I lived in Africa for 45 years – I understand the underground economy – the “black market” – the alternative, informal economy. Ask yourself why so many Chinese stores accept “Cash Only” or why so many people run their businesses only within their own ethnic community. Do you think people who run flea market booths all pay taxes?

In a world where socialism is growing by leaps and bounds, headed up by Comrade Obama and his gang, and the government resembles the Mafia more and more, it’s no big surprise to me that people are waking up. The banks are simply a giant, legal Ponzi Scheme. (Read Kiyosaki’s Conspiracy of the Rich.)

Trading and Bartering

I lived and worked in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) during the war there for the year of 1979 on a contract as a manager for Holiday Inns.

Serious sanctions imposed by South Africa and England were crippling the economy by design. (South Africa reaped what it sowed in due time, and England is in a worse state than the US – the chickens have come home to roost.)

We traded everything from foreign exchange to

• gold,
• diamonds,
• antiques,
• gasoline coupons,
• foreign exchange,
• whiskey,
• shellfish,
• cutlery,
• and cooking oil,
• knitting machines
• and hotel rooms.

I traded my house for a Ford Escort when I left. When I meet some of the “Trade and Barter Experts” here, I just chuckle quietly to myself – they have no idea how far this can, and does go.

An Attack on Capitalism

In an increasingly Collectivist, Statist society, in which real, law-abiding producers are drained to feed the sick, lame and lazy, their hard-earned taxes stolen to set up needle centers for drug addicts, parks for walking dogs, housing for those who have decided to “work the system” and illegal immigrants who claim “sanctuary”, and to feed those who choose not to work, business owners start to consider their alternatives.

Anyone who has read “Atlas Shrugged” knows the route we’re going. And they know the system is designed to empower the criminals and the collective, while undermining the creators, the thinkers, and the innovators.

The bigger the loser, the more the churches and government will do for him. It’s an attack on capitalism.

The Benefits to Being A Joint Venture Broker

That’s why I tell people to consider creating their own Joint Venture Broker business. Run your business with

• no cost,
• no risk,
• no selling,
• no inventory,
• no employees,
• no licenses, fees or royalties,
• no limits,
• and no overhead or premises.

I’m not suggesting we don’t pay our taxes or that we do anything illegal – I would never suggest that – but I am suggesting that you wake up and smell the burning Constitution.

Smart squirrels plan for the winter, and hyperinflation, massive taxation, restrictions on medical care, free speech, and the Internet, and a police state suddenly doesn’t sound like a conspiracy theory anymore.

It’s Time to Get Picky

Now, more than ever, real relationships and confidentiality is crucial to business success.

Savvy entrepreneurs are planning ahead. We’re finding out who our friends and enemies are, and we’re cutting costs and risks.

Start getting lean and mean, and consider learning to understand alternative compensation and reciprocation – you’ll be glad you did.

Where will you be when Atlas shrugs?

The Awakening of the Alternative Economy

In some cases, closing down a business that is running at a loss is the right thing, however in many cases, a business can be saved instead of being closed down, especially if there are leases and penalties and further losses to be incurred by the closure.

There is a little-known way to redeem a business and move it back into profitability.

How can one turn a business around without incurring additional costs and risk?

Turning It Around with Joint Ventures

We’re talking about a blood transfusion here, not a brain transplant. But then it does take a different way of thinking to rectify this frightening situation.

“You’ve gotta know when you hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run” is right.

But it’s good to know that most entrepreneurs are unaware of the most valuable, lucrative option available to them – Joint Ventures. Thousands of businesses could be saved with Joint Ventures.

Leverage Your HIDDEN Assets

Instead of focusing on what is drowning us, like insufficient sales and customers, high overhead, bank loans, and so on, let’s focus on what we DO have:

• hidden assets,
• resources,
• relationships,
• credibility,
• access,
• a database,
• inventory,
• location,
• a brain and a work ethic – these are qualities that are seldom found…

we have far more than we don’t have. We might be rowing our boat along with breaking back and blistered and bleeding hands, while we have access to a seventy horsepower outboard motor we’re not even aware of…

Create 100% Profit Without Cost or Risk

Business is not about selling more cups of overpriced coffee and muffins. It’s not about getting more customers. It’s not about increasing sales and cutting costs or feeling important – it’s about NET PROFIT.That is the true purpose of business: To make the maximum after-tax profit, as fast as possible, with the least cost, risk, time, effort, and frustration.

