The Journey to Financial Freedom

This has already been a popular topic of conversation here. So why continue on this line of thinking now?

Ah, that’s the thing. First, I don’t think I’ve actually talked about a couple simple facts about blogs. Like the simple fact that when you write something interesting, and your blog is linked into the web properly you can attract traffic. Where would the traffic come from? Here is a horribly incomplete list:

• Search engines - Google, Yahoo and MSN;
• MyBlogLog and similar blog communities;
• “Social Networking” sites such as Squidoo, Facebook and twitter;
• Other blogs - If you comment and participate on other blogs, people will visit you;
• Offline promotion. A simple card with tear-away tabs with your URL can be effective;
• Online advertising - free ones like Craig’s List, and paid ones like Google adwords.

One other thing I’m pretty certain of is this: Many people want to use things like blogs, Squidoo and Twitter. They can write or put up audio or video. But the technical things involved in setting up a blog can keep a blog from happening.

That’s a problem that I want to help people with. Come check out my email newsletter; and feel free to write any time to let me know what type of blogging issue you could use help with. You can leave a comment here, too, if you like.

Cheers,
Tim

If you hadn’t guessed it about me, I like the Internet. I mean - as a way to get ahead in life, I like the Internet. As a way to reach out and help others - I like the Internet. Have you thought about it? If you don’t already know what you are going to do to get ahead, let me give you a suggestion. And if you’ve already got a good plan and a way to generate more and more income, then you might want to establish a new Internet income stream.

Actually, I just like it. How about you? Now, some of you are thinking that reading a blog or two and checking on your next vacation is fine, but nothing more. I understand that. Or you might be unsure, curious, maybe thinking that getting something going on the Internet would be exciting. But scary. I guess this will be for you, then. I’d like to help calm your fears a bit, give you a few ideas, and help you to take some action.

First off, realize that the Internet is most like the new medium for moving information, as in….radio, then TV, now the Internet. Have you heard about Web 2.0? That’s like the original Internet, but with interactive communities for people to share their thoughts and experiences. You can find out what websites a friend has bookmarked; you can shoot a video of your new grandkid on a phone and upload it to your Blog; you can subscribe to a podcast series from Stanford on Social Entrepreneurship - and iTunes will sync that to your iPod or iPhone for you automatically. I like to use an FM transmitter and listen to those things in the car while I’m driving. I heard Zig Ziglar mention that you can get the equivalent of a master’s degree by listening to quality audio material for a year or two while driving.

So if we think about using the Internet for a platform to build a business, or to provide an additional channel for a business, we run into a big problem. Basically, the Internet is huge, yet a lot of websites sit out there and starve and they never get people to visit. Some people put a lot of time into building up a beautiful website, and spend a lot of money on that. That approach is as flawed on the Internet as it is anywhere. Unless the money you are spending helps to support a decent plan, the money is potentially being wasted. If so, this also wastes time. And I’m sure you can relate to the emotional stubbornness created by spending a pile of money supporting an idea. It can create a huge blind spot.

Let me explain it this way. Las Vegas was started as an awesome entertainment area, but it wasn’t going to get any visitors, was it? Part of the success plan had to include the transportation and the attraction of visitors. They didn’t start off with the Luxor out there, did they? No - they got things started, and they split their resources between building an amazing entertainment environment and attracting the visitors that would happily exchange their money for hotels, food, blackjack and shows.

Think for a few moments about the phrase, “building a business”. Isn’t that what I just described? The alternative is to build some amazing website with all the bells and whistles, maybe some wonderful flash, blah blah blah…. But if that amazing site is effectively as visible as a glittery signboard in a remote area of the desert, all that perfection will need a LOT of remedial promotion to bring interested visitors to it. The results in that situation would likely be disappointing for a period of time. The point is that putting more stress on starting a small Internet business, and growing that business by responding to its marketplace will normally produce better business results. And it can definitely be less emotionally straining.

But how do you design a business using the Internet? Actually, that’s not much of a problem. If you start looking for business ideas, they are everywhere! That is part of the problem with the Internet. There is just too much! Search on certain things, and you get no results. Search on other topics, and you can get 5 million results! Google and other search engines generally do a great job of providing us good results first. But, that is not always the case. And there are definitely a few whole classes of low-value website out there basically designed just to transfer dollars from us into the website’s coffers. You need to filter what’s out there, consider the source of the information, and generally be a bit discerning. The same things you do if you are watching the news, reading a newspaper or a magazine, or hearing someone interviewed on the radio. We don’t automatically trust the information on an infomercial, do we?

