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Daily Habits of Successful People

07/21/2024 by Roy Sutton

If success is your aim, can you learn from the daily habits of successful people?

Certainly, I believe quite strongly, that we are what we do on a daily basis.

Anything you achieve or don’t achieve is brought about by the habits you develop over time.

Everything you do is a result of your habits, good or bad. So surely it makes sense to develop and maintain good habits and make them your master?

The power of repetition:

Habits, good or bad, are formed through repetition.

Good habits can be hard to form but they’re easy to live with. Whereas bad habits whilst easy to form tend to be very hard to live with. Our lives can become a battle of good habits versus bad habits. Don’t let the bad habits win.

Good habits can be learned and bad habits can be replaced by good habits. Yes, it requires self-discipline on your part dear reader but it can be done and people do.

Decide on the habits you want to develop and focus on achieving them one at a time.

Start with one good habit:

Start with one good habit you’d like to form and then force yourself to repeat the necessary actions daily.

After around three weeks that habit will be formed and it will just become part of your routine. You’ll start to repeat it with little or no thought. Essentially you’ll do it on autopilot.

If you have a bad habit you wish to replace with a good habit then each time you find yourself about to perform the actions of the bad habit, stop yourself and perform the actions of the good habit instead. Again after around three weeks, the good habit will be programmed into your brain.

Self-discipline is key:

Successful people are driven to develop good habits. Self-discipline is the key ingredient for good habits to form and for replacing bad habits.

Successful people also establish the habit of goal setting on a daily basis.

You cannot hit a target unless you can see that target. Setting a goal is the first step in achieving that goal. Successful people are results-oriented.

Successful people are also people-oriented.

The power of helping others:

You get what you want in life by helping other people get what they want.

Every product is a solution to a problem. Even if your goal is to sing or dance, to succeed you must always recognise that you perform to and for people.

They have a need to be entertained and your aim is to fulfil that need. To solve this particular problem for them if you like.

In dealing with people you must be honest and show integrity if you are to win the respect of others.

So honesty is a good habit to develop. Dishonesty and cheating will catch up with you and will be a permanent stain on your reputation. You don’t need that now, do you?

Look after your health:

And above all, you must look after your health. You have one body and one mind and they must last you a lifetime.

So develop the habit of taking good care of both.

To reinforce the message of the importance of repetition and routine I‘ve included this excellent video from Brian Tracy.

Brian is always a source of great advice for anyone seeking success and aiming to create a successful life for themselves and certainly, he’s one of my main sources of constant inspiration.

The video is short but well worth your time and I recommend you watch it now.

Habits of successful people:

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Filed Under: Wisdom Tagged With: Achievement, being the best, Inspiration, Life, Making Money, money, Motivation, Philosophy, Sage Advice, Stress-free, Success, Wealth, Wisdom

How to find the right job for you: Simply Explained

07/14/2024 by Roy Sutton

Do you enjoy your work, dear reader? Do you have a job you love? Do you wake up each morning filled with enthusiasm for the day ahead?

Alternatively, maybe you just feel your job allows you to earn an income, but beyond that, you can’t wait until 5 pm when the working day is over. Perhaps you’re constantly asking the question, “How to find the right job for you?”

If that’s you then you’re not alone.

The Lottery Question:

The acid test when you’re not sure is to ask yourself what I call the lottery question.

What does that mean? If means you ask yourself this, “If I won millions on the lottery and money ceased to be an issue; would I continue to do the work I’m doing now or would I try something else?”

Yes of course if you won the lottery you’d have a little fun with the money first, but eventually, your life would need a sense of purpose and routine again.

So how would you fill your time then?

Never work a day in your life:

If you enjoy what you do, and you’re recognized as being very good at it, then you’ll do your job well and you’ll be successful at what you do. And if you enjoy what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Now, how good would that be?

So if you’re not happy with your job right now, the next question to ask yourself is, “What do I really want to be?”

To answer that question, you need to consider two things:-

These are quite different things but if you can find the sweet spot between them then you have the basis for finding a job you’ll love.

So the steps to job heaven are as follows:-

STEP 1: What are you good at?

Not merely competent but really good at?

Think about that question carefully and be honest with yourself.

What activities are intuitive to you? Things you can do easily and readily without having to give them too much thought?

Ask friends and colleagues for their views, and ask them to be really honest with you. Ask people you work with about the tasks for which they consider you to be the absolutely, first choice ‘go-to’ person.

Gather together this information and make a list.

STEP 2: What do you enjoy doing?

Then make a list of all the things you really enjoy doing.

Which activities really give you a buzz?

What activities get you so absorbed that you really lose track of time?

What activities would you do for free or as a hobby, if you couldn’t make a living at them?

Paul McCartney once said that if he couldn’t have made a living out of writing songs and playing music, he’d have done it as a hobby, simply because he loved it so much. In fact, it was his hobby before it was the way he earned a living.

What activities make you feel the same way? Make that list and don’t be reasonable.

All this requires time for reflection and careful thought, as well as feedback from other people. So do give it the time it deserves.

Don’t jump to conclusions. You do want to ensure you get it right, don’t you?

STEP 3: Which items are common to both lists?

When you have your two lists ready, the final step is to identify the common ground between them, the point at which the two lists intersect.

