Maybe you read “revolt against money” and immediately thought, “Hell yeah – let’s do this! Money is evil, and we need to get rid of it – it’s ruining people’s lives.”

Or maybe you read the headline and thought, “Revolt against money? That’s ridiculous – money is what makes the world go ’round! We need money to survive.”

There’s no doubt about it – people have very strong beliefs about money.

I’m no different.

And throughout my meanderings into the blogosphere, I come across many different opinions about wealth and money.

• Some sites about money are scams, playing on people’s desires, promising you fast, easy, and effortless cash.
• Some sites about money just criticize those who try to make an extra buck writing e-books or doing coaching.
• Some sites about money proclaim the virtues of minimalism and relinquishing our desires for material possessions.
• Some sites about money proclaim the virtues of consumerism and the luxurious lifestyle.

I believe all of these extremes can reflect unhealthy beliefs about money. Rarely do I find a perspective that seems properly balanced (but I’m sure they exist…somewhere).

And I’ve written about these concerns before. In my post Money on My Mind: Tips for Financial Wellness I cite a declaration made by certain psychologists saying that our attitude about money is an often neglected factor to our happiness and mental health.

There are people at both extremes: those who worship money, and those who run away from it.

Of course, not everyone is at one of these two extremes, but from my personal experience many people unhealthily favor one side over the other. Here are some ideas I have to help cultivate a more balanced viewpoint that I find is more sensible and practical.

Money isn’t everything – no #$%!

One of the most common criticisms against money is that it “isn’t everything.” This is so glaringly evident to me that I wish I (and many others) didn’t feel the need to always say it (yet, here I am writing about it).

Yes, money isn’t everything. But that doesn’t automatically mean it has no value. My legs aren’t everything, but if I had the choice to have legs vs. not have legs – I would damn sure choose the legs!

In the real world, people are the same way with money. Most people when presented the choice to have more money vs. less money (all things being equal) will choose to have more money. Why is this?

Money can fulfill some of your values.

Okay, money can’t by itself buy you love or happiness, but it can fulfill some values in your life and other people’s lives.

At the very least, we understand that money is often necessary to provide food, shelter, and clothing – basic necessities. Let’s get that point out of the way – it’s moot.

Regardless of how much our basic needs are already satisfied, people will almost always choose to have “more money” over “less money” (all things, time and work, being equal). This is because money continues to satisfy values for us even when our basic needs are already met.

Yes, I get it – now that we have more money we can buy a new Xbox, or iPod, or Corvette – but that’s not the kind of value I’m talking about either.

Wanting more money doesn’t have to be a purely selfish thing. Money can be used to help others. You can donate to charities, organize a community event, invent something, fund scientific research, start a business, lend to a friend, or buy something from a local business and help your city’s economy, etc.

Money is just a tool that facilitates an exchange in value, but it is up to you to define the values in life that you want to support.

So one individual having more money than someone else can still be a net gain for all of society – it all depends on how that money was spent or invested.

I’ve said it before on this blog that I have very clear plans for making money throughout my life. Not just through this site (which I am currently in the process of monetizing), but through many different endeavors that I hope provide value to others.

And once I have money and I’m comfortable, I don’t just plan on splurging my earnings all on myself. I want to be a philanthropist. I want to be very active with charities and volunteer work, because I think those kinds of activities fulfill the deepest values for me (but they are values that are not OUTSIDE the context of “money” – money helps make those other values happen).

Why you shouldn’t get upset when your favorite blogger starts selling a product.

I mentioned earlier how I’ve been meandering through the blogosphere. I came across two posts within the past 24 hours that really irked me. I’m not going to bother linking to either one, but both basically said how online writers and bloggers who try to make money off their sites are doing a disservice to society.

Information and words, I am told, should always be free.

This poses a problem in my opinion.

If you enjoy a blogger, and you are educated and inspired by their writings, why wouldn’t you want them to be able to make a living doing that? Why would you subject them to have to also maintain a day job on the side, which only detracts that person from devoting more time doing something you you enjoy and receive benefits from.

I think the root of that “shouldn’t make money!” attitude is destructive. Not just to the person who wants to make a profit, but also to the people who enjoy the work and service they receive from that individual.

Keep in mind, in any voluntary marketplace, online or offline, you don’t have to buy anything you don’t want. No one is forcing you to buy their e-book, or their webinar, or their coaching. But if other people want to pay money to receive these things (if they perceive them as “valuable” enough to spend money on), then who are you to call the exchange illegitimate or evil or immoral.

This doesn’t mean there should be a price on everything.

