“Hi Robin,

Thank you very much for the exciting boot camp this past Sunday.

After it was all over, I was speaking to Rika, and she suggested I contact you with this question.

I have been in a successful business for 37 years and am well aware of networking……for free, of course.  Joint Ventures is a networking process…..but I would get paid.  Rika was suggesting you have a script for this.

How do I start charging people that I have given many free referrals in the past?

I know how to approach new people, but what could we say to our existing friends/clients that we have being helping out for free, as well as the reverse for them?”

Here’s the pitch:

Thanks for your e-mail. Here’s the pitch for your imaginary associate “John”:

YOU: “Hi John, I want to apologize to you.”

JOHN: ”What for?”

YOU: “Well, John, I attended a Joint Venture Bootcamp with this funny looking bald character, and he said I’m cheap, because I never offered to pay anyone a commission for business they send my way. So, here’s what I will do: from now on, whenever you send me any business, I will pay you 20% of my profit, on an ONGOING basis, because without you, I would never have had that business.”

JOHN: “Why thank you, Sally, that’s very generous of you.”

YOU: “No problem, John. I think 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing, so from now on, expect a check for 20% of my profit whenever you send me business. AND JOHN, WOULD YOU MIND DOING THE SAME FOR ME WHEN I SEND YOU BUSINESS?”

Gotcha!

I have been reading General George S. Patton’s account of the invasion of Sicily. Most enjoyable. A great historian and strategist, General Patton is widely considered the best field commander in the American army of World War 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt called him “our greatest fighting general.” Patton once wrote to his wife, Beatrice, “When I am not attacking, I feel bilious.” General Patton and Winston Churchill are my heroes.

What 97% of Entrepreneurs Do

When you decide to capture a new market for your business, your approach can be strategic, smart, planned, and effective, or you can do what 97% of entrepreneurs do. Ten years ago, I would have concluded that a particular caller on my recent conference call was either inebriated or mentally damaged; however, after ten years in this market, I realize that he is simply another narcissistic, socialist fool. He asked a question that revealed his utter ignorance of basic psychology, but also of the power of the Joint Venture mindset: “So how can you help me get investors for my real estate development in Costa Rica?”

Why They Fail

This type relies on cold calling, shotgun approach advertising, networking with equally slothful and desperate, broke, self-employed salespeople, and wild, groundless lies about the return on the “investment” he is touting. He has no battle plan, no brains, and no pity from yours truly. This is how most employees who pretend to be entrepreneurs try to capture a market, and why they fail so miserably. Let us expend as little time as possible exposing the hopelessness of his approach, and then move on to what actually works.

First, the caller has no traction, credibility, leverage, or relationship with me, and yet he asks me how I can help him. A beggar on the street would get the same amount of attention from me. Why would I want to help him? I only tolerate his ignorance out of courtesy to the person arranging the conference call. I have no reason to help him. Second, his arrogance knows no bounds. He is not interested in learning about Joint Ventures, only how to make another dollar off some unsuspecting and equally slow “investor” in his scheme. Let’s move on to what works.

What Works for the Other 3%

Here is the simple answer to capturing a new market:

1. Decide what your ideal demographic is: Whom do you want to sell your products and services to?
2. Determine who, exactly, has access to, influences, controls, communicates with, and has the attention and respect of that demographic. These people are Centers of Influence. They are the key to fast, effective, risk-free access to the market you want to capture.
3. Develop a specific plan to meet, impress, and get the active cooperation, assistance, and support of these Centers of Influence. And this is where the Joint Venture Mindset comes into play. You have to give me a very compelling reason to help you. You have to develop an intelligent strategy to get my attention and build a relationship with me. And in order to do that, you have to know a lot about me.
4. Set up and execute a Joint Venture with each of the Centers of Influence that allows you to capture the market fast, in a bloodless coup. (You can learn more than 40 effective strategies to do his through  DollarMakers.)

The Mindset that Separates the “Men from the Boys”

Joint Venture Brokers are strategists. They understand psychology. They are capitalists, who expect to pay for the value they receive. They are realistic and street smart, so they work smart instead of hard. They don’t have that sense of entitlement that permeates our society. They develop their skill conscientiously. They understand the importance of long-term, reciprocal, symbiotic relationships in business. They are consistent, persistent, professional, and honest. They plan their campaign with the JV mantra, “No money, no risk, little time” running in their heads, and differentiate themselves from 97% of others by using their heads and creating massive, unprecedented value.

Joining the DollarMakers Joint Venture Broker Club gives you instant access to hundreds of potential Joint Venture partners in 15 countries. For more outstanding Joint Venture information, visit www.jvwisdom.com.

Read the following article, and then answer the question at the end, and I think you will get a revealing insight into the extent to which your present state of mind is helping or hurting your business. Be sure to read the article first, though.

Revealed: The Changing Face of Britain: 1,650 New Immigrants Invade UK Every Day.

