Hey there, long time no see right?
Well I have many reasons for not updating the blog as often as I normally do and one of the biggest reasons is that I’m in product creation mode.
That and a $2000 dollars weekend project I just did last weekend.
So to not waste anyone’s time let’s just get down right to it!
The Entrepreneur Mindset
I’ve never considered myself an entrepreneur and if I’m dead honest with you, I really suck at closing down projects.
I always get the lowest cut, the worse share, etc.
This time that wasn’t the case though.
After reading a book from Jay Abraham’s called “Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got” (I wrote about it on the running a half marathon with four weeks of training post) my mindset completely changed.
And no, I’m not promoting the book nor trying to make a commission, I’m telling you about it so you can read it too (you can get it for free if you sign up to his site) I actually bought the damn book and I’m glad I did.
So like I was saying, I have never been an entrepreneur myself and something happened when I started reading that book…
Suddenly I actually saw VALUE in what I have to offer and mixing that book with Tim Ferris’s Four Hour Work Week there’s a lot that has been changed in my mindset lately.
I don’t let anyone push me around anymore like it used to be and proof of that is that I just made two thousand dollars on this last weekend with a stupid simple offline gig.
This is what actually happened…
The $2K Offline Project
Somebody got in touch with me, told me they needed a lot of CDs and DVDs to be burnt and asked me if I could do it.
I did this once not long ago (I think I actually wrote about it here but can’t remember) and it was literally a pain in the ass.
I was stuck burning CDs like a maniac for days and the return of investment was very low so I asked for further details and made my proposal (a very cheap one mind you).
I said $2 per CD, $3 per DVD, return of burnt material in a couple of days.
At first they hesitated but then they agreed because I said if they didn’t like my terms then there was no deal, simple as that.
The Details
So this was 20 persons, that needed 20 CDs and 20 DVDs each, that’s 400 CDs and 400 DVDs in total.
How the heck do you burn such amount of optical media with one burner, without going crazy and with such a short period of time?
Simple answer, you don’t.
You think outside the box and that’s exactly what I did.
The Duplication Tower
This practically saved my life or well… made this project happen to not exaggerate things.
After a lot of research I came up with duplication towers and after going back and forth with some sellers on an eBay sister’s company, I finally found out I could get one in my local shop for about $500 they could hand me the thing the next day.
I hesitated for about 10 minutes… given that $500 was all that I had and I still owe some stuff on my credit cards so I just said fuck it, let’s do it.
After a little simple math, what could I possibly lose, just $500?
Would you leave $2000 usd on the table if you only had to invest $500? I know I wouldn’t!
But I still had that little damn evil in my ear saying “dude… you only have $500 what the heck are you doing, save it!”
But I didn’t listen, I picked up the phone, ordered the duplication tower and I was all set.
Had ZERO money but a weekend project ready to go.
I had to borrow a little bit of extra cash to order the CDs and DVDs, as well as the envelopes I was going to use and I was ready for my burning journey!
Burn, Baby Burn!
So the tower arrived, I had no idea at all of how the heck did it work, it didn’t came with a manual so I had to google for some advice and after some minor settings I started burning stuff right away.
I started like this…
My tower has nine bays, it uses one for the controller and one as a master so that leaves up to 7 burners.
In other words, I can burn up to 7 CDs/DVDs in just one go.
So I started burning one, two, three… man, it was never ending and it was also a little bit chaotic to tell you the truth but I finally managed to finish in about two and a half days.
And this is what I ended up with. (17 pictured here out of 20)
Pretty cool huh?
The Duplication Tower Demo Video
Easy peasy right!
The Outcome
I’ve haven’t been paid all the amount yet but only because these people just went on a holiday.
The duplication rack already paid itself and after three more payments all the materials required will be paid as well, after that, it’s all profits.
I obviously ended up with a device I’m definitely going to use, particularly because in Mexico you can STILL sell information products and it’s a complete untapped market for internet marketing.
The idea is to come up with a very basic model on which I would be selling training via my own DVDs and books (all printed materials) and after publishing some stuff on the same concepts on Amazon (in Spanish) I’m pretty sure I’ll become an authority on the IM niche for the Latin American community.
The Poor Dad’s Mindset
If I wanted to hold on tight to those measley $500 I wouldn’t have made this awesome connection with this client, I wouldn’t have this tower, I wouldn’t have made these profits and I would even had a lot less money right now I think.
That’s why it is VERY important that you have the right attitude and mindset.
