The Lemonaide Stand: partner

Showing posts with label partner. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2011

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Monday, February 14, 2011

What Gene Simmons of KISS Taught Me About Business

You might be surprised at what you can learn about business from a guy who wore more makeup and bigger high heels than his mommy.

Pictured below, left to right, are JT Foxx, Gene Simmons and Thomas K Sheppard. This picture was taken February 12, 2011 at Mega Partnering 2011 in Los Angeles, California.

June 10 through 13 of February 2011 I attended the JT Foxx Mega Partnering event in Los Angeles. If you have ever attended a celebrity business event, they are typified by headline speakers punctuated by 90 minutes pitches for programs that promise you wealth and happiness, each easier than the programs touted before. That is NOT what happens at these JT Foxx events, especially the Mega Partnering brand he has built. In these events you get a collection of powerful, unarguably successful speakers who teach you their secrets to living the life they want. They don't pitch you on products to make you happy, healthy, and wealthy.

The event this February (JT holds two of these each year), featured Gene Simmons, the legendary rock star from KISS and the star of Family Jewels (yes his wife Shannon Tweed of Playboy fame did make an appearance).

I openly confess here that when JT told me he was going to get Gene to headline this event, I asked him why? I really couldn't imagine what I could learn from a guy who made himself famous wearing more makeup and taller heels than his mother while puking up blood and sticking out his tongue. In case you don't release it, most rock stars end up broke and destroyed almost as soon as the passion of their fans for their music fades away. So, when JT told me that Gene Simmons has a worth in excess of $700 million and is considered a branding genius and a formidable businessman, I was intrigued.

I was not disappointed.

Gene Simmons is more than just a guy with a long tongue. Although I cannot tell you all that he taught us over the course of about two hours, because I would probably get a call from his lawyers, I can share a couple of nuggets that I took away from his conversation with us. Yes, it was a conversation. He came down off the stage, mic in hand and walked up and down through the audience asking pointed questions and challenging our thinking. He pulled up several different members of the audience and on the spot taught them how to brand themselves and their businesses - a quick consultation that would have cost them at least $100,000 if they had approached Gene and asked for a consultation.

In case you didn't realize it, Gene is an immigrant to America. His mother was Hungarian, a holocaust survivor and he was born in Israel. Did you know that immigrants to the US are 4 times more likely to become millionaires than native born Americans?

Here are some nuggets he shared:

You cannot fail in this country. You can rack it up and then go broke, declare bankruptcy and then start all over.
Don't rely on just one business for your money, build several.
Learn to speak English with a mid-Atlantic American accent - that is what you hear from the new folks on TV and the most successful people in the world. American English is the speaking pattern and accent of success in the US. English is the language of money. Although learning Mandarin (not Cantonese) is a pretty good idea right now.
Use trademark laws to protect your brands and use lawyers to enforce your trademark rights, or you will lose them both - by law.
Operate your business like a Navy Seal. Come in below the RADAR. Minimize your exposure by having a lean and mean operation.
Educate yourself, don't rely on the drivel that passes for education in our schools. Go to the library and take advantage of the best free education in the world, reading library books. And now we can get a lot of that over the internet too.
Be nice to rich people because a poor person never gives you a job.
Be a rock stat - walk into the room and own it.

Although I could go on with what he taught and fill up several entries in this blog, I will leave it at this, feeling it is sufficient to illustrate my point. I am glad that JT Foxx had the good judgment to look beyond the comic book image of KISS to bring to his friends and students the knowledge and influence of a business and branding powerhouse like Gene Simmons.

Likewise, I am glad I had the good sense to trust JT and not turn up my nose at the prospect of expecting to learn some serious business from someone who wore bigger high heels and more makeup than his mommy.

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE - Gene asked if anyone there spoke Spanish. I raised my hand and he asked me to translate how his Puerto Rican students greeted him each morning when he was a school teacher. Although I was able to translate it, I couldn't bring myself to translate that without being prepared to fight to the death. I later determined a tactful way to convey it which I include here and leave to you to struggle through my deliberate obfuscation to get to the reality of what they said. Here is my sanitized translation, "Hello my odoriferous Jewish friend who mates with boys. I want you to know that I really enjoyed getting to know your mother, in a very Biblical way." Yes, that IS cleaned up. Sorry Gene, I hope I didn't ruin the effect you were after.