Look, I’ve made it clear that I have intentions for making money on this site. I’m very open about that to anyone who asks me. But that doesn’t mean that everything I do here is solely driven by a profit motive. I genuinely enjoy writing about the things I do and interacting with like-minded people. I would still write about these things even if I wasn’t making money (although I definitely wouldn’t be writing about them as often).

If there is any proof of my dedication, it is the fact that I’ve written over 300 articles on this site and I’ve never charged anyone a single cent to read any of them. I don’t believe that everything needs to have a price-tag. And from my own research and experience, I’m actually discovering that giving away value (with no strings attached) is actually a great business model in the long-term.

I think – as a general trend – most businesses (especially online) have the incentive to offer the most value to their audience at the lowest and most reasonable price. In the end, I see these exchanges as a win-win for all parties involved.

I just wanted to get that off my chest.

I just wanted to get these things off my chest. I know I’ve written about some of these ideas in the past, but I’ve seen a lot of criticism lately and I wanted to clarify my point-of-view one more time (although it probably won’t be the last).

No, I don’t have an affiliate link to share with you, a product to sell, or even a link to my newsletter in this post.

I just wanted to voice my opinion – and you listening is all the value I needed in return. I appreciate it.

Questions.

• What are some of your beliefs about money?
• Do you think money is a net gain or net loss for society?
• Are some of your beliefs about money affecting your own career choices and spending habits?

Please leave a comment below!

And that’s what I’ve been trying to do.

That’s why I’m on social media, like Twitter and Facebook, so frequently. I want to show myself more, share my thoughts more, dive into personal conversations more, and build meaningful relationships. Especially with people who actually give a shit about what I write here – because, for all intents and purposes, they are the ones that keep me going. Thank you.

And that’s also why I’ve started recording videos on my YouTube channel. I want to show my face. I want to be more engaging outside of just digital text. That’s why I started recording videos a little over a month ago (now I’m up to 10) and that’s why I am going to continue with it. And even though I’m not the best public speaker, it strengthens my message. I think most people will watch me talk about this stuff and believe that I’m being honest and genuine. Mostly because I really do believe in what I say, so why should more transparency be a problem for me? It’s not. I’m ready to be judged. I’ve had people tell me I run a “shit blog” and that I believe in hocus pocus nonsense. I didn’t always have thick skin, but it grows thicker everyday.

And this “thick skin” actually plays a big role in what Gary Vaynerchuk has been advocating in his new book The Thank You Economy. Many business still don’t have the “thick skin” to use social media for anything more than a mini press-release. They are too afraid to read what their customers are saying about them, let alone actually respond to problems.

Any smart businessmen or entrepreneur should understand the goldmine of having access to what people say about your company. What better way can you find opportunities for growth and innovation? Not only that, but social media gives you the opportunity to solve problems in a public domain. If people can see you are putting in the extra mile, it matters. And as more and more companies begin utilizing social media, a new level of customer service is going to be expected.

Vaynerchuk’s book is captivating, thought-provoking, and strengthens a lot of the convictions I’ve had while trying to build “The Emotion Machine” (which is, yes, still a huge work-in-progress).

In the book, he talks about how business is coming around full circle. In the early days of markets and capitalism, there weren’t many corporations, but mostly “Mom and Pa” businesses – small and local businesses that thrived on building relationships and communities with their customers. But in today’s corporate world, businesses have become more depersonalized and detached from their consumers. People, in a sense, have been reduced to numbers. And the quality of relationships in business has declined. But social media is beginning to change that again:

“I believe that we are living through the early days of a dramatic cultural shift that is bringing us back full circle, and the world that we live and work in operates in a way which is surprisingly similar to the one our great-grandparents knew. Social media has transformed our world into one great big small town, dominated, as all vibrant towns used to be, by the strengths of relationships, the currency of caring, and the power of word of mouth.”

Books like Wired to Care have also emphasized a similar transformation in business. The author Dev Patnaik gives numerous case studies on the importance of empathy (or as Vaynerchuk refers to it -”currency of caring”) and how building a community around your brand is crucial for long-term success. This means, of course, listening and responding to the needs of the people in your community. Social media now gives us the tools to apply these principles at a scale never before possible.

According to Vaynerchuk, social media is now even more important than search engines or SEO – because search engines lack the social context needed for long-term businesses to succeed. Often we Google something, we click on a relevant link, get the information we need, and never visit the site again. But sites like Twitter and Facebook allow us to build a social context around our content and products. Social context builds trust and relationships. And when a product is referred to you by someone who you like and trust, the impact is much greater than when you receive that information from a site you just visited for the first time. Social media is changing the way consumers make decisions:

“A few months ago I was at Best Buy, and I watched as a teenager used his Facebook status to request recommendations on a Nintendo Wii game. He got feedback in real time, and used it to decide what to buy. Recommendations and contextual social search are the future. Is it any wonder I’m not bullshit on search engine optimization’s (SEO) long-term potential?”

