My Top 10 Money-Making Activities from Over the Years!

This morning we had brunch with one of my entrepreneur friends, Denise Duffield-Thomas, and her husband. It was great to catch up over some seriously gooooood food (hello breakfast buffet!) and it was also great to have a really good business-mindset chat. I have loads of like-minded money-making friends these days but they are mostly online friends so it’s always good to meet up in person with someone who doesn’t think I’m crazy or strange!

 Awesome breaky buffet at QT in Surfers AND we got to see Justin Bieber’s graffiti – what an honour 🙂

Anyway, one of the things we talked about was how important it is to be honest about where we are in our businesses (i.e. financials, lifestyle, what’s working and what’s not working). It was a timely conversation as on the walk to brunch I’d been thinking about how absolutely amazing it is that as of 2 days ago we are living the ‘laptop lifestyle’ – meaning we’ve put all our stuff in storage and are now officially nomads for the next few years! We’re starting with 6 months on the Gold Coast and after that we’re off to Germany for 3 months and then, well, who knows?!

And the funny thing is that I’ve ALWAYS known that one day I’d have that freedom; it’s a big part of what I’ve worked towards since building my business online starting way back in 2007. But I guess there was a part of me that thought one day would never come. It was only a few weeks ago that I suddenly realised –

Oh my God. It’s one day.

It feels SO strange to be honest. But also seriously awesome. And just so damn exciting to know that I’ve created this!

So anyway, as I walked I was thinking about how I’ve done SO much stuff over the years that hasn’t worked at all but also obviously a lot of stuff that has. And I wanted to reflect on that for my own benefit and at the same time share with you what has been the MOST effective and powerful work when it comes to growing my business.

So here they are – my top 10 most effective money-making activities from over the years!

Blogging

Bloggers don’t make big money, they say. And that is totally true if blogging is ALL you’re doing. But as a business growth strategy it’s one of the best. I’ve blogged consistently since 2007 (usually 1-2x per week) and it’s one of the key reasons I have such a large audience of raving fans who love me and my work. I’ve delivered free value again and again and again and again and so when I DO release something paid? People know it’s gonna be good. Blogging has also positioned me as an expert and allowed me to feature on some amazing publications.

Lesson: don’t make blogging an ‘only when you have time’ activity.

Big beliefs

If you want to make it HUGE you gotta dream huge AND you have to be able to withstand whatever comes your way. Often the greatest saboteur to your success is your own inability to maintain your vision when the going gets tough.

Lesson: Did you know you can choose your beliefs? Choose now that you DO believe in your success, come what may. Be committed to maintaining that belief and you’ll get there!Allow your beliefs about success to wash in and out and you can’t expect to make much money now, can you?!

Don’t wait to monetise

Darren Rowse of Problogger told me this exact thing personally at the very first Problogger event when I put my hand up to ask that question. And it’s a great lesson – every time I’ve held off on launching or finishing off an idea it’s cost me money. I know – duh, right? But how often do YOU wait until you’re ‘ready’ and therefore end up delaying for months what could be done in weeks or often less?

Lesson: act first, figure it out later. All my most profitable ideas and programs I’ve launched with ZERO content plan. Once it sells, THEN I figure it out! This has created me literally several hundred thousand in additional income over the past 18 months, largely as I believe I simply wouldn’t have done a lot of the stuff I’ve done had I not had the pressure of knowing it HAD to be done.

Always be trying

Never ever ever stop trying. I don’t mean you should obsess about your business, but seriously – you probably do anyway, so obsess about how to make it work. All the successful entrepreneurs I know DO think about their business pretty much all the time. This is not so much because they’re workaholics but because their business is based on what they love doing (key!) and because it’s just in their blood to do so.

Lesson: don’t rest on your laurels. You can have the 2-hour workday, sure. But you gotta put the effort in to get there. And tbh you probably won’t WANT to work only 2 hours a day everyday if you’ve got that action-taking personality like I do!

The sooner you release your signature program, the better

Same sort of thing as ‘monetise now’ yeah? I know you want to create your signature program and see it fly. I know YOU know it’s one of the most important elements of making money online. After all, a $27 ebook can only take you so far. So what are you waiting for? Release that baby NOW. Even if only one person signs up, so what? It will force you to create the sales and marketing process as well as the actual content!

Lesson: you don’t have to have a massive audience to start your program. Even one client is a great start!

Fail continually

NEVER let your failures get to you except in that they get you to pick yourself up and try again. I can’t tell you how many crappy programs or ideas I’ve had a go at, how many businesses over the years that failed spectacularly. Failure only dictates your results if you make it mean you should STOP.

Lesson: be proud of yourself for having the long-sighted belief and vision to keep going RIGHT AWAY after each and every failure. Ask yourself what you can learn rather than telling yourself you’re not going to make it!

Cheaper products WILL build raving fans

Clearly the money is in more expensive products, but it’s also in a big list of raving fans who would do anything for you. And what gets you raving fans who love your work? Well – free content for sure! But also, cheaper products. Why create something so cheap when I have awesome stuff in place that makes way more money way faster? Well, partly I just love to create new stuff. But also it’s a great way to introduce new people to my work, and many of them will become lifelong clients.

Lesson: diversify your product line

Know your ‘why’

What is your business really about? Don’t say financial freedom! You have to know what your underlying motivation is to keep doing what you do, or when the tough stuff comes along it will be easy to justify quitting. For me it’s about having CHOICE. Choice is my ‘word’ when it comes to keeping on keeping on with creating my dream biz and life. Like right now I am writing this on the beach. I love that I can make money on my terms, spending how much time I want, answering to nobody and even working wherever I want. Not loving the sand in my eyes right now mind you, or my keyboard 🙂 but still -it’s my choice!

Lesson: ask yourself these questions. 1) What do I really want? 2) Why is that important to me? 3) What do I mean by that? – repeat the last 2 questions until you get to your ‘aha’ moment or your ‘why’. Journalling works well for this.

Don’t be afraid to release something seriously EXPENSIVE

Stop being scared and playing small! You are seriously awesome at what you do yeah? You can help people? How much value are people getting from you, really? Don’t be afraid to charge more for your work, especially if it involves access to you! Do NOT base your prices on what others are doing, base them on what you are worth.

Lesson: learn to honour your time and your worth.

Mastermind your way to success

Finally – the most important part of the mix! Surround yourself with a team of people who will cheer you on, support and believe in you. People who KNOW YOU CAN DO IT and who are also there to raise you to a higher level energetically and teach you to expect more. I spent the first 4 years online completely alone and I DID succeed (due to my beliefs and determination) but it was tough going. Since actively seeking out mastermind friends and investing in coaches who were where I wanted to be, my income has gone from a few k a month online to now over 50k per month online, and growing.

Lesson: the best money in your business is spent on coaching. But you can also hang out with like-minded people for free if you start putting yourself out there and looking for them. Entrepreneurs are everywhere and you don’t have to to go it alone! My clients LOVE that they get to hang out in a mastermind of wealthy woman when they coach with me, and I love the same about being on the VIP list with my coaches!

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