One of the cool things about having been an entrepreneur for 16+ years is that I have a good amount of wisdom when it comes to success.
I know what matters…
I know what’s fluff.
And that’s what I want to share with you today.
A few of the biggest things that will move the needle for you in terms of being successful.
Let’s dig in…
1. Focus on one thing until you’re an expert at it
This is probably the biggest mistake I see people make. They buy courses on copy, media buying, facebook ads and more.
But they never stick with them. Or they try to do 3 different courses at once.
The people who are successful the fastest focus on one thing (like email marketing or Youtube).
When I mentored Tanner and Alec on email writing, all they did was write emails everyday for 4+ months.
No long form copy…
No ads…
It was just emails.
And they got really good, really fast.
So focus on one thing until you’re good at it.
2. Learn from someone who has already done what you want to do
I spent the first 4-5 years of my career trying to learn everything on my own.
I didn’t have a mentor.
I didn’t listen to people smarter than me.
And this is why I struggled so much early on.
I was basically getitng by on $2k-$3k a month for years.
Contrast this to someone like Troy Ericson, who went from making $32k a year to $300k a year by simply learning from people who could help him (Stefan and I) and you can see why having a mentor is smart.
You can try to learn everything on your own.
Or you can learn from someone who’s already been in your shoes.
3. Don’t start a business until you have mastered a skill to make money
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people trying to create their own offer without having any of the skills to make that offer work.
They don’t know how to buy traffic…
Or how to write copy…
So there’s very little chance they’re going to be able to get their offer to convert.
The people who end up being successful offer owners almost always put in years of work as copywriters or media buyers.
This way they know what works.
And they can use that knowledge to create their own offer.
Point being…
You’re much better off learning a skill first (like copywriting or media buying) and THEN creating your own offers.
4. You have to build your business and your lifestyle at the same time
A big mistake I’ve made (many times) is going all-in on my business and ignoring the rest of my life.
In 2016, I was working 12 hours a day…
I was working 7 days a week…
I didn’t have much of a social life.
I wasn’t dating.
I wasn’t meeting up with friends to hang out.
Everything was about work.
And I burnt out badly.
I’ve unfortunately had to learn this lesson numerous times in my life.
But your business can’t be the only thing in your life.
If it is, you’re going to burnout.
That’s a guarantee.
You’re gonna hate waking up in the morning.
You’re gonna dread working on your business.
You have to build your business and your lifestyle together.
There has to be balance.
5. There’s a hundred ways to make money, you need to find the one you ENJOY
This is something most people don’t think about enough.
You don’t want to just do something for the money.
You want to find something you ENJOY that also makes you money.
For example…
For some people writing a print newsletter would be a dream come true.
They don’t have to interact with anyone.
And they can just write 20 pages each month.
That might be right up your alley.
However…
For others, a print newsletter would be a nightmare.
Why?
Because you might like interaction.
You might want to see the people you’re helping.
You want to be on Zoom calls or at live events with people.
So for a person like that, a print newsletter might not be very fulfilling.
Ive noticed that most people don’t give a whole lot of thought to this.
They just want to “make money”.
So they’re willing to do anything to make that happen.
Well the reality is that if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not gonna be able to do it very long.
If you hate talking on the phone, doing sales calls for 7 hours a day would be a nightmare.
If you don’t like writing for 5 hours a day, then being a copywriter probably isn’t for you.
There’s endless ways to make money, so make sure you find one that you’d enjoy doing day-in-and-day-out for the next 3-5 years.
Make sense?
I hope so…
Cause that’s all I got for ya today.
If you got some nuggets of wisdom from this email, feel free to forward it on to someone you think would like it.
Enjoy your Wednesday.
– Justin
If you want to hear more from Justin, he has a private email list for top marketers, copywriters and business owners. To apply to be on the email list simply click the button below that says “apply now”.
