Sailors beware! Pirates, storms, and rocks! Let this short article be your lighthouse.

Save much time, money, frustration, disappointment, and even bankruptcy, while speeding up your progress and making a lot more money by sailing your ship past these sandbanks and dangers. Avoid these ten risks, landmines, and pitfalls in business, and you can navigate a successful voyage to your Treasure Island.

After 22 years of working with thousands of business owners, I have discovered that you can definitely learn from the mistakes of others.

Risk #1 – Things Susceptible to Undercutting or Short Life-Spans.

Avoid fads, trends, gimmicks, and products that can be duplicated, knocked off, reengineered, and produced cheaper. Remember, the Chinese provide no patent law protection. “Today, it sells for a fortune – tomorrow, it’s in Wal-Mart.”

Look for long-term stability and growth.

Services usually provide higher margins and more stability.

Risk #2 – Selling Your Time.

Selling your time is not smart, unless you’re a famous film star or sports star. Remember that time is your most valuable, irreplaceable resource.

Be a general and work strategically, not a soldier in the trenches. Use your head, not your hands. Use leverage. DollarMakers teaches people how to use leverage through Joint Ventures.

Risk #3 – Bad People.

Jim Rohn famously said that:

“there are only eight bad people in the whole world, but they get around a lot.”

Sociopaths and scam artists are usually very friendly and convincing. Do your due diligence and work on referral.

DollarMakers Joint Venture Broker Club Members that are dishonest get fired when we discover them. Your reputation and fortune are at stake. “When my enemies become your friends, you, too, become my enemy.”

Don’t choose the wrong people to work with. Evaluate them carefully.

Risk #4 – Buying a Franchise or a Distributorship.

We teach our students how to get the same benefits, and more, at no cost whatsoever!

Risk #5 – “Investing” Schemes.

Avoid “Investing” in “Foreign Currency” schemes and other spurious, “Tax Break” schemes and dreams – don’t let urgency and greed blind you to obvious rip-offs.

Risk #6 – Start Ups.

Avoid buying mass-marketed real estate properties that aren’t built yet, especially in third world countries, is very risky.

The same goes for business start-ups and new inventions – I don’t even consider them. Their failure rate is extremely high.

Risk #7 – Having All Your Eggs In One Basket

Keeping all your eggs in one basket is probably the most risky thing you can do in today’s business world.

As a Joint Venture Broker, you can build multiple income streams and diversify across different industries, products, services, economies, and countries.

Risk #8 – Being Lead by the Blind.

Taking advice from the wrong people  is just plain silly.

Never take advice from someone who is more screwed up than you are, and always learn only from someone who already has what you want. Poor people can’t tell you how to get rich, and more than a bank manager can.

Risk #9 – Poor Thinking.

The wrong philosophy about life and money will sink your ship faster than ten giant torpedoes. Maintain the right attitude and mix only with winners.

Risk #10 – Quitting.

Quitting too soon is the mark of a loser. Most people give up three feet from the gold.

Avoid Risk by Becoming a Joint Venture Broker

In spite of warnings, the best motives and intentions, and well-planned strategies, the future is unpredictable, and things go wrong in the real world.

DollarMakers teaches people how to create unlimited wealth, financial freedom, and peace of mind through the use of Joint Ventures regardless of your background, age, experience, or circumstances, and whether you have a business or not.

Joint Ventures is the best way I have found to create financial success.  I run DollarMakers with no cost, risk, overhead, employees, inventory, or risk. This is a great business to be in.

I am a bit of a Luddite compared to many people.

Friday afternoon I decided to rent a GPS along with a car to get from Calgary Airport to my hotel. I had never used a GPS before, and I was amazed at how it guided me effortlessly and faultlessly on  35 minute trip through Friday afternoon traffic, rain, road construction, etc., in a city that I had never had the dubious pleasure of driving in before. It revealed an analogy to me…

DollarMakers is designed to be your retirement GPS system. Here are some interesting analogies:

#1 – Linking to Current Conditions

The GPS System is linked to satellites, and has up-to-date information on the roads.

Many so-called “Mentors” and “Coaches” are regurgitating outdated ideas that don’t work. DollarMakers is on the cutting edge of Joint Ventures, partnered internationally with very successful mentors and business leaders, and well aware of current conditions, opportunities, and pitfalls.

#2 – You Are Never Alone

The GPS system talks to you and customizes your route. The voice is impersonal, relaxed, objective, and rational. When, on two occasions, I missed the turnoff route, it simply said, “Recalibrating…” and issued an alternative. I was never alone or left hung out to dry. It was very forgiving.

