So… I wasn’t one of those to hop on the Apple bandwagon with the iPhone and the iPad. I appreciate Steve Jobs and Apple’s vision, but as an IT professional I have always appreciate systems where I can tinker, and Apple has never allowed for that. Quite frankly, I look back at that old breakthrough Macintosh ‘1984’ ad and, fast-forwarding to today, Apple starts to look like the open-source upstart taking on some characteristics of that ‘big brother’ on the screen.

Instead, I went with a system that a lot of you out there will laugh at. I went with the Palm Pre…not because of the phone itself, which frankly feels more like a toy than many phones, but I was impressed with the operating system, WebOS. Now I know that Palm has had its heyday where Palm Pilot was the breakthrough device (ancient history at this point). But the WebOS they created is really a sleeper, in my opinion. Sure, the iPhone universe of applications and the Android Market completely bury it in the quantity of aps available. But honestly, even with the much smaller number of apps available for WebOS, I stil have all I need, including Angry Birds!

By the way, for all of you iPhone folks out there…how many of those gazillion apps available do you actually have, much less actually use? An how many of those apps are multiple attempts at doing the same thing? Like how many restaurant tip applications, or clock applications, and obscure games do you really need?

Anyway, Hewlett-Packard just recently bought Palm for $1.2 billion – specifically for the WebOS operating system! I know that HP is not the most visionary company, and I know they haven’t really been a player in the phone market, but we will soon hear the announcement of the HP TouchPad using the WebOS operating system. HP had been working on pairing their Slate tablet device with the Windows tablet operating system. When WebOS came along, HP cancelled that project (smart move!) and moved forward with the new operating system, which was specifically designed from the ground up for a touch device.

You can find a number of industry articles comparing iOS, Android, and WebOS for tablets, and although iOS and Android have advantages in a number of areas, WebOS holds it’s own with these two in these comparisons. The one area that all these comparisons rank WebOS on top is Multitasking, which is rock-solid. WebOS uses a unique ‘card’ metaphor that leaves each application fully available and running in a rotating set of on screen ‘cards’. On my own phone I’ve been able to effortlessly have a tethering session running, while taking a phone call, while looking an address up, while having a web session up. Imagine how that will look and work on a larger form factor device with more memory and improved versions of the WebOS.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think we can count HP out on this one. They’re putting a lot into this effort, including an announcement that every HP computer sold will be loaded to dual boot with both Windows and WebOS. That’s a bold move for HP, but they’re determined to get more visibility for WebOS.

In the end, if we’re honest, a lot of these decisions come down to almost ‘religious’ preference. I’m personally eager to see how the new device stacks up when it hits the market. All we know for sure is that this whole world of digital work and communication is constantly under change.

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In the U.S. we have all come to know and love Facebook as the mover and shaker application to make connections in the digital social realm. Facebook was launched in February 2004 and as of January 2011 has more than 600 million users. It truly is an international phenomenon. But were you aware of that there are a number of localized facebook ‘clones’ that have been very successful in their own right, for the market they serve.

Here is a look at some facebook-like clones that were launched outside the U.S., some in their native languages, that have been successful. I you do business internationally, it will be important to know of these sites and the people you will likely do business with will certainly know of them and probably use them.

