15 Years of Online Business Advice in 28 Minutes

• You are about to watch a video that offers 15 years of invaluable business advice.
• Key lessons include the importance of niche markets and respecting people's time.
• Learn to prioritize self-care, embrace failure, and the art of storytelling.
• Discover strategies for building community and successful business practices.
• Gain insights on how to create meaningful connections within your audience.

You are about to watch a video that contains 15 years worth of business advice and experience wisdom, mentorship lessons learned, and mistakes made, all compressed into one single video that you are able to watch right now. I'm so glad that you're here, so let's get started.

Lesson number one: When building a business, you don’t need to build a business that changes the entire world; you just need to build a business that changes somebody’s world. As I often say, the riches are in the niches—and I know it's pronounced "niches," but it rhymes better this way.

When I got laid off from my architecture job, a corporate job that was my dream job, I wanted to dive into entrepreneurship to support my family. I thought I had to build something big—the next eBay or PayPal or some giant software that the entire world would use. The problem was I didn’t know how to do that, nor did I have the resources to make that happen.

But I found a little pocket of people in this world who had a little problem—they needed to pass a very specific exam in the architecture industry called the LEED exam. So, I stepped up, built a website, created resources and tips, and showed up to help people. I offered advice, answered questions in forums, and soon became, within three months, the go-to expert for that exam.

As a result, I was able to build a business that generated over a quarter million dollars in just a single year. Not only did that help me survive the layoff during the Great Recession, but it helped me thrive. I was able to put a down payment on a new home because of an online business—not by going big, but by niching down, going narrow, and becoming a specialist.

That idea works even better today because there is so much competition and so many people out there building businesses too. The way to cut through all the noise is to go narrow and deep with that group of people. When you get to know that audience within that specific group and specialize in answers, resources, and solutions for them, you more quickly become their go-to resource. The competition goes away, and those people you serve become your own marketing team without you even having to ask.

You could always go bigger after you start, but when you begin, remember: you don’t have to build a business that changes the entire world; build a business that changes somebody’s world, and you can start from there.

Number two: And this is now more important than ever—don’t waste people’s time. It is disrespectful; it is misleading, and nobody likes to be led on. So if you’re building an email list, for example, and you’re promising something that a person will get when they subscribe—not just the free gift they get or the lead magnet, but rather the value they get over time—be sure that they understand and can see that value is there right away.

If you’re creating content, for example, maybe you’re a YouTuber. Well, your title and thumbnail package creates a promise and expectation. When a person clicks into that video, if you don’t address that promise and meet that expectation, it doesn’t take very long before a person leaves and will never come back. As a result, YouTube’s not going to push your video for you either.

And if what you have to offer does not match a person’s needs, a member of your audience, or a member of your subscriber base, well, it’s better to sever those ties now so you are not both wasting each other’s time. A part of not wasting a person’s time is letting them know a little bit about who you are and why you should be the person they should listen to, which is exactly what I want to do right now.

My name is Pat; I’ve been an entrepreneur for over 15 years. I’ve been a podcaster since 2010. I published several books, and I also advised 12 different companies in the startup and creator space. Across those 15 years along my business journey, I’ve generated over $10 million in revenue, and I have students who pay me for my time to coach them on their personal business journey.

Now, I only have a couple of those students and I don’t have any spots available right now, so don’t even worry about that because guess what? You don’t have to pay anything to watch this video. You just have to remain here, take notes, or whatever it is you need to do to best absorb this information.

Let’s keep going on to lesson number three: And this is a tough one, especially if you’re just starting out and feel like you don’t have a lot of opportunities ahead of you—and that is learning to say no is more important than learning how to say yes.

When I started a business, I said yes to every opportunity—yes to every speaking gig, yes to every person who asked me to write a guest post, yes to every podcast interview—yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! But what I soon realized is that every time you say yes to something new, you’re also saying no to something else—something else that might be more valuable.

Learning how to say no keeps distractions away and helps you recommit to the things you’ve already committed to. Trust me, it’s one of the most difficult things to do. However, when I learned how to finally say no, I got more time back—more time to spend on my business and current commitments, and more time with my family, my kids, my wife, and even my hobbies.

The key to learning when to say yes and when to say no is understanding what your priorities are. If you just mindlessly and aimlessly take action without direction—that’s insane, right? There’s a saying that says, Vision without action is a dream, but action without vision is a nightmare.

If you’re just taking action, working mindlessly without direction, with no priorities, then you’re probably going to feel overwhelmed, lost, and have a very hard time seeing any success from that. So understand what is important to you, set your direction, and say yes to those things that will support that and say no to the things that don’t.

