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

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What would you do if you had all of the money in the world? What is money anyways?

One of my favourite quotes about money/success/business is by Donald Trump:

“I wasn’t satisfied earning a good living. I wanted to make a statement”

What I love about this quote is that the money doesn't matter, the deals don't matter, the success doesn't matter, the lifestyle doesn't matter... What matters is the statement that is made by the work. 

Great Artists make statements, for that is the purpose of Art. An artist produces art to make a statement, Donald Trump builds buildings to make a statement, in many ways Donald Trump is an artist.

Donald Trump certainly does not have to get out of bed in the morning and go to work to pay his mortgage or put food on the table. Necessities like food were never a concern for Trump. Life would be empty if he could not create through his work. A starving Artist is the same, he has no material possessions, money doesn't matter and his life is empty without creating through his work.

When you make a commitment to excellence and stand for something, others will be attracted to your message. In a roundabout way, making a statement is what branding is all about.

Today I was sitting in Starbucks with a couple potential Joint Venture Partners and we were interviewing potential contractors to flip houses with. After one candidate left I made the statement to my partners that the contractor was an old "has-been". After a few minutes of discussing the contractor's flaws, a man sitting at an adjacent who had been listening to us talk said to me "you have to have your own crews!"

I replied "I do have my own crew"

We started talking to the man and he said "you were really arrogant with that last contractor". We continued to talk to him and he said "you remind me of me when I was your age".

It turns out that the man who had been listening in on our interviews owns over 5500 rental units in Winnipeg and is one of the most successful investors in the city. We continued to chat for 30 minutes about the business of real estate and he invited myself and my partners to spend some time with him in the new year.

What is amazing about the experience was that if I had not made such a bold statement, we would not have been approached by the very successful investor at the adjacent table. The connection with one of the biggest investors in the city could be very important in the future and I would have never made the connection if I did not make a statement. If I had cold called this successful investor, he would not take my call. However, since he had observed me and saw what I stood for, he reached out to make the connection with me.

Like attracts like and birds of a feather flock together. Put up a flag, show people who you are and what you stand for and you will attract those who think like you do. People are magnets and we attract other people who are charged like us; this is why branding is so important.

Make a statement, make it strong, make it bold and stand by it.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Thanks for reading,
By: 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!

Last weekend I was in Vancouver for the Western Canadian Top Investor Awards hosted by Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine. It was a fantastic event with hundreds of Real Estate investors, service providers and other professionals.

The event was broken down into two major rooms:

1.            A room stage

2.            A room with a trade show

I attended the event with a friend of mine. My friend is a Real Estate investor who started his career this year in July. My friend has done very well for himself and has already acquired a handful of properties in record time. His rapid action and success have earned him a nomination for an award at the show in the category for "Newcomer of the Year" - very impressive indeed.

To myself, the show was rich and abundant with opportunity. Absolutely everyone I needed or wanted to know was at the show. There was ample time for networking, looking at new markets, new business models and creating connections. The event had tremendous value to me.

What I found interesting was that my friend did not see the same kind of opportunity.

I saw tremendous opportunity in every person I met at the show through potential future relationships or contacts. To me, the show was a great way to find industry players, form relationships and create value for everyone.

My friend did not perceive the show the same way. He did not see the same level of opportunity and could not see the connections. 

Were we attending the same show?

Physically, we were attending the same show. Mentally, we were not in the same universe.

I have been to countless events this year, and since June, I have really sharpened my networking skills.

However, If I had attended the trade show 6 months ago, I would not be able to see or find opportunity in the room.

What changed?

My friend, who could not see the immediate opportunities was essentially looking at the room through the eyes I had 6 months ago. He is a novice networker, has no system for networking and lets all of the opportunity slip through his fingers.

My friend walks in the room, says hello, smiles, introduces himself and expects opportunity to fall into his lap.

Unfortunately, the world does not work this way.

In reality, we have to create connection, create value, create opportunities and create relationships much like we create great deals. Great deals are not “found” or “bought” they are made. The same is with relationships and networking.

How many people do we know who are on the dating circuit who are running around trying “Find the right person”? In reality, a relationship with the “right person” is right in front of them in people they interact with everyday. The “right person” is merely a great relationship with ANY PERSON made over time. There is no such thing as Mr. or Mrs. Right, you have to find a “Mr or Mrs. Good enough” and develop the relationship into “Mr. or Mrs. Right”. This is how effective relationships are made.

Business, dating and networking are all the same. We must create and engineer our own opportunity.

Networking is an extremely complex subject that is made up of many moving parts. Everything from dress code, etiquette, 3-second approach, 30 second commercial, triangulating introductions, when and how to give out a card etc. are all subjects for great study. However, today I will focus on sorting.

SORTING AND THE ABC’S OF NETWORKING.

When I approach a room to network and meet people, I like to sort them into “bins”. For myself, I am a real estate investor and there are generally three types of people that I meet: A’s, B’s and C’s.

·      A’s are people who have money or access to money. They are likely very successful and accomplished in a field of choice. These are potential money partners or have access to potential money partners in the future.

·      B’s are people who have deals or access to deals. They are also successful in their field and can be potential deal partners in the future.

·      C’s are people who have no money and no deals. These people may or may not be successful and are potential fans. Fans are people who like you, like your products, like what you do but will likely never become a customer. Fans are very important because if you utilize them effectively, they spread your circle of influence and exponentially grow your network. These people can be great connectors and in some ways they are the most valuable. They can also graduate into the A or B categories in the future.

