Million-Dollar Ideas
Winning money-making strategies
n terms of practical
application, there aren’t
many million-dollar ideas
for professional speakers.
Developing a strong product
line, spinning off coaching
and consulting services, and licens-
ing opportunities offer that poten-
tial for the long term. Writing a
New York Times bestseller, being
a regular on a national television
network, or having a syndicated
national column will give you a
platform, which certainly can be
leveraged for huge potential sales.
But the single most important
thing you can do is very simple
and ridiculously inexpensive.
It’s more important than all of
the ideas above, because it is the
vehicle that makes them actionable.
Do you know what it is?
It is building a strong database.
Your database is a list of all of your
customers, prospects and tribe on a
platform that you control. It is how
you will connect with these followers to leverage the work you’ve
done building the relationships into
quantifiable income.
Social media is the cheapest
and fastest way to develop and
connect with a tribe. It can seem
overwhelming, so know where to
plant your flag.
No one can keep up with all of
the social media platforms. Search
key words and terms to see where
your prospects are
having conversations.
Look at your best
customers and see where
they are spending their
social media time.
Pick one or two platforms and concentrate on
those. Let your tribe know
where you spend your time.
If you post a You Tube TM video
weekly, tell them that. If you check
Facebook every morning, put that
in your profile. Let people know
when and where you hang out,
and they will follow you there.
Social media platforms are not a
smart, safe place to hold your database. Even if you have a You Tube
channel or a Facebook page, you
still need a website or app. Look at
the furor that arose when Facebook
introduced sponsored posts. On one
side, you have people like Mark
Cuban, who was furious. Some of
his ventures, like the Dallas Mavericks, cultivated a following of millions on Facebook. These people
“liked” the fan page and signed up
to receive updates from the team.
Suddenly, the rules changed, and if
you wanted your posts to appear in
the stream of your followers, you
had to pay for it.
To be fair, from Facebook’s point
of view, they weren’t put on this
planet to provide a service where
their subscribers can share pictures
and updates with all of their friends
for free. All social media platforms
have to make money or they cease
to exist. It’s probable that most or
all of them will eventually evolve
into models that charge you to con-
nect with your followers. So, utilize
them for the connections they offer
you, but don’t be at their mercy by
not maintaining your own lines of
connection with your tribe.
Utilize social media platforms
to develop new prospects and
connect with your existing ones,
then migrate them to your own
platform—an email list and people
who have downloaded your app—
which you control. A good list,
targeted with your fans, even if
it is small, is a million-dollar
opportunity.
Randy Gage, CPAE, is the author of nine
books, including the New York Times
bestseller, Risky Is the New Safe. He’s
spoken on success and prosperity to
more than 2 million people in over 50
countries. Visit www.randygage.com.
Randy gage, CPae
The Million-Dollar Database
