“In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we have discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We have learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.” Jimmy Carter in a speech to the American people in 1979.
This was around the time when angry Americans were experiencing extreme high gas prices ($1.25/gal) and long lines…food prices were increasing on a steady incline. This came at a time when the inflation rate in the US was already abnormally high at around 11% on an annual basis. That meant if you bought goods for a $1.00 today you would only be able to purchase approx. $.89 of the same goods one year from now. Inflation became a way of life and an expected part of our world. So, even though Mr. Carter tried to scold American citizens for their lack of self-control and gluttony, the prudential wisdom of saving for the future and avoiding debt was replaced with new ideas. “Smart” young consumers now did the opposite, forgetting the lessons of the past. Though, there was a resulting sense of abundance, it was accompanied by rising prices and anxiety levels.
I understand how they came to their conclusions and actually agree with them to some degree. It makes sense to pay off today’s debts with tomorrow’s cheaper dollars in a period of high inflation. The face value of your debt stays constant, even though the actual value of those dollars decrease. So, in general, this concept makes sense to me.
This is a similar scenario to what happened in the East and West coast real estate markets. People and banks were willing to leverage up to 100% or more on a property because they had come to expect properties to continue to go up in value. In this scenario, leverage makes perfect sense, however, only if you can afford it. Real Estate, like all markets, is cyclical in nature. It’s easy to get short-sited and ignore the lessons of history. If we ignore the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them! In my opinion, using leverage can be a smart way to invest in real estate and increase your cash on cash ROI…as long as you do not over-extend yourself. This last year, the real estate bubble finally burst and all the people who could not truly afford their houses were faced with reality. They had taken sound concepts and brought them to very wrong conclusions. It caused them to take on too much debt in order to purchase their properties with no exit strategy or plan for the downside. They were ”all in” and were betting that their property values would continue to increase. I’m sure they had plenty of examples of friends who had purchased a property and sold it 1-3 years later for a profit, all while making interest-only payments in the meantime. It caused so many people to throw out all conventional wisdom…in hopes of making a big score for themselves. It resulted in people making irrational thoughts and decisions.
Some people believe the current recession was caused by the “sub-prime” implosion, but I think that was just a symptom of a greater problem. I started this blog entry with a speech given by President Carter back in 1979, which addressed some of the same issues I feel we still battle today. We are a consumer nation and have no self control. The average person has a negative savings rate, which means for every dollar they make, they actually spend more…leaving nothing for savings. Does this sound familiar? It should! It’s exactly how our fearless leaders have been running this country ever since we were taken off the gold standard. Never in our history have we been so irresponsible as in the last 30 years. After going off the gold standard, the Federal Reserve and our government were given a blank check. I would argue that when the Federal Reserve was created they were given the ability to print money out of thin air, but will save that discussion for another day. I believe that was the first stage of a plan to develop a nation that came to expect debt, deficits and irresponsible use of resources. Then, they could run up debt, increase the money supply and systematically degrade the value of the dollar (also called inflation). Some people don’t realize it, but inflation is really just a “hidden” tax. Every time the Federal Reserve prints money and dilutes the existing dollars, they become less valuable. That value doesn’t just go away, it merely is transferred from the existing dollars to the newly printed money. So, remember this concept the next time you see they are printing trillions of dollars. The value of those new dollars is not incremental value added through increased production or efficiencies gained in our industries…it is simply being stolen from the dollars already in existence. If we were still on the gold standard, they would not be able to create money out of thin air. It would only come into existence if there was tangible value (gold or silver) added to our economy. Back then, it made sense to save your money and grow your wealth. Today, savers are being robbed blind. As they put more and more money in the bank, saving and scraping to build some sort of nest egg, the government is printing our money supply to levels never before seen in this country. Once this new supply filters through our economy, these savers will be wiped out! They will be left wondering how they just spent their entire lives scraping, saving and doing the right thing only to lose it in an instant…and they won’t even know who stole their money. The same thing happened to my grandparents. They worked hard their entire lives, saving and planning for retirement. They sold their business in the late 70’s and had a nice little nest egg. They had high hopes of a comfortable life in retirement. However, inflation raped them of their money and they lived most of their retirement years in poverty. They didn’t even know what hit them or who was responsible for it. They just knew they had done all the right things and were left with nothing to show for it.
I’ll stop there for now…but I’ll write more in a later post.
Cameron Long, CPA
www.PassionForGreatness.com
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
How To Manage Your Team...The Right Way!
Have you spent the last few months or years struggling to get your team to accomplish their goals? Do you spend all your time helping them get started, trying to teach them everything you have learned over the past few years, or spinning your wheels trying to "force" them to be successful? It's like beating your head against a wall, isn't it?! So, what alternative do you have?
The key is to spend your time guiding them towards their goals, but not accomplishing them in their place. Success is not about how much money someone can make, it's about their growth and development. If you do the work for your team, they will not be successful. They may make some money in the short run, but they will have a hard time maintaining it...and they will not know how to build a business again in the event something happens to their current business.
Spend time with your team members developing their goals. Have them set short term goals and hold them accountable for accomplishing them. Guide them to training, instead of spending all your time training them. Spend most of your time working on your goals and business as an example to show them the right way to focus on building their business. Always offer your help, but never offer to do the work for them! Provide weekly calls for your team so they can bring you their questions. This allows them a great opportunity to ask you questions, get your help and learn from you and the others on your team, but will keep them from stealing your time all throughout the week. As individuals begin to develop and grow, pull them out on the call to do special training for the rest of the team. It's a great way to develop them as a leader.
