Entrepreneurship: Don’t Take a Chance on Luck

Luck seems to have a peculiar attachment to work. I’m sure that you have heard the Dave Thomas quote: “It seems the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I would tend to agree with that statement, but I think there are a few other conditions that affect your “luck” — things like instinct, timing, market conditions, and public opinion, to name a few. I know plenty of folks that have worked their heads and hearts off, but for some reason or another, they just aren’t successful in what they accomplish.

On the other hand, I have witnessed others who seem to have fallen into a bed of roses — businesswise or financially. Predictably, most of their friends are totally amazed and can’t figure out how or why this person made it. Pure luck? Probably not. More likely, they were in the right business at the right time. Oh, we should all be so “lucky.”

Call it whatever you like, but I prefer not to rely on luck when it comes to business. I leave that for Las Vegas.

What is the correlation between luck and success? Frankly, I think Dave Thomas, who founded the Wendy’s chain, had it right. As for my business life, I prefer to do everything in my power to make my own “luck” — long hours, clear goals, calculated risks, good hires, expert advice, and a reasonable amount of fear have guided me.

I’ve had plenty of incentive too, like putting my name out there and building my personal brand. Nothing makes you try harder than putting your identity on the line.

Was it luck that led to the creation of so many well-known products? I think not. Rather, it was creativity and the courage to redevelop already invented products. For example, Coca-Cola started out as a headache medicine. Post-it Notes originated when a 3M inventor created bookmarks for his prayer/song book. Levi jeans — with rivets instead of buttons — were made out of leftover tent canvas when miners needed pants.

Speaking of leftovers, that’s how the Swanson TV dinner was created. It was Thanksgiving 1952 and the Swanson Company had 260 tons of leftover turkeys. The company filled 10 refrigerated boxcars and let the frozen turkeys ride around the country until they figured out what to do with their fowl problem. A salesman developed a three-compartment tray for the frozen turkey and two side dishes because he remembered from his Army days how he hated when his food ran together. Management gobbled up the idea. So did Swanson’s customers.

Ice cream sodas were invented not so much by luck as by necessity. In 1874, 16 years after the first soda fountain opened, Robert M. Green was mixing his popular drink, consisting of sweet cream, syrup, and carbonated water. When he ran out of sweet cream and there was no way to get more that day, he started substituting vanilla ice cream, hoping no one would notice. Everyone noticed — and he went from grossing $6 a day to $600.

Yo-yos were used as weapons in the ancient Far East. Sixteenth century hunters in the Philippine Islands tied wooden disks together with a long piece of rope or twine. They would sit in trees and fling the weapon at prey. If it missed, they would pull it back quickly and try again. Donald Duncan saw the yo-yo in action in the early 1920s, changed the design, and created a child’s toy, now a longtime favorite.

Even Avon Cosmetics got its start when a door-to-door book salesman named David H. McConnell decided to offer a small sample of perfume to women. Soon the perfume became more popular than the books and McConnell established the California Perfume Company, which changed its name to Avon Products in 1939.

Lucky? No. Good business. Taking risks, being creative, and reading and reacting to markets will trump luck every day. You can bet on that.

Good luck usually depends on good judgment.$

[Ed. Note: Ray's personal team will create 10 six-figure earners before the year is over. Our system walks you through the process of growing your profitable online business using a proven online business model. Ray shows you exactly what he did to grow his six-figure business. To find out more about Empower Network, go here.]

Jean Chatzky on Financial Tips for Caregivers | AARP

How to Grow Your Business Using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Everywhere I turn, I hear about how fantastic social media is. People tell me they are spending six hours a day on Facebook. They are responding to Twitter tweets all day and all night.

Facebook’s 650 million active users collectively spend more than 8 billion minutes on the site each day. That’s amazing.

Many of these people think that social media will help them grow their businesses. They expect to make tons of money by using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as marketing tools.

But the truth is that the vast majority of people are NOT making money with social media and are just wasting their time.

That leaves a very big question. What are they doing wrong?

To get you on the path of profitable social media use, I have identified the top six ways businesspeople are wasting their time with social media. For each time waster, I have included some ways to fix it immediately.

