Rich Money Habits

Recently, one avid reader of this blog emailed me to ask my thoughts regarding highly controversial topics such as Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing.

I have often hesitated sharing my thoughts on topics such as network marketing, because for one, I don’t have much to share to begin with.  I was not confident enough to share what limited knowledge I had about the industry.  I didn’t want to share with you mere hearsay or what someone else has experienced good or bad.

Now, I know a little bit more and have gained first-hand experience to at least share with you simple tips to help you avoid falling into scams that has given this industry a lot of bad reputation.

First of all, let’s define what network marketing is so we all start off from the same page.

“Network Marketing is a system of moving products from the factory to the consumer, through an organization of users, retailers and network builders.” 

Secondly, I highly encourage you to CLICK HERE to watch a video explaining how network marketing model really works and how is it different from other distribution models.  The video features an interview with a university professor who holds a PhD in Business Administration from Harvard University who is involved on researching, teaching and consulting about network marketing.

Lastly, I want to help you avoid falling into ponzi schemes or pyramid scams.  After learning more about the industry, it has become one of my advocacies to help educate people on legitimate and professional ways to build a network marketing business…and more importantly, if you decide to become part of this industry, to help you build your business with the right foundation of integrity, honesty and sincere desire to help other people get what they want in life.

Here are 5 questions you need to ask before joining a network marketing company.

1) Who are the owners of the company? 

What are their backgrounds in terms of starting and running a business, especially a network marketing business?  Every industry is different.  Some people may be good with traditional businesses, or have succeeded in franchising, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will succeed using a network marketing business model.  How many years have they been in business? What is their mission and vision?  What are their core values? Is it aligned with what you believe in?

You need to understand that a huge part of business success is about the people who own or are running the company.  The owners, as well as the CEO, and the other employees who will be there face to face with your customers will make or break your business.  You need to think like an investor who is looking for a CEO to run your own company.  If you have doubts about their background, or worse, you don’t even know who the owners of your company are, better STOP and do more due diligence than regret losing your hard earned money in the end.

2) What is the track record of the company?

How stable is the company?  A lot of the bad reputation the industry has been getting is based on some companies’ poor track record.  Not a few companies have started so fast but folded up in a few years. As a consequence, many distributors were left hanging in the end.

The thing to understand about a network marketing business, is that IT IS still a business. The success ratio still applies: 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years; and for those who survive, 1 out of 10 of them will fail in the next 5 years.  The simple reason? Any start up business will go through growing pains.   The systems are still being built and not yet in place.  If the systems break down, the business collapses. That’s why, you need a great visionary team running the company, who will make good decisions and never compromise money over the long term health of the business.  You need people who are going to be there for the long term.

How long is considered stable?  A good benchmark is at least 10 years.  By then, the systems are already in place and has proven to work through business cycles like economic recessions and depressions.

3) How is the product different from those in the market?

After watching the video earlier, I hope you at least have an idea how different the distribution model of network marketing companies are compared to traditional ones.  Different they may be, both, however, have the same goal in mind — move the product from the factory to the consumer.

There are three things to consider when looking at the companies’ products: 1) it must have unique selling proposition, it must be of high quality and 3) it must be consumable.

First, the product should have a unique selling proposition.  You cannot sell a product, distribute it via network marketing and have that same product also distributed in traditional retail stores.  Just think, if the same product is available in your neighborhood grocery store, why go through all the trouble and buy it from somewhere else?

Second, the product must be of high quality. The good thing about network marketing is that because it minimizes the distribution cost, the products tend to be of higher quality.  This ensures that it gets the better end of the network being a two-edged sword.  People talk about great products.  But they talk MORE about bad products.  So if you are in a network marketing business, your products must be top-notch, otherwise, your network’s multiplying advantage may even be your worst enemy.

Third, you want your products to be consumable.  You want your customers to keep coming back to use your products.  That’s the only way to build loyal customers.  That applies to a traditional business, but even more so for a network marketing business.  And you can only do that if your product is of high quality.

4) Where are the sales coming from?

There are two-sides to a legitimate network marketing business.  One, is direct sales, where you buy a product at a lower price and sell it higher for a profit.  The other side is in sponsoring other people to help you sell more products to more users, retailers and network builders.  Normally, the company will give you a start up kit or enrollment pack which contains your initial inventory of products.

To know if the company is legitimate or not, you need to watch out whether the direct-sale activities balance with the sponsoring side of the business.  If the sales are coming mainly from direct sales with minimal sponsoring activities, then it is operating mostly as a direct sales business.  On the other hand, if the sales of the company are coming mostly from selling of start-up kits or enrollment packs, and not much is coming from direct sales, then the company is bordering on becoming a pyramid scam or ponzi scheme.  The company may be legitimate, but if the only thing they are selling is the startup kit, and there are no repeat purchases from satisfied customers, then sooner than later, the company will also fold up.

Obviously, the commissions should be based on how many products were sold and how many repeat purchases there are, and NOT based on the number of people who signed-up.  In the end, the heart of a business is still and will always be satisified customers.

5) How fair is the compensation plan?

Is the compensation plan built upon rewarding only those people at the top? Is it possible for someone new to surpass the earnings of those who have joined the company earlier?  How will you be rewarded?

How healthy is the financial condition of the company? Has the company put in place control mechanisms to ensure the long term health of the company?  Obviously, the company has to make profits as well as give a fair share to the distributors.  If all profits are given to distributors, it is just a matter of time before the company folds up and the owner runs away with your money in his pocket.

You also need to ask yourself how many people have already succeeded in the company, and what are your chances as a new distributor to succeed as well?  What available training and support will you get in order to achieve the same or greater level of success in the business?  What challenges will you expect if you decided to pursue this business to get the results you want? These are simple questions you need to ask to really understand what you are getting into.  Network marketing business can give you potential residual or even passive income, but it doesn’t happen overnight.  It is certainly not easy, but it can be done.

The above 5 tips is just a simple list you can refer to before joining a network marketing company.  My hope is that you keep this handy list with you when you start exploring getting into a network marketing business.   The world has changed…and one of those changes is the coming of age of the network marketing industry.  It has even been tagged as the “business of the 21st century” by Robert Kiyosaki, the famous author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  The only question is whether you will become part of it or not.

