10 business learnings for making money online I wish I knew when I was broke 10 years ago
It takes the same amount of (80 hours per week) effort to start a local cleaning business as it does to service big clients. So the decisions you make at the start are VERY important:
1. Get yourself checked to see if you have ADHD…Best thing I did in recent years
2. When in doubt about what to do, post content every day for 100+ days in a row as I did July-September.
Got loads of opportunities, new partnerships, and formed new businesses from people emailing me.
I don’t totally understand how but it works!!
If you’re new to making content, read these:
3. Almost all my coaching clients came from people emailing me after reading Jay Samit’s book on me making a million dollars in my first year in America.
Books are the gift that keep on giving, like I always say.
A book is the new business card.
4. Fast and easy profit making businesses get your profits killed by greed.
No one thinks they’re greedy, but likely we all are. Charging too much has cost me big over the years.
5. A business partner who works hard, is diligent, can actually “do the thing” (most can’t) and doesn’t require monitoring is a rare thing.
Hold on to them and treat them well.
6. I started doing more sales then marketing then doing the client work itself.
A bit less $ but I’m in a place of freedom so I’ve enjoyed it.
Whatever you want to do in business, sales is the MAIN skill you need if you run your own business.
In this case I do sales for other people but don’t do the work of fulfiling the service for the client.
If you get “sales” right, you can get most other things wrong
(And I don’t mean you can get away with a bad product/service, I mean if you have sales you can hire people to improve/deliver that product/service, if and when it needs to be better)
7. It’s nice to kick back with one huge client and not be an entrepreneur for a bit
(I did this for my entire “self-imposed lockdown” March 2020-summer July 2022) then became a hustler again. Both are nice, but a break from hustling for new clients was VERY nice :) (Yes, if you do this seriously you need to spend time every day looking for new clients)
8. Crypto and NFT’s are a full-time job like anything else. (I’m not an investor, but I researched into the viability of doing it with minimal time commitment) The guys who post the big numbers are on their screens 14+ hours per day.
The guy I knew who made the most rarely slept for checking the charts every hour. Is that freedom?
9. Having said that, if I was starting out now Chat-GPT, A.I., or possibly crypto would be where I spend my focus now.
Seeing kids and newcomers make big money faster than we ever did in the internet marketing favorable algorithm glory years. I love to see it.
10. The best businesses/services have an obsession with an AMAZING product/service. All marketing is MUCH easier at this point.
Everyone thinks it’s the marketing, or the (lack of) sales that kills a business. Product has to be 10 times better than the competitors, as Peter Thiel once said.
11. Tied to this: You have to be okay with not making short-term money in order to build a great product.
Ever hear the story of Elon Musk getting $200 million from PayPal sale, re-investing it all in his businesses and have to borrow money to pay rent? RELENTLESS FOCUS ON PRODUCT.
He could (and still could) make millions consulting, but he is focused on building great things. And that’s one reason he’s the most popular entrepreneur of our generation.
12. Ad costs don’t matter if you have brand awareness.
(I sold millions and millions of dollars of stuff for artists over the past two years, through times when the rest of the market was crying about iOS 15 and elections and all sorts)
13. Very few people in the music industry want to spend on marketing. Some don’t have the money which is fair enough, but it’s the ones making thousands per month that baffle me. Where does the money go if not re-investing to make the artist bigger?
14. If you need to hire someone- do a post on your personal Facebook and any relevant groups before you look for people to work with you who have never heard of you.
Otherwise you have to convince them you are worth working with.
People who follow you already know you are worth working with.
Bonus: My “forest retreat” didn’t clear my head or make me feel better. I just got bitten by mosquitos :-)
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I most likely have inattentive ADHD, check back in November to find out. I do have Autism & they’re very similar
I’m not convinced that posting a 100 days of sequential content will get me far. Nor am I convinced I can maintain quality over that time
I like the next bit is a rehash of your recommendations, just what I needed.
I’m half-arse reading Sabri Suby’s sell like crazy
I’m just starting out so I’m sure my sales skills will improve but I am doing my best to mimic you guys but for my niche
Coming from an MMT background I wouldn’t touch crypto, it’s the new Dutch Tulips
I am here waiting on your chat GPT book, I took the months trial but apparently it’s not ready yet, so I’ve paid for a month because I think you’re right about chat GPT
I have spent a little on ads & continue to do so for a little bit yet. Early indications are I might hit it big in Pakistan. Still too early to tell.
So yeah, these are some of my responses to your 15 points