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Spend your money on diesel and coffee

Andy Black

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"Spend your money on diesel and coffee."

Damn, I love that.

So much that I took I made it into one of those quote things you see for inspiration.

I went with a sort of classy look, reminds me of one of those minimalistic ads you see for really high end products and yes, I used my own photo.

(yeah, I know it says coffee and diesel. I think for the sake of the quote, it looks better that way.)
For me, the image should be of two people in a cafe or restaurant having a chat over a coffee. Informal, on neutral ground, non-salesy. No projectors. No laptops. No note-taking. No “salesman vs prospect”. Just two peers having a chat to see how they can help each other.

The quote is not about doing a lot of mileage and staying up late. It’s about making the effort to go to where your prospects are (in person or online), and having a non-salesy chat with them for about an hour.

My version of diesel and coffee is an hour long Skype call.
 
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delacroix

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For me, the image should be of two people in a cafe or restaurant having a chat over a coffee. Informal, on neutral ground, non-salesy. No projectors. No laptops. No note-taking. No “salesman vs prospect”. Just two peers having a chat to see how they can help each other.

The quote is not about doing a lot of mileage and staying up late. It’s about going to where your prospects are, and having a chat with them, for about an hour.

I agree man, unfortunately I had to work with what I had.
 

Andy Black

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So, I had read this thread a while ago. But it never really sank in until Andy and I had a conversation over private message. He sent me another article, which is very similar to what was said here.

And it's something that I haven't really thought about. In the beginning we are so worried about how to scale our business, we don't think about the little things that we could do. When you are a new business, getting out there hitting the pavement and talking to customers and getting customers is huge for your business.

For me, I've been so worried about getting this website and application done, that I haven't really been going and talking to the professionals that my business is aimed at helping. Recently, @SinisterLex asked me if I had customers ready to buy when my Indiegogo campaign went live. I don't. Why? Because I'm not spending my money on diesel and coffee.

What I really should be doing is interacting with my email list and going to random businesses and talking to owners. And while I don't have a hard product to sell them, I can build relationships that, once we go live, I have interested companies.

I had misinterpreted what "spend your money on diesel and coffee" meant. To me, meant, work hard, work long hours, keep pushing.

But what it really means is: Get in your car and go meet potential customers. Buy them coffee and talk to them about business.
^^^ This is what it's about. : )
 

Andy Black

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delacroix

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^^^ This is what it's about. : )

I was thinking about this earlier and I think one of the problems, that "guru" entrepreneurship has created is people have forgot that as a business man, you're there to solve problems and to figure out others problems. By default, you should be having relationships with your customers, you should be talking to prospects without the idea of hard-selling them. Business is based on relationships and I think many, many, many people miss this.

We're all focusing too much on hustling, making millions, getting nice cars and big mansions when we should be focusing on our customers and learning about them, creating and maintaining relationships.

That's why this quote is so powerful, it flips what people commonly think as entrepreneurship on it's head.
 

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Did it need the transcript, or could the “show-notes” introducing the video have done the same job?
I liked the transcript. There should be an easy to export transcripts since YouTube automatically generates subtitles for all videos. Yep, just checked and there is an easy way of exporting.

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Summary would be helpful too. Maybe just a quick summary then paste in the Transcript.

This format is really great. Last night I was just skimmed the transcript, realized I was interested, then listened to the video. And I agree with the people in the Engagement thread. If I wasn’t able to skim the transcript, it may not have hooked me and I might not have watched.

The added summary might make it even easier for people to see if they’re interested, because a summary is basically you skimming and extracting out the most interesting/important points, so it’s not up to chance. But I think this format is a home run.
 

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Such a fascinating thread.... and the video format is cool, but I agree... I do not want to get into a 15 mins boring chat, so the summary and the transcript convinced me that it was worth watching the video.
 
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Andy Black

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Such a fascinating thread.... and the video format is cool, but I agree... I do not want to get into a 15 mins boring chat, so the summary and the transcript convinced me that it was worth watching the video.
Interesting. I’ll add the length of the video to the CTA, because it’s not 15 mins.
 

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Yep, this is one of the best thing I've ever read about how to build a business,

Do things that don't scale

Do Things that Don't Scale

This is my favourite part: "Actually startups take off because the founders make them take off"

I want to highlight the mentioned article. It really is a good article with many insights. Thanks for that @Torobaro!

