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Lots of time when people start a new business, they spend a lot of time doing things they shouldn’t be doing. They worry about things they shouldn’t be worrying about. They prioritize the wrong things and do stuff out of order. But this isn’t rocket science – there are really only two big things you need to focus on…

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43 Replies to “What Really Matters… And What Doesn’t”

  1. Hey Jeff
    I’m like your eternal lurker :o) I’ve been reading and watching your material it seems for ever.
    I’ve read your book, Launch twice, and yes, the procrastination thing is a hurdle. I keep trying to everything 100% right.
    Made a bit of progress the last number of month, so there’s light on the horizon.
    Thanks for your material.
    Colin

    • YOU ARE RIGHT! IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PRODUCT, THE PEOPLE (AND PURPOSE)! Well, too late for me, I did the website, first, well not really first, as I have been doing this work for 20+ years, and needed/wanted to take ti to the next level. I have a following but the big change is inside of me, I needed to grow and move forward because I was stagnating.

      Not sure about the business of paying clients to send you referrals. My business is very personal, not thousands and thousands….
      thanks for your ideas LInda

  2. You’re right BUT Jeff, you lost something in your counsel. I call it “skipping the milk”. You are speaking like a man with ongoing success. You posted 3 minutes palatable for the few. They don’t get the tribe till they feel it. Not know it, feel it. How can you make people feel it? Not an explainer video, a real life following case study emotional shit storm.

    • Hi Monica, I’m sure Jeff would agree that Seth Godin’s Ted talk called The Tribes We Lead is a great answer to your question. Just over 17 minutes long and you’ll be inspired to do the work to discover your tribe and how you can most effectively lead them.

  3. Can’t agree more.
    For the two main activities , building the tribe and a great product they have top priority.
    Here are some obstacles that will be encountered for sure.
    These obstacles will try to divert ones effort such that no energy is left to overcome them.
    I think the best thing is to stay focused on finding and trying solutions to overcome them instead of freaking out and working on secondary tasks.
    Jeff, how do you maintain your course and focus?

  4. Great advice Jeff we all tend to forget that progress only happens in the doing not the planning. Thank you for your great content.

  5. Hi Jeff,
    I am really convinced that building a customer list is the most important thing to do, but I am in the business of selling physical produts on Amazon and It seems so difficult to generate a stream of valueable info content to engage and attract customer to my list.

    • You’re not alone, Orlando. I have two businesses and one sells physical products as well. I also struggle with this!

    • Orlando, I think that Jeff would agree that in order to build a list you need to provide something of value up front in order to earn some trust. It seems that you might be able to use your experience with Amazon for some ideas. I am a firm believer that building your list is one of the most important things. I would be glad to share some ideas on how to build for little to no money.

  6. Hello Jeff, great video.
    You just mention exactly what I’m doing. I’ve just bought a fancy platform for me suggested by another Affiliate Marketer from Brazil, not Erico Rocha though.
    He seems to be doing a good job, his course is quite good, there are many good reviews about him and his course on YouTube, of course all trying to sell his course as an affiliate marketers and I will probably be doing the same soon.
    But how can I do what you just said, not worries about a blog or logo if I don’t even exist to the market? I’m planing to became an Afilliate Marketer but I’m still confused on what niche to work with. I love the ideia on making money online so I’m considering to work within this niche, but how can I teach people to earn money online if I haven’t earned a dime? Other idea I have in mind is to create my own product, which is my own english course, as I’m Brazilian living in Cambridge, England so I thought I might have some advantage here, even though this niche is really competitive already.
    I’ve also read that no one cares about what you love, you should look into many niches and take the solution of your customers problems to them.
    As you can see Jeff I’m really confused, please give me some advise. Please do not try to sell your course The Launch Formula as a answer to my question. I’ve been looking into it, and I’m sure it’s a great course to start with,but unfortunately I can’t afford it right now,but you can be sure that I will do as soon I make some money online.
    Any help,advise will be very much appreciated.
    Thank you,
    Endrigo

  7. I agree. The follwers are necessary because I am testing my product ideas in communication and their reactions. How do they react? Do they understand?

    But I think, when it comes to the launch there must be a home page of the product where the people can at least leave their e-mail address.

    Thank you for your videos. They inspire me a lot.

    Petr

  8. This is a great reminder. I kept delaying gathering my list because I wanted to have something to offer to them before I got them on my list. Now I have things to offer and no list…yet!

  9. Thanks Jeff for the reminder. Working on it, on building my list in parallel to building a great product. Keep the great videos coming.

  10. Hey Jeff, been following for a while; love common sense & logical advice. I am starting at zero and (just read about product launch which I’ll be getting soon). But I guess I’m wondering how to build a following & email list without a platform such as a website? Where do we send people we gather on Instagram & other platforms so they can get to know us best?

    • Tiffany I am sure that Jeff would agree that you need to have a lead capture page and an auto-responder program to keep that in order.

