5 Ways to Stand Above the Competition as a Property Manager

A huge part of being a property manager is learning how to market yourself and your company.

You have to do it twice, after all: once to your client owners, the property owners who allow you to look after their buildings, and once to your client tenants, who live in those buildings. For all that, you’re no “middle man.” Most of the minds sharp enough to succeed at investing in real estate aren’t really the same guys who want to get their hands dirty underneath a sink or spend their time chatting up the old lady with the seven cockatoos to convince her to pay the rent.

You’re the go-between who makes sure everyone gets as much of what they want as they can get.

Unfortunately, it’s rare that either side sees you in such a positive light, so mastering the art of marketing is part and parcel of the job. As you learn about marketing, you learn about a concept called the “USP,” or the Unique Selling Proposition. In short, it means, “What do you do differently than everyone else, and why does it make you better than them?” Or in even more easy terms: how do you stand out from the crowd?

Every business needs to have an idea of what makes them better than their competitors, but not many businesses actually have that idea. If you’re struggling to separate yourself from the crowd, here are four tips you can take to develop something outstanding.

5 Tips to Stand Out From the Crowd

1. Create Something Exclusive

Exclusivity sells — if you can describe to your clients and/or tenants something that you do that very few other people are doing, you create a firm “anchor point’ in their mind to hang their thoughts on.

Everyone is constantly competing for “price” and “customer service,” so you’ll have to come up with something that isn’t part and parcel of either of those.For example, perhaps you could offer the opportunity for tenants to pay their rent via an app or a mobile website. This appeals to tenants because it makes paying easy, and it appeals to clients because it means tenants pay on time more often. It’s also not something that many property managers are doing yet, so it presents the air of exclusivity.

2. Be Who You Are

When you sit down to brainstorm things you can do to stand out from the crowd, don’t try to become something you’re not. Consider your strengths, be authentic to what you (as an individual and as a company) do best, and above all, avoid insincerity.

If you’re not “green” by nature, don’t try to force-start a recycling program in your building. If you’re not tech savvy, skip out on the online rent payment. If you do something that doesn’t come off as genuine, you’ll end up chasing people away.

3. Build Anticipation

Whatever you create, spend the time to brainstorm some ways that you can whet your clients’ and tenants’ anticipation for that program. Oftentimes, the promise of a reveal is more effective of a marketing technique than simply laying out all of the details of a program or service up front.

In this case, you’re focusing mostly on the tenants — your clients tend to be more of the analytical, return-on-investment type who will respond better to a complete understanding of what you’re going to do for them.

4. Keep It Simple

A vast quantity of good ideas fail ultimately because they require too much effort. They sound good on paper, but when it comes time to actually implement some special program, it turns out that it’s more important to keep the normal flow of business flowing. Similarly, if an offering is going to be too challenging for a client and/or tenant to take advantage of easily, they simply won’t, and you might as well have never come up with the idea.

5. Be Consistent & Be Memorable

Very few property owners will hire you when they first encounter your marketing. The simple reason for this is that they’re usually contractually committed to one of your competitors.

So you want to be top of mind when they are thinking about switching companies. The only way to do that is by repeatedly exposing them to your company. They’ll more easily remember you, even with less repetition, if you can be memorable somehow. This is the reason people do crazy things in marketing!

If you can combine simplicity, authenticity, exclusivity, and anticipation consistently, while throwing in something to be memorable, your chances of standing out from your competition increase exponentially. Standing out means more business on both sides of the desk! 

What steps do you take to stand out — as an individual and as a company?

Let us know in the comments!

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/09/27/5-ways-to-stand-above-the-competition-as-a-property-manager

Will I Get a Raise This Year? And What Is The Average Raise?

Unless you are a senior executive of a Fortune 500 company you probably won’t be seeing a double digit raise this year. According to the seventh annual Compensation Planning Survey by Buck Consultants, workers who were among the highest-rated at their firm got average raises of 4.3% in 2013, an increase of just 0.2% from a year earlier.  And according to a survey by Towers Watson, the highest performers got an average salary bump of 4.6% in 2013, compared with 2.6% for average employees. And employees shouldn’t expect their employers to make it rain anytime soon: According to Towers Watson, employers are planning on doling out average raises of just 2.9% for salaried, non-management employees — virtually unchanged from last year. “With the job market remaining relatively soft, most companies aren’t feeling pressure to raise salaries by much more than the rate of inflation,” said Laura Sejen, global practice leader for rewards at Towers Watson.
With inflation low and economic growth tepid, it is unlikely raises will be much more than last year. So even if you are star performer at work and your company is going well I would budget for a 2 to 5% raise at best. Though, looking on the bright side, any raise is a considerable improvement over the recessionary years from 2008 to 2010 when keeping ones job was a challenge let along getting a pay raise.

