You increase your income by raising either the volume of your work or the value of each hour, and the 15 ways below cover employees, freelancers and business owners. The video starts from a simple fact: you need more money because everything has become extremely expensive. It does not matter whether you are an employee, freelancer or business owner.
The list below is grouped into six parts, from brute-force hours to subscription models and follow-ups, with a bonus warning about starting something new.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 ways at a glance
- 1-3. Work more, negotiate on value and earn commission (0:15)
- 4-5. Faster people and faster learning (3:00)
- 6-8. Incorporate, outsource and invest (5:01)
- 9-11. Talent, consistency and value per employee (7:32)
- 12-13. Add-ons and a rich-people offer (10:25)
- 14-15. Subscriptions and chasing lost buyers (12:12)
1-3. Work more, negotiate on value and earn commission
Number one is brute force: work more hours. If you can monetise your time, the fastest way to earn more is to spend more hours doing it. It is not rocket science. Everyone wants an effortless route to more money, yet most people could raise their income dramatically just by working more. The video covers smarter ways to raise the value of each hour later, but nearly everyone would see immediate results by focusing on volume. There are times to be smart and times to work hard.
Number two is negotiating a raise for the same volume of work but with different stakes. Businesses pay you a fraction of the value you create for others, so to get paid more you create more value. There are three ways. Save them time or effort, since their time is worth more than yours. Minimise risk and speed up success by promising delivery by a deadline even if you must work twice as hard, since risk is expensive. Or expand the scope by taking charge of a project, recruiting people and managing day-to-day operations. The way to get a yes is to be paid only if agreed results are achieved.
The common mistake is asking for more money for the same work just because you asked. No company is incentivised to pay an employee more than someone else would accept for the same work. Business owners can apply this by selling existing customers another feature or product.
Number three is working on commission. The hosts call this the best way to make money if you have none: sell something for someone else and take a cut. There is technically no ceiling and no start-up cost. The more you sell and the more valuable the product, the higher the payout. It is a numbers game, a skill that once mastered means you are never broke again, and it teaches you the difference in lead quality.
You are paid a fraction of the value you generate, so generate more.
4-5. Faster people and faster learning
Number four is surrounding yourself with people who run faster than you. They show that more is possible and attainable. They make decisions faster, put in more work and think differently. They work in groups that push one another, offer guidance and win better terms. If the aim is more income, learn from those who earn more than you, because they know things you do not. Being part of a pack changes your behaviour, so look closely at who is in yours.
Number five is dramatically accelerating your learning. The hosts say to start with your ability to make decisions, since good decisions always lead to more money. If every day for a year you learned something that raised your value, that would be 365 small increases. Some days would bring breakthroughs and others would be another brick in the wall. The hosts say only one efficient way does this in 10 to 15 minutes a day.
Good decisions always lead to more money.
6-8. Incorporate, outsource and invest
Number six is becoming a business by incorporating. Instead of being an employee, set yourself up as a business and contract your services to your current employer. In the hosts’ view, this can take you from paying around 45 percent in tax to around 20 percent, because businesses are taxed differently and many large yearly expenses are deductible when used for business. Shifting from employee to business owner opens your ability to raise income, including adding more clients.
Number seven is outsourcing the repetitive parts. A life that looks like a hamster wheel leaves little room for more income, because tomorrow the same work needs doing. To find income outside that wheel you have to buy yourself time by paying others to do the repetitive tasks. Anything you do over and over, someone else can do. Your job is then to monetise the freed time at a higher price than you pay that person.
Number eight is adding a stream of income by investing. If your money is not making you rich, it is making someone else rich, so check who gets it. The playbook has four steps. Automatically send 15 percent of your monthly income into a low-fee account that tracks the S&P 500. Keep an eye on property prices locally. When you have enough for a down payment, buy a property and rent it out, making sure the rent covers all expenses and then some. Then repeat. You will not get rich overnight, but renters will buy you equity in the home each month.
Buy back the repetitive hours, then sell them at a higher price.
