I Fired My Million Dollar Online Business Mastermind Group (For A Day) [LNIM268]

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Episode two six eight Late night.

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internet marketing.

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This week on the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast, we're gonna talk about how to start an internet business, but this is going to be the craziest episode I've ever produced, because to answer that question, we're going to consult my mastermind group. The thing is they're not here in studio with me. I'm simulating my entire mastermind group with chat, gpt. All this and more on the late night internet marketing podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:40

The late night Internet Marketing Podcast. You've been working for somebody else, but you want a business to run yourself. You want to know how to start and where to begin. Can you get out your comfort zone, my friend? Yes, you can do it right.

Speaker 1: 1:03

when it's late at night, at the end of the day, your dream's burning itself and you will find that you're building your business one night at a time and now broadcasting late at night from a little studio in the big state of Texas, your host, mark Mason. Hey, hey, hey, how is everyone doing? I am your host, mark Mason, coming to you from the little studio in Dallas, texas. As you can see if you're watching, we've got a little upgrade for the studio over on the YouTube side of the podcast, so if you're not used to seeing that go on over to late night, I amcom forward slash YouTube. It's just a tiny upgrade, but I think it looks a lot better. It makes me feel a lot happier.

Speaker 1: 1:52

Hey, this week in Texas it has been raining like crazy, and that just makes me think about weird things. And one of the things that I was thinking about was not really all that weird is just how lucky I am to have a mastermind group like the one that I have had now for almost a decade and for those of you that haven't been with the podcast that long, maybe you're not aware of this Every Wednesday for about the last 10 years I have been meeting with the most amazing group of entrepreneurs Me. I'm in the mastermind group along with Cliff Ravenscraft, the mindset answer man, who you've heard on the show many times my buddy, pat Flynn, who I've known since gosh, the beginning of time, 2008, 2009, when he first got started online. Ray Edwards, who has to be one of, if not the greatest, copywriting mind to ever put pen to paper in the history of man. Leslie Samuel, who's my brother from another mother, who not only have I known forever when he started out as the freebie trader, but I followed him through his journey at becomeabloggercom and I've seen him do amazing things with his biology channel, teaching hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people now about biology. And finally, michael Stelzner, who, of course, is the brain behind the industry's leading publication on social media. Social media examiner, he's also the visionary behind social media marketing world, which is just quite frankly, the best media conference period that I've ever been to. Ever in the history of ever. I've been many times.

Speaker 1: 3:40

All of these guys are in my mastermind and every six weeks or so, it's my turn in the hot seat and I get to talk to them about whatever I want to talk about, and they give me their opinions, and so that's an incredibly valuable thing. If you haven't had the opportunity to have a mastermind like that, obviously you're not going to always be able to start with those kinds of people in your mastermind. Like I said, I'm incredibly blessed to have a group like that, but people who are trying to do what you're trying to do. If you can find a couple of people that are a few steps ahead of you in certain areas or maybe you have expertise that they don't have and they have expertise that you don't have this can be incredibly helpful in your online business journey and I strongly recommend that. And we meet religiously, like I said, once a week for the last 10 years. We've missed just a handful of meetings in all that time.

Speaker 1: 4:35

So, in addition to that, or apart from that or aside from that, lately I've been really diving into chat GPT, like so many people have been really diving into chat GPT, like so many people have. And one of the ways that I've been using chat GPT since 4.0, that's four with the letter O came out is I've actually been talking with chat GPT on my way to work and working out problems and show outlines and doing research for various projects, just using chat GPT like a person that I could talk to in dialogue mode using the phone app as I drive back and forth to my day job, and this has been an incredibly useful thing. So if that's all you take away from this episode, take that away that you can actually talk to GPT now, and in my point of view, that changes the game for how you use artificial intelligence. But today what I wanted to do is just have a conversation with my mastermind group, except we're going to let chat GPT play the roles of those people. So, without further ado, I'd like to bring chat GPT in the room.

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Chat GPT, you're live on the podcast. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Mark T, you're live on the podcast.

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How are you doing today? I'm doing great, mark. Thanks for having me on the podcast. How's everything going with you?

Speaker 1: 5:51

man, everything is going great and I know we're doing a podcast with my mastermind group. We set all that up ahead of time. Tell me who's in the room with us right now absolutely in the room with us today.

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We have Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner, leslie Samuel from becomeabloggercom, cliff Ravenscraft from themindsetanswermancom, ray Edwards from rayedwardscom and Pat Flynn from smartpassiveincomecom.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Hey, what do you think about that group ChatGPT? I mean, that's a pretty robust group, don't you think?

