Publisher www.MansionPublishing.com Editor Andre Mitchell II
The Young Entrepreneur’s Blueprint For The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
Copy Editors Yolanda Mitchell Joyce Mitchell Art Director Platinum Impressions Marketing Firm www.PiMarketingFirm.com Millionaire by 30 Magazine www.MB30Magazine.com Letters to The Editor & Marketing Opportunities info@MB30Club.com Special Thanks to this Edition’s Interviewees & Contributing Editors Aundrea Harris Christopher Rayson Vencent Owoseni ABO Felton
Table Of Contents
04
How To Start A Business With No Experience
23
Rep Your Campus
Vencent Owoseni is on the move.
29
Finish The Race
Aundrea T. Haris
31
Unlocking YOUR Million Dollar Talent Interview With, Christopher Rayson
45
Success Story: Beast Mode Interview With: IFBB Pro, ABO Felton
How to Start a Business With ZERO Experience
Now is the perfect time to start a business. There not least, number ten is how do you put your are plenty of opportunities out there, which is strengths to work? Below I go more into detail contrary to popular belief. Starting a business with these questions. may seem a little intimidating but it depends on the way you go about it. Since business is a term How do you start a we are all very familiar with, it can be easier to business without set one up than one thinks. experience? Many people have dreams of having their own business for many reasons. They want to make money and make something of themselves. Others want something to supplement their income. Whatever the reason you want to start a business, always begin doing it the right way, and keep running it with good intentions. One popular belief is that you need tons of experience, expertise, and knowledge to start a business. The opposite is true. While it helps to go to school and learn the tricks of the trade, it does not necessarily mean that you cannot start a business because you do not have a degree. The important things to remember are, you need to research, ask the right questions, and get the best advice you can. What are the right questions to ask? Below are ten questions to ask to get you started. Of course there will be many more as you go, but at least you have something to start with. First, you should ask yourself, how do you start a business without experience? Next is, what are some things you need to do to get started? The third question is, what are the legal matters you must know in order to get started? Fourth, what do you need to know about your target audience? Moving forward, five is, how do you commit yourself to a market solution, not just a small idea? Number six is, how do you choose your industry wisely? Seven asks how do you build street credibility (also what is it)? Eight is what free resources can you rely on? Nine is when will you know you need to see outside help? Last but
Think about what you already know about business. Use your work experience as a guide. Maybe there are things you have witnessed or realized that was not part of your daily tasks which you can use for your business. For instance, have you ever listened to what others are saying while you are at the office? Whether you listen to coworkers or supervisors talking at work, there is most likely some bits about doing business that you have picked up on. You may not even be aware of some things you learned about doing business. Maybe you have heard complaints about what went wrong in the workplace – something you may have a solution for. Or maybe you heard someone say, “I wish ‘it’ can be done this way”; even though “it” can be done their way, they may have been told they weren’t allowed to.
What are some things you need to do to get started?
Research is the most important thing to do. First, ask the right questions. This is all part of the research process. You may research questions you need to have answers for if you do not know what questions to ask. It is okay to search on Google or Bing and quickly search for important questions to ask when starting a business. There are many resources on the Internet or your local library that you can use to get started. Make certain your sources are reliable however. If you are reading an article and you can sense the information is totally outrageous, then you can come to a quick conclusion that it is probably not the right source to use.
When reading any article, however, make a note of the different points it makes. Whatever is clear and understandable is fine, but whatever you do not understand, take that point and do more research on it. See if what was written was also said by somewhere else. Sometimes having a few people say the same or similar things can give you an indication the information may be something worth keeping in mind.
a certain date even though you already knew there is a possibility it cannot be fulfilled? You already promised it, but you know it may not happen. If you say you are going to do something, you need to do it. That is the bottom line. Give your customers quality products in a timely manner. Do not always rush to get the job done. Sometimes
Another thing you will need to get started is legal advice. Never assume that what you learned where you work or what you think is okay is legal. Start off on the right foot and do business according to the law. You want to avoid being that person who did something illegal and now has a reputation as such plastered all over the World Wide Web. t h e r e are moments when you have to rush, but don’t let it happen if What are the legal it is not necessary. For the most matters you must know in order to get part, the only time you will need to rush is when the cusstarted? tomer requests it. It is impossible to know everything about the law. Speak to a lawyer if they give free con- What do you need to sultations and ask them what know about your you should know. Ethics play target audience? a role here too. There are many What are their interests? Do gray areas which are prevalent some research and see if there in ethics. For instance, what are any typical or general indo you tell a customer if you terests the target audience promised them a shipment by has. If you already know them
or know their interests, then you are ahead of the game. Of course, since you are the expert in your niche, or should be, you will know a lot about their interests already. You can do some research on social media to find out what their interests are as well. Facebook has groups and so does twitter. Find a group related to your niche and observe it to see what people are talking about. Use this as advice on what types of products or services to market as well. The best advice for using social media groups to learn more about your target audience is not to join any group and post on there asking all kinds of questions. For instance, you don’t want to join a group and then ask everyone to give their opinion about their favorite game, or gadget. Just observe first, and then engage in the conversation as you would with a friend. Get to know people first, and then ask them questions here and there. It is all about patience.
How do you commit yourself to a market solution, not just a small idea?
