You know by now that I believe that reading is FUNDamental! If you read what others don’t, you’ll gain insights that others don’t have, and that will ultimately help you create the financial life you are striving for.
Here are my recommendations for what you should read this summer while you TAN (Take Action Now)!
Creativity for Sale, Jason SurfrApp
Jason was the very first guest on the Movers & Shakers Podcast, and we were lucky to have him. He dropped tons of knowledge in that episode, and now he’s taken it a step further by releasing first book, Creativity for Sale.
If you’re new here or you missed the episode, Jason is the guy that first figured out how to make 66 grand wearing sponsored t-shirts everyday for a year. Then he sold his last name for 50k. Finally he has this entire book sponsored before he finished, and he breaks down how you can do the same.
Stop waiting for someone else to pay you. Get creative. Make your own money.
ACTION ITEM: As you read the book and get inspired. Write down your 5 wildest, most creative (and legal) ways you can come up with to make money. Don’t hold back.
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk
Never before in the history of mankind have there been more tools available to help you reach and audience of potential customers. FB, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. etc. But, you can’t build a house with a plunger. Similarly, social media tools won’t be of much use to you if you don’t use them properly.
That’s where Gary comes in. He is definitely a trailblazer in the social media space. He gets in and masters these tools, and makes money from them before you even know they exist. But that’s ok, you can benefit from his knowledge. What’s the overall secret? JJJRH stands for Give, Give, Give, Then Ask (for the sale).
Read JJJRH to help you take the creative idea you developed and build a community of potential buyers using social media.
ACTION ITEM: Pick ONE idea from action item 1, and pick TWO (and only two for now) social media tools and develop a strategy to build a community around your new creative product or service.
Launch, Jeff Walker
You have an idea. You’ve built a community of people who like what you have to say. Now it’s time to sell your product.
But you can’t just put up a post on FB and say, “Hey, here’s my product, you can buy it now…if you feel like it.” This isn’t Field of Dreams. You can’t just build it and think they will come.
There’s an art to completing the sale. It’s a skill that can be learned. Jeff will teach you. He’s made millions of dollars online, and has taught others to do the same (to the tune of more than $500M of products sold by his students) by using his Product Launch Formula.
Build anticipation around your product (ever notice how movies are promoted?) Help your customer understand that they have a problem. Help them solve it even if they don’t buy from you. Then describe how you can save them time and energy buy letting you solve the problem for them.
ACTION ITEM: Once you’ve picked and idea and built up a small community, use the techniques in Launch to get your product out there, start making sales, and then make the product better over time.