Home|Business Rental Problems

If you are renting a place to live and planning some major home renovation to improve the house, think twice before putting your hard earned money into it. Some people who rent sink some major cash or even go as far as acquiring a personal loan, multipurpose loan or even a business loan to finance the renovation project should be aware of some unscrupulous practices some landlord will do to take advantage of you. This also applies to people who rent their business establishment. Don't undertake expensive major renovation without first securing a written and notarized contract from your landlord prohibiting sudden rent increase, extending your rent contract for a couple of more years and prohibiting the landlord to sell the place you are renting during the contract period. I have two cases to share with you what are the consequence of undertaking major renovations without first securing a new contract.I have a businessman friend who rented a run down warehouse near the highway in Buendia, Makati City. He is into selling second hand vehicles, so he decided to open a showroom and secured a 3 month trail contract with the landlord. he obtained a loan from the bank and spent more than 500k renovating the warehouse into a nice showroom. The landlord noticed this and took advantage. During the second month of the rental, he decided to increase the price of the rent 3 folds upon the expiry of the original contract. The businessman was of course shocked about this but was unable to do anything because anything done to the place is to the sole benefit of the landlord and he is in no way obligated to pay the for the improvements. If we observe this situation carefully, the landlord knew he could rent his place at a higher amount to someone else due to the improvements. So he deliberately tripled the rent to get rid of the businessman so he is free to rent it to someone else. If the businessman bites to the three folds increase of rent, the unscrupulous landlord will be doubly happy. Either way its a win-win situation for him.
My businessman friend naturally refuses the new arrangement and has consulted a lawyer about his situation to see if there is some remedy to be done. Now he's depressed due to having taken out a loan from the bank and now he has to pay for legal consultation fees aside from the expenses of running his business and feeding his family. Renovations are necessary when moving into a new place but anything that requires some major cash investment should be thought of carefully by first securing a written guarantee so you will benefit from whatever improvements you spent in the property.

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5 Surefire Ways To Increase Your Sale

Every small businessman can have now the chance to become successful and popular on the market no matter what they sell. The key is a good marketing strategy, whether we are talking about the offline businesses or the online ones. By using the Internet to promote your business you can reach your goals in a short time and with a low investment. The only thing you must do in order to avoid any failures is to learn from your experiences or better, from others. If you will choose from the start the best methods to advertise your online business, the rate of success will be higher and you will be the witness of a fast and profitable ascension.The hardest step in the online businesses as a beginner is to achieve your first sale. Every time you sell an item make sure you add the customers name and email address to the opt-in-list. Than, you can send them free email courses through auto responders and monthly newsletters, making sure they will be informed about your new product releases and the advantages of purchasing them. A review of the product can inform the customers about the qualities of the product and consequently, attract new customers. It is a low cost method that can gradually increase your sales, no matter the product you are selling.
If you decide to use an affiliate program in the campaign of increasing your sales you should pay attention and choose an affiliate program that has a good reputation and that can assure you a higher profit. Providing them with the best materials and tools for advertising your website will seal the success of your business and increase your sales high sky. You can offer the possibility of joining the affiliate program to the people who buy your products and a happy customer that has already tried your product and has seen its qualities is the best person to promote it further. All customers love discounts, therefore a great way to promote your business and obtain a nice profit is to offer discount coupons. Getting the product to a lower price draws the customers and after they will enjoy the benefits of using it, they will more likely return and buy it at a whole price. You can also give them the chance to obtain an upgrade for a better or bigger product for a convenient price, such as having two products with a 10% off price than if you buy them separately.Even if it seems strange, you can promote your products in combination with other related ones. As long as you and the partner company gain, the possibilities are unlimited. A sample of your product given as a promotional item at the purchase of another related product is a good way to advertise your business, even if it isn’t as profitable as the other methods. We are sure that some of the above mentioned advertising methods can get you higher sales if you decide to apply them as a part of your marketing strategy, now it depends on you to choose the one that is the most adequate for your online business.

By: Steven Wong

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Five Factors to Consider Before Investing in Residential Real Estate

During the past decade, many people have jumped into residential real estate investing. This was never so true as during the recent real estate boom. People read all the “get rich quick” schemes that litter the book shelves of libraries and book stores — use other people’s money, use no money of your own, and make millions! A lot of people did make great sums of money during the most recent boom; but now those, who did not get out before the market cooled, are seeing those investments in foreclosure due to their inability to make the mortgage payments.Just because the real estate market isn’t over the top, as in the past few years, does not mean you no longer can make money in residential real estate. The difference between now (post-boom) and during the market boom is that the “get rich quick” schemes will not work.Do You Have What It Takes?Investing in real estate is not for the faint hearted, the non-risk takers. It is for investors who are in it for the long haul, who can easily sit on their investment (if need be) until the market shifts in their favor. It also is for those who truly enjoy this type of investment. They are the ones who are the most successful in real estate investing.
You must be willing to invest time — upfront and before each potential investment. If you do not take the time to research the properties and your target market, you probably will not be very successful. You also must gather knowledge on how to make a real estate deal that works in your favor. That requires educating yourself to understand the jargon and game rules. Today, it takes a careful, methodical approach to residential real estate investing, especially when acquiring your first property.Besides needing time and money, being a risk taker, and being willing to commit to a long-term investment, if needed, there are five additional factors you must consider each time before you make an investment in residential real estate.Supply and Demand — Where Is the Current Market?The economics of supply and demand is what makes the long-term investors successful in residential real estate. They are willing to weather the ups and downs of the real estate market, waiting for an advantageous market to sell their property.Supply and demand is influenced by many economic factors, which in turn affects the residential real estate market. Well-located residential real estate will endure fluctuations in the market and continue to appreciate in value. Knowing your market means knowing when to buy or not to buy, which deals will work when, and when to sit on an investment or sell it.Your CreativityAnother factor to consider is your own creativity in managing your investments. Residential real estate is one type of investment that allows for a lot of creativity:• You may invest for the long term, renting the property to continue making a profit while waiting to sell at a more advantageous time. You can purchase a home to fix up and resell immediately for a profit.• There are many financing options available for residential real estate, allowing for even more creativity. You also can invest on your own, with a group of partners, with a corporation, or even with a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT — a mutual fund with real property assets or mortgage securities).• There is an abundant variety of residential real estate types in which to invest — single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and duplexes.The more creative you are in creating and managing your real estate investments, the more profitable and successful you will be.Other People’s MoneyA third factor is knowing how you can use other people’s money to your advantage without landing in foreclosure, as so many people now are who subscribed to the “get rich quick” schemes during the boom.You can begin with only a few thousand dollars, using other people’s money to underwrite the remaining mortgage. You must know all the different ways available to finance your investment. This goes back to taking the time to educate yourself, before you begin investing, and creatively making the best use of financing.Other People’s TimeWhether you are fixing up real estate to sell or renting it, it will take time, effort and management. If you already have a full-time job and a family, you probably cannot do it all yourself, and I doubt you wish to be woke up at 2 a.m. by a renter with a plugged toilet.Using contractors to fix up the property or experienced property managers to handle your rental real estate makes for less profit in your pocket on your individual investment properties. However, it frees up your time to invest in more properties, making your overall profits much higher.Your Tax AdvantageResidential real estate investing is quite unique. It offers you tax write-offs not available in other types of investments. There are many deductions available to you — deducting the mortgage interest or refinancing without being taxed are just two examples. There are many benefits to real estate investing that reduce your tax liability and increase your profits.If you believe residential real estate investing is for you, begin by learning more about it. There are thousands of books and resources on the topic. Stay away from anything that sounds too good to be true. It probably is, especially in today’s real estate market.Click here for more information on San Diego Real Estate.
This article is free for republishingSource: http://www.articlealley.com

