If you want detailed tactics and hilarity, Ramit Sethi is your man. Here one quote from this episode, to give you an idea: “Indian people don’t get punched, dude. We don’t get into fights. We’re doing spelling bees.”
Ramit Sethi built his personal finance blog up to 500,000+ readers per month, and has since turned it into a revenue generating monster. I don’t use that phrasing lightly. In this episode, we dig into the nitty-gritty tools, software, and experiments he’s used to turn a college side project into a multi-million-dollar business with 30+ employees.
You can find the transcript of Part 1 (Episode 33) here. You can find the transcript of Part 2 (Episode 34) here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Visit the Tim Ferriss Book Club on Audible
- www.IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com
- www.PBWorks.com
- Ramit’s compilation of the best “Freeloader Comments”
- Kevin Kelly article: 1000 True Fans
- From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks
- Digg.com
- Gigaom.com
- Ramit’s post on the 4-Hour Blog: The Psychology of Automation: Building a Bulletproof Personal-Finance System
- Hacking Kickstarter: How to Raise $100,000 in 10 Days
- The $28,000 question: Why are we all hypocrites about weddings?
- Learn more about Opening the Kimono® Event
- How to Raise a Financial Wizard
- YourSurrogateAsianFather.com
- Check out Mark Bustos’ Instagram
- 50ProvenEmailScripts.com
- 12 Lessons Learned While Marketing “The 4-Hour Body”
- A special giveaway from Ramit for our listeners
Books Mentioned in the Episode
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
- Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think Mass Market by Brian Wansink
- The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier
- Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson
- The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson
- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
- Iacocca: An Autobiography Mass Market by Lee Iacocca and William Novak
- What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack
Entrepreneur Resources Mentioned in the Episode
- Basecamp – Web-based project-management tool
- Google Docs
- Aweber – Email marketing and autoresponder software
- Infusionsoft – A complete sales and marketing automation software for small businesses
- Surveymonkey – Create and publish online surveys in minutes, and view results graphically and in real time
- GitHub – Powerful collaboration, code review, and code management for open source and private projects.
- Asana – A web and mobile application designed to enable teamwork without email.
- Screenflow – Screen recording and editing software for Mac
- Dropbox – A free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily
- Wufoo – Online form builder with cloud storage database
- Skype – A freemium voice over IP service and instant messaging client
- Visual Website Optimizer – A/B Testing Software for Marketers
- Umbel – a tool for understanding your audience
Documentaries Mentioned in the Episode
Show Notes
- Why Ramit Sethi’s parents added the “R” to his original name, Amit
- His grassroots beginnings as a personal finance teacher to friends
- How his persistence garnered exposure for his blog in the Wall Street Journal
- How his site functions like a laboratory
- Why you only need to focus on caring for 1,000 die-hard fans
- How a few world-class posts can change your life forever
- The “secret recipe” for attracting lots of people to your posts and making them fall in love with your content
- Ramit’s email practices and marketing techniques that generate 99% of his revenue
- The entrepreneurial tools and software Ramit’s team uses to systematize the daily functioning of the business
- A common email practice that people share as the “Law of God” that is completely false
- Why you should encourage people to unsubscribe from your email list
- How to sell a product without coming off like a spammy Internet marketer
- Why Ramit turns away customers who have personal debt
- What roles race and culture play in Ramit’s life
- How I Will Teach You To Be Rich is like the Asian father some of us never had
- His book recommendations for entrepreneurs
- The longest lie his father ever told and why Ramit can’t wait to do the same to his children
- The best investment he’s made for under $100
- Email tips for building respectful relationships with busy people
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