You need to ask yourself certain questions before trying an idea to see if it works. What prob-
lems does your target market have? Once you can pinpoint the problem, then you can look for solutions. Most likely, you will not find any market without faults. There are plenty of problems that need to be resolved. Even the competition cannot resolve every issue out there. Many entrepreneurs begin with a lot of “strong domain” experience but little to no business experience. Being in business is about finding solutions. That is what sets the strong businesses apart from the others. You do not want to sell just anything because you observe that it makes someone else nice profits. You have to have a passion about it for one thing, and you want to give them something that will resolve an issue they may have. This issue can be from something they bought somewhere else, or it can be an issue they have had for a period of time and need a solution for it. There may not even be a problem, so it may just come down to differentiating your product from the rest.
How do you choose your industry wisely?
Choose something that does not just interest your target market. You should have an interest in it too. More than just a little interest, you need to like
the products or services that are out there in the market. If you do not like the products or services the market has to offer, how will you feel when you are doing business with the people who are interested in them? I would say you would not seem too enthusiastic to your customers and potential customers. People will pick up on that and it can break the business relationships you worked so hard to make. So please do yourself a favor and do not get wrapped up in an industry that you do not have an utmost passion about.
credibility as the people who read it will feel you know what you are talking about.
What free resources can you rely on?
Networking is a great free resource. Talking to others in the industry and learning new things about it will be to your advantage. You should also ask for advice. Before you jump right in and start asking for advice however, break the ice with some small talk first. Get to know some people before asking a lot of business questions. In fact, you can treat this more like a social outing because you How do you build do not want to only try to get street credibility information from people. This may actually turn them off and (cred for short)? You need to let people know they will not want to give you who you are. This pertains to any information. building relationships with your customers, and since you Other than networking, you can are new with the business, you also consider resources that are will build relationships with low cost instead of free. Somepotential customers. Spend times Universities offer free or some time before launching low cost coursework, books, your big business idea learning or seminars. I would definitemore about your industry and ly look into this if you were not the people who spend money sure how to network. Here is where you can ask a bunch of there. questions because that is what You can always try selling oth- is encouraged at school. er people’s products first – as an affiliate marketer and learn When will you know something new about the prod- you need to seek ucts you sell them. When you outside help? have enough knowledge and As you should realize, you will you are talking about the prod- need a business plan. When uct online (such as on your creating your business plan, it is blog), this will help build street
always best to ask for help with it. For example, a gentleman named Evan Solida founded a company called Cerevellum back in early 2009. His invention was a digital rearview mirror for bicycles.
The business plan needs to meet certain criteria; especially if this is a business you need a grant for or a small loan. Banks and agencies that approve grants want to see a solid plan before they take the risk to lend or give you money. It is the same thing when you or anyone else will invest in a company. You want to see their annual report, which gives you this information and more.
much of a risk. You also do not want to risk that your business plan is of poor quality. Not just for your customers’ sake, but for the future of your business. All the financials and marketing need to be taken care of from the start. Otherwise, you will need to back track and it will waste a lot of valuable time which you could be spending making money.
Naturally, Mr. Solida wanted to save money any way he could, so he used Internet resources to create his plan and also draft his legal documents. With much frustration and use of a How do you put your lot of his time, he then decided strengths to work? it would be better to pay for a You know that investing in Think about what your strengths professional to help with both any company is a risk, but you really are. Is it planning the should not want to take too business, giving creative ideas, tasks.
or being the solutions finder? Maybe your strength is marketing, but whatever your strengths are, put them to work for you. Work on the strengths first and when you have mastered one, then you can move on to another. Otherwise, it will take you much longer to get things running smoothly. Putting a business together takes time and patience. Do not try to put it together too quickly. You want to be focused and organized, as this will help you to be “well planned.� A business with a strong plan is more likely to succeed than something you just threw together in an hour.
For your Information
Now you know at least ten questions to ask. These questions were given to you for basic information and a foundation to get started. Now I want to give you some ideas as to what goes into a business plan. This is so you know what to expect and you can at least try and draft one on your own. Remember, it is best to get a professional to do this for you, but you still need to know what goes into it so you know if the one written for you has everything it should. Below I am going to list different sections of the business plan and explain a little but about each section. The more you know about the business plan, the better prepared you
will be. Remember, if you want to start a business without experience, this is where you can learn much of the information you will need to get started. So let us move forward.
ments that need to be included in the plan. They are as follows: business concept, financial features, financial requirements, current business position, and major achievements. These are not the ones I will focus on too Not all business plans are cre- much, but just something to ated equal, but you will at least keep in mind. have basic information to include. Once you begin your Business Description plan, it will change over time Not to be confused with the exand also remember; you will not ecutive summary, you usually know everything that needs to begin this section with a short be included as to why I suggest description of the industry. So getting a professional to help this is not really beginning with with it. Below are some sections just your business, but rather you will want to include. how the industry plays a role in
Executive Summary
The executive summary will tell the person reading the plan what you want for your business. A big mistake often made is burying this information somewhere else in the plan. The summary needs to explain certain things from the start so you need to be clear and concise in the very beginning. Keep the summary short and businesslike and no more than half of a page. Depending on how complicated or detailed you need to be about how you will use your funds may make the summary a bit longer. As a general rule of thumb however, and since you are just starting out, you only need your summary to be half of a page.
your business.
You will want to describe the industry and discuss the outlook and future possibilities of what will go on. This is all gathered from what happened in the past, so it is a prediction of what could happen or is most likely to happen because of business trends. Also, provide information about all the various markets within the industry.