StudiVZ Germany, Austria, Switzerland (www.studivz.net) HQ: Berlin Tag Line: ‘Bist Du Schon Drin?” = “Are you there?”      France: (www.StudiQG.fr)     Italy: (www.StudiLN.it)     Spain: (www.EstudiLN.es)     Poland: (www.StudentIX.pl)	StudiVZ (www.studivz.net) is a Facebook-like platform that serves particularly college and university students in Europe, mostly the German speaking countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The site name is an abbreviation of the German expression Studentenverzeichnis which translates to Student’s Directory or Student’s Index.  StudiVZ was launched in October 2005 by two students in a flat in Berlin and after adequate funding claims to be one of the largest social networks in Europe, claiming over 17 million users. In Fall 2006 similar services were launched in France, Italy, Spain, and Poland. The company was sold in January 2007 to one of the investors and In sFebruary 2008, a sibling site for non-students was launched called “MeinVZ” (My Directory). StudiVZ features many of the same facilities that the original Facebook provides, which is also the source of the most common criticism.
Xiaonei China www.xiaonet.com “inside school” or “On Campus Network”       RenRen www.renren.com “everyone network” China HQ: Beijing, People’s Republic of China	Xiaonei (www.xiaonei.com) was launched in December 2005 by students at Tsinghua University and a friend and the University of Delaware. The site was purchased by Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI), a Chinese internet company. The site is available in the Chinese language only.  In July 2007, Xiaonet installed its open platform that allowed 3rd parties to integrate with the xiaonet platform. The APIs listed by Xiaonet almost paralleled the functions listed by Facebook, as the Xiaonet developers are using the Facebook SDK. In March 2008, Xiaonei launched a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) which gave wireless users access to the application through mobile phones. In August 2009, the Xiaonei officially change it’s name to RenRen (www.renren.com), which the original site name resolves to. Currently, Renren is the leading social network service (SNS) for college students in China with approximately 160 million registered users. Xiaonei, or Renren allows users to make purchases on the site using a virtual currency called Xiaoneidou, or Xiaonei Beans. Renren launched an additional site titled Kaixin001 (www.kaixin001.com) that is intended primarily for white collar workers who have internet access at work, whereas Renren is intended for Chinese college students with access to internet cafes.
Vkontakte (vkontakte.ru) “In Contact” or “In Touch” Russia Tag Line: “Welcome”	vkontakte.ru  The Russian Facebook makes no attempt to hide the fact that it’s a clone; Vkontakte.ru almost exactly resembles Facebook’s design. Vkontakte was registered and launched in October 2006 by it’s creator Pavel Durov who had just graduated from St. Petersburg State University. It is the 3rd most visited website in Russia with 135 million users. Major Russian companies have been sending job offers on Vkontakte since 2007, and most of the sites users are university and high school students.
DesiMartini (www.desimartini.com) India	DesiMartini  This Facebook clone is designed for India, and prominently features familiar Facebook features such as profiles, friends, groups, and classifieds. Ironically, the site features an embedded YouTube video on the homepage. DesiMartini was launched in December 2006 in India, but gained a presence in the U.S., U.K., the Middle East, South East Asia, and Scandanavia. A look today at DesiMartini.com reflects the influence of both Hollywood and Bollywood movies to the the Indian culture as the primary focus on the site is reviews and personal responses on all the current movies on the market.
studentSN (www.studentsn.com) “Students Services Network” Turkey, Russia, Germany, Great Britain	studentSN  Student Social Network is a Facebook clone available in four different countries – Turkey, Russia, Germany, and Great Britain. Its success appears to have been limited, however.
FeierAbend (www.feierabend.de) “Evening Celebration” Germany Tag Line: “Website for the best years”	Feierabend.de  This German clone appears to be more intended for the 50+ set, but is worth noting as it claims more than 100,000 users.
SchuelerSchueler.cc (your “community center”) is yet another German attempt at cloning Facebook, claiming more than 30,000 schools as part of its network. They have changed the look and feel a bit, but it’s still built around academic and regional networks.
MillatFacebook (www.millatfacebook.com)Tag Line: “A Place to Meet Over 1.57 Billion Muslims and Peaceful people” “United against facebook’s ridiculing Prophet (P.B.U.H) Islam & now Holy Quran”	In May 2010 Pakistani authorities banned Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube over a Facebook page hosting a contest for caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. The same month a few Pakistani IT professionals launched Pakistan’s first social networking site “MillatFacebook”.  The site offers email, photo, chat, and discussion board features much like the original Facebook. The authors of the site state that MillatFacebook “should not be called a facebook clone”, however they also state that they “have a dedicated team of talented professionals who are working hard day and night to improve the functionality and to add lot more features in this site”, just like the real Mark Zuckerberg Facebook.

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Chapter 3: FAITH is the head chemist of the mind…

In the next chapter of Think and Grow Rich (T&GR) we learn of the principle of Faith.

Now, I’ll be honest, this was a difficult chapter on which to write a summary for reasons I’ll explain at the end of this summary. But the core of this principle is important, so let’s dive in…

Napoleon Hill on Faith

Napoleon Hill (NH) defines Faith in this way:
FAITH is a state of mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of auto-suggestion.

So much of what all these principles rest on are the actions of the subconscious. Now, the definition of “subconscious” in the dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subconscious) is “existing in the mind but not immediately available to consciousness”. The subconscious, or unconscious mind, never sleeps, like your conscious mind, so it is always at work. The idea that your subconscious mind has an effect on your behavior was developed out of the work of Freud and Jung around the turn of the 20^th century. The concept has been expanded further in the self-help community to harness the power of the subconscious to influence a person’s life and real-world outcomes.

Given that definition, NH builds on the notion of the subconscious mind and the ability to make things happen in the conscious world by exercising the subconscious. Because it is taken that the subconscious mind has actually more influence on the real world and our life than our conscious mind, which can be easily distracted. NH writes that you can convince the subconscious mind that you believe you will receive that for which you ask, and it will act upon that belief. NH describes that your subconscious mind will pass that belief back to you in the form of “Faith”, along with definite plans for acquiring that which you desire.

Therefore, according to NH, the most effective way to manifest your desires in the material world is through the subconscious. The way to voluntarily influence the subconscious mind is through auto-suggestion, and repetition of affirmation of orders to that subconscious mind. The mechanism is described in this way: “…any impulse of thought which is repeatedly passed to the subconscious mind is, finally, accepted and acted upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into its physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure available.”

Now, the object of this chapter, Faith, is described as the mechanism or element that determines the action of your subconscious mind. By giving your subconscious mind ‘instructions’ through auto-suggestion you can affect the end result of the real world results. NH describes that “…a mind dominated by positive emotions becomes a favorable abode for the state of mind known as ‘faith’. A mind so dominated may, at will, give the subconscious mind instructions, which it will accept and act upon immediately.”

So, “Faith” is the “eternal elixir” which gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought.” This “Faith” is the starting point of all accumulation or riches, or the accomplishment of any desire. The operative method of influencing and gaining ‘faith” is through the process of auto-suggestion. Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought. This is why you are asked to write out a statement of your major purpose, or definite chief aim, commit it to memory, and repeat it, in audible words, day after day, until these ‘vibrations’ of sound have reached your subconscious mind. This principle may be constructed through a arrangement of positive thought stated in writing, memorized, and repeated, until they become part of the working equipment of the subconscious faculty of your mind.

