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Scratch Golf. Why It Matters To Me

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

BradyH

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I'm going to try and keep this short. I have a tendency to ramble, so if I want to move the needle tonight before I go to bed I'll just cut to the chase.

My personality and paradigm can be attributed to a few big moments in my life. One of them being when I left my parent's house and moved 1,300 miles away to Phoenix with a few hundred bucks and a motorcycle. My life up until that point had been filled with incredible anxiety.

I have Hashimoto's Disease, which means my body attacks my thyroid gland, and it went untreated until I was 22. In my opinion, your thyroid is incredibly important if you want to be an entrepreneur (something I've wanted to be since a young age), let alone feel like a normal human being. It affects your mood, energy and metabolism, among other things.
Radian.jpg

Moving to a different state on my own had an incredibly positive, instant effect on my life. It showed me what I was capable of, and I grew up. Constant sunshine and 5 rounds of golf per week helped my psyche a lot, too. I even competed in amateur tournaments, and won.

Another great moment/phase in my life was when my frontal lobe finally finished developing, at the age of 26 or 27. I could literally feel my emotions flat-lining at a normal level, instead of feeling like I was always in fight or flight mode.
A great side effect that came from my newly developed lobe was the ability to think critically. One of my greatest epiphanies was this: "We're all human, so if _______ can do something, then I'm probably capable of it, too."

Now, obviously I won't be the next Tiger Woods or Elon Musk, but maybe the next MJ DeMarco? Why not? I'm a human, he's a human. His skills weren't gifted to him by some higher being. To me, the most important reason why MJ has done so well for himself is his willingness to work hard to overcome adversity.

I proved my ability to overcome adversity when I forced myself to move to Phoenix. I got a job at Superstition Springs Golf Club and worked full time, but I didn't let that get in the way of my passion for the game. I woke up super early every morning before work, practiced for an hour, worked all day, and stayed after work to practice even more (in the dark). Before I decided to pursue other adventures, my handicap was a +0.4. In layman's terms: I was great.

After 2 years of playing I found that I hadn't made a dime by becoming a great golfer, but I didn't care. That process solidified my belief that I was capable of something most people consider to be nearly impossible. And it feels good.

Golf Tourny.jpg

So, to wrap things up, I'm writing this here to document my process. I normally do this kind of thing on paper, but I want accountability from like-minded peers. I have found more answers in this forum and in MJ's books than anywhere else and I know I have every ability to do what he's done. His books lay out perfectly what we can do to achieve real growth and wealth.

I gotta get to work, but thanks for taking the time to read this unintentionally-lengthy post. I hope you all keep me accountable. I'll share my goals with you tomorrow.
 
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BradyH

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My reasons for "why" I'm motivated to suffer through the discipline now instead of the regret later is due to a couple vivid memories. The first was when I was young.

Pain
I was about 12 and my family had been pretty poor since I could remember. My parents were (are) incredibly hard working, honest people, but my dad wasn't making enough money at his blue collar job. My mom would cry every other Friday when the paycheck would come in and not be enough (this is my Dad's "why"). He went in and asked for a raise, was given a tiny bump in pay, and decided instead to start his own company.​

It was rough for a couple years. I have vivid memories of them being physically and emotionally defeated, and it took its toll on me. Their business is very successful these days, all thanks to their can-do attitude. They made sacrifices almost daily, because they knew that's what it would take if they wanted to be successful. They identified their problems and found solutions.

But the pain of seeing your mom fear for the future of her kids...that is something I'll never forget. They do pretty well for themselves today, but I have to give back somehow.​

Time
The second "why" is simply because I understand the value of time. In exactly 12 hours it will have been 1 year since my Dad nearly died. His electrolytes were messed up due to him not drinking enough water after his long runs, and his heart went into V-Fib. Luckily, my mom and I were around to help. I had to perform CPR on him for 9 minutes before the EMT's showed up and shocked his heart back into rythm.​

PEOPLE. 80 years on this rock is nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

Think about how fast a week goes by, or a month. Every subsequent year seems to go by quicker. Can you believe Paul Walker's death was almost 5 years ago? 10 years ago, Bear Stearns failed, marking the beginning of one of the worst financial crisis ever. A decade ago!

