Throughout this site there are many resources about tools and vehicles that can help you in managing your money.  It is important to become educated about what is available and how different investment vehicles work.  Whatever decision you may make, always remember the important principle of diversification.

There are many that claim “if I only had $2 million, I would be set for the rest of my life.”  The idea may seem enticing, however, you may be surprised how quickly $2 million turns ito $0.  There are many examples of rags to riches story in the US.  I mean it is the American Dream right?  Well, for every rags to riches story there are at least two riches to rag story.  Unfortunately, two major traits that lacks among most Americans are disciplined spending habits and wise money management practices.  In fact, there are many examples of rags to riches stories only to return to rags again.  However, wise decisions can help safeguard and preserve your wealth throughout the remainder of your life.

Diversification is an essential principle to wealth management.  I can’t even count how many people I have known personally who have experienced extremely great successful times only to see everything they earned and more taken a way from them.  Why?  Because they were not diversified.

It is only natural that as we come across practices that bring great financial success to remain focused solely on those practices.  However, this is a risky game to play and, far too many times, ends in the person having nothing.  Why did so many people become homeless when the stock market crashed during The Great Depression?  For most, it was because most of their money was in it.  What many people do not know, was that there were many people who did well, even better, during those years, because they executed strong financial planning practices.

So how do you protect yourself from wealth decay?  First of all, if you are in a trade or occupation that experiences cyclical  economies (most do) then it is important to plan for it.  Real estate is a prime example of this.  From 2003-2007, real estate was on fire.  Some houses were doubling in just a years time.  At the time, it seemed like anybody and everybody was making money off of any type of real estate.  However, towards the end of 2007, real estate was hit hard with a recession, which tanked the prices.  As a result, much of the gains that were made during 2003-2007, were taken back within three years.

There were some people who planned an exit strategy.  Anytime you embark on an profitable business, you should always construct an exit strategy before hand.  It is much like going to an auction.  Any experienced auction participant knows that you must make a final decision of your maximum price before the auction begins.  By doing this, you guard against “impulse buying” that becomes very evident in an auction environment.  I have seen people pay thousands of dollars more than they wanted to for something only because they were caught up in the auction…then comes buyer’s remorse.

This practice is also applicable to personal finance.  Judgement can become very clouded in the midst of a very successful business venture.  In fact, greed can sometimes completely take over and convince you that things will remain this good forever.  Having an exit strategy keeps you on track.  Eventually the time will come, where you decide to cash out, make a change, or whatever is decided in your exit strategy.  Sure, you may miss out on certain opportunities in the short term, but in the long run you will be much better off.

This is where diversification comes in.  Being that the US is a cyclical economy, we find that there are a lot of ups and downs throughout history.  If you look more closely, you will also find that certain industries are much more down during some of the down times than others and vise versa on the up times.  For instance, in 2009, real estate prices were down 50%, however, tech companies were only feeling a 10-12% decline.  I am sure most would say they would have preferred the latter.  However, during the up times, real estate was growing triple the times that the tech industry was. 

The point is, it is impossible to tell which industry will thrive at what time and which one will crash.  Sure you could guess and put all your eggs into one basket, or you can diversify your funds.  Sure, you may not experience as big of gains as you would if you chose a strong growing industry at the time to invest in, but you will greatly preserve much more than most during economic contracting times.

There are many different types of investment groups and funds that can diversify your funds for you.  They will sit down with you and find out your financial goals.  From there, they will give you a proposal, showing you exactly how much they allocated into each sector, also giving you the “risk” amount of the investment.  Higher risk investments tend to yield higher returns, however, they also have a greater chance of failing.

As you continue to become successful, wealth preservation will be critical.  Continue to learn how you can diversify your funds and protect yourself against our cyclical economy.

First of all, for those of you that are currently looking for a job as you read this, what are you doing to try and find one?  I find that most answer this question in unison.  “Posted my resume to Monster.com”, “responding to Craigslist ads”…etc.  Most people spend about 80% of their job prospecting energies in online/newspaper ad responding.  That’s a lot of time.  Well you may argue that this is where most of the jobs are found.  In fact, it is the exact opposite.  Less than 10% of new jobs found were from responses from an online/newspaper ad.  Really?  Why on earth are people spending 80% of their time focusing on it.  That is because it’s the easiest to do.