Starting a network marketing business can be your gateway to success if you do it right.  It will most likely change your life for the better if you work on it and do your own due diligence.  In the end, it is all up to you.  Be driven.  Be careful.  Be wise.

Cheers to your success!

P.S.  If you want to discover the 7 Great Lies About Network Marketing, CLICK HERE to mail me so I can send you the FREE ebook give-away.
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It’s now August and more than half of the year has already passed.  It’s time to get back to my financial goals this year and share with you my insights into what what I’ve been up to the past months.

At the start of the year, I shared with you 3 personal goals I had in mind.  One is financial in nature, the other two is for my health and personal development.

Goal #1: 3 income streams earning $100 each per month

The journey in achieving this goal has surprised me more than anything else.  Last March, I was on my way to earning at least $100 income from affiliate income from this blog as well as ebook sales.  I had to turn off Google adsense because while I already earned my first $100, I didn’t feel it was aligned with my long term goals for this site.

For the past few months my affiliate earnings from Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club has been pretty consistent.  It actually reached around $65 for the month of May.  My affiliate earnings to Jomar Hilario’s Workshops and Seminar climbed up to $157 on the same month.  The thing was, while my site got hacked, went down and its traffic plummetted to zero overnight last month, my affiliate earnings were hardly impacted at all. As for the ebook, that’s another story.  It has not been doing very well the past few months.

But the most surprising thing I’ve experienced for the first half of the year is the result from one of my new ventures which was 5x all my affiliate earnings combined for the month.  That’s why, like an aspiring entrepreneur would do, I’ve had to re-align my resources to focus on this new venture of mine.   I’ve also had to reassess my goals for the year, given that I may not need 3 income streams to hit $100 each anymore.  Focusing on one can practically earn more than the three combined.  My financial goal has changed, and that’s one of the topics I will be sharing with you the rest of the year.

Goal #2:  Weigh no more than 176 pounds by December 31, 2011

One of the main challenges I’ve encoutered over the past few months is in looking for healthier food to eat.  Given the proximity of our condo to the mall and the convenience of a 24-hour store nearby, sometimes, it’s hard to convince myself to make the extra effort of looking for healthier food options.  Compound that with the seemingly hectic (but actually just mismanaged) time that I have, that’s a constant battle I have to face everyday. 

From my last quarter’s update, I was able to lose 13 pounds to bring down my weight from 200 pounds to around 187 pounds.  I’ve had to change my habits to a healthier lifestyle over the past couple of months as part of my regimen to make that happen.  And even though I still haven’t reached my goal, I still think I am on the right track to hit it by the end of this year. My goal is only a few pounds away as I am sitting comfortably at 181 pounds at the moment. 

One of the great blessings I got in losing those extra pounds has to do with being able to stay healthy and not get sick as often as before.  While I got sick because of stress and exhaustion due to my hectic schedule last month, I was able to get back to the office with only a day of rest.  Compare that to the whole 2 weeks of vacation ruined last Christmas when I had to battle through with colds and fever while going on a 3-day vacation with my wife in Bohol. 

I’ve never felt healthier in my life.  It really surprises me that when I go up the stairs in the MRT station, I no longer need to catch my breath.  In fact, I even take 2 steps at a time when I am in a hurry.  Life is good, indeed!

Goal #3: Go somewhere I’ve never been to once every quarter.

This is a goal I’ve struggled to accomplish over the past 6 months and continue to struggle with as I look for travel opportunities for the next half of the year.

The last vacation I had was with my wife and her friends in Fontana Resort.  I had lots of fun.  The only problem? I’ve been to Fontana before a few years back.  So I’m stil zero out of 2 for this year.  I really need to catch up fast.  Summer is gone and rainy season is here.

Looking back, I can give you a lot of reasons why I couldn’t take a vacation or go out of town.  I have no time.  I have a hectic schedule.  My boss won’t allow me.  In the end, though, they are all excuses.  Instead of dwelling on those excuses, I think a more positive thing for me to do right now is to "just do it."

What amazes me is that while I’ve not had some vacation time the past months, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to catch up with old friends lately over dinner or a cup of coffee.  It’s really amazing how time seem to stand still when you and your friends share old memories together and laugh at ridiculous things you did in the past.  It’s really a great blessing to have such great friends.  That alone makes me believe that God has really blessed me tremendously all these years.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year

I realized that in almost anything worth doing, you have to put in the time and effort to really see significant results.  To tell you honestly, I’ve had days when I didn’t do anything at all on this site.  If you noticed, I only had one article written for the whole month of June and July.  There were times when I had to re-assess what I really wanted to do with this site…and that also means I had to rediscover what I really wanted in life.  Is it money?  Is it freedom? Is it being able to help others in however way I can?

While I have been blessed financially at my daytime job, I still wonder whether there’s more to life than just financial blessings. The more I think about it, the more I realize that one thing I don’t have is TIME.  I am still a slave of the 9-to-5 job and all the things that come with it. My dream is to be able to have control of my own time.  I want to be able to work on things that I really enjoy, and in the process, contribute however I can to also help inspire other people discover what it is they truly want in life.

How about you? How’s your first half of the year been so far?

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Last April 3, I had the priviledge of hosting our second session of Rich Money Habits’ Cashflow 101 games.  This time, at The Old Spaghetti House (TOSH) Restaurant at Robinsons Forum, EDSA Pioneer, Mandaluyong City.

There were two great news in this session of Cashflow 101 game compared to last time —

First and foremost, all participants got out of the rat race.  Congratulations to the participants!  Yehey!  Granted, it took some time for some of the participants to get out.  In the end, however, when one of them finally got out, like magic, everyone followed suit and got out in no time at all.  It could be because they saw that getting out of the rat race is indeed possible.  Everyone focused on making more passive income from then on so they too can also get out of the rat race.  In hindsight, I realized that this is also true in real life.  The more like-minded people you surround yourself with, the more people will support you and cheer you on as you go for your dream of financial freedom.

Second, we had the luxury of time and we were able to enjoy the game without getting kicked out of the restaurant.  The first time I hosted a Cashflow 101 game in Tapa King Edsa Central, we were kicked out because apparently playing cashflow boardgame is prohibited inside the restaurant.  We were lucky the caretaker still allowed us to play the game if only for a couple of hours.  But when the guard saw us, the caretaker didn’t have any other choice than to request us to stop playing, even though we weren’t done yet…just when the participants were now beginning to see how the cashflow 101 game works.  I felt really bad for the participants and promised myself never to allow a similar experience to happen again.

