- WEALTHY: Which comes first … the deal or the money? (Alan Cowgill)
- HEALTHY: 7 reasons to say "no" to sugar (Jon Herring)
- WISE: Bobby Unser on being prepared
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A little secret about AWAI’s copywriting program (Michael Masterson)
- You and your computer – 4 ways to improve the relationship (Will Newman)
- Add "punctilio" to your vocabulary
The Billionaire Way
I would recommend "The Billionaire Way" program to anyone who is contemplating a new enterprise or business start-up, or is already in business for themselves. It enabled me to look at my life, attributes, and habits in a refreshing new way. I was delighted to discover that I too have a number of the traits and qualities that many who are successful in business possess, which I hadn’t realized. I am very excited to apply the principles that were presented in the program to my new business ventures.
A tremendous benefit was to be able to talk with the author of the program, Bob Cox, about my own business strategies and ideas. Bob spent an hour on the phone with me after I finished the program, and his personal insights and suggestions were very helpful and inspiring.
I know that I will often refer back to the information provided in "The Billionaire Way"
- Catherine McNeil, Monte Vista, Colorado
"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."
Bobby Unser
The Chicken-or-the-Egg Question for Investors
By Alan Cowgill
Whether you’re buying $80,000 fixer-uppers or multimillion-dollar office towers in downtown Chicago, you have to answer the same two fundamental questions before making the decision to invest:
- Is the property a good deal?
- Can you get the money to buy it?
So what do you do first? Find the deal … or find the money?
Most people think you should find the deal first, but I disagree. Let me tell you why.
When it comes to killer deals in real estate, you’ll often find that you need to pay all cash and have the ability to close fast. The minute you find the deal, the clock starts ticking. And if you’re depending on a bank for financing, you’ll have to go through a lengthy qualification and approval process. That leaves the door open for your competition to step in with cash and squeeze you out completely.
But that won’t happen if you have funding lined up in advance with private lenders.
The sad truth is, even experienced investors lose deals because they simply aren’t prepared.
Take David Weaver, an investor from Florida. At one of my seminars, he confessed to me, "Alan, I have been in the real estate business for 36 years. I have always had the money shortage that all investors have. We are always falling short of money to move to the next level." But now that David understands the power of private money lenders, he’ll be able to leave that money shortage behind for good.
Then there’s Esther Headly. She was an active, experienced real estate investor who was losing five to 10 deals a week due to lack of funds. After discovering private money lending, she raised $240,000 within 24 hours. After a few months, she had a whole group of private lenders lined up – and now there’s cash ready and waiting for her whenever she comes upon a good deal.
William McCarty left $120,000 on the table for other investors before he realized private money could have saved that deal.
Yet another investor, Gary Brevko, was investing in real estate on the side while working at his full-time job. But what he really wanted to do was find a way to do real estate full-time. Gary was making a respectable $250,000 a year salary, so the prospect of leaving his job must have been daunting. Then Gary discovered private lending, and everything changed. Now he’s making $30,000 to 40,000 per month in real estate.
The Biggest Advantages You’ll Have Over Other Investors
I’ve done over 200 real estate deals in my career, and I rarely lose a deal because of lack of access to money. But it was a different story when I first quit my job to do real estate full-time. I had to face the new reality that I could no longer qualify for bank loans.
Once I had to stop relying on banks, I was forced to go out and find my own private investors to loan me the money. In doing so, I discovered that financing my real estate investments with private, "investor friendly" money gave me distinct advantages over my competition. The two biggest perks are:
- Quick access to money
- Increased cash-flow
I never have to wait for approval, and I can even structure my loans so I don’t have to make monthly payments.
Growing Your Income With Private Lending
Grow your real estate business the smart, efficient way. Make sure you never lose a deal because of a lack of money or speedy access to money. Rather than searching for the best deals, start by finding the money.
Begin your search for private lenders by creating a marketing kit about your business. Mine is a 30-page, spiral-bound book. It has a nice cover with colored pictures of over a dozen houses that I have bought and rehabbed. That way, before potential lenders even open the book, they see before-and-after pictures that show I am a seasoned real estate professional.
Make sure your marketing kit includes plenty of credibility-boosting information. Even if you haven’t done a dozen rehabs, there are of ways to do this. For example, include an introduction that tells lenders about you, your company, and your business philosophy. Include pages of testimonials, copies of certificates from training you have completed, and informative special reports. The idea is to include page after page of information that sends the strong message that you know what you’re doing.
Here’s another hint: Since real estate investing is a serious, responsible business, you can join the Better Business Bureau. I did, and that means I am authorized to use their logo on my material … which further enhances my credibility.
Once you have a solid marketing kit, you can start doing targeted mailings to lists of potential lenders. I’ve found that people with money in CDs or Self-Directed IRAs are particularly good prospects, because you can almost certainly offer them a higher return on their money than they’re making right now.
You can then present your full sales pitch in person to those who show an interest in the information you’ve sent to them. A good way to do it is by hosting a luncheon. This strategy has been very successful for me and my students. In fact, I’ve had many students who’ve raised $100,000 or more almost instantly by using this combination of credibility building, targeted advertising, and luncheons.
You can easily duplicate their success.
Once you’ve got the money lined up, go out and find the deals. You may be surprised at how many more deals you can make … and how quickly you can complete them … by using private money lending.
[Ed. Note: Alan Cowgill's Private Lending Made Easy program is the only one on the market that specifically explains how to find and manage private funds. If this topic interests you, a great way to get more information is to attend the free teleseminar. that Alan will be giving exclusively to ETR readers this week. It's a no-cost way to build your knowledge base and find out if private money could help you increase your income this year. Reserve your seat now.]
Start Making Money Today
Interested in getting a nice little side-business going on the Internet? Or maybe even from your living-room table?
