According to Will Rogers, 1879 – 1935, the quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket. I’m going to suggest that you do that right now. Take a bill out of your purse or wallet, look at it closely, any denomination, then fold it up and put it away, stash it under your insurance card , or under the pictures of your kids. Don’t think about it again until you have cashed a check, or seen an electronic deposit. Don’t think about it again until it’s ‘doubled’. from this moment on, your mission, your goal is to double that money, using your new energy, your new drive.

That’s it – that’s all. Now you work for ‘You’.

Now what? How will you make any money? How will you double anything? Where do you start? Geez, I wish someone would have made me ask that question of myself 10 years ago, maybe I could have retired at 45 instead of 55.

If you want to make a living online, and that is what we are discussing here, right; people have to send you ‘money’. Why would they do that? You might say, ‘because what I offer is of great value’. Eventually that would be enough, but ‘how would a perfect stranger judge the value of my offer?’ Trick question, Eh? Some might answer – ‘It’s obvious to anyone that this is the breakthrough that mankind has been waiting for.’ Believe me some actually start with that attitude, if they have never marketed or dealt with ‘customers’.

For a ‘customer’ to judge the value of your offering to be of value to them, they must first & I mean first, trust you. They don’t know you from Adam, (sorry Adam) why would they trust you enough to send you ‘money’. Maybe they really need the latest greatest doomaflogy. Maybe yours really is the best doomaflogy in production today, orders of magnitude more advanced than any others. Why would they trust you enough to send you ‘money’. Note the word ‘trust’, why would they trust you? They would trust you if they had dealt with you before. If they had a ‘relationship’ with you. Not the ‘dear abby type relationship’, the ‘customer – merchant’ or ’student – educator’ type relationship.

The people you trust have a history with you. The people who trust you have a history also. How do you build that history? History connotes ‘time’. Relative time can be hours, days, years. It all depends on the relationship. Say you just developed greatest doomaflogy in human history. Say you had a ‘list’ (watch for this word from now on), of people with whom you’ve had an ongoing, continuos relationship. These folks, some even friends by now, had dealt with you over time, listening to your advice, buying products helpful to themselves and their families; probably even mentioning your mutually helpful relationship to other friends of theirs. Of course not everyone needs doomaflogies. They are extremely useful to some and only a word to others, (To be explained later by their kids, like ‘jiggy’ or whatever.)

Let me note here that while a ‘large diverse list’ (there’s that list word again), is very desirable, chances are, whatever you offer, not all will be interested.

So, anyway, it’s today and you have that folded bill in your pocket that’s going to send your kids to college, but you don’t have a list yet. This is the first most important step. It can’t ‘wait ’til you are ready’, or wait ’til I finish what I’m doing, (if you don’t have a list, what you are doing may well be a waste of time and effort.) the vital tool that is used to build your businesses and streams of income from now on; no matter what those businesses & streams may involve.

A permission qualified list – that’s what it takes to start.