So what you want to talk about is new products and developments that will benefit or affect your business in a positive way. Make sure to get the most reliable data for this part and always list your sources. I’ll talk more about sources later in this article, as they are important, but I want the focus to be on the different sections of the There are some other key ele- plan first.
outlook and future possibilities. This information will be gathered on past happenings. So How you will Profit The main reason for having a business is to make your projections are based on what happened a profit. All businesspersons need to ask them- previously in the industry. selves, “How do I make money?” When you ask this question, it should open your mind and Believe it or not, your market share projection is help you realize the different ways to bring in also based on your competition as well as proincome. You do not need a huge section just on motional strategies. You can look at how much this topic, but you want to explain factors, which advertising is done, how it is done, and also reyou think will make you successful in making search how much it will cost you to advertise the same way. You can always come up with differmoney. Before presenting the business plan, you want ent ways to advertise, but you need a benchmark to explain any equity and debt the business will to start out from. incur and also explain how this will help make your business more profitable. Also include Position of the ways you want to expand your business or make Business it grow using the equity or debt. As an Internet When talking about your marketing strategy, marketer, you probably will not incur much debt you will find it is impossible not to talk about or any at all. It depends solely on what you need the position of your business. What motivates to get started. your target and what they require will affect
Defining your Market Strategies
Marketing strategies are based on a thorough study of the market. This will help you become very familiar with all parts of the market, including the target market. Defining whom your target market is will be very important so you can earn your share of the sales.
your company’s position in the market. Again, there are more questions that need to be asked and answered to understand this better.
A few questions to ask are: how are your competitors positioning themselves? What specific attributes do your products and services have that the competition does not have? What needs does your product fulfill for the customer? After you answer these basic questions, you can then When you are defining your market strategies, begin to develop your business’ position in the you will need to, at some point, determine the market and write about it on the plan. pricing of your products and or services. A market analysis will help you to determine the pric- Pricing ing. It is also important to know how you com- I’ve touched a little about pricing earlier, but pare to your competition and if you can beat now I want to give you more detail about it. The them in pricing or not. price tag you place on your items, whether it is a product or service, will directly affect the success of your business. Strategies for pricing can Market Share be very complex, however, the rules are very baProjection sic and straightforward. As mentioned earlier, when you are describing You must be able to cover costs, lowering costs your industry of choice, you want to discuss the will lower sales prices, and prices must reflect
changes in the market and respond to the demand of your market. Prices must also be established to help assure sales. The longevity of your products, utility, and maintenance must be reviewed on a regular basis and adjust the prices according to the market. Prices are used to keep the market in order, so this is the last, but not least important strategy to keep in mind when determining your prices. You do not want to just slap a price tag on something because you think people will buy it for the value of it. You have to be in competition with other businesses and play the game strategically.
Distribution
This part is for you, mainly if you are selling physical goods. Since there are many of you out there that may sell goods on eBay or your own website or blog, this is why I need to talk about this section. So what is distribution exactly? It is the entire process of when a product is manufactured to when it is in the hands of the end user – the customer. There are different channels that make up distribution. Having a strong distribution of products definitely helps you get an edge in your share of the market. The fast the products can go from production to the customer the better. Make sure the products are of quality though because you do not want the customer constantly returning the goods.
that are part of promoting your business is how you package your products. Public relations are also included here. Most of the things you are familiar with are advertising, sales promotions, and personal sales. Each strategy is different in its own respect, but very important in the final outcome of the promotion.
Potential Sales
After thoroughly analyzing the market, you need to make a determination using a quantitative outlook, which concerns your own business’, potential. An initial projection in your plan must be formed based on the position of the product, price, distribution (for physical goods), sales strategies, and how the market is defined.
Competition Analysis
You first need to identify who your competition is. Gather a list of companies that sell the same products or ones that are very similar. For this section, you will make a statement of your business strategy and how it relates to your competition. The main purpose of this part is to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of your competition. Knowing this will only help you improve the weaknesses for your own sake.
S.W.O.T. Analysis
A S.W.O.T. analysis is very important for developing your business and keeps it running to its full potential. For those of you who are not familiar with what this is, “S” stands for strengths, “W” is for weaknesses, “O” is for opportunities, and “T” is for Threats. You not only need Promotional Planning to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of Advertisements of any kind are all included in your competition as you do with competitive the promotional planning. How you distribute analysis, but you also have to realize your own. the communication about your business is also part of it. The way in which this is designed will The opportunities and threats are more directly result in attracting the right people to do busi- related to your competition. You can look at it as ness with. the opportunity you have in the midst of all the Some other things that you may not be aware of competition and what it is about your competi-
tion that can be a threat to your If you are designing a product, you need to account for all the own place in the market. costs that will be involved in creating the product, take it to Design Plan Investors need a description of production, and get it to the your company’s product design customer. As for service, you and also its development. With- will need to make sure you have in the section, there needs to be the money to get a business plan a chart showing the develop- written, what equipment you ment of the product or service. may need to help you with your You will also need to include a services, and if you need a brick budget showing how the com- and mortar building to cater to the needs of your clients. pany will reach goals.
Product and or Service Development Goals
If you are selling physical products, you will need to list the goals here. You can also list the strategies involved for reaching certain goals for a service business. Your goals should be centered on technical and marketing aspects of your products and or services. You need this as an outline for your business partners, or for yourself if you are a sole proprietor, so you know how to work on things to reach your goals.
Budget
Budgets are very important, as you want to make sure you have the funds available to do business in the first place. You also want to have a plan as you make money as to where the money will go in order to help your business grow and to continuously develop and improve it.
erating abilities. It shows how well your company does in the financial spectrum and is a financial picture of when sales are made and when expenses occur. It helps you better plan for the future of your business as well.
