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.

No network? No money? No idea? No education? NO PROBLEM!

IceCreamKid

With Great Power Comes Great Electricity Bill
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
2,183%
Jun 8, 2010
942
20,567
California
If I get stuck with my current idea then these are the action steps I am going to follow for sure.

I'm not sure where you are in your life because we've never met, but I would only follow these action steps if I had no money, no ideas, and no network. The reason why is because this strategy often leads you to getting a small bite of a small niche market. There's nothing wrong with going this route and you can probably exit your job with this method, but if you have some cash then I'd put it towards getting a small bite of a large market. It's easier to make larger chunks of money if you're attacking a big market.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

leveragehacker

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Jun 28, 2014
66
73
32
Sydney, Australia
I'm not sure where you are in your life because we've never met, but I would only follow these action steps if I had no money, no ideas, and no network. The reason why is because this strategy often leads you to getting a small bite of a small niche market. There's nothing wrong with going this route and you can probably exit your job with this method, but if you have some cash then I'd put it towards getting a small bite of a large market. It's easier to make larger chunks of money if you're attacking a big market.

Thanks for the reply ICK, clarifies a lot - I know what I need to do. This is where my life is at the moment: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/journey-from-40k-debt-to-freedom.53155/
 
Last edited by a moderator:

RHL

The coaching was a joke guys.
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
747%
Oct 22, 2013
1,484
11,082
PA/NJ
After a good number of interviews, write up a PDF article titled, “The Astonishing Secrets That The Top Performers In XYZ Niche Don’t Want You To Know!”. List out some good info in this article. Generate an e-mail list by offering this article to potential leads on your website. “Enter your e-mail HERE and receive a FREE report!”. The list of e-mail leads is key for later on. THE LEADS ARE THE GOLD.

This is how Barbara Corcoran grew her business, only she sent the report to the New York Times and they published it. Worth a listen if you have an hour:

 

benh

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Aug 14, 2013
59
100
British Columbia
Thanks for the post ICK. I'm starting to reach out to my top 100 today. Can't wait to see where this takes me. I'd love to be able to quit my job and focus on larger scale projects. My market is pretty large so hopefully if I work hard I can use this to quit. If not and I take it to it's limit and I'm not quite there I can always start another similar site and combine the income from the two. Time to stop looking for barriers and get to work.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Harry321

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
49%
May 28, 2014
129
63
Genuinelly an inspiring and informative post. I am going to follow the steps listed, I am unsure as to where it will lead me, but I am sure the process will enhance my own entreprenurial development.

The only part that I am consistently unsure of is niche.

Choosing a niche seems like one of the hardest parts. I realise that you can use google trends and keyword tools to identify markets, but I'm still unsure on the best way to come up with ideas for the research.

As MJ writes in the book, choosing a business based on personal passion is foolish if there is not a need in the market, yet I am unsure about which market to jump into.
 

RoadTrip

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
161%
Nov 27, 2012
288
464
As MJ writes in the book, choosing a business based on personal passion is foolish if there is not a need in the market, yet I am unsure about which market to jump into.

It's always a difficult decision. I suggets you identify some growing markets which have money to spend and are not overly complicated. Then pick the niche you can be most passionate about. And then don't doubt anymore, research the hell out of it, cold email/call the hell out of it. And if it doesn't pick up any momentum, drop the niche and start in a new niche.

The important thing is to focus and not give up too easily. You'll know when it's time to give up on a niche.
 

Harry321

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
49%
May 28, 2014
129
63
It's always a difficult decision. I suggets you identify some growing markets which have money to spend and are not overly complicated. Then pick the niche you can be most passionate about. And then don't doubt anymore, research the hell out of it, cold email/call the hell out of it. And if it doesn't pick up any momentum, drop the niche and start in a new niche.

The important thing is to focus and not give up too easily. You'll know when it's time to give up on a niche.

Thanks mate. Another question I have, is how important is talking on the phone. I work full-time, and the only real time I have to discuss is during lunch break and after 6pm. I suppose I could schedule calls for around midday and try to get them in during lunch...
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

RoadTrip

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
161%
Nov 27, 2012
288
464
Talking on the phone is very important. You cannot do idea extraction through email as you need to dig thoroughly to find the exact pain/need you are going to solve. You also need to get used to talk to business owners.