DollarMakers is a successful, 22-year-old company, and our JV partners are successful people. We’re not scraping the barrel for a quick buck or pressuring naïve and unsuspecting victims for their money. Our motive is to help you achieve your goals by reaching your destination, because, as 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.”

#3 – Arriving by The Shortest Possible Route

You can rest assured that the GPS will guide you to your destination by the shortest possible route. Learn from our mistakes, avoid the landmines and the rip-off artists, and fast-track your success. I didn’t second-guess the GPS, believe you me. We have realistic expectations and the experience to guide you.

#4 – A Trusted Partner

You have a trusted partner with you on your journey, not some fool who is holding the wrong,  outdated map upside down, can’t find his reading glasses, and expects you to turn after you passed the turnoff ramp, while giving you conflicting instructions and belittling you for wasting gas and time, and ending up parked in the middle of nowhere, out of gas and in a bad temper, where he picks your pocket and then blames you for his poor guidance.

#5 – Adjusting for Conditions

When the traffic was heavy or I missed a turnoff, the GPS would adjust it’s arrival time accordingly. It didn’t tease me or rebuke me for taking longer than expected – it was patient and persistent.

In life and business, things don’t always work out perfectly – one hits traffic lights, construction sites, accidents, wrong turns, and bad weather, but one doesn’t abandon one’s car in the middle of traffic and flounce off down the road, blaming the GPS system for one’s lack of character and intelligence. That’s what losers do, and we have met our share of them. It doesn’t change the fact that the GPS is correct.

#6 – A Customizable System

The GPS took me to MY destination, not the destination of the GPS – it didn’t have some hidden agenda, and it customized my route specially for me. DollarMakers is a customizable system, with flexible options and multiple opportunities.

DollarMakers is Your Retirement GPS

DollarMakers has all you need to succeed, and we are continually innovating and creating new material, tools, support, and connections for our valued Members and Joint Venture partners. We walk our talk.

If I decided to buy a GPS system, I would buy the most expensive one available, and I would commit myself to following its instructions to the letter, resting assured that as long as I did so, I would arrive, eventually, at my destination.

If you want to retire and achieve financial freedom, and you’re prepared to do whatever it takes and follow a proven system without quitting, DollarMakers can be your personal GPS – your own, personalized guidance system.

Jim Rohn once talked on an audio tape about how one could theoretically complete an entire university degree while commuting to and from work, simply by listening to tapes.

Putting “Time Vampires” to the Stake

If you work out how much time we waste watching mindless TV shows and sport, and listening to brain dead DJ’s and media propaganda on the radio, it’s amazing how much time we waste. And time is our most valuable, irreplaceable resource.

Get rid of what Dan Kennedy calls “Time Vampires”. If every minute cost you $100, would you spend it so easily? Yet it is worth far more than that.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ~ Steve Jobs

Avoiding a Bitter Ending

As we get older, we start to realize the value of time, and how much we have wasted. Kids grow up, we get old and fragile, and time moves inexorably on.

We don’t want to live in regret, like those who wait to enjoy their lives, and when they finally have the time and money, their health is gone. NOW is the time to enjoy your life, because who knows what tomorrow brings?

Before you know it, you’re old and bitter, your strength and vitality is depleted, and your relationships soured. You can avoid that.

Joint Venture Brokers Use Leverage – Not Time!

The big thief of time is working too hard and too long to make too little money. This can be solved by becoming a Joint Venture Broker, where you can leverage other peoples’ time, resources and money in order to become financially free. Work smart, not hard. Instead of selling your time like a paid slave, use your brain and leverage.

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

Linking Problems with Solutions

Time well spent is a great investment in your future, and in terms of money, the beauty of being a Joint Venture Broker is that you can work any time of the day or night, using the phone and the Internet, while driving or waiting for things.

There is no more excuse for JV Brokers to say, “I didn’t have time”, because you’re not selling time – you’re linking people and opportunities, delegating, introducing, and managing relationships, like  general in the army, rather than a soldier in the trenches.

The meetings you do have in person can be worth a thousand times what an employee or time salesman can earn in an hour.

Break Free with Your Own Joint Venture Broker Business

I can run my JV Broker business from anywhere in the world, in one hour a day. Sure, it takes time and work to get to that level, but isn’t it worth working hard for one year on your brokerage, and then working one hour a day to maintain your freedom? Better, I think, than working like a slave until you drop dead, which is the future for many people, especially in this new economy and with the direction governments are taking us.

You Only Get Today ONCE

Don’t be a clone and a robot – break free, so that you can spend your own time as you wish, where you wish, with whom you wish. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and it will never return. Life is not a dress rehearsal – you only get today ONCE. One life. One chance. It’s not too late to change.

