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IceCreamKid

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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.

It takes 9 months to make a baby. I wonder how many people can stick with one biz for at least 9 months without looking at other businesses to start.

We all pretty much know what we need to do...just gotta get out there and go do it.
 
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marklov

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It takes 9 months to make a baby. I wonder how many people can stick with one biz for at least 9 months without looking at other businesses to start.

We all pretty much know what we need to do...just gotta get out there and go do it.

Well I did Stick with something and it's thanks to your thread that changed my life man!

Over the few months I have been here I jumped from programming>WebDesign>copywriting>Ecommerce>SEO expert>afm and went down in flames in pretty much everything because I chased after these for the wrong reasons and posted a lot of procrastinatory BS progress threads even why I took so long pisses me off.



Anyway , I am not a major success yet but I hope I can show the potential Mr:rolleyes: skeptics that this shit works!!!

You can make money the very same day like I did!

I went from shoveling dirt in a ditch making maybe $20 dollar's a day and now make a decent enough income and can soon start funding my fastlane venture , all in the space of one freaking WEEK!

It doesn't even have to be complicated...

Choose your market/niche , contact the businesses , Be pleasant , remove the pain and make MONEY!

Worse that can happen?

Someone telling you 'No" or "not interested" :rolleyes:

All you need is time and a pair of balls.

No SEO (watching paint dry) , saving up for PPC , waiting months for a sale "been working on whatever for 4 months and just made $32.....sooo excited!!!" like I did.

It's basically Free!


Following the advice is how I even paid for my INSIDERS subscription lol..

The real GOLD (imo) here isnt the 1234 steps that @IceCreamKid has laid out but the principles behind the steps that you can use to sell anything , you just have to think out of the box and utilize the GOLD he dropped here.

At the moment I feel as if I could sell ice to an eskimo but have my sights set on scaling to the moon and automation then again I'm so busy right now filling the pipeline:D$$$

Know what the kicker here is?

I don't even live in the US and again it cost me nothing to start.

Finally.

The confines of my email box is nice and safe too but picking up the phone got me out of cold rain shoveling crap all day long.

Learn from my mistakes and ignorance and go make some sales guys....TODAY.

It's more than possible its inevitable!
 
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SlowlaneJay

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I suppose I could post my journey, but I don’t think this forum needs another progress thread. I’ll spare you the details and cut right to it.

I'm only at step 3, so take all of this with a huge grain of salt. If you decide to do this, here’s what’s working for me:

Preliminary steps.
i. Read TMF (Wrap your head around the tuna analogy). Buy it here:

ii. Learn copywriting. Do so here: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ert-30-day-challenge-copywriting-group.50217/

iii. Discover and decide on XYZ niche. This is a great resource: http://ecommercefuel.com/downloads/Profitable-eCommerce.pdf (Credit to JasonR for sharing it with the forum)
You could also try googling ‘unusual habits,’ or ‘dirty jobs,’ or ‘weird hobbies’. Build a big list of niches and validate them using the above PDF. Then bite the bullet and decide on one.

iv. Learn how to set goals. Yeah I know. It sounds dumb. I made an Excel adaptation of MJ’s ‘One Thing’ goal sheet. It helps me stay on track and spend my day doing productive things. I suggest you find some way to track your progress or it gets to feel like a monumental task.
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/get-shit-done-the-free-fastlane-to-do-list.57691/

Liminary Steps
1. Find the top 100 performers in XYZ niche and contact them through various methods for an interview.
Pretty straightforward. My thoughts:
- I recommend jumping to step two and then coming back here. But that’s just me. I also recommend listening to ICK, not me. Maybe he can weigh in on why he suggests interviews first. I imagine it’s to motivate folks to just do something. Because once you get your first “Sounds like a great idea! I’d love to interview with you. What time works best?” email you feel really pumped. That said, I found that building the website helped me get more interviews. That being said, the domain name and direction for the site was inspired by my initial interviews so... do what feel right.

- Track your response rates. Improve them through rewriting your copy.

- Force yourself to send x number of emails a day.

- Look for awards in your industry. See who wins them.

- Look for huge twitter accounts. See who’s behind them.

- Get on the forums for your niche. Find the heavy hitters.

