If I Started Over at 22, I'd Use This Playbook to Pay NYC Rent in 90 Days

Edward Sturm: This is what I would do if I was starting over at 22 years old in New York City, which is where I'm from, so that in three months of starting with no connections, very little knowledge, anything, within three months of starting, I would be at a stage where I'm easily paying rent in New York, and then within two years at 24, I'd be earning more than most people my age and not having to worry about money. This is from an article that I wrote two weeks ago. It was a newsletter that I wrote two weeks ago, then it came out to my website called If I Had to Start Over at 22: The Credibility-First Playbook I'd Use to Pay NYC Rent in 90 Days.

So I'm gonna share how to build credibility from anywhere in the world Then how to get leads into your funnel, both for people who are in a major city who can go to events, but also for people who are remote. If you are in the middle of nowhere, but you still wanna get leads into your funnel. Then I'm going to share how to actually get more money, and it's a story about increasing prices And the strategy in this combines everything that I love, which is SEO, reputation management, social media, and talking to people.

I like talking to people. That's why I have a lot of guests on this podcast So with this strategy, you are going on podcasts, and that is the base of your credibility. Back in 2022, before I had any social media following, I used aipodcastmatcher.com to go on 30 podcasts in three months.

Aipodcastmatcher.com is my affiliate URL for a tool that I really like, and again, I used it Before I had any social media following, to go on 30 podcasts in three months, and at the time in when you would search my name, These podcasts would dominate Google. So I've talked on this show before about how I'm funding a new company that's growing off my method of SEO. One of our core offsite strategies is .

Using aipodcastmatcher.com to go on podcasts, because we get backlinks, we get brand mentions, we get branded searches, we get some referrals, but we also get credibility. And the operator who's doing this company is 20 years old. He has no social following and no experience going on podcasts, but despite this, he's been on - In the first month, he's been on eight different podcasts And what happens is you search his name and a m- a month into it, you see all these different podcast appearances So basically just starting out learning your chosen industry or you're a new B2B company because this strategy that I'm describing, it works well for consultants, for freelancers, for anybody doing B2B sales, areas where credibility, trust, and high-intent referrals are very important So as you're just starting, you'd aim to go on two to three podcasts a week.

After each podcast is released, you would share it on social media, especially on LinkedIn. You'd give a few quick bullets of what you talked about. And I'm gonna relate it to this story from James Reynolds, who is the founder of SEO Sherpa, which is an eight-figure, 65-person SEO agency. and he did something similar with small public speaking appearances when he was just starting his career He shared this On episode 710 of this show, "How to Grow an SEO Agency from Zero to Eight Figures with Lessons from 21 SEO Experiments," I really like that episode He said, "Even if you feel like an imposter," because remember, you're 22, you're just starting.

" Even if you feel like an imposter, you probably know more than 99% of people in the room. This and the public speaking, sharing what you know positions you as the expert." And so this also applies to being seen going on many podcasts. He also said, " I'd have potential clients connect with me on LinkedIn then they would see me doing public speaking via my posts on social media.

the social proof and authority increased conversions." So a lead searches your brand, they see your brand on a ton of podcasts. AI is pulling this as well. AI is seeing your podcast appearances too.

Credibility is increased, leads are easier to turn into conversions, and you get more conversions This is a quote from the entrepreneur subreddit about a guy who hired a PR agency to get new leads He said the benefit he got wasn't actually in new leads, but the ease with which he was able to convert leads he met himself. He said, " From leads gained at trade shows to our PPC/SEM, we started seeing a very significant increase in the ease with which we were closing contracts. The time we spent in the nurturing/consideration stage went down considerably.

We were being prompted to present fewer case studies, answer fewer questions, do fewer exploration calls, et cetera. It's like the typical customer journey lost several of its crucial steps and went straight from general awareness to conversion. Leads looked up our company on Google and were presented with all of the articles we have." Now, you're not using podcasts as a source of leads, you're using them as a source of credibility to ease conversions.

This also helps retain existing clients and get more referrals from them. you're connected with your existing clients on LinkedIn. They see you going on all these podcasts every week. They think, "Wow, my consultant or contractor is going places," so you're continuing to build trust with existing clients and customers, and this increases referrals, and it slows your churn.

Of course, nothing beats getting your customers results, but still it's slowing your churn because it's building trust. Optionally, you can also make a social media video every day about what you're learning. It's optional, but it will actually function as a source of leads, and it will give you more credibility because your social media videos will show up when people search your name or search your brand. You just simply make one short-form video a day about what you're learning.

