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That "ONE SECRET", Your Best Advice for the Aspiring Entrepreneur

JackrabbitD

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From what I've learnt, its not what you sell...its how you sell it

This all goes from having a vision towards what you sell to showing your gratitude to your first few clientele.

I'm no millionaire, but I make a little over 100k (as my base source of income) annually selling cellphones in a mall and I'm balancing University full time which I have since lost interest in.


This story is what inspired me:



To add, It came apparent to me that instead of giving 10% stake in your company to whatever business incubator you operate at, the 10% can be more effective if you use it as a holding agreement to your first ten employees
 
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Journey2Million$

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0. Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman. Just kidding.

1. Work Very hard and work very smart. Successful people in general are hard working and disciplined. I don't think you'll get very far unless you work both hard & smart.

2. My favorite marketing advice, from Claude Hopkins: people will decide to buy something based on how much they imagine they'll enjoy it. I've found this advice very useful. I always keep it in mind.

3. Become great at marketing. It's the single most important skill in business. Know how the customers think. Know what they want. Know what they don't want. Know how to get lots of traffic for your businesses.
 
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Journey2Million$

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This is what I've been saying for a long time. 99.9999% of your so-called "competition" are worthless.
Be excellent, work hard, and you will practically have no competition. The above picture would
be more accurate if it showed 100,000 applicants and about 1 or 2 dozen "finalists," i.e. people
who can at least make a living at their business.
 

Journey2Million$

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I've been a wantrepreneur for as long as I can remember. For so many books I have read, nothing that struck me more than MJ's book. It lays almost every fundamentals/foundation I needed. Knowing "what it takes" in the first place, I think is vital. Thus, solving a multi-variabled equation using only one is so tough if not impossible.

Toss aside the books and start actually doing business. Do anything. If you have no business ideas then get some from the internet.
 
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Guest

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O..'.....
1. I believe that anyone with ideas, dreams, talents, and abilities have an obligation to bring it forth into this world. If you can not bring it to fruition then get help or hand it to somebody else to take action on it. Here is a quote that illustrate my point:

“Imagine if you will being on your death bed - And standing around your bed – the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life.

And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book.

And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying we came to you, and only you could have given us life! Now we must die with you forever.

The question is – if you die today what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts, would die with you?" - Les Brown

2. This quote is what keeps me up at night -- for all the right reasons.
"Somewhere, someone in the world is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win." - Tom Flemming
 

quanttastic

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It is really, really cool what you are doing Vigilante. I am excited to hear the update of student feedback.
 
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HowToMillion

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Toss aside the books and start actually doing business. Do anything. If you have no business ideas then get some from the internet.
That may work for you. I am a bit calculated, mindset propels you without having to go through the face down hard failures, even going through super hard with execution is kinda matter of mindset.
 

Journey2Million$

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That may work for you. I am a bit calculated, mindset propels you without having to go through the face down hard failures, even going through super hard with execution is kinda matter of mindset.

I'm calculated too, but I don't wait forever to take action. You said you've been a wantrepreneur forever. Obviously you've gone much too far in thinking about it and you need to just take any kind of constructive action to break the cycle. I'm spending about a couple of weeks learning all I can about teespring and facebook ads before I start my first Teespring campaign, but I don't plan on waiting much more than that. You have to alternate learning with action. Doing is a big part of learning. You don't really know something until you've done it. In the end what makes you money is finding something that works and doing it. And the only way to find what works is to try doing stuff.
 

kamanuci

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Surround yourself with like minded people no matter the cost. They will provide you with the drive, motivation and mindset that is invaluable.

Show up everyday regardless of emotions or mood.

Find someone who has done the process before and study them.
 
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HowToMillion

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I'm calculated too, but I don't wait forever to take action. You said you've been a wantrepreneur forever. Obviously you've gone much too far in thinking about it and you need to just take any kind of constructive action to break the cycle. I'm spending about a couple of weeks learning all I can about teespring and facebook ads before I start my first Teespring campaign, but I don't plan on waiting much more than that. You have to alternate learning with action. Doing is a big part of learning. You don't really know something until you've done it. In the end what makes you money is finding something that works and doing it. And the only way to find what works is to try doing stuff.
Don't get me wrong .. I don't want to beat a dead horse here, I never said I skipped execution, it's the most important part. My only point is to gather all the necessary fundamentals you need and take off. I'm just saying that most books are less convincing and fillers -- not all entrepreneurs had 'F*ck it moments', and jobs they dread about. If throwing out books and dive in into execution worked for you, then great. You must read MJ's book though ;)
 

HowToMillion

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You are more leveraged now than ever in this Internet era. The only catch is.. can you learn, digest and self-reflect the information and experiences efficient enough just like it actually happened to you? Execute like a maniac, learn like a maniac too.
 

smarty

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"...and he has dreams of becoming a certified medical assistant because he just loves helping people"


Instead of being mad at the world, being stressed and self-pity, he chose to offer value.
And they're returning that value back: http://www.gofundme.com/letshelpshelby

Just a reinforcement of the lesson of this thread.
 

