My favorite asset is my favorite for a reason: it’s my most profitable, skill-developing, and perpetual asset.
You probably won’t hear about this from retirement planners or fiduciaries.
Most people think of investing as stocks and bonds or real estate.
Yet over the last decade, some of my most successful clients and closest friends have this asset class. It is the key catalyst to creating wealth, developing Relationship Capital, growing reach and reputation, and more.
Because of this asset, I’ve done hundreds of podcasts and stages. I’ve made legacy more accessible to the masses.
This asset works when I am sleeping.
It works when I don’t want to.
It allows me to put my best foot forward even when sick or on vacation.
It allows me to be with people for hours without taking a moment of my time…eventually.
This asset has led me to meet 23 billionaires. To speak on stage and truly connect, teach, and learn from 20 of those billionaires. It has allowed me to help people who couldn’t rub two nickels together. It has led to my best compliments and lifelong relationships.
There’s no property tax on this asset, but I consider it a form of real estate.
It allows you to live anywhere and even make money while you sleep.
And the best aspect of it is that you grow by creating and sharing this asset with others.
It is one of the most important legacy tools you could gift to your family.
Not only is it a catalyst for impacting others, but it is also a multiplier for your own learning.
For me, developing this asset started in 2003.
But unfortunately, it took years for me to understand and develop.
At first, I didn’t understand the power of this asset, and due to my immature, selfish view, I procrastinated.
I wanted to write a book. But mainly because I thought it would be bragging rights, it would be “cool” to say I was an author. This perspective limited my motivation, and I only created 72 mediocre pages of a book titled The Strongest String.
Was it a book about tampons? Sorry.
I was afraid.
Could I write?
Would it be good enough?
How do I get published?
How do I sell this book?
Would it matter?
Was I valuable enough?
Who was I to write a book?
Could I create intellectual property and share my insights and stories?
Those were just a few thoughts of scarcity holding me back.
It wasn’t until a retreat with our 42 employees where we chose to work on this as a firm.
We hated hearing people say, “I wish I would have known this sooner,” or got tired of answering the same questions over and over. We also saw that no matter how much money people had, if they couldn’t conquer the scarcity mindset, it didn’t matter—they never felt rich. And they would quickly get bamboozled by the next distraction disguised as an opportunity. The next cycle of greed could easily hijack their plan and results, leading to risk and lost time and money.
The mainstream media didn’t help. They espoused risk, waiting, and “trusting” the experts (Wall Street) with their future and legacy.
My business partner Les McGuire and I carved out two weeks to start writing in late June that year. Our team was compiling data and case studies and figuring out the book’s publishing process.
Now we were getting somewhere.
It wasn’t just about being recognized. We were on a mission to liberate one million people by giving them the formula for financial independence and illuminating the pitfalls and myths that would sabotage or mislead them.
The evening of June 8, 2006, everything changed. Les took our company plane with Ray Hooper, our other partner, to St. George, Utah, to host a seminar. On the flight home, a wind burst shot the airplane 1,000 feet in the air and then directly down into Utah Lake.
I was devastated.
Shocked and in disbelief.
They were both only 35 years old.
So much life ahead of them.
My friends, my partners.
For four months, I didn’t think about the book.
It was pushed aside.
Grieving.
Trying to keep it together.
Wanting to help my employees and partner’s families.
It wasn’t until my first day off since the crash, on our drive for two hours to visit my family for Thanksgiving, that my wife called me out. She told me I was an amazing businessman but an ordinary husband and father.
Ordinary.
Ouch.
I thought working hard would honor the legacy of my partners, but it was destroying mine.
Thanks to my wife’s courage and honesty, everything changed and changed quickly. I told my team I’d be working from home in December. I took time to play with my son. To start working out again, and actually sleep and recharge.
Then my whole mindset and energy changed.
Les and Ray wouldn’t want me to work to the point where I had put on 25 pounds and was missing my son’s first year. That is when it hit me. It wasn’t about work, work, work—it was about impact. The best way to honor their legacy and live mine was to live a life I loved. To live my best life. And as I chose the path of living my richest life, I had the time, and energy, to write the book.
