Long before there was an award winning book, a DVD featured
on Jim Cramer's TheStreet.com, helicopter rides with friends, intimate insight
into million dollar homes or hundred thousand dollar cars, The Investment Forum
was providing something far greater. The
investment return coiffeurs from this group was providing down payments to
first time home buyers, cars for single moms and helping rebalance hideously
out of sync equity portfolios where people bought stocks without a clue of how
the company made its money and the price/earning ratios were 20 times higher
than they should have been. We
understood though. People were just
trying to do a little better than they were doing, trying to have a little more
than what they had and trying to live a bit more comfortably than they were
currently living. There's nothing wrong with
that at all and you can't knock a person for trying as I've made my share of
investment mistakes.
They made mistakes in large part because no friend was
successful enough, yet close enough to provide unbiased advice. It's not that they couldn't go to
professional agencies and hire people to do it for them but sometimes you just
want to call a friend who's been down that path who's willing to share a little
insight. It's nice to have insight from
someone who's just a few notches ahead of you who's willing to reach back and
say, let me show you the way without you giving up your arm and leg. The sad reality in many cases is that's
wishful thinking because I've confirmed what I thought before I made any public
forum and that is many people who have made it are hard pressed to tell you
anything. Depending on the ethic group
you're talking about, some would rather see you fall flat on your face than
shed any light to help you out.
People are quick to nod in agreement but there has to be
some haters embedded in these nodders somewhere because it keeps
happening. Maybe some people are the
very crabs in the barrel and don't know it.
To me, that's just utterly ridiculous!
What is it going to kill you to provide someone some insight across a
bridge that you've already crossed? Perhaps people are afraid if they help you
then you may pass them by or outshine them when the reality is you can't
possibly light someone else's path without further lighting your own. It is
with those basic principles that The Investment Forum was born and yes
necessity still remains the mother of invention. I've had people tell me that they get more out
of these forums than they can possibly take in and I should be charging three
times as much. My rationale is why am I
going to charge you $100 to listen to me when I'm going to lunch with the CEO
of the NASDAQ and others like him for $35?
The life changing stories, invites to lunches, perks and bonuses that
come along with this territory are far greater blessings than any of you will
ever know.
I think some people just like the gee-golly info that comes
from all these books that they want to read but don't have time for. I recently read that the world famous word
Google is actually a number. It is a 1
with 100 zeros behind it and technically the co-founders (one of which is from
Prince Georges' County where his dad taught at the University of Maryland and
his mom worked as a scientist at NASA Goddard) actually misspelled the
word. It is actually spelled GOOGOL, but
by the time a young lady pointed it out to them the next morning, they had
already registered the domain name www.google.com. James Brown said, "This is a man's world, but
it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a
girl". Just one of them things that make you say, all together now...hmmmmm.
So enough with the introduction of the last five years, it's
time to gear up for the next five years so we are doing a reception at my place
on February 27 at 4 p.m. There will be
lots of food, lots of intelligent people, lots of business insight, southern
hospitality, questions, answers, etc. The
first forum started at 4 p.m. on a Saturday and the last person left 5 a.m.
Sunday morning. I'm not exactly trying
to break any records, but I did see that people were thirsty for information
and that's how this all was born. It
didn't hurt that they had a good time along the way. Time sure does fly when you're having fun.
***Don't forget to
say a big prayer and try to do something, anything to help our good people in Haiti who
suffer while we live a life of abundance.
A special thanks to a few of the people we call V.I.P. presenters and
mentors over the years -
Charnita Allen * The Bailey Family * Adrienne Brown * Dwight
Bush * David Byrd *The Citadel * Dr. Shirley Dominick * Tawanna Freeman, DDS * The
Haley Family * Michelle Hannah * Lamar Hough *
Lois Houston * Dr. Amy Hymes
* Mike Jenkins *
Doug McGee * J.W. Marriott * Mike Roberts *
Urban
Trust Bank * Willie Washington * Karen Alston * Lyle Yablonsky
