I’ve Heard That Song Before
Wouldn’t some good
news be great for a change? Wouldn’t it be amazing to learn there is a simple and
sure way to leveraged income and it won’t cost you a penny? And wouldn’t it be
over the top if this meant that before the end of this year you can quit the
time-for-money trap?
Payday will usually
provide shelter and food for your family. This is not the American-dream; it’s the
American-nightmare – stretching a fixed income while food, fuel, insurance, and
health costs increase. It’s dividing families and causing serious depressions.
Gurus are coming out of
the woodwork because of this. They are selling their regurgitated words in Ebooks for a not-so-small
price. They show monthly statements with their million-dollar earnings, quote a
dozen testimonials (real or embellished) and guarantee that if you think
like a millionaire, you will be a millionaire. Each one of them has the secret. Oh
lucky day!
Some sing a better song
than others, but I’ve heard them all before. The good news is – I’ve done
it and put it all in an Ebook that doesn’t cost you anything to read. I don’t
quote any testimonials, and it’s written with no hype or BS. If you have a spare hour
you can generate leveraged income the same way because I’ve dropped plenty of bread
crumbs so you won’t get lost.
Leveraged income is like
remote control and you will clearly see how easy it is to make money work for you. This
knowledge is no different than learning to ride a bike or use a keyboard – once
learned it is yours. You own the knowledge. No one can take it from you. Period.
Download your copy of
“Invitation to Internet Success – Wear Your Party Pants!” today. Written in
pdf format; downloadable with Adobe Reader (also free).
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/InternetSuccess.pdf
The Halo and Horn Effect
Here’s an entertaining yarn
where you might find more truth than fiction. Because of human nature -- particularly in
the workplace, we often embrace what pleases the conscious mind while ignoring all else.
Peterson was passed over
for a promotion because he’s frequently late for work – it’s usually only
minutes, but late nevertheless. Still, he’s a congenial fellow who produces more than
the average sales. He doesn’t take those annoying coffee breaks and is groomed to the
nines. It’s perplexing that Peterson can be so commendable in many areas, yet fall
short of ideal.
The Director picked up
the next performance evaluation; one P.T. O’Brian. Ah, yes – O’Brian! That
good looking guy whose blue eyes every female wants to drown in, the guy who won the
company’s best suggestion last year: a simple why didn’t I think of
that improvement. It will save the company millions in the long run. He’s lucky
to have a man like O’Brian in his department – in spite of petty gossip.
If you assumed O’Brian
moved to a front office with a secretary stacked like Erin Brockovich, you’d be
right. He inherited the Halo Effect, as did his secretary some months ago. Peterson on the
other hand, unknowingly still wears his horn.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
The Time-For-Money Trap
Absorb yourself in the
time-for-money trap by pretending it’s the fix-all and you have cleverly created a
constant distraction that prevents you from seeing how pointless it is. Realistically, you
know it’s not the answer to wealth, but with everyone around you participating in
this make-believe, it’s easy to ignore.
Jane Doe earns $100k per
year so it would appear that she is twice as rich as John Doe who earns $50k per year.
Relative Income uses two variables, the dollar and the hours. If Jane makes
$100k/year ($2000/wk for 50 wks, and works 80/hrs per week) she actually makes $25/hr.
John makes $50k per year ($1000 wk for 50 wks, and works 10 hrs per week) he
actually makes $100/hr. In Relative Income, John is four times richer than Jane. Should he
be happy?
We have two Americas…
one privileged; the other burdened… one America that does the work, another that
reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax
breaks; hard to argue that.
Most entrepreneurs come
from the nine-to-five culture for good reasons, and they would not be happy with John’s
$50k per year even with his 10 hour week. The newly rich today make $5k per hour
and if you ask them what they do to earn it, they might reply, “as little as
possible.”
Studies tell us that
today 46% of all employees hate their jobs and feel they’re treated with disrespect.
They don’t trust management and feel they are underpaid while shouldering more
and more of their retirement and health benefits. Behaviors of individuals are, to a large
extent, dictated by the roles they are asked to assume.
Small wonder
employees stop caring, stop producing and start looking for other opportunities.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Preview Your Life
Start by looking at friends, family or
fellow employees who are fifteen to twenty years ahead of you but on the same track.
Are they content with
“merit raises” each year? Or have some been promoted to Director of Sales, or
Assistant to the Marketing Director? If so, take a few minutes to study their faces, watch
their body language, or listen to their conversations.
Do you see stress? Do
you hear them speak of being out of money before they are out of month? Do you sense that
their family life is happy or strained? I did exactly this preview of my own life some
years back and it scared the hell out of me. I thought of hamsters that spend their lives
running in place and knew I had to make some changes.
