Having some success freelance copywriting and want to move into affiliate marketing.
Do you think lifting and gaining mass for ectomorphs is a niche worth pursuing or is it too narrow?
Thanks
That is probably too narrow, you could have it focused on “skinny people” in general
we don’t like the fitness market *long-term*, it usually dies rapidly in a downturn (and we mean near zero revenue). If you think you can still do it then it would be a fun hobby
Fitness niche is fine to pay bills in worse case scenarios
24 years old with 90k salary job ~ 75k net worth. Obviously have catching up to do. Creating first online business based on advice in efficiency and will have product in the market mid-April.
Not in stock market, but do have small amount in crypto which looked too attractive to pass up the first time it dropped to 3.5k in 2019.
Primary focus is on growing business, however what are your thoughts on cash-flow life insurance to allow for access to capital alongside investment growth? Should I still follow recommendation of no investments till a steady business is developed?
You don’t have enough money to make a dent, keep building your business (and working your day job if you have one)
worry about investments when you’re a millionaire (minimum) otherwise same old strategy of focusing on business income
Hi WSP Team – Thank you for providing your content. Wanted to ask about your preferred real estate route for residential space.
If my objective is low forced appreciation and stable cash flow, should I just focus on A and B neighborhood? C at the worst situation. Defining C as something you would live in under emergency (not exactly war zone yet).
If your goal is forced appreciation then you should find high-end areas (opinion). This is because those areas have “guaranteed” demand. If you fix a high-end area then you have to worry less about fixing something that may not rent out
I set up an Airbnb property mgt service 5 years ago. It went really well for 4 years but new Government regulations mean its unviable as a long term business.
Coupled with Covid19, (we have lost $70,000 in bookings in the last 10 days), I am in the process of evaluating all options.
I have $170,000 to pursue the next opportunity or invest and I am based in Europe.
If you were in my position, what would you do next?
That is awful and sorry to hear it. You could attempt to become a property manager in general? Since you already know how to do it, instead of doing short term can convert to helping people manage rentals. It’s not a bad business if you need to keep cash flows positive
After that look at new options.
In short, in a case where you need cash, instead of trying something brand new, find something similar to pay the bills and think with a clear head later on
Really appreciate that reply. I’ve got enormous value from all three books so thank you for putting them together.
It’s just part of a cycle and I’m viewing it as an opportunity to develop new income streams.
Instead of being dejected, I am excited by the new opportunities as its writing like yours that helps me avoid the herd/sheep mentality.
In the extreme short term, I spun up a company this week helping large companies put together internal podcasts to communicate with employees as they are now mostly forced to work from home in Ireland.
I have been doing my own podcast which is an interview-style with Irish entrepreneurs for the last year so I’ve developed new skills there that I will now apply to this.
Longer-term, I am putting together a plan to launch remote cabin holidays here in Ireland. Similar to what Getaway and Autocamp are doing over there. This would be doing fantastic business if I had them set up for the current insanity.
I demand tested my first big product to launch a few weeks ago (good results), placed the order last week, and had to cancel this week with everything that’s been going on w/ virus.
It’s an 8 week manufacturing timeline and it wouldn’t be too expensive to store in a warehouse or even in my apartment. My only concern is how long until people start spending decent amounts on nonessential products again (worst is my target market is older people closer to retirement).
Did I make the right choice cancelling the order?
Not sure why you had to cancel if you already had the sales? Just sell it and then have a longer delivery time (will be reasonable)
So unsure why you cancelled
no transactions yet – direct traffic to landing page then “oops sorry we’re out we’ll let you know when we’re back in stock for email address”
Yes you can do that or you can just tell them the shipment time? Again not sure why you had to cancel, people will be entirely fine seeing a short delay in this environment
Do a pre-sale.
Hey guys thanks for all your tweet updates recently!
I am currently in my first sales position making close to 60k selling phones at a carrier. I still haven’t figured out how to create a business from what I do at work unless it is phone repair. (which I just ordered parts to start learning..)
My question is,
1. In my below average city (no plan on moving yet.) What items do you guys suggest to get into for those “high ticket items”. I feel like there isn’t much tech around here. Just looking for some clarity on this…
2. Are there any other recommendations coming out of the cellphone sales industry that you would recommend for a career?
1) You should learn how to fix phones and do that on your spare time since your earnings are too low right now. This should push you up to $100K over time.
2) no idea what you mean by “high ticket” you just need to move from selling phones to a more expensive item. Tones of resumes and tons of attempts to switch
3) No idea what a good move would be, would transfer your sales skills online and do everything outlined in efficiency.
how did you scope your demand test? i know my audience segments really well (rich, new moms) but am not confident in how to scope the test in terms of budget, channel, and how long to run.
high margin product ($30 before factoring in CPA)
– What’s your framework for risk management for investment? Do you have a framework for a hard upper limit on how to derisk?
– What are the odds for 2nd wave COVID-19 this fall? I’m currently staying with roommates to cut cost but realize that they are all idiots who don’t understand what risk they are taking: Still Going out on weekends, non taking precaution to not infect people.
1) This is covered in spending for maximum return. We just keep it simple and do a 10-year CAGR on the stock market. If its well above normal (normal is 8%), then we shift assets into a completely different direction. We stop buying and simply switch to other assets (gold, cash etc.)
Other way to “de-risk” is to run low leverage or near nothing leverage when you think a downturn is coming
2) VERY HIGH. Right now it does not seem like it will be possible to prevent a Wave 2 but remember this is as of TODAY if information changes, our opinion will naturally change.
Hey guys, thanks for doing the q and a. Saw your tweet on zinc supplements. Can you expand more on that and also let us know if there’s a specific brand that you’re using.
In korea they have had success with lowering the negative impacts of COVID-19 with Zinc.
So it would be wise to add 50-100mg of zinc to daily vitamins. This is a good rule for all flu/sick seasons not just now.
The other product being used has negative health impacts so don’t bother with that unless you test positive
Is it going to be better to go into PE or stay in investment banking
(M&A) in the case of a recession?
No change same as our products suggest, go to M&A with a firm that has no capital markets business. You want to work for an elite boutique that focuses (almost entirely) on M&A.
PE is unclear given where we are in market cycle
Headed into a free M7 MBA program this fall, want to do M&A for Investment Banking after graduation for a few years…assuming banks are still hiring.
1- I want to invest a $100K in the next 6 months, how would you proceed in light of COVID-19?
2- How do you foresee starting a side-business online service, then product, model changing in the next 5 years?
Thanks, W
1) same answer we wouldn’t and would build an online business with it. Unless a millionaire all investing isn’t a good use of time. This is covered in triangle investing. $100K is not even a million dollars over the course of 20+ years, you should have more important things to do with your time than try to invest
2) It will change to a much more competitive environment. You have to create a product/service with extremely loyal people. Margins will be squeezed over the next 3-5 years (almost certain of this).
How can we spend to maximize return under these conditions?
Going out for nice dinners may become out of question if this continues. Was thinking about negotiating a good rate at Equinox and locking in now cause i’m sure they are hurting.
Any other specific/unique ideas? Aside from DCA into the market and BTC, maybe a good time to shop (suits etc..).
Not sure what you mean it is quite literally in the book. You can’t “maximize by day”. If this turns into a downturn, everything mentioned in there will be valid. When no one is allowed to spend there is no way to “maximize”. If you want something to buy today, the answer is just books on sales since that will help you for life
If you were following the past month, we already gave out what to do a month ago (stock up) and now… you’re waiting to scoop up things on a discount in a quarter or so
What investment banking groups will be best to join in a recession(product and coverage), or should I simply go for what my firm is known for(eg barclays power, baml levfin, jpm healthcare, gs fig)
Quite literally no change from the book. Only addition, is restructuring/recapitalizaion picks up in a downturn
Normal full time MBA or Executive MBA for me, to transition from military to IB? Worked in finance from 2010-2016 in wealth management and mid office risk, then joined military 2016. Thought MBA was the best bet to transition to front office IB, but had a consultant actually suggest EMBA since I graduated college 2009 so that’s longer than normal…not sure what I think about this advice. If I was 10 years straight at Goldman IB or something and was a VP or MD, ok sure, but that’s not my profile. FULLY get that MBA doesn’t equal instant success, but using it as a way to break into IB as an associate with career services and also to “buy” a network since it’s not as deep as I would like at this stage in the game.
This has been covered too many times in the past, just look at the standard Q&A section of the blog
Long story short, only get an MBA if it is free or near free and has to be a top school. Also must be full time to maximize chances of getting in due to recruiting cycle.
First of all, you guys nailed this (as usual) and will probably save a lot of lives getting the word out on preparing properly. So kudos and thanks!
Q: What societal/social shifts do you think will come out of this, or will we revert to the mean once it blows over? (optimist view)
Thinking home schooling, remote work, and less reliance on foreign nations for manufacturing will become more prominent.
It will depend on how long it lasts or how severe it gets. For example if it really dies in a couple of weeks, people will laugh about it and say it wasn’t a big deal.
