Hey Fastlaners,
This is a PROGRESS Thread... unlike any other progress thread you've seen before.
How so?
Because I will keep nothing hidden from you. You will read about everything I do, you will know who I am, and you will know my numbers.
As some of you already know, I founded and am still running a leading direct response agency. We've worked with some big names, including Inc. 500 entrepreneurs.
But this thread is not about the agency per say.
It's about the expansion of the agency on a new vertical.
So far we're addressing and serving only high-powered entrepreneurs who have big cash cows to play with.
It's now time to enter a different kind of business to address entrepreneurs at the start of their journey.
That's what this thread is about. It's about the process of serving beginner entrepreneurs and taking them from making very little to making a killing in their niche.
And we'll do that through self-publishing.
Why self-publishing?
I believe that out of all the assets entrepreneurs can control today, knowledge is the most powerful and the most valuable. With the right knowledge, followed by application, nothing can stand in your way.
If you think about what sets us apart, and why we're able to work with the best of the best, it all comes down to knowledge. It comes down to understanding what makes markets and people move, and then using that to get real business results.
And these same skills are required to start and scale a business. Apart from mindset, it is the biggest roadblock beginner entrepreneurs have.
By reading this thread, buying the resources, and following the progress you will be able to understand the mechanics of skyrocketing your online sales.
Why You MUST Follow This Thread...
If you want to see how to conquer a new market with very high competition and where there exists very little trust, then you should totally follow this thread. The very same skills you see applied here, you can apply to any other market.
The Strategy
We will cover topics in the order of importance for entrepreneurs. The first topic is sales funnels.
Why?
Because this is the most important topic. Understanding sales funnels means understanding the process of selling. Even if you don't have a traditional Clickfunnels funnel, so long as you're selling online, you're using some kind of funnel, whether you know it or not. Even if it's just a 1-step funnel. Still a funnel.
Nothing can help you get better results than understanding sales. And sales funnels are at the heart of that.
So we will approach issues topic by topic and publish on that topic until we have "conquered" it by fully covering everything. Topics will be announced only after the current topic is exhausted.
In addition, we will also actively coach people who buy our resources to make sure they can be provided with any knowledge that we haven't put down in writing or on video.
We plan on reinvesting a large part of the profits to develop more resources to help beginner entrepreneurs. So whatever money is spent paying us will come back not just in the value you get out of the initial purchase, but in everything we will publish after that.
What Kind Of Resources Will We Publish?
It can be whatever we determine as the best kind of resource to address the topic. It could be eBooks, video courses, mentoring, videos, PDFs, cheatsheets, etc.
What Have We Done So Far?
We have published one eBook called 5-Steps To Create A Money-Making Machine which details the entire process of selling online, centered around sales funnels.
We have also created a thread which you should read before you even think about buying the eBook called: You Won't Make Big Money Until You Understand This... Even If You're Providing Value
We will keep updating the thread linked above. The thread is meant to contain stuff that you need to know PRIOR to understanding the stuff you read in the eBook.
Why have we chosen the eBook format?
eBooks offer a much greater degree of random access than video. Random access is the capacity to easily find what you're looking for directly, without having to wade through other stuff. A search function does the job really well in an eBook, as does the table of contents.
This is in contradistinction to sequential access. When you're watching a video, you have to watch what comes before to find the piece of information that you're looking for. That's why when teaching something that doesn't require lots of visual aid, written documents are higher value.
It makes it easier to access the info. Enough on that, I'll actually open a thread discussing this.
The eBook has been made available on The FastLane Forum Marketplace, Sell-Me-Saturday, Warrior Forum WSO, and our own website.
We plan to update the eBook once a year based on your feedback.
Our Marketing Strategy
1. We started by offering the eBook to our email list. That's how we got our initial purchases and reviews.
2. We then started offering the eBook on our website, built a landing page, and sent Facebook ads to it.
3. We proceeded to request the input of some members here.
4. As a result of the discussions we posted the eBook on Warrior Forum as a WSO.
5. We began reaching out to some Warrior Forum members and handing out free copies in exchange for honest reviews.
6. We put the ebook on offer on The Fastlane Forum on Sell-Me-Saturday.
7. As sales started coming in, we expanded our teaching effort with a high-impact thread on The FastLane Forum.
8. This was followed by posting the eBook on The Fastlane Forum Marketplace.
So our strategy has evolved to this: we have stopped all media buying/advertising until we can close ~50 sales or so. The goal is to get to 50 sales based on the fundamentals: reputation building, providing value, helping people, developing trust and making a direct impact on a few people's lives. We believe that this will ripple outwards, and as we gain momentum we will be able to bring in media buying to scale. We are dedicating our efforts to helping individual entrepreneurs directly.
