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Module 1: The come-up · 8 min

From $200 a day to a six-figure day in ten months, by giving everything away.

Carter's come-up, the three principles he pulls out of it, and how to start from zero today.

Hello, my name isCarter “Spooky”
Hello, my name isJason

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January 2020

A newspaper-subscription salesman finds a Reddit post claiming $1,000 a day.

“i'll work for you for free just let me look over your shoulder”

His account of the messages he sent on Reddit. One said yes, but only in person, in Thailand. He sold what he had and bought a one-way ticket.

  • BeforeSelling physical newspaper subscriptions, Googling "be your own boss" all day. share
  • JanFinds the Reddit post. Messages strangers offering free labor. share
  • JanOne-way ticket to Thailand. "very much like a mr miyagi karate kid come up" share
  • SpringNobody shares anything. He does the opposite. share
  • OctFirst six-figure profit day, ten months in. share

The flywheel

Everyone else guarded their one $100-a-day thing. Carter gave his away to a hundred people and collected a hundred things back.

  1. Share first. No expectation of return. share
  2. Apply what comes back. He was “basically copy and pasting things other people gave me” share
  3. Profit rises, bigger people start talking to you. Run the loop again. share

Ten months.

$200a day at his first conference, January 2020share
$1,000a day once the sharing startedshare
$10,000a day about six months inshare
$100,000+his first six-figure day, October 2020share

“it wasn't that I was really a genius”

a guy who started with a red paper clip and over a year like traded up to a house i did the same thing just with information
Hello, my name isCarter “Spooky”
share
What did Carter offer the stranger on Reddit in exchange for learning affiliate marketing?

What actually made the difference. Three things.

1. Network

The top 50-100 people are at every conference. One bar conversation can hand you a whole business model. He says helping people paid off tenfold.

share

2. Ask bigger questions

A goal of $100k profit a day calls for a different answer than $100 a day. Miss the goal and still land far higher.

share

3. Don't be a dick

The space is small and shrinks as you go up. Reputation gets checked before anyone works with you.

share

when you ask bigger questions you get bigger answers
Hello, my name isCarter “Spooky”
share
every hand you refuse to shake on the way up is attached to an ass that you'll have to kiss on the way down
Hello, my name isCarter “Spooky”
share
Which is NOT one of Carter's three principles?

Go alone. It's awkward. Go anyway.

First conference, January 2020: knew nobody, making about $200 a day, privately convinced the guys in suits were the broke ones. One or two contacts became a party invite, and the circle grew by association.

“everyone's favorite topic to talk about is themselves”

He jokes that this explains his appearance on a free call with 100 people. share

every business 90% of it's just showing up and doing the stuff other people are afraid to do
Hello, my name isCarter “Spooky”
share
What does Carter say about your first one or two conferences?

Give it away when you're winning.

Jason's version started in 2003 with forums and ICQ, then WickedFire, then STM, then walking into an eight-booth Affiliate Summit and realizing “This was like a real business. Holy shit.”

One tip. Millions of dollars.

An attendee who started in 2007 at a few hundred dollars a day met Jason at his first show. “if I never left the computer and went there, that never would have happened.” share

  • 2003Jason buys a biz-op ebook; the forum that came with it is the real product. share
  • 2008First Affiliate Summit: eight booths, “This was like a real business. Holy shit.” share
  • TodayThree CMOs at large law firms were A4D affiliates in 2008-2010. share
  • Always“you will not be on top forever” Trade information while you can. share
you will not be on top forever you're going to be on the bottom at some point and you're going to need somebody to call you
Hello, my name isJason
share
What size does Carter recommend for a peer tribe?

Starting from zero today

Carter's order of operations if he had no money and no network.

  1. Network.
  2. Affiliate first.
  3. Low-payout offers for cheap feedback.
  4. Profit-share media-buying job.
  5. Tribe.

Build a tribe.

5 to 15 people

Find peers at your level in groups, do calls, make a group chat. Bigger than 15 and the value dilutes.

10x the tests, 1/10 the cost

Ten people testing the same vertical, sharing everything that works.

Level up the group

He started with ten small operators, then a group doing $1k profit a day, then $10k. Repeat the cycle.

It's lonely otherwise

“i wouldn't talk to another human for a week i'd have to go sit at the library and you know just be around people while i was working” share

Why would Carter start with low-payout offers like personal loans if cash were tight?
Recording