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.

Putting out Content daily - let's see what happens

Nicoknowsbest

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
395%
Mar 31, 2014
460
1,818
Austria
Hi @Pat D. Rick,

brilliant progress thread, love it. I like how you write things up. It's an interesting strategy you are using - something I haven't done so far.

It seems like we started out in very similar positions. Fiverr, freelancing - you name it. Seems like we are in the same location as well? From your marathon pic I could tell, not sure if you live in this city though.

Wanna meet for a coffee and have a little chat?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
That's actually a really good idea, thanks!
Then post them to YouTube and natively on your Facebook page.

Check out my YouTube channel for a few Loom videos.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Hi @Pat D. Rick,

brilliant progress thread, love it. I like how you write things up. It's an interesting strategy you are using - something I haven't done so far.

It seems like we started out in very similar positions. Fiverr, freelancing - you name it. Seems like we are in the same location as well? From your marathon pic I could tell, not sure if you live in this city though.

Wanna meet for a coffee and have a little chat?
Sure, you can send me a DM any time. Always good meeting with likeminded people.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Hey everybody,

Another month, another update.

March was actually pretty decent for me. I decreased the daily posting activity a bit, so I'm only posting around 10 to 15 pieces per day. This amount is more managable to keep up for the long run.
Slowly but steadily I'm building a real community and more and more trust.

With the crisis going on now I'm not sure yet if there will be a lot of businesses in need of my service. I mean, they probably need it, but won't have the money or the will to invest in marketing rigth now.
On the other hand I secured two smaller jobs (~ 700 Euro) for next month. Not a lot, but still better then nothing.

The new website I talked about in my last update ist almost ready to go online. A lot of time goes into research and content creation for that website because I want to make sure it's the best information on the particular topic out there.
All the theoretical knowledge about SEO and online marketing comes in pretty handy right now. So this new website will be my own case study I can show to everybody as proof of my skills. Although I'm aware that it will take more time, patience and effort until I can truly steamroll my competition (as SEO always takes some time).

For the next 2-4 months I actually believe that it will get pretty rough getting new clients. But because everybody seems to cut the marketing budget I figured I should do the opposite. Well, at least when the "corona dust" settles and media has more to talk about than the virus.
I plan on focusing more on my google ads game because it's easiest to convert the people already looking for my service. I'm already running a small campaign (7€ per day) which has brought in a client.
But I should probably do some conversion optimisation to squeeze out as much as possible.
Would be grateful for any tips on how to attract more leads as a copywriter/seo with google ads specifically.

Anyways it's been a year now since I started this thread and I have experienced a lot during this time. Really thankful for all the things that happended - good AND bad - because they led me to this point. I don't know yet how hard the upcoming crisis will get, but I am not in the least bit scared or unsecure.
Just ready to tackle every cahllenge that comes my way and grow through it.

Let me hear your thoughts on this.

That's it for this month.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Would be grateful for any tips on how to attract more leads as a copywriter/seo with google ads specifically.
I started a few progress threads recently that might be of interest. All my progress threads are linked to in my signature.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
A bit late, but here's the update for last month.

At first I thought that April will be a bad month cause I almost had no clients. Just some smaller Gigs I got from previous months.

But that's no reason to put my head in the sand. After all this thread is called "putting out content daily" and that's what I did and still do.

To get things going a bit faster I decided to network much harder online to get more attention. For this my main channel is Linkedin because it makes the most sense. I also engage in some Facebook groups though.

So every single day now for the last month or so, besides putting out valuable content, I also engage with other people's posts. Most of the time I comment something thoughtful to show the person that at least someone read their message. It's crazy how few people actually comment something meaningful.

This actually works!

When I started doing this my own posts jumped from a few hundred views to over 2.000 views. I don't have a lot of followers so far so this is a lot to me (although Linkedin slowed down organic reach lately).

Last week I jumped on a quick call with someone who came over my profile to my website and might need my services for a longterm partnership. It's too early to say how much money this would bring over time, but it's a good sign I'm doing something right.

