Jason's How to Build Wealth & Golden Nuggets

[JasonR]

In the spirit of @zen******* I will be using this thread to dump my thoughts, process, and knowledge into this one thread.

I do this for myself, as much as for you. I don't have time to build a personal blog, plus - why not dump things here where people will get value of out of it.

I was talking to Zen today, and I told him I really appreciated his thread. Go read it, if you haven't already.

I decided to start my own, not only for YOU, but also for me so I can go back and not forget. Maybe one day this will become part of a book, or blog, etc.

A little background on me. I'm 29, from California, and I launched a business in July. I've done well into the six figures in the last 7 months, and am shooting for the multi-million dollar goal.

I moved to Scottsdale, where I quadrupled my sales because I threw my printer off the balcony. Some of you know the story. Our apartment consisted of mattresses and computers. We had 0 distractions. So my little business grew, and we're expanding. Zen said, "Hey, come out to Albuquerque so you can speed up your business."

Well, I didn't want to leave Scottsdale, because I truly loved it. I now know why people stay there.

So I moved to New Mexico, because I couldn't pass up Z's offer. I'm learning how to build real wealth, and a real business.

Learn from my mistakes and my knowledge. Don't listen if you don't want, but I'm going to tell it like it is.

I'm not a millionaire yet, but I'm well on my way...

Let's go.

Edit: NO I won't mentor you. I haven't done my first deal yet, and I'm in no place to mentor anyone. However, I may choose to answer your questions in private if you reply to this thread. I'm going to stick to straight dumping my thoughts and processes throughout my journey.

 

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[JasonR]

First post.

So, you want to build an internet business? After going through what I did in the past 6-7 months, here's what I've learned.

1. Pick a LARGE market. I don't like super-niche markets.

2. Don't reinvent the wheel. You don't have to.

3. F*ck SEO. See #4

4. Utilize paid traffic to grow your business. Display advertising is how many of the big boys and big hitters grow super FAST. See those banner ads on Facebook and all over the web? Yah, they work.

5. Here's a secret. It took me a long time to learn this. Do you want to be able to infinitely scale a business? With paid traffic, you'll need an Average Order Value OR Lifetime Customer Value of $60-100. If you can squeeze $60+ out of a customer, you should be able to buy traffic ANYWHERE. There are multiple ways of doing this.

5b. Build a funnel, not an e-commerce store. I lost about $2k and 2 months learning this the hard way. Read this article.

6. Money. You may think it's hard to get. It's NOT. It's fine to bootstrap (and what I did to start). Go get some high limit credit cards (Amex Plum, etc.) that you can use for ad spend. DON'T be stupid with this money. It will help you grow and scale. Once you have a system where you can prove that for every $1.00 you put in, you get $1.40 back, getting money is easy.

7. Fail fast. The faster you fail, the faster you can succeed. The key is, go as FAST as you can. I've seen people try for 2 years because they're too afraid to fail.

8. Everything in life worth getting is a process. A great business, a great girlfriend/wife, losing weight, building muscle, building your real estate portfolio. These are ALL processes, and there is no magic pill or secret that will shortcut your PROCESS.

But, you can get rich quick (relatively)...

 

[JasonR]

Network. Go network your a$$ off. Businesses aren't built in a vacuum.

People are the fastest way to cut your learning curve.

Go out, get to events. When someone tells you to get your a$$ on a plane to Vegas, RUN don't walk to the airport.

Buy people drinks. If you want to connect with someone, buy them lunch at their place of choice. Go out and do things for people.

Pick up the F*ckING phone and CALL people.

Don't burn bridges, and when you have to fire someone or a vendor, be a man and do it over the phone. I did this, and now I have a back up supplier instead of a burned bridge.

You will start building a blackbook of contacts you will have with you your entire life. Treat these people well, and go out of your way for them.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Tell us the story of the fired vendor again Uncle Jason!

Z

 

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[JasonR]

So I had to "fire" an old manufacturer - they weren't performing up to the standards I needed, and their communication was bad.

I asked Zen the best way to do it. Email? He laughed and said don't be a pussy, man up and call them.