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. Why pay retail when you can buy a home at below market prices? www.buybelowmarket.com. 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, contact Tom at TSheppard@ADBProperties.com

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

360 Millionaire - Last Chance

Why you should be beating down the doors to attend the 360 Millionaire Class with JT Foxx and what you will learn there!

Because JT Foxx continually updates his materials to work in the current market, the exact details of what he teaches in one class are not the same in the next class. So even though I have attended his class before, the list of learnings I give here is partial, generally accurate, and probably won’t be covered in exactly the same way as it was when I heard him teach it before.

Last year, JT called this class, “Partner Your Way to Millions” and it was a great class. Since then he has renamed it, retooled it, and completely updated it to be even more effective.

Why would anyone want to attend a class about millionaires? Very simply because we all want to be financially independent. Some of us want to be stinking rich.

Robert Kiyosaki (a friend of JT’s) in his book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” teaches that financial independence is when you have income sources outside of your job that meet or exceed your ordinary expenses. For many of us financial independence is enough. Others want still more.

Many of us who were raised working-class, like I was, have been taught to look down on people of wealth as some form of leech on society (some politicians try to manipulate us with this ploy today). This is a way for us to make our relative poverty into a virtue and their wealth into a vice that we aren’t afflicted with. This is really just a mental coping mechanism, an excuse to help us to avoid feeling bad that we haven’t been good enough with our talents to lift ourselves to that level. Jesus taught in his parable of the talents that we should be very aggressive in turning our 5 into 10 and our 10 into 100. And yet, we sneer at those who turn 10 into 100. My mother taught me that this is what is called, “reverse snobbery.” It is actually a form of pride and envy. Did you realize that even us poor folk can be guilty of the kind of pride and envy we imagine is in the heart of the wealthy.

A wise man taught me that being wealthy won’t make you a good person or bad, it will just make you more of what you already are. If you are a jerk, you will be a bigger jerk. If you are nice, you will be even nicer to people. Wealthy people give more to charities that poor people, because they can and they want to. A little while ago I spent a weekend with a man who is worth $300 million. He doesn’t need to work another day in his life. He was paid to be there with a group of us and teach us his secrets of negotiating. Every dollar he received for being there was contributed to his favorite charity – a children’s hospital. How would you like to be able to give $30,000 to your favorite charity? You can’t when you need that money just to pay your bills. But if you are financially independent and wealthy you can do that, if you choose. Financial independence is about having the ability to choose what to do with your time and your money.

Do you want to spend your whole life depending on how much your boss likes you so that you can improve your financial security? Most of us dream of the day when we can sing along with Johnny Paycheck and say to our boss, “take this job and shove it. I ain’t workin’ here no more.”

In our society today we equate the term millionaire with someone who doesn’t have to depend upon their job anymore. If you become a millionaire, you can join those who have gone before you to tell their boss to “take this job and shove it.”

But are we willing to do anything to make that day happen? What is keeping you from making that happen? If you are like I used to be, there are several things (fears) holding you back. For years these prevented me from even trying to be too successful:

I am afraid that I will have to give up what is most important to me in order to attain financial independence. The stories of wrecked lives on the path to wealth are many and legendary. It is true that the enemy of our happiness wants us to give up the sources of true happiness in exchange for worldly wealth or fame. But, that is a false bargain. There is no reason you cannot be financially independent while not sacrificing the most important things in life.

The trap of trading what is important for the mundane is even more prevalent when you are depending upon the pleasure of your boss for your financial well being. How many opportunities to do what you know is important have you missed because you couldn’t afford to take time off from work?

Many years ago I realized the danger of the lure of corporate success. I decided then that I wasn’t going to accept the notion that others pushed at me that the only way I could succeed in the company was to give my life to the company while sacrificing everything else that was important to me. I decided that when I retired from a successful corporate career, I wanted to go home to my first wife and children, not to an empty home or one filled with reminders of failed relationships that had been destroyed in my quest for financial success in my career.

In 2008 I retired from a job paying me six figures per year. I went home to my first wife and children. My successful career did not cost me my marriage and my family. If I had learned many years ago what JT Foxx teaches today, I could have succeeded in my career much quicker and I could have retired to become my own boss much sooner, all without sacrificing the most important things in life.

I don’t know what I need to do to become financially independent. Some once told me, “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance and experience and see how much more expensive they are.” That is really true. I have paid the price in ignorance and experience on some things and paid for education on others. I can authoritatively say that education, no matter the cost is much less expensive than the alternatives. Education gives us a chance to become wise by learning from the ignorance and experience of others.