If you find an item that is contained on both lists then you have found the Holy Grail.

Finding something you’re genuinely good at and have a real talent for, and which is also something you really enjoy, will give you the greatest chance of success in life.

It is essential you find the common ground between your lists because:-

And if you get it right, sometimes people will sprinkle fairy dust on you too. And then a magical career beckons.

Finding your perfect job is never about luck.

Find the right work for you:

If you’re doing something you enjoy doing and you’re doing it well, you’ll stick with it long enough to get someone’s attention. And when you get their attention, you’ll dazzle them because you’re doing it well.

That’s not luck; it’s hard work, perseverance and timing.

Once you’ve identified what you want, the next question is, “How do you get it?” That’s another challenge, entirely.

Have you managed to find the perfect job for you?

If so, you’re lucky indeed. Enjoy every moment. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking;

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Filed Under: Wisdom Tagged With: Achievement, Career, Employment, How to find the right job for you, Inspiration, Jobs, Life, Making Money, money, Motivation, Personal Development, self-actualisation, self-actualization, Self-Help, Success, Work

How to build wealth from nothing: 5 Top Tips

06/16/2024 by Roy Sutton

There’s nothing you can do about being born poor. If that was the case, then it was just unfortunate. However, you don’t have to go through life remaining poor.

It is possible to build wealth over time, and plenty of people do, frequently from absolutely nothing.

Many people born poor become wealthy through their efforts, and you can too, dear reader.

Here are five tips to help you build wealth from nothing.

How to build wealth from nothing:

1. Pay yourself first:

You can make money relatively easily, but holding on to it can be very hard.

We’re all constantly bombarded with reasons why we should spend our money in return for some fleeting sense of gratification. Would that be an experience you recognize, dear reader?

It doesn’t have to be that way, of course, and rich people know that only too well.

So what do rich people do that’s different from everyone else?

Simple! They always pay themselves first.

And what do I mean by paying yourself first?

I mean, the moment you’re paid, you take a slice off the top of your income immediately and put it away somewhere safe. And by a slice, I mean to say 10%, or more if you can afford it.

And what do I mean by somewhere safe?

Well, initially, that would be depositing your money in an interest-bearing account.

However, once your money starts building into a larger sum then you can start thinking about other forms of investment that’ll potentially give you greater returns. Stocks and bonds, for instance.

Building a capital sum is important because, as your money grows, it starts to generate a second income stream for you. That may not seem important to you now, but it will be as you get older.

So paying yourself first is a discipline to which you must adhere until it becomes a habit you do without thinking.

You must always put some money away, and you must make that money work hard for you. You must grow and protect your investment portfolio with careful diversification, and over time, you’ll find yourself building a sizeable fortune.

So here’s today’s mantra for you: Pay Yourself First. Never forget that, please, dear reader.

2. Be an investor, not a speculator:

You must understand that there’s a big difference between investing and speculation. They’re not the same thing at all.

I don’t wish to imply that there’s something wrong with speculation, though. There isn’t.

In the world of finance, speculation brings liquidity to the market, and therefore it does have its place.

However, speculation tends to operate on the ‘greater fool’ principle.

By that, I mean someone is prepared to buy an asset for a given price in the hope that it can then be sold quickly to someone else, the greater fool, for a greater price.

This is what professional speculators do, and they can make money this way because they know what they’re doing and they have sophisticated systems to support them.

However, for ordinary people, speculation is like gambling in a casino. And you should never invest your money as though you’re gambling in a casino.

You might get lucky occasionally, of course, but over time your losses will outstrip any gains you might make, and almost certainly by a significant margin.

So my recommendation to you, dear reader, is that you should never speculate. Instead, you should focus on becoming an investor.

By investing, I mean buying stocks and shares in solid, well-managed, cash-generative businesses that can pay good dividends on a sustained basis.

Buy stocks worth holding for the long term. This will provide you with a steady income stream from the dividends, regardless of any short-to-medium-term volatility in the market. And spread your risk by building a diversified portfolio.

If you reinvest your dividends, then over time you will find that this approach should give you a good return on your money.

If you want to make money and build capital, then my advice to you, dear reader, is to be an investor, not a speculator.

3. Focus on value, not price:

The legendary investor Warren Buffett once said, “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.”

With this observation, he’s making an important point. There’s a distinction between price and value.

A low price for an asset doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get good value.

And a high price doesn’t automatically mean you will not get value.

Price in itself is not a measure of value. You must consider other factors to judge value.

When you’re buying any financial asset, say stocks and shares, you should always focus on value, and you must establish metrics by which you can adequately judge the intrinsic value of that asset.

Judged in isolation, price is just a number, nothing more.

A lower price means absolutely nothing if you’re getting little or no value in return for your money.

Never, ever forget that it’s the intrinsic value that will determine whether something is worth buying or not.

Get genuine value at the right price, and then you can get a decent return over time from an investment.

4. Create a personal private income:

Much as we all aspire to do work we love, you must never forget, dear reader, that ultimately work is simply a means to an end.

Essentially, work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money. In turn, that money is then the fuel on which we run our lives.

Money provides us with the means to put bread on the table, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, and those of our loved ones, of course.

If you work hard enough, you can earn a lot of money.

Manage that money wisely, and you can build capital. Invest that capital intelligently, and you can create your private income streams.

