This weekend, pull out that handy notepad and pencil. We want you to make a list of forty, yeah forty, people who are money making or managing machines.

Over the next two years, plan on spending time with every one of them. Plan on meeting them, studying them, talking with them, and imitating them. Once you’ve tapped at their vision, we’re pretty sure that they’ll have provided you with the tools to not only emulate them… but maybe even exceed their achievements.

Even if you don’t get around to meeting some of these people, right now, we want you to jot down the reasons you think these people should be added to your list. What makes them admirable? How can you follow their paths?

Do you have anything sitting in your Paypal account? Do you treat this same as the rest of your money? Most people seem to discount these funds and are not quite as frugal with them.

But here is the kicker, it is real money. It may take a little longer for it to show up in your hand as cash, but it is money nonetheless.

People are more willing to split with Paypal funds because they are sitting there doing nothing. People are always willing to empty out their account for purchases before going for their credit card.

People don’t get hit by the ‘guilt factor’ nearly as bad as using credit cards, bank accounts, or cash. For entrepreneurs this is a great thing.

What I am getting at here is that it is a good idea to accept this form of payment on your website. It’s spent like Monopoly money, and cashed in like real money.

I’m sure you have heard of the website MySpace before. It’s been in the news so often recently that there is pretty hard to miss. There is also Facebook for college kids, and MySpace’s forerunner Friendster.

These three websites are social networking sites that allow you to say ‘these 917,234 people are my friends’ regardless of if you know them in person or not. These people that are listed as your friend will all view your profile at least once. Then some of their friends will visit your profile and want to join your network.

The number of people you are connected to, or ‘friends with’ will grow exponentially after setting up a good seed amount and getting your profile seen.

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The buzzword in successful business marketing has long been the SWOT Analysis, a method of quickly defining:
S = your Strengths
W = your Weaknesses
O = environment’s Opportunity
T = environment’s Threat

My question is why none of us implements this strategy in our own lives, figuring out what we most excel at. This marketing term can easily be flipped to figure out how YOU can mazimize your wealth.

For example, I’m an efficient typer—a strength. Yet outside of basic computer skills, I know little—weakness! Now what aspects of my typing skills could be used to make some money? Looking at business around me, I have an opportunity to start my own type-for-pay business. Yeah, opportunity. Too bad most people can already type and such companies already exist—weakness. Maybe typing isn’t the direction to go. (You can sigh with relief that my get-rich-some-day scheme doesn’t include this business strategy.)

In my attempts to figure out the perfect job, perfect business, and perfect career for myself, I think the SWOT might help. You might find the same—

Based on the incessant furniture store advertising I’ve been hearing on the radio, the next few weeks seem to be the best time to buy furniture. One local business ad declared that the store has been working toward this sale for 84 years, whatever that means. Anyway, they’re working to lure you… but don’t bite all of their bait.

Zero percent down for one year can be a great thing for the next year. But like every “good deal”, there’s a catch. If you don’t pay off the balance in less than one year, the store tacks on interest fees that accrued during the first year.

Example: You spent $1,500 on a beautiful dining table and chairs—they look beautiful in your home without putting down a dime. Every month, the furniture store expects a $100 payment. (AHH—the minimum payments won’t get that balance paid off, will it?!) One year passes; you’ve paid $1,200 ($100 x 12 months) and think you have an outstanding balance of $300. You can handle paying 15% on that balance for a few months, right?

Well the furniture store says that instead of owing them $300, you now owe them $541.13. According to the contract you signed, you agreed to pay accruing interest on your purchase price if you didn’t get the balance paid off.

Neglecting to pay off that fine dining set cost an extra $241.13… and my example was lenient. Yikes!

With so much streaming at you on the TV there are a lot of different advertising messages being jammed into your brain. In my eyes there are only two kinds of commercials that you will find on the television today. They can fall into the category of being motivating and/or inspirational, or it can fall into the overcrowded arena of everything else.

If you are a frequenter of Aridni, you might know that we like to focus on positive messages. That’s exactly what I am going to be doing today.

The motivational/inspirational/positive commercials basically make you feel good/accomplished/fuzzy inside before they pitch their project. A hypothetical example might look like…

“You tried your best. You have given it everything; as a result you’ve done a great job. And great people drink Aridni Brand Coffee.”

So if you can resist drinking our delicious coffee, then you have been given a free moral boost. It’s our little gift to you. Hey, you’re welcome.

Next we have the far more common “put-down with a promise” approach. They are generally designed to let you know you are inadequate. The good news is they have a solution! Buy their product and life will get better. A blatantly exaggerated example (hopefully exaggerated that is) could look like…

“You are dirty and you stink. You will never make any friends with the terrible odor. It’s so bad that your stench will kill your beloved pets. Buy our soap.”

Most (if not all) like this are more gradual and sneaky. You are led to believe that you are sub par without their product. Even if you avoid the product, you still feel like somebody punched you in the stomach.

So do you want ad campaigns designed to make you feel good or miserable?