The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Log: Finding My Fastlane On-Ramp

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Hello Fastlaners

I'm Dan, 35, living in Bristol, UK. I'm starting this log to document my journey as I finally take care of what, historically, has been my lowest priority in life: money.

I'm posting to clarify thoughts, add a little accountability, and connect with other folks here.


THE PIECES

1. I have an existing sole trader business as a drum kit teacher, which takes care of living expenses + saving a little here & there.

2. I teach mindfulness in a secular Buddhist lineage, but I'm looking to step away from this for now as it's effectively impossible to monetise. (I can, however, include it as a freebie in any service I offer.)

3. I took a 4-year course in Alexander Technique, which included a tonne of educational theory & personal development.

4. I'm married to a great woman, who's trained in neuropsychology and currently works in a mental health unit at our local hospital.

5. I started to educate myself on the final piece of the life puzzle—money—around a year ago, first with Russell Brunson and more recently with Naval, MJ, Alex Hormozi & a few others.


THE CURRENT PLAN

The best bet I've found as yet for a Fastlane business is to target a perennial pain point for parents of young musicians, which is getting them to practice. Every music tutor struggles with this and, while I could go B2B instead and target the tutors, very few of them are well-off financially.

I imagine this taking the form of a one-to-many online course, but I don't want to jump the gun. I've been talking to parents I know who have the problem, and I'd say enthusiasm is trending toward good. Of course, the test is whether or not any of them would put down cash.

I understand the problem well, but I've yet to figure out how to have the kind of conversation with parents in which they'll tell me what solution to build for them. This seems to be the next step.

Tudor Dumitrescu was kind enough to offer advice on his Facebook group, which was that all I should be doing right now is figuring out product/market fit—i.e. speaking with parents. Thanks again for the direction, Tudor!

As I write now, however, I feel a bit of a chicken/egg thing going on: I need the market to tell me what product/service to make so that I can see if it fits with them?! Or perhaps I just go with my best idea right now—an online course—and pivot as/when required.

QUESTIONS:
- Do I take one parent to the solution for free to confirm that I can do it?
- Otherwise, how do I sell something to them if I don't know what it is yet? (Ask them to pay me on delivery of result? Or try to take a fee with a money-back guarantee?)

I have more parents I already know who I can speak with. Maybe one of them will be desperate enough for the solution. I'm developing how to have the kind of conversation I want as I go. Currently, that looks like this—
- what does problem look like for you?
- what does dream solution look like?
- I’m gonna spend some time with my team figuring out how to get you from a to b and then I’ll come back to you


THE ALTERNATIVES

1. I can apply TONNES of what I've been learning to my local business to increase my income, though I have doubts about degree of opportunity within the traditional private music tuition niche.

2. I've built around a dozen websites for my own business and, though I know no code, I've a beginning grasp of design. I think i could learn Webflow pretty quickly. So, I could just pivot hard and try to serve the coach/consultant niche as a web designer to get income up and then think again.

I'm pretty brain-dead after 40 days without a break, so just gonna leave this here and get back at it tomorrow.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Yogi_Fastlane

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
105%
May 3, 2022
21
22
Hello Fastlaners

I'm Dan, 35, living in Bristol, UK. I'm starting this log to document my journey as I finally take care of what, historically, has been my lowest priority in life: money.

I'm posting to clarify thoughts, add a little accountability, and connect with other folks here.


THE PIECES

1. I have an existing sole trader business as a drum kit teacher, which takes care of living expenses + saving a little here & there.

2. I teach mindfulness in a secular Buddhist lineage, but I'm looking to step away from this for now as it's effectively impossible to monetise. (I can, however, include it as a freebie in any service I offer.)

3. I took a 4-year course in Alexander Technique, which included a tonne of educational theory & personal development.

4. I'm married to a great woman, who's trained in neuropsychology and currently works in a mental health unit at our local hospital.

5. I started to educate myself on the final piece of the life puzzle—money—around a year ago, first with Russell Brunson and more recently with Naval, MJ, Alex Hormozi & a few others.


