The most missing course for ordinary people to earn money: business awareness
Never been taught how to make money while in school, and most people don't take supplementary courses on money-making mindset after graduation, so this crucial lesson on how to earn money has been missed.
The mindset instilled since childhood has always been that studying hard is the only way to secure a good job.
After graduation, the focus is on finding a stable job, striving to pass civil service or public institution exams. If unsuccessful, one would rather endure a 9-to-5 job, clinging to the idea of job stability to avoid financial hardship. But as marriage, children, and rising expenses come along, it becomes clear that the most missing course for ordinary people is business awareness—regretting not knowing this earlier.
Even if you've heard of business cognition before, you wouldn't actively delve into the underlying thinking behind it, or ponder what kind of cognition it really is?
The essence of business: value exchange
To earn money, you must first provide something others need (products, services, emotions, time).
When ordinary people think of starting a business, they often first consider food-related ventures like cooked food stalls, vegetable stands, or milk tea shops. In reality, choosing low-profit businesses means opting for the hardest and most exhausting part of the business chain. You end up competing on products and prices, and no matter how hard you try, it's difficult to outperform so many competitors.
The way out for ordinary people lies in first settling down, freeing up time to experiment and accumulate experience, iterating cognition, and building traffic. It's in the arenas that can't be paved with capital that ordinary people find their chance to rise.
Every penny you earn is the equivalent of the value you create for others. The highest level of value exchange is when others feel they're getting more than they paid for, and actively want to transact with you again.
Traffic and monetization mindset: the complete journey from 'attracting attention' to 'spending money to buy'
Many people have heard the phrase, 'traffic is king, having traffic means earning money.' But many misunderstand it. It's not that having traffic automatically brings money; rather, traffic gives you more opportunities to earn money!
Traffic outweighs everything else—those who own traffic own the opportunity to build a business.
Traffic is attention and potential users; monetization is turning traffic into revenue. The key is to first establish a monetization model, then attract the right audience precisely, focusing on long-term value and closed-loop systems.
Traffic is not the same as users; monetization turns 'onlookers' into 'paying customers'.
Use public domain viral content to drive traffic to live streams, articles, or short videos; use private domain to build communities, cultivate loyal fans who share and spread content, creating a cycle of growing loyal followers and further expansion.
First define your direction for monetization, then combine 1-2 products or services—such as courses or consulting—within advertising monetization, knowledge pay, product sales, or private domain repeat purchases. Gradually build your own private domain community, nurture trust, and increase conversion rates with limited-time offers, exclusive services, or case studies. Continuously iterate your content and conversion paths.
Without monetization, traffic is just numbers; without traffic, monetization is just fantasy—precise traffic
Cost and profit mindset
Cost thinking is not simply cutting costs, but carefully managing resources and allocating them precisely—save where you should, invest where you must.
Profit thinking is not passively calculating profit as 'revenue minus cost,' but working backward from a profit target: cost = revenue - target profit, pursuing long-term value and structural optimization.
First secure profit, then optimize the cost structure.
I once knew an uncle in my village who raised two cows. The cost of buying the cows was 18,000 yuan. After two years of hard work, they didn't produce calves. When he sold them, he got 17,000 yuan. He said, 'It's okay, I didn't lose money,' because someone had supported him with 3,000 yuan when he bought them.
Over those two years, he had to go out to graze the cows once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening. He also had to gather grass and buy feed, and when the cows got sick, he had to take them to the vet and give them shots… It was truly heartbreaking to hear.
Simply cutting costs without considering the effort and resources invested leads to a mindset where earning 2,000 yuan over two years is acceptable… Who would do a losing business? How can you sustain motivation when you don't see profits in your efforts?
Profit is not a result of calculation, but the echo of value creation. Only through consistent profitability can you truly stand firm in the long run.
Risk and cycle mindset
Few people live a life completely free of turbulence. You constantly hear about someone losing their fortune, going bankrupt, failing in investments, being unable to repay loans, or giving in to temptation to make quick money and losing both money and reputation… The root cause is usually a lack of risk awareness.
Risk thinking isn't just about avoiding losses—it's also about securing resources. Allocate 90% of your resources to extremely safe ventures so you can handle black swan events.
Risk thinking helps you control greed and lets you exit at the right time—don't chase the last copper coin.
Cycle thinking means understanding that business follows a cycle of prosperity, decline, depression, and recovery. Adjust accordingly based on this pattern. When resources are abundant, prepare reserves, pay off debts, or accumulate cash. When the economy is bad, you won't collapse.
Understanding risk thinking allows you to be cautious in good times, prepare for trouble before it comes, and maintain long-term success.
Understanding cycle thinking means treating the cycle as a friend in good times, riding the wave to grow.
In bad times, treat the cycle as your faith—wait patiently for the flowers to bloom.