There are 4 Key Elements you must Master to Become a Full Time Service Provider and Make a Good Living

1) Product Market Fit - This means making and selling a product or service for which there is very strong demand
2) Absolute Best Marketing - This means reaching a lot of potential customers and making them aware your product exists. Most importantly it means showing these potential customers how your product would meet their needs
We use Marketing to mean both Marketing and Sales - so you need to both Create Awareness and Also To Sell
3) Absolute Best Product - This means having the best product of the highest quality.
In price conscious markets, you would also have to deliver the best value for money
4) Direct Channels to Customers AND 100% Control of Your Destiny - This means not making your business dependent on some external platform or website. This also means not having someone else counting the results. This also means not having someone else control your means of access to your customers


Product Market Fit is the most important key to Success. In Plain English - Product Market Fit means selling a product or service for which there is very strong demand

1) You know you have Product Market Fit when one or more of the following things are true - customers who arrive at your website convert at a very high rate; repeat customer rate is very high i.e. most of your customers become repeat customers; there is good growth even if you don't do much marketing; there is good word of mouth growth; people you market to click on your ads at a high rate

2) Product Market Fit trumps everything else. If there is strong demand then even a weak product, with little marketing, will sell very well
Above all else, you should aim for Excellent Product Market Fit. Build and Sell EXACTLY what your customers are eager to buy and what they actually do buy

3) Without Product Market Fit everything else is pointless. If you are selling a product for which there is no demand - then it doesn't matter how great the product is. Nor does it matter how good your marketing is or how many people you market to
If there is no demand, then no one will buy it

4) When starting off your sole and only focus should be - Create a Product or Service that has GREAT Product Market Fit
Find a market where there is great demand and that demand is not fulfilled. Then build a product for that market


Absolute Best Marketing is the second most important determinant of success. Marketing is even more important than the quality of your product. Why? Because if people don't know your product exists, if you can't convince them to buy your product, then the 'quality' of your product doesn't matter

Please Note: By Marketing we mean both Marketing (making customers aware your product exists) and Sales (getting customers to actually buy the product)

1) If you want your product to sell, you have to do Marketing and Sales. There is absolutely no way around it
1b) People who claim that their product 'sells automatically' are often just using other forms of marketing such as - free trials, inbound marketing, story based marketing (a powerful story), virality (getting customers to do marketing), free version with option to upgrade to pro version (free being the marketing force), etc
1c) You can build some in-built virality into the product and get customers to share the product. There can also be some products that have inherent sharing (like a group deal). You ALWAYS have to supplement that with other forms of marketing
1d) That you can sell a product without doing marketing is an illusion sold to tap into your laziness and/or into your fear of having to sell your product

2) The biggest determinant of Sales Success is showing how your product or service will satisfy the customers' needs
2a) You need to forget 'what you want' and 'what you think your product does', and focus completely on 'what the customer wants' and 'what the customer wants the product to do'
2b) Your Perfect Set of Customers will have a set of pain points. They will also have a specific set of needs and wants. Your product must satisfy one or more needs/wants of the customer and/or eliminate one or more of your customers' pain points

3) The Best Marketing is marketing that is cheap or free - costs you nothing, or next to nothing
3a) Expensive Marketing is not really a solution. It's a band aid

4) The best Marketing channels are marketing channels which you own and control 100%
4a) If you don't control the marketing channel, then whoever owns the channel will keep increasing the tax until the channel becomes Zero Profit i.e. useless
4b) The even bigger danger is that the entity that owns the channel can jump into the same business

5) Regardless of what line of work you are in, becoming an expert at marketing and sales is critical. There is no other choice - if you don't learn to sell, then you can't get the success your hard work and craftsmanship deserve


The third most important determinant of success is the quality of your product

We will re-iterate -
1) #1 is Product Market Fit. If there is no demand then it doesn't matter how good your product is. Above all else, you must be focused on finding great Product Market Fit
2) #2 is Sales and Marketing. If you can't make people aware your product exists, and if you can't sell it to them, then it doesn't matter how amazing your product is. You have to become great at sales and marketing, regardless of what area you are in

After you've started selling your products and services, the Engine for Growth and Sustained Sales and Profits is the Quality of the Product

1) If you want to build a long term business the only option is to have a really high quality product

2) A High Quality Product also leads to Word of Mouth. Word of Mouth is the best marketing because customers trust other customers more than they trust any one else

3) The higher the quality of the product the lower your support costs and maintenance costs

4) Working on improving quality also makes you much better. It gives you a deep understanding of your business area and of your customers' needs and pain points

5) High Quality increases speed, production rate, and satisfaction. Making low quality products takes more time and costs more
5b) Improving quality, in most areas, also increases speed of work
5c) Improving quality increases your own satisfaction in your work and your team's satisfaction in their work

Creating an absolutely amazing product is 100% in your hands. It is also the smartest choice - it makes you and your team happier, it lowers support costs, it makes your customers happier, it creates word of mouth, and it's actually faster and cheaper


For you to actually have a business, you need Direct Channels to Customers which you own and control 100%

If your path to customers is owned by someone else, that entity will tax you. It will gradually increase taxes until it is taking all of the profits

1) Direct Channels to Customers is an Absolute Necessity. Companies like Apple build their own retail stores so they can sell direct to customers. It's why Apple makes $3 billion to $6 billion profits Every Month

2) Google pays Apple $9 billion a year to have Google's Search Engine be the default Search Engine on Safari browser on Apple phones and tablets. That is the high cost of not owning direct channels to customers

3) Even more important than avoiding a 'tax' is avoiding losing your customers entirely. If you've found a good profitable business, and someone else controls your access to customers - there is nothing stopping them from replicating your product and stealing your customers

4) You can control quality, and can keep your artistic freedom. If you sell direct you can ensure everyone is getting a great experience. You can sell the exact product you want to sell, and you can sell it in the manner you see fit

5) Owning and controlling your channels to customers gives you Peace of Mind and you can focus on your core competencies

Building Direct Channels to customers is critical as it means you can keep the lion's share of the revenue and profits you generate. It is also critical to keep your customers safe from competitors and imitators