Leadership is a learned skilled, so be patient with the process. As you grow, so will your team...and eventually, your income will grow as well!
Cameron Long, CPA
www.PassionForGreatness.com
The key is to spend your time guiding them towards their goals, but not accomplishing them in their place. Success is not about how much money someone can make, it's about their growth and development. If you do the work for your team, they will not be successful. They may make some money in the short run, but they will have a hard time maintaining it...and they will not know how to build a business again in the event something happens to their current business.
Spend time with your team members developing their goals. Have them set short term goals and hold them accountable for accomplishing them. Guide them to training, instead of spending all your time training them. Spend most of your time working on your goals and business as an example to show them the right way to focus on building their business. Always offer your help, but never offer to do the work for them! Provide weekly calls for your team so they can bring you their questions. This allows them a great opportunity to ask you questions, get your help and learn from you and the others on your team, but will keep them from stealing your time all throughout the week. As individuals begin to develop and grow, pull them out on the call to do special training for the rest of the team. It's a great way to develop them as a leader.
Leadership is a learned skilled, so be patient with the process. As you grow, so will your team...and eventually, your income will grow as well!
Cameron Long, CPA
www.PassionForGreatness.com
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Is Emotional Intelligence Important to Success?
I think for most people this question is one they have never considered. Most believe you need financial or educational intelligence to succeed in life and to accumulate great wealth. While I agree these intelligences are important, I believe emotional intelligence plays a bigger role in the success of an entrepreneur.
First, what is emotional intelligence? It is the ability to look fear and failure in the face and push forward in spite of them. It’s the ability to learn from your mistakes…and being willing to make mistakes in the first place. We are programmed in school to get “A’s” and always learn the “right” answer…the result is learning to fear failure! At the same time, we all know that the best professional baseball players only hit the ball 25-30% of the time. We know that an olympic athlete spends years training for one race, knowing that in the end only one person will come out the winner. It’s ironic to me that while the “real world” requires us to take chances, train in spite of the risks, swing even though we will most likely miss the ball, our educational system is set up to teach us to fear risk and failure. We are taught there is one answer to every problem…it’s called the “right” answer.
In reality, there are many solutions to every problem. If reality was determined by the current known “right answer”, we would never have ended up with airplanes, light bulbs, telephones, toasters…etc..etc…you get the picture. These are all examples of thinking of new solutions to an old problem.
In order to be wealthy, you have to learn to solve problems. Period! Spend your time developing your ability to solve problems, and you will succeed! Have you ever wondered why millionaires and billionaires can lose all their money, yet bounce back. They have developed their ability to find a need and fill it. That’s more important than all the money you could ever accumulate. There is never a shortage of problems, but there is a shortage of problem-solvers.
That takes emotional intelligence…and emotional intelligence is developed by solving small problems, at first…then, working up to bigger and bigger problems. This requires being willing to fail over and over, until you find a solution.
Warren Buffet says that if you can not control your emotions, you can not control your money. It is very important when living the life of an entrepreneur. When you get this, it means that you never point the finger at anyone else to excuse your failures. You never quit! You learn from your mistakes and figure out solutions.
If you are having trouble calling your prospective customers, join your local toast masters to gain confidence in speaking and learn to express yourself through speech. If you feel your sales skills are lacking, take sales training or get a job as a salesman to learn the skills necessary to succeed. Learning these skills will repay you for years and years…avoiding them, will cost you for years and years. They do not go away UNTIL you solve them.
What’s holding you back? Figure out a way to solve it today. What skills do you need to learn? You get the picture.
If you are looking for a good resource on this subject, I highly recommend, “Increase Your Financial IQ, Get Smarter With Your Money“ by Robert Kiyosaki. I get absolutely nothing for referring this book to you, but I believe it will add value to your life. If you are serious about becoming a business owner or investor, you must read this book.
Cameron Long, CPA
www.PassionForGreatness.com
First, what is emotional intelligence? It is the ability to look fear and failure in the face and push forward in spite of them. It’s the ability to learn from your mistakes…and being willing to make mistakes in the first place. We are programmed in school to get “A’s” and always learn the “right” answer…the result is learning to fear failure! At the same time, we all know that the best professional baseball players only hit the ball 25-30% of the time. We know that an olympic athlete spends years training for one race, knowing that in the end only one person will come out the winner. It’s ironic to me that while the “real world” requires us to take chances, train in spite of the risks, swing even though we will most likely miss the ball, our educational system is set up to teach us to fear risk and failure. We are taught there is one answer to every problem…it’s called the “right” answer.
In reality, there are many solutions to every problem. If reality was determined by the current known “right answer”, we would never have ended up with airplanes, light bulbs, telephones, toasters…etc..etc…you get the picture. These are all examples of thinking of new solutions to an old problem.
In order to be wealthy, you have to learn to solve problems. Period! Spend your time developing your ability to solve problems, and you will succeed! Have you ever wondered why millionaires and billionaires can lose all their money, yet bounce back. They have developed their ability to find a need and fill it. That’s more important than all the money you could ever accumulate. There is never a shortage of problems, but there is a shortage of problem-solvers.
That takes emotional intelligence…and emotional intelligence is developed by solving small problems, at first…then, working up to bigger and bigger problems. This requires being willing to fail over and over, until you find a solution.
Warren Buffet says that if you can not control your emotions, you can not control your money. It is very important when living the life of an entrepreneur. When you get this, it means that you never point the finger at anyone else to excuse your failures. You never quit! You learn from your mistakes and figure out solutions.
