How Two Guys Built a Successful Online Business | Interview With Proof

Alright. Guys so in this interview, I've. Got to, find, beautiful looking gentleman here let's give me a battery a very very unique interview, PK's. My. Volition with, both of these young men is come from the. Fruition of over four half years of being, in business together, this is Dave this is Austin Dave Dave. Owns a company called proof a Sunday, about. Five years started, kind, of a marketing, consulting, world ticketed, coaching. And teaching people how to do marketing and then, now sort, of building software and software company, that helps. People solve their marketing, problems as well in. Finance awesome distal few. Years ago I was in college or any marketing agency, and eventually. Bought this guy's course and that's, how me, and Rohan met each other now. A few years later we're all out here in Austin doing. This every together. So. We were trying to scale the, entrepreneur, is which was a $30, per month membership, access, to trains and we. Were trying to get to a thousand dollars a day pay tax but. The, issue is Facebook, was charging more and more cost per click and it's, continued, even since then new to skyrocket, and so, we. Came to find that the most, effective way to decrease, your ad spend, costs, is to. Inc to, increase, the conversion, rate on your landing pages in your check out soon if you. Send the same amount of traffic but now it's converting 20%, higher with. The same cost that means the cost is now 20%, lower so. Our. Strategy, for getting you a thousand dollars a day advertising. Was, to increase, our conversion. Rate by 20%. We're. Saying all these ways that we can do that study, the ice converting, ecommerce. Site online they're able to help spend all our competitors is hotels.com. Them. In booking comm and Expedia, are. Pretty, much the largest, paid advertisers, on, Google AdWords and the, reason why is because they're, effective, at converting those clicks to customers, so. We're. Like trying to figure out what, are they doing, really effectively, and, we came to find out that use a lot of social proof you. See this and they, have, five-star, ratings, they have certificates like travel advice or certificate, they, have testimonials, and reviews and, then, they have this notification, up in the corner that says like. 20 people are looking at this hotel room right now or, within. The text. Of the, hotels, you. Know a hotel.

Booking Room it'll say like oh you, know somebody just now booked this hotel room, one minute ago yeah and there's. Only five left so. Like that's really cool we're, trying to like open, up the embed, scripts of figure out like what's the software here only come find they. Built it themselves and not, only did hotels build it themselves so they calm so the Expedia, and so. One. Of the founders at the Oscar Alliance he is able to code he's like I think that I could create. A rough sketch of this, and use it for our site, so. Within about a week or two JP. Was able to build a notification, it, was really raw didn't. Always work that well but most of the time I was able to show whenever. Somebody bought it would. Show that on the website and so. We ran that for, about two weeks and we had like installing ourselves, really, know, like user-facing, software. But, just. Having that on the site increase. Our landing page conversion rate from 19%, to. 42%. So. Over double the land pitch the return and then our check out with. From 8% to 16%. So. Literally. Within two weeks we. Are able to quadruple. Double, it twice our, entire funnel and so, our, advertising. Costs sank, really. Able to scale up the ad spend to, over a thousand dollars a day within. A few months we got idiotic. Reliance, up to 30,000 a month of recurring revenue and. Guns. Were blazing, it was amazing. And that's. When we, started telling our story of how we did this like wow how, you guys scaling, the up reliance of bathroom, and we. Told them this thing is working like crazy so. The. Entre lines is a lot of teaching members, on how to scale advertising, and conversion, so. We were literally solving. Our own needs and that's. When the the member said can we please use this ourselves, so. We started using it with, allowing them to use it and started. Getting case studies of people that are working really well for them too and, that's. When David. And the guys started getting idea what if we sold this thing but made, a software, around this that, was user facing, and that they would just pay us month over month to.

