If you wanna succeed, you gotta learn to walk on water …

6 million+ views, now that’s how to build a brand … here’s a lesson in viral-marketing for you: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/walking-on-water.shtml

Flash of genius?

I was watching the Greg Kinnear movie: Flash of Genius.

It’s the one where an academic engineer beats the giant auto makers in the ’40s to inventing the intermittent wiper that you see on your car.

In case you are thinking of starting a patent-based business … don’t.

To understand why, please watch the movie; you’ll see a man’s solitary struggle over 20 years to (luckily, successfully) enforce his patent rights against a giant corporation (in this case, Ford).

You’ll also get a bit of a wake-up call about the legal profession (they will aim to settle a case early, so that they get their 30% quickly).

But, what piqued my interest was the characterization of the man at the center of the story:

He (according to a screen play that probably had very little to do with reality) suddenly got the notion that fixed speed wipers were stupid, so he immediately – and, I mean that night (!) – set about solving the problem.

Now, I suddenly realized that man is me!

Case in point:

I created a little e-book some time ago for an online experiment that I was running for you guys; I actually gave the e-book away on this site but – for the purposes of the experiment – sold it for a few bucks a copy on a site that I set up for that purpose.

Well, I’d been selling a few copies along the way … but, the experiment served it’s purpose, and I almost forgot about the book.

But, it’s good! A simple, concise overview of everything that we talk about on this blog.

So, on Thursday night, I suddenly get the idea for a site called “little free book”; I thought: “why not give this little book away to everybody … heck, I don’t need the money”.

By Monday morning (that’s now), I have all of the pieces in place: book; graphics; web-site; twitter account; and, Facebook ‘fan ‘page‘.

I have two points that I would like to make:

1. It’s really easy to set yourself up on the Internet, especially if you have a blog: you have plenty of knowledge collected in your own blog (on whatever that subject may be) to create your own for-free and/or for-fee information products.

If I can get all of this up and running BY MYSELF over one weekend, surely you can do the same over a week or two? You may not make much money (or, you may make a lot!) but, you will gain a huge amount of experience with ‘new media’ and ‘social media’ … as well as business.

You might even make enough money to kick-start some other business and/or investment program.

2. What I don’t have is any clear strategy of what to do, other than give these books away to as many people as possible.

But, that’s OK … you read the book by  Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson didn’t you? If you haven’t, the message is clear: any ACTION is better than no action.

Now, that the site is out of my head and onto the virtual ‘paper’ of the Internet, I have PLENTY of time to cogitate on all the potential strategies and counter-strategies of what I might/should/won’t/shouldn’t do with the Little Free Book.

But, until I got SOMETHING going, I really didn’t have much to think about, did I?

Oh, if you don’t already have my e-book, I would love for you to download a copy for yourself, and even send this link: wwww.littlefreebook.com to your friends.

I would also LOVE for you to click ‘like’ on my new Facebook ‘fan page’ that I set up specially for this book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Free-Book/119974768055224 and, encourage your Facebook friends to do the same.

And, if you are a fellow blogger, you already know what to do …

But – and, this is a big BUT – only if you like the book … and, me

This will teach you all you need to know about marketing your product or service …

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE NARRATOR’S INSTRUCTIONS!

After you’ve seen the video, read on:

I said that if I found a video that was a real cracker, I would do one of my famous-in-my-own-lunchtime Videos on Sundays …

… well, I found this one on Youtube.

In fact, it’s the exact same video that I used to show students of our training division (before I gave it away to my ex-business-partner).

If you want to learn about WHY this works and HOW you can use these concepts in your own marketing, read Ramit Sethi’s spot-on post:

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/why-personal-finance-experts-continue-writing-worthless-advice/

But, first be sure to let me know what you thought of this video!

Riding the profitability curve …

Take a look at the chart on the left … yes, the one that I’m busy drawing for you

… because, if you’re in business – or aspire to be – whether online or offline, this is a lesson that you simply have to ‘get’ … and, early:

For those of you who have been to business school, there is a space between the sales [blue] and expense [red] lines called PROFIT.

Profit is for growing the business and returning value to the shareholders.

But, in a small business it’s mostly known as OWNERS’ SALARY, because the owners live off this instead of taking a wage … and, it’s usually (barely) enough to fund their ever-growing (assuming the business is becoming more and more successful) lifestyle.

