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I wasn't sure if I'd write this one or not, but I think it'll offer a lot of value to new people here who aren't really sure how to achieve their long-term dreams and objectives. How to get started. How to avoid going bust in the first year. How to make sure they have the patience they need to actualy make it to the finish line (due to not being starving the whole time... or spending all their savings).
I want 'fuck you' money, not have a boss, be free to spend time with my family, pursue my hobbies...
---
TL;DR:
You can do most of this stuff online (networking, making connections, taking gig work to supplement your grind etc) but I think for some of us we can get a lot more out of face-to-face and it might even lead to a much more exciting idea/business in the end.
---
We hear that a lot from new members here, looking to change their lives for the better. Some are pursuing the 'Gary Vaynerchuk' recommended method of 'making the evenings count' while grinding out a day job. Others jump in and go all out, living frugally until their online projects take off.
This post is probably most practical for those of you who've gone 'all in' or are close to wanting to do that because it'll help you get closer to your dreams by embracing 'real world' opportunities as well as focusing on your online ambitions. Something so many are just ignoring completely, despite some notable online marketers and businesses getting their start that way.
Whodunnit!? And What Can I Get From This 'Real World' Thing Anyway?
I didn't decide one day to start an SEO agency, throw up some online ads, start building links to my own sites and compete with 10 year old SEO agencies with 1000s of links in the SERPS, put my feet up and watch business roll in. I realised that real small businesses, that I could meet face to face need one of the skills we had - designing websites. So I went out and sold those so we didn't have to 'go get a real job' while we worked on the other stuff. Not going bust, actually making it to the finish line is all that matters... your great idea or site that would have been worth millions only happens if you spend years on it and get it done.
Now I didn't come up with that myself - it's actually how Distilled got started - https://www.distilled.net/about/ - I can't find the original blog post but they went out and 'door knocked' local small businesses to pitch them web design services.
@Ryuzaki complements his successful online endeavours with his web design work - https://www.buildersociety.com/thre...livered-in-under-7-days.721/page-3#post-24223
I'm not saying you should all go out and become a web designer. What I'm saying is that people have needs out there in the real world. If you connect with them, and service those requirements, you can have a much faster route to freedom than learning a ton of new skills to become a hugely successful online entrepreneur.
You're Human, Take Advantage of It
What I am saying, however, is that to win at this 'online game' you have to develop some pretty sick skills. Take a read of the crash course here... It's huge. And the skills can be taken one at a time, and you will become 'very good' if you take it seriously. But it'll take a lot of time.
Right now, you almost certainly have the skill we all have as a 'social animal' (even if you, like me, believed for most of your youth that you were an introvert and didn't like talking to anyone...). The ability to have friends, connections and relationships with other humans.
And what's more, lots of those people have needs/things you can do for them that will make you money. The magic of being self-employed and fulfilling those needs is that you can make way more per hour than if you 'go get a real job'. Imagine you run a seminar once a week for small businesses on how to use YouTube. Even if you just charge $20 a ticket, and have 10 people come that's $200/hour less your booking fee for the venue...
Leverage some of your new 'real life' friends who want to promote their businesses and have them speak for 5 minutes, host the event at their premises and you're back to $200/hour with no booking fee!
Maybe you can't use youtube, but you're a great writer: help local businesses with their content, advertising plans, social media.
Why "Real Life"?
All the things I'm suggesting here are possible online. You can go to upwork, advertise your services etc etc. The truth is when you have no brand, and no reputation, you can shortcut that because of how humans behave/think when they get to know you. People will pay you a lot more for that content you wrote for their plumbing website if they ordered it from you face to face over a beer, than if they were putting a proposal together, trying to find the cheapest person, on an online platform (like Upwork etc).
What's even more exciting is that real life interaction, and experimenting with selling things and solving people's problems in exchange for money, doesn't just keep you from starving while your authority site grows...
It helps you understand the needs people have, that you can solve immediately, and start making more money because you've suddenly got an idea for a unique business.
Let's say that whole YouTube training thing wasn't your bag initially but you were happy to make the money for a while. But you constantly get to hear the problems small businesses are having with youtube and realise you can code a solution. Maybe you'd be the next Explaindio (but different, of course). A real product/business born out of learning what people need - directly.
I know someone (someone I met through networking) who has a similar story and is just quitting his job to start a business in the Social Media space on the back of following that exact route - networking, figuring out what people wanted, building a business to sell it to them.
The beauty is that it combines 'what you know/can do' with 'problems people actually have and will pay for' into a real business, that's easy for you to manage and grow, because it's something you're passionate about.
Sure you can definitely just pick some random niche (organic baby dummies) that you hate and build it up until you dominate the mommy space and make that passive income dream come true. But that is a much tougher road, and much longer road. Is it right for you? Maybe. Is this alternative right for others? Maybe. Are there online equivalents that you can also use? Of course - I love BuSo and all the private groups (slack etc) that I'm in online. But I also love this!
