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Welcome to the Builder Society Digital Strategy Crash Course.
The BuSo Digital Strategy Crash Course is a collaborative effort between @Ryuzaki and @CCarter, with guest appearances by @The Engineer, @eliquid, @stackcash, @SmokeTree, @Phenom, and @Steve Brownlie.
You Are Embarking Upon an Evolutionary Journey.
Maybe you're trying to figure out what an HTML is... or maybe you've been in the game for an entire decade... There's something in here for you. There's not a single word in this guide worth skipping or skimming. This is no typical newbie guide for making money online full of short cuts and cheats codes. There is no place for that if you want to accrue real financial security and independence from the internet any more.
We're not going to tell you exactly what to do, only how to think and what to think about. We go in-depth into every strategy you need for manifesting wealth out of the internet. It's all right here. And it works every time if you can get yourself out of the way and rise to the challenge.
If you're a service provider looking for some local clients in your zip code or you're starting the next huge viral site to bring in thousands of visitors every second, this will tell you how to do it. If you want to create a thousand small sites on a conveyer belt and liquidate them one at a time, this will tell you how to do it.
We're literally removing every road block and every excuse for every angle. If you don't succeed, there's nobody to blame but you. That's why we'll start out talking about motivation and psychology. If you don't get hype and remove any remnant of bitch from your brain, you might as well hang it up. This game is not for the weak at heart and mind any more. The 90's and 00's came and went. This is now a mature industry that requires mature effort.
We encourage you to start a new journal in the Laboratory where you can share your progress and get help with any bumps along the road. Also, each day will have it's own thread for discussion and general questions. No question is stupid here. We're here to teach and learn from each other. If you decide to be rude to another Builder in this section, you'll be shown the door. Don't hesitate to ask questions and engage in active learning. That's why we put this together.
Also, if a topic isn't covered in the core 30 days of this guide, don't fret... There's already Expansion Packs in the works. Send any moderator a conversation message with your suggestions and we'll find a professional to cover it.
Our Promise to You
Going all the way through this course won't be easy. It'll be time consuming and you won't get a certificate at the end. The small upside is there's no homework. The big upside is you come out the other end equipped to making as much money as you're willing to work for. And that'll be much harder than than sticking through the course for 30 entire days...
This is literally the day, the starting point, where your life gets a LOT better... If that sounds good to you (and it should), then...
This is literally the day, the starting point, where your life gets a LOT better... If that sounds good to you (and it should), then...
On to Day One!
There are two obstacles that you better be ready to face:
- Yourself
- Your Non-Hustler Friends and Family
Your "Friends & Family"
Here's how this is going to work. Go ahead and look around at your best friends, your acquaintances, and your family members. Take a good look.
They won't be there when you take your rightful seat on the throne.
It's not their fault and you shouldn't hate them for it. Not everyone has this in their blood. All the fears and reservations that cause you discomfort when you think about putting your nuts or ovaries on the chopping block are the same ones that they have, except they don't intend to do anything about it other than ignore it.
Guess what happens when they see you decide to go and get it for real this time. They hear the power language you're using. They see you researching and preparing. They see you evolving.
You know what you just did? You made it impossible for them to ignore the dreams they swallowed and allowed to fester into bile in their envious stomachs. When we're all sitting at the bottom of the bucket, that sop of mud is normalized. If someone tries to climb out... well suddenly shit just got real.
They don't even know why they do this. They don't even realize that they are doing it. But what they are going to do are become dream crushers. They crushed their own dreams and surrendered to a society that only hands out extreme rewards to those who provide extreme value through extreme ingenuity and effort.
And damn it, they are worth those extreme rewards too, right? I mean, c'mon... they worked hard too! And no rewards ever came. So you shouldn't even try to go after your dreams, because you're a damned fool if you think you can win in this messed up world...
And you're going to go for it, and you're going to win and reap rewards you can't even fathom right now.
But you can't do that with poison in your life.
