How Much Do You Invest in Your Education?

This week, I offered a 12-week course for $2000 to learn how to make $50,000 to $100,000 a day.

I thought it was a no brainer decision for those who are technical and have the money to invest in education that will allow them to work at home.

After all, you don’t learn how to make money in school, that’s not its purpose. You have to learn how to make money from someone who knows how to do it.

And good luck finding someone in the top 1% of the country’s truly financially free who will teach you what they do.

The only way to become financially free is to invest in your education (not necessarily college) and diligently apply what you learn.

So how much should you invest?

Well, that depends on who you are, what you want to learn and how you think.

I personally spend about $25,000 a year to attend about 10 professional events of different kinds and buy home study courses and software of all kinds.

(I hesitate to reveal that because most of my Internet friends spend way more than that.)

How can a home school mom afford that?

I budget for it.

I also create the income to pay for it, along with ballet, fiddle and art lessons plus two family vacations a year.

And I’m not the only homeschooler who does this.

One of my best friends that I often see at professional events is Zach McCullough. He is a homeschool dad who created the popular AskDatabase software that many Internet marketers use to create intuitive searchable databases.

Zach and I recently went to dinner together with our oldest sons. He took Wesley; I took Drew. Between the two of us, we’ve had 20 children. (A few are in heaven.)

Most home educators tend to have more than the usual number of kids and therefore more expenses, plus we operate on one-income.

Yet because Zach and I have both invested a lot of time and money in our Internet education, our lives are no longer “normal.”

Zach’s technical partner is Frank Deardurff, webmaster and technical adviser to the Internet millionaires. His marketing partner is the highly successful Internet marketing adviser Alex Mandossian.

Zach and I both live very humble lives, are completely dedicated to our families, yet also understand how to make money with a computer in different ways.

We are not normal. He is truly a genius… and a real nice guy.

If we had not made the investments we’ve made, neither one of us would be where we are.

Success doesn’t happen to you by accident; you have to position yourself for it.

One way to do that is to purchase home study courses and attend live training events.

So the next time you are offered a course you “think” is expensive, ask yourself where it could take you.

The only truly financially free people in the world don’t get there are by accident. They make it happen.

If you really want to become financially free, you might want to try changing the way you think. If you don’t, you’re destined to stay where you are.

If you don’t do something different from what you’re doing now, you’ll always get what you’re getting now.

I want to help YOU be able to afford investing $25,000 a year on YOUR professional education. Let’s start with making $1.

So many books, so little time…

Rhea! who wants to help you become financially free

It all starts in your mind.

Joint Venturing with your Kids

One of the coolest experiences of my life has been entering into serious joint ventures with some of my children. I have 7 living children, 3 in heaven, 5 grandkids, and one on the way.

I’m getting ready to leave this afternoon to host a live 3-day event in Huntsville, Alabama with my oldest son who is my second child. He has discovered a mind-boggling system for selling houses in 7 days on eBay that no one else has figured out.

He understands real estate and has been investing since he was 18. He understands eBay and has sold most of the junk that was in the basement. Now he combines the two and can sell just about any property in one 7 day auction.

This weekend, he is going to walk a small group of homeowners through the process in real time. They are coming from all over the country, laptops in hand, to learn how to sell their properties on eBay. When they leave on Sunday, their auctions should be online. We’ll let you know.

I never thought this child would ever become a professional speaker and workshop teacher. We struggled through years of him not understanding long division and asking why he had to learn to spell (which he never did).  All that time, I had no vision for what his future would hold. Yet I knew it was my responsibility as a home educator to prepare him to be financially stable in life.

So I took him to real estate workshops. I took him to Internet marketing events galore. I took him to eBay workshops. I invested more money in his professional education than I would have spent on a college degree (like he’d really sit still in class long enough to earn that)!

Then one day, he listed one of our rental houses in Alabama that had been empty for 10 months on eBay. In just 7 days, the new owner sent money to his PayPal account overnight. The buyer was from the UK. He never saw the house. That was 4 years ago. He still has never seen the house.