I don't know what kind of job you have, but you can do the following:
  • Start working earlier and leave earlier
  • Schedule calls after 6pm. Email or send messages through LinkedIn to setup these calls. The positive side for setting up calls in the evening is that the owners will have more time. They are usually very busy during the day, just as you are ;-)
  • Schedule or call before you are leaving for work. If you call early enough you may be able to pass the gatekeeper who usually starts between 8 and 8:30. The owner might already be in the office at 7:30
  • Take a day off and cold call
  • Depending on the niche you choose, call or visit offices in the weekends
  • Try calling in your lunch break.
Once you have a succesful Idea Extraction call don't forget to ask for references. This will make contacting new business so much easier!
And never forget that it's not about you, it's about them!
 

Harry321

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
49%
May 28, 2014
129
63
Thanks for taking the time man really appreciate it.. Now to find a niche!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mosdef

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
44%
Apr 1, 2014
407
181
I thought this might be a neat little trick to help people find email address for CEOs and other decision makers if you are trying out some of the ideas in this thread. I played around with it for a few minutes tonight and it worked:


https://rapportive.com/
are you guys getting this to work with the new gmail compose?
 

Vas87

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Jul 4, 2012
151
168
Australia
How would you suggest to finding a niche? Is it something you're interested in? For example I wanted to stick to the Optometry niche as I enjoy it but since I'm in Australia there are less than 1000 practices which seems like a limited market.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

IceCreamKid

With Great Power Comes Great Electricity Bill
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
2,183%
Jun 8, 2010
942
20,567
California
How would you suggest to finding a niche? Is it something you're interested in?

Damn I totally forgot that I made this thread. For me personally, finding a niche is more of an art than a hard science. I look for an industry that is currently in an expansion phase. The leaders in the industry are spending lots of money on hiring, sales/marketing, and product/service production. Open up the newspaper and you'll find many articles on which industries are growing.

Although passion is an awesome benefit to have for an industry, I'm niche agnostic. Instead of being passionate about a specific industry, become passionate about helping people. Then you'll do fine in any industry.
 

Fotis

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
207%
Feb 26, 2014
134
277
35
Do you think it will be bad if I wanted to pay most of my attention to international experts? I mean here in Greece it's hard to find more than 5 top performers, I can shoot straight for the stars by asking guys in USA, UK and Australia.

Brilliant topic man. really brilliant. My Teespring trial will be put on a hold for the holidays and with your thread I instantly got motivated to research a field I am interested at.

Maybe we should make a "How a crazy guy selling ice cream can help you escape the rat race" challenge?
 

Fotis

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
207%
Feb 26, 2014
134
277
35
So I started taking action! I chose a niche that I like and talked (50 and 30 minutes talks) with 2 Greek professionals. I got some nice material.

Next, I started joining Linkedn groups and sending messages. Here is the template I used, maybe others can use it as well:

Hey X! Hope you are doing well!

I will not waste your time, so I will be brief. I would like to interview or message successful PORNMODELS like you and ask them their best sales and marketing strategies.

So, do you think that you would have time for a 5-10 minutes Skype talk or a small paragraph with your unique strategies?

I would love to share the secrets of each and every one of you so be sure that I would upload them as soon as I get some responses!

Thanks in advance!

Cheers
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Deon

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Jun 19, 2011
237
263
35
Miami, FL
So I started taking action! I chose a niche that I like and talked (50 and 30 minutes talks) with 2 Greek professionals. I got some nice material.

Next, I started joining Linkedn groups and sending messages. Here is the template I used, maybe others can use it as well:

Hey X! Hope you are doing well!

I will not waste your time, so I will be brief. I would like to interview or message successful PORNMODELS like you and ask them their best sales and marketing strategies.

So, do you think that you would have time for a 5-10 minutes Skype talk or a small paragraph with your unique strategies?

I would love to share the secrets of each and every one of you so be sure that I would upload them as soon as I get some responses!

Thanks in advance!

Cheers
You have to add in that template a benefit for the person you're sending it to!!!

Tell them that they'll get exposure

Tell them what the benefits of getting that exposure can be for them

Make them feel like they're contributing to something

They do not give a damn if you want to interview them for yourself just to get their sales and marketing strategies
 

Fotis

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
207%
Feb 26, 2014
134
277
35
You have to add in that template a benefit for the person you're sending it to!!!

Tell them that they'll get exposure

Tell them what the benefits of getting that exposure can be for them

Make them feel like they're contributing to something

They do not give a damn if you want to interview them for yourself just to get their sales and marketing strategies

Hmm then my "I would love to share the secrets of each and every one of you so be sure that I would upload them as soon as I get some responses!" was freaking weak. Thanks man, I will rewrite it and I will stop spamming this thread!
 

