Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Invest In Yourself, Invest In Your Future

Commonly held wisdom tells us that it is a very good idea to save 10% of what we earn.

Many popular authors of financial self help books explain in great detail that after 20 to 30 years this 10% savings can likely help you retire from your day job. In fact, you probably know of such people that live in your neighborhood that have paid themselves first in this manner and over the years amassed considerable wealth.

If you are able to sit down today and adjust your living expenses so that you can live on 90% of your income to start saving 10% you are fortunate indeed. Especially if you happen to live in an urban area where the cost of living is continually increasing. Additionally, if you, as many people do, already give regularly to a local church or charity 10% of your present income that will only leave you with 80% to budget.

Most people think such a savings strategy to be extremely difficult if not impossible to follow. However if you read more closely to the advice given by popular authors, they are trying to tell you that you should use some of the 10% you are saving to improve your skills so you can earn more. Their message is to continually improve your earning ability in order to increase the amount you can earn.

Nobody expects NEVER to get a raise or earn more money. They may not believe that this could happen any time soon at their current job but certainly they realize that their life’s ambitions are not limited by their current situation. Unfortunately when they sit down and attempt to map out a financial strategy to get ahead they usually forget a basic fundamental economic principle. Learning new skills always means the ability to earn higher wages.

Even in something as simple as weaving carpets there are lousy cheap polyester carpets and very expensive Persian wool rugs. Some created by lousy carpet weavers at minimum wage. Other’s created by expert carpet weavers that have studied their craft and honed their skills in modern factories.

Most people think earning more money means that they have to have a second and third and maybe even fourth job. How depressing! What they really need is an opportunity to earn more income and then have the income grow exponentially. In financial terms this type of income is usually called residual income.

When you go to an investment advisor they always like to explain that if put X dollars in an investment and reinvest the interest then it will begin to grow exponentially. If you practice this type of investment strategy it can lead to a very large sum after 20 years. Especially if over those years you contribute monthly a small amount to cause the principle to grow.

Network Marketing is a business opportunity that can lead to exponential income growth or residual income. You begin by starting a part time home based business usually called an independent distributorship that earns income by recommending the products to others and earning commission income on those referrals.

The key to exponential growth in Network Marketing that is important to understand is simply this: You always introduce the business opportunity to others when they buy the products because you are expecting to find some people who will also be interested in the business opportunity. Those people you train to do the same as you are doing. Recommend and introduce.

By sponsoring new distributors and teaching them to do the same a downline is created. Network Marketing companies like Tahitian Noni International pay 53% of retail cost of the products back to the distributors. This 53% is divided up amongst the distributors who had a part on recommending the products up to 8 levels deep in the downline. Like the interest investment, the goal is simply to continue recommending the products to others and training those whom you sponsor as new distributors to do the same. This activity ensures that you will experience exponential growth in your organization.

Over time this simple duplicatable activity will lead to a very large group of people who are doing the same work of recommending the products every day in your organization. Overtime this also can lead to very large commission cheques because of the exponential growth.

By investing in yourself a small portion of the 10% savings to learn the art of network marketing you will have a new skill. This new skill will allow you to over a few short years to establish a business owned by yourself that’s income is only limited by the number of people you introduce the business to as well as train them to do the same.

Since there are considerable tax advantages to owning a home based business you should also consult a tax consultant for information for your province or state. Usually the tax savings amount to over 10% of your income so if you’re careful you can create a business that breaks even in the first month.

Why Your Internet Business Is Like The Stock Market

As savvy stock market investors know, chasing after the one "hot stock" with the possibility of bringing instant riches is not a wise idea. You know the old saying, "Don't put your eggs in one basket". This type of thinking carries a high risk. If your stock goes up and you are smart enough to sell, then you've made money. However, if your stock falls, you just don't know when (or if) it will ever make a comeback.

With this idea of chasing after the "hot stock of the day", you might as well buy a lottery ticket. Diversifying your investment portfolio for long-term growth and stability is the wiser of the strategy. You invest your money over any number of stocks in different industries, thereby spreading your risk across the group.