Spend 15 to to 20 minutes a day on this. I'm gonna share my social media posting guide, so how to post on every platform for maximum reach, and my guide for coming up with ideas in the description for this episode. Again, this is optional, but if you have the bandwidth for short-form video, you will start getting a lot of leads after posting for a few months. So now we have the credibility layer solved through podcasts.

This is how to get leads into the funnel. Again, both in person and completely remote In person, start by figuring out a core group of people likely to give you interested referrals. You can give ChatGPT this prompt, " I do insert your industry. What three types of people and professions are most likely to provide me quality referrals?"

And then switch to ChatGPT agent mode. Follow up with, " I live in insert your city. Find me events to go to with these people. Also, look for groups/lists/newsletters that constantly send out and share events with these people."

So you are finding opportunities to meet people who will give you referrals because referrals convert so much better than cold pitches Now, how do you build trust with people who will give you referrals? I spent three years going to tech events in New York City every night learning how to turn strangers into referral sources. I have an article about how to do this. I'm gonna share this article in the description for this episode.

But in short, this is what you do. Really simple. Arrive early when other people are eager to have somebody to talk to. Everyone tries to arrive late when people are already in conversation.

You don't wanna do that. Arrive early when people are really eager to have somebody to talk to. Stick with one person for the whole event. Ask the other person about themselves and what they do.

Don't share what you do until the other person asks. Take that other person after the event to a bar or a restaurant. Pay for the other person's meal or drink. Keep in mind that going to multiple places quickly deepens trust because it feels like you've been together for longer.

It's kind of like a, a, a hack for meeting people and building trust fast. If you go to a bunch of different places together in a short amount of time, it really feels like you've known the person longer Then during your time with the person, make sure to subtly drop that you've been so busy going on all these podcasts because you want this person to Google you after the meeting to see the credibility that you've built Basically, you are optimizing for strong relationships and for a single person from an event to remember you and what you do.

And these people are going to events, they're meeting people, they're expanding their network. And so They're gonna meet people who need what you offer, and then you're immediately going to come to mind, and they're gonna recommend you. They're gonna recommend you because they remember you, because they trust you, because they constantly see your LinkedIn updates of you going on podcasts, giving industry insights So that's what you do if you're in person. That's what I would do at 22 in person Now, if you are remote, what if you're remote?

What, what, what if you don't have the events to go to? Mariah Magazine came on this podcast two weeks ago, episode once- episode 1073, What Small Business Owners Get Wrong About SEO with Mariah Magazine, and she shared how she did it in Buffalo, New York. She wasn't going to any events in person. She wasn't meeting people in person.

She built her SEO freelancing and consulting business completely online. This is what she did She joined communities of people who would become her customers or give her referrals, and she did service swaps So you can start with this ChatGPT prompt, " I do," insert your industry, " what two types of people and professions are most likely to need my services?" Then switch to ChatGPT agent mode and follow up with, " Find me influencers in these niches who have private paid membership groups.

Especially look for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X influencers." You want a, a paid community because the people in them have shown that they're willing to spend money, and since these people are paying to be in these communities, they're more likely to be active and attentive to get their money's worth. So what you do is you join only one of these communities. Don't spread yourself thin among many.

It can be very tempting to do that, but don't do that. And then just try to be as helpful as possible within your area of expertise, and that's it. Don't ask people to be clients. Don't try to sell.

Just try to help. If people use their real names in the communities, make sure to add them on LinkedIn after you have already helped them. Don't do it with just, like, people you don't know. But if you talk to them in the community, add them on LinkedIn.

It's virtual networking, but you're being helpful. And then doing this, you get top-of-mind awareness with a group of people who, one, have demonstrated that they're willing to spend, and two, are likely to need your services in the first place because you looked for a community of people who will actually need what you offer And then the second thing to do is a service swap. So Mariah Magazine said, " I did service swaps in the beginning. One of my favorite ones was with a PR girl.

She was getting started in PR. I was getting started in SEO. She created my PR plan, ended up getting me in Entrepreneur, and then I did her SEO plan, ended up getting her on page one for PR for entrepreneurs. and so it was like then we were just microphoning about each other.

Both of us grew our own circles, but we were always referring back to each other." So you can combine both the ChatGPT prompts for in-person and remote. So you would say to ChatGPT, " I do," insert your industry, "What three types of people and professions are most likely to provide me quality referrals?" Then switch to ChatGPT agent mode and say, " Find me influencers in these niches who have private paid membership groups, especially look for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X influencers."

