With Private Wealth building a phenomenal audience of leading and exceptional advisors and single-family offices, and a growing cohort of the very wealthy, plus my work in Forbes, more professionals are asking me how to connect with and maximize their relationships with the super rich. A number of high-caliber professionals are looking for consultants on this topic-which would be really good if I made my living consulting with professional advisors.
Before addressing how I make a living, however, it's important to understand a key aspect of my personality: I seriously lack social graces. I can be-and I often am-a total jerk (which is how my wife describes it when she's being generous). Since I'm happily married (she tells me so) and want to stay that way (she owns everything), she must be correct.
Now, back to how I make a living. My principal source of income comes from consulting to the very rich-and increasingly the self-made super rich-on how to become significantly wealthier. The basis of my consulting practice is the Money Rules, which I've written about in Private Wealth. My potentially debilitating lack of social skills is offset by my ability to meaningfully boost the net worth of my exceptionally wealthy clients.
I do a few other things that kick off some cash. I'm called on to structure as well as share best practices with family offices and high-end wealth management businesses. More and more, I develop and help implement compensation packages for senior professionals in family offices and similar organizations. Every year, I issue a number of research reports, but this is break-even at best. I periodically design and direct workshops and conferences, which give me the opportunity to demonstrate my interpersonal skills (see above). I've authored over 40 books and I have a few more in the queue. Because of research costs, I've lost money on each and every one, but my plan is to make it up in volume.
I consult with a handful of professional advisors focused on working with the super rich. But while this has proven very profitable, especially for my few professional advisor clients, it's not very appealing to me. It's actually pretty easy to appreciably boost their revenues-if they listen. The complication is that most professional advisors don't listen. They prefer easy answers and are generally unwilling to do the hard work that's necessary. My successful relationships are with the few advisors who are serious about doing a great job for their clients, who desire to become extraordinarily wealthy and who are willing to listen.
There's actually a lesson in all this. It's one I learned a long time ago and a few times since. An extremely complicated lady with a pervasive misanthropic streak who is presently an astronomically wealthy client of mine (think billions) taught it to me after I taught it to her. The lesson: Know how the people you're dealing with make a living. Don't presume you know, find out! Then, use the information to your advantage. It's a piece of advice that can certainly transform your business for the better.