Life Is Like A Big Snowball
Taking Action
Something that had always bothered me in my life was my short attention span. Then sometime ago, I was reading an article by Donald Trump and one of the points included for his success was something to this effect of “Having a short attention”. He illustrated that once he knew how something was done, people tend to go on too much with the details. He wants to know the basics and the appropriate course of action. Wow, my entire theory of the universe had flipped on itself in two ways. First, I had continuely wanted to be smarter and learn and absorb. (Notice no action.) Second, I had focused on my weakness – lack of attention span, and neglected many of my strengths. What can a person with a short attention span do? I began to ask myself. Detailed work was absolutely out, but leadership skills are a strength for me. Give me the big picture. Set goal one, two, three, four. Put a time line to them. Include our omnipotent Creator that allows us to achieve our goals. Now achieve the big picture by laying out the ground work. Step one – the easiest but most crucial step. What is the easiest method to goal one? Goal one did not completely fall into place all of a sudden. It took a little persistance. Goal one became temporarily stalled and fell into place a little later than expected. As I was looking for alternatives, goal three could be started before I entirely knew how to complete goal two. The point is you crawl, walk, jog, run. My success has essentially taken off like a small ice ball rolled down a hill of snow. You have to push to get it started, but once it does, the core stays in tact, the snow accumulates and the momentum continues to build. Once it gets to a certain size and speed, the revenues start building upon themselves. That, for me is the exciting part. As time goes on, the momentum builds and that is passive income. Eventually the ball will be large enough that it does not need you to push it. That is when your expenses never exceed your income. And why is the core a solid piece of ice? The ice is your goals and the steps taken to build the snowball in the first place.
Alvin the Vacuum Cleaner Salesman choosing success
Here is an excellent e-mail I received yesterday from my mentor Raymond Aaron about choosing how to be successful…
Alvin the vacuum cleaner salesman?
From: Raymond Aaron
Sent: February 8, 2010 3:34:12 PM
To: s_buydens@hotmail.com
I want to tell you about my friend Alvin who
used one of the best wealth secrets ever to
double his income in his field.
He worked selling vacuum cleaners door to
door, but you can apply this to whatever
field you’re in.
He wasn’t doing as well as the good
salespeople in his local office.
In fact, he was one of the worst vacuum
salesperson on his whole crew!
The only thing that separated him from all
the ones who came in and stayed for a week or
two was his tenacity, that and his ingenuity.
So he went and interviewed his boss about
what made the best and the worst sales
people. He asked what qualities the best
salespeople all had in common. He asked what
habits they all shared in common. Best of
all, he got it all on video.
Then he went and talked to the three best
sales people on his crew. He asked what
habits they had, what they did to get
themselves psyched up in the morning. He
asked how they handled common objections, and
asked how they knew when they’d make the
sale.
He got their permission to tape them–they
were all happy to oblige. Generally speaking,
successful people are happy to share the
secrets to their success.
It’s usually the under-successful that have a
scarcity mentality, with their work methods
and everything else.
(There is also the matter of pride here–who
doesn’t want to be acknowledged for how well
they do things, get listened to, and seen as
an expert or authority?)
Then, he went to the district manager and
found out the best salespeople in the
district. He interviewed them and got many of
the same answers.
But he didn’t stop there. He wanted to find
out what the worst sales people had in
common, too. Neither his local nor his
district manager wanted to be rude and name
the worst sales people by name. He was
disappointed but not daunted.
Alvin knew where to find some of the people
who didn’t last very long. Several of them
hung out at the same bar. So he went there
with camera in hand and told them he was
making a video covering the vacuum sales
experience. He said he was interviewing the
people who’d been around the longest and the
people who decided it just wasn’t for them.
A couple of rounds later, he had four
interviews from some of the worst salespeople
his local office had seen. (Some traits they
all shared, if you’re wondering, was a lack
of confidence in their abilities, negative
thinking, and the unwillingness to keep
trying–at least when it came to that
specific job.)
He went and talked to the few people he’d
made sales to. He asked them what their
favorite things about the vacuums were. There
were three common answers and he integrated
those into his sales pitch.
He also asked when it was they decided to
buy. He was a little surprised at the answer.