THE CURRENT PLAN

The best bet I've found as yet for a Fastlane business is to target a perennial pain point for parents of young musicians, which is getting them to practice. Every music tutor struggles with this and, while I could go B2B instead and target the tutors, very few of them are well-off financially.

I imagine this taking the form of a one-to-many online course, but I don't want to jump the gun. I've been talking to parents I know who have the problem, and I'd say enthusiasm is trending toward good. Of course, the test is whether or not any of them would put down cash.

I understand the problem well, but I've yet to figure out how to have the kind of conversation with parents in which they'll tell me what solution to build for them. This seems to be the next step.

Tudor Dumitrescu was kind enough to offer advice on his Facebook group, which was that all I should be doing right now is figuring out product/market fit—i.e. speaking with parents. Thanks again for the direction, Tudor!

As I write now, however, I feel a bit of a chicken/egg thing going on: I need the market to tell me what product/service to make so that I can see if it fits with them?! Or perhaps I just go with my best idea right now—an online course—and pivot as/when required.

QUESTIONS:
- Do I take one parent to the solution for free to confirm that I can do it?
- Otherwise, how do I sell something to them if I don't know what it is yet? (Ask them to pay me on delivery of result? Or try to take a fee with a money-back guarantee?)

I have more parents I already know who I can speak with. Maybe one of them will be desperate enough for the solution. I'm developing how to have the kind of conversation I want as I go. Currently, that looks like this—
- what does problem look like for you?
- what does dream solution look like?
- I’m gonna spend some time with my team figuring out how to get you from a to b and then I’ll come back to you


THE ALTERNATIVES

1. I can apply TONNES of what I've been learning to my local business to increase my income, though I have doubts about degree of opportunity within the traditional private music tuition niche.

2. I've built around a dozen websites for my own business and, though I know no code, I've a beginning grasp of design. I think i could learn Webflow pretty quickly. So, I could just pivot hard and try to serve the coach/consultant niche as a web designer to get income up and then think again.

I'm pretty brain-dead after 40 days without a break, so just gonna leave this here and get back at it tomorrow.
Didn't understand your premise, you are solving the problem of Students not able (motivated) to do practice or Parents not being able to get them to practice sessions?

Depending on either narrative, it could be a discipline problem or a transportation (reach) problem.

You can maybe find a platform, which brings the students/parents into a "tribe" (take joining fees) with certain rewards for "producing" something (find a sponsor) and then lead them to be accountable for their actions of not showing up, by cutting down rewards.

Alternatively, you can find an online platform for people to learn music, it is not yet there, most people love music and few want to learn as well, some want to look cool some want to appease their girlfriends.

Opportunities are abundant in this area, Good luck !!!
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
...you are solving the problem of Students not able (motivated) to do practice or Parents not being able to get them to practice sessions?
Solving the problem of students being unmotivated to practice—by educating their parents on how to understand and guide them—using psychology & mindfulness.

i.e. x-week webinar course on subjects like 'how to break your child's screen-time addiction & win back their natural motivation' (with Q&A afterward).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts
 

Move the chains

Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
102%
Dec 15, 2019
53
54
I
Solving the problem of students being unmotivated to practice—by educating their parents on how to understand and guide them—using psychology & mindfulness.

i.e. x-week webinar course on subjects like 'how to break your child's screen-time addiction & win back their natural motivation' (with Q&A afterward).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Interesting idea. Could you create something that gamifies it?

I'm no expert with kids/parents but from years of youth coaching, kids rarely excel when they're being pushed to do something by a parent. Now, if you teach parents to back off and let the kid focus on fun and learning, that would be great. However, I've learned that most parents struggle with how they are judged raising their kid rather than the quality of the relationship they have.

Can you create something to teach the kids and reduce the parental involvement?
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Interesting idea. Could you create something that gamifies it?