Joint ventures and Strategic Alliances are vastly different than traditional business. If you are approaching Joint Ventures with the same old habits and mindset, then you’re bound to fail. This streaming Video succinctly lays out the behaviors business people take for granted which may be holding them up in their Joint Venture Success.

This is a must watch for updating your business approach for the New Business Age, and truly changing your business outlook to that of a powerful Joint Venture Broker and Entrepreneur.

A few weeks back, I bought a wonderful, new bicycle. I love riding it along the river and around the lake, and I’m getting fit and losing weight.

I get excellent service from the store I bought the bike at. This store specializes in bikes and has a splendid reputation. I invested about $700 in the bike, and I will buy more stuff as time goes by.

Under Utilized Resources are Everywhere

I took it in yesterday for a complimentary service. While waiting, I chatted to the friendly owner of the store. I suggested that she must have a huge database of satisfied customers, and that she could seriously increase her sales by using a good referral system. I know she does no follow-up at all with her customers, and I wasn’t asking her for any money.

Small Business Arrogance

Her response reminded me why I started the DollarMakers Club. She immediately got a distant look in her eyes, and dismissed me with:

“My family has been running this business for seventy years.”

Her arrogance was typical of the ignorance of most small business owners – they really think they know everything there is to be known about their business.

Opportunity Abounds for the JV Broker

From my limited exposure to this bike store, I assure you that a DollarMakers Certified Business Mentor could easily double the profits in that business. To a Joint Venture expert, there are a number of glaringly obvious opportunities to dramatically ramp up this store’s profits, as well as sales.

Don’t Look Back on Those Who say “No.”

But a closed mind is a sad thing, and I smiled and thanked her for her service and pedaled off into the sunset. She will never know how much money she lost by succumbing to her conceit.

By looking beyond the doors of her store and her inflated ego, and considering the leverage and access she has available to her, she would have discovered a treasure trove of easily accessible profit at no cost or risk.

Taking Advantage of the Recession

The good news is that there are a number of business owners out there who realize that they have to adjust their sails in order to accommodate the new winds of business, and their precarious predicament makes them approachable for and amenable to win/win Joint Venture proposals.

Don’t deal with desperate or cash-strapped businesses, but rather with those who are doing well but have the intelligence to perceive the change in business and the need to consider alternatives to conventional and outmoded, risky, and costly sales and marketing approached that worked in the past (PR- Pre-Recession).

Where to Find Hundreds of Educated JV Partners

DollarMakers has hundreds of Members in nineteen countries, and we continue to grow.

Instead of trying to persuade the unaware, save time and money by working with those who understand the power of Joint Ventures by joining the DollarMakers JV Broker Club. (Or the DollarMakers Women’s Club.)

Start to question, “Are You Happy With Your Life?”

In order to achieve a new situation in life, we have to remember that a mind once stretched will never return to its original dimensions, and that all meaningful change starts with a question.

We have to ask ourselves if the status quo in our lives is what we truly want, and if our present philosophy and world view is going to get us to where we honestly and deeply want to be.

We have to ask ourselves just:

• how free we really are,
• how free we want to be,
• and how our perceptions and beliefs will have to change in order to facilitate the new journey we wish to take.

Beware: We’re Programmed to Not Question

Because the seething herd of humanity is programmed to viciously ostracize those who question the feasibility, indeed the sanity, of blind faith and conformity, we have to summon the courage to ask these questions.

Anything that threatens the current, outdated beliefs of true believers who doggedly hold on to medieval myths, legends, and superstitions is quickly suppressed. You should be aware of this.

The outright rejection of logic and rational, independent thought is the hallmark of the established system of paid slavery, the oppression of freedom, and mass mind control by the media and the mystics, which are owned by banks and managed by their puppet politicians.

Beware:  We’re Programmed to Believe What We’re Taught

We believe what we have been taught to believe, not what we personally, independently  deducted from the facts all around us. We have been told lies to keep us bound, blind, tired, in debt, and afraid:

• “You have to risk a lot to make a lot.”
• “Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
• “The root of all evil is money.”
• “You have to work hard for many years in order to be financially free.”
• “You don’t deserve to be rich.”
• “Keep up with the Jones.”
• “Serve your country.”
• “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
• “Self sacrifice is good. “
• “You need to be educated by the existing educational structure.”
• “Don’t question your leaders. We know what is best for you.”
• “Toe the line.”
• “The nail that stands up gets knocked down…”

Nonsense.

Question everything.

