Are you doing it just for the money?

They say that it takes money to make money.?

Some people think that the only way to get a business to a million in revenue is to start with two million.?

That is one way to get there but even if you figure out how to make a million dollars a year with zero investment and you do it in 6 months and you double and double and double, if you are doing it for the wrong reasons you will hit a brick wall.?

Imagine climbing up the ladder of success and when you reach the top you realize that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.?

What wall do you want to get over?

Why do you do what you do?

I personally interviewed 52 CEOs of the fastest-growing companies in America.?

All the CEOs I spoke to built their business with no investment and some took investment after they hit a few million in revenue.?

I asked these business leaders the following question:

“Are you doing it for the money?”

Every single one of them said: NO

I asked them what was wrong with doing it for the money?

Almost all of them said: “If you do it for the money, you will quit because there will be times where the money just does not come in fast enough and you need to keep plowing through.”

Then I went to people who hated their jobs and asked them the following question:

Why are you in a job that you hate?

They all confessed the money was good and they were doing it for the money.?

I never did it for the money, I always did it because I enjoyed the journey.?

Money follows a good strategy, incredible execution, and people who are having a good time doing what they are doing.?

Money does not always show up but if you show up and follow up, eventually, money will show up too.?

The question is HOW LONG are you willing to do something that you LOVE without money coming in?

I believe that if money is not coming in at all, you will not LOVE what you are doing, because the pain of not having money is far greater than the pleasure of doing what you love.?

It's easy for someone who is not living paycheck to paycheck to preach DO WHAT YOU LOVE.?

Here is another way to frame this thought:

If you do not love what you do, can you love how you do it?

Loving how you do it means you are passionately committed to what you are doing and you are loving your process.?

If you do not see money and you NEED money, change your strategy.?

I once had a conversation with a business owner who was struggling to grow his business for 10 years, but he kept going because he loved his business so much.

After a 15 minute conversation, I saw his pricing model was flawed because the bigger he grew his business the less cash he had.?

I helped him shift his strategy with one idea: Get your clients to pay you upfront and double your price.

Initially, he was really scared of doing it because he was afraid that no one would buy from him.?

He asked me: “Why would anyone trust me to pay me upfront? Why would anyone pay me that much for my services?”

I said that the only way to know is to try. Just do it for the next few potential clients and see how it feels once you get a yes.?

Not one of his clients even flinched at the idea of paying upfront and his new fee structure.??

That changed his business, and his business grew 10x in the next three years from that one shift.?

I'm not saying that will work for you, but what I am saying is that if you are in the JAR you cannot read the label.?

I am happy to look at your business with a creative mind and help you see something that you cannot see because you are in the business.?

When you are IN it, you have a bias, you have beliefs, you have assumptions.?

I have ZERO assumptions about how you operate or about how YOU THINK you need to operate.?

All I know is, we have a goal and we need a strategy to get to the goal.?

Sometimes we need to think outside the box and sometimes we need to burn the whole box and from the ashes, we can create a pencil to write new plans down.?

Key Message: Do what you love and you will not work a day in your life. Love what you do and even if you hate your line of work you will still have passion and find a way to keep going till you get to your goal. Talk to someone to shift your strategy and get to your goal faster. There is no goal that is too big, only a timeline that is too small. The right strategy will save you a decade.

Networking Advice: You must be the one who follows up with your relationships

If you have ever been part of a networking group you will notice something.?

People do not reach out to you to network with you.?

It might happen once in a while but if you want action, you need to create action.?

You are responsible to reach out to the people in your group.?

You might get TIRED of reaching out but if you are tired and are hoping other people will reach out to you, you are looking at your role in the wrong way.?

YOU ARE THE LEADER.?

The leader takes responsibility and STARTS everything.?

Yes, you can train people to lead.?

You can teach people to contact you regularly.?

You can even hire someone to reach out to others for you.?

But you have to create the systems, processes, and follow-up because otherwise, nothing happens.?

The best networking professionals reach out on a regular basis.?

I am part of several groups and I am the one who reaches out to people in a systematic way.?

Sometimes people do not respond to me, I do not take it personally, I just move on to the next person because there is always someone who wants my support.?

Remember I am not reaching out for support, I am reaching out to GIVE first.?

Once you give enough people, people will want to reciprocate back to you.?

It feels like it's my mission to reach out and give. Reach out and love. Reach out and connect.?

Just the simple reach out is enough to show someone you care and that might be all a person needs to feel like it was worth getting out of bed in the morning.?

Key Message: Be the one who reaches out and takes responsibility for networking in your group.

Business Advice: Coaches are vital to success in business

I used to think that all coaches were failed business people who instead of running a REAL business would just coach others because it's easier to sit on the sidelines and tell other people what to do.?

My thinking was majorly flawed because I was too cheap to invest in coaching so I did not see the benefit.?

Coaching has helped me become an athlete and all athletes need coaches to have peak performance.?

The best coaches are expensive and many of them are running their own businesses while they coach.?

Now that I coach people, I realize why people do it, it's FUN and it's fulfilling to coach someone else and watch them get results because of a question you asked them.?

There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing my clients get to their goals and feel good about themselves while they do it.?

Key Message: Hire a coach if you want to move forward faster, if you do not like your coach, hire another one till you find one that will help you get to your goal. Coaching is not optional if you are an athlete.