In The Thank You Economy, Vaynerchuk also predicts that social engines are going to begin integrating sites like Facebook and Twitter. In the future, when you search “Nintendo Wii games” on Google, you are going to see tweets appearing at the top of your screen by people you follow who recently mentioned “Nintendo Wii games.” This is going to add tremendous social context to the information we now get off the internet. As a business, imagine how important it is today to start developing these relationships.

As I mentioned before, a lot of business still don’t have the slightest idea what social media is or how to use it. Gary mentions a recent article on Ad Age called “Most Brands Still Irrelevant on Twitter: Marketers Are Certainly Tweeting, but Users Are Barely Listening.”

“The article actually explains the problem: ‘While marketers such as Dell, Comcast, Ford, and Starbucks have been, at times, clever participants on Twitter, the majority of marketers use it as a mini press release service. Only 12% of messages from marketers are directed at individual users, meaning marketers still see it as a broadcasting medium rather than a conversational one.’ So you see, it’s not that Twitter doesn’t work; it’s that most brands aren’t using Twitter correctly. It’s like saying a trumpet is broken because the first hundred people who try to play it suck. You can’t have a relationship with someone if you won’t shut up and let him or her get a word in edgewise. Brands have to realize that it’s not all about them. When they do nothing but push product, there’s no reason for the consumer to say anything back. It’s like that friend you have who always talks about herself and never asks how you’re doing. Eventually, she gets tiresome, and you lose interest in keeping the relationship.”

Holy shit does this message ring true for me! I find so many businesses and brands on Twitter are not using it correctly at all. After reading the Thank You Economy, I’ve made a conscious effort to go through everyone I’m following on Twitter – and if I don’t see that “@” sign being used, I unfollow them, because they completely miss the point of social media.

When I use Facebook and Twitter, I try to respond back to anyone that shows the slightest interest in what I do. And if someone shares a link I say “thank you,” because the point of social media is that businesses need to start listening to other people and showing appreciation toward those who support them. Remember, we’re going back to a word of mouth economy, and simply broadcasting your message (jamming it down people’s throats without listening or engaging) is going to become more and more irrelevant. Again, consumers are going to start expecting more from the companies they do business with.

In business, it’s so important to start listening to people. Not just for closing sales, but for doing research into what people want and adjusting your business accordingly. The other day someone critiqued something I wrote in an article, I thought they had a good point, so I went in and edited my post. Hello? Social media is a tremendous tool for improving your content. Sometimes I ask people, “What do you want to know about X?” And I get replies and then shape my next blog post according to those demands. That’s also why I post polls on my sidebar and on Facebook. I want to know what other people think. As I mentioned before, social media gives you the chance to correct and improve on things within a public domain; and people will begin to notice that you take notice. It matters to them.

Yeah I know – I’m not the best “public speaker.” Actually, for most of my life I’ve hated it. But this blog isn’t about staying within the boundaries of the past, right? It’s about exploration, making mistakes, and learning to overcome those boundaries. This is just as much true for personal development as it is for professional development, working on your career, or running a business. I’ll get better (I promise)!

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There were a lot of other good sites listed, many of which I’ve been a fan of for awhile:

• The Happiness Project
• Upgrade Reality
• MentalHelp.net
• Abundance Tapesty
• Yoga Journal
• The Jungle of Life
• Balance in Me

There were also a lot missing that I would’ve liked to see:

• Tiny Buddha
• A Daring Adventure
• Mindful Construct
• The Shrink for Entrepreneurs
• Lateral Action
• Mind Adventure
• Productive Flourishing
• Heart of Business
• Becoming Minimalist
• Dumb Little Man
• Finer Minds

Truth be told I could probably write my own “Top 50 in Wellness” but I’ll save you guys. I’m sure the last thing many of you need is more sites to distract you from actually going out into the world and making things happen. Don’t become a “keyboard jockey” like me…

…but, if you have the time, definitely take a browse through some of the sites listed above.

When I first started The Emotion Machine I wanted to learn more about mental health and living a meaningful life. Since then I’ve expanded my interests to aspects of creativity, productivity, and self-improvement. Whenever I submit a new post here, I feel like I’ve learned something new or gained a different perspective on how to live my life better.

This blog has helped me become a better person, as have all my other blogs.

In another, I write about political issues, economics, and current events. It’s a way for me to think more critically about the stories I so often read and listen to on the news. It helps keeps me sane, and (I believe) a lot smarter about the issues.

