CHAPTER 7.
F.U.MONEY MYTH #5:
YOU HAVE TO BE A
CHEAPSKATE.
Financial gurus always talk about living on a budget. I say the heck
with a budget! Spend the money. Enjoy life NOW. What are you saving
it for anyway?
Desperately seeking help, they attended a “financial workshop”
at their church taught by a well-known so-called financial “guru.” This
“expert” told them that the only way they were going to get ahead was
to cut back on spending and put themselves on a tighter budget.
They were told that they should only drive used cars, and to never
buy those “expensive coffee drinks at Starbucks.” They were supposed
to take what little money they could save and put it into mutual funds
so they could earn 10% interest on their savings. They would be able to
safely retire at 65 with a few million dollars in the bank.
“Something just rubbed me wrong with this line of thinking,” said
Mike.“ It all just seemed so focused on limitations, scarcity, and being
cheap for the rest of my life. That’s not how I want to live.”
Instead, Mike took a hard look at what he was doing to make money in the first place. At the particular company he worked for, top
salespeople made around $100,000 a year, and it often took 5 -10 years to reach this point.
Then he noticed something about the top salespeople that bothered
him. He told me,“I realized they had as many customers placing orders
on Monday as I had all week.”
It dawned on him that even though these top performers were
making what sounded to him at the time like big money, “they were
working their asses off.”
To make the “big” money, the top salespeople were constantly
working 70-hour weeks and dealing with stressful situations that
inevitably came as a result of having so many accounts. Mike finally
realized that being a top salesperson at this company wasn’t worth the
hassle, so he started looking elsewhere.
HUSTLING WON'T MAKE YOU RICH. PERIOD.
He’d always been interested in marketing, so he thought about
going back to college to earning a marketing degree. “The counselor
basically sat me down and talked me out of it,” he laughs. “He showed
me how it would take me five long years of going to night school and
a total hardship on my family life. Plus, even when I graduated, I would
have no guarantee of making over $75,000 a year. And it would have
taken me years just to pay off the student loans.”
He was still at a loss for what to do — that is, until he had a fateful
conversation with one of his restaurant customers. He confided in his
customer that he was really interested in marketing, and that was the
moment the customer gave him an audiotape that changed Mike’s life
forever.
This customer said that she had gone to a food show and heard
this guy gives a presentation in which he talked about unique marketing
techniques for restaurants. Apparently this “marketing guru” was
mailing these crazy long sales letters to get catering jobs for his own
restaurant, and as a result he was blowing the doors off his competition.
“I listened to that tape at least ten times,” Mike said. “I was
completely fascinated that some one could mailout a long letter that
was basically a sales presentation, and it would actually get new
customers to call him.” As a salesperson, Mike had only known two
ways of getting customers, and that was “pounding the pavement”
(cold-calling door to door), or “dialing for dollars” (making cold calls on
the phone). Mike went on to study all of this marketing guru’s materials
and began to research others who used similar techniques.
Today, just three years later, Mike and Andrea both work from home, working as direct response marketing copywriters, writing long-
form sales letters for businesses of all types. They have awaiting list
of at least six weeks. In fact, they have have so much business that they are now starting to look out source to other copywriters. “We will easily earn over $250,000 this year with our copywriting business,”he says.
The amazing thing is Mike and Andrea didn’t have to go to college
to learn this valuable skill. “We bought a course for $1,500 that told us
exactly what to do. We started making good money within a couple
months. We’ve raised our prices about five times in the last two YEARS AGO years, but our customers keep coming back and referring others to us.We don’t spend a penny on advertising.”
Plus, they work from home and take off whenever they want.
“Every now and then I’ll go to a restaurant and see a salesperson doing
my old job. When I do, I pray silently and thank God that I’m not doing
that anymore!”
MONEYISM#16
It’s easier to make
MORE money
than it is to spend less.
A PENNY SAVED IS STILL JUST A PENNY
Money likes speed. MONEY LIKES TO CIRCULATE.
Money likes clarity.
F.U.MONEY MYTH #5:
YOU HAVE TO BE A
CHEAPSKATE.