One thing to realize about this overwhelming number of sites and sources of information is this: We are people. People trust people. We may respect the Encyclopedia Britannica, but that is really just a set of books that contain facts. When we want to use the information, we want to be able to turn to a trusted expert. If we hear contradictory information, we’ll likely believe our trusted expert more often than not. They filter and sort and help us process all the chaotic plethora of information that is out there. Any one person can only be really good at a certain number of things. In most other things, it’s good to have a trusted source of information and advice. That saves us time, lets us trust the information that we allow to enter our brains, and that gets stored in our own amazing storage devices - our brains.

So how do we select a business model for the Internet? I suggest that we become an expert to a group of people, our customers and visitors and readers. We limit our focus and get good at solving some problem for those people. And we get to know our customers and respond to their needs. There are lots of ways to make money from a situation like that. We can sell things like books or Playstations. We can sell information, maybe in the form of a PDF, a series of phone conferences, or a podcast subscription. We can run a seminar, give training, or provide a service.

But realize that we are now talking about marketing. So let me tie all this together. One of the basics of marketing is to identify your target audience. Target them, learn about them, talk to them in a way that leads to good communication. Ask your market what they need, how you can help, and what they want to spend their money on. If you build a business with these basics in mind, you won’t likely build a perfect website with amazing sales and entertainment potential when you’ve got no audience and market. That is, unless you have a very good plan for launching that site with a big bang. You are more likely to provide things that your market wants to spend its money on, and enhancing that business over time.

This should help solve the overwhelming volume of “help” available on over a billion websites that exist already. If you know that you’d like to develop a training site to help people establish a successful account service business, then you can safely ignore a lot of things. You will have identified whole classes of websites and information as noise that you can virtually ignore. If you haven’t identified a market and a problem that you’ll solve for that market, then you may end up listening to all the promises and ideas, investigating all the glitzy, hypey sites, and you could spend years on doing research.

I hope this is making sense. If you want to establish a business that uses the Internet, then…well….you’ll have to do many of the same things that you’d do to establish a business or a shop without any Internet components. There are some markets that are hugely more successful online than they can be in today’s world using any other communication medium.

For now, let me leave you with one suggestion. For those of you that have ideas to share, that can talk or write about some topic of interest to you, I have a suggestion. Start out sharing your ideas, putting them out there in writing and audio. Maybe have phone calls or Skpe calls with others. Practice presenting your idea, and conduct some market research in the process. Develop some of the skills that you can use later to run a business that uses the Internet.

How do you do those things? Well, start a blog. Establish a podcast. Become involved in forums and other peoples’ blogs by adding your comments. This networking can lay the groundwork for a support group, or even partners, for your business as it develops. You can also start to find an audience. So, start a blog. Start writing. If you find you’re having trouble adding to your blog after 2 or 3 weeks, reflect on that. This gives you a chance to modify or completely change your “topic” or market before spending any significant money. More importantly, you don’t have the emotional stubbornness and blind spots caused by deciding on a course of action, and putting $100,000 behind that idea. Somehow it is much easier to adjust our direction when our total investment has been some time, and maybe $100.

If this approach appeals to you, then subscribe to get more of these ideas. My Get Your Biz Going email sequence deals with this topic. It gives you suggestions. You’ll see some of the ideas in action. You are reading my blog, but - maybe you have NO idea how to get your own blog started. Maybe you have a website and a few products, and have traffic, but you’re having trouble turning those pieces into sales. The idea is to get the groundwork in place to grow a business using the Internet. Join me to Get Your Biz Going. Another way to say that is - Create Your Own Newsletter. Let me help you change your momentum - and get it going!

A bit of fun - and a Naked Baby…(video)
Would you like to see what some real people have accomplished on the Internet? Some of the big numbers? Heck, I don’t even care - you really just need to see this video! It’s fun - it’s creative - and it has great rockstar appeal. Turn up your speakers. Naked Baby, Big Money Video

It seems to me that it’s time to tidy up some of the terms that I’ve been using.

You see, many times people speak with others. They use words that everyone understands. Still, there is not true communication and understanding at the end of the day.

I’ve learned some of those lessons personally. For a number of years I worked in Technical Support, working with a complex million-dollar software package. A large part of my job was getting into the head of my business-savvy and maybe computer not-so-savvy customers; and when they’d found a genuine issue with the software, I’d then have to translate the message to send to the developers in another country. The challenge was not just getting the message of the problem across. I also had to make sure to convey the urgency created by the problem and the business needs of my customer. It was all English, but I assure you that there were misunderstandings!

At the same time, I have to agree with a lesson that Robert Kiyosaki teaches. Although his real father was an educator, including serving as the head of education for the state of Hawaii, he says this lesson came from his rich dad. Plain and simple, his rich dad said that words were important. Sometimes they have very precise meanings. Most of the time, people are rather loose in their use of words. Rich dad repeatedly worked to teach Robert to learn and carefully use words based on their precise meanings.