In fact, just about 80% of new jobs acquired were done so by a referral of someone they knew.  When looking at the numbers, doesn’t it make sense that networking be the focus of your “prospecting” energies?  If you believe in statistics than yes.  So you may ask, but how do I maximize my contacts?  Here is a program that you can use, that has a highly proven success rate.  Those that have applied the principals I am about tell you, had an incredibly higher success rate in finding a job than that of the average public.  So enjoy and put it to the test.

They call it the 3 Name Rule.  Begin by sitting down and writing every single person you know personally, friends, family, old co-workers, neighbors, anyone who you feel has had some sort of professional contact to your field of interest.  Now I warn you not to pre-judge people.  You will be surprised about how many people actually have connections in your field of choice and you never knew about it.  So spend a few minutes and just write, write, and keep writing.

Now starting from the top of the list, call the contact and engage them in a similar type of dialogue as seen below:

“Tom… This is Brian, hey I know you have been around the auto businesses throughout the years.  I am very interested in the field and I just wanted to see if you can take some time out to meet with me and look over my resume and give me any advice of what I could do to make it stronger.”

Notice how the dialogue is an invitation to help you with your resume, not to see if they know of a job position for you.  This is an indirect way to get yourself and your resume in front of people that is much more non-intrusive than asking for a job interview.

Now these are people you already know, so getting the meeting should not be too hard.  When arriving for the meeting, consider the interview in your own mind as an actual job interview.  Dress to impress, bring a note pad, and conduct yourself as you would in a job interview.  What this meeting does is gets your resume in front of a successful person who knows your field of interest and has contacts in the field.  Amazingly enough, you will find that several times the person who you are interviewing with will look at your resume and notice that you fit a need that they have a their own company.  All of a sudden you just completed successful job interview and the person hiring you had no idea.  I know it seems like a far fetch, but trust me, it happens very frequently.

Now, most of the time, the person will make some remarks about your resume and that will be done with it.  That is ok, because remember, this is just your first round.  Before leaving the meeting, ask the person for 3 people they know (and their contact info) who are in your business that would be worth talking to, to help get to know more about the business in question.  If you are with the right person, they will easily spit out 3 names for you that you can contact.  Thank this person and be on your way.  Remember to keep this meeting no longer than 30 minutes, as most of these people are busy and are doing you a favor to meet with you.

From here you now have 3 contacts to pursue for opportunities.  What is great is when you first initially contact them, you use Tom, or whoever your original contact is, as leverage in saying they referred them to you.  People usually find this flattering when someone thought of them as an expert of a field.  When contacting them, use a dialogue much like this:

“Bob, my name is Brian, I am pursuing a career in the auto business and Tom Johnson told me that you were an expert in the field and someone I should contact.  I was wondering if I could come in and get talk to you about the auto business and what I can do to strengthen my resume.”

What this does is sets up another non-intrusive meeting with yet another professional in the field of your choice.  Again, the person you are meeting with has no idea your intent is to get a job with them.  The person is most likely to accept the meeting offer because you leveraged Tom.  Sure you don’t know them, but you were referred by someone they know and respect.

When meeting with this person, the meeting should go much like your original meeting did.  Have him/her give you feedback on your resume and talk to him/her about the field.  Even if you are not directly offered a job on the spot you are getting good advice about the field, building your contact base, and getting your name out there to where if a position does open up, these people will remember you.  When leaving this meeting, once again, ask for 3 people they know who are in the field that you should talk to about the industry.  If you do the math, after a few meetings, you will have quickly quadrupled your immediate network base for your desired job.

Keep repeating this process over and over again.  Every meeting is successful because you are given one more person to meet with.  Eventually, you will be in a meeting and someone will say, “you know, I have an opening that I think you could fill” or “I know a company who is looking for someone just like you.”  The opportunity will come.  Don’t get frustrated after one or two failed tries.  Know that your progressing in the program and eventually it will come.  Just remember to not leave there until you are able to get 3 new contacts to pursue.  This program has been proven to be very successful and if you continue to implement it in your own job hunt, you will find much more success than you ever had.

