My Rat Race

Getting into the game of investing needs a lot of time getting to understand everything especially if you are total investment newbie. To really make it big, Robert Kiyosaki always has recommended investing in financial knowledge. And in gaining financial knowledge, there seems to be no shortcut but research. I personally attend many seminars, buy books and read, and research online for various sources. And as a beginner, I find this beginners guide to investing a nice place to start.

Every website has a domain name in it’s address, unless it is an IP address. Domains are branding tools as they give your web address an identity that will reinforce your brand to serve as a good marketing tool. Although domains that are not in use can either be sold and earn a profit or simply park the domain and server links that pay you some commission on a PPC basis. Many plans out there require you a large quota of domains and if you do not have much, Name Drive is an excellent place to start in the Domain Parking business.

We see them everywhere. We get tons of spam emails everyday. Buying a home, refinancing, mortgage, loans and credit. Our bankers invites us to check their mortgage services. There are classified ads dedicated to home buying alone. Sometimes we just do not know where to go anymore for the best deal. Calling each phone number you find, or meeting with each broker, appraiser, agent consumes so much time. But without doing this, you might end up wasting more money by not looking for the best deal.

This is where I like MyHomeThing, it puts everything together in one place where I can maximize my time in getting the best offers. I know your home is an investment, but so is time. MyHomeThing is the first step when deciding to buy a home.

They say it does not take money to make money, but more money still definitely helps making more money. And to get started in going into the fast track, out of the rat race, we try to shift out of the Employee and Self-Employed quadrants and try to move into the Business and Investor quadrants.

If you really have no money to start with, it is still imperative to have a job to at least survive and put food on the table, and any type of extra income may help in your shifting to the Business and Investor quadrants of the rich. Being a web guy, I partially earn extra income online. And there are several ways to do this, one way is by Ad Publishing.

Although there are many out there, I would like to promote Google’s Adsense. Simply because their advertising clients are a wide variety and more spead out worldwide which for you, being the ad publisher, also has a wider variety of target niche markets to choose from. Being an ad publisher, if you have a website, like a blog or forum, you agree to post advertisements from Google advertisers that will be displayed on your website. Thus you help promote a website and get paid in the process. You may visit google.com/adsense for more information.

Google’s Adsense are contextual advertising. This means Google visits your site and checks the content and automatically displays relevant ads. Since the ads are relevant, the advertising is more effecting, helping the advertiser make a sale better, as well as helping you earn profit better as an ad publisher.

I attend business seminars to enhance my financial knowledge. It is the only way to educate yourself. Read books, attend seminars and research online. Because being unknowledgeable can sometimes result to business failure. I went to LA to attend the Real Estate Expo last April 8 and 9, 2006 and I stayed at my cousin’s place at Long Beach. She is a OB-GYNE doctor in the Philippines and came to the US as a nurse since it has a higher demand and she has also taken some extra nursing units at a nursing school in the Philippines.

We talked about business and I told her about my business. And she kept insisting that I teach her how to do the things I do and I told her it does not work that way. I run an Internet Web Design, Web Hosting, Domain Registration, Search Engine Optimization business. And she barely knows how to operate the basics for Microsoft Windows. And she kept saying she needed a business to so she can earn more and buy a house someday.

I told her opportunities are everywhere. Some people see it. Some people don’t. And she ask me, but she does not know anything and it is already too late for her to learn. I told her, you work in a hospital, you are a nurse, you see all the problems. You know the ins and outs of that field. Solve a problem, give a solution and make a business. She told me she can’t think of any.

I then told her… when I slept at your apartment, I saw a calling card of someone selling scrub suits. And she said, yeah, I know her, she is a nice person. And she was still not getting it. I then told her, call her up and ask for some commission per sale and sell it. And just like that, she said, oh yeah! Why didn’t I think of that? Then the rest of the ideas came from her as she said, I can study how all of this goes and find people in the Philippines to make them and then sell the scrub suits in the US, then she ask again, but how do I do that? Oh well, she had too many questions and she seemed to not look for the answers.

But if I were her, since the medical field is a busy business, I would rather look for a company selling scrub suits since I will be too busy to even think about the production process. I would just search online and look for a good scrub suit supplier, and after trying that, I easily found a website of medical uniforms. I would simply contact them and ask for a reseller deal, if they do not have that, I will ask for volume purchase discounts. If they do not have that either, I would simply buy it at their price and just start with one and check if I can sell it with a markup for profit. You see people buy convenience. And if the product comes to them and they do not need to look for it. Many are willing to pay the slightly higher price.

Business ideas are everywhere. Some people cannot see it. Even if some people are exposed to the idea everyday. My cousin, a nurse wore the opportunity everyday. She wore a scrub suit that can make good business.

I recently attended a seminar by Adam Urbanski on Internet Marketing and he indeed is an expert in the field. And a few things I have learned was part of Adam Urbanski’s business true or false, which are eye-openers, sometimes you know these but you just do not realized them.

Basic Business True of False

Q. Internet is a Business, true of false? 

A. False. The Internet is a network of computers interconnected worldwide. Internet is not a business. It is a vehicle for businesses.

Q. There is money in the list, true or false?

A. They are referring to a list of potential clients, a database, even a simple phone book is already a list. Answer is false. Money is in the relationship with the people in the list and not the list itself.
Q. It’s too late to start a business, true or false?

A. False, it is never too late. You can start any age. It is my birthday today and I am 33 years old. Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki was broke at the age 35 and was living in a car with his wife, homeless. Today he is ultra rich.

Business Myths

Q. It takes money to make money, true of false?

A. False. It is the lack of money making ideas that prevents you from making money. Although more money does help make even more money, but the lack of it does not mean you cannot make a significant amount of money.