The number of foreigners living here has risen by 1.1 million in three years – enough to fill a city the size of Birmingham. The number of people leaving the country has also reached unprecedented levels, and nearly half of them are Britons.

• 605,000 people enter Britain as migrants every year.
• Pensioners outnumber children for the first time.
• The majority (54%) of births in London are to foreign mothers.
• Applications for asylum are up 15%.
• A total of 888,000 Poles and Slovakians have come here to work since the expansion of the EU in 2004. But 185,573 of them are in receipt of or in line for state handouts costing taxpayers more than £211 million a year.

OK, here’s the question to answer:
What is your initial response to this abbreviated article?

There are many options – most of them emotional, biased, and entirely subjective. One could feel the rise of xenophobia, a reaction to the photograph of the Muslin women in a burka, fear, realization that Canada is going the same way, all sorts of possible reactions. Here was my reaction: “Wow! The market for DollarMakersUK is better than ever, and improving by the minute! We can help these people – great for business!” Was that your reaction?

NOW what is your response?

“Oh, well, that’s fine for Robin, but I don’t have a business in England.” Well, a Joint Venture Broker would realize that you don’t need a business in the UK to do business there.

See, it’s all about the way we interpret our circumstances and the stories we tell ourselves about our options. It’s all about choice and perception, and DollarMakers specializes in teaching people how to think about business. After all, we don’t have money problems – we have thinking problems, and Napoleon Hill taught us that:

“Every adversity, every difficulty, and every heartache carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or a greater Benefit.” He said, “Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.”

I can think of a multitude of opportunities to make money from the situation in the UK. We can find solutions that benefit everyone through the use of Joint Ventures.

“Dear Mr. Elliott, I would love to attend your Joint Venture Bootcamp, but I can’t afford it – can I attend and then pay you as I make money?”
“Dear Tom, here’s how you can afford to attend a Bootcamp: bring two people who pay the full price, and the Bootcamp host will pay you enough commission to attend yourself at no cost.”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, can you help me find two people to attend?”

Amazing, but true.

“Dear Mr. Elliott, How do I know you’re not lying to me about how JV’s can work and help me to retire? How do I know this stuff actually works?”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, I joined DollarMakers and nobody has approached me or brought me any deals. Why don’t people offer me JV’s?”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, How much money can I make in JV’s?”

I feel like replying with this question: “Dear Tom, Why should I not chop your useless head off and feed it to my dogs?” but of course I don’t; I simply wait for the 3% of people worth talking to.

Here are the kinds of questions I like to receive:

“Dear Mr. Elliott, are you available for radio show appearances, and how do I go about using the services of one of your DollarMakers Certified Business Mentors in my business?”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, what are the risks involved and the time required to implement JV’s in my real estate business?”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, What sort of support will I receive after attending a Bootcamp?”
“Dear Mr. Elliott, How can I get onto the DollarMakers Team?”

Questions reveal the man or woman.

The questions can be, “What’s wrong with me? Why do things always go bad in my life?” or “What’s great about my life? How can I double my profits? What do I have to look forward to?”

Most successful leaders believe that only 3% of people are truly successful, and statistics support this. Only 3% of the North America population, for example, reads books. If you look at retirement and wealth statistics, baseball batting averages, and business sales ratios, you’ll find that magical 3% everywhere.

That means that 97% of people are not ideal business partners, and you frankly don’t need them to succeed if you can get to the 3%. Entrepreneurs who try to be well liked, popular, and politically correct, waste a lot of time appeasing losers and consoling whiners, instead of  focusing on the leaders, the winners, and the results. It’s more important to be respected than it is to be liked, and then only by the 3%.

I once heard a good analogy that a friend of mine taught when illustrating that “the tall trees catch the wind”.  He said that he regarded the complaints and resentment of wanna-be’s as he would barking dogs. The opinions of successful people were important to him and he took advice only from people who were achieving more than he was. Some say they justify tolerating underachievers and has-beens with the old saying, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince”, however we don’t build relationships with frogs. Those are simply the duds that lead to the studs. You don’t carry stepping stones up the mountain with you.

You don’t have to justify or explain yourself to anyone who does not contribute to your success.

You simply don’t have the time and resources to waste. Rescuing victims and enabling parasites is for government and social workers. John Addison said, “Never take advice from someone more screwed up than you are”, and Boreh Dean said, “You have to earn the right to whine to me.” Casting pearls before swine is fine if you like applause, but if you like profit you need to conserve your resources.

If you are serious about creating wealth:

• become extremely selective
• set high standards
• discipline yourself
• and develop a thick skin.

You need courage to achieve success, and, if you want to join the 3%, popularity is superfluous. Study the life of Winston Churchill for a great example of this philosophy. Do what winners do, and you’ll get what they get.

We bought a washer/dryer at Sears. The salesman came round to my house in his own time to disconnect the water pipes at no charge, the night before delivery of the new appliances. He had a great, friendly, helpful attitude. He recommended I buy longer pipes and a longer drainage pipe so that it would fit better, which I did. When the machines were installed, the installers forgot to remove the supports, so when we turned the appliances on, they leapt around like kangaroos. The salesman came over, fixed everything, and arranged a $100 discount.

