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In the last 100 days or so, the number of readers of this publication has almost doubled.
While I’m extremely happy to have the opportunity to help so many people, there’s probably a lot of confusion as to what you actually signed up to. Today’s post is going to try to get all of you up to speed, as it may not make much sense if you haven’t been following along for the last 1.5 years.
Who Am I
I’m a junior executive at a large retailer. Of the brands I’ve worked for, there’s a 99% chance you know at least one of them.
I’ve worked in or on almost every group of a marketing department with a focus on the ecommerce business. Some international, but mostly stateside businesses.
Brand marketing, performance marketing, affiliate, SEO, analytics/attribution, dev, web/app/Amazon, promotions/pricing, etc. I’ve managed, touched, or been involved in them all. An Opossum of all trades.
I also consult with smaller brands and have my own personal projects.
Before my ecommerce career, I was an engineer. This background should make it obvious that I’m not your traditional creative type of marketer.
You’ll find me most active on Twitter - It’s a mix of insightful thoughts about digital businesses, me trying to be being funny, and occasionally personal posts.
You should go there now and follow along.
Why I’m Anonymous
Many people online choose to be anonymous for a variety of reasons. Chief among those is being able to speak freely and operate side hustles without fear of spillover to their “IRL” careers.
The higher you go in a corporation, the less you can say publicly without risking your career. While I’m not too divisive, one wrong tweet or one statement taken out of context, can ruin a career and potentially cause media backlash that moves the price of a stock.
The only upside of me not being anonymous would be faster growth of this Substack. When people can connect a resume/credentials and a face to the information/advice, they would trust it more.
It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make as I enjoy my privacy much more than I value the growth of this Substack.
What I hope You Learn
I want to enable you to build a business and become financially free.
I mostly focus on online business, but most of the advice is applicable to services businesses and marketing of brick and mortar businesses.
If you want to start your own website, I have a guide that walks you through everything to get your first project stood up in a few hours.
If you don’t know what platform to build on, I lay that out here.
If you want to *really* understand affiliate marketing, I wrote 3 deep posts on it.
If you need copywriting frameworks, I’ve developed a library.
If you don’t understand the different online revenue models, I’ve outline that too.
Etc.
If you dig through my Substack and Twitter, most of your questions about how to start and grow have been answered. If not, mention the question or topic and I’m more than happy to answer it or write a post on it.
While I hope you start your own business with this information, this library of material will also be good for anybody working in a marketing department.
It lays out the foundation that everything is built on top of. What I’ve noticed working in corporate ecom/marketing departments is most everybody doesn’t understand the basics. This leads to a lot of confusion and wasted time.
If you read and understand this Substack, you’ll be miles ahead of your peers.
I hope that’s not the case though. I’m trying to get you to take action and build your own business.
Even if you only get to the point where you’re making what you’re currently making at your job:
You can sell that business at a multiple.
You don’t have the risk of a bad boss or unforeseen situation taking you to zero.
You can live *wherever* you want. You’re not expected to be a few time zones away from your company.
You can create your own schedule. More time with family or doing whatever you want.
More money to invest/build.
Reduce stress. You can’t be too stressed about losing your job if you’ll be fine without it.
Scale your time.
Freedom.
More money overall.
It’s not going to be easy. Anybody that tells you it is got extremely lucky or is lying to you. If you want to understand why I want you to start your own business, read the post titled “Why Are We Here”.
Why I Run This Substack
Most of the online advice about starting a digital business is extremely vague or is written by charlatans. The first is unhelpful while the latter is misguided and damaging to your expectations, energy, the industry, and ultimately your business.
The first end of the spectrum is vague advice. This comes in the form of “just build a website”, “just run ads”, etc. followed by Tweets of “I make so much money, it’s easy bro”.
Then there are the screenshots of Shopify stores with good numbers with no defined path of how they got there.
These screenshots may or may not be doctored with the hopes that you’ll buy their digital course that only has 3 copies left…
So why do I do this?
