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!

Better than a thousand days of study is one day with a great teacher. – Japanese Proverb

When most people get started on the path to "self made wealth", many of us choose one of the following:

1) To become a real estate investor
2) Start a business with an MLM company aka Multi Level Marketing

Both of these paths are very difficult and there is no easy way to success. For myself, I chose to become a full time real estate investor and dedicated all of my resources towards success in my field. In some ways, I envy the people who start with MLM companies because MLMs are:

1) Cheap to start
2) Come with training
3) Have an "Upline" of information (aka coaches and mentors are part of the system)
4) Build a residual income by establishing a team or downline
5) Offer great and cheap personal development programs

When I look back on the resources, time, money, opportunity cost and risk that I spent to get into professional real estate investing, I am astounded at the "startup cost" of the business. In many ways, an MLM would have been safer, cheaper, and faster than becoming a pure real estate investor. Here is why,

Real Estate Investing is:

1) Expensive to start (down payments are expensive and training is expensive)
2) Mistakes are expensive
3) Risk and leverage can crush you
4) No set path for success
5) Coaches and mentors are hard to find

However, as I advance further into Real Estate Investing, I begin to see more similarities between Real Estate and MLM's than differences.

The first similarity is what I would call an information "up-line".

THE UPLINE

One of the biggest mistakes that I made when starting out in business (first music, then debt buying, then real estate) was that until fairly recently, I had absolutely no informational up line. I define an informational up-line as a coach, mentor or teacher who has more experience in the business, a higher degree of success and has accomplished what I was trying to do. Completely ignorantly, I fumbled around in the dark for far too long making costly mistakes. Appropriate coaches and mentors could have prevented 90% of my mistakes, but I was too cheap to hire one.

"The only way to know the right steps to take is to study with those already taking the right steps. Douglas Vermeeren"

MLM's are smart businesses because many of them come with an up-line of information. The up-line shows you the ropes and teaches you how to achieve success in the business. In real estate investing, I have paid some obscene fees to coaches and mentors to correct my past mistakes and take my business to the next level. What is even crazier than the fees I pay are the results. Although the fees are high, the results are always worth it. If you are in real estate investing, and don't have an "up-line" to help you on your path, I would suggest that you get one immediately. Of course, your "up-line" will have to be paid somehow, so consider paying a fee or give them equity in a deal you are doing. One of the reasons why I love real estate is that it is a blank canvas, whatever you wish to create, you can create. The possibilities are endless.

A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside of yourself – Oprah Winfrey

THE DOWNLINE

In multi level marketing, there is an up-line of experienced mentors to help you in the business, and of course, you have a downline underneath you to push you to higher levels of success. In real estate investing, you must build a downline as well. The downline, in my opinion, is everyone on your team who helps you build a passive income. These people are:

1) Your contracting teams
2) Your wholesalers
3) Your bird dogs
4) Your realtors
5) Your property managers
6) Other investors who invest in you and refer business to you

I have made it my mission to adopt the Coca-Cola philosophy and "pay everyone who touches the product". Anyone who refers business to me, whether it be realtors, bird dogs or other investors, will always get paid in cash or equity because these people make me income, and mostly passive income. It's my job to be the up-line and train everyone on the team to work together, work efficiently and work the way I want them to work. I must educate them so that they can be the best team members possible and help me achieve success.

THE SUMMARY

The more I study the business of real estate investing, the more I see that real estate is the same as an MLM company. If you are not yet started in real estate, I would recommend joining an MLM for the training to learn how to run a business. More investors fail to become professional investors because of a lack of soft skills in general business. Many investors know how to do deals (real estate is very primitive), but have no idea how to run a business. The skills you can learn by joining an MLM are priceless. I chose to bi-pass this education and paid a much higher price for my skills. Looking back, having an MLM business on the side would have saved me a lot of time, money and effort. If you are in real estate today, make sure you have an up-line and build a profitable down-line - It's imperative to your success.

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!

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

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



In Stocks, Insider Trading is illegal. In Real Estate, Insider Trading is essential.

In any market, there are insiders and there are outsiders. When corporate executives on Wall Street buy or sell stocks in their own companies with “insider knowledge”, they go to jail. When a real estate investor gets first chance to purchase a property privately without public knowledge, he gets rich.

Markets like Wall Street are set up like Casinos and TV stations like BNN are funded by Stockbrokers to create excitement and encourage trading. The brokers get paid when trades happen, so they want their audience on BNN to get emotional and make trades. BNN will run stories that pump the emotions of the audience just to make money, the information is not provided to make actual sound decisions.

When emotions go up, intelligence goes down and the house always wins… and you are not the house.

In my opinion, the Stock market is not designed for you to win. It’s a game played by insiders and institutional investors who control their own information. For the average retail investor, there is very little control in stocks, unless you are an insider.

I prefer to control my investments, control the management and control the outcome of my returns. I also prefer to make purchases as an insider with access to the necessary information to make profitable decisions.

Information is king in the market and he who controls the information, controls the market.

In Real Estate you can become an insider by:

1)   Having a large network of other investors

2)   Having a large network of lawyers

3)   Posting private advertisements for deals

4)   Offering referral programs

5)   Having a large network of Realtors

6)   Public speaking in front of groups of investors

7)   Creating content, blogs and videos for consumption

8)   Having a network of property managers

9)   Having a network of private lenders

10)                   Becoming the biggest, most visible person in the market

The truth is, becoming an insider is quite simple in Real Estate. The best deals always come to those who are 1) The most visible 2) Most connected and 3) The ones who control the information in the market.