When my wife and son would nap, I’d write and talk to my co-author, Stephen Palmer. He had been through every course and event we held to that point. He loved reading, was well-informed, intelligent, and hard-working, and brought me confidence due to his writing ability.
In April of 2007, I hosted a full-day seminar in my office at the amphitheater. I heard the side door open, and Tricia was holding the book. I stopped, grabbed it and held it in my hands for the first time, and I read the introduction to the audience. It was an emotional, memorable moment. It reminded me of Jordan holding up and kissing the NBA finals trophy—well, my version at least.
It. Felt. Amazing.
I declared that this self-published book would be a New York Times bestseller. One of the attendees asked me if I was committed and if I was serious about making it to the New York Times, and I said, “YES!”
He introduced me to Michael Drew, a book promoter who had done this dozens of times for people. It was a big vision, considering I had less than 6,000 people in my database, but I hired him.
He helped me navigate the complicated book world and found me a publisher before I sold the first 1,000 of the 5,000 self-published printed books.
We rewrote the entire book using his four persona (four types of readers methodology) to create word-of-mouth and longevity. It worked, considering Killing Sacred Cows 2.0 just hit number one for life insurance and is in the top 20 of wealth management and retirement planning on Amazon as I write this.
Stephen had the idea of creating a challenge. I’d take on 100 people and guarantee I’d double the rate of return on their investment as compared to their 401(k) or pay them back—double.
The 401(k) Hoax challenge was born. 100 people at $7500, bringing in $750,000—$250,000 more than I spent all-in for the book for advertising, the PR firm, and fronting all the costs for a higher back-end split. I was betting on myself.
Thanks to Micheal’s guidance, I pre-sold 22,000 books during the re-write over the next nine months. It was hard, worthwhile work.
Daily calls.
Building marketing funnel and websites.
Offering bonuses like doing speeches and educational series they could use before the book was released.
The week it came out I was traveling and doing a book tour. First stop, Chicago. I wanted to see the book on the Barnes and Noble shelf, but it sold out the first day. Wow.
Again, this wasn’t easy, but was worth it. The investment of time and money pays…if you follow the process and have a great team.
If you put your best foot forward.
If you collaborate with the right editors, designers, and distributors.
If you have a marketing plan and work it.
There were bumps in the road. Initially, my PR firm was only getting me small radio spots. So I flew to New York City to give a speech to the team. Before I even started, Rick, the owner, walked into the conference room, threw the book on the table, and said, “I’d be worth millions more had I read this years ago.”
I was booked on Fox News with Neil Cavuto before I landed back in Salt Lake. That meeting, and the concepts in the book, led me to CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and thirteen episodes of ABC Good Money.
Even the self-published version paid off. One of my clients gave it to someone, they shared it with Joe Polish, and so did Dan Sullivan. This led to a phone call with Joe that forever changed my life.
He introduced me to Alex who interviewed me and moved 1,000 books. Joe called Dan Strutzel (Nightingale Conant) and he contracted me to record New Rules to Get Rich. He also introduced me to one of my best friends, Patrick Gentempo, who referred me to thousands of clients and introduced me to the health practitioners who solved my son’s health challenges and eventually mine. Game-changer.
A book is a writer’s version of vinyl. On a shelf, in the mind, and in the lives of those who read and enjoy it. Just like Spotify, videos get in the shuffle of millions of videos on YouTube, but a book is physical and lives in the home. Helpful, but different.
Plus, name a movement without a book.
A book is the instruction manual, the guide, the protocols, and the principles.
All religions have a book.
All movements have this in common.
Initially, I didn’t have the skills, but I developed them. With the help of great thinkers:
- Joshua Sprague and his book Create First, Consume Second.
- AJ Harper and her classic Write a Must Read.
- I attended Tucker Max’s book writing intensive multiple times.
- Tim Ferris gifted me a copy of William Zinsser’s On Writing Well when he stayed at my house.
- Joe Polish’s Genius Network event featured a Neil Strauss speech on writing books.
- Ray Bard, Roy H. Williams, and Michael Drew taught me the four key components to creating a referrable book.
Thanks to Joshua Sprague’s process, I recently wrote my two most popular books in less than six months.
Other people showed me how to market my books. Andrew James, Jake Larsen, Mat Silverstein, and more.
