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2019 Fastlane Summit - Announcement

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MJ DeMarco

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Andy Black

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The interface is just fine. I wouldn't change a thing.
On a mobile, I find TFLF easier to use than Facebook groups or Discord.
 

LightHouse

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I don't, and I'm dying to get rid of Tapatalk.

When you say get rid of it, you mean the integration? I know quite a few folks on here use it, it makes things pretty efficient for forums although the only one i have in there and use it for is this one these days.
 

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I wasn’t sure how to address this but decided transparency and honesty would be the best approach.

With that said, it is with great disappointment (and some frustration) that I must officially announce that the upcoming 2019 Fastlane Summit has been canceled.

Yes, canceled.

I realize this will upset many (as it upsets me that I have to do it considering last year's event ROCKED) but here is the reality as see it.

As you may know, the event was also canceled in 2017 due to some health challenges I was having. However this year’s cancellation has nothing to do with my health, but due to a combination of reasons, all of which paint a bigger picture.

First, in THIS THREAD, I made a preliminary call out (probe) for potential speakers. In the past, the event has always featured forum regulars who were gracious enough to offer their time and expertise. Having a nice pool of speakers to choose from was never a problem. For those who responded in that thread to speak, I thank you for your generosity in offering your wisdom.

In this thread, a total of 16 people offered to potentially speak (as of last Friday, several volunteered others to speak but that does not count.) Now when someone offers to speak, usually you can count on slightly LESS THAN HALF to actually do so -- this is because of a person’s schedule, their financial situation (flights, hotels, etc.) and various other reasons. This means as of now using this conservative formula, 7-8 people would speak.

Last year, 16 speakers spoke.

I figured this number would change when the weekly forum mass email headlined this announcement. To my shock, it didn’t. This means in order for me to get to 16, I would need to go “off forum” and seek (plead / instigate / compel) speakers who aren’t regular forum visitors or contributors.

Second, holding this event is a HUGE financial risk for my company because it has always been an event that was NOT designed for PROFIT, but for COMMUNITY.

Ticket prices have been purposely kept low for this reason. Additionally, when you compare this event to other similar events, the average price is usually more than triple -- and those events don’t even bother to feed you. Additionally, the hotel makes me sign a guarantee for rooms and food -- and if they don’t sell -- I’m on the hook for 100+ nights plus the guarantee. This amount is nearly $50,000 that I have to sign my name to. This risk increases as the local attendance increases (they don’t book rooms).

While last year's event came out marginally in the green, it was a type of “bet” that I would NEVER make in the financial markets, in business, or otherwise. But I find myself doing it here. In order for me to accept the risk, the ticket prices would need to skyrocket, or significant services (food) would need to be cut.

Third, if the event isn’t beneficial financially or from a risk standpoint, surely it must be good for the community right? I mean, that’s the main reason I was doing it right?!

Unfortunately history (in recent years since the FB era) shows that the direct forum benefit for the event has been marginal and not sustainable -- limited to about 60 days, about 45 days during and after the event, and maybe 15 days around ticket sales. And then things return to a baseline whereas many attendees stop contributing, or worse, stop visiting, only to return next November when the Summit discussion returns.

To verify this, I actually looked at the user attendance history of the last 2 years of meetings and was woefully shocked to discover that a majority of attendees do not contribute content to the forum. And by content, I mean a periodic post every few weeks, not something daily.

While I don’t deny that the incredible energy, camaraderie, and singularity of purpose of the event is awesomely breath-taking, it appears that this “energy” doesn’t stay on the forum, but goes elsewhere into personal networks, Facebook groups, Discord, etc. It’s disheartening for me to see the FB group that represents this event is actually more engaged than forum it represents. In the past, I even created a separate forum for attendees to gab and post in order to sustain the energy, but the result was the same.

While user registrations are higher as are active users at the forum, deep communal engagement is not at a level where I feel comfortable holding this event. This may also explains why the response to speak was somewhat lackluster.

Fourth, I have a lot of irons in the fire, from writing 2 more books (Unscripted Book 2 and 3) to other business dealings, to starting the process on building a custom home in Sedona. And lets not forget, being an active, daily contributor to this forum to help other people live the dream that is made possible through Unscripted Entrepreneurship.

All of these concerns become more evident when I recently read Essentialism, a book which is a treatise into learning how to say NO! to things that aren’t benefiting your personal mission and the things most important to you.

As many know, I have zero interest in being a guru, public speaking, or having seminars. While I appreciate meeting readers face to face, socializing with cigars and liquor, and hearing accolades and kudos about my writing, as an introvert and someone who enjoys deep solitude, the event is very stressful for me.

