career, Finances, LinkedIn, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

Build The Career You’ve Always Hoped For Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an insanely useful tool for every working person, not to mention every job-seeker and student. The only unfortunate thing about LinkedIn as a job search tool is that most of what’s powerful about LinkedIn as a job-search tool is not obvious to the casual LinkedIn user.

If the only thing you’re doing on LinkedIn is updating your profile every now and then and waiting for the headhunters and recruiting managers to reach out, you’re missing the boat.

LinkedIn is a massive database, and within its gazillions of records are critical elements in your job-search plan and strategy. Continue reading “Build The Career You’ve Always Hoped For Using LinkedIn” →

career, Family, Finances, LegalShield, Personal Development, Success

Moms Who Make Money At Home!

If you’re a stay-at-home mom, returning to the work force doesn’t have to mean getting dressed up in the morning or making a long commute to corporate headquarters.

The days of being forced to choose between a career and your children are behind you. Today, you really can raise a family, AND earn long-term residual income from home, doing something you truly enjoy!

Work at home moms all over North America are discovering that you can be in business for yourself… but not by yourself. In fact, just “plug in” to a proven turn-key marketing system, an incredibly supportive team network, and a product line that’s already established and in high demand!

Best of all, you can do this from the comfort of your home office while in your PJs and with your children!

Mom, take a few minutes and WATCH our FREE Online Video!

career, Finances, Leadership, Network Marketing, Personal Development, Success

Are You Recruiting the Wrong People into Your Downline?

Building a profitable MLM business to earn a steady $500 to $1000 every month can be difficult. You’ve got to consistently sell products and recruit new team members to make that happen. Continue reading “Are You Recruiting the Wrong People into Your Downline?” →

career, Finances, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

The Only Way You’ll Ever Build a Money-Making Home-Based Business…

Do you think that your low sales and inability to recruit new team members are a product of someone interfering with YOUR efforts? Are you constantly blaming other people for your own failures? Is it your sponsor’s fault? The product’s fault? The company’s fault? Continue reading “The Only Way You’ll Ever Build a Money-Making Home-Based Business…” →

career, Finances, Personal Development, Relationships, Self Improvement, Success

How To Help Others Reach Their Goals

Zig Ziglar was America’s most influential and beloved encourager, and believer that everyone could be, do and have more. He influenced an estimated quarter of a billion individuals through his seminars and his 33 books, including the bestseller See You at the Top, which has sold almost two million copies. Continue reading “How To Help Others Reach Their Goals” →

Finances, Leadership, Personal Development, Relationships, Self Improvement, Success

The Power of Perspective

Success can bring many things: power, privilege, fame, wealth. How we use those options reveals our character. Wealthy people can use their resources to benefit others or only themselves. Famous people can use their notoriety to model good character or to selfishly serve themselves. Leaders can make decisions that affect others positively or negatively. It is up to them.

At the heart of the matter is whether people desire to use their power to put others in their place or to put themselves in others’ place. George Washington Carver made a great observation: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” Our treatment of others results from our perspective of them!

Put yourself in someone else’s place before leading him or her.

Do you keep your career options open?

Have you ever thought about finding a way to earn part-time income to supplement your job?

If so, click here to watch this short video!

Finances, Giving, Leadership, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

3 Ways To Make Yourself More Valuable

VALUEimages

How serious are you about improving yourself? There are many ways to improve yourself, but what are the most important things you can do to improve you? No one else will find time to improve you, but you.

You will desire to increase your value if you are looking to move to the next level in your life. I don’t know what your next level is, but I do know that we should always be moving up or forward in life. How do we do this? Increasing our value in life.

What is value? Value is adding worth, raising the level importance, being beneficial, or making something more significant.

You have heard it said, “You cannot give what you do not have.” There are people who possess good hearts and the desire to give, yet they have very little to offer. Why? Because they have not first added value to themselves. Making yourself more valuable is not an entirely selfish act. When you acquire knowledge, earn a new skill, or gain experience, you not only improve yourself, but you also increase your ability to help others.

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Are You An Entrepreneur Too?

You may or may not know this about me, but I’ve always
been an entrepreneur at heart. And I’m proud to say I just mad e an important decision.

If you’re an entrepreneur too, you’ll definitely appreciate this.

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Allow me to share 3 ways to increase your value and improve your life.

#1 Find Time

You must find time to improve you. No excuse known to man is good enough to stop you from investing in yourself.

It’s important to set aside a little time daily to invest in yourself. The question is, “What will you be doing during that time to invest in yourself?” And the answer should be, “Whatever it takes.”

It may be reading book.
It may be attending a conference.
It may be searching the Internet for resources.

You will be researching and learning during this daily time you will set aside. Just remember, if you don’t spend the time investing in yourself no one else will. So you do “Whatever it takes.”

