Taught by a Billionaire

EP. 2 — Services vs. Products: The Billionaire Lesson That Changed Everything

• Ferdinand Mehlinger • Season 1 • Episode 2

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In this episode, Ferdinand reveals the powerful mindset shift that took him from being overwhelmed with client work to building scalable, income-generating products — and how you can too.

🚀 Whether you're an entrepreneur, freelancer, or business owner, understanding the difference between services and products could change your life.

🔑 What You’ll Learn:

  • Why service-based businesses trap your time
  • The secret to turning services into products
  • How billionaires think about leverage
  • Real examples from Ferdinand’s journey
  • The path to passive income and freedom

🧠 Inspired by real conversations with a billionaire mentor.

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Speaker 1:

You see other entrepreneurs on the internet living it up Fancy cars, fancy houses, fancy vacations. How did they do it? Well, you're about to find out. This is taught by a billionaire. Being an entrepreneur or a business owner is fun. It's lucrative, but it takes hard work and tons of brains, and that's why we're here. We'll interview other entrepreneurs that have hit the millionaire status and teach up-and-coming entrepreneurs the steps you need to get to the next level. Welcome to Taught by a Billionaire.

Speaker 2:

Now your host, ferdinand Mellinger, mentor the things that I remember so that I can share with you the things that I learned and the process of how I go through things or how I look at certain things to make decisions when I'm moving into a different business decision. So first, the very first episode that I did was about time management. That's what my first lesson was on. But within that time management lesson he was also speaking to me about the product versus service industry, because he said I was so focused on the service industry that I wouldn't really make any money because I couldn't duplicate myself. And so again, I didn't understand what he meant at that particular time. It wasn't until years later that it kind of dawned on me. So you know, as he told me, that I'm, I'm processing the whole thing about service and products, which made sense. You know he was saying I can't duplicate myself, so I can't be everywhere at once. So if I'm giving a service to somebody, if there's a person in California, there's a person in North Carolina, there's a person in Florida, there's a person in New York, I can't duplicate myself on all those different places. I have to now spend time individually with each of those different clients. So it's a service, it's a service industry. So you can't again, you can't duplicate. You can duplicate a process, but that becomes a product.

Speaker 2:

So during the next like I think, three to four years, I was just mostly just learning business and business acumen and how to negotiate and board meetings and how to be a proxy, and you know, I was learning all those things. But there was a time when it came where I needed to kind of apply what was being taught to me. So I remember sitting at my computer, it was late at night and I had a client and he had a store, an e-commerce store, and I was looking at the website because we were taking care of all of the online marketing for them. So I was looking at the website and I saw everything in the back end. And I'm looking at the store and I'm like wait a second. He said products. You remember he said he had 2000 products and that's what he banked off of, because he had mentioned to me that he had like two of 2023 products. So like if one failed it didn't matter, he'd have other ones to fall back on.

Speaker 2:

So I'm looking at the store and we had like 33 products and it dawned on me like at that moment it was like, wait a minute, that's what he's talking about. This is that whole product industry that he was talking about and I have 33 of them right in front of me. So I immediately called my client that I had and I said to him I said, can we have a meeting? And he was in Vegas. And so I went out there and had a meeting with him and you know I'm kind of new to this.

Speaker 2:

At the time I didn't really understand how to. I knew the negotiations, of course, because I had gone through that, but the whole product thing I didn't get. I knew what I was missing, but I didn't know how to make them. I didn't know the branding. That goes to the first percentage. He didn't agree, but to the second percentage. We came to an agreement and so then I had my first 33 products.

Speaker 2:

That's when things became kind of very clear, because you know, when you have a service industry, you're constantly working for your money and you're looking for a new client to buy your service. With products people are buying 24 hours a day. I remember waking up that next morning because now I had a rev share, now you see what comes in at night and now you see what you've made, the percentage of what comes in. So it was a different feeling as opposed to having to have a client and then wait for a payment. Now I've got products coming in 24 hours a day.

Speaker 2:

My advice to everybody would be to make sure that you have some type of product. It doesn't have to be your own It'd be great if it was but you know, if you have your own product, there are different. A lot of research that goes into doing your own product, because you got to make sure there's going to be a market for it. And if there's not going to be a market for it, then you're going to be wasting a bunch of time, a bunch of money. Make sure that, if you are deciding to enter into the product industry, that it's an answer to a specific need. Niche things are extremely, extremely valuable and extremely profitable.

Speaker 2:

And the next I would look at would be margins. You know you want to make sure that your margins are in the. You want to make sure that your margins are within the capabilities of what you can survive on while you're getting to your profitability, because there's going to be costs that come up, so you got to cover those costs. You got to make sure within those margins it's covering those costs and also making you a little bit of money. So you're in the green, you don't want to be net negative on things because it's going to. That's bad.