That’s when we realized we were onto something very powerful.

He created a course to teach others his system. I’ve let him speak as a presenter and as our after-dinner entertainment at most of our annual family business conferences. He’s shared the stage with Troy McClain, Mark Victor Hansen, the late Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, Sharon Lechter, John Taylor Gatto, Richard Paul Evans, Lou Brown, Armand Morin and countless others.

Now he is hosting his first ever live 3-day workshop.

He’s also speaking at the Madison County real estate investment group tonight to let them know about the weekend event.

I never in a million years imagined that this skinny little redneck country boy would turn out so well! I never envisioned him being a leader in the Internet world. Yet because of the direction his education has taken us, he’s been privileged to learn from the best.

And it’s paid off. Not only have we grown closer together, but the income he created with investment real estate brought his dad home from corporate America.

It’s truly amazing what you can do when you work together on a project, like the education of one very special young person - your child.

I’m off on a whirlwind adventure today on this very blustery autumn day. Grocery shopping with the kids, ballet, guitar lessons, art class, then off to speak at the REA and on to the hotel to host what will be a life-changing event for the homeowners who are joining us - Drew Perry’s very first SellingHousesOnlineWorkshop.com.

If you want to see a miracle, join us in Huntsville this weekend. I will be amazed.

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!
who can’t wait to see what the next JV will produce!

Business is shifting from offline to online

Another industry is feeling the pressure of a struggling economy - book publishing.

This usually recession-proof industry has recently started laying off, excuse me “down-sizing”, some of its leaders.

Here’s an article with the latest news:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081203/ap_en_ot/books_random_house_6

So what does that mean?

Well, quite simply, it means that business as we have known it for the past few decades is changing. Some might say it is sinking or biting the dust.

But have you ever known this great capitalistic society of ours to fail?

The problem here is vision. Look at this situation from another standpoint.

Yes, the economy is not doing well. Yes, big companies are struggling right along with hard-working consumers. But all is not lost.

Things are changing but they are not ending. That is not the nature of business in general. Instead, I believe things are shifting.

The shift business is making is from the traditional offline model where a company has a nice big building with lots of employees to the online world. There, business is conducted with no buildings, assistants working virtually from home and everyone making MORE money because expenses and overhead are less and the potential is unlimited.

How do I know this? I’ve had an online business for years and our team is spread out all over the country.

We produce ebooks, membership sites, online training courses and conferences.

We have a coaching program for families who are all over the world - Saudi Arabia, Chile, Australia, Canada and most of the 50 states.

Where is our home office?

My bedroom in Tennessee.

Where is my Office Manager?

At her house in California.

Where is our webmaster?

At her house in Wisconsin, that is, if she’s home. She’s still a teenager.

Other members of our team are scattered all over the the country along with many contractors who work for us when we need them.

Some work around home educating their children, some work after regular work hours. Some even work at night and sleep all day.

Face it, that’s the new look of business.

If you are in despair about your job or your business, realize that business in this country is not ending, it is moving. Get a better vantage point and realize where it is moving to.

Those who will be financially successful in this decade will have an online business of some kind. If you wait until you are FORCED to do something out of desperation, you may make some pretty bad mistakes. You may also spend way too much money trying to solve the problem. It’s a lot safer and easier to start preparing for a change BEFORE you need to.

Having a business on the Internet is not hard; but there is a learning curve. And there is a lot to know.

People spend 4 years in college and never expect to make a dime the whole time they’re there. And even after they graduate, it still may take a few months before they find the right job or even A job.

So don’t think you can hop onto the Internet and learn everything you need to know in one month. It’s not possible. The thing changes about every three months, and sometimes faster than that. You have to keep up with it.

So if you are worried about your job situation, decide now that you WILL do something on the Internet in 2009.

Don’t wait until a pink slip forces you to decide.

