Is “Working For Yourself” The Only Way To Get Rich?

“Keep moving. Slower or faster does not matter as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

Contrary to popular mythology, most self-employed business owners are not getting rich. In fact, the average income of small-business owners is virtually the same as that of employees. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Policy Guide, both workers and employees make a median income of $33,000.That’s the most common income of both groups, but it doesn’’t tell the whole story. If you want to know who is making the big bucks – who, for example, is bringing home more than $100,000 a year – the answer is clear: It’s the self-employed.

Also, people who employ themselves are more likely than their wage-earning counterparts to move up and down the income scale. When the economy is strong, entrepreneurial earnings go up faster. During recessions, they take a bigger financial hit.

Risk varies for entrepreneurs depending on where they begin.

If you are in the bottom 20% of wage earners, starting your own business will probably give you a higher average income than the fellow workers you left behind. If you leave a high-paying job ($60,000 plus), chances are you will end up earning less as a self-employed businessperson than you would sticking with the 9 to 5.

Note: This last statistic doesn’’t belie what I said before about there being more high-income entrepreneurs than employees.

What does all this mean? Simply this: Quitting your job and going it alone is no guarantee of riches. Most entrepreneurs do no better than employees when it comes to earnings.

The decision to keep a job or go out on your own should be about psychological preferences, not financial ones. You can get rich – or at least achieve financial independence – either way. The trick is to develop a financially valuable skill, to use it to achieve a higher-than-average income, to save a good portion of that extra income, and to invest wisely.

In future messages, we'’ll talk more about what “investing wisely” means. Today, spend a few minutes considering the more fundamental question: Are you happier as an employee or an entrepreneur? Think about whether it’s more important to you to work on your own or with others … to have a sense of structure or to enjoy a sense of freedom … to have a boss or be one … etc.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both of these work styles. So think about it carefully. It’’s a very important consideration.$

[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!]

Buying and Selling Local Rental Properties

“If you fall, pick something up while you’re down there.” – New England proverb

It seems to me that there are two big secrets in making rental real estate work for you. One has to do with the old “location/location/location” axiom. The other is about the condition of the property you buy.

Let’s start with some rules, keeping in mind that rules are made to be followed until you understand the principles behind them.

1. Buy properties in your local area.

To be a successful investor, you have to know what you are doing. And if you have been living where you are living for any number of years, you already have more knowledge about local real estate than you think. You already have a clear idea of the good neighborhoods, the not-so-good ones, and the ones you need to stay out of. You may have developed a feeling for the up-and-comers. By staying in your local area, you give yourself the chance to really know the market. And this is the most important factor in limiting your risk and increasing your chances for profits.

2. Invest in good or up-and-coming properties.

I can tell you from experience that the old saying about the three rules of real estate being “location, location, location” is true. But there are two kinds of good locations: those that are already established as good and those that are on their way to becoming good. You can make good money with both.

Here’s how …

* In good neighborhoods, buy the least-expensive property you can find. That way, any money you spend fixing it up (if you fix it up wisely) will bring you double or triple your invested dollars. When you buy a poor piece of property in a good neighborhood, you get the benefit of the neighborhood to lift your selling price once the property looks acceptable. Of course, it’s not easy to get the least-expensive piece of property in such a good neighborhood cheap. Most of the time, the property owner realizes what’s going on. But with really dilapidated homes, and sometimes with owner-sold properties, you can get a real bargain.

A quick example: A couple of months ago, I brought a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment in my hometown for $62,000 and rented it out for $1,000 a month. That’s a very good deal, even after considering the three grand I spent fixing it up.

* In up-and-coming neighborhoods, buy properties in clusters — either by yourself or with a consortium of buyers. That way, when you all renovate, you will upgrade the look of the area you are in — and this will bring up prices, sometimes even more than you’d guess.

* Whenever possible, buy newer, solid structures. There’s nothing worse than managing a rundown building. The tenants complain. They are reluctant to pay the rent. They treat you like a crook. It’s bad. Be extra careful about the critical and costly things. Don’t buy any property that has major problems — a bad roof, rotten plumbing, or burned-out electrical. The cost will eat up any profit you can make.

