Before becoming a marketing entrepreneur, Andrew Muller worked for Microsoft in their pay per click (PPC) division. His company (Andrew Muller Creative) now specializes in a new type of hyper-agile market testing called The Market Testing Incubator, where he’s able to test hundreds of ideas in a month (his average market test costs $2.63, which is about 50x cheaper than the industry standard) intending to lower lead costs.
He helps clients who are spending thousands on media buying a month but aren’t getting the return on investment (ROI) they need.
“An ounce of prevention is like a pound of cure. Test your ideas to understand what the market wants.”
Andrew Muller
Worst investment ever
Andrew was 16 years old and about to graduate high school when he decided to find work to pay his bills after graduating. However, Andrew did not want to be employed but rather preferred working for himself.
Getting started with Google AdSense
Andrew discovered Google AdSense, and he immediately built a content website and filled it with content. He loved the business idea, and he believed it would be his retirement plan.
Skipping the market research part
Andrew did not do much research, and anytime he ran into market research that went against what he wanted to do, he would ignore it and do what he wanted to do instead. This ignorance led Andrew into choosing a niche that was difficult to make money in: music. It was very difficult to monetize his website.
Doing it anyway
Even though Andrew could see that his Google AdSense idea was failing, he kept at it. First, he did it for six months. He even created a course on how to use music production software. That did not work too. But Andrew kept at it until he was 23 years old.
Finally putting his ego aside
Andrew’s business idea was doomed from the start. He had spent almost seven years investing all his skills into this thing that never worked.
Andrew could still not pay his bills from his business, and so he was on Employment Insurance. At one point, he was so broke he had nothing to eat. At this point, Andrew decided it was time to put aside his ego and accept that his idea was a big fail. So he gave up on that dream.
Getting a job
Andrew found a job at an agency. Luckily, finding a job was not too hard for him because he had acquired lots of skills while running his business. Andrew had done everything in internet marketing, including email marketing, writing a 500 article website, paid ads, marketing strategy, automation, and more.
Lessons learned
Take feedback, put your ego aside and pivot your business
When you get feedback about something that is not working, put your ego aside, and make the changes you need. This will prevent you from continuing on the path that is not working.
Market research is fundamental; do not skip it
Many business owners find market research very dull, and so they skip it. Then they spend a year or more running a failing, instead of spending just one day of market research that will guide them on how to pivot their businesses.
Marketing and sales are two completely different business functions
Marketing is not sales, and neither is sales marketing. Marketing is bringing someone to the door, and the salesperson takes them across the finish line. Not understanding the difference between the two critical functions can lead to tension between marketing people and salespeople. Such tension reduces the quality of your leads, which ultimately affects your bottom line.
Andrew’s takeaways
Save your time and money by testing your ideas first
Test your ideas so that you do not waste your time pursuing unprofitable ideas. If you test your ideas and realize that they will not work, do not hesitate to change them.
Put people’s advice into consideration
Not all advice will be good for you, but it pays to listen to people whose opinion you can trust. In doing so, you might just save yourself from getting boxed into a corner.
Revenue is proof of concept, while profit is proof of competence
Revenue is indeed proof of concept. You can come up with an idea, test it, and all that. But if you cannot get somebody to pay for it, then the concept just does not work. You also need to understand that revenue is just the beginning when you are running a business.
Other things, such as marketing, human resources, managing the people involved, accounting, etc., need to come together to make a business last. This leads to making profits and, therefore, if your concept is bringing you profits, you can consider yourself competent.
Actionable advice
Shift your mindset so that you can trust other people. Some people are worth trusting. First, believe in that, and then find that person that you can trust.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
Andrew’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to double revenue without losing his sanity and continue being happy to be alive.
Parting words
“Get testing.”
Andrew Muller
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