The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Jason's How to Build Wealth & Golden Nuggets

Wisith

Bronze Contributor
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
144%
Aug 29, 2015
181
261
38
Thanks for the thread, Jason. I can really relate as I am 29 as well. I want to launch my project before turning 30.

From your other thread, I'm actually looking to visit Scottsdale in a couple of months. Can use a change from SoCal.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

s7g

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
113%
Aug 30, 2015
24
27
48
Germany
Building a business based on your passion can also ruin it. It may end up being more like work while doing it because of all the pitfalls that a business can bring to it. So you start with enjoying it and end up hating it.

For me the ultimate example of how to connect your passion with business ist the Robertson family behind the Duck Dynasty show.
Their passion was hunting, but they din't make hunting their business. Instead they started manufacturing duck (and deer) calls, something related to their hobby, where there was entry barrier for someone not having the expertise regarding the animal behavior. Still the duck call garage manufacturing business violated the CENTS principle.
What made them rich was money from TV shows (starting with Duckmen of Louisiana), sponsorship (Benelli guns) and scaling up their manufacturing process.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

fluffhead

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
96%
Aug 3, 2015
102
98
35
Inspiring thread @JasonR ! It's a shame that some people here have to take advantage of others' kindness and willingness to give back to the community. I admire your perseverance and wish you the best. I, myself, am just starting the journey and am thankful for motivations like yourself. Keep truckin' along!
 

kaqm

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
38%
Jun 1, 2014
72
27
Building a business based on your passion can also ruin it. It may end up being more like work while doing it because of all the pitfalls that a business can bring to it. So you start with enjoying it and end up hating it.

I think the best way to be able to bring what your passionate about into a business platform is that if you see a need that is unfilled, or something that can be changed to produce a much better experience than what already exists in the market. So don't just do it because your passionate about it, but if the knowledge you have from it gives you insight into that particular area that you see has a need that's not being fulfilled.


Completely agree. I gave up some of my passions when I discovered TMF . Had an idea based on the music and film industries (which my passion at the time was based on) then realised it was a waste of time, the idea in itself. Doesn't mean that if I discovered an unfulfilled need in this industry it wouldn't be worth pursuing but the point is not to go looking, just because it's what you know. Being comfortable never made anyone rich.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

DamienP

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
159%
Sep 27, 2015
83
132
42
UK
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.

Are we talking squeeze pages here?
 

DamienP

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
159%
Sep 27, 2015
83
132
42
UK
Oh man i remember that post

Times are different
Yes, I apologise. I didn't realise how old the post was. Real disappointed this thread came to an end, but can't blame the guy
 

BlakeIC

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Jan 9, 2014
850
847
Not Washington
Yes, I apologise. I didn't realise how old the post was. Real disappointed this thread came to an end, but can't blame the guy
It is all good, i desrved that kind of feedback though at that time with those responses
 

IGP

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
276%
Aug 24, 2015
504
1,390
51
@JasonR pretty shitty to hear about the copycats, but it was pretty easy to follow the breadcrumbs, one thing in particular that could be deleted to avoid this happening again. Happy to share that with you, if you care.

With that said, to show everyone that something good can come from something bad and to give back to you for providing a lot of value, I am willing to offer you this:

I made a lot of money in the pet business, specifically in ecommerce. I owned a biz that was doing 2.5MM/year in revenue when we sold. I am happy to provide you with the products we sold, what were the most profitable ones for us and discuss ones that you can add to your back end if you want.

I am even willing to give you a list of my suppliers. This took me years and countless hours of research to accumulate.

And before anyone asks: No, I won't give this info out to anyone else.

PM me if you are interested. If not, no worries!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Razz

VPH: Value Per Hour
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
515%
Apr 15, 2016
53
273
Thank you for not only this thread @JasonR, but not deleting it! :rockon: Would've never had the opportunity to discover it.

This thread had everything, and is extremely helpful in providing an overview on how to create some links between concepts and experiences. It really showed how this group works, illustrates how close and supportive this community is. Screw those people that come here solely to steal and clone a product mindlessly. It's like the whole teach a man to fish parable.

Highlights to me were:
Your discoveries along the way
The CVO from DM
The reinforcement about not having to reinvent the wheel
And your ever shifting perspective. Awesome flow - the journey illustrated your mindset increases, the resiliency developed, and the perseverance.

This was one of the first threads I clicked with and was like - dang. Sorry to be late to the party, but very much appreciated all the ZD's advice (The Dolphin Thought Process) that you included as well. That made me go and discover a couple more threads that had all sorts of golden nuggets in it as well. That and learning some of the insights from the values and threads linked to and developed by other members of this board.

