“How To Increase Your Monthly Cash Flow With A Home Business…”

Part I – The Unfair Advantage…

One thing has become more evident than any other during the first six months of The Elevation Group project…

I have an unfair advantage.

Is it my charming good-looks?

Possibly.

But more likely it’s the fact that I, and I alone, determine how much money I make each month.

Over the past six years, I have learned how to turn intangible thoughts and ideas, into money.

And that ability has freed me from the most insidious form of slavery which, ironically, imprisons the hearts and minds of most American’s today… The concept of scarcity.

If you want to become truly wealthy, you MUST have the ability to generate cash flow on demand.

Having been self-employed since 2005, I have admittedly lost touch with the financial constraints placed upon those who rely on a monthly paycheck, no matter how large or small that check may be.

Have I been low on cash during those years? Yes… Many times.

But I always had the possibility to use my businesses to generate more cash on demand when needed, in amounts limited only by my energy and expertise.

Participating in this community has reminded me that the vast majority of the population lives on a fixed salary, which must then be divided and allocated each month based on priority.

This constraint naturally gives people a view or context of life and money that is based on scarcity.

“I make X per month, and only have Y left to invest, which means that if I want to invest more, I have to spend less on Z”

While this may be a logical conclusion based on this set of financial constraints, it leads to thoughts and beliefs such as the dreaded, “We can’t afford that”.
This is a reality in which Money is given the position of power… Money is the almighty arbiter of what is possible and what is not in your life…

Money decides whether you buy your dream home, or live in a crappy apartment.
Ultimately money becomes the convenient scapegoat for all of your problems in life… “If I only had enough money, I could buy gold and silver, or food to feed my family…”
Money becomes a scarce, hard-to-come by commodity that must be protected, horded, and pinched at every opportunity.

On the other hand, the wealthy people I’ve met in life all view money through a context of limitless abundance.

Money is infinitely available. You must simply think of a way to attract it, (which I’ll teach you how to do later in this material…)

The difference between these two mindsets can be summed up like this…

Someone with a poverty mentality says, “I can’t afford it”.

Someone with an abundance mentality says, “How can I afford it?”

And I must admit that I am tempted to “relate” to those of you who have jobs and who are on a fixed income… I’ve been tempted to find affordable investment solutions that would be appropriate for someone who only has $500 to $2,000 per month to invest…
But that’s not what this project is about, and even though the need is there, if I were to serve that need and feed it, I would be condoning it. I would be justifying it. I would be supporting it.

And justifying financial mediocrity is the antithesis of my life.

The truth of the matter is that The Elevation Group is about creating unlimited, unimaginable wealth, by becoming more valuable, intelligent individuals.

And if that is why you are here, and if that is what you want to create… Then it is not my job to relate to you… It is your job to relate to me.

It is your job to acquire my reality, values, and outlook of the world, just as I am acquiring the reality, values, and outlook of some of the greatest creators and investors in the world such as Richard Branson, and Robert Kiyosaki…

So regardless of which category you are in today, it is my deepest hope that this Lesson will be the catalyst for you to break-free from this self-imposed financial prison, and provide you with the tools and knowledge you need in order to accomplish the single most important step to becoming ultra-wealthy…

Acquiring the ability to create cash flow on demand through your own business, so that you may break free from the invisible binds that declare what you are worth each month.

Over the past six months, one common trait has been shared by every single wealthy person I’ve met…

Each and every one of them owns a business. Without exception.

And on the flip side, I have yet to meet a single “wealthy “person who’s employed.

So if all evidence points to the fact that you MUST own a business to become rich, this may very well be the most important Lesson of this entire project for many of you…

In the coming additions to this Lesson, we’re going to cover…

• What kind of businesses I’ve personally owned, and what I’d recommend to someone just starting down that path based on my lessons learned…
• How I went from waiting tables to millionaire within 18 months.
• Why the type of business you start should be based on your personality type.
• What I would do if I had to start all over today…
• The simple mistakes that have cost me millions…
• The tools and resources I use to run my businesses…
• The types of products and businesses that will do best in today’s economy, and which to avoid…
• And much more…

What I’m about to share with you over the coming weeks, has allowed me to…

• Reach Millionaire status by the age of 27.
• Build one of the most highly trafficked websites on the internet.
• Revolutionize an entire industry with the concept of “attraction marketing”.
• Build an email newsletter list of over 1,000,000 people from around the world.
• Make $20,000,000 in the past five years from home.
• And make $3.2 Million in less than 7 days.

In other words, this section should end up being quite valuable to you…

The Back Story…

While many of you have been with me for years and know my story intimately, there are many who do not, so I’d like to begin this Lesson, at the beginning of this journey…
At the beginning of every entrepreneur’s story, there is one thing we all have in common… Desire.

While this desire can be fueled by dreams of an extraordinary life filled with the material trophy’s we have all aspired own at one point or another… Deep down, it is most likely a desire born of pain or frustration.

My desire was born in the grand dining room hall of the original Romano’s Macaroni Grill in Boerne TX. Now I’m not talking about the chain that you know today… I’m referring to the original destination that would draw in patrons from hours away for a night filled with endless wine, and spontaneous operatic performances met with plates tossed to the floor in applause.

I have yet experience anything like it to this day…

I wish I could say that I was managing the place or bartending, but I was one step above the dish-washing sink… Bussing tables.

Being too young to serve alcohol, it was the best position in the place and with the potential to make over $100 per night, a great gig for a 16 year old.

But working on the weekends meant that I would miss out on something else… The high school parties my friends would venture off to on Friday’s and Saturdays, now free from the bondage of home and parental oversight through newly acquired driver’s licenses…

They were having the time of their lives’, while I came home at 1:00 AM covered in slop and smelling like a garbage can.

But it wasn’t the work that bothered me… It was the inability to determine WHEN I worked…

Being chained to the scheduling whims of my manager was torture, and there are few things in life as deflating as opening up the new schedule, and finding that you are the lucky Joe who gets to work multiple “double shifts”.