I'm no expert with kids/parents but from years of youth coaching, kids rarely excel when they're being pushed to do something by a parent. Now, if you teach parents to back off and let the kid focus on fun and learning, that would be great. However, I've learned that most parents struggle with how they are judged raising their kid rather than the quality of the relationship they have.

Can you create something to teach the kids and reduce the parental involvement?
Glad you find it interesting—I'll take any vote of confidence I can get right now!

Gamification is woven into the strategies I'm intending to package. Planning to provide PDF's for goal-setting & tracking. An app would be way better for the task, but I've nowhere near the capital for that.

Backing off and bringing the fun is a huge piece, yes. Parents being judged by other parents (in-laws, anyone?!) came up in my brainstorming, but is a little outside the scope of the product. My thinking is that if I can help them improve the relationship at home then the judgments from outside will improve (status).

I've plenty up my sleeve for objections in the sales stage ('won't the other mums think I'm weird etc...)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
 

Move the chains

Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
102%
Dec 15, 2019
53
54
Glad you find it interesting—I'll take any vote of confidence I can get right now!

Gamification is woven into the strategies I'm intending to package. Planning to provide PDF's for goal-setting & tracking. An app would be way better for the task, but I've nowhere near the capital for that.

Backing off and bringing the fun is a huge piece, yes. Parents being judged by other parents (in-laws, anyone?!) came up in my brainstorming, but is a little outside the scope of the product. My thinking is that if I can help them improve the relationship at home then the judgments from outside will improve (status).

I've plenty up my sleeve for objections in the sales stage ('won't the other mums think I'm weird etc...)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I'm in the early stages of a course geared toward 12-22 year olds. Thinkific is free to use for course creation. From looking at the features, it's enough to get started and generating more than enough revenue.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
I'm in the early stages of a course geared toward 12-22 year olds. Thinkific is free to use for course creation. From looking at the features, it's enough to get started and generating more than enough revenue.
Oh excellent—I was just beginning to think about platform. Thanks for the tip
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Put a quick landing page together at https://nomorenagging.net.

If anything, this is probably too fancy—I'm just going to try to sign up some parents I already know. But there were some periods of waiting for various web mechanics (DNS, SSL) so I had some fun tinkering.

My number 1 goal with this is for it to be what Alex Hormozi describes as a 'grand slam offer' (an offer so good people would feel stupid saying 'no'). I've stopped short, though, of including any 1-to-1 services. I'm already doing that in my local business—this is about ascending to 1-to-many.

Would love to hear any & all feedback.
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
So, following more generous advice from Tudor @Black_Dragon43, the big question now is how to find and connect with potential early adopters face-to-face.

My intuition is to go to private music schools, but there's a problem—a big part of my current messaging is basically 'stop spending on music lessons that don't work and buy my program instead'. Music schools aren't going to be happy for me to come in and disrupt them.

Do I alter (weaken?) my offer and make it something supplementary to music lessons?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Canva flyer design. Quick & easy.
  1. Template
  2. Image from pexels.com
  3. Colour palette for target audience (mums) generated at coolors.com
  4. Copy lifted from existing landing page.
Tweaked it longer than necessary using bits of spare time that were no good for anything else. Reached something functional at ~4 hours.

Decided to funnel people straight to my cellphone. Emails can be filtered. Website is included for the curious, but ideally I want to get rapport going immediately.

Now to find places to hang the prints. Think I'll get a run of 50 in case I want to change anything following feedback. First call is to parents I know to see if they can stick them up where other parents go (schools being a potential goldmine).

Next I think I'll just turn up at private music schools and ask if they'd like their students to practice consistently. They don't need to know I'm disrupting their business. By the time they find out, I'll have my testimonials and be building my online funnel
 

Attachments

  • NMN Flyer 04 (1).png
    NMN Flyer 04 (1).png
    642.2 KB · Views: 6

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Got prints of above flyer design yesterday. Came out well, but immediately feeling like I need another design featuring an older child for high schools. Am I being pedantic? Will parents assume (or ask if) the course is a fit for families with older kids too?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Designed a second flyer for parents of older kids.