If it ends up killing hundreds of thousands, then it could cause people to change their behavior and a decrease in major gatherings like huge concerts etc.
Honestly no way to know now, we have to wait and see how it plays out, just hope you stocked up for a few weeks and have a plan to read/learn in the meantime while business is at a standstill!
Ask us at the end of april or so and we’ll have an opinion. Although we probably will tweet it out anyway
1. How much cash to have out of the bank if shit hits the fan?
2. Will there be any exceptions to “no point investing until you’re rich” potentially coming up with the next economic downturn?
3. Do y’all take the time to vote, even if only to support the candidate you have wagered on?
1) Somewhere around $10,000 should be more than enough. If that’s a ton of money, then try to have $500 in a worst case scnario
2) No. You have to think long-term. Even if you “time the bottom” and get in with $50K. You lose long-term since that $50K was supposed to be used to build a business that generates hundreds of thousands per year forever…
3) We don’t vote period. If residency changes to a swing state we would vote
If I may follow up for fun, would you vote for the candidate you wagered money on (trump this year) or is your personal choice separated from your gambling process?
gambling is separate entirely, removes emotions, we don’t even know what the policies are
Recently came into around $4m. It was all in stock, sold all when there was a small bounce yesterday. I am obviously down YTD but initial investment is equal to what sold at. Am planning to put it all back into the S&P500 when it bottoms out as per your advice. Do you think this is wise? Looking long term as usual. Do you think there will many more dead cat bounces, or this will be the big drop next? Cheers!
That’s pretty aggressive, we would read triangle investing instead.
Figure out where you want to live first then come back, having 100% in the S&P 500 is not smart.
This is just my cash. I have property as well. Apart from crypto is this not the safest strategy for long term gain ? I live in London UK permanently.
You shouldn’t try to time the bottom. You should own a bit, own some gold, own everything if you’re already set
Read triangle investing and you’re done
Hey guys,
wanted to ask how you set up your whole structure with the money and private account vs. company. Do you leave money in the company and invest there, do you have a dedicated investment company or do you transfer to private and invest there? Company route seems better due to tax reasons but then obviously you have to either pay taxes if you pay yourself a wage from that money or pay taxes on full amount once transfered to private…
Thanks
Company route is the way to go when you hit a particular net worth target.
Generally, you want to put money under a company as soon as you get into the real estate game!
How has your workout regime changed as a result of the Coronavirus?
Already covered on blog, working out at home and cardio outside in the sun away from people
Recently discovered this site. I’m 27 with a negative net worth. What are some skills or things I should be doing during this upcoming recession to come out ahead financially.
You should learn sales, come back after you’ve read more on here. Efficiency answers everything… so sounds like you just bought it and haven’t read
Buy their book Spend.
I actually had my first job offer revoked out of college and couldn’t find a job for months + got fired from that first job less than a year in.
I inadvertently followed their advice in Spend – for the lowest NW tier of people – and am living in Manhattan now with several 6 fig NW in my 20s.
Good work, you made the right moves. Congrats and learned the lesson early. When the money hose is on save as much as you can
2nd year IB analyst up for promo with bonus time coming in July. I’m well positioned politically and a solid performer at the bank.
What should I expect in terms of bonus in IB and layoffs?
I know its tough to call, but in a downturn to bonuses go to 0, down 20%, 50%, 75% etc? And do juniors at my level get fired, or do they only get fired if they’re shit at their job. My guess would be Directors and VPs get the axe.
Thanks!
1) you could get a zero depends on the bank. You could lose at least 50% of the normal bonus. IF we do go into a recession just be happy to be employed (seriously it will get incredibly ugly quickly)
2) minimum is -50% as baseline and yes everyone can get “cut” just depends on who. Typically VPs are first to be fired
Makes sense, I don’t see how shit doesn’t fit the fan in this instance. Consumption falls off a cliff and all the knock on effects associated with it.
Is there anything I can do at this point to make sure I’m not axed or is it pretty much out of my control at this point and based on all the work and political capital I’ve build up to this point.
Nothing you can do, just show up early leave late. You want to hold on to all cash flows while you can. Keep expenses at zero. That’s all you can really do honestly
1. Looking for products to sell on a site via AdWords. Most likely wholesale/dropshipping. Rather than go straight into “anti aging skin cream” which is almost an assured failure due to over saturation and noob AdWords skills, I’m assuming it will be better to go niche, and niche of a niche would be even better. Example = “surgery scar removal skin cream for women” or something like that. Is that the right idea or should I go for the home run keywords?
2. What is the ideal minimum amount of searches per month when you combine all your target keywords for starting your first AdWords campaign?
3. If “saving” 50% of my income per guidelines in Spending book, how much of that “saving” should be allocated to side biz? I have 401k match maxed and ~6-12 months expenses covered in cash, plus some btc. With those stats, if I make $4,500/month after tax should I be putting $2,250 into trying to learn AdWords thru trial on my site each month on a run rate basis or should I be putting some of my $ into s&p index outside of 401k still?
1) This doesn’t even come close to what we recommended in the books? Go back and please re-read it. Also go into affiliate marketing first as it seems you’re running blind.
2) Same as above, you want to start with direct targeting… DO NOT GO IN BLIND
3) This is a scary post to be honest, you gotta re-read the book, go back on affiliate forums and avoid spending even one cent on “adwords”. You should not worry about stocks or investing until a millionaire
Glad you came in here not for the questions but to prevent you from losing thousands and thousands on day one.
Thanks appreciate it. To be clear, was not going to buy inventory but rather sell the best-selling products on Amazon for example – which is what I thought affiliate marketing was. If I’m off here, do you have any affiliate forum recommendation?
If I don’t spend money on Google Ads (sorry that’s what I meant by “AdWords” – it used to be called that), how will I ever learn it? I thought copywriting was one of the most advocated skills on this blog.
Thanks again for looking out.
The book has examples of where to find affiliate examples… Does not seem like you’ve done any research in this so again happy you came for the questions.
You have to learn the ad game as an affiliate for offers, amazon affiliate is nothing, affiliate is real sales of higher margin products like skin care/diet pills etc… Not amazon associates which is pennies
We never used forums but there are several if you google/look at the book/blog they are already on here
We’re not answering beyond that because you have to learn how to look and research now, this was a very big and dangerous mistake you almost made.
You must be making a killing in arbitrage, with the apparent liquidity crisis.
What’s happening in the back scenes of the financial system? Personally I’m only interested if there’s something structurally wrong with the banks, and likelyhood of inflation or deflation.
fitness for women a good niche during a downturn?
1) not sure? We left over 5 years ago. From our contacts that are there, basically trading volume is going crazy, no IPOs, no capital raising, tons of derivative bets and lots of people losing money (hedge funds etc.)
2) No, unless you can find a consumable product to sell long-term. All fitness trainers will be unemployed quickly
1. Do you only use paid ads / email to drive traffic to your site? Is SEO/Influencer Outreach not utilized?
2. Have you tried traditional direct mail with success?
1) only use paid ads now, organic is pretty much set with SEO
2) no we have not, can’t even tell what convert with good accuracy so waste of time
Tips how to attract third-party money for my new (first) fund please. Institutional and/or high net worth. How to
1.) identify the sources?
2.) get access?
3.) convince them to entrust me with the money?
Working in PE on investment side and considering to look into fundraising side just to learn the craft but clients are top tier whales. Don’t have ”high net worth/institutional” pedigree. Hence asking how to get funding with some ”street” solution which WSP tend to be pretty resourceful with. Aiming at say $100m.
Already have short but solid track record across various asset classes with own and small third party money.
Yeah we actually can’t help here. At that small of a level (no contacts) it’s almost impossible to raise money for investing type items without a decade of performance
We’d go reach out to someone who did it, this is definitely the wrong place for that question
How much do the company name and the domain name matter? For a clothing company, OK to add “apparel” to the domain name or best to keep it to just the brand name?
Struggling to find something that isn’t expensive/already taken. And if you’d answer one more, recommendations on where to go for logo design if outsourced?
Thanks as always, you guys are great.
All of this is very important the name must be easy to remember and illicit emotion
Yes you can oursource the logo
Currently in a wealth management role that sells tax/financial planning to HNW individuals. For someone who does well selling to this demographic, what are some other options out there for sales roles?
Thanks
We don’t know as we never worked in anything like that
Sales should be entirely transferable so as usual start an online business or get into real estate sales. In a recession or no recession the answer is always *always* the same.
Hi guys, couple questions please.
Have had a major shift in my life and business. Gone from working on small solo business to managing a construction project that leads to the opening of my next business.
Couple things need help with due to the amount of new information I’m having to learn and make decisions on.
1 – Have you guys tried speed reading, if so any tips?
2 – Tips on improving speed of final decision making when have multiple options in front of you?
1) have not, the more you read the faster you get at it
2) making decisions should be fast and swift generally choose the one that causes the most upfront pain
Are you familiar with the “infinite banking concept” using dividend paying whole life insurance policies and be willing to share your thoughts in a post or on Twitter?