After you get good at introductions and talking to a new person for for 5 minutes or less, you can quickly estimate which “bin” to categorize your prospect into.

NOTE: I want to make it very clear that I am not placing value judgments’ on these types of people and that A’s, B’s and C’s are all very important for my business. I categorize people so that I know what I can offer to them to connect, bring value to them and form relationships.

It’s very important that you can put a new prospect into the appropriate bin because a conversation with an A will be different than a C. These people are all looking for different things.

For example, an A with money is looking for a place to put his money. It may be appropriate to ask him where he has placed it in the past and why. It may also be appropriate to mention how I generate returns for investors and get verbal permission to contact him in the future when I have a great deal looking for funds. It may also be appropriate to discuss none of the above and “start slow” with the relationship. Etiquette is very important when courting money and you have to play this by ear.

If I encounter a “B” player, it may be appropriate to ask him about the kinds of deals that he has in his inventory. Find out about his market and his product. I may do some research on his market in the future and find out if I want to be bring my business into his niche later. I may have connections that he is looking for and may offer him some of my connections.

If I encounter a “C” player, it may be appropriate to ask him where he wants to be in the future and discuss ways I can help him get there. Does he want to be an active investor or passive investor? Is he open to purchasing training, coaching or mentoring? C players may or may not be looking for information and I may connect them with my blog or another information source to help them become a B or A player in the future. I will integrate these people into my social media programs to stay in touch because some of the best deals I have ever done have come from “C” players. These people may become fans and provide invaluable social capital to your organization.

TIP: Follow up for the A’s, B’s and C’s will be different because they are all looking for different things. 95% of people fail to follow up at all after a networking event. If you have a good sorting system, you can send each type of person an appropriate follow up channel and bring value to them on an ongoing basis.

It takes all types; A’s, B’s and C’s to make a successful business. A’s provide money, B’s provide deals and C’s provide social support. I have become a firm believer that every type of person can contribute value to my organization and have found a way to provide value to everyone and in return see opportunity in everyone I meet.

If I could change one thing about the event on the weekend, it would be lack of C players in the room. There was a ton of A and B players (which is fantastic) but hardly any C players. Although many investors do not like C players because they think they are a waste of time, I find them to be the most valuable in many ways because of the indirect opportunities that come from bringing them into my network.

Your skill as a networker, in my opinion, is gauged by your ability to bring value to any person in any situation.

6 months ago, I had no system for sorting or follow up and I could not find opportunity in a room packed with of people. Now, I can see the opportunities that most people miss and it’s all because I have spent time studying networking and have created ways to connect and bring value to A’s, B’s and C’s.

Since implementing this type of sorting system, I have seen exponential success in my business and have made my life easier by leaps and bounds. I would recommend that you study the ABC’s of networking and find ways to bring value to everyone, regardless of their status in the alphabet.

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 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

Today I spent the day in Edmonton with one of my money partners at the Fast Track SuperConference hosted by Darren Weeks. Darren is the Canadian Rich Dad, one of my mentors and a man who taught me a lesson that has made me successful to this day. I owe much of my success to Darren because I developed a skill set that very few people have (and one that is almost impossible to obtain because so few people teach the art of raising capital). When I worked for Darren I learned 1) How to sell and 2) The art of raising capital.

Darren Weeks is an extremely successful Canadian entrepreneur. His company, the Fast Track Group has been in the top 100 of the fastest growing companies in Profit magazine 3 years in a row, and when I worked for Darren, his team was the 40th fastest growing company in Canada. In my opinion, Darren's personal talent is his ability to identify and assemble groups of amazing people and with unbelievable talent who are motivated by a mission greater than themselves.

Contrary to traditional business models, The Fast Track Group was built around giving out "more education than anyone in the industry". There are few businesses who give first and receive second.

Darren prides himself on the fact that he provides more FREE value to the market than anyone else. To some people, giving out FREE information and building a business around it sounds insane, costly and risky... but I think that consumers nowadays expect FREE gifts and services before they buy - it's the trend in modern business. 

Business models that revolve around FREE gifts and services are especially strong in the financial and real estate sectors right now.

When I was 22 I attended the Fast Track Super Conference in Edmonton, I was absolutely blown away by the calibre of the company. I loved the mission, I loved the people and I loved what the company was doing for Canadians. I wanted to be a part of the group, I could feel the energy and it was infectious.

One thing Darren always used to preach when he was educating his audiences was "if you want to get rich, work for FREE." He would often pick out a young man or woman in the audience who would be just entering the work force and ask them "can you afford to work for FREE?"

Almost every time, the young man or woman would say "absolutely not!" and then Darren would teach the lesson.

The difference between the rich and the middle class/poor is that the rich do not work for money, they work for FREE. This may sound completely ridiculous to your belief system, but hear me out:

Lets consider two scenarios. 

In my personal life, when I was in my early twenties, I had two jobs at two different times. At my first job I worked for money, at my second job I worked for FREE.

MY FIRST JOB (WORKING FOR MONEY):

At age 22 I worked at Frito Lay Canada and my job was to merchandise (which is a fancy word for putting bags of chips on the shelves at 4 in the morning at Wal-Mart).

My primary motive for working with the company was the salary and the hours. I was truly chasing the dollar in every sense of the word. I wanted a salary so I could get mortgages to buy real estate. I took that job for the wrong reasons, didn't learn the proper skills in the field and it became harder and harder to get out of bed every day when I worked there. I had no passion for the industry and felt that there was nothing to learn.  

