Last week, thousands of people registered for my free, live webinar on the top 7 career mistakes. They learned not only which mistakes were holding them back, but how to overcome those mistakes.

Here’s what some of the attendees said:

I could only host 1,000 during the event because of the software I use.

Normally, my live webinars are one-time-only events (if you can’t make the time to attend, you don’t get the material), but I want to spread this material far and wide to combat against people who constantly complain about “the economy” when they’re talking about finding jobs. The truth is, top performers play an entirely different game — and it doesn’t matter what state the economy is in. They can always find a job — usually within days.

So if you registered, you’ll be getting a full recording. Stay tuned to your inbox.

If you did NOT register, you can still get a copy, but you’ll have to share it via Twitter or Facebook.

If you’ve ever caught yourself saying any of these common phrases, this webinar is designed to show you new strategies that I’ve tested that can help you improve your career. Here are those phrases:

• “I just need to figure it out”
• “Yeah, I should update my resume”
• “I have all these interests…I don’t want to close doors”
• “I don’t even know what I want”
• “I’m lucky to even have this job”

It’s easy to complain about the economy and wonder why you’re being given the kind of responsibility (and compensation) you think you deserve. But getting a Dream Job takes work — the right kind of work. It starts with identifying and overcoming these 7 career mistakes.

You can view the entire webcast — instantly, and for free — by sharing it via Twitter or Facebook. Click on one of the buttons below to begin.

This is material you won’t find anywhere else. I hope it’s helpful for you.

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The most dependable way to earn more money is to provide more value to your customers. That’s obvious.

And the most dependable way to provide more value to your customers is to listen to them and take the time to really understand what they want and need…then give it to them. That’s also obvious.

So why do so few people actually take the time to do it?

It’s because researching your customers isn’t as sexy or fun as creating products or strategizing your pricing. It involves talking to REAL PEOPLE. It also involves admitting that you might be wrong about your customers and the best way to find out is to shut up and listen.

If you can’t get into your customers’ heads, chances are your products and strategies will fail. Why shoot yourself in the foot before you’re even up and running?

Today, a story about one of my students, Brian, who did it right.

He’s building his business slowly, minimizing his risk and taking the time to talk to his customers and other professionals in his industry along the way. His results speak for themselves…he’s almost doubled his rates.

Here’s how he did it.

Step 1: Proving the idea

Halfway through film school, Brian realized that while he loved filmmaking, he had no idea how to turn his hobby into a business. He learned a lot about the technical and artistic aspects of filmmaking, but not much about how to actually make money from those skills.

Brian didn’t want to drop out, so he decided to try Earn1K, my course on earning more on the side, he was curious.

By the third week of Earn1K, Brian had niched his business idea down to high-end wedding videos and set two goals:

1. Book three weddings and have one of them be from a couple he didn’t know.
2. Earn enough to pay for a camera (about $1,200).

He started telling everyone he knew about his new wedding video business. “At the beginning, I was pretty much giving the videos away. One was free. A couple were $450. By the end of the first season, clients were paying $1,000 for each video. I saw that I was giving people valuable material. They weren’t paying just to help me out. That meant a lot. They really wanted what I was offering.”

Brian minimized his risk by proving the validity of his idea before investing a lot of money in it. He shot his first three weddings with rented or borrowed cameras. He didn’t print business cards or put up a website.

“Why have business cards if no one wants to know who I am?” Brian reasoned. “Same with a website. No one was looking for me. I needed to get people’s attention first. Then I could think about that stuff.”

Brian booked six clients by the end of the first summer. Three of them were people he didn’t know. He bought his camera and started planning for the next year’s wedding season.

“This is what people pay money for!” he said. “I could learn a lot of the pieces of this from scattered blogs, but not from a single, trusted source. You know it’s grounded in data and real conversations with people. And Earn1K is all cohesive and ordered so that it’s actionable. It’s realistic and doable.”

Step 2: Understanding his customers

“Everything about video is considering your audience. Whether it’s corporate video or fundraising or weddings, it all hinges on understanding who is watching it and what it’s going to take to communicate with them well. And that comes from really understanding your ideal client profile.”

He used the 37-minute video and worksheet on defining your ideal client profile from Earn1K to focus on his ideal client.

“That’s the lesson that got me thinking about who my customers were and what they really wanted. I started talking with customers, talking with wedding photographers, researching other videographers. I did this when I started and between seasons. My product has definitely changed over the last year thanks to that lesson.”

Brian found his best customers were almost always 25 or older. Any younger and they’d be more focused on price than quality. They were usually young professionals who had been working for a couple years. “I’ve also noticed it’s usually the bride’s parents who are paying, so I’m now trying to learn more about them and where they are in their life. I’m focused on the couple, but I want to give them enough material to sell me to their parents.”

Wedding photographers have also been helpful in teaching Brian about his customers and market. “Not only do they know the business, but they’ve been great sources for referrals. Brides look for photographers early and video late in the process, so having that connection is huge.”

Brian’s also learned a lot about his ideal customers and the market from studying his competition. “A lot of the choices I saw videographers making seemed foolish. Like charging by the hour and listing all of the equipment. My clients don’t care how many microphones I’m using. They trust me to deliver a quality work of art, and they want me to be generous with my hours and equipment. Not constantly try to upsell them.”

How has knowing his ideal client profile helped Brian?

Getting into his customers’ heads has helped him deliver better videos and earn stronger referrals. While he’s only booked one more wedding than last year, his price per wedding has gone way up. Couples can purchase a short form video for around $1,250. A long-form for $2,250. Or get both for over $3,000. He’s also started adding same day editing so the wedding party can view their video during their reception. His clients love it.

As his reputation grows, he’s already booked two weddings for next season and is pursuing leads for several off-season weddings. Best of all, he loves what he does.

