The theme of our new book, Cash in a Flash, is how to get yourself organized, clear and focused enough to do the 100-yard dash to cash.  Most people will take a meandering, painful 26-mile marathon to find money.  But if you get your mind and your heart set right, you will become passionately convinced that no one can talk you out of the project you’ve decided to undertake.  It’s part of our divine DNA to want to create things, just like our Creator does.  We want to create solutions to make other people’s lives better.  And problems are the stuff from which solutions are made.  Once you start viewing your problems as opportunities, you’ve already got a head start in the race. And the best problem you can have is one that you can solve and “monetize” at the same time.

So think of your own problems which you’d like to have solutions to.  Using an imagination exercise, what do you wish a magic wand could magically solve?  What does your magic wand look like?  Reach out your magic wand and “touch” areas of your life you’d like to fix.  Okay, now that your life is transformed, put your imagination on a magic carpet whisking you into your resulting future. What does it look and feel like, since your problems were eliminated?  Now think back to just one of those problems your magic wand fixed.  Was it an issue of health, finance, relationship, emotion, maybe even intellect?  Imagine how many lives could be transformed if you just fixed that one area in your own life.  You would be the “poster child” for the solution to this problem.  So are you ready to turn your problems into fortunes?

During these economic times, people gravitate more to the door marked “Security” than they do to the one marked ”Freedom”.  So they end up with golden handcuffs, and minimal salary and benefits.  If you choose the door marked ”Security”,  you’ll lose both freedom and security.  There is no such thing as security.  The world is changing so fast, businesses are more volatile, and income streams are more temporary.  Choosing “Freedom” at least gives you a constant chance to launch yet another business.  As an entrepreneur, you must be able to create businesses on the fly.  You have the choice to launch a lot of micro-businesses to meet the changing needs of the people.  And their problems are abundant — for you to solve right now.  Your solutions may come in the form of a product, service and/or information.  Do you choose to create stuff, do stuff, or teach stuff?  I think you should either create or teach.

Utilizing the skills and passions you already have – this is what I call “picking your low-hanging fruit”.  To expedite your dash to cash, you must tap a primary skill or knowledge you already have and take action on it right now.  I believe that real estate is “low-hanging fruit” for everybody.  Real estate is the most solvable problem, and everyone has experience living in a house in some form, whether owned or rented.  So you only need to find people with financial problems associated with their real estate.  Highly motivated sellers, or “don’t-wanters” can always be found, especially when the market demand is low.  Buying, selling or renting real estate does not take a lot of experience to be very profitable.  And right now is the time to buy real estate for pennies on the dollar.  People always need shelter.  Our own population is expected to grow by another 100 million by the year 2040.  Where are we going to put them?  What you buy today will be worth three or four times by then what you pay now.  Also, since inflation is a given, now is the perfect time to buy.  Furthermore, there are many strategies and techniques to choose from, allowing you to make money whether the market is on its way down, or up, or sideways!  Real estate is a very flexible investment, and it should be your primary product, or at least one that accompanies your own favored primary product.  People understand real estate easily, therefore it is a “low-hanging fruit”.

I do not recommend you start a service business because it requires your constant presence in order to earn money.  You’re still an hourly-wage slave.  Even doctors and lawyers can’t leave because they cannot create residual-income solutions.  Even if you hire others to provide your service, you are training your future competition. Turnover might be high.  However, if you feel strongly that your purpose in life is to provide a specific service, then do that.  You could create residual-income businesses at the same time that don’t require your presence, because you prefer to show up for the service business you love.  Your residual-income business could then help to support your favored service business.  I love to teach, for example.  I have to be physically present every time I teach.  I want to be there.  But I also record most of my teachings, so that people all over the world can enjoy them, while I earn residual income.  You want to work hard at first to create a stream of residual income, from a business which does not require your continued presence.  I earn residual income from writing books and from network marketing and from the Internet.  You can market online twenty-four hours a day, and you don’t have to be there.

I also do not recommend creating and marketing your own product from scratch if you are looking to make fast cash.  This process can be slower than you prefer, particularly as you must take the time train yourself on new things.  Entrepreneurs often try to go solo, without the benefit of a team.  They’re not good at doing everything (accounting, manufacturing, fulfillment, sales, customer service, etc.), so they are often destined for failure.  Even with a team, progress is usually slow.  Your purpose in life might be to eventually market your own product, service, or information.  But faster cash will come from finding and selling a similar product that another company has already “cracked the code” for.  It is something you love that already exists.  A business has already been established around it.  They have already done the research and development, and the fulfillment processes are in place.  You could join them as their affiliate, associate, distributor, partner or franchisee, and you only have to do one thing well: market this product.  Or at least pay someone else a commission to help you.  But marketing is a very necessary part of being successful.   Preferably, this product you choose to market is not something frivolous, but rather makes the world a better place.  You will feel more fulfilled when you market for this particular company, especially if you consider their product essential to its niche customers.  Make sure this product resonates with the stuff you like to sing.  You could decide that the buzz you enjoy with this company is significant enough, that you pursue being at their top.  Associate yourself in some manner with such a company, and you are more likely to make fast cash, while also enlightening the world. 

Once you have successfully earned money by marketing your chosen product, you’ve earned the right to say you’re an expert.  You now get to be paid twice.  In other words, you can now sell information on how you succeeded.  You get to be paid even more as an expert.  This sale of information is another fast way to cash.  Even though information seems abundant on the Internet and much of it is free, you’ll create an information funnel to your own expertise.  At the top of your funnel is all your free stuff to attract people, and 80% of them will probably never go deeper.  But 20% will want to know more, searching for ways to buy your information in different formats — maybe on DVD’s, as a home study course, live teleconference series, special newsletters, etc.  And some people will dig even deeper, looking to pay you substantial fees to get their desired result for them.  They want a closer experience with you, the author or creator of that information.  These people will be few because your personal time is not rented for cheap.  Most people will use your free information to apply it themselves as a solo entrepreneur without a team.  Had they gone deeper into your funnel to obtain more of your mentorship, they might bypass years of trial-and-error at greater cost.  Regardless of how they finally crack the code, you may have been instrumental in helping them to also become experts.  Now they, too, can teach and market information on how they succeeded using their own special style.  Whether through books, training or coaching, “Info-preneuring” is a powerful way to earn fast streams of income.  Teach your brand of success to the world, and profit from it.