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Discover Your True Self

Discovering your true self is a crucial stage in your personal development

Just think of this: how well do you know your true self? And what is it exactly that you know? How many personal facts or character features do you know? What do you think of your true self? Is this the ultimate pride you’re feeling, or maybe shame or even fear? Your self-growth and the success of personal development efforts are entirely dependant on how well you know yourself and how you feel about your personality.

I hope you will forgive me for starting my entry with questions yet again. It seems to me that I quite enjoy starting some of my personal development articles this way. Probably, because no matter how much further I progress in my self-growth, I always get to some next level of self-understanding only to ask the next round of questions. It seems impossible for me to reach a point where I’m going to run out of all the questions and just sit there not knowing what should be done next, feeling that the quest for personal growth is over. I’m always full of questions. I’m always keen on learning something new. And sometimes it’s not clear at all whether it’s my questioning that makes me learn more or it’s my learning which makes me question everything.
My true what?

Yes, you’ve read it correctly. Your true self! And if you think you don’t know what I’m talking about, think again. Your true self is how you feel yourself when nobody’s watching. It is where your deepest thoughts live. It is what you ultimately think of yourself, how you treat yourself and what you fear others might see inside you. It is your most native and real personality.

Strangely enough, up until some quite recent point, I honestly believed that your true self is something you’re always aiming for as a person. It is the much better you which lives in your dreams – a successful guy or a beautiful girl which you always wish you could become one day. I thought becoming your true self is only about improving or gaining something about yourself. Turns out, I was wrong.


Your worst fears

Have you ever done something you wish no one could ever find out about? Chances are, you have. Do you still remember what exactly it was, and why you didn’t (and maybe still don’t) want anyone to find out about it?

Quite often, we do something and then try and justify our behaviour using things, events and people we see around us. A little bit less common but still very popular is to go through this process the other way around – justifying our actions, and then actually making them.

We do something only to realise how stupid it was, and this is when you can easily hear the inner voice of yours. That’s your true self talking there right now. This is the voice which, depending on your character, will either encourage you to take even more actions or discourage yourself as much as possible. This is the inner voice which easily controls a great part of your self-esteem. And like it or not, your true self is absolutely right in most cases.

So what happens then? We hear ourselves thinking about some events and we hear quite reasonable explanations inside our heads on the subject. We get to hear all the truth on the topic, and nothing but the truth. And if we’ve just made a mistake, most likely this is the moment when we feel ashamed. We look at what we’ve just done again and again and we simply can’t comprehend how something so stupid could be so easily done.

What’s the next usual step you take? Honestly now? Most of us will try and cover the tracks. We’ll pretend we didn’t notice something, or we’ll make it look like we don’t feel so good and we can’t possibly be held responsible for whatever just happened. Sometimes we won’t even bother with inventing or showing anything, we’ll just try running and hiding away. And we succeed at this, too! So quite often after doing something, it is really only ourselves who know what really happened and have the power to explain or fix the things done. But we very rarely do.

Why? Because that’s the human nature. We always have this fear. The fear of showing our real self, the fear of being exposed, the fear of being rejected for what we really are. This is because on top of our true selves, we’ve always got some layers of our personality – and as we go through our lives, these layers just keep adding up unless we do something about them.


Layers of personality and your personal growth

I personally don’t think it’s very important to know how many layers your personality has. As long as you’re conscious about having SOME layers, you’re fine. This means there is still hope that you can try and lift these layers, slowly and carefully peel them off and see (and maybe even show, if you're adventurous enough) your true self.

You see, your true self is always right about everything. But our personality layers make us hide this truth, disguise it and then explain why we did it in such a way that we can live with it.

For instance, if you’re at work and you’ve got some task on your to-do list which you hate even thinking about, you’ll definitely try reasoning with yourself and explaining why it is very important that today you’re busy doing something quite different. Anything, in fact, except this one task you hate thinking about. It takes some training to finally find the courage to accept and explain things the way they really are. To absolutely agree with your true self and to accept what your course of actions should be.

We all have layers of personality for various reasons. Not all the layers serve the only purpose of making you look better in someone else's eyes. Sometimes you need these layers to feel (to appear) less vulnerable to others. Quite often people add negative layers simply to hide how really weak or fragile they are. But it's important to stay conscious about having few sides to your personality, and even more important to learn how to skip some of these layers and avoid their demonstration. You will make a great progress in your self-growth as soon as you master dealing with your personality layers. You don't want to be hiding them. Instead, you should probably make it one of your personal development goals to ensure you take a closer look at every side of this personality of yours, and to analyze how much of a benefit it is to maintain or cultivate it, and to decide what parts of your personality are better for you to show and to hide.


Rediscover yourself

You can still probably remember the times where you could speak or act freely, without any fears regarding the impact your behaviour may have. Do you remember how good you felt back then? And can you spot what exactly have changed since then?

