If you had $1,000.00 extra dollars coming in every month, in addition to your work, how would that give you more breathing space?

And what if this income followed you wherever you went? This would allow you to keep your cash flowing whether you stayed put or moved across town, across the country, or to France for a few months or years.

Here, the idea is of extra cash isn’t that you get an extra job that further encumbers your life, but rather you generate the type of income that gives you breathing space. Yes, you may start with more time invested at first when you’re figuring it out, but the idea is that your income stays up and your time requirement goes down. It’s leveraging time and building breathing space. Further, it’s that you continue to build your income without investing any more time, even test ways of reducing your worktime.

Believe it or not, this is a radical departure from how most people view earning money, yet a requirement amongst a growing set of forward thinking entrepreneurs who seem to not care how things used to work, but who are, instead, looking at the arc between where they are and where they want to be.

In this lesson we’ll tear a few some pages out of those entrepreneurs’ handbook, so you can generate your extra $1,000 a month that allows you the breathing space that helps you get more of your life back.

The kind of money that buys happiness

They say money can buy happiness, but imagine for a moment having that $1,000 in your pocket; and after you spent it, there’s another $1,000 on its way to you next month, and the month after and .. how might that change your happiness?

That seems to make a lot of people really quite happy. Maybe money can buy happiness…

Test it and see.

Independent, F.U. money

When you have your own money, the game changes, you get to be less tolerant (think job, boss, roommates, boy/girl friends, debt, banks…) with anyone who has a hold on you. When everyone else around you is shackled and has to take what’s given, you don’t. You have choices. We’ll cover this in more detail before we’re through. It’s a BIG point; I mean, tattoo it to your forearm in bold print. We’ll keep touching on it before we’re done here.

WARNING: $1,000 a month is a start. If you want freedom you’re going to have to reach to build your machine. But for those who stick with it, you’ll have what everyone wants; certainty, freedom. You’ll be your own hero (and maybe others’).

You get to live better

For some, more money means better quality all-around. They can live a more fulfilling life, whatever that means to them. Some spend more time in the high quality organics grocery section and never have to look at prices.  For others the extra money means they’re now drinking Heineken rather than BEER. Your own money gives you your own choices.

Take awesome vacations

With $1,000 a month you could take three awesome trips every year, or one once-in-a-lifetime trip every year! Seriously, check it out. Want to go to Tibet, Paris, Marrakesh, Australia..? With an extra $1,000 a month you can do it every year. www.delta.com will show you prices to wherever you want to go, and www.tripadvisor.com will help you have a great time.

Since this is life, please, go, enjoy, have fun.

You can have a nicer place to live.

If you’re purchasing a home, $1,000 a month will get you about $200,000* more buying power. And if you’re renting, an additional $1,000 a month puts you in a completely different zipcode.

Get out of debt or invest your money

If you have debt, let’s get rid of it. There’s not much than can suck away your money faster than debt interest. Once you’re out of debt, you can throw the cash you save at the market. Who knows, maybe you catch the next Facebook and make your second fortune!

You can give it away

I know.. with all the talk of snazzy cars, better beer and F.U.-ing, we failed to mention doing good. This could very well be one of the greatest benefits. Here’s your chance to really help.   How cool would it be to “shop” for the charity that get’s your $1,000 this month! You could be a major contributor at a very young age.

F.U. money in weird situations

Your own money has you covered in case of emergency. Or in cases of very weird emergencies– like a break up. (Scenario: You come home and there happens to be a lot less stuff than when you left earlier. Someone departed, and you’re left hanging.  You’ll be thankful you have extra spendolla coming in every month and you don’t have to move or take in one of those weird roommates who watches you sleep…just to make ends meet.)

Or in the case where you want the break-up (we call this F.U. Money); it’s nice to not have to live with someone you don’t like just because they make the money or you rely on their money. Your own money gives you independence (if you want it), choices that many unfortunately don’t have. Having your own money can get you out of weird situations and keep you safe.

F.U. money in your job

You may love your job and that’s awesome, I hope you do. But what happens if your employer packs up and leaves town, or they right-size, down-size, or just decide it’s time you go? Or you decide to tell them to take their job and #@*&! (again, F.U. Money to the rescue). Or, if you want to take time off, or go part time or live in France for a while, your own money gives you choices and confidence.

Breathing space and choices are what everyone else wishes they had.

The best money is the kind you get to keep

Remember, the kind of money we’re talking about comes from your own business, not as an employee When it comes in this way, you may be able to keep a lot more of it (your money, that is). How?