Joint Ventures allow one to leverage existing resources, access and leverage the resources of others, and create multiple additional income sources – fast – all at 100% profit, with no cost or risk, and little time.

Discover Your Existing Resources

How can the coffee shop owner leverage existing resources? He starts thinking about what OTHER people want – his customers, people who are not his customers, his vendors, his competition, the public, tourists… Then he starts solving problems – linking supply and demand, like a broker or middleman, and getting paid an ongoing commission on all the resulting sales. Zig Ziglar said,

“You can get anything you want out of life, if you’re prepared to help enough other people to get what they want.”

Enter Joint Ventures.

Create Income and Increase Value

The coffee shop owner can Joint Venture with the hair salon who is also in the financial doldrums. When a customer indicates an interest in buying jewelry, real estate, or finding a cab, Ka-ching! When his vendors need help with their problems, when someone is looking for a good printer or needs renovation services – all of these are income opportunities.

The coffee shop owner can use Gift Certificates to create income and increase value, work with tour guides and dentists, and set himself up as a go-to guy that gets stuff done.

He is literally surrounded by lucrative Joint Venture opportunities, and he’s right in the middle of New York City. He has the gold mine, and I have the shovel.

Reality Check on Small Business Joint Ventures

In fact, someone who really understands Joint Ventures would never open a coffee shop to begin with. But that’s why most of the owners of small and medium-sized businesses operate at about ten percent of their potential profit, and why they work too hard, too long, and risk too much, for far too little.

For more information on the power of Joint Ventures visit us at www.jvwidom.com, – we have solutions.

Troubled Business Owners: Save Your Business with Joint Ventures

Everything gets blamed on the recession, from halitosis and hiccups to oversleeping and body odor. People make excuses for lethargy, low sales, their dogs’ fleas, and failing to stop at traffic lights.

ENOUGH!

Contrary to what the media is feeding you, not everyone is suffering during this recession. And YOU don’t have to, either.

Want to Move from Feeble and Flaccid to Frenzied and Famous?

I know it’s true – I regularly race along a certain forest path on my trusty bicycle, and at one point I always had to slow down to avoid hitting a particular tree stump. Yesterday, I took my own advice, and instead of looking at the tree stump (where I didn’t want to go) I kept my eyes on the path beyond the tree stump (where I did want to go) and amazingly, I found I could negotiate the same route at twice my previous speed.

How They “Hit the Stump”

How to Get Out of Debt

If They Really Wanted to Work

If these two loafers really wanted work:

1. Why are they not waiting tables, serving in a bar, washing cars
2. Or, better still, offering to work for nothing for two weeks so that a prospective boss can see how great they are and offer them a job?
3. How about working on a commission basis?

Too much like hard work? Don’t like being accountable for getting real results, perhaps?

Few business owners would turn you down if you offered to get paid for results on a part-time, independent agent, basis. Think about that one!

A Sure Way to Stay on That Couch

Businesses receive thousands of resumes, most of which are discarded without even being looked at. In fact, if you want to make sure you can stay on the couch and play video games when you get tired of playing with your kids, just keep on mailing out your resume.

You’re NOT RESTRICTED to a Job

Times have changed. There are thousands of opportunities to get out there and make money, and I’m not talking about “investments” or Network Marketing. DollarMakers presents regular, free seminars, and offers plenty of complimentary information on how to make money with no cost, risk, selling, regardless of one’s circumstances, using Joint Ventures.

Here’s the bottom line:

You make money by creating value. While you’re waiting to get a job, there is no excuse not to work, and there are many opportunities to work. No work is below you, and you never know whom you will meet and what you might learn when you get off your fat ass and go to work.

• Staying at home feeling sorry for yourself and leeching off your wife is not what a real man does. Whining about the economy doesn’t pay for your beer and cigarettes.
• And “going back to school” in order to get better qualified to get a job is the most ridiculous cop-out I’ve ever heard.

Only One Way to Have Money – EARN It!

Increasing the minimum wage isn’t the answer, either, nor is bigger government – that’s just thinly-veiled socialism. Hand-outs, welfare, and protectionism is simply government’s way to imprison the productive population and empower the losers and leeches.

No- the way to make money is to EARN it by creating value, and getting a job is virtually a guarantee that you will never get rich. Take another look at your choices, and take a GOOD look at becoming a Joint Venture Broker. There is no excuse why you can’t make money as a JV Broker, regardless of your skills, education, or background.

Take a good look in the mirror, buddy – be a man! And wives, perhaps it’s time to lock the fridge, unplug the XBox, and send your hapless hubby out to work, or perhaps YOU should fire him, too.