@Andy Black as always this is a great article and it suits me perfectly right now. I'm currently working on a concept for an idea and I was searching for ways to validate it. Now I know that I will just invite my potential customers for a coffee and talk with them about their business, my idea and how I can help them.

Thanks again for this food for thought. Keep up the great work Andy
 
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Andy Black

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@Andy Black as always this is a great article and it suits my perfectly right now. I'm currently working on a concept for an idea and I was searching for ways to validate it. Now I now that I will just invite my potential customers for a coffee and talk with them about their business, my idea and how I can help them.

Thanks again for this food for thought. Keep up the great work Andy
What a great way to thank someone - tell them what you’re going to do with the knowledge you’ve just gained. Thanks for the feedback @Intax.
 
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MattR82

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I've been thinking so much about this diesel and coffee lately lol. For me, going and socialising/talking to business owners where they are is just so much more enjoyable and effective than pipelines and funnels and what have you. Maybe it's a case of each to his own. But I've noticed some people near a similar level to me (1 to 3 years in) spend unbelievable amounts of time chasing new jobs that it feels like.. that's their actual job lol. Oh wait, that's right, you are actually a web designer, I forgot!

I know I sound a bit naive and my situation is different to someone that has a lot more responsibilities and urgency than me though. But that's my take.
 

Andy Black

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I've been thinking so much about this diesel and coffee lately lol. For me, going and socialising/talking to business owners where they are is just so much more enjoyable and effective than pipelines and funnels and what have you. Maybe it's a case of each to his own. But I've noticed some people near a similar level to me (1 to 3 years in) spend unbelievable amounts of time chasing new jobs that it feels like.. that's their actual job lol. Oh wait, that's right, you are actually a web designer, I forgot!

I know I sound a bit naive and my situation is different to someone that has a lot more responsibilities and urgency than me though. But that's my take.
I’m loving diesel and coffee more and more.

I was on a call with an agency client last night. We’re only one month in, and they already like the way we work and communicate and what we’re doing. They’re thinking of white labeling us for *their* clients. They have about 25 clients I believe, with goals to grow (hence hiring us in the first place).

We’ve had more calls than I usually have with a client at this stage, but I don’t charge for them. I consider this “diesel and coffee” still. I’m chatting to them, trying to understand their business, and figure out how to help them while still growing the kind of business I want to grow.

I had another “chat” with an agency owner a few weeks ago and they brought 5 of their clients in one fell swoop. I’ve “chatted” to his PM for an hour, and he now knows better what I can do for their clients. They’ve put me in front of a client to explain what we’re doing. I chatted to him for an hour too and he’s excited (and more trusting of the process).


“The most important formula in business is R+R = Profit”. (Blaise Brosnan)

I like having a subscription based business where I (can) speak to the business owners. I don’t charge for those additional calls... I welcome them. It allows me to build relationships, and learn better how to help them. Having a subscription business means I have had clients for *years*. That’s a long time to build a relationship over. This is the beauty of Repeat business (the first R).


The second R is Referrals.

All those free diesel and coffee chats help the people I speak to understand what I do better, and they Refer me onto their other business owner friends or clients. (I consider being whitelabeled as the ultimate in Referring because they’re trusting me with their clients).


Note that I rarely travel to people anymore. My version of diesel and coffee is a free Zoom call.
 

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There are plenty of people that have started where you are.

That's awesome. I want to hear about them instead of this guy then. Any links?

But you have to start helping yourself.

I am, and I posted in my thread, what I am doing. If you want to help then give me a link or a post detailing how people in my situation did this or how to get the same results via spending your money on internet bills.

Not every piece of advice will be applicable, and nothing here is a set of instructions.

Yup, this is one that is inapplicable to me. What alternatives are there? I have moved on from forums/reddit/facebook/whatsapp. Got more leads with bumble but nothing closed yet. Trying out new cold emailing strategy and slack. for networking. (Does spending money on slack work?) Dow e have examples.

Go trade your time for money

What do you think I have been doing for the last year? While I have been away?

Please stop playing victim to circumstance.

It’s weird, you think that a simple statement of facts is playing victim to circumstances.

If you want to help me and not every piece of advice is applicable then surely the first thing to work out would be to establish my circumstances?

