Building an Audience - Content, "Helping People," and Passion

[Guest-5ty5s4]

I need some guidance. I need to grow an audience. I have a great product, a very specific solution that helps people with a very particular problem, but I have an audience of zero.

My problem is that I have no content to post in order to market and build an audience. My niche is not my passion, and I have zero interest in making content for it. It's focused on fishing, which is something I would do every now and then, but I am not passionate about it the way I am about, say, playing the guitar, or working out, or business. Giving people "free content on fishing" is not something I'm going to be able to do without starting a new fishing hobby from 0 to 1,000 hours of recreational fishing in the evenings and weekends, just to learn the difference between a lure and a... I don't even have a good analogy here, because I fish so rarely.

What I am passionate about is getting this product to the people who want it and need it (LOTS of them). I just don't know how to get them interested, build up a social media account, build up an email list, etc.

Anyway, I know what @Kak is going to say - use your leadership skills and find someone to help you solve this problem. Well, that's why I'm posting here. I don't have the money to start paying someone to do this, and there's not anything to offer investment-wise, so I'm just wondering what the fastlaners' advice might be here.

Is a little passion required? Maybe you SHOULD have a little passion to build an audience?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Can't you find fishing influencers and pay them a % of sales when they talk or promote your product?

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Can't you find fishing influencers and pay them a % of sales when they talk or promote your product?

Yes, I guess the problem is that I've been unable to get them to respond or take me seriously.

 

[Kak]

I need some guidance. I need to grow an audience. I have a great product, a very specific solution that helps people with a very particular problem, but I have an audience of zero.

My problem is that I have no content to post in order to market and build an audience. My niche is not my passion, and I have zero interest in making content for it. It's focused on fishing, which is something I would do every now and then, but I am not passionate about it the way I am about, say, playing the guitar, or working out, or business. Giving people "free content on fishing" is not something I'm going to be able to do without starting a new fishing hobby from 0 to 1,000 hours of recreational fishing in the evenings and weekends, just to learn the difference between a lure and a... I don't even have a good analogy here, because I fish so rarely.

What I am passionate about is getting this product to the people who want it and need it (LOTS of them). I just don't know how to get them interested, build up a social media account, build up an email list, etc.

Anyway, I know what @Kak is going to say - use your leadership skills and find someone to help you solve this problem. Well, that's why I'm posting here. I don't have the money to start paying someone to do this, and there's not anything to offer investment-wise, so I'm just wondering what the fastlaners' advice might be here.

Is a little passion required? Maybe you SHOULD have a little passion to build an audience?

What happened with Cabelas or was it Basspro?

Can you solve whatever problem you had? Can you regroup and try again?

 

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[BigRomeDawg]

@thechosen1 call me let's catch up

 

[BigRomeDawg]

@GoodluckChuck influencer deal for you

 

[Johnny boy]

maybe if you talk to influencers and nobody gives a shit, none of them think "oh damn this would be great for my followers" then maybe your product isn't all that good and you'll have to resort to more traditional marketing channels.

But, ideally you would show some people, they feel COMPELLED to tell their audience about it. They would even say "I'm not even getting paid to show this, it's just a super helpful product". That's how you know you've got something good.

You could use a bot that comments on any fishing related hashtags, and it says "I solved the problem of X" and your page is basically a landing page with a link in the bio. Then you're in the comments of hundreds of posts for free and you did it automatically. It's just software.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Yes, I guess the problem is that I've been unable to get them to respond or take me seriously.

What does this mean?

Ignored emails?
You sent them free product with an enticement and they ignored it?
The hung up on you?
Is anyone raving about your product?

An influencer should be stoked to rep an interesting, valuable new product. IF they don't, perhaps your product isn't interesting, valuable and new.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

What does this mean?

Ignored emails?
You sent them free product with an enticement and they ignored it?
The hung up on you?
Is anyone raving about your product?

An influencer should be stoked to rep an interesting, valuable new product. IF they don't, perhaps your product isn't interesting, valuable and new.

Very good questions.

I would also say if you've got a physical product you don't need to build an audience you need to sell it.

