How to Be a Maximalist
Simpletons have been telling me for years that “there’s no money in blogging“.
Recently I published an article called How to Start a Blog That Makes Money Forever.
In the comments section of that article a simpleton wrote in and said:
“Guys, don’t listen to this stuff. There’s no money in blogging! Love the blog, Vic”.
Joke’s on him. In the month I published that article I made $35,804.47 from a blog.
What is a blog, anyway?
It’s just content.
Like a newspaper or a magazine. But it has 3 big advantages over printed media:
- Low overhead – it costs nothing to start a blog.
- Worldwide readership – People from USA, Germany, Singapore, India, UK and South Korea love Bold and Determined.
- No one reads printed media – Everyone has a computer, a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone.
Common sense and a pair of eyes would lead one to believe that digital media is the future of media.
Digital media? You know, that thing that “doesn’t make money” even though people from all over the world read it daily.
If you aren’t smart enough to realize the value of internet content then I’ll show you a little game to play.
Go outside and tell me how many people are reading newspapers or magazines vs how many people are browsing the web via smartphones or laptops.
If you can’t make money from your digital content here’s why….
A) Your content isn’t good or your presentation isn’t good.
B) You’re concentrating on things that don’t matter and you aren’t concentrating on things that matter. You aren’t going from A to B in a straight line, you are going from A back to A in a circle.
C) You’re a defeatist that thinks that even though billions of people read online content daily there is no money to be made.
What matters and what doesn’t matter?
What matters…
Great content, great presentation.
What doesn’t matter…
Everything else.
Here’s the secret recipe, nothing else required…
Look great
+
write great
+
be great
=
a staggering income
How I did it
I get asked the same circular questions all the time.
Questions like how did you network, how did you advertise, how did you mathematically grow such a large readership, what’s the easiest way for me to make money now?
Average Joey wants to do all this extra nonsense work and none of the work that matters.
Average Jack wants the easy way to riches but he’s doing unnecessary, time-wasting work that gets him all the way from A to A in a circle.
How many times do I have to say it?
The smallest habits make the biggest difference.
It just takes a little extra.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just a little extra.
— Victor Pride (@victor_pride) October 3, 2014
All I did, and read carefully, was look great, write great and be great.
How I started
When I started Bold and Determined my expenses were nothing. I paid $10 a month for hosting and that was it. I lived on less than $800 per month.
Years ago I sold everything I had. What didn’t sell I tossed into a dumpster.
I let go of any emotional attachment to my “stuff”.
That detachment allowed me to live on a tiny amount of money while I built Bold and Determined.
Doing that, getting rid of everything, freed my mind to concentrate on what was important…
Building Bold and Determined. Doing the work required to turn a hobby into a money printer.
During the first year and a half of Bold and Determined I had no bills, no debt, no house full of junk to worry about, no nagging wife or screaming kids, no nothing.
All I had was a single, intense focus on Bold and Determined – The Website for Winners.
Was it easy?
That’s a question for losers.
Was it worth it?
That’s a better question to ask.
Answer?
Now I have everything I want – so how could it possibly not be worth it?
What could possibly be better?
I lived like no one would, now you can bet I live like no one can.
So Minimalism is the answer?
I’m not a minimalist. What I am is a Maximalist.
I want maximum value for every dollar spent.
That doesn’t mean I don’t spend money. I spend thousands upon thousands every month but it’s all for a purpose.
I take that philosophy to business as well.
What businesses extract maximum value from minimum dollar?
Blogs, websites and e-commerce stores.
How I live now – Maximalism in practice
I am a maximalist.
I want MAXIMUM value from the money I spend.
I only own a few things, but what I do own is the best – best phone, best computer, best clothing, best underwear, best desk, best everything. No junk allowed.
All the important things I own can fit into a suitcase and a backpack. The rest I could just get rid of and buy again later.
I have all the money in the world that I need, but I also have one very important thing – discipline.
The discipline to not waste my money on things that don’t matter but also the discipline to spend as much money as necessary to accomplish my goal(s).
The amount of money spent is not the issue, the result of that money spent is the issue.
Last month I spent $12,705.88. You know what that 12 grand bought me? It bought me a lot more money, a lot more freedom and a lot more happiness.
It didn’t buy me much stuff. I invested that money in people, in business and in travel.
The income gap is the Maximalist’s best friend
I want to see an enormous gap between expenses and income. That’s what makes me smile – a big green column and small red column.
I don’t like expenses but what I hate is a wasted expense. As long as my income is growing faster than my expenses then everything is going well.
My expenses are high, especially for a blog, so to make up for big expenses I MAXIMIZE my income.
That’s why I write a blog…
A blog has the biggest income to expense gap in the history of business.
Your base yearly expense could be as low as $40 when you run through BADNET.
What other business in the world can you run for such little expenses? Lemonade stands cost more to start than blogs.
A good blog is the best kept money making open-secret in the world. It costs nothing to start, the upside is limitless and there’s no barrier to entry.
From scarcity to abundance
I’ll be the first to admit that I used to have a scarcity mindset. I wouldn’t buy anything at all because I didn’t want to waste money.
That’s not the way to succeed. You have to spend money to succeed, you just have to spend it wisely.
You don’t need to spend so much money upfront, but as you grow, your expenses must grow to keep your income growing.
You gotta invest money into your business to keep it growing. You gotta make it rain money or that tree is going to wither.
You gotta make that shift from scarcity mindset to abundance mindset.
I made the switch. I attest under oath that I make a lot more money since making the switch.
I don’t worry about the expense of an item or investment, I worry about what the investment will bring me.
Amount of money spent isirrelevant. The return on that investment is what is relevant.
If the value doesn’t exceed the money spent, I don’t buy it.
If the value exceeds the money spend, I buy it.
Whether it’s two dollars or twenty grand, if it brings me value I invest in it.
If it doesn’t increase that pretty green line then I don’t buy it.
Simple as that.
Until next time.
Your man,