  11. Frederick Hann

    Reply

    Hey Jeff,
    With the joint venture list what is a reasonable commission to pay my joint venture partners?

  12. Jeff, you’ve nailed me with this one. Gallup, in its Strengthsfinder tool says that Learner and Futuristic are in my top five innate strengths. So I naturally gravitate to learning new things and planning. I get a charge out of those things and it makes me a great financial planner but you are right: I am a prime example of how our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness. Looking forward to seeing you at PLF Live!

  13. Thanks for this great advice, Jeff. I’m just starting and I’ve been taught to build the sales funnel (the lead magnet, the core product, the follow up emails, etc) before you “turn on” the traffic using ads and other ways to drive traffic. Is this idea of building the community (i.e., collecting email addresses while you’re creating your funnel) better? I guess you could be building relationship with them and giving good free content before you ever try to sell them anything. Is that the idea?

  14. Thanks for the reminder – we get caught up in the process instead of doing. I’ll be doing this week for sure – thanks!

  15. One thing’s for sure Jeff, if you quickly head over to my website you’ll see I didn’t worry about design much…
    Agreed on building the relationships and audience and not worry about the stuff that can and will take care of itself later on.
    btw, enjoyed the video’s from your excursion in to the mountains near Durango.
    All of the pics and art on my website were done by me and my iPhone camera.
    Thankfully I’m not relying on those ‘skills’ to build my biz.
    Have a good week man.

  16. Thank you Jeff. I’m writing and producing my first digital product. Your video was total affirmation for the two step process that I’m focused on: produce content and build a tribe. Thank you!

  17. Jenny Payette

    Reply

    Jeff, you are a prime example of someone who knows how to connect with others in a way that creates a lasting rapport. This is why you have been able to create a loyal following. This is your “tribe” and it keeps growing. You are a great role model! Thanks, Jenny Payette

  18. Thanks Jeff. You hit me between the eyes with this one (now there open.) I’m guilty of doing the easy stuff, spent tons of money on marketing training, and yet I have nothing yet; Going to move forward now.

  19. I appreciated this ‘focusing’ reminder. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect. The website will evolve over time. That font I agonized over won’t help me find my tribe. Crafting something that engenders transformation for them and offering it freely will attract my tribe’s attention faster than a new website theme or a cool logo. Going to finish my opt-in offer right NOW 🙂

  20. interesting. In 2005 when I had the idea for putting some of my art work on cards, I spent several months designing my logo. It was fun, and hard work, so I already have my OWN logo on the back of my art cards that I already designed. Also, I actually genuinely LOVE LOVE the organic mineral makeup I am a distributor of, I did not wear makeup for over a decade except lipstick but find the makeup I sell works, does not bother my skin, and does not have toxic crap! and its fun for me. Makeup fun? Yeah, its fun for me. Now for my tribe of people, my tribe of people is about 4. But I do have a tribe of bees, ants, trees, rocks, angels around me!

  21. Thanks Jeff, I am in that space right now. My product ideas are numerous but I am not sure where to start. What techniques can be applied to select the right product to launch out with when you have a whole line of intellectual products that you want to move into. Do you just get something going then work out the connectivity or should I would out the road map before I launch the first installment?

  22. Jeff: Another awesome video this week! You’re right – building the tribe is most important to building a business. I really need to get cracking on getting content up on my website so i can build that tribe around what is written. Thanks again for sharing this important tip – just what I needed!

  23. I sort of had a different experience, which is likely unusual, but I thought worth sharing. You see, I focused on building a list, because I have more difficulty with writing and product creation than live interaction on things like Twitter and periscope.

    The problem I ran into was that I quickly outgrew MailChimp’s threshold for free subscribers and I didn’t have a product to sell, so suddenly I had expenses, but no income. I wanted to be able to market to my list to start generating an income, but I didn’t have any money to mail out to my 10k or so subscribers. After a while of not contacting my list, it for increasingly cold, until I felt like I’d actually gone almost all the way back to zero.

  24. Thanks Jeff. You give me a Big, Big reminder of what I should focus on my business. Thank you very much!

  25. Liked the video, but isn’t building a tribe and keeping followers interested about the details such as the look of the logo, the blog format and content…So, which do you spend time and effort on first? Tricky first steps!

  26. Hey Jeff,

    Yeah- i noticed latly i was working alot behind the scene with minimal results- now i do a Facebook Live mo-friday at 5pm and upload them to youtube … And look at that more sucessfull in building my tribe than any fancy tool or technique …

    Much love from your German Cowboy

    Maximilian

  27. Big thumbs up from me! Loving it, your energy, style, approach and attitude. It is all about Tribe and staying the long haul, the marathon runner mindset… sticking with it. Pausing long enough for a fresh pair of running shoes and then hauling your butt up and continuing on the journey… connecting to people, developing a product or service you’re proud of, believe in, and if it’s appropriate, relevant, fun, inspiring or helpful, people will buy it when the time is right… Great blog, thank you!

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