Personally, I have found a lot of success on the Internet.  I have over 10 websites online that offer a variety of different information, and all of them offer a service that brings money back to me.  I do have a career on top of it, but it is a great way for supplementary income. The fact is, you can make good money on the Internet.

There are so many options of what kind of online business opportunities you can choose, all of which can be started with relatively low start up costs.  Please know, that in most cases, making money on the Internet is not a “get rich quick” scenario.  If you see an ad that says “Start Making Money Online Today!”, most likely it is a scam and is trying to get you to sign up for services.  Although making money on the Internet can be done from home, it also takes time, planning, and good execution to do well and be successful.  I have spoken to countless amounts of people who have started something online, only to have it fail within months.  Here are some tips to that can help you start making money online.

Start A Blog

This could be one of the most effective ways and easiest to start.  Everyone has passions and interests.  Well blog about them.  Blogging can be very profitable.  The point is to try and establish a good audience and retain your readers.  Whether you blog about traveling, video games, make up, or music, make sure to pick a topic that you are passionate and want to talk about frequently.  Some people choose topics that are more mainstream to try and capitalize on a bigger audience.  Don’t do it.  You will get burnt out and your content will suffer.  Choose a topic you enjoy and have fun with it, people will naturally flock to it.  I will do another post that goes much more in detail of how to make a blog profitable.  But you can get started real easily by signing up on Blogger, or for more usage abilities, use Bluehost.com (this one costs a little bit of money, but has a lot more features using WordPress).

Offer A Service Online

I have heard so many stories from people who have been recently laid off and found a way to actually start making more money from the Internet.  Many of you have certain skills and attributes you have picked up along the way, whether from school, a job, or just a natural instinct.  You have the ability to market this skill to your community or the entire world, depending on your service.  If you are a licensed hair stylist, you can market yourself online.  If you are good with computers or teach tennis, whatever it may be, there is an audience and demand for what you do somewhere in the world.  There are many different free online services to use to get your skill or business listed online so that it will come up in search results.  The point is, to be creative and do what you enjoy and are good at.

Become an Affiliate

People make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year selling other people’s products.  You don’t need to have something to sell, all you need is an audience.  After building up a good audience, you can then market other people’s goods and services on your site and receive a commission for doing so.  This way, all you need to worry about is your site.  You can make hundreds and even thousands a day by referring people to other company’s websites.  As online marketing becomes more and more aggressive, these rewards will only go up.

Flipping Goods

One of the greatest things that has come from the Internet is the ability for people to market stuff they don’t need.  Before, people would have to wake up early every Saturday and try to hit the major yard sales going on in the city or check the local newspaper listings to try and find bargains on people’s unwanted treasures.  Now, people can list these goods online at sites like Craigslist and eBay and you and I can benefit from other people’s unwanted goods all across the world.  In college, I would frequently find media equipment (video cameras, computers, stereos, etc) online and then was able to turn around and sell it to other buyers for a healthy profit.  Sure, you need to be knowledgeable of the items you’re selling and what people are willing to buy them for, but you would be surprised at what prices people are willing to sell some of their unused items for.

These are just of a few of things you can do to begin making money online.  There are countless ways to create cash flow through the Internet.  In posts to come, I will expand on some of these and show how to begin and just how easy it can be.  Income from the Internet can provide a great supplement to your salary and allow you to do things you may have not been able to do before.  Like I said, there is always a need for something you do well.  Find out how you can market that to rest of the world.

A personal business plan consists of the process of putting your “business” goals on paper, while providing the steps to achieve such goals.  Some of you may think that this may sound a lot like standard goal setting, however, there are distinct differences in setting up a business that makes it a very worthwhile task in your own financial planning.

First off, your personal business plan should be related to your business only.  This is not to say that you shouldn’t make goals in other aspects of your life, but for this particular plan, it should be solely focused on your personal business efforts.  The plan applies to any line of work you may be in.  Whether you are a CEO of a Wall Street firm, a pet groomer, or a landscaper, you should begin every new year with a fresh business plan.

