$100k 2017

[Grahamj]

I just read this post and have to say that it was the most exhausting thing I've done in a while. I'm not too sure where you are or which business you are currently in. There's been a TON of advice from members in the post and it doesn't seem like you've taken any of it.
You started with an entertainment warehouse, lawn care, beach rentals, T-shirts, solar bag, and now something with pets.
Everyone gave you the advice to start with one idea and execute. I think you need to stop chasing money. If you have UNSCRIPTED try reading it again.

Stop chasing money and start adding VALUE. People break into saturated markets all the time, but it's not with a poorly produced Facebook advertisement.

Getting a sales job could help you too. It might help you to understand why people buy.

 

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[sparechange]

hello! and welcome to my sporadic thread! sorry about the confusion, ill clear things up for future lurkers aswell, slightly update bio not sure if i mentioned everything (did leave some things out i think) here goes!

• left home before my 24th birthday and began my adult life a bit late moved to vancouver
  
• 24 years old spent the year supporting myself (2016) on a car washing job
• picked up a second job doing 60 hours a week trying to save money
• virtually bankrupt the whole time even working 60 hrs and trying to ''save''

• saw a cherry red lamborghini gallardo, had a mental breakdown thinking about what a worthless loser i am how i cant afford the car let alone change a tire on it
• had a talk with the owner (thanks!)
• not sure how i stumbled into the fastlane forum exactly, remember lurking a bit but never really doing much about it
• thought id try an idea i had in my head (shoveling snow) made low 3 figure amount, i actually recall making more per hour shoveling snow *something i did at work for $10* super silly
• got fired from my job on the eve of my 25th birthday, the best thing that ever happened to me

• went to west vancouver and spam emailed for jobs at a ski resorts
• got super lucky and got a job
• spent the winter working there and wantrenupeuring some ideas, tbh i enjoyed my life for the first time in quite some time so i spent 4 months of my life snowboarding and sking + working & meeting friends aswell as trying to build organically a facebook page ** so stupid **

• spring came around and i picked up a job as a sales agent for the conservative government parties & other crap (huge scam btw) uh oh i went there..
  
• got fired from that to from that & 20 mins later i landed my first client in grass cutting! just went and knocked on a door and closed someone for $20 i think it was, didnt even have a lawnmower so just bought one the next day
• did that for a bit and overestimated the market

• tried to sell a shirt online for a festival in vancouver no sales
  
• stopped doing that and focused on trying to sell an item (solar backpack) no sales
• currently working a construction job for a bit

the other things (entertainment warehouse?) i still want to do this, need a hell lot of capital. when i have capital i'd like to design a haunted house for the halloween market

beach rentals i have that in mind aswell, but my permits were rejected.. feel crappy every time i look at the current rental spot at the beach, at my old ski job we cleared $5-$15k a day on renting equipment, so thats what sparked my mind to rent out kayacks, boats etc.


** now focusing on building a pet brand ** regardless of failure im sticking with it to gain some experience.. doing something is better than nothing **

cheers

 

[sparechange]

alright, will pickup some products and try to make sales online, found some cool stuff. soft selling will be the overall business strategy

 

[sparechange]

so my facebook page is getting lots of paid & unpaid views problem.. no likes/follows pouring in as i thought would happen. also youtube has 0 views, i guess paying for youtube advertisements is the only way to get videos out there

in the mean time i do have physical products i think can sell, will see how i do... this would be the most 'legitimate' thing ive put my mind to that has potential.

for now my only concerns are building a BRAND & making one sale within the next two - three months

have an amazon account ? i think ? need to verify some documents or whatever the process is.

and saw i can get a ticket to calgary for $150 from vancouver! really cheap and am considering leaving november.

 

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[Aaron T]

for now my only concerns are building a BRAND & making one sale within the next two - three months

I am just curious why the focus on only one sale? How much again is the product you are offering? I mean I read the entire thread and I am still a little confused as to the specific direction. I certainly understand Brand. You definitely should work that of course. By why only one sale?

Maybe you can rephrase that more positively to building Brand & making your FIRST sale <insert timeframe or not>. I wouldn't limit myself to thinking about number of sales that low unless I was selling a yacht, and even then I wouldn't. But I could totally be misunderstanding.

 

[sparechange]

i have 0 experience in advertising and marketing

feel as if im a karate white belt taking on black belts in the internet streets toe to toe (business skill wise) with time ill learn as i go! just dont feel to confident about competing with established brands & others that have been doing this for multiple years

pricing anywhere from $20 to $60 (just a few items for now)

 

[sparechange]

thank you for the reply!

