Always Have Plan B Ready When You Launch

By Michael Masterson

Enthusiasm is a valuable emotion, and determination is a necessary trait for success. But neither or both of these qualities will make a bad idea work. I recommend that you develop the countervailing discipline of creating a Plan B.

Over the years, I have trained myself to recognize when an idea that I thought was good was actually bad. (There are plenty of signs - but unless you are looking for them, they are easy to ignore.)

So the first step is to see the writing on the wall. And the next step is to immediately switch to another course of action before you lose a ton of money and months (or even years) of time and energy.

You'll be much better at both of these critical business-survival skills (recognizing when your ideas are not working and reacting swiftly/smartly) if you establish a bailout scheme - a Plan B - at the outset of every project.

Don't make the mistake of thinking failure won't happen to you. I can tell you stories...
For example, there was a "brilliant" idea for a record club that cost me $125,000... a "can't-fail" celebrity health newsletter that sucked up an astonishing $780,000 before I gave up on it... and a perfume business that was "absolutely sure to work" that wasted $85,000 of my (and my partners') money.

When Ted Turner was planning to launch CNN, he found that he had done such a good job of promoting the idea that his partners weren't even willing to entertain the possibility that it might fail. Since Turner knew full well the value of being prepared for failure, he kept asking the question "What if it fails?" until they finally agreed to put together a fallback plan.
CNN started off terrifically, and when it ran into financial problems seven years later, they already had a solution. In this case, it was to sell a portion of the business to cable operators. Because of Turner's early insistence on a Plan B, crisis was averted without anyone breaking a sweat.

What is the most important project you're working on right now? Do you have a Plan B... just in case?

[Ed. Note: Maybe you've got a good job. Or lots of money to invest. Or a bunch of real estate holdings. But if all your eggs are in one basket, you REALLY need a backup plan. Let ETR give you a recession-proof Plan B that can help you secure your financial future. Get the details here.
Get more of Michael's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business and in life in True Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more - including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim - right here.]

Larry Potter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkJCsIMAiNY
www.ATicketToWealth.com

Companies that give away information on your topic absolutely free

There are countless companies out there giving away free information on their sites.

These folks are not in the business of selling information products. They typically sell a physical product or a service... and give away free content to build their e-list.

It can be challenging to compete in a niche where a lot of good free content is published by companies that treat it as a marketing strategy. After all, why should your customers pay you for your content when they can get it - or something close to it - for free elsewhere?

One strategy to use against this type of competition is to establish yourself as a guru in your niche.

Consumers want authoritative information from experts, and are willing to pay a premium to get it. For instance, anyone can compile information on conservative issues and politics. But only Rush Limbaugh can publish and sell The Limbaugh Letter.

Larry Potter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkJCsIMAiNY

www.ATicketToWealth.com

Find a home with easy access to highways or interstates.

Many people commute between 30-90 minutes every day between home and work. Living in the city isn’t always a desirable option; especially for families raising children; so many people choose to live in the suburbs and commute back and forth to work. If you find a home with easy access to highways or interstates, your property values will be higher than if the home is in the middle of nowhere, and people have to drive 40 minutes to the highway.

You’ll realize even more of a profit if you can buy a home near a planned highway, but not too near; property values will go up when highway access arrives, but if you can get a home near a planned highway, you can be the one to realize those profits. Again, avoid being too near the highway; 5-10 minutes is an optimal drive, while bordering a highway directly can actually cause a drop in your property values.


Larry Potter

http://budurl.com/nn8h

www.ATicketToWealth.com

Don't try everything at once

biggest mistake new social media marketers make is trying to play catch-up by creating accounts on every social media site they've ever heard or read about. This is a surefire way to rapid burnout. The amount of time it would take to maintain all those accounts would suck any and all time away from running your business. Plus, by trying to juggle profiles and build networks on too many sites at once, you'd do an ineffective job of marketing.