Your business plan should break down what it takes to be successful in your line of work and how exactly you are going to accomplish that.  Kobe Bryant did not wake up one morning randomly knowing how to shoot a jump shot.  It took years of practice and discipline for him to get where he is today.  The same goes for any other occupation out there.  In most cases, people did not fall in the positions they are currently there by luck.  They planned out what it took to get there and how they themselves were going to make that happen.

Lets take, for example, an insurance salesman.  After looking at his last years call log, he finds that he made a total of 1500 cold calls to new potential clients per month (18,000 per year).  Well, as a result, he made a total of of $180,000 in commissions for that year.  So technically, this salesman can conclude that every call he makes is roughly worth around $10.  Of course this is really not the case, but for most sales jobs, performance is merely a numbers game.  Knowing that he historically performs at this $10 per call rate, he can than adjust his daily call schedule to earn his next year’s goal of a $200,000 year.  This same principle can be used in a variety of different measures.

A business plan should also include desired characteristic traits you wish to possess around the workplace, as well as things you feel you need to work one.  Take note of people around the office who are succeeding.  What attributes do they possess.  The best way to become successful at work is by surrounding yourself around people who already are.

Be specific about your monetary goals.  If you want to earn $100,000 next year, write it down!  If you don’t, it will be hard to see how exactly you get there.  The above example showed our salesman that one way he could get to his new “lofty” income goal is by increasing his daily call amount.  While breaking down your business plan, you will visually see just what it will take to earn what your goal is.

Now some of you may be saying, “well I’m stuck in a salary position and have no way of making anymore money than my contracted amount.”  Nonsense!  Within your company there are ladders of salaries.  Most likely there are people around you making the money that you desire to.  What are these people doing differently?  If you are just as qualified and talented as these people then there is no excuse for them making more money.  If you lack certain skills that they have, work to sharpen those skills.  Come to work earlier and stay a bit later.  Remember, you set the goal so it is you that needs to make it happen.  If you do have the same skills and are not making the same amount, go see your manager.  You would be surprised about how many times you are worthy of a promotion and they just don’t know it or are waiting for you to say something.  If they feel you are not qualififed, ask him/her for feedback about what you are lacking.  Then, start this process over.

Also, we live in a day of age where you can make money in a variety of different ways.  Thanks to the internet, you have access to the whole world to try and make money.  You have certain skills and traits that people will pay money to learn.  See how you can integrate that on the web for some supplementary income.

Sure, we all like to have money and success, but strive to keep it within reason.  As I have always said, money is not the definition of “success” and more important things should not be sacrificed for it.  When making your business plan, consider your other “life goals.”  If doing what it takes to earn you’re desired income only happens at the expense of acheiving your long term life goals, it is not worth it.  Consider thinking a few years out on how you consider to reach these goals, thus not burning yourself out all in one year.  Why work to make a good living, when at the end you cannot enjoy the fruits of it.

After completing a business plan, always keep it where you can see it daily.  Why spend time on this intensive document if you’re not going to reflect on it?  I keep mine in the top drawer of my office, so that when I do get frustrated, I can see what exactly I’m doing wrong.  The business plan doesn’t lie.  If done correctly, it acts as the Holy Grail of successful business practices for you personally in your business.  If you’re not seeing success, you’ve most likely waivered from your plan.  Take it out every week to make sure you’re living up to your goals.  If you are doing what you set out to do and are still not seeing success, revise your plan in way that points you in the right direction.

The power of a business plan is great.  When just asking how can I earn $100,000 a year?, it can seem distant and unattainable at the moment.  However, when really breaking it down, studying your current circumstances, and implementing a plan, you will be surprised at just how easy that road can be.  This combined with other principles discussed on the site can help you.