I may not even have 2 days left. If I die in 2 days, I'm going to die knowing I made the decision to get my a$$ moving. For the last 2 weeks, I've stayed late after work so that I could get shit done. I decided I was too comfortable at home, so I fixed the problem by keeping myself in a productive environment. I got more done in 2 nights than I had in the previous 3 months. And I've been doing it nearly every night, including many hours over the weekend.
So anyways. I don't feel like making this much longer. I feel guilty when I talk about myself too much. So, going forward, I'll be formatting my future posts with updates on my actions. On a daily basis I'm going to think critically about my most important barriers or problems, and find solutions to them. No action faking. As much as I love it, spending an inordinate amount of time looking at figures in AdWords doesn't benefit me.

That's it for now. I'll start getting specific about problems and solutions moving forward. And the posts won't be nearly as long, I hope. :p
 

BradyH

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I found this forum through @eliquid's paid traffic crash course, and I was blown away. I kept studying and found Andy Black's posts and radio interviews.

I've been obsessing over AdWords since then (like 3 months ago) and learning as much as I could.

A month ago I persuaded the GM of my company to give AdWords a shot. I offered to do it for free because I knew that if I could make it work, I'd be able to start doing this for other HVAC companies. We started getting our first impressions and it gave me a strange high. We then got our first clicks, and then our first phone call requesting a quote on an installation. I was absolutely hooked at that point. I couldn't believe that I had actually affected hundreds of people in my local market in under 24 hours. This was my first taste of seeing fruits of my labor.

More than two weeks ago we started our testing phase, and things are looking good! We've got a great amount of impressions and clicks for our service area, and we've got some juicy data that will help our SEO.

I've learned too many things to outline here, but for more than two weeks I've been staying late after work and grinding. There have been many things that I had to research with Google, ironically, in order to learn more than the average "expert".

Things like setting up dynamic call tracking, pivot tables in Excel (thanks to @Andy Black), and EPC (earnings per customer).

Goals

1. By the end of the year I want to be supporting myself as a paid traffic expert. To me, this means $5k/month revenue for my business so that I can pay myself $2.5k/month. I realize this might seem low to other people, but in my mind this is a realistic and achievable figure to me. I'll definitely be shooting for more. 2019 will be about scaling my business once I get myself to at least a 95th percentile skill level in AdWords and Facebook ads.
-I plan on targeting other HVAC businesses throughout the country who could benefit from AdWords, and possibly with Facebook ads as well. I think FB ads would work well for the more pricey installation services HVAC companies provide. I could use a case study of someone having a new heat pump installed in their home, and use images from that to advertise on FB. It could be a great way to learn how to create sales funnels.

-I've given myself until the end of April to learn as much as possible. May 1st I start cold emailing and/or cold calling HVAC businesses that I've already predetermined to be good businesses that I want to help. I'm subscribed to Andy Black's idea of charging a very small fee for AdWords. $250 a month will probably be what I charge, maybe $300. Psychologically, $250 seems easier to sell, but we'll see which one works better when I start working with business owners. At $250/month, I'd need 20 clients to afford paying myself $2.5k. Or, I could charge $500/month to handle AdWords and FB ads combined. I might let the owner decide if he wants one or both. Knowing this, my revenue numbers might be hard to predict. Either way, I'll do what it takes to get to $5k/month revenue this year.

-I'm also good friends with a guy who's done all things website/seo/paid traffic for 10 years, and he's starting an agency with another friend. They have a few hot leads, including a celebrity, big government agencies, and some regional brands. My friend says he'll hire me to do paid traffic for them if I'm good enough. I could probably get half of the $5k/month revenue from working for him.

-He also told me he'd give me 20% recurring monthly revenue on any client I brought to his new agency. This is probably a great opportunity for me. I could get really good at AdWords and FB Ads and use those skills to find leads. And doing paid traffic for his agency could springboard me into more work with other agencies. I do want to try and get a few of my own clients, though, so that I can learn from other business owners.

That's it for tonight. If anyone has any book recommendations on learning how to market products and services, I'd be most grateful. I can see why marketing is a great skill to have. I want to improve my copy writing skills, so if there are any good books on that I'd like to read them. If I can learn to become a great marketer, I'll never go hungry.

Tomorrow I'll outline problems I've had and how I overcame them.
 