So I did, and now they are my backup Vendor. I took a bit of balls to call them, BUT it worked out much better. Had I written an email, I would have burned a bridge.

Z had to fire a vendor. I had the pleasure of meeting a rep from this Vendor on multiple occasions. This girl would GUSH about Z's business, because of the way they went about it. Every time I saw her it was OMG you know zen******* and company, they are so awesome. THEY FIRED HER COMPANY!!! She quickly gave me her personal cell in case I needed anything.

Don't burn bridges. The world is smaller than you think.

 

[ÉlyAna]

JasonR that is so cool!

I'm 26, I'm in the online business too, in the fitness niche AND I loved zen*******'s thread also ;p

Thanks for sharing! I'll be following it

I have started with my husband our business in the fitness niche in December, it's going pretty well regarding the fact that we are growing with seo... :/ damn yes it's pretty slow lol (always to slow) and I'm glad I found your thread because I AM afraid to go the PPC way (I know...) I need to take more risk to make it grow faster but yes I'm afraid to lose money since we have two young children's. But I'm really close to give it a try! I just need to optimize my sales page more a get a better conversion rate before doing it.

I understand that the key is testing and testing (split test like mad) but somewhere we need traffic to do it! Do you have any other recommendation for me starting with banners ads or ppc? Something that you would wanted to know when you started?

Also lots of people recommended the "Advanced google Adwords" book by brad geddes, did you read it? What do you think? Any other recommendation?

Are you able to give us a quick step by step process to do PPC? Like 1.2.3.4.5 don't forget this and make sure to do that and know how to calculate this thing...like just pro tips

Last question hehe in which market are you? Which niche? Can you give us your website?

I like your way of thinking and I know it's the best to throw every source of distraction an get this journey started!!!

Thanks again for sharing!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Don't need to read anymore. It's GOLD already!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

3. F*ck SEO. See #4

Amen, hallelujah!

 

[MyDuckets]

What do you consider "real wealth"

 

[JasonR]

Figure out what you SUCK at.

Figure out what you're GOOD at.

Don't be an egomaniac. There are is something you suck at (probably more than one thing). I suck at a lot of things. Like customer service.

I'm really good at a FEW things.

Outsource or hire for what you suck at.

Don't ever think you're good at EVERYTHING. You're just lying to yourself.

Hire people who are SMARTER then you are, and hire people who are GOOD at what you suck at.

 

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[Griffith]

5b. Build a funnel, not an e-commerce store. I lost about $2k and 2 months learning this the hard way. Read this article.

And I was working on an ecommerce store too...Gonna read that article as soon as the site is back up. Edit: it's working apparently.

 

[JasonR]

Be product agnostic.

I don't care what I sell. As long as it sells.

Your passion won't bring you wealth (usually).

Be passionate about business and the process, and you will be successful.

Oh, you like to Snowboard, so you're going to build a snowboard e-commerce business. Your passion is NOT reason to go into business. I lost 8 months and made 0 sales attempting following my "passion" when deep down I didn't how how to add value in this particular market.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Be product agnostic.

I don't care what I sell. As long as it sells.

Your passion won't bring you wealth (usually).

Be passionate about business and the process, and you will be successful.

Oh, you like to Snowboard, so you're going to build a snowboard e-commerce business. Your passion is NOT reason to go into business. I lost 8 months and made 0 sales attempting following my "passion" when deep down I didn't how how to add value in this particular market.

This alone is GOLD. People will never get it. "Do what you love" and "follow your passion" just tastes so much better.

 

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[ÉlyAna]

Be product agnostic.

I don't care what I sell. As long as it sells.

Your passion won't bring you wealth (usually).

Be passionate about business and the process, and you will be successful.

Oh, you like to Snowboard, so you're going to build a snowboard e-commerce business. Your passion is NOT reason to go into business. I lost 8 months and made 0 sales attempting following my "passion" when deep down I didn't how how to add value in this particular market.