The income statement is a multi-purpose report giving you a bigger picture of how your business is doing overall. Always use this as a guide from Knowing how each dollar is be- year to year and you will get an ing spent is very crucial. Prop- idea of what changes need to be er planning can only help your made. business while poor planning is very destructive. I have learned that about half of all business- Other Sections es started will fail within their There are other sections that first year. You can help avoid need to be written in the busithis with proper budgeting. ness plan. There is just no way
Risk Assessment
What risks are involved in either producing products or offering services? During the stages of development of your product or service there will be some risks you need to be aware of. Risks involved with the creation of products usually happen with the technical development of the product. For services, it is usually in the strategies for planning the types of services you offer.
to talk about all of them in detail here. I simply talked about some sections that I feel are very important to get started with. All the sections of the business plan play an important role in the overall planning of your business from start to finish.
Some other sections that were not mentioned above are as follows: • Procedures • Scheduling and Costs • Personnel • Operations and Management Income Statement This is a very simple and • And more straightforward report, which To find out everything you shows your business’ cash gen- need in your plan, you have to talk to a professional and do a
thorough research about it. You may not be able have exactly what you need to get started. Thus to include everything you want, and different you will have a business in a box. business types require different information to be included in the plan. Checklist
Sources
You will need reliable sources to get the information for your business plan. Reliable sources do not include blogs or articles you found in article directories. You can use them to get some information, but you will need to research more on what they tell you. You should never list them as a source for your plan though. Another source you can use to get basic information for this section is Wikipedia, but is should only be used as a base for the information. On sites like that, anyone can add and edit information so you are never sure how accurate it is, thus the reason not to list it as one of your sources. Reliable sources are peer reviewed articles, information gathered from networking with other business professionals, and consulting a professional who has been in the business for a long time that can write your plan. Conclusion Even if you are not going to the bank for a loan or getting a grant, it is still important to have a plan in place to run your business. The business in a box idea is simple. People have been running businesses for a very long time and so it is merely using the information out there from other people’s experience to devise your own plan. It is also about asking the right questions. Even though there may be hundreds of questions you want to ask, you are provided with basic questions that need to be asked. Getting the answers to these questions will get you started on your way. Think about it like this: if I take all of these ideas, organize them and place them in a box and then deliver it to you, then you will open the box and
Here is a checklist of the different things you will need to get started on your business in a box. The most important is the business plan because you need to know what goes into production and what you need to get your services up and running.
First, answer the following ten key questions: 1. How do you start a business without experience? 2.
What are some things to do to get started?
3. What are the legal matters you must know in order to get started? 4. What do you need to know about your target audience? 5. How do you commit yourself to a market solution not just a small idea? 6.
How do you choose your industry wisely?
7.
How do you build street credibility?
8.
What free resources can you rely on?
9. When will you know you need to see outside help? 10. How do you put your strengths to work?
Also remember, the most important aspect to any business is to be well planned and prepared. The most important thing you can do for your business is to create a business plan. Ask yourself and answer these questions: • How do I write a business plan? • What are the sections to the plan? • How will each section help me? • Are all business plans created equal? • Where can I go to get a plan designed for me?
• What else do I need to know? Always be prepared as that is the most important thing when starting your new business. Think about how you learned to start a business with no experience by reading this article. If you read between the lines, all the information you need is out there. I have just gathered some information together to get you started. Nothing will happen instantly and everything you need to do will require some effort on your part.
Different Ways Of Investing Money Before you jump into any forms of investing activities, attempting to derive returns for the money, it’s important that you understand your fund’s investors. own risk tolerance levels and your own personal financial situation.
Bonds
Bonds are a security where the issuer owes the Some investors are happy to receive low returns investor a debt. The bond holder is able to inon a regular basis simply because they are guarvest in various companies or even in federal anteed returns. Other investors prefer to take government bonds. Bonds are considered quite slightly higher risks in an effort to earn highlow-risk investments by some investors. er-than-average returns on their money. There are so many different ways of investing money that it’s impossible to say which one is the best option and which is the worst. What matters is that you try to find the options that best suit your own financial situation and your own financial goals.
Residential Real Estate
There are many different ways to invest in real estate. Investors can either buy property with the intention of generating rental income or hang on to the property over a period of time hoping their capital value increases. Investors can also buy and renovate or otherwise improve it with the intention of generating capital growth, or perhaps buying property for the purpose of redeveloping it.
returns back into share reallocation to increase the portfolio further.
Gold and Silver
Investing in gold or silver doesn’t always mean owning big bars of shiny metal and hiding them in your closet. Ownership can actually be verified and transferred via certificates or shares. However, Swiss banks may allow some customers to hold gold accounts in order to conduct transactions using precious metal as currency.