Number four: Failure is a part of the process, and every failure can be an incredible lesson. This is hard for us perfectionists to understand. I grew up in a very traditional household where if I came home with a 93% on my math test—an A—my dad would say, “Well, what happened to the other 7%?” and we’d work for hours to try to correct those mistakes.

I was conditioned to be perfect, which made it very difficult to become an entrepreneur because as an entrepreneur, you have to be imperfect. You have to move forward without knowing everything that’s going to happen, and it’s those failures and course corrections that help you get to where you need to go—not because you created a plan that worked out perfectly (and that is very rare), but because the action that you take and the failures that happen along with the lessons that come with them are the things that guide you forward.

The only true failure is giving up.

Number five: Your health and fitness matter so much to the success of your business. You, being the person who runs your business, makes decisions, is creative, and does the work—whatever stage you might be at—if your mind and body aren’t up to speed, neither is the work you’re going to do.

Every time I focused on health and fitness—whether it was because I was getting too fat, feeling sluggish, or had a New Year’s resolution—I always saw a byproduct of that: better creativity, working much more in the flow of my business, making better decisions, and having more quality output.

The healthier you are, the healthier your business will be. So please, take care of yourself because if you don’t take care of yourself, it’s going to be very difficult to take care of others—your employees, your subscribers, your customers, and your future.

I have a trainer that I work with now, and I have a very specific dietary plan that helps me become the best version of myself. I cannot tell you what would work for you, but it’s important to be conscious about it because the snacks you’re eating, the sugar you’re consuming—yes, it might feel good in the moment, but it’s not helping you long-term for the business you want to make and the future you want to have.

Number six: And this is a quote from my good friend Chris Ducker: Do what you do best, delegate the rest. Ultimately, that’s where you want to end up. If you're just starting out, it seems like a pipe dream, but that’s where you want to work toward eventually—you want to have hired help.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend having hundreds of employees, although some businesses may require that to do their job. However, I will say that when you can continue to stay in your zone of genius, the work that you do is better, you’ll have more fun, and you’ll have more energy for it.

Now, in most cases, you're going to have to do some tasks that you don’t enjoy doing. I have a lot of things in my business that I don’t necessarily enjoy but I know it’s a part of the process. However, as much as possible, I've removed all the additional work, from the editing of my podcast and videos to sometimes writing emails or scripting, so I can focus on just the things that I love and am passionate about.

If you have that be your North Star, at least you’ll be able to make decisions and know when to say yes to certain moments that will allow that to happen for you. You have to be open to the idea of having some outside help. Yes, it is an investment; it costs money.

Read this book called Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell—a great book if you're looking to hire virtual assistants. Check out Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker. It will not only open your eyes to how many amazing people are out there who can do these things sometimes better and faster than you can, so you'll get an ROI on that, but it will also allow you to focus more on the things that you do love doing.

Number seven: Feedback is critical—learn to accept criticism. Criticism was one of the hardest things for me to understand and how important it was to get constructive feedback. It may sometimes be not-so-nice feedback on the things that I was doing as I built several businesses.

I have to say it is super important to be open and receptive to those things because those are real people with real feelings and emotions about what you are creating. In many cases, especially if they are from your target audience, that information—even though you might not want to hear it—can be exactly what you need to hear and understand in order for you to pivot, adjust, and move forward.

It’s very easy to put up a defense wall or start talking back to people who just might not have enjoyed what you created the way you think they should enjoy it. I would go as far as to say it is your job to get constructive feedback—you want that criticism.

That is the fastest way to get better, and if you switch what that means in your mind—not as a personal attack to you, but rather as a favor from somebody who actually cares enough to criticize your stuff—then you can take that energy and move it forward in the right way.

Part of putting yourself out there, working on solutions, and building a business is that you might end up with certain people who disagree with what you are doing and might troll you for it—in fact, be haters and try to take you down. Haters will come, whether it be from a competitor or someone unhappy with something in their life, and they will put it out on you.

Well, I’m here to tell you it’s probably going to happen. It happened to me, and I almost quit because of it. In 2011, I had somebody target me and try to take me down—saying so many negative things about me, including calling me a con artist. They were pasting it on every website where I was a guest—either as a guest blogger or a guest on podcasts.

When that happened, mentally, I was just done; I couldn’t take it. It reminded me of all the times I was bullied in school. It was cyberbullying, essentially. It took a friend of mine to reach out and ask if I was okay. He told me, “Every second you waste thinking about this hater and everything they said about you is a second you are taking away from the people who need you and who care about the things you have to say.”

I realized I was letting a single troll get to me. Eventually, I mustered up the courage to reach out to this person and just ask why they did this. Here’s what this person said: “I thought you were an easy target, and it would be a way to get traffic to my website.”