If you are having trouble calling your prospective customers, join your local toast masters to gain confidence in speaking and learn to express yourself through speech. If you feel your sales skills are lacking, take sales training or get a job as a salesman to learn the skills necessary to succeed. Learning these skills will repay you for years and years…avoiding them, will cost you for years and years. They do not go away UNTIL you solve them.
What’s holding you back? Figure out a way to solve it today. What skills do you need to learn? You get the picture.
If you are looking for a good resource on this subject, I highly recommend, “Increase Your Financial IQ, Get Smarter With Your Money“ by Robert Kiyosaki. I get absolutely nothing for referring this book to you, but I believe it will add value to your life. If you are serious about becoming a business owner or investor, you must read this book.
Cameron Long, CPA
www.PassionForGreatness.com
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Debt Elimination Can Be Easy - Focus Is the Key!
My wife and I were both working good jobs in corporate America. After going through countless downsizing exercises, layoffs, restructures, etc., we came to the conclusion we were "renting our lifestyles". We had fallen prey to the trap that is being laid for every one of us each and every day. You know the ads, "Only $19.99 per month" or "No payments until June 2009". Every time you put yourself on another payment plan, you are literally adding another syphon hose into your bank account. We found ourselves with too many syphon hoses sucking the life out of our bank account. Each and every month, we were working just to pay these small payments. Every time we made a buying decision, we found ourselves conditioned to ask, "Can we afford the additional $20/month", instead of looking at the long-term effects those payments would have on our retirement and ultimate wealth.
It's this mentality that we all have to fight in our lives. If you don't, you will end up where we did...we found ourselves in a place that if we lost our jobs we would be in a world of hurt. Those payments were okay until/and unless we lost our jobs. The creditors would still want their money no matter what our employment situation!
That's when we realized what was causing the most stress in our lives! It wasn't that we didn't make enough money...it was that we were spending our days to pay all these creditors and making them rich. The balances never seemed to drop and we felt trapped! Ever feel that way? That's when we decided to eliminate debt from our lives. We actually developed a "hate" for bad debt (I'll write my opinions on good debt and bad debt another time). It was a transformation in our thought process and resulted in a dramatic change in our lives.
Fast forward 3 years later and we have successfully paid off all our debt. I can tell you the stress in our house is so much less than it ever was under the debt load. Every time we paid another debt off, we could literally feel the relief! If was like a huge weight was lifted!
We followed a very simple approach. I stuck all my debts in a spreadsheet. I tried to figure out which debts would pay off the quickest, so I divided the outstanding debt balance by the MINIMUM monthly payment required per the agreement. Then, I sorted these from lowest to highest to determine which one to focus on first. I wanted to add a small amount extra on that first debt, while continuing to make the MINIMUM monthly payments on all the others.
I did a budget and figured out how much money I could dedicate to paying towards the debt with the lowest result above. This amount was on top of the MINIMUM monthly payment. Once that debt was paid off, I would use the extra amount I originally agreed to pay towards the first debt, the MINIMUM monthly payment from the first debt(which is paid off now) and the MINIMUM monthly payment from the second debt to pay towards the second debt balance. This process continues until all my debts are paid off! You can see how quickly this process can work. I'm no genius, but this process made sense to me and it worked fast!!! Let me know if you have questions about it. Putting it down on paper makes it real and gives you a timeline of when it will actually happen. It is a very exciting process!
Once you get all your debt paid, you can start to give more and more to your church, community, family and just those around you in need.
So, what if you "don't" have any extra money to put towards your debt. I could write a list a mile long, but I'll just share a few of them below. If you absolutely find that you don't have extra income to apply to your debts, you may need to consider an extra job for a short time.
- Drink less soda each day
- Smoke less or quit
- Minimize gift giving, just through this process
- Eat at home, instead of eating out
- Take your lunch, instead of eating out
- Raise your insurance deductables
- Cut your cable bill, just through this process
- Cut your cell phone, just through this process
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. At first glance, you may think these seem like hardships. However, as your debt evaporates, you will not believe the sense of freedom and excitement that overcomes you! If you are serious about eliminating your debt...focus is the key. Most people, using this method or something similar, can pay off all their debt in 5-7 years (including their house).
I hope you found this quick blog helpful. Please post your comments and questions.
Cameron Long
http://www.passionforgreatness.com/
It's this mentality that we all have to fight in our lives. If you don't, you will end up where we did...we found ourselves in a place that if we lost our jobs we would be in a world of hurt. Those payments were okay until/and unless we lost our jobs. The creditors would still want their money no matter what our employment situation!
That's when we realized what was causing the most stress in our lives! It wasn't that we didn't make enough money...it was that we were spending our days to pay all these creditors and making them rich. The balances never seemed to drop and we felt trapped! Ever feel that way? That's when we decided to eliminate debt from our lives. We actually developed a "hate" for bad debt (I'll write my opinions on good debt and bad debt another time). It was a transformation in our thought process and resulted in a dramatic change in our lives.
Fast forward 3 years later and we have successfully paid off all our debt. I can tell you the stress in our house is so much less than it ever was under the debt load. Every time we paid another debt off, we could literally feel the relief! If was like a huge weight was lifted!
We followed a very simple approach. I stuck all my debts in a spreadsheet. I tried to figure out which debts would pay off the quickest, so I divided the outstanding debt balance by the MINIMUM monthly payment required per the agreement. Then, I sorted these from lowest to highest to determine which one to focus on first. I wanted to add a small amount extra on that first debt, while continuing to make the MINIMUM monthly payments on all the others.
