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Money is not important?

BaladOfARichMan

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I've been on this forum for quite a while now and I think it's time to introduce myself. Firstly, to thank you guys, MJ especially and secondly because it's a must.

Before I read MJ's book I had no idea about business whatsoever and was F*cking depressed, plus jobless. Now, a year and a half later, I'm pretty confidence, I've learnt how to be a web designer and have worked for some business companies. They all paid very shit, but I got the knowledge and the experience.

Right now I'm in a situation where my parents have basically told me, you either get a "real" job or get out of here. I'm not going to quit my fastlane road that's for sure, but I'm broke and I have to get out of my parents house in a month or so. I'm 27 yo.

I was reading this awesome post by @IceCreamKid called The Ashtonising Secrets and he mentions this:
@JackEdwards wasn't lying when he said, "The moment you stop caring about money is the moment you start making money". Respect to you, good sir.

I would just like to know what that sentence exactly means. In my situation I obviously have to care about money.

BTW: This post is not about whinning. I know I can perfectly overcome this situation. Since I'm a web designer I'm right now following this awesome guide made by @SinisterLex to become a Freelance on Odesk .

Some advice is always helpful.

Thank you, guys. And I can't wait until the day that I can actually contribute to this forum in a "giving" way. :)
 
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BaladOfARichMan

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Oooooooh its time for one of my favourite videos!


I know I know. Hehe. But what if you actually need the money to survive? Im not talking about making me rich, yet. I need the money to eat and a shelter to live. And im pretty frugal.

Wouldn't you be worrying about money then?
 
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Virus

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I know I know. Hehe. But what if you actually need the money to survive? Im not talking about making me rich, yet. I need the money to eat and a shelter to live. And im pretty frugal.

Wouldn't you be worrying about money then?

You need to get a job then. Stop sponging off your parents, get a place and start putting even more effort into getting where you want. Most people on here i am sure, need to pay bills as well as start/run their business.
 

Digamma

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What is about the concept of working that people don't want to understand?
You are a 27 year old living at home. Forget about the fastlane and start getting out of the garage.
 

Tobore

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First, I think what you seek comes as a form of a shift in mindset.

Have you learned how to write copy yet?

Copywriting as a process shifts you thinking. It transforms you from a "Me-focused" Entrepreneur to a "You (people) focused entrepreneur.

This mindset also comes from "helping others". This is what I "jokingly" term: "SEEKING THE THANK YOU".

Example: Think about your normal day at a supermarket. As you walk down the hall, you saw a lady with two yellow heavy basket of apples on both hands. Oops! She missed a step. One apple fell off the basket, as a kind gentleman, you picked it up and hands it over to the lady. She smiles and says "Thank You".

You feel good! You go about your day, even weeks in this same manner. You get so many "Thank You's". You love it! You continue seeing things in great detail. You start to notice little CHALLENGES in people's lives.

If feels almost altruistic. You minds starts to think "How to help this person solve their problem today, so I can feel good?"

...and BAM!

You got it!

Because you HELPED the lady, you got a "Thank You."

I personally think, the only way a customer can say "Thank You" to you is by paying for the valued help you rendered.

You can get a "Thank You" by making someone's life easier and enjoyable.

I think its the EASIEST way to make money. Not because you're focused on making money, but because you're focused on feeling good (becoming a useful person to the world) and making people's lives better in a much larger scale.

So don't seek the money. Seek the "Thank You" and like most notable members have said "...Then, the money will follow!"
 
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IceCreamKid

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I would just like to know what that sentence exactly means. In my situation I obviously have to care about money.

Here's the deal: The struggling entrepreneurs are very focused on themselves and their selfish wants. Go to an MLM meeting and you'll see this selfish energy throughout the whole room. They don't spend much time at all truly understanding what the customer wants. Their focus on themselves blinds them from seeing what's in front of them.

If I could break it down into a few steps, this is it:
1. Identify and understand the problem/need inside out.
2. Craft a solution to that problem. Put all of the systems in place to scale the solution.
3. Position and market that solution VERY well through copywriting.