I learned that hurting people hurt people. If you end up on the receiving end of hate or troll, lead with empathy and realize that that person has gone through some stuff to feel comfortable enough to do that online or wherever. In many cases, those people who are hurting you are hurt themselves.

As you grow bigger, as you scale your business, and as you become more successful, more and more people will try to take you down. I once heard that we live in a bucket of crabs; when a crab tries to crawl out, the others will grab its claws and bring it back down. That’s kind of how we are in this world—different cultures respond to that in different ways.

But as you grow, people may not want you to succeed because it is a reflection on them and how much they wish they could do that but don’t have the courage or drive like you do.

Number nine: This is a question I received from Tim Ferriss that has been absolutely life-changing for me. It’s a question I ask myself when faced with tough choices or decisions, when I’m building something and I don’t know how to do it. This question has changed everything for me: If this were easy, what would it look like?

This question is important because most of us—especially those of us who are entrepreneurial—overcomplicate everything. We think things require way too many steps because we've never done them before. However, if you use that filter—If this were easy, what would it look like?—it can help guide you.

That can help you reach out to people who have done these things before and could tell you exactly how to navigate the challenges. If this were easy, what would it look like? It is a powerful question that has saved me so many hours, dollars, and headaches.

Number ten: Momentum makes money. Momentum is absolutely key, especially if you are a content creator or creating anything online. Here’s the deal: It’s like physics; an object at rest tends to stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force. Maybe this video—and the feelings around it—will be that force for you to finally get moving.

Pushing a boulder or rock—especially a large one—takes a lot of energy upfront, but once you get going and the ball starts rolling, things get a lot easier. So it’s all about the start. Just get started! Don’t worry about failure or perfection—just hit record and go! Talk to people about your product and see what they say. Just go and build that momentum.

The second part, after you start seeing some results, is don’t stop. Lean into that. For example, if you’re a YouTuber and you start to see a certain video do very well, don’t move on to another type of video—do more like that!

Create a series of that kind of video. Analyze why that video did so well, and build upon that. Momentum makes money. There will be seasons where it feels like you are absolutely still, no matter how hard you push, but keep pushing until you start to get that boulder rolling—then momentum will kick things off and the money will come.

As your boulder is rolling, this 11th lesson can come into play—and I don’t want it to, which is why I’m telling it to you right now. The easiest way to lose momentum is to compare yourselves to others.

Whether you compare yourself to someone who’s much further along than you—which makes you feel behind and triggers imposter syndrome—or compare yourself to those who are at a lower level, you can become complacent, thinking you’re ahead when in reality, everyone is trying to catch up.

The only comparison you should make is you against you—yourself today versus yourself yesterday, last week, last month, last year. When you compare you to you, you can only get mad at yourself. You’ll be motivated to outdo yourself because it’s you who’s in the pilot seat.

When we compare ourselves to others, we’re comparing apples to oranges—two different stories, two different timelines. You might see someone who, out of nowhere, becomes successful in your realm and think they’re lucky, but when you dig deeper, you see this person has been doing stuff for years, building relationships, and doing all these things.

So don’t do that; it’s only a recipe for disaster.

Number twelve is one of the most important lessons you can take away from this video: Your earnings are a byproduct of how well you serve your audience. Always start with serving first—solving problems and becoming a resource for someone.

Yes, you still need to pitch and ask for money, and that’s important—it’s a skill that will come over time—but when you start with money, that’s where the problems begin. I found myself in not-so-great situations because I led with money first, trying to generate as much revenue as possible—whether it’s for affiliate programs for things I didn’t even know about.

I was selling stuff I didn’t even understand just because I knew there was a commission. Then in 2011, a couple of friends created WordPress plugins and had smaller audiences than I did. I thought, “My audience is bigger, so I’ll create and sell plugins too.”

Guess what? I spent six months and $166,000 on something I didn’t even launch because I rushed into it and didn’t build something worthwhile for my audience to subscribe and purchase. I led with money and revenue and lost.

But when you lead with problem-solving and serving your audience first—keeping that thought as your North Star—there’s no losing, as long as that keeps guiding your decisions.

The toughest part about this lesson is that when I teach people this—your earnings are a byproduct of how well you serve your audience—it’s not like saying, “I’m going to do a random act of kindness to a group of people and ask them to pay me back.”

When you do this transactionally, it defeats the whole purpose of serving first; it’s about putting yourself out there to give, give, give. As Gary Vaynerchuk says, you jab, jab, jab, then throw the right hook.