Source: http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2014/06/will-i-get-a-raise-this-year-and-what-is-the-average-raise.html

Why Now Is The Time To Buy Scottish Real Estate

Scotland’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom will drive growth in the local property market. Both sellers and buyers had been sitting on the fence for the past 18 months, but look set to return in large numbers.
As a result, local realtors expect a marked increase in activity, especially at the upper end of the market, which has traditionally been fuelled by wealthy incomers from England and abroad.
All forecasts point to a rise in local housing values across the next few months, followed by another one in 2015 and by further rises in the next five years. This means now could be a very good time to bag a Scottish home, before the price tag goes significantly up—so here is a selection of great Scottish properties currently available for sale.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carlapassino/2014/09/19/scotland-no-vote-why-now-is-the-time-to-buy-scottish-real-estate

Is now a good time to invest in China?

5 Ways to Run Meetings Like a BOSS!

The worst thing happened to me on Monday mornings. I hesitantly opened my inbox and there it was, staring back at me:

“Calendar Invite: 9:30 to 11:00am – Weekly Priorities Meeting”

Fuck. I knew what this meant. An hour and a half meeting to “talk” about things we needed to focus on for the week. Sound like a good idea right?

It was. Just not how it was done.

Not only was all my energy drained after that meeting, but I had very little willpower to do work. What began as un update meeting turned into a strategy session on how to tackle  different situations people were in. No bueno.

So how do you run short, efficient meetings that leave your crew ready to fight? Here are 5 ways to run meetings like a boss!!

1. Always have an agenda!

This should go without saying. You need a framework for your discussion. Without one, meetings can easily turn into aimless social gatherings rather than productive working sessions. You can also allot time for each agenda item to effectively use the time you do have. Most importantly, be respectful of everyone’s time…everyone has their own shit to do too.

2.  Decisions should never wait for a meeting

Sure decisions can be made at meetings, but waiting for a meeting to make a decision can be deadly. The velocity of your company slows to its meeting schedule. If something needs to get done that needs a meeting, hold the meeting ASAP!!

3. Everyone should have concrete next steps or action items

Apple drives accountability at meetings by having a Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) whose in charge of any given action or task that needs to be done. With every task matched to a person, there will be significantly less confusion about who is getting what done.

4. Invite only the people needed

Invite people only involved with the content of the meeting. The marketing person doesn’t need to to be apart of a meeting on business operations, unless specifically requested. Less people = less time.

5. Know when to have stand up meetings vs sit down meetings

Stand up meetings are great for quick communication-based meetings. For example, at the beginning of each day, it’s good to have a quick 10 min stand up meeting that ONLY communicates what everyone is focused on for that day. If an idea or suggestion comes up, it should be tables for a later discussion. This remedies the “lack of communication” excuse for problems.

Sit-down ‘solution’ based meetings are used to discuss specific topics that need more thought. Even those these take longer, these should have a specified end time and decision on how to proceed.

Source: http://www.thephatstartup.com/2014/09/10/5-ways-to-run-meetings-like-a-boss

5 Habits of Self-Made Millionaires

1. Snowball Your Money

People who end up very, very rich, think of money as material.  It’s not, first and foremost, the gateway to wacky hijinks or to excess.  Instead it’s a tool for building more money.  Millionaires look for the kind of money that allows them to safely do what they want , sums large enough to pass on to the kids, to amount to power and independence.  It’s not about getting just enough money to buy some fun and fine things.
Therefore, millionaires begin putting money away as soon as they can, a bit more aggressively than others, investing in funds more than just opening savings accounts, engaging in more and more risk as the snowball effect kicks in.

2. Ride The Wave of Uncertainty

Steve Siebold, author of How Rich People Think,” says, “Physical, psychological, and emotional comfort is the primary goal of the middle class mindset,” In other words, people with middling incomes who stay that way have comfort and safety as prime goals—they’re not achieving great riches because they are afraid to try, feeling it would be a shame to lose a decent position in life due to a failed business or a bad investement.
The goal of those who become ultra-rich is to do so.  They aren’t attempting to be sure not to suffer in any way, not to have to ride out waves.  Self-made millionaires don’t get there just because they think it’d be fun; rather, they earn it by dealing with great uncertainty.  Yes, they sometimes fail, but they know how to pick themselves up afterward, rather than feeling only the need to regain some certainty.

3. Choose Not to Choose

We’re taught about yin and yang and about making priorities.  If you want to become very rich, you’ll have to sacrifice time with your family.  Or perhaps it’s idealism or part of your soul or peace and quiet, or time for church.  To some extent, this relates to the desire for comfort—the average person wants to be able to comfortably find balance.
Those who go on to be millionaires find a way to accomplish that which others would find impossible—it may involve rushing around, deftly juggling schedules, paying people to do certain tasks, but they do the things other people don’t have the stomach for.

