I think the first time I heard about assets was from Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad. It was mind-blowing and it changed my life.

Like you, most of us were just taught to work hard, and that’s it.

But I knew there had to be more to it. Nobody around me was talking about real assets. The most I ever heard was “buy a home,” but based on my research, a home is more of a liability at first than an asset , unless it’s part of a business or helps offset taxes.

So let’s talk about what an asset actually is.

Let’s break it down:

An asset is anything you create once that can continue to generate income, even if it still requires effort to manage, market, or maintain.

It’s not about never working again, it’s about not having to start over every time.

➤ My first asset was Z180 Radio, something I created in 2009.

I built a platform that could bring in money month after month. It became an engine. I saw my salary double in just over a year, and that’s when I knew I had something.

I believed in it before I saw the proof, but eventually the proof showed up monetarily.

➤ Another powerful asset is an email list or text message list.

You already know my story: Facebook shut down my ad account,  something that should’ve been resolved easily, but it wasn’t.

But because I had over 10,000 people on my email list and 10,000 on my text message list, I was able to keep going.

Why? Because I had already built know, like, and trust with my audience.

I didn’t have to look far to introduce them to a new offer. That asset served me well in 2020, and I still own those lists today.

➤ Another asset I own, several, actually,  is trademarks.

And I plan to get at least five more.

If I own it and put my name on it, I’m trying to trademark it.

Trademarks aren’t just protection, they’re leverage. They’re legacy.

You can license them, partner with other brands, and expand your business model without compromising your ownership.

This is intellectual property, and it’s one of the smartest moves an entrepreneur can make.

➤ Courses are another form of intellectual property, and they’re powerful assets.

You can take your knowledge and skillset, package it, and serve people at scale.

If you’ve spent the time and effort to learn something that helps others, you’ve got something that can continue to print money, without trading hours for it every time.

➤ Books are one of my favorite assets.

I wrote God Bless The Entrepreneur: The First Decade at one of the hardest points in my life.

Just a year earlier, doctors had declared me legally blind.

I had the idea for the book, but I didn’t know what I was doing. Still, I knew I needed to document that first decade of entrepreneurship.

So I voice recorded everything, and God gave me the grace to finish it.

I partnered with a dope editor, and now that book is an asset — and we even built our own publishing company, Murphy Madison Publishing, so we never have to wait on anyone else.

We can publish on demand, when we want, how we want.

Let me be honest though, I don’t want you to miss this:

Creating assets still takes intentionality and effort.

You might be broke when you first start building them.

But if you keep planting seeds, if you keep showing up, those assets can put you in position to never be broke again.

Why? Because you created it once,  and it can continue to serve you over and over again.

That’s the goal.

Ask yourself:

How do I work hard at something once, and let it continue to pay me long after?

That’s the power of assets.

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️