Journey2Million$

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One secret: Marketing. If you sell to a new market or you start using a more powerful method of marketing, it can increase your income by double, triple, or more. That's what happened to me before and I'm in the process of making it happen again right now. Marketing is amazing and powerful. Usually you need good products to sell, but with great marketing sometimes you don't even need a good product. A poor product with great marketing can trump a great product with poor marketing.
 
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Paul David

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In my life I've always needed a huge "WHY". Why get up early. Why work so hard. Why bother at all. In my office wedged between the window trim and wall are 3 individual photos of my nearest and dearest, ( wife and kids) taken at high points during my life. In my wallet I have a small version of these photos thus giving me constant reminders that my family need me constantly and are relying wholeheartly on me to succeed.

The "Why" is an extremely important in anything. I read a book a couple of years ago (i think it was from Robert Kiyosaki) and there was a parable about a woman who's husband had died and he was from an extremely wealthy family. The parents of her husband didn't think she was able to bring their 2 children up alone so they challenged custody of which they were guaranteed to win. One day the Father of her deceased husband set her a challenge, earn $1m in 3 months (or a particular timescale) and i will drop the custody battle and you will have proved to me how much you love the Children and how capable you are of bringing them up. The woman set out on her mission. Did she earn the money? Of course she did. Her "WHY" was big enough.

This is why daily affirmations are good, you are constantly focusing on the "WHY" ie the reasons why you are doing all this. It's not easy working 12 hour days and the world can be a lonely place at times for Fastlaners. You need a big enough "WHY" so you don't quit when the going get's tough which it almost certainly will. It's not just business either, it applies to almost anything for example losing weight, I know if i just decide to lose weight because i want to i last for a few weeks maybe a month but if i'm in training for a Marathon then i'll keep at until the Marathon has been completed which may be 5 months down the line. Create your "WHY" big enough and the better chance you have of achieving it.

For example and this is extreme but i'm using it to make a point, if your child was in urgent need of a life saving operation and you had to find a Doctor capable of operating the complicated procedure, or raise money for it. Would you be sitting at home watching the TV? Would you be wondering whether or not to find the Doctor? Give up because you don't know how you can raise the money? NO you wouldn't. You'd be doing everything possible to find a solution and make the operation happen. The film Lorenzo's oil with Nick Nolte is a real life story about it.

What about the woman who lifted a car of a child with her bare hands? Again her "WHY" was big enough. She saved a life. Could she lift the car again if the situation was repeated and the child wasn't stuck under the car? No.

Human beings are capable of the most extraordinary things, make your "WHY" big enough and become one of them.
 

Charmander

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“There’s a difference between knowing the path,
and walking the path.”

- Morpheus
____________________
Each time my friends beat me (made bigger accomplishment than me), it was NEVER because they had more knowledge, EVER.

The only thing they did - they did the thing they needed to do, and then when they achieved what they wanted, they laughed at me and said that I slack.

But I was just slow at it. But I persisted. Achieved what they did, and even more.When they let go, I was better than them, like in that Race between rabbit and turtle. (greek story)
One day a rabbit was boasting about how fast he could run. He was laughing at the turtle for being so slow. Much to the rabbit’s surprise, the turtle challenged him to a race. The rabbit thought this was a good joke and accepted the challenge. The fox was to be the umpire of the race. As the race began, the rabbit raced way ahead of the turtle, just like everyone thought. The rabbit got to the halfway point and could not see the turtle anywhere. He was hot and tired and decided to stop and take a short nap. Even if the turtle passed him, he would be able to race to the finish line ahead of him. All this time the turtle kept walking step by step by step. He never quit no matter how hot or tired he got. He just kept going.

However, the rabbit slept longer than he had thought and woke up. He could not see the turtle anywhere! He went at full-speed to the finish line but found the turtle there waiting for him.
Persistence pays off, always.
And besides, you will succeed anyway, its just a matter of time. If not, atleast you try for it.
 