Formula for developing Faith

NH presents a formula to follow that I will summarize here, and which is the most effective part of these principle:

1. You must know that you have the ability to achieve the object of yoru definite purpose in life. Demand of yourself perfect persistence, continuous action toward its attainment. Promise yourself to render that action.
2. Realize that the dominant thoughts in your mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. To this end, concentrate your thoughts for thirty minutes daily on the task of thinking of the person you intend to become, creating in your mind a clear mental picture of that person.
3. Using the principle of auto-suggestion, devote ten minutes a day to demanding of yourself the development of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
4. Clearly write down a description of your DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and never stop trying until you have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
5. Because no wealth or position can endure unless it’s built on truth and justice, you must not engage in any transaction unless all involved will benefit. Because I serve others, they will be attracted to likewise serve me. I must always keep a positive attitude toward others because a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success.

Now, sign your name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day with full FAITH that it will gradually influence your THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so you will become a self-reliant and successful person.

When you have faith in your ability to accomplish what you want, it not only firmly plants ideas in your subconscious, and it works then to reinforce itself.

When you have faith in your abilities, part of what you must have faith is that your ideas will come to fruition, and your conscious mind won’t be resistant. When your conscious doesn’t resist, your subconscious mind can send creative ideas to your conscious mind more easily. The more you see the power of your faith working in your life, the easier it is for you to act on faith the next time.

Will it work for you? You will never know unless you relax your resistance and just have faith that it will.

Another look at Faith

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that this was a difficult one to write. Let me explain what I mean by that.

I am a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, a Christian, and my worldview aligns firmly with the plain statements in the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Many of the concepts defined in Think and Grow Rich and other books like The Secret do not start and end in the same philosophical place that the Christian worldview does. These differences could be the subject of many separate essays, but that is not my purpose here. I need to here clarify the differences in what Napoleon Hill calls ‘faith’ and faith as we see in the scriptures of the Bible. When Napoleon Hill describes that the ‘religionists’ especially when he talks about Jesus’ “achievements” I know he really doesn’t know who Jesus Himself and classical orthodox Christianity doctrine claims he is.

That being said, I need to explain that I am not one of the Christian community who will decry these concepts with a knee-jerk reaction. I conclude that there a number of fundamental tenets about the ‘law of attraction’ that the church would do well to heed, not only because they reflect truth that the Creator has built into this world, but because they could very well help to advance the cause of Christ in the world.

Now, onto the definitions of faith…

I find that the definition of “faith” that NH puts forth is one that, whether he intended or not, the world has applied to every use of the word. NH’s notion of faith is a mysterious force that is generated from inside us through auto-suggestion and acts as the mechanism that determines the action of your subconscious mind.

The Biblical definition of faith, one that we see demonstrated again and again in the Hebrew and Christian testaments, is a gift of God Himself. Because we are fallen creatures and rebellious against our Creator God, we do not have faith. Moreover we are incapable of generating faith for ourselves through any means. For this reason, it is a gift that God himself give to us, not for the purpose of simply getting what we want in life, but so we may begin to even to comprehend our condition before Him and the solution He has provided through Jesus.

Biblical faith is also very much a matter of confidence based on evidence, as opposed to simply an emotion that one must muster up from nothing. Examples of this pattern are Moses before Pharaoh – God instructed Moses to perform certain actions through which God would bring the plagues as evidence to Egypt. Exodus 14:4 and 14:18 explain that all this was so “the Egyptians will KNOW that I am the LORD.” All of Jesus’ miracles were not because he came here to simply perform miracles, feed people and heal diseases, but His miracles were specifically evidence intended to give us confidence that He was who He claimed to be – The one true God made Man for the purpose of redeeming us back from our broken and rebellious nature…and from certain, eternal separation from Him.

So, I know this has been more than a summary of T&GR, but these issues are critical in my mind and it is important to clarify for my friends. If you are not a Christian, I trust that you are a tolerant person who will tolerate my descriptions above, moreover that it may have been educational to you. At any rate I thank you for sticking in there with me as I walk through the book.

See you for next chapter…on auto-suggestion.

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We start our review of Think and Grow Rich by Napleon Hill at what is actually Chapter 2, since the introduction is actually Chapter 1. The theme of Chapter 2 is “Desire” and this is where the meat of the book really begins.

Thoughts are things -  and they are powerful…

But that is only true if they are mixed with:

1. Definiteness of Purpose
2. Persistence
3. And a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into riches or other material objects

Edwin C. Barnes

We’re told the story of Edwin C. Barnes who had a definite purpose of working with Thomas A Edison (not FOR him). We’re told that as we listen to the description of how he went about translating his DESIRE into reality, we’ll have a better understanding of the 13 principles that lead to riches.

One of the first things I see repeated is the emphasis on the DESIRE. Napoleon Hill (NH) describes that Mr. Barnes’ desire was ‘not ordinary’. He was so determined to find a way to make his desire come true, that he did whatever it took. A quote of Thomas Edison in the story made me sit up – “I had learned, from years of experience with men, that when a man really DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.“ Thomas Edison said that what Mr. Barnes thought was much more important than what he said.

Mr. Barnes had to still wait a good while to see his desire turn to reality, but during the time of working for Edison, the Desire was constantly intensifying. He never gave up, never resigned himself to a thought of “oh well, what’s the use? I guess this is as far as I will go…”. He was prepared to stand by his DESIRE until it became a all-consuming obsession. Edwin Barnes discovered that his PERSISTENCE in standing on his single DESIRE was destined to mow down all opposition, and bring him the opportunity he was seeking.

Three Feet From Gold

NH states that one of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. All of us do this! This is emphasized in a very poignant story about a gentleman who caught “gold fever” and went west to “Dig and grow rich”. He found the gold, and the mine was assessed as one of the richest of the time. They invested in the machinery to extract the gold, but very soon the vein of gold just disappeared. They kept drilling, never found more gold, and QUIT.