While I'm sure you have your reasons for changing over the past years, not all the changes you've gone through were really that necessary. And luckily for you, there is still time to revert some of these changes. And here are just a few steps which will help you rediscover yourself:
Listen to your heartYou still get these moments in your life where you face some difficult situation and you even when you see the next logical step to the resolution, there is some resistance which makes you stop and think more before taking the action. I'm talking about the moments where your true self suggests you should do something, yet you know you can't do just that due to some reasons imposed by the environment or the situation you're in. A good example of this is any difficult argument with your better half or a true friend, especially when somewhere deep inside you know and you feel you're not right.
How many times did you have to force yourself into such an argument and you couldn't let yourself get out of this simply because you were thinking that if you give in, this would show you're a weak person? There are many other reasons of the same kind, and if you actually take some time and go through them after the argument, many of them would make no sense whatsoever. They seemed to be important to you at the time of an argument, but they're suddenly not anymore. This is exactly the situation I'm talking about.
When your heart tells you to stop arguing because what your opponent feels is much more important to you that what this person thinks, trust your feelings and stop. You'll be amazed how many times such an act of yours will be greatly appreciated by the person you were arguing with.
Focus on giving value No matter what you're working on, focus on giving value, and not on what impression you're going to make. There are many prejudiced people around - no matter what you do, they will not change their opinion about you. As long as they have the slightest suspicion you're doing something for you, and not for them, they're not going to change their point of view.
But what if you could just forget about the impression? Forget about people who might find your questions or actions silly. Focus on the value you're going to give my taking some actions. Focus on the people who will benefit from your actions, and how exactly they're going to appreciate the value.
This is true for many aspects of our life. If you forget about yourself, and concentrate on giving value to others, you're bound to improve their attitude. People like getting value, and they appreciate it even if they don't openly tell you.
Maintain your integrity There are many situations when doing something conflicts with your inner feelings or thoughts. Get into the habit of analyzing such situations.
Quite often we conflict with our principles for the sake of looking good or making some progress. That's why it is very important to always make sure you know if such a sacrifice is really necessary. If it's something not important, you should never conflict with yourself, because in many situations you're acting in a certain way simply because of the situation you're in. What happens then is that the situation will change, while you will be left on your own with your thoughts and conflicts.
Maintain your integrity - many problems are not worth the self-conflicts you're getting into.
Respect your goals and values This is probably the most important aspect of staying in peace with yourself. If you don't respect what's important for you in long term, you're putting yourself under a risk of becoming a slave to other situations and people who will manipulate you.
Yes, it's always good for you to give value to others, but you should avoid doing it at your own goals and values expense. If you know that helping someone else make things worse from your own goals and values point of view, take some time and reconsider.
In many cases, the little value you're going to force yourself give to someone else will not be worth the personal goals of yours which you may not meet as the result.

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Why success online requires persistence (and a good strategy)

Good online business & marketing ideas aren’t short of coming up with. I know this because on any given week people email and call me asking for advice. These ideas usually equate to them seeing the end result - “I want to sell more of XYZ online” or “I want to build a social network around my brand”. However, what often happens is that they fail to see the small details that make up the bigger picture and how these work in unison with each other. This is why a web strategy is important.
You see, you may have great online business ideas but you probably won’t make a success out of them if you don’t follow up with a solid, measurable strategy. Amongst other things, a web strategy defines predetermined goals and milestones, the expected results, and the ways in which they will be attained. Furthermore, a web strategy should facilitate incremental growth based on successes. What do I mean by this?
Web marketing consists of an array of online activities all aimed at communicating with a targeted audience to deliver a return on investment. These activities integrate with the overall marketing and communications strategy but require that we break them down into steps, both in terms of measurement and rollout.
I’m a firm believer in developing a platform that becomes the heart of all further web marketing initiatives. Often the website is this platform (but not always the case). This platform then becomes the core of the online communications strategy.
Building this core and ongoing successes takes time though. The key to building and growing it is measurement. There are two reasons for this:
Measurement allows you to see what works and what doesn’t, in turn giving you the data needed to optimise for results in an almost real-time basis.
Measuring your online successes fuels you with the motivation to keep at it, constantly evolving your ideas and businesses with the Web.
By nature, we are humans who like instant gratification. However, credibility and experience takes time. Credibility often results in relationships with target markets and experience often results in rational decision making. The two are fundamental on the Web.
Success online is achievable by anyone really. It just needs a good strategy that can be regularly measured to be effective.

by Gino Cosme

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Why Seed Investing Is Less Risky Than Later Stage Investing

Ever since I've been in the venture business, some 20 years now, it's been accepted wisdom that early stage, particularly seed stage, investing is inherently more risky than later stage investing. I guess it depends on how you measure risk. In the financial markets, risk is defined as tbe variation of returns around the expected return (the standard deviation from the mean). The more variability in the returns, the more risk there is. And from that perspective I am sure that early stage investing is more risky than later stage investing. But that's largely the limited partner's perspective.
My personal experience suggests something else. As a VC making direct investments in companies, I think we take on way more risk when we invest in a later stage company than an early stage company. Here's three big reasons why:
1) You can't play the poker game. I blogged this before so click on that link and read the whole post, but my basic point is in seed/early stage investing you ante a little, see your cards, decide if you want to invest more in your hand, see some more cards, etc, etc. You get to stage your risk capital as the investment shows itself to you over a number of years. You can manage all kinds of risk this way; management risk, valuation risk, technology risk; and market risk. Classic later stage investors want to be in the last venture round and in that scenario, you are putting all your chips on the table before you've really seen your cards.
2) Later stage investors can't impact the development of the company. They have to accept the direction that has been put in place before they came in. We typically invest in pre-revenue companies. Usually they have the technology platform in place and in most cases, they have launched something with some success. But getting the business model and market entry strategy (the angle of attack) right is key. Is this going to be an enterpise software model, an advertising model, a commerce model, or something else? That's as important a decision as any company can make. Later stage investors have to accept the direction of the company. It's very unlikely that they can change it after their investment, and if they find themselves doing that, something has gone wrong with their investment.
3) Later stage investors take "past sins" risk. When you invest at or near the formation of the company, you are involved in all those decisions that can come back to bite you later on. You can impact the choice of the other investors, how the securities are structured, how the technology is protected, how the employees are compensated, how employees are let go, how the contracts with customers are structured, etc, etc. You can insure that its' done right. That people are treated fairly and equitably so that nobody comes back to bite you in the rear end later on. When you invest in a later stage company, you can diligence this stuff, you can get indemnified, and you can try to protect yourself, but my experience is that when something comes back to bite a company, it bites everyone including the people who were not at the table when the mistakes were made.
When I go back over time and look at my personal portfolio, some 50+ companies, I see this fact so clearly. The returns are higher on the seed/first round investments I've made and the loss rates are significantly lower as well. I suppose that's also an indication that I am better at seed/early stage investing and that there are others who are better at later stage investing than me. But I'd be curious if others in the venture business feel this way too.

