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local advertising

JR Rivas – Leveraging Creative Marketing in Local Advertising: What a 23 year Old Did to Create a 6 Figure Digital Marketing Agency (AoL 104)

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Most entrepreneurs think, at some point, about the ability to strike it rich one day doing whatever is that they’re doing.

In my Amway days, a good question I remember being asked was “Doing the job that you’re doing, could the income they’re making ever be obtainable?”

Most of the time the question was answered “No.”. And I believe that kept many people believing that Amway was the one ticket to the life they dreamed about.

Today’s guest, had a similar wake up call. He realized that to get to where he wanted to be in life, he had to learn how to sell things.

That lead him through a journey of all kinds of jobs, businesses, and online opportunities.

This past year, he found something he could help people with – creating sales funnels.

In this chat, we discuss how he came to that realization. We also discuss why he believes that building sales funnels is one of the most lucrative out-of-the-gate businesses a new entrepreneur can start today.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What was the Digital Nomad Excelerator? 10:48
  • What was it like growing up for JR? Where did his inspiration come from? 14:20
  • What kept JR from going the traditional college route? 21:11
  • How did tax preparation come into the mix? 28:02
  • How did he expand his tax business so quickly? 31:46
  • How did JR get started in online business? 33:30
  • What’s the best way for people to get started in online business in 2017? 41:54
  • In his opinion, what is the clearist way to having a successful online business today? 46:26
  • What’s the point of Facebook groups going into archive mode and what are some ways of growing them? 51:31
  • Who are his 3 favorite influencers? 56:31
  • One thing under $100 that has changed his life? 57:04
  • What is a topic that should be discussed more often? 57:36
  • What would he do if he woke up as his 10 year old self tomorrow? 58:34
  • Secret to achieving personal freedom? 1:02:20
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

JR on CBS talking about What He Does:

JR speaks with Dan about how he made $10k in a month:

Facebook Ads for Entrepreneurs Review by JR and Arne:

JR on Why You’re Landing Page isn’t Converting:

JR RivasJR Rivaslocal advertisinglocal advertising

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

getting older

5 Realizations About Getting Older (Which Might Seem Bad at First!)

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As I’m sitting here watching the Great American Eclipse of 2017, it hit me. This isn’t the first one I remember seeing. In fact, there’s been a few others. But you wouldn’t know that based on all the commotion about this one.

I remember in junior high there was one as well. Funny enough, I don’t recall anyone talking about it! It just seemed to have happened.

I specifically remember seeing it as I was going to lunch period. And, what’s funny, is that I ended up pointing it out to my friends in a puddle. (I guess a little eye damage is better than a lot!)

Come to find out, there were several around that time frame – even if they were partial eclipses. Not exactly sure which year it was, unfortunately. 🙁

But, it’s interesting. That was around 20 years ago. 20 YEARS. At that time I thought anyone that was 20 years old was not exactly old… but at least almost consider an adult!

But now I’m 35, quickly approaching 36. That realization (as well as a Adults React video I watched yesterday) had me thinking:

What are some things I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older?

More specifically: What are some things that I’ve learned that at one point might have been considered a bad thing?

Here’s that video if you need some help feeling old:

Stop Feeling Immortal

So, the last day of 2010, my mom suddenly passed. Needless to say, life suddenly changed. I still remember that morning pretty vividly. Just coming to terms with it all.

Up to that point, I had been to many funerals with my mom. I never really thought too much about death. Only the rare instance that she had prepped me for when it happened to her. She mentioned I was to do a list of things. One of which was cremating her because she didn’t want bugs in her body! Kind of odd, right? I guess it just grossed her out too much, apparently!

Anyway, it’s been nearly 7 years since then. And that time, I feel, has totally flown by quicker than all the time before it. Partially because I’ve met and married Maria during that time. But also because I have an exact reference point in my mind.

With that reference point, I’ve realized that knowing that my time is limited is a GREAT motivator. In a odd way, I feel that her passing has given me the freedom to realize that I could pursue a “secure” career and get a regular 9 to 5.  But there’s that creative side of me that would never be ok with that. In fact, I know I’d get bored in a traditional role (I had jobs before that time and each one I was always thinking if I was supposed to fit in that role or not).

So, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve learned how to live better and fuller.

 

Becoming More Realistic

Because I’ve realized that I’m not going to live forever (even though there is a chance for the singularity to come around 2030 to copy us all digitally), I’ve had to get more real.

