Humble Hustle & Scaling My Agency - Progress Thread

[BlackMagician]

G'day All,

I am back with lots of battle scars, tons of failures and going back to square one after my last post.

The journey has been hellish, mentally, physically and emotionally.

In Sept 22, I posted about my agency progress, doing okiesh with everything in life.

Then I fell ill in Sept 22. Got admitted in hospital for a 15 days and found that i had Tuberculosis (T.B).
After few days, and couple of more test, doctors found, i also have HIV.

From there everything crashed. I never had intimate relationship with anyone before my marriage and my wife is HIV negative but i got HIV positive. I don't know how. Well that sucks.

Every damn thing just crashed hard.

I was not prepared for anything like this. Anyhow, because of strong mental capacity, the HIV thing, didn't have much impact on my mind and emotions, but physically, i was destroyed, due to both T.B and HIV.

So a long hustle of medication started to cure T.B asap, which dramatically reduced my ability to function properly.

I always had high fever
I was not able to sleep long
Constant body ache, weakness, dizziness
Only 3-4 hours of mental energy to function

Hence i took the decision on pausing the agency altogether, telling my clients goodbye becoz it became difficult to function in my day to day activities.

Also, due to no preparation and zero savings, I also had to earn food for my big family (8).

Hence i started looking for job in agencies and found 1 after a month.

Due to health, i had to take this and started working in the agency, remotely, with minimal input from my end.
The agency owner was a friend connection so he helped me initially with work load.

i scraped by someone how in those 9 months, financially.

Simultaneously, due to no savings, I was constantly in pressure to earn my bread, which also made my family very restless (parents) because its only me in my family that earns. My family was very supportive and worry constantly about my health and my work.

At the same time, my family and my wife started having issues between them and the relationship started getting sour.

I somehow managed (we live in joint family here in India)

4 months back, i had a cute and lovely baby boy. My first child.

Almost everything was going wrong. I also stopped doing any spiritual work i used to do.

It's been 11 months now since then.

I have recovered my health. T.B is cured. HIV medication is going (there is NO cure).

2 months back, i again took decision of leaving the job and start working on my agency again.

Right now i have 2 clients in hand that pays the bill.

Relationship between my family and wife is still sour but i am handling things somehow.

Mentally and physically i am ok but still fog/stress/depress and weak body.

I will give a detailed update on my status on BIZ and what i am doing/going to do to grow again in next post.

Right now, i just wanted to say HI to all of you once again that i am back

Posting here about all of these to unload my mind a little and start using the forum for positive feedback loop and accountability from you guys.

You guys have been a morale support for me and I am thankful for that. Kindly be responsive on this thread that i will revive and again strive to achieve my goals/dreams.

Just wish me luck and give your blessings.
@Kak @Andy Black @MJ DeMarco @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL
Tagging all of you who were following this thread so that you can share your inputs on this.
It could be possible that my current mindset is wrong so you can point me. I am open to all feedbacks, criticism and support.


Until next time
Thanks
Sayonara
BM

 

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[Andy Black]

G'day All,

I am back with lots of battle scars, tons of failures and going back to square one after my last post.

The journey has been hellish, mentally, physically and emotionally.

In Sept 22, I posted about my agency progress, doing okiesh with everything in life.

Then I fell ill in Sept 22. Got admitted in hospital for a 15 days and found that i had Tuberculosis (T.B).
After few days, and couple of more test, doctors found, i also have HIV.

From there everything crashed. I never had intimate relationship with anyone before my marriage and my wife is HIV negative but i got HIV positive. I don't know how. Well that sucks.

Every damn thing just crashed hard.

I was not prepared for anything like this. Anyhow, because of strong mental capacity, the HIV thing, didn't have much impact on my mind and emotions, but physically, i was destroyed, due to both T.B and HIV.

So a long hustle of medication started to cure T.B asap, which dramatically reduced my ability to function properly.

I always had high fever
I was not able to sleep long
Constant body ache, weakness, dizziness
Only 3-4 hours of mental energy to function

Hence i took the decision on pausing the agency altogether, telling my clients goodbye becoz it became difficult to function in my day to day activities.

Also, due to no preparation and zero savings, I also had to earn food for my big family (8).

Hence i started looking for job in agencies and found 1 after a month.

Due to health, i had to take this and started working in the agency, remotely, with minimal input from my end.
The agency owner was a friend connection so he helped me initially with work load.

i scraped by someone how in those 9 months, financially.

Simultaneously, due to no savings, I was constantly in pressure to earn my bread, which also made my family very restless (parents) because its only me in my family that earns. My family was very supportive and worry constantly about my health and my work.

At the same time, my family and my wife started having issues between them and the relationship started getting sour.

I somehow managed (we live in joint family here in India)

4 months back, i had a cute and lovely baby boy. My first child.

Almost everything was going wrong. I also stopped doing any spiritual work i used to do.

It's been 11 months now since then.

I have recovered my health. T.B is cured. HIV medication is going (there is NO cure).

2 months back, i again took decision of leaving the job and start working on my agency again.

Right now i have 2 clients in hand that pays the bill.

Relationship between my family and wife is still sour but i am handling things somehow.

Mentally and physically i am ok but still fog/stress/depress and weak body.

I will give a detailed update on my status on BIZ and what i am doing/going to do to grow again in next post.

Right now, i just wanted to say HI to all of you once again that i am back

Posting here about all of these to unload my mind a little and start using the forum for positive feedback loop and accountability from you guys.

You guys have been a morale support for me and I am thankful for that. Kindly be responsive on this thread that i will revive and again strive to achieve my goals/dreams.

Just wish me luck and give your blessings.
@Kak @Andy Black @MJ DeMarco @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL
Tagging all of you who were following this thread so that you can share your inputs on this.
It could be possible that my current mindset is wrong so you can point me. I am open to all feedbacks, criticism and support.


Until next time
Thanks
Sayonara
BM

Sorry to hear of the illnesses. From the way you've written it doesn't seem like you're complaining or have given up, so kudos for you for battling through, and congrats to you both on your first child. You've powerful motivation now you're a dad.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Then I fell ill in Sept 22. Got admitted in hospital for a 15 days and found that i had Tuberculosis (T.B).
After few days, and couple of more test, doctors found, i also have HIV.

From there everything crashed. I never had intimate relationship with anyone before my marriage and my wife is HIV negative but i got HIV positive. I don't know how. Well that sucks.

Sorry to hear buddy.

If:
1. You never had sexual relations with anyone, of any kind, until getting married AND
2. You never did IV drugs or used dirty needles on yourself AND
3. Never had and never did any blood transfusions

Then I highly encourage you to take the HIV test again. False positives do exist, and HIV is hard to acquire. It's less than 1% chance to acquire it if you have sex with a well-known HIV positive person without protection. Even receiving anal sex from an HIV positive person only has about a 1% chance of transmission.