Our Results So Far (Month I Results)
We have been actively selling the eBook for 31 days.
Revenue
Facebook Advertising: $47 (1 sale)
Email List: $329 (7 sales)
Warrior Forum: $188 (4 sales)
The FastLane Forum: $235 (5 sales)
Organic: 0 sales
TOTAL: $799 (17 sales)
Costs
Production Costs: $500
Forum Listings: $149
Media Buying (includes FB): $800
Refunds: $0
TOTAL: $1,449
Profit/Loss: -$650
So currently we're losing money.
What We Learned So Far
• The marketer/entrepreneur market requires a high degree of trust to close sales. This means that people are naturally skeptical in this market because of having been ripped off in the past, so they're not easily willing to flip out their wallets. It's a very well educated and smart market overall.
• Success in one industry/area doesn't translate directly into another. Just because we're a successful direct response agency doesn't mean that we can move to the self-publishing market and be successful instantly here. Work is needed.
• When you're new in a market, the first cold sale is the hardest. Don't give up. We almost gave up and threw in the towel after Facebook wasn't working out. That would have been a mistake. So persevere, and try to score your first sale.
• Unlike in other markets, in a market where the level of trust is generally very low, you shouldn't try to do any media buying until you can solidify a strong market presence / reputation.
• Selling online in these tough markets is similar to how you sell offline - it's all about building relationships and helping people in the longterm.
Next Up
Continue providing value and impacting the lives of individual entrepreneurs.
Publish more reviews from current readers.
Continue organic marketing until we reach 50 or so sales.
Help other entrepreneurs by being transparent and sharing the journey.
Any questions, advice, suggestions, comments, criticism - feel free!
This is a PROGRESS Thread... unlike any other progress thread you've seen before.
How so?
Because I will keep nothing hidden from you. You will read about everything I do, you will know who I am, and you will know my numbers.
As some of you already know, I founded and am still running a leading direct response agency. We've worked with some big names, including Inc. 500 entrepreneurs.
But this thread is not about the agency per say.
It's about the expansion of the agency on a new vertical.
So far we're addressing and serving only high-powered entrepreneurs who have big cash cows to play with.
It's now time to enter a different kind of business to address entrepreneurs at the start of their journey.
That's what this thread is about. It's about the process of serving beginner entrepreneurs and taking them from making very little to making a killing in their niche.
And we'll do that through self-publishing.
Why self-publishing?
I believe that out of all the assets entrepreneurs can control today, knowledge is the most powerful and the most valuable. With the right knowledge, followed by application, nothing can stand in your way.
If you think about what sets us apart, and why we're able to work with the best of the best, it all comes down to knowledge. It comes down to understanding what makes markets and people move, and then using that to get real business results.
And these same skills are required to start and scale a business. Apart from mindset, it is the biggest roadblock beginner entrepreneurs have.
By reading this thread, buying the resources, and following the progress you will be able to understand the mechanics of skyrocketing your online sales.
Why You MUST Follow This Thread...
If you want to see how to conquer a new market with very high competition and where there exists very little trust, then you should totally follow this thread. The very same skills you see applied here, you can apply to any other market.
The Strategy
We will cover topics in the order of importance for entrepreneurs. The first topic is sales funnels.
Why?
Because this is the most important topic. Understanding sales funnels means understanding the process of selling. Even if you don't have a traditional Clickfunnels funnel, so long as you're selling online, you're using some kind of funnel, whether you know it or not. Even if it's just a 1-step funnel. Still a funnel.
Nothing can help you get better results than understanding sales. And sales funnels are at the heart of that.
So we will approach issues topic by topic and publish on that topic until we have "conquered" it by fully covering everything. Topics will be announced only after the current topic is exhausted.
In addition, we will also actively coach people who buy our resources to make sure they can be provided with any knowledge that we haven't put down in writing or on video.