There is hope for this economy. There is hope for your financial situation. You’re looking at it.

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!
who is dedicated to helping you not only survive but prosper in this unstable economy

Need help starting that online business? Drop in and see
if our community can help: http://www.EducatingforSuccess.com

 

 

 

Be Thankful for the Tragedies this Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

 
As I was walking in the woods early this glorious Thanksgiving morning, I was very aware of how blessed my family has been this year.

 
Although my husband of 31 years almost died in February, he’s changed his diet and is doing well now. In fact, we’re all eating better.

 
The economy has taken a hit this year, yet because of my Internet business, we haven’t felt it that much. I still took my kids on two week-long vacations to the beach and the mountains and I took my team and advisors to our annual Beach Retreat for a week.

 
My debit card number was stolen and I lost $6,000 which the bank says is gone. Yet as I was canceling, re-establishing and examining my accounts with a fine-tooth comb, I realized how much we are wasting and promptly plugged the leaks.

 
I also realized what a steady stream of in come we have that keeps our marvelous virtual team in Starbucks and our business able to offer cutting-edge education to the families we serve.

 
Although the housing industry is crashing, we realized that combining Drew’s system for selling houses on eBay in about 17 days with my love for hosting live events can solve just about any homeowner’s problem.

 
With the renewed vision I’ve gotten this year, I am on the warpath to surround myself with men and women of vision who desire to raise children to learn how to effectively lead this country in government, business, education and the entertainment realm.

 
My advisors criticized our old outdated website – EducatingforSuccess.com – so we restructured it to be a hub for coordinating all our efforts and communities.

 
All the challenges we’ve faced – and there are many more than I’ve listed here – have become like pearls. They started off being huge aggravations which seemed to steal our time, energy and resources, yet each one made us stronger and more efficient.

 
If you are facing challenges this year, spend a few minutes today and write them down. On one side of the page, list the tragedy. On the other side, write the benefit you received because of it.

 
Realize that you wouldn’t have gotten the benefit if you hadn’t experienced the pain.

 
Seeing those challenges from a different perspective may make today a better day for you. It may even change your perspective on the rest of the year!

 
Above all, be thankful for whatever comes your way.

 
Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!

 
So many books, so little time…

 
Rhea!

who is off to go host a very large dinner for her very wonderful family of 15

It’s Always Time to Be Thankful

Not sleeping well at night?

Got a crick in your neck and don’t know why?

Do you feel like the harder you work, the behinder you get?

You’re not alone.

Many folks don’t realize that during unstable economic times like these, it’s easy to take your eyes off your goal and focus instead on your lack.

It’s quickly becoming essential, though, that we learn to keep our perspective in balance.

You know we have a lot to be thankful for.

No matter how bad things may get at your house, when you step back and look at the big picture from the Goodyear blimp point of view, Americans have it better than most people who have ever lived on the earth.

Even the poorest of us live a better life than most of the kings who reigned in past generations. We have year round a/c and heat, electricity, SUVs and sports cars, TV and Internet, cell phones and shoes, airlines and light in the house 24/7.

Yet in spite of we have, we still worry.

Maybe it’s time to cut back. Maybe it’s time to become even more resourceful. Maybe it’s time to look at what you already have or can do and figure out how to monetize your gifts and natural abilities. Maybe it’s time to create systems so you can generate some extra income.

I truly believe it’s time for all freedom-loving Americans to create their own sources of income and not rely on anyone else. It’s great to have a job and if you have a good one, that’s just one more thing to add to the list. But in times like these, you don’t know how long that will last.

So start preparing now for your future. And start educating yourself to help your children prepare for their future. Their world will be completely different from the one they take for granted now.

This Thanksgiving, as you gather your family and friends around a table full of abundance, make a list and share it with the others of all that you have to be thankful for.

You’ll be amazed at what you have.  

Have a marvelous Thanksgiving this Thursday!

