Who have you helped?

[Andy Black]

Kind of helped.

Even though I have read some of your posts, it got me thinking the other day every time I shower.

Why do people do everything they do? Why do they pay in terms of money, time, work, or mental load?

I have my own answer in my mind, but I don't know if it's correct.

That's why I asked you in the PMs whether or not you have an independent post about helping what people "are already willing to pay for" and you replied with the quote "help the people in motion".

The word "motion" got me thinking again in another shower. Why are people in motion? Also, what makes a problem a significant problem for people? I mean if they do nothing, they wouldn't experience those problems in the first place right? I think this is why it's important to observe what those people have been trying to do to solve their problems before helping them.

My thoughts are that everyone are subtly ambitious to some degree. Drew E. Whitman described the 8 primary human desires in his book Cashvertising, and I'm contemplating whether most ambitions in people are probably rooted from some of the primary desires.

Actually you know what, I think I'm just making things complicated lmao. I'll just go back to talking about what people struggle with a product/service then help them with that pain and come up with a minimum viable product which value skew solves that pain.

And I'll keep on helping people with no expectations, like holding the door open for someone.

Maybe the takeaway here is the main goal of helping people and their loved ones is for them to enjoy life.

I just thought of this "enjoying life" thing just now, I don't know if I'm correct on this or not. So what do you think, @Andy Black ?

Because of that, next time instead of starting my sales pitch with "what are you struggling with?", maybe I'll ask: "How would you (and your family) enjoy life?"

EDIT: I think this question is too broad and a bit vague. So maybe instead of asking that person directly, I'll think to myself "How can I help this person enjoy life? How can I make him happier?"

It's good to think about stuff, but sometimes it can tangle you up and prevent you getting in motion.

I prefer to go flying off in a direction and then stop and think about what I've done. ("Tell me what you've done and I'll tell you who you are.")

"Help the people in motion" to me means you help people already taking action. If you're a PT instructor you help the people already going to the gym, not the people watching Netflix all day on their couch. If you're selling dog leads then sell them to people who already have a dog.

A good way to think about a market is the people already spending money to solve the problem you can also help them solve. So what are people already spending money on to solve what you're hoping to solve? Is there a paid product or service they're already using for instance?

If you want to get paid to help businesses create email copy then what paid services or products are they already using? MailCheat(Chimp), ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, etc. Maybe paid communities etc (be careful how you approach this).

If you want to get paid to help people sell courses then what paid services or products are they already using? Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, etc. Again, there will be paid communities but don't approach them to get clients - approach them to help people.

I help businesses manage their Google Ads spend. The clients who pay me the most typically spend the most. When a business is paying €50k/mth in ad spend they see the value in spending $3k/mth or whatever to get someone to manage their spend. I enjoy helping people get started in business, but they're very unlikely to become a Google Ads client because they're not in motion.

 

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[BlakeM]

That call had a ton of value in it.

It’s super simple but what really helped me was the idea of finding the people with a certain problem and listening to them firsthand. They will have the most knowledge about the problem. Why try to “think of an idea” for a business instead of just talking to the person who is willing to detail the problem they have that you’re attempting to solve?

The call also helped me realize I really need to focus on just helping people, instead of helping people and getting paid while I do it. Often the money doesn’t come immediately after the help. I have to help people without expecting to be immediately compensated. Going to work on forgetting about the money and focusing on the value I can provide.

 

[BangMan]

My mindset of adding value without looking at my bank balance helped me out initially, eventually money started flowing

 

[Artiom O]

Hey, but what about finding the people with that problems ?

I always struggle with the idea of finding someone who needs help, but also someone who has a serious problem and is taking action.

I think that Quora is not the right place for this. There are only simple questions that you can just search on Google, or don't have a direct solution.

Most people here are also kind of broke and ask for easy things like "What is the best way to build a website with $0".

 

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[Andy Black]

Hey, but what about finding the people with that problems ?

I always struggle with the idea of finding someone who needs help, but also someone who has a serious problem and is taking action.

I think that Quora is not the right place for this. There are only simple questions that you can just search on Google, or don't have a direct solution.

Most people here are also kind of broke and ask for easy things like "What is the best way to build a website with $0".

