That was the question I asked this young buck the other day, when he asked me how he could make more money with his online business.
Of course, I could’ve gone through the standard list of normal questions, like – who’s your target market…? what are you selling…? what is your market buying (which is often not the same thing that you think you’re selling)? How are you currently advertising…? what is and isn’t working, so far? etc. etc. etc.
But I didn’t take the “normal” route for two reasons…
1 – I didn’t have the time for an in depth interview with this guy. And…
2 – I’ve been running into more, and more people lately, who are only looking for a quick fix technique, or some simple method for bringing in a ton of money, right away.
And I understand a lot of people just want to make fat stacks of cash, practically overnight. (Especially when so many GooRoos out there are selling the dream).
But those pipe dreams aren’t for real. And the internet is littered with the corpses of millions of businesses, that were born one day, and died soon after.
So lately, when someone asks me how they can increase revenue for their business; I ask them what books they’re currently reading.
If they tell me they don’t have time to read any books… then I tell them they don’t have the ambition to grow their business.
I still want to help anyone (and everyone) who asks for help. But I guess my patience has been wearing a bit thin, trying to help people, when they won’t even try to help themselves.
Seriously, if you’re not continuously reading, and learning how to improve your business… then you’re not serious about growing your business.
I’ll finish this little rant of mine, with some food for thought.
It’s nothing that I made up, but it makes for a fitting conclusion. And I suppose it could relate to life in general, as well as business…
The world is constantly changing, and moving forward (with or without you). And if you’re not constantly learning, and moving forward, then you’re not standing still… you’re falling behind.
There’s an old adage that goes “One definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again; while expecting to get different results.”
But since the world is constantly changing, it can also be said “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again; and expecting to continuously get the same results.”
Something to think about.
To your success. Onward and Upward!
All the best,
SAR
Edit: When I talk about “reading books” I’m also referring to audio books, podcasts, videos, or anything else that continuously moves you forward in your business, or your personal life.
And just in case you’re wondering… right now, I’m currently on my second reading of – “The Robert Collier Letter Book,” and I also have “The Power Of Habit” cued up in my mp3 player.