When you continue to serve and show up, your audience—maybe not that day or not even to everyone you served—will notice it, but the universe has an incredible way of paying back those who step forward to help others.

So serve first because your earnings are a byproduct of how well you show up and serve your audience.

Number thirteen: This is especially true today—now more than ever, the number one skill you could have as an entrepreneur is storytelling. If you can tell great stories, you can sell, connect, and build rapport with people.

Some people call it story selling. When you learn how to craft stories, you learn how to connect with a person emotionally; understanding how to relate to your target audience is key. You should learn to tell your story—your signature story—and you should also get good at telling the stories of those you’ve already served or who are in your target audience.

This is why podcasting is so powerful; it’s an incredible platform to learn storytelling and tell those stories on. In this age where information is plentiful and with tools like ChatGPT and Claude doing a lot of the work for us, the stories and experiences you share will connect with people more than anything else.

We’re at a buffet of information now—all the information we ever need is right at our fingertips. But it’s the way you relate to what that means for others and how you connect emotionally that makes the difference.

If you can get a person to laugh, cry, smile, or get angry and upset, you have connected with them. You can do some amazingly powerful things with that connection, hopefully for good. So figure out how to tell better stories; learn about that and improve your skills.

Number fourteen: You have what you need to get started. The most common thing I see with many of my students in SPI Pro and inside of our SPI Academy is that they think they don’t have everything they need available to them.

You might have a number of excuses: “I don’t have enough money,” “I don’t have enough time,” or “I don’t have whatever.” But if you were to compare what you do have—not the things you don’t have, but the things you do have—you have access to all the information you might need, setting priorities, and the ability to say yes to things and say no to others.

You have access to mentors, guides, and many people who have gone down the path you’re trying to go down right now. There are so many things working in your favor, yet we often focus on what we lack. The truth is, you can get started right now; in most cases, a business doesn’t require even a website or a social media handle to begin.

In fact, all you need to start is just one person. Help them solve one problem and help them get one result.

This is the one, one, one strategy:

1. Find one person in a community that interests you and that you know you can help.
2. Identify one specific problem that you can assist that person with.
3. Help that one person get a result.

Doing this has several benefits:

1. The education and learning from talking to that person and helping them through will be invaluable.
2. You’ll receive a testimonial, so when you go to scale, you already have a real-life case study to share.
3. More importantly, you will gain confidence; you will no longer tell yourself, “I don’t know if this is going to work,” or “I don’t think I can do this.” You’ve proven that you can make a difference.

If you're like most people, when you help that one person, you’ll feel an obligation to go out and find others. You’ve created a “cure” for a metaphorical “disease.” If you had a real cure, wouldn’t you want to help others with it?

Now you know you can do it. That’s why getting that one person, solving one problem for them, and getting a result is key. And guess what—you can do that right now. Nothing is stopping you. Every excuse in your head is just that—an excuse. You can find one person and help them get one result, so go do it!

Lastly, number fifteen—one of the most powerful things, if not the most powerful thing, you can do as you build your business is to create and facilitate a way for your subscribers, followers, customers, and students to connect with each other.

When you step forward to create those safe spaces in your community—to bring those people together—magic happens. You don’t even have to necessarily participate in the activities you set up; just by being the person to bring people together to help them find each other creates magic.

For instance, I have a Pokémon YouTube channel that’s approaching a million subscribers in about three years—which is amazing! I put together a live event called Card Party that happens once a year, and next year, it will happen twice a year because it’s been so successful. We had about 4,000 people in Orlando this past June 2024 to celebrate and nerd out together over Pokémon—fans, creators, collectors, vendors, etc.

It’s not even centered around my brand; it’s centered around the community. Yet, because I stepped up to create this, the brand reputation, opportunities knocking on my door, and longevity in this space are ridiculous.

Each of you watching right now can be the person to step forward. Create that metaphorical tent for your community where everyone can come in, set up chairs and tables, have drinks, and enjoy refreshments—whether that’s in real life or online. Because more than ever, people are longing for that human connection.

As the world progresses toward more AI, the human aspects—storytelling and community—will be essential to our success as business owners and in our lives.

So go out there, create communities, and finally, I want to share a quote from a thought leader who has inspired me greatly—Zig Ziglar. One of my all-time favorite quotes of his summarizes my philosophy, and I pass this down to my kids as well.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

That’s true in your personal life, family life, and corporate life—in all aspects! I hope these lessons I’ve learned over the past 15 years of my business are helpful to you today. If you enjoyed this content, hit subscribe; I have a lot more stuff coming your way, especially when it comes to selling and the idea of stepping forward and building a community.

All of those things and more are coming your way—so hit subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next video. Thank you!