Just recently I started another blog. This time it was about online business. It’s a site called Business Diaries and I use it to help me keep track of different methods for driving traffic, building relationships, and creating content that people find valuable. It’s something that has always interested me, and I’m glad I’ve finally created a blog to help me sort it all out in my head. It really does help.

Somewhere in the future, I would like to also create a blog about health (to motivate me to be healthier), a blog about calculus (I used to know it well in high school, but have since forgotten), and a blog about music (I’ve always been a huge fan, and I want to share all my favorite bands, artists, and songs).

A blog can be about any aspect of life: health, financial, educational, creative, social, or spiritual. The applications are endless, and you can create a site for virtually any niche.

The moral here? Blogging has tremendous potential for anyone, and I don’t find enough people taking advantage of it.

Sure, there are zillions of people who have blogs. But I don’t think they are really blogging to the best of their ability. I want to stress the point that we should look at blogging as a tool for improvement. A way to help us overcome obstacles and find solutions. In the future, I want to see more psychologists recommending blogging to their clients to cope with issues. And more business executives recommending blogging to their coworkers to aid creative problem-solving.

What are some of the ways I can use a blog?

• Compile relevant research you find online.
• Record good ideas, brainstorms, and plans
• Keep track of progress with a current goal.
• Write about your feelings and opinions about a current issue or personal event.
• Share your work with a network of other bloggers and get their opinions.

What if I’m not a good writer?

So what? I’ve been writing for about a year and a half, and I’m still not a great writer. The only way you are going to get better is if you practice. Even if you never think you are that good, any writing is still better for your thinking, memory, and emotional well-being than no writing at all. If you are that embarrassed about your lack of writing finesse, just make your blog private. You’ll lose some of the social benefits, but you’ll still get the mental ones.

How can I stay dedicated to my blog?

Last I heard from Jay and Sterling over at Internet Business Mastery, 70% of bloggers stop blogging within the first 3 months. This is a problem we all have to face when trying to build new habits. Hopefully some of these tips will keep you committed to your blog:

• Write about a problem or passion that truly interests you.
• Make small goals like “I’ll write one post a week.”
• Build a community around your blog to hold you accountable.

Check out my list of 50 Ways To Stay Committed for more tips.

I think blogging is just not my thing.

Sure, then don’t do it. I’m definitely not saying that blogging is a cure for everyone’s problem. I just think there is potential worth looking into. If you have to force yourself to blog every month, and it feels like a chore, I would definitely recommend finding another hobby or brainstorming in ways you find more natural. Maybe you prefer working in a group setting or brainstorming during your morning jog? We all have different preferences to help get the mental and creative juices flowing.

If you are any kind of blogger than you have probably heard of Google Adsense, the pay-per-click advertisement program. It’s a service us bloggers all dream of making millions with after hearing success stories by blogger elites like Steve Pavlina and Darren Rowse.

I know when I first started blogging I spent hours upon hours experimenting with different ad placements to find what looked best. Adsense was what blogging was all about. Just keep writing bullshit and keep your fingers crossed that someone will click your ad and you will make another 25 cents. Stay persistent and then in a couple of months you’ll be making a living online! Right?!

Of course, as any long-time blogger will tell you, this isn’t exactly how things work. Successful blogging is not about jamming ads down your readers throats. In fact, Adsense overload is often a fantastic way to scare off potential readers and make sure they never ever visit your site again.

It’s a sad but true fact that a lot of so-called “online entrepreneurs” think that ad spam and shoddy writing can be a sustainable business model. It’s not. In most cases it’s a business model that won’t even get you off the ground.

If you have a good keyword and you rank high on some Google searches, then you may rack in a hundred or so dollars a month. But you probably won’t make enough to live off of it.

Anyway, you probably already know this stuff. You already know that real business is about building real relationships and creating real value. And I want you to know that I haven’t forgotten this – even though I’ve recently added a Google Ad to my sidebar.

I don’t want this site to ever be littered with pop-up ads and spam. I will never sell my readers out like that. However, a Google Ad or two can still have integrity, right?

Over the past few months I had eliminated all ads on this site. I wanted to focus on quality content instead, with the hopes that I will soon create a product to sell. However, even though I am desperate for money, I don’t want to rush my product. That wouldn’t be fair to people who actually enjoy my writing.

So, I am taking a step back. I’m not ready to create a product yet, I still need to focus on making this site the best it can be. I need to focus on content and relationships. Not rushing some half-assed e-book so that I can sell it 50 times at $10. I need to think more long-term than that.

That doesn’t change the fact that I also need money. That means picking up any chunk change that I can get.

Thus, I am resurrecting Google Ads on some of my blogs. Don’t hate me for it. I will try to keep it as minimal as possible.