I got an email from Dennis in Portland last week that said:

“Help Andy! Some perspective… I can only handle one new thing at a time… my head is almost swimming!”

Dennis, I hear you brother. And I have an answer.

As a real estate investor in such a volatile economy it’s either “keep up” or “call it quits” … and I don’t know about you, but I’m passionately committed to keeping up.

The *PROBLEM* is that it’s HARD to keep up (especially during the busy holiday season), when:

1. It seems like there are new, breakthrough investment tactics surfacing all the time (like web 2.0 marketing) ..

2. New can’t-miss education becomes available on a near-weekly basis (like last week’s awesome “short sale success blueprint”) ..

3. Your local REIA is more like a depression support group ..

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Posted on Monday, 8th December 2008 in Business, Marketing | Comments (7)

I had the opportunity to speak at Dan Stojadinovic’s “Internet Marketing and Joint Ventures Bootcamp” in San Diego today.

I like the way Dan runs his seminars.  Very laid back, informal, & participatory.

It makes for a phenomenal learning experience for attendees.

I believe I was able to add a lot of value to the lives & businesses of the awesome 80-person crowd of primarily full-time real estate investors.

My approach was simply to tell the story of the last year of my business… exactly how we’ve been able to form the relationships & create the revenue that we’ve done, then to take live questions.

Here are some key points from my 1-hour talk…

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Posted on Friday, 14th November 2008 in Business, Marketing, Real Estate | Comments (7)

This video has been around for a while, but I just came across it again.

It’s a little overly dramatic for my tastes, but give it a chance. It started really hitting home for me around minute 2.

Sidenote: The mention of “Santa Clause” is unnecessary. I have no problem with the big guy.

Many who have the entrepreneurial flame inside them do everything they can to escape the prison of 9-to-5 only to find themselves an even tougher prison of 9-to-9 (or longer).

It can quickly seem like we’re treading water deeper & deeper below the surface where freedom of time & money await.

The popular cliche is that “time is money.”

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Posted on Thursday, 6th November 2008 in Business, Faith, Life | Comments (2)

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)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

** 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)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

I’m about 5,000 miles from home right now, taking a breather after one of the busiest, sleepless weeks of my life!

Following the successful release of my new Virtual Bird Dog Blueprint course (thank you for the overwhelmingly positive feedback), I spent the weekend learning & networking at one of the most incredible educational seminars I’ve ever been to… REI Connect, hosted by Colin Egbert and RealEstateInvestor.com.

I’m at a lot of these things, and this event was second to none!  ANYONE who was there would agree with me on that.

Normally, you’d have to sit through the boring or elementary material to get to the good stuff, but this was simply one heavy hitter after another..

.. Colin Egbert, Than Merrill, Kenny Rushing, Duncan Wierman,
Preston Ely, Darren Dicke, Terry Hale, Duncan Wierman, Marco
Kozlowski, Sam Bell ..

.. guys who are IN the business, DOING the business, and making a KILLING doing it.

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Posted on Thursday, 18th September 2008 in Business, Real Estate | Comments (0)