Today I closed some other guy who needs help with his webshop because it doesn't rank all to good in Google. He found me over a Facebook group. It's a small audit for 760 Euros which can be done in a couple of hours so it's a pretty good deal. Especially when he decides to use my services afterwards on a monthly basis.

Another very fulfilling experience in April was when I could help a friend of mine selling wine online through a small google ads campaign. He has a winery and wasn't allowed to sell it directly to customers because of the corona crisis. But he has a small website where you can find and purchase all his wines online. I jumped in and bought some traffic via google ads and brought him some new customers. All in all he made a pretty good profit. Some of the customers even reordered in the meantime.

Besides producing content, working with my existing clients and networking I took some time to rethink my strategy. It's always great to take a step back and reflect.
Now I feel much more back on track again and know exactly what to do and how to get there.

I'll give a new update next month as always.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
New Update for May:

It was actually a better month than expected.
The website audit for the small webshop I did went great. Client was more than satisfied with the results. This was an eyeopening experience for me as I wasn't sure at the beginning if he will be happy with what I delivered.

Turned out that my own expectations of myself are higher than the clients expectations of me.
He also asked if he could come back at me in the future for some more help and if he could put my logo on his website for recommendation.

Putting out content on social media (especially Linkedin) is going pretty good. Just today an hour ago I got a DM from someone asking for my service. To be honest I don't get too high on these requests since a lot of them don't turn out as real business - maybe I'm just bad at closing deals?

What I like most about putting out content on a daily basis - besides from building a relationship with people online - is that I'm learning things blazing fast. You see much quicker what works and what does not.

When people say "quality over quantity" I agree. But let's face it, you can figure out much faster what quality means when you're posting more often!

For this month I'll keep pushing and keep posting to build my tribe. Since it obviously seems to work I don't want to change my strategy yet again. It's also too early to decide that it cannot work out at all.

Besides that I'm currently building a sales funnel to get more clients in. I don't think it's a good idea to solely rely on just one way to attract new business.

So I created very specific offer to a highly targeted market and recorded some videos with valuable tips. These will go out in a series of email ending with my special offer to get my foot in the door. Let's see how this plan is going to work out.

By the way when I sent my video to a freelancer on Fiverr for editing he responded that he gets a lot of videos daily, but mine was one of the best so far. He meant the quality is top notch and the way I speak is very clear.

@Andy Black seems like I worried too much about the video thing. I now just talk naturally to the camera as I would like to a real person. It also gets easier now as I spent like an hour for recording my first short videos and my last video was done in one go that took a few minutes.

These things are like my personal wins along the way which make it much more enjoyable.

That's it for this months update. Next update will come when June is over.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
When people say "quality over quantity" I agree. But let's face it, you can figure out much faster what quality means when you're posting more often!
I agree. Quality does beat quantity, by a long way probably. And quantity allows us to increase our quality. (As per the story of pottery students tasked with creating as many pots as the could vs students tasked with creating the best pot they could. The first group created a better pot.)

Saying that, look at Valier’s YouTube thread and the phenomenal results he’s getting from quality.

@Phikey has a “120 videos in 120 days” thread that’s interesting too.

I’m inclined to have a sandpit for producing quantity, and releasing quality elsewhere.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
I agree. Quality does beat quantity, by a long way probably. And quantity allows us to increase our quality. (As per the story of pottery students tasked with creating as many pots as the could vs students tasked with creating the best pot they could. The first group created a better pot.)

Saying that, look at Valier’s YouTube thread and the phenomenal results he’s getting from quality.

@Phikey has a “120 videos in 120 days” thread that’s interesting too.

I’m inclined to have a sandpit for producing quantity, and releasing quality elsewhere.

I should probably post more often in this thread as well now that I'm thinking of it.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Update for June:

Hey everyone. June went okay for the business.
Because there wasn't much for clients to do I focused on connecting with new people, putting out content and expanding my network.

Linkedin is starting to gain momentum. When I started posting the results I was getting for my existing clients I suddenly got more messages in my inbox asking for my service.
Obviously people love case studies. So I'm going to use them more often.