 

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[Aaron T]

i have 0 experience in advertising and marketing

feel as if im a karate white belt taking on black belts in the internet streets toe to toe (business skill wise) with time ill learn as i go! just dont feel to confident about competing with established brands & others that have been doing this for multiple years

pricing anywhere from $20 to $60 (just a few items for now)

At that price point it should be pretty easy to get multiple sales a day if you can properly identify your market and target them with excellent ad copy. As you said you are not great at Marketing. So here is some homework perhaps. Instead of Brand, focus on marketing while you get the basics of a Brand up. The Marketing will outweigh the Brand initially. Very much so.

What have you done to increase your skills in Marketing particular? I am asking as I am just trying to help focus you into that first sale much faster than 1 month. Why? Because if you get a single sale, it will be thrilling and addicting and help you the rest of the way. Getting to that point is key though.

 

[sparechange]

been watching some videos from alex becker, he talks about sales & marketing a bit. mentions creating an offer that is very appealing

my demographic (pet owners) i think can make emotional based purchases, for example. a simple dog jacket that looks cute, which compels someone to buy

 

[Aaron T]

been watching some videos from alex becker, he talks about sales & marketing a bit. mentions creating an offer that is very appealing

my demographic (pet owners) i think can make emotional based purchases, for example. a simple dog jacket that looks cute, which compels someone to buy

Well I have seen enough Alex to know that he isn't going to help you much. You need specific information on Marketing. He isn't specific enough for you. I wish I had time before my next flight to find some good videos for you to watch, but you should also look at informative sites and more than just videos.

The pet niche is super easy to make sells on. Just need to target the right people. What have you done to target them to date? I am shocked you haven't sold a single item yet or do you not have the products yet? I could have missed that.

 

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[Xeon]

currently on fb marketplace had a few hundred views and no interest, had 5 people show interest then disappear , perhaps they found a cheaper option.
....
the backpacks have been selling but dont seem to be hugely popular
heres a different backpack
https://www.amazon.com/BirkSun/pages/8328619011

Not sure what's the age range of the target audience you're selling your backpacks to, and not sure if the solar backpacks you're selling looks similar to the one in the above link, but if your audience is in the 18 - 35 yrs range, then I can see one of the reasons why they don't buy : because the backpack designs looks crappy and dorky LOL

I google image-search for "solar panel backpacks" and sure enough, 19 out of 20 of these backpack designs look like they were designed by a high school kid in his class project. I personally don't dare to imagine myself wearing these on the subway when everyone elses backpacks look cool AF.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably research on whether a solar-panel backpack with a much cooler design would sell, then find a manufacturer to create one. Similar to what this guy is doing here: The Etchr Art Satchel & Field Case (although for his case, it's more like feeding artists' need for function rather than aesthetics; as someone who used to sketch outdoors previously, I would have bought his product).

Then, when your custom solar-panel backpack is up, you can even expand it by giving them cool names and designs. If your brand is SoFlare, you can launch a military theme solar backpack with cool camo stripes emblazoned on the surface (SoFlare "The Sergeant Cliff") , a USA-flag theme solar backpack (SoFlare "Patriot").....

Of course, you need money for the manufacturer and this is where savings come in. Good luck with your pet business, I'm also launching in this sector.

 

[sparechange]

Well I have seen enough Alex to know that he isn't going to help you much. You need specific information on Marketing. He isn't specific enough for you. I wish I had time before my next flight to find some good videos for you to watch, but you should also look at informative sites and more than just videos.

The pet niche is super easy to make sells on. Just need to target the right people. What have you done to target them to date? I am shocked you haven't sold a single item yet or do you not have the products yet? I could have missed that.

havent marketed yet, just picked up some items today, will have sales ads up shortly, enjoy your flight! thanks for taking the time to reply

 

[sparechange]

Not sure what's the age range of the target audience you're selling your backpacks to, and not sure if the solar backpacks you're selling looks similar to the one in the above link, but if your audience is in the 18 - 35 yrs range, then I can see one of the reasons why they don't buy : because the backpack designs looks crappy and dorky LOL

I google image-search for "solar panel backpacks" and sure enough, 19 out of 20 of these backpack designs look like they were designed by a high school kid in his class project. I personally don't dare to imagine myself wearing these on the subway when everyone elses backpacks look cool AF.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably research on whether a solar-panel backpack with a much cooler design would sell, then find a manufacturer to create one. Similar to what this guy is doing here: The Etchr Art Satchel & Field Case (although for his case, it's more like feeding artists' need for function rather than aesthetics; as someone who used to sketch outdoors previously, I would have bought his product).

Then, when your custom solar-panel backpack is up, you can even expand it by giving them cool names and designs. If your brand is SoFlare, you can launch a military theme solar backpack with cool camo stripes emblazoned on the surface (SoFlare "The Sergeant Cliff") , a USA-flag theme solar backpack (SoFlare "Patriot").....

Of course, you need money for the manufacturer and this is where savings come in. Good luck with your pet business, I'm also launching in this sector.

interesting input about you not liking the design, i think i overestimated the idea of the backpack, had several hundred views on it but noone but 5 people showed interest then disappeared. my thinking was seeing the problem of a dead phone, and since people are generally glued to iphones or w/e phone they use, a backpack that could charge theyre phone on the move seemed interesting.

even at the beach (i dont understand the point of having a phone at the beach) but people would be sitting around staring at theyre phones, which originally sparked my interest.

so far the market says otherwise to me!

thanks for the input!

 

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[sparechange]

funny, after opening my amazon account with no products online theyre already trying to charge me. clicked the register button for fba and theyre already trying to charge me the fee.

 

[sparechange]

account isnt even verified and theyre trying to take money from me..LOL jesus

 

[Merging Left]

After reading your updates for a week or so now, and the other comments in this thread, I think that it's becoming abundantly clear that you're having trouble staying focused. You jump around to a new idea/product/brand every few days and throw money at Facebook hoping something will stick. STOP CHASING MONEY

You need to spend some real time thinking about what problems people face and how you can help them, and I don't mean by being the cheapest lawn-mower in town. Don't focus on yourself and what you want. You know that you want the lifestyle that wealth brings - that's great. But you don't get it by wanting it badly. You get it from helping people. Read TMF & UNSCRIPTED if you haven't. If you have, re-read them, but this time take notes in the margins and highlight things that resonate with you. It'll help you internalize the information.

It's counter-intuitive, but by only thinking about others, and giving, giving, and giving them value, you will be immeasurably rewarded.

---------------------------------------------

Okay, so you're going into the pet supplies space. Great - it's a huge space with lots of room for new products. I would highly recommend you narrow in on your demographic. Your demographic for a dog jacket cannot be "pet owners". If I owned a dog, I would never buy a dog jacket (especially a cute one...) unless it was for the dog's safety (i.e. keeping them warm in snow). I would be a "pet owner" but I'm not in your demographic even remotely.

Maybe your cute dog jackets are for "young fashionistas who use their purse-dogs as fashion statements". That's fairly narrow.
Maybe your demographic is "owners of small dogs who live in cold climates" and your jacket offers protection against the cold.

If you go onto facebook and advertise to "pet owners", you're going to waste a lot of time and money (as you've been doing with your other ideas...). Don't spend money on advertising to discover if your product is valuable to someone. Solve the value equation and confidently present an item that says "I made something that will absolutely improve the quality of your life - come check it out".

 

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[sparechange]

After reading your updates for a week or so now, and the other comments in this thread, I think that it's becoming abundantly clear that you're having trouble staying focused. You jump around to a new idea/product/brand every few days and throw money at Facebook hoping something will stick. STOP CHASING MONEY

You need to spend some real time thinking about what problems people face and how you can help them, and I don't mean by being the cheapest lawn-mower in town. Don't focus on yourself and what you want. You know that you want the lifestyle that wealth brings - that's great. But you don't get it by wanting it badly. You get it from helping people. Read TMF & UNSCRIPTED if you haven't. If you have, re-read them, but this time take notes in the margins and highlight things that resonate with you. It'll help you internalize the information.

It's counter-intuitive, but by only thinking about others, and giving, giving, and giving them value, you will be immeasurably rewarded.

---------------------------------------------

Okay, so you're going into the pet supplies space. Great - it's a huge space with lots of room for new products. I would highly recommend you narrow in on your demographic. Your demographic for a dog jacket cannot be "pet owners". If I owned a dog, I would never buy a dog jacket (especially a cute one...) unless it was for the dog's safety (i.e. keeping them warm in snow). I would be a "pet owner" but I'm not in your demographic even remotely.

Maybe your cute dog jackets are for "young fashionistas who use their purse-dogs as fashion statements". That's fairly narrow.
Maybe your demographic is "owners of small dogs who live in cold climates" and your jacket offers protection against the cold.

If you go onto facebook and advertise to "pet owners", you're going to waste a lot of time and money (as you've been doing with your other ideas...). Don't spend money on advertising to discover if your product is valuable to someone. Solve the value equation and confidently present an item that says "I made something that will absolutely improve the quality of your life - come check it out".

great feedback, i will try to focus on just pet products now and make a sale. i like how you mentioned narrowing down my demographic more in depth. didnt really consider it so much in detail just generally hmm.

also resolved that silly issue with amazon, so documents need to get verified and ill be ready to go! quite excited for that!

thank you to all the people sharing input!

 

[sparechange]

I have 3 items listed on ebay, kijji & craigslist RIGHT NOW

Also have a fb ad running about following my page + youtube channel that has a massive 0 views
Amazon will be up shortly, have a silly issue with signup.

LETS GET A SALE!!!!!

“It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because all that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.” MARK CUBAN

 

[sparechange]

having a major problem with amazon, somehow im signed up for fba or pro account even though i just wanted an individual account. they are trying to bill my card every 24 hours... they said they will stop and this is the fourth time, some delay with amazon or might even just not use them, theyre customer service is extremely terrible.

they notified me my account is switched over and theres a full refund but they keep trying to bill me..

*update* manually looking around my account info stuff (clueless & new to online stuff) and i myself unsubscribed after asking a million times to have someone do it after being being told the account is downgraded..

sigh

 

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[sparechange]

had a few visits on my ads, no interest as of yet

 

[Aaron T]

had a few visits on my ads, no interest as of yet

Have you done any kind of look into the ads/response rates/metrics/analytics to see if there is something you can optimize to make it better? Work? Shut it down?

For example I know my FB Ad number results so well that if my Cost Per Click isn't at .01 cents then I know it is worthless for me to continue the ad as it is and I know I need to revisit it in some way. I use various other metrics to optimize the ad return or abandon it altogether.

For example here are 3 ads I started this morning:


Which do you think is doing better? Why? I know from results like this immediate which one I want to keep, which to cut, which to optimize.

I am wondering if you are working on your ads in such a way that you also know these kinds of numbers and what they mean and how to get traffic. I am shocked you haven't gotten a sale yet. I am hoping you get one soon and I keep watching this thread, but I am worried that if you don't figure it out soon you might give up.

Hang in there, but please keep working it and making it better. I have faith you will figure this out.

 

[sparechange]

do have views on memes/pics i post that are unpaid, usually around a few hundred views.

also have a few short videos that ill film myself personally that get a few hundred people reached (but less than 100 views)

but i am not converting people as easily to ''like'' my page or follow. have a shop now button linked to my ebay and also posted a link on the page showing a product. perhaps ill just need to wait it out for a bit for a few days.

haven't been analyzing the data *yikes* still learning about this stuff

saw a video by becker today talking about figuring out the cost of customer acquisition and profit for closing

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnpWKJJ72Kw&t=72s

 

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[sparechange]

2,887
People Reached

353
Post Engagements

$0.07
Cost per Post Engagement

$23.04
Total Spent

 

[sparechange]

hm

 

[Aaron T]

2,887
People Reached

353
Post Engagements

$0.07
Cost per Post Engagement

$23.04
Total Spent

So first off, Page Likes and Follows are hard to come by unless you post engaging content daily. For one of my better FB Pages I post 3-5 times a day at least. Took forever to get 1000 followers, but from there it started growing faster. Not easy. But it get's better.

Your numbers are way high for me. Are you specifically doing a Post-Engagement? If so that is high. I kill instantly any Ad that is .04 cents or over for me. I work on .02 cents or less. .03 is dicey at best.

Here is one of my only OK Ads for 4 days:


So my Results are 4222 clicks at .01 cents a click. Sadly my Frequency for my targeted audience is now at 1.43 which is where I start to retarget or cut. Reach is at 15,125 new people. Sort of meh. I spent just under $60 dollars. Decent number of clicks and my CTR is at 20% which is nervous territory for me. Still CPC is .01 cents which is where I feel OK.

This single FB Ad for $60 dollars brought me roughly $115 in Adsense/Audience revenue. Not a lot right? But definitely worth the investment. I can scale this. I will work on the ad and spend and stop testing it. This is one I will likely spend $500 a week on for example.

Now I am not bragging, just trying to help. It makes a huge difference optimizing these ads. Like huge. There are a lot of ways to optimize for your products, the kind of engagement you are wanting, the audience. I would look at that and not knowing almost anything about what you are doing, I can at least tell you are not getting the engagement you could be getting if you worked on that ad a little bit.

Saying all that it is not the worse I have seen by far. I have lots, specially while learning, that were in .15 a click territory.

 

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[sparechange]

ive been posting every day pictures & memes to get people to attracted towards my page.

will try out some other ads and try to get some traffic to my ebay.

this isnt my page but its something similar to this Cute Pets

trying to build a following and convert a small % to customers. that 60k could be 600 orders!

 

[Aaron T]

That is a hard thing to do, but often Fastlane is pretty hard. Work hard now so you don't have to later.

 

[sparechange]

amazon support is probably some of the worst ive ever seen..what a massive waste of time

reading so many horror stories online about using them...

 

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[sparechange]

getting a small amount of traffic towards my ebay store!!!

the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together

 

[Aaron T]

getting a small amount of traffic towards my ebay store!!!

the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together

Just curious if you are aware of which pieces of your puzzle are coming together to drive that traffic. If you do know, then do more of it smarter. If you don't know, then it is not worth celebrating until you do. It makes things repeatable and that will help you succeed.

I do hope you can get a sale finally though.