5 builders who never spoke to each other

Audit what is already working and do more of it

Rather than importing whatever tactic worked for somebody else, track what you did against what it returned, cut the rest, and pour the freed time into the thing that is already producing. Where the niche has no published playbook you have to find the channel by experiment, so pair each expensive short term bet with a slower one that still pays if the bet fails.

The method

1. 01

   Rather than hunting for whatever tactic is working for someone else, audit what is already producing results for you and do more of that.

2. 02

   Track what you do and what it returns, then cut everything that is not working. That measurement is what lets a one person business grow.

3. 03

   Treat marketing as a run of experiments, study why something worked for someone else, then rebuild it in your own style.

4. 04

   In a niche with no published case studies you have to find the channel by experiment, so pair each expensive short term bet with a slower investment that pays off if the bet fails.

5. 05

   Invest in the channel you have been ignoring when it is already carrying a disproportionate share of revenue, starting with more listings and better photography.

What it returned

• Hiten Shah of Kissmetrics reframed Justin's question this way over coffee in San Francisco.

• Lidiya names tracking everything as one of the best habits she developed, because it showed her what to do more of and what to drop.

• Etsy was producing almost a third of Zue's revenue despite essentially no effort spent publicising or improving it, so he added listings and photos

• Attributed to Hiten Shah.

Sources

• 2014: a year of making stuffJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What were my biggest hits of 2014? · undated
• Where are these signups coming from?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Where are these signups coming from? · undated
• Play the long gameJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · The long funnel · undated
• 7 Backlinks in 27 minutesHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 7 Backlinks in 27 minutes · undated
• 4 years. 4 AMA's. 1M views.Harry Dry · Marketing Examples · 4 years. 4 AMA's. 1M views. · undated
• Week 27 RetrospectiveCory Zue · coryzue.com · Comments · 2017-09-25
• Habitify: From $0 in 6 months to 1M downloads and $21K/monthAlan Nguyen · failory.com · What were the biggest challenges you faced and the obstacles you overcame? · undated
• How to Make $2,000/Month with a Personal Development BlogLidiya K · failory.com · What were the biggest challenges you faced and obstacles you overcame? · undated
• 10 lessons learned launching 7 SaaS and generating $200k+ total revenuesLuca Restagno · solopreneurtofreedom.com · Keep making experiments · 2024-01-18