Unemployed? Here Are Your Options

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” ~ Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797)

One thing that stops most people from achieving their goals is the fear of failure, embarrassment, loss, or anything that they currently have and don’t want to lose.

This fear will prevent them from moving forward – the perceived threat and pain – until the pain of their present condition or their approaching condition exceeds the potential danger that they fear.

By examining the things you fear, you might get perspective and change your mind about whether or not that fear has the power you currently bestow upon it.

• What do you fear?
• How can you diminish that fear?

Fear Failure?  Try This.

For example, if you fear failure, think about this: If there was nobody else in the world but you, no other people – would you fear failure? No, you wouldn’t. Because you don’t fear failure per se – you fear the opinions and ridicule of other people.

And anybody who likes you and cares about you would not ridicule you if you failed – they would help an support you, so why worry about the opinions of people who don’t like you or care about you?

Fear Loss?  Try This.

If you fear loss:

• What do you have to lose?
• What is the risk factor?
• Specifically, what would happen if you incurred that loss?
• Could you cope with that loss?
• Is the reward of facing your fear worth the risk?

Think objectively, not emotionally. Write down the pros and cons. Be rational.

1. How can you reduce or prevent the risk?
2. How can you change the situation, protect your assets, or shift the risk?

Fear is usually illogical and based on our conditioning and self-esteem, instead of hard facts. We assume a whole lot of things that are generally not true.

How a Professional Evaluates Risk

Imagine an engineer, and architect, or a scientist evaluating a risk. Would they cry, wring their hands, get angry, shout, hide, or rant? Probably not – they would get out their calculators and have meetings with other analytical people, draw diagrams, make plans, discuss the situation, and find a solution.

The architect doesn’t start whining, “But what if the bridge falls down? What if the floor collapses? I’ll be so embarrassed!” Analyze your fear, get the input of experts, talk with people who have been that route before and succeeded, and then make a logical, adult decision.

The “What if?” Game

Play the “What if?” game. It works well if you write things down.

• What if that person dies?
• What if this project fails?
• Exactly what would I do?
• What steps would I take?
• What would happen?
• Whose advice I need?
• What would I do?
• What could I do?
• Why would I make that choice?
• What would my alternatives be?
• Exactly what would this cost?
• How do I arrive at that number?

When you view life like a monopoly game or a chess game, you can override your conditioning, bias, self-talk, beliefs, and fears.

When you align yourself with successful, mature people who have experience in the field, it gets even better, hence the Mastermind effect of the DollarMakers Joint Venture Club and the DollarMakers Women’s Club – create a support system that will help you avoid the pitfalls of emotionalism, mysticism, and negative conditioning. Together, we can do amazing things.

Most Fears Never Even Happen!

The things you fear are not always all they’re cracked up to be. Several recent studies indicate that over 85% of all that we worry about never happens. Our minds tend to make mountains out of molehills.

Fear is not bad – it’s a warning light that we should consider, and when the warning light goes on in your car you don’t start crying, get paralyzed with fear, or sell your car; you take it to the shop and get an expert mechanic to check it out, or you take the time to read the manual.

• Sometimes,  an inexpensive item or a small adjustment is all that is required.
• Sometimes, it’s more expensive, but less expensive than a seized engine.

Consider the situation calmly and you will find that all you have to fear, as a smart man once said, is fear itself.

Break Free of Fear

• live in denial,
• hope for the best,
• write pathetic “business plans”,
• hide,
• and make weak excuses that nobody believes.

Many flock to “business networking meetings” where they desperately try to sell stuff to other broke people, or dig their hole even deeper with ineffective advertising.

Worse still, they hire unemployed business failures who label themselves “Business Consultants” or “Coaches” and charge an arm and a leg to steal the last money you can borrow. (They’re also in a debt hole!)

Some people have lots of money, but they have no time and their debt is time.

How a Bad Situation Turns Worse

Either way, when your money, credit, or time is flowing out faster than it is flowing in, the murky, smelly water rises until it’s high enough to get our attention. At that point, we try to make a logical business decision while in a state of panic.

That’s when we start to understand the old saying, “desperate people do desperate things”. Situational Ethics kicks in faster than a speeding bullet.

And I am now addressing the people who are in this very situation, or who have the courage to see that it is approaching like the proverbial oncoming train.

What Do You Do?

When you see you’re finally about to drown in the hole you so carefully dug, who do you call?