Some might say that this pessimism setting in, but the world, as much as the self improvement world would rather have you believe, is full of crap that you’re going to have to deal with.
In a recent interview with Lewis Howes, Mark Manson talks about how the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck came into existence.

They talk about a few key points in that conversation including why you need to learn how to deal with the fact that bad stuff happens to all of us AND that when you accept that it’s there, it’s actually better to see it and deal with it than pretend it’s not.

I’m Not as Smart as I’d Like to Think I Am

Here’s the thing. When I was an 8th grader, I thought I knew it all. Then I became a 9th grader and I realized I didn’t.

When you’re out of school, whether it’s high school or college, that feeling – it never really goes away. Part of adulting is not knowing the answers for everything and just winging it as you go on.

Sure, there are some basic things that we feel that everyone should know – but when they don’t, that shouldn’t give us the permission to be upset with them. We have no idea what the context of their life has been.

When you realize this simple fact, it’s actually quite freeing. The truth is that we’re always learning. Not only will you loosen up on what you expect from others, but you won’t expect as much from yourself. This means, you won’t try to answer questions you don’t know the answers to!

 

Less Need for Social Acceptance

When I was in college, I felt like a complete loser if I didn’t have anything to do on a Friday night. Staying in and playing video games online was pretty average for me – even after I got my license as a bartender.

I just never saw the point of getting drunk for the heck of it and that pretty much seemed to be what was going on around Purdue’s campus each and every weekend.

Well, that was until I realized that were alternative groups that I could belong to and those – well – those were fun!

These days, I find Maria and myself staying in on Friday nights. Why? Because our weeks simply take too much out of us to go have a night life. Our weekends are OURS! When we do go out, it’s not because we feel some social obligation to do so – it’s because we’ve made the choice to do it. Same for staying in. It feels nice to not have those expectations that I used to have.

 

No Idea What’s Going on in Mainstream Culture (for the most part!)

When I was growing up and on through college, I felt that to be popular you had to know what was popular. So I always knew what the popular music was of the time and I watched as much shows on TV as I could. I wanted to be part of the inside and know all the references!

Ever since I became a creative, and even before then, I can pretty much tell you that there’s no way I can keep up with it all anymore. Hell, I don’t even have the time to follow my own favorite shows anymore. But that said, at least I don’t have to try and keep my finger of the pulse of stuff I don’t care for.

The truth is, the more I’ve paid more attention to what I like doing and paying attention to, the happier I’ve become.

There’s only so many hours in a week.

 

Action Steps

I think the main thing that we can learn is this: take time to improve on the important things in your life.

Those things break down into the 5 Pillars of Happiness: physical, mental, spiritual, financial, and the final one I call “little things”. That one is all about the things that make you different than people you know that are on the same walk of life as you.

Focusing on these 5 things so will make you happier and more content in the long run. But you have to do the development equally. (I saw a great post by upcoming AoL podcast guest JR Rivas who shared his dad talking about this in his marketing group.)

If you want to share anything that you’ve learned as you’ve gotten older, I’d love to hear about it below. I’m sure there’s some things I’ve missed!

how to be an entrepreneur

Learning How to be an Entrepreneur: A Review of 2 Years of Business, Podcasting, and Life with Laila Rahmatian (AoL 100)

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It’s been nearly 2 years since I started this podcast. In those two years, I’ve been able to meet a ton of awesome people. Many who have been great connections that have opened me up to various ideas and new concepts. Even new ways of thinking.

The same could be said for Laila Rahmatian, who joined the show as frequent co-host after her first interview on session 14.

Since then, we’ve both had our growing pains and learning curves as we’ve climbed the entrepreneurial ladder.

In this session, we go over everything we’ve learned in the last couple of years. From taking a stand and using your past to be part of your future to not having to re-create the wheel, we’ve learned a ton!

Join us as we recap some of that information and discuss some of the common themes that we’ve learned along the way.