I'd say it's definitely worth exploring for many of you though. And if you want to explore here's how you get started...
Exploring Face To Face Networking
There are tons of guides probably about this so I'm not going to go on for ages, just put down some of the winning tips I've experienced personally over the years.
Expand Your Network: When I lost one of my largest ever contracts, the first thing I did was book travel around the UK and a flight to the US (lots of internal flights... 5 hour flights in domestic economy... super fun!). I met everyone I knew - family, friends, friends of family, business associates, and booked to attend dozens of random live networking events in cities I'd never been to before.
The plan was simple - meet more people and get introductions to more people, all the while trying to 'return the favour' and constantly referring people back to people I'd previously met/had helped me before.
I wasn't there to sell directly - we didn't even have an exact product defined in those early days. We were there to explore needs, find out what people wanted, and meet people who were connected to our potential clients.
One of the biggest points is that the perfect people you want to meet won't often be at the events you go to. Getting intros to people (subtly eg you don't know a good accountant in Chicago do you? I might need some advice...) who might be gateways to opportunity and then building a relationship with them (without asking for anything immediately) from the networks of the people you meet is very powerful.
Become Known Within Communities: Focus on certain cities/regions/towns for deeper networking. Attend 'most' groups in that area until you find the most active/most useful ones. I attend ones, for example, that attract lots of web devs and other industry folks that I can chat to about what's going on, and introduce people to. Sometimes we get business back but the main purpose for me is to get ideas, and build my new products in areas people actually want/need service.
Give Knowledge Away Free: Gary Vaynerchuk is right offline as much as he is when he talks about this online - give away knowledge to people. Don't try to bill on day one. Show yourself to be an expert, and get people's trust over time. It's tough when you're looking to make money today - but remember if you weren't doing this you wouldn't be making that money anyway - this is a gateway to more money and opportunity if you put the effort in.
Summary
I hope this has been interesting to some of you newer marketers. It's great to get out into the 'real world' and meet people with problems, solve them, and then build scalable solutions to those problems that then become your real business. Selling your own range of products is super fun compared to being an affiliate (for me anyway, and maybe some of you), and can lead you to have some ideas for products that you just won't get (unless you're a genius) from researching some keywords and slapping a 'niche site' up and trying to grind for years. Some of you will get rich that way, of course, but we all know from experience hanging out in these types of forums that the success rate is not a 'slam dunk' and different personality types suit different types of venture. But they can still lead to the same end result...
I want 'fuck you' money, not have a boss, be free to spend time with my family, pursue my hobbies...
I want 'fuck you' money, not have a boss, be free to spend time with my family, pursue my hobbies...
---
TL;DR:
You can do most of this stuff online (networking, making connections, taking gig work to supplement your grind etc) but I think for some of us we can get a lot more out of face-to-face and it might even lead to a much more exciting idea/business in the end.
---
We hear that a lot from new members here, looking to change their lives for the better. Some are pursuing the 'Gary Vaynerchuk' recommended method of 'making the evenings count' while grinding out a day job. Others jump in and go all out, living frugally until their online projects take off.
This post is probably most practical for those of you who've gone 'all in' or are close to wanting to do that because it'll help you get closer to your dreams by embracing 'real world' opportunities as well as focusing on your online ambitions. Something so many are just ignoring completely, despite some notable online marketers and businesses getting their start that way.
Whodunnit!? And What Can I Get From This 'Real World' Thing Anyway?
I didn't decide one day to start an SEO agency, throw up some online ads, start building links to my own sites and compete with 10 year old SEO agencies with 1000s of links in the SERPS, put my feet up and watch business roll in. I realised that real small businesses, that I could meet face to face need one of the skills we had - designing websites. So I went out and sold those so we didn't have to 'go get a real job' while we worked on the other stuff. Not going bust, actually making it to the finish line is all that matters... your great idea or site that would have been worth millions only happens if you spend years on it and get it done.
Now I didn't come up with that myself - it's actually how Distilled got started - https://www.distilled.net/about/ - I can't find the original blog post but they went out and 'door knocked' local small businesses to pitch them web design services.
@Ryuzaki complements his successful online endeavours with his web design work - https://www.buildersociety.com/thre...livered-in-under-7-days.721/page-3#post-24223
I'm not saying you should all go out and become a web designer. What I'm saying is that people have needs out there in the real world. If you connect with them, and service those requirements, you can have a much faster route to freedom than learning a ton of new skills to become a hugely successful online entrepreneur.
You're Human, Take Advantage of It
What I am saying, however, is that to win at this 'online game' you have to develop some pretty sick skills. Take a read of the crash course here... It's huge. And the skills can be taken one at a time, and you will become 'very good' if you take it seriously. But it'll take a lot of time.
