Jason Brubaker

Grow Your Online Side Hustle

Want Success Online? Find A Business Mentor

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Wouldn’t it be great to find a business mentor? Someone who could guide you through the ups and downs of growing a successful online business? This was one of the questions asked during an inspirational talk I was presently watching on YouTube. It was 3AM and I couldn’t sleep…

This was during the 2008 economic collapse and I was running out of money. I am not sure what YOU did during the time, but I was living in a state of worry. And the only thing that kept me sane was watching success gurus drone on and on about all the stuff successful people do when times get tough. And times were tough.

business mentor

Want Success Online? Find A Business Mentor

One dude mentioned about how birds of a feather flock together. I heard it before, but he went on to talk about how you become the people you spend the most time with. If you want success, you need to hang around successful people. And that got me thinking. Most the people around me were losing jobs and running out of money too. Everyone was worried. And that sucked.

He also went on to talk about how success leaves tracks. And if you want to accelerate your own success, one thing you can do is find someone who has accomplished the things you want to do and see if that person would be willing to serve as a business mentor.

If the whole mentoring concept is new to you, I’ll make it simple – A mentor is someone who takes an interest in your success. He or she will be available for advice and to commensurate, but may not be directly involved in your business. If this is interesting, here are some tactics for finding your own business mentor:

  1. Compile a list of people you want to meet.
  2. Write them a letter. Follow up with a phone call.
  3. When someone answers, reference the letter and ask for the meeting.
  4. If you get the meeting, awesome! If not, try again later.
  5. Repeat the process.

Finding a mentor will go a long way towards helping you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your success. To get started, figure out what you want to accomplish. What do you want out of life? From there, find people who have achieved your goal. And if you want a really awesome resource for finding a mentor, check out SCORE.

Some Practical Thoughts On Building A Marketing Funnel

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A marketing funnel is the most essential component of your web business. When working properly, your marketing funnel allows you to automatically convert visitors to leads, leads to customers and customers to repeat customers!

The problem is, with all the fancy software options available, setting up a funnel can be confusing. When I started my web business, I was frustrated by all the complicated technical stuff. As a result, it took me years to learn what I’m about to share with you…

marketing funnel

Building A Marketing Funnel?

Here’s the thing. Despite all the marketing guru flowcharts that would make you believe otherwise, a marketing funnel is NOT linear. People don’t just come in the top of your funnel and then fall out of the bottom.

A marketing funnel is messy. It’s complex. And it has nothing to do with software. Paradoxically, a marketing funnel is also extremely simple. It is really just a way to get you (or your brand) in front of as many people as possible. Then you offer value, gain trust, and gain subscribers.

From there your goal is to create engaging campaigns (through email, retargeting, chat bots, videos, post cards, phone calls, and… smoke signals?) so you can add more value, create more trust… And eventually, you can make your pitch.

  1. Then you build more trust.
  2. Then you offer more value.
  3. Then you make a BIGGER pitch.
  4. Then you build more trust.
  5. Then you offer more value.
  6. Then you make an even BIGGER pitch.
  7. Then you build more trust.
  8. Then you offer more value.
  9. Then you make an even BIGGER, BIG pitch.
  10. And then you repeat the process. . . Again and again.

Don’t make this process overly complicated. All the fancy software (like this email service I promote) are just tools to help you accelerate this process and reach more people. The more people like you and trust you, the more they buy from you.

Secret Side Hustle: Your Boss Doesn’t Want You To Read This Article

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If you’re sick of your job, starting a side hustle can help. And I’m speaking from experience. If you’re like most people, your job was fun in the beginning. You came to work each day, energized to make things happen. But over time, enthusiasm faded.

Market conditions, regulations and interpersonal crap with your co-workers and clients beat you into submission. And now “you’re woke,” asking yourself if this what life is about? Is this really the best you can do?

side hustle

Your Boss Doesn’t Want You To Read This

At least you’re not alone. Everyone else at your work is going through motions like a bunch of task zombies. Even your boss. Except she’s worse off than you. Because in addition to also despising her job, she has to pretend what you’re doing matters. (It doesn’t.)