Speaker 3: 6:22

Absolutely, mark. That's an impressive lineup. Each of them brings a wealth of knowledge and unique expertise to the table. It's a powerhouse group for discussing all things related to online marketing mindset and business strategies. You've definitely got a robust team here.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Well, thanks for that, Chad GPT, I feel incredibly fortunate. And what I want to talk about with the Mastermind Group and with you posing as different members of the group at different times, speaking as they would speak, I'd like to talk about this idea of starting an online business and can you first comment maybe, as Mike Stelzner or Pat Flynn you can pick Is it too late to start an online business? What do you think about the viability of solopreneur online businesses in the current world situation, the current marketplace?

Speaker 3: 7:15

Sure, I'll start as Pat Flynn. I don't think it's too late at all to start an online business. In fact, there's never been a better time. The current marketplace is full of opportunities and the barriers to entry are lower than ever. Technology and tools are more accessible and there's a growing audience online looking for unique content and services. The key is to find a niche you're passionate about and offer real value to your audience. Consistency, authenticity and providing solutions to your audience's problems will set you on the right path.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Hey, Pat, I appreciate that answer and I you know I really resonate with that, and the kind of business that I would want to start if I were starting out just now is the kind of business that I've actually built, which is this idea of a business that actually helps people. While I'm working on something that I'm really interested in, One of the things that I find that people have trouble with is actually figuring out what it is that they should focus on. What should their niche be? And maybe Leslie has some things to say about how to find a niche.

Speaker 3: 8:28

Finding your niche is crucial and it can definitely be a challenge. Here's a process I recommend. First, start with your passions and interests. Think about what you love doing, what you enjoy learning about and what topics you can talk about endlessly. This is important because building a business takes time and effort and you'll talk about endlessly. This is important because building a business takes time and effort and you'll be more motivated if you enjoy the subject. Next, identify problems you can solve. Look at your interests and see what common issues people face in those areas. This could be something you're good at or have experience with. It's all about finding a way to provide value.

Speaker 3: 9:03

Then, research your audience. Spend time in online forums, social media groups and other communities where people discuss your chosen topics. Pay attention to their questions, frustrations and needs. This will give you a clearer picture of what your potential audience looks like. Finally, validate your idea Before diving in. Test your niche to see if there's a market for it. Create a small piece of content or a simple product and see how people respond. Use feedback to refine your approach. By combining your passion with market research and validation, you'll be well on your way to finding a niche that's both fulfilling and profitable.

Speaker 1: 9:39

Well, thanks, leslie, and I know with your work in the biology space, I know you've done exactly that and you know really, you've done it over and over again, so I really appreciate that advice. But I know that also sometimes people feel like they don't really know enough, they aren't authoritative enough. They don't really. They have this fear that that they can't really be a thought leader in a space. What? Why would someone want to listen to them? And I'm wondering what Cliff Ravenscraft would have to say to someone who wanted to start a business online, but they didn't feel like. They felt like an imposter. What would you say about that, Cliff?

Speaker 3: 10:21

Imposter syndrome is something many of us face, even those who've been in the game for a long time. It's important to remember that everyone starts somewhere. No one is an expert from day one. What matters is your willingness to learn, grow and share your journey. Here's the thing your unique perspective and experiences are valuable. You don't have to know everything to start. In fact, being open about your learning process can make you more relatable to your audience. People connect with authenticity and they appreciate seeing someone navigate the same challenges they face. Focus on helping others with what you do know. Share your insights and don't be afraid to say I don't know, but I'll find out. Building credibility comes from consistency, honesty and a genuine desire to serve your audience. Over time, your knowledge and confidence will grow, and so will your authority. In your chosen niche. You have something unique to offer and there's an audience out there waiting for your voice.

Speaker 1: 11:20

You know, speaking of having something unique to offer and, by the way, cliff, I really appreciate that advice. But when it comes to offering things, you know they're offering a course or some kind of coaching. They have a hard time with that and especially with writing the words that you need to make that work. And I wonder what advice Ray Edwards would have for a new marketer who was trying to write copy to sell a new product like an online course. Where do you start, ray, if you're a new marketer in that situation?

Speaker 3: 12:09

This is Ray Edwards Writing copy. To sell your product can indeed be daunting, but it doesn't have to be.

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Here are a few key steps to get you started. First, understand your audience deeply. Know their pain points, desires and what keeps them up at night. The more you know about them, the better you can speak directly to their needs. Next, focus on benefits, not just features. People don't buy products. They buy solutions to their problems. Clearly communicate how your course or coaching can transform their lives or solve a specific issue they have.