The junk dealer had a hunch, however, and hired a mining engineer who determined there was a fault line through the vein. After working through some calculations, the engineer concluded that the vein continued… THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE ORIGINAL OWNER STOPPED DRILLING!!! The story concludes that the junk dealer extracted millions of dollars in ore from the mine because he had the wisdom to seek EXPERT COUNSEL before giving up.

The lesson is to NOT QUIT. NH describes that more than 500 of the most successful men he has spoken to told him that their greatest success came just ONE STEP BEYOND the point at which defeat had overtaken them.

NOT My Grandfather’s Story

NH explains that a person needs only one sound idea to achieve success. The lesson of this chapter is that whatever that idea is, the one seeking success with that idea must have a BURNING DESIRE to see that idea succeed.

He also writes here to bust the old way of thinking that riches come from hard work, like we’ve all been told. I remember that my Grandfather gave to me a Horatio Alger story when I was young. He didn’t explain it at the time and I never read it. I looked up Horatio Alger on Wikipedia and found this: “best known for his many formulaic juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty.” I conclude that it’s the old Horatio Alger type of mentality that we’re trying to overcome. Where I agree with all the elements described about his stories, the things that are missing are the IDEA and DESIRE. So the boys achieved “middle-class security and comfort”, but our aims are higher. Let’s leave Horatio Alger behind and aim for the moon; if we miss we may HIT THE STARS!

Success Conscious

The object of T&GR is to help all who seek it, to learn the art of changing their minds from FAILURE CONSCIOUSNESS to SUCCESS CONSCIOUSNESS. NH is aware that some who read this book will believe that no one can THINK AND GROW RICH. These are people who cannot think in terms of riches, because their thought habits have been steeped in poverty, want, misery, failure, and defeat. Millions of people look at the successful in history, like Henry Ford, and envy him because of his good fortune, or luck, or genius, or whatever it is that they credit for their fortunes.

By the way… did you know that we have the V-8 engine because of Henry Ford’s tenacity in the face of his engineer’s opinion of its impossibility

Principle 1: DESIRE

We become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds. This is the beginning of what people call the “Law of Attraction”, because these “magnetic thoughts” seem to attract us to the people and the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.

Before we can accumulate riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense DESIRE for riches, or whatever else we want to achieve.

Translating DESIRE to RESULTS

NH describes Six definite, practical steps that comprise the method to translate the DESIRES to their physical, financial, or other result:

1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you DESIRE. That this needs to be a definite amount will be discussed in a later chapter.
2. Determine EXACTLY what you intend to GIVE in return for this DESIRED amount… because there is no such thing as something for nothing.
3. Establish a DEFINITE DATE when you intend to possess the money you desire.
4. Create a DEFINITE PLAN for carrying out your DESIRE, and BEGIN IT AT ONCE…whether you are ready or not.
5. WRITE out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
6. READ your written statement aloud, twice daily – once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ, SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

Andrew Carnegie

Following these six steps must be done in totality, and the sixth step is the most important, for that’s where your BURNING DESIRE will come to your aid.

These instructions will seem impractical to many who aren’t schooled in how the human mind works with these kind of DESIRES. But before you discard them as silly and foolish, you need to know that these very steps were handed down by none other than ANDREW CARNEGIE who used these principles to amass a fortune of more than one hundred million dollars at the turn of the 20^th century. That amount translates to over $300 Billion in current dollars.

Be A Dreamer

NH gives us full latitude to be a DREAMER when it comes to these DESIRES. Great leaders have always had a dream that motivated them. Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they even start. A BURNING DESIRE to be and to do is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off.

There is a difference between WISHING for a thing and being READY TO RECEIVE IT. No one is ready to receive something until he or she believes they can actually acquire it. The state of mind must be BELIEF, not just mere hope or wish.

No more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.

If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.

Finally, do not be afraid to fail! Every failure brings with it the seed of an EQUIVALENT SUCCESS!!

Napoleon Hill’s Personal Triumph

NH narrates the story of his own son who was born without ears or the inward mechanisms for hearing. All the doctors held the opinion that he would be deaf and mute his entire life.

Napoleon Hill had a different DESIRE.

That DESIRE was that his son would hear and his challenge was to translate his own BURNING DESIRE to his son’s own mind. NH dedicated his life to making this DESIRE to reality, even though he had no idea how the handicap could or would be overcome.

Through the years, NH continued to plant in his son’s mind the idea that his affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great value. This he did by wrapping his philosophy in bedtime stories, hoping that in time he would find some plan to overcome the handicap. In time, his son came to believe that he had advantages even over his older brother who did not have such a handicap.

The first triumph came when his son, who wanted to sell newspapers  but was dissuaded by his mother, snuck out a window, borrowed six cents, invested in papers, sold them, and continued this process until late evening. At the end of the day, he had a total profit of forty two cents, which they found tightly clutched in his hand when he finally crawled into bed at night.

NH realized from this lesson that handicaps can be converted into stepping stones on which one can climb to some worthy goal, instead of being accepted as obstacles and used as alibis.

His son made it through High School and found his way to college. During the last week in college, he received a trial electric hearing aid. He hesitated to try it, as a previous model had resulted in failure. Nevertheless, once he decided to try the new model, his lifelong DESIRE for normal hearing became a reality. For the first time in his life he heard practically as well as any person with normal hearing.

