What do you need to do to build reputation?

Abhi Chand
March 30, 2023



What do you need to do to build reputation?


That was the question I asked you last week in my post about what I learned from watching Shane do a $250K product launch in the middle of a pandemic. 

Did you think of an answer?

Btw, I’m writing this post currently at 6,500 feet in the air in a private 6-seater passenger plane. 

Trust me, it’s not as fancy as it sounds. As a matter of fact, it’s quite scary actually. But the view… is to die for!

Kaieteur Falls view from the front seat of a 6-seat passenger plane. Absolutely gorgeous!

We visited Kaieteur and Orinduik falls deep in the heart of South America today. 

I’ll show you more pictures soon but before I do, I want to address a few things. 

  1. The reason I am sharing my lessons with you in these posts is to go beyond the surface level “do XYZ” to make money or build a business. 
  2. I am sharing the things that come from experience. My experience. Shane’s experience. The ikario team’s experience. 

Both of these are equally important. Because they are (selfishly) building my reputation.

Eventually, this same reputation will be the reason you buy my products that will cost upwards of 1-2-3 thousand dollars…

…and why you will never bat an eye when my consulting fees will be $5,000 per hour.

That’s A LOT of money!

And you’re probably thinking “what makes Abhi think his time would even be worth it?”

That’s an excellent question.

Eventually (10+ years down the line), I will charge that much. But in order to get to that point, I have to build a reputation. A brand, a presence, a belief in you that I am worth you parting ways with that kind of money. 

And there is only one way to do it. I call it:

Do One Thing Well

This is probably the biggest mistake I see everyone (including us) make in business. 

And this is also probably the thing that leads to ultimate success for anyone who pursues it. 

Do one thing well. 

What that means is you become known for doing ONE THING… well. 

Very profound, I know lol. 

Let’s take Shane’s example, ThriveThemes. He built a website building software company that does a phenomenal job at doing the one thing… building websites fast without knowing how to code. 

ThriveThemes does this exceptionally well and, in turn, is an 8-figure ARR company. 

That’s annual recurring revenue. 10 Million Dollars+ per year.

The biggest mistake I see people make is that they believe their business is about them…

…it’s not. 

Your business is not about you. If you don’t believe me, go to your next sales call and spend the entire hour talking about yourself. Let’s see how eagerly your prospect signs the dotted line. 

This is one of those rookie level mistakes that people make. I’m not blaming you, just pointing it out. 

As a matter of fact, while I’m on a roll, here’s another one for you:

What is the purpose of business?


Everyone gets this wrong too.

Everyone says “the purpose of business is to make money”… guess how much money those people make?

F*cking none. 

I’m not blasting you here. I’m honestly blasting a younger me right now. I used to say the same thing.

The purpose of business is to solve your customers’ problem. And a byproduct of doing that, is you make money. 

The better you are at solving your customers’ problem, the more you get paid.

That’s how business works.

Nobody is lined up to pay us money just because our business exists to make money. 

I know I’m hammering this point right now. But I really want you to understand this. 

So if the purpose of your business is to solve your customers’ problem, what’s the thing you need to do well to build your reputation?

Solve that problem.

And solve it well. Really, really well.

This is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to get good at business. 

Pick ONE problem your customer has. Solve it to the best of your abilities, and…

 …this is the part that gets everyone:

 

Do it long enough to produce results.


For yourself, for your customers, for your brand, for your reputation.  

I asked you (and our audience) a couple weeks ago, what is the biggest thing you struggle with

…guess what majority of people said?

“Consistency — I know what to do, but I can’t do it long enough to produce results.”

The reason this happens is because we want success fast. 

And to be fair, who doesn’t?

Who in their right minds would say, “no no, please. I prefer to struggle for years before seeing any real success.”

And then we have morons online that tell us that we’re only:

  • “one offer away”
  • “one sales call away”
  • “one funnel away”

From creating a business that makes something like $10K a month really fast.

It’s so easy!! A f*ckin moron could do it. There’s never been a better time!

If it was “so easy”, then why do these guys not take their own advice and make billions? Why do they need YOU to believe it’s easy but not do it themselves?

Why is it that the “easy, sure shot, guaranteed, fast way” to building the business, income, and life you want involves buying their $2,997+ course?

Do you really think they’d have time to sell you a course if they were actually making any real money in their own businesses?

Don’t believe me?

Tell me this: who is the most successful eCom business owner ever?

Jeff Bezos. 

Why doesn’t Jeff Bezos create a course on how to build an eCom empire?

And seriously tell me this: what amount wouldn’t you pay to buy that course?

Then why doesn’t he?

I’ll tell you why: cuz there’s a hell of a LOT more money to be made in REAL business than there is in selling a course on how to build a business. 

But Abhi, aren’t you doing the same thing? What makes it okay for you to do it?

Good question. I’m glad you asked. The difference between me and those guys is I’m not trying to convince you it’s easy. 

It’s not. It’s hard as f*ck actually.

