New Internet Marketing Business Causes Dilemma?  

(By Kevin)

Our goal has always been, and always will be to educate and help people become more successful.  This month we purchased an affiliate email business.  An affiliate email business is when you email people and with cleverly written emails to get them to look at a product and if they buy the product we get paid.

We all get emails like this, sometimes directly from the store like WalMart, Best Buy, Walgreen's, etc. or from a third party, like us, who recommends you look at some product or service.  I often find these emails annoying, especially when I get more than one from the same place a day.  Therefore, the delete key and I are well acquainted, especially on busy days.

Nevertheless, mailing to the huge list of names included with the business caused me to remember when Mary Jane and I first started in the real estate investing business.  We had the "next shiny thing" syndrome.  We wanted it all and we spent a ton of cash buying it!   

It was, and is great, we learned a lot and created income with the techniques we learned.  However, I also confess that we bought some products that haven't really paid off yet.  Why?  Because we haven't put the effort into learning the techniques and putting those techniques to work yet.

So while we want to make money with this additional business venture we don't want to hurt anyone doing it.  I worry about others catching the "next shiny thing" syndrome, buying more than they can afford, or buying something they won't use.

Dilemma #1 is how do I email all these offerings and not interfere with our goal to help people?  What I came up with was to write the next article, "Which Gurus Are Best?," and share some of our lessons learned with the people on the list to help them make wise decisions.

Dilemma #2 is how do I know which offerings are good and which are bad?  I have a friend who was one of my coaches and I asked if he had any comments on the many gurus out there, in particular were there any he really didn't like.  His response was insightful and true.  They all teach techniques that work.  Styles are different, support is different, but the techniques are proven.

Now that these two dilemmas have been addressed I feel more comfortable mailing out these opportunities to people on the list.

Oh, just in case you are concerned, the names I send this email to will NOT be added to the mailing list unless you opt in via this link.  Getting to see the opportunities can be educational so you might want to opt in, unless of course you have all the knowledge and tools you will ever need.  Just do me a favor and don't buy everything and go broke.

It is possible that you opt in on some other link but I will not just transfer names from our newsletter list to the marketing lists.

Industry News  

(by Kevin)

Which Gurus Are Best?       

There is no doubt that real estate investing can be very rewarding.  We have a friend who is going to clear near $100k on a rehab in the next 30 days.  We have rental property that creates income each and every month.  The checks just keep on coming.  We've wholesaled, flipped, bought notes, done single family and multi-family properties, built from scratch, and made money doing all of it.   

How did we figured out how to do all this stuff?   We learned and keep learning from the Gurus, those that have gone before us in real estate investing, asset protections, taxes, etc., and are willing to teach what they have learned.   

I've heard it said that a smart person learns from their mistakes however it is a wise person who learns from the mistakes of others.  Prior to listening to the Guru's we did real estate investing and sometimes we made money, sometimes we didn't.  After learning from the Gurus we've been much more consistent at making money.  Knowledge is power and applied knowledge is powerful! 

The question above , "Which Gurus Are Best?", is really very subjective and depends a lot on your individual goals and needs.  There are so many products, services, tools, and trainings offered by the Gurus how do you know which ones to invest your time and money in?

Because Mary Jane and I want people to be successful we are sharing some lessons we've learned to help our readers better determine the best Guru offerings for them.

• Gurus offer value: Whether it is a tool, a course, coaching, or training the gurus offer value.  The techniques they teach work.  For new people we recommend learning all you can and if you are real serious and can afford it, find yourself a quality coach.  If you can't afford the coach option, find yourself a quality partner.

• Not all Gurus are equal:  While the techniques are all applicable you should consider style and service after the sale.  It will be rare for a Guru to offer one-on-one coaching themselves but they may have a team of coaches (this can be a pricey option).  Group calls where people can ask questions, on line forums, on line historic training calls, and tools are common.  It is also common to offer attendance at one of their seminars.  (Most of them will try and sell you something at the seminar, maybe their product or service, maybe someone else's product or service.)