When I left the company, I had maxed out my purchasing power for properties and but had acquired ZERO skills towards building my own business. Since I had chased the dollar, I had a small cash reserve on hand, however, I had built NO SKILLS or contacts. Although I had made a little bit of money, I had built no human equity in myself, no skills and had no way of propelling myself forward towards my goals, hopes and dreams. In a way, I had traded time for money, lost my time and had crippled myself in a way.

Most people don't consider the skills they learn at work. My advice to young entrepreneurs is to leave their job once they stop learning the skills required to do it. Always work to learn. Move from job to job until you have all of the skills required to run the business of your choice.

Lesson: When it comes to work NEVER chase the dollars, find what excites you, find where your heart is and chase your passions. The money doesn't matter and it always gravitates towards the most enthusiastic people.

MY NEXT JOB (WORKING FOR FREE): I had heard Darren Weeks say on stage "If you want to get Rich, work for FREE". I took his advice, although it challenged my belief system, but I had nothing to lose so I and volunteered for his company whenever he was in town.

Every time Darren was in town, I would dress up in a suit, show up early, leave late, pack and unpack books, process paperwork, seat people, help out with sound-production and do any task that was required of me. I expected NO financial compensation and just wanted to be on the team.

I volunteered for Darren for three years and I applied to work for his company three times. Twice I was rejected for the job and the third time I applied I said, "I have been volunteering at this company over the past 3 years, I have applied twice and been rejected, I will keep applying until you hire me".

I then flew to Edmonton and volunteered at a Fast Track Super Conference event shortly after my interview. Darren Weeks noticed that I had flown from Winnipeg to Edmonton (on my own money) to volunteer to work for him. After the event, he personally took the time out of his evening to offer me a job with the company. 

What Darren didn't know was that I had already been hired to start work with the company and on the following monday I was to begin formal training.

Consider the lesson: working for FREE and volunteering had grabbed the attention of the founder of the company and had brought me onto the team OF MY CHOICE.

Now that I was positioned in the only company I wanted to work for, I got paid to learn more about the topics I was already passionate about. I was in heaven.

I got paid to sharpen my skills and become an extremely valuable asset to myself. I learned the art of sales, how to do public presentations, how to run an office, how to recruit good employees, how to fire bad employees, prospecting, sales tracking, databases, securities regulations and public speaking.

Most importantly, I learned how to raise capital and work with investors. This has been my "secret sauce" in my business and it's what sets me apart from other real estate investors who DO NOT have the skill set.

These skills are the base of my empire and the building blocks of my portfolio. I have based my entire career and current business around skills that I acquired by working for FREE.

Had I not volunteered at the company first, I would have had no chance of working with them. I would be of no value to their tribe and I would not have learned the skill set that makes me valuable today.

Every morning, you would still see a wandering soul putting bags of Doritos on the shelf at Walmart at 5:00am. I would have throttled passions and big dreams, but no way of executing them or aligning with other people who matter.

Lesson: Every week I meet young people who are passionate about a certain field or career. Many people say they are passionate about music, art, acting, sports, television, radio etc. and don't know how to break into those "hard to enter" industries. Whenever I study a highly successful person, I notice that almost all of them worked for FREE scrubbing toilets, mopping floors or doing the most pointless jobs at the bottom of the barrel just to be a part of the industry of their choice. Unfortunately, young people today do not see such opportunity.

Steven Spielberg began his brilliant career in film by just "showing up" to the movie studio, wearing a suit and pretending to be a director in an abandoned office. He was a film student who pretended to work there and snuck into the studio every day. The people at the studio assumed he worked there and eventually his passion for film brought him an opportunity to make his first film.

Steve Jobs of Apple was too poor to pay for his college education so he collected aluminum cans on campus and would cash them in to eat his next meal. Jobs had no money, so he would sit in the university classes for free and let his mind absorb the information. The FREE classes he attended for no credit became the building blocks of the apple philosophy. Steve was genius who blended liberal arts with technology. If he were paying for the classes and chasing marks/credits, he would not have been so creative and open in his approach.

Trent Reznor, the frontman of of the iconic band Nine Inch Nails, got a job as a janitor at a recording studio where he mopped floors and poured coffee for 8+ hours a day. He shared an apartment with a friend and ate peanut butter sandwiches for years just so that he could earn studio time to make his debut record in the middle of the night when the studio was vacant.

The most brilliant people in the world, the people who are at the top of their game and dominate their fields with enthusiasm, passion and leadership often started at the bottom working for FREE.

The reason why working for free is so powerful is:

1. It gets you in the door, an employer can't say "no" to free labor
2. You make contacts in the industry of your choice immediately
3. You learn the business form the "ground up"
4. When a job opens up, you are first in line because you are at the business and eager to work anyways - you are the best choice!
5. If you aren't passionate about the industry you won't last long, you will weed yourself out to find your true passion
6. Over time you gain experience and you will either be hired by the company you are volunteering for OR A COMPETITOR of theirs. This is a no lose strategy if you stick with it.
7. You free your mind from "chasing the dollars" which can limit your creativity. You will approach the industry with a creative, fresh perspective. This is priceless in the long run.

If I lost everything tomorrow, had no skills, no money, no contacts and no experience I would re-discover what I am excited about and offer to work for FREE in the industry.