Thanks for spending some time with us and enjoy!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What’s Laila been up to recently since she was last on the show? 8:53
  • How has a goal of traveling more been able to give her the power to get more accomplished? 16:15
  • Where’s JC at in business after 100 sessions of the AoL podcast? 19:14
  • Things that Laila has learned while being involved with the AoL Podcast? 34:34
  • What has JC learned through doing the podcast thus far? 44:27
  • What are common themes that we’ve heard about throughout the different interviews of the show? 52:56
  • What’s a short roadmap that new entrepreneurs should follow as they’re getting started based on what we’ve learned through 100
  • podcasts? 1:11:50
  • What are we looking forward to working on from here? 1:20:56
  • Who are three influencers that have helped Laila get to where she is today? 1:23:54
  • JC’s Top 3 favorite books to tell others about? 1:25:22
  • Something Laila still wishes was a thing? 1:26:57
  • What was the smallest decision that JC made that had the largest impact on his life? 1:29:28
  • What is something Laila thinks all high school students must know? 1:31:02
  • Most awe-inspiring person JC has ever met in person? 1:32:54
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Why Laila Quit Her Job:

Why Laila Chose NOT to take the Professional Engineer Exam:

Reflection: 2 Years After Wedding:

Why You Need the Perfect Wedding Photographer:

how to be an entrepreneur how to be an entrepreneur how to be an entrepreneur how to be an entrepreneur

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

work and travel

Jobs Without Borders: How TravelGig.co is Making it Easier to Work and Travel with John Asbury (AoL 097)

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Many people aren’t necessarily ready to take the entrepreneurial plunge. For them security of a regular payday is much more valuable than living terms their own way.

There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s just not for me nor most of the guests on this show. I personally know that I suck being told what to do and, especially, how to do it.

However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t do some of the things us lifestyle entrepreneurs do.

In fact, today’s guest has started a business to help those that want to work while traveling have an easier time doing just that.

John Asbury is the founder of a recently new online company called Travelgig which is all about helping expats and world travelers find work similar to how Airbnb finds them places to live.

When John isn’t hard at work, you can find him enjoying life and traveling too – just check his Instagram account!

Recently Veronica and I had the opportunity to catch up with him and find out more about this great resource of a site and John himself.

Specifically we talk about how it got started, what went into making the original version, his background as a freelancer, and how someone can flip the creative switch for themselves.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What’s John’s working background and what’s Travelgig all about? 9:24
  • How did John get into freelancing? 12:31
  • Where did he begin his entrepreneurial career? 16:17
  • What was the spark for him to start making his own lifestyle? 18:55
  • What fears did he have associated with his early days of traveling? 21:06
  • How does he feel that traveling has helped him vs living a more conventional life? 23:19
  • What inspired John to start TravelGig? 25:38
  • What has been the process in creating it? 30:30
  • What does John’s team look like at this point? 33:36
  • What kind of WordPress plugins is he taking advantage of for TravelGig to do what it does? 37:30
  • What are three or four steps that someone can employ to start being a creator today? 40:24
  • How do people break free of an addiction for another more purpose driven one? 43:26
  • What’s the future look like for TravelGig? 46:46
  • Three favorite books? 51:17
  • Hardest Thing to Say No To? 53:51
  • What’s a service that doesn’t exist that he’d gladly pay for? 56:07
  • Secret to achieving personal freedom? 57:34
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Elon Musk:

Elon Musk at ISS Conference 2017 (Short version):

How to Get a Working Holiday Visa:

Over 30 years old? Try one of these ideas!

10 Jobs that Pay You to Travel:

 work and travel

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

transformational learning

Transformational Learning through Travel: Why Your Next Trip Might Change Your Life and Business for the Better with Gregory V. Diehl (AoL 095)

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Let’s face it, we grow comfortable with who we are, or at least, who we’re perceived to be. Whether or not our self image is one we’re proud of, we get used to how we’re perceived in the world.

Many times that perception can hold us back on what we could be or should be doing with ourselves.

For me, growing up in a small town, I have a lot of small town perceptions. I know they’re completely different than my wife’s who has a much different view of the world because she grew up in cities.

For example, as an only child in a small town, I got used to being bored fairly regularly. The nearest mall or movie theater was 25 miles away. So, I had a lot of time growing up to think about how the world worked based on what I saw on TV, heard on the radio, read in books and magazines, and later read on the web. My natural state has always been to learn and explore.

In Maria’s case, she’s always had family around. People who needed her for one thing or another. So she’s always been focused on what needed to be done next. Didn’t have nearly as much time to be bored as I was because she was always doing something with someone – somewhere. She frankly didn’t have much time for herself.

It wasn’t until her tour in Iraq that she had time to think about what she wanted in life. For her, while she was in a combat zone, it gave her time to think.

That time to think – to be away from everything you know – is exactly what today’s guest is all about. He wanted something different from what he was getting in life as a teenager.

So he set out to explore.