Hosting the second cashflow 101 session had its own challenges but the fact that everyone got out of the rat race was a reward in itself.  It was a gratifying experience witnessing the participants get out of the rat race and cross over to the fast track.  Seeing their spirits come alive and become animated as they celebrate their personal victory is truly an amazing experience.

After the game, I asked the participants what realizations they’ve had while playing the game.  Here are 5 lessons they’ve willingly shared that I am now passing on to you so you too can learn from them as well.

1) It’s OK to start all over again. 

One of the players over leveraged and got into debt so much so that he was already paying more money than what he was able to earn.  In short, his expenses was greater than his income.  Whenever he passes by the “Paycheck” cell, instead of receiving income, he now shells out extra cash to pay out his debts.

Needless to say, this led to his downfall as he eventually filed for BANKRUPTCY.  After declaring bankruptcy, he had to sell off all his assets for half the price.  After selling his “assets” off and paying his debts, he finally got into a positive cashflow situation.

That means, he had extra money at the end of the month again.  The surprising thing was, after getting rid of his “asset” he was actually better off.  He had lots of cash and he didn’t have to pay every month for his “asset”.  What he considered to be an asset was actually eating him alive because of the HUGE loans, causing him to file for bankruptcy.

Does this sound familiar?  I think this is very similar to the housing crisis a couple of years back, and still being felt up to this day.

2) It’s OK to borrow money as long as your asset is paying for it.

One of the most popular advise you will get is to NEVER borrow money.  And it certainly is a wise advise, especially if you are still learning your way to financial literacy and you don’t have the discipline to pay off what you owe.

The surprising thing was, because of the law of leverage, those who bought assets turned out to be in better position to take advantage of opportunities when the market changed.  For example, in the game when someone draws out a market card, it could turn out positive changes to the players.  Someone may be looking to buy for a new house.  And because you have the property, you get to sell it to him.

Of course, it is not always as rosy as it sounds.  One time during the game, someone drew a catastrophic market card — a financial crisis, if you may.  Tenants could no longer pay rent.  Everyone who had 3 bedroom/ 2 bath houses was affected and the owner had to let go of their properties.  Ouch.

3) It’s OK if you want to play it safe, you can still get out of the rat race

One of the players was very conscious about getting into debt, even though it was only a game.  At first, she was focusing on the paycheck and wanted to earn more, feeling safe with the money that she had.  She avoided debts as much as possible and ensured she always had extra cash at hand.  She occassionally invested in mutual funds and stocks throughout the game.

In the end, even she was able to get out of the rat race.  She didn’t have to quit her job.  In fact, after getting out of the rat race, she now has the option to still do what she’s always done.  But the good thing is, she’s no longer tied to her job anymore.  She can quit anytime she wants, and the passive income will still be able to cover her monthly expenses.  Isn’t that great?

The lesson? You can still get out of the rat race even if you’re afraid of debts.  You don’t have to despair if you find out you’re afraid of risks.  You can still get out of the rat race.

Of course, while the game went on, she had to shift her focus from paycheck to opportunities.  One time, she was even complaining why she landed on paycheck instead of opportunity.  At the time, she was almost out of the rat race.  One small deal was enough for her to become financially free.  In that context, it’s understandable why she wanted to land on another opportunity instead of a paycheck.

4) It’s OK to give away what you seek the most

It is sometimes counterintuitive to give away what you seek most.  Your tendency is to keep what you have for as long as you can.  In reality, however, keeping it to yourself does more damage to you because of the feeling of scarcity that you’re telling your mind.  Instead, do what one of the players did.  Here’s how.

The same player who went into bankruptcy had the habit of donating to charities, even when he was financially struggling. The surprising thing was, he eventually managed to get up and get out of the rat race even with the bankruptcy.  The fact is, he even surpassed and got out ahead of some of the other players.

He mastered the flow of money by starting to be generous with what he had. It is truly mind boggling how things fall into place when you set your priorities straight.

5) It’s OK to be the last one to get out of the rat race

It doesn’t matter whether all other players are already out of the rat race, although I might say, it can be demoralizing sometimes.  When that happens, know that we all start out somewhere.  Perhaps, one was able to get out of the rat race faster because she had only minimal expenses.  Or perhaps, she took advantage an opportunity and the market rewarded her investments.  The important thing is YOU are able to get out of the rat race.  It is your personal victory.

It’s inevitable to compare your results with other people.  It’s just what we normal humans do.  But instead of living your life in despair, use that motivation to be inspired instead.  You can say, “if they can get out the rat race, it only means, I too can get out as well!”.  Keep the positive attitude up, and sooner than later, you too will celebrate your day of financial freedom. Cheers!

Readers, have you played Cashflow 101 game board?  What other lessons can you add into the above list?

P.S.  Ready to play cashflow 101 in real-life?  CLICK HERE to email me.

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As some of you know, I started the year with 3 goals in mind.  One is financial in nature (3 streams of passive income $100/month each), the other two is for my health and being (weigh no more than 85kgs and go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter of the year).

Financial Goal #1 – Three streams of passive income earning $100 per month each

For the first goal, the short status is that it’s halfway there.  I’ve shared my income report from Google adsense and the earnings form my ebook launching in one of my recent posts.  While they are not yet earning $100 per month, the income has been up to a great start!

The ebook is not selling as much as I hoped for but I am not one to complain because it is purely passive income.  I hardly do anything aside from promoting the ebook, which I must admit I am not doing a very good job at.  Besides, I am learning a lot just figuring out ways on how the ebook can be made more useful and how it can reach a lot more people.  That’s why I am excited because in the coming weeks there will be a lot more exciting things happening here at Rich Money Habits.

Also, Red asked me thru the comment section of one of my recent articles whether I’d be willing to share how much I am earning from being an affiliate of Truly Rich Club.  I sometimes hesitate sharing actual financial results because it might be taken the wrong way.  However, I feel being transparent to you and helping inspire you in your own journey is more important than my own fears.  So here it is.

The great thing about it is that I didn’t have to create a product or ship anything.  All I did is recommend a great product that I personally use myself, and would be very happy to recommend anyway with or without the affiliate income.

