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So, if the absence of money or an overdose of ideology are not the reasons I have gone off consumption, what exactly is it?
The reason — friends, readers, fellow marketers — is alchemy, or alchemy 2.0, the art of making money by not spending money.
For centuries, alchemists across the world have toiled in vain to transform lead into gold. I tip my imaginary hat to the audacity of these pseudo-scientists, because what I’m trying to do is something similar, except that it is even more audacious. I’m not trying to convert lead into gold, I’m not even trying to convert nothing into gold, I’m trying to convert less than nothing into gold.
Think about it — it’s the most brilliant idea ever — I plan to make money by writing a book about not spending money. Of course, the trick is that, for this to work, you first need to have more money than you can sanely spend.
But alchemy 2.0 is only part of the reason why I have gone off consumption. I’m a marketer by profession, yes, but as my bio proclaims, I’m also a poet at heart.
Comments (9)
Hey this sounds interesting, needed some clarifications, not spending means, not investing also??
Personally i think it impossible to make money by not spending(investing):P
Manoj
@Manoj: The idea is to go off consumption, stop buying things, then write a book about it, and get a multi-million book deal for it. So, you make money, by not spending money.
I know it sounds insane, but that’s part of the reason why it will sell.
What happens to the money I don’t spend (whether I save it, invest it, or give it away) is an entirely different story.
Ah….i get it, i will have a copy as soon as its published!:-)
Are you familiar with No Impact Man?
He did the same thing last year and got a book/movie deal out of it.
http://www.noimpactman.com
Don’t hold your breath for the $. This “doing X for a year ” has been done to death. Eating organic, not shopping, dating every person in phone book etc is such a tired idea already . Some lady in NYC has published a similar book and I remember it did not make waves.
Would you specify what exactly are you going to give up as a part of your non-consumption drive? How about things like:
1. Cell phone (need to pay a monthly bill)
2. Internet connection (need to pay a monthly bill as well)
3. Wardrobe updation (new clothes for work?)
4. You have mentioned - no newspapers and television. Does that also mean you won’t read news on the web? What if some of your relatives /friends inadvertantly give you news?
5. Relinquish the services of a maid?
6. All other non-essential commodities? Have you gone on a shopping spree before this to stock yourself up? The shopping spree would sound ridiculous, but you could stock yourself with new clothes, some latest gadgets, etc.
OK, I am confused [:)] Do let us know what will stop being consumed and what will remain?
@Aruna: I’m sure “doing X for a year” has been done to death, but then, “man meets woman, falls in love” has also been done to death. No? As our dream merchants tell us, dear lady, the difference is in the treatment.
@Mayuresh: Finding out what is a necessity and what isn’t (for someone in my demographics and pin code) is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this experiment. Read on, my friend, and you shall see.
@Blue: Actually, I hadn’t heard of No Impact Man, but I’m sure there are others too. It’s the treatment that’s different.
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[…] So, if alchemy 2.0 is the first reason why I went off consumption, nirvana 2.0 is the second. The multi-million dollar book deal will happen, or not, but turning ennui into happiness is also akin to alchemy. […]
[…] ideology, but because I’m tired of buying things; and if my year-long experiment results in a multi-million dollar book deal, what a bonus that would […]
[…] came across No Impact Man via a comment by Blue after I started my own experiment, but reading about the success of Colin’s […]