But you don’t have too much money, you don’t have too much time, and you’re not exactly Bill Gates when it comes to technology. Sound familiar?
A lot of people are in the same boat. The good news is that ETR has heard you. And now we’ve done something about it…
We’ve asked our colleague Marc Charles to be on the lookout for profit opportunities that can be run from a kitchen table, your desktop or out on the road.
Criteria? They’ve got to be inexpensive, easy to start, and still have great income potential, but without a lot of red tape.
They say when you’re first getting your feet wet with a side-business, the most important dollar to make is the first one. Well, Marc is an expert at taking beginning entrepreneurs and showing you how to make that first buck. He knows, because he’s done it dozens of times for himself, his family and his friends.
If you’ve been dreaming about starting your own business … now you can get started for about the price of 2 lattes.
And get this – you could be making money literally just hours from now. Imagine the feeling of finally getting a side business launched -TODAY!
- Patrick Coffey
Dear Michael Masterson: "This is a fantastic and inspiring program."
"I am a new student to AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting, and first would like to say that this is a fantastic and inspiring program.
"One question on the exercises, both in the program and for ongoing improvement, where winning sales letters are copied to incorporate their best practices by rote. Do copying the letters in longhand with pen and paper offer more advantage to typing them using a word-processing program?
"I believe the small details make a difference, and would like to know your thoughts. For your information, I never usually write anything longhand. Even when note-taking, I use my laptop."
Mike V.
Plano, TX
Dear Mike,
Since you don’t intend to write copy longhand, you shouldn’t write the exercises in longhand. Use a keyboard. The muscle memory you are looking for should replicate the reality of your everyday work habits.
And as long as you are asking, let me tell you a little secret about this particular AWAI recommendation: Writing these classic sales letters helps, but it’s not absolutely necessary. You can absorb a lot just by reading them. In fact, expert copywriter Paul Hollingshead credits his speedy success as a copywriter to reading "controls" over and over again.
In the program, I recommended copying these letters, because that’s how I started. But the truth is, I didn’t copy them for very long.
The important thing is to get the language and the rhythm in your head through repetition so that you can absorb the aspects of good copywriting that are difficult to teach and learn – such as phrasing and timing.
Whether you do that best through writing out the letters or reading them – over and over again – is for you to decide.
- Michael Masterson
The Not-So-Sweet Truth About Sugar
By Jon Herring
Refined sugar is high in calories, has zero nutritional value, no fiber, and it’s clearly been implicated in tooth decay, obesity, and diabetes. And that’s just for openers. If, after all the articles I’ve written about sugar in ETR, I still haven’t convinced you to eliminate it from your diet, here’s a quick rundown of the kind of damage you could be doing to yourself:
- Sugar weakens your immune system, and can even cause autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, asthma, and multiple sclerosis.
- It interferes with your body’s ability to absorb certain important minerals. This contributes to osteoporosis and other ailments.
- It "feeds" cancer cells and has been associated with breast, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, lung, gallbladder, and stomach cancers.
- It can cause premature aging, increased oxidative stress from free radicals, a greater chance of Alzheimer’s, and the deterioration of eyesight.
- It can cause gallstones, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and gastrointestinal problems.
- It can raise your blood pressure and increase your triglycerides and bad cholesterol while decreasing good cholesterol. Not surprisingly, sugar is known to cause atherosclerosis and heart disease.
- It can reduce learning capacity and even cause learning disorders. There is no doubt that sugar consumption adversely affects children’s grades in school.
So, please say "no" to sugar – and satisfy your sweet tooth with one of these safe, natural alternatives: stevia (my favorite), xylitol, or agave nectar.
Quick Productivity Tip: Sit Right
By Will Newman
You probably don’t pay a lot of attention to "ergonomics" – the physical relationship between you and your office equipment. But if you ignore the basics, you’re not only risking discomfort … you’re also risking decreased productivity. Here are four easy ways to improve your ergonomics.
EYES: Should be 24 to 36 inches from the monitor screen. The top of your monitor should be below or at eye-level.
FEET: Should be on a footrest or planted firmly on the floor
SITTING: To reduce vertebrae pressure and minimize lower back pain, sit in a slightly reclined position in your chair. Making this work may mean using a cordless keyboard or one with a long cord.
DESK: Most desktops are 28 to 30 inches above the floor. This is too high for computer work, so you’ll need to lower your keyboard and mouse. It’s easy to install an adjustable keyboard/mouse tray on the underside of your desk. The keyboard should be at a negative tilt, with the front edge slightly lower than the rear.
(Source: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
[Ed. Note: Will Newman is the editor of AWAI's The Golden Thread online newsletter - a free weekly alert loaded with writing and marketing secrets, tips, and insights.]
Who else could use $100,000 or more in less than 30 Days?
All too often, real estate investors finally stumble upon the “deal of a lifetime”, only to be frustrated with financing it. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
It isn’t that way for Esther Headly, at least not anymore. An active investor, she used to “throw away” 5 to 10 profitable deals per week due to lack of funds. Today, she’s tapped into the same cash source that’s helping Gary Brevko make $30,000-40,000 per month.
Find out more about this “investor friendly” limitless source of cash, and how you can get your hands on $100,000 or more in the next 30 days.
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
Word to the Wise: Punctilio
"Punctilio" (punk-TIL-ee-oh) – from the Latin for "prick" – is a fine point or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure.
Example (as used by Alden Whitman in The New York Times): "Unbending on protocol and punctilio, the Emperor [Haile Selassie], in his public appearances, recalled the splendor and opulence of Suleiman the Magnificent or Louis XIV, with the difference that he lived and worked in a modern atmosphere and journeyed abroad in a commandeered Ethiopian Airlines plane."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
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