When you have a decent private income in your own right then you can truly pick and choose the work you do.

Then you only have to do what you enjoy doing; that thing that gives you a genuine sense of purpose.

Creating a personal, private income is a worthy goal, and it’s well worth the effort.

That way, you’re in control of your own life, and no one else can dictate what you should and shouldn’t do.

You’ll be in control of the good ship ‘Me’ and only you will decide where it goes.

The message here is, to work hard now, so one day you don’t have to work hard.

5. Never forget what matters most:

It would be very easy to believe that a life filled with lots of money and materiality would make you blissfully happy. Well let me tell you, dear reader, that in isolation, it won’t.

I’m not suggesting that these things are not important but you must get your priorities right.

Yes, of course, go out there and make money. Manage it carefully. Buy nice things and enjoy some of that money too.

However, to be truly happy, you must never lose sight of the most important thing in your life and that is family and friends.

People are social animals; we’re not solitary animals like cats. We need other people and most of all, we need our loved ones. A life filled with loved ones and laughter will be a happy life.

So make time for your loved ones, especially your children. Enjoy their company and make the most of every minute with them.

Never focus on work to the exclusion of your family and friends. Without them, you have nothing. Money is important, of course but people are much more important.

Never lose sight of the people in your life.

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Filed Under: Wisdom Tagged With: 5 Top Tips, Achievement, Business, Employment, Financial, financial freedom, How to build wealth from nothing, Inspiration, Investment, Life, Making Money, money, Motivation, Success, Wealth, Wisdom, Work

The secret to being a successful entrepreneur

06/08/2024 by Roy Sutton

How often do you hear people say they’d love to start a business and become entrepreneurs?

People will tell you they’d love to be a business success, making a difference in people’s lives with great products and services.

Then they’ll add the caveat that, unfortunately, the time’s not right for them now. They’ll have a go one day, but their circumstances won’t allow it now.

However, very few who say they’ll have a go will ever actually have a go. They don’t have the desire and they probably don’t understand the secret to being a successful entrepreneur anyway.

The only way to get rich:

The measure of success for an entrepreneur is the money they make.

Let’s face it, starting any business is all about making money for the owners. Otherwise, why would anyone bother?

Starting your own business can be a fantastic thing to do, and, for most people, it’s the only way you’ll ever have the chance to make some serious money.

Certainly, you’re unlikely to get seriously rich working for someone else.

However, to succeed in business, you must first get started.

The critical ingredient to success in business is getting off your butt and doing something about it.

And the best time to do it is now. Last year or the year before might have been better, but otherwise, now is always the best possible time. It’s simple, really.

The secret to making money:

Getting off your butt is one thing, but how do you make money as an entrepreneur? Well, dear reader, pull up a chair and listen carefully, for the secret is very simple.

The secret to making money as an entrepreneur is to solve problems for people. To make their lives easier in some way.

Solve problems; make money:

Every product you sell must solve a problem for the customer.

So if you can identify problems for which people need solutions and if you can offer those solutions, otherwise known as products, at value-for-money prices, then you can make money and you can be successful.

Remember this too; you don’t necessarily have to be the first with a solution either. If you can improve on an existing solution in some way then you can still make some serious money. If you can ‘build a better mousetrap‘ then people will buy it.

For instance, Steve Jobs and Apple were not the first to offer cellular mobile phone handsets, and neither were Samsung. Yet these two companies both dominate the market for smartphones right now.

Make a difference:

Has your appetite for business been whetted, dear reader?

Do you have any ideas you think might make a difference?

You do?

Then you have to be prepared to take action. Having ideas means nothing unless you take action.

Ideas are ten-a-penny. Plenty of people have good ideas that never see the light of day.

Occasionally, people will have good ideas but leave them all too long, and then someone else comes along with the same idea and makes serious money from it. That’s happened to me. I came up with a great idea for a t-shirt slogan. I failed to act, and someone else came along with the same idea, and it’s currently a best seller on Amazon. My loss; their gain.

Having ideas is easy. Implementation is the hard part, and there are too few people with the drive and determination to turn a good idea into a business opportunity and then make money from it.

So you must take action if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.

Not tomorrow; not next week; not next year; but right now.

Become a ‘doer’:

In my experience, true entrepreneurs are doers; they’re not dreamers.

So go on, get started right now.

Solve people’s problems, and you’ll be on the road to riches. It can be done and people do. And so can you! Go for it.

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To find a job you’ll love start with these questions

04/11/2024 by Roy Sutton

Most people, if they’re lucky enough to have a job, are in jobs for which they have little or no passion.

They just do whatever they have to do to ensure they have a regular income. It’s a living but it’s hardly a life, wouldn’t you agree?

If you’d like to find a job you’ll love doing then start by asking yourself some searching questions like these:-

Questions to ask yourself:

What activity gives you a genuine buzz?
What activity would you regard as more fun than work?
Do you have a genuine talent for some particular activity?
What activity makes your eyes sparkle with enthusiasm?
What would you do as a hobby if you couldn’t make a living at it?
In which activity would you not have to be asked twice to participate?
In what activity would you be so absorbed that you’d completely lose track of time?
For what activity would you willingly rise early, knowing that this was on your day’s agenda?