It seems that hopes for a quick wealth has been with us for a long time.  Early gold rushers left on the spot for the search of gold in California, hoping that they would find their “quick riches.”  We hear the tales of those that did find success, however, we rarely hear of thousands more that found nothing and lost everything.  Aside from winning the lottery, or being a criminal, I cannot think of many things that will make you rich overnight.  Sure, you could one day find oil on your land, or win the jackpot from a slot machine,  however, your odds for getting a fatal disease at a young age is much greater.  So instead of playing the game of odds, lets try to improve them dramatically.

Invest in Yourself

I am amazed at the countless multi-level-marketing businesses and online scams my friends get caught up in.  In many of them, they are not only required to pay an initiation fee (many of these can be thousands of dollars), but also are required to spend a lot of time getting set up.  Whether it is going to motivational sales meetings, getting their website set up, learning the process of the business, there is a lot of time that gets used.  In most cases, after several months of failed attempts to make money, people give up on the program and jump to the next one that catches their eye.

It can be so enticing to look further into these ventures, however, as the old saying goes, “if seems too good to be true, it probably is.”  Think of all of the lost time that could have been invested into sharpening their skill-set, learning more work experience, and making them that much more competitive in the workforce.  On top of that, instead of draining their resources in attempts to launch this program, they could have been adding to it.  I ask you, next time you are asked to pay money to begin a new pyramid business, give it to charity, because most likely you will never get that money back.

Hard Work vs Smart Work

I am not a believer that one must slave their entire life to be able to enjoy a successful life.  Not at all!  In fact, I believe with proper planning and goal setting, this process can be accomplished rather quickly in life.  It all depends on how much you want it.  Don’t let those that say you need to work until your 70 before you retire, or you need to work two jobs.  Success is not derived by how many hours you put in.  In fact, I have known people that have consitantly held two to three jobs their entire life and still struggle to make ends meet.  Hard work is an important principle, but it is only effective when that work is assisting to accomplishing your end goal.  A man could work and sweat all day moving a pile of rocks from one side to another, but at the end of the day, he still has a pile of rocks.  Sure, the man worked incredibly hard, but he has nothing to show from it.  Create success out of your work.  Make sure your work is contributing to an end that will be satisfying to you AND your employer.

I often hear of people who are content in their slothful jobs who say, “work is so easy, I don’t even do anything.  I just get to browse the internet the whole time, it’s great.”  Although it may seem fun to get paid for not much work, it can be a disease to financial planning.  Time is a precious thing.  It is important to utilize your time the best you can to work towards your end goal.  When employed, not only are you providing a useful service to the company you work for, you are also strengthening your own skills.  This can only be a benefit and will bring good rewards down the road.  Don’t let three years go by with a job that you didn’t learn anything from.

Believe

Believing is probably the toughest part.  Most entrepreneurs and successful business men/woman have failed multiple times before they had their great success.  The point is that they always believed in themselves.  For most cases, a leap of faith must be taken to reap big rewards.  The power of believing and having confidence in yourself is a big one.  This principle is used in professional sports, medicine, military service and in many other aspects of life.  You are the only one stopping you of accomplishing your goals.  Everything else is possible.  Believe in your ideas and have the confidence to try them.  Do not get frustrated with your failures.  Learn from them and it will eventually lead you to great success.

Monetary success can be found rather easily, but it takes planning and application.  Do not fall into the trap of “get rich quick” scams, as most of them will just be a hurdle to your goals.  Instead focus on your skills and you will find that not only will you become “rich”, but you will have become better for it.

Clean and Professional

Some people get the wrong idea of “standing out” amongst competitors and feel that using colored paper or an enlarged styled font will somehow give their employers the impression that they should be chosen over their competitors.  This couldn’t be anymore wrong.  Although it may seem plain and boring, a simple, clean resume is important in maintaining a perception of professionalism to your employer.  Your name should be the biggest word on the paper.  You can freshen your resume up with bolded headers, bullets, and indentation, but keep the appearance of clean and professional.  Doing so will give your resume a good impression to your employer.  The content of your resume will distinguish you from the rest.  Below is an example of a clean and professional resume.