• Go deep before you go wide: One of my sons, Don, tried to teach us, me, this lesson early on.  He basically said, Dad we're trying to do too much and we aren't getting anything done.  I was excited with all this new knowledge.  I thought we could make money on all these different techniques.  Truth is we were both right but Don's point was more correct at the time.

While we could make money using all the techniques we had learned we needed to focus on one and get good at making money before we added another technique to our tool bag. This doesn't mean you shouldn't be familiar with multiple techniques because an opportunity may present itself along the way.  Just begin by getting good at one, make money, and smile on the way to your bank.

• Know yourself:  When you see that next "hot thing" ask yourself will I really put this to work?  When will I put it to work?  If your answer to either questions is I don't know, then I suggest you keep checking offers out until you find one that really excites you enough to open the box and get to work, right away or within the near future.

• Go ahead and window shop:  Go ahead and look at the offers, they will all teach you different options or new tools.   Window shopping is free and educational, what is better than that?

• Understand it takes work:  Real estate investing looks sexy, especially on shows like Property Brothers, This Old House, Flipping this or that, when they can solve all issues in a ½ - 1 hour time frame.  Real estate investing can be highly rewarding, it can change your life, however, it takes certain skills, there are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, and it takes effort.

• Tools are important:  Years ago we had to do everything the hard way now there are tools that take advantage of all the internet has to offer.  With the right tools you can streamline your business.  Recently these tools have gotten very sophisticated and are worth taking a look at.

• It is a Team Sport:  While you can go it alone, you will need a team to effectively deal with all of real estate investing's moving parts to be highly successful.  Not only will you need lawyers, accountants, mortgage brokers, inspectors, appraisers, etc. on your team, consider working with a partner you trust.  Sure you'll spread the wealth; however, with a good partner there will probably be more wealth to spread.

• Some things can wait: Unless you have a ton of money or you will be buying and holding real estate right away, you can probably wait to worry about which legal entity is best.  Wait until you've made a few bucks and you know this is the life for you then form the right entity.  By the way, if your holding real estate, it is probably a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

I hope this helps you all to make the best decisions when reviewing the various offerings that are out there.  Have fun learning and shopping.

One last note, we certainly have some Gurus we are pleased to be working with and will let people know that by saying so when we recommend them.  Of course the big test is will YOU like them.

Laughs and Interesting Stuff 

(Kevin and Mary Jane)  

Funny Quotes:

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, "Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.."- Lillian Carter (mother of President Jimmy Carter)

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: - "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall." - Eleanor Roosevelt

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible - George Burns

My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying. - Rodney Dangerfield

Money can't buy you happiness .... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. - Spike Milligan

We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress. - Will Rogers

Don't worry about avoiding temptation.  As you grow older, it will avoid you. - Winston Churchill

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.. - Phyllis Diller

Fifth Grade Class Assignment

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment to get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories.   There were all the regular types of stuff: spilled milk and pennies saved.

But then the teacher realized that only Ernie was left. "Ernie, do you have a story to share?"

"Yes ma'am.  My daddy told a story about my Aunt Karen. She was a pilot in Desert Storm, and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife.

She drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn't go to waste, and then her parachute landed her right in the middle of 20 enemy troops.   

She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last one with her bare hands."

"Good Heavens," said the horrified teacher.  "What did your daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?"

"You best stay away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking."

School Daze

An elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired.

Holding hands, they walked back to their old school.  

It was open, so they entered, and found the old desk they'd shared, where Andy had carved I love you, Sally.
  
On their way back home, while holding hands an armored car raced by and a bag of money fell out practically landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and, not sure what to do with it, they took it home.

There, she counted the money - fifty thousand dollars!
 
Andy said, "We've got to give it back."
 
Sally said, "Finders keepers." She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.

The next day, two police officers were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money, and knocked on their door.  "Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?"

Keep On Smiling!

(so people will wonder what your up to AND its contagious)