Speaker 2:

And then I would say fine, if you can't find your own, if you don't know it, maybe do try an affiliate product. I I'm not don't know it, maybe try an affiliate product. I don't know too much about affiliate marketing and all that. That's not what I do, but I've seen people make a lot of money off of that and those are products. So you can do that. I tend to create my own products. I'll find a need and I'll research that specific niche within that specific industry and I'll see what the need is and what the trends are. And then you want to be able to kind of tell through the data what your return is going to be. But there's also going to be a lot of costs because there's got to be the development that goes into it. So just be aware that. But to own that product so that becomes yours.

Speaker 2:

And this can be anything. These could be digital products, these could be physical products. It's just a matter of what you are wanting to do, and let's take it for a question that, let's say, someone has right now of. Okay, today is April 17th. It's almost my wife's birthday. I need to get her a present and I'm spending time with you guys. Her birthday is in a few days, I don't even know. Okay, but I'll get that done no-transcript In the form of a product to be beneficial to you now, because a lot of the stuff that I did was years ago, so I'm benefiting from that now, from years and years ago.

Speaker 2:

But today, what would you do? What are you supposed to do and how do you make a product today? Well, there's a number of things. I think the easiest thing that I would say right off the bat is everybody knows this is ChatGPT. There's numbers of ways that you can make products with ChatGPT. I don't know what everybody's talents are. I don't know what you do for a living, but I can only go by specific hypothetical examples that I can give you right now. So let's just say right now there is a mobile detailer. I don't know, I'm just making these things up, I don't know. And if there is, thank you for listening. I really appreciate you being here. I appreciate everybody for listening to what I have to say and hopefully I can give you guys some knowledge or help you guys along the way.

Speaker 2:

So let's say you're a mobile detailer. You want to create your own product within this mobile detailing world that you're. In order to really be successful, you've got to be kind of the best of the best, right? You're not going to be a mediocre detailer, because then you wouldn't get hired for certain things. So when you are trying to be the best of the best, this would go for anything. I mean, this could go for any of the bodybuilding mobile detailer, house cleaner, for anything, you know, whatever. Don't limit yourself. You guys have power within yourselves. You just got to realize where that power lies.

Speaker 2:

Now, mobile detailers, so that's what we're talking about. What power do you have? What's lying inside of you that that is powerful for you to make some money? Well, let's look at this. Is there a specific product that you use, that you love, that has done better than other products? Okay, so that's one aspect of that. So we've got now a product that you like that you use. Now, you, you like. Okay, so that that's one aspect of that. So we've got now a product that you like that you use. Now you you like, okay. So that's one aspect to this.

Speaker 2:

Next is, in all the years that you've been doing this mobile detailing, there have got to be some secrets or some things that you have done that make things easier or make things better. Let's say that you I don't know, I mean you can get into the cracks better, you clean the vents better, you make sure that there's no sticky stuff on anything If they have kids. You, you use a different type of technique for the carpets and cleaning and you use. You, you leave beautiful line, whatever it may be, when your carpet, you do it, when you're vacuuming the carpet, whatever. I mean, I don't know, I'm not a car detailer, I'm just trying to think of things to kind of help people here. So you've got that specific technique that you do. There's a process to that technique, isn't there? I mean, it's not like you just go there willy nilly and just kind of do things. There's a process that you've built.

Speaker 2:

So let's take the products that you have, that you love, that you use, that you vouch for because you use them. See if there is an affiliate offer for them, which most products there are. See if there's an affiliate code. Go to that site, look for an affiliate code or affiliate partnership, excuse me, and go and sign up. Get your links to those products that you use, store them in like a Google sheet. Name the Google sheet, my detailing I don't know. My detailing, product Number one, I don't know. I'm just making up some names. So now you've got the product, you've got the links right To that specific product.

Speaker 2:

Next, what I would do is go into chat GPT and get personal. So everybody, everybody that's listening right now, when you go into chat GPT for whatever it is, whatever you're creating, you need to get personal. You need to let this robot, this brain, understand who you are, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, what you do good, what you don't do good. The more information that it has, the more it's able to help you. So in this particular situation, I would go to ChatGPT and say my name is let's just make this up, it's a profile, it's a persona that we're making up right now.

Speaker 2:

So my name is Chris Bellevue and I am a mobile detailer. I've been mobile detailing for the last 15 years. I started mobile detailing when I was a kid, watching a friend or watching my dad who detailed cars or who worked at it. Whatever the story is, what I am looking to do, and I need your help with, is creating a PDF of my systemized process that I've created to detail cars. The very first step in this process is I take clean water that has no contaminants in it, so the distilled water that I use to spray the cars down so that there's no water spots that are left over.