 

[BizyDad]

G'day All,

I am back with lots of battle scars, tons of failures and going back to square one after my last post.

The journey has been hellish, mentally, physically and emotionally.

In Sept 22, I posted about my agency progress, doing okiesh with everything in life.

Then I fell ill in Sept 22. Got admitted in hospital for a 15 days and found that i had Tuberculosis (T.B).
After few days, and couple of more test, doctors found, i also have HIV.

From there everything crashed. I never had intimate relationship with anyone before my marriage and my wife is HIV negative but i got HIV positive. I don't know how. Well that sucks.

Every damn thing just crashed hard.

I was not prepared for anything like this. Anyhow, because of strong mental capacity, the HIV thing, didn't have much impact on my mind and emotions, but physically, i was destroyed, due to both T.B and HIV.

So a long hustle of medication started to cure T.B asap, which dramatically reduced my ability to function properly.

I always had high fever
I was not able to sleep long
Constant body ache, weakness, dizziness
Only 3-4 hours of mental energy to function

Hence i took the decision on pausing the agency altogether, telling my clients goodbye becoz it became difficult to function in my day to day activities.

Also, due to no preparation and zero savings, I also had to earn food for my big family (8).

Hence i started looking for job in agencies and found 1 after a month.

Due to health, i had to take this and started working in the agency, remotely, with minimal input from my end.
The agency owner was a friend connection so he helped me initially with work load.

i scraped by someone how in those 9 months, financially.

Simultaneously, due to no savings, I was constantly in pressure to earn my bread, which also made my family very restless (parents) because its only me in my family that earns. My family was very supportive and worry constantly about my health and my work.

At the same time, my family and my wife started having issues between them and the relationship started getting sour.

I somehow managed (we live in joint family here in India)

4 months back, i had a cute and lovely baby boy. My first child.

Almost everything was going wrong. I also stopped doing any spiritual work i used to do.

It's been 11 months now since then.

I have recovered my health. T.B is cured. HIV medication is going (there is NO cure).

2 months back, i again took decision of leaving the job and start working on my agency again.

Right now i have 2 clients in hand that pays the bill.

Relationship between my family and wife is still sour but i am handling things somehow.

Mentally and physically i am ok but still fog/stress/depress and weak body.

I will give a detailed update on my status on BIZ and what i am doing/going to do to grow again in next post.

Right now, i just wanted to say HI to all of you once again that i am back

Posting here about all of these to unload my mind a little and start using the forum for positive feedback loop and accountability from you guys.

You guys have been a morale support for me and I am thankful for that. Kindly be responsive on this thread that i will revive and again strive to achieve my goals/dreams.

Just wish me luck and give your blessings.
@Kak @Andy Black @MJ DeMarco @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL
Tagging all of you who were following this thread so that you can share your inputs on this.
It could be possible that my current mindset is wrong so you can point me. I am open to all feedbacks, criticism and support.


Until next time
Thanks
Sayonara
BM

Your update was a punch to the gut. This is some of the hardest challenges in life we can face.

You are displaying remarkable and remarketable perseverance. I am amazed.

I believe you are going to find a way to take this burden and show people what overcoming obstacles really looks like.

I look forward to your further progress reports.

 

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[BlackMagician]

Your update was a punch to the gut. This is some of the hardest challenges in life we can face.

You are displaying remarkable and remarketable perseverance. I am amazed.

I believe you are going to find a way to take this burden and show people what overcoming obstacles really looks like.

I look forward to your further progress reports.

Thanks for this man. I remember all the advices you gave till now in this journey of mine and they were very valuable.

I will again breakthrough all these blockage and achieve what I have dreamed.

Nothing will stop me.

Thanks for the support

 

[BlackMagician]

Sorry to hear buddy.

If:
1. You never had sexual relations with anyone, of any kind, until getting married AND
2. You never did IV drugs or used dirty needles on yourself AND
3. Never had and never did any blood transfusions

Then I highly encourage you to take the HIV test again. False positives do exist, and HIV is hard to acquire. It's less than 1% chance to acquire it if you have sex with a well-known HIV positive person without protection. Even receiving anal sex from an HIV positive person only has about a 1% chance of transmission.

No bro. I haven't haid any sex with anyone ever. Only with wife and she is negative.i
might have received a dirty injection. That's the best guess I can do. I tested 4 times as of now and it's positive unfortunately.

 

[BlackMagician]

Sorry to hear of the illnesses. From the way you've written it doesn't seem like you're complaining or have given up, so kudos for you for battling through, and congrats to you both on your first child. You've powerful motivation now you're a dad.

Yes, becoming a dad pushes you to do more.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

No bro. I haven't haid any sex with anyone ever. Only with wife and she is negative.i
might have received a dirty injection. That's the best guess I can do. I tested 4 times as of now and it's positive unfortunately.

Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that. It’s a very tough thing to handle especially since you know you didn’t do anything wrong on your end.

HIV is no longer the death sentence it used to be, now with the right drugs you can live a long, fulfilled life. Try to look on the bright side — you have your family, you have your skills and you still have you. There’s a lot going for you.

I think you have the potential to inspire a lot of us — and you’re already doing it — through your bravery and how you handle this situation. So thank you for that!

 

[RicardoGrande]

Sorry to hear buddy.

Then I highly encourage you to take the HIV test again. False positives do exist, and HIV is hard to acquire. It's less than 1% chance to acquire it if you have sex with a well-known HIV positive person without protection. Even receiving anal sex from an HIV positive person only has about a 1% chance of transmission.

Echoing this, it's kind of crackpot AF but a few "rogue" doctors I followed on twitter through c0v1d suggested that having covid or the thing that was pushed to "cure" it could cause immune system imbalances and cell depletion in a fashion similar to HIV. If I find the links I'll PM you.
One of the things to counteract post-c0v1d was to take N-acetylcysteine or NAC which helps you boost your glutathione (master anti-oxidant) production.

Glad your child is okay and healthy and you're not wallowing in pity, just looking to your next steps bro

 

[BlackMagician]

Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that. It’s a very tough thing to handle especially since you know you didn’t do anything wrong on your end.

HIV is no longer the death sentence it used to be, now with the right drugs you can live a long, fulfilled life. Try to look on the bright side — you have your family, you have your skills and you still have you. There’s a lot going for you.

I think you have the potential to inspire a lot of us — and you’re already doing it — through your bravery and how you handle this situation. So thank you for that!

Thanks for the support Black dragon. We are from same universe. Black magician and black dragon .

I am still on medication for TB and likely this month, it will be cured. HIV med will be a lifelong thing. This was the longest I was sick. 10 months almost.