No we are not, will google it and take a look
I had a wealth manager try and sell this to me. Looked into it and it didn’t make sense on a return profile.
Started reading your blog about a year ago and have taken actionable steps to follow your advice and path. Recently landed an top IBD analyst role which I will start in a couple of weeks (coming from dead end AM role). Also have built a website to sell my own product (no sales yet, though no advertising just yet). My question is now that I have a new role (and given I am slightly older than most new analysts) how should I allocate my time at the beginning to the job vs business? Of course I want to progress and do well so does it make sense to focus on the job more for first 6-8 months and dedicate time to the business a bit less? Will definitely reread your posts on networking and some of the books you recommended.
Yes you got it. You want to make a great first impression, so first 6-8 months max out performance.
Once you are seen as top tier, you then play the politics game to make sure you’re top bucket but working way less hours.
read all the blog posts/books and good to go
Niche situation any advice would be appreciated.
Father died and came in to inheritance at 24 yo. ~$5-6M USD. Based on advice from wealth manager, funds were placed in to tax efficient policy (long-term view).
Similar to another comment almost all of personal NW is in European and American markets. Portfolio took around ~20% loss with recent events.
1. Would you advise liquidating if markets recover in the short term? a) To re-invest at bottom b) Until situation is clearer
2. I was following your enterprise sales career advice to a tee. About 2 years in. Due to unique situation… (windfall received recently) would you recommend pivoting? Have been considering focusing on a biz and also investing…
Thanks in advance
No you are a trust fund baby. So you simply buy everything gold, stocks, bonds, real estate, cash. Make it as balanced as possible and never sell.
Don’t bother timing the market or any of that if you’re already rich at that age. Then find out what you want to do with life.
You’re done no need for any research or questions! Set for life.
Do you have any insight/commentary into ETF liquidity issues with the underlying assets? It seems many active managers poke at ETFs for not having proper liquidity measures in place.
Yes it will blow up if panic selling begins since its illiquid and people will not be able to “dollar cost average”
That one is clear as day, does it happen now? who knows. But we do know a 11% CAGR for the S&P for the last 10 years is ridiculously high so no point in adding here
1) Do you have a framework for finding a USP for a product? Eg I’ve found a new niche I want to go into. Have bought the top 7 products in the space. Tried them. But still Struggling to think of a way to copy the existing products but put my own spin on it. Maybe I just need to let it incubate a bit more but wanted to ask anyway.
2) Do you have a framework for coming up for fresh marketing angles if you have a product in saturated markets (eg skin)?
Thanks!
There is no way to help here, you have to find out where there is product overlap and then try to make something that does both or addresses an area where there is no product (ie. a hole in the market place)
For “fresh new angles” nothing is really new, you just have to sell it. So you’re not asking a question about products, you’re really asking for a new angle to sell them the same dream they were sold in the past. So we’d actually read sales books based on your questions, since you have a marketing/sales issue not a product idea issue
Makes sense – thanks !
WSP Oracles, first off thanks for making me look like a psychic to all my friends! Y’all are doing god’s work.
Question:
If some rich dude offered you $1 million to turn their slightly-above-average nephew into an online business juggernaut, what would you have them do? I’ve got enough passive income to live on and no day-job, got $50k cash, and I want to build something that scales. I’ve read your blog and all your books. And now I’m in my house for the next month.
My guess would be: read 5 copy and 5 sales books (done), and then just get in there and start trying shit. Would you hedge bets by learning any extra information, making more connections, etc? Or, is it all the same advice?
I know this is basic stuff but your advice seems usually targeted to side-hustles and I’ve got the time to give it more time and energy than most. I shall read and heed.
Thanks for all you do.
-From Cincy, OH
It sounds like you have it entirely right. The side hustles eventually scale to full time anyway. So not sure what you mean by that
If you create a product for say diet… then you could be making $5K a month or $500K a month… Never really know
So yeah nothing really changes based on your question, have to learn to sell and then find a niche after that! Same old… But realize people are probably going to see a lot of pain over the next 2-4 weeks, anticipate volume drop in a couple weeks
OK, learn to sell, find a niche, and probably terrible timing 😂
Seeing as you recommended selling to pain-points and there’s gonna be a lot of pain next 2-4 weeks, is there any hidden opportunity at this moment? Or do you think it might be better to start building something out for better times ahead?
There is always opportunity, you should find a niche and be prepared to launch in about 4 weeks. This is the first time in history you have a month to prepare with no real repercussions
You’ve alluded to gold. What % of your portfolio do you allocate to it?
3-5% not much, physical gold held though not paper
Hi, fresh college grad here. Currently role as eCommerce digital marketer(Facebook Ads) for the fast-growing agency. Basically get paid to learn how to grow eCommerce companies, fully remote, great boss and coworkers, and I enjoy working. Low rent(live in Tx)
– But salary is super low 40K base + 20K bonus. Can work up to 80k Base+ 20k bonus at the current company.
– Not sure should I aim for getting promoted or look for other opportunities?
– Trying to build an eCom business on the side. (job helps me be an expert in the field)
– Any suggestions on what to get into? Anything I am missing?
– According to your book “predicting actions and sales” is my strength. With a little bit of numerics( majored in engineering).
Thanks for your writing, super helpful for young clueless people.
Same story, have to find something to do on the side (fix watches, fix phones etc)
When income hits $100K, you can then scale up a side business
In the mean time always look for new job openings, but applying today is probably not going to work, so focus on the first two items.
All the markets are explained in efficiency (the big ones), based on your questions (very new) we’d go become an affiliate first
What percentage of salary do you allocate to SO, assuming throphy wife/stay at home wife, and how does it differ between income bracket discussed in spending?
? Not sure what this means we outlines the spending items in our book. So if you’re saving 50% doesn’t matter who is spending what. And if you’re rich already saving 20% is fine (again doesn’t matter who is spending what) that’s a personal choice
I want to create a B2B software startup since I am good at sales and software. Since that isn’t your area of expertise, can you point me to a similar blog/person that has content on the subject of creating software startups?
Unfortunately do not know, we would go on twitter and follow software people.
Don’t even know where to start (seriously) would help if we could but no idea on B2B software start ups
Industry leaders (founders/sales/product) post heavily on linkedin and twitter, just have to dig. Also Saastr.com
A small detail: You were pretty positive about garlic after some experiments based on a reader tip. Have you kept up with the habit?
Surprisingly it does work! It tastes awful though so use it from time to time to get a small boost
Garlic is great for your body but. terrible for your brain.Stay away from it unless you really need it.
agree
Thanks for being a voice of reason and source of actionable ideas in the craziness.
43, married w/ kids, hit my number (still ok after the 20% dip), no longer grind it out, just invest in angel and VC deals of my own.
Between management fees on small fund and dividends/interest I mostly cover the bills, but don’t have excess cash flow to invest.
Asset allocation is fairly balanced between stocks, bonds, cash, RE and crypto.
Question: the amount in cash and bonds is non-trivial. Would you change asset allocation and buy the small caps (as you’ve written before) when things get really ugly out there to juice net worth once everything recovers?
Or just don’t bother and go for a walk? LOL
Yes the small cap trade will work. Just don’t think the time is now, we’re still up 11% CAGR over past 10 years…
As always we will announce what we think on twitter and the blog. Also as usual, sometimes the answer is to do nothing and wait, like now.
35 year old, Secure government career.
$40,000 cash saved. No debt at all except for my condo that I own in the city (Toronto). My total monthly expenses (Mortgage, living, entertainment, pleasure) is approximately 2500 per month.
I am also able to save $2500 per month consistently every single month after taxes.
just started one online store, no sales yet.
What would you recommend I do to set myself up for profit in this upcoming recession, so that I have the best possible chance of shifting up a socioeconomic class level?
Thank you for all of your advise, Love everything that you guys do.
You’re doing the right thing, you have to find a way to learn how to sell.
Recessions are when companies are desperate for the top people, so if you can create a biz while at work, you’ll be set for life in 10 years
Thank you
In triangle investing you mention buying small caps when we’re in a factual recession. Whats your definition of factual recession? 2 quarters of negative GDP?
If you had to use an exchange to buy crypto (I know it’s not preferred) do you still recommend Bittrex or GDAX over the others?
1) recessions are confirmed in backward looking fashion, we use the same metric in this comments section and the blog, when the 10-year CAGR is below the normal average of 7-8%. We will announce when we think it has bottomed but if the CAGR is below 7-8% its okay to buy over the long-term
2) No clue, we’re not even following exchanges anymore, just choose the one with the smallest fees. Sounds like binance based on twitter
Follow up question if I may… (bought all three products)
Any particular reason to prefer 10 year CAGR vs longer timeframes? CAGR for SP500 since March 2000 is 6.5%, which is below a long term average.
Because cycles are typically 10 years. 20 years is two full cycles so should be about 6-8%
If not account for inflation, the 20-year return is just 6% from begin 2000 – end 2019, and now (Mar 2020) we hit a even lower number?