None of the answers involved a feature or
even a benefit of the vacuum. Every answer
started with something like, “You really had
me sold when you…”
Something clicked and Alvin learned what is
perhaps one of the most important parts of
salesmanship: nobody will ever buy from you
if they don’t like you. You can rarely if
ever sell someone on your product or service,
if you don’t sell them on you first.
Alvin then rolled up his sleeves and went to
the people that DIDN’T buy from him. Some
were pretty vague and non-committal (he
figured maybe he just hadn’t made a good
connection with those prospects.)
A handful of people, however, told him
something they didn’t like about the vacuum
or his sales pitch. He came up with answers
to objects about the vacuums and also
modified his sales pitch. He even sold a
vacuum to one of the people he’d missed
selling the first time!
Alvin more than doubled his sales income. And
then he doubled THAT income by selling the
videos and teaching seminars on how to double
your income! Most importantly, this is a
strategy that can work in any field–not just
vacuum sales.
In fact, you don’t have to be in sales to use
this strategy. Just learn your field from
every angle possible and apply the knowledge
and you can double your income just like my
friend Alvin.
Love,
Raymond
Alvin the vacuum cleaner salesman?
From: Raymond Aaron (raymond@mymentorhelp.com)
Sent: February 8, 2010 3:34:12 PM
To: s_buydens@hotmail.com
I want to tell you about my friend Alvin who
used one of the best wealth secrets ever to
double his income in his field.
He worked selling vacuum cleaners door to
door, but you can apply this to whatever
field you’re in.
He wasn’t doing as well as the good
salespeople in his local office.
In fact, he was one of the worst vacuum
salesperson on his whole crew!
The only thing that separated him from all
the ones who came in and stayed for a week or
two was his tenacity, that and his ingenuity.
So he went and interviewed his boss about
what made the best and the worst sales
people. He asked what qualities the best
salespeople all had in common. He asked what
habits they all shared in common. Best of
all, he got it all on video.
Then he went and talked to the three best
sales people on his crew. He asked what
habits they had, what they did to get
themselves psyched up in the morning. He
asked how they handled common objections, and
asked how they knew when they’d make the
sale.
He got their permission to tape them–they
were all happy to oblige. Generally speaking,
successful people are happy to share the
secrets to their success.
It’s usually the under-successful that have a
scarcity mentality, with their work methods
and everything else.
(There is also the matter of pride here–who
doesn’t want to be acknowledged for how well
they do things, get listened to, and seen as
an expert or authority?)
Then, he went to the district manager and
found out the best salespeople in the
district. He interviewed them and got many of
the same answers.
But he didn’t stop there. He wanted to find
out what the worst sales people had in
common, too. Neither his local nor his
district manager wanted to be rude and name
the worst sales people by name. He was
disappointed but not daunted.
Alvin knew where to find some of the people
who didn’t last very long. Several of them
hung out at the same bar. So he went there
with camera in hand and told them he was
making a video covering the vacuum sales
experience. He said he was interviewing the
people who’d been around the longest and the
people who decided it just wasn’t for them.
A couple of rounds later, he had four
interviews from some of the worst salespeople
his local office had seen. (Some traits they
all shared, if you’re wondering, was a lack
of confidence in their abilities, negative
thinking, and the unwillingness to keep
trying–at least when it came to that
specific job.)
He went and talked to the few people he’d
made sales to. He asked them what their
favorite things about the vacuums were. There
were three common answers and he integrated
those into his sales pitch.
He also asked when it was they decided to
buy. He was a little surprised at the answer.
None of the answers involved a feature or
even a benefit of the vacuum. Every answer
started with something like, “You really had
me sold when you…”
Something clicked and Alvin learned what is
perhaps one of the most important parts of
salesmanship: nobody will ever buy from you
if they don’t like you. You can rarely if
ever sell someone on your product or service,
if you don’t sell them on you first.
Alvin then rolled up his sleeves and went to
the people that DIDN’T buy from him. Some
were pretty vague and non-committal (he
figured maybe he just hadn’t made a good
connection with those prospects.)
A handful of people, however, told him
something they didn’t like about the vacuum
or his sales pitch. He came up with answers
to objects about the vacuums and also
modified his sales pitch. He even sold a
vacuum to one of the people he’d missed
selling the first time!