Having a business allows you to take advantages of tax laws that let you write off the cost of expenses like cell phone, Internet, computer, meals, entertainment, supplies, and travel. Please find out the specifics from an accountant, but here’s the overall view: as an employee, when you earn $1,000 you first get taxed and then you get paid. As a business, you get the $1,000, deduct your expenses, then pay tax on what’s left

This. Can. Be. A. Really. Big. Big. Deal.

In fact, the one thing that all billionaires have in common, they understand how taxes affect their income and that what matters is not now much they make, but how much they keep.

OK, OK.. I need my own money, but how?

Good question. Having it is a hell of a lot better than dreaming about it, so let’s figure it out.

But first, a note on the weird stuff that will try to get in your way. Because you’re human, this stuff is likely to pop up. Be aware of it now, so when it does happen you can go, “Hm, I guess I’m human, there’s ____________.” And then keep moving.   Action dissolves most human weirdness.

A QUICK NOTE ABOUT YOUR BRAIN

For many of us, the dream of having it all wins over figuring out how to make it work. What?   Why?   For some, enjoying the dream is better than the reality of failing to make the dream real: better to at least have it in a dream than to not have it at all. Seriously, we see this all the time, especially in people who try one thing and, when it doesn’t work, think it never will. Too many people quit way too soon; they quit in the learning zone.

What’s going to happen is that it’s not going to go as planned. Usually we imagine it going perfectly right off the bat, and when it doesn’t, we figure we’re just not cut out for this sort of life. But where you are is the learning zone. You’re learning how to make an extra $1,000 that keeps coming in and follows you wherever you go. Do you really think you’re going to snap your fingers and, whammo, it’s there?  Not quite. Remember, this is a thinking person’s sport. You’ll have to figure out the game before it unrolls at your feet. But it will unroll.

P.S. Be thankful that some people do quit, otherwise it would be more competitive for you and me. Keep figuring it out and you’ll get it. It’s how it works. Just be aware of the urge to quit too soon, so when you see it in yourself you know what it is–a cue to think, reflect, rewire, and go after it again. It will work.

ONE MORE QUICK NOTE ABOUT YOUR BRAIN

It runs on outdated software. Our brains run the same as those of cavemen, the hunter-gatherer ancestors who, a millennium ago, were constantly looking for what’s wrong, what could hurt us, what could eat us. They looked for the bad stuff. That’s what kept us alive as a species. Problem is that today we need to be resourceful to move forward to win. We need a good offense. We still need to cover our asses and look at the downside and risk–need a defense, yes! But we also need to be aware to flip our thinking over so we spend more time focusing on the winning part. Remember to keep thinking of the arc between where you are and where you want to be, instead of what’s wrong today – it’s a big deal, and will determine your happiness, quality of life and success. As always, just be aware.

All right, enough of the human weirdness, let’s get, back on track…

Remember the end result: you want a machine that produces $1,000 a month, taking up as little of your time as possible (think high leverage). Once you decide what to sell–yes, “sell” (After all, business is selling products or services for money.)–you’ll find that the first thing is just getting business rolling regardless of the time it takes. Just figure out how to get sales, then you start testing how to pull out your time.

1 Figure out how to earn $1,000, regardless of the time it takes.

2 Whittle away the time it takes to fulfill.

3 How can you automate?

Let’s touch on some of the general concepts out there so you can piece them together and start testing to find what’s best for you.

Figuring out what to sell

Bottom line is that it’s best to have an interest in what you’re selling. It simply makes selling much easier, and you’ll be likely to stick with it, simply because you have more passion.

The problem is, most people figure they’ll do what they love once they make a lot of money or at some point in the future–ome call it “Someday Isle”–and they never get there. But that’s not you. Just get started on what you enjoy now.

All the money and no time

If you want to be able to spend less and less time, you’ll want to consider how you trade your time for money. For example, it’s harder for a house painter or massage therapist or even a doctor to get free; they are 100% hands-on. And though they can sometimes make a lot of money, these types of businesses are just not very conducive for building breathing space.

I have good friends who are surgeons, speakers, coaches; they make a lot of money, but they don’t have a lot of extra time. And I have good friends and colleagues who have something that they could pull away from, they just haven’t looked at it that way before. They spend 60-90 hours a week grinding it out, when they could test different ways and I bet find a way to do it from anywhere in 25% the time:  it’s just that we’re not taught to think this way. But for you, the bell has rung and there’s no un-ringing it. You can make the money and have the freedom, you just need to learn the sport.