In a busy restaurant like ours, that meant that I’d be working 15 hours straight, from 10:00AM until 1:00 AM, while eating lunch and dinner one bite at a time from a bowl hidden in the kitchen whenever the opportunity presented itself.

I hated… And when I say “hate”, I mean it in the most potent sense of the word… That my schedule was dictated by someone else, and I HATED missing out on the great times my friends were having.

It was at that time in high school, that I swore I would never allow anyone to tell me what I could or could not do again.

I would never let anyone tell me when I needed to be somewhere, or how much I was going to get paid.

I would never have a boss.

Ironically, coming home past midnight resulted in a benefit that would help support my newly cemented hatred for authority…

That’s when the “get rich quick” infomercials from guys like Carlton Sheets, Brad Richdale, and Don Lapre were playing…

And I was sold…

Sold on the idea becoming wealthy, sold on the idea of being my own boss, and sold on the idea of financial freedom.

Now whenever you dive into to the world of “making money from home”, you quickly run into the network marketing industry, or multi-level marketing.

Today, this is a Trillion dollar global industry with Billion dollar companies such as Mary Kay, Avon, or Amway.

As I discovered network marketing, I fell in love with the idea of leverage… I loved the idea of building a team and getting paid a residual income from their combined efforts… I loved that the entire culture of the industry was centered on personal development and training.

So despite the infomercials, this is where I would begin my journey as an entrepreneur, selling vitamins for a company called New Vision Intl, probably around the year 1998 at the age of 18 or 19.

My highest life-time income goal of $50,000 per month at the time.

That’s what my sponsor was making, and that became my holy grail… If I could reach $50,000 per month, I could do whatever I wanted in life, and I could die knowing that I had achieved a financial goal that no one else in my family tree ever had.

I would spend the next six years floundering in MLM. Hopping from one opportunity to another, trying to find that perfect mix of a product, marketing system, and team that would allow me to reach that goal.

Considering that network marketing is a people centered business based on personal relationships and referrals, the odds were not stacked in my favor…

I was around the age of 21 or 22 at this point, and didn’t think any adult would take a recent college grad seriously when it came to business or money.

I was shy. I HATED the idea of selling anything to anyone, and the thought of talking to a prospect on the phone truly terrified me.

But it was the thought of working for someone else the rest of my life for a fraction of my income goal that terrified me more.

I was dead-broke at the time, living in an apartment with nothing in it but a bed and a desk. I had one fork, one knife, one spoon, a single pan and pot…

All of my money went into the business, whether it was buying leads, buying training tapes, or attending live events.

At one point I had to pawn my DVD collection just to fund my diet of frozen vegetables and ramen noodle soup.

So I did what any broke, shy young kid with a fear of the phone would do…

I strategically chose to get a job… In telemarketing.

Actually I was recruiting surgeons for a temp agency in Dallas. Apparently they liked that I had so much experience as an “entrepreneur”

So on my first day of work, they sat me down in an empty cubical, dropped a 5 inch binder in front of me filled with tens-of-thousands of phone numbers, and said “dial”…

Everyday for the next year, I would open up that binder and make 200-300 cold calls per day to doctor’s offices, trying to get past the office gate-keeper.

Within three days, I was over a crippling fear that had held me back for six years.
I was on to something, so I decided that I’d get over my fear of “selling to people” and talking to them in person next.

Most people would join a public speaking club like Toast Masters…

I chose to get another job in Dallas with a tele-com start-up.

My new gig as an outside sales rep was simple… I’d drive to each of the sky-scrapers in my territory, sneak past the lobby guards by pretending to be deep into conversation on my cell phone, and ride the elevator to the top floor.

From that point forward, I’d simply knock on as many doors as I could and introduce myself, before someone called security.

Now this wasn’t my genius idea… I learned it from my sales team leader. This wonderfully inefficient method was just how this business was done.

None-the-less, by my second week I was over my fear of selling in person.

Mission accomplished.

You see, when most people buy into a “business opportunity” of some kind, they are actually buying “hope”. They are frustrated by something in their current life, and buying into a business helps to temporarily quell that frustration.

Unfortunately 95% of them will simply fall back into their old routine once the frustration passes.

The difference between someone in this category and I, was that I had a core desire to become self-employed. I would have literally died trying. No sacrifice was too great.

While most people would have quit the business and declared it a scam because they didn’t “get rich”, it took me six years before I made a dime of profit, and I would have tried and failed another six if it had been necessary.

When someone has a core desire to accomplish something…

• They are consumed by it.
• They are constantly reading books about the subject and listen to audio training in the car.
• They don’t care what their friends or family members think.
• They associate more and more with the people they look up to and want to become.
• They attend every available webinar and conference call they can on the topic.
• They sacrifice whatever they need to sacrifice in order to sustain the journey toward their goal.
• They take personal responsibility for their success or failure. Placing blame on anything outside yourself is the biggest indicator of all that you weren’t serious.

You were only buying hope.

At the end of the day, I realized that I was not capable of reaching my goal of $50,000 per month as the person I was at the time.

So I stopped chasing opportunities that I thought would compensate for my personal short-comings, and I decided to change who I was by conquering my defining fears.

If I wanted to make $50,000 per month, I had to reinvent myself into someone who was capable of making $50,000 per month. Period.

Your success with any kind of opportunity is 100% dependent upon you. Success cannot come from something outside yourself, yet that is exactly where most people continue to look…

I’ll always remember this quote from Dan Kennedy…

“You will continue to be un-________ as long as you depend on others to make you _________.”

Insert any word you wish… “happy”, “wealthy”, “healthy”…

I’m not here to give you a fish, I’m here to teach you how to fish, and we would like to congratulate you on taking a position of leadership, and making the decision to take control of your financial destiny by learning new skills, and increasing your value to the world.

Success in business has nothing to do with the opportunity, and everything to do with the skills you have acquired that will allow you to successfully execute on that opportunity.