Alvin more than doubled his sales income. And
then he doubled THAT income by selling the
videos and teaching seminars on how to double
your income! Most importantly, this is a
strategy that can work in any field–not just
vacuum sales.
In fact, you don’t have to be in sales to use
this strategy. Just learn your field from
every angle possible and apply the knowledge
and you can double your income just like my
friend Alvin.
Love,
Raymond
Taking Control of Your Destiny
One of our most daunting tasks I believe is to remove our subjective selves and to be objective in a realistic way. Fortunately, wealth can transcend previous divisions of class, education, background. A good example is my own uncle who started as a farmer, then trucker, then owner of a milk truck company. Of course, this process was not as smooth as this, with many mistakes made along the way. But this was a man who was not scared to take chances than “smarter” or “better educated” people were not willing to make. I once was listening to a man who sounded like a tenth grade drop-out talk about triple-net leases for commercial property. Fairly fancy stuff in my opinion, from a guy who did not mince words. That is what I love about the new world. We are a people of new opportunities, with so many possibilities, which I am careful not to squander. If I pass up my next opportunity, there is only my face in the mirror. In my life, I have finally chosen to live without fear. A man who I have an immense respect for (even if ideologically we do not quite match) is Ronald Reagan. He was the son of a drunk, was beaten, became a well known actor, became the president of the Screen Actors Guild, and if that was not enough, became a politician. The rest is history as the cliche goes, but how many people off the top of your head seemed far more likely to succeed and yet are not achieving a fraction of his success? The answer is goal setting and achieving those goals. If you are too lazy to accept the challenges of the universe, someone else will. So many books I have read on investment spend pages getting people over their neurosis of fear to even attempt success. Believe me, I choose success and relish the opportunity of having it even if I will make mistakes getting there.
Becoming a Smarter Consumer
Department Store Credit
I recently saw an article in which the writer had bought something like $2500 of goods at Circuit City for 2 years interest-free and decided to put her money instead into a CD. Sounds like a pretty smart deal right? At the end you’ll have several hundred dollars interest and your goods! Buyer beware is all I can say. As my millionaire friend used to say, there is no free lunch. The consumer on these deals better be pretty knowledgeable about all “the fine print”. And, before a person goes shopping shouldn’t I ask myself, “Do I need all this stuff?” and “Can I get a better deal somewhere else?” I personally have bought things from people that were nearly new and was an excellent deal at someone else’s expense. Also, a whole lot of what is current today will be obsolete in two years. Will you want to keep these things for two years if you are the type of person who wants to buy a new wide-screen television every six months? The point I am making is, know yourself and your spending habits. Differentiate between what Robert Kiyosaki would call good debt and bad debt. Will this purchase potentially make you poorer, as is probably the case for most people? Or if you read the fine print and really realize that you can buy your office equipment now, why not wait with the cost until your company or home office is running in the black? Far too often people, in my opinion, buy what they want and not what they need, and this is where we all could become smarter and less wasteful consumers. Less wasteful consumers are also inevitably more environmentally conscious consumers, so it isn’t just your pocketbook that is helped.
Social Insecurity
I believe in the benefits of the welfare state as much as the next person, but I can not get over how the pension system works. My understanding is in the beginning, pensions were designed to help workers have something to live on when they retired. This system worked relatively well in a growing industrial society that had a stable workforce that worked from just after high school graduation until age 65. Years later I question the logic of this system. First, who are these people running the pension system? Before I became independently wealthy, I was offered a job to handle mutual funds. In my opinion now, I was no more qualified than I am today to go to the moon. Wealth should be controlled by those who are – wealthy? Second, the industrial age in our country is starting to wane as we all know and contract work is practically a norm in certain industries. How about a voluntary pension system, or a pension system in which you can be more active to make choices, such as buy low and sell high? Personally, I would choose real estate over just about anything else if I would have a choice. Third, I knew if I did not get wealthy, that there was no option than to work past age 65 for me. Plain and simple.