NMN Flyer 05 (210 × 297 mm) (1).png

And started thinking about where to put them.

First of all looked up a few local music schools and quickly prepped a little script—
Hi, this is Danny from nomorenagging.net.​
(rapport)​
...​
I'm working to get kids practicing music in-between lessons. Is this a problem your teachers deal with?​
Tell me more about that.​
...​
Repeat back pain points.​
...​
I'm teaming up with a neuropsychologist and a former monk to teach parents how to get their kids practicing between lessons. Do you think this would help you retain more students?​
...​
Great, so I have some exciting ideas on exactly how I'm going to help these parents. I could give you the details but how about the quick version?​
...​
So I'm gonna run 3 online sessions per week—all recorded—and do lots of interaction. If the kids aren't practicing at least four times a week after 7 weeks, I'll give parents their money back. How does that sound to you?​
...​
I'm looking for 9 more keen parents right now, and I'd be pleased to offer yours a discount—sound good?​
...​
£189 for the 7-week course.​
Then I saw one music school's webpage, and realised something very important—I know a guy who teaches there.

Cut to, I've just had a nice catchup with an old friend and I'm sending him 20 flyers which will go up on notice boards in all the schools he teaches, and on coffee tables in staff rooms

Gonna go through my phone book tomorrow and repeat till I've exhausted every teacher I know.
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
1/5/10 Planasy

LIFE IN 10 YEARS

- £10,000,000 net worth
- C.E.N.T.S. business/es, time investment optional
- pack of well-trained dogs
- house in woods owned outright
- running mindfulness/psychology retreats for small groups of committed students
- various other mindfulness outreach for free
- funding home for stray dogs in Kolkata
- 2 top-end gaming PC's
- home gym
- 2 teslas
- mum taken care of
- independent of dad; ready to donate inheritance to a charity of his choosing
- many bonsai (jap red maple!)
- able to visit india/thailand biz class whenever

LIFE IN 5 YEARS
- £1,000,000 net worth
- C.E.N.T.S. business beginning to divorce from time
- collie
- mortgaged 2-bed quiet, comfortable, functional home
- 1 tesla
- able to visit india/thailand biz class once per year

LIFE IN 1 YEAR
- £100,000 net worth
- C.E.N.T.S. business replaced drum tuition; still requiring time
- able to rent any 2-bed home comfortably
- able to visit india/thailand economy class once per year
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Spoke with around 30 friends & acquaintances today regarding my new project. It felt strange to be 'on the ask', but as I went along I managed to improve my language from 'this is my new thing, help me promote it' to more 'this can help you.' And I wasn't lying—my offer can help other music teachers by transforming their students into regular practitioners, who'll stick around with them longer (plus they'll be MUCH easier to teach).

More and more, I see what everyone's talking about here when they say that business is all about helping people—and that this is first and foremost a shift in mindset. I've been all up for helping people, but held the assumption—due to Buddhist background—that this was incompatible with money. Well, I'm done with that. Yes, plenty of evil has been done for money, but money is just a store of value, and there's plenty to go around in 2022.

So, I'll soon place an order for ~600 flyers and have a small mob of other music teachers distribute them. I only need 2% of that number in signups, then I'm ready to pilot the course.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Hong_Kong

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
126%
Apr 7, 2022
215
270
Canva flyer design. Quick & easy.
  1. Template
  2. Image from pexels.com
  3. Colour palette for target audience (mums) generated at coolors.com
  4. Copy lifted from existing landing page.
Tweaked it longer than necessary using bits of spare time that were no good for anything else. Reached something functional at ~4 hours.

Decided to funnel people straight to my cellphone. Emails can be filtered. Website is included for the curious, but ideally I want to get rapport going immediately.

Now to find places to hang the prints. Think I'll get a run of 50 in case I want to change anything following feedback. First call is to parents I know to see if they can stick them up where other parents go (schools being a potential goldmine).

