I Made Millions With My Online Business, Here’s What I’ve Learned

Most people think making money is this fantastic, wild journey of “getting lucky”, knowing the right people and of course lots of highlight reels that fit perfectly into a 90-minute Hollywood flick that is supposed to sell us on the idea that generating high levels of income is only for some special kind of people who happen to be at the right place at the right time…

My name is Max Tornow and since 2016 I’ve made multiple 7 figures each year with my two online coaching businesses. Not doing this to brag… well maybe a little bit, but most importantly to share with you, dear reader, some of the invaluable lessons I’ve learned both from enjoying those results as well as from getting there… so here it goes.

SPOILER ALERT: Making money isn’t AT ALL what most people think it is. It sure as hell doesn’t feel “adventurous”, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It has its ups, it has its downs. And it sure as hell isn’t magical or “based on luck”. It just is what it is, but let’s get into it…

1: It’s not about HOW MUCH you make, it’s HOW you make it

How many people have you personally witnessed making a million dollars each year? Maybe you don’t know any personally, maybe you’ve just met them briefly, maybe you’ve run into one or the other without even knowing…

Well, I’ve met some of them and while they come in all shapes, sizes, genders and races… they all have one thing in common: They either secretly HATE what they’re doing for a living… or… well, they love it.

There’s those who push hard to make their money. They walk over “dead bodies”, sometimes even their own, they work themselves to death, they LIVE to WORK and they see their “work” as some type of sacrifice for the great payoff: money. The more they “suffer”, the more they “get rich”. But thank God they have a couple weeks off each year when they can drive their Bentley, fly around first class and sip on some five thousand dollar champagne. Totally worth it… right?

Trust me, being rich but miserable sucks… BUT so does being poor and miserable. Don’t believe people saying “money doesn’t buy happiness”, believe RICH people when they say so. Then what’s the solution?

Well, there’s those who make their money in a smart way. They found a way to monetize something they’d do for free. They found a way to feel fulfilled by their money-making occupation. They found a way to be smart about it, SCALE and have money work FOR THEM. For me that’s online coaching. I’ve made my first million with it coaching men how to be more confident and I’ve made a couple more million teaching people how to build their own online coaching businesses. It works so well because it’s fulfilling work, you get to actually help people and you can work from wherever you want, whenever you want. Not to say it’s the holy grail, but it works for me… and it works for a couple hundred clients we’ve made it work for too.

2. Everyone’s Fake… SO FAKE.

I always used to think all these “influencers” and “models” on Instagram and Youtube really figured it out. They seem to be living the perfect life: Nice cars, first class flights, six pack, perfect bikini shots, endless vacations, yada yada… But being in the biz for the last couple years I was shocked to see how many of these influencers are actually broke.

The flights? The vacations? The clothes? 90% of it comes from brand deals. They get free stuff to promote it to their almost-equally-broke audience on their social media. Sure, getting stuff for free is nice and all, but how much most of these influencers have to spend sending out emails asking for free stuff kinda turned me off once I got to know about it.

Why not just building a legit business so you can buy these things yourself?

We, the end-consumers have been brainwashed to think that the influencer life is something to envy… when in reality it’s more something to avoid. What if they delete Instagram and boom… suddenly you’re not a model anymore? lol

“Self-Made” Is For Idiots

Many of us want to live the dream of the self-made millionaire who “did it all himself” who “showed all the haters” just to come out on top and build their entire legacy from scratch.

Well, the reality is that there is no self made millionaires… at least no smart ones. Why spending years trying to figure something out yourself if someone else has done that for you already? This is something I’ve been guilty of myself for many many years. I listened to my own ego-ridden dreams of “I want to do it on my own”. Blinded by my very own narcissism I found comfort in the idea of “I don’t need anybody else”. Well, the end result was many many years down the drain. Years of figuring things out, starting things wrong, adjusting, giving up and starting again from scratch.

Until I learned that I could just learn from someone who is exactly where I want to be and all of a sudden… I made progress. Fast progress.

I personally love it when I read a comment underneath one of my posts by some random schmuck trying to “call me out” by saying “oh he learned from xyz”. Well THAT’S THE POINT. Don’t figure things out yourself, it’s a waste of time and it’s foolish. Would you try to learn Kung Fu yourself? Would you really? Maybe watch some Youtube videos of Bruce Lee and then proceed to make funny Kung Fu gestures in your basement for the next years…? Grand idea.

There is a proven path that many have walked before you. They’ve spend countless of hours, blood, sweat and tears to walk that path. Don’t be arrogant, don’t be foolish, don’t think you’ll find your own way… just stick to what works. You can always “customize” your journey later. But stick to what works.

At the end of the day, generating income in a way it sustains your lifestyle of choice works… but it’s not what most people make it out to be.