#3 Real Estate Seminar Education

My 2007 was packed with seminars. What I want to discuss today is, what is all of the hype about with these seminars, how do they work, is it worth your time and money? I will totally come out and admit that I was a "Seminar Junkie" for awhile there and probably would still like to be in a sense. But on the other hand I would also call myself a Seminar Guru in the sense I know & understand what these platform speakers are attempting to accomplish and what they want to do to their audience.

I know and have seen the following on stage: Robert Allen, Alan Cowgill, Marshall Sylver, Jeff Schnitter, JJ Childers, John Childers, Bill Barnett, Matt Bacak, Lou Castillo, Josh Brown, Joel Bauer, Dave Lindahl, T Harv Eker, Blair Singer, Jeff Adams, Adam Ginsberg and some others I don't care to mention. Now, this is not a 'bash blog'...I'm not going to bash on these guys in anyway. I have respect for most of these guys and I'm not going to single them out. I'm going to simply explain the psychology behind seminars and help you decide if it is worth your time to get involved.

For one, if you want to make some real money...become a Platform Speaker like the above candidates. I don't know of a more lucrative business that public speaking at a seminar setting. Ok, back to the topic at hand, the way they look at things is:

How many butts do we have in seats?

Are these pre-qualified people?

Did they pay to get in or was it free?

And what is there interest? (internet marketing, self help, real estate, entrepreneurs, etc)

The next thing that they will do is teach, educate and share whatever it is they specialize in with the ultimate goal to convert 10%-30% (or more) of the people in the room. After their pitch, they will close and the next objective is to get you to stand up out of your seat and walk to the back of the room, pull out your credit card and enlist.

This is the basic idea...now are seminars worth your time? It depends on the topic and the speaker. For me...it was worth it. It was very expensive, I did get out of hand at times, as far as getting closed by platform speakers, standing up and running to the back of the room to sign up! The other problem that I faced is, I would purchase a 3 day seminar or a home study course...and would not implement the information. It became a habit of gathering and collecting information. I became this squirrel of information preparing for winter. But winter never came and my information just collected dust.

Would I be where I am today without seminars? No. The other point I would like to make is there is no silver bullet. I thought and felt that by attending X seminar that I would become a millionaire. Not the case just yet. One needs to create a team, implement and begin a business from scratch. So what has happened to me in essence this year, is a mental transformation from "Seminar Junky-whatever they tell me goes and everyone else is stupid" to an "Old School-way of doing business...seek guidance and counsel from professionals outside of the seminar arena."

I fell victim to thinking that the only professionals that could assist me on my Million Dollar Business journey were those in the seminar business circuit. And that came at a very expensive price with very little value. I began to change and realize that life, business and entrepreneurship are not Utopia. Business became very difficult and I needed to change the way I thought of doing business and how I was doing it. I didn't have any local professionals, they were all out of state. Now, I prefer to have everyone local: CPA, Attorney, Financial Plannter, etc.

For instance, I was purchasing distressed foreclosed homes in Detroit from Southern Utah, site unseen. But this is how I was taught from all of those seminars. I had a system in place and professionals who would do the due diligence for me and relay the information via email or phone. Did this work?....yes & no. Would I do it again? Probably not. What have I learned? My first few houses were in terrible areas. Did my contractor say anything to me, my Realtor, property manager? Nope, not one of them mentioned anything to me like, "Hey, Travis you may want to rethink this location." It's my responsibility, I understand that, I don't blame them for my poor decision. It was just a different way of doing business.

Anyhow, my point...I am now an "Old School" hands-on business man. Which brings me to why my family and I have moved to Detroit, Michigan of all places from Saint George, Utah. Enough about me, lets get into real estate deals, entrepreneurship & business. Until then...never give up on your Entrepreneurial Desires.

#2 To Academia or Not To...this is the question!

This blog topic is specifically written to entrepreneurs and business professionals. Graduating from high school the most common practice is to go to college...that is what we are suppose to do right? So what do your peers think and what do your parents say if you don't go to college and decide to go without? Many of the business greats don't go to college at all or simply drop out. Do you need to go to college in order to become a millionaire?

Here is a simple rule of thumb...only seeking learning from those who make more money than you do. For example how much do college professors make a year? And how many years do they have out on the street doing business? Most professors are full time academia people and no real life experience and are really good at research - thats it.