Success leaves clues

Consider the words of Warren Buffett (you can find him here on the list of the wealthiest people in the world). I love what he calls “toll bridges.” These are businesses where people need to pay a fee every time they use your service. Of course we’re not talking a literal toll bridge, but we are talking about things like currency and banking exchanges, trades, consumables, subscriptions, or selling something with a monthly service fee (micro to huge); there are loads of examples.

For loads of ideas check out Shortcuts Lesson #1, it’s all is all about recurring.

Establishing a fee for your service

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.”
 – Warren Buffett

 

 

If you have a damn good burger and can sell it easily for $8, don’t give it away for $4, unless you can sell more than twice as many easily and the added moving parts of selling 2x more doesn’t burden you. Sometimes it’s just better to sell your burger for $8 and only have to sell half as many. And if you have a quality product, for goodness sakes, don’t give it away. Stand tall, be proud.

Would you prefer someone say, how cheap you are or what a great value you are?

There’s a weird dynamic, especially for new entrepreneurs, where you see them giving away their product or service for cheap because they figure they need to undercut the competition. Usually they just end up going broke.

Let’s add to Warren’s quote:  “Price is what you pay, value is what you get.”

.. give great value and people will pay most any price.

Focus on giving more value than anyone ever expected.!!! That does not mean dropping your price. It means increasing the value you provide. People know they could find it cheaper elsewhere, but they pay you more because what you provide is well worth it. Operating this way will also help you get to $1,000 per month faster and keep your clients longer.

You can find more in the Make More Money class.

First things first

Our unproven, but probably pretty accurate observation is that 98% of all new businesses fail, But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Why, how, what..? Because we want to look good when we launch, we invest a lot of time getting prettified. The problem with that approach is two things:

1) You’re going to learn some things early on that will change your direction and probably your look. Better to start simple and plan for a change when you’re flying.

2) Speaking of flying, what’s better, getting your plane flying and hauling cargo and making money for you or how pretty that plane looks?

Let me repeat:

What’s better, getting your plane flying and hauling cargo and making money for you or how pretty that ship looks?

#1 Focus on Marketing, getting your message out to the world.

#2 Figure out how to convert marketing into sales better and better and better.

The part that most new entrepreneurs miss in business is that money comes from marketing and sales: without those, it really doesn’t matter what type of business you have.

But I don’t want to be a salesman. We’re not talking about the Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell in Anchorman) sort of sleazy character from the ’70’s. Today’s selling is more of a conversation where your goal is to help people gete what they need and then offer a couple ideas they can choose from. Funny thing is that it ends up being about twice as effective as those old sleazy techniques. You can find out more in the Make More Money class.

It’s ok to be awkward

Everyone sucks at first. Ever try to learn a new dance, skateboard trick, karate move? That’s what this feels like at first; it’s awkward. But you keep practicing and pretty soon you’ve got it. Keep in mind the millions of people who have come before you who have figured it out. If they can do it, you certainly can too!

Make connections, get your marketing out, work on converting sales, ponder, test, repeat. The only way it doesn’t work is if you quit.

When you start, it’s ok to start with a large time investment, just do your best to think through where this is going before you begin, so you can start pulling back your time.

What might fit your passion? How can you provide massive value? How can you keep your pricing healthy and set up a toll bridge, subscription, recurring billing…?

Start thinking about these following three sectors;

Service:

Where you can get clients fast, but it’s just hard to get away (like a doctor).

Tangible:

Kind of a pain as long as someone else manufactures, stores, keeps fresh/new inventory on hand, ships, bills and pays you. If you have to do all that yourself, you completely miss how to make money (sales and marketing).

Intangible:

Perhaps the best of the bunch as long as you can talk the benefits of the service – some people find this easy and some feel like they need to sell a product that they can describe (like…built in 1994, Blue hull, 31’ long, etc. etc.). Benefits are the better aspects of life you get; you tell more stories, use more analogies…   That’s how you sell an intangible. These are things like insurance, assurance, financial services, subscriptions, software, lessons for most anything, online access, and so on.

(Find more about these three areas in the class Start your New Side Business.

Starting

Look at anyone and everyone who has a cool gig; it never starts the way it ends. No one has ever started a new business and nailed it the first time by doing just as they planned. It’s the experience that comes from doing, watching what works (and doesn’t), testing, trying again…that leads to success.  So what’s the point? Just start.

A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.

 

– Ancient Proverb

Again here we’ll add to that.

A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.

