HELLO everyone!

[Otis Bogue]

HELLO! Thanks for having me here. I have read the book, but in all honesty it's been a while. I am in NE South Dakota and was referred by someone here, Michael1359.

I am a married father of 7, and like most folks am looking to escape from the rat race at some point.

I am an HVAC Service Tech by trade but I have a side gig I've been working for the last 4+ years and it's NOT a FASTLANE. I am in the middle of some changes that are bringing it way CLOSER to being a fastlane but....... not yet.

I will do some reading and searching here on the site before I go off asking a bunch of questions that have already been answered.

Thanks for having me and I look forward to perusing the threads searching for the gold!

 

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[Michael1359]

HELLO! Thanks for having me here. I have read the book, but in all honesty it's been a while. I am in NE South Dakota and was referred by someone here, Michael1359.

I am a married father of 7, and like most folks am looking to escape from the rat race at some point.

I am an HVAC Service Tech by trade but I have a side gig I've been working for the last 4+ years and it's NOT a FASTLANE. I am in the middle of some changes that are bringing it way CLOSER to being a fastlane but....... not yet.

I will do some reading and searching here on the site before I go off asking a bunch of questions that have already been answered.

Thanks for having me and I look forward to perusing the threads searching for the gold!

Welcome brother!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Under-Dog]

Welcome friend! You've already taken the first step with your side gig congrats... Make sure to read the GOLD posts I've found incredible value their that have helped change the way I think and operate.

 

[OldFaithful]

Welcome to the forum, it's a great place to learn.

In what area is your "side gig"? You might find resources here to help you grow it into your main gig.

 

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[Otis Bogue]

Welcome to the forum, it's a great place to learn.

In what area is your "side gig"? You might find resources here to help you grow it into your main gig.

I wasn't sure if it was cool to show that here, I didn't want to self promote in a learning environment.
Just over 4 years ago I started making custom pistol holsters. While I have gotten quite good at it, I have learned also that it's not likely that I am going to want to scale due to the high skill level requirement and lack of knowledge about how to do that profitably. A couple of years ago I added firearms training to the list of products and services offered and I have found that to be exponentially more effective at flowing cash.

My website has been www.LakeCityTactical.com since I began. Our story is wide and deep, and I've been on a journey to learn how to condense that story into something that could easily be converted into high value marketing collateral. I recently took the StoryBrand workshop and that really opened my eyes to what my customer sees when they land on a web page. While in process of converting to this, simpler, and vastly more effective marketing strategy I struggled most with figuring out how to trim my ideals down to a sentence or two. It's just TOO DEEP. We can't even agree on what to put on T-shirts.

It's been CLEAR that we (my bride and I, and also my nephew) want to LEAP to that next level where we tap into what makes people really trigger in a customer group or a "tribe" so to speak. It's obvious that it happens, and I'm about to do it. One thing that is universally true in the firearms training business is that firearms trainers are typically THE worst at marketing and branding. While some of them come CLOSE to hitting the mark, I think I have finally uncovered what they are almost all missing. That boils down to two points.

1. They almost ALWAYS focus everything on the instructor being the HERO of the STORY. And since many of them are super mega alpha military/law enforcement that mentality comes easy for them. We are going to paint a picture where the CUSTOMER can become the HERO of their own story so to speak.

2. Brand positioning in the marketplace is KEY. And since all these alpha ninja superheroes are thinking of themselves and their 6 pack abs they're buying up all the domains that are like "www.IamtheToughGuy.com" and "www.JimBobsFactoryofBadassery.com" . My solution to this is that I am going to take a page from some really smart guys and I'm going to place myself to appear to be THE state sanctioned provider for the specific type of training that I am doing. Since I am not necessarily advertising MYSELF first, I will be more along the lines of www.texasconcealedcarrytraining.com. This will also allow me the opportunity to bring on additional instructors as we grow thereby alleviating my need to be present at every course, and allowing me to get into the FASTLANE.

What do you think?

