Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat (Agora Series)

Masterson, strong ego and all, comes right out and let's you know that you need help in the form of other people in this journey. He gives you a ballpark formula for estimating the numbers of employees you'll want to have at various levels of business growth. Most entrepreneur's never think of such a notion.Section two of the book begins with one of the most important factors business people should know and don't. The question is, what % of time and money needs to be spent on selling vs. everything else. Masterson has the right answer. If people stop reading the book right here, they will have gotten their money's worth. Most people start a business thinking that the products and services are the focal point. There's no doubt they are crucial, but the focal point is elsewhere....Page 57 has the most important piece of wisdom in the book...it's one of the hardest things for entrepreneur's to do, but one thing is certain, it will make or break you in business. Masterson is clear cut in his description.The remainder of Chapter Four contains basic advice...that almost no one will follow and it will cost them their business if they don't.Chapter Five, Masterson gives the reader his Optimum Selling Strategy. A very frank and transparent look at his personal marketing strategy and philosophy which I found thorough and easy enough to model for most of the startups I've helped with.Next up is a discussion of writing copy. Not much is more important in business and Masterson does a nice job of laying out a solid strategy here.As the book evolves, Masterson reveals what all those who are successful and respected in the information business know. You have to give a far more than you expect in return to succeed. There may be no greater truth.It's hard in the short run to do this because people see themselves as working for "free." But the fact is that you are a farmer planting seeds. Masterson calls "The Hoarder" the person who wants to give others little so he has much for himself...and he dismisses the notion as insane (my word, not his).The rest of the book is filled with useful tactics and strategies.The book is worth far more than the price asked. One of the great things about reading a book written by someone with a...significantly large ego is that they tend to impress or try and impress you with what they know.Fortunately Masterson does just that.I don't know Michael personally though we've been in similar businesses for years. After reading this book a solid respect for his wisdom, intelligence and foresight has been solidified within.I will recommend this book to all readers of Coffee with Kevin Hogan and particularly those who are thinking about going into biz for themselves.Really well done, easy to read, perhaps life changing.Kevin HoganAuthor of The Psychology of PersuasionandThe Science of Influence

This is the first book that I've read by Michael Masterson and I came away quite impressed. Michael did a "masterful" job in laying the blueprint for the evolution of a small business into a large corporation (if that's your goal)I am currently a Stage 1 business owner, and I found his advice refreshing. There's a lot of theory being promoted by so-called experts in entrepreneurship. The problem with it is that the overwhelming majority of these "experts" have no experience actually growing a business. They focus on the things that don't really matter like getting a pretty website or company brochure.Instead, Michael reminds us that in the beginning, making sales is everything. He correctly states that at least 80% of your time should be spent on selling/marketing and only 20% on everything else. Once you're making sales as a Stage 1 business, you have the resources to address your other business needs.Another great point that he made was when he said, "To be consistently successful, you need to anticipate the market, not follow it." This will enable you to become a market leader instead of a "Me too" competitor.In addition to that, Michael talks about the importance of testing. Too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of wasting a lot of money and time on an idea that is going nowhere. Had they tested the concept first, they could have come to the conclusion that their idea was a bad one a lot sooner and saved money, and more importantly time.As a result, I choose the cover of my new book by letting the market decide on two designs. The cover I chose was the runaway winner and it wasn't the one I thought would win. It was a great reminder that YOU are not buying your product, the market is and you should let them tell you what's the winning idea.I have read and continue to read a lot of business books but this one was one of the most practical, timely, and valuable books that I have read in a long time. I will continue to use this book as a resource for years to come.

I like how the book is broken down into different stages of business. Following these strategies my business income continues to increase month after month.

As a long time reader of business books and long time business consultant, it is rare that I read a business book that dazzles me. Michael Masterson's latest book dazzled me! This is a terrific book!!Full disclosure: I am big fan of the author's wisdom through my daily reading of the thoughtful e-newsletter, Early To Rise. Masterson's philosophies, on both life and business, delightfully combine old fashion values (hooray!) with insight into the nature of the changing world.There is much to like about this book. The author's depiction of the key issues in different stages of growth is well done. The anecdotes from his personal experiences, both good and bad, are interesting. But, it is his focus on the importance of SALES that makes this is a must read, especially for entrepreneurs in love with a product or idea. Ultimately, it is SALES that determines true success...not mere buzz, accolades or the like. And, this book is chuck-full of sound advice with respect to growing the top line so as to ultimately achieve bottom line success.Here is the top line on this book...I think so much of this book that I intend to use it as the primary guide/grading mechanism for my newest business being launched (in the info products area where Masterson has so clearly demonstrated exceptional success). We will write a sizable check to the author's charity of choice when our business hits annual revenue of $100MM to reflect our appreciation for this roadmap to that level.

