After nearly 20 years of online business, I'm officially declaring that these are the glory days of online marketing… here's why:
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think…
So this is the blog post where I tell you exactly how to get rich. Now I know with a title like “How to Get Rich”, I'm gonna lose a lot of people right away… but don't make that mistake of clicking away. Keep reading, this is legit.
Actually, I suppose there are lots of ways to get rich… but I'm going to share with you what I think is the most surefire way to get rich – it's the path that worked for me. The amazing thing is that, as you'll see, it's so darn simple.
Now the reality is that most people won't get rich… I suppose that's just the way the world works. I'm not sure why (though I have some theories.) But if you're going to have a fighting chance, then this is the formula to put to work.
And I will also tell you that this formula is not 100% guaranteed… because I'm sure there are people that have worked this formula and NOT gotten rich. Nevertheless, in my years of careful observation, this is the formula that has worked over and over for the most people.
OK, enough preamble… let's get to it. There are only four steps in this formula:
STEP 1. Decide what it means for you to be rich. For some people it's an income of $100,000. For some it's a million dollars in the bank. For some it's $30 million in net worth… and for some it's a whole lot more than that.
IMPORTANT: for some people (including me) it's not really a financial measurement – it's something else. Maybe it's a state of mind, or it's a set of relationships (with family, friends, community, etc.). Or it's being able to ski a double-black-diamond run successfully. Or it could be something else.
But the bottom line is that you are going to shoot at a big target (and being “rich” is a big target), then you need to know what target you're shooting at. You have to be able to see that target.
NOTE: here's a little splash of reality – you will never be finished with Step 1. You will always be refining what it means to be rich. Please don't shoot the messenger… that's just reality, and it's as it should be.
STEP 2: Study people who are rich, and do what they do. And of course, you want to be studying people who are rich by your definition of “rich”.
I know that sounds really simple… and, conceptually, it IS really simple. But the actual doing of it is a lot harder. And the reality is that most people are NOT rich or successful… so you don't want to be doing what those people are doing. Most people are doing stuff that does NOT bring success. Don't do that stuff.
You want to find the people who ARE having success (as you define success), and then do what they do. The best is if you can find several people to study, and try to identify the commonalities in what they're doing. Study what they think and do, and study what they study, and study who they learn from.
Inevitably, you will find that some of the habits of rich and successful people are outside of the normal patterns that most people follow. That's because most people are NOT successful.
NOTE: there are lots of resources that make the “discovery” part of this step easier than you would think. There's lots of books about this type of stuff – including autobiographies and biographies.
STEP 3: Observe and record your progress… and then adjust.
You need to be self-aware… you will be installing new behaviors and habits. As you do so, it's best if you keep some type of journal or record of your thoughts/actions. Look at what's working for you, and what's not working. Track your progress towards your definition of “rich”. Don't expect overnight success (it won't happen), but do celebrate your victories as they come.
Pay especially close attention to how your mindset evolves… because that's the true secret to success. You will never be rich until you have a mindset that is rich and abundant.
STEP 4: Stop and have gratitude for your progress. Then go back and start over with Step 1… this is not a one-time formula. Almost everyone I know who is rich and successful (and I have the good fortune to spend a lot of time around those types of folks) is continually going through this process.
So there you have it… that's a super-compressed version of the “secret formula” on how to get rich.
Now I know it sounds impossibly simple. And I know some people will think I'm being tongue-in-cheek with this post. But I'm not – this is absolutely the most surefire path to success that I know. Success leaves clues… so study what successful people do, find the common underlying strategies, and then DO THOSE THINGS.
Now to help you along the way, I've got a couple of resources for you… first is one of my Facebook pages with a free video series of my “Master Planning Process”… this is the yearly planning process I use to create my vision for my life each year. This is the process that I use in creating my vision for a rich life. Here's the link:
Jeff's Yearly Master Planning Process
So that's how I plan out my year. Next up is the process I use to plan my DAYS… it's a process I learned from Brendon Burchard. He taught it to me in a small mastermind meeting we were in, and I've found it to be super-powerful. Brendon calls it his “One Page Productivity Planner”… and he just published a free video training where he teaches how to use this process:
Brendon's Daily Planning Process
Both of those resources are pretty cool, and they're free… and they're based on what very successful people are doing – so check them out.
So now onto your STEP 1…. what does it mean for YOU to be rich? And where are you in your journey?
I didn’t know that my life was about to change forever. I suppose, in those types of moments, you never do.
I remember the moment like it was yesterday. I was at a one of the mountain parks near my home in Colorado with my two young kids. I brought a picnic lunch, which the kids quickly gobbled up. Now they were happily scrambling around… climbing on some big rocks and playing in the forest.