Instead, it should be known as CAPITAL.

You see, large businesses (particularly publicly listed ones) find it easy to raise capital: they simply issue stock.

They trade bits of paper (stock) for more bits of paper (cash) to go ahead and do all the things they need to do in order to expand their businesses (e.g. buy new machinery, open new branches, fund acquisitions).

But, small business owners can’t do that … it’s very hard to raise money as a small business owner, for anything … including expansion.

So, my advice is to fund your own expansion, by retaining profits (instead of spending them on yourself) and using those retained profits to grow the business.

There’s your capital!

Fellow Aussie and business/success coach, Jon Giaan (knowledgesource.com.au) similarly advises aspiring business owners:

When starting a business, most people focus on generating income and lose sight of their long-term goal of having a successful and ‘sustainable’ business that will provide freedom, independence, wealth and support many years into the future. Keep focused on building a long-term asset.

No doubt this is true; Maslow’s Hierarchy puts food/shelter/clothing right at the top …

But, once your business has grown to supporting those needs, your mind starts to look at wants, and before you know it, you NEED your business just to survive mortgage payments, expensive car leases, private school/coach/country club fees, and the list goes on.

Right from the beginning, we had a different view, one that saw the owners of an [eventually] profitable business jointly deciding that the partner not working in the business – my wife – still needed to work her $60k – $90k per year ‘day job’ (as an IT Project Manager with a major telco).

The reason was exactly as Jon says: we wanted to keep “focused on building a long-term asset”.

We knew that it was only by reinvesting the cashflow produced by the business – both within (reinvesting in the business) and without (buying good quality buy/hold real-estate and other investments) that we would eventually reach our Number.

[AJC: Right there, in a nutshell is how we reached $7m7y: use the cashflow from the business to invest instead of spend. A side benefit being that we didn't need to rely on the ongoing success and/or sale of the business to reach our Number. Too easy, huh?]

In fact, we eventually blew our first $7m7y out of the water … but, that’s a whole, other story

There IS an entrepreneurial bug!

This post has been featured in the Carnival of Wealth: http://personaldividends.com/news/admin/carnival-of-wealth-august-7-2010-edition

________________

People often say that they have been “bitten by the entrepreneurial bug” … and, I can say that is perfectly true!

I always wanted to be a ‘millionaire by 30′, but I missed my first million and jumped straight to making my 7th by the time I was 49

But, that did not translate directly into wanting to be an entrepreneur; in fact, I was working for a Fortune 10 company and happily dreaming about becoming its CEO (“one day”) …

… apart from one or two disastrous years, I had a charmed time there, winning ‘bonuses’ left, right, and center – and, traveling around the world on the corporate budget, having the time of my life.

But, that all changed by Work Year 6.

Suddenly – and, I mean suddenly and inexplicably – I was struck with the desire to be in my own business. Almost literally, I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug!

From that point on, I was miserable in my job … I schemed and planned my way to a myriad business ideas that I couldn’t quite translate into a real business.

In the end, I wimped out and joined IDB.

Yep, the Great Entrepreneur was In Dad’s Business!

Thankfully, that business promptly went broke leaving me with nothing but a $30k debt and a customer list, which I turned into a ‘cloned’ business (i.e. same customers, same concept, very similar name) that I still own, nearly 20 years later. And that business helped to fund the ‘other business’ that took me to the USA.

So, I guess I found the true Entrepreneur Within, after all …

But, what I wanted to share was my thought process, all those years ago when I was still at my ‘desk job’:

I wanted to be in business, and all I knew was IT (information/computer technology), so here were the choices that I came up with:

1. Consulting: as I mentioned in passing, in a recent post, I was something of a ‘world expert’ in my little niche so consulting was a natural first choice for going it alone. But, I realized that I would still be trading hours for dollars.

The formula is (from memory) 1440 possible working hours of the year – hours lost due to marketing, administration, and time off x billable rate = MAXIMUM total revenue. Plug any number in that you like, and it doesn’t add up to $7m7y.

2. Sell something: The only thing I knew how to sell was computers, and the only ones of those that I would likely be able to get a licence to sell would be PC’s. Unfortunately, I could see a price war and shakeout happening which would crush the small guys (this certainly happened).

3. Build something to sell: Again, the only thing that I knew was software: I could develop a piece of software and sell it. Unfortunately, every piece of software has a lifecycle … when the better one comes along, I’m toast.

