Is your idea any good?

Sounds like the question you should be asking, right?

Here's the problem with that question: there is a market for EVERYTHING, so the answer to this question will ALWAYS be YES.

I mean, people buy Kitty Cucumbers for crying out loud (if you've never heard of kitty cucumbers, Google it; it will reboot your brain).

But this doesn't help you any. It doesn't tell you whether you will succeed or not.

So the question is not whether you have a good idea. The question is...

Is your idea perfect for YOU?

Now we're talking.

The truth of the matter is that there isn't just one perfect business out there that you should go into.

There are MANY ways to become an entrepreneur, but chances are you will not be successful (in fact, you will fall flat on your face guaranteed) if it is the WRONG business for YOU.

Because...

STARTING A BUSINESS IS HARD.

YOU WILL NOT MAKE MONEY, LET ALONE REPLACE YOUR FORMER SALARY, FOR A WHILE.

YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF EXPENSES BEFORE YOU START MAKING MONEY.

YOU WILL BE WORKING ALL THE TIME. AROUND THE CLOCK. NO JOKE.

Sorry about the caps, but this is Entrepreneurship 101: The Tough Love Lesson.

So when you think of your idea, you have to be SURE that you are willing (and, in fact, excited) to go through crazy hardship in order to fulfill your dream.

Here are some tests that will help you figure out if your idea is right for you:

1. The Regret Test:
   Picture yourself 3 months from now: you're about to launch your first product. You've been putting in 13 hour days and you are a few hundreds (or thousands?) of dollars in debt and you haven't even made any money yet. You don't even know if your launch is going to make you any money at all.
   Ask your future self: Are you excited that your idea is finally going to see the light? Or do you have a tickle in your stomach that is making you think you should have picked that OTHER idea? The one that didn't sound lucrative, but if you knew you had to put in this much work and still not get paid, you would have rather worked on something you loved more?
   For example: If you chose to do consulting for your corporate area of expertise, but you have always wondered what it would be like to be a travel blogger, you have to realize as early as possible that this is your opportunity to do something special that will ensure you make money as well as fulfill your lifelong dreams. If you end up consulting for corporate but wishing you had a travel blog instead, what was it all for?
   You Pass the Test if: The idea you chose does not give you a sense of regret for not having followed a different path.
2. The Hours Test:
   Once your business is live, what will your hours be? Is this the type of business that will allow you to be with your family every night and weekend? Or the type of business that requires you to work outside the home at odd hours?
   For example: If you are a photographer, you could set up your work around your family's schedule, but there may be some nights and weekend work. If you have a brick-and-mortar business establishment with patrons that is open nights and weekends, count on being there every day and night until you hire proper trustworthy management.
   You Pass the Test if: You are aware, willing and able to put in the hours that your new profession requires, and you vow never to make that your reason for quitting down the line.
3. The Niche Test:
   People are looking for specific answers to specific questions. Nobody cares how multi-talented you are, so having "Food lover, Organic Grower, Business Expert, and Equestrian Trainer Extraordinaire" on the front of your website does NOT work in your favor.
   People want to know that you can help them with THIS problem they have. So all you have to do is make sure you come off as being the ultimate expert on THIS problem.
   This may sound intuitive and like a no-brainer, but in reality it's actually very hard to narrow your focus and especially LET GO of all the other things you are choosing NOT to help people with. #thestruggleisreal
   For example: There are a million life coaches out there. Put yourself on the side of the customer: Do you see yourself hiring a life coach right now? Probably not. But what if you saw there was someone who could help you identify all the ways to outsource tasks in your life (business AND personal) to make more time for the things that only you can do? Improve your productivity, eliminate friction in your relationship, and have time to devote to your side hustle. NOW THAT'S a niche people would totally buy into because it solves a problem.
   Just remember: Jacks of All Trades Don't Make Jack.
   You Pass the Test if: You can answer this question in a simple sentence: What PROBLEM are you solving?

Evolution is part of the process

I want to prep you for something that might happen, or most certainly will happen.

And that is that no matter how much time and research you devote to your idea, you may end up pivoting to something else.

This is OK.

Every step you take to validate your idea will lead you down different branches of the same tree.

This is OK.

What I DON'T want you to do is suffer from analysis paralysis. Pick an idea and produce SOMETHING before you move on to your next one. Learn something in the process.

Pivot like nobody is watching as early as possible, but always keep on moving!

Fail fast. Fail often.

Your Assignment:

Take the 3 tests.

Then go to the Facebook group and post with hashtag #day1:

• Your result to The Regret Test: Were you torn between two ideas? Tell us both, and reveal which is the chosen one and why!
• Your result to The Hours Test: Describe your expected work schedule, and affirm you are willing to do it!
• Your result to The Niche Test: Describe your niche.

What is a Business Model?

A business model defines how your business will make money.

In this document I have laid out 6 of the most popular ways to make money with an online business.