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iceyblitz

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Think big in terms of scaling in the beginning.. this one is really gold..
 

MJ DeMarco

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Vigilante

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Bump...

@Vigilante did anyone ever win this?

I will have to look back and see if/whom I paid out! I certainly pilfered all of the material and incorporated it into the classroom discussion. When I have a chance, I will read back through this and look for clues.

Teaching that class was a great experience. I did it a few times thereafter also, before I moved and never rekindled the effort in my new home state.
 
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Era

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Olimac21

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Never forget the why, both for yourself and especially for the market. Why will they buy my product? Why should they pay attention to my marketing? Why they will get their needs met throughout my product?
 

Bryan Amaiwe

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Thou shalt not invest in a needless business. Thou shalt not trade time for money. Thou shalt not operate on a limited scale. Thou shalt not relinquish control. Thou shalt not let a business startup be an event over process.


I will produce well, If i want to live well. Because the more production value i give to society, the bigger my house, the faster my car, and the juicier my steak. I will stop looking to take and start looking to give. By leading the herd, not follow. By receiving royalties, not pay them. By lending, not borrow. By hiring employees, not seek to be hired. By selling products, not buying them.
 

Olie Sins

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Professor? Hardly.

In an ironic twist of fate, I am speaking to a couple of classes of small business entrepreneurs on Monday at a local community college... ironic because I flunked a few courses there in years past. (In my defense, I also happened to ace their macro and micro economics classes.)

Basically, what I was asked to speak on is thinking outside of the box. These, for the most part, are small business majors who are back in school as they are looking for continuing education, career enhancement or career changes, and inspiration. I am going to teach them how to break society's rules.

In three sentences or less, what would you put forth as your best, concise advice for wantrapreneurs?

I will take the best few responses (as voted by LIKES by our fellow forum members) and read them ver batem to the classes as part of my lecture. Our fellow forum members will determine the life changing value of your post... so choose wisely.

The deadline for submission is Sunday afternoon, so there can be enough time for your post to gain some likes before I put together my final notes Sunday evening.

Ideas could be :
favorite motivational quotes
favorite MJ DeMarco quotes from the book or otherwise
an original thought
a paraphrase of a fast lane concept

Please limit your post to three sentences or less, or a picture meme. Contest is limited to two posts max per person, so make them count. One thought or subject of three sentences or less per individual post. No duplicate posts containing anyone else's quotation.

Oh... and who ever gets the most LIKES on a single post by 3PM Central Time Sunday that meets the criteria above will get a $50 Amazon gift certificate OR a $75 donation to a non-profit charitable organization of your choice with proof of donation provided privately.

And, Tom Brady, no deflating the balls to win the game (if you know what I mean.)
Late for the party, but my rule would be to never take billionaire advice from someone who isn't a billionaire.

-Me, Circa 2018
 
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Josh Chingas

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Professor? Hardly.

In an ironic twist of fate, I am speaking to a couple of classes of small business entrepreneurs on Monday at a local community college... ironic because I flunked a few courses there in years past. (In my defense, I also happened to ace their macro and micro economics classes.)

Basically, what I was asked to speak on is thinking outside of the box. These, for the most part, are small business majors who are back in school as they are looking for continuing education, career enhancement or career changes, and inspiration. I am going to teach them how to break society's rules.

In three sentences or less, what would you put forth as your best, concise advice for wantrapreneurs?

I will take the best few responses (as voted by LIKES by our fellow forum members) and read them ver batem to the classes as part of my lecture. Our fellow forum members will determine the life changing value of your post... so choose wisely.

The deadline for submission is Sunday afternoon, so there can be enough time for your post to gain some likes before I put together my final notes Sunday evening.

Ideas could be :
favorite motivational quotes
favorite MJ DeMarco quotes from the book or otherwise
an original thought
a paraphrase of a fast lane concept

Please limit your post to three sentences or less, or a picture meme. Contest is limited to two posts max per person, so make them count. One thought or subject of three sentences or less per individual post. No duplicate posts containing anyone else's quotation.

Oh... and who ever gets the most LIKES on a single post by 3PM Central Time Sunday that meets the criteria above will get a $50 Amazon gift certificate OR a $75 donation to a non-profit charitable organization of your choice with proof of donation provided privately.

And, Tom Brady, no deflating the balls to win the game (if you know what I mean.)


To chime in on this I’d say no matter what your efforts are focused on, realize time is the equalizer across everyone’s life. (MJ reference) Greatness starts with one simple step, and that’s when you decide to use your time to expand your personal branding instead of watching television.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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