From a perfectly objective perspective, it makes sense that one would rather spend $100 on each of ten carefully chosen and selected, high potential business Joint Venture prospects that one dollar each on a random selection of a thousand unknown people. Why is it, then, that we waste so much time talking with unqualified prospects, instead of the people that could literally change our lives? I’ll tell you why.

#1 – You Run Into More Losers Than Winners.

First, it’s easy to talk with losers.

When I had an 800 number, 95% of the people that called me were bored losers who couldn’t get anyone to talk to them.

I had two old women that would spend hours on the phone, purportedly discussing Joint Ventures, when in reality they were business has-beens with time to waste. I stopped the 800 number and saved a lot of time. Anyone who can’t afford a long distance call doesn’t qualify for my attention.

It’s easy to get appointments with broke, desperate people. They will rush to meet you, hoping to somehow make a quick buck off you. So lazy people take the easy way out and talk with the wrong people. Disciplined people won’t have any problem working hard.

#2 – Losers Seeks Out Losers

Second, people with poor self-esteem usually seek out people who are even more pathetic than they are – that way, they get to feel superior and they avoid feeling threatened. People with high self-respect seek out people who are more successful and driven that they are.

#3 – It Takes More Work to Approach a Winner

Third, you need a pretty compelling offer to get the attention of a winner, and that takes a bit of work and preparation. When you’re strategizing your presentation to a real center of influence, you know you had better have a real deal that is well packaged and credible.

If you’re pitching snake oil vitamins, questionable investments, property in third world countries, or start-up business deals, you know the winners will not waste any time with you.

When you want big results, you have to go after the big players. It costs money, it takes time, discipline, persistence, and preparation, but it takes less time (winners have the ability to make a decision and tell you what their decision is) and it’s a lot more fun than shaking the hands of broke salespeople who are convinced that their magic juice cures everything from Halitosis to Hypoplasia.

Get More Selective and Work with Winners

Every time my business has jumped to the next level, it has been as the result of a good connection with a big player. My Joint Ventures flourish when I work with winners. And the more selective I get, the more successful my business becomes. Learning to say, “NO” is crucial to your success. Spend more on less people, be focused on high class, high returns, and high standards, and you will bag the big game that brings you the big bucks.

People get into business and the most time they spend on planning is arranging and designing their letterheads, signage, business cards, and offices.

Many of those who do have a business plan had it done for them by some con artist who specializes in pulling the wool over the eyes of bankers so that you can get a loan (the blind leading the blind), or through some government self employment program, being lead by a bureaucrat who is a serial business failure.

The plan you have for succeeding in business is very important.

Plan Like Your Life is at Stake… Because It Is!

If you were planning a trip across the Arctic Circle, would you study every detail of the environment and weather before leaving? Would you create an intricate plan, and make sure every person on your team is very carefully selected? After all, your life is at stake!

I’m sure you would learn as much as you could from experts who have done the trip before, and find yourself excellent guides to accompany you.

What’s at Stake

When people fail in business, they usually lose a lot of money, in many cases the money of aged relatives and good friends, perhaps lose their homes, go bankrupt, their marriages sometimes fail, they can lose their health, and sometimes they never recover. Running a business with the wrong advice, wrong guidance, wrong people, and a bad plan, is a disaster waiting to happen.

Why 87% Fail

The reasons for the failure of most businesses are:

• insufficient cashflow
• competition
• acts of God
• bad planning
• unexpected change
• ignorance
• arrogance
• the inability to sell
• bad choices
• lack of experience
• And of course having all your eggs in the one proverbial basket is also often the cause of failure.

87% of new business start-ups fail in the first five years, and most of the rest of them merely survive.

• How can we plan in such a way that we don’t fail?
• How can we strategically plan for success and avoid the pitfalls and landmines?

A Plan that Eliminates Risk

DollarMakers offers you the way to put a business together strategically that works with no cost, no risk, no overhead, no selling, little time, and no limitations. As a Joint Venture Broker, you can earn an unlimited amount of money from multiple income sources around the world, and all you pay for is your training. No overhead, no payroll, no royalties, licensing, premises, rent, auto-ship, inventory, or travel required. You can stay in your pajamas all day, or travel the world – your choice.

This is not Network Marketing / MLM – although that can be one of your income sources if you wish – and our tried and tested systems are the result of my 22 years of international experience and success. This is strategic planning – carefully removing risk, limitations, and danger, while optimizing the potential through leverage, duplication, and understanding, and providing you all the support, access, tools, packaging, and training you need and want, at a very low cost.