And then you do service swaps with the people in these communities, because these are the ones who will provide you referrals So that's how to do it remote. So now you have your credibility solved. You're getting people into your funnel. They're converting because you look credible But you gotta increase prices And I really like this story from Patrick McKenzie, who is now an advisor to Stripe.

He shared it on the Indie Hacker podcast years ago. I, I remember hearing this. I was taking a train to Florence in Italy from Rome, and I was sitting there in the train and I was listening to this, and I just remember being blown away. Oh my God, that's such a crazy story So this is what Patrick said.

It would have been great if someone had told me to charge more. When I was working at a Japanese day job, I worked at a company that was essentially a consultancy. It's called a systems integrator in Japan, but whatever. It's modeled like an engineering consultancy, and I'm just an engineer.

I have no connection to the business side, but I knew what my charge-out rate was It was approximately $100 an hour I didn't make anything close to $100 an hour, but I thought if I start a consultancy, then I can make 100% of my charge-out rate, 100 bucks an hour. Awesome. Then I spoke to - By the way, this is the importance of having friends who are a few steps down the road from you. I made a buddy on Hacker News, Thomas Patek, and he told me, " You shouldn't charge hourly for consulting, you should charge weekly for consulting.

So whatever your rate is right now, multiply it by 40. That's your new week rate. And people can't buy hourly blocks. They have to commit to a week."

And so I started doing that, started selling four thousand per week engagements, and after one of those, I decided that four grand was way too low relative to the value I was creating for larger software companies. I said, "Okay, my new rate is eight thousand dollars per week," and people still bought it. Then for the next engagement I was pitching to a company, they sent me a one-sentence email: " Quote me your rate for two weeks." I said, "Well, my rate for one week is eight thousand, so two weeks is sixteen thousand."

And I had my finger over the send button and I said, "Wait. What's the worst thing that happens if I type in twelve thousand? They say it's too high? You'll have another one of these emails coming from somebody else in another week or two."

So backspace, Twelve thousand, twenty-four thousand respectively. Hit send. And then I had a panic attack because I thought, " Who could charge twelve thousand for a week? I don't even know what I'm doing.

How are they going to react to that? Am I going to lose a friendship over this? Blah, blah, blah." I got a reply back five minutes later.

" Wow, that's a healthy rate. Okay." And that's the last time that consultant client ever mentioned rate as a discussion. So six months later, new engagement, my stock rate is twenty thousand a week.

New client goes, "Okay." And then a year or two after that, my stock rate is thirty thousand a week. New client goes, "Pricey, okay." I did put a hundred twenty-five thousand per week for ten weeks on a proposal once and got very far away down the line on that proposal, but that didn't happen.

Anyway, nothing special. That's the story from Patrick McKenzie Nothing special, just gradually raise prices. Your credibility is increasing. You're sharing all the podcasts you're going on.

You're sharing all the accomplishments you have. You're sharing the new things that you're learning on social media. People search your name, they're seeing all these incredible appearances coming up Your funnel for new leads is increasing. You're meeting people who are giving you referrals.

You're getting more top-of-mind awareness in your space In two years, you will have from starting at 22, in two years, you will have just a lot more experience because you're doing better work Like I said, a consistent stream of referrals and new client and customer requests, an easy time converting all these leads and high rates so you're getting paid a lot. If I was just starting, I would crush it with this strategy at 22. And so if you're just starting or you have a brand or a B2B business, this will work really well for you something else that you can do is Well, my SEO course.

It shows how to find people who are searching right now for what your brand sells. These people are going to Google or they're asking ChatGPT. They know they want what your brand provides, but they don't have your brand top of mind My course shows how to find the searches these people are doing, how to target these searches with short conversion-based SEO landing pages, how to structure your site for these pages, how to build authority so these pages show up high in search engines, how to do an SEO technical audit to make sure search engines can make the most of your site in the first place, weekly examples in all niches, many video tutorials of me doing this and showing you how to do it, Google Docs, Google Sheets, written examples, visual templates.

So much is in this course. If you have not checked out Compact Keywords, you will love it, and you can get that for your business at compactkeywords.com. This is 1,090 of the show, 1,090 days in a row doing this podcast.

Let's go. If you watch this on YouTube, thank you so much for watching. If you listened on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, thank you so much for listening, and I will talk to you again tomorrow. Bye now.