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My Odyssey - Finding Meaning And Achieving Financial Freedom

ksiendzu

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Hi Simon,

I usually just read threads and sometimes like better posts, but your last post made me writing this - damn you! ;)

You have nothing to appologies for - its normal that things turn out to be more difficult and time absorbing that expected.

Please dont give up, because you're inspiration to many people, even if you dont know about their existance, because they just read your thread. (And your go-get-it attitude despite living in eastern Europe, having disease and being 20'something makes you even bigger inspiration for people that can relate to that - Yes, for example me :p)

To be honest Im not surprised that you feel like its going nowhere, when you spend time to record, postproduce and send audit and that email doesnt even gets opened.

Do you qualify in any way your prospect?

Even if you send quick message and only half replied positively, that still saves you so much time, because you'll be making audits just for people that showed interest in your service (True story - I recently got message on LinkedIn asking "which email you'd like me to sent audit of your site?")

I see that you feel tired and doubtful, so take your time to reset, but man, please, dont f*ckin quit, cuz I got hooked into your story and want to see you win and keep winning :D

Geting back to updating thread when you hit 1k MRR is fair enough, but remember to reach out for help if needed ;)
 
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Simon Angel

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Hi Simon,

I usually just read threads and sometimes like better posts, but your last post made me writing this - damn you! ;)

Thanks, you're really kind!

Yes, I do qualify prospects by the following criteria:
  • Must be an ecommerce store - preferrably Shopify/Woocommerce
  • Must have an Instagram account with a following between 10 to 100K with regular uploads
  • Must already be running mediocre Facebook Ads, that most commonly translates into them having 5-10 ads running, usually with subpar ad creative while some of their competitors are running hundreds.
  • Preferrably not a dropshipping store, though it's quite rare to see one with a solid social media following as building a brand is rarely a concern for dropshippers. I should know.
I'll never quit. However, I am disappointed with my lack of progress, especially looking back at 19 year old me profiting $10K a month, while 22 year old me is a bum.

Thanks again for the uplifting reply! I am the most confident man with the lowest self-esteem.
 
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ksiendzu

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Thanks, you're really kind!

Yes, I do qualify prospects by the following criteria:
  • Must be an ecommerce store - preferrably Shopify/Woocommerce
  • Must have an Instagram account with a following between 10 to 100K with regular uploads
  • Must already be running mediocre Facebook Ads, that most commonly translates into them having 5-10 ads running, usually with subpar ad creative while some of their competitors are running hundreds.
  • Preferrably not a dropshipping store, though it's quite rare to see one with a solid social media following as building a brand is rarely a concern for dropshippers. I should know.
I'll never quit. However, I am disappointed with my lack of progress, especially looking back at 19 year old me profiting $10K a month, while 22 year old me is a bum.

Thanks again for the uplifting reply! I am the most confident man with the lowest self-esteem.

No problem man, thanks for that thread!

I should have been clearer - do you qualify prospect in a sense that if your email with included audit is the first message that they get?

If yes then you spend time on creating audits that may not even be watched, because person that you're sending audit to didnt showed any interest or commitement.

When you change the sequence - message first, then they reply, if interested then send audit - you will be making audits just for people that showed interest and you'll increase chances of closing clients, because you'll focus time on those who responded in the first place.
 

Simon Angel

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No problem man, thanks for that thread!

I should have been clearer - do you qualify prospect in a sense that if your email with included audit is the first message that they get?

If yes then you spend time on creating audits that may not even be watched, because person that you're sending audit to didnt showed any interest or commitement.

When you change the sequence - message first, then they reply, if interested then send audit - you will be making audits just for people that showed interest and you'll increase chances of closing clients, because you'll focus time on those who responded in the first place.

Brilliant idea, I could just message a lot of people every day with something similar to "Would you be interested in a free, personalized audit of your ecommerce store and your Facebook Ads?" and only audit for those that reply.

Thank you!
 
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ksiendzu

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Brilliant idea, I could just message a lot of people every day with something similar to "Would you be interested in a free, personalized audit of your ecommerce store and your Facebook Ads?" and only audit for those that reply.

Thank you!

