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How to be rich.

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How to be rich?  Specifically, how can YOU be rich?

Let’s play with that for a while, shall we?

This blog post rambles on a bit, but there’s some good stuff if you take the time to read it.  The part about getting rich and Internet Marketing is mostly at the bottom.  Scroll down if you’re in a hurry.  Thanks!

Here’s my story:

"Pat O'Bryan"  How to get rich.

Which way?

One of the most important tactics a business owner can implement is “pivoting.”  When something’s not working, stop doing it.  Fast.  When something is working, do more of that.  There are times when “something else” is what you should be doing.

The trick is to define “working” correctly.  One definition of “working” is whether or not an expenditure in energy, time or money is returning a profit.  Another one, and the one we go by here at Practical Metaphysics, Inc., is whether or not it’s fun.

In 1996, I claimed “If it ain’t fun, I ain’t doin’ it” as my motto.  I recommend it highly.

The few times I’ve strayed from that, the results have been predictable.  I’m looking for life experiences that make me smile now and will make me smile in my dotage.  They’ve got to pass the “death-bed” test.  When I’m lying on my death-bed, looking back at my life, will what I’m doing RIGHT NOW make me smile as I remember it?  If the answer is “yes,” I’m on the right track.  If the answer is “no,” it’s time for a change.

The experiences that money can buy usually aren’t the ones that turn me on.  Poverty sucks.  I like being rich.  But, if money is the only reason I’m doing something, it’s time to stop doing it.

Now, it’s confession time.

Time passes.  Things change.   People change.

getting rich mountains

chihuahua desert + rio grande del norte

I looked up recently during one of my cleansing trips to the desert, and realized that some of the things that I was doing for money had stopped being fun.  The details are personal, but the lesson is universal.  Inertia and habit are powerful forces.  I kept doing what I’d been doing because that was what I did.  I’d changed, other people had changed, and the marketing environment had changed.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t having fun.  It used to be fun.

Oh well…

The solution is obvious:  stop doing what I’m doing and do something else.

Because I’m a family guy and business owner, step one is to replace the income that doing the not-fun stuff is bringing in.  Lots of people rely on me financially.

That’s the easy part.  I kinda knew this was coming, so I’ve been going to seminars, buying training courses, reading and researching and just generally traveling down roads I’d never been down and metaphorically kicking over rocks, peering behind trees, and climbing to the top of hills just to see what was on the other side.  A chance conversation with Marlon Sanders, an aside during a webinar with Eric Louvier, a video on Ryan and Perry’s site…  the heavens parted, the sun broke through the clouds, angels sang (think:  side 2, abbey road) and I heard the voice of god- or maybe it was James Earl Jones- describing my new business model.

The above describes a trick I learned reading a Robert Heinlein book called “Friday” decades ago.  When I’m looking for an answer I promiscuously pour data into my head.  I keep the question I’m trying to answer in my mind and let my subconscious sort the data for me through the frame of the question I’m trying to answer.  Eventually, the answer appears.  Very seldom does it appear from the direction I think it will.  It never fails.

Yesterday, I had a long meeting with my top tech guru and lined out our new business plan.  He immediately got it.  And, it turns out that he was getting bored with what we’ve been doing and was ready for a change, too.  He’s been spending some time at the cabin in the desert with his family lately.  Maybe that’s it.

Now, let’s talk about you.

poverty chart from The Economist

Poverty chart from The Economist

The chart above is from The Economist, which is a pretty good ‘zine if you’re curious about economics.  The good news is, comparatively, you’re rich.  There are billions of people living on less than $1.25 a day on this planet.

In the rich countries- U.S., Western Europe, etc., – we talk about relative poverty.  Which is interesting because it’s a variable and arbitrary designation.  Check out this quote from Wikipedia:

A measure of relative poverty defines “poverty” as being below some relative poverty threshold. For example, the statement that “households with an accumulated income less than 60% of the median equivalized household disposable income are living in poverty” uses a relative measure to define poverty. In this system, if everyone’s real income in an economy increases, but the income distribution stays the same, then the rate of relative poverty will also stay the same.