One day I made a post about how to delegate/outsource the part of my work where I suck at. One guy that I already met with in real life before the corona crisis reached out to me, asking what I need help with.
When I explained that I hate cold calling and hard selling he introduced me to somebody who might be able to help me.
Long story short, I met two times with this guy and he seemed to be pretty good at attracting new business.
I've got see their own processes for onboarding new clients and they really know their stuff. Since my skill set is still missing in their agency they are going to share their clients with me and get a commission. And the client gets more of a full service. A win for everybody.
We'll see how it turns out at the end.

One more thing.
I also publish new articles on my blog to get more attention. One day I decided to ask some other people in my network about their advice for my readers. I never met this people in real life, but they all agreed to share some valuable insights in my article - of course they got mentioned and a link to their website.
It's amazing how many people are willing to help if you just ask them.
But you have to build some sort of relationship first. I knew all this experts from my social media channels and were engaging with them regularly. Of course they were willing to help me out since they kinda knew me and I've never tried to pitch them something.
And when the article was done, everyone shared it on their own channels, which means that I got several times the attention of what I would have normally gotten.
Afterwards I sent those people a handwritten letter since I thought that nobody does this anymore. Well, they all were surprised in a really positive way.

That's it for this months update.
I'll let you know how the cooperation with the agency turned out and how many more fruits the Linkedin tree will bear next month.

Oh by the way, thank you @eliquid for your thread on PPC Advertising! I'm also currently reading the crash course on BuSo and the Blog on SERPWoo. It's helping me a lot.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
New update for the summer:

I know the last update was two months ago, but I've been pretty busy and wasn't much active here on the forum during this time.

I kept posting and commenting daily on Linkedin. This got the attention of some businesses who came to me and are now repeating customers. Now I focus on getting them great results and get more referrals from them.
Any ideas on how to orchestrate referrals?

I had one big learning during the last few weeks: I am much better in closing a deal in person than I am over text messages.
I know this sounds like a no brainer, but a lot of times when someone sent me a message asking for my help I just replied via text. Looking back that was pretty stupid!
Now when I get a new inquerie I instantly ask if we can talk about the projekt on the phone or via Zoom. My sales went up when I made this change.

Of course I keep putting out content daily and I also publish new articles on my website about once a week. The long articles help me to position myself better and get better rankings on Google.

At the moment some of my challenges are that I get more inquiries for one time jobs and I'm not sure how to make monthly retainers out of them. I guess I need to get better at upselling and offering monthly services.

That's it for this update.
If you have any questions or feedback just let me know.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
New update for the summer:

I know the last update was two months ago, but I've been pretty busy and wasn't much active here on the forum during this time.

I kept posting and commenting daily on Linkedin. This got the attention of some businesses who came to me and are now repeating customers. Now I focus on getting them great results and get more referrals from them.
Any ideas on how to orchestrate referrals?

I had one big learning during the last few weeks: I am much better in closing a deal in person than I am over text messages.
I know this sounds like a no brainer, but a lot of times when someone sent me a message asking for my help I just replied via text. Looking back that was pretty stupid!
Now when I get a new inquerie I instantly ask if we can talk about the projekt on the phone or via Zoom. My sales went up when I made this change.

Of course I keep putting out content daily and I also publish new articles on my website about once a week. The long articles help me to position myself better and get better rankings on Google.

At the moment some of my challenges are that I get more inquiries for one time jobs and I'm not sure how to make monthly retainers out of them. I guess I need to get better at upselling and offering monthly services.

That's it for this update.
If you have any questions or feedback just let me know.
Maybe focus on getting repeat business?
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Maybe focus on getting repeat business?
Yes, that's what I struggle with at the moment.

Let's say someone comes to me and wants me to analyse his website for further optimization. After I've analyzed the website he's like "Alright, now I know what to fix." and does it himself.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

lowtek

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
332%
Oct 3, 2015
2,164
7,186
42
Phoenix, AZ
Yes, that's what I struggle with at the moment.