If you want a business that is strategically designed to succeed, as long as you do your part and follow the recipe, you have found what you are looking for at DollarMakers.

January 9th, we have an appointment on a beach in Cuba.  In twenty-two years of business, Rika and I spend some time at the end of each year to set our specific, written, measurable goals down in writing.

Will You Fall Off the Wagon?

Every time we do that, we review the year gone by, and we always remark how many people fell off the wagon before reaching their goals. It’s sad, because we know how much they have lost by quitting too early. There is just one thing that will guarantee your success in 2009.

Success is Easier than Ever

In a world of compromise, mediocrity, and a significant lack of integrity and fortitude, success is easier than ever, since there is less than ever competition for those with this one attribute. Anthony Robbins said:

“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.”

Part time, hesitant, weak, fearful commitment makes failure inevitable.

What’s Your Success IQ

Fear and faith cannot co-exist. I’m not talking about mystical, ephemeral, witchdoctor faith – I’m talking about an unmovable, unshakable, adamant, and unwavering belief and faith in your own non-negotiable commitment to success.

• Your Success IQ (I Quit) has to be clearly defined and established, based on your purpose and vision.
• Your WHY has to be an impregnable fort, a strong castle that allows no doubt or fear to sneak in in the guise of saboteurs, posing as “friends”, or even family. Make your mind a castle.
• There is no scarcity in this world, only a scarcity of RESOLVE.

Winners Commit and Deliver

Winners commit and deliver.  Losers promise and make excuses.

It’s really that simple. And for those of you who are considering making a real commitment, here’s what Janis Joplin has, especially for you:

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.”

The only person you can disappoint is yourself. You have to look in the mirror every morning – what do you see?

• A winner, who refuses to quit,
• Or a loser, who lives on excuses and blames his past, his family, and other people for his bad choices?

It’s time to step up and change. That’s called personal responsibility. The more you discipline yourself to do the hard things, the right things, and the uncomfortable things, the higher your self-esteem, and we succeed in direct proportion to our level of self-esteem.

True Freedom

Freedom means, according to Ayn Rand:

“To want nothing, to expect nothing, to depend on nothing.”

This is my personal interpretation:

“To need or depend on nobody but myself, to expect nothing from others and rely on nothing from others, but to expect and insist upon only the best from myself.”

Your Key to Success

The key to your success in 2009 in total commitment.

• No distractions,
• No sidelines,
• No back door,
• No excuses,
• Whatever it takes.

Quitters never win, and winners never quit. Rika and I  will write out our 2009 goals sitting on the beach in Cuba, but we might as well write them in our blood – That is OUR level of commitment. If you’re totally committed, consider joining us, as we ride the DollarMakers wave to success in 2009.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke these words to a nation at the depth of the Great Depression:

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

When I see entrepreneurs working too hard for too little, and yet refusing the solutions available to them through DollarMakers, I think of the following:

Delusion

Most entrepreneurs are unaware of the extent to which their conditioning denies them the success they deserve. We buy in to the status quo, follow the herd, and believe the lies of politicians, academics, and bankers. Many systems conspire to keep their followers and subjects poor, hungry, needy, ignorant, and fearful. That way, people can be controlled, overtaxed, and led. Socialism, liberation theology, collectivism, and mysticism excel in the blinding and imprisonment of the masses.

Reason

• We run in the road that we built ourselves to justify the building of it.
• We use the pots we threw because we made them.
• We spend time with people because they’re related to us.
• We do what we know because it’s less threatening than the alternative.
• We have blind faith because it’s easier than thinking.
• We let people tell us what to do, say, believe and fear, so that we don’t have to make decisions.
• We follow people we don’t like or trust because it’s easier than taking the lead and taking responsibility.
• We fear upsetting people because we fear conflict and avoid reality.
• We prefer delusion to the stark truth.
• We blame our circumstances and other people to avoid admitting that we’re lazy, scared, and stupid.
• We pay too much for our emotional crutches and justify the expense.
• We go along instead of going to war.
• We turn the other cheek because we fear pain.
• We refuse to accept that we might be wrong because if we admitted it we would be obliged to make changes.
• We feed our addiction to comfort while knowing that years of discomfort will be the result of our weakness.
• We accept abuse because we hate our own compromise.
• We accept the lashes of the mystics and parasites to punish ourselves for our subservience.
• And then we vote in the leaders that will tighten our bonds and starve us more.

