A Note From Marion

As we haven’t quite hit February yet, I think it’s not too late to start by wishing all readers a peaceful and prosperous new year.  Prosperity is of course about much more than mere money.  It means good fortune, abundance and riches and while we hear so many tragic news stories each day, I wish for all of us the good sense this year to notice and appreciate what we already have in our lives.

As the old year breathed its last, I had already decided that 2010 would be a well-fed, wide-girthed purring pussycat, yet it seems I’ve manifested a rather skinny spitting feline to transform into that vision of furry loveliness I had.  Good job I’ve a sense of humour, a strong will and a brilliant idea or two for 2010.

A few years ago, I learnt – does it always have to be the hard way, God? – to live within my means and therefore I get through the run-up to Christmas without loading up my credit cards with extravagant shopping lists.  The new year started then for me without a financial hangover, nor even an alcoholic one now I think of it

Instead, I sat down and reviewed and wrote out all my accomplishments from last year.  I listed over 30 without too much trouble and I strongly recommend this exercise as a starting point when planning what you want to do next, not only to give yourself due acknowledgement for your successes but also to get you thinking creatively about how very much you could achieve in the next few months. Second step was to list everything I wanted to leave behind – bad habits, limiting beliefs and people, followed by some ‘stream of consciousness’ writing (ie without judging or editing my thoughts) about what I wanted in the future, leading finally to a list of 10 goals for 2010.

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Wealth Coach Diaries | A Note From Judith

2010 crept in under a blanket of snow, rather than coming in with the more customary bang.   After my month off in the Caribbean sunshine, sub-zero temperatures came as quite a shock delaying my return to full productivity still further in a way I rather enjoyed as it gave me at least three weeks to be acclimatising, thinking, planning and working on my financial intentions for the year.

There will be changes, of course.   There always are.   And no matter how distressing while we come to terms with them, in our heart of hearts we all know that change is good for us and that it all works out for the best in the end.   Whatever you have planned for your own new year, I hope it’s a good one.

Now, what has this Wealth Coach been up to in the last couple of weeks?

Weekly Wealth Webinars, Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

The Money Gym saw the beginning of term on Wednesday last week with our weekly wealth webinar at 11 a.m.   We run these now in three terms of 12 weeks and we rotate the topics between general wealth creation in the first week, followed by Mainly About Property, Mainly About Business and Mainly About the Internet on each of the following three weeks, then repeating the pattern three times in each term.   The general wealth creation call is open to all our clients including Silver and then all the other calls are for current and past Gold, Platinum and Boardroom clients.   They are generally all recorded so if you are entitled to attend but unable to do so, you can listen again later.   You can call in live or listen live on the web too.

How do you join?   Log into the Money Gym website and go to the home page of your level of membership and hit on the Webinar Access button which takes you to a further page with two buttons which lead to the schedule on one and the access details on another.

If you are a Silver member, note the dates for your diary of 10th February and 10th March and then the next two terms start (with Silvers again) on 21st April and 8th September.   If you don’t know whether or not you are entitled to attend, or you have forgotten how to log into the website or can’t find the information you need, then do please let us know.   We send weekly reminders to all current clients and usually one annual reminder to all alumni who are welcome to join or re-join us at any time then want another boost with their wealth creation activities.   Wednesdays at 11, come on down.

Money Gym Google Groups

Similarly we have been reconnecting with our community via all our Google Groups where topics of interest over the last twenty days have included investing in Champagne, rent2own, Facebook fan pages, buying and selling businesses, membership club sites, Cashflow, article marketing, Twitter, 2010 goal-setting, estate agents, time management tools, sales training, proof-reading, saving money, thriftiness, recipes, making videos, manifestation, debt, credit ratings, Warren Buffet, rooms to rent and sharing resources.   Phew!

I notice that one of our groups has 260 members and Google describes its activity as “low”.  Everything’s relative, Google! Plenty are overwhelmed by their membership of any single one of our Google groups let alone all of them.   There are ways to cope with this.   You never need to keep a single email because they are all archived on each group’s website and keyword searchable. You can set your membership to send you a daily digest instead of an email each time anyone posts and you can operate my favoured Scan/Delete policy which means I have deleted all those I receive before bedtime every day, having replied to any where I have something to offer.   Simple.