In my case I did attend college and I did graduate with a Bachelors degree. I did want to drop out when I began my 3rd year...but my wife insisted that I finish. I am an advocate of not giving up and finishing something you start...so it was best that I finish what I started. I didn't want to be a hypocrite.

My first two years of college I studied Wildlife Management...then I switched to Business. After doing some research and counseling with a College Counselor on how long it would take me to graduate with a Bachelors in Business...I decided to take the path less traveled. I ended up graduating in General Studies. One may ask why and what the heck is that? Well it allowed me to not have to take those silly math classes that I would never need, it allowed me to skip out on english classes that I did not enjoy and it allowed me to custom tailor my own curriculm.

So I took classes that I would need and would help me throughout my life, for example: auto shop, wood working, photography, ecology, personal finance, housing, real estate, real estate finance, consumer education, real estate appraisal, microsoft office, urban geography, marketing, insurance, etc. So that way I was able to enjoy myself, learn applicable - real life information. There is nothing worse than to have to go to college. I can't stand that feeling of having to be somewhere, that I don't want to be and what I am learning is totally irrelevant. Its the worlds way of brainwashing us to be employees.

Do you know what happened after I graduated from college? I couldn't find a job. I couldn't keep a job...so I ventured off on my own to work for myself. I felt it was the only solution. Now did school come in handy? Did I learn things from college that I needed and used? My answer is yes. But I am not saying that one needs to attend college. If you know what you want to do...you can learn what you need at seminars, from mentors, books, etc. But we will discuss seminars at a later blog. You also have to take into account the cost of school?

As a business person...is it really worth your time to spend $50,000 plus dollars, 4 plus years to walk away with a degree that means what? Are you treated differently because you have a degree? Are investors going to fund your project because you are a college graduate? Another topic we will discuss will be networking...its who you know and how to leverage your relationships in a good way.

#1 Blogging in Detroit, Michigan - Are you for real?

Hi all! I'm pretty new to blogging...so I have a lot to learn...but pretty much what you will be reading and learning here are the insights to my crazy business mind. I have been thinking for awhile now what exaclty I want to write about and I have some pretty cool ideas. Allow me to introduce myself. I was born and raised in Southern California. I know what you are thinking "Gee that sucks for you Travis...all those malls, beaches, people and terrible weather." I know it was tough...but I survived. Growing up as a small kid I wanted to be a scientist. Then in high school I got some sense knocked into me and decided I wanted to be a Game Warden in Idaho making a whopping $29,000 a year! (despite the fact that is more than I have made this year (2008) as a freaking bootstrapping entrepreneur - something I really don't want to discuss right now).

Anyhow, as a goal oriented individual I found myself in Rexburg, Idaho going to school at Ricks because I needed residency in order to attend the University of Idaho (for cheaper-I understood what bootstrapping meant back then-go figure) to pursue my career as a game warden. There in Rexburg or what I prefer to call it 'Iceburg', I met my incredible wife at the library, of all places. Its a great story...I will share it one day.

My point is, we eventually got married and right after our wedding of course, we had absolutely no money, so I decided to enlist us into summer sales for Moxie Pest Control. We did door to door sales in Houston, Texas selling pest control contracts to have people whose homes needed to be sprayed eradicating all their bugs. "The spiders and the ants are just terrible out here." Was one of our favorite lines at the door and the homeowner would be like "I know, tell me about it." Then I would close them.

That summer of 2003 in Houston, Texas I had my birthday and my wife Mary bought me this crazy book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. At the time I didn't even know what a mortgage was let alone anything about business or real estate.

So we finished up our awesome summer sales job and transfered up to the University of Idaho...the college of my dreams to pursue my career as a game warden. Only one problem, the rich dad, poor dad got my wheels spinning. The other problem was my wife didn't even want to attend the UI but she came anyways to support me. The day I arrived I had a special chat with Mary and it went something like this, "Babe, I want to change my major to study Business & Real Estate?" She was not happy with me. Just as a note to all of you entrepreneurs out there, its difficult for our spouses to be married to us-just want to give you heads up.

So that was kind of the beginning, the first chapter of being, doing and becoming what I am today.