 

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

who has plans to spend a great day with my favorite people eating way too much turkey and taking a very long nap

 

Blip.fm ~ Music Social Site

Just when I thought I had discovered the coolest social site - Twitter, along comes Twitter with music.
It’s called www.Blip.fm

 
Once you sign up for an account, you can enter the name of a group or song
you’d like to hear and you get a list of members who provide those songs or artists.
A page appears with all the pictures of “DJs” with the note at the bottom that says, “add all?”
Once you click that link, you instantly have 30 new “Favorite DJs” in your community
(or however many were on the page).

 
If you want to hear a song, all you have to do is enter the title or author in the field.
It will search for that title or author and allow you to preview or blip.
Click Preview to make sure it’s the song you are looking for.

 
If you blip it, you send it out to the community. Add a message to say anything you’d like.
Blips come in constantly just like tweets do on Twitter and it’s fun to see
what people around the world are listening to.

 
It’s a cool way to share and hear your favorite music.
Isn’t it amazing what you can do with technology!

 
At our last conference in Atlanta, social sites expert Don Crowther taught a
session on how to use social networking to make a pile of money.

 
If you’d like to watch his session, his was just part of the video set for the conference.
You can check it out at www.EntrepreneurDays.com.

 
And if you get the videos, make sure you don’t miss watching MikeandMichael.com,
who provided the musical entertainment at our Saturday night banquet.

 
They are actually Mike Stewart and Mike Edging, two musical geniuses who wowed
the crowd with original jazz on the piano and sax. It was one of the best nights of my life!

 
I wonder if their music is on blip.fm…

 
So many books, so little time…
Rhea!
who isn’t the most technical knife in the drawer

 

 

How Can You Encourage the Genius in Your Children?

I have Legomaniacs in the house, know what I mean?

These boys would spend every minute of the day building amazing creations with Legos if I didn’t make them stop to eat and sleep. Yes, they are addicted.

After a discussion in the DealingwithLearningDisorders.com community this week about creativity, I looked “creativity” up on Wikipedia to see what it had to say.

Listen to this:

“Creativity has been attributed variously to divine intervention, cognitive processes, the social environment, personality traits, and chance (’accident’, ’serendipity”). It has been associated with genius, mental illness and humour. Some say it is a trait we are born with; others say it can be taught with the application of creativity techniques/ simple techniques.

“Although popularly associated with art and literature, it is also an essential part of innovation and invention and is important in professions such as business, economics, architecture, industrial design, science and engineering.

“…entire industries have been spawned from the pursuit of creative ideas and the development of creativity techniques.”

Here’s what I got from that:

Creativity is a result of:

*The way you think  *Your environment  *Your personality

I have conscientiously designed our environment to give my children the freedom, acceptance and time they need to explore their personal interests.

Often, people wonder if I give them too much time. I wonder that too. But the creations these guys come up with shows me that giving them long periods of uninterrupted thinking time can result in some pretty amazing creations.

Check out this Spartan armor Benji made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3M8msj3lcY

This kid also has a very easy going personality and loves to tell jokes at exactly the right time.

Because of the way we have structured our family life, these kids are developing a very mature way of thinking.

Is it by chance? I don’t think so.

I’d say it is my design. It has taken a lot of sacrifice for us to find the place where we live and to create the environment that allows us all to work and learn from home.

I think we are starting to identify a gift this boy has. I’m not sure where he’ll go with it but at 15, the possibilities are limitless.

I’m sharing this info and video with you to encourage you to relax and trust yourself and your child and to give your kids more free time to explore their world.

Don’t let them sit idly on the couch watching TV, movies or even playing video games. Those don’t challenge the mind to work and create something useful for society; they only stall the brain in neutral and steal days and weeks of productive time.

Encourage them instead to do something creative. Finance their projects. Give them tools and resources they ask for.

Most of all, give them time to develop their genius.

That boy or girl that drives you crazy may just design the answer to this economic crisis we’re in.

You never know.