Exactly!

And if you add any info that makes you stand out from other people sending requests for audits (aka leverage your achievements like scaling your ecom to 30k per month) that will help distinguish you from someone that watched 2 course on Facebook Ads and never touched real campaign.

Hope that helps!
 

Simon Angel

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Still pressing on with the emails, had a small breakthrough after changing up my subject and overall feel/message thanks to @Xolorr's tips from his thread.

Basically, I didn't do anything to drive my a$$ forward to success these past days.

In fact I had been slacking and even went on vacation and now I'm feeling guilty about it.

So I resumed my efforts today and sent 8 email audits so far, aiming for 10. It took a lot of time to get through the whole process - f*cked up a few times, had to really dig deep to find some of the CEO's emails, adding a personal touch to every email was also pretty time intensive.

I also really improved the quality of my videos - found an app called DroidCam or something like that which allows me to use my phone as an HD webcam and the microphone as well. I have a terrible webcam and micrpohone and although this isn't ideal, it's 3x better than before and I'm way more confident now looking directly to the camera rather than filming myself from the side.

And the best part about it? 7/8 emails today have already been opened, with some being opened multiple times from both mobile and desktop devices, which tells me they took the time to watch it from their computers as well. So the interest is there and the spam folder has been succesfully avoided! Super cool.

Really excited with the work I managed to get done today and if I am able to keep up with 10 a day that's 300 a month. Trying not to get too overwhelmed with the numbers but that's a shit ton of emails lol!

Not sure how I managed to be so productive today, but I think it has to do with limiting my phone usage in the morning - I woke up, took a piss, ate breakfast and only allowed myself to visit Loom (where I record my emails), gmail and softwares that helped me find my prospects' emails. No music, no YouTube, no Reddit.
 

emphasize.v1

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Fancy seeing you here with goals set high and action being taken :) Had a deja vu feeling after reading OP only to realize we know each other...

I haven't read the entire thread but as a reply to your latest posts, remember, you're in for a marathon, not a sprint. Take vacation when you feel like it and don't feel guilty about it, as long as you're back on track. I'm telling you this because I've had many burnouts and series of depressing periods (latest one lasted for an entire year) and failed endeavours because I worked way too much.

Point is, rather work 100 days/2hrs each day than 20 days/10hrs each.

I'm getting back into business myself and picking up on all the stuff that I've left unfinished before. Might even open a thread of my own.

-Ivan (Serbia)
 
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Simon Angel

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Fancy seeing you here with goals set high and action being taken :) Had a deja vu feeling after reading OP only to realize we know each other...

I haven't read the entire thread but as a reply to your latest posts, remember, you're in for a marathon, not a sprint. Take vacation when you feel like it and don't feel guilty about it, as long as you're back on track. I'm telling you this because I've had many burnouts and series of depressing periods (latest one lasted for an entire year) and failed endeavours because I worked way too much.

Point is, rather work 100 days/2hrs each day than 20 days/10hrs each.

I'm getting back into business myself and picking up on all the stuff that I've left unfinished before. Might even open a thread of my own.

-Ivan (Serbia)

LOL! Apparently the world is too small for us. We keep bumping into eachother wherever we go!

Now I'm getting the creeps Burak might be here with us as well..

Enough creepypasta though, I agree entirely and was actually explaining this to my girl just yesterday, for the 20th time:

"Why can't you just get a job and be normal so we can live together, have kids and travel the world?"

- "Nothing is normal in working 8+ hours a day for someone else and to still barely be able to make ends meet. I'd rather work 8 hours a week and earn way more. I might not be a successful entrepreneur yet but I am and always will be one."

"But it's not working."

- "Yet."

"My father offered you a job and a huge career opportunity in insurance, I think he's bitter you turned it down."

- "I don't do well with external tasks and orders so I wouldn't have been a good fit. Besides, my self-worth would crumble if I ended up being just some guy that's working for your father. He isn't even the CEO of the company, he's just a Regional Director. I have bigger dreams than being a well-paid worker."

Unfortunately sometimes even your closest one just doesn't get it, at least until they see actual results. That's to be expected though.

