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(Radio interview) How to quickly get started in business

Marquin Brewer

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Welcome to the forum. Thanks for listening, and listing your take-aways. There's a second part to that interview linked to in my signature.

There's a lot of AdWords posts linked to in my signature too. They might take you a few hours to go through mind!
Thanks for the feedback Andy....I'll go through the signature.
 
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Waspy

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Loved it,

Takeaways:
- Remember, just help people.
- What is common sense to you, may not be common sense to others (competitors... or radio presenters)
- It doesn't take a big grand idea to make a business, just someone willing to offer help and value.

Going forward:
I dont actually think much will change going forward, this interview is a great refresher of what the book teaches but in Andy's style (and obviously with a leaning towards his specialisation). I think thats partly what I liked so much, a new or different take on the same core ideas that are shared throughout this forum.

Oh, actually that last paragraph is a lie. Half way through the interview I actually started changing my landing page based on something Andy said, so things had started changing before the end of the interview...
 

GatsbyMag

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The biggest reason websites suck (aka How to get started in business quickly)

I did a radio interview this morning. It goes out somewhere in Dublin on Friday 03-Jun-2016.

I'm getting it transcribed, and will add the transcription to the thread.

I'll also be able to create some bullet point teasers to sell you, dear reader, on doing yourself a favour and listening to the damn thing.

Interested in your takeaways...





What were your takeaways?

What will you do differently going forward?



(For other recordings click HERE.)
Lovely to see more Irish entrepreneurs. Terrific interview full of value.
 

Spicymemer45

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The biggest reason websites suck (aka How to get started in business quickly)

I did a radio interview this morning. It goes out somewhere in Dublin on Friday 03-Jun-2016.

I'm getting it transcribed, and will add the transcription to the thread.

I'll also be able to create some bullet point teasers to sell you, dear reader, on doing yourself a favour and listening to the damn thing.

Interested in your takeaways...

@Andy Black

The profile picture was just the way I envisioned it lol! great interview much thanks!



What were your takeaways?

What will you do differently going forward?



(For other recordings click HERE.)
 
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jrfkelly

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Thanks Andy, I really enjoyed the interview - including the musical interludes. It's been years since I listened to The Specials!
It occurs to me that the AdWords techniques you describe can be used to do initial idea valuation too - if enough people are searching for something, then you've probably hit on a valid market need.

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk
 

Andy Black

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Thanks Andy, I really enjoyed the interview - including the musical interludes. It's been years since I listened to The Specials!
It occurs to me that the AdWords techniques you describe can be used to do initial idea valuation too - if enough people are searching for something, then you've probably hit on a valid market need.

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the kind words @jrfkelly.

I like the music in it too, but might have to strip it out if I'm to put it up on iTunes.

There was a second interview with Mary. It's in my signature.


Yes. I use paid search to "validate" not just that there is already demand, but whether you can fulfil it, and do so profitably.

These three threads might help you:


I'm off to Google "the specials" now...


EDIT: Oh, those Specials. I thought you meant some old radio show!
 
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Dan1el

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Thanks for sharing this Andy.

I listened to this while I was having a walk to the postoffice to deliver some packages to my customers.
Im only halfway through it but one big takeaway is that I will communicate alot more with my customers, ask them more questions of what else I can do for them and what need im not currently filling in my business.

If you want some constructive criticism, personally I wasnt a very big fan of the music part in it, it wasnt super easy to try to skip it on my phone in Swedish winter weather ;)
 
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Andy Black

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Thanks for sharing this Andy.

I listened to this while I was having a walk to the postoffice to deliver some packages to my customers.
Im only halfway through it but one big takeaway is that I will communicate alot more with my customers, ask them more questions of what else I can do for them and what need im not currently filling in my business.

If you want some constructive criticism, personally I wasnt a very big fan of the music part in it, it wasnt super easy to try to skip it on my phone in Swedish winter weather ;)
Thanks for the feedback. Glad it helped.

Thanks for the feedback on the music too. It wasn't my show so I had no choice anyway. I'll be editing it out before adding it to iTunes etc.
 

