Can You Make Money Without Money

August 31, 2008 at 8:04 pm · Filed under make moneys

When I ask why you don’t start your own business, I always hear, “I don’t have money to start a business.”

This is a common excuse people give for not starting their own business.

There is truth in the statement. You actually need money to make money or to start a business. But the question is “Do you need a lot of money or little to start a business?” and “Whose money do you use?”

Yes, I admit that it does take money to make money but it doesn’t need to be your money!

Recently, one of my friends closed his restaurant business due to staff problems. But he quickly jumped to another business opportunity.

The business idea is so good that I want to share with you.

He is now running a training company. He focuses on corporate training. Basically, what he needs to do is to bring in famous trainers to his workshops. Market and promote the workshops and get people sign up for the workshops.

How much money do you think he needs to invest to organize one workshop? From getting the speaker to marketing, from selling tickets to renting a venue?

It will definitely cost a lot of money! Even if you only talk about marketing.

You know how much money my friend put in to organize a workshop? Close to zero!

How could that happen? How on earth that he doesn’t use his own money to organize a workshop but all the profits go into his pocket

Here is how.

He got the idea to look for sponsors for his workshop. After a few rounds of searching and corresponding, he managed to get big companies to be the sponsors for his workshop.

For companies to become my friend’s sponsors, they need to contribute money to promote the workshop. This single idea helps my friend to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing.

Not only that, his sponsors also help him to market and sell tickets for his workshops. He also can leverage on the sponsors’ client databases.

Of course, my friend doesn’t mind to give some commissions to the sponsors from the sales of tickets. It’s only a small fraction of the whole profit.

By making such an arrangement, a lot of work is off-loaded from my friend. It’s like having a well-oiled machine working for you without much of your involvement.

My friend doesn’t need to invest a big sum of money for his workshops. Someone else will pay for his workshop expenses.

Does this sound like an excellent business idea? Of course, it does.

This is what I call ideas at work. Making money does not necessarily require huge capital, it’s all about coming up with ideas that other people are willing to invest in.

As Napoleon Hill once said, “One sound idea is all that you need to achieve success.” And also stressed by Robert Kiyosaki “Money is an idea.”

Abel Cheng offers small and medium enterprises exclusive global profits insider tips in his free publication, Abel Cheng’s Business Diary. To officiate a bi-weekly subscription, please go to
http://www.abelcheng.com/diary.html

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Time Management - Seriously Important, Just ask “The Donald”

August 3, 2008 at 4:16 am · Filed under make moneys

I recently read the book “How to Become Rich”, by Donald Trump. I highly recommend it, if you only read it to understand that The Donald doesn’t have any more time in a day versus any of the rest of us. But his net worth has lately been reported at $3 billion dollars. That’s not too bad for a man who just 10 years ago owed almost 10 billion dollars to over a 100 banks.

The ironic part of life is that we all have different wealth, job, and health conditions; but at the same time, we all have the same amount of hours in a day - that is one thing nobody can change. The interesting thing, I discovered about Donald is he spends around 3 hours a day just reading newspapers, biographies, and books on philosophy. I also noticed he really doesn’t begin work until around 9AM every day. He also doesn’t have to commute, as he is smart, and lives in the same building where he works.

Another thing I recognized that helped me realize why this man is so successful was that when he does begin his workday he rarely takes any breaks. He pretty much works from 9AM - 6PM every day. He also claimed several times throughout the book, that he loves what he does. Have you ever noticed that rarely will you ever meet a successful man/woman who doesn’t truly enjoy what he does? You cannot work consistently and become successful if people don’t sense your passion. Even professional athletes and movie stars have to have passion about what they do, and for the successful ones it shows.

The other key ingredient, especially in business - is how you manage your time. I once had a boss who would ask me to do the impossible, and my comment was always “do you realize that we only have 8 hours in a day”? One thing business owners can never expect is for an employee to work harder than them, it’s not their business. Even though I didn’t always hit my quota, or my daily tasks, I did walk away usually knowing that I did my best most every time.

Knowing full well that you cannot change the amount of time in a day, how does one manage their time? I recently discovered since working out of my home, I currently get more done in 6 hours, compared to what used to take me on average 8 or 9 hours a day in an office. Why is that? Well, when I went to an office every day I always found myself socializing with other workers. In my last position, I was also very distracted, as my office was in the vicinity of about every co-worker who would walk directly past me. So, here I am today accomplishing as much in 6 hours a day, compared to what used to take me 8 or 9, and my commute is now just minutes, versus what used to take me sometimes over an hour a day. Now, I realize that some of you may not be able to change your current situation, but if you have ever heard the term Vector Changes - you will understand what I am talking about.

