I just came around this podcast by Tim Ferriss and Seth Godin and I wanted to share it with you because many people get confused with this and fail because they mess up these concepts when they want to take their business online.
There’s a difference between freelancers and entrepreneurs.
Most people who are independent are freelancers.
They get paid when they work; they do good work and they get paid for it.
That’s the straightest forward way to get started and make money and required you get good at one specific skill.
For example offer to build funnels (or write copy, or do design, or….)
That’s the fastest way to get started.
A few people are entrepreneurs, building a business bigger than themselves, a business that makes them money when they sleep; a business where they don’t actually do the work that the customer is buying, and a business that they can sell one day.
This is what most people aspire but it’s a lot harder and requires more skills.
If you’re an entrepreneur, then you have signed up for a series of choices and challenges.
Most important:
Start with selling something people want to buy. (Hint it’s not a software or features, it’s about solving a problem.
There’s no reason to try to invent a need when there are so many needs and wants that are unfilled.
People didn’t wake up ten years ago and say I need an Uber. But they did wake up ten years ago and say I need an easy, inexpensive way to get from A to B.
Start satisfying today and assemble assets that you can satisfy in a defensible way so you don’t have to be the cheapest.
Seth mentions snow shoveling.
We know there’s a need for snow shoveling. We know that if you spend time and effort, you can arrange a team of ten snow shovelers who don’t have the initiative you have, and you can use existing, almost free technology to assign the snow shovelers to where they need to go.
And you’re not going to win because you’re the cheapest snow shoveling company; you’re going to win because you can get to customers faster and better and more efficiently.
In online marketing you can build a team that can deliver a whole funnel building experience that you can charge $20k or more for. (Building the funnel, running ads, writing blog posts, doing social media etc).
That’s a very straightforward form of entrepreneurship; it is available to everyone without an enormous amount of talent or artistic creativity required.
Because you just make a list of the thousand things around you that people need and want.
You make a list of the kinds of assets and connections you can build and you go do it.
And you do it and you do it until you’re big enough.
The 3rd type of business is transformational.
If you choose to run this kind of business the purpose of your business is to change people.
To change them from something into something else.
This is by far the hardest business to get in because it requires a level of maturity, commitment, effort and contribution that most people are not willing to give.
According the Seth this is the kind of business that we remember generations later.
A business that you are proud of and that is highly fulfilling.
Think of Harley Davidson, Seth’s favorite example, changed disrespected, disconnected outsiders into respected family members, INSIDERS.
That’s what you get when you pay $12,000 for a motorcycle. Because if all you want is transport, buy a Suzuki.
The way to think about it is, no one gets a Suzuki tattoo.
That’s what Russel Brunson talks about when he says you need to build a CULT-URE and what Brendon Burchard talks about in High Performace habits.
You can decide that you want to be tattoo worthy but it will require you to constantly grow and lean towards your edge.
This is the path of mastery and growth.
You can listen to the full podcast here: How Seth Godin Manages His Life — Rules, Principles, and Obsessions (#138)
So, my question:
Which type of Entrepreneur are you?
Be very clear and intentional about this because every choice requires different skills and resources.
There’s a difference between freelancers and entrepreneurs.
Most people who are independent are freelancers.
They get paid when they work; they do good work and they get paid for it.
That’s the straightest forward way to get started and make money and required you get good at one specific skill.
For example offer to build funnels (or write copy, or do design, or….)
That’s the fastest way to get started.
A few people are entrepreneurs, building a business bigger than themselves, a business that makes them money when they sleep; a business where they don’t actually do the work that the customer is buying, and a business that they can sell one day.
This is what most people aspire but it’s a lot harder and requires more skills.
If you’re an entrepreneur, then you have signed up for a series of choices and challenges.
Most important:
Start with selling something people want to buy. (Hint it’s not a software or features, it’s about solving a problem.
There’s no reason to try to invent a need when there are so many needs and wants that are unfilled.
People didn’t wake up ten years ago and say I need an Uber. But they did wake up ten years ago and say I need an easy, inexpensive way to get from A to B.
Start satisfying today and assemble assets that you can satisfy in a defensible way so you don’t have to be the cheapest.
Seth mentions snow shoveling.
We know there’s a need for snow shoveling. We know that if you spend time and effort, you can arrange a team of ten snow shovelers who don’t have the initiative you have, and you can use existing, almost free technology to assign the snow shovelers to where they need to go.
And you’re not going to win because you’re the cheapest snow shoveling company; you’re going to win because you can get to customers faster and better and more efficiently.
In online marketing you can build a team that can deliver a whole funnel building experience that you can charge $20k or more for. (Building the funnel, running ads, writing blog posts, doing social media etc).
That’s a very straightforward form of entrepreneurship; it is available to everyone without an enormous amount of talent or artistic creativity required.
Because you just make a list of the thousand things around you that people need and want.
You make a list of the kinds of assets and connections you can build and you go do it.
And you do it and you do it until you’re big enough.
The 3rd type of business is transformational.
If you choose to run this kind of business the purpose of your business is to change people.
To change them from something into something else.
This is by far the hardest business to get in because it requires a level of maturity, commitment, effort and contribution that most people are not willing to give.
According the Seth this is the kind of business that we remember generations later.
A business that you are proud of and that is highly fulfilling.
Think of Harley Davidson, Seth’s favorite example, changed disrespected, disconnected outsiders into respected family members, INSIDERS.
That’s what you get when you pay $12,000 for a motorcycle. Because if all you want is transport, buy a Suzuki.
The way to think about it is, no one gets a Suzuki tattoo.
That’s what Russel Brunson talks about when he says you need to build a CULT-URE and what Brendon Burchard talks about in High Performace habits.
You can decide that you want to be tattoo worthy but it will require you to constantly grow and lean towards your edge.
This is the path of mastery and growth.
You can listen to the full podcast here: How Seth Godin Manages His Life — Rules, Principles, and Obsessions (#138)
So, my question:
Which type of Entrepreneur are you?
Be very clear and intentional about this because every choice requires different skills and resources.
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