As a result of this victory, his son found his mission in helping the millions of deaf people make it through life with more determination. He did extensive research, created a 2-year plan which he presented to the manufacturer of the hearing device that had changed his life. As a result, his son had taken his handicap and translated it into an invaluable benefit to millions of deaf by helping teach them to hear, speak, and generally communicate with the world.

NH concludes this chapter by referencing the next principle, which is FAITH. DESIRE must be match with equivalent FAITH that the desire can be achieved and received.

The impulse of STRONG DESIRE recognizes no such word as “impossible”, and accepts no such reality as failure.

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I know that there are some out there who have been able to make a transformation like I’m under very quickly – they saw what they wanted to do, Had already been working at it for some time, then found their time and direction and moved very clearly.

Yet for many, their stories are like mine… they desperately want to have some business of their own to succeed at, but it eludes them. That’s a very frustrating place to be and it can lead to discouragement and heartbreak. I want to reach out to those who are having that struggle and pass onto them something a mentor of mine, Jim Piccolo, has burned into my mind…”Never, Never, Never, Ever Give Up!!!” So much of this whole world has to do with perseverance and adversity; these are the things that make us what we are. This quest is only partly about what we want to achieve, but it’s more about who we become in the process.

At some point I’ll tell you about the opportunities that I’m involved with, some of which you will see on the pages in my blog, but this issue of persevering is one I think we need to tackle first. I’ve been at this for awhile and I’ve learned quite a bit about adversity, so I think I’ve got some thoughts of value. There are no magic formulas because it takes slugging it through the throes of life to learn some of these lessons. I actually worry about some folks who have had it too easy in life. They may have never really learned the hard lessons that root deep into a soul. So if you hit walls in this quest or have setbacks and disappointments, count it joyfully because those are the opportunities to learn some of the important things in life. Remember… Never, Never, Never, Ever, Give Up.

When anyone starts on this journey, one of the things you always get is a reading list of books. It always seems overwhelming because it’s a lot of reading. But I’m telling you, it’s absolutely essential. You see the first thing you need to learn is not the ‘How’ of the business you want to find yourself in, but it’s the ‘How Come’ – why you want to do it, and it’s also the ‘How To Be’ the person you need to be when you’re in that place you want to be. If you don’t have both of those settled in your mind, you’ll be climbing up a sand hill with sand continually poured at the top.

And of course, at the top of that list is usually the tried and true “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

Now, I’ve actually read through T&GR a couple of times, and I’ll admit, I really didn’t let it sink in. I think for a couple of reasons. One, I chose my reading materials cautiously and test for truth. I don’t just jump at what someone says and take it as gospel truth. People can say anything, but it doesn’t make it true. And as a confessional Lutheran for whom the writings of the Bible hold the ultimate truth for all of us on this earth, I’m concerned not only with what brings success in this life, but more with the truths that take us to eternity. That being said, although T&GR is not a religious text in any sense of the word, it does describe principles that our Creator has put to work in this life that we can discover.  I’m convinced that Napoleon Hill has described the nature of these truths – truths that have been consistent across so many lives – and I believe it’s probably the best text from which to learn them.

The second reason is, frankly, that I don’t think I was ready to receive them. I wasn’t hungry enough. I can’t make myself hungry, but I’m convinced that if I don’t continue moving forwards in this quest I’ll sit stagnant and quit. So, the best way I know to deal with what hunger I do have for this transformation is to discipline myself to feed on this ‘food for the mind’ that is readily available.

I picked up a Think and Grow Rich workbook awhile ago and have been trying to figure out a way to just get through it – all the way through it and really digest it. I came on the idea for this blog because I had picked out the domain name EpicTransformation over a year ago. At this point it seems somewhat fortuitous because I think this subject is a perfect fit, don’t you? So here’s my plan… I will go through every chapter in this workbook, which actually takes you through the actual book itself, and with each chapter, I’ll share what I’ve learned here on these pages. That way, I’ll not only force myself to walk through the book, but in summarizing it for you, I’ll also have to restate the lessons, which is one of the best ways to learn.

So if you have a copy, read along with me. If you don’t, go get a copy and read along. Either way, we’ll all learn and grow.

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Foreclosures expected to peak in 2010: RealtyTrac

By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The Las Vegas metropolitan area suffered a foreclosure rate that was five times the national average and the highest rate in the country in 2009, according to a report on Thursday by RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.

The 20 cities with the highest rates of foreclosure notices were all in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona — states with markets that got extremely hot during the real-estate boom, according to RealtyTrac’s year-end report.

More than 12% of housing units in the Las Vegas metropolitan area received a foreclosure notice in 2009. Overall, 2.21% of housing units nationwide received a foreclosure filing, according to the data.

But the trouble isn’t over yet, said James J. Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac.

“While it was expected that cities from states with the highest levels of foreclosure activity would top the charts, there is evidence that we’re entering a new wave of foreclosures, driven more by unemployment and economic hardship than what we’ve seen over the past few years,” Saccacio said in a news release.

“Areas like Provo, Utah, Fayetteville, Ark., Portland, Ore., and Rockford, Ill., all posted foreclosure rates above the U.S. average in 2009. And markets like Honolulu, Minneapolis and Seattle saw foreclosure activity increase at more than twice the national pace over the past 12 months — although all three of those markets still had 2009 foreclosure rates that were at or below the U.S. average,” he said.

Assuming the unemployment rate peaks in the first quarter of this year, unemployment-related foreclosures likely won’t peak until late this year or early next year, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president for RealtyTrac.