Working on happily ever after…

Brian isn’t a full-time wedding videographer yet. He still paints houses part-time to help pay the bills, but he isn’t worried about that.

“From all the wedding photographers I’ve talked to, it can take three to six years to go full-time. So I’m in good shape for how I’m growing.”

With two seasons under his belt, Brian has a better sense of how many weddings he’ll need to book each year to make the business sustainable. “Nobody else is a full-time wedding videographer in my area. There’s some people doing commercial and real estate video. But for now I’m sticking with weddings and doing it better than anyone else. My clients appreciate that, and it makes it simpler for me.”

Instead of diluting his niche, Brian is expanding his geographical market. Seattle is just an hour and a half away. If he can break in there, he knows he’ll be able to go full-time. All he needs to do is connect with a few wedding photographers and start reaching out to couples who meet his ideal client profile…

Total earned using Earn1K: $15,653
Houry rate: Before Earn1K = $15; After Earn1K = $25
What would you be doing without Earn1K: “I was going to try start this business with or without Earn1K, but without it I’d still be floundering for lack of confidence, clarity of who my customer is, and growing but ever so slowly.”
What would you tell others considering joining this course: “I read heaps of blogs but I craved structure and I needed an authoritative voice among the well wishers and the vague suggestions. Your dedication to data forced me to rethink my strategies from the ground up and I’m super grateful for that. Earn1K set me on course for success.”

Who is your ideal client?

I devote multiple modules in Earn1K to really defining your ideal client and defining what they want and need. But you don’t need all of that to start today. Sign-up for Insider’s List today and I’ll give you FREE access to a ton of money-making resources — including another case study about someone who also kickstarted their business with free work — as well as my Ideal Client Profile worksheet.

(Can’t see the form above? Click here instead.)

PS — I need your help. My friend Amit Gupta (@superamit) was diagnosed with Leukemia and is trying to find a bone marrow match. Time is running out — he has less than 13 days left to find a match. I swabbed my cheek 2 weeks ago and it took 5 minutes. Will you help? Click here: http://t.co/mztEwzGQ

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Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this post.

I talked to staff members for advice, I talked to friends who run similar businesses, and I just couldn’t figure out how to get the words out right.

A few weeks ago, I announced a small group that I’d be personally helping to find their Dream Jobs, including identifying what their Dream Job was, learning how to use their own personal network, interviewing, negotiating their salary — all in all, using a new strategy (and super-detailed tactics) that I created for finding jobs.

Then I opened up one scholarship to an IWT reader. I offered to pay thousands of dollars in their tuition, give them the same access as my paying students, and even have them come to NYC to learn inside techniques I’ve never revealed anywhere else.

After receiving hundreds of applications — and reviewing them all — I’m disappointed to announce that I can’t select even one applicant for the scholarship.

This surprised me. I would have expected 15% of applicants to become finalists, then one to win. I know these basics stats since I’ve won hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships myself, so I know how the game is played.

Yet not one scholarship application was as qualified as my paid application, whose acceptance rate was much higher. Some scholarship applications were simply unrealistic: people who wanted to earn $100K, but only earned $50K right now. (That’s not going to happen in 1-2 years.) Others didn’t know what they wanted — which is fine — but had taken no steps to discover any areas of interest. They were simply waiting to “figure it out” or wanted a magical system that would tell them the exact job they should pursue. And others had extenuating life circumstances of crushing barriers that I couldn’t help with.

And so I had to pass on every single application. This isn’t what I wanted — I’m still troubled by this, and I would have loved to help one of you with this program — but I’ve always said that I can’t help everyone.

But I do believe in being brutally honest, and showing you how to improve. With a few hours of work, I believe many of the applicants could dramatically improve — not only for this application, but for applying to many other areas of life.

The Top 7 Mistakes for Finding a Dream Job
I went through the applications with my staff and studied the patterns of what made us reject the applicants. We identified 7 critical mistakes.

For example, when it comes to finding a Dream Job, have you ever caught yourself saying:

• “I just need to figure it out” (Except you’ve been saying that for 6 months and nothing has changed)
• “Yeah, I should update my resume” (Missing the entire point)
• “I have all these interests…I don’t want to close doors” (Staying broad vs. getting specific)
• “I don’t even know what I want” (Trying to do Magical Matching instead of testing your way there)
• “I’m lucky to even have this job” (Not true for top performers)

I decided to hold a live talk this Wednesday, 11/16, at 9pm EST (6pm PST). I’ll be covering The Top 7 Mistakes for Finding Your Dream Job.

Some of these are very subtle and I only discovered them after reviewing tens of thousands of data points. I’ll be sharing them — free — in the hopes that you can improve your applications and, next time around, I can get better applicants to help more of you.

My goal is for you to walk away with at least five actionable steps to find your Dream Job after the one-hour call. And since it’s live, I’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A.

I have limited seats available, so if you’re interested, sign up below to get details on the secret URL. If you can’t make it, sign up any way and I’ll try to send a recording to the people who signed up (no promises, though).

(Can’t see the form above? Click here instead.)

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In today’s latest installment of The Money Diaries, Christine is paying down tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and paying for her upcoming wedding and planning ahead for a down payment on a house.

Read today’s diary and share your #1 tip for Christine in the comments below.

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Day 1

09:00 a.m.: “Breakfast” = Slim Fast shake. I have 2 months till the wedding and I am going to do my best to not gain weight. Losing a few pounds wouldn’t be bad either. I don’t need to loose any, but everyone wants to look best for their wedding day. Working from home today so I don’t think I will have too many temptations to eat out, but how to motivate myself to actually work out is another matter.
12:30 p.m.: $40 for deposit for wedding dress alternations, cash only and will have to remember to bring the rest of the bill when I come for my second fitting ($148 on Sept 8th). Never have cash on me, so it takes a big effort for me to actually remember to get out of the ATM. It semi makes me feel like this not the most legitimate business when they only accept cash.
04:00 p.m.: $138 for wedding favors, Tea Forte for everyone and another thing I can check off of my wedding list. Thank goodness Amazon has free shipping. We will print our own labels so we don’t have to go through an overpriced wedding website. Those places seem to love to gouge you whenever you specifically look for anything for a wedding.
05:00 p.m.: Utilities due ($51.73). My fiancée (MF) and I split the bills, but I usually cover the utilities and electric and we split the cost at later.

