Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to do things for myself. I am a self-starter that takes massive initiative. But, with that comes a price.
Today, we’re going to dive deep into generalists vs. specialists, team players vs. lone wolfs. Let’s begin…
You might have heard that saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go in a group.” That is very true!
Being in online business, especially those that require little to no barrier to entry. You know them so I won’t bother you with the details… requires you to pick up a little bit of everything. It also requires knowing which levers are the most important to pick.
You’ve heard client work, marketing agency, dropshipping; those seem like the big three and each of them has mainly ONE bottleneck for most people → ATTENTION.
A store isn’t really a store. I mean, you can have AI on ClickFunnels™ make you a branded store within seconds now. So, the real “skillset” is always about driving traffic and making conversions → the words, pictures, media, code, pixels on the screen, ads, etc.
You need to become proficient and “good enough” at the basic elementary stuff. That’s why I don’t recommend using AI in the beginning and getting a good foundation on what you are doing (or hiring/outsourcing to employees unless you got massive budgets and FU money… and if you do; why are you going for something with no barrier to entry? Go bigger).
So here are the basic ‘skills’ that almost everybody in online business needs:
Funnel “Drag & Drop” Design
Basic Copywriting
Basic Coding for tracking software installation on websites
Setting up Automations like Zapier
And of course, working in a team.
To tell you the truth, I never got big on the second part. I NEVER grew a team to more than 2 or 3 people max. We’re at a time where less and less people are needed to grow 7-figure companies. The robots are taking over and that’s no understatement.
Many things can be automated to run 24/7 with little to no intervention. But, you must be CLEAR on what you are making and why.
For me, it’s all about building cash-producing assets. I look at my funnels and ads like someone would look at an investment property. It’s all about being cashflow positive and handing it over to the algorithms to automate and generate me as many profits as possible.
Once the sales are coming in, I may or may not hire someone to automate order fulfillment, but even then it’s become easier to automate due to my back-end deals with other companies where I work as an affiliate or on pure revenue-share commissions while I build out these assets for them and they take all the risk.
At my age, TIME is more abundant than money, but in reality, BOTH are abundant. In fact, I was pretty resistant on AI taking over and doing the work for me, just like I am now as I write to you by hand right now.
Stuff like this — writing a daily newsletter requires TIME to get better and more consistent, like a car thats already in motion; the more consecutive days I write, the easier and faster and more enjoyable it is to write the next day.
Everytime I take breaks in between, I always face a little ‘resistance’ as I’m reactivating old neural pathways that degraded a little bit from neglect.
All this to say: you gotta choose. You gotta choose the greatest levers that align with your natural curiosities and talents. Whatever skill-points you have invested in something already, it’s often better to go even deeper into it while getting the foundations/basics of other skillsets.
That’s why I stay in my ‘marketing lane’. I’m always improving my communication and ‘Attention to Conversion (SALES)’ Skills.
And now, I’m outsourcing the rest. As I grow bigger and bigger, I’m looking for more specialists to handle things they know better:
Tax accountants
Elite Creative (visual) designers who can turn my vision to reality
Lawyers
Real Estate agents and family members who understand how to multiply my wealth and put them in safe havens
I started the game SOLO, building out my skills; becoming highly skilled in many things and MASTER-LEVEL skills in ‘one’ thing that I’m known for in my private and online circles — advertising.
And, that skill opened doors for me. It lets me be able to value-exchange with anyone else and understand where they are coming from when it comes to growth and revenue.
Another “major” skill (or area of interest) for me is now spirituality and understanding greater virtues — like meaning, fulfillment, Reality Control, Thought Control. The highly internal stuff that people who are still in the ‘rat race’ may not understand nor care about.
Since I have more knowledge in these two fields than 99% of the population, I’m able to open doors with other specialists that are equally passionate about what they do, and build cool things with them or work with them and synergistcally ‘multiply’ our strengths.
So, am I lone wolf? I very much am.
I STILL spend most of my days alone. In fact, I’m very selective with WHO I talk to and what energy/vibration I let into my head. Truthfully, most people don’t need to be spoken with. I’m very much comfortable in my own skin — and achieving mastery of a 1-3 chosen skillsets requires TREMENDOUS time alone.
But, I’m also becoming more of a team player. As I get older, I’m learning less and less general skills. Sure, I like to work with my hands and fix a sink when I can, but I’ll defer to other specialists and combine capital/knowledge/leverage and take to account their years of knowledge and experience.
It’s a simple and easy tradeoff to make — spend more years getting ‘average’ at what they are masters at (which, by then they will be even greater at) or simply combine and bring MY skillsets to the table which I’m already a master it, my money, my connections and BUILD.
So, as I’m approaching my mid-twenties. I doubt I’ll be gaining more skills, only going deeper in what I’ve already chosen — outsourcing and deferring my expertise to others in exchange for theirs.
And, I’ll keep writing because I LIKE TO.
Now for the summary:
1-3 foundation skills that are the true ‘movers’ in your life that get maximum results
Be a ‘lone wolf’ as you attain mastery in these foundational skills, spend a lot of time alone in becoming better
As you grow, find others who are masters at other skills, and instead of learning by yourself, defer to their expertise and open those doors with YOUR chosen skill
The fastest way to learn general principles is by learning from THEM about it, but its ideally better to skip the learning process and stick to your lane and go a lifetime deep into what you do!
And, don’t take shortcuts. Mastery takes a lifetime. If you notice yourself switching up too often, stick to ONE thing for 3-4 months before changing it. You gotta do DEEP otherwise it won’t matter, you’ll keep resetting the counter on your greatest successes.
So, if you are starting something completely new, then make sure you HAVE at least 1-2 major skills in it — if it’s business (and I’m biased) it’s either:
Sales & Marketing
Team Building, Leadership, Collaboration
…get a basic understanding of ALL things, but defer to the expertise of bigger experts. AND, never let other ‘so-called experts’ take over what you are choosing to attain mastery in.
Yes, for me that means no ghostwriters, no AI articles — this is my lane, I’m building the skill by doing it.
_S