A post on Instagram said, “As you get older, you’ll realize that a $300 and $30 watch both tell the same time. A Michael Kors wallet and a Forever 21 wallet hold the same amount of money.
A $100,000 house and a $300,000 home hold the same loneliness. A Bentley will also drive you as far as a Ford.
True happiness is not found in materialistic things, it comes from the love and laughter found with each other. Stay humble, the holes dug for us in the ground are all the same size.”
What garbage! If money doesn’t buy happiness then poverty does? Does poverty bring you happiness?
It’s exactly this kind of trash that’s been spreading around on social media. This is how broke people rationalize their failures. It’s also how people look at wealth. If you’re rich, you can’t be happy!
They say things like, “I would rather be healthy than rich, I would rather be happy than rich.” This ridiculous thinking is like saying, “Which is more important, my right hand or my right foot?”
How about both? Both are important.
Why can’t you be both wealthy and happy? Why can’t you be both wealthy and loving? What’s the problem with that?
You probably have those beliefs because at a young age, you’ve been brainwashed by your parents, by the media, by the government, by the school system, and your perception of people who have money.
I’ve met people who are successful financially and people who struggle financially. When I was in debt, I was sleeping in a sleeping bag, and my mom and I had to go to Superstore and eat expired fruit and vegetables. I know I wasn’t very happy.
The people that you know who are in debt, who are stuck in a dead end job, are they happy?
Why does the media want you to believe that rich people are not happy? Here’s why. If rich people are wealthy and happy, where does that leave you? You can’t deposit excuses at the bank.
When my father had his first stroke, I was so broke at the time I couldn’t even afford to purchase a plane ticket to fly back to Hong Kong and see him at the hospital. I was miserable. I cannot call up the airline and say, “I got no money, but I have love. Can I use some love to buy the tickets to go see my dad? He just had a stroke.”
The True Purpose of Money
So, money doesn’t buy you happiness. It’s not supposed to buy you happiness! Money does three things only.
Money gives you comfort, to make life a little bit easier, to make things just a little bit smoother.
It can help you extend the good that you do beyond your physical presence. You can donate to a charity or a foundation. If you want to help the people that you love and you care about, it takes money to do that.
Money can make problems that make you unhappy go away.
That’s the purpose of money. Not to make you happy.
And if you’re worried that money will make you into a bad person, consider this. Money is an amplifier. If you’re a jerk, more money will make you a bigger jerk. If you’re kind and caring, money will make you kinder and more caring. It’s that simple.
So, don’t buy into the nonsense you read on social media. You read those posts, and you wonder why people are struggling. It’s actually their belief system. Money doesn’t buy happiness, it’s not supposed to buy you happiness, but neither does poverty.
Spectacular Smith is known as one of the “Top Marketing Gurus To Watch” by HuffPost, ranks among the “Top 5 Most Influential Entrepreneurs in Tech & Music” and is honored as the “Innovator Of The Year” by Black Enterprise.
It’s no surprise that he is named the “Greatest and Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs” by Inc.
He reached worldwide success with the rap group Pretty Ricky which he formed with his brothers.
Intrigued by the business possibilities of social media, he turned Pretty Ricky’s Facebook page into his personal experiment to learn how to build a following.
He then turned his social media expertise to become the founder and CEO of Adwizar, the dominant social media brand in the urban music space. The company now deals with major brands and corporations, athletes, merchandising deals, and more.
In this podcast, Spectacular shares his journey as he transitioned from rockstar musician to running a flourishing business.
He also shares his expertise on creating viral content and growing a social media following. His knowledge about selling to people and helping clients to achieve their vision demonstrates how well he has mastered his people skills.
Adwizar was named #262 of Inc 5000’s List of Fastest Growing Companies in America with 1,600% growth in 3 years. It was featured in Forbes for its innovative methods, and has no ceiling on its growth.
After conquering the worlds of music, social media, and publishing, the world is waiting to see what Spectacular does next.
Is it possible to make millions by writing in your second language?
My first mentor, Alan Jacques, showed me that it was possible when he taught me copywriting. But it wasn’t easy. I had actually flunked English in high school. But if you want to start your copywriting career, and you’re not afraid of challenges, I’ll show you how.
Alan taught me how to write copy when I was in my early 20s. It was a difficult process because English is not my first language. So going from flunking English to selling in my second language is extremely difficult.
Business owners would tell me, “Hey man, on the phone, you cannot even speak proper English. How the hell can you write my stuff? It doesn’t make sense!”
So, it was very, very difficult. But I’m glad I was persistent throughout that period and over time it got easier. I was actually fascinated by this experience I had while I was advertising to get clients.
How I Learned My Skills
I remember the first time I sent out a direct mail piece and I got a check in the mail from someone I’d never met, never seen, and never talked with. It was purely through my written words that I had closed them. The power of that was fascinating!
Now, as an entrepreneur, what goes through your mind?
We’ve got to do more of this! And that’s what went through my mind. How could I do more of the same thing and get another check?
This is what I did to launch my copywriting career. I started as a freelance copywriter after I’d learned from Alan by working for him for next to nothing for one year. I always refer to that year as the million dollar year of my life because I got a million dollars worth of education.
He taught me how to write copy, how to write headlines, how to come up with offers. Then I started my own one man advertising agency.
How I Started To Get Clients
I was calling business owners and saying, “You know what, I’m a new copywriter so I don’t have a whole lot of experience. But here’s what I’m willing to do. Let me rewrite your stuff, and if you’re not happy with it, don’t pay me.
But if it works, then pay me 500 bucks or 800 bucks.”
Not everyone said yes, but enough people did that I started building my own client base. I call that gun to the head copywriting. Either I work or I don’t eat. And that’s how I honed my craft.
Eventually I started writing down what I did and after a couple of years I published my first book online. It talks about some of the principles of what works and what doesn’t work in copywriting. And that’s how I started my career in my early 20s making about $10,000 a month.
The important lesson I want to share is this. Copywriting is a skill that I’ve developed over the years. It’s a skill that I value.
I had to overcome some very tough obstacles before I saw success, but if you’re determined, you can also succeed as a copywriter, even if you’re terrible at your second language. Finding the right mentor and honing your skills is key.
How often have you protested, “I don’t have time!” when friends or family ask you to do something?
Time slips so easily out of your hands you’ve probably said that on dozens of occasions. So how do you wake up early enough to get stuff done?
Well, it has nothing to do with the time or how early you wake up. You have the same amount of time as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Jack Ma: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. So what’s the difference between you and them?
It’s time management. I probably accomplish more in a day than most people complete in a month. People ask me all the time, “Dan, how do you get so much done? I don’t have time.”
The question you should be asking yourself is, “How can you devote your time to what’s important? How can you get yourself closer to your goals?” That’s what you want to focus on.
You will always have an endless number of tasks. I have so much to do every single day. So what do you focus on?
To find your focus, ask yourself: Is this moving me closer to my goals? Is it going to make me money? Is it going to benefit my family? Is it going to make me happier?
I believe busyness is a form of laziness. People get so busy doing so many things. But are you actually producing results?
You have to make choices that get you results every time you decide what to do. Rich people are busy too. I’m constantly focusing on tasks that I cannot delegate that are worthy of my time. So let me give you three simple tips to manage your day.
1. Be Ruthless About Your Outcome
Number one is you want to be absolutely ruthless about your outcome. When you think about it, most people have a lot to do. But they don’t think about what their tasks are going to produce. You need to ask yourself, “How will doing this task affect my life?”
The way it affects you depends on your goal. You want to be absolutely clear about your outcome because if you’re clear about your outcome, the way you get there might change. You might think of ways to do the task more effectively and efficiently. That’s why you need to be absolutely ruthless about your outcome.
For example, are you trying to increase your revenue? Maybe you want to get more customers but you need a faster way to get there. If you’re clear your goal is to increase your revenue, then the fastest way to achieve your goal is not to get more customers but to sell more to your existing customers. Or you could increase your price. You want to do what gets you to your goal faster.
2. Accomplish Six Tasks A Day
The second tip is you want to think about six things, six important, major items that you want to accomplish every single day. Not 10, not 20. Plan on what these items are the night before.
That means when you wake up, you will have six items that you want to cross off your list. Think about it. Six important items times five days a week, assuming you work five days a week. That’s 120 important things accomplished every single month that will move you closer to your goal.
3. Write Down What You Will Do
The third tip is don’t keep everything in your head. When your mind is cluttered, you have no clarity. Without clarity, you don’t have the ability to act. Clarity is power and power is the ability to take action. To get clarity, grab a pen and paper and write everything out.
If you want to use an application from your smartphone, that’s perfectly fine. I like paper and pen because that way is the easiest. So don’t keep everything in your head.
As a final word of advice, have you heard of the saying, “How do people eat a big elephant? One bite at a time.” That’s so wrong.
Here’s what you really want to do: bite off more than you can chew and then you chew like crazy. Got that?
So choose six things, write them down, and be ruthless about your outcome.
Like a horse competing against a race car, old methods are no match against the new.
Remember, back in the old days of traditional marketing, we had stuff you might not have heard of: the good old newspaper and fax machine. That’s what we used to do advertising and marketing before the internet came along and revolutionized how we do things.
Now we have what I call the three T’s, the reasons digital marketing is far superior than traditional marketing.
Reason #1: Targeting
With traditional marketing we had massive billboards like what you see in Vegas. They still have billboards, but it’s more like for brand awareness. The problem with the billboard is you can’t choose who you target with it. If someone sees it, great, if no one sees it, you don’t know.
But digital marketing, you can precisely target who you want to see your offer. You can choose.
For example, with Google AdWords, you can target the keywords that people are searching. You know the buyer’s intent, so when they search the keyword, they will find you and your message. Or with Facebook, you can also target exactly who you want, their interests, and the profile.
