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Issue 51 - September 2015
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Dear Family and Friends, (by Kevin)
September has been a challenge for us what with Mary Jane's dad passing away, her teaching Seminary, and me working all kinds of hours on my consulting gig. Yes it's been a challenge and it's been full of blessings too. It's all about perspective.
While Mary Jane's dad passing away was a sad event it was nice to visit with so many of the family for a few days in Colorado. MJ is up at 4:30 to prepare for her 5:30ish Seminary class. She loves teaching the young adults in her class. I've been working monster hours on a huge proposal. I actually leave the house before she does. The best part is I get paid for every single hour. This is the first time I've gone out consulting where there's a whole team of us and I discovered I'm good at this.
Kristina is still getting acting gigs. David is still working as a computer tech and Amy is still working in retail. So life is moving forward which is a lot better than the alternative.
We've had a couple of people join us on our weight release journey. Mary Jane and I are both back to our pre-vacation weights. I have released 80 and Mary Jane has released 45 pounds so far this year. Make sure you don't let the universe give you any of those lbs we released.
I am already looking forward to next year's Maine vacation. We need to locate a place with internet coverage this time around. I would like to spend the whole summer on the lake.
In a week or two we will make the trip to the local orchard and load up on apples and other great stuff.
We did get our check that LegalShield helped us secure from the dealership. Guess what we did with that? Yup, right to the bank to pay down the car loan!
Quote of the Month: "Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want." -Jim Rohn
Just had to include this one because with every challenge there is a blessing. Count your blessing because that is where happiness is.
Live an Amazing Life! Mary Jane and Kevin
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(By Mary Jane)
Publish Your Book
They say everyone has at least one book in them. I've actually written several books for children ages 6-80. I sent a few to publishers and got some nice rejection letters. One even said, "you tell a good story, however it's not one that we can use" and suggested I self-publish.
This year I told my coach that I always wanted to publish my books! He knew the steps and pushed me to take action. I did! After several starts and stops, I finally found a wonderful artist to create the illustrations for the first book in my "Lucy Story" series. It will be for sale on Amazon as a Kindle book in the next couple of weeks. Have you ever dreamed of publishing a book? Or have you felt that your business reputation would improve if you were a published author? Here in a nutshell and super simplified is the process to get your dream book published. The first step, of course, is to write the book. When I write a story, my fingers can barely keep up with the ideas and putting in quotation marks, and even comma's and periods aren't high on my priority list. I just let the creativeness flow onto the page. So my next step is to get someone to edit it. Fortunately my daughter is really good at editing. Once you have a readable book have a few people read and comment on your draft. This is a little intimidating, what if they don't like your creation? I look for people who like to read the types of books I write. Since I write stories for children, I have my children and now grandchildren or someone else's children read it. I want to know if they understand what I was trying to get across and if they liked it. So far, yes!! I did have one story that proved to be confusing so I will adjust it and get someone new to read and report on it. Now you need to decide if you are adding pictures and design your cover. Obviously children's stories are better with some pictures. Your cover is really important, even though there is a saying you can't judge a book by it's cover, because that is exactly how a lot of people will be judging your book. My cover is a picture about my story. If it isn't a story, you might want to seek out a person that designs book covers. Remember, it's really important! Amazon has a free kindle book that tells you how to publish your kindle book, it's called "Publish on Amazon Kindle with Kindle Direct Publishing." There is another free book from Amazon called "Building your book for Kindle". These are great resources and you can also call Amazon if you are still confused. Next you need to think about price, how much will you charge? How much will people actually pay for your work? Help!! I googled this and found that there is a great amount on the subject out there. A lot of different opinions. I suggest you do the same. My next step is to look for books that are similar to mine and find out what they are charging and are they selling at that price, do they have a lot of reviews? Then as one of the google sites states all e-book prices are an experiment, so I will give it my best guess and experiment. You can always change the price or have a sale later to get things rolling! The good news about creating and publish your own book is that you write it once and can get paid forever, can you say residual income! Now your ready to upload your book to Kindle Direct Publishing and after they review and accept your book it will be up for sale. CONGRATULATIONS!! You now have a published book, are an author, and generally recognized as an expert. Next month I'll tell you great ways to create printed copies of your book and how to market it.