When a real estate deal hits the local market with a Realtor, the deal has already been cherry picked by at least 8 sets of eyes. The fewer sets of eyeballs that see the deal before hitting the market, the higher the chances are to profit.

In high school it’s easier to date the girl who is the bookworm than it is to date the prom queen.  The prom queen has so many more sets of eyeballs on her so her value is way over-inflated and there is a line up of guys dying to get a chance with her. Avoid the prom queen at all costs and go for the bookworm. With some lipstick and high-heels she can easily be the prom queen, but with a much lower cost.

This analogy applies directly to Real Estate. By the time a house hits the retail market, multiple Realtors have looked at it, at least one broker, a few secretaries, assistants, everyone in the immediate circle from the seller, all of the realtor’s best clients, all of the broker’s best clients, contractors and then other buyers who get to it first.

By the time the property gets to you, everyone has explored any easy chances for profit and you and you are usually too late to the party. Plus, you now have to pay the price that the seller wanted plus the commissions of 2 realtors and 2 brokers. Negotiating becomes muddled because the realtors always have their own interests above their clients and sometimes the brokers can complicate negotiations as well.

When all of these “professionals” get involved, prices begin to rise and favorable terms disappear. All options for good terms or no money down deals go out the window because the Realtors will kill any chances of a “creative deal”. They want to get paid their commissions immediately and do not care about the price or terms of the deal: They just want the transaction to happen regardless of outcome.

However, when you become an insider, or partner with an insider, you get first access to deals before anyone else gets a chance to look.

The best deals I have done have come from:

1)   Other investors who could not close on private deals

2)   Private ads I have placed

3)   My networks and relationships

Being active in the market, participating in local investor groups, having an online presence, private advertising and public speaking have created an insider position for myself in my market. Being visible and sending a clear message that I am “always looking for deals” has attracted excellent opportunities that are well under market value, under appraised value, 100% vendor financed, or no money down. The average person believes that these deals do not exist or are not possible in their local market. The truth is, these deals are available everywhere, but you need to become an insider or partner with an insider to take advantage of them.

The best deals are made and are not advertised on the market because they never ever make it to market. This rule applies to any market: the best girls to date are not advertised on e-harmony, match.com or at the local bar. To find real value in life and in the market, we must become the insider, become well connected, become visible and control the information around us.

The best deals are reserved for insiders, everyone else can pay full price.

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

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

By: Stefan Aarnio

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

Remember: Please share this article if you found it helpful

“We have this notion in America of the Lone Ranger/Batman type - you know - someone who takes on the world alone. But in reality, all successful people need help. We need advisors, coaches, lenders, customers, and clients. True we ourselves have to do the work, but our "team" that we put together - makes it all worth-while. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can reach our goals.” – Robert Shemin

Although many entrepreneurs enter the field of business alone, achieving success in just about any field is impossible without a team.

This is especially true in business where “lone rangers” get squashed on a daily basis by teams of professionals.

1)   The local “mom and pop burger shop” gets wiped out by McDonalds,

2)   The local “mom and pop hardware store” gets crushed by Home Depot

3)   The local “mom and pop” department store gets destroyed by Wal-Mart.

These small “lone ranger” businesses may provide better services than Walmart; They may provide better burgers than McDonalds and they may offer more expertise than Home Depot. However, they cannot compete with teams of professionals that make up the talent at Wal-Mart, Home Depot or McDonalds.

One thing that separates “mom and pop” from the Walmarts, Home Depots and McDonalds is that “Mom and Pop” have to sleep: Walmart, Home Depot and Mcdonalds don’t.

Kevin O’Leary, Canadian Investment Guru, once said that he prefers investments that make money while he sleeps.

Investors make decent returns when their money grows during business hours... However, the same investors get rich when their money keeps working for them after they have gone to sleep.



In real estate investing, many investors don’t consider themselves to be entrepreneurs. Most investors manage their own properties, hammer their own nails, paint their own walls, lease their own suites and pick their own deals.

Most real estate investors do not get ahead because they are too busy pinching pennies at the $10 an hour level to make serious dollars at the CEO level.

In order to break out of the $10/hour mentality, it’s up to the entrepreneur to break the link between time and money.

Most of us are taught from an early age that:

Time = Money

In reality, time does not equal money:

·      Sales = money

·      Assets = money

·      Brand = money

·      Press = money

·      Information = money

When time equals money, we are stuck in an advanced form of slavery. We must trade hours for dollars. The problem with this model is that we only have a limited amount of hours and cannot make money while we sleep.

Sandman Empire: (noun) An empire of business or real estate created passively through a joint venture or partnership between a passive money partner and an active working partner. The active working partner handles all aspects of the business and the money partner is only responsible for financial backing. The passive partner is removed from all operations and can essentially sleep; hence the word “sandman”.

Investors who can create a “Sandman Empire” can earn serious returns in a completely passive way and have unlimited earning potential: Investors who fail to create a “Sandman Empire” are limited by time, focus, management, skill sets and capabilities.

But how can one create a “Sandman Empire”?

In investing, there are two types of investors: Active Investors and Passive Investors.

Active Investors are essentially entrepreneurs. They pick their own deals, manage their operations, manage their contractors and run the enterprise. Naturally, these entrepreneurs get the highest returns possible and in many ways, they take a risk on themselves to perform and run the enterprise profitably. Active investors may or may not invest money into their enterprise. Since they invest their entire lives into the business, usually they do not have money invested.