Why worry about vanity metrics? Because that's all they are. Likes, followers, comments, nobody cares.

Amazon PPC?

 

[Kak]

If you had no other option but to get the a corporate buyer at Academy to at least tell you no… before the end of the month… or you would die… Could you do it?

Make this your priority and at least be well informed if this is a bad idea. You haven’t done the legwork to write it off yet.

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

What happened with Cabelas or was it Basspro?

Can you solve whatever problem you had? Can you regroup and try again?

Basically… I filled out all the forms. I gave them my best price. We were right at the finish line to get an account started - wholesale with Bass Pro - but the rep started to back out. I think he realized I was still pretty new and didn’t have a lot of inventory on hand.

@thechosen1 call me let's catch up

I can do that.

maybe if you talk to influencers and nobody gives a shit, none of them think "oh damn this would be great for my followers" then maybe your product isn't all that good and you'll have to resort to more traditional marketing channels.

But, ideally you would show some people, they feel COMPELLED to tell their audience about it. They would even say "I'm not even getting paid to show this, it's just a super helpful product". That's how you know you've got something good.

You could use a bot that comments on any fishing related hashtags, and it says "I solved the problem of X" and your page is basically a landing page with a link in the bio. Then you're in the comments of hundreds of posts for free and you did it automatically. It's just software.

I can try that. This is a good point though and I worry the product might not be that good.

What does this mean?

Ignored emails?
You sent them free product with an enticement and they ignored it?
The hung up on you?
Is anyone raving about your product?

An influencer should be stoked to rep an interesting, valuable new product. IF they don't, perhaps your product isn't interesting, valuable and new.

Lots of DMs, emails, calls, meeting people IRL to share the product, gave it away in auctions, fundraisers and charities. Maybe it really isn’t the kind of thing that catches on.

Very good questions.

I would also say if you've got a physical product you don't need to build an audience you need to sell it.

Why worry about vanity metrics? Because that's all they are. Likes, followers, comments, nobody cares.

Amazon PPC?

Don’t care about those things, just need to get eyeballs on it so they know it exists. But if it’s not a great product then they won’t buy anyway. Trying to figure that out, but it’s tricky because inventory is expensive and I gave away quite a bit last time.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

If you had no other option but to get the a corporate buyer at Academy to at least tell you no… before the end of the month… or you would die… Could you do it?

Make this your priority and at least be well informed if this is a bad idea. You haven’t done the legwork to write it off yet.

Yes. I can. I did it with BPRO. But I currently have no inventory, I spent about $5000 on it last time and pretty much burned through it, selling a lot, giving some away, promoting it, etc. Maybe it’s not a great product, or maybe this is normal in the early stages.

Maybe inventory isn’t required yet but this killed my BPRO deal when they found out I had little to no inventory.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Yes. I can. I did it with BPRO. But I currently have no inventory, I spent about $5000 on it last time and pretty much burned through it, selling a lot, giving some away, promoting it, etc. Maybe it’s not a great product, or maybe this is normal in the early stages.

Maybe inventory isn’t required yet but this killed my BPRO deal when they found out I had little to no inventory.

Can you go to smaller stores? Around here there's a fishing store that's been around for like four decades. When the owner died, he passed the store to his son. Now the son expanded and they have multiple locations and are very popular.

A lot of people like fishing. There are probably a lot of mom-and-pop stores you could walk into that would let you in with smaller quantities to test the market.

 

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[Kak]

Yes. I can. I did it with BPRO. But I currently have no inventory, I spent about $5000 on it last time and pretty much burned through it, selling a lot, giving some away, promoting it, etc. Maybe it’s not a great product, or maybe this is normal in the early stages.

Maybe inventory isn’t required yet but this killed my BPRO deal when they found out I had little to no inventory.

You don’t have “inventory” you have “lead times and capacity.”

You need your lead times and capacity perfectly figured out.

Buying say $50k worth of inventory for the hope of a $100k big box order is speculation, not investing. No one just holds a Basspro order level of inventory on hopes and dreams.