So why the discussion of misunderstandings and the “correct” meaning of words? Well, let’s talk about “financial freedom” and wealth. Are those two basically the same thing? Are they related, but subtly different concepts? My fear is that I’ll go on talking for years, and while I have one picture in my mind, you’ll have another picture in your mind.

Here’s the thing. Financial freedom and wealth are two very different things. We can use another concept, net worth, while discussing these two. Now, I’m not really that concerned with the academics of these things. I’m concerned with the goal each of us has in our heads, and in our hearts. I’m going to suggest something here, and it’s based on a simple progression.

My suggestion: We must work to increase our net worth, striving to achieve the peace and satisfaction of financial freedom. Once we’ve gotten there, we have a lot of options. The real challenge is to keep working on your increasing net worth. Now, you could stop - there would be no need to go further. If you’re satisfied with your standard of living when you have achieved financial freedom, why not retire? You’ve earned it!

But, I think we can all do a lot more than that. Since there will be no need to work, you will have a lot of time free, or at least under your control. What will you do with your time? After a bit of a breather, I believe we should all take the skills we used to achieve financial freedom and push onwards to achieve a measure of wealth.

So - what DID I just say? Well, here’s my attempt at giving a layman’s explanation of what I just suggested. Here goes.

Financial freedom - Having residual income sufficient to pay all expenses of ones life - without the need to work.

Net Worth - The value of our assets less the value of our debts. (Being debt-free does not qualify you as being financially free. You do still need at least $1 to eat, right? You might need some cleaning supplies. Most of us put fuel in a car. Living is NOT free!)

Wealth - Having an abundance of assets.

Ok, I did look up “wealth”. Here is what mirriam webster.com says “wealth” means:

abundance of valuable material possessions or resources

I think that all is worthy of saying again, in a different way. So here goes, and I’m going to try to be more clear.

We all start with a particular financial situation. The whole world naturally strives for “good” things. But I’ll also suggest that the world is naturally abundant. We should all be working to create wealth, and to share the abundance we experience with others. We should also be generous as we are achieving wealth, and find a way to make a difference in the world. A great way to achieve wealth is to find a cause to contribute to, and become better and better at contributing to that cause - both with our actions, our capabilities and our resources.

So one virtually lifelong mission is to increase the assets we have so that they exceed the debts and expenses that we have. We should continue this and strive to create a situation where we do not have to work in order to maintain our life at an acceptable standard. But stopping there forever, while very good for our inner peace and stress levels, would just be selfish! We can contribute to the world!

True, donating our time is a valuable way to contribute - and when we are financially free, we’ve got complete control of our time. The bills are all taken care of! But, let me suggest something. In addition to contributing our time, if we can also create the wealth necessarey to establish a foundation, or simply donate a couple million dollars - then we can contribute in ways, and maybe in places, that we cannot contribute with our personal donations of time. I feel that the world can be changed for the better if 1 or 2 million people take up this type of cause in the next 10 year.

So that’s my formula for financial success. If you have any comments, let us all hear them!

I’m sure you’ve heard the rant of home business opportunity pushers. “You go to school, get good grades, study hard, and when you graduate you’ll get a good job with a good company. Then, just work hard, and The Dream will be yours! - Not true; that’s just an urban myth!” This is known as the 40-40 plan - work hard 40 hours a week for 40 years, and retire happy. It is a myth; this doesn’t happen all that much.

Have you also heard the other set of statistics? 95% of people get to retirement age and they don’t have enough money to support themselves. This has been reported in the US; it’s been reported by government agencies in Malaysia. Though I haven’t gone to look, I expect that this is one of those universal truths. If anyone has any numbers for Denmark, Australia, Yakutsk or Andorra, please leave a comment to update us all. I don’t expect the number to vary too much. And it doesn’t really matter. Let’s just take this as a slice of reality. To enjoy retirement funded by our own dollar, we need to shoot for being in the top 5% of the population. hmmm….

So, I know that could be a shock. But if I can reach a few people every few months, and if they can redesign their expenses, income streams and their financial plans based on something I say - HOORAY!! Have you read the book, “The Millionaire Next Door”? One example it illustrates is of two individuals that make over $900,000 US annually. The analysis in the book says that one of these people lives as if they make only US$225,000. The result is that they have $675,000, less taxes, to invest, save and grow their net worth. The other individual, I believe it was a doctor, actually spends a bit more than he makes each year. Net worth for him was barely fluctuating. That story scared me. It’s possible to make almost $1 Million in a year, and NOT improve your net worth. Ouch!

