FBC – 17 – The Worst Question You Could Ask A Billionaire

What is the last question you should ask a billionaire if you meet one? There is something you shouldn't ask them and YET this is the first question that people would ask (and waste an opportunity of a lifetime).

Today I wanted to talk about something very interesting and I think you should know about it because a lot of people are actually guilty of making that mistake, which is focusing on the wrong things. OK so if you want to be successful you need to focus on the right things. OK. So we're going to talk about the difference between strategy and tools.  This is crucial. OK.

I meet a lot of people. And when I see someone who's successful or something I'd basically try to talk to them and understand how they got there and what it took for them to get there. And I always ask this question. I'm like “well you know when people come to you and ask you know about your success and stuff do they ask you the right questions?”

Because I know the answer. I think I know the answer. People ask the wrong question. OK. And what is that wrong question? The wrong question or the wrong questions are what do you use for your e-mail marketing? Or what do you use as an R responder? What do you use for retargeting? What do you use for this and what you use for that? OK.

So if you ever have the opportunity to meet someone who who’s successful, don't ask them anything about the tools they're using. You're wasting valuable time that you might not get again in your life. If you meet someone who made it big, ask them about their strategy. Don't ask them about the tools. The reason is simple.

So tools can change right? They come and go.  You can have the software that works and tomorrow doesn't work right. So what happens if all your strategy was based on that tool and then bam their API doesn't work anymore. Your business is gone. Yeah. So the last thing you want is to rely on tools.

So tools obviously are very useful, Right? Because they can help speed up things and automate things and all that stuff.  But when you use a tool, the important question you need to ask is “why am I using this tool?” What purpose is it serving? And that’s the strategy.

I'm working on my on my Web site at the moment right. I told you about it but it takes a little bit of time because I'm working on the videos. I'm working on this, I'm working on that and I'm not actually the one doing it. So I have someone else doing that for me. My assistant is actually working on that for me, but on my site I will have a section that's called resources, or tools of the trade or whatever. Which are the tools that I use in my business. OK.

But on that page I'm not going to tell you “oh just use this and you can just go and use it blindly”. I'm going to tell you why I'm using it and how it actually integrates in my strategy which brings me to my next point. The most important thing is not the tools because again tools can change.

A tool can stop working and then you can find another tool or whatever. But you know the strategy doesn't change as long as you have the right strategy.

So this is the first step. So you come up with a good strategy and then afterwards you need to find the tools that are actually going to serve that strategy and make your life easy. But still following that the path that the strategy is dictating. OK so think about the strategy as recipe right?

So let’s use Grandma’s homemade cake as an example. The recipe is the strategy. OK. Her strategy is the whole recipe that she has in her head. And the tools are just like the ingredients and stuff. So instead of buying brand “A” then she might have to buy brand “B” right there. Pretty much the same, it's not going to change much as long as it's in the same recipe, right, in the same proportions.

The Worst Question You Could Ask A Billionaire

So you know basically to say that when you have the opportunity to talk to someone who was successful in the specific field. Don't ask them necessarily about the tools. Ask them about their strategy and their vision and stuff. OK. “So what was the strategy behind what you're doing?”

Because once you have this then you can actually transcribe it to other business models and stuff. And you can see the big picture and the angle of what the person wanted to do, and you can do that for yourself as well.

So if you for example look at the strategies that are being used today, some of these strategies they've been here since the 50s. It still works today, Right? But if you look at the tools you were using two years ago, for example you had a browser, Internet Explorer or something.

So let's say your strategy was based around Internet Explorer, well you'll be in trouble today. OK. That's what I mean. OK. Just look at yourself and the tools you were using two years ago and you know there've been some upgrades or some other people came in the market and have a better tool now. You see that these tools move but the strategy does not.

So what other kind of example of strategy can I give you?

Yes… strategies of having flash sales or something. Let's say for example you have the supermarket next to your house and they give you all these leaflets and stuff, like the promotions. So you're like “dude look at this one”. And then what happens? Everybody runs to the store and that item unfortunately is not there. If it ever was!

You don't actually know if it actually was there at some point. I think they put a limited number of them but basically they got you in the store. And once you're in a store what do you do? You keep shopping right!  And this is a strategy they've been using forever and it still works.

So these things can be can be used for generations, when tools can only be used for a year or two years or maybe five years or something. OK.

So if you want your peace of mind, you want a business or lifestyle business, you will focus on the strategies and not on the tools.