Uncertainty and the
prospect of failure can be those scary noises in the shadows. Like most people I chose
unhappiness over uncertainty. I had firepower up the wazoo but no trigger finger and my
boss knew it.
So I began to read every
entrepreneur who had written a book, and attended all-you-can-eat information buffets
given by dozens of gurus. I was told I would surely stumble, that failure will stalk me
like a predator, and that the problems would be all mine to solve.
I took copious notes and
ate every word like a starved prisoner. They taught me Relative Income vs Absolute
Income. And answered the question is a dollar – a dollar? The rich
don’t think so. And most importantly, they taught me not to save it all for the end.
There is every reason
not to.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
The Serial Entrepreneur
Ever feel like you were
born at the wrong time?
Today there are a
growing number of thirty-something, and they have put new meaning to the phrase: if you
can generate a large sum of money once, you can do it again. Further, they know what
they want and it’s not 15-30 years of soul-crushing work accepted as the default path
to retirement.
Most do favor
Universities to learn the basics of entrepreneurial strategies, profit and loss, and the
benefits of foreign exchange currency. Some drop out before graduation and while they may
not have a bank account to draw on, they have a credit card. They are willing to risk it
all – which to them, is nothing.
Five thousand dollars will set up a website; a perfect start for anybody who
wants to start a business. Safe to say people buy what they want, not what they need. Our
serial entrepreneur, Sam, knows it is way too much work to create the “want” for
a product. Instead, he finds the “want” and creates a product for it. With
proper marketing this virtually guarantees success.
There are two huge
“wants” that he saw: weight loss and nutritional supplements. He could outsource
a product from China, rename it, and viola – as soon as the ads hit the
Internet momentum his site grew steadily to forty-grand a month.
Simple - yes. Can you do
it? Sure. But Sam’s recipe for a luxury lifestyle was - time, income, and
mobility. So far he only had the income. A year later he was offered a buyout and he
accepted with a smile. He took a long respite and began again.
When is the right time
to “risk it all” -- quit the job or quit the studies? The stars are not going to
align themselves in a perfect answer any more than all the traffic lights will be green
tonight on your way home from your cubicle.
Sometimes the bottleneck
in our life is ourselves.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Be Careful What You Wish For
Here’s a good
lesson that I offer from my own history… I always wanted to open a Restaurant –
not just any ole kind, but one that had excellent food, the best live entertainment with
repeat customers who turned into close friends.
Well I did it. I worked
17 hours a day, interviewed the dance bands, hired and fired all employees, booked
banquets and wrote my own publicity ads.
Meanwhile, my bartender
was exchanging scotch for sirloins with the chef and the cashier’s family ate free.
Competition in town called in a bomb scare in the middle of lunch hour that resulted in a
false alarm but another big dollar loss. When I sat down with my night manager to inform
him that so-and-so was stealing, he shrugged and replied: yeah, but it’s always
within reason.
This was my reality
check. It’s when I realized I was really quite ordinary.
So before you start worrying about what product or service you are going to
sell, you should sit down and decide exactly the kind of life you want to live. Do
you want to work from home and spend more time with the family? Do you want extended
vacations without worrying that someone else is running your business? Are you into golf,
tennis or skin diving?
Decide what you want to
do, and don’t want to do. Then -- design your business so it fits your
lifestyle.
Many times I speak with
people who have their own businesses, but they’re trapped by them, like I was. They
don’t run the business – the business runs them.
Begin with the biggest
focus on your life. Mistakes are costly – believe me, I know
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Living Debt Free
Something has sucked up
the American dream and spit it back out, and it’s not a pretty picture. We are
all suffering the big hangover from two years of spending more than we earned. The
size of this borrowing binge has not happened since the Great Depression.
Credit Card interest is
topping off because most holders have neared the limit on their cards, and banks have been
waiting to use all the small print we never bothered to read. The average household owes
$9,900 on credit cards at 15% interest… or worse.
We bought homes, filled the garage with new cars that play DVDs and have
seats that warm our butts in winter. Our recent Island trip hasn’t been paid for and
the twins are in college on student loans. What went wrong?
What most families in
America needs today is a Tooth Fairy; a windfall that can smack down a jumbo payment on
that Visa card or car loan.
Our family was just
visited by what I fondly call the Tooth Fairy – a program that we joined two months
ago and has delivered its first reward of $8000. Yup, we wiped out 100% of our Visa
payment.
Will it return again
with another $8000; short answer is - yes. Will it go on forever? Realistically - nothing
is forever, but many members have been visited more than once. Membership’s on
fire so there’s no reason to be anything but optimistic. The more households that
need a quick fix, the more windfalls we will enjoy.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Management Position Available
Before entering my
neighborhood video store, I passed two workers outside the door smoking cigarettes. It’s
getting more and more usual these days.
I was fifth in line with
my selection and it seemed the only other help was still outside the door. The manager
was trying to make his customer understand their “refund” policy, while the rest
of us patiently waited.
I always considered the
position of “manager” to be an abusive one. Most of my experience with
this level of employment has been in restaurants, but I would consider video store
management on that level also.
Managing people is harder than ever today. You have to do more with a lot
less. Employees disagree openly and will not work hard for vague promises of long-term
rewards. You must measure performance constantly, correct failure quickly and compliment
success even more quickly. Extra shifts are not uncommon; absenteeism is yours to fill.
Managing is a sacred
responsibility. It is your job alone to make sure the work is done well, done fast, and
done everyday. If a problem arises it’s all yours to solve.
Squeezed between the
employees under you and a Supervisor over you, forget any fair play in either direction.
If you run a perfect ship and make your Super proud, you won’t be rewarded
with a bonus or an early promotion. If you are brassy enough to ask why, you’ll get
their tidy reply: if we did that for you, we’d have to do it for everyone.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
and escapee
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
A New Twist on an Old Game
I was reading a Forum
yesterday because it’s my favorite way to find a new adventure that earns leveraged
income (the only income for me). Most of these opportunities come under the
heading of MLMs, but new programs today are putting their own twist on this old-game. They
have simplified the structure, eliminated a monthly charge, and incorporated a re-cycle
feature.
Someone in this Forum
wrote about his opportunity where the possibility of $100k in the first year was very
doable. Another member responded that it wouldn’t be worth his time for only
$100,000; that there were bigger fish in the pond.
Well, $100,000 would go
a long way in my bank account but before I could say so, another Forum member asked
exactly when did the word only precede $100k? Good question – I waited for his
answer.
I wasn’t sure I
agreed with his math, but curious enough to investigate I went to his website and looked
at the plan. It was a no-brainer.
I joined.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Is There a Comic in the House?
The meeting that morning
was to introduce our new Manager. There was plenty of chatter with side bets on whether
things would be better or worse. We were a small restaurant and as employees we had plenty
to beef about – not that anything ever changed when we did. Today, Mr. D&D (delay
and deny) was leaving and was going to introduce his replacement, Mr. Next.
The chatter hushed
abruptly as the two men walked into the room. Mr. D&D spoke briefly about the time we
had been together as one family, introduced his replacement, and took a chair.
Obviously fresh from Psychology
101 -- Mr. Next was going to be known as a man that cut right to the chase; “Simple
raise of hands, how many love your job?”
All of us looked at each other as if he had asked the question in Swahili.
He rephrased his question, “Okay, how many like your job?”
Again no hands but there
were a few snickers.
It must have appeared to
him that the rest of his speech could be flushed down the toilet, but more seriously, Mr.
D&D who tended to see everything in primary colors would surely pass this scenario on
to his superiors. He continued with maximum cordiality and blandness. “Does anyone
have a question?”
There was one raised
hand. She stood up as he asked, “Do you love your job?” At once Mr.
Next had an escape, and for an hour we all listened as he explained that even a boss has a
boss and that boss also has one… that we are all together in this job market, and
that success or failure depends on how we accept that.
Yeah well, eighty
percent of success is showing up.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
and escapee
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Ripple Effects in the Workplace
Every one of us can look
back on our school years and remember the bullies, creeps, and jerks that tormented their
victims. They did their best to destroy our self-esteem and drive us to the edge of
insanity. But this story is about when these tyrants grow up and enter our workplace.
You know the kind. They
finish their putdown and walk away as someone mumbles under their breath, “… what
an asshole” (sorry, my Thesaurus gave no synonym). Researchers are too dignified
to use this word in print, so I’ve never seen any studies like “The Rippling
Effect of Assholes in the Workplace” and probably never will.
It’s been noted
that the difference between how a person treats the powerless versus the powerful is a
good measure of his/her human character. Rarely will you find these certified assholes
willing to help an underling but on-point for someone related to the Mayor.
If you work on a job
where the pro-asshole rules, you might want to discover how to escape by entering a
program designed to generate leveraged income for life. Unless we are born with that
silver spoon, we have to have a means of survival; but we don’t need to be abused
while we earn it.
I know a one hairdresser
and two bartenders that must put up with a percentage of asshole customers, but they
charge them substantially higher prices for enduring that abuse – they get no
argument from me.
I met one recovering
asshole, but even today he doesn’t have many friends.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Does Your Name “Google” Well?
You have to walk before
you run and follow before you lead; that’s a given. But there are a few things
you can do to hasten the position of leader, and believe me your road to wealth and
freedom is easier once you have followers.
First and most important
is to put your name or your business in a domain-name. It will grow in popularity every
time someone clicks on your webpage. When they see it at the bottom of a well-worded ad,
they will go and investigate. The more ‘hits’ the higher you will rank.
The more who join your
program or buy your product, the more money you make and the more followers you have. When
people make profits they remember who lead them to the money; always under-promise and
over-deliver.
Bloggers are now in the millions, and why? Because Search Engines love sites
that are updated daily! Write a short blog on your domain website, and then post it to as
many blogging sites as you can. You name will become a household word for your particular
category. Your category is your passion. I have two passions: the arts and
entrepreneurship. I blog for both categories.
Make your LinkedIn
profile public. This is free to join and yet another way for your name or your business to
get passed around by word-of-mouth. More people have joined LinkedIn than live in
Sweden. Use a picture, not a cartoon – if people can’t remember your name, they
certainly will remember your picture if they see it in enough places.
Google me as an artist
under -- Esther Hinchliff
Google me as an author
of articles/blogs under – Esther Smith [sorry, there’s lots of Smiths, and
several Esther Smiths]
Google my website –
The Permanent Venture
Now Google your name or
your business and work on ways to improve your following.
Esther Smith, author/publisher:
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
White-Collar Cubicle Slavery
America has always been
a nation defined by self-reinvention. We’re a restless country so it must be in our
DNA to change course and start over with new energy. Yet I see a dividing line that is
becoming more evident in this new millennium. Under the age of 38 Joe Citizen is all
big-attitude and ready to jump, yet beyond that age, security of a guaranteed cubicle for
life nails the same Joe Citizen in place.
White-collar cubicle slavery (circa 1980) is not much different from
blue-collar shop-floor slavery (circa 1920). Your workday is 9 to5 for a given paycheck,
and you leave your uniqueness at home. You probably will never know real wealth, but you
will eat and pay your bills every month. This seems to be enough for too many.
As the younger Joe
Citizen moves on, the older ones fall into the Peter Principle’s practical
application, i.e. employees eventually are promoted to their highest level of competence,
after which any further promotion raises them to incompetence.
This does not imply that
an employee’s incompetence is a result of the new position being more difficult, but
simply that the task is different from the job in which he excelled, and thus requires
different work skills which he does not possess. And that nails him in his
white-collar cubicle forever.
Escape while you still
have a mind of your own.
Esther Smith,
author/publisher/entrepreneur
http://thepermanentventure.com/InternetSuccess.pdf
PS: Download your free copy
today.
Living Paycheck to Paycheck
This way of life keeps
us tethered to a treadmill of debt and uncertainty about our future. Both the
fast-food cashier and the highest-paid attorney have something in common… they’re
both trading time for money. The day they stop working is the day they stop getting paid.
Forget the old 9 to 5
work schedule; today’s employee is more like 5 to 9. Frequently, overtime
offers no extra pay on Friday and traffic jams force us to leave home earlier than
necessary to avoid being late for work, resulting in another sit-down with the boss.
I remember my last humiliating meeting like this: he began with a big silent
space, then heaved a sigh and said, “Your attendance looks like a checkerboard and
the reds are winning”. He was tired of the “traffic” excuse and I
doubt that he even believed it anymore. There was no blood left on the carpet as he gently
gave me the boot.
This is how I found my
goose that lays golden eggs, otherwise defined as Residual or Leveraged income.
Fortune Magazine deemed direct-selling “an investor’s dream” and
“the best-kept secret of the business world.”
At its best, direct
selling can be an opportunity for individuals to express their entrepreneurial talents and
gain financial independence.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Poverty USA
The Federal Government
claims that a family of four earning $18,810 a year is living in poverty. So I ask myself
– how do you budget that amount? What do you leave out? How far will it stretch?
Do you believe that most
people could get out of the poverty-pit if they only had a job? You’d be wrong.
Nearly 2/3 living in poverty are children and the elderly with fixed or no income.
Yes indeed. There really
was such a thing as a Poorhouse. It was not something made up by parents like boogeyman
stories. It was meant to frighten us into saving our money and spending it wisely. In the
1900s, County Poorhouses dotted the United States. We don’t have Poorhouses today
unless you count the cardboard shelters and soup kitchens that the homeless depend on.
Most Americans believe the Federal Government has a responsibility to
alleviate poverty. But a more realistic solution lies with willing citizens to take up the
cause and help one family escape from poverty. This is not as inconvenient or as laborious
as you might think.
I coach anyone willing
to learn how to generate “leveraged” income, put themselves in a better
lifestyle by investing a meager amount that will reward them many times over. For the few
who have taken my guidance, their income has drastically changed and they in turn have
thrown the ladder over the side, helping another family enjoy a better life.
Willing citizens helping
just one family earns us a special place in heaven.
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/InternetSuccess.pdf
Get your free copy today.
The New Information Highway
For more years than I
care to admit, I have always depended on either word-of-mouth, catchy ads or Search Engine
results to draw me towards a new program. I have stopped reading Testimonials altogether
because his or her success (real or embellished) is no guarantee of my own – and that’s
just common sense.
Bloggers and Forums are
the new information highway on the Internet today. In my search for another “leveraged
income” avenue, I frequent several Forums. I begin eavesdropping daily without
posting or offering a single comment. I want to see what people were talking about –
good or bad. Sooner or later, something begins to materialize.
Most Forums will not
allow a blatant ad, but you can ask questions and receive answers without violating this
rule. You will be reading something like this:
Act3 is asking if anyone
has heard about xyz-program; good or gad. Gemeni responds because he is a member.
Then others begin to ask about the same program. Has Gemeni been paid yet? How long did it
take to return his investment? BigSpender joins the program under Gemeni because he likes
what he’s seeing, and I begin to read her comments. Act3, now convinced, joins also
and the three of them form a team, each bringing new members into their group.
Others join this Thread
and it has now grown over the weeks to nearly 400 pages with no negative responses.
When you read daily input all going in one direction, what is your move?
Right… you join!
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Here’s Some Mental Floss
I'm old enough to
remember when companies gave competitive examinations to recruit alpha-minds. It's not
enough today - you have to work harder to woo potential recruits for high-tech positions.
Companies have added millions to the budget for training and are paying more attention to
employee's reasons for jumping ship.
UPS was suffering a huge
turnover in drivers and discovered it was because loading the truck each morning was
back-breaking work. They contracted it out to part-timers who are easier to replace than a
good driver. Smart move UPS - and a problem solving high-five!
So okay. We get the
picture. While corporate America scrambles to get the brainiacs, what about the rest of
us? I don't have an MBA or a high-tech education. Does that mean that companies don't want
the likes of me? Well no, actually they still need people to deliver their pizza, change
the oil in their cars and clean their homes.
Thanks, but no thanks. I
know there will always be unskilled jobs but I also know that a percentage of unskilled
workers can learn to retire prematurely if only they get a bit smarter with their money. I
learned years ago that working forty hours for a paycheck would never cut it. Residual or
leveraged income set me up today for monies that result from my earlier efforts. Now it
keeps on coming with little or no further attention on my part.
And, that's what I'm
talkin' about!
The Zeigarnik Effect
Experiments done in 1927
by Bluma Zeigarnik showed us that we remember interrupted tasks the best. Who knew?
The reason was simply that “the tension created by unfinished tasks helps us to
remember.” Let’s offer an example of this.
You’re watching the
news and you hear an announcement like, “Today, the borrower became the lender. More
on that story later, but first…” Don’t you find yourself glued to
that broadcast, even knowing that they will air the rest of the story last? That’s an
effective use of the Zeigarnik effect.
You can connect this
principle with network marketing, and you should. The “interrupted task” is your
incomplete advertisement. Because most of us dislike things incomplete, readers
will satisfy their curiosity for the “rest of the story” by inquiring. But be
aware – people will be fooled once, but not twice. Be sure you fulfill your teaser.
I love writing my own
paycheck – how about you?
Esther Smith, author/publisher
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
Entrepreneurship
Getting Control of Your Life
It’s a fact: the
average self-employed American family has 5 times the net worth of the average wage
earning family. If this sinks in at all it should be a wake-up call.
Once you get real about
what it takes, the rest is easy. It does take a small investment, it does
take some upfront effort to get the ball rolling, and it does take some “due
diligence” before you decide on the opportunity that will generate some “leveraged
income” (aim for those two words). But the smart ones prepare as much as possible
while on someone else’s payroll. When the big money starts feeding your bank account,
then you hand in your notice!
Most success stories don’t need a lot of money to make it work. If you’ve
heard that Entrepreneurship cleans out your bank account – you’ll be happy to
hear that this is simply not true. I began with a modest $220. I did not tackle Wall
Street, and I’m not the Avon door-to-door type, so I had to do some serious research
before I found a gem among all that online glitter.
Retirement (at any age)
is not a rocking chair you surrender to – it’s about second acts.
Esther Smith,
author/publisher/entrepreneur
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm
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