Out and About

Nicola and I had lunch with uber successful Neil Asher last week and we both went for the recession-beating £8.25 menu at Carluccio’s and Neil paid.   Boy did he get a bargain!   The two of us for that price.   Neil describes himself in an email to me today as a “self-made multi millionaire with seven businesses in five countries”, just the sort of chap you want to have buy you lunch on a bleak Thursday in snowy January.   He looks like Davie Bowie which was a bit of a surprise and he wasn’t in the least bit phased by Nicola and I chatting, laughing and coming up with ideas and stories at top speed on the hoof.

He’s very abundant, and wrote later to ask after my Top 10 Wish List for 2010 in case he could help me achieve any of them and offering his hopes that we would develop a great friendship in time.

I must confess to having to ask Nicola and Neil himself “were you truly wafted here from Paradise?” – you just don’t often see such giving and abundance.   What a role model.

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Struggling Financially? Blame The Fog!

Nicola Cairncross from The Money Gym here, and I’m writing to you today, on 29th December 2009 in the middle of the worst credit crunch anyone can remember.

Can you remember more difficult financial times?

I certainly can’t.  We never imagined it could get this bad, did we?

All around the world people are worried for their jobs, businesses are going down and banks, while taking money from their governments certainly are NOT lending it out again to consumers.

Even if you pay off your credit cards, the companies are taking your available balances right down or even taking them away and don’t even get me started on the interest rates they’re charging!

People are so confused……….so worried………so stressed about money……….they have NO IDEA what to do, which way to turn…………they are stumbling along in the dark, in the fog, they feel overwhelmed and incapable of taking action..

Even if they knew what action to take!

BUT !!

Would it surprise you to know that there are people out there who are not only NOT hurting, who are not confused, or overwhelmed…….. but who are actually thriving financially?

People who are making more money than ever before, who are starting successful businesses, who are getting online, who are creating multiple streams of income, who have control of their cash, people who know on a week by week basis, what’s coming in and going out, and WHAT TO DO with what’s left over?

People who are not phased by changes in the economy, who just switch their strategy to one that suits the times and just works better?

People who have a whole TOOLKIT of financial strategies to fit the moment, the situation, the need.

Who are these people?

Financially Intelligent People, that’s who!  You could call them FIPS for short!

Now, I just bet FIRSTNAME that you would love to find them, join them and become a Financially Intelligent Person – who wouldn’t?

Well, now you can…..

Because we have created a brand new video that can get you started down the road to becoming one of the Financially Intelligent People – right now.

Come on over, watch this exclusive new video and get some FIP savvy!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite/

Warm regards

Nicola, Judith & The Money Gym Team

P.S.      Watch our video to find out how to beat the credit crunch, throw off that overwhelm and become one of the Financially Intelligent People today!

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/silverelite/

Money Gym | Hierarchy Of Your Financial Needs

Hi Guys, here’s something I’m working on, to help folks work out where they are, where you want to be, and where you need to be in the Money Gym, to get the best help and support for your wealth creation journey.

I’m calling it “The Money Gym – Hierarchy Of Financial Needs” and on the left you can look to see where you are now, on the right you will see the corresponding goals (where you want to be) and in the middle….well, you will see.

Can you use the “Share Your Thoughts” link above there, to comment, ask questions, help me improve it?

Cheers, Nicola

p.s. Click It To Enlarge It!

Financial Success | Run Your Money Like A Business

Here’s a quick money / personal finance success tip I was asked to write for a journalist, then they pulled the feature so I though I would share it here!

If you want to be more financially secure, or even become financially free, you could learn a lot about running your money from the model that a successful business would use.  If your name is Gemma Jones, think of your financial world as Gemma Jones Inc.

A successful business plans out how much money they expect to have coming in for the next year (turnover), then they work out what it’s going to cost to earn that money (cost of sale) then what it costs to run the business (overheads) and what is left is profit.

They pay tax on the profit ** then put part of that profit aside to cushion their cashflow for the forthcoming year and re-invest in the business to grow it, then the owners/shareholders draw out what is left to spend as they wish.

You are the sole shareholder in Gemma Jones Inc, unless you are working as a couple then you are Mr & Mrs Jones Inc, with a 50% shareholding each and equal voting rights on what happens with your joint money.  (If not, why not?  This is a whole other article!)

The business constantly looks for new opportunities to make more money and they are careful about what they spend, looking for the “return on investment” and how long that will take.

You can probably already spot some significant differences between how a successful business runs its money and what you do with yours – and those differences are what is making the difference to your financial success!

Taking that model and applying it to your finances, you can work out what you expect to earn this coming year (I suggest you look at your net earnings or what goes into your bank), what the costs of earning that money are (travel, clothes, lunches, etc) and then what the overheads of running Gemma Jones Inc are (rent, food, bills etc).

