Money is a very important asset.
I understand its importance despite my ramblings about “The five ways we get paid and the fifth is cash” and “It’s not always about the money.”
And my business is not a non-profit (which may surprise you) after labeling myself as the “Director of Sales Prevention” (which I wear like a badge of honor). 🙂
With that as preamble, I want to share an epiphany I had about losing money during one of my Titans Xcelerator calls.
I made the declaration to my virtual family of Titans that:
“I have never lost money while working in (and on) my business”
And that is not the same thing as saying that I am a flawless businessman.
Far from it.
But even when the balance in my checking account is going down significantly…or when I send a huge payment because of some outrageous mistake I made…or when I have to send significant compensation to someone for an error in fulfillment…or a huge refund for promises made and not kept…or something else that caused me to send cash to cover up for my inadequacies…
…I still never lose money.
I acknowledge that losing money, in a literal sense, is defined as cash going out the door unnecessarily, which does happen and it always hurts.
But I also realize there are upsides to all negative cash flow events.
Maybe I don’t treasure every one of them at the time they are happening, but they are all part of my balance sheet (and that “balance” is not just financial).
I believe that when you look at your business through rose-colored glasses (or any colored glasses other than green), with a mindset that focuses on value rather than cash, you can come to the same conclusion that I have…that there is never a situation where you actually lose money.
Do you want to try on my thesis by wearing any color glasses other than green while focusing on value over money?
If yes, read on.
If not, use the time to make some money…but I warn you that you will then run the risk of losing some money in the process. 🙂
I know this all sounds like a wonderful rationalization for throwing good money after bad on projects and business ideas that go south, and never suffering any consequences.
That’s not what this is.
And yes, bankruptcy is a real thing.
And no, I am not living in a fantasy world.
But without thinking about the by-products, you create every time you “lose” (and I use the term “lose” loosely), you will always live in one of two camps, the winners or the losers.
And that binary choice doesn’t seem like much fun since there is so much more nuance to life…and business in particular…to only have those two choices.
Two quotes that I’d like to begin my thesis with are these, which I have used before, but not together:
- From world champion dog agility trainer (and badass marketer) Susan Garrett:
“We win or we learn. We never lose.”
And despite winning dozens of gold medals on almost every continent, she hasn’t won every competition she has competed in, which number in the hundreds …so she has some serious street cred to say this. - From marketing guru, and one of my mentors, Jay Abraham:
“Get everything you can out of all that you’ve got”
Jay has made millions of dollars and lost millions of dollars. And whatever his financial situation has been throughout the 40+ years I’ve known him, his mantra has always been about getting everything he could from every situation in the moment, whether he was crushing it…or getting crushed. He has been enormously successful over a long career and under any metric…so he too has a successful track record (with many failures sprinkled in) to back up his quote.
Here are a few examples of how to never lose money even while you may be bleeding cash.
Value over money
Cash may be king, but value creation is emperor (or whatever is above “king” which may also include “Supreme CEO” or “Entrepreneur Extraordinaire”).
As cash is going out the door for a mishap, make sure you make copious notes about the value that was created by whatever mistake you made…and file that in the fireproof safe of intangible assets.
Bonus for doing this: Those assets will be immune to inflation. 🙂
It all sounds a bit fanciful I know…but you always get something for that payment, even if making the payment is extremely painful.
And no matter how trivial or meaningless the value you receive for that painful payment seems at the time, consider it a valuable dividend, one that you must save, memorialize and honor.
That’s why you need to put those notes, dividends, receipts, or whatever, in a safe where they might not do anything for you immediately; and where they can still create compound interest over time without the need for a bank.
Simply put: Document it all for the future.
Relationship capital over money
You knew this would come up if you’ve been in my online family for any length of time.
Even when you are paying out for self-inflicted indulgences or compensating for a perceived injustice, you can still make friends in the process.
Not all the time… but with money, even payments under duress can still create goodwill.
