Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (February 01, 2019) Entrepreneur |
- Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (February 01, 2019)
- Why You Shouldn't Rely On Motivation
- How do I advertise to super high net-worth individuals?
- What the Hell is Copywriting? - A Look at the What and Why.
- Fyre Festival
- Succesful entrepreneurs.........what are some lessons you’ve learned that most people don’t talk about?
- I saved 10k to start a business.. but are my options limited?
- Three years and 525 sold gigs on Fiverr with a 5-star rating - What I learned about handling clients
- Email etiquette
- What are some ways to make money online that aren't oversaturated markets?
- Indie app developers
- Flip Fiverr services?
- Is it possible to create an app that uses AI technology to make a meaningful conversation with people?
- Sending Flyer via Mail to our Specific Database -- Advice?
- Do things that don’t scale
- Selling an idea to an established company
- Is overcharging 3x the original price in drop shipping ethical / moral?
- Hiring engineers
- Is building a business based on a passion a mistake?
- Assimilating new information to the business plan
- Making the Most of My Time
- Looking for a business partner
- What is so good about SAP that companies fall over themselves to spend millions on their ERP?
- What are services (maybe productizable) one can offer to car dealers and dealerships?
| Accomplishments and Lesson Learned Friday! - (February 01, 2019) Posted: 01 Feb 2019 05:07 AM PST Please use this thread to share any accomplishment you care to gloat about, and some lessons learned. This is a weekly thread to encourage new members to participate, and post their accomplishments, as well as give the veterans an opportunity to inspire the up-and-comers. Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. [link] [comments]  |
| Why You Shouldn't Rely On Motivation Posted: 01 Feb 2019 10:16 AM PST "Motivation" is spoken about a ton in the entrepreneur space. People like to think that motivation is the key to success. But it's not. If you're relying on motivational quotes from your Instagram/Facebook feed in order to actually get any significant work done, you're at a massive disadvantage. Motivation is temporary. It'll get you to work for a few days but once that motivation wares off, you'll feel sluggish and insanely demotivated. Seek persistence over motivation. If you can master the art of persistence, I can almost guarantee you'll be way better off than seeking motivation. [link] [comments]  |
| How do I advertise to super high net-worth individuals? Posted: 31 Jan 2019 09:39 PM PST I book celebrity entertainment for special events (concerts, special appearances, speakers etc.) and a lot of the time my clients are the occasional multi-million / billionaires or C-level execs. Special events. Corporate events. Holiday parties. Retreats. Fundraisers. Bdays etc. Right now I am 100% word of mouth, which has been great, but I'd love to figure out a way to market towards them in a casual way. How can I advertise? Where can I source contact information? Or what are some flexible brands that I can partner with to get the right exposure... I've been pondering this on and off for a while. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What the Hell is Copywriting? - A Look at the What and Why. Posted: 01 Feb 2019 11:19 AM PST There were a few people yesterday that read my posts here and here yesterday, and I got a lot of questions on how the copywriting industry works, as well as what copywriters actually do. Specifically /u/OrdinaryBluebird and /u/_TopShelfSports, but there were several other people who sent me a PM and I'll leave those names private. Anyways, onto the post. What the Hell is Copywriting?Simply put - everything on your landing page is what we call "copy." Now, a landing page is easy to design, right? You throw some text up there about your company and list all of the amazing features of your product, and it takes care of itself, right? Negative. Dead wrong. Consumers are an odd group. They used to be satisfied with, "Well, I need X, and they sell high-quality X at a good price. I'll buy from them." Doesn't work that way anymore. Consumers nowadays want to connect with people, believe it or not. In an age where everything is done online, the single most important thing to most consumers is connection. They want to connect with your ideals or beliefs, then your brand, and then finally, way down the road, your product. Copywriters are the ones who forge those connections. They illicit emotions in their text, and seek to draw a consumer's trust and admiration with every word. In several ways, it is the single most intimate form of writing, and I fully believe that not everyone can do it. Here's a quick example. Two companies are in the same space, we'll say they're ridesharing services. Company A does not hire a copywriter, company B does. Their landing pages may have pitches like what follow. A: Our service gets you from point A to point B in no time flat safely and securely. There's always a driver near you, and we give complimentary back rubs. Need a lift? B: We believe ridesharing is a unique