Do you know why most people who want to write a book never do? Even most people who start writing, never finish it. It’s not that they are lazy. Yes, some are afraid of criticism and putting themselves out there. But for most people the real reason is mindset. We are raised to think of time as money.
That’s how most people earn their money. That’s how most companies operate. You give me your time, and I pay you for it. Within this mindset a book, a course, a piece of art, any type of content is a product. The creator spends time on it and should get paid for that time. And that’s when the system stops working because if you charged a year’s salary for a book, nobody would buy it.
So creators developed the notion that money does not matter in a burst of self-defense. The poor artist was born because if money doesn’t matter then you can create in peace, right? And while this attitude is freeing creation from the pressure of earning, it is not a good business mindset. Let’s shift out of it. All you have to do is think of your creations as assets.
What is an asset?
I first learned about the term “asset” in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. The definition in the book is still the best and simplest I have ever read. “An asset puts money in my pocket.[…] A liability takes money out of my pocket.” (Emphasis added.)
How much money an asset makes is irrelevant. It can be an e-book you sell for a Euro or a course you offer that costs your clients thousands. The best kind of asset brings you money repeatedly. Once you shift away from the idea of a product to an asset, it becomes a lot easier to spend time on creating it.
The long-term view
Taking a year to write a really good novel is now a great idea because once it is finished, that novel will earn me money for years, and even after I’m dead! The same goes for courses. When I first worked on my Self-Awareness Course, I got a solid first draft but I wasn’t happy with it. So I worked on other projects instead. Turns out there were things about self-awareness I still needed to learn and figure out. When I got back to the course, it was so much better than I could even have imagined at first!
It took me almost a year to finish that course but I was ok with it because assets are always for the long-term. See, when we think of products we often think of immediacy. Some people in business even suggest that we find a current problem and solve it. And there’s nothing wrong with that approach. But if one of your passions is to create, and you want to do so in peace, start thinking of your creations as assets.
Even if you have different interests, you build up a portfolio of assets that will make you money every year forever once the individual products are finished. Do you see how this changes not just how you create but also what you create? Instead of thinking of yourself as “scattered”, know that you are building a diversified portfolio.
How to turn anything into a long-term asset
If you paint a picture and you sell it once, it’s an asset, but not a very good one because you want repeated cash flow. Ok, so you are a painter. What are you supposed to do with this then? You want to paint! Sure! Just also turn your painting into a long-term asset. Sell the physical painting and keep the reproduction rights. Then add it to merchandise or consider a clothes collection, like Edi Matsumoto, or if it is digital art, you can even sell it with a smart contract so you’ll get paid every time it is re-sold!
What about courses? Evergreen self-learning courses people can take without you are assets. You create them once and sell them again and again. What if you like to teach a course? No problem! Teach your course! And then create supplementary material. Maybe you could write a book about the topic. Maybe there are templates you could sell separately. If you are in the self-development area why not create motivational merchandise with some of the catch-phrases you teach?
Portfolio
Do you see how new ideas and opportunities suddenly turn up as soon as you think of your creations as long-term assets? Again, it does not matter at all how much money you get from an asset. The key is repeated income. Over time, your list of assets grows and grows. Your audiences grow and you can use synergy to boost your sales.
It’s interesting to me how many people use the term portfolio to talk about their investments but also for the work of an artist without even thinking because they are so similar. A good portfolio has lots of long-term assets in it and it is diversified. This means different types of assets.
A Scanner’s portfolio
That’s exactly what we as Scanners were born to create! I’m not saying you need to monetise everything you do. If you just want to follow an interest for a while for fun, that is it’s own reward. Now that you know what assets are, though, I am pretty confident that you’ll suddenly have ideas for how to turn some of your creations into a source of passive income.
Please do! All that held you back was the notion of a product. “It needs to be shiny. It needs to be current. There has to be an audience.” Blablabla. No. Just create your asset and put it out into the world. Someone wants it. They might find it now or in ten years, but when they do they’ll be grateful and you get to make some money with your creation.
So build your portfolio. And the next time you wonder if you should really spend so much time on creating that one thing, remember you are in it for the long-term. This is your life. The outcome is a wonderfully diverse portfolio, which you get to create in peace.