Follow Your Internal Compass

William Henry Bill Gate III is the world wealthiest man since 1995 to 2010 (excluding 2008). I believe you know him and perhaps want to be as wealthy as he is? For those who had never imagined such, it definitely not possible until you imagined it. For those who had imagined it, it possible if you can pattern your life to travel in his path.

Now, I do not say drop out of college. I won’t advice that, but if you think that is the path to being another Bill Gates, then what are you waiting for. Also, I will not be among those who say wealth creation lies in computer related fields. If that is your believe, you might be making life biggest mistake.

In 2008, Warren Buffet became the world richest man; millions of indecisive disciples became stock brokers. Some crazily bought shares in its thousands and millions. When Donald Trump became famous as the You-Are-Fired-Boss, indecisive wannabes went into real estates, thinking they can build few billions like Trump. And when the recession swept across the globe, it was Bill Gate at the top of the rich list once again; billions saw computer related fields as the goldmine.

During the California Gold Rush, everybody wanted to be a miner. So was the German-Jewish, Levi Strauss. He went off to California to try out is luck, but the god of luck was against him and he failed woefully. He never succeeded as a miner, but he discovered something else—denim jeans. So began the history of Levi blue Jeans. So began the romance with different shades of jeans. And the rest is history.

Now this is one very important thing you need to know—wealth creation has nothing to do with a Bill Gate, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump or Levi Strauss. They are rich no doubt about that. But they have one thing in common—they followed their internal compass.

Just what do I mean by Internal Compass? First you need to know the definition of a compass.

A compass is a navigational instrument for finding directions.

Every human being has what I call an internal compass, something in your inside that points you in the right direction. Bill Gates internal compass told him to drop out of school. Warren Buffet compass told him to become a stock broker from age six. Donald Trump compass told him to join his father business as a real estate manager. Levi Strauss internal compass told him the miner would buy something thicker with lasting lifespan. What is your internal compass telling you?

Now, close your eyes for a minute and tell yourself the truth. If you have all the money in the world, what is that one thing you will do that you know will give you satisfaction? I am not talking about that dream vacation, car or house. I mean that dream business you would love to build wealth from. Then open your eyes, whatever your instinct, intuition or sixth sense told you, so be it. Then don’t wait for too long, follow your internal compass. For you might be just another Bill Gate around the block. I remain Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa, Editor-in-Chief, Business101 magazine.

Business101 magazine…Think. Believe. Become.

Public Speaking: A Money Making Profession (Part 2)

If you are reading this article, you must have read the first part of it. And if you have not, I would advice you read the part one before you continue with this.

If you are reading this paragraph, you definitely have learnt how to be a good public speaker. Now, you need to know how to make money as a professional speaker or how to make money from public speaking.

Now making money from public speaking is quite not a piece of cake and it’s definitely not as tedious as you think. If you can exploit the opportunities in front of you, then shortly, you will be successful and be smiling to the bank.

You need your working tools. No film-maker would shoot a movie without at least a camera. Same apply to you. Sorry, you don’t need a camera. You need your working tools. You can’t be a good public speaker without your working tools. Just what are your tools? You need a laptop. You can actually get a fairly used one if you can’t afford a brand new one. You also need business cards and letterheads. Why? Because you are now in business and if you are in business, you need them. Period!

Build your portfolio and keep building it. Just like you need curriculum vitae to get a better job, you need one for public speaking engagement too. Now your CV for public speaking might be slightly different from the one you prepare for a blue or dirty collar job. Your professional public speaking portfolio or CV should appear like a story book. Create something very interesting, something very different from the usual. Tell your past experiences and achievement with graphic images or pictures. Then have it printed on very quality and colorful paper.

Now sell your knowledge. Getting yourself to be hired as a public speaker might be quite difficult in the beginning. Not to worry, it’s like that with all beginnings. Instead of waiting on getting hired, you can sell your knowledge in as many different formats as possible. You can sell your knowledge through writing books. People will never get enough in the already published book even after yours have been published. So go ahead, write that book. Publish it in hard copy and make the E-book available on your website. You will be surprise at how much you can make from selling your book. Don’t stop there, create tapes and audio CDs. People want something to play in their cars and homes. Give them something to love at all time. You can create a quality low budget video of your knowledge too. Someone always needs to hear something different. And you might be that something different. While you are doing all this, you are also building your portfolio and soon speaking engagement will come knocking at your door with less effort.

Be on Radio and TV if possible. Not until you visit a radio station, you will be shock they always have room for one more educative and life changing radio show. Your knowledge could be that missing link. Package a show on what you do and you might be lucky to get a free slot. If you are bold enough, your knowledge in a TV Show format can be that big break you have been waiting for. Package it and luck might just be your middle name.

Get Sponsorship. Distributing your knowledge in different formats might cost you some fortune. And if you can’t afford that fortune, hope is not lost. For your radio or TV Show, you can get companies to sponsor it. And for other format, you can get an angel investor. Angel investor is an individual who finances your project and would get a fat return on investment.

If you are smarter, you can get companies to sponsor your speaking fee so they can be associated with your message when you speak. Take a moment and think of what kinds of groups would want to be associated with your message. Let's say you speak to the banking industry. Maybe mortgage or mutual fund companies would partner with you. Maybe bank equipment companies would be interested in your proposal. Think of anyone who would want to have exposure to your target audience then simply make a proposal to their public relations department. And wait….

What about direct paycheck. This might be pretty cool and straight forward. You can speak to an organization, corporation, association or anyone who would hire you and they pay you directly. If you are in for this, be smart enough to get an upfront deposit of about 50 percent and the balance on the D-day.

Join the Network. The usual cliché says “no man is an island.” You are not. So, join a public speaking network. There are countless of them around you if you look pretty well.

Public seminars. This is simply organizing seminars and selling tickets to the general public. You can also introduce it to corporate organizations and get them to buy tickets for their employees to attend. For a start, it might be quite a risk because it will cost you the printing and mailing of brochures.

Train companies. If you are good enough, companies can hire you to promote their products to the general public through a seminar. If you are smart enough, look into some companies products, send them a proposal on how you can increase their customers through seminars. And they will pay awesomely for it.

Speak free. Many professionals do this. You can speak for free in public seminars to get clients. Attorneys, doctors, dentists, accountants, real estate agents, lawyers, home builders and many other people from a wide variety of professions give seminars to promote their business and to gain clients directly from the seminars. There is nothing wrong if you do the same.

Not Comprehensive Though. This of course is not the comprehensive strategies of how to make money through public speaking. You need to sit down and think too! I remain Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa, Editor-in-Chief, Business101 Magazine.

Business101 magazine…Think. Believe. Become.