Foreign Currency Exchange
Investing in the forex market is probably best left to investors who understand how this volatile market works. Essentially, you trade an amount of one currency for another country’s Let’s look at some different ways of investing currency. When the value changes, you exmoney. change your currency back again, hopefully realizing a gain once the transaction is complete. It is possible to make substantial gains by tradCash Deposits and Term De- Commercial Real Estate ing on the forex market, it’s equally possible to realize large losses too. It’s also worth noting posits Investors in commercial real estate generally that in some countries, profits generating by Leaving your money sitting in a bank’s term de- purchase large commercial properties, such as trading on the forex market are capital gains posit account might earn you some interest on shopping malls or office buildings, and lease tax free. your money, but the returns will be lower than them out to companies at a profit. some other options. However, a low return is sometimes better than taking a risk of losing Stock Market These are just a few different ways of investing your money on other investment options! Investing in the stock market involves buying money. Before jumping into any investment, shares, or stocks, of large, publicly listed com- always be sure it is in line with your own perMutual Funds panies. Day traders buy and sell stocks rapid- sonal level ofo risk tolerance. You should also A mutual fund is a collective investment where ly, hoping to capture some of the short term be sure that your investment choices are also in the funds from lots of investors is pooled to- gains. Long term investors will buy shares to line with your own financial goals. gether to invest in various securities. Fund form an investment portfolio, either to reap the managers control the investments and trading dividend income or to reinvest the dividend
5
Reasons to Travel before your 30s
Once upon a time traveling was a thing you did later in life when you had a bit more money in your pocket. Nowadays, people are starting to see the true value of travel and the positive influence it can have in your life. One of the biggest misconceptions about travel is that it is expensive. It is such a common myth that financial restrictions are often
the first reason people give to not travel before they turn 30. The reality is that travel is as expensive as you want it to be and with a little bit of flexibility in lifestyle choices and good planning, traveling can be an extremely rewarding affordable. The best part is regardless of how much you spend, travelling, when done right, will do so much for your personal development, the whole experience will seem priceless. Here are 5 reasons why you should travel before your 30s:
1) Fill your memories with adventure As you get older, you will start to look back on your life and see a collection of memories that range from pure blissful memories to outright regret. There is nothing worse than looking back at your 20s and not having any fun or exciting memories to think about. When you travel, will have great memories to talk about like how you hiked an ancient trail in Peru or that time you got lost in Budapest. Having adventurous experiences through travel teaches you how to take risk when necessary as well as the beauty of serendipity. 2) Travelling teaches you to overcome challenges When you travel the world, you will find yourself in situations that take you out of your comfort zone. Whether it’s getting lost in the sprawl of Tokyo or trying to communicate with an immigration official who doesn’t speak English, you will at some point learn that there is more to the world than what you are used to back home. There is nothing more empowering in life than having the courage to face your problems and overcoming them. If you can do that early in life through travel, you will be well on your way to success in your 30s. 3) Double your life experience When you get older, you realize that your wisdom is largely a result of an accumulation of different life experiences and what you gleaned from those experiences. Traveling in its true essence allows you to gain a large array of different life experiences as you trot across the globe, meeting people of every demographic and immersing yourself in mul-
tiple cultures. Travelling allows you to gain more experience than you would if you were just living day to day life back home. 4) Travelling humbles you When you travel long enough you will eventually come face to face with people who are worse off than you. It’s nothing to feel bad about but coming across cultures that are different from yours and walking into impoverished cities is a much more impactful experience than seeing the world through the news. You will come home feeling humbled for the travel you have done and grateful for the home you are coming back to. 5) Nothing is guaranteed so enjoy your youth Yeah it’ a cliché but it’s true, you have to enjoy your youth while you have it. Far too many people choose the standard path of job, marriage, kids and retirement before travel and while this may be conventional, travel is much more enjoyable when you are younger as you have less responsibilities, more energy and a bigger appetite for risk. Enjoy it while you’re young so you can have stories to tell your children when you’re older.
Vencent Owoseni is On the Move! Every day we discover an example that during an interview session that excelproves clearly that you too can work to- lence and being an example to others are wards becoming a millionaire before his driving forces. In his words the age of 30. One of such examples we met is Vencent Owoseni who was born “Nothing means more to me like in Brooklyn, New York as the first child when people come up to me and of two Nigerian natives. Living with his disciplined immigrant parents, who had say, “thank you for inspiring me, respect for people and were passionate to push through the struggle I go-getters, Vencent soon got shaped by was going through” and that retheir beliefs and lifestyle. Also growing up in Brooklyn had a way of training him ally means the world to me” to become street smart. His recent amazing feats include being At an early age of 17 our young million- one of the team members that brought aire to be had interest in fashion and ex- home the $10,000 grand check to HBCU, pressed this passion by buying and selling Paul Quinn College from SXSW “The shoes. What words can easily define Ven- Battle of the Brains” competition. The cent that others can emulate? He is deter- business competition is put together by mined, focused, goal oriented, a pathfind- the National Black MBA Association. er and above all he boldly declares that he Eight HBCU’s were recruited and given is a child of God. The Lord is his savior a business task to solve in under twenand the source of his strength. About his ty-four hours. Vencent is so thankful to motivation he told Andre D. Mitchell II their president Micheal Sorell for giving them the competitive mentality of com-
ing into the competition as underdogs because Paul Quinn College isn’t a top school that everyone knows about yet and they love it that way. Their determination was to put Paul Quinn College on the list of top schools using this competition as a platform. The task before them was to develop a marketing campaign and strategy to get the word out to Americans on the following; i. Bringing the U.S. to the 95 percentile of education globally. (Because we’re not as high as we think we are.) ii. Decrease the unemployment rate to 4%. iii. Create nationwide healthcare coverage for all Americans and make it easy to understand. Each of the schools had to create a marketing solution and a strategy. The easiest approach to the task was to create a web-
site and an app which most schools adopted as their approach. But this creative, out of the box thinking team, thought of something that was still emerging. It required they work for almost 24 hours in order to present using Virtual Reality as their technology component. When he was asked by Andre Mitchell II why they choose Virtual reality, Vencent responded “the virtual reality industry is set to blow up very soon; it is worth 1.6 billion dollars and by 2020 it is going to be worth 30 billion dollars. So we capitalized on the growth of the virtual reality industry by using the school as a scientific community. Because we looked at the country that has the highest Education and that country is Finland, that focused on the students and professionalism. Using the school as a community, we wanted to prepare the students to acquire their degree, career, post-graduation and we focused on that as well as we had people of the community come and gain skills then go on to employ which would decrease the unemployment rate.” Their approach required virtual reality glasses such that anybody could come in put on their glasses and have a better thinking of the world, better healthcare and afterwards, there was a call to action towards all individuals to take a step to achieve that vision. Nothing was going to stop them from completing the task. You could also see their entrepreneurial spirit when they approached Google and Amazon for partnership. The hard
work paid off leading the team to bring the age of 30 is a reality and we conclude home the $10,000 grand check. How de- that he is unstoppable! termined are you to go the extra mile in building a team that will deliver your desired result? Vencent passed the people test to wealth and you should too. We can learn so much from this young man whose passion for fashion, drove him to learn the process involved as a 15-year-old kid. Then he started his clothing line called APPETITE FOR DISTINCTION at age 17. In his words “I didn’t really know much about the design for the business but I was determined to succeed in it.” Today his business has a footing on the ground and with his success, he has been able to motivate a lot of people around him and he considers this as his greatest accomplishment. On the journey to earning his first million dollars before the age of 30, Vencent wants to be a major public speaker, “most people don’t know this but when I was growing up, I had a speech impediment I even stuttered a lot and it affected my confidence but now that I’m better at it, I want to use it to touch millions of people before I reach that million dollars. If I can achieve that, I want to share my story as an example to others.” For him, there is no slowing down because this summer he is starting an internship with a tech Start Up in New York afterward he will be moving to London through a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and next is graduation from Paul Quinn College. Vencent strongly believes that earning his first million dollars before
How To Reduce Debt & Better Your Credit
When it comes to finding debt reduction tips to help you eliminate your debts, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information to think about. Some websites seem to advocate using debt negotiation. Other websites prefer the option of debt consolidation while some others seem to think that the only way to save money is to live like a pauper in order to save every cent possible.