I am just uplifting my mind as of now and trying to focus on getting couple of clients so that i can be back on track and then start growing the agency.

I have also started creating my personal brand on LinkedIn by sharing tons of value most agencies don't share, through which I have started getting leads. 3 leads are in pipeline.
I will create a proper post about biz update today.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

I have also started creating my personal brand on LinkedIn by sharing tons of value most agencies don't share, through which I have started getting leads. 3 leads are in pipeline.
I will create a proper post about biz update today.

Nice, for my current agency I got 90% of our clients from LinkedIn. At my peak, I signed up 24 clients in 1 month from LinkedIn... Unfortunately, my 8,000 connection account got unfairly/wrongly banned. Now I'm rebuilding my audience via Twitter... but I still believe LinkedIn is BY FAR the best channel to acquire agency clients, which is why the service continues to be LinkedIn based for my clients.

 

[Andy Black]

Nice, for my current agency I got 90% of our clients from LinkedIn. At my peak, I signed up 24 clients in 1 month from LinkedIn... Unfortunately, I got my 8,000 connection account banned for openly teaching about how I was doing it. Now I'm rebuilding my audience via Twitter... but I still believe LinkedIn is BY FAR the best channel to acquire agency clients, which is why the service continues to be LinkedIn based for my clients.

Eeek to Twitter. I find it an odd place. I much prefer bouncing around on LinkedIn. I changed my Twitter password to something I don't know and am letting it gather dust. Can you create another LinkedIn account and start again?


@BlackMagician ... I uploaded a video to YouTube today that you may find useful. Here's the thread:

MARKETING - SIDE HUSTLE - [Workshop Replay] Selling Google Ads as a Service

Here's a presentation about how I started and am building a business that provides Google Ads as a service to other businesses. I did it for @Fox 's paid web design group last year and he's kindly allowed me to share it. It should also help people starting other businesses. Let me know what...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Eeek to Twitter. I find it an odd place. I much prefer bouncing around on LinkedIn. I changed my Twitter password to something I don't know and am letting it gather dust. Can you create another LinkedIn account and start again?

Theoretically possible, BUT, there are good chances that my legal team will be able to recover the account, given sufficient time (1-3 months). So I don't want to create a new account in the meantime, because that is against LinkedIn TOS, and they may look at it as a way to circumvent their investigation.

I'm getting the hang of Twitter, and I feel that while LinkedIn is definitely more professional, I actually enjoy Twitter. There's almost no spam nowadays, while before it used to be very spammy. Even the people who try to sell me on Twitter, they are much nicer in their approach than most people who used to try to sell me stuff via LinkedIn, who were a lot more direct.

There's actually a thread I had planned for fastlane sharing my story, meant to be posted as a guest article. I've actually paid for it already, but haven't had time to post it.

Interestingly enough, I haven't yet felt the effects of getting banned on LinkedIn, because I got banned with a full pipeline. So I'm still getting clients signed up, because there are many who want to join, but not yet. The issue is that there has been a decrease in terms of the volume at the top of the funnel and new calls, so there will be an impact, probably I'll start feeling it late August/September. I got banned on 11th July.

 

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[Andy Black]

Theoretically possible, BUT, there are good chances that my legal team will be able to recover the account, given sufficient time (1-3 months). So I don't want to create a new account in the meantime, because that is against LinkedIn TOS, and they may look at it as a way to circumvent their investigation.

I'm getting the hang of Twitter, and I feel that while LinkedIn is definitely more professional, I actually enjoy Twitter. There's almost no spam nowadays, while before it used to be very spammy. Even the people who try to sell me on Twitter, they are much nicer in their approach than most people who used to try to sell me stuff via LinkedIn, who were a lot more direct.

There's actually a thread I had planned for fastlane sharing my story, meant to be posted as a guest article. I've actually paid for it already, but haven't had time to post it.

Interestingly enough, I haven't yet felt the effects of getting banned on LinkedIn, because I got banned with a full pipeline. So I'm still getting clients signed up, because there are many who want to join, but not yet. The issue is that there has been a decrease in terms of the volume at the top of the funnel and new calls, so there will be an impact, probably I'll start feeling it late August/September. I got banned on 11th July.

I actually enjoyed the conversations I got into on Twitter. I even had a back and forth on one of Nathan Barry's tweets (he's the founder of ConvertKit). I think we're more likely to get a hold of someone on Twitter than LinkedIn. It's just a wierd platform to post on if you don't have an engaged audience already. I think it's best replying and building relationships with people in the comments.

 

[Antifragile]

I am open to all feedbacks, criticism and support.

Give it some thought, how can we help you? What are some of the most pressing challenges? @Black_Dragon43 can probably help with the agency business side. There are plenty of others here who could also plug in. It’s a big community, and when life deals a blow… you are still standing!! Time to find a way together to make you stand tall and start kicking a$$.

How can we help? What are the most pressing challenges? Who from the FLF is best suited to help you the most? Let’s figure this out.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

@Black_Dragon43 can probably help with the agency business side

More than happy to help brother. I can give @BlackMagician free access to our Discord community + Learning Platform, so he has all the support her needs to get back up on his feet in terms of business growth. And more than happy to share my strategy for LinkedIn growth with him for free. If you're interested @BlackMagician just shoot me a DM

 

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[BlackMagician]

More than happy to help brother. I can give @BlackMagician free access to our Discord community + Learning Platform, so he has all the support her needs to get back up on his feet in terms of business growth. And more than happy to share my strategy for LinkedIn growth with him for free. If you're interested @BlackMagician just shoot me a DM

Thanks for saying so much. I will DM you.

How can we help? What are the most pressing challenges? Who from the FLF is best suited to help you the most? Let’s figure this out.

Let me think on this. I will come with exact things I need help in. Thank you for pointing in right direction.

 

[Bekit]

G'day All,

I am back with lots of battle scars, tons of failures and going back to square one after my last post.

The journey has been hellish, mentally, physically and emotionally.

In Sept 22, I posted about my agency progress, doing okiesh with everything in life.

Then I fell ill in Sept 22. Got admitted in hospital for a 15 days and found that i had Tuberculosis (T.B).
After few days, and couple of more test, doctors found, i also have HIV.

From there everything crashed. I never had intimate relationship with anyone before my marriage and my wife is HIV negative but i got HIV positive. I don't know how. Well that sucks.

Every damn thing just crashed hard.

I was not prepared for anything like this. Anyhow, because of strong mental capacity, the HIV thing, didn't have much impact on my mind and emotions, but physically, i was destroyed, due to both T.B and HIV.

So a long hustle of medication started to cure T.B asap, which dramatically reduced my ability to function properly.