- Learn how to ask better questions: http://www.awaionline.com/2008/10/how-to-write-an-exciting-interview/

- Have a theme for the finished article in mind, before you ask questions. It’s much easier to write ‘6 secrets for being a better ham radio operator’ if you actually ask questions around a 'secrets of operation' theme.

- You can use BuzzSumo to see what the most popular articles in your niche are. Then craft your questions so that the responses will allow you to write a similar article. You now have an article idea and an expert's opinion.

- This article outlines a great method for coming up with better article themes: http://okdork.com/2014/04/02/how-you-can-create-content-that-generates-40000-targeted-visitors/

- Tell your guest that you want to post the article as a resource for other <niche performers>. Ask them to address the audience and not you.

- Ask a bizarre, "bonus" question at the end like: Who would win in a fight, Superman or the Cookie Monster? It's fun to add this to the "About the <niche expert>" column at the end of the finished article. Of course, if your niche is stuffy and uptight you may want to avoid this.

2. Create a website and post one new interview per week discussing their best sales and marketing strategies.
- You need a domain. Buy one at Namecheap or GoDaddy

- You need hosting. I recommend ASmallOrange. But do your research, as you should be doing throughout this whole process.

- You need a working website. You can:
a. Pay for one
b. Get Wordpress, a free theme (I’m using Pagelines DMS), and some gumption. https://www.siteground.com/tutorials/wordpress/
(If you go with Wordpress, please don't use the Lobster font. I'm so sick of it)​

- Build your pages. Bare minimum, you need a Contact Page, About Page, and possibly a “We’re working hard to fill this space” page where you will post the interviews.

- Add a copyright line to the bottom of your pages.

- NOT OPTIONAL: Get a dev copy of your site up and running. I break my site at least once a day because I don't have a clue what I'm doing. DON'T make changes to your live site. Try:

- For design: You can download comp images from stock image sites, add a 3% Gaussian Blur, and then you have professional looking hipster background images you can use anywhere. And it’s free. Cool, man.

- You can use fotor.com if you don’t have Photoshop.

- Sign up with MailCheat(Chimp) (or don’t, I just think they’re awesome) and get an email subscription box on your website. Set up a “thank you for subscribing” email.

- Get Google Analytics. Learn to use it. Get the email subscription set up as a conversion goal so you know which traffic stream is building you the best following.

- In the articles themselves, flatter your guests. They took time out of their day to do this for you. They probably see it as a marketing opportunity. Don't fail them. Paint them as the creative, dynamic, award-winning, industry-changing, titans that they are. If your article looks great, they'll share it with their following.

- Practice writing great headlines. I've found these useful
- You can Usability Hub to test your headlines for free https://usabilityhub.com

- If you turn an interview into an Infographic, check out http://www.freepik.com to get free components like arrows and banners and whatnot.

3. Use free marketing strategies to drive traffic to your website. You are not selling anything at this point, only creating credibility and gaining trust.
- Research your niche. Find out where your audience hangs out.

- If you choose to go the Twitter route. My thoughts:

o Get Buffer: Schedule your tweets. I tweet four times a day. I hate it. But it’s driving a huge portion of my traffic, so I do it anyway.

o Get SocialBro: Build a ‘Best Time to Tweet’ report once a week (I have an excel spreadsheet that I punch all this data into). Then use the best four times (or whatever) with Buffer to schedule your tweets better.

o Get Tweepi: I didn’t use this at first, I really wish I did. Quick tip: when you mass unfollow, go through the list and click the lock button to ‘safelist’ the people who don’t follow back. This will prevent you from following them again later.

Quick tip 2: if you sign up with Klout, you can see who is an influencer in your niche. You can then follow their followers, or, and I like this better, follow the followers of their followers.

Quick tip 3: Get the chrome extension that lets you follow/unfollow 20 people at a time.
o When you post a link to your latest article, pin it to the top of your Twitter feed. Keep it there for the whole week and replace it when the next article comes out. Doing this doubled my traffic. (Not a great statistic. My followers had doubled at that point too. This is also based on just two tests, so not statistically significant.)​

- If you go the Pinterest route… I don’t know. I’m still figuring it out.

o In the beginning the limits are brutal. To get around the maximum following limits, you can follow and then immediately unfollow people. It’s hard to check who’s following you so these people will assume you’re still following them and follow back. But really, Pinterest is hard. At least it is for me right now, but I’ll figure it out.

o Long pins get more likes and re-pins that normal photos. Use pinthemall.net to build a big strip of photos.

o Follow a board or two with thousands of niche-related pins. Scroll down to the pins that have been forgotten (use the end key on your keyboard over and over) and start looking at number of re-pins. Find pins that have unusually large number of re-pins, follow the source, and create a new pin on your own boards. It will look you're finding original, shareable content.

o Also, get your Pinterest page verified and convert it into a business page. Use their analytics for your pins.​

- I can’t help you with Facebook or Reddit.