What is left is the profit the place most people fall down financially – they are simply not making enough profit!

Once they have paid the costs of going to work, running the house, then paying for all the bits and pieces that they think they need to be happy, there is just no money left for the important stuff.  And this is where most people go wrong , because they are not taught to run their money like a business.

I know, because I ran my money like that for about 40 years of my life too.   Even now, I know many business people who don’t run their personal money in the same way they run their business money.  You know who you are, Money Gym Club Members!

If you ARE making a profit after paying for your day to day life, then ideally some should be put towards cushioning your cashflow against potential changes in the market next year (savings) and some should reinvested in growing the business (you!) and creating new income flows.   Learning new skills, investing in property, starting a part-time business on the side of your day job.

Before you take any personal drawings, to have fun with, as a shareholder in your business.  For example, refurbishing the office (your house), or taking the staff (you) on holiday.

Like any business, you should always be looking out for opportunities to increase cashflow and profits, because those extra earnings can be put towards buying, what we in The Money Gym call “income producing assets”.  Similarly, you should always be looking for ways to cut overhead, without affecting quality and almost as important, quality of life.

Because you are your business, and you are your main asset.  You need looking after.

The more of those income producing assets you can invest in and accumulate, the quicker you can become financially free, as the income from your assets outstrips what you need to live on.

And that’s the day you never have to work again, if you don’t want to.

Because you are financially free.

“Take A Look At Yourself And Make a ….. Change” by Judith Morgan

Every day on our Money Gym forums clients report successes.   They can be tiny. They can be huge. They can be both tiny and huge at the same time.   When we see a client who has worked from November 2008 until July 2009, “following the bloody instructions” as Nicola would say, finally report her first ebook sale worth precisely $17.97, a huge virtual cheer goes up in our Money Gym community.   Why’s that?  

Because Jodie has inspired us all and proved it can be done and, more than that, we are cheering her fortitude, her ability to stick with something for nine months before seeing a result.   Jodie said “I had a squeeze page sign up, and then 10 minutes later my new prospect bought my book!” but we all knew it wasn’t really just 10 minutes, we knew it was ten minutes at the end of nine months’ application.

And Jodie’s not the only one.   We’ve got clients bravely going into Estate Agents and learning to love them, introducing them to the principles of Rent2Own.   We’ve got clients getting their books up on Amazon, a journey of some 2-3 years, we have clients reporting successes with Google Adwords resulting in more income for their businesses, doing property deals even in this climate, raising money from each other to do bigger deals and joint ventures, advising and supporting one other, launching websites, thinking laterally, sharing resources, and getting into forex and foreign investments.   Nowadays, there’s so much of this going on, we almost take it for granted.

Until that is we rub up against someone who puts a pin in our balloon.   Someone who says it can’t be done, the naysayers, complainers, non-believers, slaggers, those who ask for refunds and say our programme is rubbish when I know it ain’t because I’ve been through it myself and it has made the world of difference to my own finances.   I now have properties and businesses and investments which will lead to my eventual financial freedom.  

Now I know how and when I am going to achieve that and am already planning my early retirement to my much-fabled sunshiny tax-free haven.   Just working out now the best way and place to blog the last bit of the journey.   And that’s all down to what I learned from Nicola and what we now teach together in the Money Gym with the help of our wonderful coaches, Steve Watson and our community of past and present clients.

It’s taken me six years and counting.   And I’ve been working at it one way or the other for most of that time and it ain’t over yet.   So what would I say to the faint-hearted, the down-hearted, those who slag Nicola and I off in public forums and in private?

I would say look at our clients, too many to list by name here, but if you are in our forums you already know who they are.  Look at the video of Debbie Bissett on YouTube, look at how much better, more joyous and free Debbie’s life is.   Look how well and happy she looks on it, and she’s one of our most steadfast supporters for the same reason I am – she’s been through the programme, she knows it works and more importantly she’s put the work in.

I always say to those clients joining us at Gold level that this year will be the foundation stone of the rest of your financial life.   I tell them truthfully that I am still building on that foundation six years later.   One very kind client, Kate, told me recently that she thought I had really rocketed in my own journey in the last year and that’s true, but it’s the compounding effect of the work which has gone on in the last six years.   Gold clients are entitled to rock up to most of what we do for free or cost forever.  

Do they?   Some do… well done, you lot!   A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, often at Silver level of The Money Gym Club.   It takes guts to return to the fold and say I messed up first time, or the time wasn’t right for me, or this is going to make me longer than I thought.   But we love and welcome you to do that.   It’s included in what you bought because we know how long this journey can be for some, for most.

