From the desk of Razvan Rogoz
Dear friend,
I’m starting to realize how to succeed in business. The answer is simple. The focus must be on profitability and decisions must be made for profit reasons.
In the last five years, my focus has been on helping people and building credibility. I have launched books and I have offered all of them for free. I have researched and written hundreds of blog posts (I estimate the number to be around 400) which I have never monetize. I have written tens of reviews which I have never added an affiliate link to. I have helped hundreds of people who never became paying customers and never showed their gratitude beyond a simple “thank you’ for what is valuable and most important, expensive effort.
Good came out of this too. I have built a good reputation and some people noticed me in this manner. I must say though, 20% of my effort brought me an ROI while 80% proved to be a time and effort sink.
I was making decisions in order to get the good opinions of others, in order to validate myself, in order to gain praise, in order to be seen as a smart person and for one hundred other reasons that are non-profit related.
This is something that it is easy to rationalize. I post this on Facebook, for free. I can say that someone will say it and then will want to collaborate with me. I can name everything as a profit generator, including all the free advice I’m giving. This is just a fallacy as in this manner, I can say that listening to Mambo Number Five by Lou Bega is a profit generator. It puts me into a playful mood, this makes me a better seller, this earns me money. It is quite easy to rationalize.
No. The truth is that a profit generator is something that is tied directly to ROI. Having a book and asking for $10 for it if you want to read it is a profitability based decision. Having the same book, giving it for free in hope that someone will offer me an opportunity is just self-deception and a bad business model.
I am happy that I have helped so many people. I am happy for all the value I’ve created in their lives. Yet, I can not but notice that a very small minority even remembers my name or appreciates the time and effort I’ve put to help them.
This requires a change and a focus from helping people and indirect income generators that generate opportunities to an actual ROI based model. In other words, there must be a direct link between asset and ROI, which means putting everything behind a paywall. Advice comes in form of paid consultancy. eBooks come in form of information products that I do sell. Marketing materials reviews come in the form of a paid service. Facebook groups like my study group where I’ve posted articles, notes, videos come on a subscription based basis.
I am honest with myself. The only reason I am not charging money for all my effort is insecurity. It takes guts to have high standards and to say “no, I’m taking decisions only for profit decisions and not so a stranger across the globe can like me more”. It is not because it is noble. It is because I am afraid to appreciate my work enough to monetize all of it and the power of habit.
Everything I am created must be judged based on a single question, which is:
“How am I monetizing this?”
I know that I deserve to be paid for my effort. I know that what I’m writing is valuable. I know that I’m offering a lot more value than I’m asking money for. I am taking poor decisions because I seek gold stars, the validation and appreciation of others. I am taking poor business decisions because I prefer that you or anyone else like me more than to earn money.
I am decided to create wealth. I am decided to accumulate wealth so I can help as many people as possible. This means that I’m making the shift, right now, to the real mindset of a businessman – analyzing every decision and every move through the filter of profitability.
Best regards,
Razvan