My Odyssey - Finding Meaning And Achieving Financial Freedom

[Odysseus M Jones]

Well done!
You're an inspiration.
I hope some action fakers see this & get off their butts.

Tip: When staring at your lead's number on your phone instead of having pretend-conversations and making needless preparations, which is just procrastination, have your hand push the call button and roll with it, just like you would with a cold shower - don't build up to it, just instantly crank the knob to freezing cold water.

From now on you'll be known as
St. Simeon, Guardian Angel of Action Fakers

So right now I am selling ads. If the prospect wants ads, but their site is trash I tell them the ads won't be effective and money would be wasted without a landing page that is able to convert the traffic they pay for. That's exactly how I made my second sale.

Or maybe The Bulgarian Black
Seeing as you're following in Andy's footsteps

And if three action fakers start executing we'll call them Andy's Angels
In honour of you both

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Simon Angel]

Not to detract from @Odysseus M Jones's wit however I finished calling all but one of the 8 agencies I had written down today and managed to arrange a total of 4 meetings with the decision makers. One of them is tomorrow!

I am both excited and surprised at the same time.

The reason I didn't call the 8th one is because we're a fairly small city and if I can close 1 to 2 deals from these 4 meetings that would be great.. but if I run campaigns for 3 or more clients that are all competing with eachother in the same industry and in the same city then I'd be going full Machiavelli.

 

[Simon Angel]

Woke up with a pulsating earache and damn vertigo, no idea why.

Might've been the binaural beats I'd been listening to these past few days.. I also already evaluated the likelihood of it being corona.


Called the prospect I was supposed to be meeting..

..And they said they're unable to meet me today as they're driving to X city (sounded in a hurry) and offered to do it tomorrow instead.

I agreed and assured him that I'll take responsibility to contact them tomorrow morning so that we could agree on a time and place that works for us.

One small issue though. I've got another meeting appointed for Wednesday (tomorrow)

I'll either have to be flexible and meet both of them or postpone one for the next day. Will improvize tomorrow with this.


I haven't managed to do much else today thanks to this damn ear..

Light, sound and even the smell of my own farts would trigger dizziness. I did watch about an hour of the Google Adwords course but ultimately ended up just drinking a lot of water and waiting for the curse of The Binaural Beetlejuice to go away.


I did set up conversion tracking for phone calls for my cleaning company client.

Traffic has been steadily growing, too, a really hard and impressive feat when there's 0 competition (literally).

Fortunately, the cursed ear thing did go away at about 6PM after invoking the Law of Attraction (thanks Napoleon Hill).

I worked out and cooked dinner as celebration.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Going to catch up on the Google Ads course for the next few hours before bed and visualize how I'm going to close my first RE client tomorrow for some sweet MRR (with a website redesign upsell as the current one isn't even mobile responsive).


In the meanwhile, here's what I listen to when I'm visualizing my rise to success and pretending I'm a mobster in the 50s in a jazz club with an unlit cigar as my girlfriend sits next to me.

Why unlit? Because I have Crohn's disease and smoking is bad (unless it's weed):

I am very aware that I suck at formating. This has been my 5th edit.

 

[Andy Black]

You had vertigo and ear ache and still managed to watch an hour of Google Ads course? You’re a glutton for punishment!

 

[Simon Angel]

You had vertigo and ear ache and still managed to watch an hour of Google Ads course? You’re a glutton for punishment!

I feel like you're busting my balls, but to be fair it was also 35 C today and I lose the majority of my brain function in the heat.

Like, my IQ drops from Genius to just Gifted.

And you already know I ain't paying that AC money.

 

[Andy Black]

I feel like you're busting my balls, but to be fair it was also 35 C today and I lose the majority of my brain function in the heat.

Like, my IQ drops from Genius to just Gifted.

And you already know I ain't paying that AC money.

Wasn’t busting anything. Just impressed. ; )

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Simon Angel]

Update:
​

I had the weird ear fluttering and vertigo for two days in a row. Woke up next to my girlfriend this morning, and what do you know, it was there again. I used my extremely high IQ and noticed a pattern:

I woke up a good 10 times that night because it was hot. For the majority of the night I laid on my left side (the right ear is problematic). I was fine. Even at 4 AM I was fine.

Around 7 AM, however, I wasn't. It was back. But I was laying on my right side. I got severely pissed off and laid on my left and told myself "this is the sole reason". Suprisingly, I woke up at 8 with no vertigo and no fluttering. Yeah, I don't know either.

Anyway..​

Of the 2 meetings that I was supposed to go on Wednesday, the prospect with whom we rescheduled to meet on the next day said he's too busy and travelling to whatever place again.

I proposed we reschedule again for another day this week. He cut me off and said he has my contact info and will call when he's free, in a rather irritable tone. Which means "F*ck off kid, I'm not interested anymore lol". That's fine, can't have them all.

Then I called Prospect Nr. 2 and as you may have already guessed, he was also too busy.

We rescheduled for the next day as well (Thursday) at a cafe at 11 AM. I followed up with him at around 10 AM today to make sure our arrangement is still on and he confirmed he'll be there "At 11 AM. But it could be 11-something too".

- "Sure, let me know 15-20 minutes in advance"

"Ok, deal".

I waited until 11 at first. No call.

At around 11:10 I began walking towards the cafe just to make sure in case he forgets to let me know in advance (15-20 minutes from my apartment, it was 35 C and I wore jeans and a shirt, sweatier than an a$$ crack) and in an effort to be close to the cafe when he calls me but without spending money on a taxi (I am.. quite broke) and I got there at around 11:30. Still no call.

I wrote him a text that I'm currently in the area near the cafe.. no reply, no call-back.

