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Golden Nuggets- Tips, processes, & How To's

shedim

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learn to answer this one question, and your are on your way to becoming great at pitching.

its what every ceo, customer, angel investor, boss, girlfriend./boyfriend, ever asks. its the fundamental question in EVERY persons mind.

learn solve that question for them. and your already rich.

:)
Z

Absolutely. The most fascinating part is the fact that the fastlane-fundamentals can be applied to so many situations in life, not just those related to economics or business.

zen*******, I'm quite interested in your background prior to becoming an entrepreneur. Did you study anything related to economics? How did you acquire all the necessary skills and knowledge needed for entrepreneurship? Books, courses, did you have a mentor?

I'm currently in the process of learning as much as possible and quite frankly...I kinda feel a little bit overwhelmed because even though my educational background is pretty decent, there are just so many things I don't know and so many skills I still need to acquire...and so little time...
This is why I'm interested in how successful people were like before they became successful. Hope you people get what I mean. I can answer the "What's in it for me?" question easily. The "what comes next"-part is what's usually giving me a headache ;-)

Sorry if my questions were too private or inappropriate. No offense intended, I'm just genuinely curious.
 
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100k

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Just another Nugget

So here is another question I get.
How do i know if the product will be successful.

While it was talked about in the 4 hr workweek, some people needed to see it in action.

This is an actual test we ran on a product Idea a friend of mine had. While I said, it may not be worth it, she vehemently disagreed, so I showed her how to run this test, and we did it pretty quick

in the end she saved months of work, for a product that would not have made her enough money.

she ended up focusing on something that would and that's why you test. To kill bad ideas fast.
so you can really work on ones that are truly great.

The Test...
2011-05-19_2157 - xendolphin's library

How can you be 100% sure that its a bad idea though?

You spent 20 min. on a lander, looks like you used a pre-made theme, did not split testing, not sure if you used a professional copywriter, did not split test your demographic targeting and ads images and copy.

There are so many variables that gotta be considers.

I doubt there are many things you can throw up in 20 min. and see 10% Conversion Rate, 1% CTR on FB ads...etc.
But with some testing, those ideas you would throw out as bad could be real winners.
Not saying that was the case with your friend's idea, but I just think you would need more data and testing before ruling out something with so little effort put into the idea.

Edit: Never mind, OP answered my question in a later post. If you are just trying to find ideas THEN do small tests, but if you are serious about a bigger project then do a more indepth test run or do re-tests until you have enough data and have all the data you need.
 
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DeletedUser2

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zen*******, I'm quite interested in your background prior to becoming an entrepreneur. Did you study anything related to economics? How did you acquire all the necessary skills and knowledge needed for entrepreneurship? Books, courses, did you have a mentor?


I became an entrepreneur when I was 21.


when I was 18, the house moved out from under me, and I went to school for a couple semesters. Found that school was too slow for my learning style. I took off, and spent time hitchhiking around the US for a while. (about 18 months ish) stopped and worked where ever. asked a lot of questions. I was totally curious about life, and how people were. I found that we all had a lot in common. I hitched rides with truckers, and people in BMW's I didn't see allot of difference in people with money vs. without money, except in how they thought. it was ALL in the head. I met guys in wheelchairs who ran multimillion dollar empires, and people in great health, slaving away as a dishwasher.


once I understood the only difference between rich and poor, was what was in their head, I embarked on living my life the way I wanted to. I hitchhiked up to Alaska, and started working on boats up there.

I managed to have lots of time to read, on long boat runs. I read everything I could get my hands on. economics, macro theory, interpersonal communication, philosophy, biographies. anything. I realized school didn't do it for me, BUT I was hungry for information. back then, you couldn't Google anything, there was no Google. you had to go to a library, and THINK about how or what you wanted to learn about, and then do research. it was harder to do, BUT that meant you had to be more focused to do it.


after I started doing business, I hit wall after wall, I had 2 things. I was curious, and I didn't quit. being curious meant I was always asking other people what they knew, what I needed to know, I asked everyone who was doing what I did. I wasn't afraid of asking questions. or, If I was afraid, I didn't quit, because I was more curious that scared.


I had several mentors, and I can say, that mentors shaved between 10 to 15 yrs off my learning curve.

they kicked my a$$, they questioned me, they pushed me, they held me accountable, they scoffed until I was fed up enough to show them, and they complimented me when I succeeded beyond their expectations.