You can think you are doing good because you are working and everything but if you never take risks, you never really go at it, you’ll never know what your full potential can be.
Conclusion
Like I said in the beginning of this post, I’m nothing close to being an entrepreneur but when you start reading so much stuff on succeeding in life and you start really believing in what you are capable of doing and take action, you just can’t fail.
Take it from me, I’m an underachiever and I made this possible so if I can do it, you can do it as well.
The $2k weekend project is just an example for you, I’m not suggesting you go and buy one of these duplication towers, what you have to learn here is that whenever you see an opportunity, grab it by the damn neck and don’t ask any “what if” questions, just go for it and take your best shot.
Sometimes that’s all you’ve got.
Your Feedback
I would LOVE to know what your take is on this and tell me in the comments area if you ever struggled when you were in the process of shifting your mindset to a more successful entrepreneur.
Take care and speak soon,
Sergio
Wow, that was a mammoth burning session! You must be burned out as well!
Thanks for the tip re: abraham.com ; lots of resources there as well as the book!
Sometimes you have to spend a little to make a lot – it’s called investing in yourself!
Regards,
Mike
Michael Slater recently posted..Simple Traffic Solutions Comprehensive Review
Haha it was a lot of burning indeed Michael and I completely agree, investing in yourself may be one of the smartest things to do when getting started online.
Thanks for stopping by man!
Sergio,
That is killer Brother and I am truly excited for you Bro. I love to hear that things are growing for you, you deserve it my man.
Looking forward to learning more from you Bro. and sometimes ya just have to say “fuck it!”
To your continued success,
David Caudill
David Caudill recently posted..The Real One Dollar Fast Start!
Thank you for the awesome comment David and yeah bro, sometimes you just have to man up and go for it at full throttle.
Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the success in the world as well my man!
Wow! Sergio, you have just reminded me on an opportunity that has recently presented itself infront of my eyes.
You know, at the beginning I was feeling exactly the same way as you were with buying your duplication tower. But what’s cool about this opportunity is that my gut feeling or instinct, if you like, is telling me to JUST DO IT.
Wow!! I’m now actually feeling that I’m going to do this right now because you and indirectly, Jay Abraham have just inspired me and encouraged me to do that for my own benefits.
Thank you so much.
Talk to you, soon.
Bruno
Glad you were empowered by this article Bruno, that was the main purpose of it and I’m beyond happy that it actually made you take action upon opportunity.
All the best and don’t forget to share your achievements with us here, now go get ‘em man!
Hey Sergio,
That’s a great story but I couldn’t help thinking all the square white bags lying on the table looked like coke or sandwiches haha :-)
Stay Cool
Eddie Tee
Haha Eddie, that was the first impression (coke bags) that I had when I was done packing them up.
Thanks for stopping by man, take care!
Good job, Sergio. You just have to be ready to take your opportunities when they come, so you’ve made a profit and have some neat equipment you can use in future. A successful weekend project, I’d say.
Janie Thomson recently posted..Freedom From The Tyranny of the Membership Site Theme
Those were EXACTLY my thoughts Janie!
Thanks a lot for stopping by and checking out the crazy stuff I’m doing lately, take care! ;-)
Hi Sergio,
Eddie beat me to the comment.
Your finished product really looks like it has been put up at a police press conference where some officer says: “We recovered this from an address in “x” and we estimate it has a street value of $12m.”
Cool post though, my favorite line was this:
“I hesitated for about 10 minutes… given that $500 was all that I had and I still owe some stuff on my credit cards so I just said fuck it, let’s do it.”
And, for the record, I always thought you had it in you and now you are at last proving it to yourself.
Great stuff.
P.
Patrick Griffin recently posted..HTC One X Plus unboxing
Haha that’s hilarious man!
And I’m very glad you resonated with something I said too… a bunch of people think of me as this very experienced blogger but I’ve always considered myself as a newbie (even up to this day) who is in constant learning mode.
Finding my real core inner voice is very important and dropping a few F-bombs was definitely not my style but if it needs to be done, it WILL BE DONE.
We’re not building lego lands here, I may have this very easy going attitude and laugh about everything but we’re talking serious shit here, there are people that actually DEPEND on making a business profitable to deliver at least the basic needs for their families so I can’t take this lightly at all.
Thanks for the support Patrick and I’m confident that we will be laughing about our bad situations really soon over a few pints sooner than we think.
Take care and prevail, we’re going to rise SOON my man!