I find that suggesting folks help people gets them unstuck. They were thinking about themselves, what they want, what they're building, etc. Getting them to think about helping people seems to get them to realise they're not doing so. So that's step 1.

I think helping people with anything is better than building stuff in isolation. Holding doors open, helping someone with their groceries, etc. Get used to doing that and start "seeing" people around you and what they're struggling with. Keep doing it in your daily life is my recommendation.

Except, to be in business we need to get paid (otherwise it's a hobby or charity ... nothing wrong with those unless you're trying to start a business and/or want to affect/help people at scale).

So also help people solve problems they'd consider paying for, and ideally help people more likely to pay.

One of my favourite quotes is "Help the people in motion." (Amy Hoy)

Another is "Your market is a demonstrated cashflow." (From a TropicalMBA podcast)

PT instructors don't get paying clients down the pub, they get them down the gym where they're *already* paying a monthly membership to get fit, lose weight, etc.

So you're looking for people who you can help who are stuck with a problem that they may pay to have solved.

I'd say they could be on Quora. It's not the platform itself that indicates whether they have a problem they're prepared to pay to solve, it's the problem and the person. What if someone was on Quora asking how to solve some Facebook Ads problem they have? The fact that they're spending money on Facebook Ads indicates they're prepared to pay money to grow their business. It kinda doesn't matter where they ask the question. I say kinda because if they're in a $299/mth paid membership for business owners asking that question then they've demonstrated even more that they're prepared to pay.

 

[Artiom O]

I find that suggesting folks help people gets them unstuck. They were thinking about themselves, what they want, what they're building, etc. Getting them to think about helping people seems to get them to realise they're not doing so. So that's step 1.

I think helping people with anything is better than building stuff in isolation. Holding doors open, helping someone with their groceries, etc. Get used to doing that and start "seeing" people around you and what they're struggling with. Keep doing it in your daily life is my recommendation.

Except, to be in business we need to get paid (otherwise it's a hobby or charity ... nothing wrong with those unless you're trying to start a business and/or want to affect/help people at scale).

So also help people solve problems they'd consider paying for, and ideally help people more likely to pay.

One of my favourite quotes is "Help the people in motion." (Amy Hoy)

Another is "Your market is a demonstrated cashflow." (From a TropicalMBA podcast)

PT instructors don't get paying clients down the pub, they get them down the gym where they're *already* paying a monthly membership to get fit, lose weight, etc.

So you're looking for people who you can help who are stuck with a problem that they may to have solved.

I'd say they could be on Quora. It's not the platform itself that indicates whether they have a problem they're prepared to pay to solve, it's the problem and the person. What if someone was on Quora asking how to solve some Facebook Ads problem they have? The fact that they're spending money on Facebook Ads indicates they're prepared to pay money to grow their business. It kinda doesn't matter where they ask the question. I say kinda because if they're in a $299/mth paid membership for business owners asking that question then they've demonstrated even more that they're prepared to pay.

Yeah, the part with finding people in motion is something I find pretty complicated.

Maybe just because Quora is a question based platform where most of the questions can be responded in a simple paragraph. However they usually don't react to the response (no upvote or anything). It's probably a sign that it didn't help, or the question was too insignificant for them (the lack of motion). I think that at the root of their question, there is a more important problem that they can't fix. It's just that I can't see it.

I can't deny the fact that there are also more interesting questions just like the one you mentioned with Facebook Ads.

Now my goal right now is to help anyone by solving their problem (a more serious one, not just a simple answer). It doesn't matter if they're broke or have money. I just want them to take action.

My takeaways:
- Maybe I just need to get in a conversation with them, ans see what they're struggling with in more detail. Maybe they do have a core problem they need to be fixed.
- Even before the conversation, it will become clear if they are in motion. Either with money or not, they should be taking action.
- I need to also practice my helping muscle. One of the problem I've got, is that I can't find opportunities and problems that need to be solved. I think that there are plenty of problems outside, but I just can't see any. Everyone has some kind of problem that they are willing to pay/take action for.

Thank you a lot Andy! This made everything more clear. And it gave me hope that there's somehting to care for anywhere on the internet, or outside of it.