4. Money Isn’t For Money’s Sake

Any good card player will advise to think of the chips as chips not as real money.  Even if you’re at a buddy’s house with actual money on the table, think of what you’re betting as a game piece—if you think of actual cash value, you’ll get too conservative, which can mean making the wrong moves.
Similarly, while self-made millionaires do wish to be very rich, they’re not thinking of the money itself.  As I mentioned above, they think of money as a tool—for freedom, choices, not having to be beholden to others.  For many ultra-rich, money isn’t for many small things like shoes and mp3 players, but fewer big things like voyages around the world, homes, and perhaps that pro sports team they’ve always wanted.

5. Hang Out With Millionaires

Being around other millionaires, of course, encourages networking and opportunities.  But it also gives one the chance to see for themselves the habits I’ve been describing.  It will give one a chance to emulate people in a way that will lead to success.

Source: http://frugalentrepreneur.com/2014/09/5-habits-of-self-made-millionaires

All Great Leaders Exhibit These 3 Qualities

When asked to describe characteristics that great leaders have in common, the list is endless. And while they all make for a good read, none of them fully capture the essence of what makes a great leader.

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” – Jack Welch

Great leaders may possess a myriad of attributes, not the least of which are intelligence, charisma and natural charm. All of these things matter. However, you can be a great leader and not be naturally charming or very intelligent. While launching and growing my company, PeoplePerHour, I’ve learned a lot about leadership. I have come to the conclusion that there are three key attributes that great leaders must possess.

1. Vision

   “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” (Jack Welch) The ability to amass a great team, motivate and inspire them is plain useless if you don’t have a clear vision of where you need to go.
   Leadership starts with seeing the future and then figuring out a feasible path to get there. It means doing the one right thing rather than doing many things right. It is about being different, not following the herd, being controversial, and seeing what others don’t see. It is having a nose for what’s coming and the eyes and ears to react before others do. Without vision, you can empower people all you would like, but you won’t get anywhere. You’ll have a following, but no direction.

2. Influence

   Once you have a clear vision you need a following. That requires the power of influence. Whether you are in an existing leadership situation or the creator of a group, this is a very hard thing to do. In either case, the odds are against you.
   A vast majority of people are resistant to change, no matter the odds. In order to fulfill any grand vision, you need to drive change. Otherwise you are just a puppet master holding the strings, waiting for the show to end. You have to learn how to influence people across the board — explain to new hires the benefit of leaving secure jobs to join you; convince investors to give you money; get customers to buy from you; influence a bank manager to give you an overdraft; get your landlord to give you an office space lease and rent-free period; and convince your significant other to put up with sleepless nights, cold sweats and no pay. Carry that burden of influence with you. If you go down, you take more people with you than yesterday.

3. Courage

   Once you have clarified a vision and built a following, after all this work you will realize that it’s only day one. Now you have your raft and your compass. But you still need to cross the ocean. This is the final and truest test of great leadership — courage.
   Intelligence and knowledge are advantages, but without courage they are wasted. Courage alone could and would get you there, albeit slower and with more pain. So, the key question is: Do you have the courage to keep going when everyone tells you to turn back; to know you’re right when everyone says you’re wrong; to stick to your instincts when people call you crazy; to carry other people’s weight when they fall; to set the tempo and beat the drum despite how tired you may be?
   It is your job as a leader to keep people together when they are drifting apart and losing faith, to give them courage, but not false hope, to let go of some to save many, and to weather the storm, but not bask in the sunlight when it ends — because it never does.

Vision and influence will make you a well equipped captain. But courage is what gets you there. On the other hand, courage alone makes you a fighter without a cause. You may be good at creating lots of noise, but to paraphrase Sun Tzu’s Art of War, that’s just “the noise before defeat.”

Source: http://yfsmagazine.com/2014/09/15/all-great-leaders-exhibit-these-3-qualities

It takes money to make money

The rich get richer -- and own more stocks, the Federal Reserve reported today in its triennial report, the Survey of Consumer Finances.

The lengthy report charts the changes in family finances from 2010 to 2013 and not surprisingly most American families did not experience a sea change in their fortunes.

Stock ownership rates did not increase as values rose, according to the report. The number of Americans who own retirement accounts also fell over the past few years, down to 49.2 percent in 2013 from 50.4 percent in 2010. The The median value of the accounts jumped 25 percent during that time.

Here's a few more of the central bank's findings about investing:

• Rates of direct stock ownership fell 1.3 percent from 15.1 percent to 13.8 percent over the time period, though the median value of the stock market gained 26 percent.
• Combining indirect stock ownership rates -- for instance owning stocks in mutual funds -- with the number of people who own stocks directly, paints a similar picture. Direct and indirect holdings of stock fell from a peak of 53.2 percent in 2007 to 48.8 percent in 2013.
• Proving the adage that it takes money to make money, overall stock ownership rates increased 3.9 percent for the top 10 percent of income earners. For the bottom half of earners, the three years between 2010 and 2013 saw already low levels of stock ownership further eroded.

