March 8, 2010

Debunking the Millionaire Myth... Just One Victory...
More Incentive to Start Your Own Business... How to
Make Beautiful Music as an Info Marketer... and More.

If you've ever said, "I'm sick of being poor and I want to live like a millionaire!" then I'm about to burst your bubble with regards to the millionaire lifestyle.

Here is the myth:

Millionaires live in lavish, expensive mansions with 10 luxury automobiles. They vacation every month and eat only the finest meals. They have a multitude of servants and never have to worry about spending their money.

This myth is usually the product of watching too many reruns of that old show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!"

Now, I will admit that millionaires who have acquired their money through talent (e.g. movie stars, music stars, pro athletes) or have inherited it because of their genetic background (like Paris Hilton!) might live like this.

But the millionaires who have earned their wealth through their own hard work and innovations still know the value of a dollar.

In fact, you may be shocked to find out that most of them hang on to their money with a death grip.

Here are some examples of millionaire money habits and how they differ from the millionaire myths.

Homes: The myth is that millionaires have homes all over the world, some sitting empty most of the time because they only visit them for one week a year.

This couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, a millionaire will buy a nice home with all the luxuries he wants. But the smart millionaire will also look at the home as an investment with a forecasted return.

As for their vacation homes remaining empty for 51 weeks a year...it never happens! I know one guy who owns three vacation homes: one in Italy, one in Mexico, and one in St. Maarten. When he isn't there, he has his travel agent rent them out for him. These places are rarely vacant and he's making money on them when he's not there!

Cars: Six Ferraris, three Hummers, and a chauffer-driven Rolls-Royce? Not likely, unless you are a car collector and plan on making some money on these later on.

Sure, the millionaires I associate with drive Hummers, Jaguars, and Mercedes, etc., but they all realize that the value of these cars drops as soon as they are driven off the lot. So, they negotiate the best deals they can. They never flaunt that they have the money to buy these luxury vehicles and they rarely spend money on "options" that they deem useless.

Toys: Let me tell you a story about toys! Years ago, I knew this one guy who had a $10,000 stereo system in his car that would shake street lamps when he drove by. He was the first to own a DVD player and MP3 player, and he was usually the first in line to get the newest video game system when it came out (and usually these things would be introduced into the market every three to four months!). He would also buy the most expensive sunglasses.

Yet, he lived in a rat-hole of an apartment and was always short on cash. He had no savings account, didn't have any investments, and was working short-term, dead-end jobs. Basically, any money he would make, he would spend on toys just so he could show off.

That's not the millionaire mindset. Sure, millionaires like to buy toys such as boats and home entertainment systems. But when these millionaires were just starting out, they would never dream of putting their money into anything where they wouldn't be able to get it back.

And this is where I'm going to leave you today. When you are starting out on the path to success, you should do just two things with your money:

1) Put it somewhere where it can grow (such as investments, real estate, and reliable business ventures).

2) Spend it on necessities (food, clothing, shelter and, yes, leisure).

Never spend more than you earn and forget the credit cards.

Do this and you'll be taking the first step to becoming a millionaire.

I've always had a strong entrepreneurial drive. I am, by nature, a risk-taker and an innovator -- and I approach projects as a scientist. I knew at a fairly young age that I would feel "caught" within the confines of the corporate boardroom. It's not that I couldn't do it. I am intelligent and quite capable of conducting business matters, but, somehow, parking myself in an office for eight to 10 hours a day, wearing a shirt and tie, and grinding out spreadsheets and reports on a yearly salary just never appealed to me.

I had more of an internal focus on and an interest in people -- I would much rather spend my time, I believed, learning more about the people around me and creating cultural and social value than increasing someone else's bottom line. Little did I know at the time that I could do both simultaneously -- and become very financially successful from it!

I am a people person, a behavioral scientist of sorts. I love to converse with friends or strangers, to get a glimpse inside their minds and personalities, and find out what makes them tick. I seem to have an instinct for listening, reasoning, analyzing and interpreting. It's this knack that I have that has kept my interest, made me successful, and made me a lot of money through the years.

But I didn't always know that would be the case. And, for many years, I certainly didn't think of it as my "ability." In fact, at one point in my life, I couldn't even get a job. At 26, I graduated from college with a degree in Speech. I seemed to be and felt I was, quite frankly, un-hirable. I had no concrete idea of what I wanted to do with my career. I knew there was something I wanted to create and nurture into fruition -- I just wasn't sure what it was.

Those were challenging times for me. I was restless, sometimes disheartened. But I also knew I had to accept 100% responsibility for my own survival. I knew my future depended on me finding my inner self and using all the motivation I could muster to find my sense of purpose, my sense of self. Literally, one day, I made the commitment to overcome fear and to trust my inner instincts. I knew one thing: if I could talk persuasively to people, I could write that way, too. I connected with my entrepreneurial spirit and contracted myself out as a direct marketing consultant. This was the birth of what is now, 17 years later, a very successful communications business.