There was my dilemma …

Fortunately for the world, Mr Price and Mr Coopers didn’t think about the consulting equation before starting PWC (one of the world’s biggest consulting companies before selling off to IBM).

Equally fortunately, Steve Jobs didn’t worry about costs and margins when creating the Apple 1 and 2 – then Lisa and Macintosh – computers and offering them to the world.

Perhaps unfortunately for the world (if you’re a M$-basher), Bill Gates didn’t think about obsolescence before licencing his piece of of software to IBM, then others.

Bottom line: if you’re passionate about an idea, give it a go … you’ll find a way to make money if the idea is good enough. If not, what you learn will be worth the ‘cost’ in lost time/money.

Lying in a job interview …

… don’t.

If you don’t understand why lying to anybody about anything is a Very Bad Thing, please unsubscribe from this blog … I don’t want to financially arm a lying, cheating scoundrel, you’re dangerous enough without money

This could be my shortest post ever, so let me pad it out with a very-slighty-related anecdote:

One of my friends was offered a promotion, so he had a ‘salary negotiation’ meeting with the CFO of the company (also a very nice guy and also a personal friend, which makes this all the more funny to me).

After a suitable opening discussion, the CFO reached into his briefcase and pulled out an Offer Letter with the proposed new salary on it, and signed by the CEO.

Pretty official … end of discussion.

Except the payrise was trivial (like 5%) and involved a relocation; naturally, my friend pointed out to my other friend (the CFO) how inadequate the payrise was.

No problem.

The CFO merely reached into his briefcase and pulled out a second letter! Neatly typed and also signed by the CEO … sneaky, huh?

Only problem was that this offer was still too low, and my friend told him so.

No problem.

The CFO reached into his briefcase and pulled out a third signed letter!

I wonder how many more signed ‘official’ letters were sitting in there?

Unfortunately, we’ll never know because my first friend stopped there and my other friend (the CFO) ain’t telling.

If there is a message in all of this: negotiate the hell out of all job/business opportunities (without being a pain the the a…), but please don’t lie about it.

How much income do you need to be Rich?

In his bestseller, The Number (2006), Lee Eisenberg relates the story of a man who outlined for him what somebody else told him [AJC: already, this sounds like an Urban Myth] about what it takes to be rich:

This is really interesting, because it matches what I was told when I began my Journey (to $7 million in 7 years) by a well-known finance guru; at the time, he said [AJC: paraphrasing; my memory's not THAT good!]:

In order to live a ‘rich’ lifestyle (i.e. you can drive the cars you want, live where you want, travel whenever and wherever you want) you need an income of at least $250,000 per year.

Now, that was back in 1998 … so, when I bumped into him a year or two ago, I reminded him of what he told me then, and asked him what he thought the ‘number’ was now: he said “$500,000″ [AJC: that's per year].

In fact, that $250k (times the 20 multiple that he also told me that I needed) was the exact basis for my $5 million Number, because I didn’t know how to calculate it any better (then) … and, along with discovering my Life’s Purpose, started the journey that totally changed my life.

Seeing this table, excerpted from Lee Eisenberg’s book [AJC: which, he admits ripping from somebody else ... apparently, that's how these 'rules' get written!] only reinforces that … so, just decide whether you want to be “comfortable” (or, “comfortable+”), “kind of rich”, or plain ol’ “rich” and  your Number is virtually set!

Which brings me back to the question of whether CEO’s are rich, in the first place?

[AJC: we already know the Fortune 500 CEO's are, but what about the 'ordinary' CEO's of all of those small-to-medium-size businesses out there?]

Really, it’s only the CEO’s of those businesses (and, their highly-deserving legal advisors) who can even claim to be “comfortable+”.

Most senior management in these businesses can only claim to be ‘comfortable”, at best …

… so, the real reason why most CEO’s aren’t rich is that they simply don’t earn enough!

My question to you is:

If you know your Life’s Purpose, and if you know your Number (particularly if it’s a Large Number / Soon Date) why are you wasting your time:

- kissing up to your boss,

- back stabbing your work mates, and

- running ragged for your company’s customers?

… just to have the slightest-possible-chance of getting to the ONE job in the WHOLE company that ONLY makes you “comfortable+” AT BEST?

