Acres of Diamonds in Your Back Yard

Are there diamonds in your backyard?

Dr. Robert Conwell introduced the world to the tragic story of Ali Hafed back in the 19th century, during a time of significant economic distress.  Dr. Conwell frequently found himself addressing audiences of opportunity seekers who were convinced that they needed to go to New York or Los Angeles, or someplace else far from where they were at, in order to find opportunities to provide for themselves and their families.

He responded by telling them the story of Ali Hafed.

Ali managed to eke out a living for his family on a rocky farm.  Their needs were met, but he wanted a better life for his children.  When a visitor told him how people were finding diamonds and how a single large diamond could make their fortune and secure their future, for the good of his family Ali decided he needed to sell his hard scrabble farm and go in search of diamonds so that he could provide for his family and secure their future.

To make a long story short, Ali traveled far and failed.  He died far from home and impoverished, unable to locate the diamonds he so desperately sought to make his dreams for himself and his family come true.

One day, the visitor who told Ali about the diamonds came back to the farm and chatting with the new owner observed that Ali must have realized his dream.

"Why do you say that?"  the new owner of the farm asked.

"Because I see you have a diamond on your fireplace mantle."

The new farm owner picked up the rock.  "This?  I found it by the stream in the field behind the house.  The field is full of them.  I have been piling them into a fence, but I liked how this one reflected the light and brought it inside."

It seems that Ali Hafed had searched the world over looking for a fortune that all the time was scattered across his own back yard.  The very stones that made it hard for him to grow a crop were actually priceless jewels.

Today, we are in a time of significant economic distress.  As a real estate entrepreneur I can tell you from first-hand experience that many today are telling people that to make money in real estate they need to go buy in California, Arizona, Florida, or New York, anywhere but where you are.

Just like then, the truth is that we all have acres of diamonds right in our own backyards.

Dr. Conwell taught his audience that if they would survey people within one square mile of where they live, determine what they want most and deliver it to them at a fair price, they could make their own fortune without ever leaving their home town.

As a real estate entrepreneur I have talked with many folks all across the country who are looking to make money in real estate.  Many of them have been convinced that to get really good deals they need to invest in properties far away from where they live.  Even I have succumbed to this notion.

Looking far from home for opportunities at the least is a waste of time and at the worst is an opportunity to be defrauded.

While I believe the Charlotte, North Carolina has some of the greatest real estate opportunities in North America, I don't believe that there are no good deals elsewhere.  While I will be happy to work with anyone who wants to invest in this area, I won't for a minute pretend that you can't find good deals closer to home.

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Tom Sheppard has been successfully investing in real estate since 2001 while working part time. In 2008 he left a six-figure job as an enterprise project manager and risk manager with a major national bank to manage his real estate business full-time. His goal is to help 100,000 people find peace of mind by finding quality, affordable homes.  He is currently looking to expand his network of funding partners who are helping him achieve this goal. If you would like to know more about how you can Do Well By Doing Good (TM), contact Tom at TSheppard@CharlotteWealthPartners.com

My Mega Partners

In October of this year I was privileged to attend JT Foxx's premier partnering event Mega Partners IV in Chicago.  It was unquestionably the highlight event of the year and well worth the time and money I spent to be there.  JT pioneered this unique event for business people.  The three days (four for VIP ticket buyers) were packed from 7 or 8 am each day to 7 or 8 pm or later.

He brought in entrepreneurs from as far away as Germany and Australia and gave us an unrelenting barrage of extremely valuable information on ways to build our business, without subjecting us to an onslaught of pitchmen offering us a get rich quick solution along with a set of ginzu knives if we buy right now.

He succeeded in getting Jay Abraham, a renown marketing genius and partner of JT, to spend a total of about four hours over two days educating us on the power of relational capital and strategic alliances.  Because of my work with JT and Jay in launching their AbrahamFoxx brand, I was among a small group of people who got to meet privately with Jay and JT.

While at the event, I realized I had not taken good care of my relational capital.  I resolved to mend my ways.  So, you will see in this post a window where you can put yourself on my list.  I am sending out emails to everyone on my private email list and directing them to this blog post.