- (Super optional) In Google, type:
site:blackhatworld.com <Twitter, or Pinterest, or whatever>​
Check out how these guys build massive, targeted followings with out getting their accounts shut down.

- Don’t get caught up in number of followers on any of your accounts. Get caught up in number of niche-related, active, engaged followers. When you post something, you need your followers to be excited about it. Don’t fill your accounts with “Professional Life Hackers” or “Growth Hack Ninjas” or whatever people are these days just because they follow back all the time. Unless that’s your niche. Or you just think ninjas are cool.

- Email your list every time the articles go live. Be funny, be original, have fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously. At the same time, sound intelligent and be polite. You’re a professional.

- If someone asks a question on the forums for your niche, and you know the answer— answer it! And go above and beyond. Screenshots, youtube links, multiple resource links. Bonus points for answering their marketing questions without sounding like a salesman.

- Don't post constant updates about you and your website. Share valuable blog posts related to your niche. Keep your posts varied. 40% of my tweets are retweets, 40% are blog and article links, and 20% are related to my website.

That’s all I can think of right now. I'll come back and edit this post as I remember more.

Before I go, here are the numbers:
Time spent: 43 Days
Money spent: $80? Domain, hosting, some stock photos, MailCheat(Chimp).
Interviews published: 2, 3rd comes out on Sunday.
Twitter: 766
Pinterest: 441
Email List: 56
I've also had 3 people contact me and ask if they could interview, since posting the first article. Feels great, like really great, to know you're valuable to a community.

This is actually pretty weak. If you've read the "JasonR told me to man up" thread, you'll see what real progress looks like. You can do much better than these results. Try it.

Finally:
At the end of the day, remember that you are creating a website that is valuable to your following.

I have a feeling that one day your following will evolve into your customers.

But don't focus on that.

Forget sales. Forget making money. Remember your goal is to create content your following will love.

Do that, and nothing else. (Except like, go outside once in a while)

tuna_1648055.jpg
 
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Austin Sarwar

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You’ve read the “Secrets of zen*******” thread, feel inspired and empowered, yet you have done nothing about it. In an effort to reduce this phenomenon, I’m no longer going to be writing short stories that make you feel enlightened. Instead, you will only be getting action steps to get the ice cream. If you are reading this and you have not shifted your mindset then go back to the other thread.

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 am going to be eliminating ALL excuses that you have for not making money in this life.

Below is an overall view of the plan. Every so often I will post a detailed explanation of how to accomplish each task. I don't know how often I'll update it. I'm only doing this for fun to de-stress myself and when I need a few moments to take my mind off the guppy tank.

This outline is subject to change and is comprised mainly of JackEdwards style offline angles and zen******* online creativity. A hybrid mix to make a unique flavor of ice cream.

Before you do any of this, please learn copy. Don't ask me if it works. Just trust.

1. Find the top 100 performers in XYZ niche and contact them through various methods for an interview.

2. Create a website and post one new interview per week discussing their best sales and marketing strategies.

3. Use free marketing strategies to drive traffic to your website. You are not selling anything at this point, only creating credibility and gaining trust.

4. 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.

5. You’ll start noticing common pains that many of these top performers are experiencing. Take note of these pains for later.

6. Organize a Skype group for 10-20 of these performers who want the same need solved and organize weekly calls with the group. During each call, have them describe in EXPLICIT detail what they want the solution to look like. They will build rapport and trust with you over the coming weeks as you express that you genuinely care about solving their problem.

7. Once they have told you IN VERY DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS of what their solution should look like, get $2k-3k in pre-sales from each of them. They trust you at this point so it should feel comfortable.

8. Build the solution and launch it to your Skype group for testing.

9. After they have tested it out over the next few weeks and used it to their liking, get testimonials from them.

10. Now that your product has been tested and proven to work without bugs, promote it and e-mail some really good sales copy to the long list of e-mail leads that you’ve generated. They now trust you and see that you have credibility because you have been giving them some very valuable content discussing the best sales & marketing tactics of the top 100 performers in XYZ niche.