“We’re projecting that 2010 will be statistically the peak [of foreclosure activity] … 2011 will be better, but it won’t feel like a housing recovery until 2013,” he said.

A slight slowdown

Meanwhile, Las Vegas reported a quarter-over-quarter decline in foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter. That’s likely due to a new regulation in Nevada that requires mandatory mediation before the execution of a foreclosure, Sharga said.

But in other cities, there was a similar slowdown in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter. While in some places that could mean the markets have bottomed, the foreclosure process in other areas may have slowed due to procedural delays as lenders evaluated loans for the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, Sharga said.

The RealtyTrac report examines areas with populations of greater than 200,000 and properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered during the year.

The 20 cities with highest rates

Here are the 20 cities with the highest rate of foreclosure notices in the country last year, and the percentage of housing units that received a foreclosure filing:

• Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 12%
• Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., 11.9%
• Merced, Calif., 10.1%
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., 8.8%
• Stockton, Calif., 8.6%
• Modesto, Calif., 8.5%
• Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla., 8.2%
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., 8%
• Port St. Lucie, Fla., 7.6%
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla., 7.2%
• Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif., 7.1%
• Bakersfield, Calif., 7.1%
• Naples-Marco Island, Fla., 6.4%
• Reno-Sparks, Nev., 6.2%
• Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville, Calif., 5.6%
• Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla., 5.3%
• Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Fla., 5.3%
• Lakeland, Fla., 5.2%
• Fresno, Calif., 4.9%
• Salinas, Calif., 4.8%

Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.

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If you are new to real estate investing, you are probably wondering “where am I going to find my first real estate deal”? There are actually a number of very effective methods you can use. Below I will touch on 7 different methods to find deals. They are a pre-foreclosure listing service, major newspapers, post cards & fliers, bandit signs, MLS, a realtor, and a wholesaler.

Method one is to purchase a list of pre-foreclosure homes from a listing service. Here are just four such services: Foreclosure.com, RealtyTrac, Default Research, and ForclosureS.com. However, one of the drawbacks to a listing service is the cost. Also, be aware that some services have more recent information than others.

Another method would be to look into the classified ads section of major Newspapers. Their classified sections are on the web. You want to search the ads to find words such as “divorce”, “desperate”, “must sell” or “estate sale” to name just a few examples of keywords that indicate the seller is desperate. Think of some on your own and have fun with it.

Another method would be to send Postcards and fliers to targeted homes. However, it is highly advisable that you find someone who can do what is called good copywriting. Good copywriting is combining words, fonts, phrases, pictures, a call-to-action, etc. that will compel your potential home buyers to call your number. Make sure you do this type of marketing correctly otherwise you will be wasting your hard earned money.

Method number four is the use of bandit signs. A bandit sign is a small sign that is posted near major streets with a simple phrase to let home owners know that you buy houses quickly. Don’t forget to have your phone number listed in large letters, so distressed owners know who to call. Just be aware that in many places bandit signs are not allowed.

Another method that is more obvious is to look for a real estate investing deal is the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), however, you must be a licensed real estate agent in order to gain access to the MLS database. A word about the MLS, I know some real estate investors who swear by it and I know others who say it’s not worth your time. Who’s correct? Well, believe it or not, both are right. If you are a licensed agent who can jump on a property that is a good deal when it is put on MLS, you have a good chance to finds deals, otherwise, it will be more difficult.

Method six is to enlist the help of a realtor. If you don’t know anyone who is a realtor, you can find those who work with real estate investors, just by going to realtor.com. You will need to find a realtor who is willing to work with you and to email you a listing with your criteria. What sort of criteria do you use to search for a property? Again look for words like “divorce”, “desperate”, “must sell”, “condemned”, “gutted”, “mold” and any other word that would be undesirable for regular buyers, but a potential deal for a real estate investor.

Finally, there is another method that is simple, yet very effective. Get your deal through what is called a wholesaler. A wholesaler is one who controls or purchases a property at a deep discount and passes the savings on to you, the real estate investor. They typically send the deal right to your email box where you can read about the deal, do your due diligence and then make an offer.

So, as you can see there are various methods that you can use to find your deals. You may be wondering how may deals does it take before an offer is accepted? Well, I know many who say there is a 100-10-1 rule. It says it takes looking at 100 deals to make 10 offers to get one accepted. Choose a method or better yet, a set of methods that works for you and your budget.

About The Author

James O’Bannon is a real estate investor who is committed to finding the best real estate training for investors. You can learn more about his free training offers, as well as receive a free report on real estate investing secrets by visiting www.GreatDeals4Buyers.com. Author grants full reprintrights to this article. You may reprint and electronically distribute this article so long as its contents remain unchanged and the author’s byline remains in place.

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Post bubble recessionary real estate investing in a networked world pretty much nails this discussion, grab your web surf board and enjoy the ride.

In this article, I show you what is working in real estate today and how to use the web and automation to create stimulus you can immediately use to ride the crest of real estate investing opportunities today. You’ll be shown how to find, fund and market hot properties while generating large buyer and seller lists using the internet to do some of the critical heavy lifting for you.

There are a variety of reasons why the following types of property are hot, just know that single family homes (SFH), condo’s & town homes, apartment houses (Multi-Units), mobile homes & parks and vacation homes in many markets are on sale now. A few methods of finding and controlling these assets are: wholesaling, rehab & retail, buy, hold & rent, lease w/options to buy, assumption of existing mortgages, taking subject to existing mortgages and working the probates, auctions, foreclosure’s and short sales. (Buying bankruptcy, foreclosure, probate, tax lien, eviction and divorce lists works well too)

Granted it takes education, knowledge, research, follow through, strategy, funding sources and various alternatives to control these assets but these are all easy pieces of the puzzle when a guy like me is willing to help. Researching, locating, analyzing, negotiating, buying, selling or holding techniques can all be taught and their not that difficult to understand, it’s just a matter of getting good information and actually using it to do the deals.

