My wife & I just spent our Saturday night working on her new business plan (Tagline: “Hawaii’s Natural Fitness Experience” .. it’s going to rock the tourist industry in Spring ‘09!) and talking through Proverbs 4.

If you’ve read some of my past blog posts, you know how strongly I feel about the importance of the book of Proverbs when it comes to life and business as an entrepreneur.

If you’re looking for the single most important skill or quality to master — one that’s going to ENSURE your success as an entrepreneur — it’s wisdom alone.

Not ideation… not management… not communication… not marketing.

It’s wisdom that informs your thought and execution in all of these other areas, and it’s wisdom that should be painstakingly, passionately sought above all else.

The book of Proverbs is a collection of writings from the second wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, so it’s a good place to start your pursuit.

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Posted on Saturday, 25th October 2008 in Business, Faith, Life | Comments (4)

This will be my last Big Seminar-related post. Sorry.

Or you’re welcome. Whichever applies.

For the benefit of myself and anyone else who’s trying to grow a business, real estate or otherwise, here are my top takeaways from each of the marketing masters I learned from last weekend.

Joe Polish - “Stop spending time on things that don’t increase either (a) your capabilities or (b) your opportunities in life.”

You can NOT make $1 million/year with $50,000/year habits, knowledge, and relationships. If you don’t develop the habits, relationships, skills, capabilities, and the mindset… you might as well forget it & keep buying lottery tickets, checking email, watching cable, and surfing the internet.

Stephen Pierce - “The biggest success secret ever: Give More LIFE To More PEOPLE”

Have a SYSTEM that finds, gets, keeps, and grows customers (buyers, sellers, lenders, renters, etc). The key to finding, getting, keeping, and growing is *adding value to their lives*.

Eben Pagan - “The #1 priority in business today is to reduce and eliminate distraction and interruption.”

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Posted on Saturday, 11th October 2008 in Business, Life, Marketing | Comments (2)

I just finished up a weekend hanging with some of the BEST marketing minds on the planet.  How can you put a price tag on networking experiences like this…

Mark Victor Hansen (The Notorious MVH), Philanthropist and Founder of the ultimate niche product “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” Hansen said they never release the brand into a new niche until research proves they can sell 3.5 million copies within that niche. The average copy sells for $10 and “Chicken Soup” exists in 279 niches. Do the math on that.

Joe Polish is founder of The Genius Network and Piranha Marketing, has helped thousands of entrepreneurs become successful, and rolls with Richard Branson. He’s a decent guy to know.

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Posted on Thursday, 9th October 2008 in Business, Marketing | Comments (2)

I just finished Mark Joyner’s simpleology on the 8-hour flight home today. I find it amusing that the process it took for me to read the book goes against the very nature of the book’s concluding principles.

From start to finish it took me about 30 days to read this thing.

I read for about an hour on a flight last month, another hour from my parents’ house 2 weeks later, and two more hours today to wrap it up.

Of course, along the way were countless distractions that took 100% of my attention away from the book’s message.

Each time I went back to pick up where I left off, I wasted time as I reread previous points I highlighted and attempted to refocus my attention.

The inevitable result is a dulled message and potentially life changing principles lost through infinite channels of distraction over the last 30 days.

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Posted on Tuesday, 7th October 2008 in Books, Business, Life | Comments (2)

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** June 2009 Update **
Registration information JUST came out for Big Seminar ‘09!

Go here now -> http://www.BigSeminar.com

(Tickets are supposedly already half gone because Armand has been pre-selling all year at various events)

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Posted on Monday, 6th October 2008 in Business, Life, Marketing | Comments (0)

My amigo Preston Ely, one of the premier real estate wholesalers in the country, just sent me the following story.

If you know Preston and you were under the impression that he’s always flipping wholesale deals, partying at red carpet events, shopping for designer jeans, and looking for a bigger mansion you’d be wrong …

… sometimes he just sits in front of his fireplace in a robe and fuzzy pink slippers and writes short stories.

A little odd, but the good thing for us is that his stories help keep our minds straight when the media is telling us that we should all be depressed right now.

Read below and forward it to everyone you know. It will make the world a better place.

The Story Of The Two Flippers
By Pre$ton Ely

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Posted on Sunday, 5th October 2008 in Life, Real Estate | Comments (0)

With the release of Tim Ferriss’s bestseller last year, EVERYONE is attempting to live “The 4-Hour Workweek” … at least everyone in the entrepreneurial circles that I’ve landed in.

I’ve noticed that many entrepreneurs, having accomplished some extent of outsourcing and passive residual income, are quick to make the jump toward less hours worked and extremely high value on their time (or at least the facade of such a lifestyle).

I’ve heard a lot of entrepreneurs say “I don’t do anything for less than (insert high 3- or 4-digit figure) dollars per hour!!”  The problem with many is that maybe they should.

Now, the 4-hour ideal is part of my personal vision as well… but lately I’ve been tired of spending my time cleaning up the work of those who have made a premature jump into this lifestyle.

In the world of online entrepreneurship, where joint ventures are an important - if not critical - component of success, one partner in the joint venture will typically have a higher standard of quality than the other.

The problem for this individual is the additional work needed to raise the other partner up to this higher standard that he knows will create a successful JV.

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Posted on Wednesday, 1st October 2008 in Business | Comments (0)