Let's say someone comes to me and wants me to analyse his website for further optimization. After I've analyzed the website he's like "Alright, now I know what to fix." and does it himself.

Charge for the analysis.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Charge for the analysis.
Of course I already charge them for the analysis. It's just that after this they wander of and maybe come back to me in the future if they need me again.

I need to find a way to prevent this so that they pay for my services on an ongoing basis.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Of course I already charge them for the analysis. It's just that after this they wander of and maybe come back to me in the future if they need me again.

I need to find a way to prevent this so that they pay for my services on an ongoing basis.
I'm not saying this is the case, but sometimes a service doesn't lend itself to being something people want to pay monthly for.

Now that you've got their trust and determined they're willing to pay to optimise their website, what else might they pay for to make more sales online? (Because that's why they wanted to optimise their website right?)
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Update for September:

This month was pretty intense.

I secured deals worth 5,135 Euros and have already worked off most of it. Some of my clients are now ongoing projects that I create content for on a monthly basis.

One client even recommended me to a befriended company and they will most likely end up working with me on a monthly basis as well.

Now I have more and more clients where I can show the positive results of my SEO and Copywriting services. These boost my credibility and make great case studies for my Linkedin profile.

One of the articles I produced even ranked on position 1 just three days after publishing, for a competitive keyword with more than 3,500 monthly searches. I’m not sure if Google just wants to joke around, but I’ll take this success anyways and the client is thrilled.

So in September my revenue was just a bit over 1,000 Euros because the invoices have been sent out at the end of the month - around 2,205 € should come in by the end of the next week.

As of now it looks like October will be my strongest month this year since there are more and more people coming over Linkedin and asking for my services and I now even get referrals.

Linkedin truly is a beast when it comes to generating leads and has been my best bet for business this year without a doubt. And that’s with only 1,600 followers (I started with ~50 followers in January).

Last week I set a new personal record when I created a post that so far generated more than 20,000 views - see the screenshot.

Not too bad for organic reach in my opinion, but still a long way to go.

Now I’m really looking forward to October and the challenges it will bring.

That’s it for this month’s update.
 

Attachments

  • linkedin organisch reichweite.png
    linkedin organisch reichweite.png
    16.8 KB · Views: 19
Last edited:

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
I'm not saying this is the case, but sometimes a service doesn't lend itself to being something people want to pay monthly for.

Now that you've got their trust and determined they're willing to pay to optimise their website, what else might they pay for to make more sales online? (Because that's why they wanted to optimise their website right?)

You are right. My copywriting services for example are more one time projects. But I cooperate with an agency and for their clients they now use my services on an ongoing basis.

The other service I offer is SEO (more SEO content production) and this is actually great to use on a monthly basis : )
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Update for September:

This month was pretty intense.

I secured deals worth 5,135 Euros and have already worked off most of it. Some of my clients are now ongoing projects that I create content for on a monthly basis.

One client even recommended me to a befriended company and they will most likely end up working with me on a monthly basis as well.

Now I have more and more clients where I can show the positive results of my SEO and Copywriting services. These boost my credibility and make great case studies for my Linkedin profile.

One of the articles I produced even ranked on position 1 just three days after publishing, for a competitive keyword with more than 3,500 monthly searches. I’m not sure if Google just wants to joke around, but I’ll take this success anyways and the client is thrilled.

So in September my revenue was just a bit over 1,000 Euros because the invoices have been sent out at the end of the month - around 2,205 € should come in by the end of the next week.

As of now it looks like October will be my strongest month this year since there are more and more people coming over Linkedin and asking for my services and I now even get referrals.

Linkedin truly is a beast when it comes to generating leads and has been my best bet for business this year without a doubt. And that’s with only 1,600 followers (I started with ~50 followers in January).

Last week I set a new personal record when I created a post that so far generated more than 20,000 views - see the screenshot.

Not too bad for organic reach in my opinion, but still a long way to go.

Now I’m really looking forward to October and the challenges it will bring.

That’s it for this month’s update.
Great progress. Well done!