Dan1el

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Thanks for the feedback. Glad it helped.

Thanks for the feedback on the music too. It wasn't my show so I had no choice anyway. I'll be editing it out before adding it to iTunes etc.

I only wanted to give you some value back, but I see some people here liked it so maybe its a question of taste!

Thanks again Andy and I will make sure to listen to more of your podcasts.
 

Andy Black

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Epic fail on my part for the thread title btw. It's soooo bad.

When I edit it and post it to iTunes, what title should I put on this episode?
 
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Andy Black

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MarcUK

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Thanks Andy, this was a good listen - skipped the music though :)
 

Andy Black

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Thanks Andy, this was a good listen - skipped the music though :)
Thanks. Yeah, I'll edit out the music one day.

What was your biggest takeaway?

What will you do differently going forward?
 

MarcUK

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What was your biggest takeaway?

The people not clicks part stood at early on in the interview. It's easy to just think of numbers when you are in online marketing. I am massively analytical with spreadsheets galore, but ultimately it's people you are dealing with. Recently I have been doing a lot of reading into psychology, in particular the psychology of sales. For a couple of years, I was only interested in the bottom line of traffic, clicks, revenue and never really tested stuff.

It's only recently I've been focusing more on the different ways in which people will react to what you put in front of them - switching up the thinking and testing can make huge differences.

For example, I've read Ogilvy recently, and some of the stuff he was talking about years ago with direct response marketing still works now, and have started testing this stuff with my lead generation websites that I rank with SEO.

Here's a just one quick example of some of his stuff which can make huge differences to conversions:
https://www.julesmarcoux.com/the-20-most-persuasive-words-according-to-david-ogilvy/

I think I've gone a little off-tangent with my reply here :)

What will you do differently going forward?

Not 100% certain right now. Currently just running through all your footer links you recommended, and can see why you did now! The point I am at currently in terms of my loose business plan appears very similar to the one you were aiming to go down in the Progress Monetising My Adwords Knowledge post - still on page 10 of 20 so not sure if you are still on that path, as still reading so will be in touch soon!
 
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kwad

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You interview really well buddy. I genuinely enjoyed this interview... Maybe radio 4 or LBC next?

You struck a good balance between getting across your expertise whilst also making it feel accessible to listeners of all levels[emoji106]. There stories really helped the flow.

My Key take home:?
1) understand your addressable customers' needs and thought process

2)start by finding the smallest amount of value your can add to someone's business (don't over complicate).

What would I change? Make the links referenced easier to remember. Maybe create a link that provides more info for motivated listeners eg www.andyblack.net/websites-suck

Right... I'm off to listen again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Blaise84

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The biggest reason websites suck (aka How to get started in business quickly)

I did a radio interview this morning. It goes out somewhere in Dublin on Friday 03-Jun-2016.

I'll also be able to create some bullet point teasers to sell you, dear reader, on doing yourself a favour and listening to the damn thing.

Interested in your takeaways...





What were your takeaways?

What will you do differently going forward?

.
.
.

Here's the second interview with Mary:
Freedom, Motivation, and Grow What You Know


(For other recordings click HERE.)

@Andy Black thank you for this! :) Some really helpful info. Can I ask a question? So, after listening to the interview, the way I understand AdWords is that you want to find a high volume keyword search in combination with low competition. Is that correct?
 

Andy Black

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@Andy Black thank you for this! :) Some really helpful info. Can I ask a question? So, after listening to the interview, the way I understand AdWords is that you want to find a high volume keyword search in combination with low competition. Is that correct?
High volume low competition means you're likely going to get a lot of visitors, for a lower CPC.

Does that help though?

It's economics. What's your Earning-Per-Click (EPC) for each of those visitors? Is your CPC less than your EPC so you're running at the margin you want?

Is it selling a product or service you even want to sell?
 
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My take aways I responded with.......

Radio interview 1 thoughts......

  1. Felt lost when talking about Internet and your expertise

    Worried time moving and I should be doing more briefly although I know this info one word could change so much.......I guess so many single words and sentences have already proved how much time I've wasted.....I want to DO

    Genui nely she said......made me wonder if been saying it wrong my whole life.....