Success in investing has nothing to do with a specific investment opportunity, and everything to do with the financial education you’ve acquired that will allow you to identify and then manage the risk associated with that opportunity.

For example, if you started a network marketing business and signed up a leader who builds a team of 10,000 customers under you, you didn’t achieve financial independence… You just got lucky.

If you purchased 10,000 ounces of silver back in 2008 at $10 because I said it was a good idea, but you didn’t understand the fundamental reasons WHY you should buy that silver, then you didn’t make an investment, you took a gamble.

It was the realization that I needed to change who I was by conquering fears and acquiring new skills in order to change the results I was getting, that provided the first big lesson on my journey to become self-employed…

You Are One Skill Away From Your First Million Dollars…

The amount of money you make today is a direct reflection of your “PVL”, or “Personal Value Level”.

Human society uses a simple tool called “money”, to quickly and easily communicate the relative value of all things, from an apple, to a gallon of gasoline, to the wage for a job.

So through our free-market system, the world dictates how much money you make, according to three factors…

• The number of people who are also capable of performing any particular job.
• The amount of specialized skills or education needed to perform the job.
• The number of people around the world that your work benefits. (Leverage).

For example, there are two reasons why restaurant waiters, janitors, or retail workers make so little…

As a waiter…

• There is an almost endless supply of workers who can fill your positions.
• Waiting tables does not require rare, specialized skills or education.
• You’re only serving a dozen people at most at any given time, which means you have very little leverage.

So if you’re in one of this positions, you’re PVL to the world is very low, which is why you’d be making very little money.

On the other hand, brain surgeons make around one Million Dollars per year, because…

• There are very few qualified individuals in the world who can perform the task.
• The work requires extremely specialized knowledge and skills.
• You can only perform brain surgery on one person at a time, so there is no way to benefit the masses on a daily basis.

Now the reason they make around a Million per year, instead of 20 Million, is because they’re missing piece number three… Leverage.

Now please don’t take any of this personally or get offended if you have a low personal value to level right now.

I’m simply stating a truth that I’ve learned through personal experience, that most people would be too politically correct to talk about.

But until you understand WHY some people make more than others, there’s no way you can break free and choose a more lucrative path…

Now let’s compare these two examples to what I do through my first company, Magnetic Sponsoring…

Magnetic Sponsoring’s courses teach individuals and small business owners how to market and sell their products more effectively online.

1: Are there many people who can write these books based on years of personal experience?

No. There are only a few hundred people here in the US who have successfully sold more than $10,000,000 in products online.

2: Does online marketing require specialized skills?

Yes. These skills are not taught in school and can only be learned by those who proactively seek out this kind of training.

3: Does this business provide me with the ability to impact the masses?

Yes. If I were teaching people how to market online, one-on-one over the phone or in person, I’d have zero leverage, but I sell books and videos to 1,000’s of people around the world, so I have an infinite amount of leverage.

So as you can see, my job waiting tables had a very low PVL to the world, where my job as a modern day educator using technology to reach the masses, has a very high Personal Value Level.

One job pays $5,000 per month, the other job pays $500,000 per month.

So How Do You Increase Your PVL?

The fastest way to reach the incredible levels of success you want to achieve, is to increase your value to the world, and the fastest way to increase your value to the world, is to acquire new skills.

The biggest mistake I made during my six years of failure, was that I was looking for something outside of myself to bring me results…

I was looking for a marketing system, or a traffic gimmick of some kind that would make me rich.

But my big break-through finally happened when I discovered the skill of copy-writing, which is basically “salesmanship in print”.

I realized that instead of pitching my product or business to one person at a time over the phone, I could write a sales letter, post it online or in an email, and have it be seen my thousands of people per day.

In other words, it gave me huge amounts of leverage, and I found this idea extremely appealing…

Now copywriting is a skill and an art that must be learned, so I started buying every book I could on the subject. Some were free, some were $15 at the local bookstore, another was $2,000, and the last copywriting book… (Yes, a single 300 page book I purchased about two years ago), was $5,000 per copy.

Back in 2004 I was still broke, so I started small, and studied the skill of copywriting everyday for about six months.

I learned how to write persuasive ads and capture pages that would allow me to build a list of people online, who were interested in what I was selling.

And using my new skill of copywriting, I went from waiting tables, to millionaire within 18 months.

So If You Take Nothing Else Away From This Lesson, Remember This…

If you want to make more money, you have to increase your value level to the world.

The fastest way to increase your value level, is to acquire new skills.

And the fastest way to acquire new skills, is purchase the training materials produced by those who came before you.

And this is a point I want to touch on real quick… Many people, especially those who are on budgets, get turned off by the fact that they need to buy courses and training products from others like myself in order to learn something valuable.

I get emails every once in a while from people who are angry because they feel that I owe them something, and that I should just give everything I know to them for free.
Well that is an entitlement mentality, and it is a perversion of nature.

Whenever a creature takes something from another creature without any kind of value given in return, there in an imbalance which eventually destroys both of them.
Another name for this kind of creature is “parasite”.

A parasite feeds off the blood and energy of its victim until the host eventually dies.

Well that’s what this kind of behavior is… Parasitic.

In economic terms, it’s the difference between capitalism, where goods and services are exchanged for fair value in money – and socialism… Where goods and services are forced into production at the barrel of a gun, and then given to the poor who are “entitled” to it.

Unfortunately the United States has fallen into Socialism, and has become a nation filled with parasites who feel they deserve everything at no cost out of sheer entitlement.

Over 50% of the US workforce is now employed by the government. Almost 25% of the population is fed by the government though food stamps.

This expectation was actually injected into the population by our “leaders” and politicians who have created the habit of promising everything, in return for nothing more than a vote.

The crisis we’re in today is a symptom of this moral decay… Of this entitlement mentality.

And it will soon lead to the destruction of our nation, as it is over-run by leeches.
If you want to become a producer of society who creates value instead of a leech who drains value, then acquire new skills from those who can teach you.