Tip 2: Create a Budget
So which debt reduction tips are the right tips to follow? The right debt reduction tips are the ones that suit your unique financial situation and work within your individual budget and debt levels. Nobody else has the exact same income and debt levels as you do, so when you’re trying to find ways to get out of debt, try to work with those tips that suit your needs best.
It’s strange how many people seem surprised See if you can reduce the amount of times you that it’s Christmas aleat out in a week. Learn ready and they haven’t got enough money to to cook simple meals at home. Look for ways buy gifts. You’ve known for a whole year when to reduce the amount of interest you pay each Christmas is going to month by refinancing to be, so put aside some money or lay-away the low-interest options or gifts you want to buy. negotiating with your lender for reduced rates. The same thing applies to birthdays, special Tip 4: Cut Up the occasions and other celebrations.
Tip 1: Spend less than you earn.
You can help to break out of your credit trap by watching what you spend and making sure that you’re only buying things you can afford.
A budget is nothing more than a list of your income and your expenses. When you see your expenses listed down on paper, it’s often an eye-opening experience. It can help you to pinpoint those areas where you might need to tighten the purse strings or find ways to reduce costs.
Tip 3: Reduce Costs
you have enough to buy those things in cash.
Tip 5: Plan for Expenses
When a bill arrives, check the payment due date. Write the bill name and amount on a calendar for three or four days before the bill is due to be sure you have plenty of warning that you need to have money put aside for this.
Tip 6: Foresight
Cards
If you’re serious about debt reduction, then cut up your credit cards. Work on repaying the balance but with the cards gone it’s harder to add to the debt levels. If you really want to buy something in the stores, then use lay away or save your money until
Tip 7: Payment Frequency
Don’t leave each repayment until the end of the month to make a payment. If you’re paid weekly, divide each of your repayments by four. If you’re paid bi-monthly, di-
vide your repayments by two. Then pay this new amount each time you’re paid. It will make budgeting easier for you and you’ll be reducing your balance on a more regular basis.
Tip 8: Snowball Your Debts
The snowball method is perhaps one of the best debt reduction tips available. You cut back all your repayment to bare minimums and work on paying extra money on just one debt. When that first debt is paid, put all of that payment amount on top of the amount you’re paying on the next debt in line. Continue until your debts are gone.
Tip 9: Be Realistic
It took you time to accumulate your debts and it will take you time to get back out of debt again too. You need to be patient and work towards your goals. Taking short cuts or giving in to temptation too often will just put you back at square one. Be realistic about your financial responsibilities and stay positive.
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Finish Th
he Race During his speech to Middle school students, Marc Mero told them, “Life is not about winning the race; life is about finishing the race.” These words stuck with me. It may seem that winning and finishing the race is almost the same thing, but it’s all about perception and motive. To win is to obtain victory in a contest, game or fight. To win a race, a person does whatever it takes to come out on top; to be first. To finish a race is to be done creating or building something. In finishing a race, a person takes learning strides to build stamina. Therefore, when the motivation is finishing the race, the victory is priceless. But when the motivation is winning the race, the victory is sometimes costly.
Choose to finish the race instead of just winning the race. In your process of finishing the race, help others to finish the race, too. Marc expresses that “Love is just a word until someone comes along and puts meaning to it.” He says, “YOU are that meaning.” You are the meaning to someone’s life. Use the time you have been given wisely. GROWTH TIP ~ Throughout your life’s journey, I encourage you to live in the moment. Embrace seasons, extract growth, and evolve through. Examine your life and the lives of those whom God has placed on your journey. Make sure you are expressing love through your actions.