One of the challenges I’ve faced as an affiliate, however, was that because I didn’t have a way to contact those who signed-up as a result of my referral, I have no way to reach them and say thank you…and may be even give them a free gift or something.  That’s one of the reasons why I launched my own product so that I can have more control and be able to give freebies anytime I want.

One thing you will notice in the report is that the affiliate income started only last May 2010, more than a year after my wife and I already signed-up as members to the Truly Rich Club.  I honestly cannot remember why it started so late, but the great thing is, even if it was only a very very small amount in the beginning, it consistenly grew to PhP2,572.80 just last month.  That’s US $59.83 already, more than half of my $100 goal!

There are other streams of income I’m planning to launch in the near future that are still in the exploratory stage, but I don’t want to spoil the fun and surprise.  You’ll hear more about them once there’s something more concrete to talk about.  In any case, the first quarter has been a great learning experience so far, one I totally didn’t expect.

Financial Goal #2 – Weigh No More Than 85 kgs

At the start of the year, I finally got the initiative to use our condo’s gym.  Jog on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week — that was my goal.  I was able to do it consistently for the first few weeks and lost a few pounds…But after a few weeks of not going to the gym, I gained it all back.  My wife and I even bought a Wii Fit board, just to get some added motivation in trying to enjoy exercising, but after a few weeks, we hardly ever use it anymore.

I also started trying to eat healthy.  After learning from Bo’s book ‘Awaken the Healer In You’ that drinking fresh fruit juice can be a very healthy morning habit, my wife and I invested in a juicer that was offered at a 50% discount in one of our visit to the mall.  So we started using the juicer in the morning and got ourselves small cups of fruit juice.

The only problem – we had to clean up the juicer ourselves.  It’s not too much, but sometimes when you’re in a hurry to get to work in the morning, the last thing you want to do is spend some time washing your juicer.   So after a few weeks of being very busy, getting our daily juice in the morning became less frequent.  Of course, I could have hired a house helper to do that.  And it is certainly part of our long term plan.  But the thing is, our condo is small and just enough for me and my wife.  Getting a stay-in house helper doesn’t look like a good idea at this point.

Then I discovered Nutrimeal, a nutritious mixed protein drink designed for those who are trying to manage their weight.  I followed the recommended RESET program and in 10 days, I lost 8.6 pounds safely and easily without needing to starve myself and hardly any exercise at all.  I’m currently at 187.10 pounds, just a hair thin away from my goal of 85kgs (i.e 187 pounds)…almost there! Yey! And because it is very easy to prepare, I can have my “meal” in just 45 seconds.  This solved my problem of not having any time to prepare a decent meal as I rush off to work in the morning.

The first time I took my weight and BMI was around January, when we bought the Wii Fit board.  Just for fun, I tried checking my weight again after the 10 days of RESET program was over.  Here’s a picture of my Wii Weight Loss Chart at exactly 190 pounds.  I actually went down from being an Obese to just Overweight.  And even though it’s not yet under the “normal” range, the funny thing is that I’m still very very happy because for the first time, I am now seeing some tangible results.  There is hope indeed!

After another 10 days, I weighed myself again on the Wii Fit board and was even more delighted to find out that I’ve lost another 2.9 pounds. Sweet! Now, I feel more confident going to the beach!

I am not sharing these to you to brag but to help inspire you to keep on going for your goals and dreams no matter what they are.  I’ve tried a lot of ways to achieve the results I wanted…a lot of them failed.  But finally, one worked and my goal is now closer than I think.  I have no doubt in my mind that I will be able to get to 85kgs (187 pounds) in no time flat.  In fact, I am now re-setting my weight goal to now target 80 kgs by December 31, 2011 instead.  My wish is that you achieve your fitness goals too.

If you are also trying to lose weight (and has seen limited success so far), this may be for you.  Unfortunately, you cannot get the Nutrimeal from grocery stores or even at any retail stores like Health Options.   If you want to find out how you too can get it, you can simply email me. No, this is nothing illegal or unsafe so don’t worry.  I am no drug dealer, alright.

Financial Goal #3 – Go somewhere I’ve never been to every quarter.

This is one area I’m struggling with.  Both because I’m always very busy at work and also for personal reasons I want to keep private for now.  In any case, this is still one of my most cherished goals.

Recently, my wife and I spent a nice weekend getaway in Tagaytay.  But that doesn’t count, because I’ve been to Tagaytay before.  In fact, our wedding a few years ago was held somewhere in Tagaytay.  So it’s a place close to my heart.

The reason I really want to travel is so that I can explore other places and meet other people, learn other culture and just be amazed.  Sometimes, with the very hectic schedule at work, and the many urgent deadlines, I feel the fast-paced lifestyle is draining my energy.  I long to find some time to just reconnect with nature…doing nothing, just relaxing.  That’s why I want to go somewhere I’ve never been to before.  To be surprised.  To be mesmerized.  To be refreshed.

It’s already April, so I better search for some place to visit fast!  Wish me luck!  Or better yet, if you know of a great place to visit that’s not too far from Metro Manila, feel free to mention it under the comment section below, so others will benefit too!

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I’ve wondered a few times whether I’d share this information to you or not.  I hesitate because the topic of earning money online invoke different emotions from different people.  One of my main goals in this blog is to be as transparent as possible but my fear of being taken negatively is getting in the way.  Today, I’m taking a leap of faith to share with you what I learned trying to earn income from Google adsense and launching an ebook to help inspire you in your own financial journey.

Google Adsense

Last week, I was able to finally claim my very first $100 Google Adsense earnings.   That’s after 1 year and 5 months.  The $100 minimum threshold was actually reached by the end of January but Google takes another month to compile everything to have the necessary payment issued.  Here’s a picture of the payment.

While trying find the yellow receive money form of Western Union, I was surprised at first because the form was a bit different that what I expected.  It’s now smaller than what it was previously.  I filled-up the new form anyway and gave it to the Western Union agent.  In less than 3 minutes, my money was handed out to me in cash.  Hassle free.  Of course, I had to bring two IDs (my driver’s license and employee ID) for identification purposes as well as print out the payment details in my Google Adsense admin page but that’s pretty much it.