Why the answers are important:

The answers to these questions will help you to identify the activity for which you have passion and enthusiasm.

If you can identify a job that consists primarily of activities consistent with the answers to these questions, then the chances are that you’ll have found the job you’ll love to do.

And as the saying goes, find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Now, getting that job won’t be that easy, of course.

However, knowing what you really want is the first step on the road to success.

If you have a real talent for your work then you’re likely to enjoy what you do. If you enjoy what you do, then you’re likely to do it well. Do it well and people will notice. And once people begin to notice you for the work you do then your career will start going places, potentially to places beyond your wildest dreams.

Finding a job for which you have a passion really can lead you to success.

So go on, start reflecting on these questions and then ask yourself, is what I’m doing now consistent with the answers? A negative conclusion would imply that it’s time to make some changes.

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The real cost of television? The answer will surprise you

04/07/2024 by Roy Sutton

Have you ever considered what the real cost of television is and the effect it has on your life?

When you’ve worked hard all day, I’m sure you find it so easy when you arrive home in the evening, to have a bite to eat and then relax in front of the television. You just passively watch whatever’s on offer because it’s your time now, right?

If you’ve worked hard all day, you deserve a rest, surely?

Anyway, you’ve got a nice television, and it cost you a lot of money, right?

So, of course, you want to make the most of it, don’t you?

If you’ve spent all that money, why would you want to waste such a fine piece of technology by not using it? Surely that’s a reasonable argument?

Opportunity cost:

Well, it’s an argument, of course, but have you ever given serious thought to the real cost of that television to you?

How much do you think it actually costs?

Now, I’m not referring to the price tag in the store when you purchased your television, though even that’s not insignificant.

I’m referring to the opportunity cost of the time wasted passively watching television.

Never forget, time is money.

And time wasted watching television could have been used doing something that would have been far more profitable for you, at least in the long term.

Deep down, I suspect, in your heart, you know that dear reader, don’t you? Nevertheless, knowing and acting on the knowledge you possess are two different things.

The importance of time:

How often do you hear people say things like, I’d love to earn more money; I’d love to have a better job; I’d love to learn another language; I’d love to learn to play the piano; and so on? Then you’ll hear them say if only I had the time.

Do you recognise yourself anywhere there, dear reader?

The simple fact is that when it comes to time, we all have exactly the same amount, 168 hours each week. It all comes down to how you choose to use and prioritize your time.

Time is a resource, like any other:

Successful people recognise that time is their most precious resource and they use it wisely.

People who succeed have a genuine sense of purpose and they’re very focused on their goals. They know what they want and they have a plan as to how they’ll get it.

Do you have a genuine sense of purpose, dear reader?

Have you got a clear idea in terms of where you’re going?

Do you know what it is you want out of life?

Life can be better:

Perhaps life is something that’s just happening to you and you’re just going with the flow?

That’s an acceptable strategy if you’re willing to accept whatever life throws at you.

However, you must ask yourself: Are you really happy with your life and the share of life’s pie you’ve been given so far, or do you want more?

Well, let me tell you this, dear reader. For things to improve, you must first learn to use your time wisely.

Remember: Time is more important than money because you can always get more money, but you can’t get more time.

Secondly, you need a clear sense of direction and your own plan for how you’ll get to where you want to go. Without direction and a plan, you’ll be destined to be used as part of someone else’s plan.

However, that’ll only be for as long as you can serve some useful purpose for them.

Once you no longer serve any purpose for them you’ll cease to be part of their plan. And then you’ll be scratching around looking for another way to earn a living.

The world is an unforgiving place, that’s for sure.

Be a person of value:

Work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money.

However, we don’t just get paid for the hour. Our pay is dictated by the value we put into that hour.

The more value we can add the more we’ll earn.

And to add more value we must be increasing our knowledge and skills constantly.

We reap what we sow.

If we fail to reap, we cannot sow.

And how can you reap if you spend your life passively watching television? Time wasted cannot be recovered.

You’ll get out what you put it:

In my experience, we get out of life exactly what we put in. The more we put in the more we’ll get out.

The obvious question is, how can you get more out of life?

If you’re happy to go through life passively watching television but struggling to make a decent living then that’s fine, if that’s what you want. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Waste as much of your time as you like.

However, if you want more than that then it’s time to start designing the life you want and avoiding time-wasters like television.

It’s time to decide where you’re going; and what you want out of life. It’s time to develop your plan for success. And above all, it’s time to stop wasting your time.

You can be a winner. Anybody can.

However, it does require some effort on your part and a clear sense of direction though. That’s a given.

A great source of inspiration:

And if you’re going to be a winner, in addition to using your time wisely, you’ll also need a constant source of inspiration to keep you motivated.

One of my greatest sources of inspiration is the late, great, business philosopher Jim Rohn.

You’ll find plenty of videos featuring Jim Rohn on YouTube.

However, you might also consider buying one of Jim Rohn’s books or even an audio recording to listen to in your car or on your smartphone or iPad.

One Jim Rohn book (also available as an audio recording) that I can highly recommend is The Art of Exceptional Living.

You can check it out on Amazon if you CLICK HERE.

DISCLOSURE: This website is an Amazon affiliate. Should you make a purchase via any of the links, you should be aware that this website will receive a small commission. Thank you.

