Do you need more help learning how to invest like Warren Buffet? Most people do, with the exception of perhaps only one. Of course that person is Warren Buffet himself!

I ran into this article from the Motley Fool a little while ago called “Buffett’s Words of Wisdom.” It gives out a bit of advice that Warren seems to follow, as well as tips and hints on becoming a better investor yourself.

“I am a better investor because I am a businessman and a better businessman because I am an investor.”

All in all it is a pretty good read, check it out.

Just over a year ago, we wrote a controversial post about personal finance bloggers. Since many of you may not have been reading Aridni then, we thought we’d share this classic blog post with you below. Be sure to check out the comments that arose in response, and let us know your thoughts on the issue.

Confession: I go crazy whenever I discover another finance blog updating the world on that person’s net worth. All of the pie charts, ratios and data comparisons, and growing bars indicated dollars held’AHH!

Instead of counting the fluctuating pennies in our Coca Cola stocks, we should, as financial bloggers, be looking for a way to make investments toward the future. The greatest investments cannot be calculated TODAY’owning a successful and growing business, owning a home that’s in an under-valued market, buying stock in an undiscovered beast like WalMart in 1995, etc. But when you cash in on those investments in forty years at retirement, prepare for the specific $ sign in your net worth to leap upward. Some of that money exists TODAY, yet you cannot show it on a net worth statement. Well I guess you could spend $400 to get your property reappraised every month. Think that’s silly? Not if you’re counting your net worth to the penny’might as well be accurate.

We should be finding ways to establish money-generating avenues that can multiple for the future, not necessarily for today.

And yes, I do make a monthly net worth update that is nowhere near accurate because most of my money goes toward future expectations. I like to chart spending in our personal lives and investments to make sure we’re keeping on track . If you truly aim to be a successful $$ man, I don’t see how you can know your exact worth.

I think that showing the world my net worth updates every month online and throwing a virtual party when I’m up $500 is off the track. Yeah it all sounds cool… yet shouldn’t we be aiming for financial freedom not X dollars in the bank?

A constant problem for us millionaire wannabes is that we’ve got a lot of ideas that never seem to develop into something concrete. Guy Kawasaki, the guy we all turn to for the occasional kick in the butt, has done it again in his book, The Art of the Start.

He’s got five tips that he calls GIST: Great Ideas for Starting Things

1. Make meaning (Inspired by John Doerr). The absolute best reason to start something is to create meaning, to make a product or service that makes the world a better place.

2. Make mantra. Mission statements are so long. They’re boring, and they’re irrelevant. No one can ever remember them. Instead, make your meaning a mantra. Answer the ‘why’ of your organization. Your entire team can get on the right course if they actually know why you’re all there.

3. Get going. Start creating and delivering your product or service instead of the silly details like pitching and planning. You don’t make money there.

4. Define your business model. No matter what kind of organization you’re starting, you have to figure out a way to make money. The greatest are short-lived without a sustainable business model.

5. Weave a MAT (Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks). The last step you need is to compile three lists:

(a) major milestones you need to meet;
(b) assumptions that are built into your business model; and
(c) tasks you need to accomplish to create an organization.

I just picked up a book from Seth Godin. If you haven’t heard of him, then you are really missing out. He has published quite a few bestselling books and is quite the knowledgeable fellow. His site is www.SethGodin.com and he has some great marketing and business ideas. I haven’t finished the book ‘Free Prize Inside’ yet, but I have made it through the first section. It has a lot of really great ideas about ‘soft innovations’ which are inventions and add-ons to products. An example is the free prize in cereal that makes the kids want Fruit loops over Captain Crunch. Things that aren’t exactly world changing, but product pushing.

I am going to share a clip from the book that I found interesting.

My argument so far:

1. Advertising doesn’t work so well, because you can’t buy attention.
2. Big R&D hardware innovations don’t work because they’re so risky and ever more expensive.
3. Soft innovations are the sweet spot, the free prize, the means that will allow your organization to grow and thrive.
4. Anyone, including you, can create a successful soft innovation, even (and especially) if you’re not in the marketing department.
5. Not only is it profitable, but it’s empowering, engaging and fun.

So, you may be wondering, if this is so effective and so productive and requires so little training, why doesn’t everyone do it?

Exactly.

The Reasons Everyone Doesn’t Do It

They’re scared.
They’re organized to resist change of any kind.
They don’t understand that soft innovation isn’t risky, it’s free and important.
They don’t realize how much their bosses want them to pursue soft innovations.
They’ve never been sold on doing it, and they’ve never been taught how to do it well.

This Means There’s Huge Opportunity

Everywhere that you go, when you start to, you can come up with ways to make products better. Or perhaps a more attractive way of displaying them. Once you get your mind exercising, the ideas just begin to flow.

Not only have I enjoyed this book so far, but I went to Amazon to see what else he has available I ran into “The Bootstrapper’s Bible” which is available as a PDF. I just purchased and downloaded that for less than three bucks, and I’ll let you know how it is.

I should also include a link to his blog here, Seth Godin provides a wealth of information here as well.