I know you were in the engineering school, not the business school, but they literally drilled this “lean six sigma” and “just in time Edwards Demming” stuff into our heads for 3 years. It’s real. All the big corporations are on this program. They can’t expect you to be all fat with unsold inventory when there’s not a stock on the entire S&P that does it intentionally.

Make the product after they order. Don’t apologize, just let them know what to expect and make sure they can count on it.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Can you go to smaller stores? Around here there's a fishing store that's been around for like four decades. When the owner died, he passed the store to his son. Now the son expanded and they have multiple locations and are very popular.

A lot of people like fishing. There are probably a lot of mom-and-pop stores you could walk into that would let you in with smaller quantities to test the market.

Yeah, this is what I need to be doing. I had a small tackle shop in Texas that was routinely ordering batches of 8 but I need to find more of these guys. My wholesale pricing wasn't really figured out either...

You don’t have “inventory” you have “lead times and capacity.”

You need your lead times and capacity perfectly figured out.

Buying say $50k worth of inventory for the hope of a $100k big box order is speculation, not investing. No one just holds a Basspro order level of inventory on hopes and dreams.

I know you were in the engineering school, not the business school, but they literally drilled this “lean six sigma” and “just in time Edwards Demming” stuff into our heads for 3 years. It’s real. All the big corporations are on this program. They can’t expect you to be all fat with unsold inventory when there’s not a stock on the entire S&P that does it intentionally.

Make the product after they order. Don’t apologize, just let them know what to expect and make sure they can count on it.

This is gold honestly. Thank you Kyle. You are right. I thought I had the deal in the bag and was ready to blow y'alls minds on the forum with the thread on that but definitely didn't handle that conversation well when it came to my lack of inventory. Just sounded unprepared. They made it seem like they really wanted me to be flush with inventory...and also prove that I had a lot of current sales (which would be good reason to have lots of inventory). So makes sense - like Lex said, I need to get more sales.

I think we talked about supplier risk too, but there's some kind of insurance for that if you get the PO. Probably getting ahead of myself there.

 

[Kak]

Yeah, this is what I need to be doing. I had a small tackle shop in Texas that was routinely ordering batches of 8 but I need to find more of these guys. My wholesale pricing wasn't really figured out either...

This is gold honestly. Thank you Kyle. You are right. I thought I had the deal in the bag and was ready to blow y'alls minds on the forum with the thread on that but definitely didn't handle that conversation well when it came to my lack of inventory. Just sounded unprepared. They made it seem like they really wanted me to be flush with inventory...and also prove that I had a lot of current sales (which would be good reason to have lots of inventory). So makes sense - like Lex said, I need to get more sales.

I think we talked about supplier risk too, but there's some kind of insurance for that if you get the PO. Probably getting ahead of myself there.

Selling 8 at a time, while it’s kind of nice, isn’t going to get you to where you actually want to go.

800 at a time will.

Your market is validated. Basspro liked it.

The attitude you should take to these meetings is “confidently new” to the wholesale game. Not apologetic that you are a little guy. Not fake it till you make it. Bring actual evidence that you can make a solid product and knowledge of your supply chain that says you can deliver.

Here’s step two… Once those relationships are built, keep using them. Create other products with the specific understanding that you now have a relationship with Basspro and Academy. Make it your business model to feed those companies with stuff they love.

 

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[Antifragile]

I need some guidance. I need to grow an audience.

Are you sure you “need” to grow an audience?

I have a great product, a very specific solution that helps people with a very particular problem, but I have an audience of zero.

Is your product really that great?

My problem is that I have no content to post in order to market and build an audience.

How can you have an amazing product but be unable to talk about it in an exciting way? If I was selling a salt and pepper shaker set to restaurants at prices and quality they’d love, I’d have an audience talking about my product.

My niche is not my passion, and I have zero interest in making content for it. It's focused on fishing, which is something I would do every now and then, but I am not passionate about it the way I am about, say, playing the guitar, or working out, or business.

This is why you are struggling. The oxymoron: “this is not my passion, business is my passion!“ You are fooling yourself dude. If business is your passion, what do you mean by that? Theory about business only? Not the practical application of everything you’ve learned over the years?