Passive Investors are more like silent partners who park their money with an Active Investor. Silent partners trust the Entrepreneur to run the enterprise profitably. Silent Partners need to be proficient at analyzing people and deals. These Passive Investors are the ones who get the benefits of building a “Sandman Empire” if they can select the right Entrepreneur to grow their money.

Usually passive investments have lower returns than active investments. However, Passive investors can get much higher returns by partnering with an Active Investor and splitting the profits.

If a Passive Investor can find the right Active partner, the possibilities are endless. When financial backing is paired with time and talent, tremendous value and profits can be created.

However, if the Active partner is not chosen correctly, massive financial destruction can occur; including losing the investor’s capital or worse.

A Passive Investor must perform proper due diligence on their Active Partner before “taking a leap of faith” and making a final decision to place their money with him or her.

Some questions that need be answered in the due diligence period are:

1)   Does the Active Investor have experience with these types of assets?

2)   Does the AI have experience with this strategy?

3)   How do we recover if things don’t go according to plan?

4)   Has the AI lost money before? How did he or she handle the loss?

5)   What is the track record of the AI, does it show success? Is he or she hiding anything?

6)   Has the AI built an adequate team? Can the team handle the additional business that the Passive Investor is funding?

7)   How has the AI handled himself when things went wrong? Can he turn bad luck into good luck?

8)   What transparency is offered?

9)   What options does the Passive Investor have to exit if things don’t go right?

10)                 Does the AI have good relationships? Is he loyal and in what way?

11)                 What is the brand of the AI? What does he stand for?

12)                 Is the AI 100% focused and committed to the venture or does he or she have a day job? Do you want a “weekend warrior” managing your money?

13)                 What is the X-factor for this AI? What makes him the over-the-top best choice for your dollars? Are you investing in someone who takes care of the details and provides an excellent product and experience? Or just another “real estate guy”?

If an Active Investor can provide satisfactory answers to all of these questions, then he or she is a prime candidate to build a “Sandman Empire”.

Of course you will have to trust and verify all of the answers to make sure that the “walk” matches the “talk”. When it comes to money, people will say whatever they have to get your dollars. Don’t be a victim of bad due diligence, put your potential partner through extensive scrutiny, ask the hard questions and make sure that you have a competent, trustworthy partner to build your empire while you sleep.

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Aarnio

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

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

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: 
Please share this article if you found it insightful.

"The grass is always greener on the other side, until we get to the other side and realize that the other side requires watering and maintenance too" - Dr. Nido Qubein

Focus brings clarity to the mind.

Focus brings success.

Focus brings happiness.

Happiness in life is determined by what we focus on and choose to think about. If we are focused on our passions, obsess over them and think about them all day long, we live very happy and productive lives.

However, the enemy of focus is options.

Have you ever noticed that some of the least happy people are the ones with the most options?

The media is littered with rich and famous celebrities who have all of the options in the world: They can live where they want, spend their time how they want, eat what they want, drive what they want, have the house that they want, and have the means to completely design a perfect life and yet, many people who "have it all" are miserable and pursue hard drugs to escape reality at all costs.

These people have too many options and when the mind has too many options, focus erodes along with sanity and happiness.

In my own life, I have had periods where I had "too many options" and was on top of the world. Surprisingly, too many options also bred discontent, unhappiness and even mild depression and anxiety.

When we think we have too many options, we always ask "what if I had gone the other direction?", "what if had chosen differently", "what if I had dated that other girl"...

Eventually the mind tears itself apart, focus decays and we are left in a sea of "what if's" with no commitment or focus to any one thing.

On the flip side, there are people in the world who have the "luxury of no options".

We see people in marriages who have "no option" to get divorced and they work on their problems until they find happiness in the relationship.

We see people in businesses who have "no option" to quit  and these people always reach success because failure is not an option.

We see people in life who have "no option" of an alternate path and they become the most wildly successful people in their fields because they have the "luxury of no options".

All of these people have the highest levels of focus and absolutely zero chance of defeat.

When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain to wage war with the British Tribes, he ordered his men to "burn the boats". His troops would either be victorious in battle, or they would all die in battle - no one goes home through failure. Caesar gave his men "the luxury of no options" and he was victorious in his campaign.

The Spartan warriors of ancient Greece had a similar mentality. Death before dishonour was a mantra that accurately describes the Spartan war machine and they are known throughout history as the most battle hardened, persistent, fearsome, victorious, disciplined warriors of all time. The Spartans created a culture based around "the luxury of no options" and this culture created a brand of warrior that is still studied in modern military schools and will continue to be famous for ages to come.

When we look at the most successful business people, a common element for Entrepreneurs is that they find themselves in a "no options" situation early in life. Usually successful Entrepreneurs have parents who are either dead or incompetent and they have to take over the family business at a very young age. This was true for Fred Trump (Donald Trump's father), Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" and a modern examples would be Curtis Jackson (50 Cent).

Other entrepreneurs who find "the luxury of no options" choose a path in life at a young age and give themselves no way to retreat.

I was reviewing the "30 richest drummers in the world" list and two names that stuck out at me were Tre Cool of Greenday with a net worth of $45 million dollars and Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters with a net worth of $225 million.

Both Dave Grohl and Tre Cool dropped out of school at age 16 to play punk music. They had "the luxury of no options", burned the boats and had no way of reversing their choice.

The "luxury of no options" brings clarity and focus to the mind which is an extremely powerful tool because the mind will always find a way to achieve any vision that it is focused upon. 

Where most high school drop-outs are perceived as derelict losers who wander through life, three of the greatest entrepreneurs of the information age were all drop outs: Steve Jobs (Co-Founder of Apple), Bill Gates (Founder of Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook Founder).

