How to Profit From Your Purpose in Five Easy Steps

Don’t call it uncertainty – call it wonder. ~ Osho

This article will first address the question of purpose and the natural fears that surround it. Then I will take you through the five basic steps you can take to live your purpose and profit from it.

Try not to skip the prior to dive into the latter… if you can help it. Of course I won’t hold it against you if you do.

At the end of life, we will often ask ourselves: “Did I matter? Did my living some how make a difference?”

For those of us who ask these questions sooner {like um… maybe now}, we find we are swimming in dark waters of insecurity and uncertainty. We sink into a fear that we won’t be enough, and such a fear can wear a thousand different faces.

At times like this Osho (a wonderful and slightly irreverent eastern mystic) celebrates, for he believes that we are not truly alive, cannot fully evolve, unless we are in the realm of the uncertain. “Don’t call it uncertainty,” he says. “Call it wonder.” This is where the magic happens. And you can absolutely do the thing you fear you cannot do.

This is also the realm of purpose. In many ways it is a call to step into the wild. And if you find your wonder clouded and stifled by stress, daily living and the grind of a job or duties you don’t enjoy… be gentle with yourself.

I do not pretend that stepping into purpose is easy. If you’re like me you may have stumbled through this passion and that passion… from venture to venture. And that’s fine. That’s how we learn, how we grow, and how we prepare ourselves for something greater. So don’t beat yourself up if you’re not living your passion right now. We often feel as though time is running out from under us and in many real ways time is speeding up…

However, that deeper love that you possess – the truer mission and your sacred purpose – these are all extensions of the one thing that can’t be taken from you and which is solely yours.

Osho says in his book Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously that (and I must paraphrase as I don’t have this book with me) “You can’t take anything out of this life that you didn’t have coming in.” Perhaps what will matter to us when we leave this place is not what we acquired (that we can’t take with us), but what we gave from our deepest essence (what I believe we came in with). And so this can make purpose tricky and confusing… In many ways it shifts through life yet it seems borne of something greater than us, that which is eternal and doesn’t change.

This used to frustrate the crap out of me. I would be so clear about my purpose – dive into it – and then that little bugger would change on me! I wanted desperately for my purpose to be fixed: a calling I was born into, a charge I was always meant to lead. Because that gave me meaning. It made me feel I was chosen to do something specific with this life and – if chosen – I must be worthy of it.

But now I think purpose is a bit different. It helps us dig in and cut away… to hone into the heart of who we are and what we stand for. It’s a choice. It’s a journey toward soul and our truest essence. And soul is the one thing we came in with and it’s all we get to take with us when we leave. It is the only part of us that can be called eternal. In this way I see purpose as something that can evolve, but that is also bringing us toward what is fixed, essential, and always a part of us – before we ever got here and even after we leave.

Now here’s the rub: If purpose is sacred… do we have any right to earn money from it?

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Many of us somehow believe that what is soulful cannot be used for monetary gain. We feel that attaching money to our purpose might somehow make it dirty or take away its value. This can manifest consciously as a sense of guilt or a desire to provide our purpose-driven services for free.

I will tell you right now, under no uncertain terms, the belief that you can’t or shouldn’t make money from your purpose is downright damaging to you and your evolution here as a soul.

If you cannot generate and receive value for doing what you love most – for doing what serves and helps others – how can you possibly survive in today’s world and ENJOY it while you’re here? Separating money from purpose forces us to live dual lives where the drive to make ends meet often shackles our purposeful desires to a dark and hidden corner of our being where we never deliver it to the light of day.

You want to know why corporations have fallen so far from the family values they were founded on? Why our economy is degrading and so many are unemployed? It is in part because the systems these were founded on and operate within are systems based on the belief that money comes from duty – not from purpose. Severing the body from its heart, it operates as a machine with no moral compass and little ability to generate joy in those working its gears.

So let’s stop questioning whether we can or should profit from our purpose. The greatest gift you can give the world and those you love is to do what makes you epically happy… soulfully happy. And do it every day.