Reason acknowledges fear and discomfort and embraces the consequences of questioning the status quo.

Reason promises freedom and responsibility.

The pain of reason is less than the pain of delusion.

Reason demands courage and work, and rewards us with an escape from bondage.

Your prison door is not locked.

To change your life and the results you get, you have to change your philosophy and perspective. This is the mission of DollarMakers – the financial empowerment of people world wide through an understanding of Joint Ventures and a Capitalist philosophy.

Three percent of all people are truly successful. And it’s not because of their education, background, “Old Boys Club”, “Lucky Breaks”, or other excuses that losers so easily offer up. You can join them with the proven recipe in this article.

If you think this 3% figure is over the top, this is a well-known, proven statistic. Look here:

• In 2006, 1.93% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $250,000. (Wikipedia)

• 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
  42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
  80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
  70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
  57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
  (Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

• And here’s the scary part: only 3% on North Americans are regular readers!

• The United Nations Global Audit of Web Accessibility (conducted by accessibility agency Nomensa on behalf of the United Nations) shows that 97 percent of websites fail to meet the most basic accessibility requirements.

• Robert Jaques wrote in www.vnunet.com, 07 Jan 2008: “Spam levels reached 97.02 per cent in December 2007 and viruses accounted for 0.11 per cent of email traffic, new monitoring data reveals. The figures suggest that less than three per cent of all email sent during the month was legitimate.”

How Top Achievers Set Goals: ‘Be’ vs. ‘Do’ Goals

Douglas Vermeeren writes, “For most top achievers, 80 percent of their goals are ‘Be’ goals and only 20 percent are ‘Do’ goals.

They’re more concerned with character attributes than arriving at a final destination point.

They know that character attributes often enable them to attain successful levels. So it’s not that top achievers don’t set goals; rather, they set goals differently. Rather than use the word ‘goal,’ top achievers use words like ‘destination’ or ‘performance’ or ‘habits.’ They don’t cross items off a list and forget about them, they build upon their accomplishments to reach even greater levels of success.”

Here’s how it works in practice:

The Three Percenters are WINNERS BY CHOICE. You have to BE before you can do, and DO before you can HAVE.

• The goal, “I will do what I say I will do, when I say I will do it, with no excuses”, is a DO goal. 
• “I am unstoppable, determined, confident, reliable, and I never quit” is a BE goal.

Being that kind of person pretty much guarantees that you will succeed in achieving your DO and HAVE goals.

Getting into the Three Percent Club

Someone who never quits and is self disciplined, honest, and determined, will do whatever he or she has to do UNTIL he or she succeeds. Winning characteristics are a daily, continual choice and habit. A winner will work 24/7/365 and never make excuses. And those kind of people always end up at the top. The cream rises. The 97 Percenters are simply eagles that think they’re chickens.

Getting into the Three Percent Club is a simple choice that demands success and excellence at any cost, and anyone can do it, regardless of your past, your age, your education, or your present circumstances. When you see a DollarMakers Member wearing a tiny, handmade, solid gold dollar sign pin, you’re talking with a Three Percenter. Come and join us!

Most entrepreneurs have been taught that you have three options with any prospect:

• First, you can sell them something.
• Second, you can sell them more than once.
• And third, they may refer new business to you.

This is a linear, traditional way of thinking.

Use Joint Ventures to Maximize Impact

In today’s world, we have to think in terms of viral marketing and multiple impacts. In order to illustrate a simple Joint Venture scenario, let’s use the example of someone who recently joined the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. We’ll call her Carol. She has one thousand clients who know, respect, and trust her. How can she use Joint Ventures to make a serious amount of money, fast?

Make Real Money with a Replicator Website

I suggested Carol start off by leasing a Replicator Website, which will track all business and pay her up to 50% of all sales, including the sales of audio downloads, training, Memberships, more replicator sites, my book, etc. I would then write a very compelling letter for her to send to her database and friends, inviting them to visit her site and obtain a complimentary audio download, which I would create specially for her clients – applicable to their specific type of business. Carol would send out this email and two follow-up e-mails, which could make her a significant amount of money.

Build Your Back-End with Gift Certificates

Then she would send each of her thousand clients five Gift Certificates as a Thank You Gesture for their loyalty and patronage. Each gift Certificate would offer her clients a complimentary service worth at least $100.  For example, a business consultant might offer a complimentary consultation worth $150.

• Each Gift Certificate would be designed to provide real value and entice the user to buy more of the service.
• The supplier of the service would pay for the printing and postage.

Carol would have negotiated an ongoing percentage of all the business resulting from each of these 5,000 Gift Certificates that she distributes. In other words, when any of her clients started using the business consultant, accountant, lawyer, yoga trainer, spa or coach, Carol would receive a monthly check from that service provider of 20% of the total monthly bill.

This would create ongoing, multiple streams of passive income for her.

Leverage Databases with Prizes

Then, Carol could offer her clients a range of special prizes, all sponsored, which they could win. The way they could win these prizes would be to get everyone they know onto a certain conference call or to attend a seminar, which I would present, and the client who put the most people onto the call or into the seminar, would win the top prize. That way, Carol would use viral marketing to access her clients’ databases with their permission. One of her clients has 10,000 people in her database. Any sales resulting from the Conference Call or Seminar would earn Carol additional income.

Add Value AND Make Money

I could go on all night with different ways in which Carol could continually add value to her clients and make more and more money, in more and more diverse ways, as well as significantly grow her database.

Make $15,000 without Spending a Cent

In the above scenarios, Carol did not spend one cent. She continually gave away valuable information, prizes and services to her clients at every turn, as a thank you gesture for their patronage. She never tried to sell them anything. I would conservatively expect her to make at least $15,000 and an ongoing revenue stream in addition to that. This is all pure profit to her.

This system of accessing databases, giving stuff away at no cost, adding massive unprecedented and unexpected value and continually, exponentially expanding the options and reach, is typical of the atomic power of Joint Ventures.

From experience, we know that many people promise big, but can’t always deliver what they promise, for various reasons. (“Big hat, no cattle.”)

Some of the reasons for this could be that:

• They don’t believe they will get a very large response.
• They simply don’t have the capacity to fulfill large orders or deliver the service.
• Their circumstances, cash flow, staffing, or supplier situation might change and put them in a position where they can’t deliver.
• Or you might find that their service stinks or they’re always late…

Whatever the reason, it is wise to test a JV in a small way before running it out in a big way.

Avoid Desperate People!!!

One of the ways to avoid disappointment is to avoid people who are desperate for business or have cash flow problems. You might find they’re so desperate for money that they make existing clients wait and stew while they grab all the business they can get to pay the rent and ultimately disappoint everyone by being late, making excuses, and contaminating your reputation with the customers you sent to them. They’re usually smooth talkers and very good at making elaborate promises.

Before Doing Extensive Business:

1. Check their capacity out, talk with past clients, and talk with present clients.
2. Look for red flags.
3. Give them small jobs to do over a period of time, and see how fast they react and how many excuses they make.

Excuses are a HUGE Red Flag

When you’re waiting for a commission check from a JV partner and it’s always “in the mail”, remember that FedEx and bank drafts will clear up all “misunderstandings” very fast.

“Cancel the check and send me a bank draft with overnight courier and I’ll believe you.”

Watch Pacino in the old movie, “Midnight Run”. Money is the ultimate proof, and a very emotional issue for most people.

Test in a small way before selling the farm. If he can’t pay for seven chickens and a donkey, don’t expect him to buy the entire farm. Excuses are usually the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Working Out the Kinks

Testing a Joint Venture in small ways also helps you iron out any potential misunderstandings and glitches before they become big issues. Most Joint Venture problems are the result of misunderstandings, honest mistakes, and miscommunication. That’s why it is important to:

• Get everything in writing.
• Play the Devil’s Advocate and “What if?” games.
• Remain realistic.

Past Performance: A Good Indicator of What You’re In For

Past performance is usually a good predictor of future choices. Often, people promise big to impress you, or they’re embarrassed to admit that they have problems or are facing threats.

You Reputation is on the Line

Your JV partner’s problems and limitations can become your problems and limitations if your reputation is at stake. Avoid:

• start-ups
• dicey investments
• new inventions

Work on the Relationship First

Work on the relationship and the trust before you do a Joint Venture with someone. At the end of every Bootcamp I present, I have characters approaching me to hard sell me their services or schemes, and I am amazed that they don’t understand that you have to “earn the right” and build the trust before assuming anyone would want to work with you on a JV.

Strike a Balance between Optimism and Objectiveness

• Trial runs,
• small tests,
• little investigations,
• and watching what someone DOES as opposed to what he SAYS before opening the floodgates…

will protect your JV’s and relationships, your reputation, and your blood pressure. We’re all optimistic, idealistic, trusting, and excited about business, and we like to believe the best about others, but we need to remain realistic and objective and be patient if we want to be successful in our Joint Ventures.