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How to ensure you’re a satisfied customer

04/04/2024 by Roy Sutton

Pay beforehand was never well served. ~English Proverb

Have you ever been in a situation where someone is trying to sell you something and seemingly they can’t do enough for you? They promise so much and they seem so keen to ensure that you enjoy a ‘great customer experience‘.

Then you buy; you part with your money; and suddenly everything changes.

They’d love to help you but that wasn’t included in the sale price, despite you having been given the impression that it was.

This is particularly true with a service, in my experience.

If you have a tradesman or woman doing work for you, for as long as they haven’t been paid, they’ll do just about anything and everything you ask.

Once they’ve been paid, “they’d love to help you but they’re far too busy”.

The moral of the story is that paying for a service before you’ve actually received it is always a mistake.

You won’t be well-served if they’ve already got your money, undoubtedly that’s a fact I’m afraid.

So my message to you is clear dear reader. You pay as little as possible upfront and retain as much as possible until the work has been finished to your complete satisfaction.

Do that and you’ll always be sure to get a job well done. Part with your money first and you’ll be a hostage to fortune.

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How serious money is made through self-employment

03/23/2024 by Roy Sutton

Today I thought it would be interesting to consider how serious money is made through self-employment rather than spending your life working as a wage slave.

There are many ways to make money, dear reader, and they all have their merits.

For instance, if you get a job with a big corporation, it’s possible to earn a decent income, and you may enjoy a few fringe benefits too.

And if you get a job in the public sector, the pay may not be as good, but the pension scheme is usually the best you’ll find anywhere. And of course, working for the government is usually a fairly secure form of employment too.

So, if you become a wage slave in any sector, you can make a living, and sometimes that can even be a decent living as well.

However, unless you work on Wall Street or for an investment bank in the City of London, you are unlikely to make a fortune. Unfortunately, dear reader, that’s one of life’s facts.

The road to serious money:

So, if you aim to make serious money, then you should consider self-employment.

And the good news is that we live in an age in which becoming self-employed has never been easier or cheaper. As a result of the Internet, there are so many business opportunities that were simply not available to previous generations.

And the best news is, you don’t even have to give up your day job, not initially anyway.

You can start your own business as a part-time side hustle, initially, and keep it that way until the income your business is generating for you is sufficient for you to live on.

You can even start one business to generate extra cash and as it makes money you can invest that cash into bigger and potentially more profitable opportunities. The possibilities are endless.

The downside of being an employee:

As an employee, you’re trading your time for money and that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s your preference.

However, if your firm does well, you’re unlikely to benefit significantly from any extra profit they make. You might get a bonus but regardless of personal contribution, it’s more likely to be an incidental sum rather than life-changing money.

With your own business, you can make money whilst you’re sleeping.

If you want to get seriously rich then you’ll have to find ways to start making money while you sleep.

Now dear reader I can hear you asking, but how do you make money while you sleep?

Let me give you some examples of online businesses where you could start with little or no money and start making money while you sleep.

Selling products online:

The Internet provides you with the ability to reach most of the people on the planet, wouldn’t you agree?

Think about that for a second.

If you create a website or an online store then billions of people around the world will have access to it. And those people can access it while you’re asleep.

So the potential is there for you to create something that can be generating money for you 24 hours a day 365 days every year.

Still not convinced? Let me give you some examples of businesses you could start to achieve this goal:-

Selling on Amazon:

If you’ve ever bought anything from Amazon you’ll probably have noticed that Amazon is not always the actual seller of the item you are seeking to purchase. Other suppliers sell their products through Amazon via what is known as Amazon Marketplace.

And when third-party suppliers sell products via Amazon they can also use a service known as Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).

This means if you are the seller, you deliver your stock of products to Amazon and they’ll handle all the logistics associated with product delivery to the buyer.

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA):

If you want to sell products but you don’t want to handle the packing, postage, and delivery then you can get Amazon to handle it all for you using FBA.

You can do it yourself of course but the point is that you don’t have to because there’s an easier way.

So you can focus on finding products that will offer solutions to the problems your target customers have and just let Amazon do the rest.

And remember this; those products don’t even have to be new. They can be ‘second-hand‘ or used items too.

Second-hand products:

As long as you can find a suitable niche in second-hand products, there is money to be made.

Let me offer you an example.

Each year graduating students have textbooks to sell. Maybe you’ve had that experience, dear reader?

Essentially such students want to get some cash back for books they’re unlikely to read ever again.

Shrewd entrepreneurs recognize that there’ll be a ready market for those textbooks at the start of the next academic year. New students will want to obtain course textbooks at a better price if they can.

So entrepreneurs offer ‘selling students‘ a quick way to turn their textbooks into a little cash.

And then ‘buying students‘ will be sold those same textbooks at a rate which will save them money on the price for the same book had it been bought new.

You make money and everyone’s a winner.

Set up a website:

The entrepreneurial you can set up a website to attract booksellers and then through Amazon Marketplace the books you’ve bought cheaply can be sold at a profit.

And in that way, you could create a profitable second-hand book business.

You could repeat the same trick with music such as vinyl records and CDs, as well as films on DVD.

Second-hand smartphones, tablet computers, and other technology items offer another entrepreneurial possibility.

And don’t forget there’s demand for second-hand clothes too.