After graduating with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and Fine Arts, I found an all too obvious truth. No one wanted me in this country. Good thing for Asia. I travelled. I worked. I gained experience in countries with growing economies. Their taxes were ridiculously low and I came home with a fair share of money and no bills. With experience, I could get more experience. With some money, I could make more money. But I could never save anything like I did before. Simply said, my cost of living is far higher here. To compensate, I need to earn more on my returns and cut my expenses. Social Security fails to deliver the value that investors get. One of the largest crimes is how pensions are taxed. As an investor, there are a myriad of ways to reduce my taxes. As a worker, I am just another cog in the tax machine. Readers of my articles know I am a believer of avid investing. Now you know why.
Buying What You Need
Sometimes it can be a challenge to decipher need from want. Not long ago I was contemplating buying a second home in Washington State. The home was huge, over 4000 square feet, it was a foreclosure, so it was a good buy, and it was away from traffic – a perfect second home, or so it seemed. Then I got thinking, why do I need a home this big? When I grew up, I lived in a 2500 square foot home with my brother and parents. There was plenty of room; we lived in a good neighborhood. Overall, it was a decent place to live. Then my rational brain kicked in. What are all the ways you can use this home? Ah huh. It could be rented out, it could be rented with the purpose to sell it (rent-to-own), it could be sold outright, it could be lived in permanently. A second home is only useful if it can earn income while you are not living there. This became the challenge. This place was outside a smaller town, and its iniial charm became a major liability. The liquidity of the market was low. (It could not be bought and sold or even rented, easily.) Therefore, my conclusion was, no deal. A situation like this has to be so great, that you simply can not refuse it.
Another example can be found in why I did not buy a particular kind of car my friend did, and I had done far more research. Until recently, I have never bough a car with an automatic transmission. This makes some sense when it comes to four wheeled vehicles, two door cars or trucks had been all I have ever owned. The advantage traditionally has been that manual transmissions give better performance, better fuel economy, better reliability (in relation to costs). This triangle is hard to beat. So now I am forced to buy something with an automatic and a four door. Which part of the triangle did I not give up? Reliability, fuel economy and these days I am driving a mid-sized car in a six cylinder engine with the horsepower of a V-8 from years past.
Why Haven’t Home Owners Been Told These Facts?
Why Haven’t Home Owners Been Told These Facts?
Did you purchase a home between 2001 and 2007? Then here is the full, uncensored story of how you can avoid ever buying at the wrong time in the economy – avoid losing your most expensive possession to foreclosure, and make the retirement income you’ve dreamed about!
How many times have you lost sleep over this? . . . How many times have you had to put up with “just scraping by” or worse? . . .
The Vast Major of These Foreclosures Are Unnecessary!
All these bills may have seems tragic to you at the moment they happened – but here is the real tragedy! Do you know that the same exact home that you now have . . . can be bought for a fraction of the cost now – without default!
These homes have been liquidated to “save banks” . . . These banks need to shed their bad loans and take in paying customers with new mortgages . . . And, in almost everyone of these cases, these homes have produced superb income for other renters or future homeowners, without significant risk to you, and give you retirement income for the remainder of your life! Here are some of the reasons why:
What Financial Experts Have Learned About The Economy
If you understood the economy, when prices were right . . . and use the signs for your benefit to make money and help others . . .
And most important, these experts have discovered that you do not have to be a economist or a financial guru in order to coax this performance . . . Here’s why:
5 Minutes a Week for Perfect Understanding
These financial experts have discovered that the economy is a great deal like your body in this respect – that it gives warning signals before it has a major breakdown . . .
Now, if you had the knowledge to make a few minor adjustments, on how you look at the economy, then you could understand those headlines . . .
If you do not have this knowledge . . .then your financial skills will weaken, you will have constantly bad information . . .
It’s as simple as that. You pay a mortgage broker – not for his work – but for his knowledge. If you had that knowledge yourself – then you would not have to rely on him at all . . .
Now suppose that you had a financial expert at your elbow 24 hours a day. Suppose that every time the economy began to move . . . this expert would show you exactly what is going on . . .
Suppose that every time you were annoyed by ghosts . . . this expert would show you a simple non-technical trick . . .
Yes, and suppose that even when the economy says, “doom and gloom”, this expert could show you . . .
All the Information You Need About The Foreclosure Industry
This is exactly what a new book, BUILDING BEYOND FORECLOSURE does for you . . .