Most people skip these steps completely. They don't position their product/service in a compelling way. They don't offer a solution to a problem. They don't spend a minute on really thinking about the customer's mindset at all.

Do you know the story of Domino's pizza? 2 brothers were struggling to get their pizza biz off the ground. After 2 years one guy quit because they weren't making any money and left the other brother, Tom, to run the biz. Tom's back was against the wall. There's something special about having your back against the wall though. It forces you to go all in. 100%.

This was during the 1960's and the standard wait for pizza delivery was 1 hour minimum. Big pain.

This one guarantee launched Domino's into a multi-million dollar biz: Delivery in 30 minutes or it's free.<-Do you see why I was stressing copywriting so much back in the day? Copywriting is the bridge to the sale. The cherry on top of your ice cream. The wind beneath your wings. The Emma Watson pics on a biz forum. The flavor. The juice.

Did Domino's have the best pizza in town? Nope...but they had the most compelling offer. The offer is what gets the customer to buy the first time. Your product/service is what keeps them buying for many years to come.

It's that simple. Identify and understand a pain. Create systems to scale it. Position it very well.

EmmaWatsonBrown.jpg
 

BaladOfARichMan

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Ok, guys. I think I get the idea. I'll focus on creating and giving value to clients for the web designing thing. And I will get a "normal" job in case that doesn't work in the beginning.
 

Bila

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Here's the deal: The struggling entrepreneurs are very focused on themselves and their selfish wants. Go to an MLM meeting and you'll see this selfish energy throughout the whole room. They don't spend much time at all truly understanding what the customer wants. Their focus on themselves blinds them from seeing what's in front of them.

If I could break it down into a few steps, this is it:
1. Identify and understand the problem/need inside out.
2. Craft a solution to that problem. Put all of the systems in place to scale the solution.
3. Position and market that solution VERY well through copywriting.


Most people skip these steps completely. They don't position their product/service in a compelling way. They don't offer a solution to a problem. They don't spend a minute on really thinking about the customer's mindset at all.

Do you know the story of Domino's pizza? 2 brothers were struggling to get their pizza biz off the ground. After 2 years one guy quit because they weren't making any money and left the other brother, Tom, to run the biz. Tom's back was against the wall. There's something special about having your back against the wall though. It forces you to go all in. 100%.

This was during the 1960's and the standard wait for pizza delivery was 1 hour minimum. Big pain.

This one guarantee launched Domino's into a multi-million dollar biz: Delivery in 30 minutes or it's free.<-Do you see why I was stressing copywriting so much back in the day? Copywriting is the bridge to the sale. The cherry on top of your ice cream. The wind beneath your wings. The Emma Watson pics on a biz forum. The flavor. The juice.

Did Domino's have the best pizza in town? Nope...but they had the most compelling offer. The offer is what gets the customer to buy the first time. Your product/service is what keeps them buying for many years to come.

It's that simple. Identify and understand a pain. Create systems to scale it. Position it very well.

EmmaWatsonBrown.jpg
[/QUOT
A gold post as usual ..Thanks.
 
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G

GuestUser202

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Ok, guys. I think I get the idea. I'll focus on creating and giving value to clients for the web designing thing. And I will get a "normal" job in case that doesn't work in the beginning.
Doesn't this already set you up to fail? Not the "get a real job" part, but the "In case it doesn't work in the beginning" part. Should you not say something to the effect of, "Until my business takes off, I'll get a real job"? It's all in one's mindset.
 

Unknown

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Doesn't this already set you up to fail? Not the "get a real job" part, but the "In case it doesn't work in the beginning" part. Should you not say something to the effect of, "Until my business takes off, I'll get a real job"? It's all in one's mindset.

I don't believe it does. Many businesses fail at the start. There's nothing wrong with being realistic. Many people will disagree with me I'm sure.
 