I did a budget and figured out how much money I could dedicate to paying towards the debt with the lowest result above. This amount was on top of the MINIMUM monthly payment. Once that debt was paid off, I would use the extra amount I originally agreed to pay towards the first debt, the MINIMUM monthly payment from the first debt(which is paid off now) and the MINIMUM monthly payment from the second debt to pay towards the second debt balance. This process continues until all my debts are paid off! You can see how quickly this process can work. I'm no genius, but this process made sense to me and it worked fast!!! Let me know if you have questions about it. Putting it down on paper makes it real and gives you a timeline of when it will actually happen. It is a very exciting process!
Once you get all your debt paid, you can start to give more and more to your church, community, family and just those around you in need.
So, what if you "don't" have any extra money to put towards your debt. I could write a list a mile long, but I'll just share a few of them below. If you absolutely find that you don't have extra income to apply to your debts, you may need to consider an extra job for a short time.
- Drink less soda each day
- Smoke less or quit
- Minimize gift giving, just through this process
- Eat at home, instead of eating out
- Take your lunch, instead of eating out
- Raise your insurance deductables
- Cut your cable bill, just through this process
- Cut your cell phone, just through this process
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. At first glance, you may think these seem like hardships. However, as your debt evaporates, you will not believe the sense of freedom and excitement that overcomes you! If you are serious about eliminating your debt...focus is the key. Most people, using this method or something similar, can pay off all their debt in 5-7 years (including their house).
I hope you found this quick blog helpful. Please post your comments and questions.
Cameron Long
http://www.passionforgreatness.com/
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What Does It Take To Succeed Online?
That is one of the most asked questions I get on a daily basis. People want to know plain and simple...tell me what I need to know in order to succeed online. They know other people are having success, they know they have the skills and drive, but they just can't seem to build any real income online. Well, I'm going to give you my opinion of what it takes to be successful online.
First and foremost, it takes developing a winning mindset! I know, you thought I was going to say that you needed to pick the right company, product, system, etc...in my opinion that is important, but not as important as developing the right mindset.
The fallacy that plagues the internet is that you need to find the right leader or business to be successful. In fact, it's just the opposite. You need to BECOME the leader! How's that for a switch? One of the biggest lessons I've learned over the years in business is "Find a need and fill it". Never have I heard it said that to become successful you need to "be the problem" and find a leader to be the solution to your problem...yet that is how most people approach their online businesses. So, in order to be a success online, you need to find a problem that most people face online and be their solution! Be their leader!
So, what is the number one problem found on the internet today? People don't know how to become the leader and offer someone else a solution to their problem. They only know how to look at all the problems in their own business and focus on themselves. Guess what? If you focus on problems, you will get more problems. This takes us back to mindset. If you will make the mental shift and stop looking at your problems and start offering solutions to your prospects, your business will explode! It's true if you open a restaurant, a retail shop, a tanning salon, whatever. It doesn't matter what type of business you run. You must offer solutions to your customers or your business will fail. Online businesses are no different except, unlike a "brick-and-mortar" business, the online world is much more competitive. Every day, in all parts of the world, in every walk of life, there are new businesses entering the online market to compete for your customers.
So, how do you set yourself up to be the leader? The key is to brand yourself, not your business. As we said earlier, people are looking for a solution to their problem. What is the biggest problem online today? People are looking for a leader to help them develop a real income online. Someone they can trust and who can teach them the skills needed to grow and develop. Once you can show people that you are that person, the business or product that you are trying to sell or grow is irrelevant at that point. They will seek your leadership and look to join you in your business. If you try to sell your business or products first, which is what most people do, you will be rejected most of the time! People have seen all the businesses and products out there. While many of them are good, they are not the solution people are seeking. They are not looking for another soap, vitamin, mlm business, etc. First and foremost, they are looking for a leader who can once and for all teach them to generate money online!
So, how do you brand yourself? I have chosen to use a system called MLM Lead System PRO . It allows me to brand myself and positions me as a leader. I highly recommend you take a quick look at it. It is exactly how you will want to position yourself when you decide to finally achieve success online. Take the $1 test drive and soak in all the training. Take good notes and feel free to cancel before the 14-day trial is over. The key is to see and understand what it takes to brand yourself. You can accomplish it on your own by developing your own system, so I am not trying to push MLMLeadSystemPro on you. However, these guys have developed a very good system and I want you to see how ideally it should work. I chose to use their system simply because it is up and ready to roll. I didn't have to figure out all the technical stuff.
So what makes this system different? This is the only generic self-branding system I know of, which is why I use it. I get to help people in ANY business, not just my primary business. When I was promoting my company's website, I would get a few people, but never got to talk to the other 97% again! I know they were looking for help and a solution to their problem, but I was offering them my business and products. Once I started using MLM Lead System PRO I began helping all of my leads. This system offers priceless training...for free. So, even the prospects who decide not to use the system walk away enriched! For the first time ever, I was able to reach out to ALL my prospects and offer a solution to their problem. In the process, my team has grown in my primary business as well.
Ok, so I think I've covered this topic in detail. In my next post, I will cover additional tips on how to build a very large residual income online! Stay tuned!
Cameron Long, CPA
http://www.passionforgreatness.com/
First and foremost, it takes developing a winning mindset! I know, you thought I was going to say that you needed to pick the right company, product, system, etc...in my opinion that is important, but not as important as developing the right mindset.
