Issue #2026
- WEALTHY: Boost your profits in 90 seconds flat (Charlie Byrne)
- HEALTHY: Which weight-loss system can cause injuries 90% of the time? (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Dorothy Parker on being a millionaire
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- How to turn real estate "garbage" into gold (Justin Ford)
- How to get your employees excited about their jobs (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about "the Man in the Moon"
- Add "confrere" to your vocabulary
The Only Three Ways to Grow a Business
Did you know that there are only three ways to grow a business?
- Increase the number of customers.
- Increase the average transaction value.
- Increase the frequency of repurchase.
Find a way to maximize each one, and your business will experience an astonishing rate of growth.
In his "9 Pillars of Business Growth" program, acclaimed consultant Jay Abraham outlines hundreds of proven, frequently unrecognized, and almost totally underutilized ways to grow these three key areas of your business. If you own a business (or would like to), be sure to take a look at Jay’s program.
- Patrick Coffey
ETR Insider Report: The Myth of Being Too “Nice” to Your Customers
By Charlie Byrne
Can 90 seconds really make you rich?
The answer has to be “yes!” based on what 30 people witnessed yesterday morning.
Michael Masterson spent less than two minutes showing one man how to start making a lot more money almost instantly. Eyes lit up all around the room as dozens of people saw this huge opportunity being revealed right in front of them.
Hello again from Palm Beach! Charlie Byrne here and I’m writing from Michael’s Business-Building Retreat, where an elite group of entrepreneurs are meeting with him.
One of the case studies Michael examined early yesterday was a successful Internet marketer who’s looking to take his business to an even higher level.
“How many subscriber names are in the database that receives your e-mails and promotions?” Michael asked.
“About 300,000.”
“How many of those have actually bought products from you?”
“About 15,000,” the entrepreneur said.
“Okay, and how much more frequently do you market products to those buyer names?” Michael asked.
“Well… the same as the others,” replied the entrepreneur.
Michael stepped back and addressed the group.
“Your list of buyers can be at least 10 times more responsive than your prospects. Send more offers to them, and it’s almost like doubling your database. Try this right now, and I can practically guarantee you’ll quickly boost your profits… quite a bit.”
Michael explained that many entrepreneurs are afraid of “offending” the people on their list by sending them too many offers. But for your recent buyers, this is exactly the WRONG way to think. By refusing to offer them more of what they’re interested in, you’re doing them a grave disservice. And you’re missing out on tons of extra sales.
Michael went on to describe exactly how many of the Retreat attendees can dramatically boost their businesses by implementing a formal program to address what he calls “the Buying Frenzy.” There’s a right way to do it and there’s a wrong way to do it – and Michael spent the next 90 minutes showing everyone how to do it right.
This was just one of literally dozens of ideas that were flying around the room all morning. It’s incredibly exciting to sit in the middle of such energy. I can practically see the light bulbs flashing on above the heads of the attendees as Michael’s ideas hit home.
Right now, I’m off to see even more business transformations take place right before my eyes. Check in tomorrow when I’ll let you in on more of Michael’s strategies for explosive business growth.
[Ed. Note: Over two dozen smart entrepreneurs are taking their business profits to a much higher level at Michael Masterson’s exclusive Business-Building Retreat this week. The fee was high but it’s going to be well worth it for them. If you missed your chance for a personal consultation with Michael, you can next see him at this year’s Early to Rise Fall Bootcamp. You’ll get proven strategies for dramatically powering up your marketing… growing your business to tens of millions and beyond… and breaking into one of the most profitable industries around… all at over 80% less than the price of this Retreat. Sign up for Bootcamp TODAY (last year we completely sold out) and get $200 off.]
"I don’t know much about being a millionaire, but I’ll bet I’d be a darling at it."
Dorothy Parker
What a Centi-Millionaire Hedge Fund Trader Can Teach You About Real Estate
By Justin Ford
John Devaney’s personal net worth is about $250 million. Fifteen years ago, he was a flat-broke college kid.
Today, he is the manager of a successful hedge fund. (And by "successful," I mean his investors make good returns, not just John.) But his march from zero to an eight-figure net worth started with real estate. In fact, it started while he was in college, with a video program on buying houses with – you guessed it – no money down.
Does that stuff really work?
"Hell yeah," Devaney told The Financial Times. "I ordered the videos on my Citibank credit card that had a $350 limit. And I bought a house where I cleared $500 a month in cash flow."
From there, he became part-owner of a bar that made him $50,000 a summer for two summers. By the time he graduated college, he owned a home, several cars and a motorcycle… and he had saved $150,000.
Devaney no longer buys and sells single-family homes. But the investment techniques he uses today are very close to those he mastered as a residential real estate investor.
Devaney’s Horizon hedge fund has about a half-billion in assets. That includes over $100 million of his money. (Like all the best money managers, Devaney puts his money where his mouth is.) He uses that money to buy and sell "asset-backed securities."
While the idea of buying and selling asset-backed securities may sound complicated, you are probably more familiar with it than you realize – because if you have a typical mortgage, you’re a signer on an asset-backed security. Your house is the asset that acts as security for the bank’s loan. And that loan is usually traded (in a pool with other mortgage loans) as a security.
That puts you in a business that’s similar to John Devaney’s. You’re just on the other side of it. And if you want to begin building a significant net worth, it can be useful to have a basic understanding of the same investment principles Devaney has been applying for the last 15 years.
"Every couple of years there’s a crisis that creates opportunity," Devaney told FT.He then went on to explain how he bought bonds for about 55 cents on the dollar following the LTCM hedge fund fiasco and Russian debt crisis of 1998.
Of course, those were collateralized bonds. Remember, he buys "asset-backed" securities. So he had a good idea of what he might end up with if, in a worst-case scenario, he had to take possession of the assets themselves and liquidate them.
He also bought aircraft debt when bonds in that category were sharply downgraded after 9/11. He made big profits on pooled leases of aircraft, franchise loans, and mobile home loans as well. Right now, he’s eyeing sub-prime mortgages.
Sub-prime mortgages are the come-on loans often offered to borrowers with questionable credit. They typically have high loan amounts relative to the purchase price of the property. They often have adjustable interest rates (starting with a low, interest-only teaser rate) and usually permit negative amortization. (That’s where you make your minimum payments but your loan balance keeps going up.)
In short, these are the "garbage" loans peddled by money mongers for the last few years that I’ve warned about in ETR and in Main Street Millionaire. The same loans that have, unfortunately, gotten so many unsophisticated home buyers and investors in trouble.
But when these loans start selling at 50 and 60 cents on the dollar, the garbage turns into gold – because the assets backing the loans now actually provide significant protection to investors who buy the loans at these deep discounts.
That’s how the asset-backed securities market works. If there is a contract to deliver a payment, product, or service, and it is secured by something of value, chances are you can buy it. And when you consistently buy those securities on the cheap – as Devaney does – you can make a fortune.
The key, he says, is to realize that "things always cycle" and to be "ready for the opportunities." For Devaney, that means buying when others are selling in a panic, and selling when others are overly eager to buy.
In real estate – like it or not – we are entering a period when many property owners who used garbage loans to buy at the height of the market will be selling in a panic. If you have investors with a few million dollars, you can do very well buying distressed loans with the right collateral.
Or you can just buy the asset itself on the cheap. From single-family homes to multi-unit apartment buildings, foreclosures are on a dramatic rise in much of the country. Line up your short-term financing – with private money or credit lines – and you may be able to snap up some extraordinary deals.
But be sure to buy significantly under value and at prices that will cash flow once you put your permanent lower-rate and fixed-rate financing in place. Do this consistently, and you may find yourself growing your cash flow and your net worth, just like John Devaney does it.
[Ed. Note: Justin Ford is the president of Pax Property Investments and the editor of Main Street Millionaire., a program teaching deep-value strategies for building equity and income from property investments. To learn more, click here.]
“$50,000 in 90 Days or Alan Pays You…”
The nation’s # 1 Private Money expert, Alan Cowgill, has helped his students across the country raise over $85 million for their real estate deals – without dealing with banks, mortgage brokers or credit reports. One student alone, Robert Anderson, recently raised $1.8 million and used it to bank a $1,315,000 profit. And Bob and Brenda McDowell of Scottsdale , Arizona , recently raised private money to fund their luxury condo conversion project, with projected profits of an astounding $16 million!
This system works for everything from small houses to duplexes to major commercial properties. It doesn’t matter what your current job or credit situation is. And it works fast. And Alan just doesn’t promise it, he guarantees it.
Follow his system and you’ll raise a minimum of $50,000 over the next 90 days, or he’ll pay you.
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
Good Employees Believe in the Work They Do
By Michael Masterson
In Message #1792, I explained that the best way to make your employees happy is to get them to care about your customers and the work they’re doing.
You can cultivate the ability to make people believe in your projects and your customers with amazing results. Start today by doing the following:
- Think about why you are in business (besides acquiring wealth – which is sensible, but not inspirational). What good does your product/service do? How does it help your customers? Distill it all down to a phrase, if possible. (ETR’s purpose, for example, is to help you become independent and successful.)
- Ratchet that phrase up a notch by making it more ambitious. ("ETR is the best self-help program in the world, because it provides proven advice in daily, digestible doses.")
- Communicate that idea to your key people. Do it now, by memo, and every time you can in the future.
- Prove your commitment to the idea by spending time and money on it.
Every month, ask yourself "Do I give those around me the feeling that what we’re doing is good and worthwhile?" "Do I feel that what I am doing is good and worthwhile?"
If the answers to these questions aren’t "yes," come back to the above exercise.
[Ed. Note: For more of Michael Masterson's leadership techniques, pick up a copy of Power and Persuasion]
Another Reason to Avoid Aerobics
By Craig Ballantyne
Doing long-duration aerobic exercise ("cardio") for weight loss is inefficient and often ineffective. (For a longer discussion of the harmful effects aerobics can have on you, read Dr. Sears’ article, "The Aerobics Craze – a Monumental Mistake." But that may not be the worst thing about it.
According to Alwyn Cosgrove, a personal trainer in Santa Clarita, CA, "Research has shown that aerobic exercise programs result in injury – in fact, one study found a 50 to 90 percent injury rate in the initial six weeks of training." And yet, the typical weight-loss cardio program for an overweight person almost always includes thousands of repetitions… which almost inevitably leads to overuse injuries.
According to Cosgrove, "A superior system would be to use strength training to prepare the muscles for more exercise. By reducing the rest periods between sets of strength exercises, you can still achieve the same calorie-burning and cardiovascular-boosting benefits."
A bodyweight circuit of squats, push-ups, and step-ups will help strengthen the muscle groups of the entire body. Do a set of 10 repetitions for each, resting as little as possible between exercises. Once you have finished the circuit, rest one minute, and then repeat two more times.
[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine. If you're looking to burn fat, build muscle, and quickly step into the body you have always wanted with just three workouts each week, check out Craig's fat-loss system, Turbulence Training for Fat Loss.]
Reader Feedback: "Thank you for the articles that have rescued my health."
"For some time I have been a subscriber to ETR, and have found many of the articles very useful, especially those in the Health section. Recent revelations regarding aerobic exercise have been particularly eye opening.
"So, my story: Some 18 months ago, I suffered heart problems, was diagnosed with hypertension and put on a high dose of various ‘beta blockers.’ I could not fathom why this had happened to me; my lifestyle had always been healthy, and I took regular and frequent aerobic exercise.
"Many years ago, I was a pretty good athlete – and the preferred sports of my youth were sprint- or power-based, primarily basketball, gymnastics, and Olympic weightlifting. When I left school, I joined the UK Armed Forces, and indulged in my preferred activities. But then came the 1980s and the aerobics boom fuelled by Jim Fixx and Jane Fonda. At least her classes contained some high-intensity exercise, so weren’t too bad.
"But, hey-ho, along came the ‘fit police’ and we all went ‘low impact’ for hours at a time. By then, I had left the forces and become a fitness conditioner. I took a degree and MSc in Sports and Health Science and subscribed to the ‘aerobics is king’ mantra regarding health, fitness, and weight control. However, it never seemed to me to be really effective. I became less fit over the years (allowing for ageing) than I had ever been, despite an average two hours per day walking to and from work at the University and regular long-duration sessions of cardio in the gym.
"Recent articles that you published point to possible reasons why. I have now gone back to my youth and started a programme combining intermittent high-intensity sprint, circuit, and weight-lifting exercise as suggested by the likes of Al Sears and Craig Ballantyne. My blood pressure has returned to normal, and I am gradually reducing my prescribed medication.
"Thank you for your attention and the articles that have rescued my health."
- Bill Milne
Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
[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.]
It’s Fun to Know: About "the Man in the Moon"
In the U.S., we grow up "seeing" the image of a man’s face in the moon. Asians, though, see a rabbit in the moon. (In Japan, the rabbit is making a rice cake traditionally eaten during New Year celebrations.) And other cultures around the world see the silhouette of a woman, a frog, a moose, or a buffalo.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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Word to the Wise: Confrere
A "confrere" (KON-frare) – from the Latin for "with" + "brother" – is a fellow member of a fraternity, profession, etc.
Example (as used by Peter Gay in Pleasure Wars): "Baudelaire knew that this brave defense of the much derided middle class, offered without a touch of sarcasm, put him at odds with his confreres."
[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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