This salesman used his own, private time, got his clothes dirty, never complained, went the extra mile, and made sure we were happy customers. Amazing service. Would I want to help him, send him business, and support him in any way I could? You bet I would. Did he have to sell me anything, pitch anything, or ask for anything? No. My daughter is about to buy a new fridge. I called her and suggested she give this salesman her business.

I have an amazing insurance / financial planning guy who has been a great benefit to me and to strong businesspeople for who I have lots of respect. I refer him to people and he gives them a complimentary consultation. He saves me thousands in tax – why would I not refer him? He didn’t have to ask me to do so, because he went the extra mile. He’s reliable, honest. Astute, professional, always on time, and responds fast. You will probably e-mail me and ask for his telephone number. I’ll be glad to pass it on (if you’re in Canada.)

When you take the time to go into the forest to chop the wood, meticulously prepare the fire, get your hands dirty, and make sure the thing blazes away, you deserve to enjoy the heat, but not before. Entitlement, arrogance, socialism, shoddy service, and impatience robs many people of excellent referrals in business. It’s not about the money, honey. I don’t even know what I paid for the washer/dryer stuff – I just chose the most expensive and bought it. It’s all about the service.

“If you want a friend, BE a friend” – good advice. If you want benefits, you have to contribute. When the contribution stops, losers don’t understand why they’re not still enjoying the benefits. Create massive, unexpected, glittering value, and you can rest assured smart people will reciprocate. We bought expensive hardwood flooring from Home Depot and had it delivered and unpacked. Then we sent it all back again three days later since the floor was too uneven. They collected it and didn’t charge us a blue cent. They even paid the delivery and the installers. They didn’t have to. Now we’re loyal customers, and this article will be read by thousands of people.

Yes, what goes around comes around. Keep your promises, deliver on time, be friendly and helpful, and you will have little competition. Give additional service and go the extra mile, and your success is all but guaranteed if you’re serving good people. If not, you’ll wake up one morning to find you have been replaced by someone who understands this. We help those who help us. The good news is that you can use Joint Ventures to create MASSIVE additional value that your competition can never equal, at no cost to you.

Robin J., Elliott
www.JVWisdom.com

We watched an old 1966 movie last night, called OSCAR, in which the Maitre D’, a failed film star, tells the famous film-star just how precarious the film star’s position really is. It’s human nature to avoid reality, wear blinkers, and stick our heads in the sand, but facts are facts. Your eager replacement is waiting in the wings. If you don’t perform, you will be replaced fast, and the scary part is that you won’t even know it until it’s too late.

We all buy life insurance, houses, websites, holidays, cars, furniture, and many other things, and we are free to decide whom to purchase from. I had someone call me and ask me, “Why didn’t you buy from me?” My response was very simple: “You didn’t earn the right. You need to earn my business. You didn’t.” Last week I had someone ask me to recommend a realtor. I know a few realtors, but there was not one that I would recommend - they didn’t earn the right.

I am currently in the process or replacing one of my service providers, and he is blissfully unaware that his replacement is already waiting in the wings. Why? He has been unreliable, unprofessional, and unresponsive. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight. When he wakes up and wipes his eyes he will realize he has lost a fortune in future business and referrals. Too late for tears.

Pride comes before the fall. Take people for granted, let your service slip, and before you know it, you’ve been replaced by a hungry competitor. In order to avoid this unhappy and costly predicament, here are a few pointers to allow you not only to keep the business you already have, but to add to it significantly:

1. Respond promptly to e-mails, calls, and letters. That means FAST.
2. Pay on time. If I have to remind you, I might suspect you never intended paying.
3. Go the extra mile - add unexpected value.
4. Communicate effectively, respectfully, and regularly.
5. Reciprocate with referrals, invitations, and recognition.
6. Constantly improve your service and products.
7. THANK people for the business they send you with money or other real value.

Your replacement is eagerly waiting in the wings. He wants to take your business, and he’s ready to earn it. DollarMakers specializes in showing people how to add massive value and differentiate themselves from the competition with no additional cost, through the use of Joint Ventures.

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 again.) 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.

When you’re in a deep, dark hole with slimy, steep, slippery sides, and the water is pouring in, you usually only admit that you have a problem when the water touches your nostrils. Until then, you live in denial, hope for the best, write pathetic “business plans”, hide, and make weak excuses that nobody believes.\

Many small business owners 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. 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.

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, and what you might want to consider if a few lungfuls of water is not your cup of tea: Find the most successful, competent, insightful, straight-talking people you can, and give them a vested interest in helping you out of your hole. Follow their instructions to the letter, or they’ll throw you back like the minnow you are, faster than you might imagine.

I Listened To Every Word My Friend Said

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, an the way I teach Joint Venture Brokering is based in part on avoiding that kind of deep, dark hole.

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…

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.