If this sounds familiar, you have two choices.

  1. Stay miserable until you get fired or die.
  2. Plan your exit strategy NOW.

To be clear, you don’t need to quit your job today. That would be reckless. But you do need to plan your exit strategy. And that is going to take some planning, courage and (eventually) action. To help you put things in perspective, watch this video:

See what I mean? When compared to the rest of the known universe, your work challenges are insignificant. Of course, this grandiose perspective doesn’t change the fact that come Monday, you’ll still have to white-knuckle your way through a bunch of bureaucratic BS.

The easy solution is to find another job. But this is a short term fix. Sooner or later you will hate your new job as much as you hate your current job. So instead of quitting, I suggest you keep your job and start a secret side hustle.

Establish Your Secret Side Hustle

A side hustle is a business you run on a small scale to grow and eventually replace your current income. And you should keep side hustle secret until it starts making money. The reason for secrecy is three fold:

  1. Your side hustle could make your intention to leave your current employer blatantly obvious… Which could prompt your boss to help accelerate your exit. Depending on your financial situation, that could suck.
  2. You don’t need the added pressure of friends and family continually asking about your business. And you certainly don’t need more unsolicited opinions outlining all the reasons your side hustle could fail.
  3. And finally, having a secret side hustle will give you clarity and confidence. While all your co-workers are mucking about, worried about their fate as an employee, you’ll be able to watch the show with delightful detachment.

As you gain success in your secret side hustle, don’t be surprised if you get promoted at work. It is hard to describe, but having your own source of income gives you interpersonal super powers… Suddenly your opinions matter and your influence grows… Probably because you don’t care. I think this clip from Office Space sums it up nicely:

If this sounds good, here are next steps for planning your secret side hustle:

Step 1: Know your number. How much money do you need to make each month to afford your desired lifestyle?

Step 2: Find your side hustle: Out of the gazillion businesses you can create on the side, which one grabs your attention the most? (Since you’re reading this blog, I suggest you create a blog business.)

Step 3: Research successful people: Find people successful in your niche, already selling stuff to your ideal customer. What are they doing that you like? What are they doing that you don’t like?

Step 4: Take baby steps to get there: Building a profitable side hustle into a full time business takes time. Work backwards. Break your big business goals into monthly tasks. Then break the months into weeks. And break the weeks into days. What task will you complete today to get one step closer?

Step 5: And finally, keep learning. The only way you’re going to gain success in life is by learning new stuff, and by meeting people more successful than you. That’s it. Everything else is more of the same.

I wish you all the best on your journey.

How To Leverage Social Stacking In Facebook Boosts

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Social stacking is a Facebook ninja hack that allows you to build ad campaigns around popular posts (and other ads) to generate cheap traffic and leverage social proof in an attempt to lower your CPA. One way to test a social stacking campaign is to boost a popular post on Facebook.

To get started, post an article to your business page. Then do nothing for a few hours. If the article has good engagement (sharing, clicks, comments) then you may want to boost it. And just in case you’re unsure of which posts to boost, Facebook will usually prompt you with something like this:

facebook social stacking

Facebook Social Stacking

Once you have an engaging post, click the Boost Post button. You’ll then have options to choose your targeting and set a budget. As long as you have your pixel correctly installed on your website, Facebook will track all engagement and activity. (And this data will help you in future Facebook ad campaigns.)

Because my primary blog revolves around filmmaking, I usually choose “filmmaking” as the broad interest. I then limit the geographical reach of my ad to the United States. And I then set the budget to $20-$100 dollars per day.

boost post ROI

Social Stacking Momentum

When your boost comes to an end, go into your Facebook ads manager and look at the data. If the ad performed well, you will have generated traffic, gained subscribers and possibly made some sales. In this example, my $50 dollar boost converted 3 sales for a total of $291 in revenue.

Since your boosted post will also have likes, shares and comments, you can further benefit from social stacking by recycling your ad into a new campaign. This gives you the advantage of social proof. And because Facebook factors the previous ad data, you should have a head start for achieving your marketing objective.