• A three-year-old with a pink, plush toy?
• Do you call over to the “life coach” in the hole next door?
• Do you invite an advertising salesman over to pour a few extra barrels of water into your hole?
• Or sign up to sell real estate or life insurance?

I know this sounds familiar to some of us, since I have been there myself. How did I very narrowly avoid certain bankruptcy on one scary occasion? Not by doing what I had always done, I assure you. Not by second-guessing people who were capable of saving me, and not by resorting to the arrogance born of fiery fear.

Here’s What I Did

Here’s what I did, and what you might want to consider if a few lungfuls of water is not your cup of tea:

1. Find the most successful, competent, insightful, straight-talking people you can, and give them a vested interest in helping you out of your hole.
2. Follow their instructions to the letter, or they’ll throw you back like the minnow you are, faster than you might imagine.

My Story

I was in bad trouble. I was about to lose everything, and those I had expected to help me (family) were not coming to my rescue, in spite of the fact that I had never approached them before (and never will gain.) The bank was about to pull all of my credit, and things looked darkish. My panicked decision was to sell my house and rent in order to get out of debt, so I called in on my smart, successful friend and asked for his advice.

Help at Last

Gerald Voutsas took an objective, relaxed look at my ridiculous plan, showed me that it definitely would put me deeper in the hole, and offered an alternative solution as quickly and easily as passing me another ginger biscuit. I did exactly what he told me to do, and he saved my asset.

It took a few months, and lots of hard work, but I learned my lesson and I never put myself into that situation again. I avoid those dark holes like the plague, and the way I teach Joint Venture Broking is based in part on avoiding that kind of deep, dark hole.

“But where do I find these experts?”

OK, I know you’re going to ask me, “But where do I find these experts?”

That’s why we created DollarMakers. I wanted a decent financial planner, so I went to a very good friend who is also my Joint Venture Partner, very wealthy, and a successful lawyer, and asked him whom HE uses for his financial planning (insurance). Now we use the same insurance guy. Birds of the feather. Successful people know other successful people.

And only someone who is happily not in a hole can help you out of the hole. “The blind leading the blind” is an everyday occurrence in business, masterminding with the mindless…

Bottomline

Elicit, then follow the expert advice of real experts to the letter. And don’t you dare second-guess, question, or slack off. I listened to Gerald, and I didn’t drown.

Climbing Out of the Debt Hole

My friend’s wife told him to stop spending his time visiting banks to borrow more money to survive the financial downturn, but rather to spend that time MAKING money.

Usually, wives have to read this and put their husbands onto the right track, since they generally seem to have a better handle of the response to financial strife.

Here’s what won’t solve your challenges:

1.    Hiding From Your Creditors

…that just makes them angry, and you don’t need angry creditors. Communicate and make token payments if necessary – be on time, whatever the amount of the payment, and don’t make them run after you – you will lose.

2.   Blaming Others

Stop winging, whining, complaining, blaming, shaming, and naming other people and the government for your financial problems – you’re just irritating people, alienating winners, and using up time that might otherwise have been used to make some money and solve problems. Bewailing your fate will further deteriorate your resolve, belief, and self esteem. We tend to believe what we say, so talk positive.

3.   Taking Advice from Just Anyone Who Gives It

Don’t take advice from people who are more screwed up than you are, those with a hidden agenda, or those who don’t already have what you want.

4.   Making Desperate or Hasty Decisions

Take a rational, financially secure person with you if you assist on attending “money-making seminars”, and don’t make quick decisions – desperate people do desperate things, and you should realize that you could make bad decisions when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

5.   Hiding from Your Responsibilities and Pain Through Addiction and Diversion

Stop hiding with dope, cigarettes, drink, video games, food, and movies – confront your options and get to work. If you say you can’t find work, work as a commission only salesperson. There is no excuse not to work while you play at home like a child.

6.    Cutting Back in the Wrong Areas

Don’t cut the wrong costs – the first things to go should be the television services ($80 per month), booze ($100 per month), cigarettes ($300 per month), and movies ($60 per month), and other wasteful things.

7.   Continuing to Do What Does Not Work

Stop doing what doesn’t work – stop wasting your money on MLM (network marketing), Lotto tickets, gambling, and anything else that doesn’t make you money.

8.    Spending Time with Losers

Stop spending time with other broke, self-employed / unemployed losers and start mixing with winners. Associate only with positive, successful, optimistic people.