I always had high fever
I was not able to sleep long
Constant body ache, weakness, dizziness
Only 3-4 hours of mental energy to function

Hence i took the decision on pausing the agency altogether, telling my clients goodbye becoz it became difficult to function in my day to day activities.

Also, due to no preparation and zero savings, I also had to earn food for my big family (8).

Hence i started looking for job in agencies and found 1 after a month.

Due to health, i had to take this and started working in the agency, remotely, with minimal input from my end.
The agency owner was a friend connection so he helped me initially with work load.

i scraped by someone how in those 9 months, financially.

Simultaneously, due to no savings, I was constantly in pressure to earn my bread, which also made my family very restless (parents) because its only me in my family that earns. My family was very supportive and worry constantly about my health and my work.

At the same time, my family and my wife started having issues between them and the relationship started getting sour.

I somehow managed (we live in joint family here in India)

4 months back, i had a cute and lovely baby boy. My first child.

Almost everything was going wrong. I also stopped doing any spiritual work i used to do.

It's been 11 months now since then.

I have recovered my health. T.B is cured. HIV medication is going (there is NO cure).

2 months back, i again took decision of leaving the job and start working on my agency again.

Right now i have 2 clients in hand that pays the bill.

Relationship between my family and wife is still sour but i am handling things somehow.

Mentally and physically i am ok but still fog/stress/depress and weak body.

I will give a detailed update on my status on BIZ and what i am doing/going to do to grow again in next post.

Right now, i just wanted to say HI to all of you once again that i am back

Posting here about all of these to unload my mind a little and start using the forum for positive feedback loop and accountability from you guys.

You guys have been a morale support for me and I am thankful for that. Kindly be responsive on this thread that i will revive and again strive to achieve my goals/dreams.

Just wish me luck and give your blessings.
@Kak @Andy Black @MJ DeMarco @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL
Tagging all of you who were following this thread so that you can share your inputs on this.
It could be possible that my current mindset is wrong so you can point me. I am open to all feedbacks, criticism and support.


Until next time
Thanks
Sayonara
BM

Wow, you have been through a rough experience. Sorry to hear it has been so difficult. It sounds like you are staying strong and persevering. I just prayed for you, and I will pray again as you come to mind.

Chlorine dioxide and gigartina are two alternative remedies you might want to look into for HIV. Obviously do your own research.

You are an inspiration and a fighter. Keep your chin up. Rooting for you!!

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day All,

Here is the update on biz:

After i left the temporary job 2 months ago, I took 1 client to pay the bills.

Started building my LinkedIn personal brand (i had done similar on Facebook last year, so I knew what to do.
In the first month of creating content, building network and giving out tons of value on LinkedIn, I got 4 brands who wants to work with me in the pipeline.

Right now, i am doing 15 days trial for 2 of the brands, and if I gave good results, they will onboard with me. I know i shouldn't have done the free thing, but these brands i know personally and they are doing good. They are spending close to ₹1 M/ month on ads so if i cracked these 2 clients, i will get my revenue from ₹40k (right now) to ₹150k instantly, hence doing upfront work for them.

I have already built a great repo with them so they are already in bag, just need to prove with results.

Apart from them, 3 more brands are in pipeline, to who i can crack the deals with proper case studies. Possibly end of this month.

The reason i got 6 brands in pipeline in just 1 month of content on Linkedin is because:
1) My offer is good. I am focusing on 1 NICHE only with great case studies
2) I am adding tons of value upfront on my profile (literally giving the exact ads/videos/copy/strategies working for similar brands for free)

Current Challenges as asked by @Antifragile :
1) Discipline and Consistency: Due to huge gap in execution, I need to rebuild myself for discipline and consistent execution. Thats why restarted the thread to stay disciplined as you guys makes me accountable.

2) Creating Ads: As i am not from Design background and dont have team, i am not able to make high performing ads (I know what to make, but no skill in making). Most of the current clients/future clients will need my agency to create ads.
Due to no funds/cash, couldn't hire someone to do this. Also very low pool to get great designer. Difficult to find who can follow the market needs. I don't know what to do. Right now, i am managing this through mobile apps that are easy to design ads. Any suggestions or feedback is welcomed here.

3) Fear: Right now, I have zero savings. Whatever i get from this 1 client, i am putting food on the table. Its 2nd month now and i need to get 2 more clients atleast to stabilize my mind, energy and remove fear.
I can resolve this problem. Not a big thing. Just need to be consistent with what I am doing. Please pitch in if you think I am being overconfident here and can give another perspective of yours.

4) Health: I am still on medication. Will visit the final test thing tomorrow and see if I am cured of T.B. If that is removed, than I will start building my immunity and physical fitness. Been 1 year i did any sort of workout.

5) Relationship with Wife and family: As i mentioned in previous post, my wife and family relation is little sour. Not too bad but still has an impact on my emotions. I got in touch with my elder (a great person) yesterday, and summarized him all the family issues. he gave great wisdom to tackle them and making the relationship great again. I have started executing on that and already seeing positive outcome today.

That's all on problems and challenges.

Future plans:
1) Need to reach 3 clients and ₹100k (1 lakhs rupees) revenue asap (next month max)
2) Will keep posting and creating content on linkedin and fill the pipeline with 10 leads atleast.
3) As i get some cash at hand, hire someone to create ads so that i can focus on building the agency.
4) FOCUS is were i HAVE to put my all. Do help me here. Don't want to consume any content now. I have been consuming great contents from great people since 3 years now. I just want to execute now.


Thanks for everyone above who encouraged me and is supporting my journey. I will be sure to meet all of you one day as soon as i build my biz and thank you directly.

Special thanks to @Black_Dragon43 who gave me resources worth $1000 dollars for free in DM. I will give back in some way brother. You are great.

@Antifragile @Bekit Here is the update. Do add your feedback on my improvement.
I want you guys to help me the way you did to Eric of Cheesecake. I promise, i will achieve what he missed in that thread.

Thanks again.
Sayonara
BM

 

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[Antifragile]

G'day All,

Here is the update on biz:

After i left the temporary job 2 months ago, I took 1 client to pay the bills.

Started building my LinkedIn personal brand (i had done similar on Facebook last year, so I knew what to do.
In the first month of creating content, building network and giving out tons of value on LinkedIn, I got 4 brands who wants to work with me in the pipeline.

Right now, i am doing 15 days trial for 2 of the brands, and if I gave good results, they will onboard with me. I know i shouldn't have done the free thing, but these brands i know personally and they are doing good. They are spending close to ₹1 M/ month on ads so if i cracked these 2 clients, i will get my revenue from ₹40k (right now) to ₹150k instantly, hence doing upfront work for them.

I have already built a great repo with them so they are already in bag, just need to prove with results.

Apart from them, 3 more brands are in pipeline, to who i can crack the deals with proper case studies. Possibly end of this month.

The reason i got 6 brands in pipeline in just 1 month of content on Linkedin is because:
1) My offer is good. I am focusing on 1 NICHE only with great case studies
2) I am adding tons of value upfront on my profile (literally giving the exact ads/videos/copy/strategies working for similar brands for free)

Current Challenges as asked by @Antifragile :
1) Discipline and Consistency: Due to huge gap in execution, I need to rebuild myself for discipline and consistent execution. Thats why restarted the thread to stay disciplined as you guys makes me accountable.

2) Creating Ads: As i am not from Design background and dont have team, i am not able to make high performing ads (I know what to make, but no skill in making). Most of the current clients/future clients will need my agency to create ads.
Due to no funds/cash, couldn't hire someone to do this. Also very low pool to get great designer. Difficult to find who can follow the market needs. I don't know what to do. Right now, i am managing this through mobile apps that are easy to design ads. Any suggestions or feedback is welcomed here.

3) Fear: Right now, I have zero savings. Whatever i get from this 1 client, i am putting food on the table. Its 2nd month now and i need to get 2 more clients atleast to stabilize my mind, energy and remove fear.
I can resolve this problem. Not a big thing. Just need to be consistent with what I am doing. Please pitch in if you think I am being overconfident here and can give another perspective of yours.

4) Health: I am still on medication. Will visit the final test thing tomorrow and see if I am cured of T.B. If that is removed, than I will start building my immunity and physical fitness. Been 1 year i did any sort of workout.

5) Relationship with Wife and family: As i mentioned in previous post, my wife and family relation is little sour. Not too bad but still has an impact on my emotions. I got in touch with my elder (a great person) yesterday, and summarized him all the family issues. he gave great wisdom to tackle them and making the relationship great again. I have started executing on that and already seeing positive outcome today.

That's all on problems and challenges.

Future plans:
1) Need to reach 3 clients and ₹100k (1 lakhs rupees) revenue asap (next month max)
2) Will keep posting and creating content on linkedin and fill the pipeline with 10 leads atleast.
3) As i get some cash at hand, hire someone to create ads so that i can focus on building the agency.
4) FOCUS is were i HAVE to put my all. Do help me here. Don't want to consume any content now. I have been consuming great contents from great people since 3 years now. I just want to execute now.


Thanks for everyone above who encouraged me and is supporting my journey. I will be sure to meet all of you one day as soon as i build my biz and thank you directly.

Special thanks to @Black_Dragon43 who gave me resources worth $1000 dollars for free in DM. I will give back in some way brother. You are great.

@Antifragile @Bekit Here is the update. Do add your feedback on my improvement.
I want you guys to help me the way you did to Eric of Cheesecake. I promise, i will achieve what he missed in that thread.

Thanks again.
Sayonara
BM

Your health issues, combined with supporting a large family - the pressure on you must be insane. That's where I'd like to start.

Somewhere you mentioned that you were the only earning person in your family. Why is that? I sounds like you are supporting parents, siblings, your wife and kid? Did I get that right?

All the while you are trying to set up an agency, as a business. And your health being what it is, I can't even imagine what it feels like to be you. It looks like the world is on your shoulders. That's too much.

Other than the agency, do you have any other ways to earn a living?

What would happen to the people who depend on your earnings if you weren't there? I know, a morbid thought but it prompts a real discussion. You are in India, life is different than for us in North America. But the solutions to problems are often similar. What do I mean by that is that the quality of questions you ask yourself, will determine the qualify of answers. Ask better questions and you get better answers.

1. Who else in your family is capable of earning money?
2. How someone else in your family help lighted your load?
3. How can you make money other than what you are currently doing?
4. What is the highest paid lowest hours work opportunity for someone like you where you live? List 5 ideas. Discuss which one is best and why. Imagine you were advising a friend, what would you tell him?
5. If you are not there, how does your family (that currently depends on you) live on?

BTW, you don't have to answer these personal questions here. It's just meant to prompt you to think differently. Best outcome is you find a better way.

 

[BlackMagician]

Your health issues, combined with supporting a large family - the pressure on you must be insane. That's where I'd like to start.

Somewhere you mentioned that you were the only earning person in your family. Why is that? I sounds like you are supporting parents, siblings, your wife and kid? Did I get that right?

All the while you are trying to set up an agency, as a business. And your health being what it is, I can't even imagine what it feels like to be you. It looks like the world is on your shoulders. That's too much.

Other than the agency, do you have any other ways to earn a living?

What would happen to the people who depend on your earnings if you weren't there? I know, a morbid thought but it prompts a real discussion. You are in India, life is different than for us in North America. But the solutions to problems are often similar. What do I mean by that is that the quality of questions you ask yourself, will determine the qualify of answers. Ask better questions and you get better answers.

1. Who else in your family is capable of earning money?
2. How someone else in your family help lighted your load?
3. How can you make money other than what you are currently doing?
4. What is the highest paid lowest hours work opportunity for someone like you where you live? List 5 ideas. Discuss which one is best and why. Imagine you were advising a friend, what would you tell him?
5. If you are not there, how does your family (that currently depends on you) live on?

BTW, you don't have to answer these personal questions here. It's just meant to prompt you to think differently. Best outcome is you find a better way.

Thats some insane POV to think.
Now that you have mentioned those questions, i would like to answer them here, because i feel this forum as my family. I know sharing personal details is scary thing on internet, but lets see.

1. Yes i am supporting my parents, siblings, wife and myself. I am 28yrs old, big brother to my siblings. My father is retired already. My siblings are in colleges or school. I only have 1 brother who just crossed 15yr age. Others are my sister who are in colleges. My self-esteem will not allow me to make my sisters(eldest is 23, other is 19) work to pay bills. My wife is housewife and in true sense, a great wife.
2. Frankly, my father should be the person who can lighten the load but he is little aggresive and aged. No emotional support from him. NO i am not bad mouthing him. Just his personality. He is retired so can't work.
3. I can take a side job. Frankly, I think i can do better just taking 2 more clients. Work doesn't feel a big issue to me right now. If i can just crack 2 deals (which i am already in process) the financial burden should lighten drastically. But to answer your question, i can take a job in another agency to pay bills.
4. I can do random work, but i am skilled enough to do high paying work, like media buying, copywriting, scaling brands etc, which i am already doing. Being a part of this forum since more than 4 years now, my mindset is just like you guys.
   1. Doing freelancing as media buyer, creative strategist.
   2. Consulting smaller ecom brands on scaling
   3. Designing websites
   4. Lead generations for agencies (Just like I am doing for myself right now)
   5. Creating my own offer, launching it to the mass. Very big process and execution, and doesn't fit in my current situation. But very lucrative and high paid, low hours.
5. The family is not self dependent. My father hasn't created any assets/source for income (slowlane with no plan). Thanks to @MJ DeMarco books that i know what went wrong with my father decisions and what i should do for myself. So if I am not there, it will be a disaster for my family. In worst-case, my father might need to do odd jobs, my sisters need to take low paying jobs, and live a stressful life. I have started training my brother with what i learned, so that he can start earning/doing/building asap, but that will still take 1-2 years.