11. When you have some money in the bank, start using paid advertising to drive more leads.

12. Start asking yourself, "what else do my customers want?" then start building other amazing things for them.

You don’t need a network. You will learn various methods to contact the top 100 yourself.

You don’t need money. The Skype group will give you the pre-sale money.

You don’t need an idea. The Skype group will give it to you.

You don’t need an education. Blah. Real world education is far more valuable than classroom theory.


Stay creative forever…like an ice cream child.
You say learn copy. is the gary halbert challenge the best way to learn?
 
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Austin Sarwar

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You’ve read the “Secrets of zen*******” thread, feel inspired and empowered, yet you have done nothing about it. In an effort to reduce this phenomenon, I’m no longer going to be writing short stories that make you feel enlightened. Instead, you will only be getting action steps to get the ice cream. If you are reading this and you have not shifted your mindset then go back to the other thread.

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 am going to be eliminating ALL excuses that you have for not making money in this life.

Below is an overall view of the plan. Every so often I will post a detailed explanation of how to accomplish each task. I don't know how often I'll update it. I'm only doing this for fun to de-stress myself and when I need a few moments to take my mind off the guppy tank.

This outline is subject to change and is comprised mainly of JackEdwards style offline angles and zen******* online creativity. A hybrid mix to make a unique flavor of ice cream.

Before you do any of this, please learn copy. Don't ask me if it works. Just trust.

1. Find the top 100 performers in XYZ niche and contact them through various methods for an interview.

2. Create a website and post one new interview per week discussing their best sales and marketing strategies.

3. Use free marketing strategies to drive traffic to your website. You are not selling anything at this point, only creating credibility and gaining trust.

4. 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.

5. You’ll start noticing common pains that many of these top performers are experiencing. Take note of these pains for later.

6. Organize a Skype group for 10-20 of these performers who want the same need solved and organize weekly calls with the group. During each call, have them describe in EXPLICIT detail what they want the solution to look like. They will build rapport and trust with you over the coming weeks as you express that you genuinely care about solving their problem.

7. Once they have told you IN VERY DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS of what their solution should look like, get $2k-3k in pre-sales from each of them. They trust you at this point so it should feel comfortable.

8. Build the solution and launch it to your Skype group for testing.

9. After they have tested it out over the next few weeks and used it to their liking, get testimonials from them.

10. Now that your product has been tested and proven to work without bugs, promote it and e-mail some really good sales copy to the long list of e-mail leads that you’ve generated. They now trust you and see that you have credibility because you have been giving them some very valuable content discussing the best sales & marketing tactics of the top 100 performers in XYZ niche.

11. When you have some money in the bank, start using paid advertising to drive more leads.

12. Start asking yourself, "what else do my customers want?" then start building other amazing things for them.

You don’t need a network. You will learn various methods to contact the top 100 yourself.

You don’t need money. The Skype group will give you the pre-sale money.

You don’t need an idea. The Skype group will give it to you.

You don’t need an education. Blah. Real world education is far more valuable than classroom theory.


Stay creative forever…like an ice cream child.
Finding a niche seems to be the Hard part
 

IceCreamKid

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You say learn copy. is the gary halbert challenge the best way to learn?

Nope. Just my opinion, but I think the Gary Halbert challenge is overkill. I feel like if you wish to finish that challenge on time, you have to be writing copy for 8-12 hours a day.

The #1 focus for a new biz should be customer acquisition. Locking yourself in your room all day writing copy is somewhat of an action fake. Copy is one of many tools to help you acquire customers, but simply writing copy for days on end won't directly bring in the money.

We cannot truly call ourselves biz owners if we don't even have one customer.

Finding a niche seems to be the Hard part

For me, finding a niche is the easiest part. The hardest part is customer acquisition because it's 50% art and 50% science. I think that's why you'll probably never find a step by step plan that is guaranteed to work 100% of the time. The art part of the process is the one that takes time to master and is always evolving. I'm still learning every day. The majority of my posts here were written in early 2014 and I have changed by leaps and bounds since then.

I think the biggest change is that I have a much more heavy focus on the bigger picture and how my direct response marketing fits into that.
 