Of course I would need some income to live, so I would get a job at McDonalds for 8 hours of the day (or another McJob) that is not too stressful, then work for the company of my choice for FREE in the other 8 hours. I would continue this 80 hour a week routine until I am hired by the company of my choice and then I would quit my McJob.

I would then gain all of the skills I need to be successful in my industry and re-evaluate my position. I would likely find a way to start my own business in the same industry and leave as fast as possible as soon as I stop learning.

Exercise: Take a step back from where you spend your time on a daily basis. Ask yourself: Are you chasing dollars? Or are you building valuable skills in an industry of your choice? Is your work based on passion and enthusiasm? Would you keep working there if they stopped paying you?

I used to say when I was in the music industry "You know you're in the right industry when you can work 18 hours a day, lose money and still wake up the next day to do it all over again." Follow your heart and make a choice of passion and NOT logic.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

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

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

In the words of the famous poet John Donne:

"No man is an island."

Whether you are a new born baby or the President of the United States, we all rely on relationships and our networks for our basic survival and our ability to thrive.

For those of us who are pursuing entrepreneurship, business or real estate investing; our relationships are our one and only asset.

We all hear the guru's say: "your network equals your net worth", but how do we build, grow and maintain a rich network of people?

The most successful people in society are the ones who can establish, build and maintain a large number of significant, intimate, relationships.

But how do we connect on a significant level?

Most people are fairly adept at establishing relationships with people who are similar to themselves. They can find similar interests and form "intimacy" and bonds with people who are THE SAME as them over time.

However, most people do not understand the rudiments of establishing a relationship. Further, most people do not know how to master intimacy and bring people closer to them quicker.

Mathew Kelly is an author and relationship expert who wrote one of the books that influenced entitled: "The Seven Levels of Intimacy".

I have studied Mathew's work for years and have applied it in my networking, personal life, sales, negotiations and important meetings. It helps me understand people and truly connect with them so that I can find what they need and actually help them.

Mastering the 7 levels of intimacy can make or break you when meeting someone COLD and you know nothing about them. Many of us are talented at working with WARM meetings, but COLD meetings have higher requirements for establishing connection.

I am naturally a "people person" and can connect very easily with people. However, it's not enough to know HOW to connect... we must understand WHY we connect and HOW connection is established.

The 7 Levels of Intimacy are in sequential order:

1. Cliché's
2. Facts
3. Opinions
4. Hopes and Dreams
5. Feelings
6. Weaknesses and Fears
7. Needs

The seven levels of intimacy work in a sequence. You cannot jump to the next level of intimacy without succeeding on the previous level.

For example, conversations flow through the levels of intimacy in sequence from level 1 to level 7 and they do not deviate from this rule - EVER. It's very hard to jump to the "next level" without satisfying the previous level. Furthermore, if you create a disagreement and blockage at a level, you will not advance into the higher levels until you remove the blockage. These levels need to flow and creating conflict at one level will stop the sequence of connecting.

For illustration purposes, I will artificially construct a conversation between two hypothetical people that could accelerate from level 1-7 in less than 3 minutes:

1. LEVEL 1: Cliché's - ME: "hey, how are you?"... YOU: "I'm good!"
2. LEVEL 2: Facts - ME: "Did you get caught in the rain today?". YOU: "yes I did, I can't believe the amount of rain outside!!"
3. LEVEL 3: Opinions - ME: "What do you think about the Winnipeg Jets coming back to town?" YOU: "I think it's great for the city, it really helps put us on the map."
4. LEVEL 4: Hopes and Dreams ME: "It sure does put us on the map! Why were you running around in the rain today? What would you rather be doing?" YOU: "Ugh, I was running around in the rain because I'm making deliveries for my office, I'd rather be travelling the world!"
5. LEVEL 5: Feelings ME: "How would you feel if you didn't have to run around in the rain any more and could travel the world in the way you want?" ... YOU "I would absolutely love that. Nothing excites me more than travelling".
6. LEVEL 6: Fears/Weaknesses - ME "What is stopping you from pursuing your dream? What's holding you back?" ... YOU "I don't want to burden my family with my selfish dream, I need to support them or they won't survive without me"
7. LEVEL 7: Needs - ME "Hmmm... What would your family need to survive so that you can pursue your dream and everyone remains happy?" YOU "well... etc."

Whenever I am in conversation with someone, whether it is brief 5 minute meeting or a long 2 hour talk, I like to know WHERE I am in the 7 levels of intimacy so that I can accelerate and move to the next level if I feel like I need to.

Everyone has needs, and if you can find another person's needs, you can truly help them and create life lasting bonds and relationships. 

NOTE: If you are selling or negotiating, you cannot "close" until you are on level 7.

The majority of the population are pre-programmed to be socially guarded and will conceal weaknesses and needs until you have successfully moved through levels 1-5.

TIP: Once you have hit level 5 (feelings) you have reached an emotional level and connection starts to begin. 

Many newbie networkers, salespeople or negotiators will ask right of the bat "what are your needs, what do you need?". I especially see this in the network marketing community when I get pitched by new network marketers.

TIP: If you are going to meet someone for lunch, talk for 58 minutes to build a relationship and 2 minutes of transactional business at the very end. Get them up to level 7 and close in the last 2 minutes. So many people try to talk business far too early and not use their time to establish a proper connection or analysis of what the other person truly needs. Approach the other person with a "how can I help you?" attitude.

Trying to connect on level 7 without building rapport, connection or intimacy through levels 1-6 is nearly impossible. You will get concealment of facts and lies about levels 6 and 7 until you have established a proper base connection.