Don’t be afraid to stand for something. Be willing to go against the grain or against others. You are not here to make everyone happy. You’re here to take the very real and troubling journey to discovering what makes YOU happy. This isn’t selfish. This is your gift.

You can start out small. Move toward it daily. And eventually you WILL lead the charge.

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Now I can’t give you all the answers here or fill in every blank for creating a business or brand around your purpose. However I hope to inspire and inform you… help you identify what matters most… who you are and what you’ll fight for. Because I know this with every fiber of my being: You can absolutely be a thought leader for the cause, belief or experience you most wish to share with the world.

Here’s how:

Step One: Know What You Stand For and What You Offer

Before you can establish yourself as a leader, you need to know what you’re leading. Fair enough? You don’t even have to depart fully from your current career (if you enjoy it).

For example, if you’re a graphics designer, what is your stance on design? How do you approach your art and business that differs from others, and which is based on a belief, experience or mission you have? How can you stand for your clients and their desires, goals and causes in a way other designers can’t or won’t?

If you’re carrying the torch for a children’s cause… it’s not enough to want to help children. What do you stand for within that industry or for that audience? If you’re targeting parents, what is your stance on parenting or how children are not being cared for in certain locations, cultures or income levels… if you want to change how children are educated what do you believe is broken about the current system and what is your solution?

An example of what this “stance” could look like? Review last week’s article From Broken to Breakthrough for my own stance on how to truly help ourselves and others. My article on How to Heal a Woman’s Hurt delivers my stance on women’s issues.

And I’m sorry to say it but I will: your mission and purpose can’t just be “to change lives” or “serve others.” Tell us how will you change their lives and why they need to be changed in the first place? What’s in it for them and also what’s in it for you? We want to know where YOU exist in your mission. We want to know your big WHY so that we have something tangible we can connect with.

A vital part of this step is knowing and being willing to tell your own story about why this mission, above all others, is YOUR mission. It can’t be because you fell into it, because it makes you money or seems the easiest way to make money, or even because others told you it’s what they wanted from you. Why is YOUR heart in this? Why are you willing to fight to serve people or ignite them in this specific way to this specific end?

Helpful Resources for Finding Your Passion and Staying Inspired

• Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck
• Iconoclast, a book revealing how to think differently using neuroscience and a study of famous iconoclasts
• Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!
• Mike Dooley’s “Notes From the Universe” short daily emails. These are priceless and always give me the message or inspiration I need for my day. Read time is less than 30 seconds.
• FinerMinds.com Life Purpose Section: The FinerMinds blog is one of the best examples of a thought leadership website presence that has quickly dominated the landscape. Plus their content is rock-solid pure awesomeness. Check out their section dedicated to Life Purpose and how to find and live yours.
• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin

Step Two: Create a Content Website You’d Be Proud to Slap Your Name On

This can be a scary step if you’re not savvy with a computer or wordpress. But trust me, it’s easy and inexpensive to create a kick ass website full of flavor, personality and elegance. All you need is a basic understanding of how to install wordpress, or you can hire a webmaster to do it for you. It is easy and would only take an experienced programmer an hour or two.

Best of all there are fantastic free and low-cost site design templates that you can grab and install instead of investing a few grand in your own design. I give those resources below…

That aside, let’s say that you are a graphics designer. You love it but you want more out of life. You have two dogs who are like your own children and you often visit the local pound and are distraught at how many animals are going unloved and uncared for.

You often dream about rescuing animals but can’t figure how to afford it. You want to educate people on the little ways they may stress their pets without meaning to and raise money for other animal charities.

What do you do?

Check this out… I would focus my website and design services around the pet and animal industries. I would go after clients who share my values and build into my fees a 10% donation to the animal charity of my client’s choice (or one I’m particularly passionate about). This can also become a fun and unique aspect of your business you can market to your clients!

On your website you can blog about your pets, your views on how to better handle animal preferences or stresses that result from our own ways of living life. You can share your favorite resources and tips.

