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Are Influencer's right and do they usually have repeatable processes?

G

Guest92dX

Guest
Here's the thing:

I'm working on a product and received feedback from a person. I'm interested in knowing whether or not influencer's usually have a repeatable process that leads to better creation and outcomes.

The problem I'm having is that influential books I picked up don't usually have the right answers for me.

Books I've read: Lean Startup 25%
4 hour workweek (dusty a$$ beater that helped me make a huge mistake and nearly burn a resource because I visited website thinking the daily/weekly hustles were well thought out and golden opportunities)
$100 startup 80% 5 stars because it talks about how people discovered opportunities based on their skills, passions, and what was viable with most of them being done for $1k or less and $100 or less.
Personal MBA 100% it stopped me from going to business school for crying out loud and may have saved me $200k worth of debt. I'll only go back to school if I need more time put off my student loans and will probably only do a part-time program in a hard skill.

Can list more: the personal MBA opened my ideas to why further schooling doesn't pay off after college, and they could probably make a case about why college doesn't pay off. I can. It's all about the lottery internships and prestige rank with high grades.

My current beliefs are:

A) the product or service needs to adapt to problem
B) there is a general and repeatable set of steps to take to prove and create the initial solution.
C) influencer's are usually wrong, but I'm not entirely sure.
D) take massive action and you can attract the right ideas/problems to solve
E) you shouldn't ever come up with an idea. You should come up with a way to find out where the problems are.

I listen to podcasts like Side Hustle School and How I Built This by NPR which preaches financial independence even if you work a job. It's important to have multiple sources of active and passive income.

Part 1:


The problem I have is that this guy says he doesn't want to add people to the group I'm creating to find like minded people because he likes to see if information is good before he shares it 1.

2) he says he doesn't have "a lot" of friends interested, which means he has at least 1 friend interested.

Part 2:
His feedback was to include quotes from influencers and important institutions in entrepreneurship that say do this with stats 1.

2) he says to dumb down the information and create simple with complec information in a balance.

(sorry the key between the z and c button on my keyboard is broken. Yes, I'm poor. This is why I'm hustling.)

My thoughts about Part 1 and Part 2:

I think he is trying to appeal to authority. I'm anti-authority, and it goes against my values. If I find information that helps me and leads me to some progress then I use it.

2) His second statement of feedback feels solipsistic. It feels like he thinks he's the only one who feels and sees. It also feels contradictory because something can be simple to you and complec to others.

There is no balance and no way to make a balance. I feel like I shot myself in the foot because I asked him what would make him believe what I'm saying is the right way to build a product.

Part 1 problem 1 isn't problem on me. It's an embarrassment or insecurity issue.
Part 1 problem 2 feels like a trust issue.

However, the second half seems like a real issue. It seems like he wants authority because he believes it right. I do however think that he's asking for organization when I do the writes because the logical contradiction weighs itself to it being a him problem. Maybe stream-of-consciousness isn't right for him, which is how I'm doing it.

Now onto the main meat of the question:

I want to challenge his thoughts about authority. I think the best learning is by doing. This is what was told me to early on by entrepreneur that makes a modest amount of income and lives on beaches. I still believe this because even after I spent months of reading on the internet. I made a really bad mistake my first time around.

The mistake is in my introduction thread.

Introduction - Learning to Drive Traffic

I feel like I can establish trust with him if I reasonably demonstrate why influencers and institutions even in entrepreneurship aren't the holy grail.

I think there may be some influencers who have the right steps (read at least 1) and some who don't have the right steps (read at least 1).

One of my main gripes with startups is that everyone talks about doing things the lean way, but no one says these are the repeatable and actionable steps to do everything lean and without waste. I think this is because the vast majority of people preaching the lean startup way are not millionaires and have not made any money. Do I think the concept is wrong.

Not entirely. I think the concept is a little misguided and has been overstated, misused, done incorrectly, and misappropriated.

Here's an instance: search heavily about how to test ideas the lean startup way. Everyone tells you to throw up a landing page and use advertisement traffic from Google and Facebook. This is great, but no one tells you that signups are worthless unless they have a specific dollar amount that is tested on actual credit card numbers or button clicks. Even further, it's a rare read for someone to mention that on a forum and an even further rare read to see it on a blog and even further rare read anywhere for someone to say that you should try to hit product or service development costs through pre-orders built on a product FREE TRIAL based on credits without telling them. If you have a successful campaign then you can take those pre-orders right to development on an accelerated time line and build ROBUST features by getting feedback from pre-orders. If you have a failed campaign then it's no harm or foul because it's a free trial and there's no money to return for a FAILED product because you didn't collect money.

Even further, the lean startup way is preached incorrectly in my opinion. People tell you to build a scrappy product. If your customers are pre-ordering dinner and are paying you before the product is built and basically creating the menu then you can build as much as you want for first release that's entirely dependent upon your pre-order amount. You can ship an awesome product.

Also, the only thing I've ever heard that was good coming out of Robert Kiyosaki's books is that your report card after school is how much make, how well you manage it, and how your cash flow looks, which is the truth.

P.S. this is why I'm learning to drive traffic. I believe I have a repeatable process here that will work the majority of the time for REAL problems that need to solved, not ideas that I came up with myself.

Bottom:

P.P.S. I'm new so go easy on me if you have strong opinions about this. I'm currently reading the millionaire fastlane and am 20% of the way done. I only asked this question because multiple searches through the Google site search didn't reveal anything.
 
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The-J

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I'm new so go easy on me if you have strong opinions about this.

No

If an influencer doesn't wanna promote your shit, it's nothing personal. They just don't wanna promote your shit. Maybe it's because your shit is shitty. Maybe because they don't understand why your shit is good. Maybe because they're not interested in promoting shit at all (unlikely, but hey: it happens). Maybe they don't take cold requests to promote shit.

Your post is hard to read because you're up and down and all over the place.

I can also tell that (1) you're attached to beliefs and you'd rather be right than rich and (2) you're looking for a holy grail where there isn't one.
 
G

Guest92dX

Guest
No

If an influencer doesn't wanna promote your shit, it's nothing personal. They just don't wanna promote your shit. Maybe it's because your shit is shitty. Maybe because they don't understand why your shit is good. Maybe because they're not interested in promoting shit at all (unlikely, but hey: it happens). Maybe they don't take cold requests to promote shit.

Your post is hard to read because you're up and down and all over the place.

I can also tell that (1) you're attached to beliefs and you'd rather be right than rich and (2) you're looking for a holy grail where there isn't one.

You did not either understand my post or you did not read it closely. I'm thinking the latter because you made assumptions and are off topic.

I'm asking if influencers/thought leaders in entrepreneurship usually have repeatable processes, which is one of the core tenets of the fastlane book. I am asking about the question of truth in entrepreneurship. Do I want to be right? To a limited extent.

My question revolves around compiling an answer to him (my potential customer) that does not appeal to authority, which is another principle in the fastlane book.

I am trying to get a potential customer to turn into into a referral farm.

You did not answer anything related to my post and inserted a topic that is irrelevant. Am I partially to blame? Maybe. I've heard the term thought leaders and influencer used interchangeably on the topic of "influencer marketing" and when it comes to people who shape thought around what should be done in a niche industry.

Also, please don't skim my posts when I've taken the time to organize them into incredibly easy to digest parts. It feels like you had to have skimmed because the conclusion is that it's all over the place and is about marketing when it's not and actually well organized for a 2 part question that needs a background introduction.

It is only focused the feedback I received from a potential customer. It feels like you're being mean just to be mean. Were you looking to pick a fight man? I'm not. I'm here to learn and grow.

As for the beliefs, the millionaire fastlane preaches that you're supposed to have a process and mindset. I'm only focused on beliefs in so far as they are effective because. The millionaire fastlane is the only book that I've read that has focused on effective mindsets and processes. It's one of the few books that doesn't feel like a fad book.

I've been trying to grow an audience for this product for the last 4 days and have consistently increased post amounts to my small audience and focused on engaging with them and what they want to know. This is clear from the tone and way I wrote the OP.

This is all I have to say. If you respond please let down your defenses because you're heavily projecting onto me. The whole post is about helping a customer, gaining his trust through logic and action, and moving him into a referrer by answering and improving from the critical feedback.

I'll look into focusing on being right because it may be a fruitful endeavor. You couldn't possibly understand how badly I'm focusing on changing my life. I've taken action consistently with fear, embarrassment, inadequacy, and a million Other emotions all clamoring for my attention. I hope you can though because I know I'm not the only entrepreneur who has felt frustration and pain but wouldn't quit because the only they wouldn't quit is their self. Or broken down in tears because you're making mistakes and it feels like no one understands, even the people who supposedly support you. Still, I've taken action and grown each time as a person and entrepreneur.
 
G

Guest92dX

Guest
Replace influencer with "guru". It may have genuinely been hard to read because of the way I phrased the title. I used long and complex sentences.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt.
 
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Driven28

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Your post is hard to read because you're up and down and all over the place.

This 100%

Also, please don't skim my posts when I've taken the time to organize them into incredibly easy to digest parts.

I'm sorry to break this to you, but your post(s) are anything BUT easy to to digest.
I couldn't figure out what you were asking in the first post, and could barely get your points out of the 2nd one.

This is coming from someone (me) who also tends to overthink and write my ideas/thoughts out longer than they need to be.

Take at least part of the advice being given here:
Go back to the drawing board on your post and think about how you can shorten your ideas/questions to the shortest and easiest language possible.

