Hey, it's Rachel—

I just finished reading Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.

Who is Charlie Munger?

He is famous for being Warren Buffett's business partner and right-hand man.

Now, there are A LOT of takeaways in this book.

But one of my favorites was "to always invert."

What the heck does this mean?

Well, rather than try to figure out how to do x, Charlie would also figure out how to do the opposite of x, and then avoid those things.

For example, in the book, Charlie talks about being in the military. His job was to study the weather and use information to help keep the WWII pilots alive.

To do his job well, he'd ask himself, "What could I do to kill these pilots?" and then he'd avoid those things.

Here are some more examples that may relate more to your life:

• Instead of asking yourself how to be happy, figure out how to be miserable and do the opposite.
• Instead of asking yourself how to be good with money, figure out the top habits of people who are bad with money and do the opposite.
• Instead of asking yourself how to lose weight, figure out how to gain weight and do the opposite.

Sometimes, knowing what NOT to do is just as valuable information as knowing what to do.

In today's email:

• Idea of the Week
• Resources of the Week
• Work With Me
• Advice Corner

Idea of the Week

How to Make Your First Sale on Etsy in Less Than 24 Hours

Wondering how to make your first sale on Etsy in less than 24 hours?

Well, guess what?

That dream can be a reality.

With the right strategy, you can celebrate your first Etsy sale faster than you can say "cha-ching!"

​Continue reading...​

Resources of the Week

• Something to Inspire You: Interesting Thought Exercise​
• Something to Make You Smile: Mini Cow​
• Something to Talk About: $10,000 Business Grant Opportunity​

This Week's Email is Sponsored By:

Video

Charlie Munger’s 6 Rules Of Money

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You Should Know

Work With Me

Want to take this relationship to the next level? 😂

Here's how we can work together:

• ​Free Webinar: How to Be Confident​
• ​Schedule a 1-hour one-on-one call​
• ​Learn About Optimize Your Life Academy​
• ​Join Passive Income 101​

Need something else? Have a question?

Hit reply and let me know what you're looking for.

Something New

Advice Corner

Q: What steps should I take to grow my business and get my first sale? I have a website and am building a podcast; how else can I get out there without relying on social media?

A: As Peter Drucker once said, “There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.”

Here's the thing: I see a lot of people who like the idea of being "in business" and then jump to starting a podcast or blog, but they don't fully grasp what value they are creating, for whom, and how they will monetize their business. (I know this because I, too, was one of these people.)

Step 1:

So, the very first step (that if you skipped, you should go back and do) is to first make sure you have a business idea that has 1. profit potential, 2. demand, 3. low(ish) competition (ideally), and 4. is within your zone of genius.

If you are confident that people want and need what you have to offer and they don't already have 100,000 choices from people who are way better marketers than you, then move on to step 2.

If you're not confident about this, you may need to find a better business idea, learn to be a better marketer, or both.

(If this sounds harsh, know that I'm not trying to discourage you; I'm just trying to help you avoid learning this ^^ lesson the hard way like I had to.)

Step 2:

Once you've validated your idea, you also need to find the right marketing strategy. A good strategy involves a platform that your target market uses, doesn't have an unbearable amount of noise that causes you to never be seen or heard and is within your zone of genius.

For example, if you hate social media and aren't good at it but are great with people and you know your target market hangs out at the mom's group meet-up once a week, don't be afraid to have a local in-person marketing strategy.

If you hate marketing, you may need to improve your skills, take a course, get outside your comfort zone, or hire or partner with someone who enjoys and excels at what you dislike.

Step 3:

Next, it's all about experimentation and then focus. You can try various free marketing strategies (I recommended committing to them for at least 3 months). Track the outcomes, and then double down on the top 20% that perform the best, and let go of the 80% that don't work.

Again, from Peter Drucker: “The first step in a growth policy is not to decide where and how to grow. It is to decide what to abandon. In order to grow, a business must have a systematic policy to get rid of the outgrown, the obsolete, and the unproductive.”

Do you have a burning question about passive income, personal finance, or positive psychology that you need answered? If so, hit reply and send me an email with your question. If you're lucky, I'll answer it in this section of the next newsletter.