Hey Sergio,
It’s great to see you come out ok .I think the more you do this the easier it will be and you will make more profit now that you have the equipment paid for.
Good job and thanks for showing us how you did it and the outcome. It looked like a lot of work how many hour did it take you. Did you test some of the CD/DVD did it burn all without any rejects .
I think the photo of your finished product shows your professional workmanship. I’m sure the customer will be real happy and come back because of extra effort you delivered for the customer.
Regards
Zora
zora recently posted..You’ve Been Banned!!
Hey Zora, I did say in the article that all of this took about 2.5 days to complete.
Everything I burnt was tested (the tower also tells you if there was any problem with a given bay) and yeah man, I tried to do my best in every single task of the process, it was a lot of work but it turned out to be very profitable in the end.
Thanks a lot for your feedback Zora and you’re right about my customer happiness too, they’ve contacted me already for another gig!
Well done Sergio!
Just a tip: If you want to add some branding to the CD packages, take a look at moo.com – Business Logo Stickers. You can get some cute rounded stickers with your own design on them for really cheap.
Sorina Dascalu recently posted..Warriors, I need your help!
That’s a great resource Sorina and I’ve never heard of them before.
Got in love with the mini cards though lol thank you for sharing it! ;-)
I make my business cards there, they are awesome! If you want you can use this link to order and you will get a 10% discount: http://www.moo.com/share/rnhmm2
Lovely, I didn’t ask for an aff link because I didn’t think you were promoting them (maybe I should stop assuming stuff?) but anyway that’s awesome, thank you! ;-)
Your welcome Segio!
It’s not quite an affiliate link, they call it a “referrer link” and in my opinion is better – you get a discount and I get some credit in my account to use on my future orders. I prefer that since it endorses my recommendation of their service by choosing to have discounts on their services for promoting them.
But if you are interested, they also have a regular affiliate program. Moo.com is really one of the online businesses I admire – many to learn from them, apart from providing great services. But you will see that if you browse their website.
What a SMART way of doing business! I will have to put on my thinking hat to use something like that (via software) for my offline services… awesome, thank you again!
Sorina, you’re on FIRE today! haha ;-)
Hi Sergio
This is the best blog post I’ve read for a while man.
Well written and very interesting. I can get bored easily when reading some posts, but this kept me glued!!
The $2,000 project is an amazing story, inspirational. It just shows you have to think out of the box when it comes to money and investing.
You definitely have the entrepreneurs mind set because you thought outside the box (duplicator) and took the risk (invested the money)
Thanks for this post, I’ve shared it on twitter and will share it to my list of subscribers.
THEY NEED TO SEE THIS…
James
James Hughes recently posted..Day #2 Traffic Tips – Low cost advanced website traffic tactics for everyone
Hey James, this comment in particular was truly amazing to read my man.
I decided to write about this event not because of the money made nor the way I did it but because I actually have struggled too much whenever comes to business so this little victory had to be shared so others can see stuff like this can be done when you have the right mindset.
Thanks a lot for spreading the word and again, for your fantastic feedback.
I really can’t stop smiling yet, take care my man! ;-)
Yey Sergio !!!
I bought this book but have not had time to read it yet … If it has this effect on you then it is surely worth putting some time aside to read!
Well done to you !!
Keep up the good work and reading where the REAL business is online
all the best
Carl
Carl Picot recently posted..My first product is finally coming out !!!
Hey Carl, I read a lot of books and the odd thing is that I rarely recommend actually reading something in particular.
This book from Jay Abraham is definitely going to open your eyes to new ways of doing business.
I haven’t read much yet not because of lack of time but because the book is literally CRAMMED with tips in every page, it’s THAT awesome.
Thanks for stopping by and for showing your support man, I really appreciate it! ;-)
PS. I wish you all the best on your first WSO release man!
Hey Sergio,
Wow, now I know who to contact when I need to copy a lot of dvd’s :)
I haven’t read the book you are referring to, but that sounds like one I need to add to my wishlist on Amazon. Like you, I have been struggling with shifting my mindset. The one thing I’m struggling the most with, is to focus on the money and not on the things that are the most fun. I keep adding the most fun tasks to the top of my lists every single day, even though I know that I should always focus on what makes me money first. But I’m hustling, and I know that I’ll eventually get it :)
Jens P. Berget recently posted..When does marketing end?
Hey Jens, haha yeah well I guess I can produce many CDs and DVDs now…
You can get Jay Abraham’s book for FREE (PDF version) if you sign up to his site http://abraham.com/gifts/ which I highly recommend by the way.