* Develop a network of reliable contractors: a plumber, an electrician, an A/C guy, a painter, a landscaper, and — most important — an inexpensive handyman.

As in so many businesses, real estate is all about buying right. If you get a property for a good price and don’t over-invest in fixing it up, you’ll be 95% certain to do well in the long run.

My own very general guideline on buying rental properties is never to buy a property if the total cost (sales price plus fix-up expenses) exceeds nine times the rent. Usually, I try to do — and do — better than that, though that’s not easy in good and up-and-coming markets, where there is a lot of sophisticated competition vying for limited properties.

Say, for example, you found a building that could be bought for $90,000. And say it would require $10,000 to bring it up to where you want it. (Where you want it is in a condition that will enable you to get a decent rent and keep your tenants from complaining because things are breaking all the time.) That’s $100,000 total.

In such a situation, following my rules, you’d want your total monthly rents to be $11,000 or more.

Say you could get $11,500. Here’s how it would look, from an investment perspective, if you paid for everything in cash: Your total investment would be $100,000, and your net cash flow, after paying property taxes (say $1,000 a year) and upkeep (say $1,500 a year), would be $9,000. That’s a 9% return on your money.

That’s a pretty good deal if you believe, as I do, that real estate is safer than stocks.

But that’s not the whole story. If you buy right and in the right location, you’ll get a very significant appreciation in the property value. This can vary widely. Historically, it’s about 4% to 5% — which would give you a total cash return of about 13% to 14%.

But that’s just the average. If you know what you are doing, you can do much better than that. A rental property I bought three years ago for $195,000 just sold for $395,000. My return on investment (ROI) was astronomical.

If you finance rental property, the ROI is sometimes even better. In a future SYTSF, I’ll tell you more about that.

But I think you understand the point. Owning rental properties — if you own good ones (which means better tenants and fewer complaints) — can be a very manageable way to make a lot of extra money on the side, while you are working for someone else or running your own business.

Of all the things I’ve done “on the side,” rental real estate has definitely been among the very best.

Piece by piece, I put together what has turned out to be a very nice collection of properties. Their rental fees have been good, and, because I never quit my day job, I’ve been able to use those rents not only to pay down my mortgages but also to buy other properties.

It has been a painless experience for the most part. And a profitable one. In what seems (in retrospect) like no time at all, I’ve acquired enough income from my real-estate rental property to retire on. That is — if I believe in retiring.

If you want to get going, you’ll need a lot more information than I’ve given you here. Fortunately, there are reams of advice about real estate at your local library and online. While you learning, go out and get to know your local market. Saturday mornings, take a walk or bike ride. Start looking at those ubiquitous home-sale catalogs. Talk to a few brokers.

Don’t buy anything this weekend. Just look around and get familiar with the your local market. Take your time. Have some fun. Acquiring a good feeling for local property values is one of those skills that only experience can teach you.$

[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!]

How To Double Your Wealth Building Power

““I can’t say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.”” – Daniel Boone

There is nothing more critical to your success than the choices you make about the people you work with.

Ask any honest businessman what accounts for his success and you will hear names dropping. No matter what career you choose – even something as solitary as being a writer – it requires the assistance and guidance of superlative people.

Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player who ever lived. But would he have that reputation without Scottie Pippen? Or Phil Jackson? Or even Dennis Rodman?

T.S. Eliott is probably the most celebrated modern poet. His best poem, The Wasteland, would have been a shell of what it turned into without the editing of Ezra Pound.

In the world of wealth, the importance of excellent help is sometimes beclouded. Everyone knows about Warren Buffet, but few have heard of Benjamin Graham. Bill Gates is synonymous with Microsoft, yet Paul Allen was – by most inside accounts – equally responsible for its success.

Every successful businessman I know relies on one or several supporting performers. Those who rely only on themselves may have brilliant moments, but they seldom succeed in the long run.

It will be no different for you. The better your support group the further and faster you will go.

Finding your own Phil Jackson

So how do you get great people to work for you? How do you find a superstar protégé? How do you snag that rare person who can help you grow and improve your company? How do you find someone capable of doing what you do . . . when you don’t want to do it any more?

These are questions you should start thinking about today.