I have had several mentors over the years. if you were to make an investment, in education, get it on YouTube. if you were to make an investment in people. find a mentor you can bring value to and then bring them so much value that they can't afford to let you get away.


some mentors I have had, never knew they were mentors. one of the things I did was take people out to lunch. if they ran a business, if they had a cool job I liked, if they did something I thought was interesting, I would pay for lunch, and I would ask them a ton of questions TONS OF QUESTIONS.


most people loved it, because I was paying attention to them, and I asked a question about them. and I SHUT UP, and listened.


by the way, I was one of those,10 yr to overnight success types. it's a long hard road sometimes. mostly what slows us down are excuses, and other lame reasons. (to many to list) knowing what I know now, I can build a business faster and larger than ever before.


. I can answer the "What's in it for me?" question easily. The "what comes next"-part is what's usually giving me a headache


"What's in it for me" answering that. in someone else's head. your trying to figure out what THEY want. what do THEY get what benefit is in it for them, interacting with you.


once you answer that question, then the answer is yes or no.


the what comes next is goal, vision, process, execution


Hope this helped


Z
 
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DeletedUser2

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How can you be 100% sure that its a bad idea though?

You spent 20 min. on a lander, looks like you used a pre-made theme, did not split testing, not sure if you used a professional copywriter, did not split test your demographic targeting and ads images and copy.

There are so many variables that gotta be considers.

I doubt there are many things you can throw up in 20 min. and see 10% Conversion Rate, 1% CTR on FB ads...etc.
But with some testing, those ideas you would throw out as bad could be real winners.
Not saying that was the case with your friend's idea, but I just think you would need more data and testing before ruling out something with so little effort put into the idea.



so bad ideas come to light, when the internal expectation of the entrepreneur comes into contact with market reality.

the thing is, this person had a belief. her belief would not change just because someone said differently.
her belief, had to come in contact with that market reality.

yes it was not optimized, yes it there were a ton of variables.

BUT she believed EVERYONE would want this. I just put her in a position, where she had SOME data.

and the data spoke volumes more than I could have.
you can argue to be right, here, And I invite you to go ahead and do the idea. have at it. ill celebrate your success!

but my friend had this moment of Epiphany. even if we had improved it a hundred fold. it would not be enough.

and not everyone wanted it, as she came to understand.
we did the work ONLY so she could see that real data trumped her internal framework of how the world worked. bad ideas are ones, that are carried too far into a market place before proof kills. it.

it didn't take very much proof to kill this one.

Z
 
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100k

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Cool. I understand what you are saying. I just feel like someone that might not be good at internet marketing could make a shitty landing page, do wrong demo targeting, use bad ads copy and images and then kill of a good idea that someone else uses and makes a killing.


Can you share what sort of metrics you look at to determine quickly if you have a good idea (after testing) and it might just need some more testing (investment in time/split testing etc. different source of traffic or target demo) VS. its a straight up bad idea and there is no need/market for it. Are there anything in particular signs that you should watch out for?

BTW; thanks for your time and creating this thread. Been soaking in the information all through the night.
 
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DeletedUser2

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Can you share what sort of metrics you look at to determine quickly if you have a good idea


http://foreverjobless.com/ev-millionaires-math/

He did a great job coming up with a metric.

you will develop your own over time. THATS THE POINT. You developing your own metrics will allow you to choose better, (for you) to make better better faster decisions (for you) and end up making fewer mistakes,
FOR YOU...

good luck
Z
 
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DeletedUser2

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Masterminds, and small like minded groups.

a true fast track to growing a business is a mastermind. How to find one or in some cases creating one, is a great skill.

using Skype is great, but here is a model I crafted when I needed something more specific,

here is a video I did to lay out a HOW to use online tools, like skype, and mindmeister, to create a kick butt mastermind.

MInd Mapping Video

this was from 2009.

if you would like more of this, I have more videos I can post later.
Z

PS> I made this video as part this site. Mike had approached me for some help. what we ended up doing was epic.

http://www.mindmappingmasters.com/ I dont belive you can buy it anymore.
Z
 
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tincho1492

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Amazing! Yesterday I was thinking of creating one in my city. I'm downloading the video now.

Do you create specific rules to keep everyone accountable and maintain the quality of the group?

Thanks for sharing!
 

AndrewNC

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Do you create specific rules to keep everyone accountable and maintain the quality of the group?
I am part of a mastermind/accountability group of 4 people that was formed 11 months ago. In October, we all moved in and entrepreneur house together in Scottsdale, AZ. Life changing event

Yes, you form accountability rules. Every Sunday night, we met on Skype (and now we go out for dinner since we are all in the same city). If you missed or were late to a meeting, you faced a punishment. If you make a habit of it, you are out of the group.