As a graphics designer you will dominate this niche in one fell swoop because your clients not only love your work but love who YOU are and what you stand for. You also get to work daily toward fulfilling your own dream to rescue more animals, raise money for your cause, and spend more time with your own pets because you’re making more money and enjoying the process.

Helpful Resources for Creating Your Content Site & Brand

WordPress Site Templates

• ElegantThemes: My favorite themes anywhere (one is used on this blog!). Only $39 unlimited membership with tons of themes
• 100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes
• Smashing Magazine: fantastic web mag with tons of great designer resources, articles and freebies!
• ZenVerse: Free uber-awesome wordpress themes
• iThemes.com: Premium wordpress themes

Blogging and Thought Leadership Tips

• Tim Ferriss’ Marketing Category on his blog: I quickly realized most of my thought leadership blogging resources are from Tim’s blog, mainly in this category. Check them out for some serious blogging and marketing tips.
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• Finer Minds Blog: This blog is a fantastic example from my colleague Vishen Lakhiani who quickly became the most kick ass thought leader in both the internet marketing and personal development industries. He and his company, MindValley, are literally rewriting the book on how to market yourself as a thought leader. Model his site and approach, read his wonderful articles, and learn everything you can from Vishen.
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Here’s the key though: once you build your content site, it’s how you structure and market it that will catapult you to the head of the class, or stamp you as an “epic fail.” We want to always make our marketing decisions based on our values and while remaining in integrity. But that is not the same as ignoring our marketing. The point here is to profit while serving others… so you can serve even more people – including yourself!

Read on young grasshopper, read on.

Step Three: Step Into Rush Hour Traffic

On how to drive traffic to your new epic website:

If you’re a writer or enjoy writing: Secure yourself a gig writing articles for popular blogs and websites that cater to your target audience (such as pet or dog lovers in the above example). Make sure that you can include an “Author’s Box” at the end of your articles where you introduce yourself and mention your website (more on this further down).

HOT TIP: Do not link to your website’s home page. Instead, write a call to action that inspires the reader to click immediately to receive some free giveaway, and then link that call to action phrase to a page inviting your visitor to grab that freebie. They give you their email address and you send it their way. See my author summary at the bottom of this article for an example.

If you don’t want to write: Approach experts in your field who are good, engaging writers and ask them to write the content both for your website and for offsite columns. You can trade exposure for their content or, if you’re a handy salesman, sell them a marketing package where by providing you site content and offsite articles, you’ll get them massive exposure.

You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how to secure their own writing gigs or simply don’t have the stomach to try. What’s easy for you may be terrifying for someone else. So don’t discount the value of what you’d be doing when you create a content site, drive traffic to it, and catapult not just yourself but fellow experts into the limelight!

HOT TIP: In this case, get a one sentence bio from each expert. The Author Box would then include their one sentence bio, and the fact that they are a featured authority on the leading pet lover’s site (insert your brand here), and then give your call to action for your related free giveaway that drives them back to your website. Both of you gain exposure!

Other Ways to Step Into Rush Hour Traffic Online:

• Get on Press Notification Lists like ReporterConnection where you’ll be notified daily of publications, press and authors who need to interview experts like yourself
• Mention articles and blog posts from other leaders in the industry and give your perspective/opinion. Your link back to their site often shows up in their comments and drives traffic your way.
• Here’s a tip I got from Tim Ferriss recently: Try to write for B-level blogs and websites (in terms of traffic), meaning they might not get as much traffic but they’re usually run by one or a few writers who post once a day or less, vs. posting 10 articles each day on loosely related topics. This helps you NOT get lost in the noise and will usually translate into more traffic back to your site than being featured on the larger A-level sites.
• In addition, consider offering your expertise to bloggers in your niche as an expert they can interview (for blogs run by a single author that does not accept guest articles).
• Track news, current events and hot topics in your niche that you can post about quickly. You’ll get fast rankings in news engines because it’s a hot, recent topic and the new influx of interest will be funneled your way.
• Social media of course – but that’s a whole other conversation!
• Consider video blogging and short video clips you can blast on the dozens of video sites out there. You can use TubeMogul to easily place your video on the major (and some niche) networks. Video gets ranked quite quickly and consumed more readily by our increasingly ADD culture.