By: Aundrea Harris @IAWLNOW IG | Twitter | FB
Christopher Rayson Celebrity Artist
Unlocking YOUR Million Dollar Talent! There is a combination in your craft that unlocks the world to you. C-Ray has discovered his unique combination in the world of arts and today his arts have found its way into hands of the likes of Ezekiell Elliott, Brandon Carr, Anthony Hitchens and Danny McCray of the Dallas Cowboys, Zachary Orr of the Baltimore Ravens, Jacquies Smith of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Big Tall Rob the Captain of the Mavs Maniacs, Professional DJ Duffey, Professional Boxers Charles Hatley & Errol Spence Jr, entertainers such as Vivica A. Fox, David Banner, Amber Rose, rapper/actor Clifford T.I. Harris, Da Brat, Naturi Naughton and Joseph Sikora of Starz show Power, Rasheeda, Draya Michelle, and Brandi Maxiell. I also completed work for Children’s Medical Cen-
ter of Dallas, Thomas A. Edison Middle School, A. Maceo Smith High School, South Oak Cliff High School, Johnson Chapel Community Church, Safranos Bar, Handprints Daycare of Dallas, Country Day School of Mesquite, Republic Beverage Co., and numerous clients of all stature. He is an official member of the RAW Artists Organization in Dallas. He is in partnership with The Men of Business Promotion Company as their Celebrity Artist. Christopher Rayson, better known as “C-Ray”, began his art career in 1991. He is a 1997 Visual Communications graduate from the Art Institute of Dallas. He has painted murals and commissioned portraits & artwork all over the Dallas Metroplex. This Dallas born Artist brewed his pas-
sion for arts right from kindergarten in his words
“ I knew that I had a love for art when I was drawing cartoon characters when everybody else was drawing stick figures.”
open doors for you just like it earned C-Ray a full scholarship into the Art Institute of Dallas. He also understood that without getting his artwork out there, nobody would get to know what he does much less of knowing how good he was. So he started with creating amazing artwork for family and friends. “I never really
Let’s pause and ask this question; what passion in you can be traced back to your childhood? He knew early he would be having a serious love affair with arts. Your passion has the ability to Ezekiell Elliott
Clifford T.I. Harris
Muhammad Ali
David Banner
President Barack Obama
Lil Boosie
had a collection because everything I did was going to my family or my friends or a pastor’s anniversary or I was creating murals in the barbershops, or Movie Theatres. I mean, it’s crazy because the cities have always had my back.” How many people around you know what you do? In his words “people always knew I did this stuff, so it was like, “Oh, yeah, man, I got a guy, my boy, Chris
Rayson, C-Ray. He can do your barbershop window.” It might interest you to know that with the power of word of mouth C-Ray has met his dream client. Surprisingly this must watch millionaire in the making has a full time graphics design job in the day which means he works on his true passion “artwork” during his off time. This has given a techni-
cal knock out to the excuse of “no time� many young people give as their reason for not pursuing their passion. C-Ray strongly believes he is enjoying the grace of God as he sees God as the one opening doors for him. You may be asking silently; C-Ray at what point did you transit from serving just family and friends to delivering exceptional arts to celebrities? Things changed for him; when he understood the power of delivering his work with un-
matched speed. He would deliver in one day, paintings that should take others two weeks and the quality would still be unmatched. The more he understood his niche, the more of a businessman he became. Your passion has a niche, search for it and
serve it committedly and soon you will smile to the bank like C-Ray. Art must be exposed to the world and C-Ray knew this; so he joined the organization called Raw Artists. The organization has its presence all over the US. Raw Artist is just a melting pot of all type of artists, whether it’s people who do
makeup or musicians or painters or tattoo artists. Logging into Raw Artist website in 2014 he submitted his work; this was clearly a sign he believed in his work. He knew only the best gets invited to showcase their work and he considered his arts one of the best. How do you value your work?
Close your eyes, picture his first invitation to Lizard Lounge in Dallas to showcase his works, its best experienced. Amazingly that night after the show he got five offers. You need to believe in yourself enough to put what you do out there in the platforms that can give you the exposure you need. That for C-Ray was a key secret. The need to expose his works influenced the jobs he accepted considering his limited time to work on “Arts” part time. Here is how he puts it “it’s one thing to do a piece for somebody who’s going to put it in a game room and it’ll never get the light of day compared to; if I do it for like you say a celebrity who’s going to put it on social media for me, and then I get millions of views.” Even with the strategy to expose his works C-Ray treasured relationships and was able to strike a balance which ensures he does not lose his regular every day client. His balance strikingly was also seen in his dealing with money versus passion. He understood clearly that you can actually be carried away with the money and he has made sure that doesn’t happen. Still on striking a balance, this millionaire in the making believes that in working with celebrities you must be professional, re-
celebrity intended. But in all of it, he kept his mind on his goal. Find out what makes you unique and build on it. Here is his advice to you; “You can be in the race but run YOUR race, don’t look at who’s running next to you. Run your own race and you’ll get to the finish line and God will bless you just have faith. His goal in the next five years is to have his own art What wisdom should we draw studio and ultimately live a legfrom C-Ray? His work ethic acy. What’s your goal? is top on the list and his never give up attitude no matter the set back. Reading his story you would think he had everything rosy but he will tell you the many rejections and the art works that never got to the specting, and at all times allow your work to speak for you. “My passion gave me access to these my very favorites, Zeke who will probably be up there as my number one, and my number two man, I met two legends. I met Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick. “These are people, I would have never thought in a million years I would meet.”
How To Get Started With Online Advertising for Your New Product
Online advertising is a useful and effective tool when it’s done correctly. When it isn’t, it can be an unfortunate waste of your time and money. If you’re launching a new product you may be considering using online advertising to promote it. With a few simple steps you can make sure you get maximum return on your investment and great results. What Are Online Ads? Online advertisements can actually be any number of things. They can be text ads, PPC ads and banner ads. You can also place classified ads on sites like Craigslist. Advertising, when done correctly, can help increase awareness about your new product, and your business. It can also generate traffic to your website and build your visitors and prospect base. Before you create your online ad there are a few considerations:
#1 What are your goals for your online ads? What do you want them to achieve? For example, do you want them to send people to your product’s landing page or will you use the ad to build your opt-in list and then market your product to your list?