I went inside and ordered a water.

40 minutes later - he was a no-show. Disappointing and disrespectful, I guess. I left a tip for the waitress and walked back home, still sweating profusely.

At this point I've told myself I MUST find and help a real estate agency just to spite those that have turned me down.

I want to help their "meh competition" become a real problem for them.

But wait, there's more..
​

I ultimately decided not to work the insurance job my girl's father offered me. I felt it would take too much of my time and I wanted to pursue this instead.

Yeah, getting ghosted on a meeting.

And probably the most concerning of all - some of my friends have been diagnosed with C0VlD-19. I've been in close contact, and I'm worrying for everyone, including myself like a mom.

Doubt, depression and dread are creeping up on my psyche. I have to pick up the phone tomorrow and call again though, I really don't have a choice since I declined the job and I'm broke + passively in debt due to my mother's loans. Maybe I'm an idiot.

And my a**hole mind keeps coming up with these worst-case scenarios and flooding my thought processes with them.

I don't want to sound like a wuss, but I have no psychological support here at home and I've been known to worry myself to the point of getting sick. In fact, a big reason I want to move so badly is because my mental health is deteriorating here at home. I'm remaining stoic for the most part, though.

Until next time..

 

[velikan]

Good luck bro!
I'm impressed of what you're doing!

 

[Simon Angel]

Good luck bro!
I'm impressed of what you're doing!

Thanks man, nice name!

 

[Joxsten]

Thank you for a much valuable thread @Simon Angel!
I’m also in the stages of starting my webdesign business, but still looking for my first client.
I thought i was taking consistent action, and primarily doing cold emails without much results. Your thread and sharing of your process have given me a kick in the right direction, and I’ll begin to do cold calls instead on a consistent basis. So again, thank you for sharing!

A quick question: Do you have a system for all the prospecting you do? A system which helps you keep track of who you’ve contacted, and when to follow up?

 

[Odysseus M Jones]

Thanks man, nice name!

In England at school they'd have called him Velikan the Pelican.
Kids are so cruel.
Just trying to cheer you up.
Remember, it's all in the mind.
Reality doesn't change, it's how you perceive it that does.

Thank you for a much valuable thread @Simon Angel!
I’m also in the stages of starting my webdesign business, but still looking for my first client.
I thought i was taking consistent action, and primarily doing cold emails without much results. Your thread and sharing of your process have given me a kick in the right direction, and I’ll begin to do cold calls instead on a consistent basis. So again, thank you for sharing!

A quick question: Do you have a system for all the prospecting you do? A system which helps you keep track of who you’ve contacted, and when to follow up?

Oh dude, 8 posts & still parked, they're cruel here too.
You see here likes are currency & they're stingy with them even though they're free to give.
Unless you're an epic legendary then your followers like anything you post.
That's more about the fanboy culture though.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Joxsten]

Oh dude, 8 posts & still parked, they're cruel here too.
You see here likes are currency & they're stingy with them even though they're free to give.
Unless you're an epic legendary then your followers like anything you post.
That's more about the fanboy culture though.

Ha! Thank you for the moral support and the likes. If likes is currency here, i just have to be more valuable and contributive!

 

[Simon Angel]

Thank you for a much valuable thread @Simon Angel!
I’m also in the stages of starting my webdesign business, but still looking for my first client.
I thought i was taking consistent action, and primarily doing cold emails without much results. Your thread and sharing of your process have given me a kick in the right direction, and I’ll begin to do cold calls instead on a consistent basis. So again, thank you for sharing!

A quick question: Do you have a system for all the prospecting you do? A system which helps you keep track of who you’ve contacted, and when to follow up?

I try to keep it simple by creating a contact in my phone of the person I'm going to have a meeting with, and setting up an alarm for the day we scheduled, one hour in advance.

Plus I'm excited about going on a meeting so it's on my mind every 30 minutes or so until it happens.

If you're talking about following-up I try to close for a meet up on the first call, but I don't sell them anything except the idea of making more money, optimizing/lowering their ad spend and etc.

I only got overwhelmed doing this once because I booked 4 meetings in just a day and 2 of the business owners had the same name. Wasn't a big issue though and I believe I sent myself a few lines of text on Messenger on who to call and when to call them + their company name.


@Odysseus M Jones Thanks for the cheer up brozinski, I appreciate it.

What the F*ck do you do though? Apart from being a professional memer. Your mystique.. it bothers me.

 

[Simon Angel]

Had a whoopise-daisy moment today.
​

Apparently my conversion tracking for phone calls from website had not been working exactly as intended..

My ad manager was showing me that my client had been having upwards of 10-15 calls per day for just $2-3 of ad spend..and he had kept all this a secret from me?!

Just as I was about to make a phone call to demand $2 googolplex per month for my epic service and become the most successful fastlane story in the forum, it hit me.. I was tracking page views instead.

I'm not dumb, okay, it's really hard.

Anyway..
​

I have sinced fixed this gross misunderstanding and demanded 20K instead. Just kidding. I wish.

I sorted out the conversion tracking and will be monitoring closely.

Researched some more RE agencies today and after extensive back and forth with Google I managed to find the biggest RE agency here's owner's phone number. Epic action taking right here folks. A whole number. And of course they aren't running any ads, though they do have a global site tag installed + Google Analytics.

Mark my words, I shall soon lay waste on all other local RE agencies with my superior Google Ads spartan training.

Oh and I started working on Plumber #2's website (we will be running ads to it after completion too).

I might eat fecal matter for this but he's paying 50% on Monday while I'm beginning work tonight, in advance. Here in Bulgaria we usually come face to face before shaking hands on a deal while this deal was closed entirely over the phone.. so I had to lower the risk for the client by increasing my own.