Everything depends on who you compare yourself to.   I remember a dinner I went to a couple of years ago where I sat between Joe Vitale and Kevin Trudeau.  Comparatively speaking, I was broke.  At the American Legion hall on hwy 118, near my cabin in the desert, I drink beer with guys who make about $300/month and live in trailers in the desert with no utilities.  Comparatively speaking, I’m very, very rich.

Which is it?

Here’s another example.  I was at a seminar in Houston a few years ago and the speaker told a story:  one of his clients said something like, “I’m doing fine.  I’ve got the nicest house in my neighborhood.”  The speaker told him, “you need to move to a better neighborhood.”

To me, there’s so much wrong with that.  First of all, basing self-esteem on any possession is a loser’s game.  Second, the speaker- who is a very high-dollar consultant in the “get rich” niche- is basically telling the guy with the house that he shouldn’t ever be satisfied.  If his house is the nicest in the neighborhood he needs to change neighborhoods so that… what?  so he can feel insecure?

That’s sad.

Another way to put that would be to say that according to my beliefs and values, that’s a pretty pathetic way to live a life.

So, how can you be rich?

First of all, you have to decide what “rich” means.  You’ve got your own beliefs and values.

What makes you happy?

rich guy's ride

Cabin in the desert.

Try to differentiate between what others have told you will make you happy, what advertisers tell you will make you happy, etc. and get down to what YOU know will make you happy.  Consider taking a few days off with no T.V.  (actually, consider taking the rest of your life off with no T.V.), no internet, no advertising… and see if you can get in touch with what really turns YOU on.

There’s a huge difference between something that’s supposed to make you happy and something that actually does.  Once you learn that distinction, you’re almost there.

Then, think about who you’re comparing yourself to.

Here’s a hint.  I know some really, really (really) rich people.  They are not the happiest people I know.  In fact- and this is a data point that has caused me to really have to examine my beliefs and values- some of the happiest people I know are living on almost no money at all.

If you really want to get down to what’s real about this, you need to stop comparing yourself to others.  This is hard.  I’m certainly having trouble with it.  But, it really doesn’t matter what kind of house your buddy, or your brother, or Jennifer Aniston, or Richard Branson live in.  What matters is what kind of house makes you happy.

Here’s another hint:  I’m happiest in my 840 sq foot cabin in the middle of the desert.  I certainly didn’t expect that, or realize it until I started staying there for extended periods of time.

I can save you a lot of time on this one.  Your clothes, haircut, car, house, jewelry, toys, etc. may temporarily amuse you.  But, they won’t make you happy.  Especially if you go into debt to get them.

The point is for you to examine a variety of experiences and notice how you feel.  Find the things that make you honestly happy.  Those are the things you should do more of if you want to be happy.  Identify the things that make you uncomfortable, angry, or disappointed.  Stop doing them.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Why is Pat talking about happiness?  I thought he was going to write about how I can get rich.  What’s up?”

Well, yea.  You’re right.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Here’s the deal-

To me, happy equals rich.  One of the components of happiness is having enough money to do the things that really, honestly make me happy.

So, let’s talk about money.

My big turn-around about money came when I realized that I was responsible for my own income.

I would have made a great trust-fund baby, by the way.  I would have enjoyed a lifestyle of decadence as I scooted between my homes in Paris, Berlin, Sao Paulo, and L.A. on my private jet, partying with the (other?) beautiful people, drinking champagne from crystal goblets, and checking out TMZ and Gawker to make sure my press agent was keeping me in the public eye.

Unfortunately, my parents weren’t rich.  No trust fund.

Damn.

rich guys playing guitar

on the porch at terlingua

I dropped out of school when I was 17 to be a rock star.  My assumption was that somebody in the music biz would see my obvious talent and rescue me from whatever bar I happened to be playing and catapult me to fame and fortune beyond the dreams of avarice (and avarice, in my youth, dreamt big).

30+ years later, I was still waiting.

