Niall Doherty's Blog, page 191
March 15, 2019
eBiz Weekly #11
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveHey there,
How are things this week? Any good news to share?
Let everyone know in the comments below.
Here’s your weekly dose of good stuff related to online business…
Bloggers Earn $95,614 In 6 Months While Traveling The World
I’d love to get your feedback on this first proper case study we’ve published on eBiz Facts. The grand vision with these case studies is to break down each business in a structured way so even very different businesses can be easily compared to each other at a glance. That way, you can get a good idea of the strengths and challenges of each.
“I lost nearly $8000 selling on Amazon FBA”
A sobering ebiz lesson on Reddit:
“My main takeaway was not to follow a cookie-cutter scheme that promises a guarenteed revenue stream after following 5 easy steps. Amazon FBA is not passive income, it’s a full time job, one I had nowhere near the time for. If everyone is doing something, it may not be the best idea. Don’t run off the cliff with the lemmings.”
FYI, he was selling these letter boards.
Respondent Experiment
A few weeks back I mentioned Respondent, a site where you can get paid “an average of $140 an hour” for doing one-on-one interviews via phone/video chat. Since then, I’ve applied for 10 projects on there myself and not heard back about any of them, so perhaps it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Let me know if you’ve applied for any Respondent projects and what your experience has been like. We’ll be publishing a full review soon.
Free Music For Your Videos
Well, almost free. You can use any of the tracks here at no charge so long as you credit them with a link.
Making Big Money On Fiverr
This dad earned over $1 million in five years doing voiceover work, while this woman earned almost $13,000 in one month writing jingles.
Earn Money Writing
Location Rebel just published an epic article on how to become a freelance writer. You can get a good feel for the type of writing gigs available to you at the Problogger jobs board. And check out our review of Earn More Writing, a solid course by a freelance writer who earns $10,000+ per month consistently.
Screencasts > Email
A member of FBB posted the following in our private Facebook group this week:
the approach with videos / loom is really, REALLY working. Ppl love it! I use it also to approach cold leads (I reach out to ppl on FB groups) and they mention it all the time. That I stand out, thank me for taking the time doing this, and tell me that they love it and find it very clear. Personally, I also prefer doing it this way than writing up a long email.
Loom is free software that allows you to record your screen (and yourself). I use it all the time as well. Excellent time-saver and rapport-builder.
“What’s the easiest money you’ve ever made?”
Some inspiring answers in this Reddit thread, including:
$93k in about 3 hours reselling a property
$75k profit from a domain/website in 12 months
“I was paid $3000 for 17 seconds of a recording of mine used in a Steven King show.”
Chris The Freelancer Upwork Course
Have you heard of Chris The Freelancer? He’s probably the #1 digital nomad vlogger with 61,000 subscribers on YouTube (see his videos here). He also released a course about Upwork on Skillshare recently, and it has 27 positive reviews already. Use this link to try Skillshare free for a month, giving you access to Chris’s course and thousands more.
Udemy Sale
Below are a few courses on sale right now that you might be interested in. All have 2,000+ students enrolled, 100+ reviews, and an average rating of at least 4.4 stars. They’re all discounted by about 95%.
The Complete 2019 Web Development Bootcamp (use coupon: UDEAFFWDC319)
Unleash Your Confidence & Become Unstoppable (use coupon: UDEAFFCC319)
The Complete Personal Productivity Course (use coupon: UDEAFFPRDC319)
That’s all for this week.
Keep working at it.
I believe in you.
—
Niall Doherty
eBiz Facts
By the way...
Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.
Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).
Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.
Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.
Facebook and Twitter
If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on the socials. We share this kind of content daily on Facebook and Twitter.
March 14, 2019
Bloggers Earn $95,614 In 6 Months While Traveling The World
Tom and Anna have been traveling full time since 2014 and blogging full time since 2015 at AdventureInYou.com.
This case study is mostly based on a report they published detailing their earnings in the first 6 months of 2018.
How does a dropshipping business compare to freelance web design?
How does an ecommerce store compare to a remote job?
How does an authority site compare to a content agency?
Our case studies break down each online business in a structured way, so you can easily compare, contrast, and identify strengths and weaknesses.
See our full listing of case studies here »
Business Breakdown
Average Revenue 1
$7968/month
Average Profit 2
$6941/month
$0 → $1k/month 3
6 months
Time In Business 4
36 months
Starting Capital 5
$unknown
Workload 6
unknown hours/week
eBiz Purity 7
5/5
CENTS Score 8
4/5
Passivity 9
3/5
Business Model 10
Lead Generation 11
Monetization 12
advertising, affiliate marketing, one-time sale
Niche 13
Key Skills 14
Note: $ numbers are per owner/partner in the business.
Revenue, Profit, Monetization
Average Revenue 15
$7968/month
Average Profit 16
$6941/month
Monetization 17
advertising, affiliate marketing, one-time sale
Those are per person averages for the first six months of 2018 only.
Month by month, Tom and Anna’s total blogging income looked like this:
January: $12,782February: $12,703March: $12,621April: $15,174May: $23,120June: $19,233Tom reports that their income for those six months breaks down like so:
Image via Adventure In You.Display ads are handled by Mediavine.
Affiliate partners include Booking.com, Bluehost, ConvertKit and World Nomads, but they don’t specify how much they earn from each.
Products and services include:
Courses in Tom and Anna’s Blogging School.Travel guide e-books1-on-1 coachingExpenses were relatively low, at only $12,324 total, or approximately $2,000 per month.
Listed expenses include Facebook ads, ConvertKit, and ClickFunnels, though no specific amount is given for each.
$0 → $1k/month$0 → $1k/month 18
6 months
This is an estimate based on Tom and Anna’s income report:
Time In BusinessAfter a few months of working hard, we quickly made our first $500 and then what happened next blew us away. It changed how we viewed making money.
By the end of our first year, our travel blog started to bring in $2000 a month. The year after, we started bringing in $5000, $8000 and soon after, we hit $15,000.
Time In Business 19
36 months
Tom and Anna started blogging full time in 2015, and published their $95,614 income report in mid-2018. Their business would have been approximately 3 years old at the time.
Their fast success got some attention:
Starting Capitalwe were making over 6 figures a year from Adventure In You and a lot of people were asking us how we did it so fast (ie. within 2 years of starting a blog).
Starting Capital 20
$unknown
We’re not sure how much starting capital Tom and Anna had, but our best guess is not much.
Starting a travel blog is not usually an expensive undertaking. All you really need is a domain, hosting and perhaps an email autoresponder.
Adventure In You is hosted on Bluehost and uses ConvertKit for email marketing.
WorkloadWorkload 21
unknown hours/week
At the 2019 Nomad Summit conference in Chiang Mai, when asked about the workload on Adventure In You, Tom replied that he and Anna worked on the site 24/7 for the first 18 months, then more like 40 hours per week.
However, it seems they’ve had stretches where they’ve taken off work completely as well:
We love it when we climbed Everest Base Camp, don’t work for three weeks, yet still managed to make over $12,000.
Given all that, it’s difficult to estimate their average workload.
eBiz PurityeBiz Purity 22
5/5
Full marks here. As full time travel bloggers, Tom and Anna have perfected working from anywhere.
Since we started our travel blog we have been able to train hop around Europe, trek through jungles in Indonesia, dive with whale sharks in the Philippines, jump out of a plane in Switzerland, venture into the Amazon rainforest and more.