    Manners.....I hold doors, help carry, help "do" but no vocal manners.....sure or yep here an there maybe I'll mumble.....EXCEPT training....no problem or I say that's what I'm here for

    How's it going lil message sent to people you do......
    I feel like a number....like I could easily be read and marketed by someone like you that didn't want to genuinely help. I know you do so don't take this bad.....these are my exact thoughts as I listen

    Equal sign don't stare at mind blank....
    Makes me think of MJ's book and how it taught me how literally everything in life can be broken down as an equation with variables.....I used to never understand why I couldn't hand in a math problem with the right answer but steps wrong....never understood even point of each class until read his book....it's not what they're teaching you literally that mattters....it's how it makes you think.....why the hell couldnt one single teacher ever tell us that back then....I don't even think ey know.

    Equal sign visually gives a next step (tells you to do)

    If someone passes its worth it for you.....when I can get rid of pain for someone or a kids knee stronger so years later it's not worse.....a person stronger in order to do better in a sport....that's worth more to me than money and why I think I don't prioritize money.....this is what I wanted to be what made me great looking back on life......to accomplish for me=results in people not money

    Been arguing with mom all week and her necks been hurting.....help people is message I hear all day so I paused video to go try to release moms trigger points for half hour

    6 ways to u turn....
    I can teach 100 different people in 100 unique ways how to learn movement....each person makes me better after......one of my strong points is knowing how to adapt to what each person needs and figuring out how

    Wisdom is earned......nobody ever taught me I always THOUGHT about what should be the way to do things when it's already been done and proven in ways I didn't......know can say.....but not trust also.

    I despise the idea of selling to people's wants I want to sell what they need....this is honest

    When asked what business ideas I got excited......I want to find within ME though what I can turn into a basket under the tree....can't be not from in me though

    Love the basket idea because last week I typed up 2 pages and put it in envelopes in mailboxes

    It ended as mom came in room happiest I've seen all day

 

Andy Black

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My take aways I responded with.......

Radio interview 1 thoughts......

  1. Felt lost when talking about Internet and your expertise

    Worried time moving and I should be doing more briefly although I know this info one word could change so much.......I guess so many single words and sentences have already proved how much time I've wasted.....I want to DO

    Genui nely she said......made me wonder if been saying it wrong my whole life.....

    Manners.....I hold doors, help carry, help "do" but no vocal manners.....sure or yep here an there maybe I'll mumble.....EXCEPT training....no problem or I say that's what I'm here for

    How's it going lil message sent to people you do......
    I feel like a number....like I could easily be read and marketed by someone like you that didn't want to genuinely help. I know you do so don't take this bad.....these are my exact thoughts as I listen

    Equal sign don't stare at mind blank....
    Makes me think of MJ's book and how it taught me how literally everything in life can be broken down as an equation with variables.....I used to never understand why I couldn't hand in a math problem with the right answer but steps wrong....never understood even point of each class until read his book....it's not what they're teaching you literally that mattters....it's how it makes you think.....why the hell couldnt one single teacher ever tell us that back then....I don't even think ey know.

    Equal sign visually gives a next step (tells you to do)

    If someone passes its worth it for you.....when I can get rid of pain for someone or a kids knee stronger so years later it's not worse.....a person stronger in order to do better in a sport....that's worth more to me than money and why I think I don't prioritize money.....this is what I wanted to be what made me great looking back on life......to accomplish for me=results in people not money

    Been arguing with mom all week and her necks been hurting.....help people is message I hear all day so I paused video to go try to release moms trigger points for half hour

    6 ways to u turn....
    I can teach 100 different people in 100 unique ways how to learn movement....each person makes me better after......one of my strong points is knowing how to adapt to what each person needs and figuring out how

    Wisdom is earned......nobody ever taught me I always THOUGHT about what should be the way to do things when it's already been done and proven in ways I didn't......know can say.....but not trust also.

