If you are like me, you came to the forum a while ago.
Reading this and that, writing up comments here and there.
It all seemed like a big buffet in the beginning. You came whenever you pleased and ate whatever you felt like.
Something didn't taste?
You left it on your plate and went to get yourself something else.
There was enough there, right?
The only problem with this approach is that you feel full before you can make it to the mouthwatering main dishes.
How To Waste Years Playing Wantrepreneur
I was dreaming up ideas every day. Sometimes big, sometimes small.
My hands were shaking in excitement when I sat down and started working on what I believed had to work. From high-tech entrepreneurship to importing, whatever sounded good and worked for others I tried too. I was not bothered by failures in the beginning, since you need a couple of them under your belt anyways - that's what experience is made of.
One day it will work.
It will work. But not, if you make the same mistake over and over again.
I thought my ideas were great. When talking to people, they thought they were great too. Just not for them. When the moment came to collect sales, everybody disappeared and was busy with something else.
Can I blame them?
No. The only person to blame is myself. If I had asked them what they had been struggling with and then had offered my help, no way they would have walked away.
It is not about me, it is about real people with real needs.
Ignore Your Skills At Your Own Danger
For years I have been ignoring my own skill set.
I couldn't imagine doing business in this specific area, since I was connecting it with so many negative experiences, coming mainly from jobs.
Apart from that, this was not where the money was, I thought.
The Moment That Changed Everything:
I was reading @SinisterLex's thread about how to achieve freedom within 15 days, when I saw that @Andy Black posted a new video.
I looked at the video and realized that the audio and the video were out of sync.
Having experience with problems like this, I thought: "Why not send him a message to offer help. What's the worst thing that can happen?"
@Andy Black replied almost immediately, suggesting a Skype call later that day.
The key take away: What are you waiting for? Help Someone With What You Know. Do It Today.
Sounds pretty simple, right?
It turns out that the skill set I had been ignoring for years can be used to help people. To create value for them.
Things started to make more and more sense. @Andy Black left me some crumbles here and there to follow. I did and things started working out.
We talk about all this in our recorded call here.
Starting With Zero Track-Records And Landing My First Sale Within 5 Hours
I decided to go on Fiverr and start offering my services. I had zero experience with selling my skills online, so I figured Fiverr is a good training ground.
I didn't research my competition, I didn't waste more times collecting tips and tricks about how to make your profile look perfect.
There is just one rule: Genuinely help people and create value for them.
With that in mind, I finished my profile, recorded videos to sell my services and went "online".
Now it was time to wait, right?
Once you gained momentum, you need to do whatever it takes to keep that moment up. Action beats reaction and passivity every single time.
So I started sending out applications to requests buyers had posted earlier. I applied what I learned in @SinisterLex's thread.
5 hours later I had my first order.
And they keep coming...
But Is This Fastlane?
Hell no. But that's fine. Process above anything. You got to start somewhere, and you better start today.
The trick is to move through the sliding scale:
Intern > Employee > Contractor > Freelancer > Agency > Productised Service > Platform
Read more on this here.
How To Measure Success
Each time you are looking at traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, leads and sales, you should...
...stop.
Forget driving more traffic to your website, forget improving your conversion rates.
Simply ask yourself...
...how many people have I helped until now/today/this week?
...how much value have I been creating?
Don't get trapped in numbers, don't cheat the process.
What Will Happen Next?
As pointed out already here, I will be slowly moving away from the online world, because real business happens when you help real people.
Fiverr is just another excuse to hide behind my screen instead of going out and talking to people.
This is why I am saving all my earnings to spend on "Diesel And Coffee".
Become The Guy To Go To For...
For all the ones starting out, working on "the next big thing" right now or simply wondering where to start.
Put everything aside. Stop reading.
Go out and help someone with what you already know.
Refine your skill, become the XYZ guy people want to work with.
Don't try solving problems you don't have.
Save yourselves years of wasted time.
If you cannot get 1 sale within 7 days of starting, your product/service-founder fit is bad.
"The person who'll run with the ball is the person who catches the ball." (Andy Black)
Put yourself out there.
Listen.
Help.
Create value.
