My Unfortunate early success as a Value Faker

[Mike Carr]

"Keep your friends close and your enemy's toaster." - Ricky

Last January my brother gave me a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad and it changed how I saw the world in many good and bad ways. My views on money were thankfully changed and I began seeking the adrenaline rush that is entrepreneurship. However, as a budding 17-year-old entrepreneur I was quickly the prey of several "gurus" who preached many poor mentalities/practices such as value faking, copy paste businesses, and passion following.

Fast forward to August of last year and I decided my business of the month (after a couple drop shipping ventures didn't work out) was to sell mediocre books written by virtual assistants on Amazon. This is where I, unfortunately, found monetary success. Ignore the one-star reviews, sloppy editing, and uninspiring junk I was contributing to the Amazon store and I had a "great business". I was earning $600-$1,200 a month off of a few books with zero effort on my part.

Yet something didn't feel right.

I've always considered myself a pretty decent kid and I knew what I was doing was fake and against my moral compass. For every one person that found my books useful, there were 10 who returned them or rightfully called them crap. This really bugged me because I've always wanted to be a "real entrepreneur". Someone who creates something amazing, or makes the world a different (and hopefully better) place. In January of this year, I slowly started to realize none of these so-called "real entrepreneurs" got rich selling shitty books on Amazon or selling the same 2 products to the same 10 people.

It wasn't until I read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted that I finally understood what it meant to be an entrepreneur. Someone who builds a product people actually WANT because it provides VALUE. However, the greatest lesson my month long journey into this forum and MJ's books have taught me so far is to not be afraid of some hard work, and don't action fake!

Since reading the books and browsing the forum I've cleansed Amazon of my crap books, and completely edited and rereleased the books that were pretty decent to make them provide real value for people.

I'm looking forward to keeping people posted on my progress and helping out as much as I can in this group, thanks!

 

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[DrunkFish]

Glad to see you put the effort into the books in the end! Good turn around.

 

[Mike Carr]

Glad to see you put the effort into the books in the end! Good turn around.

Thanks man, looking to build off it into the future!

 

[ay47]

I have the opposite problem. I want to release a book that gives value. But I feel like everything I put down, someone has already said before. How do I know I'm giving value?


For example, I'm thinking of releasing a book about changing careers and still getting a 30% or more raise. I'm done it twice myself but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. Hence, I've researched and talked to multiple people who I admire that have also done it. I taught some of what I know to close friends and they've had success as well.


I still feel like a fraud every time I write though.

 

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[IlyaP]

"Keep your friends close and your enemy's toaster." - Ricky

Last January my brother gave me a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad and it changed how I saw the world in many good and bad ways. My views on money were thankfully changed and I began seeking the adrenaline rush that is entrepreneurship. However, as a budding 17-year-old entrepreneur I was quickly the prey of several "gurus" who preached many poor mentalities/practices such as value faking, copy paste businesses, and passion following.

Fast forward to August of last year and I decided my business of the month (after a couple drop shipping ventures didn't work out) was to sell mediocre books written by virtual assistants on Amazon. This is where I, unfortunately, found monetary success. Ignore the one-star reviews, sloppy editing, and uninspiring junk I was contributing to the Amazon store and I had a "great business". I was earning $600-$1,200 a month off of a few books with zero effort on my part.

Yet something didn't feel right.

I've always considered myself a pretty decent kid and I knew what I was doing was fake and against my moral compass. For every one person that found my books useful, there were 10 who returned them or rightfully called them crap. This really bugged me because I've always wanted to be a "real entrepreneur". Someone who creates something amazing, or makes the world a different (and hopefully better) place. In January of this year, I slowly started to realize none of these so-called "real entrepreneurs" got rich selling shitty books on Amazon or selling the same 2 products to the same 10 people.

It wasn't until I read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted that I finally understood what it meant to be an entrepreneur. Someone who builds a product people actually WANT because it provides VALUE. However, the greatest lesson my month long journey into this forum and MJ's books have taught me so far is to not be afraid of some hard work, and don't action fake!

Since reading the books and browsing the forum I've cleansed Amazon of my crap books, and completely edited and rereleased the books that were pretty decent to make them provide real value for people.

I'm looking forward to keeping people posted on my progress and helping out as much as I can in this group, thanks!

Hey Mike, welcome to the forum!

I can 100% relate to what you went through.

A while back I was making money with Amazon affiliate sites, and while most of them were more useful that the stuff other people were putting out, it still didn't feel right. But I was blinded by the money (and I was 17/18. Can I use my age as an excuse? No? Yeah, I didn't think so). I knew what I was doing wasn't super helpful, but I continued because "people will use someone's site so they might as well use mine, right?"