Pay them well for their expertise and thank them for taking the time to share their life’s work with you for pennies on the Dollar.

In return, someday soon you will be paid well for the value that you provide…

So what are the best skills to acquire?

Well we’re almost there, but first we need to look at the core values that should be a part of your business’ foundation.

Without these values, you’re toast, so we’ll cover those next in Part II.

In Part III, we’ll get into some of the home business models I like best, and the skill sets needed to execute them effectively.

Your interests and personality type will ultimately determine the business model and skills that are best for you.

In closing, I’d like to point you toward this post on the EVG.com blog, which is a segment I pulled from the book, “Atlas Shrugged”.

It is quite possibly, the most important passage you will ever read as you begin your transition into a business owner, and a value provider…

Please click here to read it now and leave your comments...

Part II – Core Values For A Long, Profitable Business…

I launched Magnetic Sponsoring in 2005, which is now six years ago. During those years, I’ve seen dozens of “leaders” come and go in the network marketing and internet marketing industries.

They come in, make a big splash, and within 12 months they’re gone.

Why?

There’s typically two reasons…

1: They screwed people over.

2: They were only in it for the money.

On the other hand Magnetic Sponsoring is bigger than ever, and the fact that my reputation has only grown during that period makes me one of the few dinosaurs of the internet marketing world, who is still here, and still growing.

The internet and social media have changed business forever. In the past, the power was in the hands of the company. If they provided poor service or product quality, you were basically screwed because you were limited to the options within your local area.

Today, companies compete on a global level, and the customer has all of the power, because their voice and opinion can be heard by thousands of friends and family members with the click of a mouse.

Today we are in a “trust-based economy”, where your reputation literally IS YOUR BUSINESS.

Take The Elevation Group for example…

I launched EVG in December of 2010 with the clearly stated expectations of, “I’m not an experienced investor, I’ve made financial mistakes, but we have a big problem and we’re going to solve it together.”

There are clearly more qualified people to learn from when it comes to investing than I…

Yet more than 10,000 people joined EVG that very first week…

Why?

How is that possible?

Did I use some kind of trickery or gimmick?

No.

It was possible because I’ve spent the last six years building a reputation around the world as someone who is honest, someone who is authentic, and someone who always over-delivers when it comes to the content I provide.

MANY people who joined EVG, did so blindly without even watching the presentation because they’ve come to trust the products and work I produce.

This kind of loyalty, response, and recommendation would not be possible without sticking to a core set of values.

There is nowhere to hide. If you screw people over today, you won’t be in business tomorrow. It’s that simple.

Given this fact, it is critically important to create a foundation of values for you and your business right from the start.

So with that being said, here are the values that have enabled my success in this business…

1: Forget About The Money, And The Money Will Come.

If you do something for money, you will fail. Making money is the BY-PRODUCT or result, of helping other people solve a problem. When I stopped worrying about making money, and started focusing on helping others, the money came quickly and by the truck-load.

I do not look for ways to make money. I look for problems I can help people solve.

2: Always Deliver What You Promised, And On Time.

If you sell a product to someone, make sure it’s delivered quickly. If you say that it will be there in five days, deliver it in three days.

If you’re not sure if you can meet a deadline, then don’t set one.

3: Be Authentic.

I’ve been told many times over the years that the reason people like to do business with me, is because I’m real. Every event I’ve ever been to, I’m approached by someone who says, “Wow Mike… You’re exactly the same person in real life as you are on the web…”

People don’t want to buy from a fast-talking sales person. They want to buy from a friend they can trust.

Be yourself.

4: Deliver 10 Times More Value Than The Price.

Whenever I produce a product, I make sure it’s worth 10 times more than the price.

This is extremely important if it’s your very first product, and therefore, your very first impression on your new customers.

5: Never Make A Decision Based On Money.

There are extremely profitable products and services that I could promote to EVG Members, which would probably make me an extra $50,000 or more per month.

But I do not promote them.

Why?

Because in most cases, I don’t feel like they’re in the best interest of my Members.
I do what’s right for my customers, not what’s right for my pocket book.

And it’s for this reason, that I’ll have customers for years, instead of cash for a few months.

6: Always Make Decisions For The Long-Term.

A very good friend of mine recently asked me if I had plans to write a main-stream book based on The Elevation Group in the coming months,, as it would help with branding and promotion.

I said that yes I did, but I’m going to wait at least two or three more years because I want to earn the right to produce a book that can truly change people’s lives.

I am confident the decision to wait and write a truly profound book three years from now, will result in benefits that are far greater than a mediocre book I can write today.

7: When You Screw Up, (Because You Will), Admit It And Apologize.

While I strive to be the best I can, I am not perfect. Your customers will forgive you and respect you that much more if you acknowledge your mistakes and apologize. Trying to hide it will only turn you into a liar.

8: Provide The Best Customer Service Possible.

Treat your customers as you’d like to be treated. Make it easy to reach your customer service department, and train your agents well. They represent you.

9: Say “Thank You” Sincerely, And Often.

If you don’t, they will buy from someone else who does.

10: Stick To Your Guns.

Stand up for who you are and your beliefs. You will never be able to please everyone, and attempting to do so will only make you look like a flip-flopping politician. Sticking to your beliefs will help you create true, loyal fans.

11: Never Burn A Bridge Over Money.

I see partnerships or joint-ventures fall apart all the time over a financial dispute. Always give the other person the benefit of the doubt, and the money that’s in question.

It’s only dirty paper, and burning a bridge or screwing someone over for money is the quickest way to end up at the bottom.

Industries are small, word gets around, and no one wants to do business with a jackass.

12: Never Argue With A Customer.

Just give them a refund and a respectful “thank you”. You don’t know what’s going on in their life, or the problems they may be having.

13: Fire Bad Customers.

On the other hand, if someone’s an asshole or treats anyone on your team with disrespect, fire them. Give them a refund, remove them from your database, and wish them well. They’re never worth the money.