CENTS ScoreI am so so proud to say, that in Q1 and Q2 we:
Launched a free course to help people start a blog and learn how to make money (over 6000 people have taken it so far!)Grew our Blogging Facebook group to over 2000 members.Launched Pitch Like a Pro Templates and Training (over 100 people have enrolled)Launched the Blogging Fast Lane Accelerator 7 week course (Pre-sale sold out in 2 hours!)Provided 1 on 1 coaching via Google Hangouts to over 10 peopleTested Facebook bots (which didn’t work for us)Launched multiple funnels to promote our e-book travel guidesGrew our traffic to HALF a MILLION views a monthWe did all this while:
Climbing to Everest Base CampTraveling around the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, the UK, Portugal, Poland, and now, Spain.
CENTS Score 23
4/5
Control – 1/1
Tom and Anna’s income streams are well diversified, and they’ve started focusing more on creating and selling their own products.Entry – 0.5/1
Barriers to entry are notoriously low in the blogging world, but few bloggers get to Tom and Anna’s level. They’re now very well established and have built a respectable “moat” around their business, making it hard for newbies to compete.Need – 1/1
Adventure In You provides a ton of value to readers, both via their free and premium offerings. The primary needs they solve are the need to travel, and the need to make money blogging.Time – 0.5/1
Tom and Anna still seem to put a lot of hours into their business, but approximately 70% of their income is now passive (see below).Scalability – 1/1
There’s no obvious ceiling on the scaleability of Adventure In You. Traffic and profit can continue to increase steadily.Passivity
Passivity 24
3/5
Tom and Anna chart passive vs. active income. It looks like this:
Image via Adventure In You.It looks like approximately 70% of their income throughout the six months was passive.
We are building our blogging business as a lifestyle businesses. Meaning, we want it to generate serious money on autopilot and not be too dependent on our time.
We love it when we climbed Everest Base Camp, don’t work for three weeks, yet still managed to make over $12,000.
Key Skills
Here are some of the key skills Tom and Anna needed to develop (or outsource) to build and run their business:
BloggingCopywritingEmail marketingPhotographyProject managementSEOSocial media marketingWeb developmentWant To Follow In Their Footsteps?Tom says now is a great time to do it:
Truth is, there was limited opportunity to make money blogging 10 years ago unless you had a huge following.
Today though, brands are a lot more willing to work with bloggers, good ad networks have come out and the affiliate opportunities are endless.
Not to mention the social network platforms that are now available to you for free to grow an audience on. The time to get started is now and we couldn’t be more excited to be in the industry!
If you’d like to build a travel blog like Adventure In You, check out these resources:
How To Start A Travel BlogThe Adventure In You Blogging SchoolRead More Case Studies
Bloggers Earn $95,614 In 6 Months While Traveling The World
3 Successful Ways to Support Your Wanderlust
How A College Dropout 5xed His Freelance Rate In 12 Months
View All Case Studies
March 12, 2019
AWeber Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives
AWeber is a popular email marketing software. Below you’ll find AWeber pricing compared to these five common alternatives:
AWeber costs $19 to $149 or more per month, depending on how many email subscribers you have. Aweber offers a 30-day free trial, so you can get test it out free of charge.
AWeber Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives – MonthlySubscribersAweberActiveCampaignConvertKitGetResponseMailchimpMailerLiteFree Offer?30 day free trial14 day free trial14 day free trial30 day free trialForever free planForever free planUp to 1,000$29$29$29$15freefree/$10 1Up to 2,000$29$29$49$15free$15Up to 3,000$49$49$49$25$50$30Up to 5,000$49$89$79$45$50$30Up to 10,000$69$139$119$65$75$50Up to 20,000$149$139$179$65$150$100Up to 50,000get quote$299$379$250$250$210Up to 100,000get quote$459$679$450$475$360Up to 500,000get quoteget quote$2,499get quote$2,100$1,650Up to 1 Millionget quoteget quoteget quoteget quote$4,200get quote
Click Here For A 30-Day Free Trial Of AWeber
AWeber Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives – Yearly
(Monthly price displayed in table below, but all plans billed annually.)
SubscribersAweberActiveCampaignConvertKitGetResponseMailchimpMailerLiteFree Offer?30 day free trial14 day free trial14 day free trial30 day free trialForever free planForever free planUp to 1,000$10 2$17$24$12.30freefree/$7 3Up to 2,000$10 4$17$41$12.30free$10.50Up to 3,000$30 5$39$41$20.50$50$21Up to 5,000$30 6$69$64$36.90$50$21Up to 10,000$69 7$111$99$53.30$75$35Up to 20,000$149 8$111$149$53.30$150$70Up to 50,000get quote$239$316$205$250$147Up to 100,000get quote$369$566$369$475$252Up to 500,000get quoteget quote$2,083get quote$2,100$1,650Up to 1 Millionget quoteget quoteget quoteget quote$4,200get quoteClick Here For A 30-Day Free Trial Of AWeber
What People Say About AWeber PricingIf you’re looking for the cheapest email marketing option, try Sendy.
“One aspect of Aweber’s pricing structure that potential users might like is that all features are available on all plans — unlike some competing products you don’t have to be on more expensive plans to unlock certain functionality.” – Style Factory
“While cheaper than a service like ConvertKit, Aweber is similar in price to ActiveCampaign while being significantly less powerful. ActiveCampaign has one of the most powerful marketing automation features out there.” – SmallBusinessTrends
“AWeber is a little on the pricey side, especially for businesses with very small lists (1000 and under). Once you hit the 2500-subscriber mark, costs are more in line with industry averages. The company has no send-based subscription plan, which means if you have a large list but send infrequent emails, there are probably better choices for you.” – Merchant Maverick
“For those who want to get started with as little money as possible, GetResponse is cheaper [than AWeber]. As your needs grow, however, you will need to make a direct comparison involving the plans that offer the features you need to meet your goals.” – Digital.com
“Unlike other platforms that limit your activity during the trial period, AWeber gives you access to ALL the features, and unrestricted emails for the first 30 days. Thereafter, you will be charged $19 a month automatically, unless you either deactivate your subscription, or switch to a different plan.” – Website Planet
AWeber Free Trial“With a reasonable pricing structure based on the number of subscribers, AWeber is well-suited for budget-conscious businesses and entrepreneurs looking for an intuitive and simple way to send targeted emails and build their contact list.” – Software Pundit
Not sure if AWeber is worth the price?
You can sign up for their 30-day free trial and see if it fits your needs.
Click Here For A 30-Day Free Trial Of AWeber
P.S. Do you use AWeber or any of the other email marketing services mentioned above? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments – good or bad, doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors.
ConvertKit Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives
ConvertKit is a popular email marketing software. Below you’ll find ConvertKit pricing compared to these five common alternatives:
ConvertKit costs $29 to $3,999 or more per month, depending on how many email subscribers you have. Annual plans are discounted by approximately 17%.
ConvertKit also offers a 14-day free trial, there is a 30-day money back guarantee, and if you have more than 5,000 email subscribers they will migrate you from your old provider free of charge.