You can be very precise about who you want for your customers or for your offer. That you cannot do with traditional marketing. In the good old days with direct mail, we have a term called A Pile and B Pile, meaning that people sort their mail so that ads and flyers go in the trash can, or the B Pile.
The A Pile are all the personal letters, credit card statements, and bills. As a marketer, our first goal was not to get people to buy, but to make sure they didn’t throw away our stuff. We wanted our mail in their A Pile.
Now with digital marketing, you don’t need to do that anymore. You can put your offer, your products, your service, in front of exactly who you want, when you want, and where you want. You can choose the country, demographics, and psychographics.
It’s extremely powerful to know exactly who you’re marketing. And with advances in technology, we could almost look over a person’s shoulder to see what they’re reading.
Reason #2: Tracking
With direct mail in the old days, we would send out thousands of letters and we’d get so many order forms back. People sent back an order form or money order, or called a phone number to buy something we marketed in the mail. This method is so archaic now.
With digital marketing you can track exactly what happens. You can see the customer’s journey when they first saw this particular video, and then they opted-in to this particular offer, and then they didn’t buy, but they read email number four in your email sequence and finally bought your product.
You cannot do that with traditional marketing. You can do so much more with digital marketing, even update your marketing with the flip of a switch.
Reason #3: Tweaking
Back then, if I made a massive billboard and changed my mind about my message or offer, what did I have to do? I had to replace everything! I had to reprint everything! But with digital, if there’s an ad that I’m running that I don’t like, I can change it just like that.
I can also split test different ads at the same time. In marketing, we call it A/B testing. We can tweak different things. On my webpage, I can test different guarantees, different price points by running traffic to it. The results are immediate.
With traditional advertising, there’s a huge delay in terms of time, and that gap makes advertising very expensive and costly.
Digital marketing has so many advantages over traditional marketing. You can target, track, and tweak very quickly to get better results.
But there’s also a downside. The marketplace is getting more sophisticated so your competitors are doing the same thing as you. You could be running a large company and competing with a 17 year old kid living in a basement.
Digital marketing has many advantages, but it changes all the time. You have to do more to keep up the pace and have that leading edge. And they always say, if you’re not the lead dog, the view is always the same.
The one word that makes people millionaires and billionaires isn’t attitude, mindset or time. It’s something else that’s much more powerful. Let me tell you why.
If you had $86,400 in your bank account and someone stole $10 from you, would you throw away the remaining $86,390 and try to get the $10 back?
You’d probably forget about it and move on. Why? Because I want you to imagine the $86,400 represents a bank account called time. Every single day you have 86,400 seconds to deposit to your life, your time, but there’s one catch.
It carries over no balance. It means whatever you don’t invest, you don’t take out that day, it gets to zero. Now, what would you do? You would withdraw every single dollar every single day, wouldn’t you?
You’ve probably heard of the concept of return on investment, ROI, but here’s a more powerful concept and that is ROTI and that’s return on time invested.
You see, most people when they think about that one word that makes people millionaires and billionaires, very often the word that comes to mind is hustle. They think you have to work your face off. It’s the price of admission to get in the door to success. If you don’t hustle, you’re not in the game.
That One Word Isn’t Hustle!
When I was getting started, I was hustling because I also believed that was the key to success. I was living in a one bedroom apartment with my mom, working hard to pay the bills. But hustling didn’t make me into a millionaire. ROTI doesn’t come from hustling.
Instead, I want you to imagine lifting a big heavy stone with your own two hands. You try your best and it doesn’t even move… until you use a long pole as a lever. Suddenly, with the same manpower, you can lift that heavy stone. That’s leverage.
The definition of leverage is maximum productivity with minimum effort. Leverage is how you get your time back. It’s the one word that makes people rich.
There are many, many forms of leverage, but I’ll give you four today.
Money Leverage
Imagine you are buying a piece of real estate from the bank. You put a down payment and then you borrow the rest from the bank. It could be up to 90%. That’s money leverage.
You’re using the bank’s money to create more wealth and to build your business, or you want to buy some kind of new equipment for your company and you go to the bank or you go to an investor to borrow some money.
Marketing Leverage
The second kind is marketing leverage. Let’s say I’m running an ad on social media. I create a video ad that is run 24/7. Even though I am not there “marketing and selling,” my ad is working for me, being viewed by tens of thousands or even millions of people.
People Leverage
Another kind of leverage is people leverage. By hiring someone, delegating someone, or outsourcing to do your task, you can save time and money. You want to find someone who can handle certain tasks and whose hourly rate is lower than yours.
Technology Leverage
The fourth form of leverage is system leverage. For example, I use QuickBooks to manage my finances and do the bookkeeping. That’s system leverage. Another example is managing my email list. I’m using an email system that allows me to craft one message that goes out to two million people. That’s leveraging technology to grow.
There are many, many forms of leverage, not just money, people, marketing, and technology. I would challenge you to think about anyone who is a millionaire or billionaire – each one has highly utilized different forms of leverage.
That’s the one word that makes people millionaires and billionaires.