To help people - I genuinely want to see other people succeed in this field as it is truly life changing once you know what’s possible.
Sharpen my skill set - Laying out my thoughts in the written word has helped me as much as it helps you.
To build a library of material to train my employees - I use this material to train the people that work for me in my corporate job and to train my VAs (virtual assistants).
It’s fun - It really is. Once you get the hang of building, it becomes a game.
I learned a lesson a few years back. If you’re going to do something, might as well make money doing it
The beginning is the biggest learning curve and hardest to push through. Once you know it’s possible, >$1k a month in revenue, it becomes an obsession.
You realize what’s possible so you have the drive to push through. Below that though, you feel like you’re spinning your wheels with 0 results. My job is to get you through that initial learning curve as quickly as possible.
This is not to say that my Substack is only for beginners. I’m trying to teach the foundational knowledge (that most people never learn) that will allow you to scale your business at any stage. Whether you’re at $0 a month or $10M.
How You Should Read This Substack
This is not a normal email newsletter. It’s designed more like a course as knowledge compounds on knowledge.
My job is to get you to understand digital businesses and view the internet as a giant network of businesses all trying to grapple for attention, traffic, and revenue. Almost every website/big social profile is a business.
You should get used to landing on a page and asking yourself; How does this website make money?
If you’re looking to learn as much as possible, read from the beginning. This is my goal for everyone of you readers.
If you’re looking to learn what path you should take, start with the articles Your Path to WiFi Money, Revenue Models for Online Businesses, and Digital Products.
If you’re a passive reader, (you shouldn’t be), just read the emails as they come.
Why am I trying so hard to get you to start from the beginning?
Knowledge compounds on knowledge. If you run ads and don’t understand attribution, you’re going to waste a lot of money thinking your ads are incremental when they’re not. You’re going to waste a ton of time going down the wrong path.
Some Advice
Try to build/have a network of builders. These people will help you stay on task and challenge you. They’ll also let you see that you’re not crazy for going outside of the typical 9-5.
It can be easy to feel like you’re being productive when you aren’t. Constantly make a list (literally write it down and prioritize by an impact) of tasks that need to be accomplished. Constantly plow through this list. You can waste hours/days analyzing, thinking about, or reading about something that doesn’t matter to your overall goals. When you find yourself doing this, take a walk to regroup your thoughts and action plan.
Luck plays a big part in success whether people want to admit it or not. The good news is that if you work long enough at something, eventually you’ll get lucky.
Learn marketing and sales. These can’t be outsourced.
Never outsource something to start. If you can’t spend the time to learn the basics, you’re never going to know if what you’ve outsourced is good or whether you’re being taken to the cleaners in pricing/value. Some exceptions apply. IE-graphic design.
Dump as much of the profits back into growth. Your future self will thank you. Taking your profits and investing them at a 10% return pales in comparison to the returns you’ll get in your business.
Lastly, feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.
If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, you need to keep in mind why we’re here.
Your boss and company, no matter how nice, doesn’t care about your future. Nobody outside of a few family members and select friends care about your growth and your future.
You are the only one that can save yourself and make your life what you want it.
Single player. Just you.
This Substack is here to help you build a business and build the life that you want. I’ve laid out the basics to understand, analyze, & grow most any online business.
The best way to learn how to do this as fast as possible is to start from the beginning of the Substack. That and follow me on Twitter & Instagram.
Free articles on WiFi Money are supported by:
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If you want to get smarter about all things digital, upgrade today from free to paid for only $10 a month. The paid posts are where I dive even further into the weeds to help you truly understand and capitalize on the digital landscape.
Disclaimer: Nothing written here should be construed as legal for financial advice of any kind. These are opinions and observations, written by an anonymous cartoon Opossum, built up over years working in e-commerce & affiliate marketing.
New Subscribers
Does general purpose SEO apply to driving traffic to a Substack? If someone were starting a Substack what steps would you recommend to start driving traffic there?
Hi Opossum,
Do you have any additional advice for the best path to follow if not american nor living in the US? Thanks