 

[Under-Dog]

I wasn't sure if it was cool to show that here, I didn't want to self promote in a learning environment.
Just over 4 years ago I started making custom pistol holsters. While I have gotten quite good at it, I have learned also that it's not likely that I am going to want to scale due to the high skill level requirement and lack of knowledge about how to do that profitably. A couple of years ago I added firearms training to the list of products and services offered and I have found that to be exponentially more effective at flowing cash.

My website has been www.LakeCityTactical.com since I began. Our story is wide and deep, and I've been on a journey to learn how to condense that story into something that could easily be converted into high value marketing collateral. I recently took the StoryBrand workshop and that really opened my eyes to what my customer sees when they land on a web page. While in process of converting to this, simpler, and vastly more effective marketing strategy I struggled most with figuring out how to trim my ideals down to a sentence or two. It's just TOO DEEP. We can't even agree on what to put on T-shirts.

It's been CLEAR that we (my bride and I, and also my nephew) want to LEAP to that next level where we tap into what makes people really trigger in a customer group or a "tribe" so to speak. It's obvious that it happens, and I'm about to do it. One thing that is universally true in the firearms training business is that firearms trainers are typically THE worst at marketing and branding. While some of them come CLOSE to hitting the mark, I think I have finally uncovered what they are almost all missing. That boils down to two points.

1. They almost ALWAYS focus everything on the instructor being the HERO of the STORY. And since many of them are super mega alpha military/law enforcement that mentality comes easy for them. We are going to paint a picture where the CUSTOMER can become the HERO of their own story so to speak.

2. Brand positioning in the marketplace is KEY. And since all these alpha ninja superheroes are thinking of themselves and their 6 pack abs they're buying up all the domains that are like "www.IamtheToughGuy.com" and "www.JimBobsFactoryofBadassery.com" . My solution to this is that I am going to take a page from some really smart guys and I'm going to place myself to appear to be THE state sanctioned provider for the specific type of training that I am doing. Since I am not necessarily advertising MYSELF first, I will be more along the lines of www.texasconcealedcarrytraining.com. This will also allow me the opportunity to bring on additional instructors as we grow thereby alleviating my need to be present at every course, and allowing me to get into the FASTLANE.

What do you think?

How's your social media marketing? This industry has been booming on Instagram for some time now so that might be something you'd want to work on. Also focus on bringing value to your customers for example why should I choose to go with your product over say T-rex arms? Currently you're only offering one product? Have you considered expanding that? There are a few other products that would compliment your main product such as mag holders and so much more. The training idea is good however, a lot of these instructors are so full of themselves and talk down on their very own customers so your approach would be great.

 

[Otis Bogue]

I am pivoting away from the holsters and towards the training and we are working on a completely new website hence the lack of updates.

I am on Facebook with about 2800 followers. I am also on Instagram but am not too successful there either. I have been drinking from a firehose trying to learn to do well in social media.

I have been utilizing Facebook ads to fill my classes successfully but I think I can do WAY WAY better. Especially after the branding shift.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[Otis Bogue]

How's your social media marketing? This industry has been booming on Instagram for some time now so that might be something you'd want to work on. Also focus on bringing value to your customers for example why should I choose to go with your product over say T-rex arms? Currently you're only offering one product? Have you considered expanding that? There are a few other products that would compliment your main product such as mag holders and so much more. The training idea is good however, a lot of these instructors are so full of themselves and talk down on their very own customers so your approach would be great.

Back to the point about Social Media - learning the effective techniques for SM is like drinking from a fire hose. I think I need to hire a 12 year old girl to help me out. LOL.

 

[Under-Dog]

Back to the point about Social Media - learning the effective techniques for SM is like drinking from a fire hose. I think I need to hire a 12 year old girl to help me out. LOL.

It can be tough, but you definitely need to go the organic growth route. Are you actively engaging with your current audience? Make sure you are posting daily at least 2x-3x a day spread out the day. Remember hashtags are your friends on this one, make sure to be using all the relative hashtags for this category. Important don't just post random stuff spamming post stuff these gun folk want to see. I personally enjoy seeing posts of peoples weapons, their builds, the drills they run, etc... Look up big people in this niche such as: Truexodus, thegatman, sgtandbrad,