These men all made a choice in university to burn the boats and choose the "luxury of no options".

In my own life, the happiest, most exciting, most relevant moments of my life have all been moments where I had put myself into a "no options" situation.

I was forced to leave the corporate world (something that many people struggle with) because if I didn't quit my job, then I would be bankrupt in 3 months. Even while earning a nice comfortable salary at my job, I would still be bankrupt if I stayed. With "the luxury of no options", I quit my job, woke up every day with the intentions of finishing my failing real estate development. I was 110% focused on finishing the development at all costs and did not leave the job site daily until it was too dark to work. 

Life becomes very simple and fulfilling when there are no options. Every morning, the only thing I thought about was finishing the development. Every afternoon, the only thing I thought about was the development and every evening, the only thing i thought about was the development.

I had become immersed in my work, my focus became crystal clear, failure was not an option and I was happier than ever before. What is more interesting is that my chance of failure dramatically dropped to zero. There was literally no chance for the project to fail once I had found "the luxury of no options".

My contractor's truck was broken, so we couldn't haul materials. I loaded up my small 4 door sedan with doors, toilets and vanities (none of which fit in a small car) and drove around town to 6 different suppliers to get the necessary supplies to the job site. My general contractor, who had mentally given up on finishing the project, was amazed that I was hauling large building supplies in a small sedan and not a truck. I drove my small car with doors, lumber and vanities sticking out the passenger windows and the trunk. I had to take back roads so that the police wouldn't pull me over. My general contractor had given up, but I had "the luxury of no options."

We had no labour to paint the building, so I put on my painter clothes and painted every day myself while also hiring  anyone I could find on Kijiji to paint. I also attracted friends and family help with the labour because I had found "the luxury of no options" and everyone could see the high stakes and the importance of my success.

Somehow, the project was completed and successful within 45 days of quitting my job (I had 90 days to complete it). With the experience, I had learned some of the most valuable lessons of my life so far: 

• When a person has their back to the wall and has no options, the failure rate for that person dramatically drops (almost to zero) and the success rate dramatically increases (almost to 100%).
  
• When a person has no options their focus level sky-rockets. They become obsessed with succeeding. All distractions and procrastination are silenced.
• Every obstacle becomes a non-issue because the motivation level of a person with no options is inhumanly strong.
• A person with no options can achieve super-human feats that the average person with "options" will marvel at.

As a real estate investor, I frequently see part time corporate people who want to make a "smooth" transition into full-time real estate investing. For many people, quitting the corporate world and taking full control of one's time is major desire. However, this desire is often not strong enough to actually put together a concrete plan and stick to it.

For myself, my passion and desire was so strong that I put myself in a situation where I found "the luxury of no options" by accident and became successful by default. Failure was not an option for me because I literally had no options - it was live or die.

I feel the pain of the people who badly desire full control of their time and want to leave the corporate world in a "smooth" way. But after studying success, I'm not sure if there really is a possibility of a fast and smooth transition.

I'm fully convinced that there is a slow and smooth way, but I'm not sure if that method will satisfy the soul's hunger for freedom.

To paraphrase the words of Robert Kiyosaki; We can only choose one of two things in life; security or freedom. Those who choose security, end up with maximum security which is maximum security prison. Those of us who choose freedom, end up with maximum freedom, which is zero security.

For the men and women who find themselves with "the luxury of no options", they only have one choice and that is freedom at all costs. Any security they once had has been obliterated and there is only one chance for survival. 

Freedom is the only choice for these people and they pursue it with a life or death vigour that is absolutely unstoppable.

What would you give up to have "the luxury of no options"?

Have you ever found yourself in a "No options" situation? What was the outcome?

Do you value security or freedom? Which are you currently pursuing?

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it insightful.

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Please share this article if you find it educational!

Photo: Soldiers in the Afrika Korps with an 88mm gun.

A wise man once said "wars are won by legs, not by arms".

One interpretation of this quote is: battles are won by distance covered, not by physical strength exerted in one battle.

By covering more distance, smaller armies throughout history have been able to wear down massive opponents and take victory over large distances.

Atilla the Hun was able to wreak havoc on the much larger roman legions by having a fast, small, elite, mobile force. 

Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps were able to beat the british into the submission in World War II with a small elite, mobile force.

Lawrence of Arabia employed similar tactics in the pre World War II era that have evolved into modern day guerrilla warfare.

There are two commonalities between Atilla the Hun, Erwin Rommel and Lawrence of Arabia. All 3 men employed the following into their strategy and tactics:

1. Speed
2. Distance

In the days of the Roman empire, business and war were synonymous - there was no separation between business and war. Business was war and war was business. Men in Roman society became wealthy through the spoils of war and later in life would venture into real estate, trade or politics. This is why books like  "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu are found in the Business section of the book store and not the War section. The same principles that apply in warfare also apply in business.

Speed and Distance are just as powerful on the battlefield as they are in the boardroom and let me elaborate on why.

In business, speed wins. First mover advantage, speed of implementation, and velocity of money are all concepts that revolve around speed. In business if you have a chance to be fast or slow, most of the time it is better to be fast.

In business and warfare, distance is just as important as speed. Strategically, we need to have a short position, a medium position and a long position. Whether we are building a company or managing an investment portfolio.

Our ability to win over distances whether short, medium or long is imperative to success.

Strategies that are effective in short positions may not be effective in medium positions and medium positions will not offer the same advantages as long positions.

In business, we need to have an effective mix of 3 types of strategies to be effective over distances and become a leader in the market.

In my past businesses, I focused too much on "long" positions and neglected my short and medium positions.