Please do open a thread. It has helped me immensely, I met 2 of my mentors (whether they like it or not) thanks to it and it's really cool to document the process and look back on what has been achieved.
 

Xolorr

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Boom!

Glad to see the progress and that you're sticking to it :)

Don't feel guilty about taking time off, you need to else you're going to burn yourself out.

Lil tip - Try get the app "Focus" (It's a mac app, but I'm sure there are alternatives) and set it up to block any distracting apps in the morning. I have anything non-productive blocked up until my lunch at 12, and generally can finish all of my RPA's in that time block.

Keep us updated!
 

Xolorr

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Exactly!

And if you add any info that makes you stand out from other people sending requests for audits (aka leverage your achievements like scaling your ecom to 30k per month) that will help distinguish you from someone that watched 2 course on Facebook Ads and never touched real campaign.

Hope that helps!

Agree with this. My strat has changed to a similar tone, where I now send personalized cold emails and then only audit those who open the emails.

Saves a lot of time with dead leads.

I personally don't like asking if they want an audit just because there's more of a "wow" factor if they aren't expecting it, but test both and pick one which works for you.
 
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Simon Angel

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Boom!

Glad to see the progress and that you're sticking to it :)

Don't feel guilty about taking time off, you need to else you're going to burn yourself out.

Lil tip - Try get the app "Focus" (It's a mac app, but I'm sure there are alternatives) and set it up to block any distracting apps in the morning. I have anything non-productive blocked up until my lunch at 12, and generally can finish all of my RPA's in that time block.

Keep us updated!

All thanks to you man! Looking back at the first audit I ever sent you, it was absolutely dreadful.. thanks for going easy on me and reaching out. I'm no Jordan Belfort yet by any means but I feel like I am at least "decent".

Installing the app as we speak.

Agree with this. My strat has changed to a similar tone, where I now send personalized cold emails and then only audit those who open the emails.

Saves a lot of time with dead leads.

I personally don't like asking if they want an audit just because there's more of a "wow" factor if they aren't expecting it, but test both and pick one which works for you.

Would that imply that you aren't mentioning audits at all in your first email and following up with a "surprise" audit after you email tracking software shows that your email was opened? Or do you wait for a reply?

Yeah, dead leads are a bit frustrating..

The way I did my emails today was following a close variation of yours but with my own twist of the way you structure your cold emails + the video audit all at once. Fortunately 90% got opened and I didn't waste my time.
 
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Xolorr

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All thanks to you man! Looking back at the first audit I ever sent you, it was absolutely dreadful.. thanks for going easy on me and reaching out. I'm no Jordan Belfort yet by any means but I feel like I am at least "decent".

Installing the app as we speak.



Would that imply that you aren't mentioning audits at all in your first email and following up with a "surprise" audit after you email tracking software shows that your email was opened? Or do you wait for a reply?

Yeah, dead leads are a bit frustrating..

The way I did my emails today was following a close variation of yours but with my own twist of the way you structure your cold emails + the video audit all at once. Fortunately 90% got opened and I didn't waste my time.

Yeah, that's what I'm testing at the moment :)

Testing being the key word.

My thought process is, if you send a normal cold email they might just book in a call.

If you ask if they want an audit, they aren't going to book in a call without seeing the audit.

Snatch up the easy W's and then pursue those who have showed interest, standard follow ups with the rest.

I have automated this**
 

Simon Angel

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Yeah, that's what I'm testing at the moment :)

Testing being the key word.

My thought process is, if you send a normal cold email they might just book in a call.

If you ask if they want an audit, they aren't going to book in a call without seeing the audit.

Snatch up the easy W's and then pursue those who have showed interest, standard follow ups with the rest.

I have automated this**

Yeah, I added a "P. S. I'll be sending you another email soon where I audit your website and Facebook Ads library which I hope you'll get a lot of value out of!" but perhaps not mentioning audits at all is the way to go because of the reason you mentioned above.

Automation sounds nice, I'll do my research on that too!
 
