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Money or Knowledge, Which Do You Choose?

3/31/2013

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By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

This last week I have been officially closing a previous chapter of my life. I have been selling off all of my music gear; guitars, basses, amps, speakers, cords, mixing boards, cases, microphones – everything! I used to be very heavily involved in writing music, performing music and teaching music. I used to derive 100% of my income from music and was a professional in the field. Today, I am selling off all of my music gear and I did receive some backlash from my girlfriend and my mother.

“Why?” they protested.

“Won't you be sad?” they wanted to know.

The answer, is “no, I will not be sad.” and the reasons are simple.

Years ago, when I quit basketball in high school, my coach, whom I will never forget said to me “there is nothing wrong with quitting, as long as you take all of the energy you put into basketball and put it into music.” Music was my passion at that point in my life, not basketball, and it was what I wished to do professionally.

Today, I am officially quitting the music chapter of my life and I'm using the energy to pursue my path as an entrepreneur. Selling all of my music gear is a way of clearing my mind, my space and my path.

But what happens to the years of my life, and all the money that I spent accumulating knowledge and equipment in the music business?

In physics, energy is never lost, the same holds true in real life. The skills, the experience and the wisdom I gained in the music industry carries over to my real estate career and the best part about skills and experience is that they can never be lost.

True value does not lie in the musical equipment. True value lies in the skills I learned from the equipment. I will always know how to sing, how to play instruments and perform. These skills can get rusty, but they never go away.

But how does this apply to real estate?

In real estate, so many investors cling to their buildings and are terrified of losing material wealth. Most of us think that our buildings are assets, when in fact, they are just lifeless bricks and mortar. Real value, even in real estate lies in the experience and the knowledge of building and operating the business.

Years ago, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford automobiles was asked by a reporter “Mr. Ford, you're a billionaire – so what? What would happen if you lost it all tomorrow?”

Mr. Ford smiled and replied “I would have it all back and more in 5 years!”

I truly understand what Mr. Ford meant by these words and I feel the same about the music business or even my real estate business. The knowledge I have gained by building the business from scratch will never leave my mind and the wisdom is the true asset – not the equipment or the buildings.

In the classic book “The Richest Man in Babylon”, the characters in the book are given a choice between a large sack of gold and a clay tablet with wisdom inscribed in it.

The book explains that the man who chooses the gold will quickly lose it, whereas the man with the knowledge will eventually get the gold.

Henry Ford and the Richest Man in Babylon both agree, true value is in the knowledge not the gold, the money, the buildings, or the companies.

Early in my real estate career, I made of point of investing in my education through seminars, coaching, training, mentoring, books, audio files etc. To build my education as fast as possible. Education, knowledge and experience form the backbone of business and entrepreneurship. Where most people rely on their job, their salaries and the government to survive, entrepreneurs rely on business acumen thrive.

It always startles me to see young investors and entrepreneurs forgo business and real estate education and jump into the field with both feet. I have made this mistake in the past and it is extremely costly to experiment with real world dollars.

If you are in business, real estate investing or entrepreneurship, please ensure that you allocate a portion of your earnings to ongoing education. For myself, my education has made all the difference and has allowed me to grow my real estate business from a one time investment of $1200 to a multi million dollar portfolio.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!








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The Power of Networking

3/28/2013

1 Comment

 
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By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

“The richest people in the world build networks, everyone else looks for work” - Robert Kiyosaki

Love him or hate him, Mr. Kiyosaki is onto something.

I recently spent a weekend with my mentor and I asked him “how can I find more great deals?”

The answer was: “networking”.

Other investors might ask: “how do I find money to fund my deals?”

The answer is “networking”.

This past weekend I was looking for a someone to clean a house I owned.

The solution came from “networking”.

As humans we are pack animals. We roam in gangs, we help each other, we are who we associate with. With people, just like in nature, lone wolves get slaughtered by packs of other wolves. If you are in business, you don't want to be the lone wolf.

Early in my business/real estate investing career I used to act like the tough guy and “go it alone”. I was a one man band, a chief cook and bottle washer and the guy with all the answers. I was the smartest guy on my team, had no connections to mentors or coaches and didn't belong to any networks.

This was the recipe for disaster. Instead of joining a few small local clubs and accessing the information of other investors and entrepreneurs in the market, I tried to re-invent the wheel. The mistakes were painful and costly and I will never forget the lessons I learned.

In business, we are always limited by the resources, skills and knowledge of our team. To grow the business we must access the skills, knowledge and resources of others and there is only one way to find the pieces of the puzzle that we are missing; and that is through networking.

The truth is, everything we need is “out there”. The question is, “who do we need to know” to get what we need?

When I started in real estate investing as a full time investor, one of the first things I did was sit down, write out a list of names of people who would potentially have money to invest with me. What amazes me today, is that almost anyone who knows 100 people can put together $1,000,000 cash to do a deal. Almost everyone, no matter how broke, can access $10,000 cash or credit and if you know 100 people, 100 x $10,000 is $1,000,000. We all have access to at least $1,000,000 – sometimes, we just don't know it.

The top 3 reasons why people don't like to network and why they are wrong:

  1. They think that there is no one new to meet

Just when I think I know “everyone in the business”, I am proven wrong over and over again. Networking events attract all types of people and often it's not the initial person you meet who is the most important – but the people that they know that are most important!

  1. They don't want to pay fees to belong to clubs

Leads, connections and relationships are very expensive to find and maintain. Paying nominal fees to networking clubs and groups is often a very economical way to find all of the above. In many cases, the fee paid to get into the club pays for itself many times over if it's the right group for you.

  1. They think that networking is a poor use of time

The best opportunities never see the light of day. Whenever a great opportunity comes along, it always goes out to someone's personal network before going out to the public. The only way to capitalize on “hidden” opportunity is to be well connected and have a great network. For myself, when I have a deal, it is often gone in less than 30 minutes because the investors in my network snatch it up before I have a chance to show it to any outsiders.

Networking is one of the easiest ways to get a great ROI on your marketing dollars. I spend a considerable amount of my time daily networking, meeting people and finding opportunities. I also dedicate a portion of my income to clubs and associations and make sure I am an active member to maximize my opportunity for my business. If you don't belong to any clubs, it's time to join.

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!


P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!








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    Stefan Aarnio

    Stefan Aarnio is a Real Estate Investor, entrepreneur and artist based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba.His real estate website is Freedom Way Joint Ventures  His art can be seen at http://stefanaarnioart.com

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