I should point out that your “support group” extends beyond key employees. It can also include certain vendors and advisors…certainly any partners…bankers, lawyers and so on.

Step One: Demand the Best

This is an important subject we will talk a great deal about in the future. For today, lets start with the obvious.

In order to get great people to work for you it is necessary to reject anyone who is less than great.

Getting an excellent supporter means everything will be easier. She will learn your secrets faster than you can explain them. She will take on any challenge. She will figure out solutions before she tells you problems. And most importantly, she will share your enthusiasm (maybe exceed it) and vision.

Right now I am lucky enough to be working with three superstars. Each is single-handedly running a business whose revenues, combined, exceed $30 million.. That’s a lot of business to feel good about.

In addition to the three superstars my partners and I rely on, we are in the process of grooming about six more. When (and if) they are fully fledged, I could (theoretically) kick back and cut coupons.

Step Two: Search and Cull. Search and Cull.

Getting a great person behind you is a simple three-step process.

1. Find someone as good or better than you.

2. Cut him in on your future.

3. Teach him everything you know.

Superstars, like good spouses, are few and far between. The good ones are previously engaged. Those who are available are usually defective. (If you don’t know when you hire them, you’ll find out soon enough.)

When you meet someone who seems great, don’t let him pass you by.

The Time to Start is Now

It doesn’t matter where you are on that ladder of success. You should be looking for (and educating) proteges right now.

You should have superstars helping you out in every facet of your career: strategic planning, marketing, product development and so on. When your future is at stake, there is no room for mediocrity.

Start by identifying the key functions you need to meet your goals. And then identify who you are now using (or thinking of using) for that role. Ask yourself honestly, “Is he/she really great?”

If not, resolve to replace him/her.

You can get the process moving today by making up a cut list. It should contain no more than a dozen names,– the most important names in your career. After the list is done, indicate next to each name whether you consider him/her to be adequate, quite good or excellent.

Do this carefully and truthfully. And then think about how much better things could be if you replaced all the “okay” people with great ones.$

[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!]

Can You Create Another Income Stream as a Consultant?

If you possess valuable knowledge and experience, you might be able to share it – and get paid for it – as a consultant. This could be a lucrative sideline to your current business or career. Consultants are well compensated – as much as hundreds of dollars per hour.

The word “consulting” might call to mind an image of a huge multinational firm sending teams of dozens of its staffers into Fortune 500 corporations. But many consultants have solo practices. Anyone who can help companies (or individuals) solve problems, avoid mistakes, or increase revenues deserves the title.

Companies often need expertise that isn’t available in house. For example, to handle a project for which they don’t want to hire a full-time employee. Or to offer a fresh approach to a problem.

Executives and entrepreneurs I've spoken to told me that the consultants they hire must have experience specific to the company’s needs, that they must be practitioners and not theorists, and that they must be able to supply direction and specific, useable answers.

Can you diversify into consulting? Quite possibly. Are you good at what you do, and do you have the ability and the enthusiasm to communicate your knowledge and skills?

Think about what sort of information and advice and intelligence you’re capable of offering, its value, what you could charge, how to identify prospective clients and persuade them to hire you.

Whom do you know who might be interested? Your employer? Clients? Contacts? Could you write an article or give a talk that demonstrates your expertise for an audience of qualified prospects?

Establishing your reputation, networking, and marketing are the keys to building a successful consulting practice. No one would claim that it can be achieved overnight. But I did it – and so have many others.$

[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!]

Buying Investment Real Estate: Knowing When the Price is Right

“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” – Rosalynn Carter

To scout for potentially profitable real-estate deals, begin by looking at the actual sales prices in the neighborhood you’re targeting. Your local tax assessor’s office should have this information, and it’s usually available online. Once you get the info, it simply becomes a matter of organizing and making sense of it. Here’s how to do that …

Make a list of a dozen recently sold properties, along with the square footage and selling price of each. By dividing square footage into the sale price, you come up with a price per square foot for each home. You then average those to come up with an average square foot price for the neighborhood. This immediately gives you a benchmark.  The first step to judge a deal is to see if your mortgage payments on a property — plus taxes, insurance, and maintenance — are more than covered by the rental value of the property. If that’s the case, given the average sales price per square foot in your neighborhood, there should be many potentially profitable properties to choose from.