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Klausson

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You're an animal. You really got my respect. I was kind of disappointed when I read about the job the father of your gf offered you. Big Balls for not going for the safe path, especially when your gf is busting your balls like that.
I really recommend you to get the course of Sam Ovens (I said "get", not "buy")
And watch some of his videos on marketing and mindset, after reading everything your wrote, it will really help you out.
Also check out Alex Becker, also for marketing and mindset.

Simon, keep going, wishing you the best.
 

Simon Angel

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9 emails yesterday, 14 emails for today, and somehow I'm still at less than 40 in total. This just shows how much I had been slacking recently.

After a few more days of this I will have surpassed my total number of sent emails (including yesterday's and today's emails) so even though I feel like I've done a lot of work with 0 results, just like cold calling I assume I'm going to get some results after 50-100 emails.
 

Simon Angel

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Sent 29 emails today to highly qualified leads. 9 of these were follow ups.

Was kind of a miserable experience. Some emails were extremely hard to find, even impossible so I had to resort to generic domain emails for some (like @contact or @info).

Still feel like I did a good job. That's more than half of my total for these past few weeks in just one day.
 
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OneLife

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Just finished reading all the pages, I respect your hustle, truly inspiring!
You already made it and living your dream life bro, time just didn't catch up yet. (if that makes sense lol)

Something that I wanted to ask is, why did you quit doing eCommerce?

I have started dropshipping 8 months ago and pouring my heart and soul into it (mostly my wallet though) and although I'm 100% determined, it's natural to start thinking of other ways/businesses to help you achieve freedom, when every time you get close to success another challenge holds you back. (FB's bs, inconsistencies and daily emotional roller coasters, lack of control etc.)

Thing is though, I was always excited about the idea of having a marketing agency, which seems like a more stable option, but I have my doubts -> Throughout my journey so far, I have learned a TON (and still learning daily) about marketing (direct response marketing to be specific), what makes eCom stores work, how to write copy and create good ads etc etc. So the thing is, would it be 'right' (as in principles) for me to build an agency that does FB ads, although I don't quite have the personal "wins" to back it up? (don't get me wrong, I've spent like $10k+ on ads since the start of the year, had $500 days with 35%+ profit, but it's just that I couldn't do it consisntely.)

Sorry for hijacking your thread there haha, but thought It'd add some value and just a cool discussion :) Would love to get @Xolorr perspective on this too.
 

Simon Angel

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I have decided - I'm moving out, finally at the age of 22.

Reason is I can't stand having the life sapped out of in my own home due to critical differences with my mother and the frequent interruptions I get while making my video emails. I don't feel calm and assertive here and I am constantly guilt-tripped for not having a job and a shit ton of other things I'm going to spare you all.

I'm not the most mentally stable person and I've had my fair share of panic disorder, anxiety, depression and I've been treated at home like a lunatic that needs to be locked up at an asylum ever since I was 10. Now I'm mostly treated like a good-for-nothing son that hasn't achieved anything and is too lazy to work. Truth is we never had money for higher education so my only choice was to work or become an entrepreneur. I knew I'd never be happy working for someone else yet I tried setting my ego aside "for the greater good" but I could never last for more than 2 days in any job.

Especially after my initial ecom success back in 2017 where I had been making more than all of my family + extended family made in a month combined. None of them believed that could even happen, I even got insulted by a few of them (I've never been one to hold back so there was return fire) and once I had achieved it I was told "It won't last" and "sounds kind of lucky how you did it".

Though it's been a long time coming, I always told myself I'll move once I get at least 1 client for that sweet MRR and "security".

Unfortunately in this envinronment and at this rate I don't see it happening quickly enough. So I called a few home owners today and booked a meeting for Thursday. It's for a two-room apartment or whatever it's called in English, fairly modern and clean looking with a brand new kitchen to be set up in less than a week from now. Costs 250 BGN a month, which is about $150.

Yes, crazy cheap living here. I calculated my expenses and they sum up at 700 BGN or $420 (heh). That's including rent. So I need $420 a month to survive on my own. And I have to cook, wash the dishes and do the laundry myself, which I will (though it's going to be difficult at first). My MRR goal until the end of 2020 is still $2000 a month which is almost 5x my basic needs.

I have around 2400 BGN / $1450 after I sold my BMW 3 series which was rotting away in the parking lot so I've got a few months to build my digital marketing foundation.