Today, Gregory V. Diehl has explored 50 countries in 10 years.

In today’s conversation, Veronica and I discuss transformative traveling with him as well as how your story is essential to your brand. Both of which he’s written books about. We also discuss how someone can create pain in their life to give themselves a way to discover who they really are.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy the show!

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What were Gregory’s formative years like? 6:50
  • Where did the inspiration for traveling come from? 8:38
  • What gave him the courage to get started in traveling? 12:47
  • How does being a traveler help Gregory with his business? 17:14
  • Where are some of the places that he has citizenship? 20:31
  • Did he have any early entrepreneurial escapades as he was growing up? 23:18
  • Is there any advice that he’d want to tell young entrepreneurs as they’re first getting started? 26:25
  • Where did the idea for his book, Brand Identity Breakthrough, come from? 28:21
  • Where did the idea for his podcast come from? 29:45
  • What are some of the things that Gregory likes diving into on the show? 32:15
  • How can someone get confident in discussing their new identity with the world around them when they’ve recently found it? 33:39
  • How can someone manufacture pain in their life so they can rise to another level? 37:03
  • What’s the next book that Gregory is working on about? 42:13
  • Are there other methods, besides entrepreneurship, that kids can allow them to explore their identity? 43:33
  • Who are Gregory’s top 3 favorite influencers? 48:10
  • A gift he likes giving others? 50:47
  • Something he wishes was still a thing? 51:03
  • Place any ad in the world, cost free, what it would say? 54:27
  • What’s the secret to achieving personal freedom? 56:59
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Homesteading the Thought Sanctuary Playlist:

Amazon Marketing Strategy Case Study for Brand Identity Breakthrough.

Travel as Transformation Book Review:

Gregory on Using Travel as Transformation:

transformational learning
transformational learning
transformational learning
transformational learning

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

how to get bitcoins

How to Get Bitcoins: A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency

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Naturally, I’m an investor. Going through my 20’s and now my in my 30’s, I’ve always tried to find things to pour money into that over time would yield me a larger income.

I think I started this way back in my teen years when I played video games that allowed me to buy ingame property that would continue to give me money over time after buying it.

Thinking about that, I believe what pulled me into reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad was that I could understand what Robert Kiyosaki was talking about. However, I made a dead stop when he said that you need money to be an investor. And that the smart way to build up that money is through building a business system.

At the time I was a college student, and I didn’t really have spending money as what I earned was going to pay my tuition and rent.

So, I put the idea on hold and continued my formal education – eventually wanting to come back to investing – someday – when I had that spare money!

 

Someday Happened

Soon after I got out of grad school, some of you might know that I got involved with a series of startups. One thing that you probably don’t know is that I when my mom passed suddenly in 2010, I got a significant inheritance. With that inheritance, I was able to 1.) help get those startups going a bit more and 2.) learn more about and improve myself as a person. One of those startups is America Multisport where Maria and I still contribute to in several forms – including this past weekend where we’re always found at the events taking pics.

I full heartedly believe that it’s been because of this inheritance that I’ve had the luxury of time where I’ve been able to learn about topics that most people don’t get the chance to learn about. I understand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck because that’s how I lived all throughout my college years – you just don’t have time to really explore.

And, that’s kinda the point of this site; it’s to give you all insights into what I’ve learned along this journey! (Thanks to David Anderson for helping me realize I needed to tell you guys about this part of my past. I haven’t really known what to do with that information.)

 

Be Prepared…

Anyway, knowing that someday that I would get an inheritance – albeit I didn’t know it would be so soon and as big as it was – I had to be prepared. I knew what I wasn’t going to do with it – blow it all away like some who just won the lottery might. However, I also knew that I wasn’t going to be a miser and just sit on it either.

I was going to invest it into long term, mid term, and short term options.

So, looking back, I ended up with these choices:

  • Long term investments were annuities, index and mutual funds.
  • Midterm investments included the startups and individual publicly traded stocks.
  • And short term investments included CDs and… cryptocurrency.

 

Yes, I know – I need to get involved in real estate. I’m simply not at that point yet!

Here’s a tip – if you ever find yourself with a large sum of money, the worst thing you can do is let it just stick around as a liquid asset or spend it. Make sure you get it invested correctly so it can continue to grow for you. This is the biggest difference between those that earn a lot and live well for the rest of their lives versus those that earn a lot and end up broke.