Imgal

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Locking yourself in your room all day writing copy is somewhat of an action fake.

Wow. Another gem from the @IceCreamKid

Take out the words "writing copy" and replace it with "watching courses on the same topic you're spent watching for the last 6 months" , "reading the blogs of gurus in your niche" or "moving a pixel back and forth for a month till you have a website that is pixel perfection" or 101 similar tasks and you've got the number 1 killer of an entrepreneur before they've even hatched. Doing busy work, instead of focused hard work, putting what you've learnt into action.

The hardest part is customer acquisition because it's 50% art and 50% science

Does it again. It's where most come unstuck because they want it to be 100% one way or the other. People either want a system that they don't have to deviate from ... or want to be able to wing it and hope for the best. I can personally testify neither of those options work!
 
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Austin Sarwar

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Nope. Just my opinion, but I think the Gary Halbert challenge is overkill. I feel like if you wish to finish that challenge on time, you have to be writing copy for 8-12 hours a day.

The #1 focus for a new biz should be customer acquisition. Locking yourself in your room all day writing copy is somewhat of an action fake. Copy is one of many tools to help you acquire customers, but simply writing copy for days on end won't directly bring in the money.

We cannot truly call ourselves biz owners if we don't even have one customer.



For me, finding a niche is the easiest part. The hardest part is customer acquisition because it's 50% art and 50% science. I think that's why you'll probably never find a step by step plan that is guaranteed to work 100% of the time. The art part of the process is the one that takes time to master and is always evolving. I'm still learning every day. The majority of my posts here were written in early 2014 and I have changed by leaps and bounds since then.

I think the biggest change is that I have a much more heavy focus on the bigger picture and how my direct response marketing fits into that.
I feel kinda lost at the moment for what direction to take or what to do next I thought copy might open some doors but if not I'm at square one. Ty for taking the time to respond.
 

Lex DeVille

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I feel kinda lost at the moment for what direction to take or what to do next I thought copy might open some doors but if not I'm at square one. Ty for taking the time to respond.

Step 1 - Make a profile on Upwork

Step 2 - Apply to transcript gigs at low rates because you said you type well

Step 3 - Get jobs, get paid, repeat

Handle everything else after you start moving.
 

Imgal

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Step 1 - Make a profile on Upwork

Step 2 - Apply to transcript gigs at low rates because you said you type well

Step 3 - Get jobs, get paid, repeat

Handle everything else after you start moving.

This.

@Austin Sarwar , I can totally connect with the feelings of being lost and not knowing your direction. @SinisterLex has it right with his suggestion. When you're lost it tends to be because you've not been exposed to the niche / area that really is going to connect with you or that you're just not able to deconstruct what your limiting belief or sticking point is. Sometimes just knuckling down and getting on with work in the meantime can make the world of difference.. This is because it either because it exposes you to people and things that suddenly make it a lot clearer.. or alternatively you really hate it and from there you can pull apart all the reasons why you feel that so passionately which should then reveal what you really do want.
 
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Austin Sarwar

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Step 1 - Make a profile on Upwork

Step 2 - Apply to transcript gigs at low rates because you said you type well

Step 3 - Get jobs, get paid, repeat

Handle everything else after you start moving.
Its asking for questions like professional title no clue what to put there
 

Austin Sarwar

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Step 1 - Make a profile on Upwork

Step 2 - Apply to transcript gigs at low rates because you said you type well

Step 3 - Get jobs, get paid, repeat

Handle everything else after you start moving.
And overview. Not trying to bog you down with questions just really not sure what I should say.
 

Lex DeVille

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Its asking for questions like professional title no clue what to put there

Before someone posts the link that Googles answers for you, I'll say this:

Entrepreneurship starts with a drive for independence & self-sufficiency.

How will you run a business if you can't start without step-by-steps for your step-by-steps?

This isn't to be mean. But if you don't confront this most basic of all entrepreneurial issues right now...

You're gonna have a hard time around here.

The professional title is exactly what it says. Your professional title. What do you do?

If you want to do transcription then you put something like - Professional Transcriptionist or Motivated Typist etc.
 
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Lex DeVille

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And overview. Not trying to bog you down with questions just really not sure what I should say.

Here's where I found an answer to my business question today (before visiting the forum).