To get an extra-sweet deal, try to buy 10% below the benchmark number in a normal, gradually rising market. And try to buy at least 5% below the benchmark number in a fast-rising market (assuming the rental yield is right).

If you’re in a market that’s soaring, however, it may be next to impossible to buy at 10% below the average sales price. In that case, a 5% discount may be a more reasonable goal. And if your market’s moving so fast that you find it difficult to buy even at the average sales price (since the average is constantly moving up at a rapid clip), that may be a sign of a bubble brewing. In that case, it will be all the more important to make sure you don’t buy a bubble property but instead have a large margin of safety in the form of a big rental yield.

In all cases, you want to be very thorough and careful when you put your money down on a house. But you want to be extra careful when prices are soaring. You don’t want to chase a fad or try to get in on the “easy money” by paying the latest price just because you’re convinced prices will continue to soar. To use two metaphors that are particularly appropriate for real estate: You’ve got to keep it real and keep your feet on the ground.

With residential real estate, rental values depend mostly on location, number of bedrooms, and size. And when you’re looking at properties that are all in the same general area, these numbers should give you a good yardstick you can use to quickly estimate the rent you might receive on any property you buy in that neighborhood.

All other factors being equal, a 1,250-square-foot, 2-bedroom house will get a higher rent than a 1,000-square-foot, 2-bedroom house. But it’s not likely to be 25% higher just because the square footage is 25% higher. It might only be 5% or 10% more. Similarly, a 3-bedroom house is not likely to get 50% more rent than an otherwise-identical 2-bedroom house. Even though there are 50% more bedrooms, the rental value may only be 20% more.

By analyzing a dozen properties for rent in your neighborhood, you’ll quickly develop a sense for what any given property could rent for. And if the property you’re looking to buy currently has tenants, your task is easier. There’s an established rental value on the property — the amount the tenants are currently paying.

Once you’ve figured the monthly rental value of your target property, multiply that number by 12. That would be your gross annual rental income. Divide that number by the asking price, and voila! You have the gross yield you’d get if you were to pay the asking price.

Now, you’re going to use yield to figure out the maximum price you’d be willing to pay. I suggest you shoot for a minimum gross yield of 12%. Get that, and you should be able to realize a net yield (net rent after mortgage, taxes, insurance, vacancy, maintenance, and all costs) of 6% to 9%, depending on the property’s condition and whether or not you manage it yourself.

To figure how much you’d pay to end up with a particular gross yield, simply divide the annual rental income by that yield. So, let’s say you’re looking at a house with a $1,200 monthly rental value. That’s the same as an annual rental value of $14,400. So, if you want a 12% yield as a minimum, you can pay no more than $120,000 for that property ($14,400/0.12 = $120,000).

It’s that simple.

To sum up, there are two principal reasons that having the right rental income is so important. First, it can add substantially to your total profits. Second, it gives you the all-important margin of safety. If you have to hold onto the property longer than you had planned, for whatever reason, you won’t be hemorrhaging big bucks in the meantime. Instead, you’ll be making a steady income that will grow over time.

And here’s another huge bonus when you get the rental yield right: You don’t waste time having real-estate agents drag you through properties that aren’t close to being a deal! That in itself can be worth a small fortune to you in time saved.$

[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!]

Don’t Trick Your Prospects: A Marketing Lesson From the Movies

The purpose of a great headline is to get your readers’ attention. And the purpose of the remainder of your sales letter is to get your readers to buy your product or service.

But if there is a disconnect between what the copy promises and what the product delivers, you’re going to have dissatisfied customers who feel betrayed.

Result: You end up spinning your business’s wheels, trying to constantly replenish your customer base. You’re losing them out the side door as fast as you’re bringing them in the front.

A few years ago, I read an interesting article in The New York Times about something similar that happens in the movie business. David Pogue wrote about how excited he was when he saw a trailer for the film National Treasure… but very disappointed when he saw the film and it bore little resemblance to the trailer.