Even when we really want to become financially independent, most of us have no idea how to make that come to pass. I did it in 2008. I met JT after then and he taught me things that have helped further my dream. If I had known years ago what he is teaching today, I could have made my exit from being under someone else’s thumb years ago.

What You Will Learn from the 360 Millionaire?

The truth is that what you learn is a function of what you are open to learn and what is taught. Because I don’t know how open your mind is to receive the knowledge you need to change your life for the better, I cannot tell you what you will learn in this class with JT. But, I can tell you some of what he will teach if you are able to learn it.

A fundamental truth that JT teaches in all his classes is that the key to building your net worth is your network. Building your business or advancing your career is tied to your ability to build and utilize a network of strong relationships with people who become willing to help you achieve your goals. Your network is equal to your net worth.

Some of what you will learn in the 360 Millionaire Class with JT Foxx

How to build your network

Effective ways to network
How to find millionaires in your community
How to build relationships with millionaires
How to monetize your network

The model JT used and still uses to get the funding he needed to start his business

Step by step how to apply this model to fund your own business
Keys to maintaining this model indefinitely

Secrets of branding

How to tell someone about your brand in under a minute
How to get them to ask you for more information

Secrets of marketing

How to get your brand in front of people
How to bring people to your business
How to monetize your marketing
How to become The Expert without being branded a “know-it-all”

How to manage your image
Secrets of successful businesses

Key functions you need to create or have in place
Key information that will make or break your business

This short list just scratches the surface. There is a lot more he will teach in the two days of this class.

This Really Is Your Last Chance

JT has announced that although the class will be held in 2011, he will no longer be personally teaching this class. Yes, you will still be able to get some wonderful instruction, but you won’t be getting it directly from someone who is widely recognized as a marketing genius.

If you are a friend of mine and want to attend the class being held in Charlotte on this December 4th and 5th you need to get in contact with me right away.

Tom ~

PS: You can enroll for the class by going to www.360millionaireclass.com If you are a friend of mine, send me an email letting me know you have enrolled in the class in Charlotte and I will give you a special promotion code that will give you a significant discount off the $5,000 fee that is regularly charged for this class. My email is at the bottom of this blog. But you must act fast, seating is filling up quickly and when the seats are gone the discount will be irrelevant.

If you are sick and tired of seeing your investments go into retirement long before you do,

call us today for the cure.

704-699-6080

Leave a message for us 24 hours a day at 704-900-1488

We will call you back within one business day.

Why Buy Retail?

www.BuyBelowMarket.com

See my latest video about what we do at The Gold Seal Homes Group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACJx3wpKezQ

About J.T. Foxx

J.T. Foxx started investing 6 years ago with nothing more than a rusted out Ford pick-up truck, $974 dollars and the clothes on his back. Now just four 6 years later, he has closed over $40 million in real estate deals, become an internationally recognized speaker and developed a multitude of successful business ventures - all by mastering the Art of partnering, branding & marketing.

J.T. is most recognized as a very successful real estate investor and entrepreneur but he is also a popular nationally syndicated weekend radio personality of the "J.T. Foxx Show" and the "Canadian Wealth Show". His radio program features such celebrity guests as Senator McCain, Secretary of State, William Cohen, Rev Jesse Jackson, Trump, and George Ross (Donald Trump's right hand man), and celebrated authors like Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Bob Proctor, from The Secret and Mark Victor Hanson from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Even though his recognition and success in business and radio continues to rise, J.T.'s true passion is teaching and reaching out to those who dream of achieving their goals by creating differentiation and thinking differently. J.T. teaches the same practical applications he utilizes daily and that actually get results in today's rapidly changing marketplace, bottom line his techniques work.

J.T. is beloved by his audiences for his results oriented, no-nonsense approach to business and to life - but most importantly because he gives them the tools not only to make more money, but to thrive and make a powerful impact for the better.

Tel: 1-877-272-3031
events@jtfoxxorg.com
http://www.askjtfoxx.com

About Thomas K Sheppard
Tom started investing about nine years ago with no money and no credit. Learning avidly from established experts, following their instructions and working part-time he was soon able to build a real estate business with more than a $1 million in assets.

Two years ago Tom retired from a six-figure salary with a major national bank to work at his real estate business full time (www.adbproperties.com). Since then he has founded The Gold Seal Homes Group which has the goal of helping 100,000 people attain peace of mind by finding quality, affordable homes. In the current market, the primary thrust of the Group is to help people buy homes at below market prices(www.buybelowmarket.com).