14: Stand Up For Yourself.

If you choose to start a business in the “information marketing” world as I have, you will become a tiny celebrity in your own little way.

While most of the people you have contact with will become fans if you follow the values outlined above, “haters” come with the territory. (Even Jesus had haters).

Should you find yourself the target of a mentally unstable person who wishes to harm you or your business, stand up for yourself and take the high road. Do not engage them publically, as they are only looking for attention.

You can engage them privately to try and find common ground. When I’ve seen a negative post in the past, it’s usually a case of miscommunication. I’ll personally email or call the person to clear the air, and that’s worked wonderfully 99% of the time.

If they continue to abuse you and your reputation without just cause, get a good attorney, and sue the crap out of them.

These people are bullies who feel safe behind a computer. That feeling goes away when they’re served with a lawsuit in person.

Your reputation is your business. Stand up for yourself.

15: Thank Your Mentors.

None of us can build a business, or acquire new skills alone. We all need teachers and mentors, and I believe that teaching is the noblest profession on the world.

So There You Have It…

Staying true to these principles have allowed me to build a long-profitable business in our new “trust-based economy”.

Print them out, write them out, post them on your wall, and never forget them.

In Part III of this Lesson, we’ll get into the different types of business, different industries, different skills sets, and personality types that I believe offer the best opportunity today…

Part III – The Perfect Business…

If I’ve learned anything over the past 10 years as a small business owner, it’s that the only perfect business, is the business that is prefect for you.

And that simply acknowledges the fact that each of us is very different. It would be ignorant and egotistical for me to say, “just go learn how to write sales copy like I did, and you’ll make money”, because my brain doesn’t work like yours.

On the other hand, if I had to make a living providing search engine optimization services or live events, I’d go crazy.

While I’ve always understood this dynamic intuitively, I’ve never had the ability to effectively communicate the different personality types or categories until I recently came across www.WealthDynamics.com, after it was recommended to me by a very good friend of mine.

Basically, the author of this test has found eight different categories that we all fit into when it comes to business ownership, and wealth accumulation…

They are:

The Creator – Builds innovative products

The Creators can’t help creating! They are good at creating profitable ideas and businesses, but not so good with the day-to-day running of a business. Successful creators will delegate everything, except the creative process. Example: Walt Disney

The Mechanic – Creates duplicatable systems

Mechanics are perfectionists who like to finish things, rather than create them. They want to make everything better – fine tune them. Example: Henry Ford.

The Star – Builds influential brands

It is easy to spot a star. Obviously, you have film, music and sports stars, but high profile CEOs can also be thought of stars. They rely on the strength of their personality and are aware of the pressure of always having to deliver. Example: Oprah Winfrey

The Supporter – Builds high-performance teams

Supporters are great networkers with loads of energy and enthusiasm. Their greatest wealth can be achieved when they join forces with a Star, Creator, Deal Maker, or Mechanic. Example: Steve Ballmer

The Deal Maker – Brings deals together

A deal maker relies on relationships, connections and being able to react intuitively when the best opportunities present themselves. Example: Donald Trump

The Trader – Buys and sells commodities

A trader is someone who naturally hunts out bargains, naturally loves haggling and gets immense satisfaction from a great deal. They are equally as good at finding high price buyers. Example: George Soros

The Accumulator – Buys and holds assets

Incremental growth is the key to this wealth dynamics profile. They are patient and disciplined and will stick fast to a successful system. Example: Warren Buffet

The Lord – Controls cash-flow producing assets

The Lord likes to control everything. You can find a lord where there are fixed assets generating cash. They don’t want attention like the stars and like to create wealth quietly. Example: Ingavar Kamprad

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So as you can see, attempting to put one personality type into a business or role in the wrong category will lead to massive amounts of frustration.

I took the test, and my results were as expected…

I am an “Extroverted Creator”:

The Creator comes in two forms. The introverted Creator is an inventor: creative, artistic, and able to multi- task on many new ideas at the same time. The extroverted Creator is a pioneer: innovative but focused, creating not just products, but the businesses and marketing plans that will drive those products to market. Both are visionaries and motivate others by their drive.

Creators are naturally intuitive, so tend to get involved in their own creativity, which can cause friction with others. They are big picture thinkers, which can often mean missing the details. Their drive gives them the momentum to spark their creativity, but this drive can also exhaust or disorient others. As a result of this double-edged sword, Creators are often described by others as the best communicators and the worst communicators at the same time.

But the really interesting part about this system, is that it also helps you identify what kind of investments you’re personality is best suited for, and what types of people you should partner with, who can support the areas where you are weak.
For example, the best catalysts for a “creator” are a “mechanic” to support the process, and a “deal maker” to find opportunities for the intellectual assets I create.

If you have never started a business, or if you’ve been feeling “lost” when it comes to your strengths and your future, I HIGHLY recommend taking this test. It’s $100 and worth every penny.

Lacking this information was a major reason why I failed miserably in network marketing for six years… It’s an industry that did not cater to my strengths or personality type.

Once I learned new skills that allowed me to “create” such as website design and copywriting, I was free and empowered to fulfill my potential, even within that industry. Everything became MUCH easier, as I was now swimming with the tide, instead of against it.

With that being said, I think it’s extremely important to set the proper expectations when it comes to building any business, specifically around these two common questions:

1: How long will it take?

How long it will take you to make money with your business is dependent upon two things…

First: How much experience you currently have that you can apply to your new business. If you’re a dog trainer, writing and selling an ebook on how to train your dog can happen within a few months.

If you’re jumping into a brand new arena that you’re unfamiliar with, success can take a few years.

Second: How much time you dedicate to your business each day… Obviously the more attention you give your business, the faster it will grow.

The general rule of thumb is this…

It takes 6-12 months to become “familiar” with any kind of skill.

This is when you’re diving into the topic, learning the language, and basically getting your bearings.

You can definitely make money within the first 6-12 months.