9-11. Talent, consistency and value per employee
Number nine is stealing top performers from somewhere else. Run a business and the quality of your people sets your speed. While yours stagnates with overpaid staff, other businesses have talent that contributes to the bottom line. Find those people and give them a reason to help you instead. In the hosts’ view, corporations are laying off workers by the thousands because there is a gap in the market. It argues people have been overpaid for the past five years, and that firms can re-hire the same number for 60 percent of the cost. You either steal talent that drives the business or cut personnel costs.
Number ten is becoming consistent. You may think you only hit home runs, but that is not conducive to long-term success. Consistency beats the occasional viral hit and adds up in ways you cannot imagine. Post once a day, write once a day, build a routine that delivers real outcomes. You do not need a miracle, just consistency.
Number eleven is focusing and extracting more value per employee. This does not mean making them work twice the hours for the same pay. Find the highest return on each person’s expertise. Instead of having a lead designer post on social media, have them work on variations of ad creative or A/B test a landing page. A post reaches a number of people and then it is gone, while a strong ad or a 20 percent rise in sign-ups can be worth far more. The hours are the same, and how you use them is up to you.
Consistency beats the occasional hit.
12-13. Add-ons and a rich-people offer
Number twelve is giving clients the option to give you more money. A lesson from the hosts’ e-learning experience: on the final checkout page, let buyers add more products at a decent discount, or offer packs of 3, 5 or 10 instead of a single product. This does wonders for average order value, so you make more per customer. Whatever your business, offer the option to add more to the final purchase, because some people will take it.
Number thirteen is creating an offer exclusively for rich people. Whatever you sell, build a special version priced ridiculously high with all the extras, delivered manually and personalised. Businesses do it with one-of-a-kind experiences and VIP treatment. The video’s own example: if courses cost $250 to $500, a rich-people offer might be $25,000 for a weekend retreat, a private dinner and one-on-one coaching with the CEO and team. Most people will find it ridiculous, but it takes about half a day to set up. One sale can equal 3, 6 or 12 months of regular business, or 25 to 100 times the price of the regular product.
Make a version for the buyer who wants everything and has the budget.
14-15. Subscriptions and chasing lost buyers
Number fourteen is implementing a subscription model. In the hosts’ view, subscriptions beat almost every other business model, so see whether yours can become one and get recurring revenue going. Its example is a hairdresser who offers a yearly or six-month plan covering two visits a month instead of cutting hair one visit at a time. This adds predictability and more cash upfront, both of which help build a bigger business and raise income.
Number fifteen is offering big discounts to people who wanted to buy but did not. Find a way to talk to those who showed interest. You learn why you failed to close, and many are still interested. With vacancies or excess product, run the numbers on how to monetise them. Retarget them online, email, text, DM or call, and follow up with a great discount. The biggest source of new income, the video says, is people you have already interacted with, a pile of money waiting for a call.
Your biggest pool of new income is people who already know you.
Bonus: do not start something new at the expense of your main thing
The bonus is a lesson the hosts learned the hard way: it is four times easier to double your current business than to start a new one that makes the same amount. While you build the new thing, the old one suffers and starts to crumble. Halfway through you are juggling a falling business or job and trying to build a lifeboat from something untested.
You think you are trading, but unless you have the resources to be fine without either, you will probably fail. If your mission is to double your income and beyond, protect what already pays you while you grow it.
FAQ
What is the fastest way to increase your income?
The video says the fastest route is volume: if you can monetise your time, working more hours brings immediate results. It then covers smarter ways to raise the value of each hour.
How do I negotiate a raise?
Create more value instead of asking for more for the same work. The video lists saving the company time or effort, reducing risk and speeding success, or expanding the scope of your work, and being paid only if agreed results are achieved.
What is a good way to earn money with no money?
Work on commission. You sell something for someone else and take a cut, with no start-up costs and no ceiling on earnings. The video calls it a numbers game and a skill that keeps you from being broke.
How can a business owner raise average order value?
Offer add-ons at checkout with a decent discount, or sell packs of 3, 5 or 10 instead of one item. The video says this raises average order value and the money made per customer.
Should I start a new business to increase income?
The video warns against it if it costs your main source of income. It says it is four times easier to double your current business than to start a new one that makes the same amount.
Keep reading
- 15 Ways Teenagers Can Make Money
- 10 Ways to Make Money Work For You
- 15 Ways to Make Money as a Student