A survey released by Bankrate in April found that Americans are still unsure about the stock market, despite historically low yields on savings accounts and certificates of deposit. Only 22 percent of those polled said they were pushed toward the stock market as a result of low interest rates.

Do you own more stocks or mutual funds now than in 2010?

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/investing/it-takes-money-to-make-money

Top 5 Reasons To Be An Investor Right Now

So I ran across this great article on Realtor.com last month. It was geared towards homeowners and explaining why NOW is the best time to a home. But after reading the article I came to the following – OMG – these are compelling reasons for INVESTORS to get into wholesaling and rehabbing investments deals – NOW! Here is the article that I read and see for you self why you should be actively real estate investing:

Five Compelling Reasons to Buy a House Right Now

“Buying a house is a highly individual decision—and a local one—but current trends are creating a favorable situation for many would-be homeowners. Interest rates are low, employment is rising, home prices—in most markets—are still well below their peaks, and rents are through the roof. Every family and each individual has various factors affecting the ability and the decision to buy a home. If you live in a market where studio apartments are $2,400 per month—while nearby condos sell for $300,000—it might make sense to buy a house instead.

1. Interest Rates Are Still Low

Mortgage interest rates are still low—for now.
A 30-year-fixed-rate loan now averages 4.16%, according to Freddie Mac, but many economists believe we will see 5% rates next year. As interest rates increase, so do your monthly payments.
A $300,000 house at 4.16% with 20% down would have a monthly payment of $1,168. With a 5% interest rate, that payment increases to $1,288.

2. There’s More Inventory

As more houses enter the for sale market, prices stabilize.
“Inventories are at their highest level in over a year, and price gains have slowed to much more welcoming levels,” said Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of REALTORS®.
The upside is consumers now have more choices, if they are looking at existing homes.
New homes are another story: Yun says new construction needs to double its current production to meet market demand.

3. Home Prices Are Going Up

Home prices are rising.
The median price of an existing home was $223,300 in June, or 4.3% higher than June 2013. That’s the 28th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains, and economists expect that trend to continue. However, we are still at least 20% off the peak prices of 2006.
“Attempting to buy a home when the market is at its lowest point—or to sell at the peak—is tricky,” said Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist for realtor.com®.
He compares it to trying to time the stock market.
“You might get lucky one or two times, but overall, timing the market does not work,” Smoke added. “It all points to purchasing power, and that’s a reflection of price and interest rates, which will both be higher in the future.”

4. Rents Are Sky-High

If you live in a big city, then you know rent is astronomical. In San Francisco, many people are spending 42% of their monthly income to pay the rent. Nationwide, rents are rising at a 4% annual clip.
It’s not unusual to see adults rooming together in expensive cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago, but everyone needs his or her own space at some point.
Buying a home would lock in your monthly payment and stabilize your finances with a fixed-rate mortgage. This is, of course, assuming you don’t live the San Francisco area, where the average price of a home is $1 million.

5. Employment on the Rise

Perhaps nothing is as important to the financial stability you need to buy a home as steady employment. The U.S. economy is finally adding jobs—about 200,000 new jobs per month.
The next generation of home buyers—the Millennials—has been particularly affected by the nation’s job slump. Saddled with student loans and tight lending restrictions, many in this generation have been living with their parents to save money until the economy picks up.
If your employment prospects look good these days and the other four factors check out, then it may indeed be the right time for you to buy a home of your own.”

Source: http://www.reiclub.com/realestateblog/top-5-reasons-to-be-an-investor-right-now

Saving isn’t enough to retire

Good morning Dinks.  Let me ask you a question, how far away are you from your retirement date?  Some of us may want to spend our lives flourishing in our careers and plan to retire at 65, some people want to work hard and retire early at 55 and some of us save every single penny to take our retirement as soon as possible, maybe even in our 40s.  So which one are you?

Are you saving or planning for retirement?

A lot of the books we read and advice we hear tells us to save, save, save for retirement.  But what if saving isn’t enough.  Well it’s not.  We can’t just blindly save for retirement because money is only a part of retirement.  The truth is retiring – at any age – takes planning and the dollar signs is only one aspect of the plan.

Actually I should say that the amount of money you need in retirement is the final outcome of four other contributing factors.  Before you start saving for retirement you need to know what you want to do, where you want to go and how you want to live when you retire.

Income vs. lifestyle in retirement

The truth is a lot of people don’t see retirement as a planning process, especially older generations.  My parents didn’t.  They worked, supported a family of four and saved whatever extra money they had.  My Dad’s employer offered an employer-sponsored pension plan.  Once his total age plus years of service equalled 85 he could retire with a full pension.  This is the only goal my Dad worked towards his whole life and just as planned he retired at 55 years old and has never looked back.