You can't mix friendship and business. And that's even more ammo against you from their weak little mouth weapons. Their insecurity will try to destroy you with a thousand cuts. If they can't respect their boundary of just being a friend or family who's happy for you, you will have to separate their heads from their shoulders with one strong cut. Which is to say that they will have to become dead to you. You won't only have to cut them off, but you'll want to cut them off.
That doesn't sound real appealing does it? Guess who else is going to get in your way?
You are your worst enemy (at first) in the pursuit of business. After proper self-development, you'll become a beast. But at first, you're going to stumble over your own feet non-stop.
Your "Mind and Body"
You know what's more boring than anything I've ever done in my entire life? Sitting at the computer 18 hours per day building websites about crap I don't care about that earns me good money. You know what's fricking awesome? Sitting at the computer 18 hours per day earning good money while building websites about crap I don't care about.
Same exact situation, a slight change in focus of mind, and a polar opposite outcome pops out.
See... I hate "building websites," even though I enjoy every individual aspect that combines into that action. I love coding, front-end design, building links, optimizing content, graphic design, etc. But my brain tells me I hate the same things from a different angle. So choose your angle.
Your perspective will control everything from this point forward. Fortunately you control your perspective. So what do you want to pop out of the other side? Excitement and energy or depression and malcontent?
This sounds like meditation. There's a reason all of the big Silicon Valley companies are offering meditation classes and bringing in Buddhist monks for their employees. The largest key factor to your success in business is your psychology. That's why upwards to 90% of the business books are always about the mind or understanding someone else's mind.
"My back hurts and I'm getting carpal tunnel in my bitch fingers!"
Yep, me too. Guess what? I take my ass to the gym five days a week where I run several miles per day and perform compound and isolation weight lifting exercises for every muscle group over the course of the week. I bought an ergonomic chair and keyboard and practice proper typing technique. I get up and move around. Make all the money you want, but if you're not healthy you can't enjoy it. Money buys you security, but what it can never secure you from is your own stupidity in letting industrialized society convince you not to exercise. You better eat right too. The more your body and mind operate at optimal levels, the more productive and efficient your business will operate.
Your body will invent excuses for you mind to latch on to. If you cut those off, your mind will pluck them out of thin air. It's very crafty. It's the evil imp standing on your shoulder whispering in your ear. It'll tell you about all the other things you'd enjoy more than sitting here managing your virtual assistants and reviewing their work while watching Netflix. At a certain milestone, you will go full time. You will, without a doubt, have the best and easiest job in the world. And your mind will bitch about it.
This is my life as I type this. I'm working on this very post, jamming to Daft Punk, chatting with the bro's, and about to turn on a Netflix movie. You can bet my mind has tried to give me 100 excuses to do something "easier and more fun." Life couldn't be any better and my habitual negativity wants to ruin it for me. Good thing I'm bigger than my thoughts.
I can't stress this enough. This is so important that you learn to recognize these excuses, false feelings, red flags as they are about to arise, and be able to stamp them out, that we've dedicated an entire day to them later in the guide. Take it serious. This is the most important part of your business.
Now that I'm done trying to scare off the sissies who don't belong here, I'm going to tell you about what's on the other side of the rainbow.
Why Do We Do This?
Flat out, the majority of people attempting this lifestyle don't belong here. I don't mean that in a negative way. This is for the select few who have what it takes to be entrepreneurs, the warriors of the modern world. If you play pretend, you're going to die on the battlefield. If you try to convince yourself that you have what it takes when you know down deep inside that this isn't for you, you're going to waste prime years of your life failing. The rewards look good to everyone. If everyone had them or could attain them nobody would give a shit. This is special and it's for special people.
Don't worry. Everyone is special. Here's a trophy for participation. I want a #5 combo, super-sized, please.
Seriously, all disrespect aside. Every person fills an important role in society and this is only possible due to their contributions. Appreciate and respect everyone you encounter. They have strengths you don't have. There's no way in hell I could flip burgers for 8 hours a day as a career... don't take for granted someone else's stamina and willingness to overcome obstacles just because their peak limit is lower than yours. They are still bosses in their own right.
