Why Free Stuff doesn't work, including Dropshipping Guides, Directories, Gyms and Love.
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2015/04/why-free-stuff-doesnt-work-including.html
I've always heard that you get what you pay for in life and that nothing's really free. I kind of believed it but honestly always tried the free path anyways. I figured, hey if it's free and I ever get a little value from it, it was worth it right? Also even if it doesn't work at all, I didn't lose anything because it was free.
I did that with almost everything in life for the first 31 years and I pretty much wasted my life being a cheapskate. I did it with everything, fitness, nutrition, education, work and even relationships. In this post I'm going to be brutally honest on what worked and what didn't.
I used to be too cheap to buy expensive food, take private classes or hire a personal trainer. I skated by in life loving extra value meals, $2 frozen meals when they were on sale, and would never dream to pay $4 extra for avocado, pay double for "grassfed" butter when margarine was a lot cheaper and was very happy with my $20 a month gym versus paying $100 a month for a CrossFit gym.
The same goes to trying to read hundreds of pages of free content in blogs instead of just paying for the book where the author sums up how to do it, what to eat, and why.
I can honestly, 100% say that I was lying to myself, and I'm the only loser when it comes to trying to be cheap about my health and fitness.
By this I pretty much mean all business and education, but since the majority of my income is from my dropshipping stores, I'm using that as an example. I will openly say that even if someone follows the perfect system for starting a business, they can still fail, but honestly, at that point of life they most likely would have failed at anything. It's only a failure if they give up. If they take it as a learning opportunity, open up their ears and minds and accept help and put in the work, everyone can be successful.
There are a lot of free guides and info out there to learn from. They all kind of work. But honestly you are wasting your time trying to get something for free, especially when that something can make you money in return.
Free Dropshipping Directories:
WorldWideBrands (don't use this)
Wholesale2B (don't use this)
*Warning: These don't work because they are middlemen, take a huge part of your profits, and give easy access to everyone who signs up, making your competition huge.
Free Dropshipping Guides:
The Ultimate Dropshipping Guide by Shopify
How to Start a Dropshipping Store for $29 in only 1 Day
*Warning: These also don't work because they may teach you 80% of what you think you might need to start a store, but if it really worked everyone would have a profitable store and they don't.
Anyone who has the time to give you free advice either has way too much time on their hands isn't successful themselves, or will only give you partial information.
If you expect someone who's time is worth $150 an hour to walk you through something step by step for free, and repeat themselves over and over to random people online that they don't know and most likely will never even use the information, you are delirious.
The reason why people charge $5,000 for courses is because the information is worth it and they aren't willing to waste their precious time answering a million questions in a facebook group or online in a forum. No one that is of true value is willing to waste their time walking you through it for free, and if they do I guarantee they will get sick of it and stop at some point because they'll quickly realize that people that want free advice don't appercaite it and hardly ever act on it.
The two main reasons why free stuff doesn't work is because time is valuable and the only people's time who isn't valuable is those who have nothing to really offer. On the same note, if you don't value your own time, you can have the best system in the world and you won't put in the work required as you'll just scan through it looking for the short cuts.
The other reason is because people will happily give you 80 or 90% of the formula for free, but will keep the remaining 10% to themselves or to those who pay for it.
By investing in yourself, in an education, and joining a mastermind or a private forum of a tight knit community, you automatically differentiate yourself from 99% of the people out there.
I did that with almost everything in life for the first 31 years and I pretty much wasted my life being a cheapskate. I did it with everything, fitness, nutrition, education, work and even relationships. In this post I'm going to be brutally honest on what worked and what didn't.
Health:
I used to be too cheap to buy expensive food, take private classes or hire a personal trainer. I skated by in life loving extra value meals, $2 frozen meals when they were on sale, and would never dream to pay $4 extra for avocado, pay double for "grassfed" butter when margarine was a lot cheaper and was very happy with my $20 a month gym versus paying $100 a month for a CrossFit gym.
The same goes to trying to read hundreds of pages of free content in blogs instead of just paying for the book where the author sums up how to do it, what to eat, and why.
I can honestly, 100% say that I was lying to myself, and I'm the only loser when it comes to trying to be cheap about my health and fitness.
"Life is an illusion. I am held together in the nothingness of art." -Anselm Kiefer |
Relationships:
I never used to be generous in relationships, like a lot of men I would dread spending money on roses during valentine's day, and would be selfish when it came to give and take. For the first time in my life I'm in a relationship where it feels better to give than to receive and by giving more I somehow get more in return. This applies to friendships, family and my significant other.
By investing in my relationships instead of just thinking about what's best, cheapest or easiest, I've gotten back ten fold what I've given in love, happiness and overall fulfillment.
Dropshipping:
By this I pretty much mean all business and education, but since the majority of my income is from my dropshipping stores, I'm using that as an example. I will openly say that even if someone follows the perfect system for starting a business, they can still fail, but honestly, at that point of life they most likely would have failed at anything. It's only a failure if they give up. If they take it as a learning opportunity, open up their ears and minds and accept help and put in the work, everyone can be successful.