Q. What is a business?

A. Solving other people’s problems profitably. The higher the demand is in solving the problem, looking for a solution, the more profitable you will be in a shorter span of time.
Q. What is the purpose of the first sale?

A. To build a relationship. Some people get lost and concentrate on the earnings of the first sale and celebrate. The relationship should be the priority.

Big Costly Mistakes in a Business

Confusing tactics vs. Strategy

The tactics are the techniques on how to run the business. The strategy is concentrating on the solutions how the whole business will run. People that know the production process inside out tend to concentrate and be workers. They then become like slaves of their own business, which makes them no different from working for a company as an employee. Business owners should concentrate on the strategy to make more money with more quality time. Do not fall in love with the tools.

Following the “me too” bandwagon.

When some people see the success of many businesses of a certain business model and many other businesses do the same, you do not need to follow them too since you might be just entering a saturated market and would have better made money if the time and effort was spent on another business.

Do not go into a business.

You should grow into a business. Success does not come overnight most of the time. Setting up a business does not mean leaving you job right away. Grow into your business as you progress and just leave your job when your business is earning enough to replace your job.

Although these lessons were what I have picked up from the seminar I attended by Adam Urbanski. He may not have said it the exact same way and these are not direct quotes from his seminars. And I have also included my personal input in the lessons I have learned from the seminar. I have also found a post about the same Adam Urbanski Internet Marketing seminar by another person here.

As mentioned in many Robert Kiyosaki books, corporations have been used many times for asset protection as well as having tax benefits. Although the books I read by Robert Kiyosaki, teaches you the general importance of these corporations, and the books I have already read are Rich Dad Poor Dad, Cash Flow Quadrant and Retire Young Retire Rich. A more specific book about setting up your coporation is also a Rich Dad Publication, Own Your Own Corporation by Garrett Sutton, Esq. Gary Sutton is part or Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Advisors. He is a corporate lawyer licensed in California and Nevada and does many talks for the Nevada SBA. He has an excellent book on Incorporating and at the end of his book, as part of the appendix, he has a very comprehensive summary of the differents in laws significant to know for setting up your corporation.

Prior to reading Gary Sutton’s book, I have attended a seminar through The Learning Annex, entitled How to Incorporate Your Business Without Using a Lawyer or Accountant by Jerry L. Dixon, CPA. It was informative enough, and it is possible to really incorporate on your own. The seminar was pretty straight forward and procedural, although what happens after that, you may need a lot of assitance especially if you are not trained to do this work. You will eventually need a Lawyer and Accountant. And as Robert Kiyosaki has mentioned many times, you need to invest in your team. It is impossible to know everything, and you need your own team of experts. Your own advisors.

I first touched based with the practice of Gary Sutton and they had a very good proposal, but after a while, I attended Patrick James’ seminar Tax Secrets of the Millionaires. And eventually found out about the practice of Scott Estill and Stephanie Long. Currently I am their client and is just brand new and learning everything. I must say I have paid quite a large price but this is to get me started and learned in the area.

When sufficient knowledge is obtained and is confident enough to do things on my own. I would do everything myself to incorporate, there are a lot of good deals online like by IncParadise. I currently have an online business and is qualified to have a Nevada Corporation which many of us know has many tax benefits as well as privacy benefits. I have spent a lot for incorporating compared to IncParadise.com’s packages but for sure on my next corporation, it will be with them. There are many similar companies out there, but some look quite fishy and at least I feel more confident with a company that has been recognized by the BBB.

There is a common cliche where they say: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Based on certain scales, I am considered to be in the middle class and is not rich or mega rich, but I plan to go on my way there, not because that I am greedy, but I just want the best for my family. This saying of the rich getting richer is basically true because it becomes easier to make more money, when you have more money. And with the knowledge and skills as well to make more money. And people will less money, will have to exert an extra effort to make more money. And just starting to make more money from having no money is one of the most challenging and will sometimes need some creative thinking as well as perseverance during the hard part of the journey to the Fast Track.

Right now my vehicles for creating more capital to make more money comes from my job, my savings, and my business which is a web company. But I always keep an open mind and listen to all the options I have. Careers are not really something I cling to, and in the snap of a finger, I can suddenly change careers if ever I see I am capable, and is way more feasible with better returns. And with this belief, I constantly attend some seminars and read books to study my options and I have decided to attend a seminar on vending.

This seminar I attended was on Bulk Vending by Robert Elia, and I really appreciate his seminar since it was not a seminar that at te end of the day, they will try to sell you something. I was expecting something like that, where we will be hard sold on a vending machine at the end of the day like in a bizop event. Robert Elia actually gave the ins and outs of a vending business. Why it works for some people and why not for others. He gave his non-biased opinions on which type of vending machines are easy to handle and which require some extra effort.

He talked about his supplier, his supply chain, logistics, location positioning and dealing with location owners. And during the question and answer portion, not only did he give sound advice on running a vending machine business, but very good advice in running a business in general.

He admitted that the vending business is not really going to give you a multi-million dollar business (although it can), but he did say, it is a good business to get into bigger business. The more money you make, the more easier it is to make more money. The vending business is definitely one of the business I want to consider to make more money.

After attending Robert Kiyosaki’s Investor Workshop and the LA Real Estate Expo where Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki and many other financial and investing experts were present, some say there is no more good real estate deals in Las Vegas, Nevada and many are looking at Texas. But as Robert Kiyosaki would put it, it really depends on how you look and what you see. A good deal can be seen anywhere but some people cannot see it. I was browsing around for Las Vegas Homes and I got quite interested in getting some house over there pretty soon.