ConvertKit Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives – MonthlySubscribersConvertKitActiveCampaignAWeberGetResponseMailchimpMailerLiteFree Offer?14 day free trial14 day free trial30 day free trial30 day free trialForever free planForever free planUp to 1,000$29$29$29$15freefree/$10 1Up to 2,000$49$29$29$15free$15Up to 3,000$49$49$49$25$50$30Up to 5,000$79$89$49$45$50$30Up to 10,000$119$139$69$65$75$50Up to 20,000$179$139$149$65$150$100Up to 50,000$379$299get quote$250$250$210Up to 100,000$679$459get quote$450$475$360Up to 500,000$2,499get quoteget quoteget quote$2,100$1,650Up to 1 Millionget quoteget quoteget quoteget quote$4,200get quote
Click Here For A 14-Day Free Trial Of ConvertKit
ConvertKit Pricing vs. Popular Alternatives – Yearly
(Monthly price displayed in table below, but all plans billed annually.)
SubscribersConvertKitActiveCampaignAWeberGetResponseMailchimpMailerLiteFree Offer?14 day free trial14 day free trial30 day free trial30 day free trialForever free planForever free planUp to 1,000$24$17$10 2$12.30freefree/$7 3Up to 2,000$41$17$10 4$12.30free$10.50Up to 3,000$41$39$30 5$20.50$50$21Up to 5,000$64$69$30 6$36.90$50$21Up to 10,000$99$111$69 7$53.30$75$35Up to 20,000$149$111$149 8$53.30$150$70Up to 50,000$316$239get quote$205$250$147Up to 100,000$566$369get quote$369$475$252Up to 500,000$2,083get quoteget quoteget quote$2,100$1,650Up to 1 Millionget quoteget quoteget quoteget quote$4,200get quoteClick Here For A 14-Day Free Trial Of ConvertKit
What People Say About ConvertKit PricingIf you’re looking for the cheapest email marketing option, try Sendy.
“It’s far from the cheapest tool on the market, but for what you get, it’s certainly not the most expensive, either.” – Authority Hacker
“Is ConvertKit worth the cost? I’ve been using email automation tools since about 2006, and I’m a happy customer of ConvertKit. I think the cost of an email marketing tool is a necessary expense for an online business, and ConvertKit is a great option at a fair price.” – SmartBusinessTrends
“It is important for you to note that ConvertKit reckons a subscriber on multiple courses as a single diverse subscriber. This avoids you getting double or triple billed for a single subscriber on multiple lists like it is the case in Aweber and Mailchimp.” – Sprout24
“ConvertKit’s pricing is a bit higher as compared to services like MailChimp. Having said that, the ROI with ConvertKit as compared to these cheap email marketing service providers is quite high. If you’ve got the budget, consider investing in something that can take your audience to the next level.” –
P.S. Do you use ConvertKit or any of the other email marketing services mentioned above? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments – good or bad, doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors.
March 8, 2019
eBiz Weekly #10
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveHey there,
I hope you’re crushing it with your online business this week. Below are the usual few bits and pieces to help and inspire.
Selling An 18-Month-Old Site For $500k
Check out this case study by the guys at Authority Hacker (podcast version here). They started an affiliate website in the summer of 2017 with an investment of $50k, grew it to $15k/month in revenue, then sold it for “mid 6 figures.”
Learn Facebook Marketing
George Kao asked if I’d help spread the word about his upcoming Facebook Marketing Course, and I’m glad to do so as a happy buyer of one of his books and another course he created. As I’ve said before, if I was starting over building skills to freelance, my top three would be Copywriting, Google Ads, and Facebook Ads. If you’d like to learn the latter in a genuine, authentic way, George will see you right.
Youngest Ever “Self-Made” Billionaire
Her name is Kylie Jenner, she’s only 21, and she’s worth a billion dollars thanks to the cosmetics business she’s built and owns 100%, and which does the bulk of its sales via Shopify. (Forbes also wrote a piece defending the “self made” label for Jenner, as a response to criticism that she comes from a famous and wealthy family.)
$15 Million, 15 Lessons
ConvertKit recently crossed the $15 million mark in annual recurring revenue, and founder Nathan Barry shared some lessons he’s learned along the way. My favorites:
“Anytime someone brags about how many businesses they run I cringe. I’d far rather take one thing and do it really well.”
“the customers you recruit are higher quality than the ones who just walk in the door… go out and sell to the customers you want.”
“I did the work that no one else was willing to do… Do the hard work that doesn’t scale.”
“the times I felt most successful were when I leaned on my principles to make the right decision, even though it was incredibly hard.”
How Much Can You Earn Playing ESports?
It depends on the league, but according to an article on ESPN the 126 players in the NBA 2K League “will make between $33,000 to $37,000 per season, plus benefits and team housing.” (And congrats to Chiquita Evans, who became the first woman drafted into that league earlier this week.)
Advice From A Freelance Copywriter Earning $100k+
Via this thread on Reddit:
Work with already-successful businesses (not startups or new entrepreneurs) […] It’s better to reject projects that aren’t a good fit (e.g., the product doesn’t have sales, the client doesn’t have experience hiring, the client is stingy with budget, etc.), even when they’re willing to pay you.
Excellent Free Resource For Learning Copywriting
Swipe-Worthy breaks down examples of effective copywriting. Such as:
Ads Using The “Disruption” Hook
Long-Running Banner Ad Copy from Shopify
Male/Female Targeted Facebook Ads from Tai Lopez
60 Remote Job Websites
All the usual suspects are in this list, plus a few you might not have heard of. There are subsections for writing and editing, engineering, design and creative, and marketing.
Remote Matchmaker
Okay, not 100% remote but this was posted in FBB and it’s too quirky not to share. The job is to work as a matchmaker for a dating platform. “You’ll scour your city to find and screen quality, eligible matches for our clients.”
Latest Finance Report
Last month I earned $2,573 and spent $3,174 while living in Chiang Mai and Gran Canaria. Full details in my February finance report.
That’s all for this week.
Keep working at it.
I appreciate you.
—
Niall Doherty
eBiz Facts
P.S. If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on our shiny new socials. We’ll be sharing this kind of content regularly on Facebook and Twitter.
P.P.S. If you’d like to read some of my more personal ramblings, my latest Momentos are here.
By the way...
Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.
Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).
Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.
Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.
March 5, 2019
Momentos
These are my Momentos, vignettes I write daily and publish twice a month. They’re incredibly self-indulgent and I’m surprised anyone reads them. There’s one for every day since February 27, 2013.
16
Came across a saying recently, about how children don’t listen to their parents, but they never fail to emulate them. Interesting to think about the habits you picked up from your folks, behaviors they modeled to you for years and impressionable years. Brings to mind a verse John Wooden once shared:
No printed word nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves.
17
Memories fade. Sometimes I’ll try recall an adventure from my travels, or my days in New Orleans, and find them all fuzzy and faded. Like that time I took a 3-day train ride across Turkey and Iran. Almost seven years ago now. Luckily I wrote about the experience, so it’s not hard to recollect. But many of my memories aren’t so fortunate. I’ll never get them back.
18
Back in Las Palmas, staying at another co-living spot. It’s a nice big house in a fancy part of town, close to the beach and everything we need. Thinking we’ll end up calling this island home in the long run. Lots to like here. Will need to improve my Spanish though. No progress on that the past two years, preferring to devote brain power to business building.
19
Read something from Nathan Barry this morning that resonated:
If step one in building an audience is to create great content, step two is to endure long enough to get noticed.
I’ve been pretty good at enduring. Almost ten years working for myself now. Many of the people who started with me are long gone. What I need to get better at is creating great content. That’s coming together, I hope.
20
Difficult is good. Our lazy monkey brains shy away from difficult stuff, but if you can train your brain to persist and overcome difficulties, well… you’re likely to be rewarded with a shitload of bananas. Thing is, it’s easy enough to appreciate that about someone else, to see their struggles as opportunities. Not so easy to view your own in the same light.