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How Not To Run a Business - The Sheep Strategy

As I read this post about the "herd mentality," I couldn't stop thinking about how it applies to running a business. In the post, Stephen Dubner writes about how he regularly waited in line for a crowded bus, only to realize that walking to the next bus stop (which is visible from the first one) cut his wait and allowed him to sit with his daughter, instead of stand during the ride.
Once we hit upon this solution, we haven't boarded a single bus at Point A. We get to sit; we get to listen to the iPod together (we both love Lily Allen, and I don't worry so much about the fresh parts since Lily's British accent renders them nearly indecipherable for Anya); we don't arrive with a smushed lunch.But what I can't figure out is why no other bus passengers at Point A do what we do. To anyone standing at Point A morning after morning, the conditions there are plainly bad. The conditions at Point B are clearly better since a) Point B is close enough to see with the naked eye and b) the buses that arrive at Point A from Point B often have room on them, although only for the first 10 or 20 passengers trying to board at Point A.Personally, I am happy that more people at Point A don't go to Point B (which would make me have to consider boarding at Point C), but I don't understand why this is so.
There's a saying on Wall Street that no one ever got fired buying IBM. It's probably true. If you do what everyone else does, you share the pain of failure. That's why business strategy is such a "me too" game. "We do what they do, only a little better (cheaper, faster, whatever)." That's how some companies do strategy.Take web tv as an example. It's a hot market, and I'm not knocking it - I think it has huge potential (hint hint - watch this blog...) but some mainstream companies are pouring money into it just to say they have a web show division. Listen to them talk for 2 minutes and you realize they are doing it out of fear - out of the desire not to miss the boat. I know because I heard some of them speak at SXSW. It was like a chorus of "me too, me too." But many of them are doing it wrong. Here's the thing - web shows aren't for big budgets. Producing them like tv shows is a sure way to lose money. Yet, that's what some of these companies do. Strategy is built on strengths. Me-Too strategy rarely works because your strengths aren't the same as those of your competitors. If they are, you should build new strengths. Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity. If that is what you're going for, then ignore this post. Otherwise, don't let the safety of the herd make you too comfortable.

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Will our ego control us or will we control our ego?

The ego, or that part of our minds that constantly thinks in terms of “I”, “Me”, and “Mine” is one of the buttons that people can press deliberately or unintentionally with the result that we are temporarily taken off our desired path of effective personal development or self improvement and onto a road of mental turmoil.
One of the conscious efforts we can make is to try to control our ego, or the ego’s reactions, particularly in terms of our inner responses to events triggered by other people’s behavior that we would normally find irritating.
We all know at least some of the circumstances that can rile us up.
Someone says something to us that we find disparaging or insultingSomebody disagrees with one or more of our beliefs or opinionsSomeone pulls ahead of us into the exact parking space that we have been heading for at a shopping center
Our normal reaction to events like these normally could range from mild irritation to an intense anger coupled with constantly reviewing the disturbing events or comments over and over again in our minds and thereby disrupting our enjoyment of life for hours, and perhaps even days.
“He/she can’t say that to me!”“How could anyone possibly disagree with me on (name the belief or opinion)?”“How dare someone beat me to that parking spot!”
This is the ego at work, making our thoughts run in directions that we really don’t want them to. One of the tools we can use to reduce this tendency is to make a deliberate effort to control the reactions of our ego. But it’s not easy.
Controlling or managing the ego does not mean we become doormats and put up with unacceptable behaviors from other people. But it does mean that we try to keep our reactions to untoward events in perspective so that we are managing our thoughts rather than having our thoughts manage us.
This is an introductory short post to discussions about the ego — a topic I hope to write on in more detail in future articles. There are many behavioral options to work with, ranging from simple anger management, to a concentrated program of inner work to reduce our dependence on “self” and gain more awareness of what constitutes our true inner consciousness.

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Investing Like You’ve Been There