Giving people "free content on fishing" is not something I'm going to be able to do without starting a new fishing hobby from 0 to 1,000 hours of recreational fishing in the evenings and weekends, just to learn the difference between a lure and a... I don't even have a good analogy here, because I fish so rarely.

What I am passionate about is getting this product to the people who want it and need it (LOTS of them). I just don't know how to get them interested, build up a social media account, build up an email list, etc.

Anyway, I know what @Kak is going to say - use your leadership skills and find someone to help you solve this problem. Well, that's why I'm posting here. I don't have the money to start paying someone to do this, and there's not anything to offer investment-wise, so I'm just wondering what the fastlaners' advice might be here.

Is a little passion required? Maybe you SHOULD have a little passion to build an audience?

Look, I’ll be me here and rip a strip of your back because I think you need it.

The whole post, the way it’s written is full of “statements”. You already “know” you need this and that. You’ve built walls around your problem with what you “know” and are asking the forum to do the impossible. To work around YOUR rules and what YOU think you “know” and still come up with a solution for your product … one way: to build an audience so you have 2,000,000 followers to whom you’ll sell your product. That’s backwards.

Try this instead: get genuinely interested in WHY you aren’t crushing it in this business? Be honest, share your F*ck ups, your successes… start brainstorming.

Put it another way, instead of asking “how can I build an audience?” Ask “what makes businesses like mine successful?”

How did other people in this line of business make it? Success is repeatable. Do what worked for others.

Let’s get more granular. You are in Retail business sector.

The birth of the department store ​

One of the most important innovations in retail real estate was the invention of the department store. These stores stocked all kinds of products or services under one roof, making shopping easier.

This new kind of establishment changed how we shop because it lowered transaction costs for customers and vendors alike. Economist Michael C. Munger defines transaction costs by three categories:

– “Triangulation” is how potential buyers and sellers find one another.

– “Transfer” implies getting the goods from the seller to the buyer; and

– “Trust” means buyer and seller are both assured they will receive what they expect.

Sidebar: Successful innovations of the 1890s department store also included laying out merchandise and allowing shoppers to browse, aggregating different categories of products in the same space, spending on advertising and paying commissions. Today we take these ideas for granted, but back then they were new and inventive.

Do you get it? Your whole post is focused on “triangulation”. You think buyers can’t find you! And that having followers would solve that problem.

What have you done about Transfer and Trust? Amazon solved all 3 and pretty much nuked the whole Retail industry - disruption! How are you transferring your product to your buyers?

Most importantly - I think it’s a matter of Trust. Trust isn’t just trusting that what you sell is as advertised, trust is also that your product is the best for the money. It’ll perform well, it’ll last a long time, it’ll be returned with no hassle if I don’t like it… How are you doing any of that for me @thechosen1 ? With just some audience and following… you aren’t solving the right problems yet.

Good luck.


P.S. This whole “passion” nonsense is always driving me crazy. I am passionate about building businesses, building an empire. If that means I have to do things the way the market wants, I’ll do that with a smile and enthusiasm. Politics is not my thing, no ”passion” there from me, yet for my business I interact with politicians all the time, I am passionate about doing whatever it takes for my business to thrive.

Edit: per Bizy suggested “fooling yourself”. I like it! Thanks Bizy.

 

[BizyDad]

wholesale with Bass Pro

I worry the product might not be that good.

That worry is not grounded in reality.

Your confidence is what is not that good. You are not confident in yourself, and your ability to represent this product, and it is shining through in your interactions with others. They don't realize your lack of confidence comes from you, they think it comes from a lack of confidence in your product.

If pushed, you can come up with 15 reasons why your product is better than anything on the market.

Do you know how many people wish they could come up with something that's the best on the market?

But you're intelligence can find reasons why it's not perfect. And that's the reason why you feel like it's not good enough.

But the truth is, is very few improvements that you can make to that product. It's an excellent product.

So talking about it like it's not. Stop entertaining the possibility that it might not be good enough.

Your natural skepticism is holding you back.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Are you sure you “need” to grow an audience?



Is your product really that great?