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Industry News
(by Kevin)
5 Best CRE Investment Opportunities
In the midst of a continued U.S. economic recovery and global stock markets volatility, commercial real estate (CRE) is looking like the safest bet for high-net-worth (HNW) investors. But which real estate sectors provide the best long-term investment opportunities? Over the past five years, Inland Private Capital Corp. (IPCC), founded in 2001 in Oak Brook, Ill., has specialized in serving high-net-worth individuals. Here are the top 5 classifications of CRE according to IPCC - Multifamily - apartments
- Student Housing
- Retail
- Parking and Self-Storage (we love this one)
- Medical Office and Office
Mary Jane and I like numbers, 1, 4, and 2 because everyone needs a place to live, park, and store their stuff.
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Projects and Opportunities
- 8+% ROI: We are continuing to locate used mobile homes, set them up in one of our Manufacture Housing Communities, and sell/rent them. If you have between $15,000 and $20,000 you want working harder for you then this could be the right opportunity for you.
We will do all the work and can manage the home for you totally turn key or you can place one of your homes in our community and manage it yourself. We are very flexible with these opportunities.
We only do 3 of these per month so let us know your interest as soon as possible so we can more fully explain the process and get your name on the list.
Did you know that you can invest in real estate from your IRA or other retirement account? You can also use your stock portfolio to invest without ever selling your stock? (Think leverage, leverage, leverage!). These investment secrets aren't well known but they are perfectly legal. Contact us and/or click on this Investment Secret link to learn more.
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Laughs and Interesting Stuff
(Selected by Kevin and Mary Jane)
No offense is meant by any of these jokes, they are just jokes. If you have a joke you'd like to share, send it in. Only clean jokes need apply for consideration.
Cold Water
A man went to visit his 90 year old grandfather in a very secluded rural area.
After spending the night, his grandfather prepared breakfast for him consisting of eggs and bacon. The man noticed a film like substance on his plate and he questioned his grandfather, "are these plates clean?"
His grandfather replied, "Those plates are as clean as cold water can get them, so go on and finish your meal".
That afternoon, while eating the hamburgers his grandfather made for lunch, he noticed tiny specks around the edge of his plate and a substance that looked like dried egg yolks, so he ask again, "Are you sure these plates are clean"?
Without looking up from his hamburger, the grandfather says, "I told you before; those dishes are as clean as cold water can get them. Now don't ask me about it anymore!"
Later that afternoon, he was on his way out to get dinner in a nearby town. As he was leaving, his grandfather's dog started to growl and wouldn't let him pass so he said, "Grandfather, your dog won't let me out".
Without diverting his attention from the football game he was watching his grandfather shouted, "Cold Water, Go lay down!"
A Day In Court
Having had to take the day off work to appear in court for a minor traffic summons, the man was growing increasingly restless as he waited hour after hour for his case to be heard.
Finally, late in the afternoon, his case was called. He stood before the judge, only to hear that court would be adjourned until the next day and he would have to return.
"What!" What for?" he yelled at the judge.
His Honor, equally irritated by a tedious day and the sharp query, roared, "That will be twenty dollars for contempt of court! That's what for!"
Noticing the man checking his wallet, the judge added, "That's all right. You don't have to pay right now."
The man replied, "Oh, I'm just looking to see if I have enough for two more words!"
Too drunk
A drunk walks into a bar, sits down and demands a drink.
"Get out" says the bartender. "I don't serve drunks here".
The drunk staggers out the front door, only to come back in through the side door. He sits at the bar, bangs his fist and demands a drink.
"I just told you to get out, didn't I? Now LEAVE!".
The drunk gets off his stool, stumbles out the side door and, comes back inside through the back door. Once again, he sits at the bar and loudly asks for a drink.
The bartender, now glowing mad, looks at the drunk and yells "I TOLD YOU, NO DRUNKS ALLOWED, NOW GET OUT!!!".
The drunk looks up at the bartender and slurs "How many bars do you work at, anyway?"
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Keep On Smiling!
(so people will wonder what your up to AND its contagious)
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We are always willing to share information with you so please feel free to contact us
Driscoll Enterprises Inc. 332 West Lee Hwy., Suite 200, Warrenton, VA 20186
703-398-1188 or 800-887-0001 info@DriscollEnterprisesInc.com |
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