My intention is to be able to look back at this decision a few months from now and feel proud of myself. Thanks to everyone that has supported me so far and especially to @Phikey, @Xolorr whom I aim to make proud as well. @Phikey, @Xolorr I'm eternally grateful to you guys for showing up in my thread seemingly out of nowhere and changing my life. Both of you also gave me the confidence to seek business out of Bulgaria (especially in the US market) which at first I thought was not possible due to my perceived poor English pronounciation. I've since improved so much and at the same time realized it's not even a factor in my upcoming success.

Also, I want to thank @Fox as well because his videos and first threads were the reason I turned to web design and cold calling which taught me a lot about "physical" sales, which were wildly different from online sales. He's also the reason I returned to the forum again.
 

Blackman

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Just a quick note about having a job - there's nothing wrong with working full-time, while you're trying to make progress business-wise.

Yes, obviously your time will be limited and you won't have as much energy after doing your shift, but you will have more disposable income, no hassle from your family and you could find a job that you'll enjoy doing...

If you're working for someone else, it doesn't automatically mean that you're going through torture every day - find something that you enjoy doing, get paid for it and do business on the side until you get to a point, where you can justify leaving your job and spend the extra time/energy on scaling the business.
 
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Simon Angel

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Just a quick note about having a job - there's nothing wrong with working full-time, while you're trying to make progress business-wise.

Yes, obviously your time will be limited and you won't have as much energy after doing your shift, but you will have more disposable income, no hassle from your family and you could find a job that you'll enjoy doing...

If you're working for someone else, it doesn't automatically mean that you're going through torture every day - find something that you enjoy doing, get paid for it and do business on the side until you get to a point, where you can justify leaving your job and spend the extra time/energy on scaling the business.

There's nothing wrong with having a full time job for you, but for me it's not an option. I either go all in with 1 thing or I don't bother.

People's mentality here is way behind. Would you put up with some chav from the outskirts of Manchester pushing you into not only doing your job, but squeezing every last bit of work from you and criminally underpaying you?

Because that's the reality here in Bulgaria, except we get paid 7x worse than you.

Average annual salary in England: £35 000 = 75, 666 BGN
Average annual salary in Bulgaria: 12 000 BGN = £5,500

Fun fact: I've been to the UK a couple times these past few years and your food & bills cost less than ours AFTER currency conversion.
 

Xolorr

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I have decided - I'm moving out, finally at the age of 22.

Reason is I can't stand having the life sapped out of in my own home due to critical differences with my mother and the frequent interruptions I get while making my video emails. I don't feel calm and assertive here and I am constantly guilt-tripped for not having a job and a shit ton of other things I'm going to spare you all.

I'm not the most mentally stable person and I've had my fair share of panic disorder, anxiety, depression and I've been treated at home like a lunatic that needs to be locked up at an asylum ever since I was 10. Now I'm mostly treated like a good-for-nothing son that hasn't achieved anything and is too lazy to work. Truth is we never had money for higher education so my only choice was to work or become an entrepreneur. I knew I'd never be happy working for someone else yet I tried setting my ego aside "for the greater good" but I could never last for more than 2 days in any job.

Especially after my initial ecom success back in 2017 where I had been making more than all of my family + extended family made in a month combined. None of them believed that could even happen, I even got insulted by a few of them (I've never been one to hold back so there was return fire) and once I had achieved it I was told "It won't last" and "sounds kind of lucky how you did it".

Though it's been a long time coming, I always told myself I'll move once I get at least 1 client for that sweet MRR and "security".

Unfortunately in this envinronment and at this rate I don't see it happening quickly enough. So I called a few home owners today and booked a meeting for Thursday. It's for a two-room apartment or whatever it's called in English, fairly modern and clean looking with a brand new kitchen to be set up in less than a week from now. Costs 250 BGN a month, which is about $150.

Yes, crazy cheap living here. I calculated my expenses and they sum up at 700 BGN or $420 (heh). That's including rent. So I need $420 a month to survive on my own. And I have to cook, wash the dishes and do the laundry myself, which I will (though it's going to be difficult at first). My MRR goal until the end of 2020 is still $2000 a month which is almost 5x my basic needs.