Speaker 2:

That's the first step that I use. Next step that I use is I use a power washer thing that shoots bubbles and does that on the car so that I can scrub the car down. Next thing that I do is I dry it with this particular towel, this particular product. The next thing I do is I go in and I use this particular vacuum and this particular process for the carpets and the vents and these tools for that You've got to get. So what I'm basically saying is you've got to get personal and let chat GPT know. The more it knows, the more it can help you. You don't have to type this out, guys. You don't have to type this out. You can speak just as I'm speaking to you. It's not difficult. You just hit that little microphone and speak. Next, you ask it to generate you a PDF that you can now sell. Affiliate product that you use, that you vouch for, that you know that works. So you know that once someone buys it, it's going to be a good experience. You've got the links to that within your pdf with your specific process. That you've done that you do. Right, that's yours. Nobody else is doing it that way, or maybe they do. It may be similar, but it's not your specific way, it's not your specific steps. So now you've got that down. Next, next, what I would do ask ChapGPT to generate you a thumbnail image and to generate you a PDF cover for this particular PDF, so that you can wrap this up into a digital product. Next, what do you do? So you've got now this PDF looks good, it's your systemized product. Go to Substack. Or, if you don't have a website or anything, go to like Substack and subscribe and add your links in there. So now you've got now. Or if you want to go deep, you know you go to Shopify, start a store, but let's just say it's a mobile detail and you just want to sell the PDF, go to Substack. Next, I would then start some videos about you doing your specific process. Do that on TikTok, do that on YouTube, instagram, whatever you use for your platform. Use those videos to then share what you're doing. Then share that link or have it in your link tree to your specific process for the products that you use. That's what I would do for a mobile detail or in this specific time and space right now.

Speaker 2:

Let's say, is there another example that I could use? That's maybe not a mobile detail, who else could maybe be on? Let's say that you are a I don't know, I don't have, I'm just trying to think of things for an example. Let's say that you are a trainer. Well, it could be for anything, it could be for sports, it could be in the gym. So you're a trainer.

Speaker 2:

There's got to be something specific about you you like, specifically you. That's different. You're not the same as another trainer. That's the reason why you're training. You saw something different that somebody else was doing or wasn't doing, and now you implemented a process or a system that changes that or that kind of deviates from that in the way that you think is the best way. That's your proprietary system, that's what you do.

Speaker 2:

So you need to take that and then put it into a product. Or if you have, let's say, a certain workout routines, take that, put this into a product Instead of being a service to where. Now someone's calling you and saying, hey, I need you to train me, I need you to excuse me, give me a diet. I need you to train me. I need you to excuse me, give me a diet. I need you to do this. You now have the capabilities of basically sending someone to a link 24 hours a day saying this is what I have, this is what I'm offering you and this is what is. This is basically a piece of me in this piece of paper that you can buy, and you don't have to call me. I don't have to answer your phone. You're just making a product. You've duplicated yourself within that product.

Speaker 2:

So, if you're a trainer, make something. It could be diets, it could be a workout plan, but you need to make sure that it's in a digital mode so that you're taking the human aspect out of it, so that you're taking the service aspect out of it. So now you've made a product out of your specific system or your specific ways or your service. So there is ways that, if you are in the service industry, to make a product out of that. So don't think that if you are in the service industry, you can't make a product. Let's say a plumber. Okay, let's do a plumber like a service industry. What could a plumber do to have a product? Well, there's a number of things that I could actually think of for a plumber that, I think, would be really good.

Speaker 2:

Now realize that doing this, if you're going to push a product out there, you've got to be comfortable getting in front of the camera. You have to. It's just part of the process. People buy from people and they're not going to buy from an AI bot. They process. People buy from people and they're not going to buy from an AI bot. They're not going to buy from something you just typed out or some image. They buy from people. So I would film videos about you doing your job. I mean, people are. People love this stuff, especially some gross, icky stuff. Like people watch that stuff. It's it's interesting to see.

Speaker 2:

So if you share that stuff, and then let's say that you have again. You have products that you use, that you love. You're not using this particular product because of a certain reason. You're using this particular product because of a specific reason. So now you need to go and build a relationship with that specific partner of that product. 99% of products have an affiliate partnership that you can build with them so that you can make some money maybe 15%, maybe 30%, maybe 60%, you never know. So find those affiliate links to those products, build a PDF pamphlet or a PDF, step-by-step guide that tells people homeowners, other plumbers, my gosh, man, gosh you could do a lot. So let's say you're a plumber. So I'm just going down this now just thinking so if you're a plumber, you talk to other plumbers. Of course, other plumbers are using products too, right? So let's just think you have another friend that's doing something, or you've heard of somebody that's doing something. Now you've got access to almost like a B2B, so you have access to so many different things that you can now build off of.