9.   Not Working on a Commission Basis, While Looking for a Job

Analyze what activities are providing you with an excuse not to get out and work on a commission-only basis, and remove them. You’re job, when you are unemployed, is to get a job, and while you are looking for a job, to WORK on a commission-only basis. Women, stop allowing loser men to live off your income and force them to work.

10.   Tuning Into Hopeless Media

Stop reading newspapers and watching CNN. The media won’t give you any hope.

11.   Waiting for Someone Else to Save You

Stop waiting for Obama or any other politician to solve your problem. Say, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”

12.   Limiting Yourself

Finally, stop thinking there is nothing you can do. The best advice I can give you is to use Joint Ventures to create financial freedom. You can start earning real money, fast, IF you will work hard and do whatever it takes.

12 Things that Will NOT Solve Your Financial Problems

“Not too many years ago, most people did not need retirement plans or help with retirement planning. Retirement lasted only five years on average. Not everyone retired. Those that did retire generally had adequate income from employer pensions and medical expense coverage plus Social Security and Medicare.

All that changed.

• Life expectancies increased, dramatically increasing the length of retirement to 20 years or more.
• Employers reduced or eliminated pensions. Employees save and invest for retirement on their own through 401(k) plans and other accounts.
• Employer-paid retiree medical coverage is greatly reduced, and Medicare raises premiums.

Americans more and more are on their own for retirement and must plan for much longer retirements.

‘Game Changing’ Events that Make Us Re-evaluate

To complicate things, retirement finances have changed and are changing rapidly. Bull markets rapidly turn into bear markets which become financial crises. Investment options change all the time. Taxes, long-term care, medical expense coverage, annuities, life insurance, estate planning, and other aspects of your retirement finances rapidly have innovations and turmoil.

Currently, we are experiencing real ‘game changing’ events that will require everyone to re-evaluate their retirement plans:

• A bear market that wiped out 50% and more of some retirement portfolios in a year.
• Likely tax increases in the next year or two.
• The financial instability of Medicare, likely to lead to means-testing or other major reductions in benefits.
• Questions about the future of insurers that sold life insurance, annuities, and long-term care insurance.
• Low interest rates and dividend reductions that slash the income of retirees.

Where Most Get Their (Poor) Advice

Now there is no shortage of people seeking to be the retirement advisors for tens of millions of Baby Boomers: brokers, financial planners, accountants, insurance agents, mutual fund companies, and more.

Too often these advisers have their own agendas or are so busy marketing and managing their businesses that they do not keep up with the latest news and trends. Cookie cutter approaches and rules-of-thumb dominate too much financial advice. Personal needs, situations, and desires can take a back seat or be pushed out of the vehicle.

Tackling It On Your Own

But if you attempt to tackle retirement planning on your own, you can easily become confused and overwhelmed by the mountain of advice available to you.

Type the search term ‘retirement planning’ into Google and it returns about 13.5 million hits. Type in ‘IRA’ and it returns almost 50 million hits! And most of these hits are for websites that simply want to sell you a particular product, or contain information that’s out of date.”

I Agree Wholeheartedly.

…And those “Advisers” are all asking you spend MORE money, take more risks, and trust them, so that they can earn bigger commissions on your risk!

Surely you’re tired of being ripped off?

Here’s My SOLUTION:

How about creating more income – residual income from multiple sources – with no cost, risk, or selling, no investment, and little time, regardless of your financial predicament, age, or background? That’s exactly what DollarMakers offers you.

Have a look at our website -lots of free stuff, information, and help. No obligation. No spam.

There’s even an e-book on how to retire in one year.  That’s right.  You heard me correctly.  ONE YEAR.

What have you got to lose? It’s not too late to turn your autumn years of scarcity and fear into the best years of your life.

The Changing Face of Retirement and What You Can Do About It

…And we have all found out how that backfires.

Like a wild animal, money runs away when you chase it; you have to lure it, entice it, attract it with value, and never compromise your standards.

Sell Up!

When we’re feeling down and the wolf is scratching at the door, it’s natural to “sell down” – we approach other broke and frantic people instead of “Selling up” – seeking out people who are more successful than we are at the time.

Note I said, “at the time.” Being broke is a temporary situation – remember that.

Everyone has been there, and there’s no shame in facing the odd storm; it’s HOW you face the storm and the reactions you choose under fire that will determine how long the storm lasts. You get to know yourself and others under pressure; you find out how tough and motivated you really are.

Turning A Tough Situation Around

The key to turning around a difficult cash flow predicament is to get a strong trunk out of the basement, find a solid lock to put on it, and stuff your bruised ego and emotionalism into that trunk until you recover.