Day 2

05:00 p.m.: Yet more yeses on the response cards for the wedding. Is it bad that I want more people to start saying no to coming to the wedding?  I just would like to keep it smaller, but my mother added quite a few guests before the invites went out. I had wanted a 100-120 person wedding, but it might be closer to 150. Thank goodness my parents are taking care of the reception. Still, I need to cover the flowers and décor so I hope I have enough!
08:00 p.m.: MF and I discuss getting a house after the wedding. Frankly, I could live in an apartment for a couple more years and be fine, but he is two years older then me and feels it is time for a house. He does make some good arguments for a house, and supposedly the market is good for buyers. We do decide to live in the apartment for another 1 ½ after marriage so that will give us time to save, and find a good deal.

Day 3

10:00 a.m.: Out running errands, had to do a detour so decided to pick up an iced latte and some more coffee from the roaster. I am not a huge coffee drinker but when I do have some I like have some good beans on hand. ($7.25). I don’t feel bad paying extra for good beans, since I will have this during the week and it will prevent me from grabbing coffee on the way to the office.

Day 4

06:00 p.m.: My turn to pick up dinner and since I have been doing nominally good on the diet it is time for a splurge, so it is off to the golden arches ($9.07).
07:00 p.m.: Grocery shopping for the week ($43.59). We switch off making dinner each night. We are both trying to eat healthier so we don’t eat red meat too often, and I try to sneak in some vegetarian meals into to mix.

Day 5

09:00 a.m.: Still trying to find a pianist for the ceremony, I know this is a bit late to still be looking but my other musician I had booked can’t do it anymore. So I have a dilemma I can pay about $300 for a professional I found online, or keep looking for maybe a cheaper option such as a teacher or college student. Hmmm seems like this is going to be a quality over price debate.
11:45 a.m.: Looking over my budget (MF and I have separate budgets and maybe this will change when we get married) at lunch (leftovers) and looks like I am doing good. I have pretty much all my finances automatic (thanks Ramit) so there really isn’t much for me to do besides check and make sure everything is on track. My IRA, savings and wedding savings went through last week, and the only thing I need to manually do is my student loan payment. I have $13,000 outstanding student loan debt, but otherwise I’m debt free. I’ve already paid down the debt from $24,000 in 4 years and I’ve also paid off my car. I’ve got plenty of leeway in my budget, so I do a double payment on my student loan payment this month ($327.04).

Day 6

11:30 a.m.: Had an early meeting and now I am starving. Leftovers are just not going to cut it. I feel a bit guilty about buying lunch but the office cafeteria really isn’t too pricey. $3.50 for a chicken sandwich and veggies. Most days I bring leftovers, but lately I have been feeling kinda isolated because I then tend to eat at my desk. I think that I am going to start scheduling some more time and budget to eating out, so I get more time with my coworkers.

Day 7

10:00 a.m.: My friends and I want to start a long distance book club using webcams but my laptop webcam is not functional so I will have to get one for my desktop. CNET gives plenty of highly rated choices, but do I really need true HD for google chat?  Decide to go with a decent webcam on the lower price range end and also pick up a new mouse because mine has been really skippy lately ($43.05).
01:00 p.m.: Checked the checking account because it’s pay day ($1506 on 15th and 30th). I usually only check in on my account to make sure everything is running ok. Back when I first got out of college, I used to have worry about the amount in my account and if it was getting too low, but nowadays with my budget and automated withdrawals, I can keep a good eye on it without checking in all the time.
05:00 p.m.: Coworkers going away party at the local bar. Good networking opportunity plus a lot of former coworkers were around. It is always nice to see some of the guys who I used to work with. Just $4.29 for a beer + tip, I do like hitting the bars but I am just at a place where paying close to $5 for one beer seems a bit ridiculous.

In Sum

Total Credit: $667.52
Total Debit: $1506

I actually feel I did good this week. One of my trouble spots is impulse online shopping, and being an Amazon prime member doesn’t help be with this problem. I probably didn’t need a new mouse; the old one still works but it is getting to a point where it is getting difficult to use.

I am still pretty nervous about having too large of wedding, the food will cost more, and I don’t know if I have enough decorations. MF keeps on reminding me to look at the big picture, and as long as all our family and friends have a great time that is all that matters. I am at a point savings and budget wise that I am flexible if any sort of emergency comes up, but I know that if MF and I are going to be getting a house in a year or so I have to step it up so we can put a good chunk down on a down payment.

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The Money Diaries series is based off New York Magazine’s Sex Diaries. We collect stories from real people about their spending habits over seven days, anonymize them, and post them here. To be featured anonymously in a future Money Diary, click here.

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I have a pretty big backyard in my San Francisco apartment, so I recently threw a party. I ended up having a bunch of leftover food, including a huge watermelon. I love watermelon, so I left it sitting in a plastic bag in the corner of my kitchen, where it sat…

…and sat…and sat. I just never got around to cutting it up or throwing it out.

A long time later, I walked in to my kitchen and saw a ton of liquid sitting on the floor. It smelled like alcohol. My first sub-conscious thought, “Sweet, who bought me free alcohol?” which says a lot about me. But then, my mood darkened. As I traced the confusing sitting liquid back to its source, I realized it was coming from the watermelon. But how can a watermelon have so much liquid in it? Isn’t it…just a watermelon? Ohh…it’s a water melon.

