My Review of the $999 Will to Win Method Entrepreneur Workshop

I recently attended the $999 3-day Will to Win Entrepreneur workshop (I paid the discounted $799 price) and I wanted to share my experience since there really aren’t any true student reviews when you search online. Also, people have been coming across my review of the free Will to Win Method event and have been asking for my thoughts about the paid Entrepreneur workshop. I always take detailed notes, so I hope you enjoy (if you don’t want any spoilers from my highlighted notes, then simply scroll all the way down to the Overall Review section).

Why Did I Decide to Attend the $999 Entrepreneurship?

Let’s start with my Why. First and foremost, I’ve been increasingly interested in all aspects of marketing especially because I’ve been actively engaged in digital marketing activities for various events through my corporate job (e.g. as Toastmasters VP of Public Relations, Sponsor for Red Cross Blood Drive, etc.) Secondly, I’ve owned service-based businesses, but one of my current major goals is to sell products online. As a result, I decided to take the Entrepreneur workshop to get a feel for what I didn’t know in the world of online digital marketing. Thirdly, I wanted to test the “Triple Your Investment” workshop guarantee where I will receive a minimum of three times my workshop investment in sales or get my money back (requires you to run 25 marketing campaigns in 6 months).

Day 1

The Entrepreneur workshop I attended started on a Friday and was located at the Holiday Inn in San Jose, California. The audience size was about 20 people (significantly smaller than the free Will to Win Method event), but that’s never an issue for me since I prefer a more intimate setting when learning.

Our instructor, Mark Stone, started on time, and introduced his Will to Win team members: Jeremy Clawson, Taylor Peterson, and Jim Francowiak.

Next we went over the objectives and agenda for the 3 day workshop:

3 Objectives

1. Identify where you are now. Where you want to be in 6 months. Help create plan to get there. Build your flight plan.
2. Take away FEAR of Moving Forward. Strategies to remove all fear and doubt of you being successful.
3. HAVE FUN. What’s the point if you can’t enjoy the process?

Agenda

• Create and increase sales
• Define 6 Month Goal with Plan – 1/1 Consultations
• Understanding How Buyers Buy
• Acquire Funding and Capital for Your Cusiness
• Business Branding
• Mimic the Market
• Marketing & Sales Funnels to Acquire Customers
• Social Media Marketing
• Target Marketing/Local Marketing
• Omni-Channels/Amazon
• Company Structuring & Asset Protection
• And much more!

My Highlighted Notes from Day 1

5 Questions You have to Be Able to Answer To Be Successful in Business

1. What do you do in 7 words or less?
2. What does it cost you to run your business?
3. What do you sell it for? Do you know your pricing model?
4. Who do you sell to? Target marketing – who is your target market?
5. What is your distribution? How do you get your product/service to your customer?

6 Ways of Funding Your Business

1. Investors – only good if they bring more than money
2. SBA Government Loans
3. Bank Loans
4. Family / Friends
5. Self-Funded / Leverage
   • 401K
   • HELOC
   • Credit Lines / Cards
6. Business Credit
   • 2 reason to establish business credit = (1) it creates opportunities (2) it increase the value of your company

3 Marketing Channels to Master in 2019

1. Content Marketing
2. Organic Search/SEO
3. Affiliate Marketing

Day 1 Summary

Overall, Day 1 was mostly motivational business-related ideas and stories. We covered topics such as getting to know yourself, what is your why, the secrets to success, the perfect business model, ways of funding your business, marketing terms to know, and omni-channels (e.g. Amazon, Ebay). We also received a worksheet to fill out which included our financial information, which was to be discussed with one of the Will to Win Method team members the next day.

The main takeaway idea for me was the importance of having a mentor in your life to help you achieve your business goals, but this was more of a reminder of an idea I already believed in, rather than a new idea presented to me.

It’s important to note that none of the information from this first day helped me with techniques or strategies to run marketing ad campaigns (requirement for the money-back guarantee).

Day 2

The second day started off with a recap of the first day, then we started to warm up to the actual marketing ideas and strategies that I came for. There were a lot of stats thrown around and fast-paced demonstrations. This was also the day when people began meeting with the Will to Win team to review our finances and goal worksheet.