Here they are:

TIME WASTER #1

Many people think that being on social media is, in itself, a business model. They just go out and start building a following. That’s a good thing — but you still need a separate, comprehensive business model. And you need to know how you are going to make money with it.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Identify the exact product or service you want to sell through social media.
• Define, in detail, your target audience. Who is your ideal customer?
• Develop a system to close sales on the phone, on the Web, or face to face.

TIME WASTER #2

Another mistake people make is that they don’t have a strategy for using social media to achieve specific business goals.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Identify your top three goals with social media (i.e., to generate leads, to find partners, to solidify current business relationships).
• Identify time frames for achieving these goals.

TIME WASTER #3

Another mistake is using the wrong tool. Some businesses work better on LinkedIn, some are better on Facebook, and some are better on Twitter.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Get familiar with all of the major social media websites.
• Contact your customers or prospects and ask them which one of these websites they visit most frequently.

TIME WASTER #4

Yet another mistake: Social media abuse. You are making too many posts, sending too many messages, and ignoring standard social networking etiquette. You need to know the rules, and you need to follow them.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Learn the rules of the particular site you are on. For example, Facebook can ban you for posting unauthorized commercial communications.
• Learn the limitations of the site you are on. For example, Twitter limits the number of direct messages you can send to 250 a day.

TIME WASTER #5

The next mistake is something I call social media fatigue. You are spending too much time on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn — not all of it business-related. And you get burned out.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Put a time limit on your daily social media activities.
• Limit most of that time to activities that could generate business for you.

TIME WASTER #6

Are you failing to measure the results of your marketing efforts on social media websites? If so, you don’t know what’s working.

ACTION STEPS TO FIX IT

• Set very specific measurable goals. For example, you might want to get five new prospects a week and turn one of them into a new customer.
• Start measuring your results — and keep refining your strategy until you get it right.

One of the best examples of an individual who profited from social media is Gary Vaynerchuk, the star of Wine Library TV. Gary effectively leveraged the power of social media to explode the profits of his family’s wine business. He developed a Twitter following of more than 800,000 people and used his following, his blog, and his videos to skyrocket the business from $4 million a year to $60 million year in only five years.

Gary Vaynerchuk clearly focused on the right ways to grow his business with social media and avoided the top six social media time wasters.

If you keep these time wasters in mind while developing your social media strategy, you’ll be on your way to repeating his success.$

[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…]

Real Estate Investing: Have a Successful Relationship With Your Realtor in 5 Easy Steps

Behind almost every successful investor is a successful realtor. The realtor/investor relationship is one of the most important bonds within your investing team. Oftentimes, your realtor will hold the key to finding and closing the deals you are interested in. While most investors look for realtors that know how to work with investors, there is another side of the coin. As an investor, you need to do your part as well. Your realtor’s time is money. If you waste it on work that you can do yourself, they will not work as hard for you in the future. Working with your realtor can’t be a one way street. To maximize the relationship, you need to both be on the same page. Here are some tips to help get the most out of working with your realtor:

1. Know Your Goals: The more defined you are with what you want out of the business, the easier it is for your realtor to find it. If one day you want to look at all multifamily properties and the next only condos, you will frustrate your realtor. Your portfolio can be diverse, but you need to know your goals. The first thing you should do upon meeting a new realtor is talk about how you see the business. Map out both a short and long term plan. Discuss areas you want to invest in and how you plan to do it. By showing your realtor that you are serious about the business, they will go the extra mile for you. There are many investors that walk into realtors offices and want to start buying property, but have no idea what they are doing. They end up driving their realtor crazy and they eventually end the relationship. The better you know what you want from the business, the more likely you realtor can help you get there.

2. Knowledge of the Market: Not every successful realtor works well with investors. Good investment deals require a specific skill set for the market. When first meeting with a new realtor, there are some questions you should ask. Find out how well they know the market and what experience they have had with investors. Ask if they are comfortable with short sale, foreclosure and banked owned deals. You don’t want your realtor to have multiple investor contacts that they work with. They should have experience, but not multiple investors they have worked with for years. There is nothing wrong in working with a new realtor that is hungry for business - as long as they are willing to learn about investment deals and distressed property sales. You can find a good realtor in spite of age or experience if they have knowledge of the market. It is important not to work with the first new realtor that presents themselves. Take time to make sure you feel comfortable and there is a good fit.