Brevity is a skill.
Those who master it without losing their ability to articulate ideas, tend to communicate very well in this world (and thus, receive a lot of respect).
 

The-J

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I'm gonna try again to help you and ignore your attacks on me.

I am trying to get a potential customer to turn into into a referral farm.

What does that mean? Do you mean, you want a potential to get you more business?

If they're potential, why should they refer you? If they're not potential and they're currently paying you, what are you telling them in order to help get you more business?

I'm trying to read your posts, not skim, and it's just so difficult. Please help us help you.
 
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G

Guest92dX

Guest
Cliff notes:

Are guru's generally giving good advice about industry? Books I've read have led me down unproductive paths.

Do guru's have repeatable processes? If so, who are these guru's?

My customer wants me to appeal to industry guru's for me to have credibility. How do I solve this?

My customer is asking for contradictory things.
Solved: shorter sentences. Less complex language. Better organization.

My customer won't invite people for two reasons: he says he waits to see if content is good first.

I doubt that this is his real feeling.

Second, he says that he doesn't know "a lot" of entrepreneur friends, which means he knows at least one. I'm reading between the lines.

How do I get him to invite people?

I am trying to create an organic snowball. I want to get the snowball rolling.
 

The-J

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Are guru's generally giving good advice about industry? Books I've read have led me down unproductive paths.

Depends on the guru. It's up to you to read between the lines. I'll tell you this: it's very easy to sell bullshit, and bullshit is everywhere.

Do guru's have repeatable processes? If so, who are these guru's?

Still confusing. Repeatable processes as in... what? Sales? Any guru that has a sales funnel, sells on Amazon, or used FB advertising has repeatable processes in the sales department.

Repeatable processes as in what they actually preach? Well, most of them preach them, it's just... do they work for everyone? The answer is a resounding no, because there's more to business than the business model.

My customer wants me to appeal to industry guru's for me to have credibility. How do I solve this?

That's a catch-22: you want credibility so you seek it, but no one will give you credibility cuz you have none. The only way to break it is to produce something that people can get behind... without the credibility boost.

My customer won't invite people for two reasons: he says he waits to see if content is good first.

I doubt that this is his real feeling.

That sounds perfectly logical.

Second, he says that he doesn't know "a lot" of entrepreneur friends, which means he knows at least one. I'm reading between the lines.

How do I get him to invite people?

I am trying to create an organic snowball. I want to get the snowball rolling.

His objections sound like someone who doesn't see the value... but he IS talking to you, which might mean that he sees potential. That's okay; maybe someone else sees value right away. Keep reaching out to people. The snowball will roll if it's meant to roll. If not... there's always paid traffic.
 
G

Guest92dX

Guest
Ok, if he doesn't see the value then that's fine.

I was using my network of friends and business contacts to grow the group I created and sell the product.

I went at this partially backwards again. I focused on growing and seeing if there is interest first through a manual means. I should have just drove traffic to a landing page for pre-orders to validate.

I probably even referenced why pre-orders are important to validating ideas in the OP. I feel stupid.

Ok, time to get back on track.

I have a really high value product in my opinion. I haven't proven it though.

I'm still learning to drive traffic. Paid traffic is great for proof.

Question: Does Google show you real search volume for keywords when you upload some cash to their AdWords platform?

I read that AdWords will show limited search traffic if you don't have an active campaign.

If not, how do I turn on the real search volume? Is there a post that demonstrates what traffic is worth by volume. I know this depends on the price of your product. It has to depend on it. I just want to know how to read into search volume to ditch clunker ideas. I don't want to waste ammo (money) unnecessarily.

It will take me 2 - 5 days to learn FB Ads and AdWords at a basic level to not bleed out my budget.

Question 2: Is there a non-paid copywriting crash course on the forum or a copywriting course with a free trial?

This is all I need answered to make a tiny bit more progress and get over the purchase hump.

I'm still trying to get my first online sale. I have already received my first offline sale. It was from someone I knew, but a sale is a sale. It feels amazing though when someone you don't know buys your stuff.

I've already had email signups before but have been hitting scorched Earth territory from people executing poorly in certain niches.
 
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G

Guest92dX

Guest
I'm reading Andy Black's posts and checking out his AdWords crash course. I'm over thinking this though probably because I'm really stressed.

Andy Black's course is actionable, but it's not as quick as I need to turn around results.

I received money from someone who wanted to help out a friend, me. I have to give them an update on the progress since I ditched a business idea that's really bad and has lots of legal challenges. The niche also has a bad reputation. It's not MLM. It's legal match services.

My friend was definitely angered that it didn't succeed. He is a CEO of a company. He didn't build it though. He runs it and worked his way to the top.

I've learned my lesson about being accountable to people who aren't entrepreneurs and who don't have the success I want.

It's torture on my brain and causes a lot of emotional pain. I would rather be accountable to someone understands that there's a learning process that a job cannot teach you.
 

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