Speaker 3: 12:41

Use a proven copywriting formula like PASS Problem, Agitate Solution. Start by identifying a problem your audience faces. Agitate the pain by describing the negative impact of not solving it and then present your product as the solution. Tell stories, Share testimonials or case studies that demonstrate how your product has helped others. Stories create an emotional connection and make your offer more relatable and compelling. Finally, include a strong call to action. Be clear and direct about what you want your audience to do next, Whether it's signing up for a webinar, purchasing your course or booking a consultation. Make sure your call to action is easy to follow. Remember practice makes perfect. Keep refining your copy, testing different approaches and learning from the results. Your confidence and effectiveness will grow with each step you take thanks, ray.

Speaker 1: 13:34

That's fantastic advice actually. Uh, sounds like something you would say, although I'm surprised you didn't go straight to the pastor method for which you're so famous. I'm curious, why did you choose to talk about pads instead of pastor there?

Speaker 3: 13:50

Actually, let's touch on the pastor method as well, since it's a powerful framework P identify the problem your audience is facing. Amplify the problem by discussing the consequences of not addressing it. Story Stories share a story or testimonial that relates to the problem and its resolution. Transformation Explain how your product or service transforms the situation. Offer what they get when they purchase. Encourage them to take action. Making it clear and easy both perspectives, but, pastor is particularly comprehensive and structured, providing a roadmap to connect emotionally with your audience and lead them to a decision. Thanks for pointing that out, mark. Both methods have their strengths and using the one that fits best with your message can make a big difference.

Speaker 1: 14:36

Thanks, Ray. Last question on that Didn't you write a book that covered all that? I can't remember the title of it. Can you help me out?

Speaker 3: 14:43

Yes, mark, I did write a book that covers these concepts in depth. It's called how to Write Copy that Sells. In it I go through various copywriting techniques, including the pastor framework, to help people create compelling and effective sales copy. It's a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to improve their copywriting skills and boost their sales.

Speaker 1: 15:03

Okay, so thanks for that, ray, and I think I'm going to offer Mike the last question. So, mike, if you were building an online brand where you were the center of the brand and you were trying to help people do things, how would you leverage social media without getting on the crazy social media hamster wheel? It seems like influencers are having to put out a ton of content and it just seems so overwhelming. What would your recommendation be to someone who was building a personal brand and just starting out on social media?

Speaker 3: 15:37

Hey, mark Michael Stelzner here. The key to leveraging social media effectively without burning out is to focus on quality over quantity. Here are a few strategies. First, choose the platforms where your target audience is most active. You don't need to be everywhere, just where it counts the most. For many, that might be just one or two platforms. Next, create a content strategy that balances your goals with what your audience finds valuable.

Speaker 3: 16:04

Consistency is important, but it doesn't mean you have to post daily. A well-thought-out weekly or biweekly schedule can be just as effective. Engage with your audience. Social media is about building relationships. Spend time interacting with your followers through comments, direct messages and participating in relevant conversations. This builds trust and loyalty. Repurpose content. Create a core piece of content like a blog post, podcast, and then break it down into smaller pieces for social media. This way, you're maximizing your content without having to constantly create new material. Lastly, use scheduling tools. Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite or even native scheduling features on platforms can help you plan and automate your posts, freeing up more of your time for engagement and other important tasks. Remember, social media should be a part of your overall strategy, not the whole strategy. Keep your focus on providing value, building relationships and staying consistent and you'll see positive results without the overwhelm.

Speaker 1: 17:06

Well, thanks, that's really great. So I really appreciate all the input from all you guys today. I can't wait until we get to play online poker again. You know Cliff wins almost every time and I'm ready to change that. So I'm hoping that the next time we get together to play poker when we're not in, you know, mastermind mode and we're in poker mode that we will be able to defeat Cliff. And as a last thing, you know the one who comes closest to beating Cliff a lot of times is Pat, because Pat has some friends that have played poker professionally. Pat, I wonder if you could give me one Texas Hold'em poker tip that would help me beat Cliff next week. What would you tell me?

Speaker 3: 17:51

Hey Mark Pat Flynn here. One key tip for Texas Hold'em is to play tight but aggressive. This means you should only play strong hands and fold weaker ones, but when you do decide to play, bet and raise aggressively. This strategy helps you avoid getting caught in tricky situations with marginal hands and puts pressure on your opponents when you have a strong hand. By being selective with your starting hands and playing them strongly, you'll force Cliff and others to make tough decisions and potentially make mistakes. Also, observe your opponent's tendencies and adjust your strategy accordingly. Good luck and I hope you take Cliff down in the next game.