Financial gurus always talk about living on a budget. I say the heck
with a budget! Spend the money. Enjoy life NOW. What are you saving
it for anyway?
Think I’m full of it? Let me tell you a true
story about my friends, Mike and Andrea.
Just three years ago, Mike was earning
$40,000 a year as a salesperson for a
company that supplies food to restaurants.
His wife Andrea workednpart-time earning
about $10,000 a year. The rest of the time she
spent raising their young kids. Every month
they struggled to pay their bills.
Desperately seeking help, they attended a “financial workshop”
at their church taught by a well-known so-called financial “guru.” This
“expert” told them that the only way they were going to get ahead was
to cut back on spending and put themselves on a tighter budget.
They were told that they should only drive used cars, and to never
buy those “expensive coffee drinks at Starbucks.” They were supposed
to take what little money they could save and put it into mutual funds
so they could earn 10% interest on their savings. They would be able to
safely retire at 65 with a few million dollars in the bank.
“Something just rubbed me wrong with this line of thinking,” said
Mike.“ It all just seemed so focused on limitations, scarcity, and being
cheap for the rest of my life. That’s not how I want to live.”
Instead, Mike took a hard look at what he was doing to make money in the first place. At the particular company he worked for, top
salespeople made around $100,000 a year, and it often took 5 -10 years to reach this point.
Then he noticed something about the top salespeople that bothered
him. He told me,“I realized they had as many customers placing orders
on Monday as I had all week.”
It dawned on him that even though these top performers were
making what sounded to him at the time like big money, “they were
working their asses off.”
To make the “big” money, the top salespeople were constantly
working 70-hour weeks and dealing with stressful situations that
inevitably came as a result of having so many accounts. Mike finally
realized that being a top salesperson at this company wasn’t worth the
hassle, so he started looking elsewhere.
HUSTLING WON'T MAKE YOU RICH. PERIOD.
He’d always been interested in marketing, so he thought about
going back to college to earning a marketing degree. “The counselor
basically sat me down and talked me out of it,” he laughs. “He showed
me how it would take me five long years of going to night school and
a total hardship on my family life. Plus, even when I graduated, I would
have no guarantee of making over $75,000 a year. And it would have
taken me years just to pay off the student loans.”
He was still at a loss for what to do — that is, until he had a fateful
conversation with one of his restaurant customers. He confided in his
customer that he was really interested in marketing, and that was the
moment the customer gave him an audiotape that changed Mike’s life
forever.
This customer said that she had gone to a food show and heard
this guy gives a presentation in which he talked about unique marketing
techniques for restaurants. Apparently this “marketing guru” was
mailing these crazy long sales letters to get catering jobs for his own
restaurant, and as a result he was blowing the doors off his competition.
“I listened to that tape at least ten times,” Mike said. “I was
completely fascinated that some one could mailout a long letter that
was basically a sales presentation, and it would actually get new
customers to call him.” As a salesperson, Mike had only known two
ways of getting customers, and that was “pounding the pavement”
(cold-calling door to door), or “dialing for dollars” (making cold calls on
the phone). Mike went on to study all of this marketing guru’s materials
and began to research others who used similar techniques.
Today, just three years later, Mike and Andrea both work from home, working as direct response marketing copywriters, writing long-
form sales letters for businesses of all types. They have awaiting list
of at least six weeks. In fact, they have have so much business that they are now starting to look out source to other copywriters. “We will easily earn over $250,000 this year with our copywriting business,”he says.
The amazing thing is Mike and Andrea didn’t have to go to college
to learn this valuable skill. “We bought a course for $1,500 that told us
exactly what to do. We started making good money within a couple
months. We’ve raised our prices about five times in the last two YEARS AGO years, but our customers keep coming back and referring others to us.We don’t spend a penny on advertising.”
Plus, they work from home and take off whenever they want.
“Every now and then I’ll go to a restaurant and see a salesperson doing
my old job. When I do, I pray silently and thank God that I’m not doing
that anymore!”
MONEYISM#16
It’s easier to make
MORE money
than it is to spend less.
A PENNY SAVED IS STILL JUST A PENNY
Money likes speed. MONEY LIKES TO CIRCULATE.
Money likes clarity.
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