We have discovered recently through our new Silver Elite programme that clients appreciate weekly accountability, a deadline and a kick up the bum along with a degree of hand-holding.   But in the end, it’s all down to you.   There really is only so much we can do for you.  

The Money Gym programme works, but only if you make it important, only if you stick at it like Karen, Claire, Stephanie, Debbie, me, Dawn, Matthew, Yvonne and others too many to count but you know who you are and so do we.   Because you continue to show up and do the work and contribute back to our community and we love and appreciate you for that.

To paraphrase Michael Jackson, and that seems timely, “if you wanna make your financial world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that …….change”.  

And let me know how we, at The Money Gym, can help.

Click the relevant button for more information:

Find Your Finance Cornerstone

(This article is reproduced with kind permission of Mike Southon, international business speaker, weekly columnist for the Financial Times, entrepreneur mentor and co-author with Chris West of “The Beermat Entrepreneur” series of books).

Mike Southon says:  This is my column that will feature in Saturday’s Financial Times, which can be found in the entrepreneurship pages of the Money section. You can also find my columns on the FT web site here )

One of the symptoms of a credit crunch moving seamlessly into a recession is the unfortunate chore of the entrepreneur spending more time with their bank manager.

This might well be to obtain more credit to cope with a short-term cash-flow problem, or to explain the restructuring required to take best advantage of unpredictable market conditions. Whatever the desired outcome, this is unlikely to be a meeting which either party regards with keen anticipation.

The challenge is that the entrepreneur and the bank manager speak two completely different languages. The entrepreneur likes to talk about new ideas and opportunities, about changing the world and making a difference and being recognised in the street. The bank manager is probably under strict instructions from above to reduce the risk in their portfolio of accounts, and can only express this in the language of the spreadsheet and the bottom line.

Meetings between entrepreneurs and banks managers can be tense and sometimes even characterised by strong language. Many years ago in my first start-up our CEO went to open a bank account. He was back very quickly and in a bad mood, so we realised the meeting had not gone well.

In his view, the bank manager was an idiot; he had not understood how clever our CEO was, how we clearly had an unbeatable business proposition and how much money we all were all going to make, including the bank.

Our CEO was ultimately right about this. We did indeed sell the company for a lot of money only five years later. But back on day one we had a small problem; we did not even have a bank account yet.

Understanding finance is one of the toughest challenges for an entrepreneur, especially if they come from a sales or technical background. It is a very large topic with constantly changing rules, and it was a real challenge for Chris West to summarise this into simple terms in Finance on a Beermat.

West worked with finance experts Stephen King and Jeff Macklin, and while there are indeed chapters on double-entry bookkeeping and tax, the book starts with simple and straightforward advice: before you do anything, you should find yourself a Finance Cornerstone.

This is very unlikely to be a full-time employee from day one; most people have a ‘virtual’ Finance Cornerstone, someone who comes perhaps one day a month and puts some order to your receipts and invoices in preparation for submitting your accounts.

But we make an important distinction between an accountant and a Finance Cornerstone.

An accountant is essentially reactive; they will do your books and then tell you that you have gone broke. A Finance Cornerstone is pro-active; they tell you in advance that unless you do certain things, you will go broke at some time in the future.

Even if they only come in one day a month, they understand your business and can advise on how to scale up your business when times are good, and how to scale down your business when they are not.

Most importantly, they speak the language of the bank manager, and should always accompany you to any such meetings. The entrepreneur should make some introductory remarks, and then leave the running of the meeting to the Finance Cornerstone. In particular, any promises made about the provision of security or repayment of loans should be made by someone who not only understands the mindset of the bank manager, but who is also more likely to be trusted to keep those promises.

And if circumstances change and repayment terms need to be negotiated, this is best done by a professional, who will present a case that is based on facts rather than emotions. After all, the bank is in the business of lending money with interest, so as long as they think you will not let them down, they are more likely to be sympathetic to your cause.

In my first start-up we were lucky that another of our shareholders, the CEO’s brother, was a vice-president of Goldman Sachs, and thus able to smooth things over with the bank. If you are not in this happy situation, then I recommend one of the organisations that provide virtual Finance Cornerstones, such as King and Macklin’s company FDUK.

Alternatively, you can even ask your bank manager to recommend someone. I am sure they will be delighted to help.

Finance on a Beermat by Chris West, Stephen King and Jeff Macklin is published by Random House Business Books.

Finance on a Beermat (Second edition):
http://tinyurl.com/6jlpxj