If you know those first, then you will never suggest inapplicable advice, I will never have to reject it and avoid the appearance of me automatically dismissing everything.


I’m trying to avoid antagonising, you here I literally never see people who are just “making excuses” so I’m completely unable to comprehend it. The AI I am using to screen my text, missed it too. So it would be really good learning data, if you can explain why I appear to be "playing victim to cirumstances" I can address the issue (It seems to be perception, more than an actual fact)
 
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LittleWolfie

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The quote is not about doing a lot of mileage and staying up late. It’s about making the effort to go to where your prospects are (in person or online), and having a non-salesy chat with them for about an hour.

Ahh, I took it rather too literally. Finding them online is curerently where I am struggling.

Note that I rarely travel to people anymore. My version of diesel and coffee is a free Zoom call.

Ah, I have the webcam on order from Argos, will try zoom.

I'm trying to come at it from the other direction though. Find people online first, then use that money to pay for more literal diesel.
 

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I m happy to have seen that thread.
Its funny that this practice you call „diesel and coffee“!

I ve done that all my life. As a youngster I rode my motorbike very much and visited bike workshops, asking wether I can help them repairing bikes.
Some let me work, some just had a coffee! But the relationship lasted on without me knowing, that I could need it some day.

years later I got my dream job and boom... I had them all as customers with my much higher educated job.


now, when I want to try a side hustle, I just have to decide, in what direction.
 

William Ainslie

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“Get face-to-face with 20 ppl a day and you’ll become a top seller.”
Thank you, @Andy Black , for doing this - it is ridiculously simple and is a powerful thing to do based on ROI anyway.

I have forgotten the simplicity of in-person interaction and got my answer to my current stagnation problem.
 
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Wow! What an amazing thread. Thank you Andy. Perfect timing too. The critical path has lead me to a position where its time to start reaching out to people. I came across this thread to ready my approach. Below are the notes I made to keep in mind while I make my approach.

“Spend your money on diesel and coffee” means get out there, see the people. Treat them as people. Make friends, get to know them.

Service-oriented. Not sales-oriented. "Non-salesy, neutral ground, no note-taking, no laptops"… just build a relationship and see if we can help each other. Its a concept that reminds me of Dale Carnegie "How to Win Friends and Influence People" where the conversations were more about the person being approached than they were about the product of the person making the approach.

"Every business has dozens of emails and phone calls of people trying to sell them something." Somebody said this and it's good to remember when making my approach. Nobody cares about your “digital marketing” mumbo jumbo.

ASK and Listen.
  • Get to know them as people.
    • The conversation should be more about them and what they WANT
  • What are your goals?
    • Can I freely show them what they can improve upon to reach those goals?
  • What is your ideal situation/experience?
    • Build your product/offer around that feedback
Design your product/offer around real people's feedback.

Your aim is to help people. Shouldn’t be that hard to do.

You want people ready to buy before you launch.

Get creative with your existing network.

An hour zoom meeting between peers chatting about how they can help each other

Grow you business 1 customer at a time. Every potential customer deserves the same sincerity and care instead of rushing from one to the other.

Most important formula in business -> Repeat business + Referrals = Profit. I put myself through college working on commission in a clothing store using this philosophy.

Referrals are the highest compliment

Its 10 times cheaper to keep an existing customer than to get a new 1. Always be available, take care of your clients.

Welcome phone calls -> they are a chance to build relationships (you never know who they may refer) and learn better how you can help them.
 

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Did it need the transcript, or could the “show-notes” introducing the video have done the same job?
I've seen a few videos with the complete transcript there, I love the idea! I rarely listen to a video, most times will just read it over. I've found a lot of videos used to be the first 1/3 was fluff/talking about what they do, the 2nd 1/3 was the actual info, and the last 1/3 is a sales pitch. Having a transcript makes it WAY easier to filter :)
 

Andy Black

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I've seen a few videos with the complete transcript there, I love the idea! I rarely listen to a video, most times will just read it over. I've found a lot of videos used to be the first 1/3 was fluff/talking about what they do, the 2nd 1/3 was the actual info, and the last 1/3 is a sales pitch. Having a transcript makes it WAY easier to filter :)
I don’t think my chats/videos would make good transcripts. I often change sentence mid-word as I think on the fly.
 