Start slowly. Maybe even start by surveying your current customers to see which social media site most of them use. Once you dip your toe in and get a feel for how a particular site functions, how its users behave and the kind of content/conversations they respond to, you'll have a better idea of how that site fits with your message. And once you know that, you'll know if that is a site to keep and nurture or one to scrap. You can ramp up from there.

If you run a political blog or website, for instance, you may find that Reddit members respond to your content better than Digg members. Or, if you're a photographer, you may think it's a no-brainer to open a Flickr account, only to find that you can get more inquiries from users of Google's Picasa.

Then there's Twitter. What can I say about Twitter? Okay, I'm not going to lie... I hate Twitter. The minutia of Twitter drives me crazy. But that might be because I haven't figured out a good use for it. Dell certainly did. They managed to turn Twitter into a million-dollar sales channel for their computers by using it to alert users of new sales and discounts.

But that's the beauty of social media. There is no right or wrong way to use it. It's like every other marketing channel. You have to test to find out what works best for your business.

Larry Potter
http://budurl.com/nn8h
www.ATicketToWealth.com

3 Steps to Getting Your Goals Back On Track

By Bob Cox

It's April, and it's quite possible that your New Year's resolutions already have fallen by the wayside. Sticking to goals you've set can be tough. In fact, only about 12 percent of people who set resolutions end up following through, according to a yearlong study by Professor Richard Wiseman.

But even if your resolutions have been derailed, there's still hope! Here are three steps for turning a "failed" goal around right now:

1. Write down exactly how you drifted from your goal.
Let's say one of your goals was to lose 15 pounds this year. To achieve this goal, you committed to go to the gym three times a week. But you never seem to have enough time, and usually make it only once a week.

2. List solutions - five actions you can take that will move you forward in accomplishing the goal. In our hypothetical case, that could be:

Getting up an hour earlier during the week.
Working out on the weekends.
Preparing meals ahead of time so you can spend the extra time in the gym.
Using most of your lunch break to work out.
Heading to the gym instead of watching a favorite TV show.

3. Take it one day at a time.
Don't overwhelm yourself with too many "big picture" thoughts. Remember, achieving any goal is a journey of many steps. You won't get there overnight. Stay energized and focus on one day at a time.

[Ed. Note: Bob Cox is a success mentor and creator of The Billionaire in You wealth-attraction program. Whether your goal is to lose 15 pounds or start a lucrative side business to fund an early retirement, you can find dozens of powerful strategies to supercharge your goal achieving efforts in ETR's Total Success Achievement program. Get the details now.]

Larry Potter
http://budurl.com/nn8h
www.ATicketToWealth.com

Is It Time to Buy Real Estate Yet?

By Ted Peroulakis

Real estate prices are down substantially, and many foreclosures and short sale opportunities are out there for the picking. We are certainly in a buyer's market.

But is this the time to buy? Or will prices head even lower?

The millions of foreclosures coming on the market are driving prices down, but this could come to a head in the near term. And many experts think we could see the bottom some time this year. My suggestion: Keep your powder dry and get ready to jump into some real estate investments in the next year - when the right ones present themselves.

After getting out with a net profit in 2006, my wife and I are looking to add real estate to our investment mix again. We have been spending our weekends driving around, looking at properties that are bank-owned or are being short-sold by homeowners who are upside-down on their mortgages.

The trick is to find nice properties that you can rent out. That way, your property is working for you, generating steady income. When you find a place that's got all the right criteria - good location, good or up-and-coming neighborhood, in good shape - make an offer that's 40 percent to 50 percent below the current market value. Nineteen out of 20 owners will tell you to go somewhere else. But if one out of 20 accepts your lowball offer, you will get a great deal.

[Ed. Note: Interested in other "Great Recession" investment opportunities? Ted Peroulakis and his fellow market analysts at Investor's Daily Edge give you a daily dose of balanced commentary and incredible under-the-radar investments. Sign up for their free newsletter here.

Buying foreclosures is one way to make money in this market. Another way is to play the middleman between distressed homeowners and foreclosure investors. Find out more about this "recession-proof" cash generator and 13 other moneymaking opportunities here.]