I can't file paperwork and answer a telephone for 8 hours a day... but I can build the shit out of some websites.
You're still reading this. This means you think you have what it takes. You might, but you'll get nowhere if you don't have a reason for doing it. Let me make up some reasons. One might be stupid to you, then you'll see another one and be like "okay, I get it."
- My first high school girlfriend dumped me for a kid who's parents gave him a big allowance. Success is the best revenge.
- My parents had bad flips of the coin and ended up working doubles at minimum wage while my grandparents raised me. Never again.
- My mother died from a completely preventable disease but chose not to accept medical care because it would have ruined our family financially. I want to support other families in need and fund research to eradicate this illness forever.
- My boss has taken advantage of me for the last time. He thinks he's hot shit cause his dad gave him the family business. My business is going to crush their entire family tree.
- I want everyone I care about to never stress about money ever again. If we weren't all working, we could be traveling the world creating amazing memories together instead of suffering.
- Because "Fuck You," that's why!
That's why you'll get the big prize.
What Prize?
Well... there's hardly anything off limits. The only thing money won't buy you is health and time. It can help your health and free up some time, but in the end both of those things are going to disappear from your frame of reference (aka you're going to die). The rest is fair game but you better get started! Dream it up as big as you'd like... It might look a little something like this...
Ah, another morning waking up without an alarm clock. Who is this chick/dude next to me? Am I seriously still drunk from last night? Let me check my calendar. Oh yeah, my secretary reminded me and I still forgot, this is the morning I pay my mom's house off and drive her to the dealership and let her pick any car she wants.
I have nothing else to do till 6PM. I think I'll dick around, order pizza and play Diablo till four, hop on the treadmill for 30 then I'll get showered up before that black tie event. $500 a plate and I requested box mashed potatoes to go with my steak and I don't care because I own a Maserati. I can't stay out late though. I have to pack up to go to my Summer house in Hawaii and my flight leaves early. Thank god for first-class. It'll be cool having my own personal Kung Fu trainer for 3 months, learning to whoop ass on the beach. I'm going to immerse myself in it during the day and watch reruns of X-Files at night.
I have nothing else to do till 6PM. I think I'll dick around, order pizza and play Diablo till four, hop on the treadmill for 30 then I'll get showered up before that black tie event. $500 a plate and I requested box mashed potatoes to go with my steak and I don't care because I own a Maserati. I can't stay out late though. I have to pack up to go to my Summer house in Hawaii and my flight leaves early. Thank god for first-class. It'll be cool having my own personal Kung Fu trainer for 3 months, learning to whoop ass on the beach. I'm going to immerse myself in it during the day and watch reruns of X-Files at night.
Seriously... what do you want? I won't condone or condemn a single thing if it's that thing that takes you across the finish line. Just get on with it so long as it doesn't cause a murder.
Hold your horses, hoss. You better figure out who you are first, because nobody's going to hold your hand and walk you to the end. We can give you the keys, but we damn sure aren't going to walk 1000 miles through the jungle to unlock the door for you.
Your first goal is to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Notice I didn't say to identify what you like or don't like. Money doesn't have emotions. I said strengths and weaknesses. Your goal is to exploit your strengths and eventually outsource your weaknesses. We're trying to fast track our way through several 40 year long careers in about 5 years, so get realistic here.
Your Weaknesses
Here's the thing though. If you think you can ignore your weaknesses or ignore the basics because you already have money to throw at them, you're in for a surprise. If you don't know the basics, you can't hire someone to do the basics. So no, you don't get to lolly gag through internet marketing. If you don't take the time to learn HTML, you're an idiot. If you can't do basic Photoshop operations, you're hurting yourself. Etcetera.
"But I can order my logo on Fiverr in about 10 minutes."
By the time you find someone worth ordering from and then type out your color pallet and concept for your brand, I've made 3 logos with time to spare and asked each of my homies their opinion on which is the best. Yes, don't waste time, but don't be stupid and waste time by trying not to waste time. All you'll do is create bottlenecks by passing off essential tasks to someone you have to wait on.