Unexpectedly let go by firm prior to bonuses being announced without clear reasoning or prior warning – understand that firm acted illegally. Is it worth pursuing legal angle and seeking potential compensation or would doing so complicate finding a new role? Should energy be solely focused on moving on and finding a new role as soon as possible? Have not been in a similar situation before
Definitely speak with a lawyer yes it is worth it to litigate if done illegally.
I hope you are doing well. Thanks for the QnA.
1) What chance do you give it to go into a recession and within how much time?
To me, it seems impossible to avoid a recession with such huge damages in travel, hospitality, events etc
2) Do you expect the SP to go around 1500 before you start buying?
3) What’s the end game for the covid? I mean ok let’s say we all limit contact etc, after that what? We start going back to our daily lives and hope it has kissed us goodbye?
Best of luck!
1) very high, we think within 6-12 months impacts seen (current view based on current data)
2) somewhere around 2,100 it looks interesting again, this is fluid (but easily down to 2017 levels is reasonable)
3) end game is that we still don’t know. High belief it comes back again end of year. So not sure what to say, we have to watch it and monitor just be smart and stock up + stay liquid don’t lever up
All the gyms are closing around where I live. What exercises or routine do you recommend for me to keep my muscle mass since this might go on for months? Don’t want to lose the fitness gains & get out of shape. Thank you
Work out outside, go for a run (avoid people), sit ups, pushups till failure, pull ups till failure and sprints.
That’s all you have to work with and should be good enough. Also go ahead and order some dumbbells you just need two heavy dumbbells to do squats outside and you’re set.
Get some of the belt style (not tube) resistance bands with door anchor.
Can get a set of 5 on Amazon for $40.
Allows you to do full, heavy workouts anywhere. This is what I’ve switched to since I can’t have a home gym in my apartment.
Could also get the Bowflex dumbells that are adjustable up to 95lbs… Use to have those but honestly love the bands right now.
A door frame pull up bar is a good investment as well.
I am a trust fund baby.
I have at least $1M+ in assets currently in the stock market that my parents/grandparents are in control of – maybe more.
You mentioned you believe people like me should start a business and read How To Get Rich.
I assume the advice is basically to start an online business, learn marketing/sales? Anything else?
Does it make any sense whatsoever to get a job for the social element? Does it make sense to get a job for the fact of “feeling like I earned it on my own”?
No there is no point for the social element. Everyone at work will hate you and your co-workers are not your friends.
If you are already set for life, you should take $50K and start a biz asap. Never touch the money you need to survive and eventually try to make it on your own.
Just don’t be stupid and bet everything, only bet what you can lose while remaining rich forever. Congrats!
Hi,
I am in my mid 30s due to corona my industry is tanking and I am looking at a 10 year career struggle to reach an acceptable income. For the next 1-3 years 30K a year, year 3-7 50-100k, year 7-10 150-200k.
My net worth is 0 so I wouldn’t be able to pay for ads to start an e-commerce biz as outlined in your book. The only other thing I have going is knowledge in the porn industry, I see potential to make money. But I don’t like being associated with it.
What other option would you suggest?
Thank you
You should learn a basic time for money exchange task. Fixing iphones, go learn a trade, sales etc.
You have to find something (anything) that just keeps the lights on. You can translate languages online if you’re bilingual, go on Fiverr and gig economy type work sites and figure out if you can do any of those.
Once you find one you can do, create a niche time for money exchange there and use that to pay bills
Forget starting a biz (as mentioned) ads are worthless right now, so you’re better off finding a time for money exchange for now
29
I work as a freelancer with occasional outsourcing.
Very minimal passive money from the ‘biz’. Mostly selling time at this point.
I’ve spent most of my cash on biz consulting as I was not happy with the results.
I changed my offers and unfortunately, it’s not working (0 new sales with new offer) properly 2 months in.
It’s about helping ecomm stores but it’s less direct ROI help (like ads) and more customer service (which is still a big pain to the right shops…)
So now, I’m quite low on cash and biz is not effective enough.
A) Someone told me to switch to ads with local clients as it’s easy to bring them results (ecomm more sophisticated market). I haven’t run FB ads for years, and my first affiliate experiences didn’t work out that well (also not the most creative type)
B) stay with ecom and maybe tweak my offer/messaging and hope I’ll have a breakthrough soon.
Now both can take a bit of time, and I’d need income in the meantime.
1) I could stay a bit broader with my skills for now for cash and keep offering lower-priced services till I figure either A or B out.
2) Or try to get a sales job (not in the states, would be a remote one to sell online high-ticket) in an area less affected by potential crisis and do A or B on the side.
I think there are some fundamental issues for not running my biz properly and not getting more successful by now, but hard to see other ways as of now outside the marketing world even if ‘untalented/with limiting beliefs’.
What would you do?
See above 1) don’t run ads in this environment thats just going to lose money. 2) cut all costs to zero. 3) wait when it normalizes try to test it again.
Yes you should be working any sort of job/career to keep the lights on doesn’t need to be millions, just anything that pays living expenses.
Definitely freelance and time for money exchange for now.
Ok thanks!
Just to clarify as you mentioned both career and the freelance biz (partly agency).
Would you get a job AND keep on working on the freelance side?
My other option was to just stay with freelance and try to get better to make it a real biz/bring more cash in without getting a job. Still brings in enough to cover things but not that good right now…
If one of them allows you to save (20% or more) then that’s enough and you can look at other higher risk ideas.
We don’t know your financial situation that well.
In short, decide “what is the safest way to never worry about bills” once you’re sure on that one go ahead and dedicate extra time to a biz
Same story, no different in a recession or bull market. It is just harder in a recession
with Youtube/Instagram/FB customer acquisition costs rising so fast that DTC e-comms are having a tough time keeping up, what are your recommendations for running a ‘Demand Check’?
specifically, for a high-end (high-margin) consumable product aimed at moms, how much time/money/traffic sample size should i expect to have to spend to know i’ve got Product-Market Fit?
i have a great product and excellent storefront, but i’m worried that even with well-defined audience segmentation i won’t be able to nail the Demand Check with confidence one way or the other.
have been looking everywhere and can’t find a good guide to running a proper Demand Check as recommended in “Money Making Machine”.
You should honestly wait. Give it a full month or so. Testing demand now unless you’re in a particular industry booming due to this (healthcare, food, medical supplies etc). Is just a waste of time
When markets normalize (not seeing daily swings of 5%) then you can go ahead and demand test it, and have a blank check out that says “out of stock” and see your ROI
You’re right at more than 2x increase in acquisition cost it doesn’t make any sense at all today.
K, but assuming I run in 4 months from now (or whenever it’s “normal” again), setting aside audience segmentation (which again i feel good about) what are the parameters I should use?
say i have $5k set aside for the check and want to run some simple Instagram ads…how will i know if my CPA test is valid or not?
Same answer, when they go to check out have “oops out of supply” and then figure out what your conversion is.
If it isn’t profitable it didnt work
6Y into career in sector-specific PE, soon to be VP, started from analyst at the same place, rated above average although was better couple years ago, politically ok with top dogs less so with line manager.
Assuming there will be cuts, any suggestion on how to minimise the chances of being selected?
Thanks
There is no special move, you just have to be a top performer and see where the chips fall. If you’re in the top bucket you should be safe unless the company goes under
My question is in regards to starting a business.
I am in a pretty good spot at 25:
Student loans paid off
Some money to invest, roughly $20k
Sales career is going well
My question is how to determine if you are good enough to enter a business on top of your day job.
For instance, I am a good writer, but I am not GREAT. I would pale in comparison to copywriters who have thrived for years.
This obviously leads many to lose their money and close shop.
Would it be better to jump into an area I am just good and accept the bumps or stick to maxing out sales for now?
You will never know if you’re good enough until you try.
Just ask yourself if you have 30-40 hours to spend on the side biz, if you do then go ahead and try
This seems to be a psychological issue and not really a “question”. Take a low risk way of testing your skills and put 110% effort into it. That’ll tell you where your skills are so worst case you learn something and a few dollars. Just don’t be stupid and lever up. Stay low up front cost at this time.
31 making 200/yr salary. I have exposure to gold, crypto, and real estate. My only equity exposure is in company matched 401 (~40k).
So far my online attempts have only resulted in low 100’s/ month, very passive.
I have half a mil in cash. I have been wanting to allocate 20-40% to equities but couldn’t bring myself to buy with an inflated market.
My plan was to DCA in during next slow down. From the posts above it sounds like you don’t quite think we are at that point?
I am not looking to time the market, just looking to get exposure to stocks at a decent entry. Also planning to allocate some to the small cap trade from Triangle if things get that low.
I plan to use the rest of the money on real estate and business.
Does this seem reasonable to you? Any suggestions? Thank you.
Yes this appears to be reasonable. Again based on comments and posts just do the CAGR calculation on 10-years and use that as a proxy for S&P
In terms of housing that’s tougher, depends on GEO etc. If the area is hit (maybe you live in texas), you’ll have a great shot at a cheap place to live.
Stay steady, keep your income up and then try to time the housing dip that’s the move in your situation (Spending actually highlights this strategy!)