It takes 2-3 years to get “good.” This is when you’re applying this skill effectively and profiting from it on a full-time basis. You’re self-employed by the point.

It takes 3-5 years to “master” a skill, and to turn a business into a company if you choose to do so. This is when you have knowledge and abilities that can place you as one of the best in the world.

My point is this… Do not buy into the hype that you can build a profitable business in weeks or months unless you bring prior experience to the table.

It took me six years to make money in network marketing, because I didn’t have skills. All I had was an opportunity I purchased for $200. Opportunities don’t make you money. Skills do.

I didn’t like talking to people, and wasn’t a natural “networker”.

I had never sold anything.

I had no idea how to advertise.

So it took me six years of making mistakes, and learning lessons the hard way before I made a dime of profit.

On the other hand, I’ve seen natural networkers, or out-going people come into the industry and build a nice business within a few months because they brought these prior skills to the table from day one.

The bottom line is that there are no short cuts.

The faster you pay your dues and master a new skill, the faster you will make money.

2: How much will it cost?

The great thing about starting a digital business on the internet is that it’s basically free.

The only real cost for any online business is the knowledge you’ll pay for in order to master a new skill.

Personally, I’ve found that I can “get good” at any skill out there by consuming $2,000 – $3,000 in education.

You can drop two grand all at once and buy a huge A-Z course, or you can buy a dozen $97 ebooks on a topic over the course of a year. I’m not saying that you need to go spend $2,000 on a course tomorrow. But generally speaking, by the time you consume that much information you have everything you need in order to build a 6 or 7 figure business.

Think $2-$3K is expensive? Compare that to the cost spending four years in college just to get a $45,000/Yr job. No thanks.

Alright…

So we’re finally at the question you’ve been asking since the moment this section began…

What Type Of Business Should You Start?

While I will do my best to point you in 2-3 potential opportunities you can take advantage of immediately, you must remember that the business you start should be based on your personality type as discussed above.

I can only speak from my previous experience, which means that what I have to share may not directly apply to you. But no matter what type you are, the rules for making money and success are always the same…

1: Solve a problem, or provide a solution through an acquired skill set.

2: Remember what people REALLY want. (It’s not your product, it’s the benefit the product provides).

3: Match the product or service to the market.

Today’s market climate is vastly different than it was in 2007. For example…

It would be a REALLY bad idea to…

• Get into the luxury home business in Las Vegas.
• Join a network marketing company that sells luxury travel packages.
• Open a high-end jewelry or clothing business.
• Open a retail store of any kind.

The market has changed. People are spending less and choosing wisely.

On the other hand, businesses that focus on economic information, investing, preparedness, first-aid, discounts, coupons, making money from home, debt reduction, guns and ammo, gold, silver, etc… Are all doing very well.

As a member of EVG, you have an advantage… You know what’s coming… You know that times are going to get very tough for most people, yet opportunities will abound if you position yourself in the right channel before hand.

It saddens me to no end when I see good, talented people open up new retail stores and restaurants right now.

Increasing foods costs are going to drive them out of business, and leave them with an expensive lease that could lead to bankruptcy. But that’s the price you pay when you don’t have the right information.

When I look out into the world today, and I ask myself the million-dollar question… ”What do people want?”

I come back with a few thoughts…

People want…

• Security. They want financial security. They want food security. They want personal protection.
• Answers. Having access to information helps provide a form of mental security for some, and a feeling of opportunity for others.
• Leadership. When chaotic times prevail, people are desperate for leadership and guidance.
• Distraction. The entertainment business is killing it right now. People want to tune out the problems of the world, and play video games or watch TV. Sad but true.

So given these needs and wants of the market, what are the business types and opportunities available that would have potential?

Well there are two primary directions you can take…

1: You can CREATE a product or service to sell…

2: Or you can SELL an existing product or service created by someone else.

Here are some examples…

Creating Your Own Product Or Service:

In the Internet age, the ability and opportunities to create are limitless, cheap, and easy to implement.

My recipe has been simple… I’ve focused on creating solutions to the problems I see around me because that’s what comes natural to me.

In the network marketing industry, the biggest problems shared by most people in the industry were a lack of qualified leads, or the ability to effectively advertise their business.

So I spent 6-12 months learning how to generate leads in a profitable manner online, and then wrote an eBook about it called Magnetic Sponsoring.

That little 75 page eBook has made me over $12,000,000 since 2005. Why? Because it solved a problem shared by a large group of people.

Become an “expert” author on your and write an eBook. Everyone is good at something, and everyone has a passion about something. If you don’t believe that you do, then it’s just a matter of mastering a new skill of your choice. It really is that simple.
Sharing your expertise with others through an eBook or video series is a sure-fire way to start a simple online business.

The single best course I’ve ever seen on this business model is, www.ExpertsAcademy.com, which was just released by Brendon Burchard.

It’s MASSIVE… A complete A-Z course on everything you need to know in order to turn your expertise, skill, or passion into a profitable business.

Even though I do this for a living, I purchased the course and then let a friend borrow it. He’s been in the real estate market for 30 years, developing high-end residential and commercial properties.

He’s never turned that lifetime of experience into an opportunity by sharing what he knows with others. Now he is.

Another second example can be found in one of our fellow EVG Members, Catherine Goodson.

She’s been a nurse for 20+ years, and recently decided to turn her expertise into a business, by producing high-end first-aid kits for home, travel, and pets, at www.SurviveThisDisaster.com

Awesome.

A third example is our very own Gonzalo Lira from How To Profit From Hyperinflation…
Gonzalo started publishing incredible content and insights on the economy a about a year or two ago on his public blog, with the intention of making revenue from banners ads.

As he shares in this post, he soon found out that making a living through ad revenue isn’t as profitable as one would assume.

http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/05/money-in-blogging.html

On average, he made $1,700 per month.

Now you might think that sounds decent for a little side business, but in order to sustain that kind of traffic, he’d be chained to his keyboard writing new content forever…

If you divided that revenue by the number of hours spent writing each month, I’ll bet he was making less than minimum wage here in the US.