Your value begins to rise as you gain more knowledge and experience through this time you spend investing in yourself.

#2 Find a Team

Many people think they can do it on the own, but they couldn’t be more wrong. You need a team to do anything great in this life. You have probably heard the phrase, “It takes a team to achieve the dream.” Possibly you heard it this way, “Teamwork makes the dream work!”

Improving your value in life is an important matter and should not be taken lightly. Another phrase I grew up hearing was “You are whom you hang around.” In some cases that statement may not be true, but in most cases it is quite accurate.

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. – Jim Rohn

You need to be around people who will be able to increase your value. It is impossible for someone to add value to your life if they haven’t discovered their own value and purpose.

I am not encouraging you to disconnect or disassociate with people that are already in your life, unless those individuals are pulling you down or decreasing your value. There are some people who will drain your value and you won’t know it until it’s too late. Why subject yourself to the pain of living with regrets because you surrounded yourself with the wrong people.

So surround yourself with the right people who will give you the right advice to increase your value and improve your life.

#3 Find a Way to Help

Don’t get so caught up in self that you forget to help someone else. I know you cannot help the entire world. No can help the entire world, but we can do little small things to give back.

At the end of the day, we were created to serve and help others. Whether it is parenting, helping out at your church, blogging, helping a senior citizen carry groceries to her car, or feeding the homeless; do something and do it consistently. And don’t ask for any pay from it. Everything changes when start thinking about compensation. Do it out of the goodness of your heart. You will have plenty of opportunities to receive great compensation if you are helping other people. The money will come.

You may be pressed for time, but I promise whatever it is can wait. This will be a great opportunity for you to help someone, but more than anything you will be helping yourself. You will discover God speaking directly to our heart during these times of helping others. He will reveal greater opportunities for you to increase your value and improve your life.

Here is what I have learned:

As I improve myself, I am better able to help others improve. The more I grow, the more I can help others grow. The same will be true for you!

Do you keep your career options open? Would you like to diversify your income?

Your Opportunity Is Here!

Devotions, Finances, Leadership, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

America: The Land Of Opportunity Or Entitlement?

Will the United States be an Entitlement Society or an Opportunity Society? It’s not a new question. It’s roughly the same question Americans have been asked for decades.

Let’s begin with definitions:

OPPORTUNITY: a favorable juncture of circumstances; a good chance for advancement or progress.

ENTITLEMENT: the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something; the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges); a type of financial help provided by the government for members of a particular group.

What made America great? There are many factors to our greatness, but no one can deny the driving force of our greatness is the slogan: “America, the Land of Opportunity!” I mean, think about it, why do millions of people from other countries around the world risk everything, even their lives to get to America? Opportunity!

Since the Depression, Americans have generally had to choose between a political leader whose goal was to expand government (Entitlement), or one who wants to strengthen the private sector (Opportunity).

In an Entitlement Society, the government plays the role of a policeman who uses his power to ensure economic equality.Think of the policies during the 1930’s that prolonged rather than ended the Depression. Think of the War on Poverty, which never halted the poverty cycle. Think of the current president’s campaign theme about fairness, which he’s called “the defining issue of our time.”

An Entitlement Society requires wealth distribution — which requires government force. While hailed on the left as a panacea, a remedy for all difficulties, redistribution is a drain on an economy because it weakens a society’s motivation to work, invest and innovate. It moves capital from the private sector, where it would otherwise stimulate economic expansion, to the public sector, where money is spent so inefficiently that government spending is actually a drag on growth.

If a recent Gallup poll is to be believed, Americans aren’t that interested in reducing “the income and wealth gap between rich and poor.” Only 46% say that it’s “extremely” or “very” important that government should follow an equality agenda. At the same time, 82% say economic growth is either “extremely” or “very” important. More than half (52%) say that a wealth gap is an “acceptable part” of the economic system. Only 45% say it isn’t.

The growth that has created Western prosperity, the growth that 82% say is “extremely” or “very” important, is available nowhere else but in an Opportunity Society.

Only in open economies do shop owners, managers, workers and entrepreneurs have the incentive to create more wealth. On the other side is the Entitlement Society, in which the state guarantees that some or all of that wealth is divided among others who are considered more “entitled” to the wealth than the creators. In an Opportunity Society, however, creators keep what they produce, which is an incentive to produce more.

Looking for an opportunity? Looking to diversify your income? Click here!

Today, America’s economic system is mixed. It’s neither a full Entitlement Society nor a complete Opportunity Society. But we’ve moved hard toward a predominantly Entitlement Society — and ignored constitutional limits in doing so — where the special interests that have captured the government are the beneficiaries at the expense of the productive.