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield."
Warren Buffett

By Andrew M. Gordon

You’ve heard it all your life: Great opportunities come with great risks. And 98 percent of the time, risks come from not knowing what you’re doing and not knowing what’s around the corner. But I’m going to show you a way to find great investing opportunities with hardly any risk at all. And - with apologies to Warren Buffett and his quote above - I’m going to do it by providing you with a windshield that is just as clear as the rearview mirror.
I do it all the time. Like a lot of my investing ideas, I learned this one when I used to do business overseas. Let me tell you how I came across it…
In the early days of my global business dealings, I sold a lot of high-tech equipment - biotech, advanced medical equipment, sophisticated machinery, etc. And I was doing pretty well. So when this businessman I knew - GJ - dropped by to show me some of the technology he was selling to the sheiks in the Middle East, I almost laughed in his face.
"This is ancient stuff," I said. "We did this years ago in the U.S."
He smiled. "You’re right. We went through this phase with our gasoline distribution systems back in the 1960s."
"Let me get this straight. You’re selling decades-old technology to billionaire oil barons in the Middle East who can afford the best the world has to offer?"
His grin got wider. "Not only are we selling it… we’re getting swamped with inquiries."
"How the heck are you getting away with that?"
He then explained to me the secret of his business success and why selling technology whose time has come and gone in the U.S. is the easiest way to make money overseas.
"Because there’s nothing they can ask me about it that I haven’t seen before - first in this country, then in Europe, then in Japan, then in Australia, and now in the Middle East. In all of these countries, the market followed basically the same script."
"Yeah, like the script of a bad horror film," I was thinking. I wasn’t yet sold on his unusual business philosophy.
Then he sat me down and filled me in on the history of the technology. He told me how furious oil companies had been over air-quality legislation that required them to overhaul all the gas depots and stations in the U.S. It was going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
And then he explained how they changed their minds a few years later when they discovered that recovering vapor from the evaporation of gasoline and pumping it back into their storage tanks was extremely profitable. For every dollar they spent on the overhaul, they got one dollar back each and every year from then on.
It sounded so promising that I invited GJ to come with me on my next trip to Asia. We decided to target China, Indonesia, and Thailand.
It was a good partnership. My people set up the meetings, and he went around telling his story. And there wasn’t any question that fazed him.
When he was asked, "Why don’t we simply wait for the next generation of equipment to come along?" he replied: "There is no next generation of equipment. The users who adopted this strategy in the U.S. and Japan merely ended up paying more for the same equipment later on. And, in the meantime, they lost customers as cars and trucks gravitated toward stations using cleaner and faster-pumping equipment."
To the question "Why should we want to represent you and market this technology in our country?" he replied: "The market begins in the major cities. Depending on the configuration of gas stations and depots, you’ll make $15 million every year on projects costing between $15 and $20 million per major city. And for every major city you do, you’ll win projects for approximately five smaller cities."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because that’s how the market unfolded in the U.S., Europe, and Japan."
And on it went with GJ. He knew which technologies succeeded and which failed. He knew the profit margins. He knew how the technology spread. He knew exactly how the market was going to evolve in the countries we visited, because he’d seen it all before.
When we had our first post-trip strategy meeting, he knew exactly what we should do. For example, he told me that China’s market was huge but way too fragmented. It would take time. We needed to be patient and grab a giant company like China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to help us pull a few projects together.
As it turned out, we were a little early in China and a little late in Thailand. We decided to drop both of them.
But for Indonesia, our timing was just right. We decided to focus on Jakarta and Surabaya. A few trips and about 500 marketing hours later, we landed our first vapor recovery project.
From the outset of the project, we nailed everything: The blueprint of the new distribution system, the costs, the timetable, the equipment and manpower needed. GJ told me that Indonesia wasn’t so different from Saudi Arabia.
When I began to spend more time investing, I wondered: Could I recreate this amazing advantage that practically lets you see into the future? Could I use it to help me find opportunities I knew would grow and wouldn’t stab me in the back?
I didn’t see why not. Plenty of technologies besides our vapor recovery technology travel from west to east (or north to south). Markets across the globe don’t rise and fall in unison. Countries are early adopters in some markets and latecomers in others.
Sure, no two countries are exactly alike. But they don’t have to be.
One market that’s worked wonders for my portfolio is the auto industry, home to some of the worst deadbeats in the U.S. Ford, Chrysler, and GM are all taking their lumps. Back in the 1920s, 40s, and 50s, the auto industry fed on a rapidly rising middle class, growing population, and cars that became affordable to a majority of the population.
But competition from Japan and other countries proved too much to overcome. The heyday for the American car industry has come and gone. Toyota and Honda would certainly make better investments than U.S. companies, but they’ve grown so much in the past couple of years that they’re due for a pullback.
Too bad. If you had invested in Toyota back in 2003, you would have tripled your money.
And if you had invested in Ford back in the early 1980s - when its stock went for a buck - you would have made over 30 times your stake (if you got out in early 1999 when its shares peaked).
If you could invest in a young Ford or Toyota, you’d jump at the chance, wouldn’t you?
In Japan and the U.S., more than one out of every two people have a car. But I know a big country where only seven people out of 1,000 own cars. And its middle class is growing like gangbusters. Cars are fast becoming affordable in that country. As a matter of fact, there’s one company in that country that has designed a car that will cost around $2,000. Here’s what I said when I recommended that company for subscribers to ETR’s Wealth Advantage service:
"Looking at this country’s auto industry, its demographics, its growing middle class … well, it’s almost deja vu. I’ve seen American cars grow up. I’ve seen the Japanese and Korean cars grow up. I can pretty much close my eyes and also see how this company will grow up."
There are plenty of other markets that fit this profile - the airline industry, tobacco, appliances, cellphones, snacks and drinks, big-box hypermarket retailers (like Wal-Mart), and many more.
But those markets can be volatile. So this is what I do. I find big, solid U.S. or European companies that have found a way to ride those overseas markets. Or I find very stable and reputable local companies to invest in.
By investing in what you know, you also participate in markets with exciting growth potential when you follow this strategy. Yes, it still takes some work. You have to find the right company to carry the ball for you. And you should always follow developments in the sector and country you’re invested in.
And you should realize that no investment follows a straight path up. Even Ford, on its way to 3,500 percent gains, had setbacks along the way.
Of course, you know this already. You’ve been there and seen it all before.
[Ed. Note: Let Andrew’s experience help build your portfolio with safe and profitable recommendations for investing in the U.S. and overseas. You could get a total return (dividends plus capital gains) of at least 14 percent this year with the high-dividend-paying companies you’ll find with his INCOMEinvestment service.]

