Not sure where to go from here...

[andrewraenewton]

Bckstory
I recently made the decision to not pursuit two invention ideas that, in my opinion, definitely served unmet needs. After doing a TAM for both products, which I learned about from this forum, I decided that the market potential wasn't fastlane enough and worth the risk that you take on starting a product based business

While I've been dreaming of becoming that fastlane entrepreneur, I've also been putting food on the table as a realtor for 8 years. My wife and I currently own 7 rental units across 3 properties, which we've acquired over the last 7 years using the BRRR method.

The Problem
BRRR was great when I was younger, and my time wasn’t worth as much, but now I have less time due to family commitments. Additionally, stepping away from my income as a realtor comes at a higher premium now that I've built up a reliable client base.

Where I'm At
It's been two years since our last acquisition, and I’m at a bit of a crossroad. We've accumulated some money, about $100k, and I want to put it to work...

1. Another Rental Property: Likely something more turn-key, but with a lower ROI. Low risk. My wife likes this play. She's not a fastlane type of girl.

2. A Larger Multi-Family Project via Joint Venture: This would be a more substantial undertaking with potentially higher returns. Higher risk too.

3. Expanding into the Mentor/Influencer Space: I’ve always had ambitions of creating a brand for myself and entering the social media/YouTube space. This would involve selling coaching, training, mentorship, and other complementary services. Examples of successful individuals in this space include Alex Hermozi, Graham Stephan, and Grant Cardone.

From what I understand, profit margins on courses and coaching can be upwards of 80%.

If I pursue this path, the investment would involve doing it right: hiring a videographer to follow me around all year, a social media manager, etc., to accelerate the vision.

The Hesitation
I have two hesitations with the third option...

Firstly, having 7 rental units isn’t exactly a fastlane empire that would attract a lot of attention. However, I believe the brand would grow as I continue to expand and show people how I achieve my goals.

Second, I passed on two product ideas based on the research I did for those specific markets. If I wake up tomorrow with a new idea that meets all the fastlane commandments, and have all my money tied up in real estate, then I may not be able to get my money out to finance the venture.

What I'm here for
I'm not expecting anyone of you to tell me what to do, but what I am hoping for is suggestions on where to go from here.

Perhaps there's a more fastlane proven path that I haven't considered?

Maybe some of you have been in this spot before?

 

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[Vamsi Interviews]

Having done Youtube since February of last year, I can tell you that you can absolutely get started without hiring anyone. If you do want to go all-in and do that, you're welcome to, although even then I would highly recommend spending at least a few months learning the basics of each role yourself so that when you do hire experts, you understand how they're adding value specifically, and you'll also be in a better position to learn from their expertise. You'll also be able to direct their expertise better and put it to good use.

The reason I say this is because it sounds like you've always had a dream to create content and build a personal brand. Even if you do decide to go the "safe" route and buy another rental property, that doesn't mean you need to delay the content creation another year or two. You can get started with some basic equipment and learn a lot in the first year with very minimal spend.

Personally, when I look at my first videos vs. now, the difference in my intro editing, recording quality, conversation style, thumbnail and title cohesion etc. are all massive. And I don't think I'm even 20% of the way to actually being great at any of these things compared to the real masters out there.

Once you find a content strategy, style, and routine that works for you, THEN you can hire people and crank up the intensity. Alex Hormozi talks about this as well, where at the beginning he was putting out content consistently, and then once he figured out his style, he hired a team and pumped it up from 1-2 pieces a day to 30+ pieces of content a day. In one of his videos going over content strategy, he also mentions how important he used to think production quality was, and yet a very basic webcam video of him in a tank-top with a whiteboard got 10x the views of a very highly produced video of his. This is a pretty common story from Youtubers. You usually won't know what will do well on Youtube until people watch it and give the algorithm feedback based on how they engage with the video.

The upside to this is that you can start publishing a video a week regardless of whatever else you're doing (or decide to do). It takes me roughly 4 hours to research a guest, record + interview them, edit, and publish that 1 hour interview on Youtube. You'll quickly get a sense for whether you like creating content. The data this will generate is priceless early on in your journey.

In terms of content options, they are endless! Here are a few ideas to stoke the flames:

• Common mistakes first time home buyers make. Common mistakes first time home sellers make!
• Common mistakes newbie realtors make.
• Creative deal structures to allow less wealthy investors get their foot in the door for their first deal. Example
• Interviews with successful investors in your space
• Here's an interesting video from Ken McElroy titled, "How I Found a Real Life Infinite Money Glitch" - he goes over a specific method of structuring an investment, refinancing it, and doing it in such a way where his ROI is effectively infinite. As you can see, his lighting and camera are decent, but really the value is in the content. No fancy editing or effects. No stock footage or special music. Some basic transitions and text on screen for context. He's got a nice voice and a nice whiteboard, and that's really all he needs. Sharing your own case studies like that could be very useful, e.g.:
• "How I went from 0 to 7 rental units in 8 years."

P.S. One great way to build brand authority early on is to go on as many podcasts as you can in your niche. People love underdog stories, and the Iced Coffee Hour (Graham Stephen) might even be happy to have you if you frame your story in a way that would entice their audience, such as your consistency acquiring units and how you manage the portfolio while still working a full-time job. This could help show people that it's an accessible path for anyone with a stable income, if they just have the right knowledge.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

So you want to become a Back Door Guru?