Next I think I'll just turn up at private music schools and ask if they'd like their students to practice consistently. They don't need to know I'm disrupting their business. By the time they find out, I'll have my testimonials and be building my online funnel
I love your website theme. Very simple, communicates the problem / solution. I think the flyer is a bit cluttered compared to the site, and not as clear communication.
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
I love your website theme. Very simple, communicates the problem / solution. I think the flyer is a bit cluttered compared to the site, and not as clear communication.
Thanks for the feedback friend. You’re absolutely right. I’m trying to go fast to get it out there, but after a few drafts the design has gotten away from me.
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
How has this been going?
Thanks for asking brother.

Flyer distribution has taken a few weeks all told, but today the last of 1200 will leave my hands. Final design attached. Been working on my local drum tuition offering alongside (did a customer feedback survey and sent out a targeted ask for Google reviews).

I've continued to receive mixed feedback on the new project. Parents I've spoken with love the idea, but none have put money down yet. Some teachers love the idea and are helping me with flyers, others came back with their own conflicting philosophies on kids' practice. I'm embracing this on the basis that if I'm not encountering friction I'm probably not sharing with enough people.

Motivation has definitely waned since I started thinking about this project. It's teaching that excites me, not putting flyers in envelopes. But if I want that puppy for my wife then it's what's necessary. So I've been using two strategies to keep going—
1. JUST DO. I write out the tasks I need to complete in a day and I just F*cking do them, even if I don't feel like it.
2. Go back to MJ's material for a) motivation and b) clarity. Working my way slowly through 'Rat Race Escape' right now.

Beyond that I've just been fairly easy on myself. I've tended to sprint and then rest as a pattern in my working life (7 days a week for a couple months, then stop & rest) but I'm experimenting with a more balanced approach—if I can just do those important tasks in a day then I'm okay with chilling in the PM.
 

Attachments

  • NMN Flyer July B (A5).png
    NMN Flyer July B (A5).png
    792.2 KB · Views: 3

StrikingViper69

Shredding scales and making sales
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
167%
Dec 3, 2018
1,447
2,410
UK
Have you tested the course on anyone? You could give away a few logins to get feedback and testimonials that you can use on the site.

You could also create some lower tier offers to "ease" people in. A low priced eBook that has some good ideas and advice that parents can use, or a free 5 day email course that gives them some quick wins with helping their kid practice more.

With your local teaching with your drum students, are there any group classes you can create that could give you a quick boost in income? A class on music theory, world / ethnic percussion, songwriting, a drum ensemble (is that a thing?) or something like that?
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
Have you tested the course on anyone? You could give away a few logins to get feedback and testimonials that you can use on the site.

You could also create some lower tier offers to "ease" people in. A low priced eBook that has some good ideas and advice that parents can use, or a free 5 day email course that gives them some quick wins with helping their kid practice more.

With your local teaching with your drum students, are there any group classes you can create that could give you a quick boost in income? A class on music theory, world / ethnic percussion, songwriting, a drum ensemble (is that a thing?) or something like that?
So the advice I found on this forum was 'sell before you build' (which was a difficult mindset to grasp, I'll admit!) In case you're not familiar, the basic premise is to put out marketing material that promises to solve the problem and get cash out of people's hands with a money-back guarantee, THEN build out the product once you know there's a real demand.

I've got one signup so far, but it's not from my target demographic (parents). It's from a fellow music teacher. Once I have a handful of genuine signups I'm totally up for handing out free logins to folks who aren't interested enough to pay, because at that point I just want as many testimonials as I can get.

I've considered an eBook. Not a bad idea at all, but time-consuming, and if the product turns out to not have a market then that's time down the drain. (Except for the fact that a 'parents handbook' on the subject of practice will always help my local students, of course. Still, I don't want to be teaching locally any longer than I have to.)