How can you have an amazing product but be unable to talk about it in an exciting way? If I was selling a salt and pepper shaker set to restaurants at prices and quality they’d love, I’d have an audience talking about my product.



This is why you are struggling. The oxymoron: “this is not my passion, business is my passion!“ You are full of shit dude. If business is your passion, what do you mean by that? Theory about business only? Not the practical application of everything you’ve learned over the years?




Look, I’ll be me here and rip a strip of your back because I think you need it.

The whole post, the way it’s written is full of “statements”. You already “know” you need this and that. You’ve built walls around your problem with what you “know” and are asking the forum to do the impossible. To work around YOUR rules and what YOU think you “know” and still come up with a solution for your product … one way: to build an audience so you have 2,000,000 followers to whom you’ll sell your product. That’s backwards.

Try this instead: get genuinely interested in WHY you aren’t crushing it in this business? Be honest, share your F*ck ups, your successes… start brainstorming.

Put it another way, instead of asking “how can I build an audience?” Ask “what makes businesses like mine successful?”

How did other people in this line of business make it? Success is repeatable. Do what worked for others.

Let’s get more granular. You are in Retail business sector.

The birth of the department store ​

One of the most important innovations in retail real estate was the invention of the department store. These stores stocked all kinds of products or services under one roof, making shopping easier.

This new kind of establishment changed how we shop because it lowered transaction costs for customers and vendors alike. Economist Michael C. Munger defines transaction costs by three categories:

– “Triangulation” is how potential buyers and sellers find one another.

– “Transfer” implies getting the goods from the seller to the buyer; and

– “Trust” means buyer and seller are both assured they will receive what they expect.

Sidebar: Successful innovations of the 1890s department store also included laying out merchandise and allowing shoppers to browse, aggregating different categories of products in the same space, spending on advertising and paying commissions. Today we take these ideas for granted, but back then they were new and inventive.

Do you get it? Your whole post is focused on “triangulation”. You think buyers can’t find you! And that having followers would solve that problem.

What have you done about Transfer and Trust? Amazon solved all 3 and pretty much nuked the whole Retail industry - disruption! How are you transferring your product to your buyers?

Most importantly - I think it’s a matter of Trust. Trust isn’t just trusting that what you sell is as advertised, trust is also that your product is the best for the money. It’ll perform well, it’ll last a long time, it’ll be returned with no hassle if I don’t like it… How are you doing any of that for me @thechosen1 ? With just some audience and following… you aren’t solving the right problems yet.

Good luck.


P.S. This whole “passion” nonsense is always driving me crazy. I am passionate about building businesses, building an empire. If that means I have to do things the way the market wants, I’ll do that with a smile and enthusiasm. Politics is not my thing, no ”passion” there from me, yet for my business I interact with politicians all the time, I am passionate about doing whatever it takes for my business to thrive.

I did share F*ck ups. You only read one post, for some reason, I guess you were too lazy to read the rest of the thread?

I am not starting a department store.

This wasn't helpful.

Yeah, I put a lot of ideas in the original post that are maybe wrong (what if I don't need an audience?) People already pointed that out. I took their advice. I said "hey, good point!"

Your advice was basically "you're dumb." Thanks for nothing AF...

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

Are you sure you “need” to grow an audience?



Is your product really that great?



How can you have an amazing product but be unable to talk about it in an exciting way? If I was selling a salt and pepper shaker set to restaurants at prices and quality they’d love, I’d have an audience talking about my product.



This is why you are struggling. The oxymoron: “this is not my passion, business is my passion!“ You are full of shit dude. If business is your passion, what do you mean by that? Theory about business only? Not the practical application of everything you’ve learned over the years?




Look, I’ll be me here and rip a strip of your back because I think you need it.

The whole post, the way it’s written is full of “statements”. You already “know” you need this and that. You’ve built walls around your problem with what you “know” and are asking the forum to do the impossible. To work around YOUR rules and what YOU think you “know” and still come up with a solution for your product … one way: to build an audience so you have 2,000,000 followers to whom you’ll sell your product. That’s backwards.