I haven’t got my head round LinkedIn. Maybe one day.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
Good thread. Kudos to you for continuing to post. Sometimes in the beginning of running a marketing service it can feel like you are pushing a millstone uphill. Then, with experience and reputation, it feels like you get stronger and the ground starts to level out. Things gets easier. It sounds like you're starting to hit your stride. That's awesome. Keep it up. Before you know it, it'll start feeling like you're going downhill, and the tasks that used to be hard are a breeze. Keep looking for other services that complement your core offerings, and be careful not to stretch yourself too thin.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Great progress. Well done!

I haven’t got my head round LinkedIn. Maybe one day.
I don't even think it's necessary for you to be active on Linkedin since you have this forum that gives you organic reach. Over time you became a trusted authority on this platform and I’m sure it has paid off financially for you in one way or the other.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Good thread. Kudos to you for continuing to post. Sometimes in the beginning of running a marketing service it can feel like you are pushing a millstone uphill. Then, with experience and reputation, it feels like you get stronger and the ground starts to level out. Things gets easier. It sounds like you're starting to hit your stride. That's awesome. Keep it up. Before you know it, it'll start feeling like you're going downhill, and the tasks that used to be hard are a breeze. Keep looking for other services that complement your core offerings, and be careful not to stretch yourself too thin.
Thanks for the kind words, really appreciate it!
Your post reminds me of the saying “Everything is hard until it gets easy". And it feels like it’s getting easier month by month.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still in the beginning and the more experience I gain the more I realize that there are more things to learn.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Over time you became a trusted authority on this platform and I’m sure it has paid off financially for you in one way or the other.
True. I'm working on doing the same outside the forum now.
 

BizyDad

Keep going. Keep growing.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
416%
Oct 7, 2019
2,885
11,989
Phoenix AZ
more experience I gain the more I realize that there are more things to learn.

10 years later, I still feel this way. I'm convinced if I ever don't, I'll feel bored and look for a new challenge.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Update for October:

I made a little bit over 5.000 Euros in revenue in October which is quite nice compared to previous months. And I already have secured deals worth 3.500 Euros that will be worked off in November.

With all this work I get I find less and less time for producing articles for my own websites. Not for Linkedin though, I keep posting there daily and won’t stop since it works phenomenally. (Maybe I’ll start another thread to share my experience on how to attract new clients via Linkedin)

This week alone I had 8 calls and so far 4 of them already became clients - some smaller, some bigger.

Now I’m starting to think about the next steps. Of course I cannot tell if this stream of new clients will continue to grow over the next several months. That’s why I’m very cautious with spending this money.

I see a lot of people who think they can throw their money out the same way it comes in, but then forget about taxes and bad times. Not for me. I’d rather keep the cash in the bank, see what will happen and reinvest when the time is right.

That’s the same reason I don't want to outsource or hire someone right away. If the stream of new clients keeps growing and is somewhat steady I’ll take the next step.

At least this is what I have in mind for my current situation. If you think otherwise and want to give me some feedback let me know!

One more thing that happened this month: A pretty well known online magazine (about online marketing) in the german speaking market let me publish an article on their website.

This was a big milestone for me as it helps me build more authority in my niche.

Other than that there is nothing more to say in this update.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Update for October:

I made a little bit over 5.000 Euros in revenue in October which is quite nice compared to previous months. And I already have secured deals worth 3.500 Euros that will be worked off in November.

With all this work I get I find less and less time for producing articles for my own websites. Not for Linkedin though, I keep posting there daily and won’t stop since it works phenomenally. (Maybe I’ll start another thread to share my experience on how to attract new clients via Linkedin)

This week alone I had 8 calls and so far 4 of them already became clients - some smaller, some bigger.

Now I’m starting to think about the next steps. Of course I cannot tell if this stream of new clients will continue to grow over the next several months. That’s why I’m very cautious with spending this money.

I see a lot of people who think they can throw their money out the same way it comes in, but then forget about taxes and bad times. Not for me. I’d rather keep the cash in the bank, see what will happen and reinvest when the time is right.

That’s the same reason I don't want to outsource or hire someone right away. If the stream of new clients keeps growing and is somewhat steady I’ll take the next step.