These include:

1. Make it. Sell it.
2. Consulting
3. Produce a Video Series
4. Blogging
5. Podcasting
6. Create Online Courses

Here's the catch: no successful entrepreneur ever chooses just one.

The reality is that as your business grows, having multiple sources of income will become even more important.

I'm telling you this now because I want you to know that I know that you are already thinking about this.

Remember how I said starting a business is hard? Always remember that when you make your decisions. The most important thing you can do for yourself right now is to FOCUS and get SOMETHING done.

So for now, you will pick your very first business model, and focus on it alone.

How do you know which business model is right for you?

The only way to find out is to go through each one and test your comfort level.

Tip: Forget about the technology. Do not make your expertise (or lack thereof) with the technology a factor in this decision. That stuff can be figured out or you can hire someone very inexpensively to do it for you. It should not be a roadblock to your selecting your perfect business model.

What we are looking for is a model that you believe in your gut you could pull off and continue contributing to with content week after week, for all eternity.

Here's some guidance for each one. Do any of these speak to you?

1. Make it. Sell it.: You are creative and love your craft. If all you had to do was make that thing you make forever, and make money at it, you would be in heaven.
2. Consulting: You absolutely love helping people. And not just in the way everyone else says they love helping people, you are actually an amazing teacher. You revel in your students' successes, and feed off of their energy.
3. Produce a Video Series: What can you say, the camera loves you. You don't know what stage fright is, you have a great eye for what makes a greatly produced video, and you have topics you could talk about for HOURS.
4. Blogging: You are a natural writer. You write all the time. When you're not writing, you're wishing you were writing. You have topics you want to unveil to the world and if you could write every single day and make money at it, you'd think you've found your life calling.
5. Podcasting: You are a lively conversationalist. When you click with someone, conversation just flows. You can find something interesting in anything you're told at a cocktail party. Everything is just fascinating! If you could talk for a living, you'd be set for life!
6. Create Online Courses: Some have the gift of documentation and presentation. Perhaps it's your corporate upbringing, but you just have a knack for making presentations that could explain refrigerators to eskimos. When you present, you come to life. The stage is your friend.

Did you see yourself in any of those descriptions?

Your Assignment:

Take a few minutes to picture yourself doing each of those business models.

ANSWER THE QUESTION: which of these (only one please) do you see yourself consistently putting content out for every single week without breaking a sweat? Tell us WHY!

Remember that you can (in fact, you SHOULD) add more streams as your business grows, so remember that you will not be "stuck" with your first choice forever.

What is important right now is that you set yourself up for success by making your first model the easiest one for you to implement right now.

What is a Target Audience?

Your target audience is the group of people who are going to LOVE, relate to and engage with your content.

Sometimes the answer is not obvious.

For example, you would think that the target audience for high-power drills would be construction workers. They are the ones who need them, use them, and who understand the difference between a good one and a bad one. Target audience = identified. Right? Wrong!

Some drill manufacturer (true story) found that their product experienced a huge spike in the spring/early summer time. They thought it was perhaps because that's when construction projects start to rev up. But it puzzled them that the people who purchased it were not construction workers. It was women in the 30-40 year old demographic. This got them to scratch their heads some more.

As it turns out, these women were purchasing drills en masse for their partners around Father's Day.

Target Audience: not so obvious anymore.

Once the manufacturer caught on and started marketing it as the perfect gift for that special person in our lives who loves DIY works year-round, their sales EXPLODED.

So when you think of your target audience, you have to think of 2 things: who is the product intended for, and who is the product likely to be promoted by.

The Exercise

You probably already have an idea for who would enjoy your content. In fact, you can probably think of a few people who would.

STEP 1: Start with a preliminary list of personas

The best exercise is to write up a list of 5 to 10 types of people who would enjoy what you are putting out there.

When you think of each type, I want you to go down to 3 levels of specificity. For example:

1. Women (1) who work full time (2) who have children (3).
2. IT Managers (1) who manage system security (2) for small/mid size firms (3)
3. Women (1) who feels strongly about recycling (2) who are always looking for a bargain (3)
4. Women (1) who work full time (2) and have big dreams (3)

STEP 2: Rank each one by how well you know their struggle

Once you have your list of potential target audience members, you are going to give them each a score: 1, 2 or 3:

1. You are extremely familiar with this group. In fact, you are or have been in that group.
2. You are not one of them, but you personally know people who are.
3. You do not know anyone in that group personally

STEP 3: Strike off all ranked "3"

The next thing you do is completely strike out anyone with a ranking of "3" and then you are going to order your list with the 1s at the top and the 2s at the bottom.

The reason we strike out the 3s is because it is a lot easier to market to people you know and understand, than to assume you know their struggle. This also simplifies our exercise.

Now you have a preliminary list of your target audience.

STEP 4: Match them to someone you know

For each remaining persona, write down 1 or 2 names of people who may talk to you about their needs.

Feel free to reach out to them to see if they are available, but don't talk to them yet until we cover our session tomorrow on HOW to run a market research interview!

Your Assignment:

Go through The Exercise and share a post on our Facebook group with your target audience members and their ranks.