But you may be able to cut that down to 400 miles when you step in the right direction.

            – REWIRE Proverb

Do an Einstein

To help you decide what product or service to start testing, ask yourself what we call an “Einstein.” Basically these are high quality questions asked by people who win more and work less.Imagine Einstein in his lab pondering and testing and asking himself questions…

Play with this and you’ll figure out some perfect question for you to ask yourself.

The first one I recall asking went like this, “How do I double my income, not working any more than I am now, and not hate it?” That was good, but I needed to turn the negatives to positives (remember the brain talk from above, this is more of the same). The Einstein evolved into “How do I double my income, work no more hours, and enjoy what I do?” I didn’t know the answer, but I kept running that question and within a year I had it figured out, and then some. I’d actually increased my income by 125%. Later, I asked how to double that again. I asked how to halve the time it needed from me. And so on. I’m not trying to impress you, but rather impress upon you the power of doing an Einstein for yourself; I’ve used this to set records, get free, buy a home at the beach… I use it every day to reach for what’s next.

Einstein Engaged

Now, it’s your turn. Take a few steps back and think about people or businesses that have needs. Think about you. Start asking yourself high quality questions; Einsteins!

What do I want from life? What will $1,000 a month get me? Who might I tell to F.U. today or in the future, and how might having my own money help me through that? What subjects do I enjoy? What am I good at?

(You can count on your brain kicking up something designed to protect you like, “You’re not good at anything, you’d better just be safe a get a good job and forget this nonsense, after all it’s not really real, not for you anyway… Just smile, thank your brain for being there, and think of a better- phrased Einstein.)

What do I have experience doing?

(If you think, “nothing,” ask yourself, “What have I been doing the past few years, what have I been working on..?”)

How might I turn that into a subscription? How might I turn that into something I can sell?
—Right here, you may want to consider selling someone else’s product or service to figure out how to market and sell, then (or simultaneously) figure out to sell yours at the same time or to the same market…

What are hobbies or interests I have? How could I assemble something one time and sell it 10, 100, 10,000 times?

It’s all about asking high value questions, it’s one of the foundational pieces in REWIRE. What can I do that requires little labor and pays well? What would be easy for me to continue doing if I moved?

Think needs, wants, and value

What are things most people need that I could provide? What’s a specific and uncommon need of some people, where I might provide massive value? What are things most businesses need that I can provide? What’s a specific and uncommon aspect of business where I might provide massive value? What’s fun and interesting that people or businesses might need that I could sell? What is a troublesome problem for people and businesses that I might help solve? Where do I spend my money right now, and what occurs to me that could be better? What needs do I see in my everyday life right now that would be interesting to solve? How might I turn that into a recurring income that takes little time on my part, where all I’d need to do is figure out marketing and sales?

My Wage

Before we launch let’s take a moment to think ahead, picture that arc of where you are and where you want to be… The following has been inspiration to many at this point.

My Wage

I bargained with Life for a penny,

And Life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store.

 

For Life was a just employer,

He gives you what you ask.

But once you have set the wages,

Why, you must bear the task.

 

I worked for a menials hire,

Only to learn, dismayed,

Than any wage I had asked for Life,

Life would have willingly paid.

– J.B. Rittenhouse

Don’t get caught in the vault

You have enough to start, and if you feel you need more, REWIRE has plenty more for you. Please feel free to take everything you need. But be careful to not get caught in the vault.

Caught in the vault?

Some people read and read and read and think and make notes and dream.. and never launch. There’s no money or freedom in that.   It’s the experience that you get when you’re doing it that helps you understand what you really need to know.

So right now, take an action that will lead you forward. Just one thing, but that one thing needs to be one that sets the wheels in motion. Things that qualify are those that include other people. Right now, you need to make a call to someone who can help you start or someone who you can bounce an idea off of. The one action is NOT more reading research; it’s a real reach. You must call, text, or email someone who can help. For example, if you have an idea to sell to a business, call the business person who can help, ask them if what you’re thinking feels like it makes sense. Have a discussion. They will help you determine the hot buttons of targets like them. Now you’re loaded and can launch.

If you’re selling something you have massive experience in, then just go sell it. Make the call to make the sale.

But I’m afraid to make that call. I don’t know who to call.

If you’re afraid to make the call, well, that puts you behind — a lot. You need insight to launch, otherwise you have nothing that will grab your target’s attention. These conversations help craft better marketing and sales. Make the call.

Life begins as you leave your comfort zone.

-REWIRE

Make that call and start living.