Over a decade in highway construction with a focus on merging technology and innovation. There may be more trucks and heavy equipment in my day to day, but the approach works for all businesses on Main Street.
The Learn, Do, Grow Model
The Learn, Do, Grow Model
A few weeks ago, I saw a tweet and I saved it… In fact, it inspired this post.
I realize that online, people only post the highlights of their life. It's easy to see a curation of a person's success and feel left behind, but truthfully I think you as a person has to give effort to a variety of things before you find out what works for you.
Think about it, the internet is absolutely wonderful. You can learn almost anything that interests you. And since we live in a capitalist society, you can almost count on it that someone is selling a course on it somewhere.
I love that. I love that you can either search on YouTube and spend countless hours watching videos or you can find a great course, pay for it and learn everything you need to know on a given topic.
That’s one part and it’s great.
But the other side of the coin is in order to really learn something, you have to actually put what you learn into action. The details are always in the weeds. The weeds is where you'll find what works and what doesn't work.
Here are a few things I have tried after hearing how easy it was (this should be your first clue that none of it worked out for me)…
Somehow I started Dropshipping:
I sold fitness watches. Not to say it wouldn’t work, but it didn’t work for me. But I can see how this business model works if you order your product in bulk from a manufacturer.
I was dropshipping from Aliexpress, technically it worked meaning I could generate sales. The major issues that I ran into were long shipping times and no control over the quality of the product.
Pros: No Inventory. Easy to set up a Shopify Store. It was good to see sales come in from Facebook Ads.
Con: No control over the quality of the product. Dropshipping from China led to long shipping times and unhappy customers. If you find a US supplier, I could reduce the shipping times significantly, but the cost was so much higher. Going at this solo, customer support was overwhelming. Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the quality. After a few months, most watches just zonked out altogether.
The final straw for me was returns from poor quality products. Returns = losing money. At the end of the day, it was a good experience to run through the process, but ultimately I lost money on this deal.
The next thing I started…
…was a fitness blog called nspyired.com. I have a passion for working out. I love to see improvement in my endurance levels and I love to see muscle growth. There’s just an addiction to improvement.
So here is my fitness blog…
Nspyired.com
Pros: I learned to create a WordPress site.
Cons: No one read it. I’m sure the content wasn’t that great either. Truthfully, I didn’t want to do fitness videos, but I wanted to help people eat better. What I really learned is food is confusing. And after 3 years of content, I still don’t know how to tell people how to eat in a healthy way.
My Latest project…
Business Newsletter for Creators
Pros: I love reading about business, I love listening to podcasts, and I love listening to audiobooks.
Con: Finding good content to listen to, and finding the time to listen to content, and write about it.
I can’t remember what I was listening to, but someone said, “you have to find a business model that works for you.”
You can look from the outside and think some businesses are great, but some businesses just don’t fit with your personality or your skillset.
My personal growth model...
This is my learn, do, grow model.
I have a passion for business, and I spend a lot of time online trying to learn new things that interest me. I like to try different online businesses. You never know, I may try something that just feels different, and who knows where it can go.
The learn do grow model applies to anything. Look, since last summer I've been into growing a vegetable garden. You literally learn, do, and grow with a garden and that's my approach to life.
I think it's good to just try a variety of stuff just to learn - if anything. Again, this was inspired by a tweet I saw from Nathan Barry, showing how many projects he started before actually seeing success with ConvertKit. The tweet thread is below in the next section, so check it out.
A few things I found over the past few weeks...
So I found a few Threads from Twitter over the past few weeks…
I’ll be honest, I think it’s lame when people make threads on Twitter. It seems to be regurgitated material from someone else’s content or “research” about business from Wikipedia.
But hey, I get it…
People wouldn’t do it if it didn’t help them grow their Twitter account. Nonetheless, there still are a few good ones that are good to read.
Here is one from Nathan Barry, showing the different projects he started before hitting it big with Convertkit. I think in life, it’s easy to see everyone’s wins, but it’s like we are living knowing that we have failed a time or two.
It’s just good to see someone that’s successful show the struggle too.
January 19th 2022
|
____
Where are my coffee lovers? This is all I needed to see.
I love coffee and for the most part, I drink my coffee black. I feel like I can taste the actual coffee beans. Besides, once you start drinking black coffee, the typical sugary coffee beverage seems entirely too sweet.
"A larger Harvard study, with a total of 208,501 participants, both men and women, examined the likelihood of death over more than 20 years. It found that participants who drank coffee were less likely to die than those who didn't, with the greatest longevity benefit going to those who drank between 3.1 and 5 cups a day."
🔗 This Is the Exact Amount of Coffee You Should Drink, According to a Harvard Brain Expert | INC
____
Always interesting to see what Elon Musk is working on next...The Vegas Loop 🤷🏾♂️
I must admit, Elon Musk is one of our times greatest entrepreneurs, but don't follow his every move. But this strikes my curiosity. For one, my main line of business is highway construction, so innovation in this industry is very exciting.
🔗 Elon Must Marks First Tunnel Link of Vegas Loop | Equipment World
February 4th 2022
|
____
Building your email list using TikTok
Once social media platforms enter into a mature stage audience growth can be challenging. But TikTok is a different story, it's new, fresh, and people love it. If you're trying to grow an audience, now is the time.
🔗 How to use TikTok to grow your email list | ConvertKit
____
Don't forget to join + follow the newsletter.
Every other week I will send a short email highlighting the top entrepreneurs and makers. Join + Follow The Digital Inc.
Ben Lanier|The Digital Inc.
Over a decade in highway construction with a focus on merging technology and innovation. There may be more trucks and heavy equipment in my day to day, but the approach works for all businesses on Main Street.
Hey folks, Good day and Good Monday... but... You don’t need to go viral to grow your business. In fact, some of the best marketing strategies are the ones we forget — or assume are outdated. In this issue, I’m breaking down a few simple tactics that still work for small businesses, especially if you're in construction, home services, or any people-facing business. Simple Marketing for Small Business: Back to the Basics Right ↓ TikTok ain’t for everybody — and that’s okay. There, I said it....
Mastering the Game: Content Marketing, AI Tools, and Timeless Advertising Wisdom 1. I ran across this awesome guide from Copyblogger on how to use content marketing as a small business owner. Look around town and in most cases you’ll notice small businesses in your market and to be frank, there’s not a lot that separates what they do from each other. If another competitor is in your market, who will win when your services and prices are comparable? Most likely it’s the company that can win in...
August 8th The Future of Work: Superhuman Potential at Your Fingertips What’s up gang, Earlier this week, I talked about AI and ChatGPT. This isn’t just a passing topic; it’s a game-changer. Imagine multiplying your skills by 10. I might not have the words to convey this fully, but trust me, AI is a powerful tool at our fingertips, making us all potential superhumans. I watched an episode by Raoul Pal on my beloved YouTube University. While he usually talks about investing, this episode...