Every week, each member sets their goals for each week. If you do not meet your goals that week, you face a pre-determined punishment (donating $XXX.xx to an anti-charity, clean the apartment for week straight, etc.). The punishments have to hurt to the point where everyone pushes themselves.

If you don't push yourself, you are out.

There are different kinds of masterminds. This model works for us. Aside from that main group, I have a Skype chat with everyone involved in publishing (my current business). I have a Skype chat of people I met through my Crowdfunding research for my book. If I have a publishing or crowdfunding question, I ask it in the chat, despite going days or weeks without interaction.

Hope that helps.
 
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Chazmania

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Hope that helped illuminate how to buy 300 houses a week

Uh....holy crap. I'm currently looking for rental property #5 and until I read this I was actually excited about it too. You are the f'n man!
 
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Bosstradamus

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Anyone who is looking to build a business with licensing products, or bringing new products to market...

Here is a source for ENDLESS amazing products...

Your local industrial design college.

They have so many fantastic ideas, that were projects....that the student/designers never really thought of making into a business - of selling.

Go in, review their old projects, talk to the lecturers...dig in some....offer the school a good % for the IP. And start working.

I'm focused on another project right now, and I have a couple of my own things I want to do after that [i.e., i haven't done this yet] ....but, having worked for a bit with a lecturer at the local design school in my city...I'm sure this is viable.

who would be the person or department to talk to to review old projects?
 

Blueskies4me

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I'm currently looking for rental property #5 and until I read this I was actually excited about it too. You are the f'n man!

Yeah... Zen definitely worked REI in the fastlane because he was working the economies of scale here. In that day we all were moving a lot of paper which is really all that a tape of bank owned properties is until they get parked in your back yard. In a lot of ways what we did back then and even now is a lot easier than buying one at a time and managing the headaches with being a landlord. Get yourself up high enough the problems down at the individual level will seem a lot smaller. Making a mistake at the individual level can hurt more than at the en mass level because you're talking 1 of 1 instead of 1 of 300.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Arnold321

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For 1 account its $5+ $2 + $4+ $5 =$16
10 accounts = $160
20 accounts = $320
Setup up accounts,
Install credit card
Install phone number
Pick a niche to advertise in, or if you have a product, use that.
Setup 1 adword campaign, download it, copy it, and upload to other accounts
Setup excel sheet with all info centralized
since you now have 20 accounts and 2K of nearly free google ad spend. Start spending
Goal: to get as close to break even as possible on the money. I.e. spend a dollar make a dollar. You now have 2k to go and try something else.
If you can make it profitable, like a 2-1 ratio, spend 2K make 4K.
Should be able to be done in about 2 days setup time, and run for a month. Or a week.
Even if you are close to “break even” you have made a profit.
Since you have spent about $320 to get 2K you would have to spend 1 dollar and make only .16 cents! To just break even.
I'm wondering would it work with CPA? Or am i missing the point
 
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Arnold321

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Arnold321 said: ↑
I'm wondering would it work with CPA? Or am i missing the point
missed the point.
So can anyone explain how then? Because from my point of view, you get 2k of advertise. You must have a product or a service with a website to advertise it. You spend 2k on advertising. You get the traffic from google, the revenue you are getting is from people stepping in to your website and buying the product or service. Other option is to get affiliate banners. Then you get the revenue from the companys you advertise on your site, and since the traffic is big you get quite a good profit i guess.
 

Coalission

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So can anyone explain how then? Because from my point of view, you get 2k of advertise. You must have a product or a service with a website to advertise it. You spend 2k on advertising. You get the traffic from google, the revenue you are getting is from people stepping in to your website and buying the product or service. Other option is to get affiliate banners. Then you get the revenue from the companys you advertise on your site, and since the traffic is big you get quite a good profit i guess.

The whole point of his method is getting the $2k worth of Adwords advertising for much less. What you do with the advertising is irrelevant, whether it's for affiliate marketing or for your own business, the monetary benefit is still there.
 
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Arnold321

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The whole point of his method is getting the $2k worth of Adwords advertising for much less. What you do with the advertising is irrelevant, whether it's for affiliate marketing or for your own business, the monetary benefit is still there.
I thought it was something deeper, i got this point..
 