Alternatively, you could source your products, e.g. skincare products, cosmetics, household products, and so on and then sell those via Amazon.

I know plenty of people who have created successful businesses with this approach and from them made good money.

Selling on eBay:

When people sell stuff at a boot sale or yard sale, they usually sell at low prices because they price items for a quick sale.

These are things they need to get rid of as quickly as possible for whatever reason and get whatever they can for them. So, there’s a potential opportunity for those with an entrepreneurial spirit.

You buy these items cheaply and then resell them on eBay for profit.

More importantly, people sometimes sell valuable stuff at boot sales and yard sales for ridiculously low prices because they don’t realize the real value of the item.

On the British television show Flog It, I saw a woman sell an antique vase at auction for £800 having originally bought it at a boot sale for just £1. Now that’s a healthy profit.

Yes, such examples would be the exception but shrewd people can and do make money this way and eBay is a great vehicle for doing so.

Affiliate Marketing:

Affiliate marketing is ‘commission only’ selling.

It works through an idea known as content marketing. The idea is that if you can direct traffic to a product seller’s website which results in a sale then you get paid a commission for that sale.

The amount of commission can be as low as 4% or less from the Amazon Affiliate Program to as much as 75% from some items offered through programs like Clickbank and CJ (Commission Junction, as it was known previously).

The idea is that you create a website in a niche of your choice, generate content on known problems for which people are searching for solutions, and then recommend a product as part of the solution you offer. Then you include an affiliate link to that product and you’ll get a commission every time a sale is made.

How do you achieve this in practice?

Well despite its relatively low commission rates, Amazon offers the easiest opportunity for the beginner. You sign up for the Amazon Affiliate Program and then identify a suitable niche that interests you.

Let’s say that niche is budget-priced sports shoes for women. Now the niche does need to be focused and quite narrow. The category ‘Shoes‘ would be far too wide. You need to think about categories for which people will be searching via Google and other search engines.

Once you decide on a niche, you create a website publishing offering reviews of sports shoes for women.

And remember; those reviews don’t have to be your own necessarily.

They could be a curation of reviews you’ve read elsewhere, summarised with an overall rating based on what others have been saying. In other words, you’ve done the hard work for readers by providing them with a comprehensive summary of all the reviews out there and then providing a convenient link to Amazon so that they can easily make their purchase

Creating a review summary by curating input from other sources is legitimate, as long as you acknowledge the different sources which form the basis of your article.

Why review sites are a good idea:

Review sites work with affiliate marketing because they capture buying intent and that’s important.

If someone searches for a review of an item on Google, there is a strong possibility that they will buy if the reviews are positive.

When producing your review articles the crucial action is to embed affiliate links within the text.

Getting readers to click on those links and taking them to Amazon is how you’ll make money. If they buy within 24 hours of clicking on a link you will get paid a commission.

Amazon commissions vary depending on the number and type of sales for which you are credited each month.

So in choosing a niche, you must think about product value too. Generate low-value sales and you won’t make much. However, sales for items with a bigger price tag can prove very lucrative.

That said generating some low-value sales can be a way of pushing subsequent bigger ticket sales into a higher commission rate. So don’t ignore them completely.

Content Marketing:

Essentially content marketing is publishing web content to promote products and services. Content marketing is closely linked with affiliate marketing but not exclusively so.

There are two types of content you can consider, as follows:-

(1) Written Content:

For instance, if you’re producing regular content and publishing it on your blog then there’s the potential to generate an income through advertising.

Now selling advertising space on your blog or website is only possible if you have substantial traffic.

However, If you’re just starting you will not reach those levels for quite some time.

Nevertheless, what is known as pay-per-click (CPC) advertising could generate money for you right from the start.

Perhaps the best-known CPC program is one offered by Google Adsense. You sign up for this program, then embed Google’s links in your blog and they will insert advertising on your blog that is relevant to your content.

EZOIC is another excellent advertising opportunity for new content marketers and bloggers.

Every time a reader clicks on an advertisement you will get paid and it’s not purchase-dependent. Readers only have to click for you to get paid.

The trick with Adsense and EZOIC is to have a narrow focus for your blog.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your blog is about how to keep chickens and deal with blights like red mite. You’ll attract search-engine-generated traffic from people desperate to deal with the problem of red mite. Google or EZOIC will insert ads from companies offering products that will help with this problem and desperate people are likely to click on those ads to see what’s on offer. They click, and you get paid.

As long as your subject matter is focused and narrow, and ideally based on a highly searched keyword or phrase, then this can be a way to generate decent money. However, the traffic levels to your blog will have an impact on how much money you can reasonably make.

(2) Video Content:

Another way to benefit from Google Adsense is to create your own YouTube channel, produce videos and again insert links from Google so that relevant pay-per-click advertising will appear on and around the video. Again if people click then you get paid.

Write eBooks:

Devices such as the iPad, the Kindle and other eReaders, provide you with the opportunity to self-publish eBooks and sell them through Amazon.

You may not be able to come up with the next Harry Potter work of fiction but there is good money to be made writing ‘How To’ books on just about any subject.

They don’t even need to be that long either.

As little as 50 pages or 8,000 – 10,000 words covering a topic of general interest can be enough to produce something that will sell for one dollar or one pound sterling. That might not seem like a lot but sell 1,000 of them and you’ve made a decent sum of money.