Try this instead: get genuinely interested in WHY you aren’t crushing it in this business? Be honest, share your F*ck ups, your successes… start brainstorming.

Put it another way, instead of asking “how can I build an audience?” Ask “what makes businesses like mine successful?”

How did other people in this line of business make it? Success is repeatable. Do what worked for others.

Let’s get more granular. You are in Retail business sector.

The birth of the department store ​

One of the most important innovations in retail real estate was the invention of the department store. These stores stocked all kinds of products or services under one roof, making shopping easier.

This new kind of establishment changed how we shop because it lowered transaction costs for customers and vendors alike. Economist Michael C. Munger defines transaction costs by three categories:

– “Triangulation” is how potential buyers and sellers find one another.

– “Transfer” implies getting the goods from the seller to the buyer; and

– “Trust” means buyer and seller are both assured they will receive what they expect.

Sidebar: Successful innovations of the 1890s department store also included laying out merchandise and allowing shoppers to browse, aggregating different categories of products in the same space, spending on advertising and paying commissions. Today we take these ideas for granted, but back then they were new and inventive.

Do you get it? Your whole post is focused on “triangulation”. You think buyers can’t find you! And that having followers would solve that problem.

What have you done about Transfer and Trust? Amazon solved all 3 and pretty much nuked the whole Retail industry - disruption! How are you transferring your product to your buyers?

Most importantly - I think it’s a matter of Trust. Trust isn’t just trusting that what you sell is as advertised, trust is also that your product is the best for the money. It’ll perform well, it’ll last a long time, it’ll be returned with no hassle if I don’t like it… How are you doing any of that for me @thechosen1 ? With just some audience and following… you aren’t solving the right problems yet.

Good luck.


P.S. This whole “passion” nonsense is always driving me crazy. I am passionate about building businesses, building an empire. If that means I have to do things the way the market wants, I’ll do that with a smile and enthusiasm. Politics is not my thing, no ”passion” there from me, yet for my business I interact with politicians all the time, I am passionate about doing whatever it takes for my business to thrive.

Ok.

Wow.

If you just read the thread, you would have realized we already covered why the original post was wrong, and maybe could have offered ideas of what to do instead... (instead of writing a novel of insults).

Or just save your time and energy and write nothing. Move on. Just wasting your effort on being an a**hole.

What you posted is very long, and 99% of it is criticism of my post, with 1% of it being actual advice about "Trust." Which is not actionable in any way. You really could have saved your effort here. Let me spare you before you gripe about how you wasted your energy replying to this thread... Just read the thread next time...

 

[Jrjohnny]

Yo I gotta grab my popcorn

 

[BizyDad]

Get ready, it's about to become a thread on how awesome Antifragile is.

Ok dude, calm down. You made your point, the thread doesn't need 3 posts about how upset you are either.

Selling 8 at a time, while it’s kind of nice, isn’t going to get you to where you actually want to go.

800 at a time will.

Your market is validated. Basspro liked it.

The attitude you should take to these meetings is “confidently new” to the wholesale game. Not apologetic that you are a little guy. Not fake it till you make it. Bring actual evidence that you can make a solid product and knowledge of your supply chain that says you can deliver.

Here’s step two… Once those relationships are built, keep using them. Create other products with the specific understanding that you now have a relationship with Basspro and Academy. Make it your business model to feed those companies with stuff they love.

Let's go back to this. The BP deal fell thru a while ago I think.

What are you doing? How are you addressing the shortcomings?

Maybe Kak could pull off the Basspro deal, but maybe you aren't ready. But you are ready to expand your network of little dealers. Have you done anything with that in the past couple years?

If am influencer mentions the product, where do you want them to send people? Your website or the local store?

If it is your website... Have you tried display ads to go direct B2C? Post ads on fishing forums. Have you created videos talking about how great the product is?

You might not want to hear it, but AF has a point. You are on the forum a lot theory crafting business. But what are you doing to jump into the arena and actually grow yours? Why do Kak and I have more confidence is your business idea than you do?

Whether it's BassPro or it's contacting influencers, I can't help but feel like this is "just a shortcut" for you. You aren't invested in this.