Why am I sharing this to you?  Simple.  It took me 1 year and 5 months to earn $100.  Hardly exciting.  But when you think about it, this is purely passive income.  I didn’t have to create or ship any product, hire employees or even actually sell anything.  All I did is copy-and-paste an html code provided by Google upon signing-up for FREE to automatically generate Google ads.  Whenever someone “clicks” on those ads, I get an income paid by the advertisers of those ads. Google tracks and manages every part of the process.  All I do is copy-and-paste the code once and forget about it.  After reaching the threshold, I received the $100.60 amount from Google. It’s a relatively small amount, but being able to earn it passively is mind bloggling.

How it all started…

A few years ago while still working as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Malaysia, I started writing about my thoughts on money and investing and published them here at Rich Money Habits (you can check out my old articles at the archives section).  In March 2009, I got interested in the potential of making money online and tried putting Google adsense ads into this site.  After 8 months, my Google adsense earned me a whopping total of $1.08. 

For some this was a very very small amount.  And it is!  That’s just enough to buy a small burger.  But one thing that got stuck in my mind from earning that small amount is the realization that I can actually earn money online — it is indeed possible!  That helped inspire me to try to learn about how to do it more effectively.

I really didn’t know much about Internet Marketing then, so when I found out from attending Bo Sanchez’ Financial Coaching Seminar that Jomar Hilario is offering an Online Internet Marketing Mentoring program, I grabbed the opportunity right away.  From Jomar’s Online Mentoring program, I learned that you can display the Google ads in a certain way to maximize your Google earnings.  I did apply some of it and noticed my Google earnings start to grow.  It really suprised me because after a month of applying those lessons, I now earned $6.10! Still not that huge, but it is now more than 5 times what I earned in 8 months figuring it out by myself.

This could have been higher if I bombarded this blog with Google adsense to the point where you cannot read the articles anymore, but as I mentioned in one of my previous articles, I decided early on that Google ads will not be the main focus of this blog.  For as good as the “passive income”sounds, there are still some things that are worth more — that is helping you read through the articles without disctractions, so you can focus and absorb the money and investing tips better.

Rich Money Habits Guide Ebook

Last February 17, I launched my very first ebook guide Rich Money Habits – 8 Ways To Shift Your Money Habits and Be Rich.  Because it was my first time to publish a paid product, I didn’t know what to expect.

What if no one buys?  Am I asking for too much?  What will other people say?  I had all these fears and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these ideas are only in my mind…they reflected my own internal struggles that I had to battle through.  I had to refocus my attention away from my own fears.

There was only one question I had to answer — “will this help other people?”  My short answer was a definite YES!  And because I created the product from beginning to end and applied the same ideas myself, I know how valuable it is.  But I still didn’t trust myself enough.  I had to go and ask other people, specifically those who have read the same information through my newsletter…and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  It was enough to give me the courage to actually launch the ebook.

Launching the ebook was my own little experiment.  And it’s aligned with one of my goals this year to earn $100 monthly income passively from at least 3 income streams.  I wanted to share with you the results (so far) not to brag, because there’s nothing to brag about, but to help inspire you to take your own journey as well.  Here it is.

Total guides sold: 15

Total sales: $118.38 USD

Affiliate share: $8.97 USD

I am not a best-selling author and I don’t claim to be one.  I am just like you, an ordinary person still working full time as an employee looking for ways to bring value to other people and earn income without having to spend so much of my time…because in reality the bulk of my time is still being consumed by my full-time job.

5 Surprising Things I Learned from Launching My Ebook

1) Comparing Ebook Earnings vs Google Adsense Earnings.  The $100 amount was reached in just a week after it was launched.  For a moment, I realized the same result ($100) was achieved a lot faster compared to Google adsense!  1 week vs 1 year and 4 months!  It’s hardly a comparison.  Of course, Google adsense pays only in cents while the ebook is priced at $9.95 initially.

2) The value of launch.  As expected, the bulk of the sales (80%) was made on the launch day itself and continuing on to the next day.  After that, the sales began to taper off in the next few days.  Now, it’s 1 guide sold every other day.  Which is not disappointing considering that this is now purely passive income.  I don’t have to do anything anymore.  Everything is being taken cared of by e-junkie, my shopping cart provider.

3) Being true to your customers. One buyer sent me an email asking when will the book delivered.  After receiving the email, I was surprised.  Suffice it to say, I didn’t expect it and was confused at first.  One, because I was selling an ebook, not a hard copy version.  And two, because I was totally clueless that the book description was misleading people.  I checked my site again and realized that there’s actually no specific mention that the guide is sold as electronic copy only (i.e. ebook) and there’s no paper-based actual hard copy to be delivered.  After calling the buyer, I figured out the miscommunication right away and promised to fix the problem.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t ship a hard copy book to the buyer so I decided to do the next best thing.  First, I decided to refund the payment immediately.  Also, I gave away the ebook, including the bonuses to the buyer for FREE to help compensate for the inconvenience.  Last and more importantly, I had to go and modify the description of the Rich Money Habits package to say that the buyer will get an ebook, not an actual hard copy paper-based book to prevent other people from facing the same problem.

4) Facing your fears by taking action.  One surprising thing I learned from the whole experience is that — “your fears are not as scary as you might think.”  My fears didn’t materialize.  Someone actually bought my ebook.  That alone gave me the confidence to think that this could actually work.

5) All the support that you need is nearer than you think. Some of my friends were delighted when they learned that Bo Sanchez wrote the Foreword to my ebook.  The reality is that Bo Sanchez wasn’t even paid to write the Foreword.  And I didn’t even have to meet him in person to make the request.  One night, while thinking who should write the Foreword for my ebook, I asked myself this question — “if there’s one person in this world that you look up to and would like to write the foreword to your ebook, who would it be”.  There’s only one person that came into my mind — Bo Sanchez.   I learned a lot from Bo Sanchez so to have him write the Foreword would really be the greatest thing in the world for me — a seemingly impossible dream at that time.  I hesitated because I felt my own insecurities cropping through my mind.  Thoughts like “who am I that Bo Sanchez would take the time to write to foreword of this ebook?”was making my own personal doubts stronger.  But I started writing the email anyway…and at the last second, I closed my eyes and took a leap of faith by clicking the send button.  The next day at 9AM in the morning, I got the surprise of my life.  Not only did Bo Sanchez read and replied to my email — he even wrote the Foreword and included it in his email reply right away, no questions asked!  Wow!  To say I was happy is an understatement.  I was wearing a very wide smile the whole day! 