You see Vector Changes are those minor changes that over time will make huge differences. Imagine if you worked out a deal with your boss to work from home only 2 days a week, you just saved yourself 2 - 3 hours a week, if you have an hour or more commute each day. Maybe you can take 45 minutes for lunch instead of an hour; you just saved yourself over an hour a week.

Lastly, prioritize based on importance. I found that The Donald receives upwards of 100 incoming phone calls per hour. If he were to answer every phone call - he would never get anything done. Most of us don’t have to worry about that, but the question we should always be asking ourselves throughout our day is - “What’s really important and cannot wait”? We need to make sure that we are always moving forward. If you have a lunch date with a friend who you haven’t seen in 30 years, and there is a conflict with a project or sale that could generate millions, you might want to postpone the meeting with your friend until the end of the workday. Importantly, like The Donald its best to only return the phone calls immediately that are important, the others can wait.

The moral of the above is that we don’t have control over the number of hours in a day, but we do have control over what we do throughout the day. If you are working for a paycheck, unfortunately your company controls a lot of your time. But, you still have the ability to make vector changes that will make you more successful in your career and ultimately add more time to your bottom line.

John Lowery is a home based entrepreuneur who lives in Carlsbad, CA with his wife and son. He has been involved in Sales and Marketing for a number of years. He is also a published songwriter, writer, and a member of The Screen Actor’s Guild.

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Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Money

July 27, 2008 at 1:12 am · Filed under make moneys

There are two types of people in this world: those who make money and those who make excuses. You have to choose be either one. You can’t be both.

At the end of the day ask yourself this question, “What would I rather have more of? Money or Excuses?” Make up your mind to stop thinking about why you can’t do certain things or have certain things.

All I can tell you is that whatever excuses you think of, it’s all nonsense. Why? Because there are records of people that had the same obstacles you may be facing or the same challenges or the same handicap, yet they have gone on to greater things despite it all. Is that the type of person you would rather be remembered as? I know I would want to be.

It seems like 80-90% of the people we encounter are whiners, complainers, and often make excuses to justify things. No one really cares what your excuses are, they just want to know what you have accomplished or done with your life. And the only people we need to justify things to is ultimately the person we see staring back at us in the mirrorourselves. Can we really look ourselves in the eyes if we know that we didn’t give it our all? How can we justify being a quitter and failure with excuses?

Here are some of the common excuses people use for not pursuing their dreams:

- I don’t have the education or college degree.
- I didn’t come from a rich family.
- I don’t have the capital or the “It takes money to make money.”
- I don’t have the time to start a business.
- I lack the business connections.
- I can’t afford it right now.
- I have two jobs, and I can’t do this right now.
- I want more time with my family.
- I don’t think I can do this.
- I don’t have the skills and talents.
- I’m not good looking.
- I didn’t graduate at the top of my class.
- And the list goes on and on…

Do you forgo your goals and dreams because it is uncomfortable and requires doing things differently than what you’re used to? If it were easy and comfortable, don’t you think everyone would be rich? Of course it takes work and of course we have to change and do things different. Is it worth it to you to make the small sacrifices now to become financially independent and have the time freedom to do as you please?

Look at the alternative. You can work one or two jobs until you’re sixty-five. Then retire and wonder if your social security check is going to be enough to cover all your expenses. Imagine being 65 or 70 years old and worrying about money, paying the bills, and wondering how you’re going to afford going to the doctor, is that a gloomy picture or what?

It doesn’t have to be that way. There are options. More and more people are starting home based businesses and small businesses because they know that securing their financial future now is more important than ever. People are waking up and realizing that the world we live in is full of uncertainty.

–You see nature disasters on TV all the time.

–Economic changes that affect all of us such as rising gas prices.

–Corporate downsizing and layoffs means no job security for your family.

–Long commute time to and from work drains our energy.

–Childcare costs are eating a big chunk out of your paycheck.

–Rising healthcare costs makes it a disaster to ever have an illness in the family.

–Inflation will start to pick up soon.

–Rising interest rates will make your available disposal income smaller.

–Consumer are getting more and more into debt

Are you going to do something now before you’re forced to either by a job layoff or some other unforeseen event? Isn’t it better to prepare for the future by learn how to grow a business part time on the side?

I know it’s easier to just drift with the currents then going against the tide but we really don’t have a choice here. It’s easier to prepare now for the worse then to not know what to do if we had no job prospects and a mounting pile of bills.

To leave you with this thought, whatever time, effort, work, and resources you invest in yourself today with payoff for you in the future provided you invest in educating yourself and in the right endeavors. “As you sow, so shall you reap.” (Galatians 6:7-8) Don’t put off till tomorrow what you ought to be doing today. And stop making excuses and start making money.

Katherine Ly is author and publisher of http://www.millionaire-opportunities.com a resource for those aspiring millionaires. Let us be your guide and friend on this journey to riches.

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