* Highly
Recommended *
You
Can Import Goods From Overseas For Pennies On the Dollar!
It
may have been hard in the past for small entrepreneurs to import
cheap products from countries like China, but things have drastically
changed.
For
example, In 1986, total trade between the United States and
China was $7.9 billion. By 2005, this total has reached over
$170 billion, making China the United States' third largest
trading partner.
You
can't believe how easy this is. With the right information,
you just find products that cost a couple of dollars each and
sell them for 1000%+ mark-ups by the thousands with your own
Internet sites.
Please click
here to read this urgent report.
-
Patrick Coffey
Thanks
for the Bad News
By
Kam Weiler
In
case you were wondering where not to live or invest, Forbes
Magazine recently compiled data on the U.S. cities that
boast the highest cost of living, lowest salaries, least job
growth, and least affordable housing.
The
10 metropolitan areas with the "worst" scores, according
to Forbes:
1. Essex
County, MA, just north of Boston
2. San
Francisco
3. San
Jose, CA
4. Honolulu
5. New
York City
6. Cambridge,
MA
7. Tucson,
AZ
8. Oakland,
CA
9. Boston
10. Los
Angeles
On
the other hand, at Main Street Millionaire, we took
a positive approach and spent our resources locating the best
places to live and invest. I'm talking about cities with a
low cost of living, high salaries, strong job growth, abundant
affordable housing, and a good quality of life (cultural attractions,
favorable weather, outdoor appeal).
One
of the cities that made
our exclusive list of America's 12 Best Value Cities has
actually had swelling population growth at double the
rate of the U.S. for the past 15 years. Not only that, job
creation has also been racing along at twice the U.S. average.
Think these are low-paying jobs? Think again. This city boasts
a median income that's well above average. What if I also tell
you that housing prices are actually very low?
Maybe
you're thinking, "This sounds too good to be true. It
looks great on paper, but is it really a nice place to live?"
Absolutely!
This
is a charming historic city that sits right on the Atlantic
coast. The weather is temperate, the scenery beautiful. Cultural
attractions abound in this vibrant, growing urban community,
and a respected university contributes to the talented workforce.
Retirees, students, and young professionals are all drawn here.
I'm
talking about Wilmington, North Carolina. It's one of the best
places to put your real estate investment dollars right now
- for the reasons named above, as well as a host of others.
But - hard as it may be to believe - as attractive as Wilmington
is ... it didn't even make our
Top 5.
[Ed.
Note: Kam Weiler is a contributing editor for Main
Street Millionaire, ETR's real estate
investment success program.]
"Creativity
represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited
energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy,
the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence."
-
Norman Podhoretz
Sharpening
Your Creative Edge
By
Robert Ringer
Original
thoughts and ideas are valued highly in the marketplace. We
watch in awe as a Steven Spielberg creates one masterpiece
after another.
Most
people believe that such creativity is an inborn trait and,
thus, beyond their reach. They're right about the former but
wrong about the latter.
It
goes without saying that some people are more naturally creative
than others, but the same can be said of any human trait. A
person with a high IQ might breeze through school with a "B" average
- but a person with an average IQ can become an "A" student
if he's willing to apply enough effort to his studies.
The
same is true of athletes. There are phenomenal athletes in
every major sport who never rise above mediocrity, while guys
like Larry Bird (slow and no jumping ability) and Emmett Smith
(small and not particularly fast) become legends.
And
so it is with creativity. What it gets down to is paying the
price. If you want to become more creative, you have to be
willing to put forth the necessary effort to do those things
that lead to increased creativity.
One
of the most encouraging facts about the brain that researchers
have discovered is that intelligence is not a prerequisite
to creativity. IQ tests focus on convergent thinking,
which views a problem as having only one solution. There is
no creativity involved in this process.
To
be creative, you have to think divergently, which
entails considering many solutions. And that, in turn, requires
you to disregard conventional wisdom and consider far-ranging
possibilities.