Apparently watermelons liquify and turn into some kind of alcohol-smelling liquid after you let them sit for 5 MONTHS. Who knew?

I’m not lazy. I’m not stupid. So why couldn’t I get around to picking that watermelon up and throwing it in the garbage?

Does it have anything to do with barriers?

More generally, why is it so hard for us to do what we know is best in the long-term? For example…

• Working out even 30 minutes/day
• Setting up an automated system to manage our money
• Calling friends and family consistently

You don’t usually see other money-related sites talking about this. Instead, they simply use a battering ram to shove the idea of “just do it” or “try harder” down your throat…with predictable results.

Let’s get specific.

What’s ONE area of life where you “should” be doing something that would benefit you in the long term…but you’re not?

Why is that?

Leave a comment below. Let’s see what we can figure out together.

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There’s a lot of psychology behind the name of my course, “Earn1K on the Side.”

During our research of 100,000+ people, we discovered some fascinating insights. In a nutshell:

• Earn “1K” — why do I call it that? Even though many of my successful students earn tens of thousands of dollars on the side, virtually no one believes they can do that at first. It simply seems unattainable.  So 1K is a cognitive shortcut to something achievable.
• “On the side” because most people believe that “earning more” means they have to quit their jobs and start the next Google (which is, of course, nonsense). Important to delineate that.

For most of us, earning $1,000/month would make a massive material difference to our lives. And then, some (not all) of my students use my Tuner Strategy to “tune” that number to $2,000, $6,000, even $10,000 a month. But if you present those numbers too early, people simply shut down because those amounts are too large to process. They simply don’t resonate, and people say things like, “I’m not the kind of person that could earn $10K/month.”

These psychological insights are crucial.

That’s why when it comes to earning money, based on hundreds of thousands of data points, I relentlessly mock social media and passive income (here’s a good story about someone who tried to build a product and failed) and focus on a simple goal: getting your first three clients and earning $1,000.

Your first client might be your uncle. Your second might be a fluke. But when you hit #3, then you’ve proven you can do it. The Tuner Strategy takes the pressure off of your initial efforts because you don’t have to hit a home run on your first try. It gives you the freedom to start small and work your way up.

Today, a story about one of my international Earn1K students, Prime, who used this strategy to land her first client and start making money on the side.

“All I need is a business I can bring anywhere.”

By day, Prime worked as a copy editor for the local bureau of an international news agency in Manila, Philippines. At night, she’d dream about working for herself and travelling the world. She just didn’t know how to combine them.

With her experience as a business reporter, Prime could have returned to an earlier correspondence job in Singapore or taken a higher paying writing job in China. “The thing is,” Prime said, “I don’t want another job in the news wires where I end up working long hours in the office and just travel either on holidays or on my twenty days of paid leave each year. All I need is a business I can bring anywhere.”

Prime had read about location independent entrepreneurs and knew, right away, that was what she wanted to do.

“I was raised to believe that financial security doesn’t come from climbing the corporate ladder, but from having your own business,” Prime said. “I had this nagging desire to have something of my own. But being a reporter, I was clueless as to how to make a business out of it.”

Learning to trust her gut

Prime had read my blog for a long time. And she was excited about my Earn1K course — but hesitated because of the price. “I didn’t sign up, but I knew even back then that it was probably a quality product.”

Prime’s hesitation lasted a whole year (!!), but finally, she couldn’t stop thinking about being location-independent. She signed up for the course and listed off 3 core goals:

• Become a location-independent entrepreneur
• Get at least 4 clients (2 for herself and 2 for her business partner)
• Earn at least $1,500 to $2,000 a month so she could quit her day job

I loved it when she said, “I wish I didn’t stay on the fence for a year. If I had trusted my gut and enrolled in Earn1K as soon as it was offered, my business would have been bigger by now.”

She went on:
“I was excited to learn I can make a business out of blogging without having to resort to ads and massive traffic. Or that I can make a business out of writing without having to become a publicist. That there’s other options for me as writer aside from freelancing for publications. I tried that before and had to quit because the pay sucks.”

But where should she begin?

From first client…to regular clients

“The lesson that really hit me was about the need to go deeply into my customer’s head, to research more about my client’s needs and fears before I pitch,” said Prime.

Using a 37-minute video and worksheet from Earn1K, Prime created her Ideal Client Profile — a Filipino entrepreneur who needed copywriting help to reach a global market via strong online content. That included website copy, blogging and article marketing. The clients were hands-on and money-conscious, but also eager to grow.

Building off her experience as a business reporter, Prime surveyed the Filipino entrepreneurs in her network and discovered the need was there. With her love of writing, she knew this business was a perfect fit.

(Note: I get tons of questions about whether my material works internationally. This should answer that question…)

Now, to land that first client!

“I reviewed my contact list and looked for small and medium scale entrepreneurs who were looking for writers for their businesses, who trusted me and who believed in my writing skills. I zeroed in on one who hired me in the past but had to let me go because she couldn’t afford to pay me on a full-time basis. She was planning to expand overseas and liked me, but didn’t think she could afford someone with my credentials and journalism experience.”

Prime knew if she could get her foot in the door and prove her value, she could use the Tuner Strategy to raise her rates and land more work.

Prime offered to complete one writing project at a reduced rate of $30 and included a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. The client was so happy with Prime’s work that she offered Prime a regular writing project — five blog posts a week.

The tuning begins!

“She’s now a regular client, and pays around $450 dollars a month for five posts a week.” Each post is about 500 to 700 words, which is easy for Prime and her business partner since they learned how to write quickly as reporters.

Next, Prime moved on to finding a second client…

“I just sent a detailed proposal to a friend of mine who owns a travel company in Nepal. He’s looking for optimized content like my first client, but he’s also a bit afraid that I’m expensive.” (This is a recurring theme — and I teach my Earn1K students how to avoid competing on price, and actually deliver MORE value…for premium prices. But this can sometimes be difficult at first, so I also teach how to get your foot in the door using strategic pricing.)

