Robin J. Elliott: Joint Ventures with the Prophet of Profit, Training, Strategic Alliances

A man returns from a visit to his physician. On the way home, he stops by a medical center and buys a variety of surgical instruments. He drops into the local library and takes out some books. Then he buys a nurse’s outfit. When he gets home, he tells his wife, “The doctor told me I need my appendix removed. I asked him a number of questions, and the good new is that we don’t need him! Why should we spend thousands on an operation, when I could buy everything we need for a few hundred? Read these books tonight, and tomorrow you can don the uniform and operate on me. Now haven’t you got a smart husband?”

IDIOT, right? Right. Many people have this same, cheap mentality. Why do you need a Burger King franchise when your mother makes such great burgers and you can buy used restaurant equipment? Is it arrogance, ignorance or a combination of both that encourages people to make such silly choices? “I don’t need that techie to fix my computer! He charges an arm and a leg. I’ll do it myself!” Well, the techie loves to hear that, because a week later, after messing his computer up even more, that same fool will beg the techie to help him, at any cost. He will carry the techie on his back through crocodile-infested swamps and then make him tea… And perhaps the techie will charge a little more…

When my car breaks, I call Ray. When my computer breaks, I call Andrew. When I have accounting / tax problems, I call Raj. I don’t negotiate or haggle with them. And they solve my problems fast. I am consciously incompetent. There are very few things I’m really good at, and even in those areas there are many better than I am. I save a lot of time, money and frustration by paying experts. The same applies to Joint Ventures. We teach people, support them and encourage them in that area because we have 19 years of experience and we do this every single day. But, guess what? You have to pay to attend a Bootcamp or join the Forum. After that, we will support you. In Afrikaans, they say, “Goedkoop is duurkoop.” (Cheap is expensive.) Ever bought cheap shoes?

In Whistler, a fellow approached me at the end of a seminar I presented on Joint Ventures. He asked why the Bootcamp is “so expensive” at $997 for two people. I answered, “It’s probably not for you.” Why? Because he just revealed who he is. Successful people pay experts based on return on investment. How much does a shovel have to cost to be expensive when it is used to shovel gold into your car’s trunk?

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com

When he walked into the huge seminar venue in the Toronto hotel, he seemed pretty professional and successful Well dressed and groomed, poised, aware. He handed me his business card and I was impressed. Thirty minutes into my seminar, I asked the audience, “How many of you think this looks ‘Too good to be true’?” and the same man put up his hand. Shock and awe! It was hard to believe that this sophisticated businessman was, in fact, seriously handicapped by his mental conditioning. We all are. How many wonderful opportunities have we all missed, because our conditioning got in the way? We all have mental programming that hampers and restricts us.

The same goes for technology – I searched for YEARS to find a way to record sound bytes on my computer at home and then to e mail them. It only took one e mail from Member Andrew Cavanagh in Australia, and within ten minutes I had the solution, which has been working great ever since. We don’t have money problems, we have thinking problems. And the same goes for everything else. We already have whatever we want and need – it’s all in the way we think. Understanding that we have mental blocks is the first step on the road to overcoming all obstacles on our way to success.

Other people know things that we don’t know. They have different perspectives and they know how to get to the train station. The fastest way I have discovered to getting over, under and around mental blocks is by associating with a wide variety of Eagles through our DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum. Hundreds of ethical people around the world with a Joint Venture Mindset are available to help me to succeed in a win/win way. They have different frames of reference, experience, skills, connections, access and resources that are re4adily available. We help each other to see through the mental blocks and solve problems. Together, we can do amazing things. For more information on the Forum, Click here.

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, where I gave a number of presentations and seminars. Our east coast Members did a wonderful organizing job and I had a great time. One thing that really impressed me was the people who took me up on my challenge and joined our Forum or signed up for our Bootcamps. These people took action that will reward them for a long time. They evaluated the information and took decisive steps to seize an opportunity.

Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” Strong and successful entrepreneurs make decisions fast and stick to them. They don’t wait for the cat to fall out of a tree or Grandma to buy a new dress. They don’t have twenty committee meetings before they decide whether or not to order the Beef Wellington. They say, “Yes” or they say, “No.” They are fast on their feet. They don’t find excuses to procrastinate. They will weigh the information, do their due diligence and decide. You don’t have to run after them for a decision, either; they will get back to you when they say they will. They are winners.

One seminar attendee gave me SEVEN reasons why he wouldn’t be able to attend an event. At the end of his whining, I said, “All I needed was a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’.” Winston Churchill put it this way: “They are decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.” And George Canning said, “Indecision and delays are the parents of failure.” Those who vacillate, dither, hesitate and flounder are simply fearful of making ANY decision. They are afraid of the consequences of agreeing and equally terrified of the results of disagreeing. As Tony Blair once said of a certain politician, “Weak, weak, weak!”

The chairman of Mesa Petroleum said, “Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the Ready- Aim-Aim-Aim Syndrome. You must be willing to fire.” Any decision is better than no decision. “I’ll get back to you” and “I’ll think about it / discuss it / review it” usually means, “I’m too scared to decide – please leave me in my misery and go find a real man”. Let us decide to decide. Let us be warriors and Eagles. Let us be confident, courageous and focused. Time is money and the window of opportunity doesn’t wait. Seize the day!

Announcement:
$ Attend a Joint Venture Broker Bootcamp with Robin J. Elliott: Vancouver – January 28, Edmonton – February 4, Ottawa – February 10, Toronto – February 12 For more information, click here (No charge for Graduates!)

“The secret of success in life is for man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli

When we sought criteria for accepting Members for our DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum, now numbering 229 world wide and growing almost daily, we started by expecting at least five years of business experience. But we realized that we knew a lot of losers who had been in business for ages. Often, people who have no business experience at all, do very well in Joint Ventures. Then we thought of requesting references, but we know that turkeys will be enthusiastically recommended by other turkeys. So we thought about the reason why people succeed in life and Joint Ventures. Here’s the secret.

What is the ingredient that makes people truly successful? Given that they have a good idea and direction, of course, I decided that the ingredient is ACTION. But a lot of people take half hearted, “leave-the-back-door-open”, cynical, mediocre action. And naturally, that doesn‘t work. Others are very keen to start off with but fade really fast when the going gets tough. They run out of energy at the first bump in the road. Weak. The Zurich Axioms contains this valuable insight: “Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how to handle the worst. Never make a move if you are merely optimistic”

Paul J. Meyer says, “Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat…” The secret ingredient to success in any venture is ACTION, but we need to define what KIND of action that has to be. We need to take massive, determined, courageous, decisive, confident, firm and unyielding action. We need to be absolutely convinced of our purpose and passionately committed to success. As immigrants ourselves, we know that those immigrants who fail, do so mainly because of their attitude.

What have you been putting off and avoiding? It’s time to take action and to blast through fear and reluctance. What procrastination has kept you from achieving your magnificent obsession? What calls do you have to make? What letter do you have to write? What decision do you need to make? You will feel a whole lot better when you have the guts to leave the ruts and do what you know you have to do. And, if you’ve been putting off joining the Forum, look at what you’ll be missing, below – there is no charge for our Annual Members Only Convention!

Robin J. Elliott is an Honored Member of America’s Who’s Who of Outstanding Professionals 2006. He is officially included in the International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs of 2002 and was nominated as a candidate for inclusion in the 2004-2005 edition of the International Who’s Who of Professionals.