way of bringing people together, and returning human contact to an age of avatars. Need a lift? This is just off the top of my head - but how much more appealing does B sound, honestly? Even though A throws some extra (unrelated) value in there, what percentage of people is going to go with B? The answer is: well, damn near everyone that reads both of them. Alright, a Copywriter Sells Stuff, Got it. What Else?The first mistake is thinking that a copywriter is just a salesman. While we definitely are salesmen, we have a lot more work to do than, say, a dude selling cars. Car dealers will use a lot of tactics that are grounded in psychology when they're talking. For example: the alternate choice close - "Do you want this in green or black?" gives you a choice where "no" isn't an option. It's hard to say no when it's not an option, isn't it? They also use things like the "impending event." "This deal is only for a limited time," or "there's another couple looking at this vehicle." To pressure you. A copywriter has to do this with text. We must find ways to keep people on the page - the more they read, the more likely we are to make a sale. It's hard to do when you can't hear what people are saying or thinking, no? If a consumer doesn't like what they read, they close the page. So, you have to constantly solve problems. A copywriter, a good one at least, is a master of reading hearts and minds. They're able to put themselves in the exact position of the potential customer, bring to light all of their problems, make them say "Fucking FINALLY, SOMEONE gets why this is such a problem!" That's what we do. How the Industry WorksThis one is a little more straightforward. A company generally reviews their traffic and conversion rates for their landing pages, and decides they can do better, or that it's at least worth looking into. So, they approach a copywriter (me) in order to see what can be done. An experienced writer will know what kind of metrics their copy brings in - conversion percentage, time spent on page, etc., and charges accordingly. Finding business can also be done via cold emails (I've used this tactic very often with great results), cold calling and setting up meetings, etc. Basically, if a great copywriter can get in a room with the decision maker, things generally go well. Sales letters take a long time to draft. Personally, I have spent upwards of a month on a single sales letter (in the vicinity of 5,000 words), but that time is usually time well spent. Even though I specified that last experience was long-form, short form copy can be equally time consuming, and in most cases it is more difficult. In long-form copy, every sentence matters. In short-form copy, that sentence better be putting out one fire or another, or it's fucking useless. Short-Term Personal ResultsIn my short time (1 week, lol) since returning to copywriting (As I said in another post, I sold my last agency and have been out of the game for a bit), I've landed over a dozen clients, and 3 of them are on retainers. That's mostly from this template right here. Retainers? For writing sales copy? That doesn't make sense. If they need you on a retainer, your copy isn't working, right? LOL. Did you think you could get away with being a professional copywriter if you're not an SEO expert, too? You have to keep people coming back, so go ahead and tack on yet another skillset to it. TL;DR: Copywriting is hard, you have to know literally everything about your target market and make them feel strongly enough about something that it keeps them on a page.Alright, so I hope that clears things up a bit. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here, or drop me a PM. As is customary: this is my website if you'd like to check it out. . . . . . . Did you take a look? No? I'll spoil the surprise - there is no damn website yet. It turns out that being knowledgable and writing good copy gets you clientele whether you have a website or not. Need something done? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:12 AM PST Upon watching this new hit documentary I am very interested to see the perspectives of other entrepreneurs on where everything went wrong. What do you feel like was the turning point? What would it have taken for Billy McFarland to pull this whole thing off? Also, for those who haven't yet watched the documentary, it is a must have on the netflix list to watch. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 31 Jan 2019 10:33 PM PST I'm curious, because it took me awhile to become successful.........and I barely am. I figured also, the answers from this question could be super helpful for a lot of people on this subreddit. [link] [comments]  |
| I saved 10k to start a business.. but are my options limited? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:43 AM PST I'm 20 and incredibly tired of working at a call center, I talked to a "financial advisor" and she told me to put it all in Amazon dropshipping? That sounds horrible I've also reached out to Instagram entrepreneurs and they generally just try to sell me on their book ($400+) or monthly subscription ($1200+ annual). When I'm looking on blogs online it's just constant paywalls. I wouldn't mind paying for some of them, but they're asking for hundreds and I'm not sure how legitimate they are. Is 10k just a generally low amount to start a business with? Am I being unrealistic [link] [comments]  |