I say all of that to say, get ready to become a Jack-Of-All-Internet-Trades or lose a lot of time and money. Only by knowing how these things work can you save time and money by outsourcing it. There are no short cuts to being a one-man operation unless you plan to cough up equity to someone that knows what you don't or you enjoy risking sabotaging yourself every time you turn around.
Your Strengths
This is where the money lies. You've accepted that you can't patch up a sinking ship, so you learn the basics of all the stuff you don't know. Good. Now what about the stuff you do know and know really well and can perform better than most everyone else?
This is what defines your direction.
There are a lot of different hats that you'll wear. There are countless different roles that you'll fall into - sometimes several on the same day. Some days you'll be selling ad-space, some days you'll be buying it. Some days you'll be freelancing, some days you'll be hiring. The more that you align your main daily tasks with things that you're actually really good at, and outsource your weaknesses to other experts, the more effective you'll be.
Are you a writer?
Just saying "I should start an online magazine because I'm a good writer" isn't good enough. What kind of writing are you good at? Are you good at convincing people? Are you funny? Are you good at tugging people's heart strings?
Are you a designer?
What kind of design? Can your eye for style and design translate to your online venture? Can you combine advanced Photoshop knowledge with a common CMS and some basic front-end skills and launch a full-on design agency? Do you even know what a CMS is?
Are you a programmer?
What can you program? What software can you create that will fix a problem? What software do you wish existed? Do you have the scripting skills to create a SaaS? Are you a front-end master?
Marketing background?
Every single one of you better become a marketer. This bottom-barrel basement-dwelling neckbeard crap came and went. But maybe you're already a marketing genius. Exploit it.
If you're a one-person-show, you'll need a little bit of everything...
Look...
- Your content can be incredible, but if you aren't able to market it then what's the point?
- If you can't present it in a way that makes people want to keep reading, who cares?
- If your site is glitchy and your theme looks like dogshit, you're missing out.
- If you look at analytics and think "oh no math" then you better go buy an algebra & statistics textbook and start studying.
So definitely take the time if it's not obvious to you and figure out what you're the master at doing. Find your top skill and build around it.
Once you know you're mastery target and mastery level, it's time to determine what assets you have surrounding you that can act as the canvas for you to paint on.
Current Assets
What relationships and assets do you already have in your life that will help?
- Are you an ex-independent movie maker? I bet you could slay a giant YouTube channel.
- If your brother in law owns an exotic car dealership, why not beg him for a few test-drives so you can make some unique written and video content?
- Did your pops spend his entire life selling insurance? Bet you he's got some insights and some connections who are hungry for leads.
When people are handing money to you, that means you've made an impact. And making an impact means you have...
Society has programmed you. I'm about to type a word that you think is a bad word. You're brainwashed into feeling guilty, selfish, disgusted, and hatred for anyone attracted to it. You're told it's barbaric and unenlightened to pursue it.
"Be the crab at the bottom of the bucket with the rest of them," they told you in a thousand ways a thousand times from the moment you were born... Whatever you do, they don't want you seeking:
Power
You hippy bastard. Did that make you wince when you read that? Is money the root of all evil? Are the capitalist pigs the reason why the world is so messed up? Or is that just a convenient excuse to whine and not try?
@turbin3 said it best:
"It's easy to whine. That's why losers like it. It requires more effort to take it upon one's self to turn all that negative bullshit off, and instead be part of the solution."
Power is the solution when it's founded on good will."It's easy to whine. That's why losers like it. It requires more effort to take it upon one's self to turn all that negative bullshit off, and instead be part of the solution."
The reality is that ignorance, greed, and hatred are the root of all the world's problems.
...not money, not power... Power is only a problem in the wrong hands or in no hands. All the more reason to get power, so you can stop the big bad guys, help make the world a better place, and afford some ear plugs to block out all these whiney little bitches.