Write something on an evergreen topic and it could sell for years.

If you write several eBooks like this on evergreen topics, that could become a decent income stream.

And what do I mean by evergreen?

These are topics for which people have always looked for solutions. That might be something like tips for good time management, or how to lose weight, and so on.

And even if you’re not an expert you can research the necessary information and pull it together for people. Essentially you will be doing the work for your readers.

And don’t forget, nowadays you also have the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to help you in the form of Gemini and ChatGPT. These are powerful writing aids.

Develop Apps:

If you can learn to write code, and of course, you can learn to write code, then you can also learn how to develop apps. If you can develop a killer app and sell it through the App Store then you can make serious money.

And a great app might attract a corporation to buy it for big money. By way of an example, the app Wordle was sold to the New York Times for more than $1 million. That’s a decent payday, don’t you think?

OK, so you’d love to develop an app but you don’t know where to start, right?

Well, there are endless videos and tutorials on YouTube and from these, you can learn how to code and develop apps.

Yes, there’s some work to be done upfront of course.

However, a good app will generate money for years to come. Just think about apps like Candy Crush Saga.

Produce something that becomes a real fad and there’s serious money to be made.

11 things to bear in mind:

If becoming self-employed appeals to you and you fancy making money as an online entrepreneur then here are 11 things you should bear in mind:-

Know your target customers.
Know your target niche or niches
Know your strengths and interests?
Apply your strengths and interests to serve customers
Recognize that different markets need different strategies.
Make sure you’re capturing buying intent.
Create an image that will appeal to your target audience.
With a website, traffic matters.
Search engine optimization (SEO) will bring traffic.
Getting backlinks from other websites will help with SEO.
Be determined, work hard, and learn as you go.

6 things you must do when you’re self-employed:

(1) Register with the tax authorities: Make money by all means but pay your taxes too. Upsetting the tax authorities is not a good idea dear reader wherever you live. In some countries, tax regimes are more benign than in others but it’s always better to keep the tax authorities happy.

(2) Register for sales taxes and VAT: Again it’s all about paying your dues. If you do well financially then you have an obligation to share some of your wealth with the rest of society. Taxes are the price we pay to live in society and you can’t have a successful business without the society in which you live.

(3) Get a separate business bank account: Keep your business activities separate from your personal life. This is very important.

(4) Keep accurate and up-to-date records: You’ll need these in any dialogue with the tax authorities. You don’t want to end up paying more tax than was necessary. Paying your dues is one thing; overpaying your dues is careless.

(5) Insure your business: When you’re in business, you’re required by law to have certain insurance policies. Exactly which policies you need depends on the nature of your business activities. Make sure you know your obligations and act accordingly.

(6) Keep it simple: In the early days, you don’t want to be spending money you don’t have on things that are initially unnecessary. So keep everything as simple as possible for as long as possible.

Conclusion:

Self-employment can be an attractive proposition and for most people, it is the only way you will ever make a fortune. It’s not easy of course but it can be done and you don’t have to ditch your day job to get started.

With an online business, you can start small and build it up over time. And you can mix and match options. For instance, you can start a website to make money with both affiliate marketing and Google Adsense or EZOIC.

A good review website can become quite profitable and once it’s generating revenues on ‘autopilot’ it can become an asset that you can sell for serious money. There are plenty of examples where such sites have sold for 6 and even 7-figure sums.

Don’t underestimate the challenges of course but it can be done and people do. Why not you?

So, think carefully about how best to exploit the opportunities before you and then have a go.

Good luck and may you be the next Richard Branson.

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Filed Under: Side Hustle Ideas Tagged With: Achievement, Business, financial freedom, Income, Inspiration, Making Money, Making Money Online, money, Motivation, riches, Self-employment, Side Hustle Ideas, Success, Wealth

Creating a Life Plan: 17 ways the rich think differently

03/10/2024 by Roy Sutton

Have you ever thought about creating a life plan, dear reader? If you’re young and have your life ahead of you, certainly, it’s a good idea. You can always let life happen to you, of course, but it’s better if you go out and make life happen the way you’d prefer it to be. And to have a good life, having money certainly helps. So money is at the heart of life planning.

Now, why is it that some people are wealthy and others are not?

You might argue that the rich inherit money, and therefore they’re just lucky. For a few people, that may be true. However, it’s not a universal truth.

Having wealthy parents helps, no doubt but there are plenty of examples of self-made millionaires and billionaires. And there are plenty of examples of people who lost all their wealth and then just created another fortune.

There are also plenty of examples of poor people who enjoyed good fortune winning a lottery only to squander their millions within a few short years.

This would suggest that the rich and poor have a different philosophy concerning creating a life plan and money as a resource.

17 ways the rich and poor think differently:

The video embedded here explores 17 ways in which rich people and poor people think differently. It’s an interesting video and it makes some really useful points that will help you in your life planning. It’s informative and well worth a few minutes of your time, in my opinion.

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Thank you for your support.

What matters most in life? People or money?

02/18/2024 by Roy Sutton

What matters most in life? People or money? Think about that for a second or two.

Occasionally, I’m sure we all think to ourselves, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be rich and financially secure?“

It sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Money, money, money!