But let me get back to the gist of this discussion. I can’t share all of the information I gained from a 10-hour seminar. But the summary of it is this: There have been a couple VERY large changes in the way that money works. The assertion was that there is a humongous change happening right now. The world’s masses have made their living by seeking employment for years - hundreds of years. But the world is changing, and the masses will be earning a living from the new information economy.

Another fact I’ve heard recently is that the amount of information accumulated in our world is doubling now every so many months, something like every 18 months. What that means to me is that there is TOO much information. We all have to adapt. Those of us aiming to be in the 5% group of financially free (actually, financially comfortable) people in 10, 20 or 35 years will need to keep this in mind. While it will still be very possible to achieve financial freedom via traditional means, it will be quicker and more efficient to make use of new trends. Gaining skills in information age profits give us a higher margin of error when something unexpected or unfortunate happens.

What’s really going to happen in the next 10 years? How about the next 20? Few of us will make a change that the whole world will notice. But if we quietly make sure that we’re not part of the “normal” group - the 95% - then we will be a special part of history. And if we can teach enough lessons to our next generation or two so they can slip into that top 5% as well, I doubt that we need to worry about the history books. My hope is that by not having to worry about money, we and our next few generations will have the time to make a difference that the world will notice. And I for one have faith in people. I have faith that after 5 or 10 years we will all get around to contributing to the world once we’ve got our family’s finances sorted out for the next few generations.

One thing is for sure - doing things that “make sense” to the people we deal with every day will likely get us into the popular group, the group of the 95%’ers. How does that sound to you?

If you’re looking for a hypey story about getting millions in 90 days or less, sorry. I’m not going to push that kind of info. It’s just not the formula for a good, strong financial future. You’ve heard the stories about how many lottery winners file bankruptcy in a couple years. Even if you found a way to instantly put a couple mil in your bank account, your problems might just be starting at that point.

Let’s just say that things went terribly wrong sometime later. Where would you be at? You might be facing bankruptcy. And what strengths, skills and experiences would you have to lauch another attack on millionaire status? Hmm.

No, what I prefer to think about and promote are ways to increase our value to the world, or increase the value of our investments - or both. These activities lead to deeper understanding and to skills. Maybe you write a book. Maybe you run a successful services company. Maybe you take a course on investing in stock options and build a mastermind group to keep you on track until you make it to millionaire status.

Now, in this situation, what do you have? What can you do now? Let me suggest that you can go do it again! I hope this makes sense to you. By reaching millionaire status based on some effort of your own, you have gained a skill or ability that you can use again. And again. You can team up with a partner and design a training program to transfer your skill to other people. Or write a book about how to achieve what you did. You could create a coaching program to help other people profit and benefit from your experience and expertise.

What you have done is gained expertise in how to make money.

Now, I want to ak you a question. Seriously. What would it be worth to you to reach millionaire or multi-millionaire status? Have you thought about that? One of the most valuable parts of doing that, based on some effort of your own, is the actual experience you gain. That experience is a personal asset. And it is an asset that you can use to generate additional monetary assets.

The only thing is, making money is not enough. It is quite possible to make a million dollars in a year. And it’s also possible to spend one million dollars, and a bit more, that same year. Unfortunately, good money-making skills are not sufficient to achieve financial freedom.

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog. I’m quite curious what images and ideas you get when you see my blog title: The Journey To Financial Freedom. I hope you’ll leave a comment - questions, images, some good stories. Maybe you’ve got a blog that seems related. Maybe you’ve got an eCourse to help people gain more financial wisdom.

Now, the term Financial Freedom itself can be a bit controversial. What does it really mean? What does it mean to you? Is it having enough money to go out and eat at a restaurant when you want to? Is it enough financial stability, based on the balance between bills and income so things are comfortable? Or maybe a bit more ambitious - maybe you want enough cashflow monthly to pay all bills, including adding a prescribed amount to your net worth every 3 months.

But whatever your idea of financial freedom is, and whether it changes while you read and reflect on my thoughts, here is one thing that is certain. Financial Freedom, like success and happiness in life, is a journey. If you ever think you’ve gotten it done - that it’s complete - remember this: the unexpected can come along any time and wipe out a LOT of wealth in no time. And humans are pretty good at spending more than they have. Even a person with a million dollars in income in a year is perfectly capable of buying too many houses and good meals and having their net worth decrease. Now, allow for taxes and natural disasters and health issues.

It is a journey. You never really get there. You learn how to travel better, with less stress, with more certainty. But you keep traveling. And I hope you like travel - because that is one of the rewards of financial success and financial freedom that I plan on talking about. Please let me know if that’s a problem!

Talk to you again soon. Drop a note here - introduce yourself. Do give me some ideas. Don’t be a stranger.