By the time I was seventeen, I had lived in eighteen different homes. As a child and teenager, I attended more schools than I care to remember, and I never stopped moving. I had lived and worked in different countries before, traveled a lot, and made money.

Starting from Scratch… at 45

So when I immigrated from South Africa to Canada December 1st, 1997, it didn’t seem like a big deal to me.  (Every immigrant knows the exact date he or she arrived in their new home.) I discovered, however, that, at the age of 45, I had to literally start from scratch.

Why Many Don’t Immigrate

And that is probably why so many people don’t immigrate, even when their lives are in danger, or they see no future in their own countries. They fear the fact that they will start all over on a level playing field, literally at the same level as people with far less education, experience, and successes under their belts. And some return to their own countries, because they can’t make it in the new country – what a waste.

What I Lost When I Immigrated

When you immigrate, you literally have no credibility, no database, no connections, no credit rating, no testimonials or references that anyone will take seriously (“I’m only interested in Canadian testimonials, sir.”) You’re a nobody, and you have no leverage, old boys’ club, connections, or value.

In some cases, you arrive in your new country with depleted financial resources – when I came to Canada 11 years ago, I had to divide my South African Rands by 4.2 to get Canadian dollars – today you have to divide by eight – so your net worth is instantly reduced by seven eighths!

You don’t understand the culture, the language is different (even if you speak “English”, Canadian English is not American English, UK English, Australian English, or South African English)… I could go on all night.

That’s Why I Created DollarMakers

When I created the DollarMakers organization, I created it with three things in mind:

1. First, I based the philosophy and inner circle structure on Ayn Rand’s book, “Atlas Shrugged” – pure, laissez-faire capitalism.
2. Second, I wanted to it be international and diverse – we now have Members in eighteen countries.
3. And third, I wanted a structure that would make it possible for an immigrant or someone who had no business background or connections to start making real money fast – IF they worked hard and applied the tools and information.

Age, education, and background are not important; attitude is important when it comes to Joint Ventures.

Everything a New Immigrant Needs

The combination of Joint Venture education and facilitation, international Membership, and the communications and networking aspects of DollarMakers makes it possible for a new immigrant to access all the resources they don’t have, and then some: connections, credit, money, business deals, inventory, skills, experience, reputation, distribution – it‘s literally like owning dozens of businesses without the cost, risk, or time required to do so.

Compared to Other Organizations

If I was offered Membership in the DollarMakers organization the way it is now, when I first arrived in Canada, I would happily have paid five thousand dollars to join. In fact, I joined one particular “Board of Trade” networking group here that is very good at selling itself to new immigrants, for eighteen hundred dollars for the first year, and like most people, I didn’t renew that membership. Our annual Membership starts at just $247 per year.

Cut the Learning Curve

We teach people to do what we did when we came to Canada – borrow existing resources and piggyback on existing businesses, reputations, and infrastructure through the use of Joint Ventures.

The difference is that we provide ready-made JV’s, connections, education, and business deals and offers.

We cut the learning curve to ribbons.

You’re Protected by a Code of Ethics

Most importantly, we fire unethical Members who don’t abide by our strict Code of Business Ethics. This is unusual in itself. So we protect new immigrants from all the posers, liars, hustlers and losers who prey on new immigrants. I met many of them. And we provide real support through a united, motivated, and dedicated team of Directors and Mentors, along with many internal opportunities for participation, leadership, and wealth building.

We Get Where You’re Coming From

We have a 22-year, international track record, and DollarMakers is the world leader in Joint Venture Training and support for small and medium sized businesses, individuals, and professionals. We understand where immigrants are coming from, and the challenges they face. We’ve been there, and we know that xenophobia is a real thing, no matter what country you immigrate to. Protectionism, the old boys’ clubs, vested interests, and the lies of the academic organizations, schools, colleges, and universities that you need to spend your money on new education, can all be overcome with Joint Ventures.

Do You Belong?

We teach people how to make real money in the real world fast, with no cost, selling, or risk, and the only investment is our Membership and training. Immigrants that are motivated, honest, hard working, open-minded, and committed, can use this vehicle to gain financial security and freedom for themselves and their families.

NOTE: Sometimes, moving to another town in the same state of province is like immigrating – DollarMakers is here for you, too, whether you have a business or not. And if you do have a business, we can show you how to double your profits.