I don’t even think most people should be in entrepreneurship. It’s a bastardized buzz word of our time, tbh. 

And most people do not have what it takes to succeed in business and entrepreneurship.

I really don’t think most people should be in business. Especially if all you want is the end result of it all. That’s probably a guaranteed way to never make it. 

I digress. 

Getting back to the point. 

Ultimately, your reputation is what sells for you. It’s the person you are and who your audience perceives you as. 

If they believe you are capable of helping them solve their problem, they’ll gladly part ways with their money for it.

That’s what happens with Shane’s Audience. His core fans stopped caring a really long time ago what he’s selling. They know that if Shane made it, it will help them. So they buy it. 

At this stage, Shane can basically never go broke. He has at least 1000 true fans that will buy anything he puts out.

That’s how powerful his brand is. That’s how powerful his reputation is. 

And that’s an example of 'how powerful reputation can be' to make money in business. 

This is really it. If there was a secret to success, this is the one. 

The reason we like to make things complicated is because we don’t want to accept the simple nature of it all. And we want the easy, fast, “an idiot could do it” way to make big money fast.

That’s perhaps the biggest lie of our times.

Aside from a stroke of luck, I don’t believe there’s a way to do it. 

Big money comes from solving problems. And solving them exceptionally well. Especially, solving them better than anyone else in the world.

Like you, you have a problem of how to stay consistent long enough to produce results. Believe me when I tell you this: 

I will solve this problem for you. Probably for free.

But the real question YOU need to ask yourself right now is: 

What problem should I be solving?


I’m sure the answer won’t surprise you:

The one that your customer will pay the most for. 

But, how do you know what that problem is? 

Bingo!

If there ever was a million dollar question, that’s definitely got to be one of them. 

There are 3 ways to answer this question. 

To figure out what the biggest, most burning problem that your customers are DYING to have solved for them…

…and dying to PAY to have it solved for them..

is an art form in itself.

Shane calls this the Market Awareness skill.

Essentially what you want to do is identify the biggest problem your audience has, that you can solve for them. 

Getting this problem-audience fit correct literally can make you millions… 

...or at least $250K in one launch, or build a company for you that makes $10 Million dollars+ per year in recurring revenue. 

And I am going to show you all 3 ways of identifying your customers’ biggest problem next week, in my next newsletter. 

Get this right, and you could blow up your company… especially if you do it long enough to produce results.

That’s basically the secret behind ThriveThemes’ success, imo.

And I’ll show you how to do it next week. 

Before you go, I do have a bit of a bonus for you:

Nothing motivates us like results.

When you start seeing a bit of results, you will automatically be doing whatever you need to do. 

This is just one aspect of developing consistency. 

There are more. 

And we will talk about all of them. And you will build a company, a reputation, a brand that makes you a lot of money…

…I will share with you what I learn as I do this myself.

And if the lessons I share do help you succeed in creating the business you want…

…then 10 years from now, when you call me for an hour of my time, and I say it’ll cost you $5K… you will happily throw it in my face.

I’m planning on doing this for 10 years to get to that level. How far are you planning, to get to your big goals?

Actually, what are your big goals? I’d love to hear that as well. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you 🙂

Cheers,

Abhi


P.S. I’m still in the little passenger plane. Got an hour left in this flight. I cannot describe to you how gorgeous Guyana and South America is. But I can show you. Take a look at these pictures:

Kaieteur Falls - Named after the Chief Kai who sacrificed himself by canoeing off of these falls to create peace between the local tribes. "Teur" means falls. The name means Kai-Falls.

Kaieteur Falls is 741 feet in height!

This is a picture taken from the Rainbow Viewpoint... because you can see rainbows from here 🙂

P.P.S. If you didn’t get a chance to tell me what you struggle with most, click here to answer my short 2-question survey. It helps me understand where you are and how I can help you. 


Abhi Chand

About the author

Abhi is super passionate about business and marketing. He loves hitting the gym and working out while also being a bit of a nerd. But the best thing he likes to do is help people win big!

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  • giovanni sgaramella says:

    I’m confused about it. But I’m confused about everything, hahahaha.

    Let me explain: You say you have to work hard, but then how are you going to sell a product for thousands of dollars or a consultancy worth $5,000? These things are either “done for you”, or at most, they provide a template for copy and paste. This is what people want.

    They want to lose weight in a week.
    They want to learn a foreign language in three days.
    They want to increase their p* size by one meter 😀

    I agree with what you say that you have to work hard, but that’s not what people want to hear. They want things quick and easy. That’s why these words are used in copy.

    I once heard a trainer say, ‘You have to work your ass off, but you have to make the client believe that it’s an immediate result.’

    I don’t know if I explained myself, but there’s also that famous Hormozi Value Equation where the offer becomes attractive if there is little time and little effort.

    I have a problem with the copy on this. How much should you say that it’s not quick and easy? And I’m not just talking about marketing here, but it applies to any market, from fitness to learning to draw. It takes time, it takes effort.