At best, your prospect will feed you a lie to deflect your inquiry about their higher level needs and will likely say: "I'm fine, I really don't need anything". 

How often do we hear that on a daily basis from the people around us?

EVERYONE NEEDS SOMETHING, WE ARE ALL LOOKING FOR THINGS. WE ALL NEED THINGS ALL THE TIME. THE QUESTION IS, WHAT DOES OUR COMPANION NEED?

Connection happens when you are able to navigate the conversation through levels 1-7 in the proper sequence, you may find out that (for example) "Their father just died and they're feeling vulnerable. They are the executor of his house and don't know who to talk to about real estate. They are looking for an expert. They don't like realtors and need to sell immediately but afraid of contracts, contracotrs, salespeople and commissions. They also don't want to pay for repairs."

Opportunities come from connecting and being intimate with the people we come into contact with.

All people, rich or poor want one thing... We all want to connect. If you can connect with a person, and move them through the levels of intimacy without creating conflict or blockage in the sequence, you will find what motivates them, what scares them, what their concerns are and finally what they NEED to feel secure to work with  you.

Mathew Kelly has recognized a brilliant pattern in social behaviour and has cracked the mechanical code for human connection. If you can memorize or learn a few key questions to "move through the levels", then you will never be stuck in a conversation with nothing to say ever again. You will never be stagnant and will be a master of connection.

The following questions are ones that I have learned years ago and memorized from  http://www.villagecounseling.net. Knowing a few of these key transition questions will transform you into an instant "people person". I have seen results for years using this method and have been connecting deeper and faster with people than ever before. Please enjoy the following resource:

Questions to Help You Navigate the 7 Levels of Intimacy:

1. Cliché
   • How are you?
   • What have you been up to lately?
2. Facts
   • Non-personal
     • What was the score of the game?
     • What is the weather forecast?
   • Personal
     • What did you do today?
     • What have you learned recently?
     • What have you been reading lately?
     • What is your favorite color, food, song etc.?
3. Opinions
   • What are your preferences concerning…?
   • What are your beliefs about…?
   • What do you think about…?
4. Hopes and Dreams
   • If you could live any way you liked, how would you like to live?
   • If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you like to live?
   • What goals do you have for your life?
   • What area of study would you like to become an expert in?
   • If you could be famous for something, what would you like to be famous for?
   • What would you like written on your tombstone? In your obituary?
   • Who would you like to help? How would you help them if you could?
   • What one thing would make you truly happy?
   • Who are the people you’d like to learn from in life?
   • What personal qualities do you hope to develop in the future?
   • What skills do you hope to develop in your lifetime?
   • What do you dream about being the best in the world at doing?
   • What are 5 things you dream about having?
   • What are 5 things you dream about doing?
   • What are 5 things you dream about being?
   • Who are 5 people or groups you dream about helping?
   • What would you do if you knew you could not fail at it?
5. Feelings
   • When in our life have you felt special to others?
   • Who in your life made you feel safe, loved, accepted? How did they do that?
   • Who in your life made you feel the most rejected, devalued, abandoned, invisible?
   • What are you most passionate about?
   • What do you feel about:
     • Your relationship to God?
     • Your most significant friendship?
     • Your relationship to your parents?
     • Your relationship to co-workers?
     • Your reputation in the community?
   • How secure do you feel in your life right now? (Why, or Why not?)
   • How significant do you feel in your ability to contribute to others, to your community, to the world? (In what way? Why, or Why not?)
   • Do you feel like you are becoming the person you want to be?
   • Do you feel like you belong?
   • Do you feel competent in your ability to build something of value?
   • What are the biggest hurts have you experienced in the past?
   
   
6. Fears, Failures, Weaknesses
• What makes you feel like you don’t measure up?
• What makes you feel like you are unlovable?
• What do you think would make others reject you?
• What are some lies you’ve been told in the past?
• What do you feel you must hide from others out of fear that they would reject you?
• What makes you feel ignored?
• What makes you feel rejected?
• What makes you feel humiliated?
• What makes you feel incompetent?
• What makes you feel like a failure?
• What makes you feel inadequate?
• What is your biggest fear in life?
7. Needs
• Spirit – what do you need to thrive spiritually?
• Soul – what do you need to thrive in your relationships?
• Mind – what do you need to learn and grow in to thrive mentally?
• Strength – what do you need thrive physically?
• When have you experienced great joy?
• Describe what you think constitutes true happiness?
• How do you help others experience joy?
• What do you need in order to be secure?
• What do you need in order to be safe?
• What do you need in order to be significant?
• What do you need in order to be competent?
• What do you need in order to be powerful?
• What do you need in order to belong?
• What do you need to be clear about?
• What do you need in order to build something of lasting value?
• What do you need to know God better?
• What do you need to feel special to others?
• What do you need in order to feel like you are understood?
• What do you need in order to do something great?
• What do you need in order to achieve something that will last?
• What recognition do you need?

If you can memorize a few of these key transition questions to "accelerate" and master conversational intimacy then you will connect every time! You will become a master of creating personal connection with the people you network with, meet, sell and negotiate with. I can guarantee that you will see HUGE results in the depth of personal connection and opportunity in every relationship. If you can master the system above.

I challenge you take some time to study this list and implement it in your day to day interactions, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

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

P.P.S. "The 7 levels of intimacy" is available in the Resource section of Freedomway.ca should you wish to purchase a copy (highly recommended).