Throughout this journey of trying to learn to earn income through the internet, I’ve met a lot of interesting people and learned a lot along the way.  But my journey is only just beginning.  I am still a long way from financial freedom…but I’d like to think I am inching towards my goal each and every day.  My wish is that this article help inspire you in your own financial journey.

Cheers to your financial success!

In my continuing effort to address your overwhelming request to feature true-to-life success stories to help inspire you in your journey to financial freedom, I am very honored to share with you my interview with one of the most influential foreclosure investing experts in the Philippines, my good friend Jay Castillo.

Jay Castillo, made his dreams happen – to become financially free. A few years ago, he was a busy IT manager working his way up to the corporate ladder. At one point in his life, he was really frustrated spending hours and hours working at the office and going through the frustrations faced by employees. He realized that the stress from his job was literally killing him.  That’s when he decided to do something about it for the sake of his loved ones. After reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, he was inspired to learn how to do real-estate investing.

He attended seminars, seek out mentors and built his now very popular blog Foreclosure Investing Philippines at foreclosurephilippines.com. After only a few years, he is already financially free. He was able to quit his job and work full-time on his real-estate business, that is investing in foreclosed properties. Without further ado, here’s my interview with Foreclosure Investing Expert — Jay Castillo.

1) Can you give us some background on what you did for a living before you got involved with real-estate?

I was the MIS department head for a multinational company. I have been in the IT field for more than 13 years and I worked my way up the corporate ladder from being an IT staff, to DBA, to Network specialist, supervisor, and to Manager.

2) What made you decide to pursue financial freedom by investing in foreclosed properties?

It just made perfect sense to invest in real estate and foreclosed properties appeared to be the niche with the most number of properties available out there. As to why I decided to pursue financial freedom, this article pretty much covers everything: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com/2009/04/foreclosure-investing-is-not-really.html

3) What were the 3 biggest obstacles you had to overcome when you decided to pursue real-estate investing?

1. Lack of financial literacy – Some would say it would be lack of money but I would say it really is just lack of financial literacy. After I started to manage my finances, I started to have a positive cashflow, even though I only had income coming from my job. This is where I got money to invest not just in foreclosed properties, but also for my education.

2. Lack of time – It’s funny that we all have this excuse of lack of time, but when something drastic happens, like when I had to go to be rushed to the hospital, and eventually got diagnosed with hypertension at such a young age, I suddenly realized what things are more important to me, and I MADE TIME to for them. I stopped wasting time on unimportant things like TV, unproductive use of the computer for gaming, I no longer did overtime at the office where I focused instead on getting things done through automation, delegation, etc. I was able to set aside time to learn and do real estate investing.

3. Distractions – There were so many distractions like negativity, doubts, and fears, not just from the people around me, but also from myself. It really helps to have people who have the same goals in life to be around you as they help cancel out the negativity form “well meaning” people who really don’t have a clue what you are doing, and why you do it. Another form of distraction are those unproductive things like watching TV, reading too much newspapers, and a lot of those things that can be delegated or outsourced. For example, we hired a maid to take care of household chores, this alone freed up so much of my time and helped me focus on things that are more important.

4) Can share with us the story on how you finally achieved financial independence?

It was really just a combination of getting other income streams from real estate investing and internet marketing, learning how to manage my finances and stop spending on liabilities, and also practicing “delayed gratification”. It is also very important to “simplify” and lower one’s expenses. It just came to a point where I realized that my expenses can already be covered by income other than that from my job, and that gave me the means to quit my job, and go full time with real estate investing, and internet marketing.

5) How did you get started with internet marketing?

I started to take internet marketing seriously with my blog http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com . Initially, it was just an experiment, as I was looking for a way to have all my foreclosed property listings accessible from anywhere, through the internet, from my PDA, eliminating the need to bring the actual classified ads with me. I remember that during that time, I have just finished helping facilitate an internet marketing workshop of Jomar Hilario in Cubao, courtesy of an invitation from Thea Santos (Thea was the one in charge of Think Rich Pinoy Club Marikina, where I was a member back then), and I said to myself I might as well create a blog for this purpose. Aside from listings, my wife and I started to document lessons learned (our very first was about the auction of tax delinquent properties in Marikina), and people started to follow the blog and I guess the rest is history.

6) Which is better, real-estate investing or internet marketing? And why?

Personally, I am becoming more biased towards internet marketing because the passive income potential is so much more because of the global reach, physical boundaries are virtually non-existent. In contrast, with real estate investing, I prefer to invest in properties that are nearby, and that somewhat puts a limit on where I can invest. Of course there are ways for me to expand my real estate investing like partnering with other real estate investors, but this is turning out to be more complicated as compared to internet marketing. Furthermore, even if one invests in rental properties, I believe hiring a property manager at a certain point is needed for it to remain as truly passive income, I guess I’ll cross the bridge when I get there, so to speak. Nevertheless, I truly believe that internet marketing and real estate investing can have synergy. In fact that’s exactly what I am doing right now.

7) What is the most important habit you’ve learned that has really helped you in your journey to financial freedom?

One needs to have a big enough why that would help sustain one’s drive to be financially free, and I suppose one of my habits in relation to this is I ensure that I always remember why and for who I am actually doing all of this. I try my best to make all my decisions with this in mind. This habit also helps me become very disciplined in just about everything that I do, and this has made a world of a difference.

What 3 tips can you give to our readers who are also dreaming of someday being able to leave the rat race and achieve financial freedom just like you?

1. Start with a plan. In it you write your objectives(your vision), your purpose(or mission), your roles and goals, your principles (the non-negotiable’s), and your values. You also need to include the actions you need to do in order to accomplish your goals, make sure these are broken down into “S.M.A.R.T.” tasks (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timebound). This may sound daunting at first. Looking back, I am very thankful that I did make a plan like this using an excel sheet and it was specific enough that it was like a checklist where each task accomplished will lead me closer and closer to my goals. This is very much like creating a business plan and I created mine early 2007!