My Dad didn’t know how much he needed to support his lifestyle in retirement because he didn’t know what he wanted to do, all he knew was that he wanted to retire as soon as he could because he didn’t want to work anymore.  Now my Dad’s lifestyle is based on his income, not the other way around.

Set realistic retirement goals that you can afford

Your retirement goals need to reflect your current income as well as your projected needs during retirement.  This includes things such as where do you want to live, how do you want to live, what do you want to do in your spare time and what type of lifestyle do you want to have during retirement.  Once you determine the type of retirement you want to have you will be able to figure out how much you need to save.

You will need to save a portion of your current income to help support the lifestyle you want in retirement.  If you set unrealistic retirement goals that you can’t afford to support you will end up not saving anything and that’s not good.  I would love to live on a yacht in the South of France when I turn 55, but that’s just not realistic because my current income won’t allow me to save for such an elaborate retirement goal.

Source:  http://www.dinksfinance.com/2014/09/saving-isnt-enough-retire

How to Think Big to Achieve Big Financial Dreams

I like to think I have been pretty successful in real estate. I have 11 rentals, I’m working on 10 fix-and-flips and I employ a real estate team of 10 that helps me sell over 200 houses a year.

My blog, which discusses my real estate investing and being a real estate agent, is doing great, and I manage to do this without sacrificing time with my family. One reason I have been successful is I don’t worry about the little stuff. I let my team worry about the small things, and I focus on the big things. There are many investors who do much more business than I do and have been much more successful, and I bet they don’t worry about the little stuff either.

How Can I Forget About the Little Stuff When Everything Is on Me?

Most people who are starting out in real estate (or any business) are thinking, I can’t stop worrying about the little stuff because there is no one else to worry about it!

That may be true, but it is never too early to start thinking big and start planning how you will make it big. The people who make it big do not get there on their own. They get there with help — a lot of help. So if you have no one to help you with small tasks or dealing with the small stuff, start planning what you need to do to get to a point where you can get help.

Some things to think about:

• What things do you hate doing now that someone else could easily do?
• How much would it cost to hire someone part-time or a virtual assistant?
• How much time would you save to concentrate on more lucrative business if you had help?
• How much happier would you be if you didn’t have to do the tasks you hate doing?

When You Have Help, Train Them to Do Their Job!

I am guilty of assuming my staff knows exactly what I want without telling them. When you hire someone, you have to take the time to train them. Teach them how you want things done, be very specific and do not assume they know what you want. Once you have trained a staff person to do exactly what you want and you have confirmed they do their job well, you can focus on more important things.

When I have tasks come in to complete BPOs or enter listing agreements, I forward the email on to one of my staff members, and that is it. Much of my job is forwarding emails to the right people and then confirming that things were done. That is why I have time to think about big things (and play golf).

Once You Have Staff in Place, Life Gets Fun

When you have great staff, you can go on vacation, go to work conferences, take a day off with the family and not worry about work. You also have time to plan your life. Too many people get stuck in their day-to-day ruts and never plan for their future. Everyone needs to take time to think about what they really want in life and then make plans for how they will get it.

• How much money do you need to make to cover your expenses, investments and have extra left over for fun stuff?
• Where and when do you want to retire, and how much money will you need?
• What is on your bucket list, and how will you start ticking items off?
• How much time do you need to spend with your family and for leisure activities?

Don’t Be Afraid to Think Big!

Now that you have started making a list of things you want to do and how much money you want to make, review your lists and determine if you are holding yourself back.

• Are you reducing the amount of money you need to make for leisure activities because you don’t believe you could ever make what you really need? I thought $100,000 was a lot of money when I was in college; now $100,000 doesn’t come close to paying my staff every year. The more money I thought I could make, the more I make and the higher my new goals get. Don’t be afraid to think big.
• Are you basing the amount of free time you want on a typical American work schedule? How much time do you need? Don’t worry about what society says you need.
• Do you limit the things on your bucket list because you don’t believe you could ever afford them? I always wanted a Lamborghini until I was about 22. Then I started to concede that normal people could not have cars like that, and I needed to be happy with a decent commuter car. Last year I started to believe that I could own a Lamborghini; this year I bought one. Don’t limit your bucket list to what you think you can afford.

Now That You Have an Awesome List and Are Thinking Big, Take Steps to Make it Happen

A list is great, but it does no good if it makes you sick to your stomach because you think it is all impossible. The first step is to be happy when you look at your list and think how awesome it would be if you accomplished those things. Remember if you don’t accomplish them you are not a failure; in fact it is more impressive to try and not achieve your goals than to be afraid to try. Regrets do not come from trying something and not succeeding. Regrets come from not trying and never knowing if you would have succeeded or not.

The way to take baby steps towards your big goals is to work them backwards.

• How much money do you need to reach your goals?
• How much money would you need each year?
• How much would you need each month?

Then figure out what you would need to do in your current work situation to reach those figures.

