It is said that duplication and leverage are the two most powerful forces in the world. Think of a virus or compound interest, and you will understand how a mail carrier can earn a million dollars a year through Network Marketing and how a simple Joint Venture that took an hour to set up can turn into tens of thousands of dollars in pure profit. There is a hard way and an easy way to make money, and I think it’s better to go the easy way.

I am thoroughly enjoying Ray Kroc’s book, “Grinding it Out” – written in 1977 about how he built McDonald’s. It’s an inspiring read of courage, vision, risk, sacrifice, and success, as well as a revelation of how dishonest some people are and how Mr. Kroc survived them. It’s very gratifying to me that I can show people a better way to wealth, a path that is not inundated with risk, sacrifice, fear, and chance. This route is the means I have chosen to build wealth – it requires no selling, risk, sacrifice, or sleepless nights.

Mr. Kroc succeeded against all odds, but he chose a business model that is extremely difficult. Joint Venture Brokering allows me the freedom of time and money, and I can operate in many areas, in many industries, and at many levels simultaneously. While franchising is definitely leverage, I choose to leverage multiple resources in many different ways, all at the same time, with no risk, overhead, leases, royalties, inventory, capital investment, or employees, and little time. I can be a creative and as adventurous as I like, without investing a blue cent.

Am I as wealthy as Mr. Kroc was? Of course not, but it is definitely as possible to attain the same level of wealth, faster, with none of the risk or costs involved, using Joint Ventures. Most entrepreneurs work too hard and earn too little. The average business, in my estimation, can easily double and quadruple their profits with no cost or risk using Joint Ventures. One JV that I got into took a profit center in my business from $4,000 per month to $20,000 per month in four days. Leverage: it’s an amazing force that is available to all of us, whether we have a business or not, and regardless of our circumstances or background. Life can be a grind, but I prefer the beach. You don’t have to sacrifice, sweat, and grovel anymore, once you discover the magic of Joint Ventures. Replace fear with fun, sweat with skiing, and risk with reward.

When Ayn Rand said, “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute”, she addressed an extremely important issue: REASON.

In today’s turbulent world of change, threat, insecurity, and anxiety, many people are hiding from the truth.

We hear that more people flock to movie houses and churches during times of war, depression, and turmoil than in any other time - an escape from reason and responsibility. Emotionalism hides the real issues, avoids responsibility, and protects the fragile ego. Blame, escapism, and justification avoids reality. You won’t solve your problems by discussing the latest CNN propaganda with your broke friends. Reason is the only accurate compass in this wild wilderness.

While it is easier to hide behind mysticism, and live vicariously through politicians, sports teams and Hollywood actors while your life falls to pieces, your debt increases, and your hopes of retirement disappear, it’s not the solution.

Reason is the final judge and jury, bringing with it the only viable explanation and solution. Reason is very scary and threatening to those who refuse to discipline themselves and take responsibility. It’s far more comfortable to stuff your face with overpriced popcorn that you can’t afford, wasting time you don’t have while mindlessly watching a meaningless movie.

Who Is Responsible for Your Well Being?

Some people mistakenly believe the government or their church will take care of them. They flee to the filthy caves of socialism, collectivism, liberation theology, and mysticism, where they will be devoured by witch doctors and bullies. They think they will be protected if they’re politically correct and remain subservient and meek. They believe that by hiding their heads in the sand they will avoid the future they fear. The consequences of their past choices are coming to get them.

In her book, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand tells a fictitious, yet prophetic story that clearly explains her philosophy of Objectivism, the solution for people who want a solution. With the right philosophy, you can take control of your life, recreate and reinvent your future, and take pride in your own endeavors as a self-sufficient individual. Here’s a simple way to describe a great philosophy: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Here’s another very complicated way of putting it: “I have created my present reality, and I am in control of my future.”

Environmentalism, altruism, multiculturalism, political correctness, avoiding confrontation, and an escape to mysticism are all definite signs of the avoidance of reason and personal responsibility. Miss Rand taught, “If you think something is a contradiction, check your premises.” Reason is the only absolute.