By: Stefan Aarnio, FreedomWay.ca
Photo Left: Phill Grove and Stefan Aarnio

I had the pleasure of meeting an extremely successful Real Estate Investor by the name of Phill Grove in Chicago last week. Phill has done 1000 Real Estate deals in a period of 5 years and made a $1,000,000 profit in Internet Marketing in his first year. The man is a scientist of his craft and extremely methodical in his approach. I will be writing a number of articles on lessons I learned from Phill Grove (phillgrove.com), but I'd like to share one that we all can study from and apply immediately.

Business, Real Estate Investing, Raising Capital and finding deal partners is a social game. All of these games are won and lost by networking. He who is the best networker gets the best access to deals, money and people. Since Real Estate and Business are heavily driven by social skills, Etiquiette and how you conduct yourself is often the deciding factor between the investors who become rich and the others who die broke.

Etiquette is a french word that means "a code of behaviour that delineates expectations for social behaviour according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group. The French word "étiquette", literally signifying a tag or label first appeared in English around 1750.

Your Etiquette defines you and as the definition above suggests, it will signify, tag and label you in a social circle and will either give you the midas touch or the kiss of death in a social network.

Some basic fundamentals for etiquette are:

1. Have excellent manners - Please and Thank You go a long way.
2. Don't "fake it till you make it", act like you belong.
3. Dress for success. Look like the boss, not an employee. Many investors start out with poor image. Consider getting an image consultant and pay attention to your shoes, hair, eye brows, and grooming.

Positioning is important when networking and once you have the basics down, position yourself where the money is:

• Insert yourself into high net worth situations like charity events, operas, country clubs, golf clubs, theatre, art and the right parties. Remember, putting all of this together will take time. You are building a network.

If you already have some money, Phill Grove recommends giving $10,000 to the united way. After you make your donation, you will be flagged by every charity in town and invited to every single event charity event available. He also recommends donating $100,000 to any politician to be flagged on every political list in town. Another great positioning tip from Phill is to buy a Bentley and get a golf membership, schedule your tee times for 2:00PM on Thursdays and start golfing with the power brokers that prefer that time slot.

Unfortunately not everyone has $100,000 sitting around to donate to a politician or access to a Bentley so we will have to get a little more creative.

Phill Grove's ETIQUETTE CASE STUDY, 3 ways to socially kill your personal brand as an investor.

Stefan's comment: I have met many people who fit into the following 4 Case profiles. There are many many people who run around at events falling into these categories. These are REAL types of people and they are VERY common at investor events.

CASE 1) "The Magic Trick Guy". You meet "Magic Trick Guy" at a local real estate investing club or seminar. He has the following attributes:

1. Poorly dressed
2. Missing teeth
3. Performs magic tricks for others at the event
4. Leans into your personal space while talking
5. Has bad breath
6. Follows you like a stalker
7. His intro: "I can transform a $200,000 investment into 2 BILLION DOLLARS in 3 months"

Established brand: He is a crazy seminar person.

Case 2) "The Bulk REO Webinar Guy". You meet the "Bulk REO Webinar Guy" at a local real estate investing club or seminar. He has the following attributes:

1. He listened to a FREE webinar on the internet and has decided to make millions in Bulk REO deals.
2. He brags about his success at the event.
3. His intro: "I'm looking for $50M for a big bulk REO Deal"
4. He has no prospectus and says "I know what I'm doing, I don't need one!"

Established Brand: Idiot who doesn't know what he's doing, very common brand to find at an investment event.

Case 3) "The Real Estate Club Guy A, B and C". You meet 3 guys at a real estate club, their names are A, B and C. They all claim to have a great deal:

1. Investor "A": Has an REO deal listed at $93,000 that he can get for $86,000 that has been listed for 5 months.
2. Investor "B" has a mansion worth $1.6M that he can get for $1.1M (The catch is that it's only 1.2M and it has been sitting for 34 months).
3. Investor "C" has a Land deal, a mobile home deal, a weird semi commercial thing, a fire damaged house, a risky newbie development deal and a tear down at "land value".

Established Brand: Rookie investors who don't know what they're doing.

Stefan's comment: These investors in Case 1,2 and 3 are committing social suicide by having poor etiquette and presenting bad deals in an unsolicited manner. I know because I used to fall into some of the above categories.

Phill Grove's guide on: How to scare money away:

Any jackass can find a high risk deal and then ask someone with money to assume all of the risks. However, people with money want to partner with other people who treat their money more conservatively than they treat their own.

So many new entrepreneurs and investors have a "I want to go to Vegas and gamble your money mentality" - this terrifies people with money.

People who have money and want to invest are NOT LOOKING TO GAMBLE. They want:

1. Safety First
2. High Returns
3. Speed
4. Rinse and Repeat
5. WInners and who minimize their risks.
6. People with experience who have done their homework and know what they are doing.

Phill Grove's ETIQUETTE CASE STUDY: One way to brand yourself as a Winner:
Case 4) (Continued from above) Profile: "The sharp looking kid at the Billionaire Class". You meet a sharp looking kid at an investing class and he has the following attributes:

1. He is dressed sharp
2. He speaks well
3. Talks of working long hours every day
4. Talks about studying, training, books, he is well read.
5. Talks about doing tons of marketing and spending lots of time evaluating deals, but he's looking for a good one.

Established brand: This kid is a go-getter!
Phill Grove's take home feeling from this kid: "I hope this 21 year old kid calls me when he's got a deal!"