• How many products would you have to sell?
• How many people would you need working for you?
• How many investments and of what kind would you need to own?

Then make a list of what you can do right now to start improving your business or work situation.

• Can you hire someone now?
• Can you start advertising more?
• Are there conferences you can attend or more education you can take?
• Is there someone doing what you want to do right now, who you can talk to, to see how they do it?

Now start doing these things immediately.

Conclusion

The trick to thinking big is to remove the limitations you and society have placed on yourself. Don’t be afraid to want to make a lot of money or to want to be a beach bum. Dream what you want to dream and then take the actions necessary to start the wheels turning in the right direction.

What financial steps are you taking to achieve your dreams?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/09/07/how-to-think-big-to-achieve-big-financial-dreams

Remember Your Investment Horizon

When the markets start acting crazy, remembering your investment horizon puts everything back into perspective. Fears in Europe, the economy, unemployment, and a few hundred other data sets all add to the daily swings of the market. But you can lower your risk to these issues by building your portfolio around a strict investment time horizon.

So are we heading for a repeat of last year? Or are the recent headlines another gut check for every investor out there? More importantly, should it really matter?

All that noise breeds a shortsighted view of your money. What is different today that affects your investment risk? The answer should be “Nothing” if your portfolio is built around your investment horizon.

Focus On The Plan

When you invest, there’s a plan of attack. It should be based on your goals over the next few months, years, and decades. Your plan stretches from tomorrow till your final retirement years. Breaking those goals down – from groceries next week to college for the kids, then your retirement and beyond – gives you an investment time horizon. This timeline tells you how long you’ll hold each investment.

Knowing this, you can manage risk easier by matching your portfolio against your time horizon. As you look across your timeline, the investments should go from low risk to higher risk the further you go out.

A basic investment horizon can be broken down into three buckets: short, medium, and long-term. As the years go on, each time horizon naturally shortens. Here’s the basic investment guidelines for each bucket:

• The next 3 years – You shouldn’t take on risk with these short-term investments. Stick with savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs.
• The next 4 - 10 years – You can take on risk, but not too much risk in the medium term. Stick to a conservative mix of bonds and stocks for this investment horizon.
• Beyond 10 years – You can take more risk over the long-term. Stocks can make up a bulk of these investments with a small portion in bonds.

Understanding your investment time horizon lets you overlook the short-term risks of the market. The next time the S&P 500 drops 20% (and your knee jerk reaction is to sell) you can rest assured that your short-term investments are protected, while your mid to long-term allocation can handle the change. When you put it altogether, it means less day-to-day worry.

Your Investment Horizon Will Change

Every year, you’re another year older and your investment horizon changes. Life changes. That’s why you do regular rebalancing and annual reviews. Each rebalance automatically adjusts your portfolio to the risks of time. As your timeline shortens those investments become less risky because your portfolio slowly moves from growth to preservation of wealth.

Take Advantage of the Drops

For those in the early stages of their timeline or who can stomach more risk, your cash holdings have a dual purpose. It’s insurance for when things go south but it’s a growth engine too. Having cash on hand is a comforting thing. But when you have a job, income, and the bills are paid that cash has better uses.

When the market falls again (and it will) in the short-term, take advantage of it. Put that cash to good use. You take advantage of products when they go on sale. Why wouldn’t you do it with stocks and bonds? Use that buying opportunity to boost returns and compound your long-term growth. Until then, focus on your time horizon.

Source: http://novelinvestor.com/investing/remember-your-investment-horizon

How Stress is Slowly Killing You (And How to Avoid it)

Let me guess…
You clicked on this article because your guilty conscience is telling you that you stress too much.
And you’re worried that all this time, you’ve been causing damage to your body (without even realizing it!)
Well, it’s no secret anymore. Chances are, it’s true. Stress is a killer and at its very least, it will lower your immune system and make you more prone to serious illnesses.
But…there’s some great news!
You can do something about it. You can live a healthy, balanced and happy life and you can avoid the nasty effects of stress.
To help you do that, I’ll be sharing with you 13 highly effective ways to drastically lower the stress in your life as well as ways to restore your body of stress related damage.
But first, find out how stress is one of the leading causing of death.

Stress is designed to protect us…not kill us!

Stress is actually designed to protect us. Also known as the fight or flight reflex, stress is our body’s way of protecting us from danger or predators.
When in danger, hormones, adrenaline and the stress hormone ‘Cortisol’ flood your blood stream which gives you more energy, makes you more alert and helps you to better deal with the situation.
Imagine you are being chased by a scary bear whose only intention is to fill his hungry stomach. Well, it’s that same stress response that will hopefully push you to make it out of there alive!
By now, you are probably wondering how stress can also kill you.