There are a lot of free guides and info out there to learn from. They all kind of work. But honestly you are wasting your time trying to get something for free, especially when that something can make you money in return.
Free Dropshipping Directories:
WorldWideBrands (don't use this)
Wholesale2B (don't use this)
*Warning: These don't work because they are middlemen, take a huge part of your profits, and give easy access to everyone who signs up, making your competition huge.
Free Dropshipping Guides:
The Ultimate Dropshipping Guide by Shopify
How to Start a Dropshipping Store for $29 in only 1 Day
*Warning: These also don't work because they may teach you 80% of what you think you might need to start a store, but if it really worked everyone would have a profitable store and they don't.
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Free Advice Doesn't Work:
Anyone who has the time to give you free advice either has way too much time on their hands isn't successful themselves, or will only give you partial information.
If you expect someone who's time is worth $150 an hour to walk you through something step by step for free, and repeat themselves over and over to random people online that they don't know and most likely will never even use the information, you are delirious.
The reason why people charge $5,000 for courses is because the information is worth it and they aren't willing to waste their precious time answering a million questions in a facebook group or online in a forum. No one that is of true value is willing to waste their time walking you through it for free, and if they do I guarantee they will get sick of it and stop at some point because they'll quickly realize that people that want free advice don't appercaite it and hardly ever act on it.
I'd rather be doing this with my time than wasting it chatting online. |
Why free stuff doesn't work:
The two main reasons why free stuff doesn't work is because time is valuable and the only people's time who isn't valuable is those who have nothing to really offer. On the same note, if you don't value your own time, you can have the best system in the world and you won't put in the work required as you'll just scan through it looking for the short cuts.
The other reason is because people will happily give you 80 or 90% of the formula for free, but will keep the remaining 10% to themselves or to those who pay for it.
By investing in yourself, in an education, and joining a mastermind or a private forum of a tight knit community, you automatically differentiate yourself from 99% of the people out there.
This is a Paid Community:
Joining this paid course and getting access to a group of people who also spent money on the course has been the best investment I've ever made. It was the first time I've ever spent money investing in myself and giving 110% of my dedication to making something work.
Not everyone in the course is making $5k or more like I am from their stores but 100% of the people who haven't given up have the potential to. I've now met enough people in person or in the forums that have replaced their 9-5 incomes with their dropshipping stores that I know 100% it works. If it wasn't for Anton and his system, both neither my store or Larissa's store would be profitable today.
In his course he teaches you things that the free guides and directories don't including:
- How to find profitable niches with low competition
- How to safeguard your niche and protect it against copycats
- How to get approved directly through the manufacture
- How to optimize for sales and profit
- How to follow step by step what actually works and not waste your time
The course was worth paying for just to get a step by step guide on what to do when and not waste your time with things like wordpress plugins, trying to save a few bucks using woocommerce instead of just paying for shopify, and more importantly, why, as Anton has tested it all himself and only recommends what actually works.
The second is how to get approved directly through the manufacture. This gives you the best profit margins, and lets you build a valuable relationship as a real business without having to pay $67 a month to be a "dropshipper."
This is the reports from just one of my stores |
I earnestly, 100% recommend to anyone wanting to start a dropshipping store not to waste their time with a free guide or pay for a directory. Be prepared to put in the work, and spend a good 1-2 months on your store and not "1 day" and be prepared to invest the money into something like Anton's Dropshipping Course as I promise you it's worth it.
You're worth it. Invest in yourself today and don't waste 31 years of your life like I did.
Update: I just logged into the private member forums of Anton's course and saw this. Young Dexter from Las Vegas has been crushing it with his own store. Biggest difference between him and those who have given up?
""Put in work and plant your seed today, so you can enjoy the fruits of your hard labor tomorrow" Go get it! " - Dexter C.
You're worth it. Invest in yourself today and don't waste 31 years of your life like I did.
""Put in work and plant your seed today, so you can enjoy the fruits of your hard labor tomorrow" Go get it! " - Dexter C.
Update: I sold my dropshipping store that I built with Anton's Paid Dropshipping course for $60,000. If you understand what ROI (Return on Investment) is, or can do simple math, you'll quickly see why it's worth paying $1,000 to build a $60k business instead of wasting 2 years gathering free advice and ending up with nothing.
2017 Update:
I've given a few in person talks about this, but need to make dedicated post about this, but the real SECRET to having a successful dropshipping store, or any business really, is to provide some type of unique value. If you start an online store just to sell stuff and make money without offering any unique value or a USP (unique selling proposition) you will most likely fail as there's no reason why someone should buy from you instead of somewhere else.
Don't have lower prices be your value as your competition will just lower theirs to match and now you're all broke.
Instead, find and create unique value. That might be better selection, in depth reviews, hard to find products, easier ordering experiences, more photos, or whatever else it might be. This was the #1 lesson I learned when taking Anton's dropshipping course and what's missing from most of the free tutorials out there.
You have to create real value. If you don't know how, or what that means, take a course. There are even some low cost alternative courses here but either way, you can't just put up a store and expect success, you need to create it.
Warm Regards,
Johnny FD
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