***End of Phill Grove's case study.***

Stefan's comment: I hope you take some time to carefully study the attributes and etiquitte of the above 4 cases. Ask yourself the honest question "which one of these cases am I closest to?" What parts of etiquette do I need to work on? After spending some time studying these cases myself, I have already taken drastic measures to study more, improve my wardrobe, improve the way I speak and read more books. Raising money from other people should not be taken lightly and you have to be a professional. There is no room for idiots.

Remember: Etiquette is an essential skill in the networking game and a major key to succeeding in the world of business and Real Estate. Proper Etiquette can spell the difference between becoming rich and dying broke.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
freedomway.ca

By: Stefan Aarnio

From time to time I visit my friend Shaun Furman's website millionairementorstoday.com and I watch him answer one or two questions from newbie investors/entrepreneurs that ask him questions about getting started in business.

On Shaun's site, one of his viewers asked "How do I start a business with no start up capital?" - A brilliant question. Many entrepreneurs start out with little or no money (that's how I started, with only $1200 dollars) and Freedomway Joint Ventures was started this year in February with literally under $100.

Fundamentally in business there are two types of businesses 1) Production based businesses and 2) Distribution based businesses.

Many entrepreneurs (including myself) make the mistake of jumping into a production based business without even knowing it and soon find themselves needing huge capital requirements to build/create/develop whatever their dream product is. After they spend the money or get a loan to "build the dream product that sells itself", they find there is no market for their creation and they die a horrible horrible death with their creditors (often their family members and friends).

I know this cycle because I have been through it many times myself, especially in the music industry.

If you are starting a business, THE BEST model you can pursue is a Distribution based business. A distribution based business is great for a beginner right to advanced entrepreneur because: 

1. They can leverage and use other people's proven products and systems, 
2. They need FAR less capital or even no capital to start 
3. The velocity of the business is higher (they can sell units on day one and earn revenue) 
4. They can leverage teams and systems faster because they are not bogged down in production, 
5. They are easier to finance, if financing is required,
6. The owner only has to focus on marketing/branding of the product and SELLING which is where ALL businesses make ALL of their money.
   

If you look at some of the biggest and best businesses in the world, Walmart for example, they are a distributor only. They white label a few products, but they are one of the world's biggest distributors of consumer goods. They do billions and billions of transactions a year (high velocity).

Richard Branson and Virgin is another prime example. Branson has over 400 companies all called "Virgin" that distribute different liscenced products and services. His company produces literally nothing, but markets everything. Branson started as a distributor of records and built a very healthy distribution channel in his early days. Today, EVERYTHING from his cell phone contracts for his mobile brand to his planes in his airline are all leased and only marketed and distributed through his mother brand. Why own? That's a ridiculous idea... Own nothing, control and sell everything.

Notice that Coca-Cola bottling companies are split up into separate regional distributors who distribute the product and DO NOT (I REPEAT DO NOT) produce the Coca-Cola formula. That is held by a separate "producer" company.

In my own business, I am making rapid changes from being an all-in-one "producer and distributor" with low velocity to creating two high velocity distributor divisions that will become my primary focus and my production line will slowly introduce products to my channels as we grow.

Below is the formula for "easy and low risk" success in business, write it down.

1) Build a distribution channel (this usually means a database, if you don't have one, you're not a business - you are a joke).
2) Sell other people's products first.
3) With your capital start funnelling in your own "production" line on a test.
4) If you find that you have success with your own product in your distribution line, then continue funnelling in your products for the highest rewards possible in your business. You will be making 3-7 profit centres guaranteed if you can pull this off and will have insane profits.
5) If your own product doesn't do well, cancel it fast, or change it fast and continue being a distributor with a steady cash-flow.

If you do this right, you literally cannot lose. You don't actually start investing capital or money until you decide to get to step 3, which many people never do and quite frankly, never have to do if they are good at step 1 and 2.

NEXT PARAGRAPH IS FOR NOVICE REAL ESTATE INVESTORS ONLY;

For all of the real estate people out there, if I could start again in real estate, I would start as a bird-dog and then a wholesaler. Those are excellent distribution businesses and I am approached weekly by novice investors with no cash who want to get started. I set them up with my bird dog package and tell them to some "bring me deals". Some of these novice investors bring me deals and get paid $500 to $5000 a lead... Some don't bring me anything and waste my time and resources. You can make a very good income as a bird dog, then you graduate to a wholesaler, after you have your distribution channel ready you can start rehabbing and distributing your "own" products.

But please, promise me you won't make the mistakes I've made in the past by jumping into production right away OR you will have 700 copies of a Alternative Rock CD sitting in your basement looking for a home.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Serial Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor, Artist
Freedomway.ca

Making Money the Smart Way
By: Robin J. Elliott

We've heard all the cliches that are trotted out by so-called “experts” - You have to risk a lot to make a lot. You have to sacrifice your time with your family / your family. You have to be focused on one specific product or service and one specific demographic / psychographic customer model. You have to own your category on the Internet. You have to create a successful image (so lease an expensive car, pay a small fortune to graphic artists, printers, et al, lease an expensive, “impressive” office, buy a franchise, buy a business... I could go on all day.