The shocking truth about stress

Surprisingly, that same fight or flight reflex that we experience in times of danger is also triggered every time we experience stress in our day to day lives.
Perhaps for you, your stress response is being triggered by work, financial or family related stress.
Whatever it may be, the problem with these ongoing stressful situations is that our bodies literally become accustomed to functioning at a highly stressed level.
This causes irreversible damage to our cardiovascular network such as our heart and blood vessels.
This is how stress can kill you.
First of all, stress speeds up the aging process in your body, particularly your blood vessels. As we stress, our blood pressure hits the roof. High blood pressure damages cells in the artery walls making them thick and stiff.
This restricts blood flow and our heart is forced to work harder to pump blood throughout our body. The more we stress, the more we damage our blood vessels.
As a result, you can experience:

• A heart attack as blood struggles to get to the heart
• A stroke, as high blood pressure can cause blood vessels to burst

Did you know that stress increases the risk of heart disease by 40%, a heart attack by 25% and a stroke by 50%?
Pretty shocking isn’t it?
But wait, stress can also cause your brain to shrink!  Extreme stress events reduce the amount of grey matter in our brain, mostly in the areas related to our emotions and psychological functions. Not only does this shrink your brain, it can also lead to psychiatric problems.
Stress can also cause;

• The immune system to shut down
• A reduce in white blood cells, and
• An increased susceptibility to disease

Believe it or not, but stress is the basic cause of 60% of all illness and disease. Three out of four people who visit the doctor are there because of stress related illnesses.
By now, I imagine that you are feeling determined to lower the amount of stress in your life.
Am I right?
And you’re probably thinking “wouldn’t it be great if the perfect guide to lowering stress could just be handed to me?”
Well, you’re in luck!
Below are 13 extremely effective ways to dramatically reduce stress in your life and to restore your body from stress related damage.

The only guide to tackling stress you’ll ever need

Step 1: Eliminate daily influences

1. Change your lifestyle

This is potentially the most important step in reducing your stress levels. The main reason that we are constantly stressed is because of our busy, competitive and overly productive lifestyles.
Think about the things that cause you stress and try to eliminate them.
Are you working too hard? Are you trying to multitask and be more productive? Multitasking is actually less effective than doing things more mindfully.
Other things you might try to eliminate are;

• Getting stuck in traffic (this is a big stressor)
• Being late for things
• Overwhelming yourself with too many tasks or goals
• Leaving things to the last minute
• Time constraints in the workplace

The power is in your court. Do you want to be extremely productive but feel stressed out on a daily basis, or rather do less, have more time for yourself and live a more relaxed and healthier life?

2.  Consume less caffeine

Caffeine literally puts your body in a state of stress. As your body adsorbs caffeine, you get a big adrenaline boost, your heart pumps faster, your blood pressure rises and the level of ‘cortisol’ (the stress hormone) can also increase.

 3. Eat less sugar and fatty foods

Sugar and fatty foods can increase blood clotting, blood pressure and can stimulate high levels of stress hormones in the blood stream.

4. Control your thoughts

Constant negative thoughts and worrying will higher your stress levels. We have approximately 50,000 thoughts per day. Just imagine, if only 10% of those thoughts were negative, that’s 5,000 negative thoughts a day!

5. Get enough sleep

Having too little sleep will cause you to feel naturally more stressed. Not only will your body have to work harder to complete its daily functions, you will be fatigued and less able to cope and deal with whatever gets thrown your way. And then you’ll probably want to drink more coffee too!!

Step 2: Take advantage of these natural stress relievers

 6.  Oxytocin

Oxytocin, also known as the cuddle hormone is believed to help reduce the stress response. It relaxes your blood vessels and helps to restore your heart from stress related damage.
How can you produce oxytocin? Well, it is released during positive social interaction and while caring for others so all you need to do is spend more time with others.

7.  Exercise

Exercise is a great stress reliever. When exercising, your body produces endorphins which makes you feel happy and reduces anxiety.

8. Playing with children and pets

Studies show that people who play with children and pets are dramatically less stressed.

 9. Laughing

Did you know that laughing is actually a form of therapy?
That’s because laughing has such a powerful influence over how happy and relaxed we feel. Not only does laughing lighten our load mentally, it causes changes in the body to take place including the release of endorphins, causing us to feel more positive.

 10. Meditation, yoga & breathing exercises

Simply put, stress is something that causes tension and strain. Yoga, meditation and breathing exercises are all proven ways of releasing stress and tension mentally and physically.
Yoga, meditation and focusing on your breathing helps you to feel in touch with yourself, clear your mind and resist getting wrapped up in your thoughts and the drama in your life.

11. Fill your nutritional gap

Consume more essential fatty acids and vitamin B and C. Essential fatty acids help to produce the hormones that help your body deal with stress. Vitamin B helps to ease stress by supporting the stress response and vitamin C feeds the adrenal tissues in your body.

12.  Take a two minute vacation

Close your eyes and take a two minute vacation in your head. Think about and imagine your favorite place for example. This will help you to take a step back from whatever stress you are experiencing and feel more rested.