Studies
have demonstrated that the left hemisphere of the brain is
responsible for convergent thinking, while the right hemisphere
is the home of divergent thinking. Thus, a person with severe
left-brain damage can still be creative.
Anyone
who has ever watched young children at play knows they tend
to be very creative. However, their creativity is often suppressed
by a school system that values conformity and specific answers
to specific questions.
Further
conformity is demanded, or at least encouraged, on job applications
and in the workplace. The cerebral risk-taker who dares to
go against conventional wisdom does so at his own peril. If
his unconventional idea is adopted and proves to be a winner,
he may very well be on his way to the presidency of the company.
But if he's wrong, he may be looking for a new job.
Knowledge
is another factor that is critical to creative thinking, in
at least two ways.
First,
because the left brain is the cerebral filing cabinet for specific
knowledge, it keeps the creative right brain from running wild.
We've all known people who come up with an idea a minute, but
most of their ideas either fail or never get off the ground.
Usually, it's a result of their lacking enough specific knowledge
in their left brain to silence their creative right brain and
tell it to move on to the next idea.
Second,
and even more important, if your left brain is overflowing
with knowledge, your right brain has access to the material
it needs to be creative. Good ideas and concepts are only as
good as the knowledge upon which they are based.
What
comes into play here is the Schlock Blocker, which states:
For every hour spent watching schlock TV such as Survivor, The
Bachelor, and Extreme Makeover, the left brain
is deprived of an hour's worth of valuable knowledge that could
be gained by reading a good book.
But
it gets even trickier: There is convincing evidence that too
much specialized knowledge can actually inhibit creativity.
Viktor Frankl, author of Man's
Search for Meaning, alluded to this problem
when he described an expert as a person who no longer sees
the forest of truth for the trees of facts.
When
it comes to the arts, in particular, too much knowledge can
be detrimental to creativity.
Researchers
have discovered that people who experience severe left-brain
damage become less inhibited and more creative in such skills
as drawing and painting. This is because the left brain organizes
our social skills and tends to repress "eccentricity" and
nonconformity. (There is a strong suspicion that Vincent van
Gogh's wackiness was a result of left-hemisphere brain damage,
which in turn gave him the freedom to be totally uninhibited
in his artwork.)
Today,
Hollywood is overflowing with artistically creative people
who talk as though they've had left-brain lobotomies. If one
gives them the benefit of the doubt and assumes they are well-meaning,
one is also forced to conclude that their clueless babbling
on such topics as politics, world peace, and class warfare
stems from a lack of knowledge. But this lack of knowledge
does not get in the way of their artistic creativity.
It
is also much easier to be creative when you're not under pressure.
That's why it's a good idea to get away from your office periodically
and relax. Some of my best ideas have come to me while cruising
at 30,000 feet - no telephone, no e-mails, no projects piled
up all around me. Vacations, ball games, attending conferences,
and just going for long walks all serve the same purpose.
Above
all, develop the habit of grabbing hold of random, creative
thoughts and quickly getting them down on paper. Nothing frustrates
me more than realizing a great idea I came up with yesterday
is gone because I was so certain I'd remember it that I didn't
write it down. To discourage this lazy habit, I keep pads and
pens everywhere - throughout the house, in my car, and next
to my bed. Be rigidly self-disciplined when it comes to writing
down your ideas, especially those that are the most extreme
or that you're positive you'll remember.
Last,
and most important, I believe that creativity flows from action.
Action stimulates your brain cells and gets your creative juices
flowing. What actually happens is that when you take action,
the atoms in your brain increase the speed of their vibrations,
which causes your "mental paradigm" to expand. And
when that occurs, you begin to see new ideas, new concepts,
and new possibilities that you may not have considered before.
That's
why you can't afford to wait until you become motivated to
take action. Instead, you have to employ your free will and
force yourself to do it. And when you do, motivation is almost
sure to follow.