Shortly after saying something to that effect in the paper, Pogue received a surprisingly candid note from the film’s director, Jon Turteltaub.

Turteltaub explained that the trailers are often put together LONG before the movie’s final edits. In fact, they’re sometimes finalized when filming is barely half complete. That means there’s a good chance for the more-than-occasional disconnect.

But that’s only the unintended consequence. Turteltaub hinted that sometimes darker forces are at work.

“For me,” said Turteltaub, “the biggest problem that comes up is when the trailers and TV spots don’t reflect the essence of the movie they are selling. You see that a LOT. The studio often feels that the movie they made isn’t a movie they can sell… so they sell it as a different movie. That can help fill seats on opening weekend, but it usually backfires. Personally, I think that’s what happened with Sweeney Todd. Perhaps they didn’t want anyone to know it was bloody, gory, and a musical. So they hid that. What happens is that the wrong audience sees the movie on opening weekend, and the word of mouth is all wrong. Great movies can get lost because of this.”

Here’s the lesson: If you find out late that your product isn’t going to appeal to your market, don’t be tempted to just put a new spin on the advertising. You’ve got to do the hard work of making the product fulfill your prospect’s needs, as you promised in your promotion.$

[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!]

Seven Years to Seven Figures: Who Makes The Big Money?

You can live very well, and even become financially independent, by earning between $100,000 and $150,000 a year. So, how do you boost your income to that level? According to a CNN/Money series titled “Who Gets Paid Six Figures?”, the best-paid workers in the U.S. are CEOs of profitable businesses. No surprise there. Top business leaders enjoy a median base salary of $528,000 (according to Salary.com.).

Next on the mega-income ladder are surgeons. Orthopedic surgeons make about $290,000, while their heart-bypassing counterparts bring in $250,000. Anesthesiologists make more than most people think, typically in the $230,000 range. Working your way up the corporate ladder to become CEO takes years and years of work, not to mention talent.

And chances are you’re not about to start on a medical career at this point in your life. But, as the CNN series pointed out, there are many other ways to earn a $100,000+ living — professions that not only are easier to get into and master but also may be more appealing to you. For example: General Merchandise Manager If you have a good deal of experience in buying retail goods and you know how to keep inventories down and merchandise flowing, you can make $100,000 or more working for a top retailer.

Hair/Makeup Artist for Advertising and Film

If you’ve mastered your trade at the salon, you may be able to jump up to this higher-paying and more glamorous calling. “As a freelance hair and makeup artist in commercial advertising,” says Jon Luca, CEO of Artist Untied (an agency representing stylists, makeup artists, and prop designers), “you can make a pretty penny if you’re good at your art. With each job you get, you build your Rolodex of photographers and your reputation among commercial directors.”

Retail Home Furnishings Consultant

You don’t need a degree in architecture or design to make a good living helping people beautify their homes. The trick is to learn what kind of decor the wealthy people in your area like and then specialize in that type of design. Make the trend your friend. Find out what’s hot, determine where you can buy it inexpensively, and set yourself up in business.

Fitting Model

If you fit perfectly into one of the standard fashion-industry sizes — plus, petite, and big-and-tall included — you can make good money working as a showroom fitting model with a clothing company or clothes designer. You don’t need perfect cheekbones to find this kind of work, but you do have to be attractive and well-groomed “The most successful fitting models,” says Susan Levine, owner of Model Service Agency, LLC, “know how different fabrics behave and are very knowledgeable about the line they’re modeling.”

Court Reporters

Top court reporters can make up to $88,000 working for the New York State Supreme Court. On top of that, they make money on transcripts. That brings their overall compensation to more than $100,000. The transcript rate in New York ranges between $2.50 and $4.30 a page. Six hours of testimony works out to about 250 pages. In terms of initial training, you’ll need between two and four years of education.

Broadcast Captioners

Broadcast captioners are the people who write the real-time subtitles on live television programs that are used by hearing-impaired and foreign-language viewers. According to Kathy DiLorenzo, director for VITAC, a captioning company, they typically earn $50 to $100 for every programing hour they caption. To make over a hundred grand a year at $50 an hour, you’d have to caption 40 hours of programs a week.