Larry Potter
http://budurl.com/nn8h
www.ATicketToWealth.com

Are you a Leader or an enable?

If you're being too touchy feely in your business it's not totally your fault.

Here's why . . . In network marketing we're all taught to be available 24 seven. We say things like . . . "If you need to do a three way, don't even think if I'm available, just call I'll be there for you." "If you need anything you've got my number just call me."

Nothing wrong with being totally available if that's the type of life you want to create, but it's NOT really the best way to go about things. Why? You end up becoming an enabler of weakness and not a creator of leadership.

If you're always there for any and every little thing for your team and prospects you're setting the wrong expectation from the outset. (It's like spoiling a child.)

I say this not because I'm bigger and better, but because I've got this hang up too. When you let people get access to you and your time all the time you loose the life you're trying to create and breed weakness into your team. There are some things they should be able to figure out themselves after you've trained them, and if you insist on being there for every little thing, they never get a chance to grow and be independent.

Leaders are what makes this business go around. You foster that by setting the right expectations, sticking to your guns, and providing what you say you will. You're a coach, not a counselor.

Make sure you define that roll to you first and them second, and you'll begin to attract leaders to you.

Just a couple days ago I was talking to a friend about this . . . He started a venture and he made part of the service he rendered complete and open access to him and I quickly advised him to stop. When you do this people stop valuing your time. They abuse it. They make things that shouldn't be personal, personal. And you grey the line between your role as a facilitator to success and a friend.

Let your friends be your friends and your business partners be your business partners and you'll thrive, have more time, be more respected, and create the life this business is really about.

To Learn More, Register Now At http://fastbuyerloans.com

Larry Potter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObVVfulxlBk

www.ATicketToWealth.com

Make Constant Improvements

The Japanese principle known as "kaizen" (which means continuous improvement) can be applied to all aspects of life. But it is perhaps best known for the way it's been applied to business.

Some scholars think kaizen is what enabled Japan to go from defeat in World War II to being one of the world's strongest economies. What the Japanese did was commit to continuously improving their manufacturing industries to be more efficient, cost-effective, and productive.

The idea was that everything could always be done better.

I want you to believe that you can always find new and better ways to achieve your goals. If an action is working and bringing the desired results - do it more often. If an action is not working or throwing you off track - do it less often. (Or eliminate it altogether.)

The beauty of goal setting is that it is all about YOU and what you want to achieve. You choose... you act... you monitor your actions... you celebrate and continue refining your actions.

Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObVVfulxlBk

Get Revenge on Wall Street's Low-Life Sewer Rats

There's no shame in admitting you were conned by Wall Street... you and about 300 million of your fellow Americans.

All those proper looking men in their fancy Brooks Brothers suits and ties. So classy and dignified and respectable.

But it turns out they were little more than sleazy carnival barkers, shills with one hand shaking yours and the other reaching for your back pocket.

Finally they're being exposed for the lowlife sewer rats they really were.

If you are rethinking your investments... and who isn't... now there's a better way.

Come join 1,000's in a new society we've dubbed the "Home Seller Assist" program.

It's the "Off Wall Street" alternative for independent thinkers looking for respectable gains even in these hard times.

Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com

Past Due Bills of the Deceased

By Jason Holland

The death of a loved one is tough enough. But hearing from debt collectors just weeks after the funeral makes it much worse.

Before you make any promises to "settle" your relative's accounts, whether a cellphone bill or credit card debt, know this: You probably don't have to pay a dime out of your own pocket.
The debt can be paid with the deceased's estate and whatever you have inherited from it. But, although laws vary from state to state, heirs are not usually required to pay off the deceased's bills with their own money.

That doesn't stop collection agencies from asking you to do just that by using carefully worded language. Some even position themselves as helping you with payment plans.
But if you ask them directly, they should admit that you do not have to pay.

(Source: The New York Times)

Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com

How To Competition Proof Your Business‏

"How do I make sure my business survives long term?"

First off, as far as your network marketing organization is concerned the answer is twofold . . .