Having some success freelance copywriting and want to move into affiliate marketing.
Do you think lifting and gaining mass for ectomorphs is a niche worth pursuing or is it too narrow?
Thanks
That is probably too narrow, you could have it focused on “skinny people” in general
we don’t like the fitness market *long-term*, it usually dies rapidly in a downturn (and we mean near zero revenue). If you think you can still do it then it would be a fun hobby
Fitness niche is fine to pay bills in worse case scenarios
24 years old with 90k salary job ~ 75k net worth. Obviously have catching up to do. Creating first online business based on advice in efficiency and will have product in the market mid-April.
Not in stock market, but do have small amount in crypto which looked too attractive to pass up the first time it dropped to 3.5k in 2019.
Primary focus is on growing business, however what are your thoughts on cash-flow life insurance to allow for access to capital alongside investment growth? Should I still follow recommendation of no investments till a steady business is developed?
You don’t have enough money to make a dent, keep building your business (and working your day job if you have one)
worry about investments when you’re a millionaire (minimum) otherwise same old strategy of focusing on business income
Hi WSP Team – Thank you for providing your content. Wanted to ask about your preferred real estate route for residential space.
If my objective is low forced appreciation and stable cash flow, should I just focus on A and B neighborhood? C at the worst situation. Defining C as something you would live in under emergency (not exactly war zone yet).
If your goal is forced appreciation then you should find high-end areas (opinion). This is because those areas have “guaranteed” demand. If you fix a high-end area then you have to worry less about fixing something that may not rent out
I set up an Airbnb property mgt service 5 years ago. It went really well for 4 years but new Government regulations mean its unviable as a long term business.
Coupled with Covid19, (we have lost $70,000 in bookings in the last 10 days), I am in the process of evaluating all options.
I have $170,000 to pursue the next opportunity or invest and I am based in Europe.
If you were in my position, what would you do next?
That is awful and sorry to hear it. You could attempt to become a property manager in general? Since you already know how to do it, instead of doing short term can convert to helping people manage rentals. It’s not a bad business if you need to keep cash flows positive
After that look at new options.
In short, in a case where you need cash, instead of trying something brand new, find something similar to pay the bills and think with a clear head later on
Really appreciate that reply. I’ve got enormous value from all three books so thank you for putting them together.
It’s just part of a cycle and I’m viewing it as an opportunity to develop new income streams.
Instead of being dejected, I am excited by the new opportunities as its writing like yours that helps me avoid the herd/sheep mentality.
In the extreme short term, I spun up a company this week helping large companies put together internal podcasts to communicate with employees as they are now mostly forced to work from home in Ireland.
I have been doing my own podcast which is an interview-style with Irish entrepreneurs for the last year so I’ve developed new skills there that I will now apply to this.
Longer-term, I am putting together a plan to launch remote cabin holidays here in Ireland. Similar to what Getaway and Autocamp are doing over there. This would be doing fantastic business if I had them set up for the current insanity.
I demand tested my first big product to launch a few weeks ago (good results), placed the order last week, and had to cancel this week with everything that’s been going on w/ virus.
It’s an 8 week manufacturing timeline and it wouldn’t be too expensive to store in a warehouse or even in my apartment. My only concern is how long until people start spending decent amounts on nonessential products again (worst is my target market is older people closer to retirement).
Did I make the right choice cancelling the order?
Not sure why you had to cancel if you already had the sales? Just sell it and then have a longer delivery time (will be reasonable)
So unsure why you cancelled
no transactions yet – direct traffic to landing page then “oops sorry we’re out we’ll let you know when we’re back in stock for email address”
Yes you can do that or you can just tell them the shipment time? Again not sure why you had to cancel, people will be entirely fine seeing a short delay in this environment
Do a pre-sale.
Hey guys thanks for all your tweet updates recently!
I am currently in my first sales position making close to 60k selling phones at a carrier. I still haven’t figured out how to create a business from what I do at work unless it is phone repair. (which I just ordered parts to start learning..)
My question is,
1. In my below average city (no plan on moving yet.) What items do you guys suggest to get into for those “high ticket items”. I feel like there isn’t much tech around here. Just looking for some clarity on this…
2. Are there any other recommendations coming out of the cellphone sales industry that you would recommend for a career?
1) You should learn how to fix phones and do that on your spare time since your earnings are too low right now. This should push you up to $100K over time.
2) no idea what you mean by “high ticket” you just need to move from selling phones to a more expensive item. Tones of resumes and tons of attempts to switch
3) No idea what a good move would be, would transfer your sales skills online and do everything outlined in efficiency.
how did you scope your demand test? i know my audience segments really well (rich, new moms) but am not confident in how to scope the test in terms of budget, channel, and how long to run.
high margin product ($30 before factoring in CPA)
– What’s your framework for risk management for investment? Do you have a framework for a hard upper limit on how to derisk?
– What are the odds for 2nd wave COVID-19 this fall? I’m currently staying with roommates to cut cost but realize that they are all idiots who don’t understand what risk they are taking: Still Going out on weekends, non taking precaution to not infect people.
1) This is covered in spending for maximum return. We just keep it simple and do a 10-year CAGR on the stock market. If its well above normal (normal is 8%), then we shift assets into a completely different direction. We stop buying and simply switch to other assets (gold, cash etc.)
Other way to “de-risk” is to run low leverage or near nothing leverage when you think a downturn is coming
2) VERY HIGH. Right now it does not seem like it will be possible to prevent a Wave 2 but remember this is as of TODAY if information changes, our opinion will naturally change.
Hey guys, thanks for doing the q and a. Saw your tweet on zinc supplements. Can you expand more on that and also let us know if there’s a specific brand that you’re using.
In korea they have had success with lowering the negative impacts of COVID-19 with Zinc.
So it would be wise to add 50-100mg of zinc to daily vitamins. This is a good rule for all flu/sick seasons not just now.
The other product being used has negative health impacts so don’t bother with that unless you test positive
Is it going to be better to go into PE or stay in investment banking
(M&A) in the case of a recession?
No change same as our products suggest, go to M&A with a firm that has no capital markets business. You want to work for an elite boutique that focuses (almost entirely) on M&A.
PE is unclear given where we are in market cycle
Headed into a free M7 MBA program this fall, want to do M&A for Investment Banking after graduation for a few years…assuming banks are still hiring.
1- I want to invest a $100K in the next 6 months, how would you proceed in light of COVID-19?
2- How do you foresee starting a side-business online service, then product, model changing in the next 5 years?
Thanks, W
1) same answer we wouldn’t and would build an online business with it. Unless a millionaire all investing isn’t a good use of time. This is covered in triangle investing. $100K is not even a million dollars over the course of 20+ years, you should have more important things to do with your time than try to invest
2) It will change to a much more competitive environment. You have to create a product/service with extremely loyal people. Margins will be squeezed over the next 3-5 years (almost certain of this).
How can we spend to maximize return under these conditions?
Going out for nice dinners may become out of question if this continues. Was thinking about negotiating a good rate at Equinox and locking in now cause i’m sure they are hurting.
Any other specific/unique ideas? Aside from DCA into the market and BTC, maybe a good time to shop (suits etc..).
Not sure what you mean it is quite literally in the book. You can’t “maximize by day”. If this turns into a downturn, everything mentioned in there will be valid. When no one is allowed to spend there is no way to “maximize”. If you want something to buy today, the answer is just books on sales since that will help you for life
If you were following the past month, we already gave out what to do a month ago (stock up) and now… you’re waiting to scoop up things on a discount in a quarter or so
What investment banking groups will be best to join in a recession(product and coverage), or should I simply go for what my firm is known for(eg barclays power, baml levfin, jpm healthcare, gs fig)
Quite literally no change from the book. Only addition, is restructuring/recapitalizaion picks up in a downturn
Normal full time MBA or Executive MBA for me, to transition from military to IB? Worked in finance from 2010-2016 in wealth management and mid office risk, then joined military 2016. Thought MBA was the best bet to transition to front office IB, but had a consultant actually suggest EMBA since I graduated college 2009 so that’s longer than normal…not sure what I think about this advice. If I was 10 years straight at Goldman IB or something and was a VP or MD, ok sure, but that’s not my profile. FULLY get that MBA doesn’t equal instant success, but using it as a way to break into IB as an associate with career services and also to “buy” a network since it’s not as deep as I would like at this stage in the game.
This has been covered too many times in the past, just look at the standard Q&A section of the blog
Long story short, only get an MBA if it is free or near free and has to be a top school. Also must be full time to maximize chances of getting in due to recruiting cycle.
First of all, you guys nailed this (as usual) and will probably save a lot of lives getting the word out on preparing properly. So kudos and thanks!
Q: What societal/social shifts do you think will come out of this, or will we revert to the mean once it blows over? (optimist view)
Thinking home schooling, remote work, and less reliance on foreign nations for manufacturing will become more prominent.
It will depend on how long it lasts or how severe it gets. For example if it really dies in a couple of weeks, people will laugh about it and say it wasn’t a big deal.