As I established a relationship with Gonzalo over the past few months, I suggested that he charge a monthly fee for his best content, just like I do for EVG.

He’s material is GOOD. It has value worth paying for.

He took the advice to heart and a few months later, released the “Lira Strategic Planning Group”, or www.LiraSPG.com.

Two months after it’s debut, he’s already making several times more revenue, without being chained to the insatiable banner ad system that requires you to write 24/7.
Gonzalo has never been an “online marketer”. He has zero previous experience, and his entire business model can be set up for $1,500-$3,000.

He put together the entire site without any help from me, or buying any courses.
He just modeled what he saw at EVG.

I predict that he’ll be making $10,000/Mo or more within the next 60 days.

A fourth example can be found with my two friends Shawn and Curt here in Austin.
They’ve both created companies designed to help brick-and-mortar businesses here in town, generate leads, and sales online.

Small businesses have a huge problem today… Sales are down, and they don’t know how to market or advertise online to drum up more business.

Dentists, florists, real estate agents, restaurants, personal trainers, massage therapists, dog groomers… Every business you can think of needs help with this subject because the owners don’t have time to learn this stuff.

So they’ve decided to solve this problem by learning how to market online themselves, and then selling their services or expertise to these small business owners.

Now let’s break this local business opportunity down even further, and look at the ENDLESS opportunities found within it that you could take advantage of by learning one new skill…

• You could master online video marketing and syndication, and sell a traffic generation service around YouTube to these businesses.
• You could master Twitter or Facebook and help them acquire more business though social media.
• You could master blog design and help them create a blog that effectively sells their product.
• You could master copywriting and help them write emails that sell more of their product to existing customers.
• You could learn how to set up an email autoresponder and help them create a weekly digital newsletter for current customers.
• Etc, etc…

So you can turn this one big problem, into at least six different businesses, and all you need to do is master one new skill.

In fact, here’s a great eBook on how my friend Kate Buck (who’s also here in Austin), built a six-figure home business simply doing social media management for small businesses…

www.Let’sGetSocial.com

This product was written by very good friends of mine whom I trust implicitly.

If you’re casually into Facebook and YouTube, you can turn your hobby into a business by learning a few key skills…

So what if you’re not the creative type?

Well then you can…

Sell Someone Else’s Product Or Service:

This is the second way to make money in a business.

In this case, everything is already done for you by the company owner…

The product, websites, infrastructure, distribution network, merchant accounts, shopping cart, marketing pieces, customer service…. The entire business has been built.

You only need to do one thing in order to make money… Promote and sell their product, earning a commission on each sale in the process.

Two of the primary examples of this strategy can be found in the “affiliate marketing” and “network marketing” industries…

These models are identical, except for the way you are compensated.

In both cases, you are paid a commission for selling another company’s product.

In the affiliate marketing industry, you receive 100% of the commission yourself.

In the network marketing industry, or “MLM”, you have the opportunity to build a sales team, and receive a smaller commission from everyone on your team when THEY make a sale as well.

Which model is best for you is largely dependent upon your current skill set and personality type.

Affiliate Marketing Opportunities:

The Publishing Partnership Program for The Elevation Group is a perfect example of an affiliate opportunity.

The founding members of EVG were given the opportunity to become affiliates for EVG back in December of 2010.

They simply filled out a form to create a free affiliate account, and were assigned an affiliate website link that is unique to them.

You could send this link to your friends via Facebook or email, and if they clicked on your link and joined EVG, you would make a 50% commission on their purchase.

We have affiliates who have literally made more than $100,000 in the past six months, just by telling their friends, family members, and audience about The Elevation Group.

(Note: Currently, the Publishing Partnership Program for The Elevation Group is by invitation only).

In 2009, my other company Magnetic Sponsoring, paid out more than $2,000,000 in commissions to our affiliates.

They didn’t have to write a book, record the lessons, or build the websites… All they had to do was share their link.

In fact, there’s a massive Billion Dollar company that serves as a market place for product owners and affiliates called, www.ClickBank.com.

If you have a product you’ve created, you can post it in ClickBank to attract affiliates who will sell it for you.

If you’re an affiliate looking for a product to sell, you can choose from 1,000’s of them to promote on ClickBank.

ClickBank takes the orders for the product owners, and issues the commission checks to affiliates.

Sounds easy huh?

Well casually sharing your link with your friends and family members works great once or twice, but then what?

If you’re going to become a “professional” affiliate, you have one job… And that’s to learn how to drive traffic to your link on a steady, predictable, and profitable basis.

Why?

Let’s set some proper expectations and take a look at the numbers…

In general a 2-5% conversion rate with targeted traffic is EXCELLENT for any kind of product.

That means that if you send your EVG affiliate link to 100 people who know you personally, or who are interested in investing and the economy, (that is known as targeted traffic), you can expect 2-5 of them to purchase the product.

If your traffic isn’t targeted… Let’s say you post an online ad for EVG in a video game site, you could expect 0 sales. It’s like advertising a steak on a vegetarian website…

So as you can see, you need 1,000’s of people per week to click on your link in order to earn a steady income as an affiliate marketer.

Once again, it all comes back to learning a new skill, and traffic generation is the skill all professional affiliates must learn.

My favorite resource for affiliate marketing and online traffic generation today is www.BringTheFresh.com, which was created by my friend Kelly Felix who has made more than $50,000,000 online as a product owner, and an affiliate marketer.

In my opinion, affiliate marketing is great for people who are analytical introverts.
You don’t need to talk to anyone. You love details, numbers, analysis, and engineering. At the same time, it helps to have a creative streak, or problem solving abilities, which help in ad creation.

Network Marketing…

Network marketing is where I got my start, but after six years of struggle, I realized that it was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

It’s a people business. It’s built around relationships, team building, “follow the leader”, and networking.