2.  It’s all in the mind. You need to believe that it is possible. Think of it this way, what if your life or the lives of those you love depended on it, don’t you think you can actually do it?! It was like this for me, I strengthened my belief that it really is possible and there is a better way, especially after realizing my work(too much stress doing the work of 3 people) was killing me and I always had a choice what to do. I also believe in the following: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way, you are right” – Henry Ford

3.  Just do it. No one learns how to swim just by reading about it, etc, you really need to get into the water and start swimming. Sure you may swallow some water along the way, but that’s part of learning, just make sure you don’t drown. No one learns how to ride a bicycle by reading about it, etc, you really need to get on that bicycle and get your feet on the pedals and start riding. Sure you may fall many times, but that’s part of learning. Just make sure you don’t get hit by a car. No one learns how to drive by reading about it, etc,you really need to get behind the steering wheel and start driving. Sure your engine may stall at times and die, but that’s part of learning, just make sure you don’t crash and get killed. The same goes for striving to be financially free, you can’t just read about it, you really need to do it! Sure there will be problems along the way, but that’s part of the journey. Just make sure you apply what you have learned from others, fo llow your principles, values, and have good old common sense!

Cheers!

Allan

P.S.   Dear Readers, I hope you learned something new today and realized that financial freedom is indeed possible.  My hope is that you get closer and closer to it every day.

P.P.S.   Quick update on the launching of my Rich Money Habits guide ebook — I have both good news and bad news for you.  Bad news — all 10 slots for my special bonus to get a chance to play Cashflow 101 board game with me and my wife live have already been taken.  If you’re one of the lucky 10, you will receive an email invitation from me in the next few days with the event details.  The good news — I’m extending the 50% special introductory price discount to those of you who haven’t claimed your discounts yet.  This extension is available until end of this week only.  After this week, the price will now go up.  Hurry, get your copy of my guide now!

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It’s now July! The first half of the year has already passed.  Time does fly so fast, doesn’t it?  So many things have happened and I am still amazed at how this blog has grown steadily over the past 6 months.  Before we welcome the next half of the year, I’d like to take this time to reflect and give you an update on my 3 financial goals for this year 2010. 

Financial Goal #1 – Buy a House!

My first goal for 2010 is to Buy a House.  The short update is…NO we have NOT bought a house yet.  But maybe soon.

My wife and I actually invested in a house…but only for a private lending deal.  Besides, we won’t actually own the house, so that doesn’t count.  That deal, however, introduced us to great friends doing business in real-estate whom I am learning a lot from.  In the next months I will also be spending some time to learn investing in real-estate myself. 

We’ve also been looking at buying a nice 2-bedroom unit on a pre-selling mid-rise condo.  But this one will NOT be ready for occupancy until April 2012.  We actually paid the reservation already so hopefully, if everything is in order, my first goal for the year could actually be within reach (at least technically).  

Financial Goal #2 – Invest 20% of my money

The second goal I have is to invest 20% of my money.  I’ve started investing in the Philippine Stock Market.  I’ve tried the cost-averaging method via CitisecOnline’s EIP and even Bo Sanchez’ SUPER EIP way! The experience has been an eye opener for me. 

Apart from that, I also got into a private lending deal on real-estate.  While I haven’t gotten my money back yet, I’m confident this will lead into more investing opportunities in the future. 

Just last week, one of my friends also asked me to invest in her Travel Agency business.   Normally, I don’t lend money unless I’m very sure I will get my money back.  However, since I know her and the money (including interest) will be returned in just 7 days, I thought it was worth a try.  If this deal goes well, I might be encouraged to invest again in the future and probably open it up also to dear readers of this site.

I’ve also been investing heavily on my personal development these past months.  I’ve just attended the Money Summit and Wealth Expo last weekend to learn more about money, business and investing.  The 2-day seminar was a blast!  The energy from the speakers as well as the attendees was simply amazing!  Up to now, I’m still digesting everything.  I’m really excited to share the lessons I’ve learned from that seminar to our dear readers.  So, watch out for that in the coming weeks.

Financial Goal #3 – Be Consciously Alive

The 3rd and last goal I have is to be consciously alive.  This goal has more to do about my desire to live a healthier lifestyle than anything else.  This is the reason why I think your health is more important than your money. 

While I’m not sick at the moment, my health has not been ideal the past few months.  It is not where it is supposed to be.  My lifestyle is not very good.  I still drink coffee a lot.  I am also having a hard time getting enough sleep.  As a result, I’ve easily gotten a cold every now and then.

I’m always in a hurry. Most of the time, I go for fast food.  My weight has increased so much that my pants now hardly fit.  Oh well, it’s a good thing fitted pants are the “in” thing these days.  I don’t have to feel so out of place.

One good news is that I finally used our condo’s gym.  Finally.  Just today.  And I liked it.  I’ll probably go to the gym more often now.

Quite honestly, this goal is a little bit vague to measure and be actually effective.  So, to make this goal more specific, measurable and make me accountable , I’m revising it to say “my goal is to weigh 80 kilograms by December 31, 2010”.  I only have less than 6 months to go so I better get started right away!  Wish me luck!

P.S.  Dear Readers, what financial goals do you have for the year?  How have you made progress on your goals now that the first half of the year has passed?

Jomar Hilario is widely regarded as Bo Sanchez’ internet marketing guru and the “Tim Ferriss” of the Philippines.  I’ve been a member of Jomar Hilario’s Online Internet Marketing Club since last year.  I wanted to do a review of his online mentoring club for quite a while now, but because of busy schedule I have been putting it off lately.  This time, I want to get the review out ASAP so readers of this blog can take advantage of the huge discounts being offered only until June 29, 2010.

I first met Jomar while attending Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program.  During the seminar, Jomar shared his experiences on how he got started pursuing financial freedom through various ways.  He animatedly described his adventures struggling to make money through multi-level marketing, taking pictures of houses from one end of Metro Manila to the other by trying to sell/invest in real-estate properties, as well as his initial successes promoting a huge concert through the internet in just 30 days!

In that same seminar, Jomar offered his invitation for a 1-year online mentoring program to those serious about learning internet marketing.  The price is definitely NOT cheap if you compare it to the numerous ebooks about internet marketing out there.  But when you compare it to similar internet marketing coaching programs, which can run up to US $1,000, it is low priced.