So many books, so little time…

Rhea! who sincerely believes that everyone is gifted; we just haven’t identified how

P.S. Don’t forget to grab a copy of the videos from our Entrepreneur Days 2008! They will change your life!

http://www.EntrepreneurDays.com

Why You Need 2 Mastermind Groups

One of the keys to success in anything in life is realizing that you can not accomplish anything by yourself.

Too many people are convinced that others will steal their ideas, concepts, people, resources, everything so they never share their thoughts with others.

That thought comes from fear which way too often, does run rampant through the world.

Consequently, waaay too many men “go to the grave with the song still in them,” as Henry David Thoreau once said.

Because they don’t trust others to help them accomplish their dreams, they never get started.

Wise people, however, realize that building a business is like building a building. You can’t create a skyscraper without a team.

Belong to 2 Types of Masterminds

Unless you’ve jumped into the zany world of home business, you may have never been confronted with the concept of a mastermind group.

Groups are organized for many reasons: religious, business, marriage, friends, brainstorming, whatever.

But ultimately, there are basically two types.

One group is your internal team; those who work with you on projects or business.

The other group is made up of random friends, entrepreneurs or others who do not work with you on your projects on a regular basis.

To be successful in business, I personally think you will be more successful by belonging to at least one of each type.

Team Masterminds

Way too often, business owners and managers don’t ask their team members for their opinions on anything.

Imagine how frustrating that is to a worker who day-in and day-out probably sees hundreds of ways to make their work more efficient but isn’t given the opportunity to initiate change because no one ever asks for or listens to their suggestions.

Yet in the world of small business, entrepreneurs often make the same mistake. We generally know what we want so we work 16 hours a day to make it happen without ever asking any helpers or contractors what they think.

Instead, try forming a small group of people who are involved in the project who can meet together once a week or so either virtually or live to discuss the projects at hand.

It’s like asking the five blind guys to describe how the elephant has changed from their perspective this week. Imagine the possibilities!

Not only will you get some criticism and possibly some good ideas, but you’ll also gain the commitment of the team members who will be more likely to contribute from the heart because of their involvment in the project.

Peer Masterminds

The other type of mastermind group is one where unrelated people share their goals for the week with each other and offer helpful advice from different perspectives.

Everyone needs someone to bounce ideas off who has a positive, educated perspective to offer.

Whether this group is made up only of your peers or includes a mentor doesn’t matter. The benefit is that sharing ideas and problems with others who care about you and who are there to help often stimulates creativity.

Surrounding yourself with wise friends makes it easier to get past inevitable road-blocks that always face anyone who tries to do anything out of the norm.

Create Both

I’ve been in peer masterminds and I’ve met with members of my business team randomly before, but I’ve never seen the importance of designating the time to be in both… until now.

I just finished reading Meet & Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler where they explain the difference between the groups and give the reasons for each.

Although I’d personally recommend skipping chapter 16, the book was full of wise counsel from experienced members of successful mastermind groups.

It only makes sense.

If you want the people who are members of your team to be committed to the same goals and be in harmony with each other, spend time at least weekly with them re-evaluating your goals and activities and building those relationships.

If you want to gain perspective from outsiders who see your projects and business differently, meet regularly with friends, peers and other business owners to get perspective about “the other side of the coin.”

Life is not always as we perceive it. Letting others show you what’s hiding in your blind spots is a smart move.

Go for it!

So many books, so little time…

 

Rhea!

who hopes you participate in a mastermind group

 

P.S. Our Entrepreneur Days 2008  videos are now ready:

www.EntrepreneurDays.com

 

Learn to Monetize that Expertise!

Way too many people don’t know who they are. They don’t know what they want so consequently, they usually live frustrated lives just walking mindlessly through the day doing what someone else dictates.

 

They can’t figure out how to find the satisfaction they are looking for because they’ve never asked themselves what they really want to do. They work to pay the bills and usually settle on something less than what they really could achieve, if only they had the vision.

