Yesterday, I had a chance to catch up with a mentor of mine, Filip, over lunch. It had been a few months since we last spoke, and we had a lot to catch up on. Filip has his own website called The Product Startup. There are tons of great articles on there for any stage of the product invention stage, starting at designing and ending with sales. He also has several podcast episodes available to listen to. He’s sold a private label product on Amazon and done well in his chosen niche, and he’s also experienced in real estate. I forgot to mention, he’s also a Mechanical Engineer. Long story short, he’s got a solid background and tons of experience, and I really value his recommendations and advice.
At the end of the conversation, we had covered all sorts of topics. I talked about challenges in manufacturing the Flexthetics Pro as well as how I’d like to flip my house later this year. We also talked about marketing topics such as Facebook advertising, pixels and retargeting, and optimizing conversions for Amazon affiliate links. We shared difficulties, how we were adapting, and things to look into to improve on certain areas we’re working on.
I always take away so much from our conversations. He provides tips and specific advice on how to break through any plateaus I’m hitting. He takes notes during our conversation and sends a follow up email reiterating what we covered and what tools I should check out.
I wanted to share a few takeaways I got from that conversation and email:
1. Track audience behaviors with heat maps using a service such as Hotjar.
I had sort of heard of this before but had never really looked into it. These tools show where actual users scroll to on your site and what is making them leave. He said that this might help me understand how to improve my landing page for my reselling course.
For specific tools, he has used Crazy Egg (the market leader) and Capturly, but has since switched to Hotjar as they have a free, basic plan available.
2. Check out The Brain Audit by Sean D’Souza.
According to the description, this book describes how the brain goes through decision making. Customers want to buy from us, but we need to put things in place so the customer feels happy to buy those things from us. It shows the information customers need in order to make a decision.
3. Listen to audiobooks for free with hoopla.
I just signed up for this today and already know I’m going to love it. With hoopla, you can instantly borrow digital movies, music, audiobooks, and more 24/7 with your library card. They have the good stuff, too. From a first glance at the business audiobooks, I’ve already seen titles of books that are highly recommended in the field, such as The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss or Gary V’s book, Crush It!
We talked about Audible and how it’s great to access all those books. However, the charges can add up quickly if you buy a few audiobooks. Filip said he’s saved hundreds of dollars by switching to hoopla. Like I’ve posted before, I’m developing my mindset and thoughts from “I can’t afford that” or “that’s expensive” to “how can I afford that?” or “it’s an investment.” I think it’s important to be able to spend money on true investments in ourselves. However, why not use a free resource if it’s legal and available?
4. Limit consumed content and focus on taking action.
Filip mentioned he’s taken a step back and stopped listening to so much audio content. He found that he was spending all his time consuming information but not enough time taking action.
I mentioned that I have noticed it’s easier to take action when you’re physically reading a book. You’re usually sitting at a desk or in a location where you’ve got pen and paper readily available. You’re able to write any notes down or jot down an exercise the book asks you to do. Most people tend to listen to audio content in the gym, while driving, etc. They’re usually busy and skip over any calls to action in the content.
Make sure to take action, this is something I always stress in my podcast as well (like I always say, “Less Dreaming, More Doing”). Perhaps try to implement a key idea or suggestion in each book or podcast episode you go through to make sure you’re putting what you learn into action.
KEY TAKEAWAY:
The main takeaway from my meeting with Filip this time around is that less is more. Really pick a few big things you want to work towards and focus on those. Be the best you can be at those. Do 3 things really well instead of doing 20 things okay. I’ve heard this before, but it was a great reminder. I can see when jotting down all the things I’m working on that I’ve got too much going on. Perhaps you’re like me, you’re trying everything and going down various rabbit holes to see what works and how you can add a passive income stream. However, I know I need to really stick to a few and do those very well. Filip is even selling the rest of his white label item to focus efforts more on real estate. Cut back on things that are no longer adding value to you. Take the learnings from that experience and apply them on your areas of focus to really excel.
Here’s what I’ve been working on. I’m focused on some more heavily than others, but I’ve taken away tons of learning from every experience.
Key focus areas:
Areas I’m experimenting in that I may need to step back from:
- Reading into real estate to flip properties
- Trying to sell phone cases on Amazon (not going so well…)
I’m still very focused on the Flexthetics Pro, but manufacturing delays and challenges have kind of has that area on the back burner until the supplier can get the plastic ejecting properly from the molds. While waiting on the supplier, I developed the Flipping course and wrote a book to teach others how I’ve successfully resold products for profit with consistency.
I also ordered a bunch of phone cases off Alibaba to try and sell on eBay or Amazon. I was aware that it’s a competitive area but now really am painfully aware. My listings have no reviews and probably are on page 80 of an Amazon search (exaggerating, but that’s what it feels like). Now, I’m just looking to sell the entire box in bulk to a cell phone accessory store and recoup my investment, which was relatively low at $250 for 100 cases. At least I got some practice ordering from China and having product ready to be fulfilled. I also know how to set up products on Amazon with a barcode and everything for the next product I try.
What are your key areas of focus? Jot down the top 3 things you need to get done, your biggest goals. Try to eliminate anything else that distracts you from those things and are not mission critical.
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Chris Bello
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