Texas Education Code:
Title 3 - Higher Education >
Subtitle G. Non-Baccalaureate System >
Chapter 132. Career Schools & Colleges >
Subchapter A. General Provisions >
Section 132.061 - Refund Policy

But before I got to that I had to become aware this education code even existed.

That started with a Google search for a general term that led to a website that led to a link that led to a page that led to a PDF.

This is process.
 

Austin Sarwar

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Before someone posts the link that Googles answers for you, I'll say this:

Entrepreneurship starts with a drive for independence & self-sufficiency.

How will you run a business if you can't start without step-by-steps for your step-by-steps?

This isn't to be mean. But if you don't confront this most basic of all entrepreneurial issues right now...

You're gonna have a hard time around here.

The professional title is exactly what it says. Your professional title. What do you do?

If you want to do transcription then you put something like - Professional Transcriptionist or Motivated Typist etc.
True, I have never transcribed before so it just feels kinda phony but I guess I can use that as my title. The details these transcribers put in there overview wow I have no experience so I'm going to have to embellish a lot I think I got it tho
 

Jon L

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True, I have never transcribed before so it just feels kinda phony but I guess I can use that as my title. The details these transcribers put in there overview wow I have no experience so I'm going to have to embellish a lot I think I got it tho

The bottom line for a customer of yours is not whether or not you have experience. The bottom line is the quality of the finished product. Even a beginner can produce a good finished product. Make your customers excited to use you because of the output you do, and you can charge a premium for your service. Do everything you can to earn 5 star reviews.

I've hired a few freelancers on Odesk/elance/upwork, etc. I pay a premium to people that do a good job. I'd rather pay $10-20 an hour and have a menial job done right the first time than pay someone $3 an hour and have to spend 5 hours of my time working with them to get it right.

Whatever ad copy you write, it needs to make the person hiring you feel like you would do a good job for them.

There's nothing phony about you busting your butt until the job is done well. Pretty soon, you'll have experience, but that experience really only benefits you (in that it takes you less time to produce the same quality work)

...


On another note - I'm about in your same shoes with copywriting. I wrote some copy for my business and it wasn't getting any traction. I posted it in a forum here asking for feedback. I got plenty, and then I went and rewrote everything based on the feedback. I'm still refining it, but by actually writing copy that I'm actually using to sell my services, I've learned a lot more than what I would learn by just reading a book.

Practice. Make educated guess about things you're not sure about (the "Professional Title" question you had above). See if what you did works. Get feedback. Repeat.

Side note: I'm guessing that if someone held a gun to your head and told you to tell them what a Professional Title was, you'd come up with a pretty good answer. Entrepreneurship is all about making educated guesses, testing to find out if it works, and then improving for next time.
 
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damonrsmith

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True, I have never transcribed before so it just feels kinda phony but I guess I can use that as my title. The details these transcribers put in there overview wow I have no experience so I'm going to have to embellish a lot I think I got it tho

Hey Austin, I just started Upwork a few days ago and realised a few things pretty quickly.

1) No matter how great / useless you think you are in 'real life' everyone is a baby when they start on Upwork. No reviews, no proof of skill. This has good and bad points. Good = anyone can build a great reputation for anything based on RESULTS not whether your a**hole of a boss likes you or not. Bad = you are a baby no matter if you have 'real life' experience in a field or not, so you've got to start at the bottom and work your way up.

2) STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVENT GOT. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE! You are typing on here, you have perfect English, you have a desire to succeed. You have an Internet connection and power to your laptop. Do you know how many people that automatically puts you ahead of? Billions. And the English puts you streets ahead of thousands on Upwork.

3) In the beginning be humble. Take a job that someone needs doing quickly, write a great but quick proposal, charge half of what their budget is. Deliver an amazing piece of work. Anyone with basic English can transcribe well, just care. Make sure the client can't do anything else but give you 5 stars. Now THAT is worth everything at this point. Don't think about $1000 a week, pay your dues to get started and build quickly from there.

4) Love your clients.

5) You can do it :)
 

Austin Sarwar

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I have applied for my first few jobs. I try to keep the cover letter very you centered. Not exactly sure all I should say since it only a transcribing job but I am trying to assure them I can meet there needs. Will see what happens.
 
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Marcin2

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Hey!

I started with the proccess two weeks ago. I've built a website and I'm interviewing top 100 performers in e-commerce in Poland (owners of online shops). I already published two interviews and by the end of the week I'm quiet sure that I will have 6 of them. Still looking for a problems in my niche :) I will let you know about the progress.