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Comparing Billionaires

There are two billionaires that I talk about in this column, but truthfully, you’ve probably only really heard of one of them. The first, Donald Trump is, in many ways the complete opposite of our second billionaire. He is rich and famous. He seems to enjoy his significant wealth and is focused on cash—building it, investing it, growing it, and using it.
Trump’s show, The Apprentice is reflective of Trump’s tastes. He spends an hour each episode working on beating up some twenty and thirty-somethings who aspire to be his apprentice. Only the best will do for Mr. Trump and he quickly dispatches those who are not worthly of his apprenticeship. It is interesting, but perhaps it has something to do with their jobs. Trump, it would seem, from the beginning was focused on being a businessman.
Keeping Score
When it comes to business and finance, once the necessities of life are met, food, water, clothing and shelter, what I would term the supplemental luxuries come in. I think of these items as things that most people have, but are generally considered luxuries because you don’t need them to survive. A car, a house or condo that you own, and a computer, cable or satelite tv, and a cell phone are all examples of these supplemental luxuries.
Ultimate luxuries are things that are generally not even in the vicinity of “necessary” but are things that are fun to have. There is a line somewhere between supplemental and ultimate luxuries. Vacations, multiple cars, pricey dinners out, and investments are all examples of these types of ultimate luxuries. When you are a billionaire like Mr. Trump, it is all the same. Standards are different. And the way that a businessman like Trump measures himself is by comparing his luxuries to the next guy.Buying Happiness
It is not to say that Trump is unhappy. I think that people foolishly like to claim that money cannot buy happiness. However, I’ve seen very few people be unhappy about having too much money. But people who are poor are often worried about not having enough.
Our second billionaire’s name is David Cheriton. He became a billionaire by founding a startup in california and then investing some money in google when Google’s founders presented him with a search engine that already worked well even in its test phases.
Finding Similarities
Both billionaires have become rich as a result of business. Each of these men have a keen eye for opportunities and this talent makes them able to manage risk. Probably in a much more efficient way that we could. The takeaway here is that getting into business is the way to build serious wealth. It is not to say that you shouldn’t work as well. Both billionaires still work, but clearly it isn’t because they have to.Spending Silly
Trump, as documented on his show, spends incredible sums on luxuries. He flies and takes a helicopter and also is always taken care of by his staff. Cheriton clearly could afford that, but he is content with a 1993 Honda Accord and living in the same house he’s had since 1981. This type of living sets Cheriton apart from Trump. Cheriton still works, and if I had to guess, is doing what he really loves. The money doesn’t seem to be a score for him as it is for 100% professional businessmen. The upside for both billionaires though is that they’ve both achieved a position where they could stop working and easily support the needs of their entire families. What a great feeling that must be.
You Can, but Should You
The most interesting thing when it comes to people’s net worth to me is discovering how they handle their wealth. Some people choose to live lavishly like Trump. Enjoying the money that they have seems to be interesting to them and also part of a status. Others like Cheriton live simply, and essentially never really get to the point where they “need” their money to live their lifestyle. Neither one is moderate in my opinion. Each is at the far end of the scale.
Everything in Moderation
Sometimes, in an effort to gain riches we can become overly cheap and perhaps even a little stingy. In order to save enough for your goals, it is absolutely necessary to live below your means. However, how much below your means may be something that you are able to choose and regulate. Saving 50% of your income after your expenses and retirement while sacrificing nice things for others, yourself, and charity might carry an unpleasant stigma. Conversely, running up debt to spend 140% of your income is just as bad, if not worse.
Give yourself permission to spend, to donate, and to enjoy some of the wealth you’ve accumulated. As the addage goes, “you can’t take it with you” so wouldn’t it be a shame if you spent all your energies accumulating for ’someday’, when the day may never come? Perhaps if these two billionaires took some of this advice, we would have some better role models when it comes to spending money.
One thing is certain though, if there seems to be a lack of money in your life, it may be because of how you handle the money you actually do get. This is where Cheriton’s example is really worth something.

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Success & Failure

Success is all there is. Failure is Success misunderstood.
There are only two entrepreneurial emotions… Success and failure. Ultimately, Success is all that exists; but for some reason mankind has decided to confuse the business-person’s mindset with the possibility of failure. Please believe the following truth before reading the rest of this piece…
The illusion of failure is a manufactured emotion that exists in a world of only Success. If you feel that failure exists within your entrepreneurial mindset, you have Success completely misunderstood.
All of us entrepreneurs were born into this business world with loving goals of success in mind; therefore, Success is our natural state of being, since we were born believing in it. Success is all there is, all there was, and all there ever will be. If this is so, then where did the idea of failure ever come into existence?
Just like the monster underneath the bed, we completely fabricated the illusion of failure.
The most counter-productive operation of your business is how you mis-perceive your natural levels of success. Know this right now… You are successful! Your company could have just gone under, and yet you are still a success! Success is always hidden beneath failure, if you will only take a moment to recognize it. Remember… Success is all there is; and failure is simply Success misunderstood.
Since failure is merely an illusion, it had to have been conceptualized into your life via some particular occurrence, right?
Often times, the idea of failure is initially manufactured within your being after you have witnessed another person stumble in their pursuit to “create” success (Remember, Success can not be “created” because Success is naturally all there is). What has happened is that you’ve either perceived this individual to be less than successful in relation to your own standards, or been told by the individual, their self, that they are a failure. As soon as you perceive another individual as a failure, or experience someone else deeming their self a failure, you potentially materialize future illusions of failure into your own business’ life. It’s amazing how reality can so easily be thwarted by something that doesn’t even exist!
This can’t be stressed enough… Success is all there is, and failure is a man-made illusion! Your business’ state of being is always determined by one brand of thought… Your perception towards it. There are actually entrepreneurs out there who perceive them selves to be failures, while at the same time having millions of customers and even more dollar bills in their bank account. How well do you think these businesses would be doing if their owner thought of their self as a success? Perceiving your self to be a failure does not breed Success; but Success always, in all-ways, breeds Success. If you truly believe that you are pure Success, and always will be, then you won’t ever have to fear the possibility of failing; because in reality, failure doesn’t even exist as an option.
The perception you have towards your business must always involve the natural emotion of Success. If you don’t, you’re simply going against Nature’s will – And Nature’s will is that Success is the only emotion an entrepreneur can ever feel; because after all, Success is all there is…
Wishing you continued success…

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Can't Sell Your Home – Start Investing In Real Estate!