Reading Essentialism forced me to face the truth in the matter -- I don’t do this event for me -- I do it for the community -- additionally, it is extremely nerve-wracking, it is not a profit maker (giving me a decent return on my time to compensate for stress/risk) and most important, it doesn’t appear to be helping the community long-term.

At last year’s event I thought things would change when Chris W (Lighthouse) made a plea to all attendees to start a progress thread and update as the weeks and months went by. I also tried to reiterate the importance of the forum as it related to the event.

To be specific, the EVENT exists because of the FORUM, the FORUM does NOT exist because of the EVENT.

Think about that dichotomy.

The event happens because of the forum and it’s standing as a community, not the reverse.

So this year’s event, I’m sorry to say, will not happen.

However, is this the END of the event?

No more parties at Talking Stick Resort?

I hope that isn’t the case.

I hope this is a ONE year kink in the road and next year, I will look at the forum and its engagement and say, “We NEED to have an event!“ Again, my main priority for this event since leading its charge was foremost COMMUNITY -- that headlines over profit, stress, and risk. Next year it would be nice to look at the forum and say, “Damn, I WANT to do this, and we NEED to do this!” I would welcome to be forced into a re-evaluation.

Ultimately I would love to blow it out and have 200, or even 300 people. I don’t think hitting those numbers would be a problem but this kind of ambition (much less 120 like last year) has to ORIGINATE and be grass-rooted at the forum, not elsewhere.

So if the forum and its message (and the event) is important to you, I would hope that you continue to make the forum a small piece of your life.

If this is your first time back in months and you’re reading this, I will just say thank you for visiting and hope you understand the decision.

Over ten years ago I started this forum to foster a message of freedom through entrepreneurship. The forum has gone through a variety of peaks and valleys, but still retains its fundamental purpose which is derived from my purpose to inspire people to live their best through business ownership.

If you believe in that message, I will kindly request what I request every year… visit the forum and contribute! Say hello. Tell us what you’re doing. Tell us what you learned, what you’ve failed, and what you’ve succeeded.

And to everyone who has done so and continues to do so, I thank you from the bottom of my heart …. thank you so much for sharing your journey.

Though it is disappointing this event is canceled, I am grateful for the detailed explanation. It is a lesson in how you think and an example for ya to follow in analyzing risk/benefit. Thank you for taking the time to post this information. I look forward to the day I have something of values to contribute for a speech at your community conference.

Perhaps offering one-on-one time and space for those who may be interested instead. I, too, enjoy being an introvert. Have one-on-one in-person sessions or groups of three at most might be a more productive option? Just a thought.
 
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GlobalWealth

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Unless you offer a viable mobile alternative, eliminating Tapatalk would drive forum engagement off a cliff.

Most members that I know primarily browse the forum using this app.


Sent from my VTR-L29 using Tapatalk
 

Kung Fu Steve

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Unless you offer a viable mobile alternative, eliminating Tapatalk would drive forum engagement off a cliff.

Most members that I know primarily browse the forum using this app.


Sent from my VTR-L29 using Tapatalk

You only know 2 members.
 
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GlobalWealth

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Lionhearted

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Thank you MJ for everything you do for us and keeping this TFLF up and running. Of course thank you so much for the great books too. I find great value in the forum, you and the many of the members on here have helped me on my Entrepreneurial journey (far from complete yet). At this point I have 29,743,994 Views on my YT channel and 76,861 Subscribers Richard Lloyd USA inching towards my 100,000 subscriber YouTube Silver Play Button. Can't wait for that. I am working on improving myself, investing in real estate as an optional revenue stream and taking all the tips I can from the people on this forum who are getting it DONE! All the best.
 

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Thank you MJ for everything you do for us and keeping this TFLF up and running. Of course thank you so much for the great books too. I find great value in the forum, you and the many of the members on here have helped me on my Entrepreneurial journey (far from complete yet). At this point I have 29,743,994 Views on my YT channel and 76,861 Subscribers Richard Lloyd USA inching towards my 100,000 subscriber YouTube Silver Play Button. Can't wait for that. I am working on improving myself, investing in real estate as an optional revenue stream and taking all the tips I can from the people on this forum who are getting it DONE! All the best.

How about plugging the forum on your channel for him?
 
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amp0193

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Message me via contact form and Ill see if we can agree to deets.

tenor.gif
 

AgainstAllOdds

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It's 2am. Back from working all day. First time actually seeing this thread.

My take:

People get busy with their own shit once their business gets going, and their incentive to contribute dwindles. That doesn't mean they don't want to contribute - it's just a lower priority than everything else.