Right now, you almost certainly have the skill we all have as a 'social animal' (even if you, like me, believed for most of your youth that you were an introvert and didn't like talking to anyone...). The ability to have friends, connections and relationships with other humans.
And what's more, lots of those people have needs/things you can do for them that will make you money. The magic of being self-employed and fulfilling those needs is that you can make way more per hour than if you 'go get a real job'. Imagine you run a seminar once a week for small businesses on how to use YouTube. Even if you just charge $20 a ticket, and have 10 people come that's $200/hour less your booking fee for the venue...
Leverage some of your new 'real life' friends who want to promote their businesses and have them speak for 5 minutes, host the event at their premises and you're back to $200/hour with no booking fee!
Maybe you can't use youtube, but you're a great writer: help local businesses with their content, advertising plans, social media.
Why "Real Life"?
All the things I'm suggesting here are possible online. You can go to upwork, advertise your services etc etc. The truth is when you have no brand, and no reputation, you can shortcut that because of how humans behave/think when they get to know you. People will pay you a lot more for that content you wrote for their plumbing website if they ordered it from you face to face over a beer, than if they were putting a proposal together, trying to find the cheapest person, on an online platform (like Upwork etc).
What's even more exciting is that real life interaction, and experimenting with selling things and solving people's problems in exchange for money, doesn't just keep you from starving while your authority site grows...
It helps you understand the needs people have, that you can solve immediately, and start making more money because you've suddenly got an idea for a unique business.
Let's say that whole YouTube training thing wasn't your bag initially but you were happy to make the money for a while. But you constantly get to hear the problems small businesses are having with youtube and realise you can code a solution. Maybe you'd be the next Explaindio (but different, of course). A real product/business born out of learning what people need - directly.
I know someone (someone I met through networking) who has a similar story and is just quitting his job to start a business in the Social Media space on the back of following that exact route - networking, figuring out what people wanted, building a business to sell it to them.
The beauty is that it combines 'what you know/can do' with 'problems people actually have and will pay for' into a real business, that's easy for you to manage and grow, because it's something you're passionate about.
Sure you can definitely just pick some random niche (organic baby dummies) that you hate and build it up until you dominate the mommy space and make that passive income dream come true. But that is a much tougher road, and much longer road. Is it right for you? Maybe. Is this alternative right for others? Maybe. Are there online equivalents that you can also use? Of course - I love BuSo and all the private groups (slack etc) that I'm in online. But I also love this!
I'd say it's definitely worth exploring for many of you though. And if you want to explore here's how you get started...
Exploring Face To Face Networking
There are tons of guides probably about this so I'm not going to go on for ages, just put down some of the winning tips I've experienced personally over the years.
Expand Your Network: When I lost one of my largest ever contracts, the first thing I did was book travel around the UK and a flight to the US (lots of internal flights... 5 hour flights in domestic economy... super fun!). I met everyone I knew - family, friends, friends of family, business associates, and booked to attend dozens of random live networking events in cities I'd never been to before.
The plan was simple - meet more people and get introductions to more people, all the while trying to 'return the favour' and constantly referring people back to people I'd previously met/had helped me before.
I wasn't there to sell directly - we didn't even have an exact product defined in those early days. We were there to explore needs, find out what people wanted, and meet people who were connected to our potential clients.
One of the biggest points is that the perfect people you want to meet won't often be at the events you go to. Getting intros to people (subtly eg you don't know a good accountant in Chicago do you? I might need some advice...) who might be gateways to opportunity and then building a relationship with them (without asking for anything immediately) from the networks of the people you meet is very powerful.
Become Known Within Communities: Focus on certain cities/regions/towns for deeper networking. Attend 'most' groups in that area until you find the most active/most useful ones. I attend ones, for example, that attract lots of web devs and other industry folks that I can chat to about what's going on, and introduce people to. Sometimes we get business back but the main purpose for me is to get ideas, and build my new products in areas people actually want/need service.
Give Knowledge Away Free: Gary Vaynerchuk is right offline as much as he is when he talks about this online - give away knowledge to people. Don't try to bill on day one. Show yourself to be an expert, and get people's trust over time. It's tough when you're looking to make money today - but remember if you weren't doing this you wouldn't be making that money anyway - this is a gateway to more money and opportunity if you put the effort in.
Summary
I hope this has been interesting to some of you newer marketers. It's great to get out into the 'real world' and meet people with problems, solve them, and then build scalable solutions to those problems that then become your real business. Selling your own range of products is super fun compared to being an affiliate (for me anyway, and maybe some of you), and can lead you to have some ideas for products that you just won't get (unless you're a genius) from researching some keywords and slapping a 'niche site' up and trying to grind for years. Some of you will get rich that way, of course, but we all know from experience hanging out in these types of forums that the success rate is not a 'slam dunk' and different personality types suit different types of venture. But they can still lead to the same end result...
I want 'fuck you' money, not have a boss, be free to spend time with my family, pursue my hobbies...