How will you test the success of your banner ads? You might use Google Analytics to track traffic sources.
#5 Are you using text advertisements? If so, where will you place them? You’ll need to write the copy and again include a call to ac#2 What tools or adver- tion and a system to test tising tactics will you use? and track success. PPC? Text? Banner? Finally, what about classi#3 If you’re using a PPC fied ads? They’re free and campaign, you’ll need to can be effective at driving set up your account with traffic and making sales. your chosen PPC service. Write a few and test them Google AdWords is an ex- on classified ad sites. ample but other services like Facebook also offer The key to successful adPPC. Have you defined vertising it making sure your parameters, chosen you have a goal for each your keywords written ad, that your ad promotes your ad and set your bud- benefits and includes a get? call to action and that you have a system in place to #4 Are you using banner test and track results. Try ads? If you are you’ll need different headlines, calls to have them designed. to action and keywords in You’ll also need to pur- your ad copy to see what chase space for these ads works best for your audion relevant and quality ence – what generates the websites. Make sure your most product sales. copy is compelling and it includes a call to action.
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.� Og Mandino
Beast Mode IFBB Pro, ABO Felton
At age 28, the average American is probably thinking of working up the cadre of a good job, galvanizing his relationship with a high school sweetheart and settling into family life somewhere in the city suburb. That is not to be a parallel with the rising leader of the fitness Industry: Abo Felton. Raised by a single mother, this phenomenal young sports entrepreneur rose from the backside of Memphis to becoming a University of Texas full sports scholarship recipient. After a brief set-back from an injury over the years. Abo has risen to become a topnotch fitness expert. Let’s ex-
plore a few more details about One day while training, he felt a pain in his shoulder, assuming this young man. it was just one of those minor Fresh on his college’s football pains he was motivated by his team, he was hungry to make coach to return back on the field an impression. For two reasons: to join the rest and after playing he was a junior on arrival & was for a brief while the pain came denied the opportunity to fea- again only this time, he found ture during that particular sea- himself in the hospital followed son because the chance had to by an honest recommendation be given to a senior whom my for surgery which he readily igcoach considered to be more nored. experience. Secondly, Abo had hoped to use the college team Abo went on for the rest of the as an effective take-off point for season recording a considera professional football career able amount of success on the consequently that was not to be field but by the close of that season the realities of his septhe case. arated shoulders became so ap-
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Colin Powell
ness world. According to him “Every time people ask what keeps me going aside from the grace of God my response has been the same: the desire to see my mother happy. As with a number of African American homes, I had an absentee father and my mother played the father figure as well. I always and still do consider it an obligation to make the best of her economic and moral investment in me and it has been the biggest driver of my achievements these past 27 years With a brief moment of and I have no doubt it will retrospection, Abo re- remain so for the future I alized it was time for a envisage.� fresh start and his next niche would be the fit- Moving forward, Abo parent, surgery time long past and as a result forced an end to his promising career in football. It was enough to devastate him but with encouragements from his mother he realized that there was more opportunities ahead. That beyond the material satisfaction he derived from football, he actually enjoyed working out without pay and was naturally passionate about seeing people stay fit and didn’t mind helping them at no cost.
planned and diversified into fitness modelling and becoming an IFBB (International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness) Pro. With a burning desire to return to Memphis, one of Abo’s many aspirations is to found an organization to educate and empower young people & families in that city on body and mental health fitness. He plans to inspire these youngsters to dream, never give up on themselves and to work hard to make their lives count in society as well as history. He believes that he was quite fortunate to have a mother who believed in him and stopped at nothing to ensure that he lived
up to his best potential as a youth. Many kids in Memphis and the rest of America lack that and he passionately wants to be able to bridged that gap to the best of his ability. What Lesson Does Abo Leave Us With? Perhaps it would be sheer illusion to tell the story of mankind’s countless accomplishments without giving credence to the extraordinary role of heroes who made trails and by their own examples, gave the younger generations an opportunity to learn, be inspired and do likewise: only, even better. No one emphasized this truth more than the great 19th century scien-
tist, Isaac Newton when he said: “if I have seen far it is because I have stood on the shoulders of great men�. Lincoln needed a Benjamin Franklin, William Wallace and George Washington: JFK rose to the height of leadership at a significantly younger age than his hero did, Winston Churchill and it is important for us to mention that while a Michael Jordan in Basketball needed a Mohamed Ali in Boxing to set the standard, Christiano Ronaldo sure needed a Maradona as well as a C Ronaldo to take his que. Call it what you may: sports, politics, entertainment,
business, etc., we need heroes. To shift the attention of the young people across the globe from the television screens: to remind them that while the world they live in may or may not be ideal, it was sure built by people and that its future so desperately depends on their actions and inactions and not by the number of Tele Novella episodes they are able to memorize, or the number of Nintendo series they are able to master. It is on this basis that one finds stunning examples of persistence, dedication and ambition such as encapsulated in Abo’s character and story
greatly welcomed. Finally, it is needful to add that although Abo is obviously on the pathway to becoming a multi-millionaire by age 30, one should note that he is not driven primarily by the desire to amass wealth but rather by a genuine love for what he does, a passion to make a difference in his world and in effect be a symbol of inspiration to young people who come in contact with his story. Perhaps, this essential decency of motive should be a lesson to all who aspire and work for success. That we live not to earn but make a difference.