Krishnamurti said:

“All authority of any kind, especially in the field of thought and understanding, is the most destructive, evil thing. Leaders destroy the followers and followers destroy the leaders. You have to be your own teacher and your own disciple. You have to question everything that man has accepted as valuable, as necessary.”

Dependency, exploitation, and attachment are forms of slavery. Only parasites, sluggards, and masochists revel in slavery.

Question everything.

Don’t wait until you’re too old, too scared, and too weak to change. Question now.

Anyone who says, “Mine not to reason why; mine but to do and die” is already dead. Blind faith is not laudable – it’s stupid.

The Path to Freedom

The path to real freedom is not to be found in a cult or a college. Krishnamurti said:

“Most of us begin with certainty and as we grow older the certainty changes to uncertainty and we die with uncertainty. But if one begins with uncertainty, doubting, questioning, asking, demanding, with real doubt about man’s behavior, about all the religious rituals and their images and their symbols, then out of that doubt comes the clarity of certainty.”

Perhaps it’s your time to question, to rethink, and to redirect your life’s path.

When it comes to money, DollarMakers is here to help you achieve freedom through the symbiotic, synergistic, rational, interdependent system of Joint Ventures.

Those important, turbulent, emotional, exciting, scary, formative years between twelve and twenty – so much changes in those years, and yet it can be easier if you maintain perspective.

This eight-year portion of your life is small in comparison with the rest of your adult life – about 60 years – and here are a few things that will help you cope with the hard times.

Things Will Matter Differently In the Future

In the years from age twelve to twenty, things seem to be magnified, and much more important than they really are. Relatively small things that a mature adult would hardly notice are attributed major significance. A bully or a jock, a rejection or a victory or failure seem mountainous, even though they will be forgotten very soon.

Coping with Bullies

The fact is that 97% of the people you know will never amount to much.

Most of the school bullies will end up in jail, on drugs, working in dead-end jobs, and dead. The reason why they are bullies is that they have emotional and mental problems – it really has nothing to do with you, except that you are a threat to them – they are jealous of something about you, so they attack you. Most bullies have low intelligence and problems at home, and you can use your mind to outwit them.

Things Will be Forgotten… And What to Do in the Mean Time

The key is to try and remain rational and objective about the things in your life.

This is very hard, I know – our emotions are pretty extreme in those years – but it helps a lot to be able to sit down with a wise adult, preferably not a teacher – and discuss your issues, fears, concerns, and dreams with them. They have a mature perspective.

In a few short years, hard as this is to believe, those incidents and people will be forgotten. Most of the things that seem huge right now are in fact insignificant compared to the bright future waiting for you.

Glean the Benefit & Leave the Rest Behind

The trials and tribulations of these years come with great benefits – youth, energy, strength, opportunities, optimism, and an open mind.

By focusing on building an exciting future and realizing that most of the things that upset you are really just barking dogs, life gets easier.

• That teacher that gives to you a hard time – a man amongst boys, but a boy amongst men – will be a joke to you in a few short years. You can easily earn more money than him and put him in his place quite soon.
• That pretty girl that rejected and shamed you in public will soon be fat, pregnant, and married to an unemployed jock.
• And your mistakes will be forgotten.

Do you think Bill Gates was teased at school? Probably. Where are the people who teased him now?

It’s YOUR Life

The only person whose opinion is important is YOU. It’s YOUR life.

Success in life is a choice. We choose how to interpret the circumstances presented to us. We choose how to react. And our choices will determine where we end up.

Your Philosophy is Your Compass

The most important factor in your life is your PHILOSOPHY. With the right philosophy, or world view, life gets a lot easier.

Look at successful people whom you admire, and ask yourself what their philosophy is.

The most powerful philosophy I have found, the one that gives you the most freedom, opportunity, and fun, is that of Objectivism. You can find out more about it here and here, but in a nutshell, it says that you own your life, and you are not answerable to others or responsible for others.

• Read “The Fountainhead” and the “The Virtue of Selfishness” by Ayn Rand.
• Get yourself some good role models.
• Stay away from people who want to manipulate and control the way you think.
• Don’t be a victim, don’t blame others or make excuses.  Take responsibility for your choices now, and life will be good.

Understand Money & Create Value to Make It

Finally, by now you know that 97% of your problems in life will be solved or diminished by money. The good life costs money.

If you understand money and value and how to create wealth, you have control and you can choose any life you want. Your age and circumstances won’t prevent you from making money. You can get rich fast, no matter how old you are, when you know how. Money doesn’t care how old you are!

Learn about how you can do that, starting right away, at www.JVWisdom.com.

Bob  Carlson writes,

“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.