What action steps for you going to actually take as a result of this thread here?

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

Ok dude, calm down. You made your point, the thread doesn't need 3 posts about how upset you are either.



Let's go back to this. The BP deal fell thru a while ago I think.

What are you doing? How are you addressing the shortcomings?

Maybe Kak could pull off the Basspro deal, but maybe you aren't ready. But you are ready to expand your network of little dealers. Have you done anything with that in the past couple years?

If am influencer mentions the product, where do you want them to send people? Your website or the local store?

If it is your website... Have you tried display ads to go direct B2C? Post ads on fishing forums. Have you created videos talking about how great the product is?

You might not want to hear it, but AF has a point. You are on the forum a lot theory crafting business. But what are you doing to jump into the arena and actually grow yours? Why do Kak and I have more confidence is your business idea than you do?

Whether it's BassPro or it's contacting influencers, I can't help but feel like this is "just a shortcut" for you. You aren't invested in this.

What action steps for you going to actually take as a result of this thread here?

I've been talking to my supplier about getting more inventory made. That's been the whole problem this whole time; it's gotten very expensive to manufacture this thing. And like I said above, I spent $5,000 of my own money on the last batch (min. order), and like Kak said, I'm not in a position to get a big investment for a speculative order either. So I'm muddling along on a shoestring. It's not very complicated - it costs a lot of money to start up a product business, I'm self-funded, and I'm going through it while also paying for a lot of other things.

There are other suppliers out there, but not with my custom tooling, who understand the drawings, know how to make it, with the right bending, the logo, know how to do the coating, yadda yadda yadda...

So I'm trying to negotiate this price and find better freight and also take away the box/packaging aspect from this supplier and find a separate box supplier, then find a cheaper way for me to ship to my customers and a cheaper way to package it here in the states, etc...

To your other point: LOL.

TLDR: I can't throw away money willy nilly. I need better pricing and costs. I need a plan for manufacturing and shipping before I dive back in. I am working on all these things.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I did share F*ck ups. You only read one post, for some reason, I guess you were too lazy to read the rest of the thread?

I am not starting a department store.

This wasn't helpful.

Yeah, I put a lot of ideas in the original post that are maybe wrong (what if I don't need an audience?) People already pointed that out. I took their advice. I said "hey, good point!"

Your advice was basically "you're dumb." Thanks for nothing AF...

Interesting, I didn't see his post as degrading toward yourself, but pointing out some things that could be stumbling blocks in your process, things you might not have recognized. I never heard the business notion of "triangulation" "trust" and "transfer" so that alone was interesting, even if you didn't find it relevant to your current challenge.

We all share your frustration in believing you have a valuable product but can't seem to "break through" to an audience. It truly is the classic entrepreneurial dilemma.

However spending countless hours building an audience for the sake of a "push" (as others said) is backward.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Interesting, I didn't see his post as degrading toward yourself, but pointing out some things that could be stumbling blocks in your process, things you might not have recognized. I never heard the business notion of "triangulation" "trust" and "transfer" so that alone was interesting, even if you didn't find it relevant to your current challenge.

We all share your frustration in believing you have a valuable product but can't seem to "break through" to an audience. It truly is the classic entrepreneurial dilemma.

However spending countless hours building an audience for the sake of a "push" (as others said) is backward.

Thanks and I agree, this makes sense. I won't build the audience. Got that from you, @Kak @Kung Fu Steve @BizyDad etc. and I really appreciate that.

For the record, the main thing that set me off was being called, "full of shit."

That’s just not conducive to a good discussion, nor is it constructive or helpful to anybody.

 

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[Kak]

and like Kak said, I'm not in a position to get a big investment for a speculative order either

I actually didn’t say that it would require some kind of outside investment. I said that companies don’t do it that way.

Let’s create a hypothetical.

You get your manufacturing and supply answers.

Then…

You go back to basspro… You are more confident in your ability to produce... And, you convince them to buy $150k worth of inventory.

You now have to put $50-75k on the line to produce these items. I understand how that is kind of scary, but it is secured by an order from a creditworthy company.

