a chance of success here), or both, I don't really have very much to contribute, as a person with $0 net worth.

[kwerner]

This damn forum won't let me post a reply, maybe this screenshot will work...




It's pretty damn pathetic when you have to take a screen shot to post a reply, haha. I'm assuming it has something to do with keyword filters in the forum software, either that or my IP address is on the stopforumspam list, haha.