Being objective and clear-headed is essential and that’s where it’s valuable to have access to an objective, successful mentor or friend who can keep you from rushing out and making a fool of yourself. Desperate salespeople seldom make sales, but they do make a lot of enemies.

1. Be prepared to walk away from any deal.
2. Be low-key.
3. Remain relaxed, professional, urbane, and at ease.

You Set the Standard

When I ran a hotel for a smart hotelier who was an even smarter entrepreneur, he told me,:

“Robin, no matter how urgent a matter is, even if the hotel is on fire or the chef is murdering yet another waiter, you must NEVER RUN.

You will walk in a stately manner, like a gentleman taking his leisurely constitutional.

Be professional and in control at all times, since you set the example and the standard for the entire staff and the guests.”

The Money Will Come

Most important, don’t hide from your creditors. Keep contact, offer payment schemes, communicate, and remain confident and self-assured at all times.

Think big, be flexible, and take the advice of your mentors, but don’t do silly things that will haunt you for years. Create the value that will attract the money.

Discipline yourself to be patient and consistent, and the money will come.

Luring Money in Difficult Financial Times

There are a remarkable amount of similarities between a war and a peacetime recession that we can benefit from understanding.

I arrived in the country with my young family, and instantly noticed a huge difference in the mentality and approach of people in a warring country. Most of us were armed most of the time, and we saw opportunities that would not normally be evident in a peacetime or relatively affluent society.

We had to become very creative in order to make it in business.

Things to Learn from a “War-time Mentality”

During a war, there is a heightened sense of awareness, and people live on the edge.

Our women and children were sent out of the country to safety during the transitional time when the terrorist Mugabe was put into power, and men kept trunks with guns, grenades, and other useful items under their beds. People were tough and serious about life and business.

• We didn’t take customers or luxuries for granted, and relationships were regarded as being very important.
• Thinking “out of the box” was what kept people out of other boxes, called coffins.
• People had to be resourceful and reciprocate when they received value, as opposed to the lackadaisical, lazy, and selfish attitude of entitlement that pervades a well-fed and spoiled society.

Getting Creative to Survive

Sanctions had been imposed on Rhodesia, so in order to provide shellfish, imported alcohol, cutlery, and many other commodities that are usually easily available and readily accessible to our hotel guests, we had to buy them on the black market or have them smuggled into the country. We had to bargain and wheel and deal to get good cooking oil, silver foil, and other regular things. Local businesses manufactured products we couldn’t get. One company created drinking glasses out of ketchup bottles. (Those glasses lasted forever!)

Barter as a Way of Life

Tourism all but collapsed. Barter and the trading of commodities, resources, products, and services, was the norm. We traded and sold financial currency, gold, antiques, food, and gasoline coupons, which were restricted and valuable. I traded a diamond ring for the deposit on a house, and swapped that house for a car when we left the country. That sounds crazy now, but the relative values at the time made these deals good.

Where Customers are Coming from… And Still Are.

People cut down on luxuries, and acquiring and keeping customers was not an easy matter, when many of the smart ones had already immigrated. Customers carefully considered the value they were buying before opening their wallets.

After that Year

At the end of my year-long contract with Holiday Inns, I resigned from the company and returned to South Africa, little knowing that it was destined to follow in Rhodesia’s footsteps. I will always have great respect and affection for Rhodesians of all races – I wouldn’t insult them by calling them Zimbabweans – and I learned a great deal about Joint Ventures and creative solutions to real business in the real world in that short and exciting year.

Sadly, the country has been ruined by its savage leadership, but the lessons learned there from those wonderfully creative and disciplined people have always been a benefit to me.

These were my most important lessons:

1. Appreciate the customers and business you have, and realize that you have to work on continuing to earn their business by creating added value. You can lose them in a heartbeat.
2. Be creative, and leverage resources through trade, barter, Joint Ventures, and alternatives to money.
3. Focus on integrity, loyalty, and candor. Relationships is everything in business. Passive aggression, entitlement, and mediocrity, so evident in North America, is poison.
4. Diversify, spread your risk, run clean, lean, and mean, and focus on profit instead of products. Remain liquid and ready to fold camp at any time.
5. Always carry a (figurative) gun, and be prepared to use it. There are people that will steal the milk out of your tea with a smile, if you let them. React hard and fast.
6. Think big picture and long term, and don’t sell your soul for a bowl of soup.

What I Learned About a Recession During a War.