So here I was at age 19…

Introverted, quiet, creative, and rebellious…

It was only once I learned how to use my creative side that I had results in network marketing. Fortunately for me, there were many people in the industry who felt just as out of place, who wanted a different model as well.

But Network marketing is fantastic for a few reasons…

It’s cheap to get involved, with average start-up costs for a distributorship ranging from $50 to $5,000.

It’s a personal development Mecca.

Starting a business and sticking with it during years of learning and failure is 90% mental. In the MLM world, excellent training, motivation, and personal development is provided by your upline and team. You are never alone.

I tend to think of the MLM industry as a training ground for entrepreneurs.

There is no other industry in the world that cranks out more leaders or knowledge for less money than Network Marketing. That is it’s greatest benefit.

The primary difference between network marketing and affiliate marketing, is that in order to make big money in network marketing, you need to build a team of fellow distributors who sell the product as well.

The benefit of this feature is leverage. You make money from the efforts of others.

The downside is that building a team requires you to deal with other people.
If that appeals to you, you’re in the right industry. If that sounds like torture, you’re not.

Then again…

There is a third option, which is what I took…

I realized that in order to make good money in MLM, I needed to build a team, yet I’m also willing to admit that I don’t have a lot of patience with people. (Years of dealing with whiners, quitters, and complainers will do that to you).
This isn’t the best match, so I compromised…

I specifically and intentionally went after existing leaders in the industry who loved working with people, and building teams.

I placed ads on Google, and sponsored 35 reps in about 4 months.

5 of them went on to become full-time, six figure earners in the company.

I became the #1 residual income earner in my opportunity for the next few years, collecting a multiple five-figure check every 30 days. (That’s the power of leverage).

The bottom line is that everyone can succeed in Network Marketing. You just have to approach the business in a manner that matches your personality.

Now the biggest problem you’ll run into, is choosing the right company. There are 1,000’s of them.

My advice?

First and foremost, pick a company with a product that matches today’s market.

Personally, I would not be selling high-priced vitamins, skin-care, or travel packages.

All of those purchases fall within the discretionary income category which is getting smaller and smaller by the day for people thanks to the actions of the global banking system.

I WOULD get involved with companies that have products based on:

1: Debt Reduction And Entrepreneurship Education: www.CarbonCopyPro.com

2: Precious Metals: www.NumisNetwork.com

While I’m essentially “retired” from MLM, in the sprit of full declaration, I want you to know that I am personally affiliated with #1 and #2 on paper, but completely inactive in both of them at this time. (I have bigger fish to fry at this point in my career).

I believe all three companies provide the best opportunity in the industry today because of their products and today’s market.

The worse the economy gets, the more relevant and important their products become.

Which should you choose?

1: The one you’re most excited and passionate about.

2: The one you would buy the product from, without or without the business opportunity.

3: The sponsor you connect with most.

If you get into network marketing, choose a sponsor that builds their business the way you want to build your business.

If you’re a baby-boomer and want to build your business “old-school” or belly-to-belly”, as they call it, then don’t join under someone like me who does it all online

Now when most people look at an MLM company, they focus on the compensation plan because they think THAT will determine how much money they make.

But honestly, it’s the last thing you need to worry about until you have acquired a skill that will allow you to build your team and take advantage of the comp plan.
A compensation plan is pointless until you have 100’s of customers or distributors in your downline.

Personally, I like what I call “GPT” comp plans. This is a phrase I coined a few years ago that stands for “Get Paid Today”.

I like compensation plans that pay a lot of money up front on personal sales, instead of residual income. Why?

Because I want my money now, especially in today’s economy, and I want to be able to make at least $10,000/Mo just from my own personal sales.

I do not want to depend upon others to pay my bills. What my downline produces is a bonus.

So if there’s a $1,200 commission per sale, I want as much of that $1,200 up front, instead of twelve, $100 monthly payments for a year.

People quit. They stop ordering product.

With rising inflation, that money is worth more today than it will be a year from now, so I want to make as much as I can up front, and then invest that money into gold, stocks, real estate, etc…

Several of the businesses recommended above have GPT compensation plans.

Now remember… There are plenty of AMAZING opportunities in the Network Marketing industry today.

What I’ve shared with you today is just my personal opinion, and you can take it for what it is.

At the end of the day, whether you make money in affiliate marketing, or network marketing has nothing to do with the compensation plan, the product, or the fancy websites… It has to do with your acquisition of a skill that will allow you to execute these opportunities successfully.

It’s as if I gave you a treasure map to $10,000,000 in cash stashed away in a forest…

But it’s in Spanish.

While the map represents amazing wealth, you’ll need learn how to speak Spanish before you can tap into its power.

Until you realize this, you’ll be in for a long, rough, unprofitable journey.

So consider this lesson your starting point into the world of business ownership.
Remember… Every single wealthy person I’ve met through EVG owns a business. None of them are employees.

Deciding to become an entrepreneur will be the most important thing you can do in your life if you want to become extremely wealthy.

Tomorrow I’m going to host a Live Q&A webinar for EVG Members on this topic in order to fill in the gaps or details I’ve left out here.

This is a MASSIVE topic, so I need to keep the level extremely high. It is impossible to go into more detail or direction because the business type that fits John, will not fit Suzy.

I will ALWAYS be open and willing to hold these Q&A webinars for you guys on this topic though as we continue along this journey…

Here’s a summary of the recommended resources I shared above, along with a few more additions…

Information Marketing (online publishing):

• www.ExpertsAcedemy.com
• www.33DaysToOnlineProfits.com

Social Media Marketing:

• www.LetsGetSocial.com
• www.localonlinemarketingmastery.com

Affiliate Marketing:

• www.BringTheFresh.com
• www.GetRichClick.com
• www.ClickBank.com

Network Marketing:

• www.MagneticSponsoring.com/msletter

Debt Reduction And Entrepreneurship Education:

• www.CarbonCopyPro.com

Precious Metals:

• www.NumisNetwork.com

Sincerely,

Mike Dillard