I have around 2400 BGN / $1450 after I sold my BMW 3 series which was rotting away in the parking lot so I've got a few months to build my digital marketing foundation.

My intention is to be able to look back at this decision a few months from now and feel proud of myself. Thanks to everyone that has supported me so far and especially to @Phikey, @Xolorr whom I aim to make proud as well. @Phikey, @Xolorr I'm eternally grateful to you guys for showing up in my thread seemingly out of nowhere and changing my life. Both of you also gave me the confidence to seek business out of Bulgaria (especially in the US market) which at first I thought was not possible due to my perceived poor English pronounciation. I've since improved so much and at the same time realized it's not even a factor in my upcoming success.

Also, I want to thank @Fox as well because his videos and first threads were the reason I turned to web design and cold calling which taught me a lot about "physical" sales, which were wildly different from online sales. He's also the reason I returned to the forum again.

Sounds like you just had the 'aha' moment.

Nothing started clicking for me until I had my back against the wall and saw $35 on my bank statement, which I now have as my wallpaper as a reminder.

Something magical happens when your back is against the wall.

It sounds like you have three months for that magic to happen.
 

Simon Angel

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46 emails sent today, 18 from cold outreach and 28 from follow ups.

Finally got a reply back from an CEO:

"Hi Simon,

Thank you for your email. Please send over any marketing queries to marketing@somedomain.com and someone will get back to you if this is of interest.

Have a lovely Monday!

Kind Regards,
E.T"


That's all I've got to show after about 40 email opens. I think they could be more but I've lost count as my mail tracking resets after following up, and they may have opened the first email but not the second.

Oh and a dude kindly asking me to remove him from my mailing list (which I do not have). I've sent about 75 emails (not counting follow ups) to prospects in total. A good chunk of them weren't great (the first 20 or so) but the open rate has more or less remained the same.

For anyone that's wondering, my email titles are usually "Name, I can lower costs and increase CoolBrand's returns by 200%" and the body of the emails is always personalized to them. I spend many hours tracking down prospects' emails and making sure I don't just copy paste.

The biggest time consumer is by far searching for emails. I'm doing some pretty sophisticated research and manipulating Google's SERP + linkedin to get some of them. Also using Snovio, Rocketreach and Apollo. Lots of back and forth.

Although I haven't had any exciting results yet, I'm motivated and determined to continue.
 
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Peter Kay

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Wow, I really appreciate you coming along and writing this.
@Xolorr @Simon Angel for some reasons I landed on your thread after reading through @Xolorr 's thread it inspiring and i got hook in a blink. this is where it got interesting. @Xolorr throwing some knowledge to your thread because i myself kept on wondering about yours struggles and yet xolorr had a different formula and blueprint that worked 10x much better than yours. For many reasons, am happy for your and keep doing what you do.

Meanwhile am still following the thread, its fascinating to see where this is going.
 

Simon Angel

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Girlfriend took me karting a few days ago for the first time, a dream come true and one of the best days of my life so far in terms of the perspective it gave me.

I spent only 16 minutes on the track and managed to put in 16 laps, the track worker smiled at me and said "You sure this is your first time?" as I was not too far off professional times.

I've been wanting to do this since I was 4 and glued to the TV screen while F1 legends like Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Reubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya and etc were going at it in what was considered the best era of F1. Unfortunately I grew up with divorced parents, and even though F1 was bonding time with my father he was a narcissist who mostly gloated how he could've been an F1 driver if he had the money.

I remember telling him "I want to become an F1 driver!" when I was 5 and his reply was that it's not possible since it costs a lot of money and only the biggest talents go there. He then said they start karting at a very young age, so I asked him to take me karting.

"Sure". Never happened though, but he has gone many times by himself and still goes.

I'm 22 and my chances of ever getting close to F3-F2, let alone F1 are extremely slim. But they are there. Apart from the lack of funding the biggest issue is that all F1 drivers began karting between 3 to 10 years old. I didn't get that opportunity, but I'm no less determined to achieve this.