When the Catholic Church, an extremely wealthy organization, decides that it’s a sin to be extremely rich, you have to check your premises. A reasonable person would understand.

Your time is your most valuable asset, and it is like priceless pearls to you. They are limited, as your days on earth are limited. Your time is that important.

Hilton Johnson has been in direct sales for over 40 years. He has been coaching and training salespeople, managers, professionals and business owners for over 30 years. This man knows what he’s talking about. He says,

“One thing that will burn you right out of this business, folks, is spending your time with the wrong people.”
- Howard Johnson

I cannot stress this strongly enough.

There is an idiomatic Japanese saying, “Gold coins to a cat.” Not only will you waste time that could have been put to better use with good people, but there is a serious danger attached. Read the following:

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”
- Christian Bible

Note the scary last part: “And turn and render you” - that means rip you apart! Yes, they will turn on you when they can’t understand your opportunity and message! They will punish you for their own lack of understanding and discipline. By casting your pearls before swine, you bring them into your business, your circle, your family, where they can become dangerous traitors. Now here’s another shocking reality:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

It’s not just dumb to spend time with the wrong people, it’s dangerous. Make people qualify for your time. Protect it carefully, steadfastly and seriously!

So I recently talked with a young man named Blake. Blake told me he was looking for a “wonderful job”. So I asked him to describe this most wonderful job to me.

His description included: autonomy, working on his own program, to his own schedule, lots of money, of course, and travel, the ability to use his creativity, bonuses for innovation, etc. He wanted lots of freedom, but he said he works very hard. He also said he was creative, professional, and dedicated. I asked him what kind of boss he wanted. He replied with:

“Someone who really understands me, allows me to play to my strengths, and encourages me”

I told him, “You know what, Blake? You can have a job exactly like that. I know how you can get it. In fact, you can design your own job description, and you can even decide how much you will earn, including rewards for innovation, creativity, and professionalism. What’s more, I have the perfect boss for you - someone who really knows you, and more than that, CARES about you!” He was bouncing off the walls with excitement, begging to hear more.

I said, “The boss is YOU. Your own business. Total freedom, along with total responsibility, no limitations, and the world at your feet.”

At this point he predictably became angry. He said he wanted the “SECURITY” of a paycheck.

I answered…

“You should trust yourself more than anyone else in the world, Blake. Why would you feel more secure handing your life and income to someone else who doesn’t care about you? Is your self-esteem really so low? Here’s the real question, Blake: You know yourself, your abilities, and your work ethic. Would YOU hire YOU? If you would, here’s your perfect opportunity - start your own business - employ yourself!”

Guess what his next objection was - “It’s so risky to start a business.”

I agree completely. That’s why I teach people to start the best business in the world - no overhead, no risk, unlimited potential, flexibility, creativity, income, and freedom: being a Joint Venture Broker. Say no more!

Yesterday, I received this encouraging note from a friend of mine who is a very successful entrepreneur:

“Hi Robin, I just read your Eagle Attitude article and you are right on. I always make asset vs. liability calls. Recently one of my staff did considerable damage to our main computer and database by going to inappropriate places on the internet. Certainly grounds for firing, not too mention suing for damages. Instead we are reworking his job description to take advantage of some obvious talents. There are some penalties he is working through, but there should be some substantial benefit to the company long term. Its nice to read that a risky decision is sometimes the best decision.”

That reminds me of the time I was a manager in a large, resort hotel and we learned that one of the staff members was secretly running his own little room service business inside the hotel. He diverted all the orders to his cousin’s café on the corner. The thing was that he gave excellent service and guests were delighted with the quality (that’s how we caught him – compliments from guests about dishes that weren’t on the room service menu!) So instead of firing him, we created a joint venture: we saved his salary, cut overhead substantially and continued to provide the service to our guest, while his own business flourished. Win/Win!

Successful Entrepreneurs Capitalize on the Strengths of their Staff

Savvy entrepreneurs look for ways to capitalize on the strengths and resources of their partners, associates, employees and vendors. They focus on what does work instead of what doesn’t work and, most importantly, keep their egos in check. Take the time to listen carefully and discover hidden assets like skills, connections, resources and information. Sometimes, opportunities take a little while to appear and options take time to become apparent. Patience and good communication skills, as well as being prepared to generously share the profits, are essential. Think outside the box and keep your eyes on your common goals. Be flexible and open to new ideas. Good people are hard to find.