Thats what i can think about right now. My best and quickest shot is to close the current 2 trialed clients at ₹50k/client (which is more than enough for my family per month). As soon as i get them, financial thing will be resolved.

Again, thanks for lighting the torch for me. Let me know what you think.

 

[Antifragile]

Thats some insane POV to think.
Now that you have mentioned those questions, i would like to answer them here, because i feel this forum as my family. I know sharing personal details is scary thing on internet, but lets see.

1. Yes i am supporting my parents, siblings, wife and myself. I am 28yrs old, big brother to my siblings. My father is retired already. My siblings are in colleges or school. I only have 1 brother who just crossed 15yr age. Others are my sister who are in colleges. My self-esteem will not allow me to make my sisters(eldest is 23, other is 19) work to pay bills. My wife is housewife and in true sense, a great wife.
2. Frankly, my father should be the person who can lighten the load but he is little aggresive and aged. No emotional support from him. NO i am not bad mouthing him. Just his personality. He is retired so can't work.
3. I can take a side job. Frankly, I think i can do better just taking 2 more clients. Work doesn't feel a big issue to me right now. If i can just crack 2 deals (which i am already in process) the financial burden should lighten drastically. But to answer your question, i can take a job in another agency to pay bills.
4. I can do random work, but i am skilled enough to do high paying work, like media buying, copywriting, scaling brands etc, which i am already doing. Being a part of this forum since more than 4 years now, my mindset is just like you guys.
   1. Doing freelancing as media buyer, creative strategist.
   2. Consulting smaller ecom brands on scaling
   3. Designing websites
   4. Lead generations for agencies (Just like I am doing for myself right now)
   5. Creating my own offer, launching it to the mass. Very big process and execution, and doesn't fit in my current situation. But very lucrative and high paid, low hours.
5. The family is not self dependent. My father hasn't created any assets/source for income (slowlane with no plan). Thanks to @MJ DeMarco books that i know what went wrong with my father decisions and what i should do for myself. So if I am not there, it will be a disaster for my family. In worst-case, my father might need to do odd jobs, my sisters need to take low paying jobs, and live a stressful life. I have started training my brother with what i learned, so that he can start earning/doing/building asap, but that will still take 1-2 years.

Thats what i can think about right now. My best and quickest shot is to close the current 2 trialed clients at ₹50k/client (which is more than enough for my family per month). As soon as i get them, financial thing will be resolved.

Again, thanks for lighting the torch for me. Let me know what you think.

I admire you for how you and your wife support your whole family. You seem like a great person.

There is also likely a lot of cultural pressure…

What is ”normal” in India, would be strange in North America and vice versa.

You can’t help anyone if you are dead​

Decades ago I was a lifeguard. To this day I remember our training, the first rule of saving lives is to make sure you don’t put yourself in harm‘s way. Like yesterday I remember someone explaining that a drowning person can kill you while climbing onto you at sea. We were taught how to get out of those situations… and as scary it’ll sound now, one method was to let them drown. What does that mean? If the person is full on panic, kicking and trying to climb on you, use your legs to kick them to free yourself. That means they will likely gulp water, that’s OK. Grab them as soon as it’s safe, get them to shore and perform CPR.

Why am I sharing this? Because with TB, HIV and a huge family to support, I feel you are killing yourself, yet you are supposedly the “lifeguard” of this family. Remember, you can’t help any of them if you are dead or permanently disabled in some way that prevents you from work.

Who are we responsible for in life?​

The script of life is everywhere you go. Religious people are scripted in religious dogma. Atheists are scripted in thinking they are “scientists“. Israelis are scripted in hating Palestinians and vice versa. The world today is scripted to hate Russia, back in 2001 it was Muslims and Osama… over 80% of North Americans are overweight, obese and so on because of the script on how to live life (junk food, watching 7 hours of TV and complaining of no energy to exercise). I embellish a little for effect, but trying to stay close to the truth.

It seems to be that in India, in your family, there is a script that YOU are responsible for your dad, mom, sisters and your brother.

This could be contentious… but my personal opinion is that there must be a hierarchy to who you support and when. I share this because my wife and I support a lot of people in our family today. But hear me out… when I was 28 I didn’t. I didn’t have a successful business, I had a job. I couldn’t pay for my parents and I didn’t. Only now, over a decade later that we pay for both sets of parents, support cousins etc. If we didn’t, they don‘t have an option B.

In my mind, the priority order is:

1. Your child first. Without you around, what future will your child have? You and your wife decided to have a child, now that’s YOUR collective responsibility. By extension, it’s your father’s and mother’s responsibility to take care of your sibling.
2. Your parents are probably 2nd. And likely more so when they get older and become incapable of supporting themselves. But it sounds like your dad is maybe in his 50s? That’s so young. If he’s not disabled or ill, how is he “retired” with no money?
3. Your extended family, siblings and so forth…
4. Friends
5. Strangers

Side note: You see how you are a stranger to me, you are at the bottom of my list. Remember that as you read these posts from me and others.

My advice and ideas are like shoes in a shoe store​

What I am sharing are just thoughts. You and I are not family. FLF isn’t your family either, but just a cool and helpful community of regular people. Try to help but remember, I am a random stranger on the internet! So treat my thoughts and advice as the way you buy shoes. Try a pair, walk around and if they aren’t fitting - change them!


More Questions to ask yourself:

• If what you are doing today costs you your health permanently, when your child needs you most you can’t help… how will you feel about decisions you are making today?
• Is moving out with you wife and child an option?
• When running a business, what is the most important thing you must have to succeed? (My answer is… clarity of mind. That only comes from reducing stress. I sincerely believe i made the most money when I was most calm and clear in my head. Under extreme stress, I think we make poor decisions. Success is simply a by-product of good decisions).

Hope this is helpful… It’s a very hard conversation to have, even on the internet between strangers.

 

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[BlackMagician]

I admire you for how you and your wife support your whole family. You seem like a great person.

There is also likely a lot of cultural pressure…

What is ”normal” in India, would be strange in North America and vice versa.