As far as I'm aware I only have 1 life and 1 chance and I'm still young (though considered a lost cause considering how "old" I started).

My goal is to build a business that's bringing in 6 figures a year so I can fund my karting and eventually top tier motorsports career. I have the plan laid out:

1. Build a 6 figure business.
2. Race the karting tracks all day, every day and set the track record for all Bulgarian tracks.
3. Partake in the annual Red Bull Karting Championship in Bulgaria and win it. Winners get an invitation to test out a Formula 4 car at Red Bull Ring in Austria.
4. Test and impress in the F4 car and get offered a contract for F3 (the more money I have, the more likely I'll get a seat, realistically need around 100K).
5. Win the F3 championship. Negotiate sponsporships and get promoted to F2.
6. Place in the top 3 in the F2 championship, have to have scaled my business to 7 figures by now.
7. Get offered an F1 contract in a smaller, struggling team. Negotiate more sponsorships + self-fund.
8. Achieve my dream.

I'm going back to sending emails now. I've been sending 10-20 highly personalized ones to qualified leads every day, I've lost count by now how many I've sent exactly and I don't really have any results to rave about but I'm going to press on.
 
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Simon Angel

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I've finally managed to optimize my time and got used to sending emails every day, so I'm currently able to send between 30-50 emails per day with ease (that includes prospecting), no automation whatsoever.

Been testing different email subjects to increase my open rate as it's been about 40-50% on average so far.

I've been improving on the most realistic F4-F1 simulator there is rapidly which fills me with even more determination. At this point, realistically, I'd probably have to offer up hundreds of thousands in the junior categories (F3, F2) and millions in F1 to end up in a team. And I will.

I've always been a "nothing is impossible" person and I'll always remain true to that. I'd love to pave the way for others and prove to myself that you can cultivate your talent and improve so much even in your 20s, create a business and finance your own motorsports career while at the same time dealing with health issues. Also, I would be the first Bulgarian to ever get into an F1 seat. I'm going to do it all.

Will update again when I have proper results from my email campaigns.
 
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Simon Angel

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I've been pretty consistent with my emails, averaging about 15 a day and so far I've contacted more than 200 qualified leads via email (about 90%) and Instagram, Facebook for the rest. My first 60-70 emails had a lackluster open rate of about 37%.

So I tested a few subject lines in batches. The current subject line I use boosted my open rate to an average of 70%, which I'm really happy with. I am now getting replies daily (especially with the amount of follow ups I send) but they all sound the same.

80% of the replies are "Hey, thank you for your email. Unfortunately we're already contracted by another marketing agency". The rest are "Please unsubscribe me from your mailing list".

I'm really wondering if it's just a matter of time or I'm F*cking up my prospecting somehow. I'm super picky with who I contact and yet I haven't even had a sales call yet, let alone a client.

My emails:

"Hey {{Name}},

{{Something about them or their brand. Like how I appreciate their values or the fact that they're cruelty-free) so that they know this is not an automated email}}

I just took a look at the Facebook Ads you're running. Recently helped another brand just like {{Their brand}} make X amount after a month of running ads and I've got some ideas on how you can get the same.

Would you be open to a quick call this or next week?

- Simeon"

And some standard follow ups every few days. @Phikey told me I should be ever-persistent and contact them every few days until they give me a clear answer, I've sent some of my prospects 7-8 emails by now with no reply lol. I try to add value in every follow up so they don't come across as virtual extortion.
 

Blackman

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Have you thought about registering on some kind of an e-commerce forum and do some networking? Introduce yourself, help out a few people there, build relationships and hopefully meet potential customers?

I haven't personally done any kind of emailing for prospecting, but from my limited cold calling experience I quickly realised that it's very difficult to convince people that you've got what they need.

It's not about being good or bad at prospecting whether it's via emails or calling, but it's the fact that it's all cold. Yes, you're trying to be helpful with your initial contact and provide free help, but because you're a complete stranger most people just automatically ignore you.

Also after reading stories from a few guys here on TFF about how they got started, every single one of them involved doing work for someone, where there was some sort of relationship established - possibly referred by a friend, read your previous posts or they asked a question about lead gen, and you jumped in with your advice.