Then his neighbors came by to warn him, but he simply prayed again, and had lunch. The water rose and the cat climbed gingerly onto the cupboard, but the man refused to accept the fact that the flood had arrived. Eventually, he perched precariously on the roof of his house,  surrounded by surging flood waters, and a boat came by to rescue him, but he refused, stating that his god would save him. Then a helicopter came by to rescue him. Again, he declined their help. Finally, he drowned, bitterly blaming his god for his demise.

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” – Sir Winston Churchill.

The Benefits of Facing Your Fear

Ignoring reality and denying the truth might prolong your false sense of comfort and security for a short while, but the consequences grow exponentially over time. Dealing with festering conflict is not something the passive aggressive types like, but the benefits of facing your fear and confronting issues is increased self-esteem and the peace of mind that follows that brave choice.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• If I continue going the way I am going now, what will my life look like in two years?
• Am I moving in the direction of my goals, or away from them?
• Am I getting wealthier, happier, healthier, and more successful?
• What are the consequences of my current choices?”

Then, shout, “YAHOO!” (You Always Have Other Choices.) Winston Churchill also said:

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”

..But Beware Whose Advice You Take

And when you understand that taking action to change your direction is the way to go, be careful whose advice you take.

The blind are the first to step up and offer to lead the blind – empty men with empty promises, who wish to fill their empty pockets with your hard-earned money. Those parasites will lead you down the road to destruction while telling you how much they love you. They are the bloodsuckers and the looters who sell nicely wrapped, glittering garbage to the unsuspecting and naive.

“Don’t take advice from anyone more screwed up than you” is valuable information, but don’t confuse money and fame with integrity.

In a nutshell, wake up, smell the coffee, and turn your horse in the direction of the treasure.

Why You Can’t Afford to Stick Your Head in the Sand

Are you a victim of the herd mentality?

If you are, you’re heading for the edge of the cliff. Look at the facts below and then let us apply them to your reaction and options in this recession. I will offer you some solid, safe, and secure guidelines.

How Reliable is the Evidence You’re Following?

Vito Rispo writes, “Researchers at Leeds University, led by Prof Jens Krause, performed a series of experiments where volunteers were told to randomly walk around a large hall without talking to each other. A select few were then given more detailed instructions on where to walk.

“The scientists discovered that people end up blindly following one or two people who appear to know where they’re going. The published results showed that it only takes 5% of what the scientists called ‘informed individuals’ to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it.”

This is called “Social Proof” – everyone else is doing it, so it must be right.

What Would It Take for You to Give Up Your Sense of Reality?

In “Cascade Behavior”, an individual wholly disregards his or her own information to follow the crowd.

Len Boselovic of the  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, “On the way up, this irrational exuberance is all well and good as long as there is a ready inventory of fools willing to pay more than the last fool. When the supply of foolish buyers runs out, the issue becomes the supply of fools who want to sell for less than the last guy, which is where we find ourselves today. Friday’s 4 percent slide in the Dow Jones industrial average left the market barometer down 5 percent for the week, 27 percent since Sept. 1 and 37 percent for the year.”

Remember the lines of idiots buying overpriced real estate off plan? And those who bought properties in third world countries? Many of them attended seminars…

Investor Behavior Demonstrates Social Proof

Daniel J. Howard, a marketing professor, says investor behavior demonstrates the principle of social proof: The more an individual sees those around him believing something or acting a certain way, the more the individual believes that thing to be true or the behavior appropriate. (If you really want to see people getting ripped off, attend a Franchise Show.)

The Moral to These Stories

When you see the herd lining up to listen to the latest snake oil pitchman, RUN in the opposite direction.

Be Warned & Take Comfort In This Simple Advice:

A lot of desperate people are about to do some very silly things in this turbulent time, and you are warned not to join them. This is what you should be looking for when you consider ways to alleviate and change your financial situation:

#1 – SLEEP on it.

Does the opportunity make logical sense in a way that you can establish its accuracy before jumping on board? SLEEP on it.

#2 – Consider the Source

• Is the person selling you a solution credible?
• How long has he or she been in business, can they prove it, and what is your REAL risk factor?
• Also, who are they associated with?

Birds of the feather flock together. Do your due diligence, and be very careful where you are getting your advice from.

#3 – Don’t Believe the Hype

Don’t believe the media hype – politicians, the media, banks, “financial planners” and people who use podiums and pulpits are usually less than honest, and always have an agenda.

In every situation, there are those getting poor and those getting rich.

• Be objective and remain calm.
• Don’t take your check book or credit card with you to pitch fests. It can always wait until the cold light of dawn, when you have had time to calm down and get real.