So about cryptocurrency…

 

What the heck is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is simply a form of currency that is purely “internet money”. Wikipedia defines it as a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

Ever since I heard about Bitcoin in 2009, I knew I wanted to get started – but I had no idea how. At that time, the best way to get started was to be a miner – but I didn’t know where to look to even begin with that.

That’s where I stood for quite awhile – until I started hearing how much of the world is really starting to pay attention to Bitcoin as a low barrier way to invest – similar to investing in gold or silver.

Remember what Robert said about investing? He said that investing was for people who already had lots of money to invest, right?

Well, while this might be true for most investment situations, it isn’t necessarily the case for cryptocurrency – Bitcoin included. In fact, you can start investing with as little as a few dollars here and there and start a pretty good ball rolling. (In fact, that’s about as much as you’d want to use in one sitting because really – this market is highly volatile – it goes up and down quite regularly. So only spend “Las Vegas” money when you’re getting more.)

Unlike stocks, you can buy fractions of a Bitcoin. So instead of sinking a certain amount on one share of TSLA stock, you can use that same money to invest in different forms of cryptocurrency – and as low of dominations as you like.

 

Forms of Cryptocurrency

how to get bitcoins

You’ll see in the above image, I’m participating in 3 cryptocurrencies in this portfolio: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. There are of tons of them out there. (Just to note – I started this account back in May and only bought $25 per currency. So not bad performance thus far!)

Here are 6 you should know about. But there are many more.

Here’s Wikipedia’s collection where you can find out more about them including Dogecoin.

Here’s the thing. There are some that are regulated. And there are some that aren’t as much. Stick with the ones that are regulated such as the three above – and you’ll be good to go.

Wallets

The above image is from a wallet called Coinbase.

I’m currently checking it out as an alternative to where I’m currently keeping mine: bitpay.

Before you buy your first “crypto-coinage”, you’ll need a wallet to keep your stash. Again, just like cryptocurrencies themselves, there’s plenty of options to choose from. And just like anything else, there’s yearly writeups in which is “best”.

So far I like Coinbase and while bitpay is open source, I like Coinbase’s ease of use.

 

Using Your Funds

So sure, you can save your crypto-coins indefinitely just like you can with traditional stocks. The difference is you’re allowed to use them for payment as well.

In fact, more and more businesses are starting to accept Bitcoin online and offline. SpendBitcoins  & Spendabit has list of places that accept Bitcoin around the world.

Here’s a long list just in case you wanted to see more examples at once. Or if you want a short list of 8 major retailers – here you go.

And for us creative folk, there’s a specific reason we should take interest in cryptocurrencies. We can use them to pay your VA’s around the world. Just make sure that they can get a wallet tied to an account where they can retrieve their payment! 😉

 

Action Steps: Getting Started Yourself

So now that you know theoretically how these cryptocurrencies work – how do you get started again? Here’s how:

  1. Find a wallet. Perhaps go with Coinbase if you’re in the US. Seems to be pretty straight forward. It reminds me a lot of Paypal.
  2. Setup payment methods. Just like Paypal, you’ll need to connect and verify payment methods. Paypal is an option itself.
  3. Buy any or all of the three options there. (If you want to get more options – you’ll need to find another wallet! Just make sure they’re “on blockchain”.)
  4. Buy low/sell high if you’re in it for prospecting.
  5. Spend as you see fit – knowing that the banks aren’t following your buying habits!

After you’ve gotten started, keep learning about the future of this technology called blockchain. If you’re really into tech, here’s an article I picked up via Wired that dives deeper into that side of things.

If you want to go at a more conceptual level, here’s two great TEDx videos I saw last year:

How the blockchain is changing money and business

How the blockchain will radically transform the economy.

And be sure to keep me posted as you discover more about cryptocurrency and blockchaining. It’s really interesting how it’s developing and changing!

consumer research

Consumer Research: The Most Important Part of Understanding Your Market

/by

Once you set out on your own entrepreneurial personal mission, it’s important to know how you can actually be of value to those that you’re looking to add value to.

The best way that you do this is through market research.

However, what that actually means can differ depending on who you ask. In this post, we’ll look at some mistakes people make in their research, and how to make sure you’re asking the right questions.

 

Anti-Disruption: One Secret to Not Going Broke

When I was in grad school, I had the opportunity to judge business plan competitions a couple of times. As part of those business plans, students were to do some “market research”. This basically meant they got to use essentially academic research methods to learn about the industry in which they were going to bring “disruption”. Many of these methods are discussed in this article in a Entrepreneur Magazine post.