 

This weekend, I am in San Francisco taking my oldest son Drew to a workshop for experts. Even though he’s 27, his education isn’t finished.

 

We’re here so he can gain the vision he needs to see the potential he has for making an impact on the world by sharing his natural gifting and abilities with others.

 

(It’s hard for most folks to get that vision from plain ole Mom. Know what I mean?)

 

Everyone is an expert at something. If you’re not, you can be.

 

And even though you may not be yet, it isn’t hard to become one these days, especially now that the Internet puts all the knowledge in the world at your fingertips.

 

It amazes me when I meet experts who don’t realize they are experts. They think everyone knows what they know. And when you tell them that others don’t have their knowledge, they don’t believe you.

 

It’s crazy.

 

So I am here this weekend to learn how to encourage experts to get the vision they lack and how to help them share their knowledge, wisdom and expertise…

 

Starting with my expert son who can sell just about any property  on eBay in 14 days.

 

In this economy where fore-closures are rampant, that is life-saving knowledge.

 

And not everyone knows how to do it.

 

If you are an expert and want to learn how you can monetize your expertise, join me in the forum here

www.EducatingForSuccess.com . I may have a few ideas of you. I’ll be back soon.

 

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

who would love to help you discover and monetize your area of expertise

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Wedding Present

 

For a wedding present, I gave my oldest daughter and her husband a timeshare.

Now before you decide I’ve lost my cookies and cursed a perfectly good relationship before it even had a chance to get off the ground, let me share the details.

I love to go on vacation. My husband doesn’t.

I’m originally from Florida — the tourist capital of America. My husband is from here — the country.

For years, when I went home to visit my family I would take the kids but since my husband had to work, he usually didn’t go with us.

So I’ve gotten in the habit of taking family trips without him. Now that all of the kids are self-sufficient (and most of them are teens), it’s a lot easier.

Then I discovered that it is cheaper for us to spend a week at a timeshare than it is to stay in a hotel. Plus, resorts are a LOT nicer!

I joined RCI, one of the two timeshare companies that allow you to swap your weeks, and discovered that we can stay anywhere we want to.

So I decided that my daughter needs to have a vacation every year and the cheapest way to do that would be the way I’ve learned to do it.

So I bought them a timeshare.

At first, they didn’t know what to say.

I kept waiting to hear, “No, thanks.”

And the first year they were married, they didn’t use their week. So it rolled over.

But this past week, during Fall Break, they decided to use it. They chose to spend the week in Gatlinburg.

They went to Dollywood and the Dixie Stampede, they climbed Clingman’s Dome and went swimming in the indoor pool.

They didn’t have to wash linens because the resort provided them with fresh towels on demand. They got discounted attraction tickets at the front desk. The playground was just outside their door where they could sit and watch the baby while the girls were in the pool.

They had a GREAT week and came back exhausted but happy and restored.

And I bet they spent less than $300.

Just about every morning during that week, I called to find out what they were planning for the day.

I was so glad to hear how happy they all were! After all, when you work all the time and juggle the schedules of a baby with a working husband and active teens, the routine of life can you’re your out.

Everyone needs a break every once in awhile.

But the thing I couldn’t get over was how happy *I* was to be able to make that week happen for them.

That’s why grandparents love to watch others open presents at Christmas. The joy comes in seeing someone become happy because you have given them something they want.

As you get ready to plan out your new year (which I DO hope you do every year, right?), make sure you include at least one week-long vacation. If you can plan two vacations about six months apart, that’s even better.

In stress-filled times like these, vacations serve a valuable purpose and help keep busy moms stable.

If you can’t financially afford to take a vacation, re-evaluate your life. Something isn’t in balance. Relaxation is a necessity of life and if you don’t plan it in, it won’t happen by accident.

 

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

who doesn’t expect you to buy a timeshare for all your kids like I do

www.EducatingForSuccess.com

 

 

 

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