Every Sunday I like to talk about 3 random things that are on my mind.
Sometimes these things are about business…
Sometimes they’re about life…
And other times they’re truly, completely random.
So with that said…
Let’s jump into the first thing on my mind this morning…
1. The best products come from knowing the market and THEN creating the product
One of the companies I’m an investor in makes healthy, paleo-friendly baby food (Serenity Kids).
The company is blowing up right now. They’re in Whole Foods nationwide. And they’ll be rolling out to big stores like Target and Kroger this year.
One of the coolest things about their products are that they were created from seeing a big frustration in the market.
Joe and Serenity who own the company were big on the paleo diet…
And wanted the same for their daughter.
However the conventional baby foods on the shelves didn’t really fit this plan.
They were all loaded with preservatives…
And crummy ingredients…
Plus, most baby food is just veggies, and no meat.
So they saw an opportunity here to make a healthy baby food that includes both meat and veggies.
The result?
It’s been a smashing success.
And what really stands out to me about their story is that they created their product the right way.
They listened intently to their potential customers.
And they created a product that those customers wanted.
Not the other way around.
Most people create what THEY want, and then try to find people to buy it.
Big mistake.
You want to figure out what your market wants, and then create a product that gives that to them.
Alright let’s hop to the second thing on my mind this morning…
2. Don’t allow a shiny object to take your focus away from your main money maker
I mentioned in a previous email that I dipped my toes into the crypto space back in December.
I basically put 5% of my portfolio into a mix of Bitcoin and Ethereum (and a few alt-coins).
Since then I’ve been checking this stuff everyday.
I’m watching videos on Youtube about crypto.
I’m scanning Twitter for info.
It’s highly addicting.
And honestly if I didn’t have so much faith that crypto is going to change everything in the next 5-10 years, I’d prolly sell it all.
Why?
Cause it’s just another distraction.
It takes away from my main money-maker which is my business.
And that should always be the priority.
This is one of the reasons I love index funds so much for investing.
I basically just put money in an index fund and check it 2-3 times a year.
I’m not obsessing over it…
Or checking the price daily.
And I know based on historical numbers it’s gonna give me a 7-8% return, and over 30 years I’m gonna be quite happy with that.
Point being…
You need to be cautious about anything that pulls your attention away from your main money-maker.
Cause that’s what drives everything.
And it should be your main focus.
No reason to let that slip for some other shiny object that’s not giving you the same ROI.
Alright let’s do one more of these…
3. The best results come from hitting the big “needle movers” over and over again
For the last year I’ve been working out at Starting Strength in a group-coaching setting.
One of the things I love about this gym is they’re all about using the big “needle movers” when it comes to getting stronger.
This means focusing on things like squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses and bench press.
Like literally these are the only lifts I do.
When I started their last May, I thought this seemed kind of strange.
Cause I was used to doing all kinds of different exercises in the gym.
I assumed if I just did 4 exercises I wouldn’t make any progress.
But that hasn’t been the case at all.
In fact, I’ve made more progress in 10 months at Starting Strength then I did in the previous 10 years on my own.
My squat went from 65 lbs to 235 lbs…
My deadlift went from 135 to 240 lbs…
My shoulder press went from 45 lbs to 135 lbs…
So I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.
And all those results really came from two things…
1. Focusing on the big needle movers (and eliminating everything else)
2. Having a coach who’s more experienced than I am to tell me what to do/what not to do
That’s really all it took.
What’s funny is I was telling my biz partner Stefan about this over the weekend.
And how it really mirrors what we do with our Copy Accelerator members.
Most of what we teach is focusing on the 4-5 things that really move the needle (like ads, upsells and leads)
And then the other big thing is simply helping people to not go down the wrong path.
Cause Stefan and I have already made every mistake in the book.
So we try to prevent members from doing the same by telling them exactly what they should do and what they shouldn’t do.
So it’s not a surprise that this method works so well in both the gym and the business world.
The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized, there’s only a few things that really move the needle in most areas of your life.
And if you can focus on those things…
And weed out the distractions…
You’re gonna be way ahead of everyone else.
Make sense?
I hope so.
Cause that’s all I got for ya this morning…
Enjoy your Sunday.
– Justin
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