Use This software and that's when proof really became a product. Do, like you and I got to the. Consulting. Room before a half years ago and we've, met through the course and like you know you've gone from consulting. To, then, kind of info coaching, space and now you run this amazing you know establishment, you have improve and what you guys crush it online. You. Know kind. Of tell us your like trajectory, or tell the audience Richard got really what means you kind of want to get into consulting first and why the transition, and what you learn from there to coaching a bit since, then with Y Combinator yeah. Well. Actually started. In software, that doesn't make a story because I failed at it no that's so so but before that kind of a software trying to build this like fraternity recruitment. App okay, and I. Tried, to go sell this things can help like return these like you know man to recruitment, I had no idea we don't know anybody sales, Monday that product development like it was just yeah, just like 10 grand on that kind. Of was running out of money my, wife say yeah and it. Was like hey this is not work, I don't know what I'm doing it is or making some cash yeah that's been how I started in, consulting. But I think I could seed was planted that, I wanted. To be in soft boats really cool that was like the future like. I didn't have skill I didn't have cash I didn't have anything, that I needed to go do this. Yeah so kind of okay how do I go, get some cash but also get still yeah okay five, land. Clients, local, clients due to their Facebook Ads like they, will pay me to learn everything I don't know yeah to go build my company later on Sunday night suddenly a buffet for my family they'll pay me $1,500. A month together and. I'll do it for him really, I'm just trying to learn for myself putting some money saved up some, software something that's. Gonna how I got into that I, think, what was unique was I was solving the same problem, so coaching, or consulting I'm. Helping, them make, money online, and, increase the ropes like conversion right you. Know courses, I'm helping them to make money internet. And, increase in conversion rate and, then proof social. Proof software, that helps. People make, more money to their website increasing, conversion rate but just do software else I think I've, kind of been solving, this problem, for like five, years just. A different, way, they're kind of more more leverage if you have a little productize. So. It's like you know how how do we launch proof. Successfully. It. Was just cuz like it. Had 40 years of life skills. And, network you, know all that behind that if I'm like launched and I stand on the shoulders of other companies which, made it a lot easier than like just starting from scratch and software and and I'm thinking that part, to it just remember these you guys had a fellow software, mmm-hmm. That you guys had and while that was all of this is going on so it's like and it's just so crazy to think it's like you guys always found like watching the three of you then also coming in at one point it's like every, time you saw Annie she is just when it got it done yeah. They'll just offer to fix to use you sold, it and it sold the company. And even. Prove every like oh we've got this cool software coming out that's gonna help everybody conversion, so that's, pretty epic now you. Know with you, Austin, in terms of 6k and like of what I think actually our relationship goes back before the online world from the demon days, yeah. Well I got each other's favorite through FEMA days yeah so. Like that's kind of what I really actually goes back so it's a long time before. But. You, got into the you, know into the industry to Dave's, course yeah the kind of what attracted, you, wanted to learn from Dave and then, what kind of attracted. Yeah. I was um, it's funny to go back to that network marketing tied you know that was a huge shift for me in the learning how to build, an online business because much, of it was online for me yeah and then, I, got really tired of not actually having control of my own product, and like, because.

You're Recommending somebody, else's product and like you're part of their company so while you're in business for yourself it wasn't. My. Business right. And so that's when I left out marketing to build an agency, yeah and was. Basically doing a lot of project based stuff so I would. I was, the salesman I was the guy that did the work I was the guy into the finances. And Counting into all availabe. Hat my business so it's, running myself really dry and I. Needed change I was really, stuck in like three km on yeah on my own so what, would happen was I would sell, clients. In month one and then, a month to I would, do all the work for them but then in month three I'd be broke because I, didn't have anything and filling a pipeline, because I was so focused in my business, that, I could actually work on it yeah it wasn't ever growing or scaling and so I, was. Looking for two solutions, to this I, needed, to find products that had monthly. Recurring revenue. Some kind of retainer so they weren't project-based and then, I needed to make sure that I could replace myself and an outsource to. People that were more competent, at these skills than I was you. Know I need, an accountant, to do that, stuff I needed, you. Know maybe something to do Facebook advertising, if I land on somebody on that and do SEO or something is really good at that so. I could focus on what I'm really good at and so. While, searching for this solution, I started, getting targeted by Dave's axe and. That. Was my, first ever experience of. Going through an online funnel, of, buying something and I remember it, really clearly because, it, was spring, of my senior, year in college and. I. I have, been saving up for the, Bahamas to go on my senior year Spring Break now, the. Kind of like obviously through the transition, of agency, for you and then kind of coming, and managing, I think was a Google point. Where. Did your role in terms of working with team and. Yeah. For new entrepreneurs I think. It's really, valuable for. You to be a student of success, and really just implement, what, your mentor, is requesting. You know yeah you, know so Dave, made this series of life for seven days go. Through these. Challenges. And if, you do all seven challenges you'll, be a stronger entrepreneur, the end no matter how silly how ridiculous, they are this one you, remember what the challenge was like day two or three.