Much appreciated
 

#nowhere

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
152%
Jan 29, 2016
192
292
Germany
I'm not going to give you a specific example here - however:

Read Ready, Fire, Aim - one of the best business books out there and an excellent read after MJ's book, IMO.

It explains why EVERY business should always be innovating and pivoting.

Hey Jason,

sad to read what happened. Congratulations to your freedom. The value you provided here is great and unbroken.
Could you reveal who the author of your version of "ready fire aim" is?

Regards and thank you!

Kai
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Dwee

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
233%
Sep 26, 2014
21
49
35
Hey Jason,

sad to read what happened. Congratulations to your freedom. The value you provided here is great and unbroken.
Could you reveal who the author of your version of "ready fire aim" is?

Regards and thank you!

Kai

I believe the author of that book can be found here:

www.google.com

I could be wrong though....
 

MotiveInMotion

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
167%
Mar 14, 2016
109
182
Independent
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)...

Man this is super valuable @JasonR thanks a lot for creating it!

I've just gone through every post on the thread and received tons of answers, value, and ideas from the posts along with the responses to them. Got me thinking so much through the eyes of a sales funnel, LTCV, and cycles, which I had not as heavily considered before.

This is up there with zen******* & IcecreamKid posts!
 
Last edited:

#nowhere

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
152%
Jan 29, 2016
192
292
Germany
I believe the author of that book can be found here:

www.google.com

I could be wrong though....

oh. earning merits through pretending I were a dumbass. Applause.
3 authors in the first five results. oh and one other book is on achieving things besides the one on entrepreneurship.



3authors.JPG
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

LightHouse

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
163%
Aug 13, 2007
4,297
6,995
Northern VA
oh. earning merits through pretending I were a dumbass. Applause.
3 authors in the first five results. oh and one other book is on achieving things besides the one on entrepreneurship.



View attachment 12219
The first one with the ugly red cover is the correct one
 

Bitch

PARKED
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Sep 21, 2016
2
0
43
Curious as to whether you have a patent for every one of your products that you sell? I'm thinking you must or people would steal all your products but that also would cost a shit ton wouldn't it? Also, is everything you sell branded? Just wondering if everything you sell is manufactured yourself and branded. Thank you.
 
Last edited:

Longinus

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
441%
Aug 28, 2014
1,132
4,995
Poland / Belgium
@JasonR
Where have you been? Miss your raw and real posts. Hope all is well!

He has an awesome thread about his latest successes.

In the inside.

giphy.gif
 

ZF Lee

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
180%
Jul 27, 2016
2,840
5,113
25
Malaysia
He has an awesome thread about his latest successes.

In the inside.

giphy.gif
You know....I was about to book an INSIDERS this week....and then I ran into @JasonR's series of threads (not just the gold ones)...so I thought it had to wait..

You, my pal, hammered the last nail in the coffin.
THIS IS IT. I'm going in! I don't give a F*ck whether I'm prepared or not...I'll go in!
 

Longinus

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
441%
Aug 28, 2014
1,132
4,995
Poland / Belgium
You know....I was about to book an INSIDERS this week....and then I ran into @JasonR's series of threads (not just the gold ones)...so I thought it had to wait..

You, my pal, hammered the last nail in the coffin.
THIS IS IT. I'm going in! I don't give a F*ck whether I'm prepared or not...I'll go in!

Yes, after one year of "studying" fastlane from the outside, it's the right next step.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

ZF Lee

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
180%
Jul 27, 2016
2,840
5,113
25
Malaysia
Yes, after one year of "studying" fastlane from the outside, it's the right next step.
Yup...my outside Fastlane ventures via free lancing and others hit the point where I either needed to steer clear or get more tools. Many times I had to work for free...but I didn't mind because I was in it to learn. And I just felt some kind of clock ticking...time just ebbs away.

Besides, I want to know the more veteran Fastlaners better so that I know how to help them out should the opportunity comes by...and most of their stories and background are in the INSIDERS.

It's be just like going back to Chuma mode, when I first came here....I hounded around the gold and notable threads. I'm not sure what I'll exactly find in the INSIDERS...just that I know it's something that most entrepreneurs would pay an arm and a leg for. I'll start with a 3-months subs.

Thanks again. Needed the push. I hate it when my own executions were grinding to a slow.
 

Trixii

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
114%
May 5, 2015
22
25
44
This post. So simple, stupidly obvious, but it just blew my mind! Thank you for everything you've shared here @JasonR

Good post. This is really the KEY to understanding online sales funnels.

Let's say you are my competitor.

You sell a product with a LCV of $40. You can pay up to $39 for a customer (paid advertising, aka CPA cost) and still turn a profit (ignoring margins for the moment).

I sell the same product, yet have a "funnel" with upsells on the back end, and my LCV is $80.

Guess who wins the traffic battle?

Here's the key. The more you can afford to pay for a customer, the MORE customers you can actually acquire. So your LCV becomes ESSENTIAL to how big and fast you can grow your business.

If you can afford to pay more fore a customer than anyone else, you become unstoppable.

Most people think of the product and stop. That's where I was a year ago. And now, I realize, that's awesome, I found a winning product, but we can be so much more, and grow so much bigger and faster.

SEO guys don't typically think this way.

When you tell a potential investor you take $35 and turn into $80, you'll have more money thrown at you than you can handle.

All of a sudden, you can grow from 6 figures to 7 figures REALLY fast.

When you run a subscription model (which I love), you'll need to get data on how long your customers stick, and it can become more of a finance model.

Is all of this making sense? I wish someone would have told me this before I started.

Facebook traffic has become more expensive in the last year. So, do you want to play the cheap traffic source game, and hop to the next cheapest traffic source. Or do you want to be able to pay enough so you can SCALE on any traffic source, and go from 10k customers to 300k?

Also, do the math. How many customers do you need to make $1m at a $30 LCV? $50 LCV? $150 LCV?

I think you're starting to get the picture...
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

CPisHere

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Sep 17, 2011
750
827
Louisiana
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.
I've seen this article before, but can you expand more on how to apply it to e-commerce?? It seems more designed for info products.

What would be a lead magnet?
I guess you could skip/combine that with a tripwire like a 'great deal' low price item, but how do you direct people to that first with e-commerce? By advertising that item specifically?

Also, when you say LCV of $60+, you mean profit right?
 

JasonR

Maverick
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
544%
May 29, 2012
2,102
11,425
Las Vegas
I've seen this article before, but can you expand more on how to apply it to e-commerce?? It seems more designed for info products.

What would be a lead magnet?
I guess you could skip/combine that with a tripwire like a 'great deal' low price item, but how do you direct people to that first with e-commerce? By advertising that item specifically?

Also, when you say LCV of $60+, you mean profit right?

It can be applied to any business. What else are your customers interested in? They can always be upsold - and if you aren't upselling you are LOSING money. Info products can be sold as an upsell to physical goods, or a physical good in addition to a physical good, etc.

Have you seen Amazon lately? They are upselling warranties on their products. Same concept, and they know a certain % of customers will take those options.

When I say a LCV of $60+ I'm not talking about profit. The lifetime customer value is simply that: a value of each customer (on average) in their lifetime. How much does the average customer purchase from you, over, say a year?

It's really, really hard to sell a $15 product with paid traffic. Yes, I've done it, I've seen people do it, but it's incredibly difficult. When you have a high LCV, it makes marketing and advertising easier.

You should also be looking at your company long term. What else will your customers buy from you? You already have the reputation from your customers, leverage that into additional sales (email, email, email!). Many e-commerce store owners neglect email. Every time you add new products, send emails, make sales from existing customers you are increasing your LCV.
 

CPisHere

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Sep 17, 2011
750
827
Louisiana
It can be applied to any business. What else are your customers interested in? They can always be upsold - and if you aren't upselling you are LOSING money. Info products can be sold as an upsell to physical goods, or a physical good in addition to a physical good, etc.
I get up-sells, but there was a bunch of other stuff in that link.

When I say a LCV of $60+ I'm not talking about profit. The lifetime customer value is simply that: a value of each customer (on average) in their lifetime. How much does the average customer purchase from you, over, say a year?
Wouldn't you need to make this calculation using the lifetime profit? I mean if your margin is 10% vs 50% would make a big difference, right?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

AllenCrawley

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
420%
Oct 13, 2011
4,112
17,270
52
Scottsdale, AZ
Wouldn't you need to make this calculation using the lifetime profit? I mean if your margin is 10% vs 50% would make a big difference, right?
Don't be in a 10% margin business. ;)
 

JasonR

Maverick
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
544%
May 29, 2012
2,102
11,425
Las Vegas
Don't be in a 10% margin business.

Hahaha. So much this...

Wouldn't you need to make this calculation using the lifetime profit? I mean if your margin is 10% vs 50% would make a big difference, right?

Look, calculating L.C.V., alone, is tremendously difficult. I couldn't imagine doing it with lifetime profit.

Make sure your margins work first, before you ever launch a product / business. Don't just throw something up and hope it works.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top