I would load up my real estate portfolio with long position buy-and-hold cash flow real estate. In my music business, I would pour my time, effort and energy into producing a long term brand strategy and forget my short term strategy. In my debt buying business, again, I had a long term cash-flow strategy but no short or medium position.

These businesses were aggravating, painful and hard to grow because there was no short or medium strategies to generate the cash needed to properly grow and expand.

This summer I began to study JT Foxx. JT Foxx is a very successful real estate investor who has transacted over 500 deals in five years, partnered with some very large money partners and currently owns a huge speaking and coaching business.

JT has very good business acumen and I noticed that he has weighted his business transactions around short positions and the "shortest ways to make money".

The 4 Shortest Ways to Profit

1)   Flipping real estate - Flipping real estate has always been one of the fastest ways to make money in history. Real estate allows an investor to make huge leveraged gains with little or no work and if you do your homework, real estate can be turned in 30-90 days with little to no effort. If you're in real estate, this should be a strategy used often as part of your portfolio and overall strategy.

2)   Local marketing/branding other people - Selling marketing and branding services to local businesses is a very fast way to make large profits. Most business people have no clue about marketing and branding and will pay large sums of money to learn marketing and branding techniques. This is especially apparent in Real Estate Investing and Internet Marketing. Where there is pain, there is profit and branding/marketing is place where many entrepreneurs feel lots of pain. Many companies make large fast profits by relieving this pain.

3)   Public speaking - Donald trump charges $250,000 an hour to speak in public. Raymond Aaron and Tony Robbins have both made over $1,000,000 in an hour giving speeches. Most people would rather be dead than to be speaking in front of an audience. However, this is one of the fastest, most lucrative endeavours for an individual if executed properly. There is enormous leverage in public speaking and tons of branding opportunity. Consider the value of this avenue for a short term strategy in your business. This strategy can be offered for free (just for branding value and lead generation) or it can be monetized - who doesn't love options?

4)   Joint ventures - This year I built my company from the ground up using none of my own money because I used joint ventures to build it. Joint ventures are the fastest, highest leverage business tool available. Only 2% of entrepreneurs know how to use Joint Ventures and this gives savvy entrepreneurs an advantage. Credit Card companies and fortune 500 companies derive major profits from Joint Ventures while small entrepreneurs try to do everything themselves. Whenever I am missing a resource, I will source a JV partner; "why try to own everything?" I have become a specialist in Joint Ventures and I am never low on resources because I know how to create favourable deals for everyone. Some greedy entrepreneurs don't like Joint Ventures because they have to give up a percentage of their business for access to extra resources. In the words of Mark Cuban; "Would you rather have half a watermelon or a whole grape?"

After learning the 4 "shortest ways to profit", I began to re-think my business. I have began restructuring it and adding short and medium positions to my long positions and have begun to find balance. Today my business is healthier than ever and my strategy going forward is more sound. I recommend you review the "4 shortest ways to profit" and plan to implement at least one of the 4 strategies into your business in the next 60 days.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Remember to share this article if you found it useful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

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

Today I spent the day with two of  my Joint Venture coaching students and I was helping them build their Real Estate Joint Venture business from the ground up.

We built the outline of a business plan, a vision plan and a marketing plan - all very important elements to a successful business.

The most important of the three plans (for forward growth and sales) is easily the marketing plan.

Access to capital is a problem that real estate investors and entrepreneurs always have. We always run out of capital, invevitably. We aggressively invest in real estate, systems and people and we are constantly undercapitalized. There never seems to be enough capital to do everything that we want to do and play the game at the pace we want to play.

I showed my students a technique today that really helps to bring customers in the door and reconnect with our social networks that may or may not be properly "touched" by their personal branding and marketing.

Relationships are the core of the Real Estate businesses (or any business) and  all revenues, whether direct or indirect come from having good relationships.

The problem with relationships is that they take constant maintenance to stay alive.

Some people may say that the "Grass is greener on the other side" until they find that the grass on the other side needs watering and maintenance as well - Relationships are very much like grass and require lots of work.

My students today were new investors who have done 3 deals to date. They have only used their own money to this point and they are ready to start growing their business by taking on Joint Venture money partners. 

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Please share this article if you find it educational!

What does Coca-Cola, the 59th company on the Fortune 500 and the multi-trillion dollar illegal drug industry have in common?

Both Coca-Cola and Illegal Drugs have:

1. Worldwide organizations
2. Highly addictive consumable product
3. Both have insane profit margins
4. Can operate in areas where governments fail (such as war torn zones and socially unstable areas of Africa)
5. Line ups of customers waiting to purchase a specific product and will accept no imitations
6. There is a concentrated "producer" in both models and a large network of "distributors". Coca-Cola makes it's own syrup and hundreds of "bottling companies" distribute and bottle the mix of water and syrup.
7. Established networks of dealers who get paid to move product

Years ago, I was watching a documentary on a war-torn country in Africa. The government had been wiped out and it was nearly impossible to re-establish a government because of civil unrest. Local warlords were constantly threatening any group that wished to take power and the entire country was in chaos.

The documentary also enlightened me as to why Coca-Cola was able to operate in an environment where there was no government or regulatory body to protect their supply chains from bandits, child armies and criminals.

One African man who worked for Coca-Cola attributed the success of the company to the fact that "everyone who touches the product gets paid". This means that everyone who carries it, sells it, distributes it, transports it or markets it gets paid. Government protection or not, this business can function ANYWHERE.