Video-Game Artist

Computerized visuals are created by artists who work in conjunction with designers, programers, engineers, and producers to create the amazing effects seen on modern video games. The job of the artist is to understand the game concept and convert it into computer art. While many have degrees, many don’t “You need to be talented before you’re educated,” says Robin McShaffry, director for Mary-Margaret.com.

Perfumer

For this highly paid profession, all you need is a good nose. Perfumers typically work for fragrance houses, developing aroma formulas for everything from perfumes and shampoos to candles and furniture polish. “Creating the right scent is 50% art and 50% science,” says Ken Lesenko, a fragrance-industry veteran at KWL Research Associates. “The science involves creating a formula that won’t taint the client’s unfragranced base in terms of viscosity or color, for instance,” Lesenko says. “The art part is like creating music.”

Then, of course, there are these lucrative careers that I routinely recommend:

Advertising Copywriter

In this position, you write the words that persuade potential customers to purchase products or services. You are essentially a salesperson — but instead of talking to just one customer at a time, you are communicating with many. Imagine how much a salesman would be worth if he could convince tens of thousands of people at one time to whip out their credit cards and BUY!

Graphic Designer

People who have a skill for graphic design and development are always in high demand. Effective graphics — in advertising and packaging — can have a huge impact on the sales of a product. The designers are compensated accordingly. Professional Travel Writer How would you like to take a first-class trip to Cancun, where you and your spouse would be wined and dined over a long weekend at a new luxury hotel? Or would you be more enticed by a rafting expedition down the Amazon in Ecuador’s rainforest? By taking up travel writing as a side business, you may not make huge money, but you will enjoy many of the perks of a millionaire lifestyle — at absolutely no cost to you. .

Resume-Writing and Career-Counseling Specialist

Statistics show that at any given time 57% of the roughly 80 million American workers are looking to change a career, go for a raise, or take on a better position. Another 5.8 million people are either on unemployment or trying to find a job for the first time. That means there are a lot of potential customers for anyone who can create effective resumes and/or provide professional career-counseling services. As a resume writer and career-counseling specialist, you could establish a part-time or full-time home business that earns you anywhere from $15,000 to $150,000 a year.

Direct-Marketing Entrepreneur

You can earn $75,000 to more than $1 million a year in your own direct-response business. What does it take to get started? I estimate somewhere between 200 and 400 hours of your time over a 12-month period — only 4 to 8 hours a week. Just stop watching TV and you’ll have all the time you need.

Professional Consultant

The old saying “Those who can’t do, teach” is a bunch of bull. In business, it’s more like “Those who want to get rich, teach.” The trick is to pick out one business skill that you are good at and become THE authority on that specialty. You can then market yourself as an expert consultant. This will not only get you out of the trenches, it will also likely double your income.

Real-Estate Investor

Get started as a part-time real-estate investor by buying and selling rental properties or by buying them and renting them out. Choose properties in a local area that you’re familiar with. Buy the least-expensive fixer-uppers in good or up-and-coming neighborhoods. Flip pre-construction properties in booming areas. You may not become the next Donald Trump, but you will quickly develop a high-dollar second stream of income.

There are dozens of additional ways to make good money — even six-figure money — in a career that excites you, allows you to work from almost anywhere, and provides you with a substantial amount of control over your future. The important thing is to know that you are not bound by your current job.

You don’t have to spend the rest of your working life answering to the same boss, dealing with the same clients, working in the same place, making the same commute, and earning what you earn now. You can make a change — a dramatic change — and, in a relatively short time, be enjoying a new and completely rewarding career.$

[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!]

Investing in Your Own Business

Previously, I urged you to resolve to increase your family income by between 10% and 25% in the new year. The way you are going to do that is by developing a financially valuable skill — selling, marketing, or profit producing. That resolution, by the way, applies even if you are employed by your own company. Having your own business is a good thing — but unless you make yourself more valuable to it each year, there will come a time when your business will outgrow you.

So, whether you work for yourself or someone else, you are going to make more money this year by helping that business become more profitable. Today, we are going to make an entirely separate resolution. Today, we are going to focus on the business’s income, not your own.