    I despise the idea of selling to people's wants I want to sell what they need....this is honest

    When asked what business ideas I got excited......I want to find within ME though what I can turn into a basket under the tree....can't be not from in me though

    Love the basket idea because last week I typed up 2 pages and put it in envelopes in mailboxes

    It ended as mom came in room happiest I've seen all day
Hmmm... very interesting.

I never thought asking people "How're things going? could be seen as a tactic to open people up to subsequently take advantage of them. Obviously it could be used that way. Intent trumps all.


That's actually how I say hello to people: "Hey, how's it going?"

It invites people to reply if they want, or just say "Grand. How're you doing?"

I like chatting to people. I am genuinely interested in people's stories and want to help them if they have a problem.

... up to a point though.

Which leads to my next point:

I don't want to help people who need help but don't want to help themselves. It's a complete waste of my breath, and puts unnecessary stress on someone who was minding their own business.

That's partly what I mean by we can't sell to needs, only wants.

The other part is that you're better helping the people already in motion.

Two people could need to do exercise. One might not want to enough to do anything about it. The other might want to enough to go down the gym.

As a gym instructor your easiest sale is to the guy who wants to get fitter. This is the guy already in motion.

The only way to sell your PT coaching to the guy who needs to get fitter but doesn't want to... is to make them *want* to get fitter.

Totally possible of course, but they aren't the low hanging fruit.


Thank you for your thought provoking post.

My favourite part is how you helped your mum... someone right under your nose. Good for you.
 

Leigh Farrell

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The biggest reason websites suck (aka How to get started in business quickly)

I did a radio interview this morning. It goes out somewhere in Dublin on Friday 03-Jun-2016.

I'll also be able to create some bullet point teasers to sell you, dear reader, on doing yourself a favour and listening to the damn thing.

Interested in your takeaways...





What were your takeaways?

What will you do differently going forward?

.
.
.

Here's the second interview with Mary:
Freedom, Motivation, and Grow What You Know


(For other recordings click HERE.)
Good interview Andy.
Thanks for sharing.
 
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P Stiller

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Hmmm... very interesting.

I never thought asking people "How're things going? could be seen as a tactic to open people up to subsequently take advantage of them. Obviously it could be used that way. Intent trumps all.


That's actually how I say hello to people: "Hey, how's it going?"

It invites people to reply if they want, or just say "Grand. How're you doing?"

I like chatting to people. I am genuinely interested in people's stories and want to help them if they have a problem.

... up to a point though.

Which leads to my next point:

I don't want to help people who need help but don't want to help themselves. It's a complete waste of my breath, and puts unnecessary stress on someone who was minding their own business.

That's partly what I mean by we can't sell to needs, only wants.

The other part is that you're better helping the people already in motion.

Two people could need to do exercise. One might not want to enough to do anything about it. The other might want to enough to go down the gym.

As a gym instructor your easiest sale is to the guy who wants to get fitter. This is the guy already in motion.

The only way to sell your PT coaching to the guy who needs to get fitter but doesn't want to... is to make them *want* to get fitter.

Totally possible of course, but they aren't the low hanging fruit.


Thank you for your thought provoking post.

My favourite part is how you helped your mum... someone right under your nose. Good for you.


Andy....you have no idea how low I've been since the holiday.....getting on this forum really saved me from continuing to be in the hole I was sitting in......

when I registered I didn't know what to think but your "lil message" as I worded it was very welcoming and made me feel like I didn't just register to become a ghost.

I'm constantly falling into my hole throughout the day and talking with you in here and reading the forum has been more helpful can imagine....I couldn't wait to get home all day to be on here honestly but when I just read your response all the excitement and everything good sank to my stomach....I was reading like what the hell did I say to offend him??!.......I reread my paragraph and want you to know before ever being on here all I've ever experienced are people looking for people like me that they can "offer help" only to have some kind of motive.......

I felt I should include my thought of being hesitant AT FIRST because it's honestly how I felt....as soon as we went back and forth though I knew instantly you wanted nothing but to help people....I sense I insulted you and meant absolutely not to at all....sorry to of not worded it better.......I was trying to type every thought leading to the next to be helpful.....looked forward all day to talking with you. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to all I've written....it's been more helpful than you know.
 

