“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”
— Thomas Paine
I remember being at a big event with mostly abundant people. This guy is at the bar pitching me his stuff and wants to do some business. We go to dinner as a group and at the end, I said: “Look, we’re just going to split the bill.”
A few minutes later, the waiter comes to me and says: “One of the guys wants to pay his own bill.” I said, “tell him to be calm because that’s ridiculous.” The waiter comes back and says the guy insisted. It was that same guy who wanted to do business with me. He saved himself $20 on that dinner. The dinner only cost 60 bucks per person and his individual share might have been $40. So he saved himself $20. Will I ever do business with that guy? Of course not.
It’s important to understand that he did not try to cheat anyone. He paid his way. He didn’t do anything wrong per se, but he showed how scarce he was. Technically there was nothing wrong with what he did UNLESS he’s trying to build affiliate relationships. He cost himself hundreds of thousands of dollars to save 20 bucks. I will never do business with him.
Why? Well, think about it. One day, in the affiliate world, where you take people at their word, he will choose money over you. He’ll choose money over doing the right thing by you.
The logical business conclusion is, don’t do business with cheap asses. In a pinch, they do the wrong thing because all they think about is saving or not spending money. You can’t do business like that.
If you want to be abundant and have abundance flow to you, you have to flow the abundance out. Nothing here disagrees with the laws of logic and reason. When you throw in how we are wired as human beings, people want to hang out with fun people, with abundant people, with people who are not cheap or scarcity minded. It’s just human.
Maybe you undervalue your potential if you’re just starting out. It’s fine to say at the start of the dinner: “Hey, look guys I apologize but I’m pretty tight right now. Is it okay if I just pay my own way?” Everyone will respect that. Don’t get to the end and turn cheap and try to get out of your share. Abundant minded people notice. We may not say anything but we’re thinking to ourselves: “What? Are they really doing that?”
And the conclusion becomes: “They’re either broke or real cheap asses.” If they were broke, they could say so early on. No one has a problem with that. Be honest and upfront. If you are there to build your affiliate network, then budget ahead of time and mentally prepare yourself. Get into the state of mind to say: “Okay, I am prepared to spend a hundred dollars at the bar this evening because that’s what I’m here for. I’ve already spent the money on the airfare, the hotel, the lot.”
Pay your way. To fail to put a small amount on top of your expenses to accomplish the main objective for which you showed up in the first place is not smart. If you’re standing with someone having a conversation and you order a drink and don’t ask them to have one, that’s a bad thing. It flat out sends the wrong message. Just don’t do it.
