Bugs, Birthdays, Business & Beautiful Food

I got an email from Hal, my mate from Georgia, today.  The subject line got my attention as all of Hal’s emails invariably do.  Today, the subject line was “One big fat ugly rat” and I opened it immediately….

It went to to say….

“Dear Nicola,  I don’t know about you, but one big fat ugly rat in my house is one way too many!

I spoke with a gentleman a few days ago and he told me he had found evidence of a rat in his basement. He asked, “Do you think I have a rat problem?”

What?  Are you kidding me? A big fat ugly rat in your house and you’re asking me if it is a problem?

Now, I don’t know about you…but if I find evidence of a rat in my house, I’m going to take immediate action.  Rats and my wife do not mix…..under any circumstances.

NO…..not at all……no way!

Roof rats (Rattus rattus) are rampant in the Atlanta Metro Area….just as they are in all metropolitan areas in America.  They have been living in our houses for thousands of years. It’s their natural habitat.

Roof rats are referred to as “commensal rodents”.  Commensal means, “lives with man” or “shares man’s table”.

Let me suggest one thing to you.  If you even THINK you hear something in your attic or basement….if you even THINK you smell a strange “amonia-like odor” in your basement or attic….if you even THINK you have found droppings from what could be a rodent…..you need to take immediate action!”

He went on to suggest some immediate action you could take, and of course, one of the action you could take would be to call Hal.

Hal, you see, has a company called North Fulton Bug Extermination and if I lived in North Fulton, and had a bug problem, there is only one man I would call and that’s Hal.  Apart from the fact that he’s a mate of my mate Mike Stewart, the Internet Audio & Video Guy, Hal, through his emails, has established that he’s

1. Passionate and knowledgeable about bug extermination
2. A Really Nice Guy

His website bears that out  and note, he’s using video to immediately connect with and communicate with harrassed householders with a bug problem.

Now, you might be wondering how Hal became such a cutting edge web marketeer and the answer is, of course, he wasn’t, but he’s a fishing buddy of Mike Stewart, who is brilliant at internet video and audio marketing.  one of my first mentors online actually.

And I think it’s a brilliant story that shows the power of the internet to market existing real world businesses, even very local business, who have a traditional business model but open minds when it comes to marketing.

Mike’s site also has a brilliant video promoting a local carpet company.  There are well edited videos of all the staff just talking about their customer service ethos, and why they are so proud of working there.  Where would I go for carpet if I lived in Georgia?  Well not some faceless shop where nobody cared about what they do or sell, that’s for sure.

I email Hal sometimes to let him know his emails light up the inbox of someone in the UK, and he always responds with amazement and delight.  Do you think he realises he is running the risk of becoming the Gary Vay.ner.chuk of the bug exterminating world?  A cult hero….

I might start a Facebook Fanclub for Hal.  what would he make of that, I wonder?

where am I going with all this?

Dunno, except I’ve just got back from Tamkin Riaz’s and Michael Young’s Mastermind Networking event in London where I was delighted to meet a roomful of new people, all successful, positive, upbeat people who are barely registering the credit crunch let alone being affected by it.  Specialists from all areas of the wealth creation arena -from all over the world – and very nice people.

Property investors whose long term investments are making a rental profit for the first time in ages, internet marketing specialists whose businesses are booming as everyone wakes up to the fact that a “job for life” is the riskiest thing you can bank on, and that the banks are the last places you should keep your cash.  Everyone is looking for another way, so if you have a success story, you can inspire others to changet their lives too, and boy, is that needed.  Tell your story, and exchange some energy.  Make some money while those who are not looking to change their mindset panic.

All of this was contrasting sharply with the blank, grey, miserable faces on the 8.15am commuter train from Shoreham to London.

And the man on GMTV this morning who took 21 weeks of serious, full time job seeking, to find another job exactly the same, and exactly as vunerable as the one he had been made redundant from.

If only he had applied himself so diligently to finding another way to make money rather than trading your hours for a pittance.  If only he had known there was “another way”.

Today, we made a list of the challenges of the average person, when trying to get to grips with property investing and internet marketing and then we tried to brainstorm what the solutions might be, in trying to get that average person to overcome those challenges and how to get them to take action.

As you might expect from a roomful of dynamic entrepreneurs, talented speakers and business people, by the end of the day, we had abandoned the “how to make the horse drink, having led him to water” rough plan for the day, and had come up with a MASSIVE money making scheme of our very own.

Herding cats, as Greg & Andy used to say of our meetings at Passive Investments in the early days.

Great fun, and thanks to Tamkin and Michael for organising the day and changing the venue from Luton to London so I could attend.  And I think I’ve met some joint venture partners and potential event organisers for my swiftly burgeoning speaking career.

Off to Manchester at 5.45am tomorrow (man!) to spend a day with one of my first ever Money Gym clients ever, to review his wealth creation actions over the last five years, and plan the next five.  Then to Central Manchester to speak for “Build Your Wealth” – you can still book to attend this interesting two days

Flying, luxury hotels, taxis, I absolutely love it.  Effortless travel, old friends and new and just great fun.

Tickets are flying out for the Property Extravaganza now, and Judith is reaching new paroxysms of excitement as she organises the speaker webinars to help encourage you to come along and help us help The Big Issue, who help the homeless help themselves.

She won’t rest till all 200 tickets are gone, and we are a quarter of the way there, with a month to go still.

Are you coming yet?  If not, why not?

http://www.themoneygym.com/events/property

we put on bloody marvellous events and even if you come for no other reason than to do what I’ve done today, which is hang out with dynamic, optimistic, positive, clever people………well, that’s a good enough reason, eh?

Gotta go, pan fried cod with asparagus, safron potatoes and a portugaise sauce (sundried tomatoes, garlic, parsley, white wine etc apparently) on the go next door….washed down with a glass of Judith’s present to the birthday boy, Steve.

YUM!

Have fun, we always do.

Nicola

Property? Yes! Right Now!

Judith has picked me up on the fact that there’s one more wealth creation event we need to draw to your attention for your urgent action this week.  And it’s for you if you are still keen on property even while all around you are gnashing their teeth and wailing doom and gloom.

We are holding a little property evening next week to introduce our clients to Tamkin Riaz (who I have known for a long time and speak for regularly) and his business partner Abdul of South2North.

** This is not to be confused with a previous well known Manchester “opportunity”.  Tamkin and Abdul have access to some great contacts in the financial services industry, allowing them to be buying properties wholesale from the banks and building societies and they are selling them onto us in The Money Gym, still at very much wholesale prices. **

The South2North offering is five properties in Manchester and surrounding areas for £10,000 fee. The five properties will be made available to you within 12 months and each one will have either instant equity of at least 15% or, in some casess cashback – up to £25,000 across the whole five properties, net £15,000.

This is a really exciting opportunity for people who want to own five investment properties by this time next year for only £10,000.   What a stonking bargain!

On this special information page which Steve has created you can find out the answers to all the questions we have already received from our clients about this and listen to an hour-long teleseminar Judith and I ran with Peter Stanley, our man on the ground in Manchester, who is helping us with this project.

You can also book your seat for the event – just £25 which is totally refundable when you arrive.
Steve will process refunds the next day to those who turn up using the same card you used to book.

All details here:   www.themoneygym.com/south2north

If you are interested in this opportunity but are not free to attend next Tuesday evening, 4th November 2008 at 6-8 p.m. at our usual venue, the Southwark Rose Hotel, please email Judith (judith [at] themoneygym.com) and she will bring you up to speed after the meeting.

Remember – true entrepreneurs learn how make money in any market!

Cheers,
Nicola

Joint Ventures RIP! Long Live Strategic Partnerships

This week has been an interesting one in the world of both business success and internet marketing.  The excellent Stompernet faculty has opened it’s long closed doors to a limited number of new students and what is rapidly growing into the “must join” membership site / online university has been following the classic “product launch formula” method of giving away great content before selling anyone anything. 

Attraction marketing at it’s finest.

One of the things that Stompernet have been giving away, is lots and lots of free videos on improving your rankings in the Search Engines.  Check out those and their fantastic new and totally free tool to find out what Google sees when it visits your site here >>>

Another is Brad Fallon, founder of Stompernet, together with one of my mentors Rich Schefren, discussing on some great videos on why you should stop thinking in terms of quick and dirty Joint Ventures (where you just mail for them and they mail for you) and start thinking in terms of value-adding strategic partnerships.

Think about who you could work with on a long term basis, that you

1.  Like – this is very important
2.  Respect – you have to feel happy recommending them and their company
3.  Know have unique content that you don’t have that your subscribers / members would enjoy/benefit from

We have long been a fan of this in The Money Gym, with our existing alliances with those who we consider to be the best in their field, such as our “Money Gym Presents….Our Favourite Experts” workshop presenters, but specifically Passive Investments, Tamkin Riaz, Marcus De Maria, Alan Forrrest Smith and now Tim Brocklehurst, Brett McFall, Claire Raikes, and Dave Lee, The Cashflow Investor (see Wealth Highway article today).

But it’s all been a bit informal and I’m starting to think about making it more formalised and also more reciprocal in some cases.

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Billy Schwer & Phoebe

Last night I spoke for Tamkin’s Club Entrepreneur in London and I took my 12 year old Phoebe as she has never seen me speak, and I thought it’s time that she sees what Mummy actually does for a living (well, part of it anyway).

When my bit was over (I was on first) I asked her if she wanted to go, but Tamkin was introducing the next speaker, Billy Schwer, Luton born boy, boxer and previous Commonwealth & European Lightweight Champion, and former IBO Light Welterweight World Champion….

Billy told an amazing story, his own, and shared his 3-D Formula for success and it totally blew P away. When he came over to say hello she was thrilled as she was trying to pluck up the courage to go over to him and we had been practicing her handshake specially….He is a natural speaker and very comfortable on stage, articulate, funny and self deprecating. We liked him enormously!

“.. Billy Schwer, former IBO light welterweight world champion, spent two decades at the top of the most physically and mentally gruelling sport. He now works as a personal mentor, executive coach and motivational speaker. One of the most consistently brilliant fighters ever seen in Britain, for his sharp skills, courage and determination, Billy’s effort and grace in the ring attracted a huge fan base.

His engaging personality and ready wit made him a favourite amongst other boxers, promoters and the media. An engaging speaker: honest, reflective and intelligent has led to him being sought out by various journalists to contribute to radio discussions, feature articles and opinion pieces on a breadth of subjects. Naturally, being an icon in the sport of boxing, Billy has been invited to do a share of pundit work. Actively involved in many Charities since 1991 Billy finds a great deal of fulfilment in positively contributing to the community and peoples lives. He is currently working towards establishing a foundation to help children and teenagers realise their full potential and achieve their dreams……”

FIND BILLY SCHWER HERE >>>

FIND BILLY SCHWER ON MYSPACE HERE >>>

At the end we had our pictures taken and while she pretended to be embarrassed Phoebe loved it!  Here she is with me and the wonderfully welcoming Tamkin!

Marketing Defined

Courtesy of Tamkin Riaz, for whom I’m speaking on 22nd April in London at the Entrepreneurs Club

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. “Marry me !”
“That’s Direct Marketing”

2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: “He’s very rich. “Marry him.”

“That’s Advertising”

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: “Hi, I’m very rich. “Marry me.”

“That’s Telemarketing”

4. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: “By the way, I’m rich. Will you “Marry Me?”

“That’s Public Relations”

5. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:”You are very rich! “Can you marry ! me?”

“That’s Brand Recognition”

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.

“That’s Customer Feedback”

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: “I am very rich. Marry me!” -and she introduces you to her husband.

“That’s demand and supply gap”

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her:

“I’m rich. Will you marry me?” - and she goes with him..

“That’s competition eating into your market share”

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: “I’m rich, Marry me!”  -and your wife arrives.

“That’s restriction for entering new markets”

Wealth Coach Diaries: Nicola’s Week

Well it’s been a lively old week, dominated by video and travelling about the country and now…..late breaking news, the Money Gym Club have launched a 90 day internet challenge (see below for details) – so much for NO MORE NEW THINGS!!

Now I really feel like spring is coming, with the start of the speaking season, kicking off with a Sunday afternoon trip to Yorkshire to stay overnight at Hazlewood Castle, between Leeds and York.

I had so much fun up there, from making a spooky video which you can watch, favourite and comment on here – I had a suite which was fabulous – just look at that AMAZING BED!!

A lovely dinner, featuring scallops, venison and ovaltine ice-cream – totally yum!  Then at breakfast, speaking to 70 odd up-for-it members of the Institute of Directors, Yorkshire, before leaping onto the fast train from York (why do I find it amazing that the train came from Aberdeen?!) to come right back home again.  One end of the country to the next in a day.  Marvellous.

Apart from the work I did on the train, 4 hours door to door with power for the lappie, I planned out a marketing campaign template (a la Jeff Walker “Product Launch Formula”) for all our forthcoming “Money Gym Presents…Our Favourite Experts” days in 2008

For some reason I had it firmly in my head that I was off to Milton Keynes tomorrow, for the 2nd National VA Conference & Awards Ceremony – even bought my ticket which is a bit uncharacteristically organised for me!  But it’s the wrong date – two weeks early.  I was muddling it up with the dates they wanted the promo info by, when I checked my Outlook.  Duh!

It’s on the 19th of course, so a blissful weekend at home to look forward to.  Then off to speak for an old hero of mine, Danny Rampling on Tuesday, then next week off to speak for Tamkin Riaz, both in London on a Tuesday evening.  Here are the details – come and say hello!

Tuesday (Evening), 15th April 2008 – The Entrepreneurs’ Club International
(Organiser: Danny Rampling), London
More info: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5049527067

Saturday (All Day), 19th April 2008 – 2nd National VA Conference & Awards Ceremony
Kents Hill Park Training & Conference Centre, Milton Keynes
(Organiser : Carmen McDougal)
More info: http://www.vact.co.uk/conf2008event.html

Tuesday (Evening), 22nd April 2008 – The London Club Entrepreneur
(Organiser : Tamkin Riaz), London
More info: http://tinyurl.com/2vcekx

I’m back on my diet as summer is coming – I’m going to 11 stone this time and if you see me out and about don’t you dare say anything like “Oh, you look a bit ill, don’t you think you have lost enough now?” because I will stop when I’m good and ready, not to mention good and thin! 

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