I probably could advertise some group stuff now that COVID restrictions are off. Drum ensemble is a thing yeah—like marching band or whatever. Would have to hire the drums though. Could do a junk percussion thing following a trip to the scrapyard maybe!

I'm trying to maintain focus on going one-to-many online. A friend just put me forward for a day of secondary school teaching he's leaving behind, which is great—that'll really take care of my bread & butter if it comes off. I could keep improving my local time-for-money stuff forever but it's not gonna move me up to that next level of business.

It's a fine balance—on the one hand, a bit more social media presence of me working as a drum teacher locally would absolutely support any wider offering. On the other hand, there's a big thread here talking about how social media is a waste of time if we can just find product/market fit and get something people need out to them at scale (at the right price).

So many possibilities!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
So, taking the advice to flyer locally as my first marketing attempt, I distributed ~1200, targeted at existing music students and households in affluent areas.

I stuck with the advice that the flyer should offer to solve a problem but not include anything about the 'how'.

This was the design—
NMN Flyer July B (A4).png

I passed the flyers out a month ago. I've received one phone call.

The caller was keen and definitely my target audience. I spoke with her for 30 minutes and learned tonnes. At the end of the call, she asked me about cost, which definitely seems to be the way I want it.

Sadly, she's taking her family away for the summer, but we plan to reconnect in September.

The big question for me is 'what does this enquiry-to-flyer ratio tell me about my proposition?' Instinct says I'd want to be receiving more calls to show me it's worth pursuing my idea, but this is my first swing at this kind of business, so I'm hoping others can offer 2 cents
 

StrikingViper69

Shredding scales and making sales
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
167%
Dec 3, 2018
1,447
2,410
UK
1 per thousand is about the response I had for distributing flyers when I was advertising guitar lessons. I'd say that's about right, flyers really are a numbers game.

What's your sales process for the call? Are you asking them to sign up to an online course, having them come in for a demonstration.. ?
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
1 per thousand is about the response I had for distributing flyers when I was advertising guitar lessons. I'd say that's about right, flyers really are a numbers game.

What's your sales process for the call? Are you asking them to sign up to an online course, having them come in for a demonstration.. ?
Well damn. I heard 1% was the target, so was hoping for 10 calls. 10,000 flyers would be a heck of a cost…

Sales process:
1. Fact find, answer questions, offer some quick value, pre-sell online course/bespoke solution,
2. Study notes from call,
3. Go back with solutions and see which option customer wants.

My original plan was to get 10 clients into the online course, but with so little interest I’m thinking I need to just help them personally and get testimonials that way.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

StrikingViper69

Shredding scales and making sales
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
167%
Dec 3, 2018
1,447
2,410
UK
Well damn. I heard 1% was the target, so was hoping for 10 calls. 10,000 flyers would be a heck of a cost…

Sales process:
1. Fact find, answer questions, offer some quick value, pre-sell online course/bespoke solution,
2. Study notes from call,
3. Go back with solutions and see which option customer wants.

My original plan was to get 10 clients into the online course, but with so little interest I’m thinking I need to just help them personally and get testimonials that way.

You want to sell them on something on the phone. Offer them some sort of something for signing up on the spot over the phone, get them to give you their card info and put into stripe or something like that. If you really want to call them back, make a firm appointment to do so.

Wrt to your ad spend... with a one off product, that could be difficult, without spending money to test.

With the flyer, it doesn't say what it is you're offering - is it an online course? A weekly meeting? Phone consultation? That unknown could be putting people off.

You could also offer something concrete - "Call Danny to get a free online mini course", give them an incentive to pick up the phone.
 

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
With the flyer, it doesn't say what it is you're offering - is it an online course? A weekly meeting? Phone consultation? That unknown could be putting people off.

You could also offer something concrete - "Call Danny to get a free online mini course", give them an incentive to pick up the phone.
This is beginning to get confusing.

@Black_Dragon43 and others explicitly advised to NOT include any kind of "how" on the flyer—just the promise to solve a problem.
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
337%
Apr 28, 2017
2,069
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
This is beginning to get confusing.