You’d be able to do whatever you want, travel anywhere, and buy anything. Whether it’s a nice house, a fabulous car, the best clothes, the latest fashions, or the latest gadgets, you could have them all.

No more searching for cheap flights or even cheaper holidays.

And you wouldn’t have to worry about a job anymore, would you?

Wealth would mean the end to all your problems, surely?

Wealth is not a life without problems:

If only it were that easy, dear reader. Wealth, if you had it, might eliminate some of your problems, but it would also present you with lots of new ones.

Remember, riches may be chains of gold, but chains of gold are still chains.

Everyone has problems, regardless of any wealth and privileges they may enjoy. They’ll just have different problems.

Caretaker of your possessions:

If wealth is something you’ve yet to experience, then it may not be obvious to you, but once you’ve got plenty of money, you become the caretaker of your possessions.

You worry about losing your wealth. And you worry about the volatility of financial markets and how your wealth will be affected, both now and in the long term.

When you’ve got money, plenty of people will be hoping they can separate you from at least some of it. It seems like everyone is trying to sell you something and/or give you advice at a price.

Others will resent your wealth:

And don’t forget, many people will resent you for your wealth. Not everyone will be happy for you, that’s for sure.

Then you become a magnet for criminals, con artists, and even politicians who want a piece of your wealth.

You don’t know who you can trust anymore. Do people become your friends because they like you, or are they simply after your money? Once you’ve got wealth, it’s virtually impossible to know.

The impact of instant wealth:

However much you may dream of winning the lottery, for instance, it would have an impact on your life in ways you couldn’t begin to imagine. It wouldn’t solve all your problems; it would present you with many more.

If you’ve suddenly gained wealth and your friends haven’t, then your relationship with them is unlikely ever to be the same again. Even if you share some of your sudden wealth with them, it’s unlikely to help.

Whatever you share with people from your winnings, will just create tensions within your friendship group. Why did you give her X and I only got Y? That will be one accusation you’ll hear frequently, for instance.

What matters most in life?

If you are wealthy, dear reader, I’m pleased for you. Enjoy it all.

For those people working hard to become rich, good luck to you. I hope you achieve your goals and enjoy your wealth when you find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

However, whatever your financial circumstances, never forget this: only people matter.

You can have all the money in the world, but without your family and close friends, you would have absolutely nothing at all.

It’s the people in our lives that make life worth living.

They make us laugh, and they make us cry. They’re there for us when we need someone to listen; someone to put an arm around our shoulder and tell us that everything will be fine; and someone to give us a pat on the back when we’ve done well.

Money might make life comfortable, but does it make you rich? I don’t think it does.

If your life is blessed with good people who care about you, then that’s when you’re truly rich. If you also have a sense of purpose and a hobby, then you have all you need. Anything else is a bonus.

Money is nice to have, of course, and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from seeking to build wealth. Quite the contrary, you should always be trying to build your little nest egg for the future.

However, money alone will not make you happy. To be happy, your life needs people, purpose, and a pastime.

These are the things that matter.

Money is simply the icing on the cake. It is nice to have, but it is not essential to your happiness. Whereas having people in your life is essential to your happiness.

If you could only have either money or family and friends, which would you choose? I’d choose the people every time.

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The power of repetition:

Start with one good habit:

Self-discipline is key:

The power of helping others:

Look after your health:

Habits of successful people:

Further Reading:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles you might also find interesting:

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The Lottery Question:

Never work a day in your life:

STEP 1: What are you good at?

STEP 2: What do you enjoy doing?

STEP 3: Which items are common to both lists?

Find the right work for you:

Please share this post on social media:

Other articles you might also find interesting:

You might like to try these free games too:

How to build wealth from nothing:

1. Pay yourself first:

2. Be an investor, not a speculator:

3. Focus on value, not price:

4. Create a personal private income:

5. Never forget what matters most:

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Articles that might also appeal to you:

The only way to get rich:

The secret to making money:

Solve problems; make money:

<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-17812 alignright" src="https://roysutton.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-secret-to-being-a-successful-entrepreneur-2-300x300.png" alt="The secret to being a successful entrepreneur" width="300" height="300" />Make a difference:

Become a ‘doer’:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles that might appeal to you:

Questions to ask yourself:

Why the answers are important:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles that might appeal to you:

Opportunity cost:

The importance of time:

Time is a resource, like any other:

Life can be better:

Be a person of value:

You’ll get out what you put it:

A great source of inspiration:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles that might appeal to you:

Please share this blog post on social media:

Other articles you might also find interesting:

The road to serious money:

The downside of being an employee:

Selling products online:

Selling on Amazon:

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA):

Second-hand products:

Set up a website:

Selling on eBay:

Affiliate Marketing:

How do you achieve this in practice?

Why review sites are a good idea:

Content Marketing:

(1) Written Content:

(2) Video Content:

Write eBooks:

Develop Apps:

11 things to bear in mind:

6 things you must do when you’re self-employed:

Conclusion:

Please share this post:

Other articles that might appeal to you:

You might like to try these free games too:

17 ways the rich and poor think differently:

Please share this post with your friends:

Other articles that might appeal to you:

Wealth is not a life without problems:

Caretaker of your possessions:

Others will resent your wealth:

The impact of instant wealth:

What matters most in life?

Please share this post with your friends:

Make a difference: