Truth and Lies About Creating Wealth

In today’s essay, I want to tell you the most important things I’ve learned about building wealth. I won’t tell them in detail… but I’ll tell you the principles. And I’ll tell you how you can get all the detailed information you need if you want to emulate my experience.

Don’t Believe These So-Called “Facts”

Let’s begin with some of the lies about creating wealth. At one time or another in my wealth-building career, I foolishly believed in the following so-called “facts”:

• Wealthy people are stingy for a reason. The secret to becoming wealthy is to scrimp and save.
• The stock market is the most efficient way to invest. You can’t become wealthy unless you understand and master the stock market.
• Geopolitics determines investment outcomes. You can’t become wealthy unless you understand politics and economics.
• The general public is always wrong about economic and financial trends. The fastest way to acquire wealth is to invest as a contrarian (i.e. against market sentiment).

Do any of these “truths” sound familiar? Have you been following any gurus who advocate these “facts”?

If so, pay attention. I’m not the only person in the world who went from broke to rich. There are many, many people who have done so. And some of those people have written books about it.

I don’t read all the popular books on wealth-building, because I feel comfortable with the system I follow myself, through my own experience. I don’t follow the advice of others, except when it dovetails with my own experience.

But that’s not to say that my system is the only system that works. Nor do I want to argue that it is the right system for you. All I can do is to report my own experiences to you as honestly as I possibly can.

You are my surrogate siblings. I want you to succeed. The only way I can help you is to tell you what I know to be true. And this is what I know – from my own experience – to be true about creating wealth:

Truth No. 1

You’ll never get rich unless you understand some fundamentals about saving, spending, and investing.

Truth No. 2

The single most important factor in avoiding the spending spiral that kills wealth is to stay in the house you have now. Nobody else that I know of has made this simple point. But I can tell you that it is true.

Truth No. 3

Stock investing (or even bond investing) is an inadequate strategy for building wealth. It won’t get you rich or make you wealthy, however much you wish it would.

Even Warren Buffett, the world’s most successful investor, knows this. His wealth has come not from being an individual investor but from being the principal of Berkshire Hathaway. Keep that thought in mind every time you hear his name quoted.

Truth No. 4

The single most important factor in wealth-building is the size of your investible income. Investible income is what you have left over each month after you’ve taken care of your lifestyle expenses.

Actually, that’s the second-most important factor in building wealth. The No. 1 strategy is acquiring equity in a startup business. There are many ways to do this. The most commonly talked-about ways are downright foolish. But there are smart ways to do this, even if you are a novice to business.

Truth No. 5

Investing in rental real estate is unique – it stands halfway between active income and passive income. Next to entrepreneurship, it provides the highest return you can get from any financial endeavor.

Truth No. 6

The biggest mistake retirees make is giving up their active incomes. I know that this is exactly what you hope to do some day. But I’m warning you, it’s a big mistake.

If you are already retired, you are probably hoping you can replace that income with passive investment strategies. I’m here to tell you that they won’t work.

To keep your wealth for a lifetime, you need multiple streams of passive income. Your goal should be to build each stream of income to a level at which you can live on that and that alone.

Do these statements make sense to you? If so, how are you doing?

My Mission to Help the “Not Yet Wealthy”

When I first started out in the financial services industry, many of my prospects said the same thing: “I feel like I’ve finally found a trustworthy source of advice, but I’m not a wealthy person. In fact, I am worried I don’t have enough money to follow the advice that I’m being given.”

The first time when someone made this point to me, I thought, “Boy, isn’t that the truth?” It is so difficult to create wealth when you are essentially broke and feeling burnt out by following so many of the “lies” I mentioned at the beginning of this essay.

But then I thought, “What the hell are you going to do about this, Ray? Will you write a condolence letter? Will you ignore this common issue? What can you do or say to help people in that situation?”

And that’s when I came up with the idea of the Seven Years to Seven Figures blog.

The goal was very simple: A program that could help my blog readers and clients generate a seven-figure net worth in seven years or fewer.

That seems like an impossible goal. But I assure you it’s not. I’ve seen motivated and driven individuals do it time and time again

If you are motivated and follow some of the tips and ideas in this blog, you too can build up your net worth in a relatively short amount of time.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the internet, and that will never change.

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…]

7 Steps to Establishing Yourself as an Expert and Industry Leader

Today, I'm going to cover my favorite advanced leadership mindset and marketing tips that I've learned over the years. These 7 steps will help you break the 6-figure and even 7-figure barriers in your business by establishing yourself as leader in your industry and niche market.

1) You Must Have Extreme Self-confidence

Your business is not only about selling your product. It’s also about attracting people who want everything you have to offer. Your business is YOU. It doesn’t matter if you run a shop on main street in your town or a website serving people from all over the globe, you must be confident that what you bring to the world is unique and different from everyone else offering similar products.

2) You Must Take Action and Implement What You Learn

This step is not nearly as much fun as thinking big, but it is just as essential. The most successful people in the world are action takers. They don’t think too much, they just get it done. If you’re struggling with implementing what you know, then set more deadlines in your business. If you already have deadlines, cut them in half. Be bold. If you have a product planned for release in 3 months, cut that back and set a deadline of 2 months. You’ll find a way to get it done and you’ll be one step closer to being a leader in your industry. Life rewards action.

3) You Can Never Be Satisfied

You can never rest or try to sustain status quo. As Dan Kennedy says, “You must be finding the replacement for the replacement.”

If you are a salesperson having a record year, you must still be looking into the future and planning for when sales aren’t as easy. You must continue to stay hungry and remain on top of the trends in your industry.

Likewise, if you’re an online information marketer, it doesn’t matter if you are getting 10,000 visitors per day to your site from Search Engine Optimization and affiliates, if you don’t keep coming up with new stuff, eventually your traffic will dwindle and your business will die.

Keep learning and networking, and never be satisfied as long as you remain in business.

4) Really Big Thinking – “Make no little plans”
This is my favorite step on the list. I just love to think big, and to plan and predict future opportunities for my business. It’s a great exercise to do on airplanes, because research shows we’re more creative when we get outside of our daily work environment – plus, it’s much more productive than watching a movie you’ve seen before.

When it comes to big thinking, always conceive and believe that you will achieve great plans. You must be sure of yourself that you will dominate your chosen niche. You must not be afraid to create bigger and bolder ideas everyday and always be looking for markets where you can charge top dollar, and bigger projects and products that will allow you to do so.

5) You Must Work on the Macro and Micro Components of Your Business

Everyone wants to be the “idea guy”, but if you want to succeed you have to force yourself to be good at ideas, follow through, and details. You need to have every aspect of copy, product creation, and lead generation in place if you want to create a 6-figure or 7-figure income.

6) You Must Develop Multiple, High-Value Skills

It’s not enough to be just a good speaker, or salesperson, or product creator. We need multiple skills. First we have to identify an opportunity, then generate leads, then build interest in our prospects, then persuade our prospects to become customers, and finally deliver extreme value and service. Don’t just stop when you’ve become good in one area of expertise.

You also need to develop the skill of learning how to say NO. Too many folks spread themselves too thin, so you have to decide what projects are right for you and will advance your business.

7) Always Focus on Strategic Associations

If you sit at home and think you can avoid seminars and mastermind groups yet still develop powerful affiliate and business relationships, you are sorely mistaken. You need to be at seminars, having conversations in the hallways and at the bar, meeting new people online and offline.

Listen, by nature I’m am not an introverted person. A bit shy, but not introverted. Approaching and introducing myself to a stranger is not always easy. But guess what? Of all the strangers I’ve introduced myself to at the dozens of conferences I’ve attended, not one of them has bit me. And many of them have become friends, and a few of them have become lifelong business partners.

So get out there. Go to seminars and events. Plan ahead and have a list of people to meet and questions to ask AND people that you can help. Never go empty handed or without a plan.

Follow those 7 steps to start building a serious business and you’ll soon join the ranks of leaders in your industry.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…
 

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Make Money From Your Life Story

To stand out, be recognized or even deserve a seat in the room, you need a good origin story. It’s what helps someone remember you after a brief interaction. Maybe it includes a little mystery to keep people intrigued to continue the conversation.

A carefully crafted legend will tell people who you are, why you’re uniquely qualified to be a part of their company, what you bring to the table, and maybe even how you plan to benefit from the relationship.

So let’s look at the essential structure of such a narrative…

A good origin story subconsciously communicates these three prerequisite qualities of a potential friend or advisor:

Competence: This should be obvious. Your potential customers, in response to your marketing, must be confident in your ability to help them. Colleagues must know that you can carry your own weight in the workplace.

Good character: Everything about your story must convey impeccable ethics. The things you do and don’t do or say and don’t say are a reflection of your honesty and ability to play fair.

Good will: Your story is the perfect vehicle for displaying empathy and understanding for the kind of customers and clients you wish to attract. Yes, you are of general high character, but there needs to be a special place in your heart that wants to see this specific type of individual succeed.

Your origin story should answer the question: Who are you? 

Your colleagues and prospects need a frame of reference. They need to know some basic facts about your background. And more importantly, they need sound reasons to believe you are the right person to be dispensing the kind of advice they’re looking for.

If you give them a litany of facts about your achievements, accreditation, experience etc., you may bore them or come off as boastful. But if you weave these facts into a satisfying personal story, you become a fascinating character that people will want to listen to and believe.

To develop your story, answer these questions:

• Are you a family man or woman?
• What were you like as a kid?
• What did your parents teach you?
• What did you learn from your first job?

Stay relevant to the needs of your prospects but stitch a half a dozen personal facts into your story. Of course, you will also include some facts about your professional qualifications.

• What specifically have you done lately that demonstrates you can solve a problem?
• What’s in it for YOU? Your prospects want to know your motivations.

It’s not enough for your story to demonstrate a certain skill set, level of experience, or expertise. It should not only be built around your victories.

If you try to portray yourself as a miracle man or woman, your prospects will have a great deal of trouble relating to you. It’s important that you share your struggles and the relevant lessons you learned, as well.

Sharing your suffering may be painful. It may make you feel vulnerable. But letting people see a little of your soft underbelly is essential to creating empathy and making a true connection with your target market.

Don’t forget to show people that you made hard choices in your life that demonstrate your ethics and integrity. Tell them about a time you were tempted to take an easy way out that threatened to compromise your values and why you rejected the temptation.

Here’s an outline to use as a guide:

At the beginning, you have an unfulfilled desire. An antagonistic force — another person, an institution, the forces of nature, or perhaps some aspect of your own personality stands in the way of your desire.

You muster the courage to step out of your comfort zone and begin searching for a way around this limitation.

You seek out a mentor. You try different tactics with your mentor. Some move you forward while others waste your time and test your resolve.

Chances are you are tested to the breaking point. Great sacrifices are made, until something borderline miraculous allows you to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Your story allows people to see that you know first hand what it’s like to want something so badly you can almost taste it. While at the same time you felt utterly frustrated in your efforts to get it.

So you are now here offering to help others with their thwarted desires. This shared feeling of disappointment is what creates a natural affinity between you and your market.

You’ve been where they are, you’ve felt their pain, but you found a cure and want to share it. That’s why you’re here. You really care about your colleague’s or prospect’s success. The money is secondary and your story proves it.

If you don’t have direct personal experience of frustration, explain how you felt the pain of someone close to you. Tell them how you helped this person find a solution to their problem. In this case, the person you helped becomes the protagonist of the story and you become the mentor.

Your origin story is a powerful targeting tool that serves to attract your ideal clientele. People tend to like people who are similar to them and who share the same core beliefs and values. So, if you tell your story in a way that illuminates your values it will act as a magnet. Some people will be attracted while others are repelled. And this is exactly what you want.

As they climb the relationship ladder, the probability of affinity increases and you don’t waste your time with people who are ill fitted for your practice. This might sound discriminatory. It is. But you are not a government agency. The more discriminating you are, the tighter the business bonds you will be able to create.

Such is the awesome practice-building power of a good origin story.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Escaping Ordinary to Achieve Freedom

When I was in elementary school, I always pictured the principal’s office to be this dangerous, dark and scary place where kids went in for the dreaded paddling.

I had a respectful fear of the principal.

Fortunately, I never actually visited his office. That respectful fear stayed with me through high school. Even now when I think back, I just get this image of an evil torturer standing in his dark dungeon… watching the endless line of kids entering into his kingdom. Just waiting to swat someone with his "Board of Education". Yikes!

As far as I can tell, those years helped me develop a healthy respectful fear of authority. And it stuck with me for a very long time.

Becoming a Brave Chicken

Over the years, that fear transformed into something a bit darker: disdain. That’s when the rebel in me was born. That’s when my subversive side started to show.

I didn’t get what was happening at the time, but I started to have a severe dislike for having a boss or people who where in positions of authority over me. I didn't like having people tell me what to do and when. I did not want my life controlled by others.

It wasn’t because of anything personal or anything that they did, it was just because of me.

My feelings had begun to bubble up to the surface. And it came out as disgust. I was becoming braver about confronting the status quo, but I was without a plan to do anything about it.

I guess you could say I was a brave chicken, if there is such a thing.

You see, I wasn’t brave enough yet to publicly state I was “breaking free,” but I was bold enough to take those actions in private.

I was the kid who was perfectly sweet when the teacher was looking, but as soon as they’d turn their back, I’d do anything I could to subvert their power.

The Personal Revolution Begins

When I was younger, I had no idea what freedom was all about. I had no idea where it was hiding. And I had no idea how to build it into my life.

To me, accepting the status quo meant accepting the authority of another (in this case, the thinking of another) over my own.

I had no idea what to do about it except to get disgusted. And I got very, very disgusted.

It was all bottled up of course. After all, I was a nice kid. My training was complete enough to allow me to suppress what I was really feeling and wear an outer persona much more acceptable to the people around me.

Eventually, I blew everything up and abandoned it all.

The management career… gone.

The great job right out of school… gone.

All of the connections I’d spent years building… gone.

All of the “potential” I had to pursue a life as a corporate whiz… kaput.

I got rid of all of it.

Gone in favor of something real. Something for me.

That’s the only thing I could think of doing in order to give myself a fighting chance of breaking free.

My acceptance of the status quo was too complete for the “slow and steady path.”

I needed a revolution, and I got one.

My Roadmap to Personal Freedom

I finally realized there was really only one path for me to tread. And that was a path of my own making.

This is easier said than done. Because it meant I had to redefine everything I knew about who I was and why I was here. I had to redefine:

The status quo regarding my family…

The status quo regarding my  work…

The status quo regarding my time management…

The status quo regarding my spiritual matters…

The status quo regarding how I view myself and the inherent value I bring to the world…

It was painful, turbulent and frightening. It was also the best thing I’ve ever done.

First, understand that personal freedom begins in your mind, body and soul and grows from that place.

It is an ideal that you cling to. And ideal that you build upon. Eventually, that internal fuel makes its way into the physical world.

The road to personal freedom and the escape from the status quo begins with waking up to each and every decision you make in your life.

This is a difficult habit to plant, in my experience. Years and years of shallow thinking have invaded most of our lives. We do things without really thinking about why we do them. We create entire lives for ourselves that are based on other people’s ideas and agendas.

Today is your opportunity to change that.

Today is your opportunity to break free from allowing the status quo to control you.

The truth is, it can’t control you unless you allow it.

The day you stop accepting the status quo is the day you start living your life.

You escape by understanding that you are on a journey worth taking.

Today is the day to escape.

You escape by understanding that the prize is worth a life.

You escape by understanding that you have been given a gift that is completely without measure: the ability to decide what direction you will travel today, tomorrow and the next day.

But I have to warn you, the journey probably won’t be easy. Especially at first.

There’s a middle ground, a limbo of sorts, where it feels like you’re out there all by yourself. It feels that way because you are all by yourself. For the time being anyway.

You are 4-5 steps away from the herd. They see you there, and they don’t like it.

That’s the time to persevere.

If you keep paddling, you’ll soon come upon another land. A better land if I might be so bold. This land is where all of the people live who have abandoned the status quo in search of something better–in search of something more fulfilling, more real.

They’re on a similar journey. And seeing them gives you great strength. It shows you that you are in very good company. The best company there is actually.

You are an independent being. You are free to make your choices and to take action on those choices. You are free to do this today, despite the best efforts of “the herd” to keep you in line.

What do you get in exchange for all of this trouble?

You get the life that is meant for you. And that, dear Reader, will make all the difference.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]

Read This or Go Broke

If there’s one thing that gets under my skin the most about most businesses it’s when these well-meaning owners, in poor judgment, decide to compete on price.

Absolutely insane!

Often times the ill logic is accompanied by statements like…

– “there’s four other businesses just like mine within five miles of me who charge less”

– “yeah but the economy in my area is different” 

– “people here have no money” 

– “there are two big box stores that charge less and I can’t compete with them” 

– “you don’t understand, my circumstances are different”

These are limiting beliefs of the lazy and undetermined.

When you compete on price, there’s always going to be a competitor that is willing to go broke before you.

The worst thing you can do in your business is get sucked into the “low price” battle with your competitors.

Doing so is the fastest way to go broke.

No one wins.

Not you.

Not your clients.

Not your competitors.

All it takes is three simple things to pre-condition your market that you’re different, better, and far superior than all other options available to them.

I’ll tell you what those three things are in just a moment.

See, people only shop on price when they’re uncertain and apprehensive about the service.

If your entire market knew without a shadow of a doubt that you’re the best option in town and that your programs, products, or services constantly and consistently produce happier customers – would you ever have to compete on price?

Think about all the times you’ve paid more than you normally would have for something because you were convinced that it was of higher quality and of better value.

People happily pay more for what they feel is of higher value and superior quality all the time. For example, you’ve probably paid more for:

Organic vs. traditional fruits and vegetables

Grass fed vs. corn fed beef

Free range vs. caged chicken and eggs

All-natural almond butter vs. national brand peanut butter

BMW and Mercedes vs. Ford, Chevy, or Toyota

MAC vs. Maybelline

Rolex vs. Nixon

Gray Goose vs. Absolute

So what do MAC, Rolex, BMW, organic, natural, free range, Mercedes, grass fed and Gray Goose all have in common?

They are recognized as best in class.

Price is never a factor when buying these products and brands.

They’ve become competition proof and are in “a category of one”.

Fortunately, you can do this with your personal training or boot camp programs, too.

You can (and should) convince your market that you are their only real choice as it relates to your industry.

Eliminating apprehension and uncertainty within a prospect comes down to pre-conditioning prospects.

Pre-conditioning simply means being known for something… or in this case for a few things, such as…

…establishing your image

…building up your reputation

…creating credibility, trust, and authority

Pre-conditioned prospects come to you pre-qualified, ready to buy, and with little or no resistance. There are many ways to pre-condition your market, and here are three of them.

1. Publish case studies.

Case studies can be done on your website and blog, in print, and in emails.

Case studies are success stories that you share with your prospects showcasing how happy one of your clients was after purchasing your products or services.

The best case studies are not “pitch” driven but are story driven where you demonstrate how your product or service was the solution to your client’s biggest frustrations.

2. Demonstrate social proof.

Include testimonials in video, print, along with before and after picture in ALL of your marketing material…

… on your website, postcards, framed on the walls of your facility, in print ads and even on your business cards.

And not just one or two testimonials, either… but a near endless array of success stories and social proof so that anyone who sees your site, ads, and other marketing material can easily see that you repeatedly create happy customers.

3. Send a “Shock and awe” package.

Send an unexpected and meaningful gift when someone joins your program.

Price, cost, money should never be the deciding factor whether or not a prospect will become a client or not.

As Dan Kennedy once wrote, “The rules remain: If you want money, it’s a good idea to place yourself where there is plenty – and if you present someone with the ability to spend something they very much want or need, and secure their trust, they’ll hand you their money. You need to create your own economy via relationship with a “prime herd” that is not affected by overall economy. Be careful of devoting excess attention to product or media or technology, and not enough to ‘prime herd’. Ultimately the financial facts of your life will be more governed by who you sell to and the nature of the relationship you have with them.”

It all starts with pre-conditioning your prospect to understand that you are the premium option in your industry. Do that, and selling will become easier without resorting to cutting prices.

Don’t compete on price.

Don’t be willing to go broke.

You’re worth so much more.$

[Ed. Note. Ray Buckner is dedicated to helping you take control of your financial future with a web-based business that you can operate from anywhere in the world – including a coffee shop, your kitchen table, or anywhere around the world where there is Internet access. Discover how you can achieve the American Dream and your financial independence here. You’ve never seen anything like this before.]