The multi-trillion dollar network of illegal drugs works in the same way that Coca-Cola does. These organizations face daunting odds and have gone to "war" with formidable foes like The United States of America. However, these cartels function and thrive because they have the same philosophy driving their business:

"Everyone who touches the product gets paid".

The farmers who farm the raw materials get paid, the people who process the ingredients get paid, the drug mules get paid, the networks of dealers get paid etc.

Coca-Cola and Illegal drugs have the exact same supply chain philosophy and can operate anywhere in the world against all odds. Both entities have a "Pay Everybody" philosophy and have created an extremely smooth, well organized, well oiled machine.

But what does this mean for you and your business?

Only 2% of business owners understand Joint Ventures, although most of the Fortune 500 companies derive significant revenues from creating joint ventures. 

A joint venture is where two companies, people or organizations align their goals for mutual benefit.

The most simple joint ventures are referral commissions: If a customer is referred to a company, the company receiving the referral will pay an ongoing commission on all business done between the new customer and the business. This is extremely lucrative for both the referral client and the receiving company. Ongoing revenue is what keeps the relationship strong and creates incentives for the referral client to continuously send business.

Understanding joint ventures is a huge component to becoming the leader in your market or industry. Since only 2% of entrepreneurs truly understand Joint Ventures, you can have an unfair advantage in your market.

In my own business, I have adopted a "Pay Everybody" policy and have had wild success with the program.

I have access to private real estate deals first before they hit the open market, I have access to Capital that I would not normally have access to, my phone rings all day with opportunities for deals and capital and I don't have time to take every call.

This is an extremely good problem to have.

Most businesses/entrepreneurs spend HUGE budgets on advertising and marketing, I spend virtually zero dollars, but I pay for results.

If someone refers me a private deal, they receive a handsome $500 "thank-you" fee. If another investor has a good deal under contract, I will generally pay $1000-$5000 to purchase the contract and take on the deal myself. I have similar programs in every aspect of my business and I don't spend any money on advertising because:

I pay for results, NOT promises.

In the past, I have been murdered on advertising. A year ago I spent $2700 on a print ad that generated ONE PHONE CALL for my business!

One pathetic inbound phone call and NO SALE. Just a $2700 lead.

I was furious, felt like I had been ripped off by the advertising company and vowed to never ever repeat this mistake. I felt like I was the victim of a ridiculous joke and I will be extremely cautious to repeat any form of print advertising.

Nowadays, I spend $0 on advertising and my phone rings off the hook because I have learned a lesson from Coca Cola and Drug dealers... I make sure everyone who touches my product is paid. I make sure everyone is paid well and happy to work with me. If someone doesn't like working with me, I let them leave and work with someone else. I surround myself with a network of outstanding peers and highly competent people who get my phone to ring off the hook.

Unfortunately, so many entrepreneurs are too short sighted or too cheap to pay commissions to keep their people happy. This is why so many companies cannot retain good talent, spend huge dollars on advertising and eventually become weak and vulnerable from attrition to their teams and advertising budgets. There are few things in business that are more expensive than employee attrition and advertising.

Learn from Coca Cola and Drug Dealers and implement the "Pay Everybody" strategy in your business. If you build a good program and stick with it then you will see wild results in 30 days.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Share this article if you found it educational!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Please share this article if you found it educational.

Speed is a virtue that has been coveted throughout the ages.

In the jungle, animals with speed would dominate the terrain over bigger slower animals. In evolution, animals that developed to be large with heavy armour always died out to animals that were lighter, faster and with sharp teeth and claws.

In warfare, throughout the ages, the faster more mobile armies were always able to wipe out  slower, heavily armoured forces. Whether we are referring to Atilla the Hun with his mounted archers vs the slow, heavily armoured  Roman Legion; or Hitler in WW2 with his Blitzkrieg forces that dominated the sedentary french and polish troops. 

Speed is a virtue in all arenas and is a key to victory.

Today in technology, companies that can embrace change and implement with great speed are the ones that survive. In the past, a company like Apple was able to innovate with products like the iPod, take the market by surprise and implement new ideas before any competitors could react. Apple would take over and dominate a market long before a competitor could think of stepping in.

Think of iPods... Small children call all music players iPods. A little girl will point to an analogue record player and say "look daddy, that's a big iPod!" - that is the power of speed.

In real estate investing, or investing in general, speed (in my opinion) is the difference between a novice, intermediate and advanced investor.

I was having dinner with a friend of mine tonight and we were talking about our goals for the upcoming year 2013. Every real estate investor, regardless of skill level, always wants to add more transactions and doors to their portfolio.

I mentioned to my friend that I was setting the goal of doing 100 transactions this year. This was way out of my friend's context and he couldn't comprehend that kind of volume or speed. He asked me how many transactions I have completed in 2012: "12-16 by the end of the year" was my estimate. He was impressed with my ambition and wanted to know how I was going to have an 800% increase in my business.

The answer is speed, some experts would say "velocity of money".

The general classifications for Real estate investors can be defined as follows:

1. Novice investors do less than 5-6 transactions per year
2. Intermediate investors do 1 transaction per month or 12+ transactions per year.
3. Advanced investors do 100+ transactions per year

The only difference between these three investors is speed. 

NOTE: There is likely little difference in the quality of transactions between skill levels. There are many astute and careful, slow, novice investors who can earn the same or better returns then an experienced advanced investor. However, the difference between the novice and advanced is that the advanced investor does more deals, executes them faster and utilizes opportunities to compound results. 

The advanced investor is a cheetah in the jungle and the novice is the turtle.

There is nothing wrong with being the turtle, however, the cheetah will be dominant in the market and will have access to the best opportunities and more capital due to visibility.