The #1 Sales Tip

The better you know your salespeople, the better you can channel their energy, interests, skills and time. Don’t make the salesperson fit the job; rather, make the job fit the salesperson. Take time to listen to their opinions and suggestions, encourage sharing and reward innovation and risk.

The #1 Management Tip

By clearly defining the parameters of your employees’ jobs, you remove fear. Show them what they have to do to get fired, and you reduce any reticence to innovation. Fear stunts creativity and openness. People who feel secure will be more productive and honest with you. Spend more time developing relationship with your staff than you do with your customers.

Let’s define a regular business - I’m not talking about being a self-employed salesman, like a financial planner, handyman, gift basket creator, consultant, coach, craftsman, website designer - someone who sells their own time. That is simply stupid, since you have limited time and it’s your most valuable resource, so you should NEVER sell it unless there is a significant back-end with huge leverage, and 99% of these people don’t have that in place. I’m talking about a business like a lube joint, a printing business, painting business, fencing business, restaurant, hotel, retail store, dry cleaner, hair salon.

Most regular businesses involve taking up a lot of your time, huge risk, limited income potential, “Feast or Famine” income cycles, employees, inventory, competition, and silly little profit margins. Most owners of these businesses make little money, or they make great money, but they have too little time to enjoy it. After dealing with thousands of business owners in different industries over many years, I think I have a pretty good idea of their challenges, limitations, and risk.

I Never Met a Dollar I Didn’t Like

I don’t want to deal with employees in a socialistic society where they have more legal protection than I do. I don’t want to deal with the increasing cost of overheads and advertising. I don’t want to deal with customers I don’t like or respect, just because I need their money. I don’t like risk, period. And I never met a dollar I didn’t like, so high profit is important to me. And at 55, living in beautiful British Columbia with a wonderful wife of 22 years, my time is too valuable to spend with anyone I don’t like and respect.

But if I HAD a regular business, I would use Joint Ventures to duplicate and leverage that business through the roof. Then I would sell it, and simply broker Joint Ventures, as I do now. I don’t want a franchisor who is really my boss, to tell me what to do and how to do it. I don’t want to deal with unscrupulous suppliers, off-shore competitors, difficult, brain dead  customers, or be at risk from changes in local laws, environment, buildings, politics, or weather that I can’t control. The world is changing, as you might have noticed. Conventional business has become extremely risky.

Even if you GAVE Me a Business - I Would Turn It Down.

If you GAVE me a business, ANY business, I would simply give it back. Don’t need it, don’t want it. Keep it. Over the years, I have been offered shares in businesses, pieces of business, you name it. Never made any sense to me. I have been that self-employed salesman, too, and I simply had too much self-respect to continue as a mercenary prostitute. I was quite ready to shoot a few of my esteemed “Consulting Clients” and swore I would never be desperate enough (or crazy enough) to debase myself like that again.

The reason why most people get into conventional small businesses is usually because they don’t know that they have an option - that’s why I’m a Joint Venture Broker. I do what I like, when I like, where I like, with whom I like, IF I like. My freedom is simply too important to me.

Let’s talk trilogies. We’ve all seen the movie trilogies, from junk like Legally Blonde to good stuff like The Godfather. Then you get evil trilogies, like Omorosa, Obama, and Osama (I’d add Absolut Vodka, but then it would be a tetralogy and it wouldn’t rhyme…), and good trilogies, like the boxing trilogies of the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier battles and the Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield fights. I’m not talking about those trilogies.

What I am talking about is a three-legged-stool analogy - every leg is equally necessary in order that the objective be accomplished. I believe the ideal trilogy is Freedom, Responsibility, and Creation. Simply put, we are responsible for ourselves and our own successes or failures in life. Responsibility means, “My ability and choice to respond to my circumstances, opportunities, and threats in any way I wish. Creation is production. We are creative beings, or, better still, becomings- we are responsible for our own creations and contributions, and we should be rewarded in direct proportion to the value we create. The more value we responsibly create, the more freedom we are granted, because we are (or should be) financially rewarded in reciprocation for our beneficence. Money buys power and freedom. This philosophy is the backbone of capitalism and freedom.