This is unsustainable. Greece, where the entitlement mentality has caused a fiscal collapse of the government and an economic breakdown, proves that handouts and state expansion can’t go on forever. Sweden, thought of by many on the left as having the right mix of welfare-state socialism and capitalism, saw this problem coming to its country years ago and quietly reversed its path.

Will America be smart enough to make the same adjustment?

Finances, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

Have You Diversified Your Income?

For anyone who values financial security and ultimately desires financial freedom, creating at least one additional stream of income is no longer a luxury. It has become a necessity.

Diversifying your income stream is crucial to protect yourself and your family against the unavoidable ups and downs of economic and industry cycles. Because of the financial risks that come from relying on one source of income, such as a job or a business, consider creating at least one or more additional streams to generate cash flow.

Your additional income streams can be active, passive or a combination of the two. Some may pay you for doing something that you love (active), while others can provide income for you without your having to do much of anything at all (passive). You can diversify your income streams among different industries to protect you against major losses during downturns in one market and allow you to financially benefit from the upswings in another.

Click Here For Opportunity To Diversify Your Income

This truly is one of the not-so-obvious secrets of how the wealthy become — and stay — wealthy, which unfortunately isn’t taught to the masses. The good news is that it’s not magic. It’s not even complicated. Creating your next stream of income is a simple, step-by-step process, which you can arrange to start bringing you monthly income faster than you might realize is possible.

1. ESTABLISH FINANCIAL SECURITY.

Now, this idea isn’t sexy, but it’s imperative: Don’t focus your time and energy into building a second stream of income until your primary source is secure. Whether you have a day job or own your own business, focus on establishing and securing a primary monthly income that will support your expenses before you pursue other steps.

2. CLARIFY YOUR UNIQUE VALUE.
Every person on this planet has unique gifts, abilities, life experiences and value to offer — and be highly compensated for. Figure out the knowledge, experience, ability or solution you have that others will value and might pay you for. Remember, what might be common knowledge to you isn’t for other people.

You and your personality differentiate your value from that of every other person on earth. Many people will resonate with you (and your style) better than they will with someone else offering value that’s similar or even the same.

Knowledge is the one thing you can increase very quickly. As Tony Robbins wrote in Money: Master the Game, “One reason people succeed is that they have knowledge other people don’t have. You pay your lawyer or your doctor for the knowledge and skills you lack.”

Increase your knowledge in a specific area, and you’ll simultaneously increase the value that others will pay you for, either to teach them what you know or apply your knowledge on their behalf.

Are You Ready To Diversify Your Income?

3. IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET
Determine whom you are best qualified to serve. Based on the value you can add for others or the problems you can help people solve, who will pay you for the value or solution you can provide?

4. BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY.
Dan Kennedy says, “The most valuable asset you have is your email list, so focus on growing it.”

I don’t like to think of my email community as merely a list of names but rather as a group of individuals, each with their own hopes and dreams.

5. ASK YOUR COMMUNITY ABOUT THEIR DESIRES.
You can either guess or assume what people desire and need, invest valuable time in creating it and then hope your guess was correct. But remember: Hope is rarely the best strategy.

6. CREATE A SOLUTION.
After your community members tell you what they need, it’s your golden opportunity to get to work and create it. This could be a physical or digital product (a book, an audio, a video, a written training program or software) or a service (dog grooming, babysitting, coaching, consulting, speaking or training).

7. PLAN THE LAUNCH.
Think about how Apple rolls out its products. The company doesn’t just throw a product on the shelf or its website. No, the company makes it into an event. Apple builds anticipation months in advance, so much so that people are willing to camp out in front of stores for weeks to be the first in line.

8. FIND A MENTOR.
The best way to cut your learning curve and achieve a specific result is to find people who’ve already achieved what you want and then model their behavior. Rather than try to figure it all out on your own, find someone who has already achieved what you want, determine how this person did it, model this behavior and make it your own.

Click Here To Begin Diversifying Your Income Today!

While you might seek a relationship with a face-to-face human mentor, you could also hire a coach, read a book or articles by an expert or do web research. After some consideration, you may decide to make this your first step.

Schedule time to begin implementing these steps, one at a time, and within months you can be enjoying the benefits, the perks and the financial security and freedom that comes from having multiple streams of income.

Family, Finances, insurance, Life Insurance

Do I Need Life Insurance?

NOT EVERYONE NEEDS LIFE INSURANCE. FIND OUT WHETHER YOU DO OR NOT.

Life insurance has long been a part of estate planning in the United States. Although life insurance does not need to be a part of every person’s estate plan, it can be useful, especially for parents of young children and those who support a spouse or a disabled adult or child.

In addition to helping to support dependents, life insurance can help provide immediate cash at death. Insurance proceeds are a handy source of cash to pay the deceased’s debts, funeral expenses, and income or estate taxes.