And. It was just like to get to use like. Yeah. Let's, go focus or it's proof a little time one step back with another, software people, because. You had some wicked. Success, for a short period he has had the company with that like how did that come about to be what, happened to that and obviously kind of. The. Company. Yeah. I think for. Us you, know pay funnels was just a little soft we build in our agency days that way I've had like invoiced clients we built for ourselves we. Were rolled into coaching, all of a sudden you, know people, sort of asking us like he's he'd sign a client would be like they. Said yes what do i do so, we. Use pay phones but, it wasn't a software, that's, available yeah, and you know people start asking hey can I use a funnel steer we're like well okay, come. On you, can sign up here you can use it yourself and before, we knew we had about five hundred people paying. $29. A month yeah and it. Was just growing. Kind, of without us how does think really thinking about it sounds I think JP worked on the side nothing for us it was just like just like training wheel business, like we, don't need the software let's kind of do it on the side here learn some, of the ins and outs, see if we can kind of build up a software, and, kind. Of the point we were looking at launching, proof or okay we've got the upper lions we've got pay funnels we're. Big on focus, what's. We got streamlined, this and like focus in and so kind. Of more self-reliance, and that's which I look at could we sell payphones yes I've found a broker that could, kind of go list it and get a bunch of people and, you know looking at it went. Through the whole process of due diligence talk to the book to buyers and ultimately. Ended up selling it off as. This asset what I think was like a cool thing for us and it was like a huge number but it. Was cool because we kind of saw the, whole lifecycle of, software. And we were like this. Is like this is a lot of money and. We didn't even really try what couldn't really go all-in on this like we can do this you know a thousand, times bigger than. Before so I think for us it was like a, slowly training, wheel business, that provided, real value started, to market. It. Was yeah ultimately a pretty cool product one of the things that you said there. Is focus and that's. One thing that you know I think the way I structure a lot of what I teaching stuff is like I do things in corporate quarters, like every quarter under the theme of how that worked and this. Quarter funding I've ever chewed it's all been focused me and kind of get rid of something that's not working and, you. Know looking. At your transition. From where. You started failing. In the company than getting into consulting and getting involved we need a whole, lifecycle, of software, and, proof, and then just cutting. Everything, else out you, know why, did you guys have a you. Know what, me time the Epiphany you'd like to do it and what is that. There's. A company. You. Were there I. Think. Many were just personally. Bad. At doing. So. All I think up nerves are like that you've so all in if. I had more plane to go they have all this kind of stuff yeah I think I've realized that first just from me, that's working like researching, people. That do, big things and, then like bad okay. And I. Think, for us it's probably the best thing we've done over the years is like we kind of shift and one too small to the next if, we go home like kill, the old allotment for better for worse I don't know this is the right answer yeah let's work for us what, kind of kill it off okay it's a consulting, was great for us yeah now, we are dubbed consulting, and ultimately kind of what you know all of our clients go that we built, the coaching all, that because. Everybody get the software great, what's gonna like get, all that and they get a, lot of assets built up they were gonna lot of stuffed it's like we could keep doing it so it's kind of painful but.

