Adrian Nantchev's Blog, page 10

How do I become an influencer? - 35/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.It is simpler than people realize: when you share your expertise and knowledge, then as people consume it they begin to recognize you as an influencer. You and I just have to be seen by the world and they see you as a key person of influencer. You do not need things like a degree, it helps, but you have just got to be seen.You have to be visible and be seen by the world, this is why it is important to increase your knowledge, so we have more information and advice to share with the world and as you expand your comfort zone; you dare to do more things for your audience and create more content with different variations, all in the attempt to build a bigger presence and audience.There are five main principles to be influencer the first one is to have to understand your purpose. When you have a defined purpose you can share it with the world and use it as your guiding star which underpins all of your decisions, objectives and goals.The second is to publish: publish content, books, videos, infographics- the more the merrier. Because the more you create, in this world of YouTube and Facebook, the more likely people are going to find and consume your stuff. The more you create and share, the more it will compound and get you attention and traffic. Your content has to bring value to your audience by solving at least one of their problems. Define 1 target customer and solve 100 of his problems, that way one type of customer will love your content and it will mean the world to them.The third is to have a product ecosystem: because having content alone does not make as much money as up sells, cross sells, etc. What you and I need is to give the general public dozens and dozens of free content to educate, entertain, to grab attention and build rapport. Then you'll need a cheap product that you can sell to them to help build trust, afterwards a high valued product that only really needs to be sold 1-3 times a week in order to generate enough profit. Followed by a subscription product, where the people that love what you do and sell can spend time with you every month, as they pay you a monthly fee- this gives you a predictable cash flow into your business. Preferably if the first three are automated- as in you do the work once and you get paid forever, where as the forth one may be labor intensive, such as a consultation meeting once a month or a live stream to the members only.The fourth step to consider is your online profile because you are what Google says you are, and if nothing but good content appears in the search result then you have a good healthy online presence.Lastly, you and I have to work on our connections. Who is it you can ring one out of the blue one day and get their opinion or advice?Question of the day: What are you doing to become an influencer? Why are you doing it?

How do I write a book? - 34/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.There are different strategies to write a book, and here are a few. Here is one strategy that I learnt in London in August 2016, a very interesting strategy that can create a big and detailed book.Take your overall book idea- something to talk about and or an idea you want to share with the worldWrite down 15 major topics for the book, these will be the chapter outline. These are 15 major talking points and ways in which the read can achieve what you are promising them in the book.Reduce the 15 to 10, so as to remove the unnecessary once, and then put them into logical order. These are your 10 chapters that will be your book structure.Define 18 talking points for each chapter, breaking down the talking points.Reduce the 18 to 15 and put it into logical order. These are the topics that you will discuss in your book.​Write about all the talking points, write about the chapters and add all the details in. Ensure you have written about everything relevant and that you give the read what they expect to find in your book.Here is a simpler strategy that can result in much more specialized books.Take your overall book idea. Something to talk about and/or an idea you want to share or talk aboutExplain why it is important. Explain it in a way that people can relate to it within 5-10 points, explaining why your topic is important. Avoid things that are too obvious, but instead use things that are quantifiable, concrete and measurable.Explain what it is, what they expect to get as a result from doing the stuff in your book. Explain the key concepts you want your reader to learn. Use metaphors and analogies. Use 5-10 points. Explain why this topic is important to you, what it means to you, how you got involved in it, how you learnt these things, give them the current state of whatever your topic is, etc.Tell them a little bit about the history of the industry. What happened before the big change? Why are we in this current state? Tell them the bad news and then tell them what it is they can do about it.Explain how they can achieve what they want to achieve. Use conceptual solutions and advice- teach them what they want to know! How they can achieve the things they want. Use 5-10 points.Explain what if they don't follow your advice. Explain the consequences of ignoring your advice. Use 5-10 points.Summary, explain the key lessons, key actionable steps, how to teach this to others, etc.Here is a quick technique to create new ideas and thoughts: take a message of yours and ask "why is it important?". And then ask it again of the answer you just came up with, and then ask it once more. When you ask why something is important 3 times, you come to the emotional angle of your idea and you come up with new ideas and talking points for your book. You could even ask:Why is it revolutionary?Unique?Funny?Efficient?And other adjectives that matter to you and your audience.Question of the day: What book are you working on?

How can I stand out from the crowd? - 33/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.Well firstly by being entrepreneur you stand out from the crowd straight away because entrepreneurs are the minority in most countries. When you tell people what you are an entrepreneur and that you have your own business- people will react differently. Some people will be amazed at you, others will think you are every brave to do such a "risky" thing and others may want to emulate you but do not dare. Some people will recognise the awesomeness of becoming an entrepreneur and other people will think you are crazy.Another way is to take what you know and package it into things like books, videos, infographics, etc. Take what you know and have spent 10,000 hours learning about and monetise it- sharing your expertise with the world.Do your ideas and knowledge justice and share it with the world- enlighten people with the knowledge that you have.When you're sharing your knowledge and expertise, then as people are consuming it, they are learning new things thanks to you, and attributing their new knowledge to you and are thankful for it.Also, when they recognise that you are sharing your knowledge they will see you as an expert and thus you can begin to stand out from the crowd. Because they see all the content that you have created and believe that you know what you are talking about.As you are sharing your knowledge, you are building an online reputation and you are doing the work once and getting paid forever. You are also starting to be seen as a key person of influence- which is very valuable in this day and age, as people can consume your content from around the world, and you never know who is watching you. It is very important to have content online that the world can consume and attribute to you.Another good example is to write a book. Put it this way: 1,000,000s of books are polished a year, but how many authors do you know in person? I know around 6 at a stretch, but 3 of them on a first name basis.Create content and be seen by the world. This is how you can stand out from the crowd.Question of the day: What are you doing now to stand out from the crowd?

What's the best college/university degree to get? - 32/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.Depends on what you want to become: if you want to become a doctor, engineer or scientist then it is worth going to get a degree in those fields, and preferably, from a top university.I would not recommend university for a arts or humanities subject, because those skills can be learnt on your own, and then you just need the marketing and sales capabilities to sell your work, make it profitable and make it seen by the world.Having said that I listened to an interview of Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks. He talked about how there is a shortage of programmers today, but in 10-20 years from now as computer get exponentially more complex and smarter they can begin to automate many industries and can even program other computers automatically. So because of automation: creative thinking and imagination will become rarer as it is very difficult for a computer to have original imagination and creativity. So if you have an arts degree or a lot of knowledge within arts, then your time to shine may be in the future. And if you are a programmer, then in the future you job is in jeopardy because of automation.Question of the day: What are you doing with your life? What do you want to be known for?

Should I go to university? - 31/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but here are my thoughts and opinions on it.I went to university from 2011-2014, and looking back I slightly regret doing so, but as I look back I'd have done a different degree, something in business or marketing perhaps- perhaps an MBA.It is also worth noting that most universities have summer schools, where you can either pay to go there for a crash course on a subject over 14 weeks. Or they may offer you a scholarship because of your achievements or the things you have created.There are alternatives to universities, remember this; because the majority of things you can learn from university can be found for free online. I learnt the basics of marketing and the American constitution from a website called Coursera, where you can learn some very interesting topics for free online. You just need to pay for the physical certificate, which I never did because I'm more interested in the knowledge.University is a good place to network with people and you can learn a lot, however you can do both of that just as easily outside of university.In this modern age a university degree is not as important as it used to be, I think having written a book is more unique and amazing than having a degree. 30 Odd years ago in the UK, having a degree was very unique, now it is very common, whereas having written a book is very unique today. How many authors do you know in person?Question of the day: Are you thinking about going to university? Why? What is your thought process and rationale?

How important is sacrifice? - 30/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.Remember that entrepreneurs are living the life others will not, so in the future entrepreneurs can live the life others cannot.Success does comes at sacrifice, but it is a short term sacrifice. As you build systems, hire people, establish a reputation and have consistent & reliable cash flow: things change. You and I have got to sacrifice our time in the short term in order to reap the benefits in the long term.Be aware of the 10 dark years that most famous and rich people went through. Bill Gates is a good example, where he spent his 20s working on Microsoft, where he did not take any days off. He was focused on his company and sacrificed his social life to build it, and we all know what his famous for.He did the work that other people his age were not willing to do: miss out of socialising, working all day, focusing on his goals, etc. Not everyone has the discipline to think and focus on what they want, thus most people prefer the short term benefits and want the enjoyment now.I am currently 23 and the majority the people that I knew at school and, potentially, the majority of my generation will not do the things I'm doing now, they would not write a book for example.Which means that as I write a book, I'm benefiting from the rewards later on, whether they are monetary or reputation, etc. I am profiting because I am sacrificing my time and social life on the altar of success; in the attempt to create a better future for myself and my future family.As a side note, this is why writing a book is a good ideas because you have done the work once and you are getting paid forever- years from now I'll still benefit from having written a book.I have been told by my mentors that once you get into your 30s you tend want to slow down and relax, because our priorities and energy changes because you are more mature by this time you have achieved quite a few things. You also want to spend more time with your family or enjoying the fruits of your labour.Sacrifice is important to set up a better and more comfortable life for yourself in the future, but you and I need to enjoy the fruits of our labour when we get them. I knew a man that had £2,000,000 in the bank, but was not enjoying his life, and he was in his 60s and rather angry for no apparent reason.Sacrifice is important because it is how we get ahead. You and I need to be mature enough to realise that we cannot get what we want purely because we want it, we have to deserve it and provide value to the world so that they can reward us with the things we want, whether money, reputation or respect, etc.Question of the day: What are you sacrificing now? How productive are you?

How important is persistence? - 29/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.Very important.When you're focusing on a single task, it takes time for you to see successes and be rewarded.An overnight success is years in the making. It is the persistence to stick with something through the hard and the good times that will ultimately reward you. What you do in private is celebrated in public.You and I need to be impatiently patient with our tasks and objectives. This means that you and I should be impatient to start, but patient to see the results. Be impatient to plant a tree, but be patient to wait for the fruits to grow, in fact what could be done is that while that tree is growing you and I could plant more trees. So over time we forget that we planted the first tree and are seeing an increased benefit and reward from that tree and all the other trees we planted over time.If you set things up so you're doing the work once and getting paid forever, then this means that while you are being impatient for the reward you can focus on creating more marketing material, more content, more systems to make the business grow and more assets, you over time you will see an increased reward and more fruit.Rome was not built in a day, nor was Microsoft or Facebook.I am more interested in the long term benefits by being persistent with a single task, creating it and letting it compound over a long period of time- this way I am leveraging my time and energy. The long term game is the only game worth playing.Persistence is the key to most peoples' success, because they start something and have good ideas, but they don't always have the persistence to see it through, for it to grow and to nurture it.If I told you that in 10 years from now you'd be successful, then why would you quit after 3 months?Question of the day: How are you practising patience and persistence?

How do I not waste my time? - 28/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.You and I want to focus and be mindful of our objectives and tasks that we are working on.When you are mindful about your activities that you spend your time on, then you'll be conscious about your progress and what you are doing. Be mindful about your goals and tasks, then you will be mindful as to when you are wasting your time.Set yourself goals and milestones on a calendar and set deadlines for things to be accomplished by. This way you are leveraging Parkinson's Law which states that a task will be completed in the allocated time given to it. If you give yourself a year to write a book, you will write it over the course of that year, where as if you gave yourself a month, then you will complete it within that month. These goals will help to keep you on track and define what you need to focus on in order to achieve what you set out to achieve.Understand the Pareto Principle, which talks about 80/20. What 20% of your activates gives you 80% of your results? Recognise and work with the things that are producing you the most results and focus on them.Question of the day: How productive are you with your time?

Why is having a business a good idea? - 27/101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.One phrase: you are in control.You control the success, the achievements, the disasters and the prizes. Everything is in your control and it all depends on you: your abilities, talents, skills and money management. Some people complain about being mistreated or are unhappy with their jobs, but they do not take action to resolve that; such as becoming self-employed and start your own business.When you have a job you are limited to how much money you can make in a single 24-hour period. Let's say you are paid £10 an hour, that means that you are limited to £240 a day, provided you work a 24 hour shift. With your own business you can leverage systems, people, the internet and other things to make money for you.I knew a man once that was 60 years old and he had been an electrician for 40 odd years, and because of that he had a back problem from bending low and doing labour for so long. I also know some people that are starting off as skilled labourers, nothing wrong with these trades, but over time their bodies will suffer and degrade. This is why I say that in your late teens and 20s, you can do the skilled labour work, but by the time you reach your 30s, you want to set up a business and send other teenagers and people in their 20s out to do the work for you. You don't want to be working forever, as this may jeopardize one of the most valuable things you have: your health.It is worth realising that employees start off overpaid and soon become underpaid- perhaps they feel tried from the work, underappreciated, bitter, feel that the money is not worth it, etc. Where as an entrepreneur starts off underpaid and becomes overpaid: through the systems he has built, through the assets he has created or the things he is leveraging. You can build a company that will provide you a seemingly automatic income all the time, whilst serving a bigger purpose that you want to tackle in your life.With a business there is no limit to what you can do and achieve: if you can dream it and believe it, then you can achieve it. Life is best lived on your own terms. With a business there is no limit to how much money you can create for yourself and how much opportunity you can generate. Remember: businesses solve problems for people, so the more problems you can solve for people, the more you are rewarded in monetary, reputation, respect and admiration.There is so much more to life when you do not have to worry about money, when people know you, respect you and you have free time to do the things you enjoy doing the most.When you can separate your income from your time, then you are leveraging things like the internet- and all its possibilities, to create a better life for yourself.One hard and fast rule I set myself is to: do the work once and get paid forever, and in different ways- it is my way of being lazy and ambitious.How can I create a system which is automated as possible? What can I create that is automated? What system can I create that will pay me all the time, even while I sleep, once it has been built? Businesses fulfil this, and when you have a business that pays you an income all the time, then that frees up your life to do other things.Question of the day: Are you starting a business? Yes or no.

Should I go to bed early? - 26/101 Entrepreneur and Answers

This is an except from my book: 101 Entrepreneur Questions and Answers.There are some habits that people push that not everyone really needs to listen to, and going to bed early is one of them. Not everyone needs to listen to advice like this because we are all different and it is our results and goals that matter. If you can work on your business from midnight until 6am, and still get the results as though you worked on them from midday till 6pm, then that is no different.It all depends on you, because if you can get up at 6am and work all day until 10pm, then that's fine for you as it all depends on what works for you and your body.I've come to realise that if you consistently get out of bed at 6am and work until 9am you can get more stuff done over the course of the year.If you are a night owl and you can work until the early hours of the morning, then that's fine because that works for you. The main problem I see with this is that if you are used to going to bed late and waking up late in the day: then if there is a business appointment in the morning, then you may not get enough sleep whilst that the rest of the world is active during the day, which means you may have less time to devote to working with other people, if they are in the same time zone but not sleeping at the same times as you.There is no hard and fast rule about going to bed early: it is all about your result and accomplishments. Remember that an overnight success is years in the making.Question of the day: What is your sleeping pattern like?