Hugh Culver

Business of Speaking

  • Blog
  • About
  • Coaching
  • Speaking
  • Contact

Hero Habits

Get my free guide on the power of habits and improve your performance every day.

Download it Now (for Free!)

Want to make more money? Solve a bigger problem.

Leave a Comment

Never miss another update.

Near a cave, some 300,000 years ago one of my (very distant) relatives sharpened a stick and made a spear. He solved a problem.

Fast forward to the land of iWatches and Periscope and nothing’s really changed. The most valuable employees, business leaders, entrepreneurs and housewives solve problems.

You know that, I know that, the question is are you doing it?

In a recent post I wrote about increasing your Money Margin to attract more wealth. In this post I’m talking about what you get paid for – solving problems.

When I joined three partners to build a travel business on the back of a one-time climbing expedition in Antarctica, we were setting out to solve a problem: how to get people to the South Pole. The solution we created quickly turned into millions of dollars of business.

The ultimate problem: how to get to the South Pole
The ultimate problem: how to get to the South Pole

When I joined three partners to build a travel business on the back of a one-time climbing expedition in Antarctica, we were setting out to solve a problem.

When Arthur Fry realized the glue he invented allowed him to stick a bookmark in his Bible and re-stick it on different pages he solved a problem. He also invented the Post-it note and a major revenue stream for 3M that continues today.

And when Blake Mycoskie donated a pair of shoes for every pair his customer bought he solved a big problem of fund-raising. And his TOMS one for one model inspired other companies to include charitable giving in their business model.

The one question you must ask yourself

Illegal options aside, you earn more when you solve bigger problems.

Five years ago I decided to shift half my business to work with experts who wanted to build a speaking business. As I experimented with training, ebooks, coaching – even my own conferences – I realized I wasn’t asking the right question.

I realized I wasn’t asking the right question.

Instead of “What will they buy?” I should have been asking “What has the most value for them?”

want to earn more money - solve a bigger problemThe answer (and it’s no different for most every entrepreneur) is to get more customers and more business. That’s why just over one year ago I created SOS, a smart traffic growth service to pull more customers to our clients’ web sites. More qualified traffic means more business.

To add more value, follow these four simple (simple on paper, mind you) steps.

4 steps to adding more value

  1. Ask what they want. When you do all the pitching it’s easy to miss the ball your customer is tossing your way. A great question to ask is “What would be the ideal solution to your problem?” Plus a simple two-question annual survey will give you more than enough to design solutions around.

    When you do all the pitching it’s easy to miss the ball your customer is tossing your way.

  2. Invent, launch, improve. Now the fun part: invent a solution and let your customers vote on it. When we launched SOS a little over a year ago it was a hacked together solution, but it worked and we could measure results. Today we are getting incredible traffic increases for our clients and it’s because we’ve had a year of experimentation to learn what works.
  3. Don’t overcomplicate it. The first Tesla all-electric car looked like a home-made kit. But it made the news and prepared the market for the huge launch of the Model S.
  4. Measure results. The late Peter Drucker famously warned “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” And there’s no excuse for not measuring results – data is everywhere. Tools like www.cyfe.com, www.clicdata.com and www.bittle-solutions.com are fast to set up and pull your results into one dashboard.

Not earning enough? Try solving a bigger problem.

Never miss another update.

Related Posts

  • How you can be Younger Next YearHow you can be Younger Next Year
  • 7 ways to slow down and think better today7 ways to slow down and think better today
  • Nine Hacks Guaranteed to Make your Next Speech World ClassNine Hacks Guaranteed to Make your Next Speech World Class
  • What’s a speaker’s one-sheet and do I need it?What’s a speaker’s one-sheet and do I need it?
  • How to stay positive when your world sucksHow to stay positive when your world sucks

About Hugh Culver

Speaker, author, athlete and founder of BlogWorks. I speak and write about getting stuff done and the art of growing younger.

Categories: Blog, Expert/Speaker, General, Wealth

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Blog
  • Books
  • Expert/Speaker
  • General
  • Habits
  • Life
  • Productivity
  • Speaking Tips
  • Wealth

My Most Popular Posts

BUSINESS

Want to make more money? Solve a bigger problem.
Hey, small business owner – are you trying to boil the ocean?
Why passion is overrated and what matters instead

MONEY

Why $100,000 won’t make you rich
How to make your first OnLine course
How to make money NOW as an expert

PRODUCTIVITY

3 daily rituals that will make you rich
13 shocking facts about how we waste time
Organize your life with Google calendars

SPEAKING

10 Easy ways to make Awesome PowerPoint

Meet Hugh

Speaker, author, athlete and founder of BlogWorks. I speak and write about getting stuff done and the art of growing younger.
Learn More…

As featured on:

As featured on:
  • Blog
  • About
  • Coaching
  • Speaking
  • Contact
© 2022 Hugh Culver. All Rights Reserved · Website by ModernTraction.com
  • Legal Disclaimer
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter