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Highly Recommended *
The
Easiest $5 Million You'll Ever Get
I
don't care if you work at the local car wash, I've got a way
you can get a bank to give you $5 million.
It's
not what you expect.
They'll
loan it to you...even if your credit is so-so.
In
fact, they really won't care who you are. They will
care about the income-producing object you'll be buying with
that $5 million.
Wonder
what it is you'll be buying? I'll give you a hint: it will
provide you with thousands of dollars in monthly cash income-enough
to provide you with an early retirement. Still don't know?
Learn
More
Safe
Income, Month after Month
By Charles Delvalle
Investors
love to get large dividend checks. But you should be very wary
of companies that pay 15 to 20 percent dividends. Nine times
out of 10, they are new companies, often paying out more than
they earn in order to attract investors. But once these companies
run out of cash, they understandably lower their dividends
(which will, inevitably lower the stock price). So not only
will you lose when your 15 percent dividend falls ... you'll
lose again when the company's stock drops.
Before
investing in any dividend-paying company (or any company, for
that matter), make sure it is fundamentally sound. Verify that
the company has a long history of increasingly high dividend
payments - the longer the better. And make sure its payout
ratio (which measures the percentage of a company's earnings
that go to dividends) isn't over 70 percent - or, in the case
of a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) or Real Estate Investment
Trust (REIT), that it isn't over 90 percent.
[Ed.
Note: Charles Delvalle is a contributing editor to ETR's Investor's
Daily Edge newsletter.]
"Entrepreneurs
are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money
or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise.
They willingly assume responsibility for the success or
failure of a venture and are answerable for all its facets."
-Victor
Kiam
How
to Become a Chicken Entrepreneur
By
Michael Masterson
I
firmly believe that one of the best (or possibly the best)
ways of growing wealthy is to start your own business. And
while I'm all for taking on a limited amount of risk, I'm not
about to recommend that you jump ship in the hopes that you
can build a raft while struggling to stay afloat. That's where
my principle of "chicken entrepreneurship" comes
in.
Chicken
entrepreneurship figures heavily in my latest book, Seven
Years to Seven Figures. It has certainly helped many of
my friends and colleagues build seven-figure incomes. But that
doesn't explain the concept.
A
reporter for CNNMoney who recently reviewed my book Automatic
Wealth for Grads ... and Anyone Else Just Starting Out was
particularly interested in chicken entrepreneurship. He had
lots of questions for me. And I hope my answers can help you
figure out how to navigate the tricky transition from "job" to "career."
1.
What does being a "chicken entrepreneur" mean?
A
chicken entrepreneur is somebody who keeps his day job while
he gets his ideal job going at home in the evenings and on
weekends. He is an entrepreneur, because he is taking the
initiative to start his own business. He is chicken, because
he's not willing to quit his current job and lose the income.
The compromise he accepts is that he will have to work 60
to 90 hours a week for several years before he can either
abandon his great idea or fire his boss.
The
term "chicken entrepreneur," by the way, was not
my coinage. I heard it many years ago. I didn't like it,
but I recognized that it applied to me.
In Seven
Years to Seven Figures, I expanded the term to include
employees of a company who, by virtue of extraordinary
performance, earn their way into of the position of managing
a product or division that is their own. They are still
employees, but they operate autonomously and share in the
wealth they create for the company.
I
have been both kinds of chicken entrepreneur in my career
... and I liked them both.
2.
What does it take to manage your business while still keeping
your day job?
It
takes discipline, faith, integrity, hard work ??? and a very
understanding family. It's not easy to work a full day at
the office (9 or 10 hours) and then go home at night to put
in time on your own project. The competition for your time
can become intense. But if you create a plan and follow it
in an orderly fashion, you will eventually succeed.
3.
What tips can you offer for people interested in trying
chicken entrepreneurship?
As
I say in Seven Years to Seven Figures, start a business
you know something about - a business that is based on some
interest you have. And if you want to do something different,
take the time to learn about that business from the inside
out. That means getting yourself some part-time work in the
industry in which you intend to compete.
To
succeed in any business, you must know certain things very
well. You must understand, for example, what kinds of products
the marketplace desires and what price points are "sweet." You
must know how those first sales are made - what specific
marketing techniques are employed to generate a sale without
spending too much money acquiring the customer. You must
understand the "back end" of the business (how
to upgrade a new customer into buying vertical, higher-margin
products). And you must become competent at the basic business
skills: marketing, salesmanship, and negotiation.
4.
What common pitfalls should be avoided?
There
are several.
The
most common is dictating to, rather than listening to, the
market. New entrepreneurs often waste precious time and effort
hoping to bring something brand-new and exciting to the marketplace.
If the product doesn't exist, there is usually a good reason
for it. It's better to be a chicken at product development,
too. Start off with a better or cheaper version of a product
that is already proven to be in demand.
The
next-biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make is spending too
much time and money on non-essential pursuits. The fundamental
activity of a business is the commercial transaction. Natural-born
entrepreneurs know that their best chance of success comes
when they devote 80 percent of their initial resources to
making the first sale. Forget about business cards and fax
machines. Get that sale made.