Yeah you're right but there's always a way to make your passion a business and if you succeed you will be really happy and it will be easier to stay motivated to work and you will attract wealth because people will feel that you love and are passion about what you're doing. I'm an entrepreneur there's no doubt about it but never again ill just sell anything just for selling. helping people start with a passion...

 

[Y.B.]

Jason,

It seems like based on your advice, you would recommend sticking membership sites, rebills, SaaS and against selling an item unless you can also upsell something as well?

 

[JasonR]

It seems like based on your advice, you would recommend sticking membership sites, rebills, SaaS and against selling an item unless you can also upsell something as well?

Physical products are awesome! I sell physical products. What I'm saying is, once you have a customer, figure out what else that customer would want. Not against physical products AT all.

Free Bonus: How to hypnotize a chicken:

Yes, this is me. Yes, the chicken is alive!

 

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[Tobars Dobbs]

Physical products are awesome! I sell physical products. What I'm saying is, once you have a customer, figure out what else that customer would want. Not against physical products AT all.

Free Bonus: How to hypnotize a chicken:

Yes, this is me. Yes, the chicken is alive!

Very cool @JasonR .....I love this forum, I get to learn how to build an internet business, and hypnotize chickens at the same time! Doesn't get any better than that!
Thanks for sharing & Cheers to your success!

 

[IAmTheJeff]

First post.

So, you want to build an internet business? After going through what I did in the past 6-7 months, here's what I've learned.

1. Pick a LARGE market. I don't like super-niche markets.

2. Don't reinvent the wheel. You don't have to.

3. F*ck SEO. See #4

4. Utilize paid traffic to grow your business. Display advertising is how many of the big boys and big hitters grow super FAST. See those banner ads on Facebook and all over the web? Yah, they work.

5. Here's a secret. It took me a long time to learn this. Do you want to be able to infinitely scale a business? With paid traffic, you'll need an Average Order Value OR Lifetime Customer Value of $60-100. If you can squeeze $60+ out of a customer, you should be able to buy traffic ANYWHERE. There are multiple ways of doing this.

5b. Build a funnel, not an e-commerce store. I lost about $2k and 2 months learning this the hard way. Read this article.

6. Money. You may think it's hard to get. It's NOT. It's fine to bootstrap (and what I did to start). Go get some high limit credit cards (Amex Plum, etc.) that you can use for ad spend. DON'T be stupid with this money. It will help you grow and scale. Once you have a system where you can prove that for every $1.00 you put in, you get $1.40 back, getting money is easy.

7. Fail fast. The faster you fail, the faster you can succeed. The key is, go as FAST as you can. I've seen people try for 2 years because they're too afraid to fail.

8. Everything in life worth getting is a process. A great business, a great girlfriend/wife, losing weight, building muscle, building your real estate portfolio. These are ALL processes, and there is no magic pill or secret that will shortcut your PROCESS.

But, you can get rich quick (relatively)...

5b - that article can make anyone who uses it an effing zillionaire!

Some real nuggets in here already, and it's barely 2 hours old. Good stuff, @JasonR

 

[Claouse]

Jason, awesome tips! good work, keep on keepin on, you'll definately get there if you keep your head up and keep on grindin.

 

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[Ambitious_Drive]

Great thread Jason! Thanks for the tips and giving back to the community

 

[masaldana2]

Thanks Jason

 

[adoredunchin]

So many good posts. Can't transfer more than 100$...

 

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[Vigilante]

Fastest thread to gold. Speed+

 

[earlymornings]

Thankyou for this post! Love how you're straight to the point with no BS. Keep up the good work!

 

[Bosstradamus]

Going gold at light speed. @JasonR Thank you for this

 

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[glenm]

Great thread Jason!

 

[fishnukin]

Thanks for sharing a great wisdom tips on Internet Marketing Jason!
I also learned the hard way when I first got started..
Yeah.. F*ck SEO!!
It's all about Paid Ads and need to learn how to spend wisely and scale it up.

 

[Vick]

YUP.

i love this thread.

GOLD

 

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[jon.a]

Well done, Jason

 

[Vigilante]

Seems a little bit better to help people here at the Fastlane forum than the reception you got on Reddit, eh?