Totally uncharacteristically, I read The Daily Telegraph today.   Have I turned into some old buffer from Tunbridge Wells?   No, I found myself with half an hour or so to spare at a London hotel and it was all there was on offer.   What fun - I found several articles in it of interest to me and my clients - one about how many people are doing away with their dining rooms and why (for my friend Susie from Manchester), one about holistic horse medicine (for Alison), and this riveting one, the first of a series of three by Judith Woods, which chronicles the travails of what she calls "the Coping Class".

"Squeezed by taxes? Taken a second job to pay the school fees? Remortgaging for a third time?"

You can read the whole article here.

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The Money Gym Events

Workshops Days

Friday 1 February 2008 – Women Talk Money 1^st Workshop

This just in from Stephanie - one of our very experienced stockmarket investing clients:

If you haven’t heard already, the US Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates yet again tonight.

After 5 weeks of selling, there is likely to be a short-term rise in stocks. This will lead to a temporary rise in prices in the days and possibly weeks ahead. Technically, this is called a ‘dead cat bounce’ - it looks like a recovery, it feels like a recovery, but it won’t be getting back up any time soon.

No doubt, the media will be full of ‘experts’ telling investors that shares are at bargain prices and we should all jump back into the markets. Professionals refer to this type of activity as a ’suckers rally’ and will be using this as an opportunity to offload their stocks. Remember that this is a temporary rally, not a resumption of a trend.

When a suckers rally reverses, it leads to a sell-off that’s harder and faster than the previous sell-off.

There are still many problems with the banking sectors and bond insurance markets yet to surface. And there is a limit to the number of times the Fed Reserve can keep cutting rates. The only ‘winners’ in all this will be precious metals and agriculture.

If you have profits, you may want to consider locking them in, in the weeks ahead.

Wishing you successful investment and trading.

Stephanie J Hale

Judith was interviewed by Sherry Borzo for her show on BlogTalkRadio called Entrepreneur People - Real Stories about real people that teach lessons in business and in life. I am proud to tell you J was Sherry’s first Brit! Sherry is looking for Entrepreneurs the world over to be interviewed on her show and share their real story. If you fancy it, contact Sherry directly at dsmBuzz and mention Judith’s name.

Some short but inspirational clips from Money Gym clients about what they have gained and specifically the results they have achieved from being a member of The Money Gym

I’ve been talking to Brett McFall (World Internet Summit) about The Money Gym working with him later in the year.  I have a lot of time for Brett, he delivers great content and is a real gentleman.  We are thinking of putting on a 2 day event together, but had also decided it would NOT be a free/cheap event as it devalues all of us. 

Just as I put the (skype) phone down, the ever useful Chris Cardell ezine delivered this nugget of wisdom!

"You’re currently sending a very important ‘hidden’ message to your customers. That message is ‘hidden’ in your prices.

Entrepreneurs think that setting their prices is all about how much profit you can make. Of course, that’s true but your prices also tell your customer something of great significance.

Your prices tell your customers how much you value yourself, your product and your service.

There’s gold in those 15 words so let me repeat them:

Your prices tell your customers how much you value yourself, your product and your service.

One of the big Entrepreneur mistakes is setting your prices too low. If your prices are too low you’re obviously losing money but even worse, you’re doing horrendous damage to yourself and your brand.

If Mercedes, Lexus, Prada and Gucci halved their prices tomorrow and promoted the price cut with a big advertising blitz they would almost certainly boost their profits for the year. But they would also destroy their brands in one foul swoop.

Higher prices, backed by effective Marketing, send a subliminal (and sometimes not so subliminal) message to your customers that you have great confidence in yourself and what you’re selling. People are drawn to such confidence and certainty. If you doubt this, go take a trip to Harrods and just watch people and their buying behaviours.

Is it possible that you’re pricing yourself too low? Your customers are looking for quality and value. But they’re also looking for certainty and leadership. We want to be sold to by people and businesses that have confidence in their products and services. It’s true that there’s a minority of the population who always want to buy at the lowest price. But there’s an increasing proportion of the population for whom price is not the key criteria. If you can build a business selling to this group, your financial security is assured.

Best wishes, Chris Cardell"

Chris will send you his six CD set ‘Essential Profit Strategies’ and give you two month’s FREE Membership of his VIP Inner Circle. Full details here Free Gift from Chris Cardell

The Money Gym introduces a new video series of ordinary people doing extraordinary things with money. Here, ex-IT consultant Sarah J Green describes how she turned her life around after being made redundant and has created a new career and become a property investor!

[Read more →]

Judith hosted a "Girls On Film" day yesterday at her flat in Canary Wharf and I went up to support, coach and cajole the reluctant stars (aka Money Gym clients, past and present) who had, nonetheless, been brave enough to volunteer to help us.

The format of the day was to brief them on what we wanted to cover (specific outcomes, shifts in thinking, any other desired outcomes) to hear their semi-prepared stories, coach them through their nerves and then film their stories for future use, so that we didn’t have to keep dragging them up to town. In the afternoon, after a slap up lunch, we would hear about their projects, any challenges and then, Judith and I and the group would all coach them.