Prime saw another chance to use the Tuner Strategy to build her business.

“I offered a complete content marketing solution — a package of blog posts, article marketing, twitter campaign and consultation. I know a copywriter who’s offering a similar package for $800 a month, but I told him that for this project, I would charge $300 because I’d like to do a travel project. We haven’t closed the deal yet, but based on our email exchanges, he’s very keen on it. Hopefully I’ll close my second sale later this week.”

“Don’t nickle and dime your dreams.”

As Prime and her partner work to land their second client, they’re already contacting others. “We have no plans of offering low rates forever. Given that we live in Manila, our rates are still within industry standards and slightly above our ‘resentment level.’ For now, we just want to attract clients, get referrals and learn more about content marketing.”

Well on her way to achieving her initial goals, Prime’s new goal is to elevate her business to becoming a high-end content marketing strategist for travel companies. On the side, she continues to build her own travel blog, The Gypsy Gals (http://solofemaletravel.net/).

Prime talked about investing in herself: “You must not be afraid to invest in anything that will help you fulfill your dreams. As long as you know how to tell if a project or service is quality, then don’t nickle and dime your dreams. Your energy goes where you want to flow.”

Total earned using Earn1K: “About 1,000 dollars in the first quarter of my business  (June to August). The course paid for itself.”

Hourly rate: “I don’t charge an hourly rate. This is not the system here in the Philippines. I charge about $20 for each 400-600 word blog post.”

What you would be doing without Earn1K: “Without Earn1K I would have been doing what other journalists were doing: just climbing the corporate ladder or figuring out a way to be reassigned overseas so I can travel. But signing up with Earn1K has given me a better option. Why should I wait (and struggle so hard) for an overseas posting when I can just have a location-independent business which will give me more time to travel (and has the potential to give me higher revenues)? I was offered a promotion but I declined it as I prefer to build my business. I’m confident that it’s possible because I’m applying what I learned from Earn1K. ”

What you would tell others considering joining the course: “If you plan to set up a business, you need to invest in YOURSELF. That knowledge that you’ll get from a comprehensive course like Earn1K will help you start, maintain and expand your business. I view Earn1K as my MBA and I never regretted the fact that instead of enrolling in a business school, I used my savings instead to pay for Earn1K.”

Grab my ready-to-use referral script from Earn1K

As Prime mentioned, the Tuner Strategy is all about taking on more or less work until you earn the amount of money you want. One excellent way to do this is by getting referrals from your existing clients. I talk about this extensively in Earn1K, even providing a script that students can “rip-off” and use directly.

You can get the script – for free – by signing up below:

(Can’t see the above form? Click here.)

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As a dude in my 20s, Halloween is my favorite holiday for obvious reasons.

Your favorite blogger and New York Times best-selling author, Ramit Sethi

A few days ago, in preparation for this magnificent day, I asked the people on my Insider’s List to send me their financial horror stories.

Here are some of the best:

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“How do I re-build credit when I can’t get a credit card?”

Hi Ramit,

Loving the savings and credit updates; I can’t believe you give out this advice for free!

Here’s my financial horror story:

In an attempt to assert independence and get out of an unfortunate living situation my freshman year of college, I moved out of my parents’ house into an apartment I couldn’t really afford.  I planned on paying my rent with my ‘leftover cash’ from financial aid.  A few months later I felt the crunch and borrowed from family members to make payments and racked up over $5,000 in credit card debt to pay for food and entertainment.  I was drowning and it was all because I wanted frozen pizzas, ice cream, ramen, and independence.  So, so stupid.

I entered credit counseling and five years later am credit card debt free.  I got your book and started reading on how to save.  Automated saving is so simple and so effective.  My car got totaled this past Friday and I actually have the money to deal with it – a far cry from my college days of financial irresponsibility (read: days of denial). I even started a retirement account through my employer.  Not too shabby, eh?

So here’s my question: Since I went into credit counseling I’m having a hard time getting accepted for a credit card, but I need to rebuild that credit.  I’ve been reading your tips about limit increases, suggested best credits cards (LOVE IT when you share your favorite things!), but I have to get back in the credit game first.  I’ve called my old cards and tried to shmooze them into reopening my old accounts but that didn’t work either (I even kept a spreadsheet tracking those convos, per your command)  So how can I get back in the credit game with my irresponsible college past hanging over me?

Thanks!

-Jackie

My answer:
Nice job, Jackie, and congrats on changing your life around.

To rebuild credit, get a “secured credit card.” Go into your bank and ask about them. You’ll have to put down some money to “secure” the card, but after a few months of paying it off regularly, you’ll graduate to being able to get a regular credit card.

*     *     *     *     *

“I have $180,000 in medical bills…”

Financial horror story: I’m in my late twenties and just got pointed to you. I am divorced and have custody of my 3 kids. My ex does not work and will not get a job, so I get no child support. I bring in roughly $3200/mo, but half of that goes to daycare. Keep in mind I still buy diapers and wipes, food, clothes, etc.

I live in Texas where land values, and thusly the cost of living, are lower, which is how I survive, but I still have to live with family… Texas does not have alimony by the way…

I’m so broke I can’t even afford your book, so I’m having a family member buy it for me for Christmas.

The horror part is that I got in a wreck a year and a half ago which shattered two vertebrae, and I didn’t have medical insurance because the company I contracted through at the time didn’t offer it, so I have $180,000 in medical bills sitting on my credit report.

Now I have a better (not contract) job and medical insurance, but still no money.

I like your advice about cutting down eating and entertainment expenses, so I’m going to figure out what I spend each month on those and try to cut that down as you suggest.

Hope this is enough of a horror story for you.

Please keep my name anonymous. Thank you.