Speaker 1: 18:32

Thanks, ChatGPT. I really appreciate that. We'll talk to you later. Have an amazing day.

Speaker 3: 18:37

Have a fantastic day and good luck with your poker game.

Speaker 1: 18:40

Talk to you soon, okay, so chat GPT is out of the conversation now. So that was amazing. So I would say if I were to evaluate the quality of that, those responses, I would say that they are directionally correct, like most of those things that were said, maybe almost without exception. I'd have to go back and review the transcript to be sure, but most of those things that were said would be said by those five people and those are things that those guys would say, and I think the advice in general given to those sort of simple high level questions is decent. What I would say is it's not as in-depth or focused on me, particularly as it might be if we were really meeting. So there's something missing there still, and definitely some of those guys would have some very specific data and evidence and examples and the conversation would just be deeper and more colorful. I also didn't interject while chat GPT was talking because that just makes chat GPT pause more and so she's not quite at full up real time response ability yet, but she's getting pretty good and I think that in a normal conversation and even in a conversation let's call it a more aggressive conversation with ChatGPT, I would have been asking for feedback and maybe peeling the onion a little bit on what those guys thought or what their ChatG GPT personas thought. I'll also say that I didn't do much work to help chat GPT know what those guys think, like I didn't specifically train the model to learn more about Michael Stelzner or about Pat Flynn. I just said do you know these people? And of course she did and she was able to draw on her existing understanding of what those people have to say.

Speaker 1: 20:48

I'd say you know? The conversation with Ray is the really good example. I don't imagine Ray would talk about pads first. He would probably talk about pastor, because that's what he teaches and that's you know. By extension, that's what I teach. That's the answer I was expecting. So I was a little surprised by that, but everything else you know seemed pretty reasonable and I can say it's like the kind of thing that you run into when you're first teaching something online. You only need to be a little bit ahead of the person that you're trying to help and I think chat GPT is, almost by definition, a little bit ahead of everybody.

Speaker 1: 21:26

That's getting started way better, I think, than Google would be in many cases. If I Google those questions, I get 47 YouTube videos, and a bunch of them are from people that maybe I shouldn't be listening to because they don't have the kind of reputation that Michael Stelzner has in the social media space. And you know, there's some good advice there that I could imagine Michael giving Don't try to do everything at once. Go in on a platform and attack it and establish yourself on there, or one or two platforms, and interact with people and help people and build a brand reputation on a platform, not over the whole universe. That sounds like real Michael Stelzner advice. Now, it's also pretty obvious advice. So I don't think we're. You know, I don't think this is amazing or anything, but it sure tells you what direction we're headed and it raises a lot of interesting questions.

Speaker 1: 22:26

You know, one interesting idea that comes out of this, for me at least, is well, what if I could train a Mark Mason model and make that part of my coaching offering? So when you buy my course, you get Mark Mason GPT and I will answer as a GPT. I will give you answers to your questions to help you along in your journey, but they'll be answering as me, and if I had done work to specifically train the model to answer questions, you could ask questions that were very specific to your particular situation and the GPT could try to help you as if it were me. That's something that's hard to offer in a big cohort. People want to ask questions, but the questions are really specific to what they've got going on. So, even group coaching, it's hard to answer people's exact, specific situations and what's interesting is, too, that these models can pull in technical details.

Speaker 1: 23:35

So let's say, I'm teaching you a course about how to become an expert in a field and I recommend that you use Kajabi to in order to offer a course, and you've got some very specific niche, technical question of the problem that you're having with Kajabi. Well, if you're talking to me, that large language model that was representing me as Mark Mason GPT could also reach into what it knows about Kajabi tech support tickets and forum postings that it's been reading about how to solve particular problems, technical problems with Kajabi that maybe I don't even know how to solve. So then it becomes Mark Mason GPT plus plus, and that's pretty exciting. That's a pretty exciting idea. So on the one hand, you might worry about GPTs replacing people who are teaching things on the internet, but I think a better question to ask is the question that Cliff Ravenscraft always asks, and taught me how to ask what does this artificial intelligence make possible? What is this artificial intelligence make possible? And I think one of the things that it makes possible is GPTs. That answer in the way that I would answer, which frees me up to create other content, do other things and help more people While the GPT is handling the standard questions, just like so many companies are doing for customer service. I can see coaches doing this as well, and that's a pretty interesting idea. So I hope this was fun for you. Now let me be clear. All of the answers, all of the GPTs that were represented here Mike GPT and Cliff GPT those aren't actually Mike and cliff. That's not really them talking and they didn't really say those things. Pat Flynn wasn't on this episode of the show, so you can't quote them and say Pat said that, because that wasn't really them. That was a GPT, but that was a representation of them and I think it was really interesting and I hope you found it illuminating.