It was a nice warm up for Judith and I for our "Women Talk Money" day coming soon.

Our objective was to get some professionally filmed stories / testimonials to play at our upcoming "Let’s Talk Money" day, use on the website and upload to YouTube. As such we wanted to elicit not only great stories and testimonials but some learning that we could share with viewers.

Some had met before, some had not, as there were several years of Money Gym alumni represented, and many had met at various events all around the country.

This was music to our ears, as it meant that not only were they continuing with their wealth creation journey, but they were continuing to invest in learning, and networking, in fact a couple put their investment in that at between £30,000 and £50,000 to date. However, the return on that investment was many, many times that and I noticed a distinct shift in their attitudes while discussing new opportunities, from asking about "cost", to asking about return on investment and the estimated time to that return.

Because a few of the recent opportunities guaranteed a 100% return from the first or second deal alone, they were generating a great deal of excitement.

It’s a whole new way of thinking and it’s important, when the opportunities to make money start to appear - and they will, and they will - that you are able to evaluate them.

My criteria are:

We have several tools in The Money Gym book and club, to help members evaluate a return on investment, but also as important is how the deal will fit into your strategy for your lifestyle.

There is no point in my doing something, for example, if it means travelling away from home for days at a time. I’m simply not interested. However, popping to London overnight, or working with someone online is fine.

The "Tuesday" exercise in the Money Gym book (also in the wealth Tips) can help you add this extra dimension to your evaluation of opportunities.

If you know how you want to live your life, how you enjoy spending your time, and how you will actually know if you are successful, simply by the fact you are spending your days in the way you most want to. Then you can say "no" to anything that does not fit!

If you know, because you have done your Wealth Profile, that appearing on tv holds no fears for you and would, in fact, be fun, then creating videos for YouTube or going to talk to a TV bigwig is not scary, but exciting!

There was Clare (HappyNurses.co.uk), Sarah (SarahJGreen.com), Janet (SwiftlySorted.com), Yvette (Essentuelle.com), Paula (MillionaireMum.com), Alison (TheNaturallyHealthyPet.com/)

Quite a line-up eh? I’m very proud they are all into property and the internet!

All of our Money Gym alumni are following a passion and doing it in ways that doesn’t feel like work, so it isn’t.

Why do they wake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep?

Excitement not worry!

Why do they come to London for the day, when there is no financial reward in it? Or volunteer to "crew" at events? Because it’s great fun and they learn stuff.

Why do they carry on working, our Money Gym folks, once we have set them free?

Because they absolutely love what they are doing!

Now, wouldn’t you love to be able to say that?

If so, then take a look at

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/WomenTalkMoney

or for the guys too

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/Gold

I often think that Martin Lewis (www.MoneySavingExpert.com ) and I would be great as a double act on a TV show together.  He is brilliant at explaining things simply, and knowing how to save money, especially around the banks, credit cards and utilities, while I’m a bigger chunker (as Judith calls us) and would be great on how to address the issue of making more money to pay things off quicker and enhancing your lifestyle (one of the reasons many people go into debt in the first place)

This morning, on GMTV, (www.gmtv.com) a morning habit that Steve has introduced me to, having defected from BBC Breakfast, Martin shared a great way to reduce your credit card debt, without paying any more, and about how to pay less interest, even if you are being declined for lower interest cards.

1.  First of all, look at what you are paying each month, on each card, and resolve to pay that each month, regardless of what the minimum payments deducted in the future are. 

Most companies reduce your minimum payment as you go along and you feel relief, but you shouldn’t be!  This is a way to claw more interest from you!!  If you have a card, where this month’s minimum payment is £60, then next month, let them take £56 from you, but ring up and pay another £4.00 for example.  Next month do the same, let them take the minimum but top it up by phone, to £60.

2.  Call up your existing companies, and see if you can get your limit raised.  If you can’t see what your spare balance is, and ask your existing company what they will charge in interest to move other credit card balances over.  Even if you are paying 18% on your existing balance, they will often offer you a lower rate for new transfers.  You can move all your existing debt around, and end up paying up to 13% or even more LESS per year.  Then do Step One above.

Genius stuff!

Martin has a live webcast each day this week at 9.30am and he’ll be covering the following topics:

Tuesday - Credit cards

If you’ve racked up credit card debts Martin will be showing you a few easy tricks to severe the cost and save £100s in minutes.

Wednesday - Mortgage costs

Is your mortgage deal ending before the summer? Martin has tips on how to slash the cost.

Thursday -paying off debts

Got both debts and savings but can’t decide whether to pay one off with the other? Martin will be telling you when you should and shouldn’t clear the debt.

Friday - reclaiming cash

If you’re in debt, it may be because money’s been taken from you unfairly. Martin will be talking about how so many people have had £1,000s taken unjustly, and how to quickly get it back.