Thanks for the thread!
 

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@FionaS DO you have any updates about your progress? Love to read it.
 

WinTheDay

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Hey , going to be starting this very soon ! ( As soon as I decide the niche) .
My one question is, is it possible to work with two different niches or two closely related niches , or a niche than can benefit or help the other and do the same process for both niches at the same time ?
Since I wanted to stop waiting around and take action I was thinking of choosing 3 different niche at once and taking the top 50 from each or is it better to stick to one ?
Lastly, is learning copy necessary ? I have been putting it off for about a month now... like you stated above the challenge would be an over kill whats another way to learn copy ?
Thanks in advance and thanks for this thread.
 
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Madd

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I think the best way to learn copywriting to take some lessons and just start.
Fail fast. And learn from it.
 

IceCreamKid

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My one question is, is it possible to work with two different niches or two closely related niches , or a niche than can benefit or help the other and do the same process for both niches at the same time ?
Since I wanted to stop waiting around and take action I was thinking of choosing 3 different niche at once and taking the top 50 from each or is it better to stick to one ?
The man who chases 2 rabbits at the same time usually ends up with none.

Lastly, is learning copy necessary ? I have been putting it off for about a month now... like you stated above the challenge would be an over kill whats another way to learn copy ?
Learning copy is one of the fundamentals of business. It's like learning how to bounce pass in basketball. Can Michael Jordan do fine without the bounce pass? Probably. Will knowing how to bounce pass help increase his odds of success? Absolutely.

There are no shortcuts. Put in the time. Focus. Reflect every day about what you can improve on. Don't wait long. Go.
 
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WinTheDay

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The man who chases 2 rabbits at the same time usually ends up with none.


Learning copy is one of the fundamentals of business. It's like learning how to bounce pass in basketball. Can Michael Jordan do fine without the bounce pass? Probably. Will knowing how to bounce pass help increase his odds of success? Absolutely.

There are no shortcuts. Put in the time. Focus. Reflect every day about what you can improve on. Don't wait long. Go.

Thank you, going to start on learning copy tonight and just going to do it. Also plan to have my niche by this Sunday and start contacting the top 100 in the niche the following day. Thank you for this thread and reply.

Time to get a taste of this ice cream ;)
 

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So grateful for this thread and the knowledge provided. I have said it before - when you need advice this forum magically makes a thread appear with everything you will need to know.

Perfect amount of breadcrumbs here to follow without having too much that you sit down and start eating sandwiches.
 

GetSomeBooks

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Oh dear. OH DEAR! I just spent nearly an hour and a half absorbing this entire thread. I had perused it briefly upon initially joining this forum, but I don't think I was mentally prepared to accept its knowledge at that time.

I just recently started fumbling around working a similar, yet vastly inferior, process and, to be honest, I've still been dancing around on the outskirts. I've not actually done anything. And, while I know this was not directed toward me exactly, I put myself in the position to believe I had a man who was looking me square in the eyes and telling me, "Step up."

This thread was like an enthralling novel. I kept pouring through the posts until there were no more to be read. As a result, it's now past my bedtime but, unfortunately, I have just accepted the bittersweet commitment to take action NOW! Tonight's gonna be a long night and tomorrow's gonna be longer, but I'm confident the payoff will be exponentially more worthwhile. Thank you so much for this.
 
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NonMagicalGenie

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Hey @IceCreamKid, first off I just want to Thank You for all the amazing value your threads provide for not only myself, but for A LOT of people on this forum. I really admire how much you care about helping other people. Providing value is one of the things I love to do to; just to see the smile on the persons face afterwards is an amazing feeling.

With all that off my chest :), I got a couple questions for you.

I've come across some of your other threads and you say "learn copy", but in this one you said "The Gary Halbert challenge would be too much overkill." I don't plan on finishing the challenge in 30 days, that does seem like a action fake to me as well. But what should I do in-between reading the books? Should I read and freelance as I go? I want to grasp copywriting before I go out and help clients with their copy. I have already made an account on Upwork, just have to write out my profile.

But even with reading, it feels like I could be doing other things throughout the day as well. I don't know, but just reading doesn't feel right to me. Yeah, I'm proud to be reading and learning, but it seems like there's a piece missing. Any suggestions?
 

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