Dennis Yu

Starting from how much money you want to make is one of the most idiotic things I’ve ever heard

I won’t name him, but a well-known marketer said that the way you should evaluate what business to go into should be based on an exercise that goes like this:

If you want to make $150,000 per year, then find something you can sell for $1,000 every other day. 150 sales per year and you’re there.

Or you could find a product that’s $10 and sell 15,000 of them per year. That’s only 1,200 sales per month or about 40 per day, not counting the margins you have to make.

I’m not saying don’t do basic budgeting and forecasting—of course, you’ll do this each month to see where you’re at and make adjustments.

What I am saying is not to base what products or services you offer on this exercise.

Do it based on where you have expertise and passion?

I know a lot of folks who have become doctors, lawyers, and bankers because those professions can make good money. And they make good money but are less fulfilled than those who do stuff they enjoy.

Before you dismiss me as one of those “do what you love and the riches will follow” sorts of people, let me say this.

I know dozens, if not hundreds, of get-rich-quick, motivational speaker-type people. They come to me for help with digital marketing, so I get to see how much money they actually make.

No surprise, most of them can’t even afford $500 a month for some simple FB ads management—ironically, to sell their course on how you can become a millionaire in just 90 days doing X, where X is something faddishly hot right now.

Just because there are a ridiculous number of shysters peddling their wares—as self-proclaimed authors, speakers, and coaches—doesn’t mean there isn’t a legitimate path here for you.

Perhaps the fact that there are so many parasites is evidence that there actually is something here.

Listen to the people who have actually run a business selling products other than how to get rich on the Internet. But don’t let me stop you from buying their stuff if your objective is to get rich teaching other people how to get rich selling courses on how to get rich.

Back to the original point, using what’s called the “top-down” approach in finance is nearly always flawed.  It sounds reasonable—to work your way backward from your income goal to hit your product volume and price numbers.

But the reality is that the human mind has a tendency to overestimate how much you can sell and underestimate how much time and effort it will take.  After all,  if you can generate just $12 per hour in residual income, you’ll make $100,000 per year, right?

Another common top-down lie is this—If we can capture just 1% of the small biz market, then we’ll make $1 billion per year in X industry.   Only 1%– that’s all we need to do. I can do that in my sleep.

Rather, start from your knowledge.  “Follow your effort”, as Mark Cuban says, is a more reliable indicator than “Follow your passion”.


That’s where you’ll most likely be able to put in the necessary time into something to grow it.

  • And growing sales usually means growing an audience.
  • And growing your audience means crafting content that hard-core enthusiasts will appreciate and share— videos that if you cut up into one-minute segments to boost on Facebook to the right audience, will create a powerful multiplier.
  • And being able to bootstrap your earnings to reinvest in more ads to drive more sales—as opposed to “investing” your time into more Excel spreadsheets to keep dreaming.

Are you dreaming of an entrepreneur fantasy, like my buddy who religiously watches cooking shows but has never gotten his pots and pans dirty?

Or are you actively quantifying where you have expertise, a network, and some sort of competitive advantage so good that you’re basically cheating?

Because that’s how you’ll win—not because you’ll “hustle” harder than the next guy, who also listens to [insert the name of your favorite motivational speaker].

I left Yahoo! with an unfair advantage knowing most of the people who matter in the digital marketing space plus having inside knowledge of how to drive traffic and revenue.

There are many who are way smarter than me and work harder, but they don’t have an unfair advantage.

You don’t have an unfair advantage?

I’d suggest you get deep in a couple of areas first unless you like blowing money and feeling good listening to Gary Vaynerchuck.  He’ll gladly take your money, just like the lottery sells tickets to dreamers who fantasize about Italian sports cars and how they’re helping their local school district.


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Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.
I'm a member of Blitzmetrics Academy and a friend of Dennis to boot. Not only is Dennis highly intelligent and full of great and creative ideas, he's also incredibly generous with both his knowledge and his time. Success couldn't come to a better guy. Thank you for all that you do for the world, Dennis! 🙏

Michael Pacheco

Marketer

Thanks 🙏 for being shining light in this industry. Love what your building for works overseas too network for jobs so innovative. Dennis helped me navigate having bad experiences with marketing agencies and doing dollar a day marketing which has helped my personal brand tremendously. Highly recommend.

Eric Skeldon

Founder at Kingdom Broker

Working with Dennis has been a delightful experience. After meeting him in 2015 I got to collaborate with him on countless occasions. His understanding for state-of-the-art marketing, his implementation, and his leadership put him into the top 0.01% of marketers and mentors.

Jan Koch

Ihr kompetenter Partner für innovative KI-Strategien.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis for my podcast in 2021 and since then we have maintained a friendship that grows with each interaction. I have seen Dennis' devotion to his friends and clients firsthand, and our conversations often result in us talking about how we can provide more value to the people around us. He is someone whom I can ask questions on a technical level, and look to on a personal level. If you have any hesitancy about hiring him, get over yourself and do it!

Isaac Mashman

Help scaling personal brands.

Geez, where do I start recommending Dennis? First, he is an absolutely brilliant marketer who understands where marketing is today and where it's going tomorrow. He also has an incredible passion for the International Worker community. The lessons he has taught me from his almost 20 years of experience hiring International Workers have been immense. Most importantly though. Dennis Yu is someone who wants the absolute best for you and is willing to tell you the truth. Dennis sat with me at a point in my business where I was floundering but did not want to admit it. He asked some very straight forward questions to get me to admit my issues, highlighted the issues, and then helped me create a roadmap to success.

Atiba de Souza

International Keynote Speaker | Video Content Superman | Superconnector |

Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will notr regret Dennis, which I had the pleasure of working with is one of the most giving, honest and tell you as it is person I ever know. The knowledge this man has is remarkable and he just gives it out freely. He is not pretentious and always entertain anyone big or small in the industry always willing to help. If you ever get a golden opportunity to work with him or mentored by him say YES!. You will not regret

Nixon Lee

The PR Whisperer

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