The fallacy that plagues the internet is that you need to find the right leader or business to be successful. In fact, it's just the opposite. You need to BECOME the leader! How's that for a switch? One of the biggest lessons I've learned over the years in business is "Find a need and fill it". Never have I heard it said that to become successful you need to "be the problem" and find a leader to be the solution to your problem...yet that is how most people approach their online businesses. So, in order to be a success online, you need to find a problem that most people face online and be their solution! Be their leader!
So, what is the number one problem found on the internet today? People don't know how to become the leader and offer someone else a solution to their problem. They only know how to look at all the problems in their own business and focus on themselves. Guess what? If you focus on problems, you will get more problems. This takes us back to mindset. If you will make the mental shift and stop looking at your problems and start offering solutions to your prospects, your business will explode! It's true if you open a restaurant, a retail shop, a tanning salon, whatever. It doesn't matter what type of business you run. You must offer solutions to your customers or your business will fail. Online businesses are no different except, unlike a "brick-and-mortar" business, the online world is much more competitive. Every day, in all parts of the world, in every walk of life, there are new businesses entering the online market to compete for your customers.
So, how do you set yourself up to be the leader? The key is to brand yourself, not your business. As we said earlier, people are looking for a solution to their problem. What is the biggest problem online today? People are looking for a leader to help them develop a real income online. Someone they can trust and who can teach them the skills needed to grow and develop. Once you can show people that you are that person, the business or product that you are trying to sell or grow is irrelevant at that point. They will seek your leadership and look to join you in your business. If you try to sell your business or products first, which is what most people do, you will be rejected most of the time! People have seen all the businesses and products out there. While many of them are good, they are not the solution people are seeking. They are not looking for another soap, vitamin, mlm business, etc. First and foremost, they are looking for a leader who can once and for all teach them to generate money online!
So, how do you brand yourself? I have chosen to use a system called MLM Lead System PRO . It allows me to brand myself and positions me as a leader. I highly recommend you take a quick look at it. It is exactly how you will want to position yourself when you decide to finally achieve success online. Take the $1 test drive and soak in all the training. Take good notes and feel free to cancel before the 14-day trial is over. The key is to see and understand what it takes to brand yourself. You can accomplish it on your own by developing your own system, so I am not trying to push MLMLeadSystemPro on you. However, these guys have developed a very good system and I want you to see how ideally it should work. I chose to use their system simply because it is up and ready to roll. I didn't have to figure out all the technical stuff.
So what makes this system different? This is the only generic self-branding system I know of, which is why I use it. I get to help people in ANY business, not just my primary business. When I was promoting my company's website, I would get a few people, but never got to talk to the other 97% again! I know they were looking for help and a solution to their problem, but I was offering them my business and products. Once I started using MLM Lead System PRO I began helping all of my leads. This system offers priceless training...for free. So, even the prospects who decide not to use the system walk away enriched! For the first time ever, I was able to reach out to ALL my prospects and offer a solution to their problem. In the process, my team has grown in my primary business as well.
Ok, so I think I've covered this topic in detail. In my next post, I will cover additional tips on how to build a very large residual income online! Stay tuned!
Cameron Long, CPA
http://www.passionforgreatness.com/
Saturday, January 10, 2009
MUST Own Resources for Any Internet Entrepreneur
Starting a successful home based business requires a new set of skills unlike any other endeavor you could ever take on.
Of course, along with developing these skills, comes BIG MONEY!
Not only does it take courage, resourcefulness and unwavering persistence to succeed but you must also be willing to make some investments into your skill set as well. Investing in yourself and your skills is the BEST investment you could ever make. Better than investing in the stock market, real estate or commodities. Better than raising livestock, buying a Quiznos or even a gas station. When you invest in yourself, you are improving your own personal value in the marketplace, which is willing to pay you exactly what you are worth. Let me stress this. The market pays BIG money to those who possess high level skills and who are able to share those skills with others.
Alongside of your initial investment of start up capital to get your business started, there are certain tools and resources that are also highly CRITICAL to your success. From autoresponders to training courses to list builders, each of the below resources have been instrumental in the success I have been able to enjoy with my own Home Based Business.
No matter which business you are in, these tools will assist you greatly on your quest for success. I highly recommend a system that uses all of these resources all in one place and allows online marketers to brand themselves...easily. The creators of MLMLeadSystemPro offer a 14-day trial for only $1.00...that is FULL access to their entire system and training...for $1.00. Go through all the training, then cancel if you don't think the system will benefit your business...I took the test drive in Nov08 and generated 450 leads in the first 30 days for my primary business. Needless to say, I continued to use the system well past the 14-day trial, simply because it works!
Purchase one or all, - for every investment you make in yourself and your knowledge, if you are willing to implement the information and put forth the effort into your business, no matter what business you are building or product or service you are marketing, you will greatly benefit from the following tools.
Keep in mind that EVERY one of these tools, is also an Affliate Program, where you can earn money for marketing them as well. Make sure that if you want to get your services for FREE every month, that you sign up as an Affliate and keep records of all your Affliate Links for each. (Below, you will learn how to MAXIMIZE your Affiliate Income.)
Autoresponder
#1 - AWeber Autoresponder
An Autoresponder is simply a database of your leads and contacts that sends out pre-written messages to follow up, deepening your relationship and helping you make more sales.
Having a good autoresponder is critical to your success as it stores the list of people who opted in to your website. Without an Autoresponder, your online business would never survive.
If you are a CCPro Member, the CCPro System will automatically send follow ups to your leads and contacts, however, if you want the flexibility to customize your messages, broadcast to and monetize your list, this is a must have service.
Every top income earner in CCPro has this service, although you don't even have to be with CCPro to use Aweber.
Sign up for AWeber.
Training Courses#1 - Magnetic Sponsoring This course by Mike Dillard is considered to be the #1 Training Course in the Industry. Once you learn the strategies from Dillard's 7 Day Video Bootcamp & 65 page book, you will never look at your Home Based Business the same ever again. This course is for everyone, in any company.
HIGHLY RECOMMEDED#2 - Building on a Budget This course by Mike Dillard is for anyone who is looking to build their Home Based Business on the Internet, yet without spending thousands of dollars in paid advertising, pay per click or banner ads. In most cases, the resources that are listed are low cost, no cost, thus the name, Building on a Budget.
If you become a Carbon Copy Pro Member, these strategies and 20 others are included in your CCpro Back Office.
#3 - Black Belt Recruiting This course has 6 CDs & 40 Page Manual about learning the #1 Skill it takes to succeed in any Home Based Business - Recruiting. Included in this course is the best information in the Industry about prospecting, enrolling and every facet of these parts to your success. HIGHLY Recommended.
#4 - MLM Traffic Formula This Comprehensive Course covers everything from building a website complete with lead capture pages, offer pages and follow up autoresponders. It's THE Industry's #1 Guide for those wanting to build a Marketing Funnel from the ground up. If you become a Carbon Copy Pro Member, your CCpro Marketing System includes all that is discussed in MLMTF so that you don't have to create your own System.
#5 - Perry Marshalls Definitive Guide to Google Adwords This course is a must have for anyone who wants to take advantage of what Perry calls, "A raging river of business" (the internet) and for those who learn to position themselves in front of a hungry crowd of wanna be internet entrepreneurs. With just one read, you can driving traffic to your website within just minutes of setting up your own account.
List Builders
#1 - Viral URL
As an online marketer, you must get highly targeted traffic to your website.
You can use Google Adwords, Master SEO, Participate in Social Marketing, submit articles and press releases and set up a blog...or for FAST Traffic, with very little new skills that need to be learned, you can go with what we feel is the best list building service, Viral URL.
When I signed up for the Gold Membership at this site, I paid a one time fee and within just minutes, we were sending our first email broadcast to 3,000 other Online & Network Marketers.
By the end of the following day, I had generated 8 leads for my Primary Business (CarbonCopyPro), which doesn't sound like alot, but these were highly targeted prospects.
But here's the best part: You can mail 3,000 people, every 3 days, for the entire month. So...that's 30,000 Inboxes being hit with YOUR Email Message, promoting whatever you want.
PLUS, it allows you to "cloak" your urls's, which will help you keep more of your Affiliate Commissions. One of the worst ways to not get paid on your efforts, is to just send un"cloaked" urls to a Cold list. Once I learned how simple it is to do this, I will never send another URL without it being protected, as it could cost anyone thousands per year in commissions.
I can't even imagine how much we are going to make from just this one income stream alone. Truly amazing!
Sign up for Viral URL
#2 - List Joe
List Joe is like Viral URL. I use this service to reach even more MLMers and Online Marketers. Not only is this a great service, but you can earn a bunch of money every month with it by adding it to your list of Affliate Products you market.
Customized, Branded Attraction Marketing System - MLM Lead System Pro
When I first joined CCPro, I kept hearing about a way to monetize and maximize my marketing efforts, even if my leads and Applicants did not join CCPro with me.
At first, I just sent out random emails for the different services above, but after a while, it got too cumbersome to manage all of these different programs. So...I found out about a NEW online system that not only allows me to put all of these Affiliate Programs into one Sales / Marketing Funnel, but it also allows me to market my Primary Business as well!
It's called the MLM Lead System Pro and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this system to help you market ALL of the above Affiliate Links and Your Primary Business!
In just my first 30 days playing around with it, I've been able to generate 450 leads because of this System.
The key to using it correctly is to make sure your primary business is set up first and TEST it before you move to the MLM Lead System Pro.
When you buy your MLM Lead System Pro from the above link, you will be attached to my team and will get all the training & support that I provide to everyone attached to me.
+++++++++++++++++++
So this is my Resource list for now.
Make sure to check back to this page from time to time for updates as I find more quality tools and resources that will help you move your Home Based Business forward.
I am highly commited to your success and will teach you everything I know, if you have a huge desire to succeed, are willing to put forth the effort and stay coachable and teachable.
I am experiencing tremendous success in a very short period of time and want to see YOU succeed just as much.
Let me know how I can assist you.
Warm regards,
Cameron Long
*********************
Of course, along with developing these skills, comes BIG MONEY!
Not only does it take courage, resourcefulness and unwavering persistence to succeed but you must also be willing to make some investments into your skill set as well. Investing in yourself and your skills is the BEST investment you could ever make. Better than investing in the stock market, real estate or commodities. Better than raising livestock, buying a Quiznos or even a gas station. When you invest in yourself, you are improving your own personal value in the marketplace, which is willing to pay you exactly what you are worth. Let me stress this. The market pays BIG money to those who possess high level skills and who are able to share those skills with others.
Alongside of your initial investment of start up capital to get your business started, there are certain tools and resources that are also highly CRITICAL to your success. From autoresponders to training courses to list builders, each of the below resources have been instrumental in the success I have been able to enjoy with my own Home Based Business.
No matter which business you are in, these tools will assist you greatly on your quest for success. I highly recommend a system that uses all of these resources all in one place and allows online marketers to brand themselves...easily. The creators of MLMLeadSystemPro offer a 14-day trial for only $1.00...that is FULL access to their entire system and training...for $1.00. Go through all the training, then cancel if you don't think the system will benefit your business...I took the test drive in Nov08 and generated 450 leads in the first 30 days for my primary business. Needless to say, I continued to use the system well past the 14-day trial, simply because it works!
Purchase one or all, - for every investment you make in yourself and your knowledge, if you are willing to implement the information and put forth the effort into your business, no matter what business you are building or product or service you are marketing, you will greatly benefit from the following tools.
Keep in mind that EVERY one of these tools, is also an Affliate Program, where you can earn money for marketing them as well. Make sure that if you want to get your services for FREE every month, that you sign up as an Affliate and keep records of all your Affliate Links for each. (Below, you will learn how to MAXIMIZE your Affiliate Income.)
Autoresponder
#1 - AWeber Autoresponder
An Autoresponder is simply a database of your leads and contacts that sends out pre-written messages to follow up, deepening your relationship and helping you make more sales.
Having a good autoresponder is critical to your success as it stores the list of people who opted in to your website. Without an Autoresponder, your online business would never survive.
If you are a CCPro Member, the CCPro System will automatically send follow ups to your leads and contacts, however, if you want the flexibility to customize your messages, broadcast to and monetize your list, this is a must have service.
Every top income earner in CCPro has this service, although you don't even have to be with CCPro to use Aweber.
Sign up for AWeber.
Training Courses#1 - Magnetic Sponsoring This course by Mike Dillard is considered to be the #1 Training Course in the Industry. Once you learn the strategies from Dillard's 7 Day Video Bootcamp & 65 page book, you will never look at your Home Based Business the same ever again. This course is for everyone, in any company.
HIGHLY RECOMMEDED#2 - Building on a Budget This course by Mike Dillard is for anyone who is looking to build their Home Based Business on the Internet, yet without spending thousands of dollars in paid advertising, pay per click or banner ads. In most cases, the resources that are listed are low cost, no cost, thus the name, Building on a Budget.
If you become a Carbon Copy Pro Member, these strategies and 20 others are included in your CCpro Back Office.
#3 - Black Belt Recruiting This course has 6 CDs & 40 Page Manual about learning the #1 Skill it takes to succeed in any Home Based Business - Recruiting. Included in this course is the best information in the Industry about prospecting, enrolling and every facet of these parts to your success. HIGHLY Recommended.
#4 - MLM Traffic Formula This Comprehensive Course covers everything from building a website complete with lead capture pages, offer pages and follow up autoresponders. It's THE Industry's #1 Guide for those wanting to build a Marketing Funnel from the ground up. If you become a Carbon Copy Pro Member, your CCpro Marketing System includes all that is discussed in MLMTF so that you don't have to create your own System.
#5 - Perry Marshalls Definitive Guide to Google Adwords This course is a must have for anyone who wants to take advantage of what Perry calls, "A raging river of business" (the internet) and for those who learn to position themselves in front of a hungry crowd of wanna be internet entrepreneurs. With just one read, you can driving traffic to your website within just minutes of setting up your own account.
List Builders
#1 - Viral URL
As an online marketer, you must get highly targeted traffic to your website.
You can use Google Adwords, Master SEO, Participate in Social Marketing, submit articles and press releases and set up a blog...or for FAST Traffic, with very little new skills that need to be learned, you can go with what we feel is the best list building service, Viral URL.
When I signed up for the Gold Membership at this site, I paid a one time fee and within just minutes, we were sending our first email broadcast to 3,000 other Online & Network Marketers.
By the end of the following day, I had generated 8 leads for my Primary Business (CarbonCopyPro), which doesn't sound like alot, but these were highly targeted prospects.
But here's the best part: You can mail 3,000 people, every 3 days, for the entire month. So...that's 30,000 Inboxes being hit with YOUR Email Message, promoting whatever you want.
PLUS, it allows you to "cloak" your urls's, which will help you keep more of your Affiliate Commissions. One of the worst ways to not get paid on your efforts, is to just send un"cloaked" urls to a Cold list. Once I learned how simple it is to do this, I will never send another URL without it being protected, as it could cost anyone thousands per year in commissions.
I can't even imagine how much we are going to make from just this one income stream alone. Truly amazing!
Sign up for Viral URL
#2 - List Joe
List Joe is like Viral URL. I use this service to reach even more MLMers and Online Marketers. Not only is this a great service, but you can earn a bunch of money every month with it by adding it to your list of Affliate Products you market.
Customized, Branded Attraction Marketing System - MLM Lead System Pro
When I first joined CCPro, I kept hearing about a way to monetize and maximize my marketing efforts, even if my leads and Applicants did not join CCPro with me.
At first, I just sent out random emails for the different services above, but after a while, it got too cumbersome to manage all of these different programs. So...I found out about a NEW online system that not only allows me to put all of these Affiliate Programs into one Sales / Marketing Funnel, but it also allows me to market my Primary Business as well!
It's called the MLM Lead System Pro and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this system to help you market ALL of the above Affiliate Links and Your Primary Business!
In just my first 30 days playing around with it, I've been able to generate 450 leads because of this System.
The key to using it correctly is to make sure your primary business is set up first and TEST it before you move to the MLM Lead System Pro.
When you buy your MLM Lead System Pro from the above link, you will be attached to my team and will get all the training & support that I provide to everyone attached to me.
+++++++++++++++++++
So this is my Resource list for now.
Make sure to check back to this page from time to time for updates as I find more quality tools and resources that will help you move your Home Based Business forward.
I am highly commited to your success and will teach you everything I know, if you have a huge desire to succeed, are willing to put forth the effort and stay coachable and teachable.
I am experiencing tremendous success in a very short period of time and want to see YOU succeed just as much.
Let me know how I can assist you.
Warm regards,
Cameron Long
*********************
Hidden Success Secrets Revealed
As a Home Based Business Owner, learning to cut your losses is one of the top 3 hidden success secrets you'll ever experience on your way to big success.
Call it what you like - a success secret or a learning experience, either way, cutting your losses will free up your time, make you more money and give you true power to run your business.
These "losses" could be in the form of letting an unqualified prospect go, ending a useless relationship or even refunding a customer thousands of dollars before they even muster up the guts to ask for it.
"Why would you do that" you ask? You see, in the big picture of becoming successful, the whole world is watching and sometimes it's just going to be you. So how you operate, when nobody is looking, is what will determine your success of failure. And with "Time" being the most precious commodity, you must learn to protect, preserve and prioritize it, because you can always make more money...but you cannot make more time. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. And if you choose to squander it away by trying to convince someone that they should pursue an opportunity, or that they can be successful or that there is a great future for them by working with you, then you are not using your time wisely. You see, by letting the wrong people go, even if they are willing to pay to work with you, you are actually doing both yourself and the other person a favor. Holding on to someone or something that doesn't serve for the greater good of everyone, is truly a disservice, espeically when you spend time trying to sell someone on something that they don't want, don't need or can't afford. Remember, a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still. This is why positioning is so critical to your success.
You see, when your prospects find YOU, you are now looked at as the leader - the authority who can teach them how to have others find THEM! A perfect example of this is MLMLeadSystemPRO. When you learn to market online, others looking for a new or better way to make money will stop by your website. They will see your offer to help them get everything they are looking for and opt in to your site. They then learn all about what they will get in exchage for their money and decide if they want to move forward or not. If they do, it was their decision in the first place. They then get the value your product or service delivers and you get paid. You make money just for them taking a look at what you do and it was their decision all along - not yours.
This is called MARKETING and it's exactly how all the top earners do it over at Carbon Copy Pro. We've cut our losses by only speaking with those who are willing to fill out an application and move to the next step to learn more about our Company, Product & how CCPro is helping thousands of people to earn thousands of dollars every week working from their home computer and telephone. So, if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and fill out your own Carbon Copy Pro Application, click here. We'll speak as soon as your application gets processed and show you the System. I am looking forward to showing you the money with your own CCPro Business! Cameron Long**************
Cameron Long is currently taking Applications to mentor just a small handful of others to start living their own dreams and goals.
If you feel you have what it takes to become Self Employed, can follow a System and work well with others, head on over to the Application Page and fill it out.
Posted by Cameron Long
Call it what you like - a success secret or a learning experience, either way, cutting your losses will free up your time, make you more money and give you true power to run your business.
These "losses" could be in the form of letting an unqualified prospect go, ending a useless relationship or even refunding a customer thousands of dollars before they even muster up the guts to ask for it.
"Why would you do that" you ask? You see, in the big picture of becoming successful, the whole world is watching and sometimes it's just going to be you. So how you operate, when nobody is looking, is what will determine your success of failure. And with "Time" being the most precious commodity, you must learn to protect, preserve and prioritize it, because you can always make more money...but you cannot make more time. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. And if you choose to squander it away by trying to convince someone that they should pursue an opportunity, or that they can be successful or that there is a great future for them by working with you, then you are not using your time wisely. You see, by letting the wrong people go, even if they are willing to pay to work with you, you are actually doing both yourself and the other person a favor. Holding on to someone or something that doesn't serve for the greater good of everyone, is truly a disservice, espeically when you spend time trying to sell someone on something that they don't want, don't need or can't afford. Remember, a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still. This is why positioning is so critical to your success.
You see, when your prospects find YOU, you are now looked at as the leader - the authority who can teach them how to have others find THEM! A perfect example of this is MLMLeadSystemPRO. When you learn to market online, others looking for a new or better way to make money will stop by your website. They will see your offer to help them get everything they are looking for and opt in to your site. They then learn all about what they will get in exchage for their money and decide if they want to move forward or not. If they do, it was their decision in the first place. They then get the value your product or service delivers and you get paid. You make money just for them taking a look at what you do and it was their decision all along - not yours.
This is called MARKETING and it's exactly how all the top earners do it over at Carbon Copy Pro. We've cut our losses by only speaking with those who are willing to fill out an application and move to the next step to learn more about our Company, Product & how CCPro is helping thousands of people to earn thousands of dollars every week working from their home computer and telephone. So, if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and fill out your own Carbon Copy Pro Application, click here. We'll speak as soon as your application gets processed and show you the System. I am looking forward to showing you the money with your own CCPro Business! Cameron Long**************
Cameron Long is currently taking Applications to mentor just a small handful of others to start living their own dreams and goals.
If you feel you have what it takes to become Self Employed, can follow a System and work well with others, head on over to the Application Page and fill it out.
Posted by Cameron Long
Saturday, December 18, 2004
The single best retirement strategy - Dec. 17, 2004
This is a good article which suggests how to maximize your retirement strategy. In my opinion, the key is to pay off your debt, then invest, invest, invest. I will add some ideas on paying off debt over the next few weeks. Check back often for additional resources. Obviously, all of us want to retire comfortable. Together we can learn from each other and achieve our goals together. Feel free to add comments and any experiences that you think will be helpful to us all.
The single best retirement strategy - Dec. 17, 2004
The single best retirement strategy - Dec. 17, 2004
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