Andy Black

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Andy....you have no idea how low I've been since the holiday.....getting on this forum really saved me from continuing to be in the hole I was sitting in......

when I registered I didn't know what to think but your "lil message" as I worded it was very welcoming and made me feel like I didn't just register to become a ghost.

I'm constantly falling into my hole throughout the day and talking with you in here and reading the forum has been more helpful can imagine....I couldn't wait to get home all day to be on here honestly but when I just read your response all the excitement and everything good sank to my stomach....I was reading like what the hell did I say to offend him??!.......I reread my paragraph and want you to know before ever being on here all I've ever experienced are people looking for people like me that they can "offer help" only to have some kind of motive.......

I felt I should include my thought of being hesitant AT FIRST because it's honestly how I felt....as soon as we went back and forth though I knew instantly you wanted nothing but to help people....I sense I insulted you and meant absolutely not to at all....sorry to of not worded it better.......I was trying to type every thought leading to the next to be helpful.....looked forward all day to talking with you. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to all I've written....it's been more helpful than you know.
My goodness, you totally didn't insult me. For me, it was very interesting (eye-opening) that what I just do naturally could be viewed with suspicion. It won't change what I do, but I'll just be aware that some people have been burnt in the past.

I'm glad the forum and our PMs have helped you. Welcome to the forum btw.
 

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@Andy Black thanks a lot for your "Thanks for following" and pointing me to this interview. It's been a huge help!

My takeaways:
  • "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." Being a money-chasing programmer that worked for US companies most of the time I always thought about something global. Helping people here is much easier and doable.
  • It's people visiting your website, not clicks. Forgot about that when done affiliate marketing analysis.
  • "If I was to start a brand new business I prefer it to be something that people are searching for already.". Was doing that to check volume of wants for my ideas. Problem with that was that ideas were mine and kinda "blockbuster", complicated and no one wanted that. Just make is simpler.
However biggest take-away was from this words on 26-27 minutes:
People think they don’t have too much to offer. But you’ve been alive for a good while on this planet. And you.. your experience in issues and problems. And oh gush, would’ve been nice if there would be a crash in this place. Well, here you go... These like pains that you experience and other people may experience as well and that may become a business. And it all stems from having an attitude of trying to help people. And also observing people.
That got my brains into another universe thinking of pains that I've experienced in my life for N+1-th time.
I've been a programmer most of my life, last few years mostly coded on C# and some JavaScript. No pains there: IDEs are great nowadays, lots of opensource, other tools are also great.
But after about 10 minutes of rewinding I've remembered something.
That was a huge pain few years ago and I've had and idea on how to solve it for other people. Didn't knew a thing about entrepreneurship back then. Also had wrong money-chasing, event-oriented, worldwide blockbuster idea+crowded/empty room mindset. It seemed to hard, not worth it, had some competition, etc. so I've dumped that idea.

Now with more right mindset I see it differently:
  • Based on B2C win-win. Helping both businesses and clients.
  • Observation made me see that it's not only my pain. In fact, most people have it in their lives from time to time either big or small. It's solved already, but mostly not in software. Some software exists, but that's not helping too much at least here in Ukraine. Mine should be a huge improvement, not innovation. Need is also confirmed by keyword planner.
  • Meets CENTS/CENTS
  • Fits my skill-set well. Based on something I've been already doing, just didn't thought about it as an opportunity.
  • Gonna be hard to execute it well which is good, not bad. Still have to think about how to make it alive and profitable, but that's mostly from execution point of view.
  • I know where to start and it feels great :smile:
Thanks a lot Andy! Your'e a GREAT MAN.
 
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Florian

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The final thank you :)

My takeaway:
Again: Look to the next person nearest to you and help him/her. Just do it and see which problems are occuring you can solve :)

My actionsteps:
Go to my neighbor and ask whether I can help them

3/3
 

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Thanks for the superb interview! It may be a few years old now, but I just discovered it thanks to your invitation. The business attitude and value is timeless!

I thought it was going to be all about Adwords. Nice to discover that you covered a lot of other material as well.
I would title this one: "A few Adwords skills, plus a lot of helpful caring and basic courtesy, can help you launch a successful business."