If it ends up killing hundreds of thousands, then it could cause people to change their behavior and a decrease in major gatherings like huge concerts etc.
Honestly no way to know now, we have to wait and see how it plays out, just hope you stocked up for a few weeks and have a plan to read/learn in the meantime while business is at a standstill!
Ask us at the end of april or so and we’ll have an opinion. Although we probably will tweet it out anyway
1. How much cash to have out of the bank if shit hits the fan?
2. Will there be any exceptions to “no point investing until you’re rich” potentially coming up with the next economic downturn?
3. Do y’all take the time to vote, even if only to support the candidate you have wagered on?
1) Somewhere around $10,000 should be more than enough. If that’s a ton of money, then try to have $500 in a worst case scnario
2) No. You have to think long-term. Even if you “time the bottom” and get in with $50K. You lose long-term since that $50K was supposed to be used to build a business that generates hundreds of thousands per year forever…
3) We don’t vote period. If residency changes to a swing state we would vote
If I may follow up for fun, would you vote for the candidate you wagered money on (trump this year) or is your personal choice separated from your gambling process?
gambling is separate entirely, removes emotions, we don’t even know what the policies are
Recently came into around $4m. It was all in stock, sold all when there was a small bounce yesterday. I am obviously down YTD but initial investment is equal to what sold at. Am planning to put it all back into the S&P500 when it bottoms out as per your advice. Do you think this is wise? Looking long term as usual. Do you think there will many more dead cat bounces, or this will be the big drop next? Cheers!
That’s pretty aggressive, we would read triangle investing instead.
Figure out where you want to live first then come back, having 100% in the S&P 500 is not smart.
This is just my cash. I have property as well. Apart from crypto is this not the safest strategy for long term gain ? I live in London UK permanently.
You shouldn’t try to time the bottom. You should own a bit, own some gold, own everything if you’re already set
Read triangle investing and you’re done
Hey guys,
wanted to ask how you set up your whole structure with the money and private account vs. company. Do you leave money in the company and invest there, do you have a dedicated investment company or do you transfer to private and invest there? Company route seems better due to tax reasons but then obviously you have to either pay taxes if you pay yourself a wage from that money or pay taxes on full amount once transfered to private…
Thanks
Company route is the way to go when you hit a particular net worth target.
Generally, you want to put money under a company as soon as you get into the real estate game!
How has your workout regime changed as a result of the Coronavirus?
Already covered on blog, working out at home and cardio outside in the sun away from people
Recently discovered this site. I’m 27 with a negative net worth. What are some skills or things I should be doing during this upcoming recession to come out ahead financially.
You should learn sales, come back after you’ve read more on here. Efficiency answers everything… so sounds like you just bought it and haven’t read
Buy their book Spend.
I actually had my first job offer revoked out of college and couldn’t find a job for months + got fired from that first job less than a year in.
I inadvertently followed their advice in Spend – for the lowest NW tier of people – and am living in Manhattan now with several 6 fig NW in my 20s.
Good work, you made the right moves. Congrats and learned the lesson early. When the money hose is on save as much as you can
2nd year IB analyst up for promo with bonus time coming in July. I’m well positioned politically and a solid performer at the bank.
What should I expect in terms of bonus in IB and layoffs?
I know its tough to call, but in a downturn to bonuses go to 0, down 20%, 50%, 75% etc? And do juniors at my level get fired, or do they only get fired if they’re shit at their job. My guess would be Directors and VPs get the axe.
Thanks!
1) you could get a zero depends on the bank. You could lose at least 50% of the normal bonus. IF we do go into a recession just be happy to be employed (seriously it will get incredibly ugly quickly)
2) minimum is -50% as baseline and yes everyone can get “cut” just depends on who. Typically VPs are first to be fired
Makes sense, I don’t see how shit doesn’t fit the fan in this instance. Consumption falls off a cliff and all the knock on effects associated with it.
Is there anything I can do at this point to make sure I’m not axed or is it pretty much out of my control at this point and based on all the work and political capital I’ve build up to this point.
Nothing you can do, just show up early leave late. You want to hold on to all cash flows while you can. Keep expenses at zero. That’s all you can really do honestly
1. Looking for products to sell on a site via AdWords. Most likely wholesale/dropshipping. Rather than go straight into “anti aging skin cream” which is almost an assured failure due to over saturation and noob AdWords skills, I’m assuming it will be better to go niche, and niche of a niche would be even better. Example = “surgery scar removal skin cream for women” or something like that. Is that the right idea or should I go for the home run keywords?
2. What is the ideal minimum amount of searches per month when you combine all your target keywords for starting your first AdWords campaign?
3. If “saving” 50% of my income per guidelines in Spending book, how much of that “saving” should be allocated to side biz? I have 401k match maxed and ~6-12 months expenses covered in cash, plus some btc. With those stats, if I make $4,500/month after tax should I be putting $2,250 into trying to learn AdWords thru trial on my site each month on a run rate basis or should I be putting some of my $ into s&p index outside of 401k still?
1) This doesn’t even come close to what we recommended in the books? Go back and please re-read it. Also go into affiliate marketing first as it seems you’re running blind.
2) Same as above, you want to start with direct targeting… DO NOT GO IN BLIND
3) This is a scary post to be honest, you gotta re-read the book, go back on affiliate forums and avoid spending even one cent on “adwords”. You should not worry about stocks or investing until a millionaire
Glad you came in here not for the questions but to prevent you from losing thousands and thousands on day one.
Thanks appreciate it. To be clear, was not going to buy inventory but rather sell the best-selling products on Amazon for example – which is what I thought affiliate marketing was. If I’m off here, do you have any affiliate forum recommendation?
If I don’t spend money on Google Ads (sorry that’s what I meant by “AdWords” – it used to be called that), how will I ever learn it? I thought copywriting was one of the most advocated skills on this blog.
Thanks again for looking out.
The book has examples of where to find affiliate examples… Does not seem like you’ve done any research in this so again happy you came for the questions.
You have to learn the ad game as an affiliate for offers, amazon affiliate is nothing, affiliate is real sales of higher margin products like skin care/diet pills etc… Not amazon associates which is pennies
We never used forums but there are several if you google/look at the book/blog they are already on here
We’re not answering beyond that because you have to learn how to look and research now, this was a very big and dangerous mistake you almost made.
You must be making a killing in arbitrage, with the apparent liquidity crisis.
What’s happening in the back scenes of the financial system? Personally I’m only interested if there’s something structurally wrong with the banks, and likelyhood of inflation or deflation.
fitness for women a good niche during a downturn?
1) not sure? We left over 5 years ago. From our contacts that are there, basically trading volume is going crazy, no IPOs, no capital raising, tons of derivative bets and lots of people losing money (hedge funds etc.)
2) No, unless you can find a consumable product to sell long-term. All fitness trainers will be unemployed quickly
1. Do you only use paid ads / email to drive traffic to your site? Is SEO/Influencer Outreach not utilized?
2. Have you tried traditional direct mail with success?
1) only use paid ads now, organic is pretty much set with SEO
2) no we have not, can’t even tell what convert with good accuracy so waste of time
Tips how to attract third-party money for my new (first) fund please. Institutional and/or high net worth. How to
1.) identify the sources?
2.) get access?
3.) convince them to entrust me with the money?
Working in PE on investment side and considering to look into fundraising side just to learn the craft but clients are top tier whales. Don’t have ”high net worth/institutional” pedigree. Hence asking how to get funding with some ”street” solution which WSP tend to be pretty resourceful with. Aiming at say $100m.
Already have short but solid track record across various asset classes with own and small third party money.
Yeah we actually can’t help here. At that small of a level (no contacts) it’s almost impossible to raise money for investing type items without a decade of performance
We’d go reach out to someone who did it, this is definitely the wrong place for that question
How much do the company name and the domain name matter? For a clothing company, OK to add “apparel” to the domain name or best to keep it to just the brand name?
Struggling to find something that isn’t expensive/already taken. And if you’d answer one more, recommendations on where to go for logo design if outsourced?
Thanks as always, you guys are great.
All of this is very important the name must be easy to remember and illicit emotion
Yes you can oursource the logo
Currently in a wealth management role that sells tax/financial planning to HNW individuals. For someone who does well selling to this demographic, what are some other options out there for sales roles?
Thanks
We don’t know as we never worked in anything like that
Sales should be entirely transferable so as usual start an online business or get into real estate sales. In a recession or no recession the answer is always *always* the same.
Hi guys, couple questions please.
Have had a major shift in my life and business. Gone from working on small solo business to managing a construction project that leads to the opening of my next business.
Couple things need help with due to the amount of new information I’m having to learn and make decisions on.
1 – Have you guys tried speed reading, if so any tips?
2 – Tips on improving speed of final decision making when have multiple options in front of you?
1) have not, the more you read the faster you get at it
2) making decisions should be fast and swift generally choose the one that causes the most upfront pain
Are you familiar with the “infinite banking concept” using dividend paying whole life insurance policies and be willing to share your thoughts in a post or on Twitter?
No we are not, will google it and take a look
I had a wealth manager try and sell this to me. Looked into it and it didn’t make sense on a return profile.
Started reading your blog about a year ago and have taken actionable steps to follow your advice and path. Recently landed an top IBD analyst role which I will start in a couple of weeks (coming from dead end AM role). Also have built a website to sell my own product (no sales yet, though no advertising just yet). My question is now that I have a new role (and given I am slightly older than most new analysts) how should I allocate my time at the beginning to the job vs business? Of course I want to progress and do well so does it make sense to focus on the job more for first 6-8 months and dedicate time to the business a bit less? Will definitely reread your posts on networking and some of the books you recommended.
Yes you got it. You want to make a great first impression, so first 6-8 months max out performance.
Once you are seen as top tier, you then play the politics game to make sure you’re top bucket but working way less hours.
read all the blog posts/books and good to go
Niche situation any advice would be appreciated.
Father died and came in to inheritance at 24 yo. ~$5-6M USD. Based on advice from wealth manager, funds were placed in to tax efficient policy (long-term view).
Similar to another comment almost all of personal NW is in European and American markets. Portfolio took around ~20% loss with recent events.
1. Would you advise liquidating if markets recover in the short term? a) To re-invest at bottom b) Until situation is clearer
2. I was following your enterprise sales career advice to a tee. About 2 years in. Due to unique situation… (windfall received recently) would you recommend pivoting? Have been considering focusing on a biz and also investing…
Thanks in advance
No you are a trust fund baby. So you simply buy everything gold, stocks, bonds, real estate, cash. Make it as balanced as possible and never sell.
Don’t bother timing the market or any of that if you’re already rich at that age. Then find out what you want to do with life.
You’re done no need for any research or questions! Set for life.
Do you have any insight/commentary into ETF liquidity issues with the underlying assets? It seems many active managers poke at ETFs for not having proper liquidity measures in place.
Yes it will blow up if panic selling begins since its illiquid and people will not be able to “dollar cost average”
That one is clear as day, does it happen now? who knows. But we do know a 11% CAGR for the S&P for the last 10 years is ridiculously high so no point in adding here
1) Do you have a framework for finding a USP for a product? Eg I’ve found a new niche I want to go into. Have bought the top 7 products in the space. Tried them. But still Struggling to think of a way to copy the existing products but put my own spin on it. Maybe I just need to let it incubate a bit more but wanted to ask anyway.
2) Do you have a framework for coming up for fresh marketing angles if you have a product in saturated markets (eg skin)?
Thanks!
There is no way to help here, you have to find out where there is product overlap and then try to make something that does both or addresses an area where there is no product (ie. a hole in the market place)
For “fresh new angles” nothing is really new, you just have to sell it. So you’re not asking a question about products, you’re really asking for a new angle to sell them the same dream they were sold in the past. So we’d actually read sales books based on your questions, since you have a marketing/sales issue not a product idea issue
Makes sense – thanks !
WSP Oracles, first off thanks for making me look like a psychic to all my friends! Y’all are doing god’s work.
Question:
If some rich dude offered you $1 million to turn their slightly-above-average nephew into an online business juggernaut, what would you have them do? I’ve got enough passive income to live on and no day-job, got $50k cash, and I want to build something that scales. I’ve read your blog and all your books. And now I’m in my house for the next month.
My guess would be: read 5 copy and 5 sales books (done), and then just get in there and start trying shit. Would you hedge bets by learning any extra information, making more connections, etc? Or, is it all the same advice?
I know this is basic stuff but your advice seems usually targeted to side-hustles and I’ve got the time to give it more time and energy than most. I shall read and heed.
Thanks for all you do.
-From Cincy, OH
It sounds like you have it entirely right. The side hustles eventually scale to full time anyway. So not sure what you mean by that
If you create a product for say diet… then you could be making $5K a month or $500K a month… Never really know
So yeah nothing really changes based on your question, have to learn to sell and then find a niche after that! Same old… But realize people are probably going to see a lot of pain over the next 2-4 weeks, anticipate volume drop in a couple weeks
OK, learn to sell, find a niche, and probably terrible timing 😂
Seeing as you recommended selling to pain-points and there’s gonna be a lot of pain next 2-4 weeks, is there any hidden opportunity at this moment? Or do you think it might be better to start building something out for better times ahead?
There is always opportunity, you should find a niche and be prepared to launch in about 4 weeks. This is the first time in history you have a month to prepare with no real repercussions
You’ve alluded to gold. What % of your portfolio do you allocate to it?
3-5% not much, physical gold held though not paper
Hi, fresh college grad here. Currently role as eCommerce digital marketer(Facebook Ads) for the fast-growing agency. Basically get paid to learn how to grow eCommerce companies, fully remote, great boss and coworkers, and I enjoy working. Low rent(live in Tx)
– But salary is super low 40K base + 20K bonus. Can work up to 80k Base+ 20k bonus at the current company.
– Not sure should I aim for getting promoted or look for other opportunities?
– Trying to build an eCom business on the side. (job helps me be an expert in the field)
– Any suggestions on what to get into? Anything I am missing?
– According to your book “predicting actions and sales” is my strength. With a little bit of numerics( majored in engineering).
Thanks for your writing, super helpful for young clueless people.
Same story, have to find something to do on the side (fix watches, fix phones etc)
When income hits $100K, you can then scale up a side business
In the mean time always look for new job openings, but applying today is probably not going to work, so focus on the first two items.
All the markets are explained in efficiency (the big ones), based on your questions (very new) we’d go become an affiliate first
What percentage of salary do you allocate to SO, assuming throphy wife/stay at home wife, and how does it differ between income bracket discussed in spending?
? Not sure what this means we outlines the spending items in our book. So if you’re saving 50% doesn’t matter who is spending what. And if you’re rich already saving 20% is fine (again doesn’t matter who is spending what) that’s a personal choice
I want to create a B2B software startup since I am good at sales and software. Since that isn’t your area of expertise, can you point me to a similar blog/person that has content on the subject of creating software startups?
Unfortunately do not know, we would go on twitter and follow software people.
Don’t even know where to start (seriously) would help if we could but no idea on B2B software start ups
Industry leaders (founders/sales/product) post heavily on linkedin and twitter, just have to dig. Also Saastr.com
A small detail: You were pretty positive about garlic after some experiments based on a reader tip. Have you kept up with the habit?
Surprisingly it does work! It tastes awful though so use it from time to time to get a small boost
Garlic is great for your body but. terrible for your brain.Stay away from it unless you really need it.
agree
Thanks for being a voice of reason and source of actionable ideas in the craziness.
43, married w/ kids, hit my number (still ok after the 20% dip), no longer grind it out, just invest in angel and VC deals of my own.
Between management fees on small fund and dividends/interest I mostly cover the bills, but don’t have excess cash flow to invest.
Asset allocation is fairly balanced between stocks, bonds, cash, RE and crypto.
Question: the amount in cash and bonds is non-trivial. Would you change asset allocation and buy the small caps (as you’ve written before) when things get really ugly out there to juice net worth once everything recovers?
Or just don’t bother and go for a walk? LOL
Yes the small cap trade will work. Just don’t think the time is now, we’re still up 11% CAGR over past 10 years…
As always we will announce what we think on twitter and the blog. Also as usual, sometimes the answer is to do nothing and wait, like now.
35 year old, Secure government career.
$40,000 cash saved. No debt at all except for my condo that I own in the city (Toronto). My total monthly expenses (Mortgage, living, entertainment, pleasure) is approximately 2500 per month.
I am also able to save $2500 per month consistently every single month after taxes.
just started one online store, no sales yet.
What would you recommend I do to set myself up for profit in this upcoming recession, so that I have the best possible chance of shifting up a socioeconomic class level?
Thank you for all of your advise, Love everything that you guys do.
You’re doing the right thing, you have to find a way to learn how to sell.
Recessions are when companies are desperate for the top people, so if you can create a biz while at work, you’ll be set for life in 10 years
Thank you
In triangle investing you mention buying small caps when we’re in a factual recession. Whats your definition of factual recession? 2 quarters of negative GDP?
If you had to use an exchange to buy crypto (I know it’s not preferred) do you still recommend Bittrex or GDAX over the others?
1) recessions are confirmed in backward looking fashion, we use the same metric in this comments section and the blog, when the 10-year CAGR is below the normal average of 7-8%. We will announce when we think it has bottomed but if the CAGR is below 7-8% its okay to buy over the long-term
2) No clue, we’re not even following exchanges anymore, just choose the one with the smallest fees. Sounds like binance based on twitter
Follow up question if I may… (bought all three products)
Any particular reason to prefer 10 year CAGR vs longer timeframes? CAGR for SP500 since March 2000 is 6.5%, which is below a long term average.
Because cycles are typically 10 years. 20 years is two full cycles so should be about 6-8%
If not account for inflation, the 20-year return is just 6% from begin 2000 – end 2019, and now (Mar 2020) we hit a even lower number?