21
Back walking the prom at Las Canteras, checking out the new co-working, friendly faces, on the hunt for coffee and cheesecake. It’s low season at the moment but the weather was great today, perfect surf conditions. The right place to be, the right time to be here.
22
It’s like I had two separate energies when I was younger, could work all week and then go “let off steam” at the weekend. These days, all I want to do after a full workweek is rest up. I struggle to muster the energy or desire to go do something active. It’s a trap, I realize. Succumb to that struggle and you end up flabby in your forties.
23
It takes sunlight about eight minutes to travel 93 million miles through space and reach Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a whole year. And a year consists of about 65,700 eight-minute chunks. Which should give you some idea of what kind of distance we’re talking about when we talk about light years. In short, it’s a very long way.
24
We’ll see how this Tai Lopez stuff does when I publish it all at the end of the month. I’m hoping to make a bit of money off it, or at least see a flood of links and traffic. If neither happens, I’ll definitely be disappointed. But disappointment doesn’t matter much. I’ll move on to the next thing and keep going. Eight years deep and I’m not about to quit anytime soon.
25
Long day doing grunt work, putting blog posts in WordPress, getting the formatting just right, all that jazz. Stuff I will outsource eventually but gotta suck it up and get it done myself this week, no time to train someone. But had a nice break for a picnic lunch down by the beach today. Pretty sweet when you can go watch sun, sea and surf whenever you like.
26
You ever get that thing where you feel like your work is way more important than anyone else’s work, and perhaps even the most important thing in the whole wide world? Yeah, that’s me lately. I probably felt the same a year ago though and I can only vaguely remember what I was working on back then.
27
Jen Sincero on how to become a badass at making money:
You just have to be willing to do what it takes. And here’s what it takes: Agreeing to get really really really really uncomfortable. Over and over again. […] you have to take huge, uncomfy risks. You have to do stuff you’ve never done before, to make yourself visible, to acknowledge your own awesomeness, to risk looking stupid.
28
Alright, just about done. 25,000 words and a 15-minute video about Tai Lopez all lined up to publish in the morning. This could turn out to be a huge boost for my site, or a gigantic waste of time. Hard to know when I’m this close to it. But hey, if nothing else, at least the journey’s been enjoyable. I’m definitely a man who likes his work.
March 1, 2019
eBiz Weekly #9
Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archiveHey there,
After several weeks of research we’ve finally published our Tai Lopez series.
You can see the 15-minute highlight reel on YouTube:
And here’s the full list of articles if you’d like to dive deeper:
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
Hopefully that saves you from doing a bunch of research yourself, and helps you make better decisions about whether to invest in Tai Lopez’s courses.
If you know anyone who would like to learn more about Tai Lopez, feel free to forward along this email to them. Or share this link: https://www.ndoherty.com/tai-lopez-scam/
A post on your social media or Reddit would also be very much appreciated!
That’s all for this week.
Rock on with your legendary self.
—
Niall Doherty
eBiz Facts
By the way...
Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.
Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).
Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.
Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.
February 28, 2019
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
Tai Lopez is one of the more controversial internet marketers operating today.
To the point where we’ve even heard him referred to as “Lie Lopez.” 1
In this article, we explore some of the questionable tactics we’ve seen him use to attract your attention and sell more products.
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
Table Of ContentsIn defense of Tai1. Fake deadlines2. Fake scarcity3. Exaggerated / misleading success symbols4. Immediate discounting for non-buyers5. Adds email subscribers without permission6. Bait and switch7. Must opt-out of monthly paymentsDeath by a thousand cuts
In defense of Tai
To give this article a bit of balance, we want to start by saying that Tai Lopez has no doubt helped and inspired thousands (more likely millions) of people since he burst onto the scene in 2015 with his famous “Here In My Garage” video.
He’s probably done more than anyone in the past decade to popularize reading books, his podcast has thousands of 5-star ratings on iTunes, and we appreciate that he includes the following can’t-miss disclaimer in every message he sends to his mailing list: 2Tai emails his list A LOT. 1,300 times in 2 years according to our research.[\note]
***Tai is a professional internet marketer. His success, and the income possibilities mentioned by his students, are not typical and are not a guarantee you will make money. You could make more, less, or none at all.***
All that said, Tai is controversial for a reason.
Several reasons, actually…
1. Fake deadlines
In just a few short weeks of investigating Tai Lopez, we’ve seen him repeatedly make and break promises related to deadlines and limited-time offers.
Here are a few examples.
The everlasting 67 Steps discountAs outlined in our analysis of Tai’s email marketing, we were first given 48 hours to purchase his 67 Steps program at a $30 discount.
That deadline was then extended a further 36 hours without explanation.
Two full weeks later, we found that not only was the discount still available, but we’d been given another 7+ days to grab it…
The everlasting discount offer for Tai’s 67 Steps program(We eventually got around to buying the 67 Steps program. Read our review here.)
Going, going, gone… No wait, it’s still available!In January we received the following four emails from Tai in a 24-hour period, promoting a discount he was running on several of his programs.
When ReceivedEmail Subject Things are coming to a close (24 hours left)12 hours laterThis might sound corny (12 hours left)4 hours laterLast day to secure $2,294 in savings (it’s decision time)90 minutes laterSay goodbye to the New Year’s Bundle ($2,294 in savings – gone in 3 hours)True to form, we procrastinated and missed out on the offer.
Sad face.
However, within 24 hours we received another email from Tai:
EXTENDED: New Year’s Bundle sale (1 more day)In that email, Tai explained his reasoning for extending the offer:
I realized Saturday night wasn’t the ideal time for a deadline, since people are out partying or spending time with friends and family.
So, I figured it makes more sense to extend the deadline until midnight — TONIGHT — Sunday, January 13.
Fair enough.
While Tai has years of experience as an internet marketer, that doesn’t make him immune to the occasional mistake. So we were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Especially since he did actually close down the sales page at the revised deadline.
Sorry, we’re closed. (Unless you want to buy something.)A couple of weeks after those previous emails, Tai was promoting another one of his programs via email, with subject lines like this:
12k a month from 1 property? (new program closes tomorrow)Final day to join (home-sharing management company test group)Don’t forget! (new HSMC test group – closing tonight)Some copy from those emails…
P.S. Once I close the group, I’m keeping it close [sic] for a while to focus on helping the people who get in. You have less than 2 days to decide if you want to be part of the HSMC test group
[…]
P.P.S. You now have less than 24 hours to join the test group. Don’t miss out! Once it’s closed, it’s closed. No exceptions.
[…]
Tonight, at midnight, I’m no longer accepting invite [sic] to my Home-Sharing Management Company test group. If you’re the type of person who waits until the final moment, this is it.
We mustered all our strength and managed to resist joining the program, but checked back more than 24 hours after the deadline to see if it was still available.
It was.
24+ hours after Tai promised to shut off access, you could still sign up.We should note here that the price of the program before the deadline was listed as “1 Payment of $49,” so it did increase 10x afterwards.
But Tai certainly didn’t shut off access to it as promised in his emails.
Watch this video before it’s too late (and it’s never too late)There’s a public video on Tai’s YouTube channel that looks like this:
Here’s the link to the video on YouTube. No need to watch it.See that publish date at the bottom there?
Jul 6, 2017.