My Highlighted Notes from Day 2

3 Elements of a Landing Page

1. IMAGE is the most important (picture is worth a thousand words)
2. HEADLINE – 10 words or less
3. CLICKABLE CALL TO ACTION (CTA)

3 Marketing Channels You Need To Master

1. Content Marketing
2. Organic Search/SEO
3. Affiliate Marketing

Video Marketing Statistics

• YouTube mobile video consumption increases every year by 100%
• 90% of users report watching videos about a product/service is helpful in their buying decision
• After watching a video about a product or service, users are 64% more likely to buy it online
• More than 90% of mobile video consumers share videos with friends and community members
• Including video on a website’s homepage increases conversion rates up to 20%

3 Reasons Why People Place YouTube Ads Incorrectly

1. They’re trying to control all of the eyeballs (not possible! 99% press Skip)
2. Stretching their marketing so thin that it snaps and fails
3. Morons; don’t know what they’re doing

3 Keys to Marketing on YouTube

1. Use RELATIVE KEY WORDS
2. Find videos relative to your ad
3. Decide Where To Place Ad
   • In-Stream
   • In-Display / Discovery
   • Overlay

Facebook & Instagram

• Two billion people use Facebook every month
• 1 of every 5 minutes people in the U.S. spend on mobile is on Facebook or Instagram
• 500 million Instagrammers use the app each month

2 Reasons to Use Social Media

1. ATTRACTING NEW CUSTOMERS – Advertising and Awareness
2. A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE – Connect with existing customers – Build your community

3 Rules of Social Media Marketing

1. Ads success is driven by PLACEMENT and BIDDING (FREQUENCY – how often people are exposed to your ad)
2. Design the ad to get them to “CLICK”
3. Test, Test, and Test more!

Day 2 Summary

The second day really started to stir my interest in the various aspects of online marketing and I began to realize there’s so much that I don’t know. We covered topics such as marketing funnels, landing pages, content marketing, search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, video marketing, and finally an intro to private labeling.

The main message that I took with me from the second day was the idea of private labeling which consists of choosing a product to sell, sourcing a supplier to manufacture your product, and then building a brand. This really opened my eyes to what was possible with selling products oline.

During Day 2 you can expect some light selling on the Will to Win Method continued education packages: FLY, RACE, and DRIVE packages (heavier selling tactics, of course, happen on Day 3).

Day 3

The third day was really all about private labeling and email marketing. It was also only a half day. Topics covered: choosing products that sell, sourcing products, creating a sales listing, value propositioning, and email marketing. You also have a final meeting scheduled with your Will to Win Method team member to determine if you’ll move forward with the continued education packages.

My Highlights Notes From Day 3

Selecting a Product That Sells (When First Starting Out)

• Medium (not high) Demand
• Price Point $18 – $89
• Simplified Shipping
  • Heavy, oversized, special shipping (e.g. cold packs)
  • Look for light weight and fits into shoe box
• Low Competition (beatable competition)
  • Bad reviews
  • Less than 40 reviews
  • Poorly done listing
• Profit Margins 25-35% 
• Year Round Appeal (not seasonal)
• No Legal Issues

Resources for Sourcing Your Private Label Products

1. Alibaba – https://www.alibaba.com
2. Ali Express 
3. Made-in-China.com – https://www.made-in-china.com
4. Thomas Net – https://www.thomasnet.com
   • Made in the USA
5. Maker’s Row – https://makersrow.com/ 
   • Made in USA
   • Textile or needs to be sews or has thread
6. India Mart – https://www.indiamart.com/
7. MFG.com

Questions to Ask Suppliers 

1. What is your MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)?
2. Can we do a Trial Quantity (to test quality)?
3. What is your Lead Time (how long does it take for order to arrive at my door)?
4. Do you ship Door-to-Door?
5. What is your Order Defect Rate?
   • Aim for 2-4%
6. Will you send me enough Product to cover that deficit?
   • e.g. if 2% defect rate, then they will send quantity of 102.
7. Do you provide the ASIN label (the barcode)?