13.  Take a real vacation

Now days, people literally work their life away. Life becomes about work and money. To stress less, it’s important to live a balanced life. Taking vacations from your busy life is necessary to lower your stress levels.
However you choose to relieve stress in your life, the important thing is that you take action!
Stress really is a killer, and at its least, it will cause irreversible damage to your body.
You may have to do a little shuffling in your life to lower the amount of stress you experience, but it will be well worth it.  Not only will you be healthier, you’ll be a lot happier too.
So I challenge you to take control from today onward. Don’t give into the temptations of a super productive lifestyle where your stress levels constantly hit the roof.
Rather, make the choice every day to put your health and happiness first by giving your body time to relax and restore itself.
Make the choice to live a healthy, balanced and stress free life.

Source: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/stress-slowly-killing-avoid/#E1jM2TidTYwCwj3U.99

Sell Like Steve Jobs

While Steve is known for his genius marketing and pulling Apple from the precipice of disaster and captaining it into the most valuable and beloved brand in the world, he was able to do all this because he was the ultimate salesman. And a genius one at that!

Most especially because he is not known or remembered as a salesman, but by all the other accolades given to him by others: genius, revolutionary, leader, rebel, mover, mogul, luminary, and the list goes on.

Here are a few tips on how he achieved such a feat—as a salesman and as a sales leader—and how you can be like Steve.

TIP 1: Do not compete solely on price

Nobody has ever bought an Apple anything because of price.

In fact Apple is typically more expensive than all its most competitive competitors. But people buy Apple because of the value of the products, not based on the cost.

This is a great lesson for you too. Don’t compete with other companies in your market based on price. Instead, compete on value, and do a better job articulating the value proposition of your products or service, the pain it relieves and the virtuous promise it delivers.

TIP 2: “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

This is where customers need to be first educated on why they need your product. Then they can be your best advocates, actively spreading the word on behalf of your company or product.

Nobody was out looking for the iPhone when it came out (nor the iPod or iPad), but now nobody wants to be the only one in their community without one. Your product can work the same, but only if you and your sales reps evangelize and educate your consumer marketplace on the “better world” created by your product or service.

TIP 3: Create great presentations

I call Jobs the greatest keynote speaker of our lifetime. Jim Rohn used to describe two orators from antiquity. One was named Cicero. The other was named Demosthenes. It is said that when Cicero spoke, the masses were awed and would exclaim, ‘What a brilliant speech!’ And when Demosthenes spoke, the people would say, ‘Let us march!’

Steve Jobs was the modern-day Demosthenes. When he spoke, people said, “Let us buy!”

Don’t speak to drive applause.
Speak to drive action.

Lots of speakers speak for back of the room sales.

To do several hundred thousand dollars after a speech is an epic day.

Steve would do billions after his speech.

He was that good.

A book I often recommend on how to strengthen your presentation skills is The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo.

How good are your sales presentations?

When you study Steve’s and then your own, do you see room for improvement?

If so, close the gap. There is massive upside for you in doing so.

TIP 4: Create a “Buying Experience”

Jobs wasn’t in it to make a sale. He was in it to deliver a full and complete experience. Look at how an Apple store is set up to facilitate an experience. Look at how the product is designed, packaged, delivered and supported. It’s an end-to-end experience very specifically, diligently and carefully created. This is why Apple has earned such a passionate and loyal fan base.

How about you?

Are you out to make a sale or create a full and complete experience?

TIP 5: Don’t fear failure

Jobs lived his “Think Different” tag line. He was always willing to think way outside the box or create an entirely new box with seemingly radical ideas. He was willing to try new things and fail.

Apple is not remembered for its failures, but they have many. Just to name a few there was the Apple III, Macintosh TV, the 20th Anniversary Macintosh, PowerMac G4 Cube, Apple Bandai-Pippin, AppleWorks, iPod U2 Special Edition, eMate 300, Macintosh Portable, eMac and of course the Newton and Lisa. But by failing—and failing fast, early and often—Jobs learned valuable lessons from his experiences, which shaped his later success.

So for you and your sales team, don’t be afraid to fail; learning through failure is a great way to grow quickly. As another great salesman, Zig Ziglar, would say, “Expect the best, prepare for the worst and capitalize on what comes.”

So go fail quickly, often and continuously. And let those failures sharpen your skills, processes and expertise.

So to summarize:

1. Do not compete solely on price
2. Educate your customers on why they need your product
3. Create great presentations
4. Create a “Buying Experience”
5. Don’t fear failure

I hope you enjoyed this week’s post as much as I did putting it together. Now go on and flex that sales muscle of yours. And when in doubt, just think WWSD (What Would Steve Do)?

Who are some other great leaders in business that inspired, shaped, and transformed the way you perform in your own industry? Share with us in the comments below. 

Source: http://darrenhardy.success.com/2014/08/sell-like-jobs