A problem I have had in my past businesses has been velocity. In the past, I gravitated towards slow "residual" type businesses.

1. One of my first businesses was a self-employed guitar practice where I traded my time for money. This was extremely slow because, although I had lots of clients and low over head, it was very difficult to compound or grow this business. The residual "cash-flow only business model" made it very hard to grow because there was never an injection of cash or credit. Every month I would take 22-25 little cheques into the bank and cash them. There was never a big cheque that could instigate growth.
2. Another business I started in my early twenties was my Debt buying business. Debt buying is a very simple concept. Debt buyers buy charged off, non performing credit cards (or other debt products) for pennies on the dollar and outsource them to collection agencies for residual income. However, this business is also a residual, cash flow business and it was very hard to grow this business without taking on large debt and long term risk as well.
3. My third business was my buy-and-hold Joint Venture real estate portfolio. This business was great because I could Joint Venture with many money partners and have growth every month, but the growth and speed was linear, and again, I was seduced by the cash flow of the business and was not looking at the speed of the business. A deal would take me 1 whole month to find, get under contract, find a JV partner, deal with the financing, deal with the legal, take over the property, fix the problems on acquisition, show the suite to tenants, lease up and then repeat. I became trapped in my own labour and the velocity of this strategy kept me small. I was a turtle.

All of these businesses are functional: However, the businesses above are slow, cannot grow on their own cash, cannot expand easily, cannot gain any market share and have a disproportionate amount of risk and liability when compared to the upside.

The debt buying business and the buy-and-hold JV's also are big and clunky because they rely on debt financing and bureaucratic approval from banks etc. to grow.

These models are the slow and heavily armoured roman legions that were destroyed by the fast moving mounted cavalry of Atilla the Hun. The Huns were fast, mobile, light, hit the battle field by surprise and cherry picked the best opportunities on the field.

My new strategy does not focus on buy and hold, instead it focuses on three FAST strategies:
 

1. Wholesaling
2. Lease options
3. Buy-fix-sell

Because my goal is to have 100 TRANSACTIONS and not hold 100 DOORS at the end of the year, I must focus on fast strategies. Speed is key and I don't want to get weighed down in a slow, long renovation or a long term buy and hold (although these are good models).

Three of the fastest Real Estate strategies (in my opinion) are wholesaling, lease options and buy-fix-sell.

However, to see the effects of choosing fast strategies, lets see the following strategies in terms of TIME so that we can compare them to the slower strategies I used to use.

1. Wholesaling has a time frame of less than 30 days, usually 7-14. It is a fast, no debt, "no buy" strategy that creates fast cash and fast transactions.
2. Lease options have a time frame of less than 30 days to fill or set up. They are fast, can have no debt, are a "no buy" strategy that creates fast cash and fast transactions.
3. Buy-fix-sell has a time frame of less than 90 days (I have completed some buy-fix-sells in 30 days, but that isn't every deal). These deals are fast, carry debt (sometimes hard money), require capital for acquisition but create more profits with slightly more work.

Every single strategy I am using can be executed within a 30 day time frame. Time is the real currency in the market, not money. Money can be manipulated and recreated after it is lost... Time is lost forever when wasted and it is the REAL limiting factor in any business.

Since I have chosen 3 fast, "light on debt and cash" strategies, I am confident that with the right team and systems, I can achieve my goal of 100 transactions and earn the rights to the title of "advanced investor".

If you are interested in working together on a deal for a share of the profits, please contact me on the freedomway.ca contact page and we will see if we have a fit.

In the meantime,

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it educational.

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

It always amazes me to see the thought patterns of novice and intermediate real estate investors. In Winnipeg (my home market) properties are relatively cheap compared to the rest of Canada. Properties are even considered "affordable" when compared to other markets in Canada. Winnipeg scores very well on the national affordability index.

But here's the downside of being so affordable...

Since properties are "affordable" in Winnipeg, many novice and intermediate real estate investors get lazy and actually use their own cash and lines of credit to buy properties. Eventually they will always run out of cash or credit and then they either stop growing or change their mindset. What I have seen happen in Winnipeg is that we have a good number of investors who have decent day jobs, between 1 and 10 doors (depending on the age of the investor) and their resources are usually tied up or close to maxed out.

To grow the real estate business further, it's time to think outside the box.

I started out in real estate investing at the age of 23 and had NO CASH from day one. So if I wanted to play the game, I had to operate with NO CASH. Every dollar that comes into my business is re-invested... but not into properties, because I play the game of NO CASH.

So where does my money go when I earn it? What do I buy instead of saving up for down payments? How do I operate a real estate business with NO CASH?

There are two things that I think every entrepreneur/real estate investor should be purchasing with their hard earned dollars - and it is not more property!

If you want to grow your business at an exponential and geometric rate you must buy two things: Time and Talent.

There is a term in investing and business called Velocity. Velocity is the speed at which money moves. When I started out in Real Estate investing, I was focused on doing 1-2 deals a year. I was a very low velocity investor and I actually tried to use my own cash and credit (which didn't take me far because I had virtually none).

At the time of writing, I am considered an intermediate investor (classified by one transaction a month) and I'm heading towards advanced investor (classified by 100's of transactions a year). The velocity of novice investors, intermediate investors, and advanced investors varies greatly and is the key to moving forward in your career. 

What separates the "men from the boys" when considering intermediate vs. advanced investors? In a general sense, there are only two things differentiating the two: time and talent.