We created courses to accompany the book by creating self-liquidating offers (put a dollar into an ad and make a dollar back).
Now I even license What Would the Rockefeller’s Do? to financial advisors. Impact. Leverage. It built my authority so I could build my business. I could empower my team, and no one expected me to be the one to coach them.
Being an author allowed me to team up with Julia Cook, who has sold 4,000,000 children’s books, and write a kid’s book on money.
As you have gathered, my favorite asset is Intellectual Property. There are many forms of Intellectual Property, but a book is arguably the most impactful.
A well-written book is the best business-building tool I know of.
Aside from all the benefits I’ve listed above, it also eliminates redundancy by answering the most basic questions that are essential but uninspiring and diminish your passion over time. It makes you more efficient with your time and gives you exponential leverage and impact.
Nothing will have more impact on your business than a well-written and strategically-marketed book.
Plus, entrepreneurs are often artists in business clothing. And a book allows you to share your art.
If you are interested in developing your own Intellectual Property and writing your own book, then pay attention.
Joshua Sprague is the creator of the 30-Day Book Writing Challenge and has helped 12,500+ people write a book in 30 days. He and I are hosting a two-day event for 30 people to reveal:
- How to write your book as efficiently and effectively as possible.
- The 20-minute outline process that has worked for EVERY SINGLE aspiring author.
- How to overcome resistance and insecurity to get your book done in a year.
- How to market your book.
- How to create word-of-mouth and longevity with your book.
- How to presell and build momentum and success during the writing process.
- How to determine if you want to publish, self-publish, or co-publish your book.
- The 4-part acceleration formula to ensure your book is a success (and the very best it can be).
- How to build a business model where you leverage a book to double your profits.
- How to leverage your book to get stages and podcasts.
- How to design your cover to make it stand out.
- How to create the best audiobook and get it on the top 32 platforms with the click of a button.
- How to design your speech and leverage your book.
- How to improve your industry by illustrating what you have done and increase your reach and impact from Business to Consumer to Business to Business.
- My wins and lessons. You can leverage my mistakes so you don’t have to make the same ones. (For example, I invested $500,000 in one of my books and got the same result on my tenth book for a tenth of that cost.)
BONUSES:
- Lists of printers, distributors, editors, and resources to make your ideas a reality.
- Successful funnels, free book offers, and marketing tools to move your book and build your business.
- A 10-part Intellectual Property series interviewing other top authors to access their success and secrets (business model, launch, marketing).
I have written ten books, including multiple Wall Street Journal bestsellers, a New York Times bestseller, and multiple #1 USA Today bestsellers. I currently have four books in Amazon’s top 100 (#1 in more than one category).
My most recent book, Money Unmasked, is currently #1 on Amazon in the Wealth Management category, and #4 on Success Magazine’s Top 10 Bestselling Personal Finance Books list:
And this is the power of a book. I spent four hours signing 500 books for a line of people almost a mile long. This is something a digital download can’t do.
I want to share what I know with the right people so they can grow themselves and their businesses.
I’d love to help you. I’d love to show you what is possible. If this resonates with you, respond to this article and let’s have a conversation.
In prosperity,
Garrett
Ready to Stop Guessing With Your Money?
Most financial advice tells you to save more and spend less. That’s a losing game. Garrett’s free book Killing Sacred Cows reveals why the conventional wisdom is costing you—and what to do instead.
Do it yourself? Try the free Wealth Trifecta tool on X1 Wealth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best asset class most people ignore?
Publishing — books, podcasts, content. It’s my most profitable, skill-developing, and perpetual asset because it creates reach, reputation, Relationship Capital, and legacy at scale.
Why don’t retirement planners talk about publishing as an asset?
Because they’re focused on stocks, bonds, and real estate. Publishing creates wealth through value, reach, and reputation — things that can’t be captured on a traditional balance sheet.
How does publishing create wealth?
It develops skills, grows your reach and reputation, attracts opportunities, and builds Relationship Capital. It’s the catalyst to creating wealth, not just managing it.
What makes publishing a perpetual asset?
Because content compounds over time. A book, podcast, or article continues to work for you long after it’s created, reaching new audiences and creating opportunities without ongoing effort.