If only people would start attending my F*cking meetings.

But wait, there's more!
​

Since this is my #100th post in the forum, I'm about to get very personal and share my most favorite song ever.

You know, that one song you could listen 10 000 times and still get goose bumps when it plays faintly from a store or in a movie scene?

The one that plays in your head whenever you're happy, depressed, horny, miserable, daydreaming about your future success, etc.

THIS is THE song for me:

And yeah I know it's not my 100th post. But it's my thread and I do what I want.

 

[Simon Angel]

Update:
​

Cleaning service client get many phone call today. 4 maybe-clients!

He very happy! We continue google ad thing.

Plumber #2 send first money today, after 25 follow up call. He now official client for me. Me happy.

Me had 38 call today, head hurt. Boring stuff.. but got new client!

But there more!!​

Later call big house sell agency. They pick up phone..

Me: "Hi, you want make big money? Me found way, pls meet soon"

Business man: "What you mean? Sound interest for me"

Me: "Me find loophole. You and other house seller no use epic method. Big money on table, need meet for say more!"

Business man: "Me agree"

Me: "When free?"

Business man: "Weddingsday 9 in morning"

Me: "Ok. Me call you for arrange"

Business man: "Yes"

Me: "Bye"

Business man: "Hello"

*epic call end*

Potential client say he have 700-800 unique click every day on site. Big click, right?

But me ask how many conversion, how many phone ring? He say, me quote, "many little"..

Me think potential client have bad site. It no optimize for phone. Many hard to use. No phone ring button.

This is problem. Smell poopy.

Me wanted offer google ad thing. But if we get more click, convert still low with now-site. No good right?

So me want upsell new site. Everhow, the project intimade I. And me get flybutter in stomach..

But me going to meet anyway. Hope potential client come also this time.

I visualize good thing before the sleep tonight.

Everyway..
​

Very producting day for I. But me feel empty. Dont know why. Melonholy.

Hope me make you laugh though.

Hello.

 

[Blackman]

Hey Simon, any update on this?

Your last post reads kind of funny in broken English, considering all the previous replies were spot on...I thought that was a bit weird, unless I didn't catch the sarcasm?

Would be great to know if you have made any progress.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Simon Angel]

Hey Simon, any update on this?

Your last post reads kind of funny in broken English, considering all the previous replies were spot on...I thought that was a bit weird, unless I didn't catch the sarcasm?

Would be great to know if you have made any progress.

Hi @Blackman, currently dealing with a shitty client (Plumber Nr.2). Might not get paid in full, but the odds are I will be.

I spent a lot of time talking to him, his previous web designer, arranging deals between them (which got nothing to do with me) just to make the process more efficient and less daunting for them both. He ended up not fulfilling his part of the deal, while I did and overdid.

The deal was 50% of the payment before beginning our website redesign project, 50% after completion and launch. I did my part, he took a step back and started negotiating like a mad man when I called him:

"Hi, the site has been launched, you've now got A, B, C, I did X so now you'll be getting more Y and Z, etc, etc. As the project is finished, feel free to deposit the remainder of the arranged payment."

- "Ok, so, yeah.. let's wait a week or two and see if there's more visitors to the site than before, more calls, you know?"

"You're saying you want to hold onto the rest of the payment, even though I've fulfilled my end of the deal in full + more, is that right?"

- "No, no, you'll get paid.. let's just wait a little and see.."

"Sorry, that's not how I do business and that wasn't part of our deal. I don't think having our relationship go sour is the way to go right now, so if you would proceed by sending the rest of the money you owe me, we can discuss going the next level and adding PPC ads into the mix."

- "Look, you convinced me over the phone I'll have results, right? So I want to see those results first."

"Yeah, except that wasn't part of our deal. The deal was half the payment before starting the project, the rest after completion and live launch. Which, as you can see, I've followed through with. You're withholding my payment and expect us to continue working together?

- "Bla bla bla, is this amount of money really that a big deal to you, because it's not for me, bla bla bla, I've got clients I've been working for 7-8 months and they've yet to pay me.. etc"

"I don't see how this has anything to do with our deal. You gave me you word, and so did I, you trusted me to get the job done and I did, so I'd like you to pay me today."

*more of the same shitfest for 30 minutes or so*

I don't know if he's sent me the money or not. I told him to call after he does. He said he'll do it today. Hasn't called.

I learned a lot though. I want to say my client is a F*cking idiot, but if we back to the root cause of the problem, it's that I chose him, so it's my fault. I need to find better clients. Like the RE agency where the CEO was very up to date with digital marketing, so I could just speak freely without dumbing down every word that comes out of my mouth and still be misunderstood.

In regards to the RE agency meeting, it did occur. Here's what happened: How To Help This RE Business Owner And Add Vlaue During The C0VlD-19 Recession? (With Details Inside)

I have not cold called much after this. In fact, I've been slacking - spent time with friends, played cards and went to pool parties. I still haven't completed my Google Ads course, but it's probably more of the fact I'm pretty confident with my skills as is (which is just ego talk) rather than being lazy. I'm also in the process of selling my car.

It's been hard. On one hand I want to succeed and be financially independent and free, on the other hand my mother has really bad debt that has to be paid and she won't be able to by herself.. at the same time she's pretty abusive to me and I want to move.

And then there's also my girl - let's go here, let's go there. I sometimes get aches and pains due to the stress and It gets overwhelming but I'm not backing down and will learn to manage this.

The goal I've set at the moment is finding E-commerce clients as that's where I come from and I feel confident I can help business owners scale their stores from let's say 4 figures a month to 5, 6 and even 7. @Phikey has lead the way and opened the door for me to do so with his knowledge and insight - he is probably one of the highest earners in the forum and has spent a decent amount of his time helping me, a random guy.

Anyways, I haven't been able to sleep well lately - having weird dreams or all-out nightmares, grinding my teeth a lot. The grinding ended up being the cause of my previously unexplained vertigo and ear fluttering. I drink lemon balm tea before bed to ease the nerves.

What about you?

 

[Blackman]

I had a similar experience with a prospect, not even a client, about 2 months ago.

I promoted his business completely free of charge, spending my own money, referred him 5 customers, which all turned into decent jobs, but then he wanted me to keep doing this, despite my attempts to explain to him that advertising costs money and I don't run a charity shop.

Anyway, I'm still prospecting, but changed my strategy from cold-calling to forum marketing - feels like that I'm not doing much compared to cold-calling, so let's see if this will produce better results or not.

 

[MRMattyICE]

Hi @Blackman, currently dealing with a shitty client (Plumber Nr.2). Might not get paid in full, but the odds are I will be.

I spent a lot of time talking to him, his previous web designer, arranging deals between them (which got nothing to do with me) just to make the process more efficient and less daunting for them both. He ended up not fulfilling his part of the deal, while I did and overdid.

The deal was 50% of the payment before beginning our website redesign project, 50% after completion and launch. I did my part, he took a step back and started negotiating like a mad man when I called him:

"Hi, the site has been launched, you've now got A, B, C, I did X so now you'll be getting more Y and Z, etc, etc. As the project is finished, feel free to deposit the remainder of the arranged payment."

- "Ok, so, yeah.. let's wait a week or two and see if there's more visitors to the site than before, more calls, you know?"

"You're saying you want to hold onto the rest of the payment, even though I've fulfilled my end of the deal in full + more, is that right?"

- "No, no, you'll get paid.. let's just wait a little and see.."

"Sorry, that's not how I do business and that wasn't part of our deal. I don't think having our relationship go sour is the way to go right now, so if you would proceed by sending the rest of the money you owe me, we can discuss going the next level and adding PPC ads into the mix."

- "Look, you convinced me over the phone I'll have results, right? So I want to see those results first."

"Yeah, except that wasn't part of our deal. The deal was half the payment before starting the project, the rest after completion and live launch. Which, as you can see, I've followed through with. You're withholding my payment and expect us to continue working together?

- "Bla bla bla, is this amount of money really that a big deal to you, because it's not for me, bla bla bla, I've got clients I've been working for 7-8 months and they've yet to pay me.. etc"

"I don't see how this has anything to do with our deal. You gave me you word, and so did I, you trusted me to get the job done and I did, so I'd like you to pay me today."

*more of the same shitfest for 30 minutes or so*

I don't know if he's sent me the money or not. I told him to call after he does. He said he'll It's been hard. On one hand I want to succeed and be financially independent and free, on the other hand my mother has really bad debt that has to be paid and she won't be able to by herself.. at the same time she's pretty abusive to me and I want to move.

And then there's also my girl - let's go here, let's go there. I sometimes get aches and pains due to the stress and It gets overwhelming but I'm not backing down and will learn to manage this.

Hi @Blackman, currently dealing with a shitty client (Plumber Nr.2). Might not get paid in full, but the odds are I will be.

I spent a lot of time talking to him, his previous web designer, arranging deals between them (which got nothing to do with me) just to make the process more efficient and less daunting for them both. He ended up not fulfilling his part of the deal, while I did and overdid.

The deal was 50% of the payment before beginning our website redesign project, 50% after completion and launch. I did my part, he took a step back and started negotiating like a mad man when I called him:

"Hi, the site has been launched, you've now got A, B, C, I did X so now you'll be getting more Y and Z, etc, etc. As the project is finished, feel free to deposit the remainder of the arranged payment."

- "Ok, so, yeah.. let's wait a week or two and see if there's more visitors to the site than before, more calls, you know?"

"You're saying you want to hold onto the rest of the payment, even though I've fulfilled my end of the deal in full + more, is that right?"

- "No, no, you'll get paid.. let's just wait a little and see.."

"Sorry, that's not how I do business and that wasn't part of our deal. I don't think having our relationship go sour is the way to go right now, so if you would proceed by sending the rest of the money you owe me, we can discuss going the next level and adding PPC ads into the mix."

- "Look, you convinced me over the phone I'll have results, right? So I want to see those results first."

"Yeah, except that wasn't part of our deal. The deal was half the payment before starting the project, the rest after completion and live launch. Which, as you can see, I've followed through with. You're withholding my payment and expect us to continue working together?

- "Bla bla bla, is this amount of money really that a big deal to you, because it's not for me, bla bla bla, I've got clients I've been working for 7-8 months and they've yet to pay me.. etc"

"I don't see how this has anything to do with our deal. You gave me you word, and so did I, you trusted me to get the job done and I did, so I'd like you to pay me today."

*more of the same shitfest for 30 minutes or so*

I don't know if he's sent me the money or not. I told him to call after he does. He said he'll do it today. Hasn't called.

I learned a lot though. I want to say my client is a F*cking idiot, but if we back to the root cause of the problem, it's that I chose him, so it's my fault. I need to find better clients. Like the RE agency where the CEO was very up to date with digital marketing, so I could just speak freely without dumbing down every word that comes out of my mouth and still be misunderstood.

In regards to the RE agency meeting, it did occur. Here's what happened: How To Help This RE Business Owner And Add Vlaue During The C0VlD-19 Recession? (With Details Inside)

I have not cold called much after this. In fact, I've been slacking - spent time with friends, played cards and went to pool parties. I still haven't completed my Google Ads course, but it's probably more of the fact I'm pretty confident with my skills as is (which is just ego talk) rather than being lazy. I'm also in the process of selling my car.

It's been hard. On one hand I want to succeed and be financially independent and free, on the other hand my mother has really bad debt that has to be paid and she won't be able to by herself.. at the same time she's pretty abusive to me and I want to move.

And then there's also my girl - let's go here, let's go there. I sometimes get aches and pains due to the stress and It gets overwhelming but I'm not backing down and will learn to manage this.

The goal I've set at the moment is finding E-commerce clients as that's where I come from and I feel confident I can help business owners scale their stores from let's say 4 figures a month to 5, 6 and even 7. @Phikey has lead the way and opened the door for me to do so with his knowledge and insight - he is probably one of the highest earners in the forum and has spent a decent amount of his time helping me, a random guy.

Anyways, I haven't been able to sleep well lately - having weird dreams or all-out nightmares, grinding my teeth a lot. The grinding ended up being the cause of my previously unexplained vertigo and ear fluttering. I drink lemon balm tea before bed to ease the nerves.

What about you?

Wow I definitely understand what you mean when you say your girl gets in the way of your focus and time spent on your business, friends can also do the same thing.

I recently started a web design business and it blows my mind how many bad websites are out there that need fixing, just with cold emailing for 2 to 3 days.. I noticed so many broken links, contact forms don’t work, wrong contact email listed on the websites, no email listed for contact on the website and such.. I could go on and on but you get the point! So much opportunity for work right now with web design and seo for business that are losing money by not stepping up there online presence!

 

[Phikey]

Hi @Blackman, currently dealing with a shitty client (Plumber Nr.2). Might not get paid in full, but the odds are I will be.

I spent a lot of time talking to him, his previous web designer, arranging deals between them (which got nothing to do with me) just to make the process more efficient and less daunting for them both. He ended up not fulfilling his part of the deal, while I did and overdid.

The deal was 50% of the payment before beginning our website redesign project, 50% after completion and launch. I did my part, he took a step back and started negotiating like a mad man when I called him:

"Hi, the site has been launched, you've now got A, B, C, I did X so now you'll be getting more Y and Z, etc, etc. As the project is finished, feel free to deposit the remainder of the arranged payment."

- "Ok, so, yeah.. let's wait a week or two and see if there's more visitors to the site than before, more calls, you know?"

"You're saying you want to hold onto the rest of the payment, even though I've fulfilled my end of the deal in full + more, is that right?"

- "No, no, you'll get paid.. let's just wait a little and see.."

"Sorry, that's not how I do business and that wasn't part of our deal. I don't think having our relationship go sour is the way to go right now, so if you would proceed by sending the rest of the money you owe me, we can discuss going the next level and adding PPC ads into the mix."

- "Look, you convinced me over the phone I'll have results, right? So I want to see those results first."

"Yeah, except that wasn't part of our deal. The deal was half the payment before starting the project, the rest after completion and live launch. Which, as you can see, I've followed through with. You're withholding my payment and expect us to continue working together?

- "Bla bla bla, is this amount of money really that a big deal to you, because it's not for me, bla bla bla, I've got clients I've been working for 7-8 months and they've yet to pay me.. etc"

"I don't see how this has anything to do with our deal. You gave me you word, and so did I, you trusted me to get the job done and I did, so I'd like you to pay me today."

*more of the same shitfest for 30 minutes or so*

I don't know if he's sent me the money or not. I told him to call after he does. He said he'll do it today. Hasn't called.

I learned a lot though. I want to say my client is a F*cking idiot, but if we back to the root cause of the problem, it's that I chose him, so it's my fault. I need to find better clients. Like the RE agency where the CEO was very up to date with digital marketing, so I could just speak freely without dumbing down every word that comes out of my mouth and still be misunderstood.

In regards to the RE agency meeting, it did occur. Here's what happened: How To Help This RE Business Owner And Add Vlaue During The C0VlD-19 Recession? (With Details Inside)

I have not cold called much after this. In fact, I've been slacking - spent time with friends, played cards and went to pool parties. I still haven't completed my Google Ads course, but it's probably more of the fact I'm pretty confident with my skills as is (which is just ego talk) rather than being lazy. I'm also in the process of selling my car.

It's been hard. On one hand I want to succeed and be financially independent and free, on the other hand my mother has really bad debt that has to be paid and she won't be able to by herself.. at the same time she's pretty abusive to me and I want to move.

And then there's also my girl - let's go here, let's go there. I sometimes get aches and pains due to the stress and It gets overwhelming but I'm not backing down and will learn to manage this.

The goal I've set at the moment is finding E-commerce clients as that's where I come from and I feel confident I can help business owners scale their stores from let's say 4 figures a month to 5, 6 and even 7. @Phikey has lead the way and opened the door for me to do so with his knowledge and insight - he is probably one of the highest earners in the forum and has spent a decent amount of his time helping me, a random guy.

Anyways, I haven't been able to sleep well lately - having weird dreams or all-out nightmares, grinding my teeth a lot. The grinding ended up being the cause of my previously unexplained vertigo and ear fluttering. I drink lemon balm tea before bed to ease the nerves.

What about you?

@Simon Angel some things I would recommend here:

• You’ll get better and better at vetting your clients. You’ll start to get spidey-senses for when a client says something on the sales call that’s a red flag and you’ll decide not to work with them. I noticed myself doing this after 6-12 months in the services game. It takes some burns to develop this.
• You can also protect yourself as much as possible and retain reasonable control of your work. You get paid the final 50% on completion but YOU don’t push the site live until that final 50% is paid. You put in your contract that the site is owned by you until that final payment is made and lands in your account. Only then does the client receive the benefits of the site. How can you do this? You can build it on your own hosting and only push it over once paid. The client can view it but it will be behind a password protected wall. If you need to build it on their hosting then you can password protect it too - make it so that only you have access to the staging.

Also, watch this video:

This video should be mandatory viewing for all services business owners.. every 3-6 months.

 

[BlackMagician]

Nice progress man. Keep it up!

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Xolorr]

Some quick maffs..​

To lead the lifestyle described above I'd need at least $2000 month (again, not actual dollars, we use a different currency here).

Why $2000?

Food: $300
Bills: $50-60
Small apartment: $200-400
Supplements/other minor expenses: $100-200 (but let's say it's even higher than that)
Total monthly expenditure: Comfortably below $1000

I would then have $1000 left to reinvest in my business, save for a vacation, help pay my mother's debts, etc.

$2000 a month is 2 medium priced or 3-4 smaller priced websites (for my current mediocre sales level). That's..easily doable if I cold call enough.

Quick input here, I haven't finished reading through the entire thread, but I wanted to ask if you've thought about reaching out to businesses in the USA or UK?

The reason I say this is because we're in similar situations geographically and work-wise.

I'm in South Africa, where the exchange rate is R17 to $1. I see in Bulgaria the exchange rate is around 1.7 to $1.

IMO it's good to use this to your advantage, because via zoom/skype you can work with clients anywhere in the world, and US based businesses will have a lot more to spend on websites than Bulgarian businesses.

Just as an example, I run a marketing agency doing around $5-$7k per month now (which equates to R100 000 per month). I would never be able to charge what I charge to local brands because they just don't have that type of capital to invest, whereas my US clients have told me I'm the cheapest service provider they work with, where in my eyes because of the currency conversion I feel like I'm charging a lot.

Just a thought for you, but doing 1 website for a US client could be worth 2 - 3 clients in Bulgaria.

I get all my clients through video audits via cold email, but if you just got a skype sub you could cold call to the US as well!

Keep killing it!

I just moved into my own apartment and it's definitely helped with work and focus, once you get over the ego boost of having a cool place and then realise you need to make the payments every month.

 

[Simon Angel]

Quick input here, I haven't finished reading through the entire thread, but I wanted to ask if you've thought about reaching out to businesses in the USA or UK?

The reason I say this is because we're in similar situations geographically and work-wise.

I'm in South Africa, where the exchange rate is R17 to $1. I see in Bulgaria the exchange rate is around 1.7 to $1.

IMO it's good to use this to your advantage, because via zoom/skype you can work with clients anywhere in the world, and US based businesses will have a lot more to spend on websites than Bulgarian businesses.

Just as an example, I run a marketing agency doing around $5-$7k per month now (which equates to R100 000 per month). I would never be able to charge what I charge to local brands because they just don't have that type of capital to invest, whereas my US clients have told me I'm the cheapest service provider they work with, where in my eyes because of the currency conversion I feel like I'm charging a lot.

Just a thought for you, but doing 1 website for a US client could be worth 2 - 3 clients in Bulgaria.

I get all my clients through video audits via cold email, but if you just got a skype sub you could cold call to the US as well!

Keep killing it!

I just moved into my own apartment and it's definitely helped with work and focus, once you get over the ego boost of having a cool place and then realise you need to make the payments every month.

Wow, I really appreciate you coming along and writing this. You're exactly right about transferring over to the US market and the exchange rate, I've been having a really hard time recently as I got physical symptoms from the stress of cold calling + worrying about the future and I got angry at first because my body let me down just as I was getting traction again, but I realized it's not my body, it's my mind. I believe I am on the mend but I was constantly anxious about the fact that to make my dreams of financial independence come true I have to go through some stress - which makes my health worse (inflammation). I was getting ready to cold call today but I realized staying alive and dealing with my issues now is more important than pressing on, which I've been known to do in the past. But I felt so defeated for a minute there when I felt the pain a few days ago for the first time in years, it's like making positive changes, but the stress of earning money and being more responsible makes me physically sick. I'm over it now though, fear and desperation don't do well.

I feel like you doing audits via cold email sounds great and I wouldn't have thought you could get a whole lot of clients this way, and with the added fact that you get paid in dollars, which also seems incredibly cheap for them is awesome. Could you explain the whole process a bit more? For you to do audits I assume you've contacted them before and got access to their ad managers? This info is like a bright light at the end of the tunnel, which often seemed like there is no end.

I just moved into my own apartment and it's definitely helped with work and focus, once you get over the ego boost of having a cool place and then realise you need to make the payments every month.

Congratulations man! I can only imagine, but I'd be happy to give all of my money away to just even be calm and happy and having the bills and food paid while not working for someone else. That's all I want, anything else I make or do is just the cherry on top.

 

[Xolorr]

Wow, I really appreciate you coming along and writing this. You're exactly right about transferring over to the US market and the exchange rate, I've been having a really hard time recently as I got physical symptoms from the stress of cold calling + worrying about the future and I got angry at first because my body let me down just as I was getting traction again, but I realized it's not my body, it's my mind. I believe I am on the mend but I was constantly anxious about the fact that to make my dreams of financial independence come true I have to go through some stress - which makes my health worse (inflammation). I was getting ready to cold call today but I realized staying alive and dealing with my issues now is more important than pressing on, which I've been known to do in the past.

I feel like you doing audits via cold email sounds great and I wouldn't have thought you could get a whole lot of clients this way, and with the added fact that you get paid in dollars, which also seems incredibly cheap for them is awesome. Could you explain the whole process a bit more? For you to do audits I assume you've contacted them before and got access to their ad managers? This info is like a bright light at the end of the tunnel, which often seemed like there is no end.



Congratulations man! I can only imagine, but I'd be happy to give all of my money away to just even be calm and happy and having the bills and food paid while not working for someone else. That's all I want, anything else I make or do is just the cherry on top.

Hahaha, man I’m glad I was able to make an impact!

No so I actually do video audits on cold/no contact. You can publicly view any ads any Facebook page is running via page transparency > Facebook ads library. So although I can’t view the metrics/data, just from the ads their running I can get a general idea if they know what they’re doing or not.

for video audits I use loom, I seem to remember reading a thread on here of a very similar method by someone else.

then just make sure to find the Decision makers email (a bunch of softwares for this) as well as LinkedIn, etc. and send it out!

same amount of effort as getting local clients with 2-5x the returns.

 

[Simon Angel]

Hahaha, man I’m glad I was able to make an impact!

No so I actually do video audits on cold/no contact. You can publicly view any ads any Facebook page is running via page transparency > Facebook ads library. So although I can’t view the metrics/data, just from the ads their running I can get a general idea if they know what they’re doing or not.

for video audits I use loom, I seem to remember reading a thread on here of a very similar method by someone else.

then just make sure to find the Decision makers email (a bunch of softwares for this) as well as LinkedIn, etc. and send it out!

same amount of effort as getting local clients with 2-5x the returns.

My man you're a F*cking genius and a life saver. Never thought of doing it that way without the metrics.

May you share an example of how you present yourself in these e-mails? I assume you also talk on the video audits? I've got a slight accent but pretty good actually, I'd shit myself on the phone though and probably talk way too slow. I assume on the camera behind the screen it gets a bit easier to talk. Btw, don't know if you can relate to that but in Bulgarian I am the complete opposite - loud, clear and a pretty smooth talker.

 

[Xolorr]

My man you're a F*cking genius and a life saver. Never thought of doing it that way without the metrics.

May you share an example of how you present yourself in these e-mails? I assume you also talk on the video audits? I've got a slight accent but pretty good actually, I'd shit myself on the phone though and probably talk way too slow. I assume on the camera behind the screen it gets a bit easier to talk. Btw, don't know if you can relate to that but in Bulgarian I am the complete opposite - loud, clear and a pretty smooth talker.

Hahahaha you’re gassing me up too much!

it’s definitely a very different type of outreach that takes some time to master, but based off my metrics at 5 per day I book around 6 sales calls per month, which depending on lead quality & my sales results in 1 - 2 clients per month.

in the beginning I was sending 10+ per day, but I couldn’t sustain that output with managing the team and clients, so now I’ve got someone working for me on commission basis with my exact system.

I won’t share one of my examples publicly for obvious reasons, but it goes a bit like this:

- find a list of qualified leads, and find the DM email via LinkedIn/Snov/hunter
- Start recording on their website, introduce myself and give a hook. “I want to show you how you’re missing out on $10k, if not $100k pm in sales”
- quick intro of myself
- audit (compliment) their website, product, reviews, IG, and content
- go to their FB ads library “this is why I was surprised to see that a business of your caliber wasn’t taking full advantage of FB ads”
- change tabs to a google slides which is a quick pitch for the agency (Shopify specialists, 800k+ in adspend, guarantee results)
- show case studies / results from previous clients (proof)
- audit ads (too few ads, copy, creatives, etc.)
- show case studies again and give a CTA “if you re interested in generating results like these, I’d love to book in a quick 15 min call”

and then rinse and repeat that 10x per day.

I think this would probably work great for you with website builds aswell, especially given you have a portfolio.

as I said, don’t giveup the cold calls, but start adding this to your outreach system! You’ll need to write out a 3 - 5x email sequence and store leads in a google sheet / CRM as well so you don’t lose track.

LMK if I missed anything, this was all just off the top of my head while I wait for an uber haha

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Simon Angel]

Hahahaha you’re gassing me up too much!

it’s definitely a very different type of outreach that takes some time to master, but based off my metrics at 5 per day I book around 6 sales calls per month, which depending on lead quality & my sales results in 1 - 2 clients per month.

in the beginning I was sending 10+ per day, but I couldn’t sustain that output with managing the team and clients, so now I’ve got someone working for me on commission basis with my exact system.

I won’t share one of my examples publicly for obvious reasons, but it goes a bit like this:

- find a list of qualified leads, and find the DM email via LinkedIn/Snov/hunter
- Start recording on their website, introduce myself and give a hook. “I want to show you how you’re missing out on $10k, if not $100k pm in sales”
- quick intro of myself
- audit (compliment) their website, product, reviews, IG, and content
- go to their FB ads library “this is why I was surprised to see that a business of your caliber wasn’t taking full advantage of FB ads”
- change tabs to a google slides which is a quick pitch for the agency (Shopify specialists, 800k+ in adspend, guarantee results)
- show case studies / results from previous clients (proof)
- audit ads (too few ads, copy, creatives, etc.)
- show case studies again and give a CTA “if you re interested in generating results like these, I’d love to book in a quick 15 min call”

and then rinse and repeat that 10x per day.

I think this would probably work great for you with website builds aswell, especially given you have a portfolio.

as I said, don’t giveup the cold calls, but start adding this to your outreach system! You’ll need to write out a 3 - 5x email sequence and store leads in a google sheet / CRM as well so you don’t lose track.

LMK if I missed anything, this was all just off the top of my head while I wait for an uber haha

Thanks a lot for the step-by-step man. I've never had any Facebook Ads clients apart from my own stores, so I'll have to pull up some of the more impressive data from my own ad manager for the case study, at least for now.

You mentioned you're averaging around $5000-7000 a month, how many clients is that for you?

How did you get your first 1-2-3 clients? Same deal but without the portfolio part?

Have you niched out in terms of what type of businesses you help? Since you mentioned Shopify, I assume you're looking for ecommerce store owners. Ever thought about utilising Facebook groups?

Thanks a bunch again.

 

[Simon Angel]

@Xolorr And everyone else that may give a F*ck, I've decided to scout for some clients this evening and record at least 1 "decent" video where I audit an ecommerce billionaire playboy's store + ads after which I am going to send it to them. I'm pretty good with ads and ad creative and I know how to effectively scale (not that impressive, most people do well in that regard) but my biggest strength lies in optimizing stores for a higher conversion rate. I hardly ever see stores that have covered all of the basics, let alone "perfect" examples, so I've got a lot to talk about and points to go through in these audits.

As soon as I send it to the prospect I'll pm you the vid @Xolorr and if it's not too cringy (for me) I'll share it here too.

Thanks for giving me actionable insight there, buddy friend! #BigDickEnergy

 

[Simon Angel]

Day 420
​

Finally doing stuff again.

Thanks to my main dudes @Phikey, @Xolorr and @TCMorgan who are constantly pointing me in the right direction I've been honing my English-speaking skills and sending email audits to e-commerce store owners. It's like learning to cold call all over again, in a different language too!

I first started out 4-5 days ago making 10+ minute videos (lol) with no camera, speaking very, very slowly and sounding like I've just ate some of Joe Rogan's edibles and got stoned off the face of the Earth.

Also had to edit the video audits heavily to cut out "uhhhs" and due to not having the best technology at my disposal, record the screen with Loom and the facecam + audio from my phone, then edit them into one in Adobe Premiere Pro. It took ages.. like 2 hours with all the F*cks up + my retarded editing skills.

Glad to say I've been learning fast (I hope so, at least) and today marks my biggest effort to date - It's just about lunch time here and I've already sent out 5 email audits to e-com store owners! I feel like I can definitely send 5 more until dinner. In the days before today I sent out a whopping 2 emails and scrapped 1 because I was too embarrassed.

What have I improved on so far?

Well the biggest one was just getting straight to the point i.e "you're losing sales, here's why and what you can do about it", making the videos about 3 minutes long with Loom and I bought a cheapo camera and used my old, ultra-garbage usb mic (added cotton over it for sound padding lol).

So now I just record all 3 channels at once - screen, my face and my voice and just send the link to my prospects. Much more time efficient and though I haven't had any results yet (except that I'm getting a lot of email opens with my email tracking) I feel really good about taking action again.

I'm still not sure if I am convincing enough in my email audits. I try to add value and make the business owners aware of the fact they're leaving a lot of money on the table to their competitors, but I don't show results at the end (I do talk about results though) and I present myself as a "sole advertiser" rather than an agency. I also tend to fumble my words at times but I always feel like I'm doing a better job than yesterday.

Until next time.

 

[Simon Angel]

Boy am I action faking!

Hot & Juicy procrastination with a hint of worthlessness.

At least I sold my car. I have enough money to move out for a few months.

Ladies and gentlemen, a sneak peek into my mind:

The Mind: Shall I continue doing email audits (that nobody is replying to) to US/UK business owners?

The Me: Probably, you should do at least a 100 of them so you have some data, you've only done about 15 so far, it took you a hundred and something phone calls to get 2 clients anyways.

The Mind: Hmm.. Perhaps I should start calling Bulgarian business owners again over the phone, due to the instant feedback? Half my emails aren't even being opened..

Me: Sure, but the market is much smaller and the average biz owner don't usually have the budget or the growth mindset compared to English-speaking countries. Besides, I'm really good at these email audits now, just have to frame my offer better. I'll land on a buyer eventually.

The Mind: Yeah.. Or maybe I could just sell websites again, at least I was making some money. I'm not even sure if I can add value with Facebook Ads, even though I made $50 into $60 000 in revenue with them with an average ROAS of 3x and know about advanced scaling strategies.. wait, that means I'm actually decent at them.

The Me: Shut the F*ck up and help me find the best solution.

The Mind: Uhh..well.. since you sold your car, maybe you could start an ecommerce store again..?

The Me: The F*ck did you just say?

The Mind: Ecom. Big $. Fast. 5th time's a charm! You're more prepared than ever. Besides, you were making $30-35K a month back in 2017, profiting about $10K so you essentially had a 6 figure business if you didn't F*ck it up!

The Me: But it's a huge pain.. and there's always the risk of losing all my money again. I'm not scared of losing it all, but I already live in a toxic environment and it would only get worse if I end up losing my money from trying again. I only have the budget to dropship. Manufacturing my own product in Bulgaria and shipping it to the US would be terrible.. terribly unprofitable.

The Mind: Well.. you've got Crohn's disease and you're living a mostly normal and healthy life, right? Why don't you coach people or something? 99% of people with your disease, who haven't even had it half as bad as you are living miserable lives. You're athletic, live mostly without pain, have a girlfriend and aren't glued to the toilet for the majority of the day. Lots of people could use your knowledge and philosophy to transform their lives. It would be a waste to not pass it on to others in need.

The Me: Dunno. Not sure that has enough potential. Besides, if I could get my knowledge out to every sufferer out there for free I'd rather do that than charge.

The Mind: Well, that's all I got.

The Me: Yeah, I know. *Action fakes by updating execution thread*

Next update is when I get to $1K in MRR which is peanuts for some here but life changing for me. Apologies for being another disappointing execution thread.