Tom can be reached at: 704-699-6080 or tsheppard@adbproperties.com

Friday, July 16, 2010

JT Foxx's First Million in Real Estate

How to Become Wealthy

A very wealthy octeganarian recently told me the secret to his amazing wealth. We were chatting at a social event and after we had been talking for some time he leaned toward me and asked, "Do you want to know the secret to how to become wealthy?" When I nodded in anticipation, he told me, "Watch what wealthy people do, learn what they do, and do it."

On July 11 and 12 I spent two days with JT Foxx learning how he did over 500 real estate deals and how he does his deals today. Because JT is an active real estate investor when he teaches he is sharing methods that work today. Unfortunately a lot of real estate investment courses are taught by folks who made a killing in real estate a few years ago and they are teaching what worked for them back in the day. And, although that "day" may return, the real estate market continues to change and anyone investing using yesterday's tactics is likely to find themselves in legal trouble, financial trouble, or both.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I am a mentoring student of JT Foxx. That being said, you need to understand this: I have been investing in real estate for many years now and I have attended hundreds of hours of training from dozens of different companies and investor/instructors. Of them all, I have found JT's instruction and materials and support programs to be the most comprehensive and practical when it comes to investing in single family homes.

I will also disclose that I did not always want to do business with JT. When we first met, a couple of years ago, I found him to be abrasive in a number of ways. Since I don't have to do business with people I don't like, I took a couple of classes from him and then I went on my way.

Early this year JT called me up and invited me to attend his Mega-Partnering event in Los Angeles. Yes, he called me personally - this was not a voice-blast, teleconference, or webinar. I decided to check it out and I am glad I did for two reasons:

JT is a true student. He practices what he preaches. He teaches that we all need to keep educating ourselves and getting the coaching we need to improve and lift our game to new levels. The coaching he received since the last time I had seen him had really taken hold and he is a much better man now than he was then. His integrity is as intact as always, but he isn't the abrasive guy he used to be. This is someone I can do business with.

His Mega-Partnering event was phenomenal. I don't want to take up space here talking about it, but if you get a chance to attend one, you should make the time and go. You will meet more people who can help you in your real estate investing business in two days than you could in two years. The next one will be held in Chicago in September 11 and 12 (http://www.megapartnering.com/).

So, about the course in LA I just came back from... and why it would benefit every investor I know.

Some of what JT taught is what he has done right. He also taught what he has done wrong, which can often be even more valuable. If we can learn from our own experience that is good. If we can learn from others' experience, that is best.

One of the things he taught is the importance of approaching our real estate investing like a business. This includes understanding the need and uses of bookkeeping, accounting, and management reporting. I have to confess that this is something that I wish I had heard and done years ago. Nearly every investor I know tends to approach real estate more like a hobby than like a real business.

A real business knows every month how much money was made or lost.

Bookkeeping is entering the data and

Accounting is making sense of the data.

Reporting is making sure you can see what is going on in your business. There is an old axiom in business, "what gets reported get improved."

I had several other "ahaa" moments during the two days. I would love to tell you more about what he taught, but that would be giving away his content. So, I will have to leave it at this.

If you have a chance to attend one of his classes, I encourage you to do it. If you are serious about investing in real estate I encourage you to get involved in his coaching and/or mentoring programs.

On this last point, I have met most of his coaches. Like JT they are active real estate investors and are living by what they are teaching. As a point of reference, many coaching programs are focused just on helping you overcome the attitudinal and behavioral roadblocks that are preventing your success. While that is worthwhile, it does not give you practical knowledge of how to conduct your real estate investing business and how to buy, manage, and sell your real estate. In fact, many of the coaching providers are coaching companies, subcontracted out by the big-name instructor and they are contractually prohibited from helping you or giving you concrete instruction regarding real estate investing. JT's coaches and mentors are not subcontracted out and they deal with the motivational roadblocks and with the practical instruction in real estate investing as well.

If you would like more information on:

How to be a private lender see the Investors page of http://www.buyahousebelowmarket.com/

How to become an equity partner, contact me directly at tsheppard@adbproperties.com

How to become a successful real estate investor, keep reading these blogs or contact me directly at tsheppard@adbproperties.com

Tom ~

Why Buy Retail?

http://www.buyahousebelowmarket.com/