You can’t help anyone if you are dead​

Decades ago I was a lifeguard. To this day I remember our training, the first rule of saving lives is to make sure you don’t put yourself in harm‘s way. Like yesterday I remember someone explaining that a drowning person can kill you while climbing onto you at sea. We were taught how to get out of those situations… and as scary it’ll sound now, one method was to let them drown. What does that mean? If the person is full on panic, kicking and trying to climb on you, use your legs to kick them to free yourself. That means they will likely gulp water, that’s OK. Grab them as soon as it’s safe, get them to shore and perform CPR.

Why am I sharing this? Because with TB, HIV and a huge family to support, I feel you are killing yourself, yet you are supposedly the “lifeguard” of this family. Remember, you can’t help any of them if you are dead or permanently disabled in some way that prevents you from work.

Who are we responsible for in life?​

The script of life is everywhere you go. Religious people are scripted in religious dogma. Atheists are scripted in thinking they are “scientists“. Israelis are scripted in hating Palestinians and vice versa. The world today is scripted to hate Russia, back in 2001 it was Muslims and Osama… over 80% of North Americans are overweight, obese and so on because of the script on how to live life (junk food, watching 7 hours of TV and complaining of no energy to exercise). I embellish a little for effect, but trying to stay close to the truth.

It seems to be that in India, in your family, there is a script that YOU are responsible for your dad, mom, sisters and your brother.

This could be contentious… but my personal opinion is that there must be a hierarchy to who you support and when. I share this because my wife and I support a lot of people in our family today. But hear me out… when I was 28 I didn’t. I didn’t have a successful business, I had a job. I couldn’t pay for my parents and I didn’t. Only now, over a decade later that we pay for both sets of parents, support cousins etc. If we didn’t, they don‘t have an option B.

In my mind, the priority order is:

1. Your child first. Without you around, what future will your child have? You and your wife decided to have a child, now that’s YOUR collective responsibility. By extension, it’s your father’s and mother’s responsibility to take care of your sibling.
2. Your parents are probably 2nd. And likely more so when they get older and become incapable of supporting themselves. But it sounds like your dad is maybe in his 50s? That’s so young. If he’s not disabled or ill, how is he “retired” with no money?
3. Your extended family, siblings and so forth…
4. Friends
5. Strangers

Side note: You see how you are a stranger to me, you are at the bottom of my list. Remember that as you read these posts from me and others.

My advice and ideas are like shoes in a shoe store​

What I am sharing are just thoughts. You and I are not family. FLF isn’t your family either, but just a cool and helpful community of regular people. Try to help but remember, I am a random stranger on the internet! So treat my thoughts and advice as the way you buy shoes. Try a pair, walk around if they aren’t fitting - change them!


More Questions to ask yourself:

• If what you are doing today costs you your health permanently, when your child needs you most you can’t help… how will you feel about decisions you are making today?
• Is moving out with you wife and child an option?
• When running a business, what is the most important thing you must have to succeed? (My answer is… clarity of mind. That only comes from reducing stress. I sincerely believe i made the most money when I was most calm and clear in my head. Under extreme stress, I think we make poor decisions. Success is simply a by-product of good decisions).

Hope this is helpful… It’s a very hard conversation to have, even on the internet between strangers.

Your post gave me a huge wake up call and a very different thoughts.

I never saw my life in that perspective, just going through life as it is.

These are some hard questions and pointers to swallow to me but it feels true at some stage.

I might need to re-evaluate my mind.

Thanks a lot for this man. I don't know who you are in real life, but i really appreciate and thank from my heart for this.

I just contemplated on your posts and questions and frankly, I agree on some points.

Due to the cultural and family nature, my biggest step should be to reduce my stress.

My major stress I am getting is from my father and wife relationship. Even though my religion and culture don't dictates the way he behave but it's causing me huge stress.

I have taken few steps recently and did some bold changes in the way i live with him. Just strongly taking my stand.

Clarity of mind is also very very crucial for me as I have seen myself making bad decisions.

I have started working on reducing stress.

As for responsibilities, frankly, it's hard to even think about me not helping them but I agree that my father CAN do something to support the family and reduce my load.

I will indirectly ask someone to talk to him and advice him to get some work to do.

Also, i really need to take my health seriously now after going through your questions.
Who will support my kid if I am not there? None.

I am going to slowly, remove the emotional load ofy siblings ( i always care and try to help in their college studies, their fees, their life learning etc) so will try to reduce these loads first.

Then I will also need to start working out and eating right thing( I don't eat garbage, but I need to increase my intake).

Too many things in my mind right now. I will think in more deeper on this and see where i stumble upon.

Lifeguard analogy is great btw. I will always remember that.

I will focus on clearing my mind, improving my health AND work on the biz.

I can really take a job right now but really don't see a worth and effort.

When i fell ill last year, I took the job as my solace and it's been 1 year now and i didn't see anything improving because of that. Though I was able to take a break from stress of finding client. Haha

Action steps:
1) Reduce the load taken, get dad start earning something to support

2) Stop all burdens of siblings except financial (for now).

3) Focus on getting client and delivering value asap.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[aboutkaizen]

Men, I'm sorry for what has happened. When I read your current update, my heart sank. That's tough.

I admire your courage and perseverance, despite the challenges. You are a great inspiration. Continue fighting man!
Thank you for sharing your struggles and still finding the better side of things.

 

[Rabby]

I just want to echo that your spouse and child are primary. Anything you do for someone else, or give away, or feel obligated to provide, is something your spouse and child could have. If it's excess and they don't need it, no problem. But if it can make the difference between them thriving or not, the choice should be easy. That's how I see things, anyway.

 

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[yashdutt]

I can't even begin to tell how much this thread has motivated me and given me kind of a clear vision for my future.

I embarked on my so-called Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA) during a trip to the mountains in my country with the intention of funding my journey. During that trip, I had the fortune of meeting a digital marketing freelancer who claimed to have achieved an impressive turnover of over $70,000 the previous year. We became good friends, and he even assisted me in securing my first client, a yoga school in the mountains, which required a website, social media management, and other services.

During the sales pitch, I made ambitious promises, but deep down, I sensed that I might struggle to deliver and feared the project's failure. I assured the client that the website would be ready within a week, even though my experience with creating WordPress websites was somewhat rusty, having not practiced for a year. I charged the client around $150 for the website, a common price for such services in India. However, the project ended up taking almost four weeks to complete due to my limited time availability due to university commitments, and my lack of experience caused numerous issues, resulting in a simplistic and subpar website design, which only consisted of applying a basic yoga theme and minimal edits.

Unfortunately, shortly after the website went live, the client requested a refund, and I, recognizing my failure, did not dispute it. Since then, I've tried various ventures to make money, such as starting a blog and an Instagram theme page, which garnered substantial views and followers but failed to monetize effectively. I also attempted to resell vapes in my country, but that endeavor was short-lived as it is illegal there and my parents urged me to stop. Additionally, I experimented with affiliate marketing, generating modest earnings of around $50. My lack of consistency and a tendency to quit when faced with challenges have been recurring themes throughout my entrepreneurial journey.