    You could even do that in the copy, as a guy once said: Sell the pizza, then give the broccoli.

    In the end, if I’m not mistaken, the gist of your article can also be: Build a good product.

    A good product that solves problems in a specific way, with one ingredient, one mechanism, etc.

    • Karen McCamy says:

      The ‘hardest’ part is doing the research of studying your industry/niche to find out what the biggest “real” problems are: what is the most daunting, what keeps them up at night…

      It takes a lot of work & study to truly understand this.

      And I’d venture to say that not *everyone* in your demographic is only interested in an instant solution… They might say that, up front, but those serious about & really invested in building a business will understand that perspective is both unrealistic & impossible.

      I suggest that those demands are from people that are *not* in your demographic.

      The deep work is doing sufficient research to really understand your niche & their needs.

      Only then can you match that with your own skills to solve their problem. If you don’t have those skills, you might need to partner with someone who does… That’s what Shane did with Thrive Themes. He partnered with a tech guy who could do the coding…

      But none of this would be possible without first doing the requisite research.

    • Hey Giovanni, thank you for your comment and I am sorry for the late response. I was traveling.

      You have an excellent point about the Hormozi equation and minimizing “Time Delay” and “Effort & Sacrifice” to make the offer more appealing.

      I think it’s a bit unfair to reduce what I’m saying to just “build a good product”, although that is part of it for sure!

      There will always be a segment of your audience that wants the “instant results” with “no effort required”. And then there will always be a segment of your audience that produces spectacular results in record time.

      What you do is use the testimonials from the ‘results producers’ to show the guys who want instant results and say: “look, it’s possible to achieve X result in 30 days”.

      That’s as close to instant you can get.

      Now there is one fundamental problem here: the people who want instant results without putting in any effort… are for the most part always going to look for the “instant results” that don’t exist.

      If they’re going to buy a product, they may as well buy yours.

      BUT… the more important question is: do YOU want to build a company that caters to THAT segment only?

      Cuz that’s an uphill battle.

      We both know that what they want, does not exist.

      Until THEY understand that, their outcomes won’t change.

      Personally, I am not building businesses for that market segment. But I welcome them to buy our products in the hopes that, if they decide to do the work, they will get SOME results.

      I don’t know if this clarifies things but I hope it helps.

      One more point I’d make is in the Hormozi equation, the other factors are “Dream Outcome” and “Perceived Likelihood”.

      It’s not just about “instant results” and minimizing “time delay” and “effort & sacrifice”.

      You can sell a product that seems like a lot of work but the likelihood of achieving the dream outcome appears very high. That is also a no-brainer offer.

  • Good article Abhi. I’m a big fan of Shane for sure. Just one thing… why do you need to use the “F” word throughout your post? It really isn’t necessary. In fact in my humble opinion using swear language like that totally undermines your professionalism and credibility on every level. However, wishing you every success.

    • Hi Geoff. Thank you for your comment. Sorry for my late response, I was travelling.

      I gave this some serious thought. I do it because this is the way I speak when I get passionate and riled up about something.

      Thank you for bringing this up so politely. I will definitely consider this in my future articles.

  • Karen McCamy says:

    Another great article, Abhi!

    FWIW — for others reading this — the hardest obstacle for me has been “going it alone.” That’s why the accountability groups are so valuable.

    Being a solopreneur is tough, even though I’m super-independent! But being able to share with other like-minded people really makes a difference in continued persistence…

    Looking forward to the next article!

    Love your photos! I had no idea Kaieteur Falls was that high or beautiful! Thank you for sharing your travels! <3

    Safe travels back!

    • Hi Karen. Thank you for your comment. Sorry for my late response, I was travelling.

      I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂

      Thank you so much for your positive feedback!

      Yes, the falls were unreal gorgeous. I’m so grateful to have been able to visit a place like that.

  • davebardam@gmail.com says:

    I agree Karen and doing the ‘boring work’ to market any site or business such as content writing is mind numbingly boring and also so many of the subjects targeted are already covered in the SERPS.

    I wonder in a small ‘Computer Repair / Website Builder’ business, are you talking about narrowing down Abhi, to just focusing on say Speed Increase for computers via upgrades and cleanups or something similar and drop all the other options within the industry?

    Would that be easier and better to market just one service like that Abhi

    Best Regards
    Dave

    • Hi Dave. Thank you for your comment. Sorry for my late response, I was travelling.

      I think that’s an excellent example of “Doing One Thing Well.”

      Think of it like this:

      Let’s say your customer is talking to friend.

      Friend: Man, my computer is really slow these days. I paid so much money for it but it’s so bogged down already… I wish I could do something about it.

      Your Customer: You should check out Dave’s computer shop. This guy is a master at “speeding up computers via upgrades and cleanups”. I couldn’t believe it when I got my PC back from him. He knows what he’s doing!

      That’s what I mean by it. What do your customers say about what you do well? What is that one-sentence thing they can share on your behalf? Ultimately, your customers’ word-of-mouth will be your best form of marketing.

      I hope this helps.

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