RULE 2:
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
—attributed to Pablo Picasso
You’re wasting your time reading this book if you don’t embrace this one idea:
You have to copy your competitors.
Do it now. Do it aggressively. Do it quickly. And do it by spending the least amount of money you possibly can.
I constantly talk to people who won’t give themselves permission to copy. They think it’s unethical and that they have to invent something new if they’re going to launch anything. That’s where they’re completely wrong.
Every successful entrepreneur has copied, even if they won’t admit it. You usually just don’t notice it because they’ve taken someone else’s idea and tweaked it for an entirely different industry. Wealthfront CEO Andy Rachleff did exactly that to drive his customer base.
Wealthfront uses software, not people, to manage its customers’ investment portfolios. New investors get their first $10K managed for free. For every friend they invite who accepts, they get another $10K managed for free.
They’re the first company to bring this invite-a-friend model to the financial sector. As Andy and I spoke over a spotty Skype connection, I asked how he came up with his growth model. His answer surprised me:
Dropbox gives users a certain amount of storage for free. Invite a friend who joins, and your free storage limit goes up. Sound familiar?
Fifteen percent of the invites that get sent out by Wealthfront’s customers lead to a new user who puts at least $500 into a new portfolio.
Blatant copying. No harm to Dropbox. Big win for Wealthfront.
Sometimes copying will be brutally cutthroat, like the Hearst versus Pulitzer circulation war (this page). When Facebook is on Snapchat’s tail copying every new feature, they’re clearly out to slay them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes copying is just research. You’re seeing what works and what doesn’t so you can be hyperefficient with your resources. By the time you’re done with your product—or whatever you’re launching—it may look nothing like the competition you’ve shadowed. Or maybe it will. It’s your call.
In chapter 11, I’ll show you exactly how to pull data on a company that will help you launch your own. I’ll also show you some copying tactics I used when launching my first software company, Heyo.com.
For now, just focus on killing any resistance you have toward copying. It’s the best way to bring in big money fast—and you can be as ruthless as you want to.
I told you I’m obsessed with patterns. Finding the patterns that link successful businesses is like decoding the secrets behind a win. That’s essentially what you’re doing when you’re copying—you’re looking for the patterns that got your competitors to the top. Then you’re using that information to match or beat them. When you do this, you’re essentially getting a free business lesson. If you don’t copy these free lessons, you’ll have to do what those with less knowledge do: pay to learn the lessons yourself.
If you’re just starting out with a side hustle, the opportunities for copying are huge. Let’s look at Airbnb rentals, or, really, any product or service you’d offer through an online marketplace. All of your competitors’ strategies are laid out right in front of you. Scroll through the top-rated listings in your area and find the patterns they share.
If you’re doing Airbnb, start with the headline. How are the rentals with loads of ratings described? As I’m writing this, the top search results in Denver, each with more than two hundred five-star ratings, have these headlines:
1880S CARRIAGE HOUSE IN CURTIS PARK
COLORFUL & LOVING DENVER CONDO
LIVE LIKE A LOCAL IN TRENDY RINO
FIVE STAR—2 MILES TO DOWNTOWN—FREE PARKING—NEAR ZOO
These clearly tell you what draws people in: fun or convenient location, historic charm, lively living space, etc. Think of your property in these terms and highlight the qualities that people will want.
Also look at the pictures. How can you make the first picture in your listing stand out against a competitor’s? Sometimes you’ll want to copy, sometimes you’ll want to do the exact opposite of what others are doing to make your listing pop.
Then the description: How do they describe the Wi-Fi? Do they say: “Wi-Fi perfect for business professional,” or “Wi-Fi perfect for streaming YouTube videos while you party with your friends”? Are properties that are obviously old being pitched as “rustic” or as having “farmhouse charm”? Zero in on the lexicon these top listings use so you can cater to the same market they’re reaching.
Any online marketplace is a gold mine for free business lessons. Another popular one for side hustlers: Etsy shops. Let’s say you want to launch a new women’s tank top. Go to Etsy.com → Clothing & Shoes → Women’s → Tops & Tees → Tanks and see what patterns the most popular sellers share.
You can quickly see that tanks with cheeky sayings are huge sellers. As I’m writing this, a tank that says FEED ME TACOS AND TELL ME I’M PRETTY has 2,941 reviews. If you search for just that phrase, you’ll see the copying on this one is fierce. At least five different sellers offer a shirt with the same saying, all with more than five hundred reviews. Anything referencing coffee, wine, cats, or yoga is huge.
Also look at style. As I scroll through, a lot of the bestsellers are white text on a black shirt.
Keep digging as you think up strategies for your own product. If you don’t already have a shirt idea, you can join the pretty taco party and do it better: lower prices, more color offerings, custom lettering, etc., depending on your capabilities. Or pull details from several of the most popular items and launch a version with your own twist: A cat sipping wine while doing a yoga pose? Find an artist on Fiverr or Upwork to create the design for you (if you can’t do it yourself), crunch numbers to find an affordable vendor to print your shirts (if you don’t do it yourself), and you’re on your way.
I don’t want to underestimate the work that goes into creating a successful Etsy (or any other online) shop because it does take a ton of effort to get your products noticed and turn a profit. You likely won’t become a millionaire doing it. But you can make the long road to a steady income stream much shorter through strategic copying.
If you’re setting up shop as a consultant, look at sites where people list their services. On the low end (price-wise) are Fiverr.com and Upwork.com. You’ll find higher-priced services on hubs like Toptal.com. Look at what some of the top-rated consultants are selling. Pick up the patterns in terms of how they present their services, pricing, or what guarantees they make. Scour their bios, portfolios, and photos for clues on how to best set up your profile if you want a consulting empire.
I take a deep dive into copying tactics for physical products in chapter 11. The best places to look for physical product inspiration if you’re just starting out are crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Look at the products that are doing really well and focus on understanding why they’re succeeding. Is it in a product niche? Are the creator’s story and video so moving that the product just naturally sells? That happens a lot. The product is crap but the story is unbelievable. People love to buy the story.
If you’re launching a digital product like a podcast or YouTube channel, you have to troll Patreon.com. It shows you how much creators are earning through monthly pledges and exactly what they’re offering to attract those paying customers. I go there all the time to see what podcasters are doing. Some are making up to $80K a month off their podcast alone. I try to understand what content they’re giving exclusively to paying members, and what they give for free, and it gives me ideas of what to make exclusive on my podcast. Patreon also lets me see how the top-grossing podcasters communicate with their fans, how they set up their payment tiers, and how many people have picked each different tier. All of the information is right there. I get to see what’s working and I copy it.