I’ve been taking shooting lessons this past month.

It’s crazy how the lessons you learn in one profession, easily applies to another.

Right now, I’m focused on pistols. Taking good, slow shots, and the squeeze of the trigger.

There are million ways to make a million dollars.

Same applies to starting an online business.

But in general, it’s about how well you take your shots.

These 4 steps come from my personal experience, and having made more mistakes than I can count.

I’ve lost a lot of money. But I’ve also made a lot of money.

This newsletter issue touches on how I think about online business after learning these hard earned lessons.

This is a continuation of my last newsletter issue. If you haven’t read it yet. Click the link below to read it:

Many people start with the product or offer.

It’s how I started.

But after generating millions…

I realize that’s the wrong approach.

It’s better to start with the market, and build a suite of offers, products and services in it.

There’s a few reasons for that.

First, the longer you operate in a market, the better you will get to know it.

This experience will build on itself, and the money or time you spent in it won’t go to waste.

I’ll paraphrase Warren Buffet on this.

Time in the market is more important than timing the market.

Second, when you start in a market and build your first offer, it likely won’t succeed.

In fact, it will likely bomb.

And that’s ok.

The more “reps“ you get in the market, the “stronger“ you will be.

Creating a compounding effect.

Each offer, product or service, building on the knowledge you gained from the previous one.

In terms of picking your market, there are 3 overarching that are evergreen

And within them, a plethora of subniches.

I would recommend you stick to 1 subniche.

Something I should have done from the start. So learn from my mistakes ;)

For example, in the health market you have niches like weight loss, pain relief, longevity, performance… The list goes on.

Each one of these subniches are MASSIVE.

Massive enough to build a business of over 7-figures if not more.

Can’t go wrong with any of these.

In wealth, you have the classic make money online niches, financial / investment advice, business opportunity… The list goes on.

Again. MASSIVE markets. With lots of potential.

Finally, relationships. It’s the first market I started in, and I think a great market with less competition than the other 2.

In terms of potential, it’s the only market I did not crack 7-figures in. But it definitely has that potential, if not more.

Once you decided on a market and it’s subniche to dive into.

It’s time to move to step 2…

Whatever it is you want to sell…

A physical product, a digital one, a service or consulting…

Doesn’t really matter at this point.

Your immediate goal is to get your first few customers.

People that voted with their wallet, and show interest.

You can do as much research, and as many surveys, and talk to as many people as you want.

But I think the only TRUE proof of concept is getting paid.

Which brings us to the next step…

Definition: describe or draw attention to (a product, service, or event) in a public medium in order to promote sales or attendance.

There are a thousand different ways you can advertise.

From organic free ways, to paid methods.

Each deserving of their own newsletter issue.

So I’ll keep this brief.

If you have the money and the risk tolerance, start with paid methods.

If you don’t, go with organic methods.

My personal favorite for paid is META advertising. It’s quick, you can test for cheap, and you can get up and running in hours.

As for organic, it really depends on your own inclinations.

Since I love writing.

My favorite platform is X.

https://x.com/zhihao2k

Although I haven’t build any offers through X, all of it comes from paid traffic, if I started from zero and HAD to go with an organic traffic source, X would be the one.

Alright, you got your first few customers.

Maybe profitable, maybe not.

Whatever the case is… It’s a good sign.

Proof of concept has been established.

Now it’s time for iterations and time in the market.

The longer you stick to it… The more your effort will compound.

You’re in the stage now where you will improve on your products, improve the customer experience and create more offers.

To build out a backend suite of offers, products and services that give you “STAYING POWER“ and your own edge in the market.

As traffic becomes more scarce and expensive. This is your only true distinction from the competition.

When I first started in the relationship market, building offers for the women’s dating market…

Offers like:

Get him to commit and slide a diamond ring on your finger.

Text your ex back.

Etc…

There were a bunch of other people that tried the same.

The single reason I beat all of them was because my backend was better.

I spoke to more customers on the phone, got better results, and in turn, sold more offers.

I’ll break this offer down in depth in one of my next newsletter issues.

Remember, like my shooting coach says, it’s about how many shots you take that are done with QUALITY. The constant squeeze of the trigger. The correct pressure on the grip. The posture of your body.

The more you do it, the more in tune you’ll get. And the more shots you will land on target.

That’s it for today.

Let me know what stage you’re at and how I can help you.

Talk soon,

Zhihao Huang