Sidestepping Obstacles on the Way to 6-Figure Success

Issue #1984

WEALTHY: How the Nasdaq drop can help you buy real estate (Justin Ford)
HEALTHY: Have I found the fountain of youth? (Dr. Al Sears)
WISE: Sandra Bullock on producing films

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

Get to $250,000 a year quicker with 3 shortcuts (Paul Lawrence)
Is the life of a copywriter really that great? (Michael Masterson)
It’s Fun to Know… about MP3 players
Add "missive" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

Give Yourself a Nice Pay Raise – And A Three Day Weekend, Every Weekend

By the end of this week, you can give yourself a pay raise. How does an extra $20/hr sound… and schedule a few days vacation while you’re at it!

After a month or two, how about another raise… to $2,000 a week.

It’s happening everywhere. Ordinary people — including folks who never finished school — starting their own businesses… and making side incomes in the neighborhood of $40,000… $60,000… even $100,000 or more a year.

They’re living the American Dream. Now it’s time for you to start living it too. Read on…

- Patrick Coffey

Private Money Bootcamp Update: How’d You Like a Mortgage With No Monthly Payments?

By Justin Ford

Think a mortgage with no monthly payments sounds good? Better yet, how would you like a loan with no monthly mortgage payments plus no points, no negative amortization, and none of a bank’s typical junk fees (processing charge, administrative fee, broker needs a new BMW fee, etc.)? And how would you like this kind of mortgage loan where you set the terms yourself?

As Alan Cowgill explained at Day Three of his Private Money Bootcamp here in Dallas, those are the kinds of loans he often uses. In fact, about half the roughly 65 houses Alan buys and sells each year have mortgages with no monthly payments!

The key is to structure the right private money loan for the right deal. For instance, let’s say you buy a property for $100,000 and, once you put $20,000 of repairs into it, it will be worth $175,000. How do you get the money together?

Well, if you have good credit, you could go to the bank and put 10 percent or 20 percent down, plus have another five percent for closing costs and reserves, plus another $20,000 for the repairs. In all, you might have to come out of pocket $30,000 to $50,000 to get into the deal – plus have another few thousand handy to make monthly payments until you renovate and rent out the property or sell it.

But with private money, you can borrow the entire project cost – purchase, repairs, reserves, etc. You’d still be under 75 percent of the after-repair value, so it would be a well-collateralized loan for the lender. And you can structure the loan so it has no payments.

Who would be interested in such a loan? Only about 40 million potential private lenders. That’s a rough estimate of the number of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in the U.S. today. And this is the perfect type of loan for holders of self-directed IRAs.

After all, since 2000 the S&P 500 is down nearly 10 percent! With dividends, the typical investor might be up one percent a year. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is still down over 50 percent. What does that do to your retirement plans?

And for the lucky few who are in the plus column, many of them are averaging perhaps three percent or five percent returns. And that’s after putting up with scandal after scandal on Wall Street and heart-wrenching volatility.

The trouble is – thanks to Wall Street propaganda – most investors don’t realize they have a right to change their IRAs to self-directed IRAs. I have a self-directed IRA myself, and many of my lenders are increasingly taking advantage of this option. It enables them to take advantage of a host of investments that typically have far less volatility and can offer much higher, more consistent returns than the stock market. This includes everything from purchasing real estate outright to buying businesses, purchasing tax liens, and, of course, making private money loans secured by real estate.

As Alan explained to us, he pays a higher interest rate for loans that do not require monthly payments. For instance, if you’re typically paying eight percent to your private lenders, you might pay them 10 percent if they opt for the no-monthly-payment option.

For people who are lending from a self-directed IRA, self-directed 401(k), or other self-directed retirement plan, this makes all the sense in the world. They weren’t going to be spending their interest payments anyway. Interest paid into the account is tax-deferred… so why not let it accrue at a higher rate? It’s a good cash-flow solution for the rehabber. And it provides a high tax-advantaged return for the IRA investor, secured by real estate.

Now, a few points to keep in mind: Make sure you’re buying right first, so your lenders are always making well-collateralized loans. Also, it’s best to make sure your property would cash flow if you had to make payments. That way, if you decide to rent it out, the net rents you accumulate will cover the accrued interest when you pay it off.