3. Do Your Homework: Realtors work on commission. This means that every hour of the day is an opportunity to make money. If they spend a few hours at properties you have no interest in buying, you are essentially wasting their time. There is a certain amount of work you should do on every new deal. Instead of asking to see a new listing, make sure it is a deal you really want. Know the area and neighborhood of the property. Find out information about taxes, style and square footage before you jump the gun. There is a lot of information that you can find online or from the listing sheet. If your realtor shows you properties that you really want, they will feel their time is not being wasted. Do your homework before you reach out to your realtor. The easier you make things for them the harder they will work for you.

4. Be Ready to Act: Are you ready to make an offer if you find a property you like? Before you meet with any realtor you should have your finances in place. This means having an updated prequalification letter or proof of funds ready to go. It also means knowing what you want out of a property and capital needed for improvements. You can perform your due diligence on the property, but when it’s time to act you need to be ready. With most bank owned deals time is of the essence. The longer you wait to supply documents or get the deal to closing the greater chance you will lose the property. If you do this enough times, your realtor will lose confidence in you and stop sending you deals as they get them.

5. Communicate: As is the case with any other successful relationship, communication is key. Your realtor should have a good idea of how you are going to conduct your business. If you plan on making lowball offers, they should know this. If you have a question you should feel confident your realtor will respond quickly. By being as open and honest with the purchase price range and investing area you are interested in your realtor will know what to expect. You should have an idea of what is expected out of you as well. Your realtor may not be able to show you properties some days until after hours. As long as you know this up front, you shouldn’t have a problem with it. You and your realtor are a team that can be successful for many years to come. Get as much on the table as possible before you get started.

Working with the right realtor can change your business. Understanding that it is a team effort will help strengthen the relationship.$

[Ed. Note: Need additional income to help support or supplement your real estate business? Ray is offering a complete blueprint 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.]

How To Tell If You Are Ready To Buy Rental Properties

It has been said that there are multiple ways to make money in real estate. What works for one investor may not work for another. The most important aspect in deciding which area of the business is best for you is to evaluate your own goals. Your goals play a hand in deciding whether rehab loans are for you or rental properties are more your speed. Rental properties have a reputation of being difficult to manage, but there is no better way to obtain long-term wealth faster than by owning rental properties. Before you explore whether or not rental properties are for you, you need to determine just what you want out of your portfolio.

The best portfolios offer a mix of short term rehab projects and long-term rental properties. Not every rental property is the same. Some offer a greater amount of monthly cash flow while others have a higher equity upside. It is important to know which is important to you. The greater the amount of cash flow, the more disposable income you will have to utilize in other areas of your business. While this is important, long-term appreciate can offer much greater returns. It is not enough to know you want to invest in rental properties, you need to know what your goals are with them.

The biggest mistake that new investors make is in calculating cash flow. Cash flow is the amount of rent you bring in minus the mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and expenses. While this is true, the expense number is often underestimated. Expenses include all utilities and bills, but also include a vacancy factor, reserves, snow removal, lawn maintenance and everything else associated with the property. Anyone can make the cash flow look higher than it is without adding all the correct expenses. The amount of rent a property brings in is not nearly as important as the correct cash flow amount. This money is essentially the monthly wealth created by the property. To get this, all you need to do is keep rent checks coming in and take care of your property. This can be easier said than done. If you hire a property manager, the amount of cash flow will be reduced. If you decide to take on all housing tasks yourself, you are taking time away from other areas of your business. However you decide to run your rental; how you calculate your monthly cash flow is critical.

Another reason why investors would look at rental properties is for the appreciation. There are many investors who will buy a property, put work in it and rent it until the market changes in their favor. This is a viable strategy but needs the help of the market. As we have seen in the past there is no way of truly predicting which way the market will go. Making improvements will certainly increase the value but there is no way of knowing where the market will be ten or even twenty years down the road. Banking on appreciation over time may leave you disappointed. There are two ways in which property value will appreciate. The first is to make improvements. To make improvements you need to have the capital to do so. The second way is to buy in the right market. This takes a combination of due diligence and foresight. If you can pick out the right property, do the right work in the right market you will hit a home run. You will get the combination of the monthly cash flow benefits and appreciation whenever you decide to sell. These properties are more the exception rather than the norm with rental properties. There are certainly profits to be made but before you look at any properties you need to decide whether you are looking for short term cash flow or long term appreciation.