B2B Marketing Advice: Marketing is like planting seeds, you do not see results right away but you will see results for many years to come with the effort you put in now.?

I remember when I first took my company to a tradeshow and plunked down 5k for a booth.?

1000 people were at the tradeshow and I had over 100 conversations that day with people who were in the position to invest in my services.?

I left the show and I had over 100 business cards but I didn't feel great because I didn't close any deals.?

The little voice in my head told me it was a waste of time.?

I followed up with all the people whom I spoke to and even the people who gave me their cards but I didn't get a chance to talk to them.?

Still, no deals closed after a week passed and I was really regretting going to the show.?

A few months passed, and I met someone at an event who told me he saw me at the tradeshow a few months back and he wanted to hire my marketing agency for SEO.?

That man only stopped me because he saw me at the tradeshow. His company ended up becoming a client of ours and spent over 100k a year for 5 years with my business.?

There were many other benefits of going to the show, including the photos and videos that I got from being at the show, the connection with other vendors who became clients, and the relationships I have till this day that I met at the show.?

Invest in your marketing both online and offline and you will get results but you need to follow up consistently.?

Joke of the Week:

Where’s the best place to hide the evidence?

Page 2 of Google, no one ever goes there.?

What is the best thing about working in a Microsoft office? You always have their Word.

Why did the mannequin leave the office angrily one day? Because she could not stand it anymore.

Content marketers are always cold because they are surrounded by drafts.

I tried to crack a joke on organic reach on Facebook, but nobody got it.

I really admired myself for working at a paperless company, but then I went to use the restroom.

Here is a LinkedIn Tip for you: When you add a new connection, send them a message right away.?

What should the message include??

Ask them if they want your services… JK!

Do not do SELL of the BATT. That is a sure-fire way to ruin a LinkedIn connection relationship.?

Instead, THANK THEM for connecting with you.?

I know, you might say, “I know that already.”?

But most people DO NOT DO THIS.?

I have over 25,000 connections and for every 1 person that thanks me, 10 will not say anything after connecting.?

Be that ONE person and go deeper by starting with gratitude.?

We have a process called greeting, feeding, and meeting as a way to nurture LinkedIn connections and take them from connection to relationship.?

If you want to learn more about our program watch our most recent webinar replay at https://learn.evyrgreen.com/webinarreplay?

Past Week Posts Review

Did you know that you can post a period on LinkedIn? https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_activity-6909101835098193920-RGCc?

Here is a really short post on LinkedIn https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_sizedoesnotmatteronlinkedin-activity-6908901295676383232-lkxH Over 500 people saw it in a few hours and I was top of mind. It's not the size that matters on LinkedIn, it's about connecting with your audience.?

You do not have to GO VIRAL to be successful on LinkedIn. Here is a post about strategy https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_networking-business-linkedin-activity-6908856023512449024-KGpv?

Here I remind people to get reviews on LinkedIn and I give you a strategy about how to do it https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_linkedin-recommendations-activity-6908785912755716096-EXcL?

Repurposed this video from Instagram https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_how-many-selfies-my-goal-is-150-in-person-activity-6908759861782577152-Lcpz It's a video with lots of selfies that I have taken with my connections on LinkedIn.?

Here I tell the story about how I met Larry Zogby, a very special relationship and client of mine whom I have known for the better part of a decade. https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_networking-mojostory-activity-6908125615044870144-OVL4?

Here I talk about how ideas are not worth the paper they are written on https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_success-activity-6908033104444014592-wXwH Instead you need to take action to get results.?

Here I scheduled an event for this Wednesday where I will be going Live with a bunch of JV friends right on LinkedIn! https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_freestyle-networking-with-joe-apfelbaum-activity-6907672013096558592-nYv4?

Had a great dinner with people who I only met online but got to go deep and meet them in person. I gave them all a copy of my book High Energy Networking and we connected deeply. https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_linkedin-business-networking-activity-6907664632971186176-KXQu?

Had a great conversation with Rick Watson an e-commerce consultant who is part of a marketing group with me. We decided to go on LinkedIn live and network and build relationships. https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_freestyle-networking-with-joe-apfelbaum-activity-6905577962918227968-LtgD?

Here is a LinkedIn poll of the week about what skill people want to build in the coming year. https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_mojopolls-networking-speaking-activity-6907295151119847424-nyB8 48% of people want to improve their networking skills.?

Last Tuesday I went to Avis and Young and did a talk about LinkedIn. The Real Estate Group that brought me in was so happy they did because I was able to educate and inspire the group https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_speaking-networking-creativity-activity-6907040459907317760-VhIt?

Here is my LinkedIn Newsletter from last week https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/joeapfelbaum_business-marketing-newsletter-activity-6906804080329539584-VvpR It's about creating a business that you love and has all the benefits.

About the Author:

Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO of Ajax Union a B2B Digital Marketing Agency in Brooklyn NY. Ajax Union develops marketing funnels for companies that want to be more strategic. Our strategies include lead generation, account-based marketing, awareness campaigns, and prospecting. We leverage search engines, social media, and email marketing to support your goals and get the right traffic into your marketing funnel so you can have a positive ROI. To learn more go to?www.ajaxunion.com?and watch the marketing funnel presentation!

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