First, you want to make sure in all your marketing efforts you're attracting the right type of prospects. A big mistake I see new online network marketers make is they spend too much time following up with dead beat leads when their focus should be on getting more good leads.

If you spend your time attracting great leads you'll not only have an exceedingly easy time recruiting, but more, those you recruit will be true business builders. Not all of them will grow big or fast, but a few true leaders will rise to the top. Until you have real leaders in your downline you can't stop recruiting.

The only reason I've been able to pull back from massive recruiting over the past couple months is because I have real leaders out there looking for other real leaders. When that happens a level of long term stability is created in your business.

Second, you have to have systems in place for your downline that go above and beyond you.

Think of them like family traditions that started generations ago that you and your family still do to this day. It doesn'tmatter who started those traditions or how long ago they were started they still live on.

In your downline, you have to have systems that run with or without you or you'll always be needed in the business.

Of note, you need recruiting systems, retention systems, and duplication systems in place before you can comfortably step away. Once you have this and your downline grows with or without you. Congratulations! You've hit the first level of competition proofing your business.

Next comes you . . . No matter how great your opportunity is you have to understand that you don't own your downline. That means if anything happens to the business, the compensation plan changes or it goes out of business your income is drastically affected. I've seen this happen to the best of them and it's not a pretty site. You need a contingency plan for overall competition proofing your income, and the way you do that is moving from a position of prospect -company - you to prospect - you - company. In other words what you're generally taught to do is get as many people into the business as possible and let duplication take effect,but we've just discussed the risk in that model.

If you change the paradigm of your business from you only introducing your prospect to your business to you introducing and letting your prospect get to know you first and then introducing them to your business now you have more control.

The business goes under and you've still got a direct connection to your prospect that supersedes the business itself. This can be leverage to new downlines in other companies or anything else. This is a skill and a subject your upline won't discuss with you, and to be honest it's something they know nothing about.

They won't discuss it becaus the only way they make money is if you put people under you and they profit for it. So their focus, like any good leader in a company is to keep you focused on the task most important to BOTH you and them. They don't know how to even approach this angle because they most likely only think in traditional terms and have been taught the old way of network marketing. They live in a high risk world and may or may not know it.

You're different. You know the truth, by just following this email. I've done both. I've got a large and thriving downline and I've got a direct connection to my prospects and that's the position you want to sit in if you want to win long term.

The only place to learn the dirty truth about really competition proofing your business is who lives it. Go here now, take action on what you see, and let's get you on the road to complete and total competition proofing your business for good.


Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com

How much should you pay for a property?

Here are some general guidelines:

Become intimately familiar with the property value - preferably through a certified appraisal

Make a determination of what you will do with a property in advance of making an offer. (For example, if the mortgage payments on a rental property will be too high to cash flow if you pay $300,000 for a property, then you know you $300,000 is more than the property can afford.)

When making a property offer, always offer less than you are willing to pay in the beginning of the negotiation

If your exit strategy will involve flipping or resale to a third party at some time in the future, make sure that the price you pay leaves room to offer the third party a price that will make the deal attractive

Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com

Figure out what you can give others.

Contrary to what some self-improvement gurus will tell you, you won't get what you want in life simply by asking for it.

Everybody is ultimately motivated by self-interest. Achieving your specific goal, therefore, is a matter of figuring out how you can satisfy the desires of others.

If, for example, your goal for that Home Seller Assist business meeting you've been invited to is to be nominated to head up an upcoming project, plan for it by making a mental list of how your nomination will help each person attending the meeting. Think about what each person wants. Figure out how, in leading the project, you can provide that.

Most important, think about how you can direct the Home Seller Assist project so that it will achieve growth and profitability for the company. Spend some time formulating the phrases you will use to drive that point home.

By putting the company first, you will enlist the respect and support of just about everyone. You will establish yourself as a natural leader. And then, when you explain how the project will benefit people individually, you will see how quickly they line up to support you.

Larry Potter
www.ATicketToWealth.com