Everyone knows that getting a mortgage is funding method number one for most but what about using 2nd & 3rd position notes, rehab loans, lines of credit, government stimulus programs, grants, private money, fellow investors, partners and owner/seller financing or maybe just using options to control without using any money for starters, this can all be taught so fear not weary credit crunched investor, I’m here to help!

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, it’s nice to have funding alternatives in place but you still need to find the deals and most often you had better find them at no more than 65% of value or .65 cents on the dollar if you hope to be successful in selling them to the next buyer for more.

These days you have a serious and very versatile tool at your disposal and that is the internet, the net allows you to market globally, capture and track leads 24/7, drive virtual traffic through your online front door, pre-qualify leads, post property, reports, whitepapers, articles, video’s and so much more. Getting a website up and running is easier than ever and creating an opt in box for the name and e mail capture of your visitors is a snap too, just know that these aren’t obstacles to your progress, it can all be outsourced very inexpensively, again using the web to do it.

Once you have a simple website with squeeze page (lead capture) set up then you can direct all your lead generating activities for buyers and sellers to it by putting your web address (URL) on your bandit signs, classified ads, flyers & newspaper inserts, direct mail letters, business cards, answering machines, for sale signs and so forth. I actually have a friend who will give you 10 websites a month for $27! Websites are easy. Get one or many!

Now that you have that virtual real estate property in place (your website) you should sign up at a few of the better known and highly trafficked social websites like: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn along with a few real estate networking forums, these allow you to spread the word regarding what you do. Backpage, Craiglist, Kijiji, and other free classifieds posting sites let you tell people what you have; there are thousands of places on the web to post your message once you have a place to bring them back too.

Extra credit: Always carry a small pocket video recorder with you to capture, property, people, places and events, the Sony DSC-T700 is perfect for creating short videos to post on your website, Youtube, Facebook and property listing sites, people do business with people they know, like and trust, let them see you on film to help build those relationships over the web.

The internet allows you to set up systems and outsource just about everything that needs to be done allowing you to focus on the core money making aspects of finding great deals and selling those deals to others for a little bit more than you paid, even dead leads are worth $450-$500 each when you know where to sell them.

I briefly mentioned the reasons for having a website above now let’s get into the nuts & bolts of technology to lighten your load while your leads explode. First off I’ll ask you to take some type of action once you’ve finished reading, doing it now will create momentum and stop procrastination and fear dead in it’s tracks.

Let’s look at what a well planned out website can do for today’s busy real estate investor.

First off technology is great at automating routine tasks and initial follow up, web forms can automate distribution, marketing, contact management and customer service for starters, allowing you to use your website to explain, tell and sell 24/7.

By setting up informative articles banks, email auto-responders, frequently asked questions banks (FAQ’s) you can answer a lot of routine questions on autopilot. Now you have more free time to network with other investors, market deals, mentor new team members while you personally maintain contact with your bird-dogs and other support people.

When considering a website you should begin by asking yourself some questions:

• What is the purpose or desired outcome that I want from my website?
• What will visitors be looking for when they arrive?
• What type of pages will you want to have on your site?
• What will be some of the major features of your site?

Are you trying to attract buyers, sellers, distressed owners, other investors, trainees, bird-dogs? Consider the following as a basic outline from which to begin thinking about:

• Home page
• About us page
• Contact us page
• Available properties page(s)
• Articles page
• Newsletter & product sales pages etc…

Features may be:

• Seller information forms
• An online forum or bulletin board
• A live chat room and member area

This next tip will save you a lot of time, trial and error: Go look at other existing websites that are currently ranking high for the specific search terms of what you want your website to do! This is competitive analysis and it will show you the best of what is currently working now! Save those URL’s so you can show your future webmaster examples of how you want YOUR website to look like and do.

Here are few ideas on what you may consider outsourcing to other specialists who can assist you in the tech sector:

• Website development and updating
• Contact management and auto-responders
• Social book-marking, adding friends and videos
• SEO using articles, blogs and videos
• Database management, adding products and information
• Building landing pages and squeeze pages
• Graphic design and copywriting

It’s best to start with outsourcing the things that you do not know how to do, then begin outsourcing things that you do not like to do. If you want quality people you can trust at very good rates touch base with me and I’ll put you in touch with the people I use.

Hopefully you’ve picked up a few nuggets from the “Be A Real Estate Heavy Weight” series, feel free to Google that phrase to get all the in-depth answers you could ever want regarding what we’ve briefly discussed here today. Take action and you’ll succeed.

About The Author

Please visit www.bearealestateheavyweight.com for further information and resources from your buddy Dan.

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Thinking of Investing in Residential Real Estate: It’s Still Location, Location, Location

Remember this: land is the element of real estate that appreciates. Man-made structures begin depreciating from the day they are constructed.

Think schools first.

Schools are often the first consideration for first time home buyers and renters – at least 80% to 90% of the time in my experience. These folks are most likely your biggest target market in your exit strategy for the investment properties you acquire.

Contact the main office of the district(s) serving the neighborhoods you’re interested in. Check the standardized test scores for the district. Obviously, the higher the better as an indicator of how well the district is perceived to be doing. You may be able to find the scores on line too.