There are many other strategies available to IRA holders that benefit the lender and the investor. In some cases, these pertain to holders of 401(k) accounts as well. It’s a matter of following a few steps to transfer funds to a self-directed account or to set up a new self-directed account, or both.

Alan did an excellent job of explaining the process and the paperwork to us. When it comes time for you or one of your investors to set up a self-directed account, you’ll want the guidance of a qualified custodian of these kinds of IRAs. For now, keep in mind that your universe of potential private lenders may be 40 million or so greater than you thought. And if you know people who are discouraged by the returns they’ve been getting in their stock-market retirement accounts, you may be able to provide them with a great service… while growing your own business.

[Ed. Note: To learn more about how private money can help accelerate the growth of your real estate business, click here.]

"I don’t know if I always want to be in front of the camera. I love producing, I love the camaraderie. I love the adventures. I love the stress."

Sandra Bullock

Sidestepping Obstacles on the Way to 6-Figure Success

By Paul Lawrence

You can easily earn a six-figure income with a business you can start on a shoestring. I’m talking about producing your own videos and marketing them directly to consumers. From my own experience, I can tell you that this can be personally rewarding as well as profitable.

For instance, I was a partner in a production company that markets its own sports videos. We began the business with less than $100, and 10 years later it’s earning in excess of $250,000 annually.

I’ve also marketed my own line of videos. One of them – on back-stretching techniques – earned over $5,000 in profits within one week. Another exercise video I produced just generated over $30,000 in sales in less than a month.

There’s an almost endless number of subjects that can be turned into big sellers. I particularly recommend instructional videos, because there’s so much material available. Practically any special interest or hobby could be the basis of a successful "how to" DVD. And remember, you don’t need to be an expert in the subject you choose. You can hire an expert to "star" in your video and do the actual instruction/demonstration.

Of course, as with any new business, there are obstacles to overcome. Here are three of the pitfalls I’ve encountered – and learned to avoid – since I’ve been producing and selling my own videos.

How to Avoid Pitfall #1: Presentation Counts

Back in the days when I was a new ballroom dance instructor, I reasoned that I could multiply my income by selling an instructional dance video. And, since I had very little capital, I decided it would be fine to shoot the video on my home VHS camera and then make some rough edits with my VCR. I figured that all my viewers would care about was the information I was giving them… not my presentation.

Well, I was right on the first count. Certainly, I could make far more money per hour selling videos for $50 each than I could teaching private classes for the same $50. But I was completely wrong on the second count. Although my course material was good, I had an enormous backlash from buyers who complained that the videos didn’t look professional. Even though I gave refunds to anyone who asked, a few of them were so angry they complained to the magazine where I was advertising… which then banned my ads. Since it was the principal magazine for amateur ballroom enthusiasts, not being able to advertise in it was a devastating blow.

So forget about shooting your video with your home video camera. I recommend using Hi-End Digital equipment, but you could also shoot in Beta.

How to Avoid Pitfall #2: Know Your Equipment

Later in my ballroom dancing career, I produced a video for another professional dance instructor. I used a very good camera and placed an expensive boom mike near her to capture the sound. The video looked good. But after we edited the whole thing, we discovered that the sound was very weak. We were able to boost it up somewhat, but she wasn’t happy with the results and I had to re-shoot a ton of footage.

Now I know that there’s a reason they don’t use boom mikes when they shoot $100 million movies: the huge risk of not getting audio that is loud enough. So, in addition to a boom mike, make sure you attach a wireless microphone to each of your video participants.

How to Avoid Pitfall #3: Use Camera-Ready Experts

The people who appear in your video – you and/or any experts you hire – must be comfortable with the camera and must have "camera appeal."

I once hired someone with excellent qualifications – but English was her second language. Although she could speak fairly well one-on-one, she fell apart in front of the camera. I ended up losing a nice piece of change, because even though the shoot was a bust, I still had to pay my small video crew and rent for the location.

To make sure they can hold up under the pressure of being filmed, ask any potential video performers to do a videotaped audition for you (even if it’s on a home camera).

