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value is created when a person makes something useful and shares it with the world.
You can open a PayPal account in five minutes and receive funds from buyers in more than 180 countries.
Going from idea to startup can now take less than a month and cost less than $100—just
Follow-your-passion model.
The easiest way to understand convergence is to think of it as the overlapping space between what you care about and what other people are willing to spend money on.
The easiest way to understand skill transformation is to realize that you’re probably good at more than one thing.
“We’re not selling horse rides,” Barbara said emphatically. “We’re offering freedom.
Above all else, the V6 Ranch is selling happiness.
the secret to a meaningful new career was directly related to making people feel good about themselves.
Value means helping people.
“If you make your business about helping others, you’ll always have plenty of work.”
The missing piece is that you usually don’t get paid for your hobby itself; you get paid for helping other people pursue the hobby or for something indirectly related to it.
understanding that not every passion makes a good business
Some people find that it’s better to keep their passion separate from their work.
(Passion + skill) → (problem + marketplace) = opportunity
He carefully tracks his time and estimates that he spends eight to fifteen hours a week directly related to the business. The rest of his time is spent with his family and on various side projects that he pursues for fun.
When you’re brainstorming different ideas and aren’t sure which one is best, one of the most effective ways to figure it out is simply to ask your prospects, your current customers
make sure there is sufficient demand for your product or service before spending your whole life working on it. That’s why it’s so important to get started as quickly as possible and why the first sale can be so empowering.
If your offer ended at a set time and you had a big response, you’ll invariably be contacted with requests for exceptions after it’s over. It’s tempting to take more money, but if you said it would end at a set time, you need to stick to your decision. In the long run, this works in your favor, because people will realize that you mean what you say.
you shouldn’t assume someone isn’t interested or won’t attend or won’t buy.”
Combining hustling with paid advertising (again, carefully selected) could be a viable option for some.
If you’re not sure where to spend your business development time, spend 50 percent on creating and 50 percent on connecting.
When you’re first getting started, say yes to every reasonable request. Become more selective (consider the “hell yeah” test) as you become more established.
Spend only on things that have a direct relationship to sales.
We tend to default to talking about features, but since most purchases are emotional decisions, it’s much more persuasive to talk about benefits.
When we see a superhigh price, we tend to consider the lower price as much more reasonable…thus creating a fair bargain in our minds.
a recurring billing model will produce much more income over time than will a single-sale model.)
The longer a microbusiness is around, with customers and onlookers saying good things about it, the more the word will spread.
INCREASE TRAFFIC. Whether you have a website or a storefront, without people who regularly drop by to see your offer, you have no business. Traffic means attention.
You may not make a ton of sales from a contest, but it will bring you more attention and a greater audience for future sales.
people who pay for high-end products tend to be better customers all around. “Low-paying buyers are the worst,”
“We have far more complaints from people who pay $10 and expect the world than from those who pay $1,000.”
One path to franchising yourself is to team up with a trusted partner.
(Common splits include an even 50-50, 60-40 with the higher share going to the partner who does more work, and 45-45 with 10 percent reserved for administrative costs.)
Do what makes sense for you, not for someone else.
like all businesses, you should also plan on raising your prices on a regular basis
The model of team building through contractors worked.
There’s more than one road to freedom, and some people find it through a combination of different working arrangements.
the quest for personal freedom lies in the pursuit of value for others. Get this right from the beginning and the rest will be much easier. Always ask, “How can I help people more?”