The same principle should be applied to your internet business. Many of us first arrived online with the notion of building a really great website to reach the masses in hopes of making a lot of money. We later found out that the "build it and they will come" theory is just that, a theory. Oh sure, there are a few who have managed to create a nice income from just one or perhaps two websites, but even Amazon didn't turn a profit until 2001.

Unfortunately, most of us do not have unlimited financial resources. Many have given up, only to go back to either a corporate job or some other type of work in order to support their family. What they did not realize is that their internet business really should be treated like their investment portfolio.

Why do many of us still try to squeeze every single penny out of one website until it's bone dry? It's like wringing out the washcloth until there's no water left to drip. Why bank all of our risk in just one site?

There is a better way and it's called diversification and leverage. How? Instead of building one website and beating it to death in trying to get every last penny until it screams " no more!"... build more sites. In the past, building websites by hand took days and weeks, if not months. Today, there are tools to make this process much simpler and faster and in some cases, you don't even have to know any code at all.

Why diversify and leverage your business across a variety of websites? To reduce your risk and to leverage your efforts. Individually, they may not make a lot of money, but collectively, you could create a nice little internet empire of your very own. It will be well worth your time in creating a long-term internet "investment" portfolio.

To Your Success!

Best Stock Market Simulation Games

A stock market simulation game is a great way to practice your investment skills before actually investing any "real" money in the stock market.

Simulation games are usually played on the internet, where people can experience the thrill of investing in the stock market without any risks, costs or any fear of losing money when and if they make a poor investment decision.

Many teachers and professors of banking and finance are now using stock market simulation games to teach their students about the rudiments of investing in stocks. Most stock market simulation games come with a fee to get started, but there are some that are free of any charge. One does not need have prior knowledge about the stock market to join.

This is how stock market simulation games usually work:

First, players must register. After registration, players are given an initial sum of "virtual" money to invest in companies of their choice. Players build a portfolio of stocks by buying and selling shares in companies. Most stock market simulation games use real-time market data.

The objective of most stock market simulation games is simple:

To increase the value of your portfolio of stocks so that it is greater than that of the other game players.

Below are some tips on choosing a stock market simulation game:

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is used and recommended by reputable colleges, high schools, middle school, investment clubs, brokers in training, corporate education courses and any other group of individuals studying markets in the U.S. and worldwide.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is comprehensive and easy to implement in any Finance, Economics, or Investments class. A good stock market simulation game should feature trading of stocks, options, futures, mutual funds, bonds from the U.S. and many of the world's major markets.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that provides a valuable, reliable, and realistic trading simulation at a reasonable price to members and other individuals who are interested in learning more about investing and trading. The simulation game should also have some capability for testing a variety for investment strategies.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that has a toll-free customer service phone number and excellent e-mail support for members. The support function should be able to quickly answer any questions that members/players may have.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is easy to use and easy to teach even to those who have never had any real hands-on investment experience

10 Resourceful Things You Can Do With A Product That Doesn't Sell

1. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to the product. You could make money selling other people the rights to reproduce and sell the product. People are always looking for new products to sell.

2. Giveaway the product for free from your web site. Just because it won't sell doesn't mean people won't visit your web site to get it for free. They may see another product you sell and buy that one.

3. Try auctioning off the product at an online auction. You may make part of your investment back. If you're lucky, you may even make a profit because people sometimes get into bidding wars and will bid a higher price than the product is worth.

4. Use the product as a free bonus for another product you sell. This will increase the perceived value of the product you're selling. People will feel they're receiving more for less.

5. Contact businesses with the same target market and see if they would be interested in using your product as a free bonus for their product. You could place your ad on the product and get free advertising.

6. Sell your product to businesses at wholesale cost as a promotional product. Businesses are always looking for products they can giveaway to their customers with their advertising on the product. You could make part of your investment back.

7. Barter your product to other businesses for things you need for your own business. You could trade for their products or services. This will save you money and help make up for your profit loss.

8. You could create an online contest so people could win your product. This will attract traffic to your web site. You also could get free advertising by listing it on online contest directories.

9. If you decide to giveaway the product for free, allow other people to giveaway the product for free. Place your web site ad on the product. This will spread your advertising and attract even more people to your site.

10. Ask businesses with the same target audience if they would be interested in combining your product with their product. You could then sell them together as a package deal and split the profits. You may have better results selling your product this way.