Digamma

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Doesn't this already set you up to fail? Not the "get a real job" part, but the "In case it doesn't work in the beginning" part. Should you not say something to the effect of, "Until my business takes off, I'll get a real job"? It's all in one's mindset.
This is whishy washy motivation bullshit speak. You do the work you are supposed to do. You find that vision, that mission. That's is all there is to it. There is no mindset, no habit stacking, no life hacking, no reframing beliefs or whatever other buzzword the internet gurus love to talk about. There is only grinding and getting better and failing until you don't fail, and this is something you do when you find the problem you have what it takes to solve.
In the meantime, you got to pay the bills.
I don't believe it does. Many businesses fail at the start. There's nothing wrong with being realistic. Many people will disagree with me I'm sure.
Yep.
 
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BaladOfARichMan

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Well what I meant was, since I need the money NOW (im not a money chaser I just need it to live off), if my freelance web-design carreer doesn't make me money in the first month. Then I'll get a "real" job to survive and of course continue with web designing thing on the side. I'll work my a$$ off to make it happen in the first month, of course.

BTW: you guys have never been broke (that means not having money to pay your bills, and no one to go ask for money)? Because in that situation, your mindset change a bit.
 

vinylawesome

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Creating value should be numero uno. But don't forget to capture the value.
 

vinylawesome

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Thinking about money and using it as a primary motivator is equivalent to putting the cart before the horse. You will never get anywhere by thinking this way.

political-cart-before-the-horse.jpg


In this scenario, the value is the horse, it is pulling the cart and the person. The person riding in the cart is able to capture the value that is created by the horse.

Cream_1.jpg


Thus, create value by coming out with a new and/or spin on an old product or service (Web Design business in your case), and then be sure to capture that value.
 
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Digamma

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Well what I meant was, since I need the money NOW (im not a money chaser I just need it to live off), if my freelance web-design carreer doesn't make me money in the first month. Then I'll get a "real" job to survive and of course continue with web designing thing on the side. I'll work my a$$ off to make it happen in the first month, of course.

BTW: you guys have never been broke (that means not having money to pay your bills, and no one to go ask for money)? Because in that situation, your mindset change a bit.
Yes, this is what you do. You read @SinisterLex's thread, you take notes. You sign up for oDesk. Set your hourly rate low, do some work, then raise it. In the meantime, study, learn, get better.
And why not, look for an entry position in the field.
 

Digamma

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Thinking about money and using it as a primary motivator is equivalent to putting the cart before the horse. You will never get anywhere by thinking this way.

In this scenario, the value is the horse, it is pulling the cart and the person. The person riding in the cart is able to capture the value that is created by the horse.

Thus, create value by coming out with a new and/or spin on an old product or service (Web Design business in your case), and then be sure to capture that value.
You are trolling him, right?
 

BaladOfARichMan

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Thank you guys for your advice. I already signed up for oDesk and a couple of more freelance's platforms. I'm positive by the end of this week, I'll have a couple of clients.

Now, Im gonna go ask SinisterLex a question about profiles.
 
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jon.a

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BTW: you guys have never been broke (that means not having money to pay your bills, and no one to go ask for money)? Because in that situation, your mindset change a bit.
Try being broke with a wife and baby. You have it easy.
 

Change

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Parents think they help their children, by not making them get a job when they are younger, by not telling them they have to work to pay for a car in Highschool or College, by not telling them they need to grow up and live on their own OUTSIDE the comfort of their parents home...

Those parents, WE LOVE... They take care of us. BUTTTTT

To give a man a fish is to feed him for a day! To teach the man to FISH, is to FEED him for a LIFETIME.

MOST (parents dont realize this) parents just "help" and shield their child from a "hard" beginning...

Thing is- the child doesn't grow...the child remains a child. And as such, the child WILL ALWAYS NEED the help of the parent to survive.

PARENTS, PEOPLE READING THIS- DO NOT BE A PARENT LIKE THAT. You want to guide your children towards being completely INDEPENDENT, you want to tell them, get a job if you want an xbox or car... then tell them "yea its hard to work 5 days a week 40 hours a week..maybe start a business instead..."

BUT...

Back on track.... OP, your parents need to kick you out. I was kicked out of my house when I was in my early 20's. I remember I got into an argument with my father, he takes my laptop and throws it across the room into the fireplace and at the end of the day, before bed, he walks into my room and says "Tomorrow I'll give you $ 2,000.00, you will leave the house. I was soo dam scared. I sat there with my heart pumping soo fast.

