Still Want More?

There are many people who want to do, instead of think, and then there are people who think but do not do.

So for those who want "to dos" on how to get started, I will share with you some of the things I do, in abbreviated form.

• Stop doing what you're doing.

 In other words, take a break and assess what is working and what is not working. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Stop doing what is not working and look for something new to do.

• Look for new ideas.

 For new investing ideas, I go to bookstores and look for books on different and unique subjects. I call them formulas. I buy how- to books on a formula I know nothing about.

TAKE ACTION!

Most people do not take action, or they let someone talk them out of whatever new formula they are studying

• Find someone who has done what you want to do. Take them to lunch. Ask them for tips, for little tricks of the trade.

Take classes and buy tapes. I search the newspapers for new and interesting classes. Many are for free or a small fee. I also attend and pay for expensive seminars on what I want to learn. I am wealthy and free from needing a job simply because of the courses I took. I have friends who did not take those classes who told me I was wasting my money, and yet they're still at the same job.

• Make lots of offers.

If you don't know what the "right offer" is, neither do I. That is 'the job of the real estate agent. They make the offers.

A friend wanted me to show her how to buy apartment houses.

 Well, you don't know what the right price is until you have a second party who wants to deal. Most sellers ask too much. It is rare that a seller will actually ask a price that is less than something is worth.

Make offers. People who are not investors have no idea what it feels like to be trying to sell something.

But that's how the game works. The game of buying and selling is fun. Keep that in mind. It's fun and only a game. Make offers. Someone might say "yes."

So many people make things too difficult and take them too seriously.

Finding a good deal, the right business, the right people, the right investors, or whatever is just like dating.

 You must go to the market and talk to a lot of people, make a lot of offers, counteroffers, negotiate, reject and accept. I know single people who sit at home and wait for the phone to ring, but unless you're Cindy Crawford or Tom Cruise, I think you'd best go to the market, even if it's only the supermarket.

 Search, offer, reject, negotiate and accept are all parts of the process of almost everything in life.

• Jog, walk or drive a certain area once a month for ten minutes.

Look for change.

For there to be profit in a deal, there must be two elements: a bargain and change. There are lots of bargains, but it's change that turns a bargain into a profitable opportunity.

 So when you jog, jog a neighborhood you might like to invest in.

 It is the repetition that causes you to notice slight differences.

 watch for moving trucks, going in or out. stop and talk to the drivers.

It's amazing how much information they acquire about an area.

find a bad area, especially an area that the news has scared everyone away from.  drive it for sometimes a year waiting for signs of something changing for the better. talk to retailers, especially new ones, and find out why they're moving in. It takes only a few minutes a month, and do it while doing something else, like exercising, or going to and from the store.

•  the principles of finding value are the same regardless if it's real estate,

stocks, mutual funds, new companies, a new pet, a new home, a new spouse, or a bargain on laundry detergent. The process is always the same. You need to know what you're looking for and then go look for it!

• Why consumers will always be poor. When the supermarket has a sale on, say, toilet paper, the consumer runs in and stocks up.

When the stock market has a sale, most often called a crash or correction, the consumer runs away from it.

When the supermarket raises its prices, the consumer shops elsewhere.

 When the stock market raises its prices, the consumer starts buying.

• Look in the right places.

• look for people who want to buy first, then look for someone who wants to sell. Buy the pie and cut it in pieces.

 Most people look for what they can afford, so they look too small.

They buy only a piece of the pie, so they end up paying more for less.

 Small thinkers don't get the big breaks.

 If you want to get richer, think bigger first.

Retailers love giving volume discounts, simply because most business people love big spenders.

 So even if you're small, you can always think big.

Small people remain small because they think small; act alone, or don't act all.

• Learn from history.

 All the big companies on the stock exchange started out as small companies. Colonel Sanders did not get rich until after he lost everything in his 60s.

Bill Gates was one of the richest men in the world before he was 30.

• Action always beats inaction.

These are just a few of the things you have to do and continue to do to recognize opportunities.

The important words being "done" and "do". As repeated many times throughout the book, you must take action before you can receive the financial rewards.

Act now!