3 Stages of Product Launch

1. Establishing Rank – Developing your position in the Omni-channel with sales, reviews and rankings
2. Growth – Roll out as many products as you can comfortably handle
3. The Gold – Build your customer loyalty and lifetime value

Email Marketing – Format

• Easy to read, attractive, & professional looking
• Should not have too much text – Readers lose interest
  • HTML Format
• Make use of pictures and images
• Do not use Public Email
• Know WHEN to send

Overall Summary of Key Insights

• As entrepreneurs we make a lot of money SOLVING PROBLEMS and MAKING DECISIONS.
• Know what OPPORTUNITY looks like so you can capture it when you see it!
• Break the Focus Marketing Strategy = get others to stop, notice and pay attention to you (e.g. Sam Walton had an idea to place a table outside of his first Walmart store with product he wanted to sell on it. He interrupted and captured the attention people who were walking by with a popcorn machine!
• If anyone tells you how to make a lot of money, you need to ask them one question: How much money do you make doing that? What’s the most amount of money that you’ve made in one year?
• Take 30 minutes every day to do one thing that brings your closer to your goals
• Find where the urge to be Financial Free comes from in you.
  You have to be specific as you can in order to get good results.
  Build your social media campaigns around holidays and seasons
  Only test 1 variable at a time.

Key Quotes

“Money is plentiful when you understand the simple rules which govern it’s acquisition.” ~ George S. Clason

“Wealth is created in short bursts when you position yourself in front of massive growth.” ~ Bill Gates

“The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is that people learn to work for money…but never learn to have money work for them.” ~ Robert Kiyosaki

“Don’t wait for the perfect time. You’ll wait forever. Make the decisions.
Do for 6 months what other people will not…so you can have in 6 months what other people will not!” ~ Robert Herjavec

Overall Review

Ultimately, the Will to Win Method Entrepreneur workshop could be called Selling on Amazon 101. That’s really what it boiled down to. Whether you arrived at the workshop already owning a business or without a clue of what business you wanted to start, the big push will be for you to move your business to an omni-channel such as Amazon.

I thoroughly understand that it’s not possible to cover EVERYTHING involved with business marketing and selling products online in 3 days, but the pace of this workshop was extremely fast and delivered in a “zig-zag” fashion.

If I had to guess, I’d say that the majority of the workshop attendees were 45 years or older. I spoke with a few and many seemed a bit confused, especially with the important concept of running ad campaigns. Don’t get me wrong; age doesn’t matter when it comes to running an online business, but even for me, I’m not sure I’d have the knowledge to run profitable marketing ads solely based on the information presented during this 3 day workshop. Honestly, I’m going to have to rely on my past experience with social media marketing and will definitely need to do a lot of additional learning in order to run 25 profitable marketing campaigns.

Would I take the Will to Win Method Entrepreneur workshop again?

That’s a tough one. From the notes that I’ve shared above, you’ll see that it’s mostly lists of information that can easily be found online for free. Most of the value I received was from the inspirational stories and the shifting of my mind back towards the entrepreneurial path. All this could have been accomplished watching YouTube videos.

Although, the majority of information presented was not innovative or groundbreaking, I’d have to say that, YES, I would attend the Entrepreneur workshop again for the simple fact that it opened my mind to the world of private labeling. Without a doubt, I am pursuing this path of building a long-term brand and selling physical products online.

Did I Purchase Any of the Continuing Education?

No. The reason why I didn’t move forward with purchasing any Will to Win Method education packages is because they were extraordinarily expensive (ranging from $17,000 to $35,000 USD). Yes, I see the value in investing in education and coaching/mentoring, and I’m willing to pay for it, however, there are more established courses for selling on Amazon and private labeling available for a fraction of the cost. When I say fraction of the cost, I don’t mean cheap. I’ve moved forward with other courses and have spent close to $10,000 in my entrepreneurial education, and I’m willing to intelligently invest more.

What’s Next?

I’m committed to expanding my entrepreneurial education and will take action to generate income through selling on Amazon. I’m also going to do whatever it takes to either make THREE TIMES my investment in the Will to Win Method Entrepreneur workshop or have my investment refunded.

And Finally…

I’m receiving many messages asking if I received by money back via the “Triple Your Investment” guarantee. I’m still in the process of running my marketing campaigns and have until the end of the year to run 25 campaigns. I’ll definitely keep you updated!