My response:
Sorry to hear about your situation. Two things:

1. Keep an eye out for an email from my staff. I’m sending you a signed copy of my book.
2. One thing you should know is that medical bills are HIGHLY negotiable — often for pennies on the dollar. Research it (just Google it) and spend a few days reading articles, posts, and forums. Considering the hospital has no chance of recovering $180K from you, they likely will settle for tens of thousands of dollars off the “retail” price. Good luck.

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“The people you make fun of are out there…”

Someone I work with– who is building a brand new house–said her husband wants them to bring their own coffee to work in the mornings from now on to save money for house payments.

The people you make fun of are out here…

Nick

My answer:
Jesus Christ

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You want a financial horror story. You got it!

You want a financial horror story. You got it!

I dont blame anybody for this just me and only ME.

I was in an MLM; ok, i will give the name what the heck, Amway, for about 7-8 yrs. My choice, I dont blame anybody not even my family.

I have seen success stories with my own eyes. But it is NOT for every one. Well, in my opinion, 98% fail because they dont do a squat with it, dreaming to become rich one day.

I did work on it but may be not 100% or close to what it requires to succeed. Anyways…

Coming to my story, long story short, i spent close to $1000 – $1200 per month average on products/conferences/meetings/

TIME the whole ball of wax. Over 7yrs it amounted to 70k approx.

Should i say more you got the picture.  I QUIT!!!

-Ravi

My answer:
2 things:

1. If you ever get in an MLM again, I will personally find you and kill you myself. Everyone else considering MLM (then again, if you are, you probably cannot read these words because you are illiterate), see my previous article: I Hate Indian Network Marketers So Much
2. Btw, MLM does not fail because people “dont do a squat with it” — it fails because it is systematically built to extract value from people at the bottom of the pyramid, while those at the top revel in the profits from the constant inflow of clueless newbies.

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“I started living off my credit card…”

After graduating college in May of 2009 I had no credit card debt (with the exception of my graduation invitations and party supplies), problem was I had no job either.

I used my money from graduation to live for a while, but then more and more items were getting put on credit cards. I would put the items on the credit card thinking I will have a job soon and be able to pay it off at that point. I had about $1000 in credit card debt on my card by the end of July 2009. I did have a position with Americorps at this point though. I made enough that I would always pay more than the minimum payments. I knew at the end of the program I would have a good paying job and be able to pay off all my debt in one month so I continued spending. In February of 2010 I had about $3000 in credit card debt.

I left the program before it finished and did not get the good paying job because I did not finish the program. I started living off my credit card at this point and raised my credit card debt to about $6000. To get out of debt I bought $2500 worth of Mary Kay inventory to sell. Moral of story before I got a job I had racked up about $8500 in credit card debt in a year and two months.

In response to your blog post about raising credit score I was also wondering if it is always a good idea to request credit limit increases. My husband and I are looking at buying a house right now, the lenders requested credit scores, and so my score went down. Should I have the additional inquiries on my record for the two cards I have?

Jess

My answer:
Sometimes I find it helpful to try to analyze someone’s decision-making instead of individual decisions. For example, why did you not finish Americorps? I’m sure you have a very specific answer (“I hated my boss, I was sick, etc”) but ask yourself: Have you not followed through on anything else? Are there patterns?

One pattern might be jumping from one salvation to another (Americorps…Mary Kay…). Another pattern might be not doing your homework, which is why I was one knife slit away from killing myself when I read that you’re planning to BUY A HOUSE. Why?

Have you truly run the numbers? Have you added 40%-50% (not a typo) to your monthly payment to account for taxes, maintenance, new furniture purchases, fees, and more? Have you read my extensive articles on buying a house?

Do you understand that buying a house requires a ton of money down, and you will likely go from being in debt to being in a different kind of debt?

Again, I’m not categorically against buying a house. I will, at some point in the future. But from your question, I want to make sure you’re not jumping from one catastrophe to another potential catastrophe. Do some homework before making the biggest purchase of your life, please.

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Now I’m wondering…if you know someone who’s had their own financial horror story, what did you do? Did you try to give them advice? How did they take it? Leave a comment so we can all hear from you.

BOO

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It’s always funny when I ask people what they want me to write about, and they’ll say something like “How about how to earn more money?” or “Something about getting started investing!”

First, I contemplate homicide. Then suicide. Then I delete their email and go to my happy place.

I call this the Manifest Destiny problem:

Have you noticed how lots of people always want more and more information, but rarely implement what they already have?

A couple years ago, I started realizing how lots of personal-finance readers were constantly asking for more and more information — more blog posts, more book reviews, more financial magazines — but would often just READ, not take action.

To put it bluntly, I have lots of friends who read blog post after blog post, but have STILL not automated their money, started investing, or even put together an aggressive plan to pay off debt.

I’ve tried to convince these people to leave my site as quickly as possible. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t need the biggest email list or the highest number of customers. I want the right people.

So today, we get to follow the story of someone who was one of the consumers — reading book after book, but doing nothing — yet he changed his behavior to get great results.

One of the ways he did this was to eliminate worthless distractions. For example, when it comes to earning more, social media is almost always a distraction. (This comes as a big surprise to many people, who read about Twitter/Facebook every day and think it “must” be useful…right?).

The problem is, if you take every one of the things you “should” do, you get overwhelmed with choice. It’s more fun to brainstorm, read 5,000 blogs, come up with a list of ideas, than to focus on a simple goal: 3 paying customers.

We all know someone like this. They have a ton of ideas for how to do something, but never act on them. They read a lot of blogs and books. They think “I can’t start yet…I need to do (ONE MORE THING) before I get started.”

And 10 years go by, and the day never comes.

But there are systematic ways to change from being a “thinker” to a “do-er.”

Here’s how one of my students, Brian, did it.

“I’ve read so many business books that I thought I knew how to start a business.”

Brian loved his job as a pastor for a campus ministry, but it only paid $1,000 a month.