At least this is what I have in mind for my current situation. If you think otherwise and want to give me some feedback let me know!

One more thing that happened this month: A pretty well known online magazine (about online marketing) in the german speaking market let me publish an article on their website.

This was a big milestone for me as it helps me build more authority in my niche.

Other than that there is nothing more to say in this update.
“Other than that there is nothing more to say...”

I love these quietly kicking butt threads.
 

Pat D. Rick

uhhh...42?
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
253%
Jun 11, 2016
144
365
Update for November:

It’s been 4.108 EUR in November. Some invoices are out, but not paid yet so there will be additional revenue coming in from the November deals.
I also secured deals worth about 5k for December that I’m working on now.

Right now it’s kinda hard to manage all the work that’s coming in. I even had to postpone some deals to January because I can't work them off at the moment.

I’m starting to raise prices with every new client, but somehow they keep coming. In a Zoom meeting one client even said that I have to raise prices because he thinks I’m aiming too low. Nice thing hearing this from a client's point of view.

This month it also was the first time someone gave me negative feedback. And I don’t mean valuable negative feedback. It was more the negative attitude kind of feedback. The Guy wanted me to help with his website relaunch and writing copy that sells and also has a chance to rank well in Google.

No Problem. I made an offer, he signed it and I started to work. After a couple hours of work I sent him my first draft to get his feedback and adjust from there.

And then. Silence. No answer for a whole week.

Finally he sent me an email raging about my first draft. That somehow confused me since our initial video call was quite nice. Anyway I offered to write another version because revisions are always included. He raged again and wanted to stop working with me altogether.

But because he signed my offer and I already had put in some work I didn’t want to let it end that way. I convinced him that he would pay 50% of the amount and never have to see me again afterwards. He agreed and I had the money the next day.

My learning from that: New clients will have to pay at least 50% up front BEFORE I start working. This way there is way less risk involved.

All in all it’s starting to get really interesting. I'm excited to see how it goes on and what the next year will bring.

Next update will follow next month/year.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
Update for November:

It’s been 4.108 EUR in November. Some invoices are out, but not paid yet so there will be additional revenue coming in from the November deals.
I also secured deals worth about 5k for December that I’m working on now.

Right now it’s kinda hard to manage all the work that’s coming in. I even had to postpone some deals to January because I can't work them off at the moment.

I’m starting to raise prices with every new client, but somehow they keep coming. In a Zoom meeting one client even said that I have to raise prices because he thinks I’m aiming too low. Nice thing hearing this from a client's point of view.

This month it also was the first time someone gave me negative feedback. And I don’t mean valuable negative feedback. It was more the negative attitude kind of feedback. The Guy wanted me to help with his website relaunch and writing copy that sells and also has a chance to rank well in Google.

No Problem. I made an offer, he signed it and I started to work. After a couple hours of work I sent him my first draft to get his feedback and adjust from there.

And then. Silence. No answer for a whole week.

Finally he sent me an email raging about my first draft. That somehow confused me since our initial video call was quite nice. Anyway I offered to write another version because revisions are always included. He raged again and wanted to stop working with me altogether.

But because he signed my offer and I already had put in some work I didn’t want to let it end that way. I convinced him that he would pay 50% of the amount and never have to see me again afterwards. He agreed and I had the money the next day.

My learning from that: New clients will have to pay at least 50% up front BEFORE I start working. This way there is way less risk involved.

All in all it’s starting to get really interesting. I'm excited to see how it goes on and what the next year will bring.

Next update will follow next month/year.
Good progress.

I often prefer to "refund with glee" and be done with pita clients.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,565
68,696
Ireland
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Could explain it in more detail?
I worked with a client recently. She didn’t like the work we’d done and insisted we did it a different way. Then she complained about the quality of visitors hitting her site and the lack of leads. So I explained (again) why we should have done it the way we’d started. At which point I politely said we’d not got the results for her that we’d have liked at this stage and that I was refunding her. I preferred to wash my hands of it and let her go her own direction.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

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

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top