| Three years and 525 sold gigs on Fiverr with a 5-star rating - What I learned about handling clients Posted: 01 Feb 2019 06:07 AM PST Hey everyone! I know that many people, especially those interested in entrepreneurship, want to start off something of their own but don't know how to make that first step. In my experience, Fiverr is an excellent proving ground for the very same thing. While it has a lot of problems and drawbacks, it can allow you to test out your concept, learn how to handle clients and their demands and also how to charge something you do/offer and get that sweet sweet money. Later, if things kick off, you can learn about scalability, outsourcing and many things useful for any business venture. But, along with all of this, I think that handling things with clients is the most important skill you can get there. As a long-time user of the platform, here are a few things I figured out about that over the years. My number of sales, even though it sounds solid, hasn't exactly made me rich. My average profit, when Fiverr takes out its 20% is about $11 per gig. However, being that I do this part-time and from a part of the world that is not that expensive to live in, I feel happy about the results and I definitely feel I learned useful things along the way. This is not indented to be a Fiverr beginners guide or anything like that, but more of a reflection for anyone who is entering this type of low-scale entrepreneurial venture. With that in mind, here are some of those when it comes to handling your clients. Communicate and then communicate some more - Most issues arise from unclear goals and agreements. When someone sends anything, reply at least with "got it". When unsure - ask for more info. You'll often skip this, being that we all tend to do that when we're tired/busy, but you should at least try to make sure everyone's on the same page. Be flexible only in the beginning - Regardless of your gig timer, you can define other deadlines. Some of my repeat clients provide me regularly with open-ended deadlines. However, when you do set a date, keep to it with religious fervor. You'll fail whatever you do if you tend to disregard deadlines. Offer stuff all of the time - Begin active on Fiverr (or anywhere) usually means coming up with new services and offers. Get in touch with your old clients, mainly those who were happy with your initial work and offer them new services - even when they might not fit its intended bill. Don't be pushy, but if you're cool about it, this will a crucial step to getting that first couple of good reviews to get your new gig rolling (or start a new business branch). Always give a bit more to the clients - This could be most important for those starting out - whatever you can do that does not involve you doing twice the work, do it. We all want to get more bang for our buck and this is a highly useful tool for any entrepreneur. It shows you care enough to make an effort and this is one of the first steps towards regular clients. That's it - thanks for reading and hope some of this helps! Warning: shameless self-plug! If you don't think I'm a total idiot, I wrote an ebook on another huge hurdle to successful entrepreneurship - procrastination. If you're struggling with it, check it out on Amazon right here. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 04:47 AM PST 269 billion emails go out every day but its rare to hear anyone talk about best practices. A few tips from my experience:
If you are writing a very important business email to a potential partner or large client - spend just as much time cutting it down as you spent writing it. THE SHORTER THE BETTER. Use attachments to elaborate or for additional organized information. Send multiple emails if necessary. Have another best practice? Comment so I can build out this list. [link] [comments]  |
| What are some ways to make money online that aren't oversaturated markets? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 02:33 PM PST Selling ebooks, dropshipping, it's over-saturated. Investing 20 years to sell stuff on an Amazon market that's only gonna get worse seems like a horrible idea. With that being said, are there any ways to make money on the Internet? As of now I'm an 18yo, have no money and I live in a rural area with the few places near me having no jobs available. Any ideas? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 02:18 PM PST What's the market like? I'm learning coding now but I'm sort of concerned it will be of limited usefulness when it comes to developing my own apps. Simply because, just about every niche is taken. I can genuinely only think of 2 apps I want to develop once I get of a certain skill.\ App store has existed for ten years and every niche is taken it seems. Also, I think presentation is very important so that will be an issue for solo programmers like me. What do you think? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 02:16 PM PST Sort of a follow up to my last post in this sub, wanted to start by saying thanks to everyone in r/Entrepreneur for always being there to give genuine advice. Down to business, so in my last post I was asking whether dropshipping / SMMA is viable these days, and a few people mentioned getting into SEO or flipping items. So what if one were to create a business offering digital services to clients and outsourcing the work to Fiverr? (E.g sell someone a logo for $20, get it made in $5). Ideally it would be me learning the skills and doing the work, but my day job takes up 11-13 hrs so I honestly don't think I'd be able to deliver projects on-time. The questions: Would a non-commerce Squarespace site do the trick? And just get customers to pay in to your PayPal? Best digital services to be offering? Ways to find the quality freelancers? Appreciate any advice! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 01:17 PM PST Hi everyone, I was wondering if it is possible to create an app using AI that can ask people different questions and change the conversations based on their answers, more than what a bot can do? [link] [comments]  |
| Sending Flyer via Mail to our Specific Database -- Advice? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 01:12 PM PST Hey all, we have a database of 500 people who have been in our program. We want to send a flyer in the mail to them, we think it will be effective for our niche. The flyer is already finished. What's the best way to send that in the mail? Anyone used any services that can print and send for you? The task of writing on 500 separate flyers seems overwhelming. *(Note that I do not want to do EDDM, but send to our list of names). Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 01:11 PM PST This was one of the first tips I read when I was looking for a business idea. In the beginning, do all the upfront, time consuming work to get the ball rolling. For your first customers, go out of your way to give them the best experience. This is in my opinion the best and most honest way to build a brand. You should treat every customer interaction as a marketing opportunity. This also helps you figure out the perfect business model that caters to your strengths. People think they will have their business strategy figured out on the first customer. It usually doesn't work that way. [link] [comments]  |
| Selling an idea to an established company Posted: 01 Feb 2019 09:19 AM PST Hi r/entrepreneur-ers, So I've been working on the strategy, sales, government affairs and business consultancy front for a while now and have got pretty good at pitching ideas for others to prospective customers and finding good strategies. However, I am very green in the area of directly selling an iterated idea to a company rather than a complete product or service. I have an idea for a scaleable business in the service sector which, to the right company, could be a great money spinner. It is adjacent to an old well-established business model, but hoovers up a different part of the market to that traditionally they have not had the ability to target. I have done my research and nobody major has even looked at this space. I know how to package the idea, from concept to deliver. You may now ask: Q1: Why don't you do it yourself then? A1: Capital- it would require significant upfront cash. I don't have that kind of money sadly. Q2: Then raise the capital? Q2: It's a great idea, but when the business validates the market the big players could easily eat it in one gulp. It would take 3-4 years to grow it. Because the big players in this industry are large companies who dominate the supply chain they could take the idea and crush it in 3 months. Q3: So it doesn't sound like a protectable idea?.. A3: Probably not. But nobody is doing it yet, which means nobody has iterated this process. A first mover who has the liquid capital, scale and supply chain could seize a lot of the market. It would never replace their core business, but would bring in more to their bottom line. So yes- I don't want to put my heart and soul for years into bootstrapping an idea that a big fish could action in weeks. It isn't something I am passionate about and could give my life to anyway. So what I am asking is: Is there a way to sell an iterated idea (including process, branding idea, customer profile and product) to a major player when it isn't patentable? Has anybody here done this before? I know ideas are worth the paper they're written on and execution is key- but I know there are people who have done this before. Thanks for any ideas, and if the responses are brutal so be it! [link] [comments]  |
| Is overcharging 3x the original price in drop shipping ethical / moral? Posted: 31 Jan 2019 09:22 PM PST I've seen people sell a product for $69 which originally cost $19. Is it ethical or moral? I know talking about ethics morality integrity and philosophy is laughed upon these days. But I would like to get a serious answer Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:42 PM PST Obviously a lot of things fluctuate and differ from company to company and every startup in general, but from my limited research I found that hiring engineers for a product (call it a tech product akin to headphones for this post as an example) seems to be the most expensive part of the process. Recipe for failure is never attempting an idea because of inaction, hence why I want to get out and make my ideas into reality. How much should I expect to pay to a tech engineer in order to create my own set of headphones? [link] [comments]  |