Deon

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Jun 19, 2011
237
263
35
Miami, FL
Hmm then my "I would love to share the secrets of each and every one of you so be sure that I would upload them as soon as I get some responses!" was freaking weak. Thanks man, I will rewrite it and I will stop spamming this thread!
I actually didn't even understand what that meant... the wording is kinda confusing :) (if i didn't understand it, maybe they didn't either... word it more simply)

Ok, let's not get this thread off-topic... go do what you gotta do!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Even Steven

tumbling down the learning curve
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
256%
Nov 7, 2014
119
305
If there’s any big takeaway for that thread, it is this: The first 2 years for a newbie entrepreneur are really just made to condition your mindset. Everyone THINKS that they’ll be a millionaire within 12 months, but that just isn’t the way it works…unless you’re Jack. Consider the first 2 years to be training for the Olympics. Don’t expect to win any gold medals until after the first 2 years of suck.

I just saw this post last Friday, and a parallel from my own life struck me.

About 3 years ago, a friend turned me onto a book called Convict Conditioning (a calisthenic strength-building program). The author has you start out very very easy but ramps up step by step until you can do what he calls the "Master Steps" (1-handed pushups, 1-handed pullups, etc).

Anyway, the specifics of it aren't important. What's important is what happened as I did these exercises over and over and over.

At first, all I knew about the exercises was from the book. I had never done most of them. But, I read the descriptions and fumbled through them. I tweaked a few muscles, because even though I had read about how to do it correctly and watched videos about how to do it correctly, my body and mind didn't know what it FELT like to do it right. I didn't have the experience.

But after about a year, the techniques started to internalize. The form became second nature, and I started to fine-tune each exercise. I intimately understood the process.

Do you see where I'm going?

After 3 years, I now know exactly what it takes for me to build strength. Although I go off and on depending on my level of motivation, I understand exactly what to do. I know that I can pick up at any time and start building strength right away. The only variable at this point is how much effort I decide to put into the process.

So, what's the point?

I'm guessing that entrepreneurship is the same way. That this is what @IceCreamKid was talking about. At first, it's all academic knowledge. We've read the books and threads, and watched all the videos. But through the first couple of years, we trip and fall. Some things work, and some things don't. You tweak a few muscles.

But after a while, you build the right mindset. It starts to internalize and becomes second nature. You look at a situation and immediately see what value you can add, and you KNOW how to make it happen.

And what you end up with is a process by which you can build wealth almost at will. That's why guys who learn how to build wealth can build it back again if they lose it. You know them, the ones who are somehow able to "get lucky" time after time.
 

SlowlaneJay

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
273%
Oct 25, 2014
270
738
Bogotá, Colombia
@IceCreamKid if I hadn't given my rep to other influencers, it would be all yours. Thanks for this post. Found a niche, emailed 10 of the head-honchos so far and received some great replies. So excited I can barely type. You da man!

Edit: To anyone else doing this, a huge accelerator for me has been including a "bonus question" along the lines of:
"Who in the <NICHE> world is considered a superstar? Someone even the most accomplished <NICHE PROFESSIONALS> look up to?"
This gives you more people to talk to, and an easy referral to start your next email "I was referred to you by another <NICHE PRO> at the end of our interview"

Using that referal line in my second batch of emails doubled my response rate.
 
Last edited:

randomnumber314

speed of a drunk camel
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
227%
Jan 7, 2014
1,003
2,279
Minnesoooota,USA
@IceCreamKid if I hadn't given my rep to other influencers, it would be all yours. Thanks for this post. Found a niche, emailed 10 of the head-honchos so far and received some great replies. So excited I can barely type. You da man!
Kudos on taking some action. Keep going.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

IceCreamKid

With Great Power Comes Great Electricity Bill
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
2,183%
Jun 8, 2010
942
20,567
California
Whoa. I totally forgot I created this thread. Good job on the progress, my man. Post questions here if you need help. I'm on hyper focus mode with my biz right now, but I'll squeeze in time for you whenever I get the chance.
 

SlowlaneJay

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
273%
Oct 25, 2014
270
738
Bogotá, Colombia
Just a quick thought in case anyone starts down this path. Doing step two before step one might be a good idea so long as you don't waste too much momentum putting the website together. Since I've got the website up, even with no content on it, I'm getting a way better response rate!

Something more official about me@brandname.com vs. me@gmail.com. Just a quick splash page, about page, and here-is-where-the-content-will-be-page has helped me get more and better quality interviews.

Just my two cents. Which are Canadian cents and not actually worth shit right now :p
 

marklov

It is a Tiger That Devours Me but I am The Tiger
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
167%
Mar 30, 2014
404
676
This is in my top 5 of the best threads on the entire forum but it took me months later after chasing the next shiny object to find this out.
 
Last edited:

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

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

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top