Committing to speaking in February is not something that's easy to do. I don't know what I'm doing next week. You want people that are in the trenches or successful to speak. Those that have already spoke are less inclined to speak again. Those that haven't spoke probably can't commit. I missed the 2018 summit because I was busy hustling. I missed the 2017 summit because I was traveling the world and living what your books taught. I missed the 2016 summit because I felt I had nothing of value to offer. I know I'm not alone.

I didn't read this whole thread. Don't have time. But skimming through, @biophase hit the nail on the head.

We all LOVE what you have done @MJ DeMarco and value this community tremendously.

I've met numerous members from this forum in person, and have formed strong friendships with a lot of them. That's something that can't be tracked back to this forum in terms of posts, likes, summit attendance, etc., but it's something that strengthens this community and serves as a testament to the power of this forum.

We value this community and want to contribute, just all do it in our own way.
 
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eliquid

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So there was a lot to read. I will admit I skimmed a lot.

If rolling the dice ( taking on the financial risk ) for little metrics in return is the issue, would removing the risk help at all ( even if metrics stayed small )?

If so, can those willing to go simply send you the money ahead of time and once we reach X ( the final amount ), the summit gets planned?

So if 100 of us right now sent you $500 and you secured the $50,000 before setting up the event, would that help?

Just trying to see if the risk is a bigger issue ( resolved with upfront payment ), or if its just the metrics afterward. I know there is a lot of pressure and behind the scenes work too that can't be accounted for in this, but just thinking "what if" and we got the money together upfront before any event planning?

Sorta like an escrow or fund I guess.

.
 

Scot

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It's 2am. Back from working all day. First time actually seeing this thread.

So there was a lot to read. I will admit I skimmed a lot.
.


Let me start off by saying that I am NOT trying to call anyone out. I respect the hell out of both of you. But, I think these two most recent posts prove @MJ DeMarco point...

This threads been up for over a week now and two users I consider to be heavy hitters on the forum are just now seeing it for the first time.

What MJ is trying to say is that a lot of the heavy hitters disappear for 10 months out of the year, show up around Summit time, but a ticket, the disappear again.

The heart of the matter that MJ is trying to explain is that the forum is suffering from a lack of quality engagement and posts because the high quality posters that attend the summit, don’t post on the forum.

The financial risk was more of a side not vs a main reason not to do it.

People get busy with their own sh*t once their business gets going, and their incentive to contribute dwindles. That doesn't mean they don't want to contribute - it's just a lower priority than everything else.

And dude, I definitely get it. I’m guilty as hell for not being present here a lot lately because I’m grinding my a$$ off working on this business. So, trust me, I’m right there with you.

I think the forum this week has done a really good job receiving MJ’s message and working on fixing the house, before we throw a party.
 

eliquid

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Let me start off by saying that I am NOT trying to call anyone out. I respect the hell out of both of you. But, I think these two most recent posts prove @MJ DeMarco point...

This threads been up for over a week now and two users I consider to be heavy hitters on the forum are just now seeing it for the first time.

What MJ is trying to say is that a lot of the heavy hitters disappear for 10 months out of the year, show up around Summit time, but a ticket, the disappear again.

The heart of the matter that MJ is trying to explain is that the forum is suffering from a lack of quality engagement and posts because the high quality posters that attend the summit, don’t post on the forum.

The financial risk was more of a side not vs a main reason not to do it.



And dude, I definitely get it. I’m guilty as hell for not being present here a lot lately because I’m grinding my a$$ off working on this business. So, trust me, I’m right there with you.

I think the forum this week has done a really good job receiving MJ’s message and working on fixing the house, before we throw a party.

I don't know.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I log in almost every single day.... No joke.

I tend to post only when I know I can contribute though. I ran across this thread several times the past few days and read bits and pieces here and there each day as it grew, but decided to only post today when I had an idea about the "fund pool" to help with the "risk" part of the equation. I tend to stay away from shallow posting ( where I post things that don't contribute in some way ) so I pick and choose when to post.

I've also seen a lot of attendees ( that I know from meeting them ) post here since the summit. Whether or not it is frequent enough or not, could be a different topic though.

I rather be more "deep" than "wide" ( think of the shape of a T ). So I have decided to only post when I feel I can offer truly good advice or something unique that no one else has said or brought up yet.

I feel a lot of other posters are like this too. If you are one of them, please speak up to validate!

This might be the missing piece of the engagement @MJ DeMarco is talking about. If I was "wide", then I would be in every "new person intro" post saying high and offering my 1-2 lines of greeting and copy paste, but I prefer to be deep which doesn't really fit well into a intro post.

Anyone else here feel the same? Where are my knowledgeable introverts at?

I have plenty of people that DM me where I spend a good amount of time helping them on DMs ( here and at other forums ) and also in my threads and on Skype. That doesn't show up though in the public sections of the forum.