If I were you, I would think about where your potential customers hang out and try to become part of their community without being salesy, and then see if you can help business owners there, where you will have a chance to start building relationships.
 

Simon Angel

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Have you thought about registering on some kind of an e-commerce forum and do some networking? Introduce yourself, help out a few people there, build relationships and hopefully meet potential customers?

I haven't personally done any kind of emailing for prospecting, but from my limited cold calling experience I quickly realised that it's very difficult to convince people that you've got what they need.

It's not about being good or bad at prospecting whether it's via emails or calling, but it's the fact that it's all cold. Yes, you're trying to be helpful with your initial contact and provide free help, but because you're a complete stranger most people just automatically ignore you.

Also after reading stories from a few guys here on TFF about how they got started, every single one of them involved doing work for someone, where there was some sort of relationship established - possibly referred by a friend, read your previous posts or they asked a question about lead gen, and you jumped in with your advice.

If I were you, I would think about where your potential customers hang out and try to become part of their community without being salesy, and then see if you can help business owners there, where you will have a chance to start building relationships.

Thank you for your honest thoughts. I've actually found CC a bit easier than CE. I'm a sim racer so I tried helping out some companies in that niche (manufacturers mostly) and I had some great ideas for their growth but none came back to me unfortunately. You really only need 1 client in a chosen niche to work with and get results for and then you're set.. but the first sale, client and sex is always the hardest lol.

What are you up to?
 
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BlackMagician

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How many clients you have right now?

If none, then there is something wrong in your process.

Try doing Diesel and coffee described by Andy Black. While I was starting I did that and got couple of clients in a month.

Game starts when you start delivering.
 

Blackman

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Thank you for your honest thoughts. I've actually found CC a bit easier than CE. I'm a sim racer so I tried helping out some companies in that niche (manufacturers mostly) and I had some great ideas for their growth but none came back to me unfortunately. You really only need 1 client in a chosen niche to work with and get results for and then you're set.. but the first sale, client and sex is always the hardest lol.

What are you up to?

I'm in the process of doing exactly what I described above.

Found a forum where my prospects hang out, registered and started contributing. Also found out that I could advertise my service there using their promotional ad space, so I'm making use of that as well to get my name out.

By building up some basic identity of being the "ads guy" on the forum, I managed to secure 2 trials with customers who covered just the Google Ads spend, while I managed their campaigns for free.

Unfortunately, 1 guy didn't go for my fully paid package after the trial, but hopefully the 2nd guy will. Also I'm thinking my pricing could be a bit messed up, so I may have to adjust my fees, to make my service more affordable for people that I work with.

Also I've received multiple enquiries about my service during August as well, but due to location limitations, I couldn't help everyone, as there's not enough search demand in some areas to run a campaign.

This is HUGE progress for me, as otherwise I was stuck making cold calls and struggling to convince people that I could get more customers for them. Most people were just ignorant and had the usual excuses of having enough customers, not being interested, etc. It was time-consuming, draining and ineffective.

On the other hand, when you make prospects come to you, rather than you reaching out to them, the results are dramatically different, because they've already shown interest, so it becomes just the matter of showing what you can do for them, which is the easy part for me.

The above can be done in many different ways, forums is just one example. What you need to understand is the principle, which is establishing yourself as an "expert" in a community, then offering your service as help for their problems.

This could be replicated on Facebook, where you could try finding a group where your prospects hang out and join, then contribute to build relationships. I don't use Facebook myself, but otherwise I think this would be even more effective than forums, because it's all more real, since you have your photos there, profile, etc.

You could also find out if there are any small business networking groups in your area/city and attend those. This is how @sonny_1080 secured one of his clients, so you may want to check his progress thread here > EXECUTION - To Those Panicked/Discouraged by the PANDEMIC (or New to FLF)

And finally, think about people who surround you and those who are in business that you could help. It will be a lot easier convincing them to try, because they already know you, so there won't be any need for introductions.

Another thing is, I'm not sure if you are limiting your search to just Bulgaria, as you will probably have better chances at securing clients in the US for example, where the demand is a lot higher for such services.
 
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