"I don't do things because of money..." - BS

I know that people say money can't buy happiness and to a large degree that's true. I'm currently in a wonderful loving marriage with two healthy kids, great family and friends and a lot of free time. But even with all that life was a huge challenge before, why? Simple, I didn't have very much money.

Now I have both, a lot of money and everything listed above... and life is much sweeter! If you have the other things in place, health, love, a good attitude,etc. than money can make things a whole lot better.

If you don't have those things in place than no amount of money will make you happy.

I read in a self-development Book Think and Grow Rich A Black Choice Where Dennis Kimbro the author said nothing can take the place of money where money works best.

Shaun, You hit the nail on the head. I made a lot of money chasing the money, but was left doing something that was boring and unfulfilling.

At some point you are faced with uncovering what is interesting and exciting to you, and it always ends up with using your talents and interests to help other people.

the point of my post is if you want to make a lot of money, start there first. Start with the things that interest you the most, things you love to research and learn about, and start positioning your self as an expert in that arena. With social media and the marketing power of the internet things can get going very quickly.

If most IMer's could grasp this concept they could be making five figures a month in a couple weeks, because they already have the targeted traffic thing down. After that you just need a high value offer and the ability to convert, which is way easier than driving all the traffic to build lists in the first place..

It really is as easy as learning something that interests you, that can make your life better in some way, applying it to your life, then showing others how to do it for themselves, but at a handsome profit. That is in essence what I am doing. I loved learning the sales and marketing of my job, but did not have a passion for the market I served or the information and services we provided. But to make the money in the first place, I was endlessly studying and training my ass off in sales and marketing.

So I started helping some buddies in their own small businesses by sharing strategies that help them communicate higher value and convert more business at substantially greater prices.

But the cool thing is that these business models can be applied to any niche, and I have been teaching the processes to information marketers online.

Hope this helps

Tony

vatonyt@gmail.com

That is very true - a restaurant employs lots of people, like other venues do as well, so
spending money locally is certainly better than just holding on to it forever. Spending
locally also improves local economy, which in turn influences less local economy and
so forth in a tidy "cascade" effect. Most of the times anyway ;°)

On this I agree as well: that's why it's very important to choose which organization and
charity one should be generous with. I addressed this exact point and counterpoint on
my blog yesterday... Transparency and accountability are two of the key factors to
look out for, as well as reliability (related to the first two) and effectiveness.

Kiva is one of my favorite too: I just started building a lending team which all warriors
are welcome to join of course :°)

So going back on topic it seems that although we are using different arguments and point
of views, the end result is quite close - whether one does things because of money (or
not), sharing is a key element that should always be present.

Having said this, I still believe it's wiser to follow a course of action not because you want
the money, but because you are following your heart (i.e., being passionate about something),
and it is my experience that when you do something for a passion it's so much easier to
work harder, more and better at it... which is an approach that more often than not...
brings the money! lol :°)

cheers,
Saul

Is the glass half full or half empty? (a friend of mine answered "in any case, it's never full" lol)

Let's not focus on what money can't do, but the things it can do... like, as you said,
buy healthier foods, live in a more healthy environment (like, for example, an asbestos
free house - hence preventing at least one form of cancer) and so forth... It does not
buy absolute total health forever, I agree, but it can help in many other ways :°)

Aah, but some people are happy only if they have "things"... so we should define what
is happiness exactly... which is something philosophers all over the world and in all
times have tried to do, without having reached a definite and undebatable answer...

So although I agree that "REAL" happiness (of the spirit etc) is not related to the ownership
of things and the appreciation of material wealth for the people who live life that way, I
will add that for some other people real happiness can be achieved through very practical
and material ways. And who am I to debate that their happiness is an "inferior" (or less
true) kind to the one *I* enjoy regardless of having, or not, "things"?

That's why I believe too (like the OP if I understood him correctly) that it's ok to do things
for the money, because it can and does help achieve some form of happiness and some
health too, but I also agree with your point of view - but I think I suffer from a minor form
of OCD that makes me want to be uber-specific in my views, so I'll say:

"Money can't buy my very own version of happiness or solve all cases of illness, but it still
helps and it's a good thing to strive and work hard to have more of it. Also, when you have
more, remember to share it."

...which isn't a very memorable motto unfortunately... so I guess we'll stick to the more
marketable version "money doesn't buy happiness or health" ;°) lol

Cheers!
Saul