Maybe the engagement piece is a reflection of that. True some people are busy and don't have time, but another section of us ( like me ) post only when we can truly help with deep responses.

There are times I read ( and not post ) for 2+ hours daily on this forum. Maybe sometimes its 1 hour, others might be more.

There are times a single post of mine ( not often, but has happened ) or a DM takes me 2 hours of writing, back and forth editing, circling back, research to support an idea, thoughts, revision to the post I wrote ( sometimes multiple times ), etc

That can be a lot of time daily potentially when added up for reading and posting. Because of that, I pick and choose the engagement I do so I can still do other things outside of the forum.

Just something to think about when considering all the issues. Some of us don't have time, and some of us are just "deep posting" when we feel we can contribute.

I'm not sure where that leaves things that could be improved as far as users are concerned.

.
 
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Last edited:

MTEE1985

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I don't know.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I log in almost every single day.... No joke.

I tend to post only when I know I can contribute though. I ran across this thread several times the past few days and read bits and pieces here and there each day as it grew, but decided to only post today when I had an idea about the "fund pool" to help with the "risk" part of the equation. I tend to stay away from shallow posting ( where I post things that don't contribute in some way ) so I pick and choose when to post.

I've also seen a lot of attendees ( that I know from meeting them ) post here since the summit. Whether or not it is frequent enough or not, could be a different topic though.

I rather be more "deep" than "wide" ( think of the shape of a T ). So I have decided to only post when I feel I can offer truly good advice or something unique that no one else has said or brought up yet.

I feel a lot of other posters are like this too. If you are one of them, please speak up to validate!

This might be the missing piece of the engagement @MJ DeMarco is talking about. If I was "wide", then I would be in every "new person intro" post saying high and offering my 1-2 lines of greeting and copy paste, but I prefer to be deep which doesn't really fit well into a intro post.

Anyone else here feel the same? Where are my knowledgeable introverts at?

I have plenty of people that DM me where I spend a good amount of time helping them on DMs ( here and at other forums ) and also in my threads and on Skype. That doesn't show up though in the public sections of the forum.

Maybe the engagement piece is a reflection of that. True some people are busy and don't have time, but another section of us ( like me ) post only when we can truly help with deep responses.

.

You and other legendary contributors are deservedly viewed and respected as being in the top 1% of forum members.

Another way to look at it...what might just be an “ok” post in your mind will be eye opening for 99% of forum members.

I don’t read this thread as MJ looking for an exponentially higher post count, but simply saying that one extra post a week from someone like you is worth more than 50 random posts or YouTube links from others.
 

eliquid

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You and other legendary contributors are deservedly viewed and respected as being in the top 1% of forum members.

Another way to look at it...what might just be an “ok” post in your mind will be eye opening for 99% of forum members.

I don’t read this thread as MJ looking for an exponentially higher post count, but simply saying that one extra post a week from someone like you is worth more than 50 random posts or YouTube links from others.

Got it, I think that clears a lot up
 

MJ DeMarco

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Just an FYI, I'm exploring the possibility of licensing the event this year to offload the work, risk, at all the details involved. There's a possibility the event still might happen...

Stay tuned...
 
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ShamanKing

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Just an FYI, I'm exploring the possibility of licensing the event this year to offload the work, risk, at all the details involved. There's a possibility the event still might happen...

Stay tuned...

Thank you MJ. Please let me know if there's anyway I can help. Though I am not where I want to be yet I continue to enjoy the process and want to contribute to the forum.
 

rogue synthetic

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I feel a lot of other posters are like this too. If you are one of them, please speak up to validate!

This might be the missing piece of the engagement @MJ DeMarco is talking about. If I was "wide", then I would be in every "new person intro" post saying high and offering my 1-2 lines of greeting and copy paste, but I prefer to be deep which doesn't really fit well into a intro post.

Anyone else here feel the same? Where are my knowledgeable introverts at?

Checking in.

As far as entrepreneurial know-how, I don't have much to say compared to the big names around here.

In 9 threads out of 10, I'm going to hang back and listen to the people who are bringing hard-learned wisdom.

But knowledge is granular, and occasionally there's that 1 in 10 topic where I think I can add something useful to the picture.

Even then, I'm not likely to say much on a topic if:

1. The thread is already full of people contributing. It's hard to get a good signal:noise ratio.

2. Most of the posts are silly gossip and/or Reddit-tier posts. I have no interest in any of this.

(Aside: MJ I've been meaning to mention -- quality and quantity of engagement are on different axes. Catering to the mass-market's shortening attention spans may be a poor indicator for what you want even if it does drive more quantity. If sustained quality engagement is the issue, I think a little anti-democratic curation could pay off dividends. Selecting for bad habits will curate bad habits. It's worth keeping this in mind when considering design choices about the community platform and its features.)

