I talked about the “why” yesterday, behind asking “How do I make a million dollars?” It isn’t just about money. It’s about a writing/thinking experiment to dream bigger. Much much bigger. In fact, to call it an experiment is undercutting it. This is a how-to question, to be carried out later after there’s a plan. More like a planning exercise. A crazy one at that!  

So how exactly do I make $1,000,000?  But before that, I wanted to define it a little tighter, but it still has to fit the audaciously crazy criteria: How do I make $1,000,000 in 12 months, as a company of one? OK, company of one can mean I still sometimes hire contractors to work for me. I added this because I dislike managing, and I don’t want to promote or grow myself out of the job I love doing (which is to create).

How do I make $1,000,000 in 12 months, as a company of one?

To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m even asking the right question. This number in the question is definitely just a signpost, an output, to a larger outcome or goal. If a million is not the goal, then what’s a better way to ask that question? How do we reframe that million-dollar question?

Some questions about the question, to start off, to reflect on:

1. Gut check: Is it just about greed/money, honestly?
2. How do I provide value to the world that’s equivalent to a million dollars? 
3. How do I serve a million people who’ll pay me $1 each? Or 1000 true fans who would pay me $1000 each?
4. What am I potentially world-class at, or have a chance at making something that’s world-class at something?
5. How do I leverage the scalability of technology to get there, as a company of one?
6. How do I scale beyond the bottleneck that’s me, beyond my own time and my own skills?

A good checklist to mull over. I’ll share more in time to come.