Today, you are going to promise to do one of two things: Increase the profits of the business you own. Start a business and make it profitable. Having your own business is not the only way to get rich, but it is — far and away — the most reliable way. And it’s also the way that most wealthy people got that way. Many people I know are hoping to make up for all the money they’ve lost in the stock market by investing in speculative stocks, commodity futures, options, etc. On the other end, just as many are paralyzed by fear, not knowing what to do next.

Starting your own little business and learning how it operates from the bottom up is a surer way. Every year, millions of people all over the world strike out with little ventures of their own — and that some of those people, hundreds of thousands of them, are successful. I am bold enough to think that I understand a good deal about starting small businesses. And I will continue to tell you in regular messages everything I know about being successful in little entrepreneurial ventures.$

[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!]

10 Things You Can Do This Year to Be a Better and Happier Person

The secret to substantial and enduring happiness, I have discovered, has nothing to do with putting yourself first, nurturing your inner child, or any of the many other forms of narcissism so popular among today’s pop psychologists. As someone who has spent too much time in the vain (and I do mean vain) pursuit of self-satisfaction, I am here to tell you that fulfillment in life is usually about doing less for yourself and more for others.

This is not a revolutionary concept. It was, it seems to me, the essential message of Christ and Gandhi, to name just two. “Happiness and fulfillment in life,” they seemed to have been saying,” will come to you not when you are making yourself the center of your universe but when you forget yourself and look outside.” You may know that already. And you may be much further along in making it part of your life than I am in making it part of mine.

When I think about the happy people I admire, they are invariably those who are always looking out for others. I’m not speaking of missionaries and professional do-gooders but of ordinary people who make it a habit to care about those around them. They are the people who ask you how you are doing and care about your answer. They visit you when you are ill, and give you little gifts or kind words when you need them.

When involved in a negative conversation (particularly one that involves gossip or badmouthing), they find something positive to say. They are ordinary people with the same number of problems that other ordinary people have — yet, they don’t ask you to pity them. When they see you limping because of an injured knee, they don’t tell you about their aching backs. They give you sympathy and recommend helpful treatments.

When everyone gets up from the holiday meal and rushes off to have an after-dinner drink or smoke, they linger with the host — helping out by cleaning the dishes or wiping off the table. They know the names of your children. They remember your birthday. They know how you take your coffee. And though they want you to be better and stronger and more successful than you are, they never give you the feeling that they are unsatisfied with what you are, in fact, right now. I know people like that. And I am fortunate enough to be around them. 

They are also, I am really blessed to say, in my extended family and among my closest friends. And although I don’t say so enough, I am always astonished by their goodness and humbled by their strength. I am naturally inclined to be one of these good people. I am a living composite of every bad habit, obnoxious inclination, and selfish reflex known to man. But lacking those qualities makes them all the more admirable to me. And makes me want to be, a little bit each year, a better man.

So that’s my 10th big resolution this year — as it was last year: to be a better person. I invite you to make the same New Year’s resolution — to spend less time thinking about your own happiness and more time trying to make other people happy. Start with your immediate family. Your spouse and children, mother and father, aunts and uncles, and nieces and nephews were not brought into this world to listen to and/or solve your problems.

That’s your job. Resolve to spend less time complaining to them and more time listening to their complaints. Do share your dreams and ambitions with them, but don’t talk too long. And be sure you give them the time and attention they need to share their dreams and ambitions with you. Make your friends happy too. Smile when you see them. Listen to their stories. Give them the advice they want and shut up when they don’t want any. Become the person they turn to when the chips are down. Learn to love their relatively minor sins or annoyances and encourage them to overcome their faults.

Above all, be loyal to them. Be a reliable and steady resource for your business colleagues. Help them achieve their goals — not because you want their loyalty but simply because you care about them and want them to succeed. And do something for someone you don’t know — a stranger you come upon, a foster child, or a sick or poor person who can benefit from your help. Spend time and money.

Make this outward focus a natural part of your daily life. Do it purposefully and deliberately — by beginning with a set of resolutions and then transferring them to your weekly and daily task lists — till it becomes second nature to you. This is not the kind of resolution one can make and achieve in a single year. It will be on my list next year. Perhaps it will be on your list too.

[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!]