He walked out of the room- I took a deeep breath and "WAM" ...I rationalized/went through what I had to do to survive/developed a quick action plan- It was 12 midnight and I stayed up until 3:00 AM, found a bunch of rooms to look into renting (Rule was...it had to BE CHEAP.)

1. Find an apartment or room for rent. 2. Find a better paying job. 3. Get transportation. (The entire time, I was working for my father in his company, he didn't even pay me.) Heck I didn't even have my own car....he practically kicked me out of the house, gave me 2k...which was just that 2k$ to start living on my own...no savings, NOTHING, no other sources of income.

I found a room for rent in a house for a few hundred dollars, bought a junk car and became a construction worker. Hard work= good money for hours spent, if you have to trade time for $. Made my first 120$ in my entire life, for myself* CASH, the day AFTER I found an apartment. 3 more days of work paid for my renting the room in the house. Another day and 1/2 paid for my car/insurance.... 6 days and all my bills paid...

first month alone....3 WEEKS of work at 120 = 2,520$.... made for the month (after rent/car insurance payments(, minus, a decent laptop I bought on black Friday, minus food and clothing.

---------
I ALWAYS wanted to move out- when I heard those words I was scared- yet excited at the same time. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. To be kicked out of the house. I was "scared" to have done it on my own...

BUT when a person is forced to do something because it threatens their very being,their existence, their access to food, shelter, health, safety, water... then that person will SURELY CHANGE and try to survive.


The species that survives IS NOT the smartest, the strongest, the most (insert word here), the largest, or smallest...IT IS THE MOST ADAPTABLE and RECEPTIVE TO CHANGE.

--------
Do yourself a favor, make your parents kick you out of the house.
From Change!
 
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BaladOfARichMan

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BUT...

Back on track.... OP, your parents need to kick you out. I was kicked out of my house when I was in my early 20's. I remember I got into an argument with my father, he takes my laptop and throws it across the room into the fireplace and at the end of the day, before bed, he walks into my room and says "Tomorrow I'll give you $ 2,000.00, you will leave the house. I was soo dam scared. I sat there with my heart pumping soo fast.

I am man, I am deff getting out.
 

Change

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I am man, I am deff getting out.

You say definitely getting out... Do it!

1. Today, tell your parents you are moving out, and that you need to grow up and become independent.

2. By tonight, have a list of places you can check out to rent, look for CHEAP. Starting with NOTHING motivates you to take action...SO, START with a mattress and some covers, take all your clothes and put them in a box, call that your new drawer. And take what you can hang and leave it in the closet.

3. If you paid for it from your own money, you can keep it. Otherwise, ADIOS! (I'm just mimicking what happened to me.)
4.
Think of a new job...and do it fast. Hard labor pays cash in many cases, and I don't think it is as hard as the name suggests. You don't want something paying $ 8.50 an hour...you want money, ASAP...I became a construction worker when I was out of the house. Not sure where you are located, but if USA, 120$ is an average for 8 hours a day...and all I did was pick up debris/shingles and threw them into a dumpster...I weight 130 ibs, am tall/lean not muscular...if I can do it in my early 20's no way you don't do it.

5. You need transportation- the car you have, if you have one at all, is it yours/paid by you? No? Give it back to your parents.
6. Do you have $ saved? No? Yes? Go to a junk yard and buy a car for a few hundred $.

When you live at the bare minimum, you can't go wrong. No headaches from building up bills, no bs.

You'll make what you have in monthly expenses in a week, maybe 1.5 weeks. That is 2.5 weeks of $$ to eat/drink...and most of all- you'll have freedom to grow without boundaries.

GOOD LUCK!
 