Study kindergarten – sixth grade enrollment statistics (also available from the school district). Try to go back as far as ten years. You’re looking for growth in elementary school enrollment. Lots of growth equals desirable neighborhood.

Stay close to home.

Many books and courses advise you to purchase investment property located within a thirty mile radius of your personal residence. I say that’s still too far. Shoot for twenty miles, preferably fifteen.

Here’s what happens with too much distance between you and your investment. It will suffer from your neglect. An extra fifteen miles and minutes is enough to keep you away when an on site visit might really help.

Analyze the neighborhood.

Profitable neighborhoods have a common characteristic; people who can qualify for bank financing (now or in the near future) want to live there.

Ideally you’re looking for entry level to lower mid-range housing, 15 – 50 years old. It’s OK if the area is a little blighted as long as things are on the upturn. Look for visible signs of redevelopment.

Get acquainted with a competent real estate agent that does a lot of business in the neighborhood you’re investigating. Have him or her search the local Multiple Listing Service database and pull up “active listings, pending sales, and sold comps” for the area. If you plan to flip you want an active market – one, it makes it easier to estimate a final retail value for the properties you’re considering buying and two it shows that there are active buyers in the market now. Even if you plan to rent you still want to own in a location that is in demand.

Here are some things your real estate agent can help you sniff out.

• Look for closed sales transactions. There should be a healthy number. A lot of active listings and few closed sales is not a good omen for you.
• At least 70% – 80% of the closed sales should be to owner occupants – not investors buying rental units.
• The majority of buyers are purchasing with conventional bank financing, not various forms of owner financing and other creative methods.

At any rate, stay away from “war zones” with large tracts of run down, vacant houses, high crime rates, etc. These areas can be tempting because people do live there (generally renting) and the ratio of rental income to property values provides the landlord with a much nicer “spread” than is achievable in nicer areas. Some investors literally make a fortune in these neighborhoods. However, it’s probably the toughest segment of the business to operate in. And, alas, 90% of us cannot pull it off.

And now a few last thoughts about the layout and placement of the lot. If any of the following are present, I suggest you pass and move on to the next candidate. These kinds of functional negatives are either impossible or just too hard to overcome and in anything less than a red hot market they will significantly lengthen or kill your exit strategies for the property.

• The lot sits on a hill of any kind.
• The driveway or yard slopes toward the house.
• The lot is located in a flood plain, a valley or sits lower than the properties around it.
• The lot is close to a large stream or drainage ditch.
• The lot is on or backs to a busy or noisy high traffic, street.
• The lot adjoins commercial property or is in a commercial area where traffic, noise, lights, etc. might interfere with quiet enjoyment of a residential property.
• Any land that you know has formerly housed a manufacturer, dry cleaner, gas station or landfill.

Good hunting and choose your location carefully – a bad one can make your investing life miserable.

About The Author

Jim Howard is happy to share his love of real estate with you at realestateshelf.com. Jim’s experience with real estate spans 24 years, during which he achieved the Certified Property Manager designation through the Institute of Real Estate Management while throwing in an MBA along the way. His range of real estate experience includes managing and leasing industrial, retail and office properties as well as managing is own portfolio of residential investment properties. Jim is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Missouri.  http://www.realestateshelf.com

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Real estate investing is a wide area of learning as well as practical application of techniques in the market. You might be an experienced real estate investor but every time you realize the fact that there is still something to learn further and further. Then after a commitment of a small mistake, we repent on the fact that why somebody had not taught me about this. Hence we move on to the same topic that real estate investing scenario is a big field that cannot be mastered within one day. But there are a number of webinars, seminars and online options that are available these days and it is upto us how we select them. This article will provide you with some of the basics that should help you in not regretting on the fact “why didn’t I keep myself updated on this”:

We all think that real estate is about properties, deals, financing; but as such we need to understand that no business merely exists with the things that are required for its mere functioning. What it involves is more than all these specified things are people.

Real estate investing cannot be learnt by merely our own actions, but we also need to understand from the actions of our competitors also. Like a child learns from his own mistakes, but for real estate investing you surely need to learn lessons from your mistake as well as be alert about what is happening with the competitors also. Learn from their mistakes also, so that you can have an overview about the mistakes that have to be avoided.

For instance let’s consider, a real estate investor made the first deal of his house. The house owner was an old woman whose husband had passed away recently and she wanted to move from state urgently to live along with her daughter and grand children. Her property was more than $15000, but she just directly stated that she merely wanted the balance of the property loan amount and $1000 to move out of the state by the end of the month. There were hundreds of real estate deals which had to be provided the right direction by the real estate investor, but the woman in this deal was just expecting speed in her transaction.

The woman made the real estate investor realize that real estate is not merely about properties, finance but it was about people. People do not necessarily want what the investor’s thinks they want. Hence, it is important that we ask them what are there expectations rather than just making assumptions on our own. The woman’s house was in a very good shape, she could have vacated the house after selling it for full value within two months. But what the woman was not motivated by money but what she wanted a very fast transactions. She just wanted to back the property behind her and move to someone dearer to her. We know that people are quite funny but we need to understand the fact that rather than simply making own assumptions, it would be beneficial to know what they want rather than our own assumptions. Then mutual consent could be reached after negotiations.

About The Author

Sharon Samraj is an expert author, who is presently working on the site Jeff Adams. He has written many articles in various topics like real estate investing.  For more information contact jeff adam, real estate millionaire.  http://www.realestatemillionairecode.com/

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