“Plus, I’m getting older but college students always stay the same age,” Brian said. “I was ready to start transitioning to other work.”

He’d thought about earning more money before. Since his ministry job only took up 20-25 hours a week, he had lots of time left over. (Much of which he filled with books on business and personal finance.)

“I’ve read so many business books that I thought I knew how to start a business. But really, I just had a bunch of scattered ideas floating around in my head. I realized that reading books wasn’t enough. I needed a system to actually take action. I needed someone to push me along.”

He stopped thinking about earning more money and started doing it.

“I knew from your book that your stuff is super practical with lots of action steps and scripts. All legit. I had no barriers about your Earn1K course.”

When Brian signed up, he set two goals for himself:

1. “Make $1,000 and prove that people will actually give me money to do stuff for them.”
2. “I want to tell my friends that I made money on the side. They haven’t done that.”

“Brian, I want to start paying you now.”

Brian’s first breakthrough came from marketing guru Mike Williams’ Master Class, a 100-minute step-by-step breakdown on how to deeply get into your customer’s head and getting them to work with you. He calls it “Customer Clairvoyance.”

“I learned that I have to do it for them. People are lazy, and that’s okay. I just have to set it up for them. I have to make the follow-up call. I have to schedule the meetings. I have to make it as easy as possible so they can just say ‘sounds good’ or ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This was something I knew was true, but I just didn’t know how to do it. The Master Class showed me how.”

The class also taught Brian how to really understand his customers. “If you listen to people enough, they’ll tell you what they want to buy from you. And then you can give it to them. Once I got that, I had an epiphany. ‘Oh, this is how I sell to people!’”

Here’s how he implemented it.

“I was out at dinner with a friend. He introduced me to the owner and said I was interested in marketing. I told the owner, ‘Hey, I’ll do you email list for you for three months, and then we can talk about transitioning to paid work. I’ll show you how to sign-up people. I create a newsletter and set up autoresponders for you. I’ll handle everything. Every week, I’ll send you an update.’ He just kept saying ‘That’s great, that’s great.’ I got the job.”

That lasted two months…

“After a couple months, I went in with some campaign ideas, and he said, ‘Brian, I want to start paying you now.’ I couldn’t believe it! This was so cool. He paid me $60. That was the first money I’d ever made as a freelancer.”

“Quick wins are uber-important.”

“$60 isn’t a lot of money,” Brian said, “but it was a quick win that made me think I could actually make money on the side. It helped validate my idea and encouraged me to keep going.”

Since then, Brian’s branched out his services. “I still manage the restaurant’s monthly email newsletter, but I also helped the owner design the menu for his new restaurant.”

Brian isn’t even a designer, but based on his hustle and success with the email marketing, the owner came to Brian first. “I said ‘I’m not a designer, but I can find someone who can help.’ My friend and I did it, and that project pushed me over $1,000.”

In only a few months, Brian had achieved both of his goals. His days of sitting around and thinking about earning money on the side were over. He was in business.

“Clients don’t care about your education. They care about results.”

Brian’s new goal is to get more clients. He’s approaching other restaurant owners and refining his offer, learning as he goes.

“You were totally right. Clients don’t care about your education. They care about results.”

Most importantly, Brian was able to make the shift from thinking about idea after idea…to getting concrete results. From here, he can use the Tuner Strategy to “tune” that revenue up as much as he wants.

Total earned using Earn1K: $1,300

Hourly rate: $40/hour – $50/hour

What you would be doing without Earn1K: “Honestly, reading a bunch of business books and not doing anything about it.”

What you would tell others considering joining the course: “If you’re going to take action for the things you learn, it’s worth it. If you’re not, don’t waste your time.”

A quick note on “Customer Clairvoyance”

If you’re interested in getting a sneak peek at the psychological master class that Brian used to start taking action, you can get it (free) here.

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Here’s something that you’ll almost never see on a financial TV show:

Consider 2 people…

• One has great credit
• The other has poor credit

In their 30s, they decide to buy houses of similar prices.

How much do you think they pay?

Simply by virtue of having different credit scores, the person with poor credit will pay over $68,000 more than the person with excellent credit.

Source: MyFico.com. Data calculated in October 2011.

Over $68,000. How many lattes is that worth?

THAT is the power of having a great credit score. Yet most “experts” will either (1) continue yammering on about lattes and clipping coupons, or (2) give worthless, high-level advice like “Improve your credit!” (Okay…how? Jackass.)

They do this because lattes and coupons are obvious and top-of-mind. In psychology, this is called the availability heuristic.

But just because something is obvious and top-of-mind doesn’t mean it’s important, which is why I love mocking dumb financial experts whose advice doesn’t work.

My goal with IWT is to show you what’s beneath the surface — what’s important, but not obvious — to get you BIG WINS.

So today, I’ll show you a step-by-step process to improve your credit score, which is one of the top 10 Big Wins you can get in your life.

The tactics: How to improve your credit score

You don’t need to become a credit weirdo like me and read 50 books on credit optimization to raise your credit score. You can actually ignore most advice and simply do a few, key things to dramatically improve your score.

In fact, there are 3 major steps that will have the biggest impact in improving your credit score. Check it: Here’s what your credit score is composed of:

Source: MyFico.com.

I’m not going to give you 50,000 tips on how to improve your credit score. Instead, I’ll show you 3 that work:

1. Automate your credit card payments
35% of your score (the biggest portion) reflects your payment history, so even missing 1 payment can cause your credit score to drop 100 points, jack your APR up 30%, add $200+/month to your monthly mortgage payment (insane, I know), and more.

Set up automatic payment using my IWT system. I even recorded a video showing you the exact accounts that should pay each other, using my amazing artistic skills.

