Knowledge Assets

I had the privilege of eating dinner with Ryan Lee, Jim Labadie, and a group of 10 or so of us at ‘Bootcamp 06’. Among other topics, we were discussing who had purchased each others products, and how much money each individual had spent on info products and coaching. At our table, the top three SPENDERS, (in no particular order) Ryan, Jim, and Pat Rigsby (<--i amazes="" and="" arguably="" assure="" at="" br="" funny="" group="" guarantee="" had="" he="" i="" me="" most="" names="" of="" pat="" people="" s="" same="" sitting="" some="" successful="" table="" the="" there="" thing="" this="" three="" were="" you.="">
Anyway, Jim is telling a story about Pat calling him and asking “Don’t you have anything else you can sell me?” because Pat already had everything Jim had put out. We got a laugh out of it, but Ryan put on his serious face for a second and pointed out, “You know, Pat spends the most, and he’s the most successful – why don’t people see that?”
Great question. Why would Pat continue to spend money on info products if he’s already established himself?

I think I heard Alwyn Cosgrove mention that he was nagging Jim for business coaching, but he’s Alwyn Cosgrove! He can’t need business coaching, right?

Noticing the pattern? There is a direct correlation between the people who are spending money on knowledge and their level of success. This is non-debatable, I will not hear it. And before you start with I don’t have money, I’ve got payroll, or rent’s due or whatever it is you are going to let make you continue to put off taking some action, listen to this one:

This weekend Pat and I had the honor of hosting Mr. Allen Hill Jr. in Elizabethtown, KY, for a 48 hour brainstorming session. I don’t know if everyone knows this about Allen, and I hope he doesn’t mind me telling, but 9 months ago, Allen’s business was struggling. He was working his butt off and treading water, and he was getting fatigued. He decided to buy Pat’s first product, the Personal Trainer Money Machine. Long story short, Allen Hill took those principles and applied them to his training AND his website design business – and look what he’s doing now. He’s slammed. You know what? He continues to get business coaching even now. He is investing in knowledge and he will be rich because of it.

Info products and business coaching don’t just facilitate perpetual success, they can also set you on the path to success even if you are starting from ground zero. Investing in knowledge works, it is proven. If the successful ones are doing it, and you want to be successful, why wouldn’t you do it?

I’m an example myself. I thought info products were very gimmicky. Lots of salesmanship, not so much value. And in a certain few cases that’s true, but someone’s reputation as giving great info or a crappy product will let you know if you should be buying from them or not. They can’t hide that. But there are many more good, valuable products and resources than there are bad, especially within the PTU circle. Anyway, Pat got me into info products, and I later found a business coach – who’s not in our industry – and I can’t say enough about him.

Business coaching should be mandated by any lending institution on startup businesses, and by any investment group. A study of Fortune 1000 companies who participated in Business Coaching programs reported the following benefits from the coaching they received:

- Saw an increase in productivity by 53%
- Increased customer service by 39%
- Increased retention of senior people by 32%
- Reduction in costs by 23%
- Increased bottom line profitability by 22%

The same survey reported that the individuals who received coaching saw improvement in:
- Working relationships with their direct reports
- Working relationships with their manager
- Team-building
- Reduction in conflict
- Business Relationships with clients

I’ll put this as bluntly and forward as I can. If you, for any reason, are not investing in knowledge in one form or another for your business, you are a business ‘dummy’. There is no excuse that you can’t find something that will make you and your business operate better. After the examples and numbers I gave you – can anyone – ANYONE – afford not to?

Get off of your ass and do something. Invest in knowledge. Those who offer the information are giving you everything you need to do what they’re doing. Do not be satisfied being a business dummy, or just as bad, being complacent. Be aggressive. Get what knowledge you can and put it to use.

Last thing. We are in what is described as an Intangible Economy. Here’s the definition according to Wikipedia:
In the Intangible Economy, four factors of production - knowledge assets (what people know and put into use), collaboration assets (who people interact with to create value), engagement assets (the level of energy and commitment of people), and time quality (how quickly value is created) are the four key resources from which economic activity and competitive advantage are primarily derived and delivered today.

I believe we have all four components at our disposal. That would leave us no excuses, right?

Nick Berry

NickBerry.info