Three Assets you can use to become a Millionaire

Now, more than ever, it has become so much easier to set up a company or start earning extra income. All you need is a great idea, some time and effort, and bit of forward planning. Most people are too scared to start their own company because they worry about the massive overheads, the start up costs and potentially losing the security of a monthly wage. However, we all own or are at least renting, three valuable assets that if used correctly could turn you into a Millionaire.

Computer

Chances are, if you are reading this post, you have a computer or a laptop. The computer opens up many doorways to generating income and because of the widespread use of the internet, anyone can set up their own business with very little overheads.

With the internet, anyone can be a shopkeeper. All you need is a website and a great product. Websites such as Ebay or Etsy allow anyone to set up shop and market to their potential customers. Some people have managed to generate a substantial secondary income via Ebay or have even made it their full time occupation. People who enjoy crafts and arts have made it more than a hobby by selling their work on Etsy. Again, some people have managed to make it their full time job.

You may think, well I don't really have anything that great to sell. Find someone that does. If you're into art but aren't particularly artistic, talk to local artists. Most would prefer to get on with being artistic and leave the selling to someone else. You can take a cut from the sales and the artists will be happy that someone is working for them and generating them income.

Perhaps you have a great blog that everyone is reading. If you're getting the hits, why not put adsense or paid advertising on there. You could be earning money whilst you sleep. That way you only need to spend a couple of hours a day updating and promoting your blog, using the rest of the time on another income generating project.

There are loads of great business opportunities that are just a mouse click away. You just need to see the opportunities and take them.

Phone

Nowadays, most people own a phone. A lot of people even own a smartphone. But even with a standard phone you can start to make money. If you have great communication skills, your phone could be worth Millions.

Consider a recruitment consultant. Think about what they do. They phone businesses to see if they are in need of new recruits. Then they look through their directory of business people and phone them up to see if they want the job. They're selling on both sides. They're selling their recruiting skills to the businesses and then they're selling the idea of a new job to the potential recruits. Their phone is their main money making tool. Why isn't your phone making you money? It should be!

Perhaps you're not a great sales person, but you are a great organiser. All you need is a phone and a local directory to set up an event and then attract the right people to it. For example, you could set up a business networking event. All you need to do is find a venue, book a date and then start phoning around businesses to ask them if they want to attend. You can ask business owners to talk at the event. Most would be flattered by the invitation. You can then make money from this by selling advertisement space at the event.

Your phone is costing you money every month and you are not using it to it's full potential. You don't even need to own a smartphone to be able to make money. Being able to communicate could be your greatest asset.

Spare Room

If you have a spare room, or even a corner of the room that is just gathering dust, there is no need to start paying expensive overheads on offices, plus travel, plus bills etc. You are already paying them. Now it's time to start making money from them.

If you think about what there is in an office. A desk, a chair, a computer and a phone. If you're lucky, a good coffee machine too. Well we've already established that you own a computer and a phone. Chances are you have a kettle. It doesn't cost anything to set up an office at home. If you have a laptop, you don't even have to buy a desk, you just need a comfy sofa, and if you have a desktop, I'm willing to bet you have a desk.

You are already paying out each month for your home, whether that's rent, mortgage or even just bills. Why not make that pay you. You won't have any extra costs to set up an office and you can even claim some of it on the business and save money on tax. 

Making money and setting up businesses is about seeing the opportunities that are already there, and not focusing on the obstacles that we come across. Seeing opportunities, even in the downfall is the only difference between Millionaires and poor thinkers. Sure we have to acknowledge the obstacles, but they are there to make us run faster, jump higher and push harder. Most people don't set up a business because they see start up costs as an obstacle, but as you have read, setting up a business doesn't have to cost you anything but time and hard work. 

FM

Millionaires Know How To Cut The Fat

Don't worry, I'm not going to start telling you that in order to be successful, you now have to be on a strict diet and exercise regime. Although I personally use exercise to get me into the right frame of mind to get on with work in the morning... and a lot of caffeine, this post is about time management. Time is our only commodity that you can't buy more of and you can't get back, and it's the greatest commodity we have. So why do most of us waste so much of it?

So many times I ask people how they're doing and the first thing they say is that they're tired and they're busy. I hear far too many people telling me that they have too much to do, they wish they had an extra day or that they never seem to have any time to themselves. I never have too much to do. I have a lot to do but never too much. If you have too much to do, then you're selling yourself short. If you need an extra day, you need to learn how to prioritise and manage your day. If you are too busy, chances are, you're wasting a lot of time.

The most important rule of time management is to cut the fat. If you have clear goals this process should be really easy. If not, perhaps you had better read some of my earlier posts. 

You have to list down everything you are part of, every project you're doing, every club you've joined, every voluntary position you hold etc etc. You may find you have a lot on your plate. You may also find that actually, you don't have as much on as you thought. A good way to really see what it is you're doing is by writing down everything you do in a day, what time you start it, how long it takes etc. If you do this everyday for about ten days, you'll really be able to see how much time you are wasting and what activities you are doing.

How many of those activities are bringing you closer to your goals? Could a lot of things you are doing, actually be done quicker?