3. I've got too much going on to make any serious effort at it. As others have mentioned, "life" gets in the way. If it's a coin toss, I'm going to lean towards "nope". I'd rather say less but make it more impactful.
 
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Gary

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Just an FYI, I'm exploring the possibility of licensing the event this year to offload the work, risk, at all the details involved. There's a possibility the event still might happen...

Stay tuned...
Well that certainly brightens up a random Friday. Thank you for the update, @MJ DeMarco
 

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I wasn’t sure how to address this but decided transparency and honesty would be the best approach.

With that said, it is with great disappointment (and some frustration) that I must officially announce that the upcoming 2019 Fastlane Summit has been canceled.

Yes, canceled.

I realize this will upset many (as it upsets me that I have to do it considering last year's event ROCKED) but here is the reality as see it.

As you may know, the event was also canceled in 2017 due to some health challenges I was having. However this year’s cancellation has nothing to do with my health, but due to a combination of reasons, all of which paint a bigger picture.

First, in THIS THREAD, I made a preliminary call out (probe) for potential speakers. In the past, the event has always featured forum regulars who were gracious enough to offer their time and expertise. Having a nice pool of speakers to choose from was never a problem. For those who responded in that thread to speak, I thank you for your generosity in offering your wisdom.

In this thread, a total of 16 people offered to potentially speak (as of last Friday, several volunteered others to speak but that does not count.) Now when someone offers to speak, usually you can count on slightly LESS THAN HALF to actually do so -- this is because of a person’s schedule, their financial situation (flights, hotels, etc.) and various other reasons. This means as of now using this conservative formula, 7-8 people would speak.

Last year, 16 speakers spoke.

I figured this number would change when the weekly forum mass email headlined this announcement. To my shock, it didn’t. This means in order for me to get to 16, I would need to go “off forum” and seek (plead / instigate / compel) speakers who aren’t regular forum visitors or contributors.

Second, holding this event is a HUGE financial risk for my company because it has always been an event that was NOT designed for PROFIT, but for COMMUNITY.

Ticket prices have been purposely kept low for this reason. Additionally, when you compare this event to other similar events, the average price is usually more than triple -- and those events don’t even bother to feed you. Additionally, the hotel makes me sign a guarantee for rooms and food -- and if they don’t sell -- I’m on the hook for 100+ nights plus the guarantee. This amount is nearly $50,000 that I have to sign my name to. This risk increases as the local attendance increases (they don’t book rooms).

While last year's event came out marginally in the green, it was a type of “bet” that I would NEVER make in the financial markets, in business, or otherwise. But I find myself doing it here. In order for me to accept the risk, the ticket prices would need to skyrocket, or significant services (food) would need to be cut.

Third, if the event isn’t beneficial financially or from a risk standpoint, surely it must be good for the community right? I mean, that’s the main reason I was doing it right?!

Unfortunately history (in recent years since the FB era) shows that the direct forum benefit for the event has been marginal and not sustainable -- limited to about 60 days, about 45 days during and after the event, and maybe 15 days around ticket sales. And then things return to a baseline whereas many attendees stop contributing, or worse, stop visiting, only to return next November when the Summit discussion returns.

To verify this, I actually looked at the user attendance history of the last 2 years of meetings and was woefully shocked to discover that a majority of attendees do not contribute content to the forum. And by content, I mean a periodic post every few weeks, not something daily.

While I don’t deny that the incredible energy, camaraderie, and singularity of purpose of the event is awesomely breath-taking, it appears that this “energy” doesn’t stay on the forum, but goes elsewhere into personal networks, Facebook groups, Discord, etc. It’s disheartening for me to see the FB group that represents this event is actually more engaged than forum it represents. In the past, I even created a separate forum for attendees to gab and post in order to sustain the energy, but the result was the same.

While user registrations are higher as are active users at the forum, deep communal engagement is not at a level where I feel comfortable holding this event. This may also explains why the response to speak was somewhat lackluster.

Fourth, I have a lot of irons in the fire, from writing 2 more books (Unscripted Book 2 and 3) to other business dealings, to starting the process on building a custom home in Sedona. And lets not forget, being an active, daily contributor to this forum to help other people live the dream that is made possible through Unscripted Entrepreneurship.

All of these concerns become more evident when I recently read Essentialism, a book which is a treatise into learning how to say NO! to things that aren’t benefiting your personal mission and the things most important to you.

As many know, I have zero interest in being a guru, public speaking, or having seminars. While I appreciate meeting readers face to face, socializing with cigars and liquor, and hearing accolades and kudos about my writing, as an introvert and someone who enjoys deep solitude, the event is very stressful for me.

