April 25th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
If I were to ask who wants more money, most people would say “I do!” Let’s face it, in our world today, money plays a major role. Beyond survival and basic necessities it can give us pleasurable experiences, enable us to do things for our family, friends and community, and provide us with the freedom to live on our own terms.
One of the best ways to increase your income, whether you own your own business or work for a company, is to find ways to increase and, ultimately, leverage your value. People are paid varying sums of money based on the value they provide. So if you can find ways to leverage whatever value you are providing, or increase your value to society, your customer or your company, you will automatically increase your income.
One of the best examples of this I’ve ever seen is Tony Robins. When he first started much of his work was based on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).
While there are thousands of practitioners using NLP working with clients, Tony took it to another level. He used and taught these techniques to rooms filled with people. One of his seminars that I attend years ago had 3,000 people in attendance.
At that time a solo practitioner would see people for about $100 per hour. Assuming they saw four people per day, they would gross $400 per day. While a pretty good business model, it paled by comparison to what Tony did with essentially the same training.
The event I attended had 3,000 people who each paid $200 for the day. That’s $600,000 gross plus product sales. Clearly Mr. Robins understood the value of leverage.
If a chef were to sit and explain a recipe to one person, he or she may be able to collect $100 for an hour of consulting. However, if the same chef put the information into a book, CD or DVD or some other “package” they would be leveraging their time and value and would produce exponential returns.
I charge aspiring authors and publishers $150 an hour consulting. A few years ago I packaged much of the information a beginner needs to know into an audio seminar, “Successful Self-publishing,” with an accompany Ebook which I make available for only $27. The author saves $123 while receiving the information that they need.
The really cool thing is, I am able to help more people and, because I can now sell it over and over again, the potential return to me is practically unlimited.
What about you? What are some ways that you can leverage your value?
Could you, for example, add group coaching to your solo coaching practice? Why don’t you offer additional products to your existing customers? McDonald’s mastered this principal with their, now famous, “Would you like fries with that?” question.
If your working in a job, what could you do to add more value to your company?
I love the Jim Rohn story about the time he said to his mentor, “That’s all my company pays.” His mentor replied, “No, that’s all they pay you!”
Companies, regardless of size, pay employees based on the value that they bring to the business. This is one reason salespeople and rainmakers (people who can leverage high level connections) are generally very well paid.
Many “Intrapreneurs” – people who work inside a company but create added value, have earned well in excess of their salary by either saving the company money or creating additional income for it.
A good example of this is the “post-it,” invented by someone within the 3M organization who received a small override on the sales.
Where could you save money for your company or add to the bottom line? How might you present this in a way that will enable you to share in the income generated from your idea?
My friend, Wayne, spent his first career working at a local community college. Not satisfied with just doing his job, he developed a program for an under-served segment of the population. Being an entrepreneur at heart, he presented it in such a way as to share in the increased revenue to the college. His program became the largest income generator for the school and enabled Wayne to earn well above his base salary.
How might you model a similar idea in your company?
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April 16th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
The other night I delivered my Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck seminar at New York City’s Learning Annex. As always it was a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, I am doing it again on April 24th, so if you’re in the area sign up and come and take the class with me.
At the end of the almost 3-hour program, one man came up to me and paid me the greatest compliment I could have asked for. He shook my hand and said “I want to thank you, you’ve got me thinking. I’ve been wanting to start my own business and now I am seeing ways I can do it.”
Those four words, “you’ve got me thinking” are what does it for me. That’s why I do what I do. We all want something or more of something in our lives and if I can get you thinking about ways to succeed, I’ve done my job.
My books, audio programs and live events are all designed to do just that, get you thinking. Once you start thinking about ways you can fulfill your desires and create the life you want, you’re on your way.
Too many people spend their time looking at their problems and making excuses for why they can’t have what they want.
But by using the mind God gave you and shifting your attention to possibility thinking, you can start asking yourself more empowering questions.
It’s like the story Robert Kiyosaki told in Rich Dad, Poor Dad about how his “poor dad” would say “We can’t afford it!” (Something I heard a lot growing up.) While “rich dad” would ask “How can I afford it?”
What could you do to move in the direction of your dreams? What would it take to get you to start thinking?
If it’s more money you want, read Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck. It was written to get you thinking about the many ways you can earn more money.
Whatever it is you want, in any area of your life, start looking for ways you can do it instead of finding “reasons” (read-excuses) why you can’t.
Words are powerful! The words you tell yourself and the questions you ask, have the power to change your life.
As it’s been said, If you want a bigger life, as bigger questions.
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April 5th, 2008 by Jim Donovan
April has always been a special month for me. It was April 19th when I hit my bottom, thinking my life was over, only to find out it was just beginning. And in April I stopped smoking, a habit I had since childhood.
I attended the Tony Robbins seminar and participated in the “Firewalk” on an April night back in 1991, an experience that had a profound effect on my life and contributed to my becoming a writer and starting my newsletter.
Something else I like about the month of April is that, where I live, it signals the beginning of spring, a time when I feel re-energized after the cold, quiet winter months. It’s a time when I reevaluate my goals, plant new seeds and begin new projects.
This is an ideal time to take stock of your life and decide what you’d like to create for the months ahead. One of the things that I think about are my goals for the next three months.
What would I like to accomplish between the beginning of April and July 1st when my thoughts will surely go toward summer with warm days, beaches and outdoor fun.
What would you like to do in the next three months?
In your personal life, what goal will you set right now that you could reasonably reach by July?
Have you, like me, been procrastinating about making the time t o exercise regularly? Imagine how great you will feel three months from now if you commit to starting right now. What’s standing in your way?
Have you been wanting to lose some weight? Three months is enough time to make significant progress in this area. If you want some help in this area, go here
What about your finances? Would you like to have more disposal income for a great summer vacation? If you were to begin now you could earn a nice sum by July.
If you have a business, great! Devise ways to expand your services and serve more people. If not, maybe it’s time you started something on your own.
For simple, practical ideas anyone can use, without quitting your job or giving up your business, read my new book, Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck.
Now is the ideal time to revisit your ideal life vision and see how you are progressing.
Evaluate your progress, set some new, expansive three-month goals and start moving toward them. Imagine it’s July 1st and you wake up having achieved and even exceeded the goals you set back in April. How great do you feel now?
Stay in that “completion vibration” and, from that energy, ask yourself “What action could I take immediately to move me toward my goals?”
Then, be still and wait for guidance. When you receive it, trust it and act upon it.
Always act from this higher place where you can receive guidance and inspiration from above.
By seeing and feeling your your vision as already manifest, you are emitting the same vibration as if it actually has and signaling your desires to the Universe. As the law of attraction states, it must respond in kind.
“And all things, whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew 21: 22
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Tags: entrepreneurship, increase your income, intrapreneur, Jim Rohn, Money, tony robbins
