Enrichr - Financial Freedom for Curious People

The Post-American World Review

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:31:57 -0700

The Post-American World

Author: Fareed Zakaria
ASIN: 039306235X
Binding: Hardcover
List price: $25.95 USD
Amazon price: $14.27 USD

This is possibly the most important Globalization book that I have read since The World Is Flat. The key points that I appreciated most were as follows:

1. Post-America doesn't mean that America will fall. It is the only super power left and no single or league of nations can out fight us militarily speaking. However, emerging economies are positioning themselves to lead us in many key economic areas. America isn't necessarily growing weaker as much as the rest of the World is getting stronger. Zakaria calls this the "rise of the rest".

Real Estate Investing in Hispanic Market

Mon, 26 May 2008 20:35:49 -0700

Pre-Foreclosure Investor Marketing

Now that the real estate market looks like a disaster a second round of real estate investors are swooping into the market to sweep up the destruction. The pre-foreclosure market is surprisingly competitive. Traditionally pre-foreclosure investors have focused their marketing on two strategies: Signs and Letters.

Investors have seen consistent results in signs (roughly one house per $100 spent) and Letters (about 1% success rate or one house per every $50 spent). These results are highly contingent upon consistency and quality of sales copy. One should expect much lower results if in experimental stages of sign placement and letter design. Also, it is very important to recognize the fierceness of competition. The pre-foreclosure investing community is somewhat infamous for the viscousness inherent in their competition.

Are You Sure You Aren't An Elitist?

Thu, 22 May 2008 20:16:46 -0700

Confusing Definitions

Elitism has taken on a negative connotation over the last twenty-five years. Today many people flippantly use it as an insult (as if being an elitist or even subscribing to an elitist belief were as bad as being a racist). Elitism is viewed negatively by two groups. The first group is the majority of the anti elites. They confuse Elitism with discrimination. This group of anti-elites are simply anti-discrimination and not really anti-elitist. They have had trouble defining terms. Let's get clear on some terms so that the first group can change their attitude about "Elitism".

Small Business and Hispanics- What businesses must do to gain Hispanic loyalty

Mon, 19 May 2008 20:31:01 -0700

Bank of America, McDonalds, Visa, and Mastercard all spent enormous amounts of money to capture Hispanic customers. These large companies are able to influence local markets because of their raw power in advertising the eyeballs off Hispanic television viewers.

Small businesses have been much slower in showing interest in many cities where Hispanic growth has only occurred recently. Most small business owners appreciate the buying power that the Hispanic demographic represents but have a very difficult time wanting to change their business to accommodate them.

The three (and only three) useful things I learned in public school.

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:23:38 -0700

I have learned to enjoy reading and writing despite my public school background. (Perhaps my poor grammar and poor writing style betray my poor education). Ultimately, I blame myself for being such an unambitious and uninterested kid. However, I am unwilling to ignore the lack of intellectual stimulation offered in my K-12 experiences. Most of my time was spent pretending to pay attention to the ramblings of a teacher repeating for the third time a concept one can learn from watching a cartoon.

5 Philosophies to Decode Self-Help

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:36:09 -0700

Self-Help can basically be divided into five general categories. Each category represents a substantive philosophy defining Happiness/Ethics/Epistemology/Theology/Politics. Maybe some self-help isn't informed by any of the five. However, as a general rule you can bet that the self-help you are reading or not wanting to read comes from one of these five school's of thought.

1. Secular Humanism

Predictably Irrational

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:14:21 -0700

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Author: Dan Ariely
ASIN: 006135323X
Binding: Hardcover
List price: $25.95 USD
Amazon price: $15.57 USD

Behavior Economics Book

This was a fascinating introduction for me to Behavioral Economics. The author conducts several easy to understand experiments to explore some of the less explainable sides of Economic Theory. The author refers to his explanation of difficult to explain data as "irrational". His word usage has irritated subscribers of conventional Economic theory. The traditional explanation of Economic behavior suggests that all decisions are calculated rationally. The unpredictability of rational preferences has more to do with unstated beliefs than from being "irrational".

The 5 Things I have learned from Seth Godin

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:49:54 -0700

I just finished reading Godin's Meatball Sundae. I have read All Marketers Are Liars, The Purple Cow, Free Prize Inside, The Dip, and of course Meatball Sundae. Here are the 5 take home ideas that I learned from Godin:

1. People don't want to change their mind. It is far more profitable to tell someone something they want to hear, then, to convince them against their will. Instead of marketing an uphill battle, market to people who already want to believe you.

Overcoming The Bell Curve

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:18:19 -0800

Something that has always bothered me about the attitude of some of the self-help industry is that it encourages everyone to pretend indefinitely. It’s the attitude that all mankind can achieve all things. If you aren’t achieving all things then you must not be saying it in front of the mirror enough. The more that I look at the injustice and inequality of life, the more I find this attitude towards the less fortunate naive. I am reading a couple of books that seem to help clarify some of the disadvantages which prevent people from becoming successful.

7 Virtues To Become More Self-Aware

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 09:43:04 -0800

Personal growth, to a large extent, is limited to self-awareness. I can only change what I recognize. Self-awareness is not as simple as it seems. It requires several skills that have to be developed.

Here is a list of skills and virtues, which enhance someone’s ability to be self-aware.

1. Honesty- until a person is willing to accept the truth about themselves, he will miss the mark as to where he should focus on changing himself.

What is creativity?

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:34:57 -0800

And why do others seem to have more of it? As an artist, something that I struggle with is hearing people tell me that they just aren't creative. No matter how much I try to explain to them that they are indeed very creative, I am hardly taken seriously. But creativity lies in each of us, at our core, it is who we are! Creativity reaches across many different fields, in various aspects of our lives. And it helps us be successful. It helps me personally to use my resources, solve problems, live unconventionally and notice the details in life.

Make Them Go Bananas

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:24:16 -0800

Much of what success in business is comes down to marketing. This morning I watched a video with David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of an immensely (and very quickly) successful web programming framework. When asked how he became so successful so quickly, he replied:

"[By] making a stir, taking a big target and picking on it... you just have to poke at them a little bit and they'll go bananas and link to you like mad. And if you poke them in the eye, they'll go even better bananas."

Becoming More Creative

Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:24:05 -0800

One of the conclusions in On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins, the scientist and founder of Palm and Handspring, is that creativity happens when the brain mixes and matches patterns from previous experiences. This means that people with more experiences have more potential to be creative.

Practically this means that the more experiences I have, the more patterns my brain can draw from to come up with unique solutions to problems.

Do Something Bold Every Day

Sat, 07 Jan 2006 05:16:00 -0800

A while back I wrote an article called "Ten Things You Can Do Today to Jump-start Success." I'd like to add a number 11 to that list here:

Do Something Bold Every Day: Don't let a single day go by without stepping out of your comfort zone to do something that will bring you closer to success. Whether it be making a phone call, putting an idea to paper, dropping one project to make room for something more important or putting an offer on a property. One bold move every day adds up quick--it creates a habit of making decisions and carrying them out.

A Brief Introduction

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 20:16:03 -0800

In fairness to those reading Enrichr articles I thought that I should remove the cloak of anonymity and reveal a bit about myself. I work in real estate. Though there really isn’t a title for what I do, my colleagues refer to me as a closer. I find and close deals for real estate investors. The investors turn around and add value to the deals I bring to them and I am paid a percentage of their added value.