@Black_Dragon43 and others explicitly advised to NOT include any kind of "how" on the flyer—just the promise to solve a problem.
You shouldn't include HOW you will achieve the result, but you DO need to include WHAT you're selling. You can't sell something without knowing what it is. So you do need to tell them what it will involve. For example, mini course lasting 3 sessions done via Zoom, where we cover (1) Learning faster, (2) 5 Keys to Developing Consistency, (3) 7 Little Known Reward You Can Offer to Motivate Practice -- or whatever it is. Can you see how I'm telling them WHAT I'm selling, but not HOW the result will be achieved? They don't know the 5 keys or the 8 little known rewards bla bla.

Please watch: Free Training - TANDA Digital
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Danny_Cox

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
139%
Apr 26, 2022
74
103
37
Bristol, UK
You shouldn't include HOW you will achieve the result, but you DO need to include WHAT you're selling. You can't sell something without knowing what it is. So you do need to tell them what it will involve. For example, mini course lasting 3 sessions done via Zoom, where we cover (1) Learning faster, (2) 5 Keys to Developing Consistency, (3) 7 Little Known Reward You Can Offer to Motivate Practice -- or whatever it is. Can you see how I'm telling them WHAT I'm selling, but not HOW the result will be achieved? They don't know the 5 keys or the 8 little known rewards bla bla.

Please watch: Free Training - TANDA Digital
'You can't sell something without knowing what it is' was my instinctive objection to the whole 'sell before you build' principle that I was trying to get my head around before designing my flyer. It seems I took it too far and included too little detail.

I think I need to stop relying on free advice and put down some cash: I remember you giving me a thumbs-up on the flyer, but I'd never expect anyone to take more than a glance for free. Now I've lost money on flyers & distribution that I'd have been better off spending on educating myself. Lesson learned.

Will have a good look at the training you linked. Thanks again friend.
 

Black_Dragon43

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
337%
Apr 28, 2017
2,069
6,964
‍☠️ Eastern Europe
'You can't sell something without knowing what it is' was my instinctive objection to the whole 'sell before you build' principle that I was trying to get my head around before designing my flyer. It seems I took it too far and included too little detail.

I think I need to stop relying on free advice and put down some cash: I remember you giving me a thumbs-up on the flyer, but I'd never expect anyone to take more than a glance for free. Now I've lost money on flyers & distribution that I'd have been better off spending on educating myself. Lesson learned.

Will have a good look at the training you linked. Thanks again friend.
You should sell before you build.

I will post something here from my $10K+ training materials:

NPOT-Model.png


This is my own innovation when it comes to how businesses are built. It's called the NPOT Model, you can watch that free training to learn more, since you will not find this anywhere else. But there are basically two camps in business:

1. Product-First People

2. Marketing-First People


Well, the truth is that neither of the approaches above work, even though marketing-first is superior to product-first.

What you need is to craft the outline of the solution, sell it, and then build it. This is what NPOT Model First is. You create your NPOT Model, standing for Niche, Problem, Offer, Transformation. Then you sell that, before you build anything else. Only after you've sold it, do you build the actual product or service.

In this way you can iterate quickly and cheaply, and you pretty much cannot fail. This is the scientific way of building a business that can scale. This is how I am able to guarantee results 100% for anyone I accept into my training program, provided they already make $10K+/mo and are looking to scale. Because this approach works, without fail.

I am 100% certain it also works for broke people. The problem is broke people want to see 1000 case studies, and then go pester and annoy my clients about "uhhh what was your experience like?". I'm like "F*ck off loser, you're not getting in". So I've become very careful about who I reveal case studies to, it has to be someone who is very interested and is seriously considering it. Then I can reveal case studies and even arrange for them to speak with past clients. This is the reason why I stopped having anything to do with broke people. Most are such a pain and create a lot of problems for you, annoying your existing clients being the least of them. So now I don't work with anyone making less than $10K/mo.
 
Last edited:

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top