People tend to have a habit of taking on activities that actually pushes them further away from their goals. We all have a habit of agreeing to do jobs for people, or helping someone with their own work and often neglect the things we need to do in order to get us closer to what we want. If you look at that list of activities you do, you may find that only a couple of those are bringing you closer to your goals, and sometimes we neglect those activities to do things that take us further away from our goals. If you are not working towards your goals, you are increasing the amount time it will take to get there.

By cutting the fat, you are also streamlining your activities. When something is streamlined, it gets there faster.

If you were to look at a page in a Millionaires diary, you would see that every activity is written down to the minute. The most important activities are prioritised and every activity will bring them closer to their own goals. People with good time management can still do things outside of working towards their goals... but they don't prioritise them. 

You'll also see, that they're doing a lot more than the average person who thinks they are "busy". Most people who say they're too busy, are actually wasting a lot of time... including mine! Millionaires diaries have accounted for every minute of the day. Nothing takes longer than it needs.

Millionaires know that a working day is longer than eight hours. Although you don't want to be working twenty hours a day, if you're leaving work unfinished so you can clock off at five, you're not working hard enough and you're not prioritising your time. You may think that you need some time in the day to rest, and sure it's nice to have an hour or so to relax before going to bed, but remember, Millionaires are in the position of being able to take a month off at a time to go Yachting around the south of France. If you prioritise your work well enough, one day you can too.

Time is our only true commodity. If you value it highly, you won't waste it. Prioritise the things you do in life and push yourself to get things done quicker. If you can do it well, you'll be able to achieve a lot more and will probably find you have more time to spend on hobbies or being with the people you love.

FM

More Posts on Time Management coming soon.

Thank you for reading. I hope you are getting a lot from these posts. If you find them interesting, please share them with friends and colleagues. Please join me on Twitter and help spread the word.

Create Your Tribe Like A Millionaire

It is natural human instinct to want to be part of a group. From the earliest days of civilisation, humans have formed tribes that have sometimes grown into civilisations, states and even Empires. Then within those civilisations and states, more tribes are created. We do this because it used to be a defence mechanism. Very few humans can survive by themselves so we constantly feel the need to be "in the loop" or "part of the gang".

Now, with the internet and social media, a tribe doesn't have to be confined to geography. A tribe can be worldwide. If you think of Facebook as a very obvious example, it started off as a tribe. It was a college website which then grew to incorporate other college students from different Universities. It was a still quite an exclusive tribe and it was only a little while ago that you had to be a student to join. Now it's a worldwide social network. In fact it's got so huge, there are literally millions of different tribes within facebook. Businesses, Artists, Musicians or any random person can create a page and get people to "like" it. These people form a tribe, and every tribe needs a leader....

This is where you and I come in. 

You and I are leaders. This is why you are reading this blog, and why I am writing it. You want to change something, or are changing it and I want to help you change it. I wanted to change something by writing this blog. I was fed up of blogs and websites charging you and making you sign up to their newsletters in order to get information on "being successful". Most times it was a scam because you had to purchase (at a extortionate price) the material which was then mostly a load of hyped up, useless information that wasn't really about allowing you to be successful, but about flattering the ego of the person writing or speaking.

I changed this by writing a blog that's free. I changed this by not telling you who I am. I'm not here to flatter my ego and I'm not here to rip you off. I'm here to do something that may one day have a really positive effect on my readers.

What is it that you want to change?

People confuse Leaders with Managers. You and I are not managers. Managers keep the factory going to the status quo and end up with the same predictable results. Innovation doesn't happen in factories. Managers believe that they can grow their business by simply telling more people about it. Well most people have heard of acid, but who's drinking it? Leaders are there because they are passionate about doing something. They are passionate about making something better or even completely revolutionising something. Leaders don't listen to the people that tell them no and they walk through every obstacle that comes their way. Leaders automatically attract their followers because their followers are people that believe in what the Leader is doing.

Tribes have to grow organically. Most people assume that phenomenons happen over night. They really don't. There are countless stories of how Leaders worked on something for years before anyone even took notice of what they are doing. Phenomenons happen because a Leader works relentlessly on their dream until it happens. Slowly, day by day, more people get attracted to what that Leader is doing. In six months they may have only five people in their tribe, but a Leader carries on regardless because they know that what they're doing is one day, going to have a really positive effect.

I'll use this blog as an example. I have been writing this for only a little while and I have some regular readers. I currently don't have a massive amount of people in my tribe and I know this won't be an overnight success. However, I know that what I'm putting up is good information. I know it's helpful information and I know that even already, some people are getting good use out of it. I know that the longer I do it, the more readers I'll get and the better the content will become, which will in turn attract more readers. If those readers like what I am doing, they may well tell other people about it. It may take a year before I'm getting the amount of hits I would like to achieve, but I will get there because I believe in growing my tribe organically. 

I also believe in strengthening and involving my tribe. This isn't a one way street. This is why you can talk to me directly on twitter. Tell me what you want or what you don't want. I know that the people in my tribes have their own tribes and are Leaders themselves. This is why they are in my tribe, because they want to become more informed Leaders. Success is something that should be shared.

So if you have found any of these blogs useful, informative or even just a bit interesting. Please tell other people. Please RT me on twitter, please link my blog. Help me grow my tribe, and in turn, inform your own tribe.

Many Thanks

FM