You probably don’t want to self fund it, but the cool part is you don’t have to. All of a sudden, you are an investable company.

Why don’t you draw that conclusion to some investors now? See if this is something they would be interested in. Get them to say yes to money contingent on a basspro order.

You have to decide if you are comfortable funding it or if you want outside capital. Don’t make basspro wait your capitalization efforts. Get it taken care of now.

If you had the ability to financially and logistically say yes to any order, would you be a little more confident in your exchanges?

Also with this new income from a big b2b order, you can shower free product on YouTube fisherman all over the place.

 

[Kak]

I did share F*ck ups. You only read one post, for some reason, I guess you were too lazy to read the rest of the thread?

I am not starting a department store.

This wasn't helpful.

Yeah, I put a lot of ideas in the original post that are maybe wrong (what if I don't need an audience?) People already pointed that out. I took their advice. I said "hey, good point!"

Your advice was basically "you're dumb." Thanks for nothing AF...

I think you should chill. Let’s reframe the situation.

@Antifragile, a successful entrepreneur that has never met you in real life wants you to succeed so bad that he’s willing to give you some tough love.

His time is worth quite a bit at this point, but he came in here to give his two cents. He’s volunteering to lend you a hand. We all are.

Leaders need to be able to take constructive criticism, and do something with it, not dismiss it as unconstructive.

Be introspective and ask yourself if you’re triggered because he’s right. Then ask how you can reset your trajectory.

 

[Shrimpfriedrice]

My niche is not my passion, and I have zero interest in making content for it. It's focused on fishing, which is something I would do every now and then, but I am not passionate about it the way I am about, say, playing the guitar, or working out, or business. Giving people "free content on fishing" is not something I'm going to be able to do without starting a new fishing hobby from 0 to 1,000 hours of recreational fishing in the evenings and weekends, just to learn the difference between a lure and a... I don't even have a good analogy here, because I fish so rarely.

I totally relate to this. My niche is rainwater harvesting, which I have no experience in too, and fell into it because there are needs. I waffle every day between "should I be doing this" to "this is fun!" It's very, very normal.

My advice, if I was talking to my younger self, would be to stick with it if the interest and money are there. Passion will come the more you interact with and talk to real people. You want to connect with them. Soon, you will find out that you have more in common with them outside of the niche. You start to care about them, even if you aren't passionate about spending time in the niche. That's okay. Hang onto the people connection. After lots more ups and downs, you will discover something that they're dealing with that will make you angry or frustrated. To me, that gives me passion. Anger/frustration + excitement + money (rewarded to continue going) = passion. I had to hang on long enough to find it. I still waffle back and forth. But what keeps me going are the people.

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

Leaders need to be able to take constructive criticism, and do something with it, not dismiss it as unconstructive.

Constructive =/= unconstructive

I'm not a doormat, man. I'm a leader. That guy doesn't give two shits if I succeed. Case closed on that one. Being called "full of shit" is not a helpful piece of business advice.

Anyway....I appreciate the actionable advice from others.

Update:
And again... I don't need approval... I'm here asking questions, sharing my failures, looking for help... if the help I get is "F*ck you, you're full of shit," my response, as a man, and a person with self respect, is an equivalent response...
RE to post below. @BizyDad

Step 1 of success: enough self respect to not let idiots treat you like dogshit.

 

[BizyDad]

Two thoughts and I have to bounce.

1. Kak defining what a leader does and watching Chosen display the exact opposite is just perfect forum hilarity. Why bother? There was zero self reflection there. Chosen assumes he knows AF well enough that Chosen can decide AF DGAF. Once again we see the hubris of @thechosen1 shining through. He knows people's motivation better than they do apparently.

2. This is the second time in a week AF has pissed someone off simply by cursing. It is one thing to curse at your actual real life friends. But if you want someone to receive your business advice as business advice on a business forum, try using the language of business. Saying chosen "is full of shit" Vs "is fooling himself" carries two different connotations but essentially the same meaning. One is simply more respectful. Tough love is fine, often welcomed here. Cursing is rarely well received.

Food for thought.