Doing the fun stuff instead of the money making related activities… now why does this sound so familiar? lol I do it all the time too man but I’m really trying to change that and proof of that is spending this whole last weekend burning optical media.
The ROI is going to be amazing for this and I already can see a lot more services I can offer to my clients and indirect clients as well.
If it gets too crazy (I’m thinking of setting up a website just for that CD and DVD local duplication) I’ll leverage the work by renting the machine or paying a minimum fee to a student that is willing to do the work for me.
See? I would have never come up with ideas like these on my own and all of that has been triggered by that book.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by Jens and I know you’ll be at the top very soon my man! ;-)
I learned two great things from your post, Sergio.
One – Only our mindset matters! We can all succeed by seizing the opportunities around us, and
Two – I didn’t know that we had these duplication towers. That’s a cool piece of software :D
Anyways, good to see you taking action, Sergio :) Inspires me to take action too – about my new upcoming blog. I am still deciding whether I should actually start a new one or wait a bit more. I definitely need to get Jay Abraham’s book. Thanks for the recommendation, Sergio!
Anyways, thank you for the post ;)
Hey Jeevan, I think that was my main issue when I got started with IM.
I used to believe I had the right mindset but I didn’t. I was doubting everything I was doing, always testing things but just to see what would happen and not really trying to accomplish something, I never really went at it and always tried to create more problems to justificate I couldn’t make any more progress.
Right now I believe the mindset is the MOST important thing you have to work on first of anything. If you think you may not be able to pull this off (succeed online) you’re practically programming yourself to FAIL even before getting started.
I didn’t know about duplication towers either, I really think it’s a great asset to have and I will seek ways to profit even more with this little device.
Here’s a recommendation for your new blog… I went exactly through a big depression when I saw that my previous blog only consumed my time and I wasn’t profiting much from it.
I waited probably too long to start a new blog, I was actually NOT going to start a new one but a very important marketer strongly recommended me to start again on the right foot and that’s when I decided to create this Marketing With Sergio site.
Long story short, even though I do own SergioFelix.com (and other variants) I didn’t want to use my own name for a marketing blog because I didn’t consider myself “a marketer” or “an engineer” or a “guitar player” simply because I’m Sergio Felix, a combination of all those skills and professions and a lot more.
In short my advice would be to not wait any longer, pick your idea, make a plan for it, decide what you want to do with the new site and just make it happen already.
Time is too precious to let it go just like that Jeevan but if you still want to wait, then take your time. I’m a big believer that you should always follow your gut and if it is telling you to wait, then wait.
Take care and I’m sure you’ll come up with the right decision! ;-)
Hey Sergio
That’s a cool piece of kit you picked up there. I’m sure it was hard work to get it all done in only 2.5 days even but well worth it profits-wise by the sounds of things.
I need to get reading some of these books you mention. I’m like Jens in that I tend to do the stuff I like doing first rather than the stuff that’s going to make any money. I need to get away from that mindset and actually make a plan for each day of the week!
That duplication tower is going to come in really handy going forward mate.
Tim Bonner recently posted..Why Customer Experience Means Everything
Hey Tim, it was definitely not easy man but constantly reminding myself that each CD session was $14 and each DVD session was $21 kept me smiling all the way.
I was also thinking of many more ways to take this even further not only for my offline marketing services but also to create actual physical products for the local market, I’ll definitely do the experiment and see what happens.
It looks like I’m heavily promoting Jay Abraham’s work here but the only benefit I get from this is that you guys can pick the same resource of inspiration I’m currently using, nothing else.
If you have at least five minutes for it, look out for that book and read a few pages… you may see an instant mindset shift, it really happened to me.
Funny that you mentioned planning the week ahead, I just did that (ended up with five pages) and I already did some important tasks… this could be a very good habit to keep!
Thanks a lot for stopping by Tim and don’t worry about doing the fun things first, there’s always a time when you’ll say “enough is enough” and start working from the dreadful making money tasks to the fun tasks (this also happened to me but it took too long!)
Take care Tim and thanks for linking back to my site in your latest article, really appreciate it my man. ;-)
PS. I have a few ideas for the duplication tower and will definitely share them here if they turn into great case studies.
Hey Sergio
You are such an inspiration man…sometimes you have to take calculated risks to succeed, and your right, who in there right mind would not invest $500 to get a return of $2k.
Well done Bro, you have given my day a great start after reading this post.
