Extraordinary Success in Two Months for Ordinary People

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Successful people help others win.

It doesn’t require permission, money, or access.

This is a short article about how ordinary people create extraordinary opportunities.

It’s based on a lesson I read long ago:

“You can be more successful in two months by becoming really interested in other people’s success than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in your own success.” – Ferrarzi

I’ll sum up my approach in one line:

Everybody wants to be connected. Few take the time to make a connection

The opportunity, therefore, is in the connection.

Your position in life will improve when you help others improve theirs.

If you lack money, access, or reputation, what value can you offer?

One thing:

Connection.

Here are four examples.

1. If you want to be on the call, host the call

Miles Suing made $15K from his online business in 2022. Not terrible, but not enough.

Call it a glorified side hustle. “I was winging it,” he said.

In 2024, he made $75k online.

In 2025, he’s on track to pass $100,000 online.

Working backwards, Miles needed to become The Obvious Choice to a few, instead of a good choice for many. His ideal client would be wealthy Filipinos living in Toronto.

He started connecting them by hosting Zoom calls.

He knows a few community members already and invited them, asking them to invite one other.

It started small.

 

The dynamics of building relationships are necessarily incremental. You bring somebody in, gain their trust, they bring others in, and so on.

It expanded into in-person meals and more Zoom calls. Miles has become the go-to choice for fitness and nutrition coaching for the wealthy Filipino community in downtown Toronto.

(Click here for the full story on how Miles went from 15k-100k online without a big audience or paid ads)

2. If you want to be on more podcasts, connect podcasters

Lisa Simone Richards wanted to appear on 100 podcasts in a year to promote her branding agency.

Each month, she invited the podcast hosts of the shows she was on to Lisa’s Podcast Party (story in this episode of the pod).

They met through Lisa, who asked for introductions to other hosts. She hit her goal after they made it.

3. If you want to be on the stage, make the stage

Giovanni Marsico wanted to be a high-profile public speaker.

He began hosting his own events. Within a few years, his events had 3,000+ attendees and featured top speakers.

And Gio’s the host. On stage beside them.

In the fitness industry, Andrew Coates has done the same thing.

Instead of begging others to speak at their events, he hosted a small conference with 150 attendees in, of all places, Edmonton, Canada.

He invited friends to speak and sold tickets, but never made money.

Andrew emceed the first event but didn’t speak. Instead, he sat in the audience and studied the speakers.

This positioned him as a leader and speaker in the fitness space. Andrew’s now flown around North America to speak at events for personal trainers.

4. If you want a seat at the table, host the meal

As dumb as this sounds, I didn’t follow the advice in The Obvious Choice to market my own book.

So dumb.

Instead, I tried to get attention on social media for it.

And, surprise surprise, it didn’t work.

I forgot a central lesson:

People who buy books buy a lot of books. People who scroll Instagram don’t.

What behavior do you want people to take? Where are people already demonstrating that behavior?

After my book launch bombed, I learned from my mistakes and decided to become a key connector of authors.

Authors have audiences of book buyers. People who buy books buy lots of books.

My problem: I don’t have a lot of time (three young kids will do that to ya).

But, I do have money.

The equation’s simple. Call it the Time or Dime Law:

If you don’t have money, you spend time.

If you don’t have time, you need to spend money.

I linked up with a major book influencer, and we’ve hosted Zoom calls and meals all Spring and summer in New York and Toronto.

With these connections, I’m buying bulk orders of their books and sending them to our Online Trainer Mentorship students and will begin promoting their books to my audience in my newsletter.

Many have coaching businesses, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s building productized and scalable coaching companies. So, I’m hopping on calls to see where I can help. Anything to give value to these amazing authors I admire.

Please though, don’t try to be efficient

Today, you’re unproven. Breaking through is hard. Your goal is to make fewer genuine connections. Be a human. The bar for that is so damn low these days.

Oh, and also, don’t wait until you need something to reach out. Add value early and often.

-Jon

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