Reading Essentialism forced me to face the truth in the matter -- I don’t do this event for me -- I do it for the community -- additionally, it is extremely nerve-wracking, it is not a profit maker (giving me a decent return on my time to compensate for stress/risk) and most important, it doesn’t appear to be helping the community long-term.

At last year’s event I thought things would change when Chris W (Lighthouse) made a plea to all attendees to start a progress thread and update as the weeks and months went by. I also tried to reiterate the importance of the forum as it related to the event.

To be specific, the EVENT exists because of the FORUM, the FORUM does NOT exist because of the EVENT.

Think about that dichotomy.

The event happens because of the forum and it’s standing as a community, not the reverse.

So this year’s event, I’m sorry to say, will not happen.

However, is this the END of the event?

No more parties at Talking Stick Resort?

I hope that isn’t the case.

I hope this is a ONE year kink in the road and next year, I will look at the forum and its engagement and say, “We NEED to have an event!“ Again, my main priority for this event since leading its charge was foremost COMMUNITY -- that headlines over profit, stress, and risk. Next year it would be nice to look at the forum and say, “Damn, I WANT to do this, and we NEED to do this!” I would welcome to be forced into a re-evaluation.

Ultimately I would love to blow it out and have 200, or even 300 people. I don’t think hitting those numbers would be a problem but this kind of ambition (much less 120 like last year) has to ORIGINATE and be grass-rooted at the forum, not elsewhere.

So if the forum and its message (and the event) is important to you, I would hope that you continue to make the forum a small piece of your life.

If this is your first time back in months and you’re reading this, I will just say thank you for visiting and hope you understand the decision.

Over ten years ago I started this forum to foster a message of freedom through entrepreneurship. The forum has gone through a variety of peaks and valleys, but still retains its fundamental purpose which is derived from my purpose to inspire people to live their best through business ownership.

If you believe in that message, I will kindly request what I request every year… visit the forum and contribute! Say hello. Tell us what you’re doing. Tell us what you learned, what you’ve failed, and what you’ve succeeded.

And to everyone who has done so and continues to do so, I thank you from the bottom of my heart …. thank you so much for sharing your journey.
Thank you for y9ur time explaining this. Appreciate you MJ. Especially happy on your impact on my son as I had your audio book playing on a road trip, seems like your gumball machine example stayed with him, he uses that explanation a lot, he really got it! :) I'm one happy mom.
I am fairly new here but think it would be awesome to attend a meeting, however...what you've expressed makes perfect sense. The point would be to strengthen relations on the forum and then our in person meetings would be that much more valuable since we have a strong base.
I have been caught up in taking action which I would love to share soon.
I truly found this to be a very authentic community because of the person who has established it. I suspect it is a case of...taking for granted what we have. Imagine we did not have it, what a loss! We need to treat it like gold as it is rare. Additionally it is not everyday that you meet someone like MJ who is not trying to rip you off silly. Honestly, every where I look it's becoming comical, all the funnels and BUT WAIT...there's more!!! Just add this and act immediately to get a "deep discount". B.s and more b.s to siphon your hard earned money (CERTAINLY NOT ALL, but...many many cases, gurus are everywhere !!! So again, this is a rare community with rare opportunities, with a rare leadership.

Thanks, I hope to be better at posting.
 
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Davidla

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I'd like to discuss an additional perspective on the whole situation.

I found the forum ~10 years ago when I was 20, halfway across the world while living in Israel. I was blown away by the stories and gold nuggets in the forums, and people's willingless to share and help others.

I also came across the meetup thread, and thought "WOW. Can't believe there's an opportunity to actually meet these people and connect in person, and learn from them".

So I made it a priority to fly across the world and make it to the first meetup I could.

The forum and the meetups have literally changed my life. During those 10 years, I've talked to anyone who would listen about the forum, the books, and the meetups..

I've also showed up to every meetup but one since my first one in 2011 and made life changing relationships with other members.

I know I wouldn't be 20% of where I am right now without this great community, the friends I've made, and the knowledge and experience people have shared with me along the years.

That being said, only 10% of the value came in through the online forum.. and 90% came in through the friendships, events, in person interactions and FB/email/other.

I'm a slow reader, and I'm an even slower writer. This post took me 2hrs of writing/editing and another 2 hours of reading everything up to this point (and getting over objections/worries about writing this in the first place).

So my point is, there's a ton of value in "The Fastlane" outside the forum. Why fight it instead of embrace it?

Capitalize on the "IRL" Benefits of The Fastlane

Why should we fight a losing battle, and try to get people to "like" forums in 2018 when it is in fact a dying/legacy product in the grand scheme of things?

Why limit me to reading/writing in front of my computer as the only way to contribute to the community?