Direct marketing is really the art of creating desire. My job was to structure persuasive copy to appeal to both broad and niche consumer markets. And I was amazed at it! I had taken my ability to be influential with people and, before long, was earning four thousand dollars from one client on a job, fifteen thousand from another, and pretty soon hundreds of thousands of dollars were coming in. I took this victory of being able to persuade people and multiplied it over and over again.

I took my most basic quality of being a people person and learned to shine, to become unique. I've since created hundreds of ads, sales letters, and info-products in order to cultivate millions of dollars in revenues for some very large companies, but I began at the same point you are at...the beginning. You can be 30...40...50...it's irrelevant.

There was some good news released out of Washington late last week that is likely to make both business owners and those looking for work quite happy.

Last Thursday, Congress passed a bill that would offer tax breaks to businesses that made new hires in hopes of stimulating America's poor job market. So, if you've been out of a job for the last little while, it may be time to get those resumes out.

This move makes it quite enticing for businesses to make new hires. For starters, since the recession hit, many businesses have been forced to make cutbacks that have left them understaffed, and therefore unable to work as effectively. Because they are understaffed, workers are not able to perform as good of a job as they once were. However, since operating at full staff was too expensive, many workers had to be let go.

By allowing businesses to hire workers tax-free, it gives business owners the freedom to operate at a relatively low cost, while maximizing their production. The savings can be huge. Not to mention, it can put many unemployed Americans back to work.

This is just another step the government is taking to stimulate job growth in our nation, and it will have a direct impact on Main Street. The government has budgeted roughly $15.0 billion for this plan, so it should be able to help a number of business and individuals that are struggling.

Also, last week, the President outlined his plan to put people back to work by encouraging energy efficiency. He plans on passing a bill called the "Home Star Program," which will offer on-the-spot rebates of $1,000 to $1,500 to consumers who purchase energy-efficient materials and products for their homes. Things like insulation, windows and doors, water heaters and a number of other items will all be part of the program. It's expected to offer savings of 50% on such items.

It is expected that the production, installation and further expansion of these items will lead to a boom in jobs across the country as more and more citizens are informed of the benefits (and savings) that surround energy efficiency. The program is modeled after last summer's "Cash for Clunkers" initiative, which was quite successful.

** How to Make Beautiful Music as an Info Marketer
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

How many musical genres can you name?

Blues, jazz, rock, psychedelic, hip-hop, classical, gospel, country, German polka, Tuvan throat singing...the list is endless. It's pretty fair to assume that music informs everyone's life in some way or another. Whether it's just singing along to the radio or ritually listening to your favorite thrash metal band every night after work, music is almost vital to the human soul.

Music also is great for info marketing. Because music is so loved by people everywhere, people need info on it in many capacities. Info marketers can use music as an info topic on a lot of levels. Whether you are just a music fan or an actual performer doesn't matter. Info from both areas is needed by people everywhere.

Here are some of the best music info marketing topics:

-- Music education: People who have the gift to play music are pretty fortunate. I don't know how many friends I've seen who are blessed with perfect pitch, can just pick up any given instrument, and pick out a melody. Actually, I am jealous of them. But for others, musical education is very important in helping form their harmonic and melodic sensibilities. There are loads of teachers and music institutions out there, but which ones are any good? What teachers have a good repertoire? Is there education you can do from home or over the Internet? All of this info is vital to anyone seeking music education and, if you're experienced with it, you are potentially sitting on an info marketing gold mine.

-- New releases: Back in my college days, I got a gig reviewing CDs through my campus paper. My editor sent out a message of what new free discs he had. If you did the review of it and maybe interviewed the artist, you got to keep the disc. It was a good gig. What I learned was that there is new music coming out all of the time. If you were to contact labels saying you had a regular info newsletter and made them the deal of issuing info in exchange for free releases, wouldn't that be cool? Well, you can do that. You get free music, write info, and get paid by your clients, too.

-- Collectors: Despite whatever new music formats come your way, there are still people who stack their garages and sitting rooms with music they collect in whatever form they were originally released on. My vinyl collection is bending my bookcase shelves as we speak. But now that I think about it, I am still looking for some mono copies of some Sun Records from the 1950s. And my buddies are still trying to fill the gaps of their punk rock 45 collections from the seventies. Do you know where I can get this stuff? Do you know what flea markets and collector's arenas are out there? You do? Great! I and many, many others would be interested to know about them and would be willing to compensate for you as well.

-- New music technology: In the last 35 years, we've gone from long playing vinyl records to eight-track cassettes to audio cassettes to compact discs to MP3s. Now you've also got turn tables converting vinyl tracks into MP3s. You can DJ a house party with a laptop. Music used to be something expensive, difficult to access, and often restricted to the upper class. Now anyone can enjoy it. The trouble is that, as we've seen, it changes in format as frequently as the directions of the wind. It can be tough for music consumers to keep abreast of this. But the good news is that they want to. If you are someone who keeps ahead of all the music format trends out there and what technology/products are available to acquire recorded music, you can become very successful by making this info available to the public at large.

Obviously there are far more info sources on music than the ones listed above. Where to buy a good instrument, where to get old concert footage, sheet music books and collections, concert info...again, a very endless list. But let that long ladder of possibility be your inspiration to become the next hot music info marketer.