Which is interesting, because if you skip to the 2:10 mark of that video, Tai says:
I’m not going to keep this video up for long
Similar thing on this sales page for another one of Tai’s programs:
Check out the page here.The embedded video on that page was uploaded to YouTube on Oct 17, 2017.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you’ll see this text:
Watch the above presentation now, because it will be taken down in a few days. If you miss this, you will regret missing your one big chance.
Seems that “one big chance” would be hard to miss.
2. Fake scarcity
We stumbled across a webinar by Tai entitled, How I Make Money Online: 4 Steps To Getting Started.
It looks like this:
Link to the webinar. No need to watch it.Here’s a close-up of the offer alongside the video…
Note that the countdown timer has reached zero (another fake deadline), but more interesting to us was this text:
Only 100 Seats Available This Will Sell Out FAST!
Best we can tell (via this Google search), this particular webinar happened back in 2017.
So those 100 seats should be filled by now, right?
Apparently not.
Clicking the orange button (followed by a blue button) takes you to a checkout page where you can still buy the program Tai was promoting on the webinar.
Note the capitalized text on the right side of the page:
LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE “ THIS WILL SELL OUT EXTREMELY FAST!
Doubtful.
3. Exaggerated / misleading success symbols
In multiple videos, you’ll find Tai Lopez showing off some of his fancy cars.
A prime example is his famous “Here In My Garage” video:
Right off the bat there he tells us:
Just bought this new Lamborghini here.
He’s also known for showing off his fancy house…
The problem is, it seems Tai doesn’t actually own those cars, or that house.
Which we know from this video:
Key moments there:
2:44 – Tai says that the house is “not a rental. It’s a lease.”14:04 – Tai shows paperwork that states at least one of his cars (a red Ferrari) is also leased.Here’s a screenshot from another video of Tai driving a black Lamborghini (taken from the 6:02 mark):
There is speculation that the white item attached to the key in the ignition is a rental tag.
Of course, leasing a car or a house is totally fine, and may even be the smart move financially (especially when you can write them off as business expenses, which Tai seems to do).
The issue here is that Tai seems to have no qualms about claiming to own things he does not actually own. Or at least giving his audience the distinct impression that he owns those things.
(We investigated a bunch more dubious claims made by and about Tai in this article, including whether or not he’s in Mensa.)
4. Immediate discounting for non-buyers
The sales funnel for Tai’s 67 Steps course works like this:
Step 1: Enter your email address “to claim your spot”
If at this point you choose not to buy, within minutes you’ll receive an email from Tai offering you a $30 discount.
(Procrastination rewarded. Excellent.)
Say you then decide to take Tai up on that discount offer and buy the program.
You enter your payment details and hit submit.
But before you get access to what you just purchased, Tai tries to sell you on two more of his programs: the Mini-MBA Program, followed by The Entrepreneur Code.
Here’s what you see at the bottom of the first upsell page:
In case you can’t read the small print in that screenshot, here’s what it says (verbatim):
Sorry Tai, but the ONLY thing I want is your 67 Steps. I know your 67 Steps will be awesome and I’m not ready to get 3x the results at 2x the speed with your Mini-MBA program. Therefore, I flat-out refuse your generous and offer that’ll enlighten me about business management lessons I wished they taught in college. I fully understand I’m missing out forever on this one-time-only opportunity that I’ll never the chance to accept again”and by making this decision, I’m permanently locked out and blacklisted from your Mini-MBA dicount, for life.
Okay, fair enough.
So you click the big red NO THANKS button, and… on the next page…
You are immediately offered a further $100 “dicount” on the very program you just refused.
You know, the one you were told 5 seconds ago you would be “permanently locked out and blacklisted from” if you passed up the “one-time-only opportunity.”
The lesson here is clear: when Tai tells you it’s your “last chance” to do something, it’s probably not.
You may even get a better offer if you wait.
5. Adds email subscribers without permission
Remember the first part of Tai’s 67 Steps sales funnel?
You’re asked to enter your email address to “claim your spot.”
Here’s the full page:
On close inspection of the copy on that page, you’ll find no mention of Tai’s email list.
And yet, once you enter your email address and hit the blue button, you’re immediately added to that list.
No verification, no double opt-in.
This would not have been such a big deal a few years ago, but in today’s post-GDPR world, adding people to an email list without their explicit permission is not only frowned upon, but also violates data privacy law in the European Union.
(Related: we also investigated a claim that when you send a message to Tai’s personal email address – which he lists publicly – he automatically adds you to his list. Our research proved this claim to be false. More information here.)
6. Bait and switch
Here’s that YouTube video of Tai showing you around his house again:
A few seconds in, he says he’s going to give us a tour of the house, and…
…more importantly, I’m going to share with you how I went from sleeping in a mobile home, you know, with 47 bucks in my bank account, to a place like this in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills, and ah, so I’m going to give you three things that made all the difference in my life.
But first, a quick tour of the big beautiful house he does not own.
Afterwards, at the 4:10 mark of the video, Tai says:
I’m gonna give you these three things. Actually, I’m going to do it on my website ‘cause I don’t want this to go too long. So if you click the link…
To recap:
Tai first leads you to believe that the video will reveal “three things that made all the difference” in his life.Then, after you’ve been watching for four minutes, he says that you’ll have to click through to his website to learn those things, because he doesn’t want the video “to go too long.”Which makes little sense when you consider that:
Tai regularly posts public videos on YouTube that run 30+ minutes (the longest we found ran more than 3 hours).Once you click through to his website, you’re immediately presented with a 79-minute video.Here’s the landing page:
Check it out for yourself here.Seeing that, Tai’s real reason for sending you to his website becomes clear: he wants to get you on his email list via that form on the right side of the page.
Or, better yet, he wants you to join his 67 Steps program, which you can do further down that same landing page.
7. Must opt-out of monthly payments
When you join Tai’s 67 Steps program – which we did; read our review here – your initial payment entitles you to lifetime access. 3
With that initial payment you are also automatically signed up to Tai’s “VIP Membership” program. You get free access to that for 2-4 weeks, and then you’re billed $69.99 per month to keep it.
There doesn’t seem to be any way to buy the 67 Steps without the VIP Membership program.
So if you don’t want the latter, you must proactively cancel it from your account on Tai’s website. Otherwise, you’ll be automatically billed $69.99 per month indefinitely.
In practice, here’s how that whole setup played out for us:
We wanted access to Tai’s 67 Steps program.We paid a one-time fee for that access.We then had to go in and cancel a recurring fee for another program we never wanted access to in the first place.In fairness to Tai:
It was clearly stated at the checkout that access to the VIP Program would be included and when the first monthly payment would occur.We had to tick a box to agree to those terms before we could complete the purchase.We received an email reminder about the monthly payment 4 days before it was due, with instructions about how to cancel.Still, we felt we needed to take a shower after this experience.
Imagine if Amazon did something similar:
You want to buy a book from Amazon.You pay a one-time fee for the book.You then have to go in and cancel a recurring fee for Amazon Prime, which you never wanted in the first place but had no choice but to sign up for to get that book you wanted.Worse still, we couldn’t find any way to cancel the VIP Program directly ourselves.
We expected there would be a link in the account section to cancel it, but no. As per instructions in the help section, we had to contact Tai’s support team, via email or live chat, and ask them to cancel the monthly billing (which they promptly did).
Death By A Thousand Cuts
Admittedly, taken in isolation, none of the above tactics or examples are all that bad.
And you don’t have to look far to find other internet marketers pulling similar tricks.
The thing about Tai Lopez though is that such questionable marketing tactics seem to be his modus operandi.
You’re likely to find him employing at least one in every email, every video, every webinar, every sales page.