So you’ve been trying to sell your home for quite a while, with no success. Oh, sure, you’ve had a few people through, maybe even a lot of people, and every time your life was disrupted… all for nothing. No offers, not even a nibble. It’s getting frustrating. Since life has given you some lemons, why not make lemonade and use this as a springboard to start investing in real estate? You may be wondering, “How can this be an opportunity for me to start investing in real estate?” Glad you asked. Since you’re having trouble selling your house through conventional means, maybe now’s the time to go a bit unconventional, and learn a creative real estate investing technique in the process… a technique that you can use over and over again to create wealth for you and your family. If you use this technique to sell your home, you will be following in the footsteps of thousands of other homeowners who have followed this same strategy to start investing in real estate. I’m talking about the lease / option method of selling your home. What is a lease option? Simple… instead of selling your home outright, you’re going to lease it to someone, and at the same time give them the option to purchase it at a fixed price within a fixed period of time. Why does this work? How can this allow you to sell your home faster and easier? The answer has to do with the type of people that will respond to your “lease with the option to buy” or “rent to own” ad. They will be people with bruised or damaged credit, but don’t let that scare you. Often these are good people who are back on track after a tough period in their life. They’re not deadbeats… at least not the ones you’ll be putting in your home, because you’ll be carefully screening them. You’ll want to check their story, and verify employment and income. Trust your gut, but verify everything. Select carefully, and realize that it may take two or three tries before you get to the end result you’re looking for- a tenant who becomes a buyer. The other great reason to use the lease/option technique is price- you can often sell for full market value… even more! What a great way to start investing in real estate. There are three important terms you will need to negotiate with your tenant/buyer in order to enter into a lease/option agreement with them… price, option term, and monthly rent. Once you’ve learned to do that, you’ll be well down the path many others have followed to start investing in real estate. Price is the price you will sell them the house for when and if they exercise their option. The option term is the length of time the option to buy is open to your tenant buyer. This is often one year, but could be longer. It’s up to you. I’ve seen option terms as long as five years, but in my mind that’s too long, unless you just want to be a landlord. Finally, the monthly rent should be enough to cover your mortgage, taxes, and insurance, plus something left over to give you a positive cash flow every month. After all, there is a little hassle involved, so you should get something for your trouble. Now, here’s the icing on the cake. You can and should collect a non-refundable option fee from your tenant/buyers, and you should get it upfront. The amount is negotiable, but generally about three percent of the value of the home is appropriate. So, on a $150,000 property, the option fee would be between $4,000 and $5,000. This shows good faith and commitment on their part. Hopefully by now you can see that this is a great way to both get your home sold and start investing in real estate. You make money three ways… when you collect your option fee, when you sell the house, and every month in the form of positive cash flow. Plus, the home remains in your name until they exercise their option, so you still get all the tax breaks associated with homeownership. Listen, I know there’s a lot more to say on the subject of lease option, and there’s certainly a great deal more on how to start investing in real estate. This is just a primer, but hey… we’ve all got to start somewhere, right? Want to start investing in real estate? Try http://www.dealfiles.com. Tom Dunn is a successful real estate investor and author of the popular DealFiles Real Estate Investor Stories free newsletter. © 2007 by Tom Dunn.

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Five Steps to Satisfying Personal Growth

Type your summary hereType rest of the post here
I believe that in order for someone to be successful in their line of work, whether as a business owner or an employee, they need to be committed to growth. While professional growth is necessary to maintain your job skills, personal growth is what allows you to desire and maintain your professional growth.
Unfortunately, people spend more time watching TV than they do on their own personal growth. I recently heard about someone who vowed to read their first book in over 20 years! While novels don’t necessarily constitute personal development, reading does. For me, a monthly novel was what got me started on my own personal development where I now read about a book per week.

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Don’t Reinvent the Wheel… Model Successful People for Quicker Success

Modeling: The Shortcut to Success
By Ron Vaimberg, President, Ron Vaimberg International
Wherever I speak and teach, there is always one burning question that arises among loanofficers: What is the one thing I can do to be successful? Until today, my answer has alwaysbeen simple: Take action on what you already know!
While this answer may be appropriate for those who already know the basics, it may not be thebest answer for all loan officers, especially for the newcomers. I have realized that many loanofficers, particularly new ones, may not have the slightest idea of the basics of sales, so advisingto “take action” is not necessarily good advice at all.
As many people do, I sometimes get caught up in the day-to-day duties of running my trainingbusiness and lose sight of some of the basic principles that have led me to success over theyears. In my search for a better answer, I realized that I already know and have lived the answer.It’s a formula that, when followed, will only result in great success. Not only is it the single mostpowerful learning tool that has enabled me to literally transform my financial future in a very shortperiod of time, it has also enabled me to start new business ventures and turn them profitable inlittle or no time, while many others have taken months or even years to accomplish the sameresults.
The golden answer to the questions lies within the simple yet, highly effective concept called“modeling.”
As I sit here today, I reflect upon all of the areas that I have used this concept. Withoutexception, every time I have implemented this concept, I achieved positive results faster andgreater than if I had tried to figure things out on my own.
What is Modeling?
Modeling is the process of seeking out individuals that have accomplished exactly what you wantto accomplish, learning their success formulas, and then taking the same exact actions. We haveto remember that we are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Proven sales success strategiesalready exist within the mortgage industry. All you need to do is find successful loan officers thatare generating business the way you want to generate your business, then duplicate what theysay, how they say it, and what they do every day.
The reason why modeling is the most powerful way to be successful is because it gives you achoice of how to become successful. Many trainers today teach sales systems that have workedfor them. Nothing is wrong with this, unless the sales system they are teaching doesn’t align withyour method of originating business. For example, let’s say you work for a lender that providesyou leads through telemarketing and advertising, but the trainer tells you to develop realtorrelationships. What you need to realize is the method you were just taught by the trainer is notaligned with your current business model. I believe that there is no “best” business model forsuccess, other than the model that aligns with your way of wanting to do business.
Many loan officers are more adept at originating business one way versus another. I have oftenseen loan officers excel in specific marketing or selling situations while struggling with others.The key to success is aligning your skill set with the sales and marketing methods that you notonly have mastered, but also enjoy implementing. Remember, having passion to do somethingand having the skills to implement the strategy make taking action easy.Modeling: Step by Step
Let me clarify this concept of “modeling” by giving you step-by-step instructions. If you followthese steps, you are guaranteed to take the fast road to success, avoiding the mistakes that mostsalespeople make when trying to grow their businesses.
1. Determine your preferred sales and marketing method. Do you want to be an insidesalesperson or an outside sales person? Would you prefer to work with real estateagents?2. Identify sales professionals that are already successful in using your preferred method.Find at least three loan officers that are achieving the results that you want to achieve.Longevity in the business does not matter. What you want is someone who is alreadyachieving the financial results you want.3. Create a list of questions that you would like them to answer. Believe it or not, most topprofessionals will be happy to share their success strategies with you. Offering to buythem lunch also helps. Feel free to visit www.RonVaimberg.com/modeling to download afree modeling guide that can help you in soliciting success strategies from top producers.4. Repeat the questionnaire with other top producers.5. TAKE THE SAME ACTIONS THEY TAKE!Case in Point
The other day I was conducting a presentation for about 300 loan officers. I had just finished theprogram opening with a visualization exercise when I noticed that someone got up and walkedout fairly abruptly, before I had even begun to teach mortgage-specific strategies.
At the break, I inquired about the sudden departure, and found that the individual had left sayingthe words “I did not come here to listen to a junior Tony Robbins”.
After absorbing what this person had said, I smiled. I realized that he had just compared me tothe world’s number one business and personal development coach. Just to give you somebackground, I have been studying excellence for many years, and Tony Robbins has been one ofthe key influences in my life as a professional sales professional and national speaker. Basedupon this individual’s comments, my modeling of Tony had really worked! I was just compared tothe best of the best in the speaking field. The only down side to this incident was that the personthat left early never got to hear the mortgage sales and marketing strategies that I am sure hecould have modeled to become more successful.
You might be saying that success cannot be this simple. But the truth is, it is that simple. I haveused the concept of modeling to build a successful mortgage company as well as a successfulspeaking and training business. And by modeling best practices examples, I have taughtthousands of mortgage professionals to accomplish far more than they ever imagined. All youneed are good practices to model. For examples of practices worth modeling, you are welcometo visit my web site, www.RonVaimberg.com, and download “Nine Ways to Increase YourOriginations and Profits”. Once you’re armed with ideas worth modeling, there is no limit to yourpotential for success.