Haha. Talk about fun. 😛

Until I got into The Foundation, 3 years after I got out, this was the way that I thought ALL entrepreneurial endeavours started.

However, what I learned, and what many people make mistakes in is that your business doesn’t have to be disruptive at all.

In fact, if all you’re wanting to do is make an income via your personal mission, then trying to go for the home run your first go-around might not make the best financial sense.

Instead of going to go dig for gold yourself and potentially going broke in the process, why not build a strong foundation by first supplying the tools to those gold diggers? Some might be striking it rich, but there are many MANY more of them who are failing.

Don’t run those odds on yourself – play it safe and be a tool maker. Just like jean and shovel makers were needed in the actual gold rush for those going after the gold (and the most consistently profitable), people who are providing simple services are still needed today too.

 

Do Not Underestimate the Importance of Primary Research

In the above linked Entrepreneur magazine, primary research is briefly mentioned. Most of the article discusses SECONDARY Research.

What’s sad is that most aspiring and existing entrepreneurs do the exact same thing. They don’t do any consumer research!!

It’s like surveys and talking with one’s customers (or potential clients) directly is the last thing most business owners want to do – even though those same customers are the ones that are directly impacting their bottom line.

Another thing about secondary research is that many times it’s old data. You hear more talk about trends and being “where the market is going, not where it’s at” then you should. Some people really don’t know what that last statement is really saying! Sure it’s a great place to start, but it’s not going to ever you the full picture of what’s actually going on.

 

Getting it from the Horse’s Mouth

There’s an idiom that goes “straight from the horse’s mouth”. If you haven’t heard this before, well, chances are you aren’t near a farm. But basically, it’s referring to the fact that farmers want to check the mouth of a horse before they buy them from someone.

In our case, it means “to get information from the person most directly involved or best informed” or the customer.

Now I know what you’re going to say, “But JC, people hate doing surveys! How am I to get them to answer my questions?”

Good question.

As you know, there’s a few methods which can be done online or in person:

  • Interviews
  • Focus groups
  • Surveys
  • Questionnaires

I’ve listed them in the order that you’ll get the best results. If you actually get the chance to interview someone, you’re going to have great data. If you send someone a survey or questionnaire, there’s going to a much lower chance of getting results back.

 

Questions to Ask

Now, based on whether you’re developing something new or something you’ve already made, you’ll have different questions on what you’ll be asking those individuals.

If you’re planning on releasing a new product or service to a customer, there are 6 base questions you need to know the answer to.

If you were going to put these in a questionnaire, they might go like this:

  • What is the biggest challenge that they currently have in their work?
  • What are their long term goals?
  • How will achieving those long term goal feel?
  • Have they already tried in achieving that long term goal? Any failures or frustrations did they experience in getting there?
  • What are their goals right now?
  • What are they willing to change to achieve those goals this next year?

These matter for various reasons – but the main reason is that you’re looking to ask questions that they often don’t think about as often as they’d like. Also, if you’re going to be helping them, you need an emotional anchor in what they’re trying to achieve. This anchor is their Why for doing whatever they’re doing.

People don’t buy facts – they buy feelings.

However, I will add that the more personable you can make the experience, the more information you can collect and the more emotion you can tie to their responses.

That’s why it’s best to learn how to properly conduct an interview. Not only will these base questions be answered, but you’ll be able to get more clarification. If you get the chance, ask these questions as followups:

  • Can you describe your typical working day?
  • In your typical working day, where do you feel like you’re wasting the most time?
  • What factors do you consider when purchasing a certain product (or service)?
  • What do you like or dislike about current products (or services) currently on the market?
  • Any areas would you suggest for improvement?
  • What would be the smallest version of this product (or service) that’d you pay for?
  • What is the appropriate price for a product or service like this?

These are good questions because most often than not the answers don’t lie on the surface. (That’s why idea extraction has the name it does!)

Action Steps: Get Some Answers!

Depending on the type of work you’re looking to do, these questions will change. For example, if you’re looking to build a certain kind of software like The Foundation initially focused on, you’ll want to ask more software oriented questions. If it’s a service, lean that direction.

Sure, the more responses you have, the better. However, I would attempt to get 12 to 15 responses at first so you can start recognizing some patterns. The most used response – that needs to be included in your (minimum viable product). Anything after that validates what you’re already doing.

Let me know below how it works out for you or if you have any questions!