Seems silly to me …

When I crunched those odds (way back in 1990), I very quickly made a rush for the Exit Door at my high-flying corporate job

Something from nothing …

In The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki (founder of garage.com, one of the earliest ‘business angels’) talks about bootstrapping your startup i.e. starting it on a shoe-string …

… he then proceeded to start his own Web 2.0 startup (perhaps only mildly successful, although he did manage to sell it for an undisclosed amount in 2009), called Truemors for only $12,000 (you can read about it, in this excellent post)!

Now, Guy could afford to spend millions, yet he chose to bootstrap, because it made good, commercial sense NOT to spend more.

For most startups, bootstrapping is a necessity, yet how little you spend up front may not have any detrimental effect as far as the success of your business goes, as the HotOrNot.com video above clearly demonstrates.

BTW: to prove that point, Hot or Not was (reportedly) acquired for $20 mill. not long after this video was shot.

My point: don’t let lack of money be your excuse for not starting your own business!

The one question that you should ask, before you ask your question!

Now, that’s a circular headline: The one question that you should ask, before you ask your question!

It’s because Consumerism Commentary has shared his experiences in customer service:

The prevailing wisdom when dealing with customer service representatives is to just keep repeating “let me speak to your supervisor” until you eventually get what you want. Every time I read this, though, I get defensive and annoyed. I can’t forget that year I spent answering the phones for Bank of America … I learned a couple of very important lessons as a CSR that are in direct conflict with the “let me speak to your supervisor” rule.

His rules are good … and, basically involve trying to make the customer service representative on the other end of the phone line your “friend” which (he says) usually results in not only getting his issue/s resolved but also getting “fees reversed, special deals made, you name it.”

Now, I can’t argue with that!

Well, I could, since I employed well over a hundred staff in call-centers across three countries … but, I won’t

But, I will say that there is one question that you should ask as early on as you can politely work it into the conversation with ANYBODY that you hope to ‘get something out of’ e.g

- The customer service representative at the store or on the phone where you hope to have a problem resolved

- The person at the bank who you are sitting in front of to negotiate a new loan

- The customer sitting across the desk from you (or on the other side of the telephone line) when you are trying to make a sale

- The sales rep at the dealership where you are trying to negotiate a “super, great deal” on that new fridge, car, house, etc.

- and, so on …

… particularly, when you know (or, as soon as you are told) that you are ‘pushing the envelope’ with your request.

This one question that I am about to share with you will save you hours and hours of going around in circles trying to ‘close’ whatever deal you are working on (in your favor, of course!), before you have to finally resort to asking to “speak to your supervisor” … and, have to start all over again!

What’s the question?

Simple: “Do you have the authority to [insert: request of choice]?”

A word of warning: you don’t ever want to question somebody’s status, so be subtle and choose the right moment and way to ask this?

For example, in a sales situation, a really neat way to ask this same question without the running the risk of being thrown out of Mr-Lower-Middle-Manager-Who’s-Job-It-Is-To-Keep-People-Like-You-Away-From-The-Real-Decision-Maker’s office, is to politely and innocently enquire:

“Who do you usually like to talk to before you make decisions like this one?”

That’s who you want to speak to right off the bat … not Mr Peabody

You get one shot …

Who was it that said: “you get one shot at making a first impression!”?

This is no truer than in marketing:

- You research your market,

- You target your audience,

- You create a great campaign,

- And, then you send this e-mail campaign out:

We Love Your Blog!!!

[AJC: So far, I'm hooked!]

I’m writing to inform you that [websitename] has been featured on Guide to Online MBA’s Top Personal Finance Blogs list found here:http://www.guidetoonlinemba.com/tips-and-tools/personal-finance-blogs. We’ve gone through and hand-picked a list of our favorite personal finance blogs and outlined the unique reasons why we like them.

[websitename]?!

How’s that for a credibility-killer; naturally I shot back an e-mail of my own:

Dear [spammersname],

“I’m writing to inform you that [websitename] has been featured …”

LOL … and, thanks!

The website owner kindly – and, quickly – wrote back … and, it was all a mail-merge error, etc., etc.

Too late, the marketing campaign is already shot … don’t let this be you

Footnote: If you check out the “hand-picked” and ”unique reasons” why they apparently like my blog, they say my blog “discusses financial strategies for earning $1 Million a year” x 7 years = $7Million7Years (!) … a research genius at work!