In
other words, don't make the mistake of waiting for something
to happen. Make it happen!
To
be successful, the three most important areas you need to focus
on are strategizing, innovating, and marketing. And since all
three require creative thinking, it's imperative for you to
constantly hone this remarkable human trait.
[Ed.
Note: Are You on
the path to power? In just three hours, you can be well on
your way to getting everything you want in life. Now,
for the first time in his legendary career, Robert Ringer will
share his personal-power techniques with you in a breakthrough,
step-by-step teleseminar series. CLICK
HERE to sign up. And if you are not presently
a subscriber to his insightful, wisdom-filled e-letter, A
Voice of Sanity in an Insane World, CLICK
HERE to sign up for your free subscription
now.]
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Learn
More.
-
Patrick Coffey
Reader
Feedback: "I am looking for financial independence and
freedom from monetary worries ...
"I
would like to thank Michael Masterson for writing his article,
'The
Rewards of Success.' It warms my heart to
hear him voice (type) those thoughts. It also helps to solidify
my decision to purchase the AWAI
copywriting program, which I have just received
and am eagerly delving into.
"I
agree that far too many people pursue wealth and fame thinking
that these will satisfy their basic needs of happiness. Most
definitely not. I know Michael didn't say this, but I will.
Happiness lies in our endeavor to worship God and to serve
him and one another to the best of our ability. Wealth merely
helps us do that on a grander scale. I, for one, am not necessarily
looking for wealth. I am looking for financial independence
and freedom from monetary worries, which I'm hoping a career
in direct-response copywriting will provide.
"Thanks
again for the good piece."
Dave
Daniels
Dayton, OH
Do
You Need a Little Help From "Vitamin T"?
By
Al Sears, MD
Last
Friday, I told you that testosterone
can lower the risk of some of the major killers of men
over 40. These include:
This
is one of the reasons men come to my clinic from all over the
country for advice on boosting their testosterone levels.
As
men grow older, testosterone doesn't decline suddenly, like
female hormones do at menopause. The decline is gradual. But
over time, it is of roughly the same magnitude. Testosterone
levels are at their peak in your 20s. By the time you reach
80, your testosterone levels have dropped between 50 and 70
percent.
I
often recommend that my patients supplement their diets with Tribulus
terrestris to safely boost their testosterone levels.
This herb has been used for centuries to treat sexual problems
and build muscle by increasing natural testosterone production.
It can raise blood levels of testosterone in healthy men by
up to 30 percent in just five days. I suggest a starting dose
of 250 mg daily.
[Ed.
Note: You'll find many more tips for boosting testosterone
- and energy - in Dr. Sears' book 12
Secrets to Virility.]
Notes
From Michael Masterson's Journal: Online Help for Just About
Anything
I
just read an article in Newsweek about a website that
is devoted to "the growing number of brides suffering
from post-wedding blues." An entrepreneur set up a business
called TheNest.com, an online community for newlyweds. The
topics the website covers, editor Carley Roney says, range
from wedding planning to facing the prospect of parenthood.
"People
feel like they are on top of the world then the wedding happens
and they don't feel so hot any more," Carley says. The
new business is looking for ways to profit from this problem
by offering newlyweds solutions.
Amazing!
There is truly no end to the number of information-based businesses
that the Internet continues to give rise to.
[Ed.
Note: Building an Internet business is one of the best ways
to become financially independent. At this year's Info
Marketing Bootcamp: "Making a Fast Fortune on the Information
Revolution," Michael Masterson and his
League of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs will show you exactly
how to do it.]
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Word
to the Wise: Crepuscular
"Crepuscular" (krih-PUS-kyuh-lur)
- from the Latin for "twilight" - means dim or indistinct.
Example
(as used by David Joselit in an Art in America article): "In
the crepuscular lobby, a broad circle of monitors laid on their
backs on the floor blinked up at a laser show spiraling across
a tentlike scrim stretched just below the building's blacked-out
skylight."