Arnold321

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ok, Another quick process.
Got Dropbox?
Got 10 Gigs on dropbox Free?
Dont have that many friends who signed up for you yet?
here is a quick process someone shared with me after we discussed it. Since I already had drobox maxed, I haven't used it but he did and went from 2Gigs of free space to 4.5 in less than an hr after posting this, I thought I would share it.
I posted the whole "mini process" here on my google docs where I keep these things.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7rNWqA7iQ5FS2mzCgHxdtJzAJAXQfnkKl1s_ves5iM/edit
you can go there and read the process.
basically he went and posted on odesk this process, and got to his full10Gig in less than a day.
it was cool enough to watch, that I wanted to share.
I just set the hook, we'll see how it's going :)
 

Arnold321

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here is what I suggested to the young man. I am posting this so you can get some other ideas of how to approach business rather than startup....
1. go to the owner, offer to buy it from him.
2. offer to jv or partner with him by expanding to the other cities FOR him, using his processes, his trucks, and his land.
3. offer to buy it from him in parts, (20% now, with an option on all the rest over time. some now, some every year, at a fixed price)
while you go out and increase the business, letting the growth pay for the aquistion.
4. get a partner
5. offer to work for him at a reduced rate for x period of time, with him teaching you the biz, or work for him, buying his equipment for work.
1. You must have money to do that
2. I agree, the old man would get more money, since you plan to expand. But the profit won't be 50 to 50 since you are using his gear. The question is how much of it is for you?
3. Great idea i think
4. Great idea
5. Would be good, if he is interested in teaching you, selling all the equip for you and exiting the biz. And depends how much time all the process would take.
 
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Arnold321

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Let me know how It makes you FEEL. because that's the point of this video.
Actually, it makes me interested about what's inside the ebook that you are offering. Because the arguments were clear, and made me think about my mom, how could i prevent this from happening to her.
 

Arnold321

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so here is the short cuts. funny part is, few people actually believe it, or use it. :)
short cut.
Skip collage. go start a business. any business. fail at it. start another.
if you want to learn, (and you need to on a damm near daily basis) look up classes, or weekend workshops for what ever skill or info you are looking for
learn to be discerning about people who you learn from. find them. track them down, ask high quality questions and then act on it.
DO IT. what ever needs to be done, dont think about it, dont worry forever about it. just do it. regardless what others say. failure is the best lesson, and 1 good failure is worth 10,000 opinions from other people. F*ck em. they are not you, so get over what ever they say. they just dont know.
Take action. every day, towards your goals. get out of the chair get off the couch. get it done.
if you have an xbox, a ps3 or if you do pc games. Kill it for the next few years. seriously give that shit away. and read instead.
Discover your why. why the hell do you want to work that hard to make money? its 2-10x harder than a job. why work so hard? if you dont have a good why. your F*cked. find it. and use it as leverage on yourself to get shit done.
if you need someone to kick your a$$ to get shit done. pay them.
Give 10 checks for 100 bucks each to someone, and then promise to get it done, or they get to cash the check. believe me, that has worked for years.
Do it. get shit done.
dont be a pussy. stop being afraid. quit dicking around. what the hell are you afraid of? GO. DO IT.
Do things that scare the shit out of yourself. do massive things. make big plans and then push past them.
you will learn on the way. you dont need to know everything right now. you just need to find someone who needs something, and go get it for them.
you are seriously not too good to make coffee, fetch things, or do shit work. that's part of the price you pay of not having money get over yourself.
Help people for free. help those that are in a position to pay you well, and do it for free. it will come back to you in ways you never would have imagined. seriously.
leap, and the net will appear. sometimes the net will look alot like the ground. that's ok, its there to break your fall. :)
you will fail, you will suck, and it will take a while for that shit to stop happening on a regular basis. TRUST THAT THIS IS TRUE and life will be easier for you. (the upside is, at some point you stop sucking, and start really shining! )
ignore your friends. they will go out and get jobs, get nicer cars. go out partying, and shit like that. the parties they do now, will be epic for them later, when all they have is the memory of the parties, and the mortgages they pay. while you will be able to party for the rest of your life, with no mortgage, if you just learn to not suck :)
they say it takes 10,000 hrs to really master something. focus on that, and F*cking master something. and no, its not call of duty or the latest assassins creed.
learn to network with the best and brightest people in the world, and you will have all the resources you ever need only a phone call away.
Hire people smarter than you, and fire yourself as fast as possible
make your "list" of must have skills then focus on getting them. take a class, take a weekend seminar, watch youtube vids on the topic, look up open source education, and learn stuff. Learn how to learn. you will never be behind if you do that.
ok, good luck, and have at it. when you get out of school ping me again, see where your at, and we may chat then.
Z
GOLD. Thank you so much for this
 

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