How To Make Money

by Ken Matesz

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest” – Albert Einstein

Recent studies have shown that around 70% of Americans hate their jobs.

There are so many people who wish they could be financially independent.

So many think they would like to run their own business.

Are you one of them?

Do you desire running your own business, but you’ve hardly any savings to invest in a business?

Would you like to know how to earn money without being an employee working 40+ hours per week for someone else?

Would you like to know how to start making extra money today, even if you only have $1 in your pocket?

I will tell you in this article how to start earning money, without quitting your current job. I will tell you basic rules you need to follow and practice to begin making enough money so that you CAN eventually quit your current job.

First, you need to know the story of the jester and the king:

The King Does Not Know How to Count

The jester performs a great deed, and the king asks him how he would like to be rewarded. The jester knows that the king is a highly volatile individual. If the jester asks for too much, the king might just kill him then and there. The jester also knows that the king views his promise as sacred. If the king says “yes” to the jester’s proposal, then the king will honor that promise. So in a way, the jester’s problem is how to ask for a lot, but have the king at least initially think it’s not very much, so that the king will give his consent.

So the jester clowns around a bit and then says: “Here’s all I want. Take this checkerboard. On the first square, put one dollar. On the second square, two dollars. On the third square, four dollars, and on the fourth square, 8 dollars. Double the amount on each square until you reach the end of the checkerboard.”

The king laughs at this comic proposal and says, “Your great deed was so wonderful, I would have happily done much more than this! I grant your request!”

But, of course, when the king starts hauling up money from the treasury, he will discover that 2 raised to the 63rd power, the final spot on the checkerboard, requires about 9 quintillion dollars (that is, 9 followed by 18 zeros). $9,000,000,000,000,000,000.00

That is the story of exponential growth. It’s the story of compound interest.

It is also the lesson in how to start earning money outside of a job.

It all starts with ambition.

If you are fortunate, maybe you have $10 to start, or even $100 or $1000. But maybe you have only $1 to spare. . . .

It does not matter how much money you have to start!

What matters is that you really want to get started!

Can You Sell a Bottle of Water on a Hot Day?

A couple months ago, I helped some friends move. I carry around a case of water when I go to do something like this, because everyone needs to be hydrated. I gave bottles of water to anyone who wanted water during that move.

Suppose you were helping with this move, also. Suppose I gave you a bottle of water. You were about to open the water and drink it, but then an idea crossed your mind. You started thinking about exponential growth and how it relates to making money.

You should also think about the postponement of the fulfilling of your desires. Maybe you want to drink right now, but what might you gain by delaying for a while?

What might happen if you carried that bottle of water over to the baseball field where spectators sat on the hot bleachers in the summer sun?

Do you think you could sell that bottle of water for $1? I think you could.

Now you have the dollar from the sale of the water plus a dollar in your pocket.

I just saw a grocery store ad. They sell cases of 24 bottles of water for $1.99.

So now you leave the ballpark, go to the grocery, get the case of water and go back to the ballpark.

Now you have 24 bottles of water you can sell.

Do you think you could sell at least four of those bottles for $1 each to the people sitting in the sweltering heat at the ballpark?

Maybe the rest of the people at the ballpark are cheapskates.

Could you sell 8 bottles for $.50 each?

The idea is to take the $2 you invested in the case of water and turn it into $4.

If you are successful, you have doubled your money in one afternoon, right?

(If it’s really a hot day at the ballpark, I would not be surprised if you sold the whole case of water for $1 per bottle, making you $24, 12 times your original investment!)

You might be thinking, “Big deal, so now I have $4. That doesn’t help me pay my bills or make me financially independent.”

And you’re right. It doesn’t.

Don’t lose your grip on the king and jester story!

What happens if the next day, you take the $4 you earned and bought a $4 item and sold it for $8?

I recently went to an auction at which dozens of items were selling for $4 or $5 each.

Could you buy a stool or wooden table for $4, paint it and tighten the legs on it, then sell it on Craigslist for $10?

Could you then buy two $5 items with your $10 and sell them for $20?

Are you getting the picture, yet?

What happens when you start with $1 and turn that into $4 on the first day, then turn that into $8 the next day, $16 the next day, $32 the next day, and $64 the next day? And so on. . . . ?

What happens is that you have $256 at the end of one week.

The Jester Is No Fool

One dollar became $256 in seven days.

Do you see that if you double your money just 7 more times, you will have over $32,000?

When you get to the point of having $1,000, could you buy a cheap car for $1,000, take it home and detail it, then sell it for $2,000? If it’s the right car, I think you could.

Then, what will you do with your $2,000? How many more doublings before it becomes $32,000? $256,000? $1,024,000?

Remember, opportunity is like rain, it falls everywhere.

The jester was no fool. He knew the power of exponential growth.

And now you should know it, too.

To start making money outside your job today, here are the steps:

Set aside whatever amount of money with which you would like to start.
Think about what you can buy with that money that can be resold for a profit.
Make the purchase.
Sell the item you purchased for at least twice your purchase price.
Rinse and repeat

Whatever you do, resist the temptation to use your earnings for anything other than buying the next item to sell.

Post the following sentence on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror, and other places so you will see it often:

“Starting with $1, I only have to double my money 21 times to have $1 million.”

Or, if you happen to have $1,000 to start:

“Starting with $1,000, I only have to double my money 10 times to have $1 million.”

Each time you double your money, put a tick mark. This is your countdown, keeping track of your progress.

This is how you work your way out of a 9-to-5 job.

This is how you become independently wealthy.

What’s your excuse?

Get after it.