Start with Strengths

In my past resumes, I usually use the following four main sections in the resume:

• Experience in (what job I am applying for) - This is the work experience directly related to the job you are applying for (doesn’t have to be prior jobs, could be volunteer work or other experiences.)
• Education – Your list of educational accomplishments, with your most recent degrees and accomplishments first.
• Other work experience - This is other work experience that may not be directly related to the current job you’re interviewing for.
• Other achievements/interests – This is your bragging section.  Any accomplishments, interests, personal core values or anything else that you think will set you apart from others.

Your first few resumes will not have a lot of previous work experience on it.  That’s not a problem.  If you do not have much work experience, than start with something else.  Employers are not just interested in your past work experience.  If education is your strength, start with that.  You can put your past work experience towards the bottom.  Some employers will be looking at hundreds of these, so you want to put your best foot forward and catch their attention as soon as possible.

Keep it Short, Aim for One Page

As you get older, you may have more to brag about in these documents.  However, it is good to aim to keep this document to a page.  If you do have to go over, consider printing on front and back.  A stapled, two page resume can be overwhelming on screeners and may just be that one little thing that puts your resume in the “discard” pile.  If you are running out of room, considering cutting your less relivant jobs or other jobs that have become outdated.  Sometimes you are asked to provide a “cover letter.”  If that is the case, than attach a brief cover letter introducing yourself to the company.  Cover letters are becoming less and less popular.

Preparing References

Many times employers will ask for references to use to get more information about you.  These can be very influential for better or for worse.  I am amazed at people that I get called to “refer” to new companies.  Some are people I barely knew, or sometimes, didn’t think much about.  Make sure you have a strong relationship with the people you choose.  It is also wise to call them before hand to ask permission to use their name.  This can also give you a chance to help prepare them of what job you’re going for and maybe give suggestions of what they are looking for.  Make sure they are good references!  Try to stay away from your family.  Although sometimes you may have influential people in your family, it is always better to use outside of kin references.

After generating a strong resume, use it.  There are many online resources that can help provide leads for you in your hunt for a career.  Sites like Resume Rabbit will take your resume and send it out to tens of thousands of employers looking for new positions.  This can be a great help and speed up your process for getting interviews. By bettering your chances at getting the job you want, you greater the chance of the getting the job that better fits your needs and, in turn, gets you closer to accomplishing your goals.

Research

The first step to prepare yourself for an interview is to do some due diligence about the company you are interviewing for.  Most every company has a vision or mission statement.  This usually gives a brief description of why the company exists.  When getting hired, companies like to know that you have taken specific interest in their company and that you can contribute to the values they make them who they are.

What to Bring

The first impression.  Dress nice.  You can never overdress for an interview.  I have never been rebuked for wearing a suit.  Also, make sure to bring a pad of paper, pen, and several copies of your resume as there could be multiple people interviewing you.  You will be surprised at how impressed employers will be as you come prepared ready to jot down points that are of value and that you find important.

The Interview

Be confident.  They say most employers make their decision of hiring within the first ten minutes of meeting you.  Maintain good eye contact and be vocal.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Try tying in questions that you learned from your research, like “I noticed you have over 53 locations, do you plan on opening more?” or “I see that you have 59 different product lines, which one is your best seller?”  Questions like these show your interest in the company and helps the employer to feel like your not just going to another job interview.  Give good feedback to the employer’s question.  If you do not understand the question, rephrase back to him to make sure you do.  There is nothing worse than not answering the questions they want to know about you.  The point is to stand out.

Follow Up

You would be surprised at how much success you could have at getting a job if you just reminded the employer of yourself.  A couple weeks after the interview, if you haven’t heard back from the company, send them a quick email reminding them of who you are, appreciation for the original interview and when to expect to hear back from them.  Several times this extra effort could put you above that other person as you become fresh in their memory.  Also, it can happen that they lose your paper work.  In any case, it cannot hurt to follow up.

The interview is such a critical part of your career, as the next 10-20 years of your life can be decided in a 15 minute meeting.  Give this event its needed attention.  By becoming better in your job interviews, you will have more job options to choose from, which will help enable you to find the job that fits you and your needs.  Being in the right job is critical for financial planning and can help you accomplish your long term goals.