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Hmm. I made opposite experiences. Back in the days of our consulting business, we spent so much time and money on diesel and coffee (or rather lunch) and exchanging business cards. My takeaway from this was that 97% of "meetings" or meetups amount to nothing more than one more business card.

But experiences obviously vary.
 

Andy Black

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Hmm. I made opposite experiences. Back in the days of our consulting business, we spent so much time and money on diesel and coffee (or rather lunch) and exchanging business cards. My takeaway from this was that 97% of "meetings" or meetups amount to nothing more than one more business card.

But experiences obviously vary.
Did those chats not end up in building longer term relationships or those people then referring you to other people?
 

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Did those chats not end up in building longer term relationships or those people then referring you to other people?

No, unfortunately not. But we've been in the wrong business, anyway. I finally noticed 14 months in and sold my shares in the company. Consulting for startups. Well, the idea was that we consult for free and take a percentage of the company. But it was (or should have been) pretty obvious from the beginning that we'd run into cash flow problems. Because founders rarely have money, setting up a company and making sales costs a lot of time, and...let's not forget about the high percentage of people who love to entertain the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, but get cold feet when it actually becomes real.
 
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Andy Black

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No, unfortunately not. But we've been in the wrong business, anyway. I finally noticed 14 months in and sold my shares in the company. Consulting for startups. Well, the idea was that we consult for free and take a percentage of the company. But it was (or should have been) pretty obvious from the beginning that we'd run into cash flow problems. Because founders rarely have money, setting up a company and making sales costs a lot of time, and...let's not forget about the high percentage of people who love to entertain the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, but get cold feet when it actually becomes real.
“Help the people in motion.” (Amy Hoy)
 

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bumping these gems
 

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Working my way through your profile and the plethora of content you have shared, and this is one of my favourite topics so far.

As simple as it is, business really does boil down to this sometimes. Putting in the effort to build relationships (not just sell stuff to people) and reconnect with past connections can pay dividends beyond belief.

I've used this technique when business gets a bit slow and without fail, it always picks up and bounces back.

As I'm shifting over to my website building venture I will be using this exact tactic to reach out to existing contacts in my network who may have fallen out of view. Many of them own businesses, or at very least manage businesses, and many of are in need of web services.

Worst case? I get coffee with an old connection and see how we can help each other out.

Best case? Same conclusion, AND I get a new web customer.
 
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Andy Black

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Working my way through your profile and the plethora of content you have shared, and this is one of my favourite topics so far.

As simple as it is, business really does boil down to this sometimes. Putting in the effort to build relationships (not just sell stuff to people) and reconnect with past connections can pay dividends beyond belief.

I've used this technique when business gets a bit slow and without fail, it always picks up and bounces back.

As I'm shifting over to my website building venture I will be using this exact tactic to reach out to existing contacts in my network who may have fallen out of view. Many of them own businesses, or at very least manage businesses, and many of are in need of web services.

Worst case? I get coffee with an old connection and see how we can help each other out.

Best case? Same conclusion, AND I get a new web customer.
Love this feedback.

Worst case you get a coffee with an old connection, see how you can help each other out, AND there's one more person who knows what you do and can refer people to you for years to come.

In my mind business is simple: Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

In my mind we implement it simply too: Make friends. Build relationships. Create win-wins.


You might like this thread:
 

Ing

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Nice reminder.
Mine is only my job, but yes, visiting customers for a coffee allways pays with positive return of invest.
 
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Love this feedback.

Worst case you get a coffee with an old connection, see how you can help each other out, AND there's one more person who knows what you do and can refer people to you for years to come.

In my mind business is simple: Help people. Get paid. Help more people.

In my mind we implement it simply too: Make friends. Build relationships. Create win-wins.


You might like this thread:

Yes, another benefit as well! Who knows, even if they don't need your services, they might know someone who does and point them toward you.

Really great information all around. I made my way through the sales thread the other day, and actually even took notes to implement into my sales process.
 
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Andy Black

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I made my way through the sales thread the other day, and actually even took notes to implement into my sales process.
Now I'm curious. Care to share those notes in that thread?
 

Nomads

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Now I'm curious. Care to share those notes in that thread?

Sure will! A lot of it is repeating what you've already said with my little comments - but may be useful for some.
 

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