In the past, my mentality would be to use my resources to save up or raise funds for a slow buy and hold. Today my mentality is to use my resources to create lead generation, websites, brands, videos, blogs, articles, photos, seminars, billboards, employees, teams of bird dogs, databases, referral programs, books, social media campaigns to build a web of influence. This web grabs large amounts of leads and maximizes the dollars generated per lead.

All of these bells and whistles attract properties, money partners and strategic partners to me. I have access to the best opportunities and have exponentially increased my chances of success.

To create and maintain this web of influence, I need time and talent. There is no way that I can build all of these things with my limited technical knowledge and finite time.

I buy time by outsourcing a lot of my tasks. Digital tasks are outsourced on eLance.com or crowdSpring.com. Purchase time in depressed economies where you can get time and talent for pennies on the dollar. Physical tasks are outsourced to local contractors or delegated to strategic partners who take a share of the profits.

I buy talent in the same way. I make sure to attract the best talent to my teams, pay people what they ask or more, invest in bonus and reward structures and keep my machine well oiled. Coaches and mentors are new addition to my payroll this year. Free advice is too expensive for me now. You only get ahead in this business by paying and you get to choose between blood, sweat, tears, time and money. You can pay in any way you like and I've already paid in blood, sweat and tears... 

Paid coaches are extremely expensive, but the knowledge and foresight I get from spending time with people who have reached the "advanced" level of investing is ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS. I often see investors scoff at the prices that some coaches and mentors charge, but I think that it is worth every penny. Why re-invent the wheel? Just hire someone onto your team who knows how to build the wheel - it's really simple. I know that I cannot do everything myself and must purchase Time and Talent to reach my goal of "advanced investor".

My goal is to do 100 transactions in 12 months, realistically starting in January 2013 and ending January 2014. It won't be easy, but with the right thinking, systems and coaches, I don't think it will be too hard either. The biggest challenge will be to think differently than I have in the past, because I have already achieved a degree of success, but not the level that I want. I can guarantee that I will not be painting suites or driving around looking at properties every day if I am going to achieve my goal, that is far too inefficient with my time and resources. Instead, I will be purchasing massive amounts of time and talent to execute my strategic plans.

Before we finish reading, ask yourself: Are you purchasing time and talent in your business? If you are, are you purchasing enough? What are you missing? Who are you missing? Who do you have to hire to get you to the next level? How do you need to change your thinking? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
freedomway.ca

P.S. Share this article if you found it helpful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Photo left: Build your tribe with the 3 most important types of capital.

In the world of business, capital is needed to fund ventures, purchase equipment, land, product, time, talent, people, relationships and leads. Most entrepreneurs and Real Estate investors chase and compete for cold hard capital all day long and never learn about the "other" types of capital that are often more important and powerful than cold hard cash.

When I began in business, all I could think about was cash, profits and revenues. I couldn't see the bigger social, educational or relational picture that was taking place around me. Consequently, when I began in the world of business, I was isolated, ignorant, alone and broke. In the animal kingdom I would have been eaten by a large carnivorous predator.

Unfortunately for me, my fascination with traditional capital had blinded me from the true wealth and value that circulates every day and pays zero in taxes to the government. I didn't realize that business is a TEAM sport and that you cannot run it alone with just cold hard money - or lack thereof.

JT Foxx, one of my teachers and mentors, showed me the 4 types of Capital, and the 3 that most people don't think about.

The 4 types of capital:

1)   Capital (real money) for business: This is the type of capital that everyone thinks about. It's cold hard cash and most people chase it and compete for it. In my opinion, this type of capital is the most worthless of the 4 types and very easy to obtain if you understand the other 3 types of capital.

2)   Educational capital, money for your education: This is an extremely important type of capital. Many people finish high school or university and then never invest in their education again. This year alone, I have invested 3x my college education in educational capital and will have it all earned back by the end of the year. This type of capital is absolutely required for you to grow your business. The people who avoid this type of capital move slowly through life, cannot expand their business geometrically and cannot collapse timeframes. THIS TYPE IS ESSENTIAL.

3)   Social Capital – investing in causes etc. We've all heard of social capital, but so many people don't build their business around it. People do not buy products and services, they buy what you believe in. Social capital is created when you do GOOD things for your community. Make sure you give back once in a while. Select a charity to either raise for or volunteer for that aligns with your business and beliefs. This type of capital is extremely important because prosperity attracts prosperity. If you are going to succeed, you need to be an attractor of prosperity and not hoard to create poverty. People who fail to invest in social capital become isolated, alone and vulnerable. DO NOT FORGET ABOUT SOCIAL CAPITAL.

4)   Relational capital – between people. Relational capital, like social capital connects us on a greater level. People are tribal creatures and in the tribal days, isolated tribe members were cannibalized by other tribes or predators in the jungle. Today the world is no different. Relational capital is formed when you take care of the people around you and build solid, long lasting, reciprocal relationships. This type of capital is the glue that teams and tribes are built out of. Without this type of capital, you cannot bind yourself to other people or create strategic partnerships or alliances to take on bigger missions. Build your team, invest in RELATIONAL capital or die alone at the hands of a bigger, stronger tribe.

The very interesting thing about the 4 types of capital is; the more you focus on the unconventional types of capital, the more opportunities, people, deals and cash you attract. Recently in my own business, I have focused on the 3 neglected types of capital and my business has exponentially exploded. I work on the projects I want to while bigger and better opportunities fall into my lap every day. I focus on my network, bringing value to other people and creating synergies with colleagues. This is where successful people find true wealth and satisfaction in life. Stop chasing the money... The harder you chase - the faster it runs.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you find it helpful.