Bonus points for telling us how you feel about asking them what they think about your product. Which group makes you the most nervous to engage with and why?

How are we going to find your first client?

By going out and talking to people!

If you are anything like me, you may be hyperventilating right now.

Talking to people about something you have not even started yet is very hard. You are making yourself completely vulnerable to criticism, rejection and to people trying to talk you out of whatever this crazy scam is.

But here's the deal: if you do not go out of your comfort zone and ask people what they think, you will NEVER truly understand the needs of your target audience.

Multi-million dollar corporations have miserably failed and foiled because they failed to understand their market's needs. You will not be one of them.

Plus, chances are, those people who say you have a great idea in your hands will be your best advocates, and you can always tap on them for more feedback about whatever product you are creating. And that, my friend, is an invaluable resource.

So how do you go about finding out if your presumed target audience would actually buy into your idea?

3 easy steps:

1. Take your list of target audience types from yesterday and write the name of someone you know next to it who matches that criteria.
2. Write down a list of questions. This is important: you will ask everyone the same questions so that you can compare and contrast answers and compare apples to apples. Let's say you want to start a travel blog. Here are some sample questions you might ask:
   • Have you been on a leisure trip lately?
   • How did you choose the destination?
   • Did you Google the place before you booked it?
   • When you Googled it, what information were you looking for?
   • Did you find the answers you needed? If yes, where did you find them and tell me more about that. If not, why not?
   Notice we are not asking "Would you read my travel blog?" We are trying to dive deep into their experience with your specific area, and letting them tell us what was good and bad about it. Out of the struggle will come the light. Which problem are you going to solve for them?
3. Ask them to chat over the phone. Yes, it must be over the phone or in person. When you speak to someone (like TALKING) their mind is allowed to wander as they speak, and you end up finding out things they would have never written on a text.

Your Assignment:

Follow the 3 market research steps, and call AT LEAST 1 person and actually talk to them.

After the call, write down some notes. Do you have a better idea for what the PROBLEM you are solving is?

What is a website that SELLS?

A website that sells is one that keeps your target audience engaged and gives them what they need right when they need it.

We are not even talking about driving traffic to your site yet.

We are talking about when someone lands on your page. Does it help them? Does it make them want to keep clicking through to find out more?

The 4 Winning Traits of a Profitable Website

A professional website that sells must have the following components:

#1 Personality:

YOUR personality.

Unless you are a faceless corporation, your audience will want to know who they are buying from.

What's your story? Do you have a kind smile or a no-nonsense face?

People are drawn to people they can admire. Be that person. Don't hide behind your product.

#2 Opportunity to join a community

When someone lands on your site, they may click around, and leave. Then forget they ever visited. You just lost a potential customer or advocate.

Your goal should be to keep them engaged beyond their visiting your site.

The best way to do this is to provide something (for free) that they cannot help but click on, and add themselves to your mailing list.

If you are going to build an audience, you must have a mailing list that you can nurture and inform about what you have going on.

#3 Great free content

Ever notice how your website just doesn't get a lot of traffic? Do you ever wonder why?

The reason some websites get traffic and some don't is related to how much great content the site has AND how many ways there are for people to find it.

People will visit your website from any of these sources:

• Google search
• Pinterest
• Facebook posts
• Facebook ads
• YouTube videos
• YouTube ads
• You speaking at an event
• You posting on someone else's blog
• You being a guest in someone's podcast
• You email your mailing list with a GREAT blog post they MUST check out
• Someone forwards it to them

The question for you is: how much effort are you putting into being found through any of these ways? If the answer is none, then that explains the crickets.

What you want to do is have this list up on your wall (your physical home wall) and look at it every single day, and every day do something to put your great content out in one of those channels.

Over time, and faster if you are smart with your search keywords, people will start finding your site.

And every single time you put content out there, you must come back to your blog and add it there as well.

Your website must be the central hub for all your content.

This allows your audience to have solid bearings around what you are doing, and where to find all your content.

Before we reveal the last trait of a winning website, I have an announcement to make.

Super exciting, right?? I can't wait to tell you more about it! Visit the sign up page to learn more.

Ok, back to the challenge.

And the final trait of a winning website is: (drumroll)

#4 An irresistible homepage

The first screen your audience sees when they visit your site may be the last one they will ever see.

For this reason, it should be packed with visually appealing information without being too wordy, and it should offer a reason to click through, such as offering a freebie right there front and center.

Your Assignment:

Visit multiple websites from competitors of your idea. Try to find similar size businesses or sites from similar entrepreneurs.

Things to watch out for:

1. What do the photos, fonts, colors, say about their brand?
2. What is their free offering to sign up for the mailing list, and where is it located on the website? How enticing is it?
3. When was the last time they updated their blog? How often do they post? Are they good posts?
4. Observe what you first encounter when you go to their homepage. Does it make you want to stick around for more?

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS: In terms of the 4 traits...

• What are they doing right?
• What could they be doing better?