Se você busca por um livro que vá te dar as orientações necessárias para você alcançar seu próximo nível financeiro, esse é o livro certo

Un livre qui s'étudie. Intéressant et motivant. Super clair et simplifié.

Dieses Buch ist meiner Meinung nach ein absolutes Muss für Unternehmer, sowohl für Anfänger als auch für Fortgeschrittene. Es bietet einen klaren und strukturierten Schritt-für-Schritt-Ansatz, um erfolgreich die ersten Millionen zu verdienen.Für Anfänger ist dieses Buch ein unschätzbares Werkzeug, da es die komplexen Konzepte des Unternehmertums in verständliche und gut erklärte Schritte aufbricht. Es bietet praktische Ratschläge und zeigt, wie man von Null auf eine Million kommt.Aber das Beste an diesem Buch ist, dass es nicht nur für Anfänger geeignet ist. Selbst Fortgeschrittene können von den tiefgreifenden Erkenntnissen und Strategien profitieren, die es bietet, um Geschäfte auf die nächste Stufe zu heben.Die klare und lehrreiche Art, wie der Autor die Prinzipien vermittelt, macht es zu einem wertvollen Ressourcenpunkt für jeden Unternehmer. Ich kann dieses Buch uneingeschränkt empfehlen, und es sollte in der Bibliothek eines jeden ernsthaften Geschäftsmannes oder jeder Geschäftsfrau zu finden sein.

I'm a fan of the author and I looked at this book many times before buying it. My problem was that it has always been expensive and I prefer my books in kindle format.I tried the published summary of the book and it convinced me that the author has a powerful message which I really needed to discover in full. So I bought the audio book, enjoyed it so much that I bought the hardback as well.The book sets out to answer two big questions:1) How do you start-up a business from scratch?2) How do you take an established business to the next level?It sets four different stages for the business (which I agree with) but I don't agree with the financial values quoted. I feel they are too big and generally I prefer to think about size in terms of the number of employees. I feel it's a better guide to the complexities involved in managing the business. The book goes on to look at employee numbers but I think there is an inconsistency between revenue and employees.These levels are:1) Infancy - just starting out - getting to $1 million in revenue2) Childhood - the fast growth stage - from $1 million to $10 million3) Adolescence - $10 million to $50 million4) Maturity - $50 million to $300 millionThe book focuses on the main challenge in each stage i.e. getting your first sales, adding more products to become profitable, developing systems and getting the business to run itself and continue to grow.The book was published in 2006 and that's five years before Eric Ries published his book "The Lean Startup". Both have the united theme that the earlier you test your product idea with real customers, the better it will be.Unlike the Ries book, this book focuses o the sales and marketing issues. It argues the entrepreneur must become the expert in selling, to such an extent that sales and marketing should take up 80% of your time. This isn't what many people want to hear but the product and service just need to be "good enough". Don't waste time on perfecting it in your eyes without selling. This is also the message from The Lean Startup where the concept of the Minimum Viable Product is explained.With this in mind, the book explains how to develop your Optimum Selling Strategy (OSS). You just want to know how to sell your particular product in your particular market and you must not spread your learning and activities too widely on too many different marketing and selling techniques.The Optimum Selling Strategy is based on answering four questions:1) Where are you going to find your customers?2) What product will you sell them first?3) How much will you charge for it?4) How will you convince them to buy?This is the vital task in the first stage, infancy. Moving on to Childhood or the fast growth stage, the challenge is to identify, develop and sell more products. These two stages are were the vast majority of the text is focused. This is getting the business established and consistently profitable.The author has interesting ideas in the Adolescence stage too but the final stage is glossed over in a few pages.This is a great book and I recommend it very highly. I very much approve of the emphasis it puts on sales and marketing. As management guru Peter Drucker said, there is only one purpose of a business and that's to create customers. Quite simply, without customers there isn't a business.There are some excellent marketing books available to read but too often they encourage you to try too many techniques too quickly. Once you have one method working, I certainly believe you should add a few more but getting that first method is critical.Many of the stories from the book come from the author's experience in information marketing. He is one of the people behind the remarkably successful Agora publishing empire. However the concepts explained apply much more widely.Paul Simister helps frustrated business owners who are stuck, get unstuck.

Este es uno de los mejorea libros para emprendedorea que hay, te explica como antes de eatar listo debea hacer las cosas, ya que si esperamos a tener todo en orden ya es muy tarde.