Kevin Long recently posted..Mind Mapping Made Easy…
Hey Kevin, I couldn’t agree any more my man, if you’re not willing to make the investment even if you know there’s a great ROI involved (calculated risk) then you clearly are not doing things right.
In my case doing this felt a bit scary because I was going to be left with nothing in my wallet but as soon as I delivered the goods, I’ve got $500 back and a promise to get the rest ($1,500) as soon as possible.
Thanks a lot for the awesome comment and spreading the word on the social media channels, I really think anyone can benefit from reading this.
Take care and have a great start of week Kevin!
Hi Sergio
Wow what a great post, you did it with the correct mindset and a lot of hard work but it paid off for you, the tower sounds like a great investment for you and I’m sure it will be so useful in the future.
Bet you were a little burned out at the end of the weekend LOL
Have a great week
Pauline
Pauline recently posted..Setting Up Affiliate Campaigns
Hey Pauline, I’ve already have a few “outside of the box” ideas for ways to profit even more with this tower and yeah, I did end up a little burned in the end haha!
The only part of the project that kind of sucked was getting the optical media into the envelopes, had to do it carefully to avoid papercuts but apart from that, everything else was smooth (I’m very organized when it comes down to doing a repetitive process).
Thanks a lot for your feedback Pauline and spreading it on twitter, I’m sure your followers will like this, take care and hope you have a very productive day, speak soon! ;-)
Hey Sergio,
That is a pretty neat machine, never saw one of those before.
So, how did these people find you? From doing the one gig earlier or just from friends or what?
I guess I need to start doing some reading. I have a heck of a time reading online as my eyes get tired so quick, need actual books as it is better on my eyes. I have a book here that I want to read, just haven’t been in the mood, I guess. I am not a reader, but I guess I should start changing that. Maybe something will sink in and get me going in the right direction. I keep running into stumbling blocks, get pissed and then it just sits.
Keep up the good work and hope you have a wonderful week!
Linda
Never seen one of this in real life either until I bought mine Linda.
The contact was made from the prior gig but I’ve been told a few other schools want to try my services out so it could lead to some extra money I’ve never even thought about.
Knowledge is power Linda so do whatever it’s needed to get the new content in and take action upon it, that’s really all I can say (I’m running out of ideas to empower people to do the same… lol)
Take care and thank you for stopping by Linda, really appreciate it and of course, have a great day! ;-)
Well, I think all you can do is keep plugging away with the same info over and over again. You know the saying “people need to see something 7 times before they take action” it is true!! The more people read and/or see what you are doing the more they will take action.
Just like having a link in your email signature – works the same way – people won’t react right away, but the more they see it, the more they will react, a mind game or set, if you will.
I’ve just discovered a pot of gold and can’t wait to get my mind going and one other thing, sometimes it helps to have a partner or someone to talk to in the same field to keep yourself going…so with this duplicating discs, it sounds like you are well on your way to some EASY MONEY – and then you can take that knowledge and pass it on (like what I am going to soon be doing and what’s best is that it’s EASY and of course lots of money to be made)!! Woohoo!!
Have a nice evening and keep spinning away ;-)
Linda
Linda recently posted..We Survived Hurricane Sandy in NJ!
You’re definitely right Linda, being exposed to the same content (in this case these mini success stories) is going to start sinking in for good.
The funny thing is that a couple of people just unsubscribed from my list after these two updates so I guess that success is not for everyone lol to each, their own!
Glad you were able to identify your pot of gold and that you’re willing to make something with it, all the best Linda! ;-)
This is an excellent method which you have done, to earn some extra money.
You had a contact and a vision and with a plan you made it into a reality.
The machine is nice, and perhaps you can start your own fulfilment company in a few years, to carry on doing this full time.
A nice success story which you have shared with us, which will inspire others to do similar things, and earn money in ways they never imagined.
keep up the good work,
Matt Morgan
Hey Matt, thank you for the great comment and yeah, this is indeed a nice success story just from having the right mindset and be open for opportunities.
I just received $200 a couple of hours ago from this gig (they still owe me $1,000) and it is definitely awesome to be receiving this money just from an spontaneous idea.
Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day Matt!
Great post Sergio! Well done spotting the opportunity and going for it. Gotta add that book you recommended to my to-read list as well.
Jarkko Helenius recently posted..My Point System – Joe’s Goals
Thank you for your comment Jarkko and glad you got interested in the book, it’s really a great read man, you’ll see! ;-)
wow man, good idea :)
Thanks Mano!