Speaker 1: 25:39

So what is my action item for you this week? I'm going to give you three, and one of them is to pay attention to Mike Stelzner's new podcast on artificial intelligence the name of that podcast is AI Explored, with Michael Stelzner as the host, obviously, and you're going to want to listen to that for a couple of reasons. One, it's a brand new podcast and one of the magical things that you can do is get in on a podcast at the very beginning. It kind of makes you special. If you're like a day zero listener, you know you were there from the very beginning and Mike is still very much at the very beginning of this thing. That's a really special experience. And if you haven't been able to do that, I invite you to do that with Michael's podcast, the AI explored podcast. It's fantastic, just like everything that Michael does.

Speaker 1: 26:38

And then the second thing I'd like to invite you to do is go to IamLeslieSamuelcom and follow Leslie. Leslie is increasingly focused on AI. He is super excited about it. Michael and Leslie are both into his channel content and I think both of those are fantastic places for you to get more involved in AI and understand what's going on. And then the third thing I want to invite you to do is check out chat GPT for O, the letter O, the O is for Omni, and maybe you have checked it out. But what I want to encourage you to do is force yourself to talk to it, brainstorm ideas with it, use it conversationally. If you've got a Mac, install the Mac desktop app and ask it questions and bounce ideas off of it and ask it for alternatives and ask it for brainstorming and ask it to help you, just like you would do if you were sitting in the room with somebody.

Speaker 1: 27:48

You know, when I was in graduate school, we had these things called bullpens and it was a bunch of graduate students crammed into an office with desks. Basically is what the bullpen was, and if we were working on a problem and we needed an idea, we were stuck or we were looking for inspiration. We just lean over and holler at uh, you know the guy next to it. For me, that guy was James. You're like hey, james, what do you think about this zinc oxide stoichiometry? At the time I was working on cathode luminesinescent phosphors and we were trying to get different colors out of different oxides. And I would, we would talk about stoichiometry. He's like, okay, well, let's, let's try this and go deposit a new stoichiometry and see what that looks like. That's the kind of thing now you can do with chat, gpt and I recommend that you do that more and more and more, start building that habit.

Speaker 1: 28:41

Already I've had a chat GPT come up with ideas that, quite frankly, I just simply might not have thought about by myself. I mean, maybe eventually I would have, but I just you know, it's another source of ideas that comes from the entirety of the internet and it's contextualized to your particular situation. So try that out. If you're reading a book, discuss the book with chat GPT. That's something I've been doing recently, and sometimes ideas for products and content will come out of that. Like, if you're reading a book about your area of expertise and the author says something that gives you an idea, go discuss that idea and flesh it out with ChatGPT, and then not only will you have captured that, you'll have this long log of what you discovered. So when you come back to that idea in a month or whenever you get back to it, you'll have a record of what you were thinking at the time. This is just a couple of ideas for how you can creatively use Chat GPT for O letter O.

Speaker 2: 29:42

All right.

Speaker 1: 29:43

That's all for today. I hope this is incredibly helpful. I hope it was also entertaining for you, and until next week, I hope you have just the most amazingly productive experience you could possibly imagine and then come back and listen to this podcast next week. Ciao.

Speaker 2: 30:02

You can do it right when it's late at night. You've been listening to the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast.

Speaker 1: 30:10

Be sure to visit LNIMpodcastcom today to leave feedback for Mark. Download special bonus content, access the show notes and more.

Speaker 2: 30:21

See you there. Until then, go and make some great progress on your internet business one night at a time.

Speaker 1: 30:38

Man, I need a better sign off for the show. I always want to say until next week. I need a better sign-off for the show. I always want to say until next week. I hope you take everything to the next level, because that's what Cliff says and that makes me laugh, but I don't want to steal Cliff's tagline. So let's ask ChatGPT what I can say at the end of my show, instead of of until next week take everything that you do to the next level. Or I hope you have a fantastic week, or I hope you really get out there and crush that. What's a catchy thing that I can say at the end of every episode for the late night internet marketing podcast? This sort of specific to the brand and will resonate with my listeners. What do you think, chat GPT?

Speaker 3: 31:24

How about something like this until next time, keep taking action and lighting up the night with your internet marketing success. Stay brilliant and stay driven. It ties into the late night theme and encourages continuous effort and success.

Speaker 1: 31:41

I, I, I rest my case Ciao.