My response to all this claptrap is, “Not necessarily.” I'm an unusual kind of entrepreneur in that I hate risk. So I run my business with no cost, no risk, no employees, no inventory, no leases, no limitations, and no cost of sales. So everything I earn is 100% profit. That's 90 – 95% of my income. The other bit is coaching and speaking engagements, both of which cost a little time, but both are designed in order to create more passive income. And I live pretty well. I don't buy stuff I don't need with money I don't have to impress people who don't care. Nobody cares how old I am, how smart I am, what my academic “qualifications” are, what experience I have, where I live, what car I drive...

Sounds too good to be true, right? I'm not talking about some Ponzi scheme, Forex, Network Marketing, real estate investing – none of that stuff. This is simple, logical, risk free, minimum time. I use Leverage, and I do that through the medium of Joint Ventures. I've been doing it for 25 years. You can do it anywhere, from anywhere, regardless of who you are, where you are, or how old you are. It takes some learning and some work in the beginning, and of course the more you learn, the more you can earn, and the faster you learn it, the faster you can create enough residual or passive income to live very comfortably indeed, with enough time to enjoy your life and the people in it.

Joint Ventures are based on the simple idea that if you bring a business more sales, they will pay you a commission – that is a part of their profits. So you can literally introduce new customers to any business that agrees to pay you a commission, and you can develop multiple income sources in different industries and in different places and countries. There is literally no limit to this concept, because it takes little time and you don't need to understand the business – just the benefit of using its products or services.

Business owners, how does this sound? I took a profit centre in my business that had taken nine months to get to $4,000 per month and boosted it to $20,000 per month in FOUR DAYS – with one, risk-free JV. If a JV Broker did that for you, would you pay him or her a percentage of that $16,000 increase every month? You would if you're smart. It's money you wouldn't have had.

How you find those customers, how you link the customers to the businesses and get paid, how you develop as a Joint Venture Broker is what I teach. And I also teach business owners to use this same principle to increase their sales and profits and only pay for results – that is commissions for sales – thereby removing risk and limitations. Less that one percent of small business owners understand and use Joint Ventures, whereas the practice is very common in large businesses. It's nothing new; it's just new to the owners of small businesses. Once you understand and use Joint Ventures, you control your income and your financial destiny. Imagine having twenty different income streams from twenty different business! That, in my opinion, is called “security.” Having a job is about as insecure as you can be.

I recently made a phone call to introduce a friend of mine who helps people get taxes back from the CRA to someone. That five minute phone call earned me a commission of $4,000. And it saved his client a LOT more. Pure profit. Win / win / win. Some people work hard to earn $4,000. Or they have to sell a lot of stuff to net $4,000. There are MANY ways to make these JV's happen. You don't have to leave your home if you don't want to. Our primary focus is real, brick and mortar businesses with real people and real money, not online JV's.

If this sounds too good to be true, check out a few testimonials on my website www.leverageadvantage.com – I have hundreds more – and objectively consider how logical this is. What I'm saying is that whether your a business owner who wants to increase your sales and profits, or you've lost your job or can't get a job, retired, a school child, just got out of prison, someone who simply wants to supplement their income, a senior, a new immigrant – it doesn't matter. Joint Ventures are a very safe and viable option. No more excuses. And it depends on how much you learn and how fast, and how much you put into making it work. And the best part? Even if one of your Joint Ventures underperforms or doesn't work at all, nobody loses any money!

Next step? Grab a free membership at www.DollarMakers.com, take a one dollar trial at www.jointventuresforlife.com or contact me direct to see if personal coaching is the way to go.

By: Stefan Aarnio, Real Estate Investor, Serial Entrepreneur and Artist

Originally published on jamestimothywhite.com

Years, ago at the ripe young age of 22, I read the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki for the first time and it changed my life. At the time, I was a university student studying English and Music and had no financial education. One of the most intriguing questions in the book that I have pondered for years were " what would you do with $10,000".

Kiyosaki explains that most people would consume the $10,000 and have nothing to show for it. A minority of people would be able to grow a small return on their money and a very small portion of people would be able to grow the money into infinity. At the time, I didn't understand what Robert meant by growing money into "infinity".

As a student, I was able to save up $1,000 to invest. Following the advice of the book, I began to look for an investment to grow my money in.

In 2008, as a brand new investor, I invested my money into a "High interest savings account" with a return of 2.5%. I thought I was a genius. At the time I had a much unsophisticated view of investing and went for the easiest, highest interest rate advertised.

2008 was the time of the big financial downturn and everything was on sale. I could have bought silver for $11/oz (today trading for $25-35 an ounce), I could have bought a rental property in Winnipeg (my home town) for $50,000. The same property today is selling for $150,000. I also could have bought apple stocks for $70 a share (today trading at around $600).

My financial ignorance cost me a lot of money in 2008 and since then I have made leaps and bounds in my investment career:

• With $10,000 in 2008 I would have bought a GIC (2% returns)
• With $10,000 in 2009 I bought silver and doubled my money in a year to cash out and keep the original investment. (100% annual return)
• With $10,000 in 2010 I bought small rental properties (Annual 40-75% cash on cash return plus equity over time)
• With $10,000 in 2011 I paid interest on a monster loan to build a larger cash flowing asset. (High dollar amount invested, Infinite Return over time)
• With $10,000 in 2012 I invest in my brand, my business, my education and my relationships to get infinite returns. (Low dollar amount invested, Infinite Returns over time)

The highest returns are always reserved for the most sophisticated investors and the only difference between me in 2008 and 2012 is my education, my experience and my skill set. Can you turn at $40 lunch into a $10,000, $20,000 or $25,000 return? It all depends on your education and your skills.