Besides, 1-year mentoring offers something else that cannot be found in reading ebooks alone, or even a 2-day workshop.  The 1-year online mentoring program allows you time to digest everything you need to learn about selling and marketing through the internet.  You can ask Jomar to review your blog, ask him questions on any of the online lessons, you even get some special discounts to his other seminars.  As an added bonus, you also have the opportunity to learn from and interact with the other online internet marketing club members through the forum discussions.

In all honesty, when I heard the price, my initial thought was that “it’s too pricey!”  While pondering whether to sign-up or not, I tried to browse through Jomar’s site @ jomarhilario.com.  To my surprise, I saw a birthday promo being offered that time, which gave a whopping 50% discount!  I immediately emailed Jomar to sign-up and the rest is history.

Here’s an actual feedback I shared in the Online Mentoring Club forum discussions a few months ago about my experience with the club.

Reply by Allan Inocente on March 25, 2010 at 10:19pm

Before IMW Club, I earned a measly $1.08 from Google adsense in 10 months of aimlessly trying to learn how to make money from blogging. Since joining the club, my Google adsense earnings have steadily climbed up to reach the all time high of $32.23! That is 30X earnings in less than 5 months of applying the lessons learned from the IMW club.

The great thing about being in the club is that you can go back to the online lessons over and over again…if you still don’t understand, you can post your question in the forum, and someone will always be willing to share a thing or two to help you out with your problem. This is on top of Jomar’s very useful and straight to the point suggestions and recommendations, of course.

Be warned though, the club is not for the impatient nor is it for the half-hearted. The lessons may be simple and easy to learn but finding the discipline and willingness to apply those lessons will definitely play a crucial role in helping you achieve your goals.

Cheers!

Allan Inocente, IT Team Lead
Rich Money Habits @ http://www.akosiallan.com

Who should sign-up for this online mentoring club?

• if you are tired of waiting for your next paycheck or promotion
• if you are constantly frustrated with your measly income
• if you are not a techie but willing to learn how to earn money online
• if you have an existing brick-and-mortar business you want to take online
• if you want to have more time to be with your family
• if you want to work whenever and wherever you want, even from home

Who should NOT sign-up for this online mentoring club?

• if you are living in debt or on a tight budget and it’s all the money you have
• if you are looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is definitely not for you
• if you are not really planning to follow the lessons
• if you are afraid of the internet and don’t want to learn anything related to it

It’s been months since I signed-up and I’ve learned a lot since then.  But there is a lot more to learn.   If you do decide to sign-up for a 1-year online internet marketing mentoring program, congratulations and see you at the club!

P.S. I wanted to get this review out ASAP so readers of this blog can take advantage of the huge 50% discount to Jomar Hilario’s Online Mentoring Program!  Unfortunately, this promo is being offered exclusively to Truly Rich Club members until June 29, 2010 only!  So hurry, sign-up to the Truly Rich Club now so you can take advantage of this amazing offer.  Once a member of the Truly Rich Club, you can go to http://www.Bit.ly/truediscount to avail of the 50% discount to Jomar Hilario’s Online Mentoring Program.

P.P.S. If you’re curious, my Google adsense earnings has already reached US $49.81.  Not much, but if you’re like me who didn’t expect to earn anything at all, earning that amount of money “passively” is definitely a huge boost to my confidence!

DISCLOSURE: If you sign-up for a 1-year online internet marketing mentoring program, I get a little affiliate commission.  If you buy through the above link, send me an email with the receipt and I will give you a surprise gift.   If you don’t buy or or you buy from other links, that’s perfectly fine.  I still thank you for taking the time to read this article until this point.  Dont’ hesitate to contact me if there’s anything I can help you with.

It’s been more than a year since my wife and I signed-up to the Truly Rich Club. While it has been an amazing journey, there were also some logistic problems we encountered along the way. 

A few months ago, my wife and I had to renew our membership.  Since our credit card issued in Malaysia already expired, we renewed the membership using our BPI credit card here in the Philippines.  However, 3 months after renewing the membership, the DVDs and Audio CDs have NOT been delivered to our home yet. 

That’s when I tried to search for any support contacts in the Truly Rich Club member’s site.  To my surprise, I couldn’t find any support contact number. 

Thankfully, my wife was able to save an old email from the Truly Rich Club when we were still starting out as a member.  We emailed the address right away, and in 3 days, the DVDs and Audio CDs arrived in a bright red LBC package.

If you’re having the same problem or  you ever encounter any problem with your Truly Rich Club membership, you can email the following address:

P.S. Do you want to solve your financial problem?  Join Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club NOW!

Be part of the Money Summit & Wealth Expo 2010, the BIGGEST wealth building and income opportunities super conference and expo in the Philippines, this coming July 2-3, 2010 at RCBC Plaza, Makati City.

Learn the best money secrets to grow and invest your hard-earned money from 16 of the most successful entrepreneurs, real-estate investors, best-selling business authors, sales superstars, and money experts in the country today.

Hurry!  Early bird discounts & BIG bonuses available until June 12 ONLY!

Reserve your seat/s NOW!

Who is this seminar for?

If you are an employee…

• who want to quit your job?
• who want to get out of the rat race?
• tired of your 8 to 5 job?
• tired of paying too much in taxes?
• who want unlimited income?
• who want to earn extra income without quitting your job?

If you are a professional, freelancer, or self-employed proprietor…

• frustrated with self-employment?
• who want to grow into a real business?
• tired of working 24/7?
• who want cut back on your time working?
• overworked with non-stop servicing of clients?
• who want to tap new markets?
• interested in new sources of income?

Today, I’ve signed up to the 2-day event and got the PhP 1,000 early bird discount as well as the extra bonuses worth a whopping total package value of more than PhP 15,000.

How about you?  Get your early bird discount and lots of bonuses NOW!

Hurry!  Early bird discounts and huge bonuses available until June 12 ONLY!

Reserve your seats TODAY!

See you there!

P.S. If you refer your friends, you earn a 5% referral fee.  If 10 of your friends sign-up for the VIP package, you get a whopping PhP 2,247.50!  And yes, I earn PhP 224.75 too if you sign-up as VIP now and indicate me (Allan @ Rich Money Habits by akosiallan.com) as your referrer.   Let’s continue learning rich money habits to achieve our dream of financial freedom!  Cheers!

P.P.S. Of course, I will still share whatever I learned from the event through this blog for the benefit of those who are unable to attend the Money Summit & Wealth Expo 2010.  Watch out for that in the coming month/s.