Hopefully my experiences can save you time and money should you decide to pursue this money-making opportunity. Learn from my mistakes, and you could be on your way to a profitable and rewarding small business.

[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is a produced screenwriter, direct-mail copywriter, and business author. He is also the creator of the Quick and Easy Microbusiness System, ETR's program for starting a business for under $100.

Learn more of Paul's video-business secrets HERE]

== Highly Recommended ==

Could You Use An Unlimited Supply Of Money To Do All The Residential And Commercial Deals You Can Find?

“Alan, I had some private lenders before, but your system has blown the roof off my business! I’m buying more houses than ever, and finding it much easier to do commercial property.

For example, I recently bought a foreclosure for $60,000. It needed $5,000 in repairs. So using your techniques, I financed it with $70,000 from a private lender at 10%. Instead of making a down payment, like I used to, I put $5,000 profit in my pocket the day I bought the house. And I’ll be selling it shortly for $120,000.”

– Clark Fletcher, Quincy , FL

‘Blow the roof off’ your real estate profits using private money. No credit or employment history needed. Alan Cowgill will explain it all in an exclusive teleseminar – limited seats available now.

Reader Feedback: "[Paul's] wise message helped nudge me toward concentrating my focus on one key dream."

"I’ve enjoyed Paul Lawrence’s work and admire his spirit, so I read his article, ‘Jumpstarting Your Dreams,’ with interest. I was especially taken with his entreaty to focus on the ‘one thing’ that really matters. My own life is somewhat scattered among several entrepreneurial ventures, so this advice really hit home and – right time, right place, I suppose – helped me hone a singular goal this year. All because of Paul? Probably not. But his wise message helped nudge me toward concentrating my focus on one key dream."

- Todd Wieland

Naples, FL

[Ed. Note: How has reading ETR helped you - maybe even changed your life? Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown... and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]

Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: A Tough Question from a Skeptical Reader

Recently I wrote a short piece in ETR about sincerity in advertising. I said that though there’s a strong temptation to boost sales by using hypey, sensational copy, long-term studies of response rates show that it doesn’t work. Sincere, thoughtful, honest copy is what keeps customers coming back for more. (For an example of a hypey ad and a sincere ad, check out this entry on my blog.)

That article prompted a number of readers to write in, including this one:

Since we’re on the topic of sincerity, I’d like to bring up a discrepancy I’ve noticed.

Many of the ads I’ve seen for programs such as the AWAI Copywriting Program make promises of tremendous demand and an easy lifestyle. However, occasionally I will read your response to a reader who has complained of not being able to find business or achieve the success the program promises. Your advice is typically that they need to spend more time working. I’ve seen you write to one man that he needs to devote 20 hours on top of his full-time job in order to truly achieve the results the ad promised.

Do you think that it is at all insincere or deceptive for ad copy to promise high demand and an easy lifestyle when the customer will actually have to devote countless hours toiling away to create anything approaching the success the ad promises? The ad copy usually doesn’t qualify itself by saying tons of time and work will be required before these benefits will be reaped.

We could spend days on this topic, but here’s the short answer:

AWAI is correct in saying there is a great demand for skillful copywriters. Ask anybody in the business what their top five challenges are, and 90 percent of them will tell you that "finding good copywriters" is on that short list. The demand is so high, in fact, that AWAI has been asking its members to apply for jobs at AWAI itself and at ETR too.
There is a big distinction between the lifestyle you can achieve once you have mastered a financially valued (and valuable) skill and the amount of work you have to do to get to that point. I have said countless times that it takes hundreds of hours to become competent at anything worth doing. It takes thousands of hours to achieve mastery. Copywriting is no exception.
Successful copywriters can indeed enjoy a good income, high demand, and a leisurely lifestyle… all at the same time… so long as they are willing to put a cap on the number of jobs they take on. I know at least a dozen copywriters who make between $250,000 and a $1 million a year working full-time. If they could be happy with $100,000 or $200,000, they could spend an awful lot of time on the beach. A few of them do. But most succumb to the lure of big money.
As AWAI’s Director, Katie Yeakle, points out, if you’re doing work you love… if you’re learning new things (which you’re always doing as a copywriter)… if your mind and heart are engaged… it’s not "toil." And, let’s face it, copywriting just isn’t like working at a regular "job." It’s true you have to put in the hours, but you can set them.
Is it insincere of AWAI to highlight the potential benefits rather than the work when they are looking for new customers? No. It is good advertising. As Charlie Byrne said on this subject, "I mean, really, when you see a Lexus advertised on TV and the guy is driving down Ocean Boulevard with a beautiful woman at his side, do they show a disclaimer that says, ‘You will actually have to work and pay us to achieve this’?"

- Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: To read more of Michael's unedited, uncensored (and sometimes unexpected) ruminations, check out his blog here.

And learn how you can be part of an exclusive group of 25 to 50 ambitious businesspeople that Michael will be leading through an elite 5-day program that can help you dramatically increase the profitability of your business here.]

Anti-Aging Tip: Keep Your Mind and Heart Strong – at Any Age

By Al Sears, MD

Aging brings with it a host of diseases and inconveniences. But you can slow the effects of aging by taking action. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you 10 practical anti-aging tips you can start using right away, starting with this one…

Homocysteine is an amino acid that accumulates in your blood as you age and increases the risk of stroke. Although homocysteine is a heart-health risk factor, it also affects your brain and cognitive performance. And new research out of Holland – published in the British medical journal Lancet – revealed a boost in thinking skills for those taking folic acid, a B vitamin that helps reduce levels of homocysteine. Participants in the study who took folic acid performed significantly better on three out of five mental tests, and their average for all tests was higher.

By keeping your homocysteine in check, you are practicing anti-aging. You’ll help preserve your mental skills and lower your risk of two dangerous diseases of aging: heart attack and stroke.

For most people, these B vitamins are enough:

Vitamin B6 – 75 mg daily
Vitamin B12 – 400 mcg daily
Folic Acid – 800 mcg daily

For patients with a strong family history of heart disease, I add 500 mg of the water-soluble B vitamin-like nutrient TMG (trimethylglycine).

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]

It’s Fun to Know: About MP3 Players

You’re probably familiar with Apple’s iPod, the world’s most popular portable digital music player, introduced in October 2001. However, it wasn’t the first. The first mass-produced MP3 player, which went on sale in Asia in late spring 1998, was the MPMan by Saehan. The device was brought to the United States that summer with two variations as the Eiger Labs MPMan F10 and F20.

(Source: CNET)

== Highly Recommended ==

Life has problems. ETR has solutions.

Discover the answers to life’s most difficult problems….

INCLUDING: Acne… ADHD child… addictions… air travel… animal attacks… anxiety asking for a raise… attacks… auto theft… back pain… bad breath… bad dates… barking dogs… being held hostage… billing errors… bully bosses… business failure… car accidents… cheating spouse… child doing poorly in school… chronic fatigue… custody battles… deadbeats… difficult in-laws… disability… divorce… drug overdoses… drunk drivers… elderly parents… embezzlers… erectile dysfunction… failing memory… family feuds… fire… food poisoning…

If you know anyone, maybe even YOU, that could use some help in these areas – then check out ETR’s Unscrew Yourself program today!

- Patrick Coffey

Word to the Wise: Missive

"Missive" (MIS-iv) – from the Latin for "to send" – is a fancy way of referring to a letter.

Example (as used by Jane Heller in Name Dropping): "Well, somebody sent the invitation, I said, getting back to the mysterious missive."

[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.]

Sidestepping Obstacles on the Way to 6-Figure Success

Give Yourself a Nice Pay Raise – And A Three Day Weekend, Every Weekend

Private Money Bootcamp Update: How’d You Like a Mortgage With No Monthly Payments?

Sidestepping Obstacles on the Way to 6-Figure Success

Could You Use An Unlimited Supply Of Money To Do All The Residential And Commercial Deals You Can Find?

Reader Feedback: "[Paul's] wise message helped nudge me toward concentrating my focus on one key dream."

Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: A Tough Question from a Skeptical Reader

Anti-Aging Tip: Keep Your Mind and Heart Strong – at Any Age

It’s Fun to Know: About MP3 Players

Life has problems. ETR has solutions.

Word to the Wise: Missive

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