When a rental property is running well it can be the best part of the real estate business. When they are running bad they can take all of your time and money if you are not careful. Even if you use a property manager there is no way of guaranteeing that a tenant will pay. Dealing with an eviction can be a grueling process that will engulf your business. Just like any other part of real estate there is risk and reward with rental properties. Rehabs offer a similar type of scenario but in the short term. Access to capital is a must with any landlord. You never know when you are going to need funds to replace a dishwasher or deal with a broken furnace. Cash flow and appreciation may be great but they will quickly vanish if you don’t have money to deal with issues in the property. If you are considering buying a rental property this is a must. Having money to buy the property and do the work is not enough to be successful.

The idea of having someone pay down your mortgage is an appealing thought. The right rental property can help build your retirement and give you increased options in the future. It won’t come without at least a few times when you wonder what you are doing as a landlord. This is all part of owning rental properties. If you can get past these times, it will be worth it in the end. Have your goals in mind and know what you want out of the business before you look at your first rental property.$

[Ed. Note: Need additional income to help support or supplement your real estate business? Ray is offering a complete blueprint 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.]

#1 Key for an American Dream Success Story

At a Dan Kennedy seminar, Dr. Nido Qubein of High Point University shared his #1 secret to success. It worked for him in building a $250,000 investment into a bank worth billions, growing the Great Harvest Bread company through the dark days of the Atkins Diet, and getting donors to commit to over $1.2 billion in improvements to the campus of High Point University in North Carolina.

His secret is Relational Capital. “Your relationships bring you luck,” said Dr. Qubein. “Who you spend your time with determines your success.”

Like many other success stories, Dr. Qubein came to America without knowing a word of English. He was sent by his mother to capitalize on the opportunity only available in the land of the free. He went to work, learning English on his own while earning money at any job he could find. He studied hard, earning a scholarship at High Point University, the school where he would later become President after his successful career as an entrepreneur. He has what is  called, “The Immigrant Edge,” the desire to succeed in a land of opportunity that was not available back home in Dr. Qubein’s native Lebanon.

In his early 20’s Dr. Qubein began selling information products, and he soon became one of the top corporate speakers in America. All of his success, he says, came from the people he met and helped along the way. “Luck is a who, not a what,” he preached that evening. “Put yourself into a big pond,” he urged, “and like a Koi fish you will adapt and grow bigger, you will survive and thrive.” 

You must get out of your comfort zone. You can’t expect natural talent or even your hard earned skills to take you to your dreams. You can’t do it all yourself. You need the help of other people. Get out there and build your relational capital today.

As you become successful, it will be your turn to “send the elevator back down,” as actor Kevin Spacey says. Getting a mentor is another key to success, but becoming a mentor to others helps you even more. When you teach, you learn. When you show people the way, you increase your commitment to living according to your core values. When you are a mentor, it is required of you to make the right decisions. You shed the skin of the hypocrite. You become a leader. You grow others. And you get better as a result.

Recently I began following another piece of advice, “you must leave everyone better than you found them.” That has changed my outlook on every interaction, including email discussions, in-person chats with friends, and small talk while standing in line at the airport with strangers.  What advice, what kind word, what gesture, can I deliver that will leave the other person feeling even slightly better than they were before our interaction?

It’s such a simple premise, but it works both ways. It gives hope and encouragement to others while making me wiser and overcoming my natural tendency towards selfishness and shyness.

It is a real-world example of Maya Angelou’s memorable words, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Her quote has had a great impact on my life.  In my daily interactions, I’ve found this to be true, as I’m sure Dr. Qubein has also found from the thousands of speeches he’s delivered in his career.

How you make someone feel builds relationship capital. This brings you luck. Luck brings you wealth, success, and most importantly, more great relationships. The people you spend your time with determine where you will go and how you will grow in life.

One day, when wealth no longer matters to you, you’ll realize that what was important in life was the people that you met, knew, and loved, and the experiences that you had with others. It won’t be about the wealth you created while working long hours on your own. It will be about the legacy you leave in the people that you loved.

“Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be,” Ophelia says in Hamlet. She was right. It’s not until we build our relationships, plan our work and work our plan, and begin to share our good luck with others that we finally reach the destination of our full potential.

Get out there today and harness the power of the Immigrant Edge that is available to all of us. Do something worthwhile with someone worthwhile. Do it with a deep desire and urgency for improvement. “Plan your work and work your plan,” Dr. Qubein counsels, “for school is never out for the professional.” Learning and loving never ends. Build your relationships, grow your luck, and unlock your own American Dream success story with this key.

[Ed. Note: Ray's personal team will create 10 six-figure earners before the year is over. Our system walks you through the process of growing your profitable online business using a proven online business model. Ray shows you exactly what he did to grow his six-figure business. To find out more about Empower Network, go here.]

T.I.M.E.: Your Most Valuable Asset As A Real Estate Investor

The most valuable asset you have is time. Everything you do in business, and in life, is based on the amount of time you have available. The more time you have, the more possibilities you will have available to you. Having time alone will not make you successful, however. How you maximize this time makes all the difference. There are certain things that successful people do with their time that gives them an advantage. They know there are only so many hours in a day, and it is important to use them wisely. Here is a quick acronym to think about when you are considering how to plan your business day.

T.I.M.E.:

(T)ake Action: The old expression, “don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today,” still rings true. As an investor, you are in control of your destiny. You can directly determine how successful your business is. The one thing that separates successful investors from everyone else is their willingness to do things that others aren’t. In most cases, this means making a phone call, setting up a meeting or doing some other easily achievable task. Part of taking action means setting up a routine to do so. The more organized and structured you are, the easier it is to accomplish your daily to-do lists. Before you go to bed every night, make a list of things you want to accomplish the next day. It doesn’t matter whether they are long or short term goals. Write down anything that comes to mind. That way, when you wake up you can hit the ground running. By the time you get up, make your cup of coffee and start your day you can lose precious hours. Anyone can take action, but not everyone does so.

(I)nitiate Meetings: Deals will not just fall into your lap. They say that luck favors those that are most prepared. To improve your odds of being lucky, you need to make things happen for yourself. This means that you need to take the next step and initiate meetings with the people in your network. Instead of saying that you had wished you had done this sooner, you will have no regrets. Setting up meetings and building your network allows you to become more efficient. If you have a good team around you, it is easier to delegate tasks instead of wasting time doing everything yourself. There are many investors who feel that they have to micromanage everything in their business. It is only when they learn to let go and trust the people around them that they take off. There is no easier time to stay in contact or meet new people. These meetings can not only help your business grow, but also save you hours in the process. The time you save meeting contacts can be directed into finding deals and generating revenue. Don’t wait for a meeting to come to you.

(M)ost Important: It can be easy to fool yourself into thinking that you are working hard. You can waste several hours making lists or doing busy work that really isn’t important. If you want to get the most out of your day, you need to work on the most important tasks first. This doesn’t mean you can’t find time for marketing or other projects down the road, but not at the expense of a pressing task. This task may be daunting, but instead of wasting hours figuring it out, attack it as soon as you wake up. You should make the items that are most important to you a priority. If you don’t, you will put them off to the afternoon. Before you know it, they have been moved to the next day. Most things in business are time sensitive. Even if you have bad news to deliver, it is better to give it as soon as you get it rather than making someone wait. If there are issues on a current deal, don’t wait until you have the perfect script of what to say. By putting things off, they will stay on your mind all day.

(E)xpect Results: Instead of waking up and making a list of things you would like to accomplish, start your day with expectations. By stating that you are going to accomplish these five tasks, you attack them in a completely different manner. Every minute of your day is spent on a mission to succeed instead of hoping that you do. Doing tasks just to cross them off your list is not the goal. Everything you do must be done with vigor and the confidence in knowing that you doing it for a purpose. If you expect actions and results you will end up getting the most out of your day. Seeing positive results often leads to increased motivation to work harder than before. Hard work leads to an efficient and productive day. Expect results instead of just hoping for them.

You only have so much time in business and in life. Don’t waste it on tasks that are unproductive or unnecessary. If you can make the most out of your T.I.M.E., you will have a more fulfilling life and a much better business.

[Ed. Note: Need additional income to help support or supplement your real estate business? Ray is offering a complete blueprint 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.]