Facebook boost post

Get Email Subscribers

While there are multiple marketing objectives worth testing, when it doubt, I recommend you choose conversions and then work to get more email subscribers. You’ll then select your targeting, budget and placement… And you’ll simply select your popular post (as the ad) and get started.

Like all things marketing, nothing works all the time for every campaign. So I suggest you keep your budget low until you start seeing results. And with a little luck and persistence, you might some favorable results with social stacking.

How To Grow A Profitable Blog Working Your Day Job

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If you want to grow a profitable blog while working your day job (so you can eventually quit) you’re not alone. A quick Google search on the subject reveals a gazillion training courses promising that four hours is all you need to free up your life. But you and I know this is BS. But yet still buy the courses.

If you think about it, the reason you aren’t yet a full time blogger (or internet marketer) is because you are bound by negative beliefs. Think about it. From a young age you have been conditioned to seek the approval of family and friends. Can I do this? Can I do that?  Is this a good idea? What should I do?

profitable blog

How To Grow A Profitable Blog Working Your Day Job

Your ongoing need for outside approval has spilled into your professional life. Instead of growing your own profitable blog (or writing your own book), you feel an intense responsibility to get a good paying job, create a family and buy a home. You do this because this is what people do.

Even though you have the talent, interest and desire to grow an profitable blog, you still have an intense desire to find and keep a job. Heck, if you’re like most budding bloggers, you probably make a few internet sales each week. Then you drive to work and suffer though nine or ten hours of feeling like a caged animal.

Why do you do this? Why do you keep a job when you obviously have the capacity to make money to free yourself to continually grow your own profitable blog? It is because you don’t yet fully believe in yourself enough to take the plunge. You don’t believe your blog will survive. You don’t have enough gumption to quit the dead-end job and live life on your own terms.

Live Life On Your Own Terms

It’s true. You are doing okay at work. And you are on your way to making a modest amount of passive income through your blog. But you are also miserable. You spend each day eager to get out of the office – just so you can rush home and work on your own blog. But by the time you get home, you’re too damn tired to do anything.

One thing is certain. Asking for permission to live your life is a loser’s game. Asking permission makes you feel like a little kid. Asking permission makes you feel like someone else has power over your life. And without venturing too far into hyperbole, asking permission makes you feel like a slave.

The powerful never ask permission to create their world. I learned this lesson the hard way. I learned this lesson after many years spent living in quiet desperation. And I officially learned this lesson when I started hanging out with successful people.

Successful People Leave Tracks

I know you’ve probably heard this voodoo stuff before. So I’ll spare you the eye-rolling nuggets of wisdom. But I will tell you that all the stuff they say about having a network is true. You really do become the people you spend the most time with. And your network becomes your net-worth!

When powerful people want to accomplish something, they do it. So if you want to be powerful, you need to stop asking permission and go after everything you want. Powerful people never ask: “Do you think I can grow a profitable blog?”

The powerful say:

“I’m saving every penny. When I reach 20K, I am going to quit my job and start my own blog.”

Does that mean that you should be reckless? No. Not at all. What I am saying is, you need a prudent plan of action. You need to ask, and then answer some serious questions:

  1. What do I want in life?
  2. How much will it cost?
  3. What small step can I take today?

Since I live in Los Angles, maintaining a reasonable lifestyle is expensive. As a result, my desired baseline is set at $10,000 per month. If I can maintain 10K, I’m doing okay. Depending on where you live, this number may be much lower. And that’s a good thing.

When growing a profitable blog, small steps add up.

One more guest post…

One more blog article…

Build A Sold Foundation

All of these tasks become a solid foundation for your future blog business. But nothing will happen overnight. In fact, you will likely not see any results for weeks or even years. But one thing is certain. If you do NOTHING, you’ll never get there.

Throughout this blog, I’m going to provide you with experience from the front lines and provide you with success secrets I wish someone shared with me a decade ago. I believe growing a profitable blog is possible for anybody smart enough to read this article.

If your definition of success is personal freedom, then there is only one course of action: You need to start today. Your objective is to start small, build your experience and create an internet following. Once you have a following, you can write your own ticket.