“Once it’s closed, it’s closed. No exceptions.”“Watch the above presentation now, because it will be taken down in a few days.”“LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE”“Just bought this new Lamborghini”“one-time-only opportunity”“You have less than 2 days to decide”When you see a man make and break his word so consistently, you begin to wonder how you can believe anything he has to say.
Read more about Tai Lopez
This article is part of an 8-part series:
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
P.S. What are your thoughts on Tai’s marketing tactics? Too manipulative or fair game? We’d love to hear your take in the comments below.
1,300 Emails In 2 Years
Love him or hate him, Tai Lopez reaches a lot of people and makes a lot of money online.
One of the primary ways Tai does this is via email marketing. According to his official website, he has almost 2.5 million email subscribers (or “members” as he calls them).
We signed up for Tai’s email updates and here’s what we learned.
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
Table Of ContentsHow often does Tai Lopez email his list?Two types of emailsTai’s 67 Steps evergreen funnelTai’s daily disclaimerHow often does Tai sell to his list?What email marketing software does Tai Lopez use?
How often does Tai Lopez email his list?
We ended up on Tai’s list via a landing page for his 67 Steps program1 and received 19 emails in the first 7 days.
The 19 emails we received from Tai Lopez’s mailing list in 7 days.In the following video, a long-time subscriber to Tai’s list shows (at the 4:45 mark) that he received 1,300+ emails from Tai in two years, which works out to approximately 12 emails per week.
Two types of emails
Looking a little closer, we found that we received two types of emails from Tai’s list.
Type 1 – Automated EmailsThese emails were clearly part of an automated sequence (also known as an autoresponder) designed to convince us to buy some of Tai’s products.
When ReceivedEmail SubjectImmediateHey Niall — it’s Tai (let’s get started)1 hour laterHey Niall
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles
During our extensive research into all things Tai Lopez, we found the following claim repeated in at least six different publications:
Tai Lopez’s online course (The 67 Steps) is a complete rip-off of Jack Canfield’s book (The Success Principles).Here’s what VICE wrote in a September 2015 article: 1
Others have argued that Lopez’s advice isn’t all that novel, since many of his talks piggyback off more established luminaries of the motivation and business spaces. Many point to Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles, a 2006 book with it’s own 67 steps, which they claim Lopez straight-up stole and repackaged.
Add to that the following information:
January 2015 – Jack Canfield publishes the 10th anniversary edition of The Success Principles, detailing “67 timeless principles and practices used by the world’s most successful men and women.” 2September 2015 – Tai Lopez releases his infamous Here In My Garage video as part of a promotion for his online course. The course, entitled The 67 Steps, lays out “67 steps to getting anything you want out of life.” . Quote from a sales page for The 67 Steps.'>3With those facts laid bare, it’s easy to see why Tai Lopez has been repeatedly accused of ripping off Jack Canfield.
But did he really?
To find out, we bought and carefully reviewed both The 67 Steps and The Success Principles.
Here’s what we found.
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
Table Of ContentsThe 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – full comparisonSummary of our findingsHow did Tai Lopez come up with his 67 Steps?So did Tai Lopez rip off Jack Canfield?
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – A full comparison
Our process looked like this:
We skimmed through the 10th anniversary edition of The Success Principles, taking note of the 67 principles and the core message of each.We watched all 67 video lessons in The 67 Steps, taking note of the core message of each.After each step, we tried to find a principle in Canfield’s the book with the same core message.We then marked each step as having a good match, a partial match, or no match in the book.
The 67 Steps The Success Principles
Step 1. The Billionaire’s Brain & Jennifer Lopez’s Voice
You have to deserve what you want. 4
Good matchPrinciple 16: Be Willing To Pay The PriceStep 2. Blue-Footed Booby Birds, ESS, & The 500 Year Old Mind
You have to be able to adapt and change.
Good matchPrinciple 31: Embrace ChangeStep 3. Sam Walton’s Night In A Brazilian Jail, Stealing From McDonald’s & Michael Jordan’s Humility
You can be outwardly cocky and still have humility. Real humility is listening deeply and constantly seeking out knowledge.
Good matchPrinciple 48: Be Hear NowStep 4. Picasso’s Rising Tide & The Law of 33%
Using mentors to shave years off the learning curve.
Good matchPrinciple 44: Create A Network Of Mentors And Others Who Will Up-Level YouStep 5. My Poor Friends & Cameron Diaz’s Parrot
Start noticing the differences between rich/successful/healthy friends and poor/unsuccessful/unhealthy friends.
Partial matchPrinciple 9: Success Leaves Clues
Principle 25: Drop Out Of The “Ain’t It Awful” Club… And Surround Yourself With Successful People
Step 6. Sculpture vs. The Lottery & The Anthropic Media Bias
Success happens step by step. Embrace the grind. That is your life.
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 20: Commit To Constant And Never-Ending Improvement
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 7. Martin Seligman’s Salary Slave and Learned Helplessness
Stop being helpless. Take full responsibility. Figure things out.
Good matchPrinciple 1: Take 100% Responsibility For Your LifeStep 8. The Integrated Good Life & The Four Pillars Of Eudaimonia
Don’t compartmentalize. All parts of your life should work in harmony.
No matchStep 9. Warren Buffett’s Book-A-Day Diet & Making War With A Multitude Of Counselors
Read more. Learn from the wisdom of others.
Good matchPrinciple 36: Learn More To Earn MoreStep 10. Stoic vs. Epicurean Arnold’s 1,000 Reps, Apache Cold Showers, and the Spartan Whipping Post
Be brave, toughen up, face your fears, persist through difficulties, don’t always look for the easy way out.
Partial matchPrinciple 15: Experience Your Fear And Take Action Anyway
Principle 16: Be Willing To Pay The Price
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 11. The Whispers Of 10,000 Generations, Dunbar’s 150, & Evolutionary Mismatch
When you should trust your gut/intuition, and when you shouldn’t. Your lizard brain will often lead you astray.
No match (somewhat contradicts Principle 47: Inquire Within)Step 12. Mike’s Stack Of Resumes, My 96 Year-old Grandma, & Your Eulerian Destiny
How to create your one sentence destiny plan.
Partial matchPrinciple 2: Be Clear Why You’re Here
Principle 3: Decide What You Want
Step 13. The Amish Vacation, Tap Dancing To Work, & Avoiding What You Love
Set up a life you don’t want to escape from, but be wary of following your passion.
Partial match (though somewhat contradicts)Principle 38: Fuel Your Success With Passion And EnthusiasmStep 14. The Shaolin Monk & Touching An Electric Fence
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Everything that happens to you is your fault.
Good matchPrinciple 1: Take 100% Responsibility For Your LifeStep 15. Descartes & Solving Problems With A Calculator
Learn basic math, be able to figure out probabilities and quantify risk so you can make better decisions.
Partial matchPrinciple 21: Keep Score For SuccessStep 16. Rousseau, The Renaissance Man, & Iron Sharpening Iron
Know a little bit about everything. Be able to talk on many subjects. Explore different perspectives.
Partial match (though somewhat contradicts)Principle 36: Learn More To Earn More
Principle 39: Stay Focused On Your Core Genius
Step 17. Elon Musk‘s 14-Hour Workday vs. The 4-Hour Workweek
You need work to be happy. Learn to love the grind.
Partial matchPrinciple 13: Take Action
Principle 16: Be Willing To Pay The Price
Step 18. Man-On-The-Moon Contrast Keeping Easy Things Easy
Use contrast bias to your advantage. Break things down. Don’t waste time/energy on easy things.
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 10: Release The Brakes
Principle 39: Stay Focused On Your Core Genius
Step 19. Amazon.com & The $32,000 Brain Budget
Invest at least 30% of your discretionary income in your own development.
Partial matchPrinciple 20: Commit To Constant And Never-Ending Improvement
Principle 36: Learn More To Earn More
Principle 37: Stay Motivated With The Masters
Principle 44: Create A Network Of Mentors And Others Who Will Up-Level You
Step 20. Richard Branson’s Hurricane & The Imaginary World Of Kanye West
Visualize what you want. Know how you want your life to be.
Good matchPrinciple 11: See What You Want, Get What You SeeStep 21. Mastering The Four P.A.S.E. Energies & Casanovas Chameleon
Learn how to win friends and influence people.
Partial matchPrinciple 48: Be Hear Now
Principle 67: Connect With People Who Can Expand Your Vision
Step 22. The Seven-fold Path To The Obvious Signs
Use the scientific method to improve your life.
Partial matchPrinciple 19: Use Feedback To Your Advantage
Principle 30: Face What Isn’t Working
Principle 52: When In Doubt, Check It Out
Step 23. Landing Your Plane On The Great Wall
Embrace obstacles. Make a plan you can believe in, then execute by force of will.
Partial matchPrinciple 4: Believe It’s Possible
Principle 8: Chunk It Down
Step 24. Gandhi’s Funeral, Stephen Covey’s Wars, & Flurries Of Activity
Begin with the end in mind. Focus on winning the war, not so much the battles.
Partial matchPrinciple 2: Be Clear Why You’re Here
Principle 3: Decide What You Want
Principle 7: Unleash The Power Of Goal-Setting
Principle 11: See What You Want, Get What You See
Step 25. Joel Salatin On Nature Laughing Last, The Respect Of Seasons, and The Terrible Twos
Respect nature and the seasons. Success takes time.
Partial matchPrinciple 31: Embrace Change
Principle 40: Redefine Time
Step 26. Belts, Suspenders, Failing To Fail, The Six Sigma Heartbeat, & How To Not Crash Your F-22
Minimize mistakes. Avoid single points of failure.
Partial matchPrinciple 9: Success Leaves Clues
Principle 19: Use Feedback To Your Advantage
Principle 30: Face What Isn’t Working
Principle 52: When In Doubt, Check It Out
Step 27. The Frontman & The Two Ways To Pick Your Trench Mate
How to assemble your support team.
Good matchPrinciple 25: Drop Out Of The “Ain’t It Awful” Club… And Surround Yourself With Successful People
Principle 41: Build A Powerful Support Team And Delegate To Them
Step 28. Lao-Tzu’s and John Wooden’s Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
Eat frogs, even when you don’t have to.
Partial matchPrinciple 10: Release The Brakes
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Step 29. Stephen Hawking, Entropy, & Remembering The Future
Make the most of your time.
Partial matchPrinciple 13: Take Action
Principle 40: Redefine Time
Step 30. Peter Drucker, The Cluttered Attic And The Invention Of Rules
Identify and weed out limiting beliefs. Remove disabling ignorance.
Good matchPrinciple 10: Release The Brakes
Principle 33: Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs
Step 31. Delegating To Shalini & Sam Walton’s Over-The-Shoulder Style.
How to manage people. Trust, but verify.
Partial matchPrinciple 1: Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life
Principle 41: Build A Powerful Support Team And Delegate To Them
Principle 52: When In Doubt, Check It Out
Step 32. Slot Machine Probability & Chasing The Mirage
On a long enough timeline, if you keep doing the right things, you are likely to get what you want.
Partial matchPrinciple 16: Be Willing To Pay The Price
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 33. Teaching Pigs To Fly & Pushing On Strings
When to persevere and when to quit.
Good matchPrinciple 30: Face What Isn’t WorkingStep 34. Bill Gates & The Ten Dark Years
Have a realistic timeline for success.
Partial matchPrinciple 22: Practice PersistenceStep 35. Ignoring The Ninety-Nine, & The One-Tenth Rule
Learn from the best. Ignore the rest.
Good matchPrinciple 25: Drop Out Of The “Ain’t It Awful” Club… And Surround Yourself With Successful People
Principle 44: Create A Network Of Mentors And Others Who Will Up-Level You
Step 36. The Sucker In The Room & The Lollapalooza Effect
Be aware of cognitive biases and how they are exploited.
No matchStep 37. Why Restaurants Fail
To avoid failure you need a good network, good labor, and capital.
No matchStep 38. Throwing Idiots To The Crocodiles
Invest your time and effort in areas where you have a natural advantage.
Good matchPrinciple 39: Stay Focused On Your Core GeniusStep 39. Alienating The 82% With Your Messy Message
Niche down. Pareto principle. Don’t try to please everyone.
Partial matchPrinciple 18: Reject Rejection
Principle 57: You Get What You Focus On
Step 40. Practical Pessimism, Paris Hilton’s Grandfather, & Contemplating The Downside
Have faith in the end-game, but confront the brutal facts along the way.
Partial matchPrinciple 4: Believe It’s Possible
Principle 5: Believe In Yourself
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Principle 30: Face What Isn’t Working
Step 41. Sam Chupp & Making, Watching, Wondering
Be curious. Learn things.
Good matchPrinciple 36: Learn More To Earn MoreStep 42. Donuts, A $250,000 Check, And General Eisenhower
Prioritize. Put first things first.
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 42: Just Say No!
Step 43. 20% Weird Factor, The Cabbage Mind, & The Treachery Of Scoundrels
Be wary of weird and insecure people. 20% weird is okay, but watch out for people who are too weird.
No matchStep 44. Six Pack Of The Mind
Prioritize. Put first things first. (Yes, essentially the same lesson as Step 42.)
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 42: Just Say No!
Step 45. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony & The Tyranny of The 1st & 15th
Develop an investor/entrepreneur mindset.
No matchStep 46. Allan Nation‘s 1,000 Sheep And Not Doing It Small
Start small, and figure out systems that will allow you can scale.
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 20: Commit To Constant And Never-Ending Improvement
Step 47. The 5% Tweak, Nothing Janky, & When Good Enough is Perfect
Don’t be too much of a perfectionist, or too sloppy. Neither extreme.
Partial matchPrinciple 13: Take Action
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 28: Clean Up Your Messes And Your Incompletes
Step 48. Michael Jordan Swagger & American Idol Syndrome
What real confidence looks like, as opposed to being cocky/delusional.
Partial matchPrinciple 19: Use Feedback To Your Advantage
Principle 44: Create A Network Of Mentors And Others Who Will Up-Level You
Step 49. Why Jay Z And Warren Buffet Like Baseball
Slow and steady wins the race.
Good matchPrinciple 20: Commit To Constant And Never-Ending ImprovementStep 50. Mastering The Wrong Things & Blue Eyeshadow Numb-nuts
Don’t master the wrong things. Don’t trust or rely on people who are clearly not masters.
Partial matchPrinciple 39: Stay Focused On Your Core Genius
Principle 41: Build A Powerful Support Team And Delegate To Them
Step 51. Chatting With Wittgenstein’s Lion
Learn how to be persuasive. Speak to people in words they understand.
Partial matchPrinciple 48: Be Hear Now
Principle 51: Speak With Impeccability
Step 52. Pareto Efficiencies & The Business Triple Entente
Seek win-win.
Partial matchPrinciple 24: Exceed Expectations
Principle 62: Find A Way To Serve
Step 53. The Second Rule Is Never Forget The First Rule
Capture the value you create.
No matchStep 54. Chess-Like Assiduity & Armchair Meditation
Take the time to think through problems.
Partial matchPrinciple 47: Inquire WithinStep 55. The 7 Habits Of Highly Unsuccessful People & The Tardy Tree Sloth
Invert. Figure out how to succeed by studying how people fail.
No matchStep 56. Floating Across The Pacific On A Raft And Why Sitting Bull Liked To Be Shot At
Be courageous.
Good matchPrinciple 15: Experience Your Fear And Take Action AnywayStep 57. Unstumpability & Sherlock Holmes Sleuthing
Up your curiosity.
Good matchPrinciple 36: Learn More To Earn MoreStep 58. Death By Faint Praise and Charlie Munger’s Grandfather
Recognize and be ready to seize the few big opportunities that come your way.
Partial matchPrinciple 13: Take ActionStep 59. The Diligent Celebrity & Meeting The King
Develop tangible and intangible skills. Become respected in your community.
Partial matchPrinciple 36: Learn More To Earn More
Principle 43: Become A Leader Worth Following
Principle 55: Be A Class Act
Principle 63: Master The Technology You Need
Step 60. The Dutch Big Gulp
Be quick to start (take a big first gulp), and then patiently advance your skill.
Partial matchPrinciple 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 61. The $495,000 Honda Accord
Be aware of the true cost of things.
Good matchPrinciple 59: Master The Spending GameStep 62. $20 Billion Gift From Strangers & Building Forgiveness Into The Land
Avoid single points of failure. Stock up for a rainy day.
Partial matchPrinciple 55: Be A Class Act
Principle 58: Pay Yourself First
Principle 61: Give More To Get More
Step 63. Alexander the Great’s Aggression and The Truth About Your Age
Start as if you’re going to die tomorrow, but stick with it as if you’re going to live for 20 more years.
Partial matchPrinciple 8: Chunk It Down
Principle 14: Just Lean Into It
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 64. Forgetting Who’s In The Room
Seek out people more successful than you and listen to them carefully.
Good matchPrinciple 25: Drop Out Of The “Ain’t It Awful” Club… And Surround Yourself With Successful People
Principle 44: Create A Network Of Mentors And Others Who Will Up-Level You
Principle 48: Be Hear Now
Step 65. The Pierian Spring & From Whence Cometh The Pride
Always seek knowledge, but never think you know everything. Stay humble.
Partial matchPrinciple 48: Be Hear Now
Principle 52: When In Doubt, Check It Out
Step 66. Elvis Presley & The Persistent Widow
Keep asking for what you want, be persistent.
Good matchPrinciple 17: Ask! Ask! Ask!
Principle 18: Reject Rejection
Principle 22: Practice Persistence
Step 67. Annihilating The Amygdala & MPFC Mastery
Master your lizard brain. Don’t let fear stop you.
Partial match (since Tai covered lots more in this step)Principle 15: Experience Your Fear And Take Action AnywaySummary of our findings20 steps were a good match with a principle (or principles) in the book39 steps were a partial match with a principle (or principles) in the book8 steps had no match with a principle in the book3 steps could be seen as contradicting a principle (or principles) in the book20 principles had no match with a step in the course
20 principles from The Success Principles that we found no match for in The 67 Steps:
Principle 6: Use The Law Of AttractionPrinciple 12: Act As IfPrinciple 23: Practice The Rule Of 5Principle 26: Acknowledge Your Positive PastPrinciple 27: Keep Your Eye On The PrizePrinciple 29: Complete The Past To Embrace The FuturePrinciple 32: Transform Your Inner Critic Into An Inner CoachPrinciple 34: Develop 4 New Success Habits A YearPrinciple 35: 99% Is A Bitch, 100% Is A BreezePrinciple 45: Hire A Personal CoachPrinciple 46: Mastermind Your Way To SuccessPrinciple 49: Have A Heart TalkPrinciple 50: Tell The Truth FasterPrinciple 53: Practice Uncommon AppreciationPrinciple 54: Keep Your AgreementsPrinciple 56: Develop A Positive Money ConsciousnessPrinciple 60: To Spend More, First Make MorePrinciple 64: Brand Yourself With An Online PersonaPrinciple 65: Use Social Media In A Way That Enhances Your ReputationPrinciple 66: Use The Exponential Power Of CrowdfundingWhat does it all mean?
This:
If Tai Lopez really “straight-up stole and repackaged” Jack Canfield’s material, he did a very poor job of it.Yes, you can find many of the same ideas in both works.
Not surprising, given both are self-help programs.
But if you look at the core message of each step vs. the core message of each principle, 47 of 67 (70%) are not a good match.
But then how did Tai Lopez come up with his 67 Steps?
Tai’s explanation on a sales page for The 67 Steps:
My collection of principles, thoughts, and sayings has grown over the years. The problem now is that when I try to refer back to all this wisdom, the list has become too long and too hard to sort through.
I narrowed the list down to a more manageable number. I chose the number 67. That number’s based on new research by the University College London that found it takes about 66 days to form a new habit. So I added one more for good luck & came up with 67
Here’s the 2012 study Tai would appear to be referring to: Making health habitual: the psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice
Looking through that, Tai’s story holds up.
Furthermore, it seems Tai Lopez had already launched his 67 Steps program before January 2015 (i.e. before the 10th anniversary edition of The Success Principles was published).
Reference this video, published October 2014:
YouTube: 67 Steps to Become a Millionaire – Tai Lopez | London RealBut Tai could have been inspired by the original edition of The Success Principles, right?
Unlikely.
Because the original edition, which was published in late 2004 (still available on Amazon), contained only 64 principles.
So did Tai Lopez rip off Jack Canfield?
We have to say no, he did not.
For two reasons.
When you actually compare the contents of Tai’s course (The 67 Steps) and Canfield’s book (The Success Principles), it’s hard to see how one could have been inspired by the other. There is overlap, sure, but it’s coincidental at best.The 67 Steps appears to have been released in 2014, several months before the 10th anniversary edition of The Success Principles. The only edition of the book available prior to January 2015 contained 64 principles, not 67.None of that is to say that there aren’t issues with The 67 Steps or that Tai Lopez is beyond reproach.
Because there are and he’s not.
Check out our 67 Steps review hereOr peruse 37+ other claims we investigated related to Tai LopezRead more about Tai Lopez
This article is part of an 8-part series:
Review: Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA 2.0) – 5 Pros, 4 Cons
Tai Lopez 67 Steps Review – Not A Scam… But You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It
Tai Lopez Scam? We Fact-Checked 37+ Tai Lopez Claims… Here’s What We Found.
Tai Lopez Net Worth + 7 Ways Tai Lopez Makes Money Online
7 Questionable Marketing Tactics Tai Lopez Uses To Make Money Online
1,300 Emails In 2 Years – A Deep Look At Tai Lopez’s Email Marketing
The 67 Steps vs. The 67 Success Principles – Did Tai Lopez Rip Off Jack Canfield?
Tai Lopez And The Real Law Of 33% – 30 Minutes Of Talk = 10 Minutes Of Value
P.S. What are your thoughts on our comparison between The 67 Steps and The Success Principles? Did we miss anything important? Are there other reasons to believe that The 67 Steps contains stolen or repackaged material?
We’d love to hear your take in the comments below.