If you take the psychology part of business seriously, then you won't detract from the world like a leech seeking sustenance and leaving only a trail of goopy slop behind it. You'll provide jobs, you'll connect honest buyers with honest sellers and keep the economy churning so everyone has a shot at power and mobility, you'll be charitable and try to raise everyone's living conditions through inventing world-changing concepts and technology.
You know what enables those things to happen? Money. Yes, money isn't everything, except when you don't have it or you want an excuse to not fix your life because it's easier to whine for attention and money than earn it. In today's world, money is the blood that flows through the veins of society. Without it, you die. With a good supply, you wield influence. With a good mind, you choose to influence the world in a positive fashion.
The nay-sayers and scaredy cats are the selfish people. They want everyone to be equal... equally poor and equally suffering. At least then they can pretend that life is fair. Life is fair. It just doesn't care about what you like. It won't reward you for being the best renaissance impressionist painter of the 21st century when people are dying of hunger. It will reward you for benefiting life though. You solve someone's problems and they will give you money. That's how it works. Now port that concept to the internet and solve some problems.
People get corrupted by focusing on power. They focus on the end goal and don't care which path they walk to get there. But this guide is focused on the path. It is the path. We are showing you the intelligible and honorable road to tread, but it's up to you to have a reason to persevere and then to keep on keeping on even when it hurts. You focus on how to solve your own problems in business and how your business solves others problems, and you won't even have to worry about money and power. It will come.
Your goal is to fix your thinking, remove your delusions, make the sensible decisions, take calculated risks, and work as hard as you can for as long as it takes without giving up.
- You'll be spinning the wheels without getting any traction.
- You’ll doubt yourself.
- You’ll wonder if this has all been a waste.
- You’ll look at all the time and money you’ve invested, all the sacrifices you’ve had to make, and you’ll wonder if it was all worth it.
- Your college buddies will be living nice middle class lives with hot wives and 3 kids and 2 cars.
- You'll stress about paying rent and keeping the lights on.
- It’ll get dark.
- You'll have your closest friends and family dogging you as hard as they can so you'll quit so they can keep ignoring their own dreams.
- Why not apply for a job at the old factory?
- Your friends won't understand and most will disappear.
- It’ll get darker.
- Then, when you least expect it, something will click.
- The puzzle pieces will start falling into place.
- Things that never used to make sense will suddenly make sense.
- The same assholes will tell you how they believed in you all along. "Can I borrow a thousand dollars?"
- You'll say no and it'll feel fucking amazing.
It'll all click into place and you'll become unstoppable. Every single successful person you see on this forum has started near the same place. They're the ones who kept with it, whether it happened fast or took a little longer. The one thing they all have in common is they didn't quit before they succeeded. The one thing everyone who's ever failed has in common is they quit before they made it.
Know that many, many people have embarked down this path before you. Many more will follow. Most won’t make it. Some will experience quick success and they won’t be able to maintain it, some will labor away for years and they’ll finally get there – some won’t. Snakes will be in the grass on the sides of the path trying to sell you short cuts that don't work. Your partners and members of your inside circle will betray you. Tons of people will try to ride your coattails as far as they can, and when you brush them off they'll tell everyone behind you a bunch of vicious lies.
But in the end, you will succeed. And you'll be amongst those who do understand and will support you.
Have you ever wondered why there are actual clubs for millionaires?
And those guys can't get into the club for penta-millionaires... Then there's the billionaires club. It's not because they're exclusive and snobby. It's because they are like minded. It takes a certain mind to drive a body to accumulate that much money and everyone else literally just doesn't get it.
GET IT.
Think about this for as long as it takes. Get your mind right, determine your strength, and play towards it. Tomorrow, @Ryuzaki is going to explain how you can set about choosing a vertical and a niche that matches this new found direction of yours. Don't rush the process. But don't linger for too long either. Action always trumps inaction, but unprepared action won't bear fruits nearly as large as a well thought out plan of attack.
Additional Day 1 Study Materials:
