One thing I liked about the book is that he talks about AdWords as being the ultimate way to do quick testing of ideas and niches (or “muses” in his terminology).
Not a new idea. But he’s talking about AdWords as a key piece is rolling out a new business, and seeing if it’s viable.
Though one laughable thing was where he was giving an example of a person who had an expectation of 60% conversions from email subscriber to customer. So out of every 10 people signing up for the free newsletter, 6 people buy! And using that to guestimate was the return would be.
I like talking about how email marketing can increase your conversions, and is a vital tool to be profitable. But even I wouldn’t go so far as to say you can convert 60% of subscribers!
And he was writing this as if that was a normal expectation. Maybe there was a typo there.
Anyway, other than that everything else was “grounded in reality”
I’ve been going through “The 4-Hour Workweek” and making some mental notes as I go.
Here’s the quick review:
Overall I like his philosophy. Not just about “systemizing” your business, it’s about how to put your business on autopilot (or nearly-autopilot) and then having the freedom to do what you want.
Beyond that he gives some specific tips - which really made the book for me. Beyond just general things, he gives nitty-gritty details and examples. Even if you don’t agree with the specifics, it’s good to read how people (including Timothy) created their “muses” (businesses to fund the lifestyle).
And some of his guidelines. Such as going for products that are $50 to $200. Not a hard and fast rule. But something that applies to many niches. Don’t beat yourself trying to sell just low-price (like $20) items. And with $200 or less, they’re still relatively spontaneous purchases (i.e. convert well).
And he goes into a mini “manifesto” about setting up your business to reduce customer service headaches and time you have to spend yourself.
For example, not doing overnight shipping, if doing physical products.
Which is counter to what most eCommerce experts would say. That you’re supposed to give as many options and allow customers to get things as quickly as they want.
The problem with overnight is that if there’s any delay at any step, then your customer will freak and need immediate attention. So you’re asking for customer service issues and higher % of cancellations.
I’m finally reading “The 4-Hour Workweek“. Funny thing is that when it came out there was so much buzz about it that I put off reading it. Guess the contrarian in me didn’t want to read “what everyone else” is reading.
But just like with Tony Robbins (that’s another story) I had to put aside my bias against what’s popular, and get some good knowledge and techniques
But back to the 4-Hour Workweek:
One thing that’s really interesting is the ways he uses
AdWords for quick testing, to determine if a niche or
product will work. Good stuff.
A couple things could be
misleading (unintentionally), and one bit is a little outdated already. I’ll
give my review and tips later.
If you’ve read it, feel free to comment below (like how you’ve applied it to your own business).
Any questions I’ll try to address in my next post.