5.
Who is best suited for this approach?
Entrepreneurs
have one quality that other people lack: brass loins when
it comes to risk. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same
as everyone else. Anybody who has modest intelligence and
the qualities mentioned above (drive, tenacity, integrity,
etc.) can be a chicken entrepreneur. That's what's so nice
about it. You don't have to have the moxie.
6. When, if ever, do you have to choose between jobs?
That's
the easiest question to answer. When your own business is
up and running and bringing you a larger personal compensation
than your paycheck, you have to ask yourself only one question:
Do I like running this business? If the answer is yes, walk
into your boss's office and tell him, "See you later!"
Today's
Action Plan: Are you ready to take the leap and
start your own business? Becoming a chicken entrepreneur
allows you to ease out of your dead-end or unsatisfying job
and slowly but surely build your own profitable business.
If
you want to learn how to dramatically accelerate your chances
of success, pick up a copy of Seven Years to Seven Figures when
it is released in October. Then write to me at ReaderFeedback@gmail.com to
share your experiences as a chicken entrepreneur. Include your
name, hometown, and state, and we might print your e-mail in
an upcoming issue of Early to Rise.
[Ed.
Note: Not sure how to go about starting your own business?
Come to ETR's
Information Marketing Bootcamp: "Making a
Fast Fortune on the Information Revolution." Just
tell us what you're interested in - and we'll help you turn
yourself into a first-rate chicken entrepreneur.]
* 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...
-
Charlie Byrne
Smoking
Tobacco? Chewing It? What's Worse?
By
Jon Herring
In Message
# 1576 I told you about a long-term study of over 40,000
men and women which showed that even "light smoking" (less
than five cigarettes a day) tripled the risk for lung cancer
and heart disease. But it's not just cigarette smokers who
are at risk.
A
recent study of almost 30,000 people in 52 countries suggests
that chewing tobacco can double the risk of heart attack -
while those who chew and smoke increase their risk
more than fourfold. It also shows that secondhand smoke is
even more dangerous than originally thought. Just one to seven
hours of weekly exposure to secondhand smoke increases heart
attack risk by 24 percent, while 20 hours of exposure increases
it by 62 percent.
These
studies send a very clear message: You need to kick the tobacco
habit. Completely!
The
good news is that light smokers who quit have very little added
risk of heart attack three to five years later. Heavy smokers
who quit see a rapid decrease in risk, but still have some
extra risk even 20 years later.
Living
Rich: The Job Offer You Make to Yourself
By
Suzanne Richardson
When
was the last time you took a few days off to take a trip ...
or just hang around the house and unwind? If you can't remember,
you're not alone. In a recent New York Times article,
Timothy Egan reported that American workers are taking less
and less time off.
Consider
these statistics:
- According
to the Conference Board (a research group), a whopping 40
percent of consumers aren't considering a vacation for at
least the next six months.
- The
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that one-fourth of working
Americans don't get any paid vacation - and of those who
do, only 33 percent will take off a full week of work.
- Accounting
firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has had to force its
employees to take a break, closing down the entire company
for 10 days over the winter holidays and for five days around
July 4th.
Vacations
are important. They reinvigorate your mind and body, allow
you to de-stress, and give you free time for yourself and your
family. So what's the best way to beat what Egan calls the "shrinking-vacation
syndrome"? You've got to get yourself out of the rat race
and into a position where you're completely in charge of your
own time. In other words ... you've got to finally become your
own boss.
Sure,
you'll probably have fewer vacations at first. But once you
start earning a bigger income, it will be easier for you to
take a week here and there to travel or relax. That is, if
you even want to take a break! When you do something that you
love, you'll find that work just doesn't seem like work.
So
follow the "chicken entrepreneurship" advice that
Michael Masterson gave today, and finally start that business
you've been dreaming and talking about.
The
easiest way to do it is to come to ETR's Internet
Marketing Bootcamp: "Making a Fast Fortune
on the Information Revolution." All you have
to do is bring your idea, and Michael's League of Extraordinary
Entrepreneurs will set you up with a rock-solid blueprint for
transforming that idea into a powerhouse home-based business.
* Advertisement *
Are
Your Investments Paying You $70,000 Cash a Year?
According
to a recent report from Pepperdine University, you will need
70% of your pre-retirement income to maintain your current
standard of living.
To
trigger a steady flow of $2,000...$5,000... or even $10,000
a month in privately funded "pension checks"
Read
the full report now...
Word
to the Wise: Moxie
"Moxie" (MOK-see)
is "nerve" - the ability to face difficulty with
spirit, determination, and courage. Originally, "Moxie" was
the trademarked name of a soft drink.
Example
(as I used it today): "Anybody who has modest intelligence
and the qualities mentioned above (drive, tenacity, integrity,
etc.) can be a chicken entrepreneur. That's what's so nice
about it. You don't have to have the moxie."
