22. Why I Do Monetization Nation and How I Can Help You
The Offer
Today someone asked me why I’m doing this Monetization Nation show and how I can help the readers, listeners, and viewers. I figured the answer to those two questions would make a great blog post.
Trauma that Results from “Not Getting” Digital Monetization
Early in my career, I did not understand tectonic shifts or digital monetization, and it resulted in some traumatic experiences for me, my family, my employees, and my investors. For example, in the first Monetization Nation episode, I told the story of losing a publicly-traded company I had created because I didn’t reach monetization fast enough.
Soon after we lost that company, some friends of a family member were at our home for a social gathering. The guests asked where I worked, and I told them the name of my business. The guests didn’t realize I was the CEO of that business. I was very young at the time and they assumed I was an employee. When they realized where I worked, they proceeded to tell me how my business was awful because we had laid off their friends, a husband and wife who both worked for us, less than a month before Christmas. Ouch. It was a really awkward moment when I explained I was the one who had laid off their friends.
I agree with them. That layoff so close to Christmas was something pretty awful I did to that great family because I didn’t understand how to get my business to monetization fast enough. The trauma that family went through was my fault. That’s what happens when entrepreneurs don’t understand how to leverage tectonic shifts and generate digital monetization.
Azul’s Success
Thankfully, that was decades ago and I’ve been able to learn a lot to help my businesses and other companies be much more effective at digital monetization. I am doing this show so that hopefully thousands of other entrepreneurs, their families, their employees, and their investors don’t have to go through what the people around my failed company had to go through.
Let me contrast the tragedy of that failed company with the joy I felt about 18 years later, on April 11, 2017, when Azul, the Brazilian airline, began trading on the New York Stock exchange. In the early days of Azul, for more than a year, I spent about half of my time in Brazil helping Azul develop and implement a digital strategy. I would fly to Brazil and work there for a week or two and then fly home and spend a week or two with my family. I don’t recommend that. It was very hard on my family and me. But we do what we have to do to provide for our families, right?
My role at Azul was only a small part of the effort contributed by many talented people. However, the day I watched the video of Azul’s IPO (initial public offering) I had chills and was so grateful I was able to be a small part of a company that had been so successful leveraging tectonic shifts and digital monetization.
The day it went public, Azul raised $645 million in a dual initial public offering in Sao Paulo and New York. That day David Neeleman, the Azul founder, told CNBC “We are an airline today that does 26% of all the domestic air revenue in Brazil. That’s from zero to 26 in eight years.” Today’s stock trading price values Azul at more than $2.3 billion.
(Photo credit: NYSE)
(Photo credit: NYSE)
Why I Do Monetization Nation
So, why am I doing Monetization Nation? As a result of David Neeleman being so successful in his entrepreneurial endeavors, he has been able to make a massive contribution for good in the world in many ways. I’ve witnessed this first hand because David asked me to serve as the President of his non-profit foundation, which I did for a year.
I feel that one of the best ways I can do good in the world, and pay it forward for all the people who have helped me, is to share the digital monetization secrets I’ve learned to help entrepreneurs become masters at leveraging tectonic shifts and digital monetization. My goal is that because of Monetization Nation, thousands of entrepreneurs and the people around them won’t have to go through the type of traumatic experiences we did decades ago, and that those people will instead have the expanded resources they need to make a much greater difference for good for millions of people.
I feel that because I know some things, which can help many entrepreneurs and the people around them avoid pain and achieve their desired success, I have a moral obligation to share it.
Digital Monetization Strategies
Now, let’s talk about the second question. How can I help you to avoid more of the pain and achieve more success in your entrepreneurial journey?
I’ve consulted for a lot of companies over the past two decades. This has been a great learning experience for me because I’ve been able to learn from the successes and failures of many companies more successful than my own, and from many entrepreneurs much smarter than me.
Nearly all of these other companies have started working with me by hiring me to help them research and develop their digital strategy or their monetization strategy. When I started helping the other companies do this, I called them digital strategies, and over time, they have evolved to become digital monetization strategies. We do extensive research before creating one of these strategies. Then, we customize the presentations to help the business leverage the level-10 passion of their target audience, the assets that many of them didn’t even consider to be assets, and the tectonic shifts most relevant to them, along with numerous other recommendations to better achieve their monetization goals. I love creating these presentations and helping businesses clearly see the strategy to most effectively achieve their desired outcome. Based on feedback from my clients, I believe that the greatest value I have provided to other companies has been through those digital monetization strategies.
Then, after delivering this presentation, the clients own it and can do whatever they want. They can implement any portion of it they want themselves, or hire my team and me to execute part or all of the plan. However, in nearly all of the cases, after delivering the strategy presentation, the clients have hired my team and me to help them execute the recommended digital monetization strategy.
Monetization Assessment
I’ve consulted for a lot of companies over the years. As part of the research to create these digital monetization strategies, I ask a lot of questions, and I’ve refined the questions over the years to get better results. I have taken a bunch of the questions and turned them into a Monetization Assessment, which you can take for free. Then, after you complete the assessment, we will review it and prepare customized feedback for your business.
Would you like Monetization Nation to give you customized feedback about how your business can leverage tectonic shifts and accelerate your digital monetization? Or would you like to work with me to help you develop and execute your digital monetization strategy? Then, fill out the free assessment today. It doesn’t answer all of the questions I would have for you, but it’s a great start.
Completing this Monetization Assessment is an important next step in your monetization journey because it will help you identify areas where you’re already doing well and areas where it might be important to focus more resources.
I would love to help you reach your monetization goals, so you have more time and resources for the things that really matter to you.
Take the Free Monetization Assessment.
Key Takeaways
Here are some of the key takeaways that stood out to me from today’s episode.
1. When we don’t get tectonic shifts and digital monetization, it can cause trauma for entrepreneurs and the people around them.
2. Monetization Nation exists to help entrepreneurs effectively leverage tectonic shifts and digital monetization, so we can avoid a lot of the pain and achieve more of the success we are seeking.
3. Take the free Monetization Assessment and get customized feedback for your business.
Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?
Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:
1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the Monetization eMagazine.
3. Follow the Monetization Nation Blog.
4. Join our private Monetization Nation Facebook Group.
5. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
6. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.
7. Connect with Nathan on Linkedin.
8. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram.
9. Follow Monetization Nation on Twitter.
Challenge
If we desire monetization we have never before achieved, we must leverage strategies we have never before implemented. I challenge each of us to pick one thing that resonated with us from today’s episode and schedule a time this week to implement it to help achieve our monetization goals.
Share Your Story
What stories do you have with monetizing a digital business? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.
