2011.. THE START OF THE "SALESMAN" DECADE!!

There is a saying "If you need to earn more.. "Make more Sales." This is more true now than in any previous times.

With rising unemployment and inflation, double dip housing recessions, bankruptcies and foreclosures throughout the United States, there maybe no better time than to take control of your own financial destiny. As a Real Estate and Insurance Agent, I see many of my clients and customers call my office to reduce insurance coverage limits or sell homes that they no longer can afford. Many lost their jobs, while others experience reduced salaries. Browsing the Internet (As I Often Do), Our US Government are having a harder time whether we should increase taxes or cut government programs. There is also talk of increasing our National Debt Limits. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has told Congress that without an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit by Aug. 2, 2011 the government will be forced into its first-ever default, with potentially catastrophic results for the economy.

So, What to do now? How did we got here? How do we solve our National "Debt" Problem? How did the US became from the #1 creditor in the world 30 years ago, to the #1 Debtor to a tune of roughly 14.3 trillion dollars. Lets not talk about medicare, medicaid, social security, and Government bailout banks and Too-Big-Too-Fail Corporations, than we would be in debt by over 100 Trillion Dollars!!! Guess what, I have already a hard time figuring out what 100 millions would look like, imagine 100 Trillion?

At this point, I don't believe any of our elected official can solve this problem other than Taxing more Americans and borrowing more unfunded money (hence raising the debt limits) and passing the payment along to future generation. Not our US President, Senators, Congress, and other elected officials can solve this problem at this point. So, if our elected officials will be more of a financial burden than a solution to most hard-working Americans to keep our government from providing services, we have only ourselves to find the solution to this ever growing personal and national debt crisis. So what is the solution? Let's take a look at some obvious answers:

GET A JOB!

The rise of unemployment means securing a Job is a priority. However, as the US goes through its post Great Recession dilemma, A job is never a guarantee. A job can definitely bridge the financial gap but may not cover all living expenses. Furthermore, government "needs" such as taxes, inflation, social security, 401k and medicare takes a bite of your earned income before you see one red cent. What's left? Not as much as you were promised to make.

GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

I've often wondered about this. I see so many people going back to colleges to earn a bachelors or online degree due to a lack of employment in the job market. While I personally believe that going back to school is ok, I do worry about a few things on this. One, many students graduating are facing a tough time finding employment. Two, many Retro-Schoolers (those going back to school) usually ask for government assistance for school loans. After graduation, Retro-Schoolers face a still challenged job market with a newly minted student loan. Not everyone falls in this category for sure, but for those who do, this scenario is a definite bummer. But I do believe in anything you do, you must take risk to succeed. So, going back to school may or maybe not a good move, but at least you learn from whatever result it may be.

BECOME A SALESMAN!

Sales are everywhere. If you look at the current offering at craigslist.org and monster.com for a job, you will find many offerings on a sales career. Why is this? The short and sweet answer to this is

"Employers are looking for better results for their bottom line."

As long as the US economy continue to show lack of stability, employers are being more result-oriented when deciding to keep a person employed. The truth of the matter is,

"The more you show you can bring money to the table, the more likely an employer will keep you."

Employers are no longer looking for someone to fill a position, they are now looking for the "BEST" person to fill any position. As you know, whether you work for a big corporation or a small local business, everything is generated by sales. Other than being a Doctor, Engineer, or a Specialty Career, many will need some form of sales skills to get a job or be considered in any important career positions. The new motto of employers on this tough economy now stands,

"Ask Not What The Company Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For The Company."

BE AN ENTREPRENEUR

This maybe the hardest option of all. Being an Entrepreneur takes reasonable time, training, experience, guts, and skill to pull off. It takes years and years of practice, while no such financial guarantee is ever promised. However, without Entrepreneur-minded individuals, we may not have the financial backbone of what this country represent; Small Business. Small Business Entrepreneurs provide jobs, careers, salaries, and hourly pay for most of our job seekers.

So, Why is 2011 The Start of the "Salesman" Decade? Answer is "Opportunities."
Increasing job market uncertainties, high employer debts, and high national unemployment provides great Opportunities for gut wrenching, salesman. The opportunities are there for great salesman to prove to employing companies that they are the right man or woman for the job. The value of bringing positive revenue to the company is what all companies are looking for.



Ultimately, If we decide to change, re-educate, learn sales, and become Entrepreneurs, we may have a shot at turning things around for the sake of our country and our future generations. Ultimately, it may be up to us to take care of ourselves, grow our own business, and provide financial opportunities for others.  This I believe is why "2011 IS THE START OF THE SALESMAN DECADE."

Erwin Sigua
Author, Entrepreneur, Salesman 

Do You Want To Be Rich!! Now What??

Easier Said than Done!

According to Forbes.Com, there are approximately 1,011 billionaires around the world this year. Most people will never have the chance to see themselves part of the multi-billion dollar crowd such as Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and Carlos Slim Helu (Richest Man In The World).   

Furthermore, this year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires, down from 45% a year ago. The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44% a year ago.

Now, what does this actually say? Its clear that billionaires in the U.S. are quietly slipping while the rest of the world are slowly gaining grounds.  Now, I did not check if there are more millionaires in the U.S. this year than years prior, but I do hope that it is increasing not decreasing. 