| Is building a business based on a passion a mistake? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 11:56 AM PST I currently am 15 Years old and got into tea about 2 years ago. I am really passionate and brew 2 cups a day, everyday. I've been planning the business ( in a niche ) for about a month now. I have a wholesale and packaging supplier and was about to buy inventory, UNTIL I listened to a podcast about passions and business and how they don't mix well because of confirmation bias and emotional decision making. I am pretty torn at the moment. On the one hand I know that emotional decision making can be very destructive ( had that on another business of mine and learned ) and how logical "Brain decisions" are more effective. But on the other, I have a stronger drive for my passion. Since I had no real passion for my last business which wasn't working, I was faster to cut ties and continue on. However it is going to be different this time around because my heart is also attached which I really don't know is a good or bad thing. Advice will be highly appreciated :) [link] [comments]  |
| Assimilating new information to the business plan Posted: 01 Feb 2019 11:33 AM PST Hi all, I come across new information maybe once a week that is quite valuable should i add this to the business plan or keep a separate register of ideas/intel that will be assessed on a schedule? How do others deal with the inflow of new intel ? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Feb 2019 11:06 AM PST Hey guys, I'd love to get your advice. I've applied many of the principles of The Four Hour Work Week to my life and at this point I have what on the surface is definitely a sweet situation. I work remotely for a startup based out of the US, make about 80k, and have a ton of spare time throughout the day. Most of the work entails customer support, email blast setup, some webmastering, and the occassional, out of the blue phonecall from my boss where he talks stuff over with me and then does whatever he wants. My issue is: i'm not a great multitasker. I like immersing into things, whether it's new projects or just learning new skills. The thing is, during my 9 to 5 hours, I find myself basically on call, and can never really relax enough to do anything else. I'm afraid that at any given moment I'll get called, chatted, or emailed and need to attend to things. Meanwhile, hours can go by where retroactively I could have been doing lots of better things. I assume this could be compared to an on-call doctor scenario, not that what I'm doing is important in the least. Anyway, does anyone relate to this issue? Any tips on optimizing your day to get the most out of it? I hate to look back and see so much time wasted but I find it very hard to "shift gears". [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for a business partner Posted: 01 Feb 2019 10:24 AM PST I'm an experienced web developer (13years or real experience) and work part time now. It gives me some spare time I could spend on side projects. I'm looking for a partner(s) to build something great. One of the reason why I think partnership is great is 3xTime more motivation comparing if you work alone. Let's get started! [link] [comments]  |
| What is so good about SAP that companies fall over themselves to spend millions on their ERP? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 12:30 AM PST I'm a software developer who works on open source tech like PHP and Python. What I don't understand is why do companies spend so much on closed-source products like SAP which basically tie them to their platforms and treat the end user as nothing but a recurring revenue stream? Aren't the companies or their CEOs aware that open source ERPs exist too and almost any kind of application software can be developed today using fully FOSS technologies? With FOSS, you get the freedom to hire your own developers and build your platform in whatever way you want. You also don't have to pay big bucks to these profiteering companies in the name of AMC too! I can understand if you are a blue chip company that doesn't care about a few million dollars going into the pockets of SAP, but if you are a startup or small firm, then its beyond me why would you ever purchase SAP! [link] [comments]  |
| What are services (maybe productizable) one can offer to car dealers and dealerships? Posted: 01 Feb 2019 09:57 AM PST I am not experienced with cars or car dealers. But we got many dealers in my area. I want to offer freelance services or a productized service to my local dealers as a side hustle. I will call them next week to find out any problems, inefficiencies etc they have. I was wondering though if you guys got any experience with this? Ps: my background is in business/ digital marketing [link] [comments]  |
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