I am currently 19 years old. Now, as I find myself at university, I'm confronted with two options: I could focus on preparing for competitive exams and pursuing an MBA, leading to a traditional 9-5 job, or I could commit to upskilling myself and attempting another business venture, although I currently lack a clear direction for such an endeavor.

I've noticed that Indian clients are generally reluctant to pay more than a few hundred dollars for digital marketing services, which has led me to consider seeking clients abroad if I hope to escape the conventional rat race.

To all the entrepreneurs in this forum, I humbly seek your valuable insights and advice on my situation. I recognize that I've encountered several failures and obstacles along the way, and I'm unsure of the best path forward. Your guidance and expertise could greatly help me make an informed decision and chart a more successful course for my future endeavors.

 

[yashdutt]

BlackMagician, How Do you design websites, Do you use a website builder like wordpress or do you code sites from scratch, also what is the action plan you would suggest me to go with for building websites for business for my SMMA?​

 

[Antifragile]

Your post gave me a huge wake up call and a very different thoughts.

I never saw my life in that perspective, just going through life as it is.

Checking in on how you are doing.

 

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[BlackMagician]

Checking in on how you are doing.

Thanks for this.

I have been active on the forum, just didn't updated the thread because I want to update when substantial things have been done.

FAMILY:
I boldly took action and told my family that I will take decisions regarding my wife/son. That dramatically decreased my stress.
Also mended the relationship between wife and family substantially.

After discussing with other elders in my contacts, i understood few points about handling situations like these.

Health:
I started having Unani herbs/meds to improve my health. Can feel clear mind, increasing energy. I will start workout after a week or so.

Agency:
Cracked 1 deal today. Remember I was doing trial work for them? They liked my work. 2 clients in hand now. For next month, I will be earning around ₹80k so the financial crisis will be solved.

1 more deal in the pipeline, doing the same trial run for them, I am confident to crack this too in next 15 days.

Another major update is about an old connection. So this guy runs 8 figure babycare brand, and I have worked for his brand in 2020 while working in the agency ( you might need to go back 3-4 pages of this thread to find that out).

As I started creating my own personal brand on LinkedIn, this guy approached me. We communicated in call, relished those 2020 growth days and how i scaled their brand 3x in those times.

He told me that he is looking for someone who can scale his Personal care segment. His babycare segment is already doing ₹3CR+ per month on website and ₹10CR+ on marketplaces.

He wanted me to do an audit on his current Business performance from DTC.

Today I presented that. Showed exactly where they can improve the results in babycare ads.

The guy is convinced and I might get this brand to scale his personal care segment.

If I crack this deal, I will be doing 10x of what I was doing last year before I fall sick.

Let's see. In touch with them and adding values everyday in his business already.

Showed him 3 critical problems in ads, WhatsApp marketing and website conversion.

Remember this thread title? "Adding value".

Personal Brand Building:
I have been consistently posting on LinkedIn, sharing valueable content and making myself an authority in Personal care niche here in India.
Multiple founders now know me and they are interacting with my content on daily basis. Getting queries from few of them, to whom I am saying NO if they are not my ICP.

Trying to make this personal brand a successful organic lead-gen machine.
In the meantime, creating team to execute on client tasks.

Already approached couple of ads designers media buyers. Just trying to find 1 media buyer who can perform well then I can grow this fast.

If I crack 1 more deal this month ( I am confident) next month, I will start saving cash so that I can hire good talent and grow this fast.

That's all from my end. Thanks for following up and watching my performance from side. To all of you who are struggling, just keep going. Ask for help and advice and relentlessly execute.

Until next time
Sayonara
BM

 

[Simon Angel]

Thanks for this.

I have been active on the forum, just didn't updated the thread because I want to update when substantial things have been done.

FAMILY:
I boldly took action and told my family that I will take decisions regarding my wife/son. That dramatically decreased my stress.
Also mended the relationship between wife and family substantially.

After discussing with other elders in my contacts, i understood few points about handling situations like these.

Health:
I started having Unani herbs/meds to improve my health. Can feel clear mind, increasing energy. I will start workout after a week or so.

Agency:
Cracked 1 deal today. Remember I was doing trial work for them? They liked my work. 2 clients in hand now. For next month, I will be earning around ₹80k so the financial crisis will be solved.

1 more deal in the pipeline, doing the same trial run for them, I am confident to crack this too in next 15 days.

Another major update is about an old connection. So this guy runs 8 figure babycare brand, and I have worked for his brand in 2020 while working in the agency ( you might need to go back 3-4 pages of this thread to find that out).

As I started creating my own personal brand on LinkedIn, this guy approached me. We communicated in call, relished those 2020 growth days and how i scaled their brand 3x in those times.

He told me that he is looking for someone who can scale his Personal care segment. His babycare segment is already doing ₹3CR+ per month on website and ₹10CR+ on marketplaces.

He wanted me to do an audit on his current Business performance from DTC.

Today I presented that. Showed exactly where they can improve the results in babycare ads.

The guy is convinced and I might get this brand to scale his personal care segment.

If I crack this deal, I will be doing 10x of what I was doing last year before I fall sick.

Let's see. In touch with them and adding values everyday in his business already.

Showed him 3 critical problems in ads, WhatsApp marketing and website conversion.

Remember this thread title? "Adding value".

Personal Brand Building:
I have been consistently posting on LinkedIn, sharing valueable content and making myself an authority in Personal care niche here in India.
Multiple founders now know me and they are interacting with my content on daily basis. Getting queries from few of them, to whom I am saying NO if they are not my ICP.

Trying to make this personal brand a successful organic lead-gen machine.
In the meantime, creating team to execute on client tasks.

Already approached couple of ads designers media buyers. Just trying to find 1 media buyer who can perform well then I can grow this fast.

If I crack 1 more deal this month ( I am confident) next month, I will start saving cash so that I can hire good talent and grow this fast.

That's all from my end. Thanks for following up and watching my performance from side. To all of you who are struggling, just keep going. Ask for help and advice and relentlessly execute.

Until next time
Sayonara
BM

Shit happens dude, but it sounds like you're pulling through nicely.

There'll probably be some setbacks along the way, whether health or business-related, but don't let that discourage you. I've been in a similar place, it's tough.

And don't expect anyone to really understand you either. Even if you're surrounded by friends and family, you're still alone for the most part. You know what I mean.

Lastly, this isn't meant to be cynical in any way. On the contrary – I hope it empowers you to take back control over your life, knowing you're the only one who has the power to do so.