Unexpectedly let go by firm prior to bonuses being announced without clear reasoning or prior warning – understand that firm acted illegally. Is it worth pursuing legal angle and seeking potential compensation or would doing so complicate finding a new role? Should energy be solely focused on moving on and finding a new role as soon as possible? Have not been in a similar situation before
Definitely speak with a lawyer yes it is worth it to litigate if done illegally.
I hope you are doing well. Thanks for the QnA.
1) What chance do you give it to go into a recession and within how much time?
To me, it seems impossible to avoid a recession with such huge damages in travel, hospitality, events etc
2) Do you expect the SP to go around 1500 before you start buying?
3) What’s the end game for the covid? I mean ok let’s say we all limit contact etc, after that what? We start going back to our daily lives and hope it has kissed us goodbye?
Best of luck!
1) very high, we think within 6-12 months impacts seen (current view based on current data)
2) somewhere around 2,100 it looks interesting again, this is fluid (but easily down to 2017 levels is reasonable)
3) end game is that we still don’t know. High belief it comes back again end of year. So not sure what to say, we have to watch it and monitor just be smart and stock up + stay liquid don’t lever up
All the gyms are closing around where I live. What exercises or routine do you recommend for me to keep my muscle mass since this might go on for months? Don’t want to lose the fitness gains & get out of shape. Thank you
Work out outside, go for a run (avoid people), sit ups, pushups till failure, pull ups till failure and sprints.
That’s all you have to work with and should be good enough. Also go ahead and order some dumbbells you just need two heavy dumbbells to do squats outside and you’re set.
Get some of the belt style (not tube) resistance bands with door anchor.
Can get a set of 5 on Amazon for $40.
Allows you to do full, heavy workouts anywhere. This is what I’ve switched to since I can’t have a home gym in my apartment.
Could also get the Bowflex dumbells that are adjustable up to 95lbs… Use to have those but honestly love the bands right now.
A door frame pull up bar is a good investment as well.
I am a trust fund baby.
I have at least $1M+ in assets currently in the stock market that my parents/grandparents are in control of – maybe more.
You mentioned you believe people like me should start a business and read How To Get Rich.
I assume the advice is basically to start an online business, learn marketing/sales? Anything else?
Does it make any sense whatsoever to get a job for the social element? Does it make sense to get a job for the fact of “feeling like I earned it on my own”?
No there is no point for the social element. Everyone at work will hate you and your co-workers are not your friends.
If you are already set for life, you should take $50K and start a biz asap. Never touch the money you need to survive and eventually try to make it on your own.
Just don’t be stupid and bet everything, only bet what you can lose while remaining rich forever. Congrats!
Hi,
I am in my mid 30s due to corona my industry is tanking and I am looking at a 10 year career struggle to reach an acceptable income. For the next 1-3 years 30K a year, year 3-7 50-100k, year 7-10 150-200k.
My net worth is 0 so I wouldn’t be able to pay for ads to start an e-commerce biz as outlined in your book. The only other thing I have going is knowledge in the porn industry, I see potential to make money. But I don’t like being associated with it.
What other option would you suggest?
Thank you
You should learn a basic time for money exchange task. Fixing iphones, go learn a trade, sales etc.
You have to find something (anything) that just keeps the lights on. You can translate languages online if you’re bilingual, go on Fiverr and gig economy type work sites and figure out if you can do any of those.
Once you find one you can do, create a niche time for money exchange there and use that to pay bills
Forget starting a biz (as mentioned) ads are worthless right now, so you’re better off finding a time for money exchange for now
29
I work as a freelancer with occasional outsourcing.
Very minimal passive money from the ‘biz’. Mostly selling time at this point.
I’ve spent most of my cash on biz consulting as I was not happy with the results.
I changed my offers and unfortunately, it’s not working (0 new sales with new offer) properly 2 months in.
It’s about helping ecomm stores but it’s less direct ROI help (like ads) and more customer service (which is still a big pain to the right shops…)
So now, I’m quite low on cash and biz is not effective enough.
A) Someone told me to switch to ads with local clients as it’s easy to bring them results (ecomm more sophisticated market). I haven’t run FB ads for years, and my first affiliate experiences didn’t work out that well (also not the most creative type)
B) stay with ecom and maybe tweak my offer/messaging and hope I’ll have a breakthrough soon.
Now both can take a bit of time, and I’d need income in the meantime.
1) I could stay a bit broader with my skills for now for cash and keep offering lower-priced services till I figure either A or B out.
2) Or try to get a sales job (not in the states, would be a remote one to sell online high-ticket) in an area less affected by potential crisis and do A or B on the side.
I think there are some fundamental issues for not running my biz properly and not getting more successful by now, but hard to see other ways as of now outside the marketing world even if ‘untalented/with limiting beliefs’.
What would you do?
See above 1) don’t run ads in this environment thats just going to lose money. 2) cut all costs to zero. 3) wait when it normalizes try to test it again.
Yes you should be working any sort of job/career to keep the lights on doesn’t need to be millions, just anything that pays living expenses.
Definitely freelance and time for money exchange for now.
Ok thanks!
Just to clarify as you mentioned both career and the freelance biz (partly agency).
Would you get a job AND keep on working on the freelance side?
My other option was to just stay with freelance and try to get better to make it a real biz/bring more cash in without getting a job. Still brings in enough to cover things but not that good right now…
If one of them allows you to save (20% or more) then that’s enough and you can look at other higher risk ideas.
We don’t know your financial situation that well.
In short, decide “what is the safest way to never worry about bills” once you’re sure on that one go ahead and dedicate extra time to a biz
Same story, no different in a recession or bull market. It is just harder in a recession
with Youtube/Instagram/FB customer acquisition costs rising so fast that DTC e-comms are having a tough time keeping up, what are your recommendations for running a ‘Demand Check’?
specifically, for a high-end (high-margin) consumable product aimed at moms, how much time/money/traffic sample size should i expect to have to spend to know i’ve got Product-Market Fit?
i have a great product and excellent storefront, but i’m worried that even with well-defined audience segmentation i won’t be able to nail the Demand Check with confidence one way or the other.
have been looking everywhere and can’t find a good guide to running a proper Demand Check as recommended in “Money Making Machine”.
You should honestly wait. Give it a full month or so. Testing demand now unless you’re in a particular industry booming due to this (healthcare, food, medical supplies etc). Is just a waste of time
When markets normalize (not seeing daily swings of 5%) then you can go ahead and demand test it, and have a blank check out that says “out of stock” and see your ROI
You’re right at more than 2x increase in acquisition cost it doesn’t make any sense at all today.
K, but assuming I run in 4 months from now (or whenever it’s “normal” again), setting aside audience segmentation (which again i feel good about) what are the parameters I should use?
say i have $5k set aside for the check and want to run some simple Instagram ads…how will i know if my CPA test is valid or not?
Same answer, when they go to check out have “oops out of supply” and then figure out what your conversion is.
If it isn’t profitable it didnt work
6Y into career in sector-specific PE, soon to be VP, started from analyst at the same place, rated above average although was better couple years ago, politically ok with top dogs less so with line manager.
Assuming there will be cuts, any suggestion on how to minimise the chances of being selected?
Thanks
There is no special move, you just have to be a top performer and see where the chips fall. If you’re in the top bucket you should be safe unless the company goes under
My question is in regards to starting a business.
I am in a pretty good spot at 25:
Student loans paid off
Some money to invest, roughly $20k
Sales career is going well
My question is how to determine if you are good enough to enter a business on top of your day job.
For instance, I am a good writer, but I am not GREAT. I would pale in comparison to copywriters who have thrived for years.
This obviously leads many to lose their money and close shop.
Would it be better to jump into an area I am just good and accept the bumps or stick to maxing out sales for now?
You will never know if you’re good enough until you try.
Just ask yourself if you have 30-40 hours to spend on the side biz, if you do then go ahead and try
This seems to be a psychological issue and not really a “question”. Take a low risk way of testing your skills and put 110% effort into it. That’ll tell you where your skills are so worst case you learn something and a few dollars. Just don’t be stupid and lever up. Stay low up front cost at this time.
31 making 200/yr salary. I have exposure to gold, crypto, and real estate. My only equity exposure is in company matched 401 (~40k).
So far my online attempts have only resulted in low 100’s/ month, very passive.
I have half a mil in cash. I have been wanting to allocate 20-40% to equities but couldn’t bring myself to buy with an inflated market.
My plan was to DCA in during next slow down. From the posts above it sounds like you don’t quite think we are at that point?
I am not looking to time the market, just looking to get exposure to stocks at a decent entry. Also planning to allocate some to the small cap trade from Triangle if things get that low.
I plan to use the rest of the money on real estate and business.
Does this seem reasonable to you? Any suggestions? Thank you.
Yes this appears to be reasonable. Again based on comments and posts just do the CAGR calculation on 10-years and use that as a proxy for S&P
In terms of housing that’s tougher, depends on GEO etc. If the area is hit (maybe you live in texas), you’ll have a great shot at a cheap place to live.
Stay steady, keep your income up and then try to time the housing dip that’s the move in your situation (Spending actually highlights this strategy!)