Speaker 2:

You can talk to different plumbers about your specific technique. You can talk to homeowners, you can talk to renters I mean, the list goes on. So you basically scale it out, right? So if you have something to where you're talking to plumbers, that's one specific niche Don't mix that niche with other niches. Don't mix when you're speaking to plumbers like you're speaking to homeowners. You mix that niche up and it's going to get muddy. You've got to keep them separate. So you got one aspect where you got plumbers that you're selling something to, and then you got another aspect to where you're selling to homeowners and another aspect where you're selling to renters. So each one has a different step or a different process. Renters could be something about make sure you use these products so it doesn't damage this homeowner's home. Homeowners could be like make sure you include there you go, make sure you include this PDF with your rental agreement, because these are the steps and the products that you should use and you could sell that for like $3, $7 all day long and it's selling 24 hours a day and if you market the right way and you're doing some little steps about what you do during the day and now you've got a link tree, now you can sell that. So that would be my advice.

Speaker 2:

In today's world, I think AI is pretty much going to take over everything and a lot of jobs. So I think you need to get into AI and start embracing it and using it not having it take over for you, but having it aid you to make money in this. So think about what you have to offer, think about what job you're doing, think about how you can systemize that process and make it a product and then go on from there. Now there's steps with this too, so that when you make that product, there's steps, because you're going to have to now make you know there's email, so you're going to have to have, like email sequences for follow-ups just in case people fall off, because there's going to be people that come to your store, come to your link, that want to buy, that fall off. So now you're going to want to send them an email sequence about why they didn't. So you're going to have to have that put in place. But that's all easy. You can have chat GPT help you out with that, too easy. You can have chat GPT help you out with that too. And if you don't like chat GPT, you can use cloud. If you don't like cloud, you can use grok there's. So just get used to using AI for what you need to do for your systemized processes, to create products for yourself.

Speaker 2:

This is not limited to just business owners. This could be a mom, this could be a dad, this could be a coat. Like guys, you guys don't understand how much power you have inside of yourselves. You guys don't get it. There's so much power you have inside of yourself to make money. Don't doubt yourself.

Speaker 2:

Every single one of you that's listening to this and even if it's just, let's say, one, you specifically the one person listening to this you have a specific power within you that I don't know about. Nobody else knows about. But there's something that somebody's told you about yourself that is different about you. I don't know what it is, but you've got to find it. Or there's a skill that you know that you're better at than anybody else. You could be the best fisherman. You could be a worm farmer I don't know that. Whatever it may be, you are good at and you know what that is.

Speaker 2:

You need to tap into that and just put it out there, because there's people out there that need access to that information. You can be your own worst enemy, like myself, like I've spent probably the last year debating myself of should I do a podcast? Are the people going to listen? But then I started getting calls and emails about people that were and that made me hold myself accountable that I really need to share some of this information with you guys that I've been holding back, that I just haven't. So my goal is to help you guys.

Speaker 2:

My ask of you is to challenge yourself and try to get out there and do something that is a little bit different. Step outside the box, but add some type of profitability aspect to it. So don't just go out there and offer something for free. You need to make money. You've got to survive. So use something that you know knowledge, something that you know very well, that you're skilled at and it could be dancing, cleaning. There's so many things out there that you could share with people. So, just again, don't limit yourself.

Speaker 2:

Hopefully this helps people with understanding the difference of products and services. Services are great, don't get me wrong. If you're in the service industry, it's wonderful, it's a great industry, but there's always a way that you can duplicate yourself into a product from that specific industry. So, with that being said, I am going to wrap this up. I hope this helped people out. I'll be doing more podcasts here lately, and probably every Friday I'll be doing a podcast and sharing some new tips. But this is the next tip of the product versus services.

Speaker 2:

I've been thinking for the one after this, for the next lesson that I learned after the products versus service industry was really just kind of like making sure that if you have these products, that you have an outlet for them. It's really a detrimental step to think that you have a great idea but then you don't have an outlet for it or you're not answering. You're not answering the problems question, as you took that step out. So I'm probably going to be going into more research of how to launch these products in my next podcast, so look for that coming out next week. Again, thank you guys for being here. Everybody, have a wonderful weekend and hopefully, again, I'm hoping that my advice is helping or my suggestions are helping you in some way, shape or form. Please like, share and subscribe, because that just helps me get my channel bigger and my podcast into more ears to listen to. So I appreciate everything. Everyone you guys have a wonderful and great weekend.