We both have a background in IT and databases. We're probably both qualified to ensure integrity constraints on primary keys... but nobody cares, unless this happens to be a way to solve a business problem. One of the most helpful lines from MJ is his discussion of moving to Team Producer, on the income side rather than the cost side.

Most of the Adwords specific stuff I'd heard before... but, from hypey-scammy kind of people that turned me off with their fast talking, high pressure, used car salesman kind of vibe.

Hearing a calm, straightforward bloke talk it through, makes it so much easier for me to feel, "Oh yeah, I can apply that too." What a pleasure to have an enjoyable nice conversation that happens to be about business, and would be welcome to continue at the pub.

I agree that leaving in the entire songs for the break time, is kinda annoying. Can you cut those out, and leave the edited version in place in your playlist?

Adwords takeaways:
  • Site alone is not enough with some traffic to it.
  • I need to put some money into test ads and then build sites accordingly. Isn't there a way to find out what people are searching for and how much ads cost, without having to pay to run ads? Yes, you answered that a few minutes after the question was in my head. Keyword planner: credit card needed to open an account; create ad but then delete the ad and the statistics are then available.
  • I should run ads: "Are you looking for help marketing your restaurant in St. Paul?" in addition to going in person to as many restaurants in St. Paul as I can.
Business attitude and communication takeaways:
  • Goal of help in whatever way he can, vs pitching what he can do
  • Why do I need a business card = YES! My biz web site has nothing on it = YES! That's the way I want to do business now!
  • Gratitude and connection returns in unexpected ways.
  • Ask, shut up and listen is more powerful than anything I could pitch. This is already how I planned to approach the restaurants: "I loved the lunch special. So tell me about the restaurant. Did Grandma bring her recipes from the old country? Are the kids going to take over the business in their turn? How's business going? What do you do to bring new people in? I'd bet one of ten people who tries the place becomes a regular? Are you doing anything with the Internet?" No pitch, no hype. Just a conversation.
  • Help one person, then scale... wonderful.
  • Tell stories.
  • "It's not you, your product, your service. It's not about whether the NEED it, but does anybody WANT it." This could be another whole discussion/interview.
Math takeaway:
  • Start the next line with its equals sign, so you don't have a blank page to stare at, wonderful! I can do that with bullet points for text, so my mind doesn't say, "oh no here's a blank page," but "what's a good point to put with this bullet here?"
Looking forward to more of your great material. Thank you so much, Andy, for the practical tips, the inspiration, and the positive attitude boost!
 

Andy Black

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Thanks for the superb interview! It may be a few years old now, but I just discovered it thanks to your invitation. The business attitude and value is timeless!

I thought it was going to be all about Adwords. Nice to discover that you covered a lot of other material as well.
I would title this one: "A few Adwords skills, plus a lot of helpful caring and basic courtesy, can help you launch a successful business."

We both have a background in IT and databases. We're probably both qualified to ensure integrity constraints on primary keys... but nobody cares, unless this happens to be a way to solve a business problem. One of the most helpful lines from MJ is his discussion of moving to Team Producer, on the income side rather than the cost side.

Most of the Adwords specific stuff I'd heard before... but, from hypey-scammy kind of people that turned me off with their fast talking, high pressure, used car salesman kind of vibe.

Hearing a calm, straightforward bloke talk it through, makes it so much easier for me to feel, "Oh yeah, I can apply that too." What a pleasure to have an enjoyable nice conversation that happens to be about business, and would be welcome to continue at the pub.

I agree that leaving in the entire songs for the break time, is kinda annoying. Can you cut those out, and leave the edited version in place in your playlist?