I recently heard of a swine who charged unsuspecting, unthinking sheeple thousands of dollars to attend his seminar / selling routine, at which he sold them the same information again for more thousands of dollars, and they lined up to pay him. Lambs to the slaughter, I’m afraid. And he is endorsed and promoted by those like him; thick as the thieves they are. You SHOULD judge people by the company they keep.

So next time you buy anything or make any decision, ask yourself if you are being pressured, lied to, duped, conned, hoodwinked, or helped.

“Social Proof” is no proof at all.

3 Solid Steps to Keep the Herd Mentality from Hurting You in This Recession

• Marriages will crumble under financial stress…
• Health will decline…
• Bankruptcies and suicides will increase…
• Net worth will fall dramatically…

… for some.

Some Will Win.  Some Will Lose.

Those who prospered by default in the good times, in spite of their lack of professionalism, ability, or integrity, will be scraped off the bottom of the business world’s shoe. Smart companies will use the recession as an excuse to clean house and fire losers and parasites.

…And those who know how to ride this mighty wave of change will ride it all the way to Treasure Island.

Seeking Recession Solutions

The advice being offered on TV shows and in the media to those suffering from the recession is pathetic.

Some people will hide from reality by enrolling at colleges and universities, convincing themselves and their families that “more education will get me a great job.” What a joke. You don’t need a job; you need more money.

Business owners that were previously too arrogant and egotistical to consider alternatives to their present, limited business models will start to open up to solutions they wouldn’t consider learning about before.

And suddenly, some people will learn that most of what we have believed about money, security, value, business, and the way to create wealth is simply not true.

This is a wonderful time for dispelling myths and setting people financially free, regardless of their ages, backgrounds, circumstances, or education.

Now’s the Time to Harness Leverage

We don’t have money problems; we have thinking problems, and when you understand the power of leverage as it is available through brokering joint ventures, you suddenly have multiple, unlimited, international options that you never knew about before.

Business owners have a huge amount of hidden assets and resources that they can leverage. And smart brokers don’t need a business.

Earn from Multiple Income Sources

After 22 years as a Joint Venture Broker, I know how to run a business with no overhead, little time, no employees, no investment, costs or risk, no selling, and 100% profit on everything I earn from multiple income sources – most of them residual.

Most entrepreneurs, professionals, and the owners small and medium sized businesses are, in reality, simply self-employed salespeople. They might have money, but they don’t have the time to enjoy it, or they have neither time nor money. And most of them operate, in my opinion, at about 10% of their potential net profit. Employees are in an even worse position.

Become a Money Magnet

By linking supply and demand, being the middleman, and solving problems through other peoples’ businesses, products ad services, you remove all limitations from your earning potential.

By removing your ego and realizing that you’re in business to earn the maximum net profit with the least amount of time, cost, risk, effort, and stress, you become a catalyst – and a money magnet.

What Joint Venture Brokers Do

Joint Venture Brokers understand how to convert access, perishable resources, unconverted leads, reputations, excess inventory, relationships, and common sense into hard cash, fast. They see the connections, and they solve problems. They demand that they are paid, on an ongoing basis, for business that they create, and they understand how to set up joint ventures (we call them DollarMakers) and strategic alliances that operate on a capitalistic, win/win/win basis. They get paid for results, not promises, and all the parties involved are better off.

Create More Qualified Leads Than You Can Handle

Entrepreneurs who understand how to use joint ventures easily differentiate themselves from their confused competition by simply adding massive value, at no cost to themselves, which in turn spawn loads of back-end income. They know how to create more qualified leads than they can handle, and why they make more money by sending those leads to their competition.

They live in a world of abundance and opportunity, and they see the recession as a wonderful gift.

Who Are You Listening To?

A smart man once said:

“Only take advice from someone who already has what you want.”

Talking advice from bankers, consultants, coaches, “financial planners”, employees, and accountants about how to make money is ridiculous. They’re all selling their time, and all have a vested interest in telling you blatant lies, many of which they, themselves, believe. Taking advice from people who are more screwed up than you are is just plain silly.

Rich people understand things that poor people don’t – that’s why the rich get richer. It’s not magic, and it’s never too late to learn.

Brokering joint ventures provides a fast track to real money in the real world. While many will become the victims of seminar con artists, ponzi schemes, and snake oil salespeople, DollarMakers offers a practical, proven, creative, legitimate, safe alternative with a 22 year track record.

Laugh in the Face of Recession