Step Four: Funnel Everyone Into Your List

Remember that freebie I mentioned above? You want to funnel all your traffic into an opt-in landing page (where the visitor gives his email address for something you’re offering) so that you capture most of the visitors who come to your site. This way you can build a solid relationship with them over time, plus you’ll have a powerful asset to leverage when selling advertising on the site later… or when negotiating partnership deals.

Here’s how to create a landing page. This is the formula I use for myself and my clients and I see an average opt-in conversion of 65%.

You’ll also want an opt in form on your site’s main page for any casual visitors.

Eventually you’ll want to market your own offers or partner offers to your list. But in the beginning you may not have anything to offer. Plus the point is to build a solid relationship with them. So right now, just notify them when you post anything new to the blog. If you’re posting every day, maybe just send an email once or twice a week mentioning the strongest article along with a secondary list of the other articles posted that week.

This will keep people engaged with your site and if you incorporate any referral mechanisms like a “tell a friend” script, you’ll grow your list and site visitors this way as well.

Step Five: Give Them Something to Buy

If there’s one thing I’ve learned managing massive launches, it’s that the epic money is never made in the big, glossy launch. Much of that money goes to the massive technology resources to pull off the influx of traffic, to experts like myself who make the magic happen behind the scenes, and to the promotional partners who spread the word and mail the offer to their lists.

So why do people still do these big launches when they only take home maybe 20% of the earnings? Because it builds them an email list, a presence, and a brand. They know however that the real money is made over the long term as they monetize those new assets.

This is excellent news for you! It means you don’t need to carry off a big launch to win lasting profit from your purpose. It helps, but the real money is made long term. Once you have people interested in what you have to say and you build a relationship with them, your next step is to figure out what kind of products or services will meet their needs and help them achieve their goals.

Here’s how I would build a relationship with your audience while simultaneously structuring that relationship to meet their needs and profit from your purpose…

• Periodically survey your audience to find out what topics they are interested in, how they prefer to learn, what kind of content they want and in what format, and anything else that will help you structure your offerings to them and strategize your marketing.
• Use CrazyEgg or a similar tool to track your site visitor’s behavior on your website. It’s one thing to ask people what they like and what they’re interested in. It’s another thing to look at their actual behaviors (and how they sometimes contradict what a person says or believes!)
• Use Google Website Optimizer to track your lead and sales conversions and to test everything.
• Want the latest insider marketing tactics proven to work through rigorous testing and case studies? Check out MarketingExperiments.com to find out which colors pull best in emails, what elements dramatically improve conversions on website pages, and plenty more.
• Email your list at least once a week. Depending on your audience, I recommend emailing 80% content and 20% offers. However you can train your list to respond to daily emails and even daily offers, like Joel Marion does in his fitness business. It’s all in how you do it and how you brand yourself.

How to Make the Money

The final piece of this is figuring out what to sell. You can do one or a variety of three things:

1. Create your own product or service that you sell
2. Partner with someone to create a joint product or service
3. Sell someone else’s product or service for a commission

The specific steps involved in this are beyond the scope of this article. The key here is to acknowledge that once you define your purpose and brand yourself around it, you can make money doing what you love. Once you’ve delved into the data and surveys for your audience, you’ll have a good idea of the types of products and services they want. Then you can provide them, by yourself or in partnership with others.

I guarantee if you get started communicating your purpose and building your business around it, income opportunities will show up: people will ask you to speak at their events or teleseminars. Others will want to interview you or offer your products to their audience. If you have no personal offerings but you’ve built a solid following, you can make money providing the products you love to your audience.

But right now just get started. Get far enough along and the right question to be asking will show up… along with its answer.