So, do you plan to be financially rich?  Do you plan to have enough income before retirement that make you live the rest of your life free of money problems? 

Donald Trump considers Rich as a state of mind.  That as long as you see, feel, and believe yourself as being rich, you are rich.  Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad believes that if you have enough passive income paying for your cost of living, than you are financially free. Clearly, many millionaires and billionaires have different perspective of what the definition of the word "Rich" really is. 

So, How do we do this?  How do we become financially Independent and be considered Rich?

Well here are a few advices from Already Rich People...

1. Robert Kiyosaki: "The richest people in the world build networks; everyone else is trained to look for work."

2. Donald Trump: Start a business. "Think Big" when you do.

3. Warren Buffett: The world’s most successful investor once said that "The secret of becoming rich was to be greedy when others are fearful and very fearful when others are greedy."

Also, The power of compounding interest goes a long way.

4. Bill Gates, Founder Microsoft: "Start your own company and believe that it has the opportunity to change the world." He started Microsoft with the belief that the company would not stop until every home and office desk had a personal computer.

5.  Andrew Carnegie: "Aim for the highest."

6.  J. Paul Getty: "You must take risks, both with your own money or with borrowed money. Risk taking is essential to business growth." 

7. Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple: I was worth about over a million dollars when I was twenty-three and over ten million dollars when I was twenty-four, and over a hundred million dollars when I was twenty-five and it wasn't that important because I never did it for the money.”

As you can see, every single person on this list became Billionaires and Millionaires by operating their own business.  

Now is it too late?  No, I don't believe it is ever too late to start exploring the world of business. Just Ask Col. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  He was in his 70's before someone took notice of his chicken recipe and then becoming a millionaire. I believe that each one of us have the ability, the courage, and the tenacity to confront our biggest fear of "Taking Risk" to follow our dreams of becoming wealthy.   Now what is the alternative, well, not to be rich or wealthy.  Nothing is wrong with that, I assume.  But, since we only have 1 Life to live, isn't it reasonable to go swing for the fence? Isn't it justifiable to agree with Donald Trump when he said "Think Big, since you are thinking anyway." 

Remember, "Your Future depends on what you do now."

Sponsored by Moringa Health Network.  To know more, on how to start your own business with us, contact Erwin Sigua at 775-786-7778. 

6 Good Reasons why you need to get paid everyday like the Rich!!

Have you ever questioned yourself why you need to live within your means?  Have most financial planner and institution talked about how you should live with the word "budget" in mind?   Are you being paid hourly or a salary that you receive every 2 weeks or monthly?  Than you are definitely not alone.

Most people in the U.S. work as an employee or as self-employed individual.  Whether government entities, huge corporations, private businesses, or the service sectors, we almost have to wait days, weeks, and months in order for us to get paid.  The word "Budget" thus become an important part of our vocabulary as we go through our everyday life.  Now imagine your world where you are receiving a check, bank credit, or cash money at the end of the day, everyday, that is equivalent to what you would normally receive with a paycheck at the end of 2 weeks.  Also imagine if this income everyday that you receive grows, and grows as time passes on.  Now you may ask youself, is this really possible?

I would say to you "Yes" this is possible, but it generally would not involve a person being an employee, salary, or self-employed.  Now there are exceptions such as rich salaried positions such as a CEO of a multi-million dollar company, or highly paid athletes such as Lebron James. You get my drift right?  Most middle-class Americans will probably not fall into this highly paid positions.  Getting back, how do we attain getting paid everyday like the rich does? 

By starting your own business.  

You may ask, What if I fail?  Isn't starting a business risky and expensive?  I would say to this it depends.  A start-up lawn cutting business require more time than money and you may get paid everyday on it.  You may start-up your own franchise business which requires royalties, initial buy-in, and monthly dues that tend to be quite expensive.  So, It does vary depending on the startup business you have your eye on. You may also join a direct business models such as MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) and receive business skills and guidance from members. This form of business require buy-in memberships with product to sell thereafter. Again, whatever you decide on, decide on something atleast.

Why do we need to start our own business?  I'll give you a few 5 good reasons.

1. Time: After a few short years growing your own business, you can buy your own time to spend with whatever you decide to spend it on.
2. Control:  Boss, Managers, Supervisors will be a thing of the past. Sorry, IRS is still on your back even as business owners. However, many tax benefits are enjoyed by the rich not seen by middle class americans.
3. Money: Getting paid everyday beats getting paid once a week, every 2 weeks, monthly, or even yearly.
4. Inflation: As Inflation keeps going up, prices of goods follow. With today's economy, salary hourly wages, and comissions keeps going down, thust inflation affects our dollar spending capacity.
5. No more "budget":  What!! is this real!! No sorry, the rich still do have a budget in mind. however, I would assume it looks much different from yours and mine.  Their budget possibly does not necessarily deal with the everyday "house budget" rather they deal with business operational, asset, liability budget.  So in essence, yeah!.. no more focus on "house budget."
6. Experience: Once you taste earning income everyday, you will never go back to your old job and career no matter what the setback you will experience with owning your own business. 

Again, being in business is not for everyone.  However, for those who does try to swim in this vast and competitive world, the payout in the long run is worth the risk. I believe not owning or controlling your own destiny is alot riskier than any business you may have a chance to develop for yourself.  So, try one out, your future may depend on it.