Cash becomes the past as soon as it’s paid…while your ongoing relationships are about the present…and the future.
Content over money
Content—which is always an asset—needs to be measured as you come up for air from every negative situation, even the stickiest ones where you lose money, your shirt, or anything else which can be classified as a liquid asset.
Remember, we win or we learn…and relating what we learn when we don’t win is valuable content you can share with your online and offline families…and teach those lessons so others won’t make the same mistakes.
And dare I say create a blog, a manifesto and even a book with those lessons.
You’ll note when I wrote “The biggest mistakes of my career: Part one,” I led with Susan Garrett’s quote there too, with the purpose of eventually getting it right through repetition.
And making sure my online family never gets it wrong.
Ever.
Community over money
I’ve often told you that you can remain on my list as part of my online family and never buy anything from me…and while it would be nice if you tapped into some of my educational products, it is far from a requirement.
Under that premise, why should it be a requirement to cut off people forever from your life who you’ve had “money issues” with—if things were resolved well for both sides?
Grudges have no intrinsic value.
Well, they do for some.
Not me.
And…when others in your circle see that you resolved your differences with someone else that way, they will be more secure in your community knowing that they can resolve any issues with you the same way should they arise.
Of course, not every negative business transaction ends in bliss—I am not that naïve—but in over 45 years in business I can safely say that I have only written off people from my community (whether from money issues or not) less than the number of fingers on one hand.
That’s not because I am any kind of expert negotiator either…in fact, I’m a wimp in most negotiations…but I also get 7 to 9 hours of peaceful sleep every night so that’s an asset for me to treasure.
It’s all about what you hold on to and what you let go of…
…and how you don’t let money run (or ruin) everything.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. No…you still don’t have to buy anything from me.
How’s that for a sales pitch? 🙂
And no, I am not going to pitch you to join my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind…which would cost you the equivalent of 10% of any other mastermind…and I don’t want to assume that is in your marketing budget.
But how about something that would cost 10% of that 10% (or 1% of any other mastermind)?
Would you consider that?
I invite you to do that right now.
What I am offering you today is to get a taste of a room/community/Zoom screen where I guarantee you are not the smartest person (because then you are in the wrong room/community/Zoom screen).
But you will be in the room where it happens (i.e. where everyone is getting smarter…together).
Also (whether you take me up on this offer or not) …when you do decide to enter those rooms in the future, I encourage you to go in with guns blazing (i.e. sharing what you have to offer), so you can “contribute to connect” … which beats superficial networking, collecting people and having the most Facebook friends.
And if what I am offering you today creates that moment of decision, I will sell this to you the only way I can…based on the results you will achieve if you say “YES.”
This link will take you to a page of mammoth results and information about a special two-week “event”—a mini mastermind– I am hosting where you will be able to encounter your first…or second…or tenth…hot seat.
And connect with like-minded marketers, copywriters and entrepreneurs, many of whom will become part of your community for life.
With…
- Six, 90-minute live calls (with recordings) exploring the mind and world of Gene Schwartz, one of the greatest copywriters, marketers and human behaviorists who have ever lived.
- “Office hours” with me during the Bootcamp…and my marketing partner Chris Mason…to make sure you have an action plan once you have gone through the calls and the exercises. You will need to do some work, however. And it will be well worth your while.
- A private Facebook group for all members of the Bootcamp…to exchange ideas and make lifelong friends at the same time.
- During the two weeks of Bootcamp calls, you will also have a complimentary “seat” inside my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind (twice!) to see what I am talking about regarding a larger curated community where everyone helps everyone (which the Bootcamp will do in miniature).
There will never be an obligation to join.
My guarantee:
You will be “phoning friends” long after these 8 calls…and that’s whether you stay in my orbit or not.
All for the exorbitant price of $197. 🙂
What’s holding you back from joining the 11th Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp?
It will be the best one ever…because it encomapsses the accumulated learning from the previous ten…but only if you choose to be there.
Please click here to read all about it…and to register.