become a digital entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship

Billy Gene is Marketing: Tips on Becoming a Digital Entrepreneur

Billy Gene is Marketing shares his knowledge, insights, and tips for anyone who wants to become a successful digital entrepreneur.

Bryan James

08/02/2022 | By Bryan James

Fifteen years ago, if you told someone you earned a living by uploading videos to the internet, they would have probably been a little confused. Nowadays, no one would bat an eye. Digital entrepreneurs are everywhere.

Everyone is creating and consuming online content.

With the rise of the creator economy, more and more people see digital entrepreneurship as a viable way to supplement, or even replace, their primary income. The creation, distribution, promotion, and monetization of content is now big business.

Learning from others is super important for anyone looking to start a career as a digital entrepreneur. Billy Gene Shaw, founder of Billy Gene is Marketing, has a lot to teach aspiring digital entrepreneurs. 

Whether you’re just considering starting an online business, or you already sell a digital product, there’s always something you can learn. In this article, we’re going to share some of Billy Gene is Marketing’s insights and advice about digital entrepreneurship. 

Billy Gene is Marketing and a career as a digital entrepreneur 

There are different avenues you can take to start a career as a digital entrepreneur. The most obvious is to create and sell your own digital product. But there are other options available to work in the creator economy.

Soon-to-be digital entrepreneurs might also consider working as affiliates to promote and sell other people’s products, or providing products and services to creators.

Whatever path you choose, looking to those who came before is always a good idea. Entrepreneurs who have already achieved what you want to achieve can help guide you on your journey. 

Billy Gene is no stranger to marketing and entrepreneurship. He had an advertising agency, has been working in digital marketing for over 10 years, and has worked with companies like Orangetheory Fitness, Massage Envy, Kia Motors, and Dave & Buster’s.

Now, Billy sells his own marketing courses, since, as he puts it, “college for entrepreneurs kinda sucks…” He has over 150 thousand students in 75 countries, and his ads have been viewed millions of times. 

In short, Billy Gene knows what he’s talking about, and you’d be wise to consider his advice!

VIDEO: Insights from Billy Gene is Marketing | Hotmart

5 essentials for digital entrepreneurs 

As someone who’s been around the block when it comes to starting a business, Billy Gene has some great tips for anyone who is considering becoming, or already is, a digital entrepreneur. 

His tips relate not just to the business side of things and marketing, but also how to conduct yourself as a person in and out of business.

Here are 5 essential tips from Billy Gene for digital entrepreneurs.

  • Stay humble and ask for help

“I wish I had asked for more help.”

Being an entrepreneur is not easy. You’re taking a risk on an idea, and there are a lot of moving parts involved. That’s why, as Billy Gene highlights, you can’t be afraid to ask for help.

“I wish I knew how to be more humble, and to operate with less arrogance and ignorance. Being arrogant enough to think I could figure it all out by myself and I wish I realized how ignorant I was to how much I didn’t know.”

No one can do everything by themselves, at some point you’ll need to rely on others. Don’t be shy, ask for help! For Billy, being humble is an extremely important quality for entrepreneurs to develop. 

He also cites not asking for help as a big reason why many businesses fail. 

  • Take a stand

The accessibility of working online is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s easier than ever to be a business owner, but it also means there’s stiff competition online. 

With millions of brands and creators competing for the attention of audiences, how can you and your product stand out?

For Billy Gene, the answer lies in simply being yourself:

“It used to be about logos, people would trust logos and now they trust faces. I think companies are leaving a massive amount of money on the table by simply not showing who they are and for standing for something.

Everybody tries to play gray and be ‘in the middle’, but nobody follows the ‘in the middle’ opinion. So choose a side and be yourself, I think a lot of sales are missed from not being authentic.”

  • Remember digital entrepreneurship is no different than entrepreneurship

“You’re just using a different tool.” 

That means that strategies that work offline will usually work online. So don’t limit your inspiration to the digital world. Look around you and consider anything that can be implemented online. 

My most successful digital campaigns are things that work with traditional media, and then I just put them on digital.”

Of course, many strategies will need to be adapted for online environments, but there are also many new tools and platforms available. 

For example, traditional TV commercials have been largely replaced by paid and sponsored ads on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Google. But there’s still value to studying TV commercials. The mechanisms and psychology that interest audiences still work in the same way. 

  • Add something physical

Sometimes it can be hard for customers to see the value of buying something they can’t physically hold. This is why Billy Gene says that adding something physical to a digital release can be very beneficial.

“For example, if you’re giving away an ebook, actually print it out and use the printed version in the video to help people understand that what you’re giving is tangible. 

Usually for people when it’s information, it’s a little harder to attach a value to it. So by actually physically holding something, it will make a big difference in your conversions.”

  • Don’t lose sight of what’s important

“There are no milestones in business, it’s just making money and sales.”

There’s always more money to be made; new sales records to beat. Billy Gene sees this as a reminder of what’s really important in his life: being a dad. 

“I think people hype up business, but you don’t live to work, you work and create so that you can live and help others live

There’s no finish line for businesses. There are always ways to grow and expand. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting those things, don’t lose sight of what’s really important in life.

The future of digital entrepreneurship according to Billy Gene

In the online world, selling a product is not enough. Businesses and entrepreneurs need to become content creators to promote their brands

Creating engaging content is the best way to reach new audiences and potential customers. 

In Billy Gene’s opinion, this will continue into the future. For him, the future of digital entrepreneurship is “entertainment, simple as that.” 

Which is why digital entrepreneurs should dedicate some of their time and energy into nurturing an audience, since “the people with audiences will win, that is the entire game now – it’s always been the game.”

And it makes sense. Quality content also helps establish you as an authority. Once audiences see you as an authority and trust you, it’s much easier to sell to them. 

In the past, celebrity endorsements were used to help sell products. But now, as Billy mentions, “the new celebrities are on Youtube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. 

So the people with the audiences will move the needle in regards to sales, and then digital marketing will be used to amplify that content.”

Moral of the story: make sure to include content creation as part of your marketing strategy.

Boost your career as a digital entrepreneur right now

Looking for something easy to implement into your routine for a little boost? Look no further.

Check out 3 things Billy Gene lists for entrepreneurs to be successful.

Billy Gene is Marketing: tips on becoming a digital entrepreneur. Text in image: Read more: “Books are like the cheat code of life. People have really complex problems and solve them in about 100 pages. Get books.” Learn how to sell: “You have to be able to sell, whether you are selling a vision, or whether it’s selling a client a product. Sales is everything.” Have somewhere to write: “I don’t care if it’s a piece of paper, a notebook, or a document. The art of persuasion moves the needle in all industries and sales cures all.”

How can you become a digital entrepreneur?

Anyone can become an entrepreneur, but not everyone is willing to become an entrepreneur. Being a business owner means putting in long hours, making sacrifices, and persevering in the face of failure. 

But as Billy Gene and other successful entrepreneurs will tell you: it’s worth it! 

In this article, you’ve seen some of Billy Gene’s tips that can help you on the journey of entrepreneurship. Hopefully you’ve found his advice useful and can think of ways to implement his knowledge into your business and career.

If you want to earn money with your passion, you need to seriously consider creating a digital product. If you have no idea where to start, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

We’ve created a full checklist to help you create and sell your first digital product. It goes over all the steps required to become a digital creator, tips on how to choose where to host your digital product, and tips on how to promote your business.

Check it out here!

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