Notes on automating your payments:

• Since 35% of your credit score is based on your payment history, setting up automatic payments is your Big Win here.
• Instead of doing what most people do (wait until the end of the month, then try to remember to pay…and when they forget, they get slapped with huge penalties), set up automation so you never have to worry about this again.
• You should ideally be paying off your entire credit card balance each month, but if you can’t, you can still improve your score by paying at least the minimums, on time, every month.

Here’s the video on automating your accounts:

2. Pay off your goddamn debt
If you have credit card debt, read on…

Too many idiots decide that since they have debt, they should game the system and play the 0% balance transfer game, switching balances from card to card to save a few percentage points on debt interest. Yeah!! Let’s stick it to the man!

What I’ve found is that they spend more time transferring balances from card to card instead of actually paying their debt off. Honestly, get a life. The credit card companies are smarter than you, so if you try to game them, it’s only a matter of time before they destroy you.

Instead, here’s what I want you to do:

• Go to http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx (my favorite debt calculator) and plug in your numbers
• You will see EXACTLY how long until you pay off your debt. Stick to the plan via automation (see step 1 of this email)
• Decide, optionally, to use the negotiation material from Chapter 1 of my book. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, you may get results like this…

The results someone got 2 days ago using my book to negotiate their APR down.

3. Keep your old accounts open — and set up a $5 monthly charge on them
So many times, when people get motivated to “do something” about their credit cards, the first thing they do is close all the cards they haven’t used in a long time. Sounds logical! Let’s clean out the old cobwebs in our wallet!

In general, however, this is a bad idea: 15% of your credit score reflects the length of your credit history, so if you wipe out old cards, you’re erasing that history.

Plus, you’re also lowering your “credit utilization rate,” which basically means (how much you owe) / (total credit available).

Bottom line? Even if you don’t use a card, consider putting a small charge — say, $5/month — and automating it each month. In this way, you ensure your card is active and maintains your credit history.

Notes on keeping your accounts open:

• For nerdy people (aka half my readers), here’s the math of your credit utilization score — plus a little-known caveat: “If you close an account but pay off enough debt to keep your credit utilization score the same,” says Craig Watts of FICO, “your score won’t be affected.” (Most people don’t know this.) For example, if you carry $1,000 debt on two credit cards with $2,500 credit limits each, your credit utilization rate is 20% ($1,000 debt / $5,000 total credit available). If you close one of the cards, suddenly your credit utilization rate jumps to 40% ($1,000 / $2,500). But if you paid off $500 in debt, your utilization rate would be 20% ($500 / $2,500) and your score would not change.
• If you’re applying for a major loan— for a car, home, or education—don’t close any accounts within six months of filing the loan application. You want as much credit as possible when you apply. (However, if you know that an open account will entice you to spend, and you want to close your credit card to prevent that, you should do it. You may take a slight hit on your credit score, but over time, it will recover—and that’s better than overspending.)

Bonus! Improving your credit score if you DON’T have CC debt

I’m serious about this warning: This tip is only for people who have no credit card debt and pay their bills in full each month. It’s not for anyone else.

It involves getting more credit to improve your credit utilization rate, which is simply how much you owe divided by your available credit. As I mentioned, this basically makes up 30 percent of your credit score. For example, if you owe $4,000 and have $4,000 in total available credit, your ratio is 100% (4,000 / 4,000 x 100), which is bad. If, however, you owe only $1,000 but have $4,000 in available credit, your credit utilization rate is a much better 25% ($1,000 / $4,000 x 100). Lower is preferred because lenders don’t want you regularly spending all the money you have available through credit—it’s too likely that you’ll default and not pay them anything.

To improve your credit utilization rate, you have two choices: Stop carrying so much debt on your credit cards (even if you pay it off each month) or increase your total available credit. Because we’ve already established that if you’re doing this, you’re debt-free, all that remains for you to do is to increase your available credit.

Here’s how: Call up your card company and ask for a credit increase.

You: “Hi, I’d like to request a credit increase. I currently have five thousand dollars available and I’d like ten thousand.”

Credit card rep: “Why are you requesting a credit increase?”

You: “I’ve been paying my bill in full for the last eighteen months and I have some upcoming purchases. I’d like a credit limit of ten thousand dollars. Can you approve my request?”

Credit card rep: “Sure. I’ve put in a request for this increase. It should be activated in about seven days.”

I request a credit-limit increase every six to twelve months, like clockwork. Some people find romance in sending flowers to their significant others. I find it in talking to Delores, my friendly credit card rep, every 6 months.

Remember, 30 percent of your credit score is represented by your credit utilization rate. To improve it, the first thing you should do is pay off your debt. If you’ve already paid off your debt, only then should you try to increase your available credit.

3 things to remember when raising your credit score:

• Improving your credit score is one of the top 10 financial Big Wins you can have. While others are scrounging around and worrying about ordering a medium Diet Coke, you can focus on something that will pay off with tens of thousands of dollars when you make the large purchases that we’ll all make in our lives.
• Dumb people like to do everything (e.g., balance transfers) EXCEPT doing what really matters: Automating, Paying That Goddamn Debt Off, and Keeping Old Accounts Open. Stay focused on these 3 steps and your score will improve over time.
• Improving your credit scores are a marathon, not a sprint. Give it a few months before checking. To check your credit score right now, check out myfico.com (not an affiliate link since I don’t give a damn about making a few bucks off this, I have bigger fish to fry)

Hope this helps. If you want to get the entire system I use to automatically manage my money, you can pick up a copy of my book. You can also learn more about my favorite credit card.

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Now that I launched Dream Job Elite and I’m working with my students, I want to get back to writing some IWT material for you.

What do you want to read about?

Maybe it’s tactics on negotiating a raise, or how to invest, or specific money/career questions. Maybe it’s the secrets of how I iron my clothes so well, which I’ll just ignore since white people don’t care about ironing.

Do me a favor and take a quick survey here. Thanks in advance.

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