Adwords takeaways:
  • Site alone is not enough with some traffic to it.
  • I need to put some money into test ads and then build sites accordingly. Isn't there a way to find out what people are searching for and how much ads cost, without having to pay to run ads? Yes, you answered that a few minutes after the question was in my head. Keyword planner: credit card needed to open an account; create ad but then delete the ad and the statistics are then available.
  • I should run ads: "Are you looking for help marketing your restaurant in St. Paul?" in addition to going in person to as many restaurants in St. Paul as I can.
Business attitude and communication takeaways:
  • Goal of help in whatever way he can, vs pitching what he can do
  • Why do I need a business card = YES! My biz web site has nothing on it = YES! That's the way I want to do business now!
  • Gratitude and connection returns in unexpected ways.
  • Ask, shut up and listen is more powerful than anything I could pitch. This is already how I planned to approach the restaurants: "I loved the lunch special. So tell me about the restaurant. Did Grandma bring her recipes from the old country? Are the kids going to take over the business in their turn? How's business going? What do you do to bring new people in? I'd bet one of ten people who tries the place becomes a regular? Are you doing anything with the Internet?" No pitch, no hype. Just a conversation.
  • Help one person, then scale... wonderful.
  • Tell stories.
  • "It's not you, your product, your service. It's not about whether the NEED it, but does anybody WANT it." This could be another whole discussion/interview.
Math takeaway:
  • Start the next line with its equals sign, so you don't have a blank page to stare at, wonderful! I can do that with bullet points for text, so my mind doesn't say, "oh no here's a blank page," but "what's a good point to put with this bullet here?"
Looking forward to more of your great material. Thank you so much, Andy, for the practical tips, the inspiration, and the positive attitude boost!
Thanks for the great feedback and your takeaways @Late Bloomer.

Yeah, I’d like to edit out the music, and would do that if I ever put these recordings on iTunes.

The second radio interview with Mary is linked to in my signature.

There’s also a link to 30+ other chats.
 
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DifficultTruth

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Fantastic interview, Andy!

I have a lot of takeaways but a few really standout to me. A lot of time I look at skills I have and think of how to sell them, instead of how to use the skills I have to help someone, or solve someone's problem. Another thing that definitely hit me, is that instead of trying to pre-plan and develop some certain set of skills for what I think are problems, or looking for problems my current skill set can solve. I can listen to people and build the skills needed to solve their problem.

I don't need to anticipate a problem someone will have and build the skill to solve it before it happens, because problems that need solving are all around and just need someone willing to do the work required to solve them. Instead of building an offering to hopefully solve a problem, find a problem and build the solution.

Also as an IT guy in my current career, I definitely know what you mean when people see you as a cost and not an investment. One of many reasons I want to focus on adding value in my fastlane, I don't want to hear someone say "yeah it costs XYZ," I want them to say, "It made us XYZ!"

As always, thanks for everything Andy, I will be listening to the second part soon!
 

Matto

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Great lessons learned, thank you for sharing @Andy Black!

Thinking of the metaphor Andy used towards the end, speaking of low hanging fruits while ignoring the ones already falling out of the tree...

I have been a tree shaker for years. I not only reached for the high hanging fruits, I also tried getting fruits off trees that don't even produce fruits. In some moments, I even tried to plant trees so I can grow them and harvest its fruits later.

Oh well...

People who start out tend to get so busy with "analyzing" the market that they don't see the forest for the trees. They get overwhelmed with learning new skills, developing strategies, setting up goals...

...only to stop soon after.

Action faking doesn't produce results.

The best way to kick-start your process, get real results and compress your learning is by doing one simple thing.

Go out and help someone with what you already know today.

Trust me, it's that simple. Why I know? I ignored my own skill set for years. I thought I had to learn X first, get better at Y and finally start doing Z. Turns out that I can help people and create value for them with what I already know, with what I am already good at.

"But it's not fastlane..." True. Not in the beginning. That's why there is process. If you respect the process, you'll quickly move, develop and refine your offer. People will tell you what they need, because they finally have someone who listens.

Wondering how you could potentially scale this? Paul Graham suggests: "Do Things That Don't Scale".

Gary Vaynerchuk focused on the fact that "1 > 0".

Both enjoyed vast success.

So, go out and help someone today. Do it and see what will happen.

Hi Nicoknowsbest, I love this comment! I also have to open my eyes and look at those very easy to pick up fruits already on the ground.

In 42 years I always wanted to make things more difficult that what they are.

Thanks a lot!!!
 

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