Andy Black

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A month ago I persuaded the GM of my company to give AdWords a shot. I offered to do it for free because I knew that if I could make it work, I'd be able to start doing this for other HVAC companies.
^^^ There you go. It’s that easy to get started.

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person closest to you.” (Mother Theresa)

Well done.



And it’s amazing how addictive it is to generate enquiries from real life people who have a problem and are looking for a solution.
 
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BradyH

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So, on May 1st I start contacting other businesses. I'm not sure the best way to go about this, but I think I'll do as many emails as I can with some cold calling thrown in when I have time. My hours are fairly flexible at work, so I should be able to find the time.

I'm in a HVAC Facebook group and I'm trying to provide value whenever I can without overdoing it. I think someday I'll be getting inbound leads from this group and others.

Things I need to have locked down before May 1st:
  • I need to have a better understanding of how to find a break-even EPC. From what I understand, I need to determine the average revenue per click, and bring my bids down to that point. R + R = Profit. And if I want more traffic I need to increase conversions and lifetime value of customers so that I can increase my bids. I need to go back and read Mr. Black's blog post about this.
  • I need to improve my ability to control which site extensions show up for each ad.
  • I need a few landing pages that I can easily duplicate for all the keywords, and I need to find really fast hosting.
  • I need to keep improving my skills in Excel.
  • I'll need to figure out PayPal so that I can get paid.
  • (EDIT) I also need to figure out a cold calling script, and copy for cold emailing.
Tomorrow I'm going to study how to determine EPC and make every campaign profitable.
 
Last edited:

Andy Black

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So, on May 1st I start contacting other businesses. I'm not sure the best way to go about this, but I think I'll do as many emails as I can with some cold calling thrown in when I have time. My hours are fairly flexible at work, so I should be able to find the time.

I'm in a HVAC Facebook group and I'm trying to provide value whenever I can without overdoing it. I think someday I'll be getting inbound leads from this group and others.

Things I need to have locked down before May 1st:
  • I need to have a better understanding of how to find a break-even EPC. From what I understand, I need to determine the average revenue per click, and bring my bids down to that point. R + R = Profit. And if I want more traffic I need to increase conversions and lifetime value of customers so that I can increase my bids. I need to go back and read Mr. Black's blog post about this.
  • I need to improve my ability to control which site extensions show up for each ad.
  • I need a few landing pages that I can easily duplicate for all the keywords, and I need to find really fast hosting.
  • I need to keep improving my skills in Excel.
  • I'll need to figure out PayPal so that I can get paid.
  • (EDIT) I also need to figure out a cold calling script, and copy for cold emailing.
Tomorrow I'm going to study how to determine EPC and make every campaign profitable.
Hmm... lots of “I need” in that post. Reminds me of this thread: What do you need?

Not saying those things won’t be handy, but wondering why you’d push back trying to get another client for a month?
 
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BradyH

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Mar 13, 2018
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Hmm... lots of “I need” in that post. Reminds me of this thread: What do you need?

Not saying those things won’t be handy, but wondering why you’d push back trying to get another client for a month?
I guess I thought it wouldn't feel right telling people I can help their business if I myself haven't made my own campaign profitable yet. My campaign has been running for 3 weeks, so I'm still buying data.

If you think I should go for it, maybe I should!
 

BradyH

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Well, it's safe to say I'm comfortable managing an account now. I didn't like that I felt uneasy about it, so I took the necessary steps to feel capable. It took a lot of studying and thought-processing, but I've wrapped my head around some pretty advanced techniques, so I need to move on to the next phase: client acquisition.

Being confident in myself has dispelled any fears I have of calling people, especially since I know how valuable this will be for my future clients, but I just don't have a lot of time to call other businesses. I work when they work, so I don't have more than a few minutes to pick up the phone and call a list of people.

I need to network, do cold emails, and possibly do 3D mail. 3D mail won't be very fast, but it might have the best results if I can print out some good proposals.

I need to go find cold email strategies on the forum somewhere...

I also need to consider the reality that Facebook paid traffic might be my easiest entry into the freelance world. I'm already doing it for the company I work for, but I'm no expert yet. I've watched probably a dozen hours worth of Facebook ads guides, so maybe I should embrace it and offer AdWords and Facebook.

Still strategizing...

But I definitely need to start finding people to help.
 

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