But does this always work? In an altruistic, collectivist society that attacks WalMart for being successful and worships smoking sluts that cavort naked with strange men in public (film stars), where losers, mystics, and parasites are more honored and loved than the CEO’s of companies that provide jobs for tens of thousands of people who are incapable of creative thinking, it’s sometimes hard to believe that we live in a capitalist, free world society in the west. The fact is, if you believe it, you need to MAKE it work. If your philosophy is like mine, you are obliged to live a congruent, uncompromised life, regardless of some of the frustrations encountered along the way.

Once we take responsibility for our pasts and our futures and understand that we are fully entitled to fair recompense for our production, once we demand freedom and insist on being allowed to live according to our philosophy, we shift to the top three percent in society. Then the top one percent. Naturally, that philosophy creates wealth, because a true Objectivist will not accept mediocrity and a second-rate lifestyle, handouts or less compensation than he or she is worth.

Understanding your own weltanschauung, choosing a philosophy that is both challenging and empowering at the same time, and demanding the right to live according to that philosophy, is another triumphant trilogy. The problem that people have with success and money is a thinking problem. The issue is not your circumstances but your world view. This philosophy will attract the enmity an jealousy of masses, as is evidenced on television on a daily basis, as we slowly slide into slimy socialism. But it’s well worth it. In her book, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand clearly shows how it works, and I highly recommend you consider reading it if you are truly committed to success in your life.

As the singer tells us, it’s like love and marriage or a horse and carriage - you can’t have the one without the other; you need all the three legs of the stool - no exclusions: Freedom, Responsibility, and Creation. The motto, “Live Free or Die” appeals to me.

Robin J. Elliott
www.jvwisdom.com

Easy money, Honey! There are thousands of goldmines out there just WAITING for you. This is an untapped source of serious money. Want to know more? Settle down with a cup of tea and a ginger biscuit - this information could radically change your financial situation forever. I’m serious.

A very large percentage of small and medium-sized businesses have no website, no e-commerce, no up-to-date database of customers, no back-end income sources or Joint Ventures in place, no referral systems, no upsells or bundling, and no regular, effective communication with their customers. Many of them see forty or fifty new customers a day, and yet they don’t get them into a database. All that money is left on the table - for you to share in!

If you approached a business that had forty or more new customers and regulars coming in every day, you could make them the following offer, and you would have a lot of takers lining up to make you money:

“I can offer you a new, complete, professional, e-commerce website with links to ten Joint Venture partners, (that’s ten additional, pure profit income streams that I will set up for you) plus a number of back-ends, and build you a database and weekly ezine, plus put upsells and bundling in place. I will set up a lucrative referral system for you and manage the entire project, update it, and make it work. It will cost you not one dime, take none of your time, entail no risk whatsoever, and seriously enhance your image with your customers. It will seriously increase your sales and profits. At the same time, it will reduce your customer attrition rate and increase customer loyalty, purchase frequency, and transaction amounts. Most important, it will differentiate you from your competitors and add massive additional value. And it won’t cost you a cent.

I will own the URL (domain name) and the passwords, and I will take 40% of the resulting profits (that’s money you wouldn’t have had, anyway!) Now this might not be for you, of course, and that’s OK with me - I just wanted to make you this offer before going across the road to your competition.”

You use their existing reputation, customer flow, resources, and infrastructure to make money. You piggyback on an existing business. And you can do this with ten businesses simultaneously!
Oh, the website. You will be amazed to hear that a website like that is available for $997 and $50 per month, with full, total support, and you can sell banners and advertising to cover the initial investment. See http://www.youarethewebmaster.com/ and use this idea to make a lot of money.

Want to learn more? Attend our Toronto Joint Venture Broker Bootcamp April 19!

Robin J. Elliott
www.jvwisdom.com