If you want to take this quote in a literal sense—to me, it says that you'll get paid if you ask for the sale.
And here you were thinking it was about riding into battle on your trusty steed :)
It's an important point though. You need to sell your Thing. And that can mean being bold or brave.
Let's look at the Latin... (with a nod of thanks to Wikipedia!)
Audentes Fortuna iuuat or Audaces Fortuna iuuat.
The phrase means that Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, is more likely to help those who take risks or action. Its earliest recorded use is by the second century BC playwright Terence, Phormio, 203 (Fortis Fortuna adiuvat) and by Ennius, Ann. 257 (Fortibus est Fortuna uiris data). A similar phrase (Audentis Fortuna iuuat) is shouted by Turnus in Virgil's Aeneid, 10.284, as he begins the charge against Aeneas' Trojans.
So when you next want to do your Thing and help more people with it, remember that fortune favours the bold.
If your bank balance, right now, isn't making you smile and you'd like to add to your 'fortune', here's where you might not being bold enough:
- Are you blogging or sharing your ideas (it can be as a guest on someone else's blog or in articles you submit to sites too)?
- Are you making helpful videos that show off your Thing and sharing them online? YouTube is a giant shopfront...
- Are you being boldly social on social media?
- Are you speaking (and yes, I mean on a stage or at events)?
- Have you had Thing related conversations today/this week/this month?
This last point is pretty simple, but highly effective!
If you're not being bold and asking people to have a conversation with you about how you can help them with your Thing, then there may be a big clue there to your fortune (or lack of it!). Yes, you can sell online; yes, you can make offers without speaking to people; BUT I find a conversation is pretty effective in getting to a decision to work with you or not.
And if sales is something you'd rather put spoons in your eyes than do, then Houston... we have a problem.
Your fortune is never going to be at the level you want it to be if you can't be brave or bold and ask for the sale.
Now, I am not suggesting you charge in there (back to the trusty steed analogy again) and demand people buy from you. Not a fan of that approach! But you do need to be bold enough to even suggest the conversation as a next step. You need to be brave enough IN that conversation to call it how you see it for the person you are speaking with. If you see that they aren't being bold or brave themselves, you need to say so. It takes a certain level of boldness (note: not arrogance) to confidently say "I can help you and here's how". But that way fortune lies.
And don't think this is all about getting you rich either. When you sell more of your Thing you are increasing the 'fortune' of everyone who buys from you. Bear that in mind when you waver next on being bold. It's catching... but you need to go first.
Want to talk more about this?
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