I'm still going to do it when it comes naturally, and feel like I have something organized to put in writing that would be helpful for others.

But in the meantime, I'm going to be meeting up with other members, texting, FB messaging, masterminding for the more "soft"/intangible benefits.

Suggestions from other Entreprenur Communities

I'm in Bangkok, and next week I'm going to an event called DCBKK (DC = Dynamite Circle).

DC has 5 events in different cities around the world, where hubs of members live.

If this was the Fastlane, there would probably be a Scottsdale meetup, a Canada meetup, A Europe meetup, a SE Asia meetup etc.

Every 3rd week of the month there's a dinner meetup in every one of these areas where members meet and hangout together (member organized and led, new members always welcome).

There's also a forum with great value/info..but if you look at where a lot of the real "value" is generated, it is during the large meetups and the personal relationships and connections between the members that continue for life/between the events.

The DC community grew around a Podcast called "The Tropical MBA", that's what started it. Very much like the Fastlane built around the forum and MJ's books..

So why not bring the offline Fastlane Community under an offical wing? Why not have a "local" promoted event everywhere there is demand for it? Yes it takes more logistics/management, but there's a huge value for "The Fastlane" and its members. (DC members pay ~$300/year outside of any event fees).

Think TEDx here..TED wouldn't be anywhere what it is today without all the locally organized events it has. The in person TEDx events fuel the online TED brand and content..

What I see in this thread is a huge demand from the "Fastlane customers"/heavy users to expand beyond the forum, in ways that are convenient and natural.

At the moment there is no organized/official way to interact with forum members outside of the forum (apart from the Summit). So these interactions happen anyway in a way that doesn't really benefit the forum. Let's change that.

These interactions are gold. They are helping hundreds of us in our Fastlane/Unscripted journeys. They are a proof of the huge impact The Fastlane and MJ are having on our lives.
 

Eskil

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Late to the thread here but like others here, I was initially sad to hear there wouldn't be an event next year but reading through the thread and MJ's responses - I do understand some of the reasonings a little better.

@GlobalWealth and I talked on the phone the other day where he mentioned his offer to take on the event, and now that I see this...

I'm exploring the possibility of licensing the event this year to offload the work, risk, at all the details involved. There's a possibility the event still might happen...

...well I would like to add that since I'm a local and live just 20 minutes away from TSR, I would gladly offer my time once again to volunteer and help with name badges or other things. @Red , would you be able to team up too?

Changing up the event format
But anyway - I wanted to share my thoughts on MJ's concern of having enough speakers. I think that issue itself could be resolved easily by changing up the format of the event:

I don't think that the event necessarily needs to be filled with X amount of speakers from morning till late afternoon each day. @pkom79 touched on this too. Even if only 8 out of 16 ended up committing to speaking, that would be fine. I mean, I think everyone would gather just as much, if not more, from having the event days broken up into group sessions on topics.

For instance, the format could change to having say 4 speakers before noon each day - and then the rest of the day could consist of 1-2 hour "round table" sessions in groups on different subjects, with coffee/bathroom breaks between. The room could be arranged with say 4-5 sets of tables, each area devoted to a major subject. We could have an e-commerce group, a RE investing group, a crypto currency group, and perhaps SaaS or digital products group (just examples obviously).

I think this would help keep more people away from "shiny object syndrome" as well, and help them stay focused more on that ONE thing they should be doing. If they are "dabbling"(tm) in real estate, well then go be part of the RE sessions. Who cares if they are missing out on the crypto sessions because that would only get them sidetracked from what they should focus on anyway. Or if a total newbie is torn between going into SaaS or e-commerce, well he or she could jump into one of the sessions first, and then another later.

While it is always super interesting and fascinating to listen to many different speakers on a wide multitude of topics and subjects, it can for some people be a little overwhelming, and be an information overload. We could still be doing that, but what I'm saying is - if we worry less about trying to fill two entire days with speakers - and instead set up focused groups on more centralized subject matter - everyone might learn and share more in a more concentrated amount of time.

I'd say each round table / session group should have maybe an "expert" panel of 3-5 people heading each group, and there could be times for Q&A and as many as possible getting their chance to share experiences or raise questions.

Bonus thoughts on forum / positive side effects of the events
Lastly - as far as your concern for the spike of traffic that comes and then dies out before and after the event, I think that is a natural thing with any event on any forum or group out there. I agree more people should try to hold themselves accountable to write and update progress threads though (and I'm also guilty of not updating my own as much this year but in my defense I do have good reasons to why I haven't, lol).

Regardless of forum engagement following the event - it is also a recruiting tool for your brand MJ, because I can speak for myself and others when I say that the event has directly lead to more and more people hearing about the book, the forum, and the events from people who have been - who tell their buddies and friends about it EVERY year, and those people then discover it all and join in. The event is awesome, and the community is too.

The book changed my life. The forum made an equally big impact on me, and the events and people I got to meet in real life even more so. And I pledge to get better at becoming more engaged and active here again than I have lately.
 
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Bit late to the party here, but I thought I should throw in my 2c on the subject of "why I don't post much". I'm sure a lot of people are in a similar situation to me.

1. I'm not a "forum guy".

Never have been. I've actually made far more posts here than at any other forum...except for way back when I was a teenager and lived my life on the internet. I haven't posted on any other forums for literally years, not once.

By way of comparison, there's a bikers community for the area of England I used to live in. That's built around a forum. I probably made one or two dozen posts there, ever. And yet, I used to go to all the events. Even though I first posted on that forum 9 or 10 years ago and now live thousands of miles away, I'm still good friends with quite a few people from there and speak to them regularly. I went to a trackday weekend with a bunch of them elsewhere in Europe last month, many of whom I've never even interacted with on the forum.

I much prefer more immediate forms of communication. I'm the kinda guy who will get an email and then pick up the phone and call the person instead of responding to the email.

And yet, I keep coming back here and contributing, albeit sporadically and in bursts. I maintain an INSIDERS membership. To me that speaks volumes about the incredible value of this forum. If it can entice ME of all people to make over 200 posts, it must be something special.

I'm not a "social media guy" either, so it's nowt to do with internet ADHD in my case. I post far more often on here than I do on Faceberg.

2. Time.

Although I have a natural flair for writing, I really don't enjoy it and it takes me forever. Some of my posts here have taken me literally 4-5 hours to write.

In my business pursuits I outsource and/or delegate the content writing even though I can create better content myself. It takes me an obscene amount of time and I hate doing it.

Whereas MJ has to steel himself to give a presentation or appear on a podcast, I'm like that when it comes to writing. Even long emails I need to write fall under that category. I'd rather go and make more calls.

3. Business burnout.

I'm so busy lately, what with two "jobs", getting a business off the ground, and life's other commitments, that I can rarely find the additional time or energy to throw my hat into the ring. I know I'm dividing my focus up amongst too many things at the moment, and I need to cut down - I'm working on that but right now I need all the cash I can get my hands on.

When I've spent a week working near-solidly from 9am to 1am from my home office, across three totally separate lines of work, and as an extrovert, often the last thing I want to do is to spend even more time thinking and writing about business. Especially when I know contributing anything of value is going to take me hours.

4. Content overwhelm.

When I last renewed my INSIDERS subscription, I saw some great progress threads I hadn't seen before from members I respect a great deal. I'd love to contribute to them...but where am I going to find the time to catch up on 50+ pages of information, multiple times? And like a couple of others have said here, if I don't have anything both valuable and informed to add to the forum, I'd rather say nothing. So catching up on the forum can become this big daunting thing that gets put further and further back as it becomes a larger and larger task.

To add to that, the more I contribute, the more I have to come back again and contribute later in the form of replies, messages, etc.

5. The cycles of life

When I first joined the forum, I was in a deep funk. I absolutely detested everything about the job I was in, and I'd recently been royally screwed over by my previous company as well. All I could think about was how to escape. So my behaviour at the forum reflected that. I spent most of my non-social free time reading about business (on the forum or elsewhere), learning about business, writing/talking about business, etc.

Now I know what to do (largely thanks to MJ and this amazing community) and I'm in "action mode". The time I was spending on the forum is now spent working instead.

Another thing is that - and I suspect more than a few people with the entrepreneurial personality type might relate to this - I have rotating obsessions in life. For a few months all I'll care or think about is business. Then it will be motorcycles. Or fitness. Or whatever it is. Whichever place I'm in at the time largely dictates how my extra energies are spent after my business commitments are dealt with. Hence the bursts of activity on the forum.

Perhaps a balanced approach to the menu of life is a healthier choice, but that's how my brain works and I haven't figured out how to change it yet.

I like to think that when I've made it, I'll contribute here much more often and devote a significant portion of my time to helping others walk the same path. For now, I have a low foothold on the mountain and a long climb ahead.

So, speaking of time, this post has just taken me an hour and a half to write. I hope I've gotten across how much I'm grateful for this community and everything it's done for me, even if I don't show it on a very regular basis.
 
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Andy Black

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^^^ No need to read a thread from start to finish imo, especially if it’s 50 pages deep and 4 years old. I often read the first page, then go to the last page.
 

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^^^ No need to read a thread from start to finish imo, especially if it’s 50 pages deep and 4 years old. I often read the first page, then go to the last page.

Now I understand a little more about how you manage to make your omnipresence seem so effortless. ;)
 
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