Tony on drums.

My Philosophy: Build Online Assets

My philosophy with online marketing is to build assets – content, tools, books, websites, etc. that work for you. The produce income for you.

First, Some Inspiration

Here’s where some of my inspiration comes from:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I very much liked “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. If you haven’t read it, I highly suggest reading it. The idea is what I just said – build assets.

Naval Ravikant

In addition to that, there’s the Naval Ravikant “How to Get Rich” video that is along the same lines. Here’s a summary of that:

Naval’s basic idea is that wealth arises from having an equity stake in something scalable, not from continually selling your time.

How to do this is by becoming knowledgeable in something (the non-competitive accumulation of skills and taste due to actual curiosity), and then applying it along with accountability (take the risk and get the upside) and leverage. Permissionless leverage like code and media are what are most available and best right now – the ability to scale without anyone else’s permission or much additional expense per customer.

Have long-game friends with long-game people, leverage compounding to its fullest extent, and be wary of “get rich quick” schemes which essentially mean you are the product.

From this video, here’s a list of key points:

10 Most Actionable Takeaways From Naval, Boiled Down:

  1. Optimize for ownership. If you are building value, then rather than focusing on fees, you should seek equity/royalties/revenue share.
  2. Develop specific knowledge for a purpose. Layer unusual skill sets (technology and marketing, design and operations, etc.) until you become “one of one.”
  3. Utilize permissionless leverage. Ship codes, content, tools, templates, or media that can earn money while you sleep.
  4. Put your name on your work. Accountability breeds trust, quality, and leverage.
  5. Make decisions for the long game. Select the projects and partners where the potential exists for real compounding over the next 5 – 10 years
  6. Learn to build and learn to sell. If you learn to create and sell, no one can stop you.
  7. Products are what create assets, not services. Service hours have limits. Products do not.
  8. Avoid status games because they waste energy on short-term signaling instead of creating value.
  9. Judge opportunities based on leverage times ownership times demand. High leverage / ownership / demand is better than hustle.
  10. Be suspicious of “quick” money. If it’s quick and easy, then there’s more leverage in favor of the person selling.

My Philosophy

Here’s my list regarding building online assets (this may change/evolve):

  • Take what you know and make it available to others.
    • Don’t charge for all of it.
    • Give a lot away.
  • Provide high value.
  • Summarize in plain English.
  • Make the content very easy to digest.
  • Stay mainly in your lane, but do diversify.
  • Experiment with things.
  • Don’t be afraid to try new things.
  • Have fun.
  • Embrace failure. Learn from it.
  • Educate yourself.
  • Learn new things.
  • See how different things work together.
  • Invest a little, then see what gets traction.
  • Network with people.
  • Promote yourself humbly.
  • You’re more of an expert than you think.
  • Be organized.
    • If you were to look for something later, where would you look?
    • That’s where it goes.
  • Know who to take advice from, and who not to take advice from.
  • Don’t assume. Use data.
  • Track as much as you can.
  • Test.
  • Look over your work.
  • Take a break. Your brain can then process and you get further ahead.
  • Balance your life.