Not the best mindset to have, don't you think?

Thankfully MJ was there to set me on a better path, and while it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows, now I feel good about the services I provide & can sleep soundly at night knowing that I have my customer's interests at heart.

Glad you had the same realization and thank you for the share!

 

[Andy Black]

I have the opposite problem. I want to release a book that gives value. But I feel like everything I put down, someone has already said before. How do I know I'm giving value?


For example, I'm thinking of releasing a book about changing careers and still getting a 30% or more raise. I'm done it twice myself but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. Hence, I've researched and talked to multiple people who I admire that have also done it. I taught some of what I know to close friends and they've had success as well.


I still feel like a fraud every time I write though.

What if you’re doing people a disservice by not putting your advice out there?

 

[Andy Black]

"Keep your friends close and your enemy's toaster." - Ricky

Last January my brother gave me a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad and it changed how I saw the world in many good and bad ways. My views on money were thankfully changed and I began seeking the adrenaline rush that is entrepreneurship. However, as a budding 17-year-old entrepreneur I was quickly the prey of several "gurus" who preached many poor mentalities/practices such as value faking, copy paste businesses, and passion following.

Fast forward to August of last year and I decided my business of the month (after a couple drop shipping ventures didn't work out) was to sell mediocre books written by virtual assistants on Amazon. This is where I, unfortunately, found monetary success. Ignore the one-star reviews, sloppy editing, and uninspiring junk I was contributing to the Amazon store and I had a "great business". I was earning $600-$1,200 a month off of a few books with zero effort on my part.

Yet something didn't feel right.

I've always considered myself a pretty decent kid and I knew what I was doing was fake and against my moral compass. For every one person that found my books useful, there were 10 who returned them or rightfully called them crap. This really bugged me because I've always wanted to be a "real entrepreneur". Someone who creates something amazing, or makes the world a different (and hopefully better) place. In January of this year, I slowly started to realize none of these so-called "real entrepreneurs" got rich selling shitty books on Amazon or selling the same 2 products to the same 10 people.

It wasn't until I read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted that I finally understood what it meant to be an entrepreneur. Someone who builds a product people actually WANT because it provides VALUE. However, the greatest lesson my month long journey into this forum and MJ's books have taught me so far is to not be afraid of some hard work, and don't action fake!

Since reading the books and browsing the forum I've cleansed Amazon of my crap books, and completely edited and rereleased the books that were pretty decent to make them provide real value for people.

I'm looking forward to keeping people posted on my progress and helping out as much as I can in this group, thanks!

Nice intro. Thanks for sharing.

Keep your hands off my toaster.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Glad to hear you dropped the bro-marketing my friend! Welcome aboard!

 

[Mike Carr]

I have the opposite problem. I want to release a book that gives value. But I feel like everything I put down, someone has already said before. How do I know I'm giving value?


For example, I'm thinking of releasing a book about changing careers and still getting a 30% or more raise. I'm done it twice myself but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. Hence, I've researched and talked to multiple people who I admire that have also done it. I taught some of what I know to close friends and they've had success as well.


I still feel like a fraud every time I write though.

It sounds like you certainly have more than enough relevant experience to write a book on the subject. There are people out there who'd love the help and you definitely have more experience than most when it comes to it. If you want further validation maybe post to a relevant Facebook group about your idea and see how receptive they are to it.

 

[Mike Carr]

Hey Mike, welcome to the forum!

I can 100% relate to what you went through.

A while back I was making money with Amazon affiliate sites, and while most of them were more useful that the stuff other people were putting out, it still didn't feel right. But I was blinded by the money (and I was 17/18. Can I use my age as an excuse? No? Yeah, I didn't think so). I knew what I was doing wasn't super helpful, but I continued because "people will use someone's site so they might as well use mine, right?"

Not the best mindset to have, don't you think?

Thankfully MJ was there to set me on a better path, and while it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows, now I feel good about the services I provide & can sleep soundly at night knowing that I have my customer's interests at heart.

Glad you had the same realization and thank you for the share!

Haha I feel where you're coming from. It shocks me how few people get this moral dilemma and continue putting out bro-marketing junk but I'm glad we both saw past it and decided to put it behind us. Keep at it, let me know how your projects are going. I'm thinking of putting my camera experience to the test by helping out some local businesses create marketing material.

 

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[Mike Carr]

Nice intro. Thanks for sharing.

Keep your hands off my toaster.

Thank you! Lmao all yours bud.

 

[Mike Carr]

Glad to hear you dropped the bro-marketing my friend! Welcome aboard!

Same here, thanks for putting this board together MJ I appreciate it.