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Long Term Investing

In his fantastic book, 'Multiple Streams of Income', best selling writer Henry Martin Robert Woody Allen counsels Investors to split their Stock Market investment and trading capital into three parts -50% invested long term (forever) inch an Index Fund, 30% invested in Accelerated Stock strategies and 20% in options or high hazard investing strategies.
This article will discourse long term investing and how technical analysis can alarm us to points in clip when it is prudent to take net income and issue the Stock market.
Not variegation for the interest of it, but variegation to assist us kip at nighttime and heighten our long term returns.
Multiple Streams of Income was written in the twelvemonth 2000 - the 18 twelvemonth Bull market had made millionaires of anyone who wager the farm on Pillory rising forever - but investors needed an issue strategy of some kind in lawsuit the tendency didn't continue, and too many of them didn't have got one.
Now many are paying the price.
For years, purchase and throw was a no brainer - just purchase the dips and the Stock market made you rich - until it all came to a sudden end in the twelvemonth 2000.
So, what make Investors, as opposing to traders, usage as an issue strategy?
The weekly chart below is the S&P Five Hundred with two moving averages, 20 hebdomads and 40 weeks. Charts available at StockTradingReview.com
An first-class strategy that some of Peter's friends utilize is to throw this Index when it's going up, and to go out or hedge your place on a moving average crossover on the weekly chart to conserve net income when it begins going down.
After all, if it's not rising in value, why ain it?
Long term wealthiness creative activity demands that we prudently put in assets that are rising in price, despite short term rectifications against the major trend.
These two moving averages give a graphical show of the major trend. When the tendency is up, they remain long - when it's down, they remain out, hedge their places or travel short - simple.
By placing these two moving averages on this chart, it allows even person the age of Peter's girl to state him the direction the market is taking.
It protects capital that would otherwise be invested in this Index for investing in other areas, because it avoids being in this market through the downtrends.
Of course, the Index Fund managers detest people who switch over from monetary fund to fund or to cash when the tendency changes.
They desire investors to remain invested forever - management fees and trailing committees may have got something to make with this...
Many bargainers regularly have a publication from one of the large Index Fund managers and they are always advising him that it's clock in the market, not timing the market that is of import - if they state it often adequate then it begins to sound like it do sense.
The chart above is graphical cogent evidence that even a 7 twelvemonth old tin clip the market to some grade given the right tools. Charts available at StockTradingReview.com
How simple - 2 moving averages saved a luck for anyone who was watching. Why clasp something that is obviously falling in price.
The same two moving averages got investors in again when the tendency turned up.
This strategy didn't give an entry signaling until May 2003, 2 calendar months after the low, but anyone who hedged or exited on the moving average crossover in November 2000 missed being fully invested during the bulk of the Bear market, when many investors lost between 50% and 70% of their capital, or worse if they were leveraged.
And remember, for savvy bargainers this is for long term investing in Stocks, not our more than bad holdings.
This is their wealthiness creative activity money - their retirement account. This is the money they don't set at unneeded risk.
When the market travels down like this, Fund Managers phone call it Volatility. They won't name it what it really is - a Bear Market!
No, investors would take their money out of Mutual Funds if the Managers said that we were in a Bear Market, and they would lose those fantastic trailing committees and management fees.
Just name it a spot of volatility (down 50% on the S&P, 80% on the Nasdaq - volatility??) and investors will remain in for the long term because that's what their advisors state them to do, or they will lose the underside when it eventually come ups - makes that do sense to you?
Now cipher can state for certain how far any mass meeting will go, or if a bear market is over, until well after the event. But this simple Moving Average crossover system have kept Peter's friends on the right side of the market for many years.
They sit the up-legs of the market, and remain out of the down legs. They set their cash in Money Market Funds while the tendency is down and wait for the rallies.
Another hedge strategy they often utilize is to purchase Put options to cover their full Index exposure - for example, if their Index monetary fund place is $50,000, they purchase long dated set options, state 12 calendar months to termination to minimise the clip decay, to cover this degree of market exposure.
They believe of it as an insurance policy - they pay insurance on everything else they own, so why leave of absence their Pillory and Mutual Fund investings at the clemency of the market - affluent people remain that manner because they protect the downside.
Time decay on options is an issue of course, but watching a long term portfolio lessening by 50% Oregon more than and doing nil should not be an option for any serious investor.
The thought is simply this - saavy bargainers throw places that are with the trend, whether it is in Property, Shares, Mutual Funds or Bonds. They do not throw un-hedged assets that are in a sustained downtrend.
Holding Pillory and finances that are going up is like riding the up escalator, it's easy to make money. By holding Common Funds or Pillory that are falling, it's wish running up the down escalator - you have got to work hard just to remain in the same place.
Then, if you halt running, it takes you right down to where you started again. This is not the manner to construct permanent wealth.
This is blindingly obvious - but it is astonishing how many otherwise intelligent investors have got got lost lucks during the bear market that started in 2000.
A smart trader's advice - set a couple of Moving Averages on the finances and Pillory you throw in your long term investing portfolio, then inquire a small kid what the tendency is.
If they don't state up and you're calm invested, all he would state is do certain you have your place hedged!

To Your Trading Success,

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