People who have no minor children or financially strapped dependents may not need life insurance. Below you’ll find questions to ask yourself to help evaluate your life insurance needs. If you decide to purchase insurance, you should know exactly why you are buying it and choose the best type of policy for your needs. And, of course, you should buy no more than you need.

Long-Term Needs

To determine whether it makes sense for you to buy insurance to provide financial help for family members over the long term, consider these questions:

How many people depend on your earning capacity? If the answer is “none,” you probably don’t need life insurance.

How much money would your dependents need for living expenses? One way to determine this amount is to look at the earned income that you bring to your dependents on a regular basis. From that amount, subtract the worth of property they would inherit from you and any amounts that will be available from public sources or private insurance plans that already provide coverage. Social Security survivors and dependents benefits will probably be available, and you may also be covered by union or management pensions, or a group life insurance plan. Also subtract any other likely sources of income, such as the help reasonably affluent grandparents would provide for your children in case of disaster.

How long would it take for your dependents to be come self-sufficient? If your children are almost out of college, they may not need much additional income. If they’re younger, remember that dependent spouses caring for young children can usually return to work at some point, and some kids may get at least partial scholarships.

Once you perform this exercise, you may find that your dependents may need little additional income from life insurance. But if you have young children, you may find that it makes sense to buy an affordable amount of life insurance.

Short-Term Needs

Now, assess whether you need life insurance for short-term needs:

What assets will be available to take care of your dependents’ immediate financial needs? You might leave some money in joint or pay-on-death bank accounts.

After you die, how long will it be before your property is turned over to your inheritors? If most of your property will avoid probate, there’s usually little need for insurance for short-term expenses, unless you have no bank accounts, securities, or other cash assets. By contrast, if the bulk of your property is transferred by will and therefore will be tied up in probate for months, your family and other inheritors may need the ready cash insurance can provide. While a probate court will usually promptly authorize a family allowance or otherwise allow a spouse or other inheritor access to estate funds, it can still be nice to have insurance proceeds available.

Will your estate owe substantial debts and taxes after your death? Lawyers and financial advisors call cash and assets that can quickly be converted to cash “liquid.” If your estate has almost all “non-liquid” assets (real estate, collectibles, a share in a small business, jewelry), there may be a significant financial loss if these assets must be sold quickly to raise cash to pay bills, as opposed to what they could be sold for later if there had been enough liquid money from insurance or other sources to meet all pressing bills. Obviously, if your estate has significant funds in bank accounts or marketable securities, you won’t need insurance for this purpose. Fortunately, federal estate taxes aren’t due until nine months after death, so cash to pay them doesn’t have to be raised immediately.

Avoid Probate and Estate Taxes on Life Insurance

Avoiding probate. The proceeds of a life insurance policy are not subject to probate unless you name your estate as the beneficiary of the policy. If anyone else, including a trust, is the beneficiary of the policy, the proceeds are not included in the probate estate and can be quickly transferred to survivors with little red tape, cost, or delay. Except when your estate will have no ready cash to pay anticipated debts and taxes, there is no sound reason for naming your estate, rather than a person, as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy.

Avoiding estate taxes. If you own your insurance policy at the time you die, the proceeds are included in your taxable estate. If your estate is large enough to face estate tax liability (at least over $2 million), your life insurance proceeds will be subject to estate tax. On the other hand, if you don’t legally own your life insurance policy, the proceeds are excluded from your taxable estate. This can significantly reduce your death tax liability.

If you’ve determined that life insurance is right for you, contact me to learn about different types of insurance policies. Or, if you already know the type of policy you need, then let’s talk.

Business Needs

If you are the sole owner of a business, how much cash will it need when you die? Do you want and expect that some of your inheritors will continue the business? If so, do you think there will be enough cash flow for them to successfully maintain the business? You may need insurance proceeds to cover any cash flow shortage of the business. Will there be liquid funds to pay estate taxes?

Example

Alicia owns several valuable pieces of real estate and a profitable antique store, but she has very little cash and no life insurance. When she dies, she owes debts of $90,000 (aside from mortgages) and estate taxes of $120,000.

To raise this money, her beneficiaries (technically, her executor) must sell some of her real estate or her interest in the store. Unfortunately, the country is suffering a recession, and the market value of both antiques and real estate is down. To make matters worse, canny real estate people spread the word that this is a “distress sale” to raise money for estate obligations. As a result, the price the beneficiaries receive when they sell one of the pieces of real estate is far below what they would have received had they been able to choose when to sell. Had Alicia purchased an insurance policy with a payoff at death of $210,000 or more, they wouldn’t have been forced to sell.

If your inheritors won’t continue the business, the questions are different: How much is your death likely to affect the value of the business? Will there be enough cash to keep the business alive until it is sold?

If you are one of several co-owners, life insurance proceeds can be used to buy out co-owners’ interests. For more information on using life insurance to fund buyouts, contact me.