Humans love to complicate the hell out of everything by running the most dramatic stories in our minds. These dramas tell epic and powerful stories of why we can't do exactly what we feel called to do, why no one will buy our shizzle, why nobody loves us and how our hair looks gross today. What's interesting is that you could just change the channel and tell a different and totally true story about why me MUST do exactly what we feel called to do, why tons of people will buy our shizzle, why so many lovely people love us and how our hair has that trendy “bedhead” look happening today.
The same is true in Business.
Business is simple, we make it extraordinarily hard.
We make it hard by telling very dramatic stories in our heads and then following up those very dramatic stories with actions that are no good for us and no good for our businesses (and to be honest, that make no fucking sense).
Case in point: We make business extraordinarily hard on ourselves when we hire B- and C- players and try to turn them into A-players. We train, we manage, we overcompensate and do half the work and still the B- and C- players you hired are not A-players. You know what the simple solution is? Fire them. Fire your B- and C-players and replace them with A-players who you don't have to constantly struggle with or stress yourself out trying to make them great. A-players are automagically great, that's what makes them A-players. Simple, right?
The same is true of making money.
Making money is simple, we make it extraordinarily hard.
Case in point: Instead of reaching out to that list of potential partners whose audience you want to work with, and showing them how you can provide extraordinary value to them and to their audience, you putz around promoting your stuff non-stop on social media. Because that strategy has been so effective for you ← Said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster.
Another case in point: Instead of focusing on one kind of client you can serve, you ignore the whole customer avatar thing and talk to all different kinds of audiences all the time. In fact, you serve two TOTALLY DIFFERENT audiences simultaneously with two (or three or four) TOTALLY DIFFERENT offers because the less you focus the more your business will grow (in Opposite Land).
Let's stop over-complicating the fuck out of our lives and businesses and stick with the tried, true and simple strategies that work, mmmmkay?
So here are three of the hottest ways to make more money. Believe it or not, these incredibly simple (and to be honest, SUPER OBVIOUS) ways to make more money totally fucking work.
1. Do something you love. It is a joyful truth that exactly the thing that is calling your name in the night, that thing that your heart is bursting to do, is exactly the thing that will make you more money. I am living proof, trust. It may not seem to make logical sense that focusing on ‘your passion' will make you more money, when your passion is baking weird cakes with cereal milk, writing random made up stories about child wizards or that squishy, kinda vague calling of “helping people live their best lives” but people have made shit tons of money doing exactly what their heart was calling them to do. Your heart knows. Stop fighting it and do that thing that you KNOW you want to do. The money will follow (that is, if you don't overcomplicate the hell out of it) because you won't stop until it does because you love what you're doing and won't want to stop … ever. See? Simple as fuck.
2. Have more fun. Yes, I know this list is getting more and more unbelievable but it's true. As my friend Susan Hyatt always says, “the more fun I have, the more money I make.” The combination of doing work you love and injecting more fun into it is a killer recipe for increased revenue. So how can you have more fun? The secret is to combine something people need (and that you love providing) with something you love to do just for fun. You can do crazy things like combining legal advice with witty banter or combining business coaching with cake baking. And the big ass bonus is that combining things that have never been combined before is a sure fire way to make your brand stand out. DO IT.
3. Make more friends. Uh huh, making friends is key to your company's success. As the cliched saying goes: your network is your net worth. Don't believe it? Have you ever heard of the “Old Boys Club?” I rest my case. Connecting with other entrepreneurs is essential to your growth as a CEO and to the growth of your brand. My entrepreneurial friends have taught me almost everything I know about business, they have promoted my work, collaborated with me and collaborated with me again, been a shoulder to cry on and a source of solid advice when I hit a big old, blow-your-tires bump in the road and referred a ridiculous amount of business to me. Like, ridiculous. Making friends is essential to making money so get to it. Pro Tip: Don't try to connect with people for the sole purpose of getting your work promoted, we entrepreneurs can see your motives from a mile away. Instead make friends with fellow entrepreneurs for the sake of making friends. Connect with people you actually like and maybe having something in common with. The rest will follow. Trust.
If you've bent yourself and your business into an over-complicated pretzel of none-too-much, now is your chance to start ripping things apart and tearing shit down. Edit, edit, edit until you've got a simple business model focused on these basics: doing work you love, having more fun with it and making more friends who can partner with you, promote your work and refer tons of business your way.
This is the very sexy and very simple way to make more money and, incidentally, to love your life.