Nobody was going to save me.  I spent a few weeks curled up in bed with Napoleon Hill, Ayn Rand, Randy Gage- not literally.  I can’t believe you think like that.  I mean, I got a pile of really good books about personal responsibility and read them.  It changed my life.

Around this time I had an interesting conversation with Joe Vitale.  You probably have heard this story- he asked me what I wanted out of life and I answered, “I just want to pay my frickin’ rent.”

There’s more to the story.  He asked me, “what are you doing to be successful in the music business?  How many press releases do you send out a week?  What sort of advertising do you do?  Are you building a mailing list of people who came to your shows?  Are you in contact with labels, publishers, music press and agents who could help you get to the next level?”

I wasn’t doing any of that.  I was waiting for the rockstar fairy to fly by and sprinkle me with pixie dust, I guess.

I was broke.  That was old news.  I was broke and it was my own damn fault.  That was an epiphany.  Whoa!

Then Joe snuck me into a seminar he put on in Austin.  I discovered Internet Marketing just about the time I discovered that I was responsible for my own income.  It took a few years, a lot of work, some real dumb mistakes and a lot of help- but, one day I looked up and I was, by my standards, rich.  Then came the seminars, book deals, coaching programs, etc.

But, it all started with me realizing that I was responsible for my own income.  Not my parents.  Not the government.  Not my girlfriend.  Not society.  Me.

That simple realization was the turning point.

Try it.

For me, the vehicle was Internet Marketing.  It’s not for everybody.  For a long time, I thought it was.  It was so right for me I figured it would be right for everybody.

Wrong.

Here’s some things about Internet Marketing you should know.

1.  You work alone.  Mostly.  Especially at first.  If you’re not comfortable with your own company and need people around to motivate you, go get a job.

2.  You work with your face stuck in a computer screen.  I’ve got two computers here in my office, another in the living room so I can work while I talk with Betsy.  An iPad, so I can work from anywhere- and I never leave home without it.  An iPhone- Last Tuesday I pulled over to the side of the highway between Junction and Fredricksburg, logged onto PayPal from my iPhone, and paid one of my employees who was in a jam and needed an advance.  Then, I checked that day’s sales, scanned FaceBook, read and responded to a few emails- then, got back on the road.  Internet Marketing is like that.  If you don’t like computers, you won’t like Internet Marketing.

3.  The scenery changes fast.  Tools that I rely on today didn’t exist a couple of years ago.  Sales pages that converted like gangbusters last year stop converting- and must be changed fast.  Channels like Facebook, iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, etc. are where the action is.  SEO rules change constantly- stuff that was OK yesterday gets you slapped hard today.  If you like doing the same thing over and over in a safe environment that never changes, you’re gonna hate Internet Marketing.  The only thing that stays the same around here is the constantly increasing rate of change.

4.  You don’t get a paycheck.  Even the best entrepreneurs have to deal with wild swings in income.  I deal with this by keeping my burn rate relatively low, so that even in my slowest month I can break even.  It takes discipline and the Internet Marketing highway is strewn with the smoldering wrecks of marketers who based their expenses on their income when times were good- and then crashed and burned when they had a bad month.  It only takes one bad month to wipe you out.  If that scares you, get a job.

5.  The higher your profile, the more haters you get.  If you can’t take criticism, this ain’t for you.  A sub-set of this is that the more sales you make the more refunds you have to process.  The more customers you have, the more unhappy customers you have.  Of course, you do everything you can to keep this to a minimum but, as John Carlton says, “If you don’t have at least a 5% refund rate, you’re not really trying.”  5% of a thousand sales is 50 unsatisfied customers.   Of course, if you never launch a product and never make any sales, you never have any unsatisfied customers.  If you’re totally unknown you’ll never have any haters.  Thick skin + good karma = happy Internet Marketer

Money From Anywhere Cover

Free eBook

If that didn’t scare you off, go get my free eBook on how to start and run an Internet Marketing business.  AFTER you’ve read that book, check out my coaching program.  It’s probably the best coaching program for beginners on the planet.

Finally, remember this:  you can be as happy and as rich as you want to be IF you recognize that your happiness and wealth are your responsibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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