I don't believe in using private emails to do business.  So, I am giving all of my friends, family, and associates the opportunity to add themselves to my business mailing list.  Once on the main list, I will give them a chance to get periodic email updates from me or to get on smaller lists that are focused on specific businesses I am engaged in.

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For instance, I have published several ebooks recently and am about to publish a hardcopy book with XLibris Press called "Fire Yourself: Get the Job You Want."  Those who want to keep tabs on what I am doing to help people manage their careers toward stable employment can get on a list where they will be notified of my work in that area.

I am also in the midst of doing a real estate for 18 houses valued at $1.2mm.  Those who would like to learn about investing in real estate and learn how to get their money working for them instead of spending all their time working for their money can opt to participate in that smaller list.

I hope you will take the time to add your name to my list of friends, family and associates.  I promise I won't abuse your trust in putting your name on my list.

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• I won't sell or rent your information to anyone else
• I won't send irrelevant emails
• I won't SPAM you with tons of emails 

While at Mega Partnering, I met Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, the man who was foremost in leadership when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists on 9/11.  He shared with us his secrets of leadership.  For those of us in the VIP dinner we got a second, more informal, dose of his wonderful spirit during the VIP dinner.

Another headliner at the event is a man I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting on several occassions, Dr. Nido Qubein (http://www.nidoqubein.com/).  Nido is currently the President of High Point University (http://www2.highpoint.edu/) in High Point, North Carolina, he is the Chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company and sits on the Board of Directors of BB&T, La-Z-Boy, and other companies.  He wrote a very kind remark for the cover of my book "Fire Yourself: Get the Job You Want."

Nido is always a compelling and entertaining speaker.  In the VIP Dinner everyone got to see a side of him that most audiences miss as he and JT verbally sparred.  In Nido, JT has more than met his match when it comes to exchanging witticisms.

Of course, aside from instruction by some of the most successful people in business today, the biggest benefit of Mega Partnering was all the wonderful people I met and either renewed connections or made new connections with.  I am certain that I will be doing business with many of these people over the course of the next year and beyond.  This is the real power of Mega Partnering, learning how to network with people and then networking with them and collaborating to lift each other to new heights of success and abundance.  If I didn't do a single deal as a result of Mega Partnering, I would still be a much richer man from all the relationships I established with high quality people at this event.

I was so much in awe of the power of the event that I signed up for the next one without waiting to hear who would be attending or where it will be held or even how much it cost. I know it will be worth the investment.

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One of the things JT learned from Nido and which he prides himself on doing is WOWing people.  You know what a WOW is?  That is when something unexpectedly nice happens and you automatically say "Wow!"  JT literally got a "Wow" from me at Mega Partnering when Joe Gnapp, his VP of Mentoring slipped me a piece of paper announcing that we would soon have a visit from Stedman Graham (http://stedmangraham.com/) and I was invited to have my picture taken with him after he was done speaking (actually it was to be done before, but Chicago traffic delayed his arrival and we did the photos after he spoke).

His talk was very powerful as he taught us not to be captives to the past, but rather to live in the future we create.  I had heard of Stedman before because of his association with Oprah Winfrey, but I really didn't know much about him.  After hearing him speak, I am impressed and want to learn more about what he has to say and what he is doing.  I know JT worked really hard to make a connection with Mr. Graham and Nido helped make it happen for him.  I guess that is what friends are for.

And to Leasha and Torrance who I met for the first time at Mega Partnering and to Oz who I met again - Semper Fidelis.

And if you want to know how you can attend the next Mega Partnering for free, contact me.  Because of my insider status, I can often get free General Admission for a limited number of people.  But act quickly, this opportunity will likely go away soon.

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Tom Sheppard has been successfully investing in real estate since 2001 while working part time. In 2008 he left a six-figure job as an enterprise project manager with a major national bank to manage his real estate business full-time. His goal is to help 100,000 people find peace of mind by finding quality, affordable homes.   He is currently looking to expand his network of funding partners who are helping him achieve this goal. If you would like to know more about how you can Do Well By Doing Good (TM), contact Tom at TSheppard@CharlotteWealthPartners.com