Take action.
Run!
Reading this and that, writing up comments here and there.
It all seemed like a big buffet in the beginning. You came whenever you pleased and ate whatever you felt like.
Something didn't taste?
You left it on your plate and went to get yourself something else.
There was enough there, right?
The only problem with this approach is that you feel full before you can make it to the mouthwatering main dishes.
How To Waste Years Playing Wantrepreneur
I was dreaming up ideas every day. Sometimes big, sometimes small.
My hands were shaking in excitement when I sat down and started working on what I believed had to work. From high-tech entrepreneurship to importing, whatever sounded good and worked for others I tried too. I was not bothered by failures in the beginning, since you need a couple of them under your belt anyways - that's what experience is made of.
One day it will work.
It will work. But not, if you make the same mistake over and over again.
I thought my ideas were great. When talking to people, they thought they were great too. Just not for them. When the moment came to collect sales, everybody disappeared and was busy with something else.
Can I blame them?
No. The only person to blame is myself. If I had asked them what they had been struggling with and then had offered my help, no way they would have walked away.
It is not about me, it is about real people with real needs.
Ignore Your Skills At Your Own Danger
For years I have been ignoring my own skill set.
I couldn't imagine doing business in this specific area, since I was connecting it with so many negative experiences, coming mainly from jobs.
Apart from that, this was not where the money was, I thought.
The Moment That Changed Everything:
I was reading @SinisterLex's thread about how to achieve freedom within 15 days, when I saw that @Andy Black posted a new video.
I looked at the video and realized that the audio and the video were out of sync.
Having experience with problems like this, I thought: "Why not send him a message to offer help. What's the worst thing that can happen?"
@Andy Black replied almost immediately, suggesting a Skype call later that day.
The key take away: What are you waiting for? Help Someone With What You Know. Do It Today.
Sounds pretty simple, right?
It turns out that the skill set I had been ignoring for years can be used to help people. To create value for them.
Things started to make more and more sense. @Andy Black left me some crumbles here and there to follow. I did and things started working out.
We talk about all this in our recorded call here.
Starting With Zero Track-Records And Landing My First Sale Within 5 Hours
I decided to go on Fiverr and start offering my services. I had zero experience with selling my skills online, so I figured Fiverr is a good training ground.
I didn't research my competition, I didn't waste more times collecting tips and tricks about how to make your profile look perfect.
There is just one rule: Genuinely help people and create value for them.
With that in mind, I finished my profile, recorded videos to sell my services and went "online".
Now it was time to wait, right?
Once you gained momentum, you need to do whatever it takes to keep that moment up. Action beats reaction and passivity every single time.
So I started sending out applications to requests buyers had posted earlier. I applied what I learned in @SinisterLex's thread.
5 hours later I had my first order.
And they keep coming...
But Is This Fastlane?
Hell no. But that's fine. Process above anything. You got to start somewhere, and you better start today.
The trick is to move through the sliding scale:
Intern > Employee > Contractor > Freelancer > Agency > Productised Service > Platform
Read more on this here.
How To Measure Success
Each time you are looking at traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, leads and sales, you should...
...stop.
Forget driving more traffic to your website, forget improving your conversion rates.
Simply ask yourself...
...how many people have I helped until now/today/this week?
...how much value have I been creating?
Don't get trapped in numbers, don't cheat the process.
What Will Happen Next?
As pointed out already here, I will be slowly moving away from the online world, because real business happens when you help real people.
Fiverr is just another excuse to hide behind my screen instead of going out and talking to people.
This is why I am saving all my earnings to spend on "Diesel And Coffee".
Become The Guy To Go To For...
For all the ones starting out, working on "the next big thing" right now or simply wondering where to start.
Put everything aside. Stop reading.
Go out and help someone with what you already know.
Refine your skill, become the XYZ guy people want to work with.
Don't try solving problems you don't have.
Save yourselves years of wasted time.
If you cannot get 1 sale within 7 days of starting, your product/service-founder fit is bad.
"The person who'll run with the ball is the person who catches the ball." (Andy Black)
Put yourself out there.
Listen.
Help.
Create value.
Take action.
Run!
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