Another gem from the infamous Dan Kennedy:
“Financial efficiency”.
Sounds simple enough, but as Dan puts it… these two words are the “guarantor of business sustainability and wealth extraction”. Not views, retweets, Twitter followers, subscribers, etc.
Why?
Back to Dan:
“If for no other reason, this is vital so that you can greatly outspend all competitors in investments in new customer acquisition and in customer retetention. This is the secret of growth.”
“They are 4’5″ 98-pound weaklings trying to play pro football. You really don’t want to be that deficient little guy lined up across from a 6’3″, 340-pound, drooling, grunting, nails for breakfast Neanderthal, with out of the blocks speed of a gazelle and mindset of an assassin.”
Dan Kennedy, “Almost Alchemy”
All this stuck with me when I first read it.
And, I started thinking about my own business. In what ways was I financially INefficient? And, I immediately started making changes. Here’s just a quick list of things I did:
- Stopped a set of Google Ads I knew hadn’t been performing
- Re-allocated that spend to the ones that were working
- Reworked some Facebook ads that I’d been neglecting
- Tore through my expenses and eliminated several subscription services
- Eliminated view, like, share checking from my daily routine
And, several other changes all centered on becoming more financially efficient. And, I saw immediate results. About a 50% increase in revenue by doing these simple things I could’ve done months ago.
And, I’m sure I’ll find more as I go.
Or, avoid certain pitfalls all together going forward.
It’s amazing what two little words can do…
WHEN applied.
In any case, do with that what you will. I bet if you look, you can find all kinds of ways you’re being financially inefficient, time inefficient and/or effort inefficient. Eliminating those inefficiencies could have a profound impact on your bottom line… like it did mine.
Finally, let me throw two more words at you:
“Skill Stacking”.
I first wrote about this several years ago, but when it comes to growing my business, I know that knowledge (correctly applied) is the key. That’s WHY I’m even reading Dan’s book in the first place.
And, skill stacking are the words I use to focus my learning.
Constantly stacking new skills on top of new skills; new weapons in my financial arsenal, if you will. Whether you’re a developer, graphic designer, writer… doesn’t matter. Always be stacking skills.
That’s how you stay relevant…
And, in demand.
Same is true of freelancing. Freelancing is a set of skills just like anything else. Negotiating, delivering, prospecting, content marketing… however you do it, it’s all just individual skills. Skills that can be learned and should be stacked.
In any case, that’s one of the reasons why I created my Beginner’s Guide to Freelance. To show you the skills I’ve learned and honed in my 15 years as a freelancer that allows me to work full-time from home.
That helped me get that Inc. Magazine project.
Or, to work on the one for Tim Ferriss.
And, Lewis Howes.
Etc, etc. It’s all just skills… that can be learned and perfected.
Anyway, if you want to shortcut that learning curve, you can enroll in the course on Udemy here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/freelanceonudemy
Later,
John
P.S. Or, if you prefer, you can get all my course for free on Skillshare with the exclusive 2-month free trial I can offer you. All the details on that are at: https://johnmorrisonline.com/skillshare
