We’ve all heard the expression “Time is money,” but have you ever really stopped to think about what that famous saying actually means?

What do banks, real estate mortgage investors, and the lottery all have in common?

They understand how the diagram above works and how the value of money changes everyday.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to understand how and why the value of money changes. Can you get by without understanding it, probably. But just like the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad tells us, if you want to be rich, wealthy, successful, etc., you have to model the people who are.

Don’t you think Donald Trump knows about the time value of money? If if does, don’t you think you should as an entrepreneur? The more you know, the more you can use it to your advantage.

The value of money changes for a number of reasons, but here are a few to paint the picture for you.

Chess is a thinking game.

Good players think many steps ahead before they make a move. They also have a number of set moves (both offensive and defensive) in their back pocket.

So do most seasoned real estate investors.

To buy and sell property they must solve buyer’s and seller’s problems in order to make a profit. I know investors (including myself) who spend a little time each night imagining themselves talking with a seller or buyer and showing them how if they can work the deal in a different way then they can both get what they want. Why should business owners be any different?

Let’s look at an example of a real estate investor being creative and then turn that example into how a business owner could do the same thing to increase sales.

A Creative Real Estate Investor Example

Say you’re selling your home and it’s listed with a Realtor for $300,000.

Well the short answer to the statement in the title of this article is that social media is where users interact with other users online. You should know about it because it’s the way of the future.

Social media (also referred to as Web 2.0) is just beginning to really catch on with the general public and either you will embrace it or just forget about it because you don’t understand it. If you choose to ignore it, you could be sinking your ship. Like I point out in my blog article Using Social Media To Market Your Business, you don’t have to be a computer-wiz to comment on other’s articles, like this one, and leave a link to your site below your name. Click through the links in the Social Media side above and see how people use them.

Article by John Hoff

Social media marketing is basically the act of making use of blogs, forums, and other social media tools and websites (click the ones in the picture above) to market your services or product. You don’t have to be a computer-wiz to comment on other’s articles, like this one, and leave a link to your site below your name. You also don’t have to be a computer pro in order to participate in an online forum.

Marketing Differences

There are major differences between how social media marketing and traditional marketing work and how you use them.

Traditional Marketing

In traditional marketing you typically blast your audience with some sort of sales pitch. It might be a TV commercial or an ad you placed in some entrepreneurial magazine. The problem with advertising on billboards, TV, in newspaper ads, etc., is that it’s basically a shot in the dark that anyone is going to listen to you. You try and place your ad where your audience may be (i.e. put your recipe book commercial in a slot during a cooking show on the Food Network) but how many people are really listening to your commercial?

How would it make you feel if you knew after you passed away everything you ever owned ended up in court for years locked in a heated family debate.

Your children have children and still everything you wanted to pass along to your heirs after your death is still locked up in court. Is there a workaround so this doesn’t happen?

Yes! It’s called a Living Trust.

Exactly what is a Revocable Living Trust?

A living trust is a legal document which allows an individual to transfer ownership of titled and personal property from their name to what’s called a trust.

Once property is transferred to the trust, the trust becomes the legal owner. Even though the individual no longer “legally” owns the property, they can remain in control of all assets in the trust as long as they are alive. That is why it is called a “living” trust as it is created during one’s lifetime and “revocable” because it can be changed or rewritten as often as desired and could be revoked entirely at any time before one’s death.

So you want to start a business and it’s time to start your business plan. How do you write one? What must you include in it? Where can you find help? Read on!

The Parts of a Business Plan

1. Executive Summary
2. Market Analysis
3. Company Description
4. Business Organization
5. Marketing
6. Products / Services Offered
7. Funding Requests
8. Financials
9. Appendix

I. Executive Summary

This is probably the most important part of your business plan because it’s the first part a reader, like a loan officer, will read. Although it’s first in your document, it should be written last. This is because you want to hack out all the details in your plan and then summarize it all. You wouldn’t write the summary first and then your document.