We plan on reinvesting a large part of the profits to develop more resources to help beginner entrepreneurs. So whatever money is spent paying us will come back not just in the value you get out of the initial purchase, but in everything we will publish after that.
What Kind Of Resources Will We Publish?
It can be whatever we determine as the best kind of resource to address the topic. It could be eBooks, video courses, mentoring, videos, PDFs, cheatsheets, etc.
What Have We Done So Far?
We have published one eBook called 5-Steps To Create A Money-Making Machine which details the entire process of selling online, centered around sales funnels.
We have also created a thread which you should read before you even think about buying the eBook called: You Won't Make Big Money Until You Understand This... Even If You're Providing Value
We will keep updating the thread linked above. The thread is meant to contain stuff that you need to know PRIOR to understanding the stuff you read in the eBook.
Why have we chosen the eBook format?
eBooks offer a much greater degree of random access than video. Random access is the capacity to easily find what you're looking for directly, without having to wade through other stuff. A search function does the job really well in an eBook, as does the table of contents.
This is in contradistinction to sequential access. When you're watching a video, you have to watch what comes before to find the piece of information that you're looking for. That's why when teaching something that doesn't require lots of visual aid, written documents are higher value.
It makes it easier to access the info. Enough on that, I'll actually open a thread discussing this.
The eBook has been made available on The FastLane Forum Marketplace, Sell-Me-Saturday, Warrior Forum WSO, and our own website.
We plan to update the eBook once a year based on your feedback.
Our Marketing Strategy
1. We started by offering the eBook to our email list. That's how we got our initial purchases and reviews.
2. We then started offering the eBook on our website, built a landing page, and sent Facebook ads to it.
3. We proceeded to request the input of some members here.
4. As a result of the discussions we posted the eBook on Warrior Forum as a WSO.
5. We began reaching out to some Warrior Forum members and handing out free copies in exchange for honest reviews.
6. We put the ebook on offer on The Fastlane Forum on Sell-Me-Saturday.
7. As sales started coming in, we expanded our teaching effort with a high-impact thread on The FastLane Forum.
8. This was followed by posting the eBook on The Fastlane Forum Marketplace.
So our strategy has evolved to this: we have stopped all media buying/advertising until we can close ~50 sales or so. The goal is to get to 50 sales based on the fundamentals: reputation building, providing value, helping people, developing trust and making a direct impact on a few people's lives. We believe that this will ripple outwards, and as we gain momentum we will be able to bring in media buying to scale. We are dedicating our efforts to helping individual entrepreneurs directly.
Our Results So Far (Month I Results)
We have been actively selling the eBook for 31 days.
Revenue
Facebook Advertising: $47 (1 sale)
Email List: $329 (7 sales)
Warrior Forum: $188 (4 sales)
The FastLane Forum: $235 (5 sales)
Organic: 0 sales
TOTAL: $799 (17 sales)
Costs
Production Costs: $500
Forum Listings: $149
Media Buying (includes FB): $800
Refunds: $0
TOTAL: $1,449
Profit/Loss: -$650
So currently we're losing money.
What We Learned So Far
• The marketer/entrepreneur market requires a high degree of trust to close sales. This means that people are naturally skeptical in this market because of having been ripped off in the past, so they're not easily willing to flip out their wallets. It's a very well educated and smart market overall.
• Success in one industry/area doesn't translate directly into another. Just because we're a successful direct response agency doesn't mean that we can move to the self-publishing market and be successful instantly here. Work is needed.
• When you're new in a market, the first cold sale is the hardest. Don't give up. We almost gave up and threw in the towel after Facebook wasn't working out. That would have been a mistake. So persevere, and try to score your first sale.
• Unlike in other markets, in a market where the level of trust is generally very low, you shouldn't try to do any media buying until you can solidify a strong market presence / reputation.
• Selling online in these tough markets is similar to how you sell offline - it's all about building relationships and helping people in the longterm.
Next Up
Continue providing value and impacting the lives of individual entrepreneurs.
Publish more reviews from current readers.
Continue organic marketing until we reach 50 or so sales.
Help other entrepreneurs by being transparent and sharing the journey.
Any questions, advice, suggestions, comments, criticism - feel free!
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