We Just see like the returns of the next thing to be so much bigger it's like you, know. We've. Just been willing to like go, all-in on like one thing and just say no and everything else and I, just I think focus, compact and I think when you kind of you finally, once proof was launched, they, kind of took off pretty quickly about like four months in I, don't. Know we were doing like 70. Grand or. Something like that it was like really fast their software product, and so, people are messaged me on Facebook people, kind of horseface and yeah it's a you know this house proof on sites one page on the red, like this is cool aerosol. Item and it said that's great what, else do you working on and I'm just doing why are you like. This is the best thing that's ever happening, and, we're just together you're just like oh are you launched other things yeah I just got really used to sin dude there's there's. Not gonna be anything else for a long time I'm, just gonna stay in my lane here because, if it come Pass which is like software a different current become powerful it's just for stare up a long time make, it better better pay more and more. Totally. I think. It's a lot of money preneurcast, remember, I'm a Baptist wedding, after. College was in high school Friday, and. I told them they say what do you do around three, companies this is like back in the day it's, like none of them it's. Like these are three like looks like I was, like making up for it I got one of the look busy and one sound cool so I said I had a bunch stuff like that kid. To get burn time, -. It doesn't it really it's, like now I run, one company and that's it well this company the ways to run like, way more successful way more focus with more powerful yeah and, if he has something that entrepreneurs. Have to make, a shift on the way I think and the, way I, see. What you guys are dies so smart because you became, the, father's, with this specific, software, everybody. Says we are like proof, but. Right, but but, you're not proof because. That proof has become a coastal, brand mark. Everybody. That I talked to say because everybody knows our religious different like going back before the mouse on your 6:00 case except I'm pretty sure the, post also is like it's crazy to see what Dave's done like every single time it even comes up or what you know lots of whatever material comes up even, like JP and Chris call them it's like crazy to see now you guys going out to the enterprise level for business which is ten. Market so. Final. Thoughts and you know what should we pay attention to for proof, over the next going, into 2019, and you know what's the goal I think. This idea yes we've kind of created this space social, proof marketing, tools when, I was talking to this guy yesterday who was like a bigger client, they were trying to land it, I got started. Researching yes somebody talking about you guys those research and social proof marketing because our CEO but who want this on the site yeah I was like nobody's, talking about this year you know you think that what that sort. Of the research so I was overwhelmed by yeah. So. Weird this wasn't yeah, there's. No option nobody. Was like trying to get social fitness later this is new and. It's. What kind of create the space that dominated but we also want to like continue to grow and expand so I think you know recently exploring, this idea of like what we really do is like customer, power marketing, it's like letting the customers, kind. Of market for us and we're using you know social proof or letting their voice to speak it's like how do we continue. To be a customer obsessed company didn't have build customer pattern marketing, and so. Inside. Social, proof one continued expand that but we also want to build tools for SAS companies, to, increase. Their website register, you know sign up close it's increase.

Their Dental registrations, by. Dynamically. Shifting, what's happening on their side let, me come to the side we want to let that customer, who, they are what the behavior, is, dictate. What they see they'll. Test more power and so there's a shift headline, I'm gonna ship images, I'm gonna ship the whole funnel to. Be one to one matched up with them baby, I know they're buying patterns it's the menu vegetables are doing they're based on who they are all sliced up a there and all those things we want to be driven. By them they kind of innocent decide how. They get marketed, to and kind, of starting with you know what do customers want good, I think most like businesses most marketing, tools that start up cabling what's, gonna give us that what's going to be effective and yeah that's good the short-run I think, starting with you know what do customers want you know matching those that was always gonna be like the best like long term increases. So, yeah, kind of moving upmarket we build not were cool to kind of ship what's happening on the website and, into. New trying to iterate that's awesome well, this, is a long, interview, you guys probably, one of the longer ones who's done a long time, where. Can they find you online. Somewhere. Knowing please go talk to Dave but doesn't sure if someone can follow you guys. Doing awesome where can they find you yeah. And I'll put some links below for you guys to go check out the software yeah yeah. Check us out use proof comm I've. Put out a lot of trainings forces and also putting that really good content, on training people up yeah, and you can find me on any social media at Ostend, distil there you go awesome, guys well until. Next time maybe in a year for now and come back to, awesome will do so we'll do another part. To this I'm building says alright I'd be awesome yeah thanks guys.

2018-12-28 02:18

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