G

GuestUser202

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I've been broke. Lazy @$$ wife, 2 kids, delivering pizza part time. I even managed to go to college during this time, BECAUSE I was broke (more grants available). Heck, I lost my job like a week after my daughter was born. Most of my "wonderful" marriage, I was working 2 jobs, making anywhere from $9.50/hr (avg wage delivering pizza, customer service jobs) to $17/hr (these were jobs that my education got me), and going from job to job to job. So yes, being up against a wall with no where to go, you figure things out...you make things work. It's called resiliency. I recently received my SS statement in the mail and sure, you can see a fairly steady increase in my wage, but according to that, there were a few years I made like $6k/yr. I remember one month, I couldn't pay my rent. My landlord said if I paint the front porch of the house I was living in, he'd count that as my rent payment. So of course I painted the front porch!

I agree most business fail, but again I see that as a mindset...a way out when things aren't going right. Say you start the web site design biz and in the 1st month, you get 5 customers and make, say $1500. Then you get nothing for 3 months. This 3 month span of nothing will determine your outcome...another failed business because most businesses fail anyway? Or a chance to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it and drum up business? THIS is the mindset! It's the, "I'm determined to fix this" mindset that makes businesses succeed. By saying, "If it doesn't work out in the beginning" your mindset already says it's going to fail. This mindset will be seen in ALL areas of your life!

I think some people NEED the slowlane. I think I am one of them. I think some people need to work their butts off and have nothing to show for it. Maybe it's motivation, I don't know, but in my life right now, I am changing my OWN mindset. The book, this forum, the feedback I am getting...it's ALL changing my mindset to make my own business succeed. I'm changing my mindset from "I cannot sell to save my life," to "who cares...the product will sell itself." I am SICK of working for someone else; SICK making someone else rich; SICK of having ZERO control or input about the business. I have skills so I AM going to use those skills to my advantage! Ok, rant over. Shoot, this weekend, I was out in the freezing rain with a filthy tarp full of holes working on my next sale. Why? My mindset has changed from, "it can wait" to "Need this gone." One's mindset will make or break them, not only in business, but in ALL areas of one's life.

My suggestion is get a job as mentioned...construction, delivering pizza, data entry (shoot starting wages where I work is $16/hr!)...but go into the job with the mindset that it's temporary (not saying don't do your best, but make it known in your mind that it WILL end), move out, and work your BUTT off on building your business!! Nothing else matters! Make YOUR business a priority. MAKE it succeed! Change the mindset to "It WILL succeed!" Depending where you live, you don't even need a car...use public transportation for a while. Or bike everywhere. YOU CAN make this work! Your business WILL succeed!
 
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Torobaro

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Here's the deal: The struggling entrepreneurs are very focused on themselves and their selfish wants. Go to an MLM meeting and you'll see this selfish energy throughout the whole room. They don't spend much time at all truly understanding what the customer wants. Their focus on themselves blinds them from seeing what's in front of them.

If I could break it down into a few steps, this is it:
1. Identify and understand the problem/need inside out.
2. Craft a solution to that problem. Put all of the systems in place to scale the solution.
3. Position and market that solution VERY well through copywriting.


Most people skip these steps completely. They don't position their product/service in a compelling way. They don't offer a solution to a problem. They don't spend a minute on really thinking about the customer's mindset at all.

Do you know the story of Domino's pizza? 2 brothers were struggling to get their pizza biz off the ground. After 2 years one guy quit because they weren't making any money and left the other brother, Tom, to run the biz. Tom's back was against the wall. There's something special about having your back against the wall though. It forces you to go all in. 100%.

This was during the 1960's and the standard wait for pizza delivery was 1 hour minimum. Big pain.

This one guarantee launched Domino's into a multi-million dollar biz: Delivery in 30 minutes or it's free.<-Do you see why I was stressing copywriting so much back in the day? Copywriting is the bridge to the sale. The cherry on top of your ice cream. The wind beneath your wings. The Emma Watson pics on a biz forum. The flavor. The juice.

Did Domino's have the best pizza in town? Nope...but they had the most compelling offer. The offer is what gets the customer to buy the first time. Your product/service is what keeps them buying for many years to come.

It's that simple. Identify and understand a pain. Create systems to scale it. Position it very well.

EmmaWatsonBrown.jpg

Nice, I am going to look into some copywritting stuff
 

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