I was seated at a picnic table. It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was out, but I was in the shade of a pine tree. In my hands I held a slim, hardcover book that I hadn’t started reading yet.
Little did I know when I opened that book that it would quickly transport me to another world… and inspire me to start a business that would help tens of thousands of people, make me a fortune, and eventually change the way business was done on the Internet.
But back then I couldn’t have had a more humble setting. At the time I was Mr. Mom – I was a stay-at-home-dad… the primary caregiver for my kids. My total personal income for the previous five years was exactly zero dollars. I had quit my corporate job, and my wife was supporting the family. I liked spending so much time with my kids, but there was definitely a gaping hole in my life. I felt the drive to create something, but I didn’t know what… and I didn’t know where to begin. I was paralyzed.
The book I was holding in my hands was a book that my wife had given me. That’s not necessarily a good sign… since we don’t tend to share the same taste in books. But this one was different, and it was about to change the course of my life.
It’s a good thing that there was nothing menacing in the woods, and that my kids did a good job fending for themselves… because I can’t say I was the most attentive father that day. As soon as I opened the book, I was completely consumed by it.
That book that changed everything for me was “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. It doesn’t seem like an impressive book when you pick it up. It’s a short book, and it’s very easy to read. It’s not about marketing, or business… or even personal development.
Instead, it’s a parable about how to live your life and pursue your dreams. And the journey the book takes you on… well, it made a huge impact on my life.
Now I’ve had many mentors over the last 15 years or so – and I’ve written about some of them on this blog. And they’ve all helped me in various ways… but it was Paulo Coelho and the mysterious Alchemist that was there at the beginning and gave me permission and faith to pursue my dreams.
Paulo is a wildly successful and influential author. He’s sold over 140 million books. He has 6,605,086 likes on Facebook. He has 2,396,203 followers on Twitter. He clearly influences a lot of other people (in addition to me.)
And now, in another one of those cases of things circling back for me… one of my best friends – Brendon Burchard – is interviewing Paulo on a live teleseminar. That’s a really big deal – to show you just how significant that is… Paulo is only doing two interviews in the U.S. this year – one is with the New York Times and the other is with Brendon.
I’m going to be on the call – because I’m a fan of Paulo Coelho… and because I want to hear from someone who has had such amazing success in his life (and become so amazingly influential.)
You can register for the call FOR FREE at this link:
CLICK HERE for Paulo Coelho and Brendon Burchard
Go register now… this is going to be unlike any other call you’ve been on – I can’t wait to hear Brendon’s interview with Paulo… it’s not going to be about marketing, and there isn’t going to be anything for sale. But with what this man has accomplished in his life and the people he’s impacted… well I can’t wait to hear the wisdom he has to share…
Best regards,
Jeff
P.S. And now you know the “why” behind the name of my company – Internet Alchemy, Inc… I named it after the book that inspired everything. 🙂
P.P.S. It’s sorta funny… things have come full circle in some ways, and they’re very different in other ways. I’ve now read most of Paulo Coelho’s books. And obviously, the circumstances of my life are very different. My kids are a lot older now. My wife was able to retire long ago to be a Mom. My business has grown to levels that I never could have dreamed.
But this past spring I opened another of Paulo’s books. Once again, I was with my family in a lovely place out in nature. But this time I was on a 44-foot sailboat that I had chartered for a week in the British Virgin Islands. Once again I was transported away to another world when I started reading the book. And once again I was inspired.
I can’t wait to hear what Paulo has to say to Brendon.
P.P.P.S. There are lots of inspiring books out there. I'm not sure why “The Alchemist” was the one that did it for me… but I've gone back to read it several times since that first time out in the woods with my kids. It really resonates with me. But I'm curious… what books have inspired you?
If you ever needed even more PROOF of just how powerful Internet Marketing was… well a few days ago Brendon Burchard's new book – the Millionaire Messenger – premiered at #1 on Amazon.com and BN.com.
And in a few days, when the next New York Times bestseller list is announced, there's a darn good chance it will be near the top of that list as well.
And Brendon has done this ENTIRELY with Internet Marketing. There was no book tour, no TV or radio… he's not a famous author, and he's not getting a big push from a fancy New York publisher.
He's just using the Internet Marketing tactics that we've all been honing for the last 10 years. He used his list, he used his affiliate partners… and he basically put together a very cool product launch.
(Click here to see how Brendon put together his book offer.)
This is something I've been talking about for a couple of years now… what we're doing in the Internet Marketing world is changing the face of the business world and the publishing world.
(Not to mention the world of education and even entertainment.)
And guess what… the people in those worlds are starting to notice what we're doing. They're seeing the results we're getting… and they want to get those kinds of results.
These are exciting times for Internet marketers…
Get the behind-the-scenes strategies I use to launch products & build successful online businesses.
Jeff Walker